Lemonaide from lemons....

Let's see, what's new??? More snow in MARCH!!! But today we decided "if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!!" (Thanks to a suggestion from our friend, Ellen!) So we had a little fun and Jean built a snowman---since, remember.... she "LOVES" snow! :0) What a great "photo op" for a little scrapbooking fun, and a perfect picture to send to all her friends in Arizona!!! OK, now enough for the fun...we are seriously ready for some SUN!! This is the winter that just refuses to go away!!

We had a great time this afternoon---we took K and R to see "Horton Hears a Who." What a fun, fun movie!!! I recommend it for all ages. Jim Carrey, Carol Burnett and Steve Carell are fantastic as the character's voices. It was a "laugh out loud" movie---just the thing to balance out winter in March!!! :0)

Are you kidding me??!!

OK, I promised myself that I wasn't going to focus on spring...or the lack of it...for another day!! But, I just had to send this picture of what we're dealing with here today...it's NOT fair! :0) Our tulips should be looking like the picture on the bottom (taken a year ago about this time), and instead they are looking like the picture on the top!!! Poor little things are peeking out of the snow!

Little snow squalls are not that uncommon for us in early March, but a full-blown snowstorm (with drifting and a snow-day from school) this late in the year is totally uncalled for!!! (I'm blaming it on my sister, Jean! She is here visiting from Arizona and always says she just "loves the snow!" Well, here ya go---we got plenty to make you happy!!!) :0)

But, we're not letting a little snow get in the way of having fun!! We have been to see our first movie of the visit, The Other Boleyn Girl (excellent), been shopping and out to lunch! I am really hoping for some nicer weather during her visit, it is officially "spring" after all!!!

"Are you kidding me?" was the title of the text message I received from my daughter today---she is "enjoying" this snow, too!!!

Easter pictures to scrapbook...

Just one, of many, Easter 2008 pictures I have to scrapbook! It was a beautiful, but chilly, day for an Easter egg hunt, and K and R had a super time on the lawn of the UI Administration building...2,500 plastic eggs filled with goodies! It was sponsored by the students/alumnae board at the university, and they did a fantastic job!

From one of our "favorite" little bunnies....

"HAPPY EASTER"

Cupcakes Take The Cake....

No more focusing and fretting (for me) on the spring weather---or the lack of spring weather---time for something FUN!!! Cupcakes are the up and coming thing...and I found this really fun blog today!! Check it out, I think you will find it fun, too!! http://www.cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

First day of spring....

Helloooooooooooo...it's the FIRST day of spring Mother Nature!!! (I'm not sure she knows it's spring here, too!!) This has been the winter that just won't go away! :0) Check out the scene welcoming me out our front door...but, it's supposed to be in the high 40's today, so this will all go away (positive attitude!)
I heard a great quote from Dr. Laura yesterday (she is kind of goofy, but I like the quote!):

"Life is as perfect

as your attitude!"

Just wait 10 minutes....

We have a saying here about SPRING...."If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes!! These 2 pictures were taken literally 10 minutes apart yesterday---first the hail and then the blue skies and sunshine!!! I'll take the sunshine! :0)

"Bracket-ology"

I love this time of year..."March Madness!" And, today is an important day in our financial future---choosing the teams that will advance to the final four, and, eventually the NCAA Men's Basketball National Champion! I think Jim's office pool is worth maybe $50 if I make correct choices---this is important! :0) In the past, I've chosen teams from cities I liked, or the color of their uniforms or perhaps the mascot...but, I've advanced a little past that and know a teensy-tiny bit about some of the teams....not much, but a little. It's hard to decide...how far do I take our local favorites Washington State University and Gonzaga??? It's all in good fun and makes for a fun "escape" from the doldrums of tax season at the office!! The guys like to think they "know" basketball and can always pick the eventual winner---imagine their surprise the year that one of the secretaries won!! Any advice on who to choose would be much appreciated!! :0)

Never too young....

A little girl is never too young to learn the "finer points" of applying make-up! "K" managed to use up her little girls make-up kit in about two sittings! :0) She was totally "greased" up and ready for a bath....but, she had lots of fun applying the beautiful colors everywhere! :0)

I don't know why we are here,

but I'm pretty sure

it has something

to do with

enjoying ourselves!

~Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Young boys...."

