I try....

...but I just seem to be unable to keep this blog current! Then it's playing catch-up and takes a lot of time. My own fault!

Well, Zumba is still a lot of fun, my hips seem to move a little bit easier :) Gabrielle is really good at it, but hey, she's a teenager.

There is a lot of drama going on at Karate right now, I'd rather not get into it. We lost our instructor, at least for a while.... I sure hope it's not going to be permanent!

Last Saturday we took a trip to the Zoo, which was really fun. It was an overcast day and yet the parking lot was packed! It had been a few years since we last went. This time I bought a season pass for the family, it was only $20 more than the admission would have been, so we only have to go one other time to make the money back and it's good a whole year. The kids enjoyed it, but I really want to go again and have a little more time!

for some reason I am not able to upload more photos here so this will have to do for now...

Sunday was hubby's birthday, we didn't do anything special, just hung out and gave him his presents.

I finally booked our vacation to Myrtle Beach, I found a Hotel site with 3 bedrooms, so Gabrielle won't have to sleep on the couch anymore. There is a large kitchen and it's ocean front, so it should be nice. I am looking forward to it, although I dread the drive down there! We have to pack half the house too. At least this place has a restaurant in case we don't want to cook or make breakfast. Gabrielle wants to bring her friend since this time we have lots of room, I don't know how good an idea this is. I would like for her to have a friend with her, but what about the others? Plus I have a feeling that we won't see much of her the whole week... We'll see. Her parents weren't too keen on it anyway, I'll talk to her Dad.

Our deck is almost done, thank heavens. They just have to finish staining it this afternoon and we should be good. Looks like the kitchen has to be put off until fall, I haven't heard from the master for a while.

Well, not much else going on, other than running around for appointments as usual. Rachel got some red streaks in her hair, she was thrilled! She really wanted her whole head red, but that is not going to happen under my watch :)

Here are a few pages I finished, not a lot...

here you can see the hair :)

this one I will put in a shadow box for my wall. I want to make one for the girls, a little different, but each for a shadow box frame. I think they would make nice Christmas gifts. All I did here is use a bunch of upside down clips in an orderly fashion and then I added a bunch of tags and other fun things you would usually put on a board like that, plus a few photos in b/w, so it wouldn't be too busy. I rather like the effect.

As always, the credits for all the pages can be found in my gallery (get the link on the right)

Well, that's it for today, have a great day and a wonderful 4th!

Zumba

That's right! Our new adventure is called Zumba! A friend of mine is teaching it and she is just wonderful. We went to the first class and I felt like a complete Klutz. I had no idea what she was doing with her feet or with her arms. The second class was a little easier, thank goodness. I am actually looking forward to Sunday. I made it to Karate twice last week, so that wasn't too bad. Today we went to the gym and I ran 2 miles in 22 minutes, yay! Rachel is really determined. She started on a diet, well more like watching what she eats and she exercises with Phil all the time. Good for her, I am so proud of her. I think she saw some examples of what she does not want to look like, so she decided to do something about it!

Our pool is finally getting heated, Ralph and his buddy fixed the heater. In a few days it should be warm enough for me to go in it. You can't get me in there unless it's warm! They are still working on the deck off and on. It's partially stained but the forecast always calls for possible showers so that is a perfect excuse for them to put off any further efforts. Oh well, it shall get done eventually I guess. On the other hand the knocked down a tree that was dead and they dug up my vegetable beds. So now I just have to go and plant something LOL. I did buy some cheater peppers (cheater because they are a little bigger already) and cheater tomatoes. Everything is so late this year, it's hardly even worth it anymore.

Last Sunday we had brunch at a local Hotel, they have the best food! It was supposed to be the choir members from Church but I decided to take the whole bunch. I could live on the food they serve there. The decor is lovely too

We had a few chilly days this past week but today it's finally a little warmer again. I still have not been in the pool and my tan is beginning to fade.... 

Tonight we will go to the Japanese Steak House. My kids have never been to a Hibachi, so I thought it would be fun to take them. Both girls are getting together with friends this afternoon, so we will see how this is going to work out... reminder to self: don't forget camera...

I found this photo from '89 yesterday and felt compelled to scrap it. I couldn't quite remember where it was taken and Phil just happened to walk by. When I asked him where we were he answered :Tampa and we fought the whole trip. I remember that part well and it made me laugh! How miserable we used to make each other over absolutely nothing and how much better things are today! We really have grown together and grown up together, I am so happy about that! He must have felt the same way, because before walking away he planted a kiss on my head and told me he loved me. What else does a woman need LOL!

Okay, on this note I will grab something to read and join above mentioned husband outside on the patio, hoping for a little sun to peek out! Have a great Father's Day!!

