r...e...l...a...x...

The challenge on Two Peas today is to describe your favorite relaxing activity. Mine is pretty easy: anything where I am alone in the peace and quiet. I love it when Iain takes the kids out in the morning and doesn't come back till dinnertime :) With his travel schedule for work, I cherish that alone time. If I have that amount of time to myself in one day, I'll usually clean up a little then head up to my scrap room and work on circle journals, printing photos, my own scrapbooks, or tidying up the mess from other projects! I'll have a nice quiet lunch, perhaps watch something from my TiVo list, then get right back to creating.

Before I know it, everyone is home and I feel recharged again :)

Conifer Area Chorale Festival...and more

On Tuesday Jamie and I went to see Nattie and the other 4th graders sing at the Conifer Area Chorale Festival. There were kids from 3 elementary schools, and the local middle and high schools singing songs "Celebrating Broadway". As you can see from the photo, Jamie was engrossed, even during the rehearsal :) The kids did an outstanding job with "Edelweiss", "Anything You Can Do" and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile". The harmonies were awesome and I could see the younger kids admiring the work of the older kids.

In other news...I had my follow-up appointment with the ENT doctor and we have scheduled surgery for the first week in May to open my airway some more. From what he told me I'll be in hospital for one night and recovery will be 7-10 days...yikes! What is way more scary (and difficult) than surgery is that I also have to seriously commit to a weight-loss program, since that is also a contributor to sleep apnea. Fellow bloggers, I need your support with that one...

Took Jamie for his 5-yr checkup today, complete with s-h-o-t-s. Poor little guy, he was looking at me like, "how could you do this to me?". At least now he's all set for kindergarten in August. He got to watch Polar Express this afternoon which seemed to help him feel better. It's amazing what a movie and a bowl of Goldfish crackers can do :)

Love :)

Today's blog challenge from Two Peas: what does being in love mean to you? Hmmm....well, for me being in love is about the everyday, not the special occasions. Iain and I will be celebrating our 14th anniversary in September, and over the years I have learned:

• if you can stick it out, the bad times do make you stronger and therefore make the good times better
• talk about it!
• there aren't many things sexier than a hubby doing housework without being asked :)
• men are not psychic
• laughter makes the heart grow fonder!
• try and put things in perspective and look at things from your spouse's point of view
• get the kids to bed at a reasonable time so that you can hang out together
• talk about it!
• always remember that the kids will eventually leave home, and you and your hubby will be together, alone, after they leave!
• doing little unexpected things can make someone feel extra-special
• and the last one - talk about it!

Yup, it's all about the communication. Well, that and laughing together - a lot :)

Color

What color do you gravitate towards lately? My response would always be blue; it has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember. When Nattie was born, I dressed her in way more pretty blue clothes than pink. I find I often use blue in my cards/scrapbooks, and if I'm at the scrapbook store and there's some new blue patterned paper - I am right there :)

Happy Everything :)

Have a very Happy Easter! Enjoy the day :) From the Two Peas blog challenge, here are 20 things that make me happy:

• hearing my kids laugh
• having my hubby get home from a trip
• our new home here in CO
• watching the animals in our yard
• Amazing Race All-Stars
• the smell of new scrapbooking paper
• having someone thank me for a handmade card/gift I sent
• fun stationery
• living in a state with 4 seasons
• being lucky enough to be a SAHM
• getting a good grade on a paper I worked hard on for school
• good Indian or Chinese food
• listening to our cats purr contently
• being cozy indoors when it's snowing outside (as we are today!)
• getting a letter from Gramps (he lives in England)
• hearing Nattie playing the piano without being asked
• receiving new stamps to play with from The Cat's Pajamas (as I did this week!)
• having time with Iain after the kids have gone to bed
• alone time to scrapbook, read, hang out...
• seeing the kids play together, unprompted!

April (snow) showers...

Yup, more snow for us this morning :) Just a couple of inches, but it seems very strange to have snow on Easter weekend! We are having our egg hunt today instead of tomorrow because Iain has to fly to Brazil tomorrow, so he is out there right now hiding filled eggs in the snow. The great thing is that we have a much bigger yard this year than when we were in CA last year, so the kids could be out there for a while, LOL!!!

Today's card is made with justjohanna stamps and foofala patterned paper. Have a great weekend!

"I've got the apnea"

Remember that line from an episode of "Mad About You"?

My ENT doc called today to say he received the results of my sleep study. I'm going in next week to discuss treatment options, but he told me on the phone today I was having an average of 46 apnea episodes an hour! Also my oxygen saturation levels at several points were only 83%; my average was 90% but it should be around the mid-90s. Wow.

No wonder I've been feeling so tired!

Spring birthday card - and favorite movie lines :)

It's a beautiful Spring day here in Conifer, so I thought I'd post a Spring card. This one is made with stamps from justjohanna, like yesterday's.

The blog challenge on Two Peas today is to write about your favorite line from a movie. That's a tough one! The first one that springs to mind is the classic "we're gonna need a bigger boat" from "Jaws" :) Others I like are:

• "Do you wanna dance? Or do you wanna dance?" - Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) in "The Thomas Crown Affair"


• "I don't want Fop! I'm a Dapper Dan man!" - Everett McGill (George Clooney) in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"


• "Pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the *&^&^*# car" - Mr. Wolf (Harvey Keitel) in "Pulp Fiction"

I looooooove movies; Iain and I have a great DVD collection. We also have a little game where whenever we choose to watch a DVD we have to take turns choosing - and the other one has to watch whatever is picked (Iain threatens me with "The Great Escape" and I hold "The Sound of Music" over his head, LOL!).

Latest projects...

I just mailed my 3 circle journals off for their April round :) Next up for me is the Summer line from The Cat's Pajamas :) I received them from Alma last week and can't wait to get some time to play with them and make up some samples! Once again, Alma has come up with some very unique ideas...keep checking her site here for the official release of the stamps!

Nattie's friend Vivian stayed with us for a couple of days during her visit from California. The girls hadn't seen each other since we moved in October, but watching them play together it seemed as if they had never been apart. I made the most of the beautiful day to take some pics of the kids. Nattie and Jamie both go back to school today. I have to say, I am ready for a little peace and quiet, even if it is just for a couple of hours this afternoon when Jamie is at preschool. My school class finished yesterday, so my plan for this afternoon is as follows:

• take Jamie to school
• come home
• make cup of tea
• sit on couch until it's...
• time to pick Jamie up from school :)

Ah, the smell of a clean house....

even if it only lasts for one a few hours, I can enjoy it, right? Iain and Nattie went skiing yesterday and Jamie and I stayed home. I decided I was going to do a big clean, so with cleaning supplies in hand I tackled the house - with Jamie's help, of course! I love the smell of the Swiffer Wet wipes, and the floor looked so shiny. The carpets were nice and fluffy, the toys were put away.

But of course - we live here!! So by the time everyone got home, had dinner, and bedtime rolled around last night, it was all back to normal - toys scattered, floor scuffed and smattered with cereal crumbs, bits of carpet flat again. And I wouldn't have it any other way :) It's what I'm used to, and it means everyone is home.

Talking of home, this card is made with stamps from justjohanna. I stamped on to different patterned papers, cut out pieces of the house and then put it back together. I love the "blah blah blah" coming out of the chimney :)