School starts tomorrow...

So it's that time of year again! It's back to waking up at 6:30 making breakfast, making lunch, reminding the kiddos to grab their books, homework, signed notices etc. I think I'm ready for them to start up again. Lauren is going into 7th grade and Christina is heading to college...wow how time flies!

Now that they are back in school I really need to focus on organizing the house, filing some paperwork, transferring our home movies on to Cd's and just weeding out the stuff we no longer need.

On another note Lauren had a Bat Mitzvah and a 60's/70's birthday party yesterday and another beach birthday party today. Here's a picture of her in her 60's costume. The great thing is we now know what her Halloween costume will be, that is if auntie Yvonne let's her use the wig again. I added some patches to her pants and we made the tye-dyed shirt. I think she looks groovy!

Yummy....

My husband had his wisdom tooth pulled yesterday and I decided to make some chicken soup for us. This is so easy to make because I use one of those ready baked chickens and just add fresh veggies and some chicken stock.

Wow...it's been awhile

I have missed updating my blog because I love to keep life in writing as it makes it easier when I scrapbook. If I forget a date or if I need help with my journaling for a particular event most likely it will be on my blog. Plus I think Dina misses the music...yes, I did update the music just for you Dina.

I have been busy with life...some things that have been keeping me busy are but not limited to: Soccer, purchased another home (rental property), Hawaii trip to update our condo, soccer, soccer, and more soccer. My oldest is also getting ready to attend college in the fall so we have been to orientation and also have been keeping our fingers crossed that our daughter gets into housing there. I was planning on turning her room into a scrapbook room....ha,ha! We have celebrated birthdays, new babies, graduations, and so much more. I will post pictures later and will also post some layouts I have been working on.

I always like to include a picture so here is a picture of the new house we purchased after we did some improvements on it. We did alot of work on the inside and I will post beore and after pics later. The new renters move in today!

Camp Hammer = layouts!!

I have not been very good on keeping my blog updated; life has been very busy lately. Soccer games, soccer practice, flag football games,T-Cal's {swimming meet} a surprise b-day, another b-day party, another b-day party, house work,....you get the picture.

This weekend I went to a retreat (3 days) in Boulder Creek with some girlfriends. We ate too much, stayed up too late and had many hours of scrapping time!! It was a fun three days but I'm glad to be home. Here are some layouts that I did while there. I still have to journal but I don't like to journal while around a lot of noise and distractions. I normally don't do layouts with just one picture but I decided to do something different. Actually the second page to my {Mi Amiga} layout has three picture on it, I will post it when I'm finished.

savoring the details

I was just browsing my fav blogs and then I saw this yummy looking dessert. My family loves, loves, loves oreo's. So guess what? I am gonna makes these beauties!!!


savoring the details: "Easy Oreo Truffles

Ingredients: 1 pkg. Oreo cookies, finely crushed, divided; 1 pkg. (8oz.) Philadelphia Cream cheese, softened; 2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.
Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm."

Finally a new layout~~

This pic is of my daughter and her two cousins hanging out at grandma and grandpa's. I love this photo because it shows children being children. Notice my nieces wet spot on her dress and her dirty finger nails, my daughter with her messy hair and the piece of gum hanging out of her mouth. Let's not forget my nephew with no shirt on, totally a summer thing to do. I love it when kids are carefree. You can tell they have been playing hard in this photo, gotta love it!! I can't wait until summer!!!

Happy Earth Day!

Here are some links to help you {Go Green}. Found the following on the Oprah website.

Greendimes
A group that reduces junk mail and plants trees. For more information or to sign up.

Nalgene water bottles
These water bottles are durable, inexpensive, can be used repeatedly and are widely recyclable.

Earth 911
Find information about environmental services and events in your community.

Seventh Generation products
Seventh Generation is one of the leading brands of nontoxic household products.

The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen
Simple things you can do to save the planet.

Ecobags
Bringing your own bag when shopping saves plastic bags.

GE Energy Smart lightbulbs
GE Energy Smart bulbs use 70 to 75 percent less energy than incandescent lightbulbs and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. For example, by using a 26-watt compact fluorescent lightbulb—equivalent to a 100-watt incandescent lightbulb—users can save up to $59 on energy costs over the life of the bulb. Saving energy saves money and is better for the environment.

BITS Ltd. smart power strips
Even after turning off a computer, power continues to flow to computer peripherals like printers and scanners. This power strip ($32.99) stops the energy from being wasted.