"Young boys should never be sent to bed, they always wake up another day older."
~ Johnnie Depp , from the movie Finding Neverland

Just thinking about my two favorite little boys today, and YES...they are growing up way too fast! But, I have learned that each age and stage is even more fun than the last!! (Do you think that holds true for the teenage years??? Will they still think Nana is great???)

I haven't posted a picture of "A" with his new glasses...doesn't he look so grown up? And, I love this picture of "L" putting $$$ in his piggy bank! No big news today, just wanted to post pictures of my two favorite boys!! :0)

Sweet cheeks...

Are these not the "sweetest cheeks" ever??!! I worked on this layout of "L" today, and just wanted to reach through the pictures and kiss those precious cheeks! I'm missing this little guy lots and lots, but when tax season ends and Papa is "free" we will be making the trek east to see this precious little guy---and his Mommy and Daddy! I love you baby L!

Doing the "happy" dance...

This morning in our front lawn I spied a true sign that spring is on the way....these little green sprouts!!!In just a few short weeks they will look like this! I took these two pictures in the very same location in our lawn, so look what we have to look forward to!!And....the last of the enormous snow piles in our lawn is almost gone...whoo hoo for spring!!!
(Note: those of you without 4 seasons probably don't understand and/or appreciate just how exciting it is when we know that the days are just going to get nicer and nicer....believe me, springtime can really lift a girl's spirits!! :0)

A Crayola Bomb....

"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with their imagination."
~Robert Fulghum

I found this quote today and I love it! Maybe it is the kindergarten teacher in me, but I still get excited over a brand-new box of Crayola Crayons....I can close my eyes and even remember the smell!!

Through The Year Mini Album...

I just finished this mini album sample for a class I will be teaching on Tuesday, April 1, at the Pullman Paper Pals. This fun, tab-top, board book has a page for each month! You will go home with a completed album--all that's left to do is add your favorite picture from each month. I hope you can join me!

Wish me luck....

Do you find yourself overwhelmed with "unscrapped" photos like me??? I have pictures on the camera card, pictures on my computer, pictures in storage boxes in my scrapbook room, pictures in photo albums, and then the most recent pictures piled in stacks on my scrapbooking table! YIKES, I need to get a handle on this!! (And, the answer is NOT to develop less pictures---I love each and every one and can't imagine not having a copy of that perfect picture!!) :0) So...today when I was in Paper Pals I was SOOOO excited to see Stacy Julian's new book "Photo Freedom" sitting right there on the counter just waiting to jump into my arms!!! I have been so excited to read this book....and I'm promising myself right here and now that I WILL GET MY PICTURES ORGANIZED!!!

I have only read a few pages---while sitting in a comfy chair at Starbucks sipping on my non-fat latte, enjoying the beautiful sunshine that we have today---but I'm already loving it!! I am committed to getting my pictures organized...no more searching for the photo that "I know I have someplace" to use on the layout!! Wish me luck! :0)

Spending the day with Nana...

What a fun day this little one and I had on Friday!! (Mommy and Daddy were at work and "A" was at Kindergarten.) "K" will soon be 3 (in April) and she has turned into quite the little chatterbox!! We went to Starbucks for our morning "treat"---non-fat latte for me and strawberry cream frappuccino her---and had fun just talking! She informed me that "My mommy likes coffee and my daddy likes wine!" We talked about all sorts of things and had such a great time!! After Starbucks we ventured to Pet Smart so she could she the ferrets, birds and fish. We walked in and she covered her nose and said "It smells like a dirty diaper in here!" (Out of the mouths of babes!!) But, you know, she was right!! :0) Then on to our final stop, the Hallmark Store, where we bought her a little WebKins puppy...she told me she didn't want a kitty "because they lick themselves!" After returning home we had just enough time to paint her fingers and toes before lunch and nap time! She sat so still for me...just like a "big girl!"

Days like this are what being a "Nana" is all about...taking time to spend with our grandchildren doing whatever they want to do! We didn't always have the luxury of doing this when our own kids were little...time and $$ constraints! So...with "nothing but time" and a little more $, I treasure these times! I love you "K"!!

Would you believe...

Would you believe that in just 3 short weeks (2 1/2 of which I got to spend in the warm and sunny climate of Phoenix!!), we went from this.... to this...Whoo Hoo...it's March 1st and I'm thinking SPRING!!! I know in the next few weeks we will be seeing tulips popping their little heads through the ground telling us that spring cannot be far away! I love this time of year because we are on the downhill side of winter and warmer, sunnier days are on the way!! The time changes just one week from tomorrow...more daylight, yipee!!