February by the numbers

Another amazing month...filled with happy things, happy memories.
Here is a glimpse at our month...by the numbers.

zero- (sad to report...again)books completed in February. Still slowly reading Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
two - happy boys made the basketball all star teams.
three - days until I get to escape for a girls scrap weekend to the coast. I CAN'T wait!!!
seven - layouts created
eight - blog posts recorded.
nine - boxes of Girl Scout cookies delivered to our home ( I have not had a single GS cookie this year...go me :-)!!!
ten - dozen heart shaped sugar cookies cut/baked for Valentine's Day.
twelve - invites/cards created.
nineteen - hours/Fit Club workouts completed this month(I only missed one/Presidents Day off with the boys in San Fran).
twenty four - masterpieces created with the 1st graders, art docent style.
twenty eight - photos taken for our Project Life album
fifty six. seventy five - miles logged on my treadmill.
Sixty - the # of candles on my Mom's birthday cake this year.

we {heart} San Francisco

We ended up staying the night at my parents house after my Mom's party. The boys had a break(Monday)from school due to Presidents Day. We decided to spend the day in San Fran.

Can you believe that John and I were born and raised in the Bay Area(and have been to San Fran many times)and have never been to Golden Gate Park? Well, today was the day.

First stop, The Tulip Gardens. They are located inside of Golden Gate Park. The tulips were all red(be still my heart) and so beautiful.
*Warning: lots of pictures in this post. There were too many good ones to leave any out.









Next stop, Koret Children's Park(located inside of Golden Gate Park). We had looked this park up online and knew that there were cement slides and thought the boys would love it. We were right, they loved it. Cement Slides and a great structure to climb on...total boy fun.



You can't tell in this photo, but the kid next to Garrett had a Frisbee Velcro-ed to his rear end. You could tell they were locals :-)...no waiting for cardboard for that kid.



We grabbed sandwiches for lunch and headed to the beach. This was a new beach for us and has now become a family favorite. Check out the view! We will be heading back to this beach once the weather warms up & we can't wait!



The clouds did not stop our boys from hitting the water.





This boy was so proud to be wearing his SF Giants jersey in SF.


This boy wouldn't hold still. He was worried the waves were going to crash on him.


Some nice lady was willing to take some family photos for us. I loved that she didn't snap just one. She took like 10. This is my favorite and will be our 6 people twelve times photo for February.





















Our last stop in San Francisco was the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove across the bridge and the clouds parted and there was sunshine. It was gorgeous and clear. We had a perfect view of the city.








We made out way out of the city by driving along the Piers and Fisherman's Wharf. You know it was an awesome, fun filled day when this is what you find in your back seat on your way home.

Celebrating 60

My Mama turned 60 on February 20th(last Sunday). We hosted a birthday party/dinner for her on her actual birthday. I have made banners for just about every holiday(that I decorate for) and I thought it would be fun to create a special birthday banner for my Mama. This banner matched the invites I made for her special day. I used lots of new yummy pattern papers from Echo Park, Ellison die cut letters, pop dots and ribbon. The creating didn't stop there, I decided to make little flags out of ribbon. I saw this idea on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog. Scrap ribbon from my stash, buttons, bling and lollipop sticks helped me create these fun little flags. We put them in little vases, on the table and mantle...very fun and festive.








Wishing my sweet Mama a very Happy Birthday! We hope her 60th year of life is filled with love, happiness and lots of fun! It should be off to a great start since my siblings gave her two tickets to see GLEE in concert. It should be a blast.

Month in the life of US

As promised( a few days late), here is my last layout using the February Kit of the Month from Green Tangerines. I must mention, that I still have a ton of prodect left over to keep creating with this kit and that's a bonus for me! I often find myself creating layouts like this. I like to highlight our week and our months. It frees me from feeling like I have to create layouts for every event/photo in our lives. Lets be honest, I know that it would never happen :-). Thesse type of layouts are really working for me right now and I am loving them.

Love Day

Well it wasn't just one day...it was several. My Valentine's Day kicked off on the Saturday before February 14th. I was attending Scrappy Hour at Green Tangerines with a few girlfriends, enjoying a GNO. A few hours into our evening, I looked up for a brief second and caught a very quick glimpse of a man carrying a helium balloon. I didn't think too much of it and continued to work on my project. I then heard a few "ooohhhh's" and "aaahhh's" and I looked up. It was my John boy carrying that balloon. It wasn't just any balloon, it was a red and white polka dot heaart balloon :-). He totally caught me off guard, totally out of place for him. He was also carrying a heart shaped cake. It wasn't just any cake. It was a cake that he had baked and cut into a heart shape(I don't own a heart shaped pan)on his very own. The best part of the cake was the fact that he had looked online for a Weight Watchers friendly recipe. It was really very thoughtful and such a fun surprise. He revceived a standing ovation from the ladies(about 40 of them) there and they all clapped as he left and told him that their hubbies had alot to live up to :-). I am glad my friends were armed with their cameras. I will add the photo of John and I that they took, once it is sent my way! o

Then on Sunday, The Young Women from church presented their New Beginnings program/new theme to their parents. They performed a cute skit about Values(Snow White and the 7 values plus 1) and sang an amazing song. You could feel the love. I love these girls, they too, are amazing.



