Random photos :)

Today's blog challenge on Two Peas is to post a random photo I have recently taken, so here are a couple I took of the flowers in our yard yesterday. Just some wild mountain flowers!

Took Nattie to her swim lesson this morning, then she was picked up by our neighbor to go to a water play park in Golden. Jamie and I had some errands to run, so we headed down to Highlands Ranch - made stops at Archivers and Cornzapoppin (yum! cheddar cheese popcorn and caramel popcorn!), then up to Littleton so that we could buy a birthday present at Target for a little girl whose birthday is this weekend.

Being A Girl

This is a layout I did for a Circle Journal group I'm in. The title of the CJ is "Being A Girl" which had lots of opportunities for different ways to use the theme. The message in my journaling (on the back of the tag in the pocket) is that we are lucky as girls to have the choices available to us to achieve whatever we want! Yeah! GO GIRLS!

Afternoon at the mall :)

Went to Park Meadows Mall yesterday with the kids, specifically to buy them each a few more pairs of jeans for when school starts back in less than 4 weeks (not that I'm counting or anything! LOL!). JC Penney had a great sale on the kids' stuff so we got jeans for both kids, and a few new shirts for Nattie - gotta have the new shirt for the first day of 5th grade, right? After that, we went to The Walking Company and I found some proper walking shoes for when I walk Tasha - we've only had her for a month and my sneakers are trashed from walking the dirt tracks we have around here, so I figured I should get something more sturdy :) I love them!

Started a new class with University of Phoenix this week - Psychology. It's very "deep" and nowhere near as interesting as the Criminal Justice classes, but it's just one class so I'll be fine. Next up is Juvenile Justice which I am reeeeallly looking forward to, since I'm hoping to eventually get into the parole or probation sector. That's a way off, though...

Got a package of goodies yesterday from Alma at The Cat's Pajamas! The fall and winter lines of rubber stamps (now clear acrylic!), and patterned paper to play with when I make up samples. All you fans of TCP will not be disappointed....not long to wait now!

And, just for fun, here's the blog challenge for today from Two Peas:
If you found a $100 bill on the sidewalk, what would you do? a/put it in my wallet, hello new shoes! b/Pass it by, gross, germs! c/Give the money to charity. d/Add it to my savings.
Hmmm...it depends where I found it. If it's directly outside a store on the street, I'd probably take it back to the store, but otherwise I know I'd keep it, bring it home to hubby and kids, and we'd have fun spending it together :) I know, I know, I should give it to charity, but I'm really good throughout the year giving regular donations to the March of Dimes and American Cancer Society.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Tiny Town...and photos

Jamie and I went to Tiny Town, down in Morrison, last Sunday. We'd heard that it was really only suitable for age 5 and under so I decided we'd go while Iain and Nattie were at Six Flags in Denver. It was a little run down; some of the buildings could use a serious paint job, but Jamie really liked it. He didn't want to ride on the train though...

Today's blog question on Two Peas is all about photo storage. When I've taken a bunch of photos one day, I download them all, delete the ones that aren't "keepers", and file them on my computer by month and then by event. Then I print them as I need them. It seems to work so far!

And the winner is....

Heather from her SouthernArt blog :) Heather, congratulations! Enjoy your trip to Starbucks :)

It's a beautiful day here in Conifer; Nattie has gone to her friend's house for the day, and Iain is taking Jamie to the office in Denver to pick up some things before he leaves for Baltimore tomorrow. I will have a few hours to myself! Yay! Now, there's a big decision to make: do I scrap, curl up with my book, or watch a couple of my shows from the TiVo list........

And - a belated "Happy Birthday" to my great friend Jackie! Hope it was a great one!

Beautiful Butterfly

Iain took this photo at Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World when he and Jamie were in Scotland last month. Isn't it beautiful? There were about a dozen butterfly and moth photos, but I love this one!

Creating...and Starbucks!

From the Two Peas blog challenge: what kinds of things stop you from creating? Hmmm...perhaps I could better explain with a photo :) Yup, these three keep me super-busy between the house, activities, and just hanging out together. And I am thankful every day that I have them!

Guess what? I won some goodies from itsnoteasybeinggreen's blog earlier this week :) Thank you! And in the spirit of paying it forward, I have a $10 Starbucks card which I will send to someone who leaves a comment on my blog today or tomorrow. On Friday I'll select one lucky lady at random.....good luck!