Hershey trip

The 8th grade class trip was on Wednesday, it must have been the hottest day ever!!! It was beautiful, but we all felt as though we were going to melt into the ground! The kids had a really good time though, they went on tons of rides and just enjoyed each other. the mothers had to figure out where in the world we were and where we were going. Good thing they were around, I would have been lost half the time :) I got to go on a few rides myself, including the side winder which goes backwards at the end. That my stomach was not happy about.... All in all it was a good day, we got home pretty late at night, but it was worth it.

Our pool is finally open and it's crystal clear already. The guys have been here fixing the boards. They were  supposed to come today and power wash, but we are talking Ralph here, so I didn't actually expect them to come. I am so done getting mad about it, he is just not getting jobs around here anymore.

The weather has been really nice, so we have been hanging out at the pool. The water is freezing of course, since the heater is not running at the time, but the kids were actually in. They are die hards! Look at the water ballerina :) Rachel had a friend over that day, they had fun.

Last Sunday was the kids' piano recital, it went actually very well, I was pleasantly surprised. Rachel, who was the one who was best prepared of all of them, was the one who messed up a little, but found her place again real quick and finished very well. It was a hard piece and she played it from memory. I was so proud of all of them! I was supposed to take pictures during the recital, but I was really glad I told her I wouldn't do it. It would have been so distracting for the kids, even just the clicking for my own kids was so loud and I would have had to move around to get different angles, it just wouldn't have worked. Maybe we can schedule a day and have them come for a shoot or something like that....

Last saturday was the surprise party for SabomNim Sr. He was promoted to 9th Don, which is a pretty big deal. His son organized a picnic for him as a surprise. It was really nice, he didn't suspect a thing, brought a case of beer, because he expected to be bored at his wife's HS reunion. They are nice people. He got some other stuff, not just that T-Shirt LOL.

Michael finally got a hair cut, I think he looks so adorable when he doesn't have that big bush on his head!

Phil is at a wrestling game tonight, I can't even believe it. Wrestling! Phil! LOL! A colleague inviting him to go, he is the physician for the game. He just called to find out Michael's size, he is getting him a T-shirt. When I asked him about the match, he just said that it's something else. I can't wait to hear all about it. I'm not sure if it's a real wrestling match or one of those fake ones. Well, that was pretty much the whole week, not very eventful, but busy everyday nonetheless. I am trying to find a hotel in Myrtle Beach for us to head down for a week. Not easy at this point :)

Okay, now for the few pages I managed to finish

Well. that is pretty much it for the week, you can find the credits for all the pages in my gallery listed on the right hand side. Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Graduation and heat wave

Everything is a blur lately! The graduation was very nice, Rachel looked so beautiful with her hair and her outfit and she was so proud of herself.... she so wanted her hair to be fixed up nicely and as it turns out she wound up with the same do that Gabrielle had last year LOL.

She was so happy with it and I think it looked really nice on her. I did a spread using the pictures from the graduation, so you can see the pictures there

the two smaller ones on the last page are Iphone pics she too herself, I just fixed them up a little.

Here she is in her pretty dress...

some other pages..

I am up to date with my 365 pages again (except for last week of course)

I can't believe that's all I got done, but hey.....

It seems to be the middle of August around here. We went from deep freeze to torrential rains to the dog days of summer. It has been in the upper 80s and around here that is usually accompanied by high humidity levels. We had to put an air conditioner in Gabrielle's room, she couldn't stand it. And that room doesn't even get afternoon sun, Rachel and we should be complaining. Our rooms feel like ovens in the evening. The fan does a pretty good job though, good enough for me. Our pool is finally open, although it looks a mess. The pump is not connected yet, I am hoping they will be back later to finish what they started! Typical Ralph work, he called me 10 days ago to tell me he would be down to get the cover pumped off and guess who didn't show up? Yeah! That's why is not doing anything in this house ever again. It's a shame he has to finish the deck, since he started it and the wood is still lying in the garage....

I can't wait for the other two to get out of school, I was able to sleep until 8 AM over the weekend, that has never happened before. I jumped out of bed almost in a panic LOL. It will be nice not to have to rush around anymore, at least for a while. Gabby still has to go through finals before her agony is over :) Poor thing is doing nothing but study right now. Something Rachel has to look forward to for next year.

This weekend the kids have their piano recital, that should be interesting. Michael was doing so poorly, she had to switch him to a song he already knew... he just doesn't practice enough and I don't keep after him enough I guess. He is scheduled to get braces next week, he is getting his spacers today. Too bad, his baby teeth were so perfect, I was really hoping that he would not need them, but these are coming in crooked just like the girls'. Oh well, good thing Phil has a decent job, is all I can say!

Well, time to get the birds downstairs, they are making so much noise upstairs (I keep them up there until Phil is gone, he can't stand the noise :)) I think they want to join us now!

Have a wonderful day and if your weather is anything like ours, keep cool!