My New Etsy Shop

About five years ago I gave two of my young nephews a handmade workbook that could be used over and over. I laminated the pages and put them in a three ring binder with a pencil pouch of washable markers. Both boys really liked the gift and so did their parents. I always wondered if I could market it somehow. Then along came Etsy. It's hard to take the plunge and get started, but I did it. Please check out my Etsy shop.

Andan's Swimming!!!

Can you tell from the title that I am a proud Mama! We went to my parents yesterday to bbq for them and have a swim day. We are very fortunate that grandparents on both sides have pools. But being around the water so much can be worrisome too. Andan fell into the pool when he was about 2 1/2. I wouldn't say that he almost drown but he could have drown, I had to jump in and retrieve him.
My mom wanted to put him in swimming lesson's which is very smart but costly. This summer he seemed to be very close to swimming. The other day he was kinda moving forward. Yesterday I got in the pool with him and he swam the short length of the shallow end! Awesome! So I showed him how to roll onto his back when he gets tired, come up for air in the middle of a stroke. Within minutes he got everything down that I was showing him, like a sponge. I taught him to blow bubbles under water to prolong how long he could stay under. Then he swam the length of the pool from shallow end to deep end, then from deep end to shallow end on his back.
I am so proud of him! If you are around water a lot, you know what a great milestone this is for a 5 year old. and a great relief for a parent!

Our bbq was also a lot of fun and the food was great! I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Water Fun

I am really enjoying my summer this year. This is my first summer that I am not working (since I was about 16). Now that I am a mom, I really appreciate being able to spend time doing fun activities with the kids. I have five but 3 of them seem way to cool to want to hang out with Mom (or dad for that matter). But the two little ones are both at an age where they are soaking it up.

We have been able to go to the zoo, Wild Animal Park, baseball game, story time (at the library), swimming, and camping (which was not too cool for the older ones!).

Yesterday we took the kids to the bay. This was Isha's first time to really get to enjoy the water. And he REALLY enjoyed the water. He was not too happy when I decided to take him out. His poor little hand didn't look too good and needed to dry out.

Ride' em Cowboy

This card is for the challenge over at 2 sketches 4 you. I have a lot of "men" in my life. So making a boys card should be something I do more of.

Yum Yum

I finally was able to finish the card I'd been thinking about. While creating this card, I realized I don't have all the material that I would like to be able to use.

Latest Layouts

This is for the weekly challenge. This was fun lo. This was NOT the finished project that I invisioned. It just came to be on its own, and I like the finished result.

This is for the July monthly challenge. The photos could be any color, but the paper and anything else had to be red, white and/or blue. It also had to have bling and at least one star.

Hey scrapping is still my first passion. Plus, I have to keep up with all the challenges over at Sassy Blinging Babes COF! Today was supposed to be scrappy day. Some days just don't go as planned. I was able to get the two challenges done.

I still have that card idea swirling around in my head. The plan is to try to get to it tonight once the two little ones are in bed for the night.

Sweet Moments

Can you believe that I experienced my sweet moment today at the Padre (baseball) game? Well, I did!

There were not too many people at the game today. Thank goodness because 1) it was hot. And 2) we were on the absolute top (of the top) last row. So I kept scooting down a row to stay in the shade. Usually Roque and Isha ended up directly behind Andan and I.

As we were sitting like this I felt these little tender arms wrap around my neck and embrace me in an unsolicited spontaneous hug. Tears came to my eyes as I eagerly excepted this gift from my 18 month old son, as I know that in another few years I will have to ask for affection and all too soon it may be an embarrassment to him to show such affection to his old lady, mom. I will store this memory in my heart as it is probably the only place it will survive through the tumultuous teen years. Lucky for me, Roque caught on camera what I caught in my heart!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I have been having fun making cards this weekend. As with anything new, It takes a while to find your groove or style. I am still trying to find mine.

I find a lot of inspiration on line. My "friends" card was inspired by Kristina Werner. You can check out her blog here. I love her style!

The rest of the cards were from sketches that I found on line.

I have a card idea that has been swirling around in my head for the last 24 hrs. So hopefuly in the next 24 hrs. I will have it done.

Bloom

This layout is for the Sassy Blinging Babes weekly challenge over at Scrapbook.com. The challenge was to have all these elements in the LO; tearing or distressing, edges inked, bling and use at least 5 flowers. When all I do is boy layouts, the flowers are really a challenge. I think it turned out well!

First Creations

Well, this scrapper is jumping on the card making band wagon. In an earlier post I explained my increasing desire to try my hand in this paper craft. I just had a birthday and my Mom and Dad gave me a gift card for Michael's. So I went ahead and picked up some tools of the trade and got to creating.

I love every one's blogs and hope to find a lot of ideas and some inspiration. Of coarse, I won't give up scrapbooking. I think these two crafts go hand in hand.

Our Summer Camping Trip

Daddy and Isha

S'more Anyone?

Justin "Fishing"

Happy Camper

Caught Off Guard

We went camping this past weekend at Lake Skinner. It is a part of Riverside County Parks and is located right outside Temecula. If you know anything about Temecula, you know we are NUTS to go camping there this time of year. Saying it is hot is an understatement. I think to be more acruate we could say the temperate is much closer to that place that my arch enemy, the Devil, lives.
Luckily we were able to use the water to keep cool. My Mom and Dad bought a slip~n~slide for the kids. We brought water balloons as well and had several balloon fights over the course of our five day stay.
There are other things to do at Lake Skinner. There's fishing. We didn't catch any. But we never seem to have any luck in that area. There's boating. My Dad brought his sail boat. Some of the kids got into sailing. My mom also rented a Patio Boat. These were bare bone boats. Ours didn't even have an anchor.
The campground itself is very nice. Bathrooms and showers are clean. There is some tree shade, green grass, and fire pits.
Speaking of fire pits. Isha had a run in with one on the first day we were there. He tripped and fell into it. Luckily there was no left over hot coals. But there was a strange sharp metal rod going across the bottom of it. He put his hands out to stop his fall (Thank God. It could have been worse) and cut his fingers up. One of the cuts was gaping and looked like it would require medical attention. So Roque, Isha and I were off to the nearest emergency room (which is not in Temecula) in Murrieta. Five hours and three stitches later we were on our way back to camp. I can say one good thing about the small emergency/hospital building; air conditioning. Isha did really well, much better than Mom and Dad who were a nervous wreck that their precious baby had to endure such an injury.
There was also a fair amount of ant bites, bee stings and mosquito bites. I know that I seem to be painting a grim picture of our camping experience. But in spite of all these things there is something invaluable about spending time with your family in an unstructured environment and rolling with the flow of the everyday experiences. Everyone truly had a good time. Even Isha, who had to sport a 2 pound bandage around his hand to keep his wound clean, was a happy camper.
I can't wait to go back next year. Um, Dad, Could you make the reservations for earlier in the summer?

Ladder Ball Anyone?

Only Andan!

Well, I guess there's a couple in the bunch!

What are the scheming up now?

Jared and Isha staying cool.