5 Things....

The challenge on Two Peas today is to blog about 5 things you do every day, without fail. What a fun idea! Here's my list: shower, brush my teeth, read, tell my family I love them, and hug our pets :)

Talking of pets, here's a recent picture of Tasha. She's settling in really well, and the cats are starting to come down - very occasionally, but it's progress, right? We all love her personality - she fits right in with the family.

The world's biggest hummingbird?

No, it's just a woodpecker who thinks he can get his beak into the tiny holes of our hummingbird feeder! He and his friend were hanging out there the other day for about half an hour; I was standing in the kitchen laughing at them and how determined they were to get some of the sugar water - of course, it didn't happen, but they did try!!

It's a beautiful day here today. Iain and Jamie are going for haircuts, and Iain is going to use his GC for Men's Wearhouse for some new clothes for work. Nattie and I are staying home, and I'm going to try and make some progress on the 4 (yes, 4) circle journals I need to complete by the end of the month. I hope my scrapping mojo is in full flow today!

Have a fabulous Saturday!

Keeping in touch.

This is an interesting question from the Two Peas blog challenge for today: "do you keep in contact better with others by email, phone, or in person?". I'd say that it depends on the person: of course, for my CJ groups we are in touch almost daily via email or through Yahoo Groups. I have a couple of long-distance friends who I chat with more on the phone than any other way - my friend Jackie in Boston, and my friend Cynthia in Carlsbad, CA, for example.

My grandad and I have been writing letters to each other since Iain and I moved to the U.S. in 1993. He lives on the south coast of England and is in his mid-90s, but still makes the time to write to me twice a month. In fact, if I don't respond quickly to his letters, my Auntie Joan sends me an email asking me if everything is OK since gramps hasn't heard from me :) His letters are very descriptive; he describes what flowers are in bloom at any given time, where he has been on little day trips with the pensioners' group, and any recent games of bridge or bingo he's been playing. I treasure those letters.

Understanding neighbors...new stamps...and one more day

My neighbor returned from her vacation yesterday and I went down to see her in the afternoon. She was so understanding; she gave me a huge hug and said that Diego was always the one running out suddenly, sometimes in the direction of cars at the end of the driveway and that she wasn't surprised at what he did. She said I should not feel bad at all - that it was an accident which could have happened to anyone. I understand that, but I just can't forget the sound he was making. Lisa also said that she's glad he was inside the house and that she knows what happened to Diego - recently one of her dogs went missing and didn't return, and she is always wondering what happened to him, in particular up here in the mountains where there are so many more predators around.

I slept much better last night and am relieved at Lisa's reaction, although I'll never forget what happened to that little cat.

On a lighter note, Alma at The Cat's Pajamas said that the DT should be receiving the Winter line very soon! I've seen a sneak preview of the images - you will love them! Although I can't post those yet, there's a card here from an earlier line :)

The blog challenge over at Two Peas today was an easy one for me: "if you could have one more day to spend with someone, who would it be and why?" I would definitely say my dad. He passed away from stomach cancer when I was 17 and I realize now that there are so many things I didn't say to him that I should have. For example: why didn't you at least try the chemo/radiation route? Can we discuss your alcoholism and the effects it had on our family? Thank you for encouraging my reading at an early age - I have carried my love of books for the rest of my life.

I feel terrible today...

I was cat-sitting for our neighbor while she was out of state visiting her family. Her DH stayed behind because he had to work, but she asked me to go along and feed the cats and let the dogs out around 4pm each day since DH wouldn't get home until later (one of the cats is diabetic and needs 2 shots each day).

At the end of last week, I went down to the house, put out food for the 6 (yes, 6) cats and then headed out to the garage to feed the 3 dogs and let them out to run around. After about half an hour, it was time for me to head home so I got the 3 dogs back into the garage and watched them closely while I closed the garage door - what happened was I was watching the dogs so carefully that I didn't see one of the cats (Diego) run out and before I knew it he was trapped under the garage door. It took me a couple of seconds to react and get the door open again, and Diego ran off to the side of the house.

I heard him meow really loudly, and there were thunderstorms heading our way, so I went and found him to take him inside. When we got inside the house, he was definitely having trouble with one leg, so I made him comfortable and figured I'd leave a message for the DH (who is a vet and would be home in a couple of hours).