The next few days were spent making Valentine's, addressing Valentine's, baking heart shaped sugar cookies, enjoying Valentine/Friendship parties and sharing treats with our friends and neighbors. What's not to love about this holiday? All of my favorite things being enjoyed at once!








It was a wonderful few days, filled with lots of love and sweet gestures.

Kit of the Month

Here are my February Green Tangerines Kit Club layouts. This months kit was fun and easy to work with. Vibrant, fun colors...perfect for just about any of the photos in my stash.

First up, I Want you to Remember. Our sweet friend, Mer took these photos. They are some of my favorite photos with my boys. The journaling(top left corner) is all about the things I want them to remember(that they are loved, they are children of God, that I love them, that they always need to do their best).






The next layout is Mr. Garrett working/playing with his tools. I sanded the letters on the title with my Basic Grey files...so fun and kind of messy. Sanding the edges of my letters allowed me to place those yellow Thickers on the yellow cardstock and still have them stand out. I am just happy to have these photos (from 2007) scrapped and ready for the scrapbook.





I will be back tomorrow with my 3rd layout, using product from the February kit.

latest creations

Believe it or not, I have completed a few layouts since the beginning of the new year. The weekly KOTW's and Green Tangerines Kit Club layouts are keeping me going right now. Here are a couple of my most recent layouts(these are all KOTW's).
These can be purchased for $8.00 from Green Tangerines. You can call the store at 916-771-8010. We supply the idea and supplies. You create your layout and add photos...easy peasy!

















Over the last 15 years, I have tried just about every tip, trick, latest trend, and the latest and greatest gadgets/products as far as the scrapbook world goes. There are a few things I have learned about myself and my hobby. I love color. I love clean lines. I am a pretty simple scrapper. I want my photos to be noticed before all of the other things I have placed on my layouts. I want my family to feel/know my love for them through my layouts. I am a big believer in journaling on my layouts...at least the who, what, where and when. But most of all, after 15 years, I still love to scrapbook and record our memories.

I will be back in a day (or two) with my latest Green Tangerines Kit Club layouts.

Okay, I am going to be totally honest. I never thought in a million years that I would be posting about going to the gym :-). My friend (and GT boss), Kelly approached me and asked how I felt about going to a gym. We were getting ready to start our Green Tangerines Biggest Loser Challenge and we had the opportunity to try out Fitness MD. I had had gym memberships before. It has been about 10 years since my last visit/membership. Whenever I went to the gym, I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing when it came to the weights. So I would find myself on the bike and treadmill each day. I would get bored. I would miss a day. Then I would miss two days. Two days would become a week and that week led to a year. I would still pay for my membership and not ever use it. Well, that year led to the 10 year span without going to the gym. Those 10 years without the gym and 4 babies later led to an unhealthy me.

On January 8th I met Kelly down at Fitness MD in Rocklin. We were assessed by a trainer. By assessed, I mean our weight and measurements were taken. Our fat was pinched(my least favorite part-LOL). We had to walk/run a mile and a half. We did push ups, sit ups and were assessed to see how much weight we could lift. On January 10th, we attended our first Fit Club Workout. These workouts are done in a group setting with a Trainer(s) who leads the way. I am not gonna lie, I thought I was going to die during that first workout. I was using muscles that had not been used in years. I am happy to report that I didn't die after that first workout. In fact, I have gone to Fitness MD every day M-F(except the one sick day I missed because of a nasty chest cold). I look forward to the workouts. Each and every day is different. The workouts are never the same and I love that. For instance, this morning at 6:30 am, we worked on our upper body. Tomorrow we will work on our lower body. I actually look forward to my daily workouts. Our trainer Jaime,has been fabulous. He helps you when you need it. He motivates you and claps you on (to get you going) AND there are lots of whoop whoops :-). The entire staff has been friendly and helpful. After my first week of working out at Fitness MD, I lost 6 lbs.. Six lbs. people!!!!! The following week, I was down 3 lbs.. Can you believe that? I have continued to lose weight during the last month but the best part is the fact that I can feel my body changing. Muscles are beginning to surface and my clothes are getting baggy. As of tomorrow at 6:30 am, I will have completed my 4th week of workouts. I can honestly say that I am loving it! I haven't uttered the words "I am bored" once. I enjoy going to Fitness MD and especially love how I feel after a great workout!

Are you still with me :-)? I didn't mean for this to turn into a novel. I just really love the place...can you tell?
If you visit their website at Fitness MD, you can print a 7 day pass to try them out. Let them know that I sent you :-) and let me know if you want to meet down there. Seriously, you will love it!

Don't forget to get up and move today :-).