A couple of days passed, and yesterday we had to feed the cats again - but there were only 5 cats around, so when we got home I left a message for the DH to find out how Diego was doing. Imagine how horrible I felt when he called me back last night to say that when he came home that night and listened to my message, he went looking for Diego and found him under the dining room table - he had passed away. I don't know what to do. I just feel awful.

4 decades of music...

This layout is for my "Seasoned CJ Survivors" group - the album is all about music that brings back special memories. I decided to split my memories into 4 decades and this is what I came up with. I was able to use my "Love, Elsie" stash which came with one of my kits last month :) The computer font is "Rock Star" from Two Peas in a Bucket, and I think the chipboard letters are from Cactus Pink.

Have a fantastic day!

Pike's Peak

Here are a couple of the photos that Iain took when he, Nattie and Helen (SIL) took the Cog Train up Pike's Peak, near Colorado Springs. The summit is up over 14,000 feet and the whole trip took about 3 1/2 hours. Even though it was 90 degrees down at the bottom, it was only in the 50s up at the top :)

Helen flies back to Scotland tomorrow. She has had quite a visit, and I think that the kids wore her out, LOL! Last night Iain and I got to go out for the first time in months, since Helen offered to babysit. So we went out and had a couple of drinks and appetizers, then headed to the movies to finally see "Ocean's Thirteen". It was AWESOME! Not just because George Clooney looked very handsome, but the storyline was excellent. After the movie finished, we decided to stay on and see "Die Hard 4". I can't believe it's been 20 years since the first "Die Hard". It was lots of fun, just like the others in the series. Of course, it won't be up for any Oscars, but it's a good movie to just sit back and enjoy the entertainment.

Collage

This is a collage I made for my good friend Leigh Anne. Her boys were having their room redecorated and she wanted something personalized for them. She wanted the "messy" look, so that's what I did :) The canvas now has pride of place in the boys' bedroom!

Also, a shout out to my blogging friend Jill for mentioning me on her blog! Thanks, Jill!

Kowabunga!

The blog challenge over on Two Peas today is about which you prefer: the beach or the city pool? Personally I prefer the city pool - I'm not a big fan of sand at all, in particular when it gets into sandwiches or snacks which the kids are waiting for :) But the kids prefer the beach by far - this layout includes photos taken at Newport Beach, CA (and stamps from TCP).

Jamie and I are going to The Children's Museum in Denver today. He is very excited! Nattie, Iain and Helen are having their second day in CO Springs and will be taking the cog train ride up Pike's Peak this morning. He has my camera and is under strict orders to take awesome photos!

Hot weather and Crafters

Wow! It almost reached 90 here today in Conifer. Jamie and I went down to Westminster (Archivers!) and it was 99 there when we left around 2pm - yuk! Archivers was worth the trip, though - found some cute packs of 6x6 and 8x8 paper; I love that companies are coming out with these; they are much friendlier on the budget and are especially useful for making little sets of cards, which I plan on doing with some of my new goodies! We also went to Barnes & Noble, another of my favorite stores, and I picked up the new book by Lisa See, who wrote the bestseller Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. If you haven't read it, try and find a copy - it's an intriguing story about two young girls living in China, and their friendship through their lifetimes.

Of course, I'll be using some stamps from The Cat's Pajamas on those cards I'll be making, and talking of TCP, I found this link on Alma's blog - it's all about crafters :)

Glasgow Airport and a family visit

I'm sure you will all have seen the pictures of the horrible incident that happened at Glasgow Airport in Scotland on Saturday. There's a link to an article in The Scotsman newspaper here. We have flown into and out of Glasgow many, many times, and my sister-in-law flew here to Colorado from Glasgow on Friday. I hope that the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is right on top of this and ready to see that justice is served.

So Helen (SIL) arrived on Friday evening and was excited to see the kids - although she did see Jamie just a few weeks ago when he and Iain were back there :) Helen was saying how much of a young lady Nattie is - it has been 3 years since she last saw her, so I can imagine how surprised she was! Yesterday we took it pretty easy (jet-lag is a terrible thing!) and took Helen into Evergreen to show her the lake (see photo above) and also the shops on Main Street. We had ice cream and sat by the river, watching the world go by. After we arrived home, we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the peace and quiet, along with a Mai Tai :) Then Iain grilled burgers for dinner!