I'm leaving here...

in 1 hour and 35 minutes. I bet you're wondering if I'm ready.

Thanks for asking. Actually, I have yet to pack a thing, my little one just redecorated my master bedroom in the new fall style, "au la toilet paper" and I still need to get in the shower. And where am I?

I'm here writing this post to say,"I'M OUTTA HERE in 1 hour and 33 minutes!!!!" See ya soon!!!

If You Have a Girl from 5-10 years Old...

You need to check this site out. It's from Precious Moments. Remember them? The cute statues with the large heads and even larger eyes.

Well, they have new books out that promote virtues. And the best part, as far as my girls is concerned, they have a virtual world about to launched any day. If you sign up before it opens, you get 25 extra virtual points and a limited tee shirt for her character to wear. They can set up their own room, and can receive emails from us, their mom's, giving them extra virtue points for something they did good at home. NOW THAT IS COOL!!!!

So if you and your daughter are interested, go to www.preciousgirlsclub.com and sign up. It's free but I'm sure they have an upgraded membership like all those websites seem to have. No mention of it yet.

Enjoy and if you sign up and want to connect with Paige, email me and I'll give you her name. photomom5 at gmail.com

Crafts are keeping me sane right now. No one is in school as of yet. Get this, I have to get the kid's sealed school transcripts, both from the district and from the school, take them to the Costa Rican consulate in Los Angeles and get them o.k.'d and the birth certificates stamped (and show Wes and my passports) along with the kid's passports. Then I get to pay $200 to a translator here in Costa Rica to translate them to Spanish. Of course they won't let "mi esposó" do it. I need to do the same with the vaccination records. I also have to have an electric bill in our name among other things. And all this just to have our kids pick up the language fast. Hummm. I might just need to find another way to accomplish that one.
So to keep the kids entertained we have been doing some fun things. Did you know you could make fun coloring pages out of your kid's favorite photographs? Imagine the benefits of this. You can take them to the park dressed as Spiderman, superman or a princess then snap away.

When you get home open your pictures in a Photoshop type program and do this:

1. open your picture on a page the size you are going to print. I did 8.5x11
2. make sure the picture is selected and not the background.
3. Go to filter>sketch>photocopy
4. You will now have something close to a coloring book sketch.
5. Play around with it, I kept the DETAIL around 8 and DARKNESS at 5.
6. That’s it. So easy.


Think about the possibilities.

*You could have a coloring contest at a baby shower with one of the pregnancy portraits.

*You could create a "choosing the right" coloring book for Sunday with your kid as the star.

*You could use them for a birthday party.

*You could create a “thank you” coloring page from a photo at your child’s birthday party.

*You could use it for a young women’s, primary, scout or achievement day activity.

*Ohhhh, how about a coloring book for a 50th wedding anniversary with pictures for the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to color about the couples life together. That would be awesome.

In fact if you think of a more creative way to use it, please let me know! I’d love to hear.

This is one we came up with.

I'm It!! I Got Tagged.

It's Sunday, a non post day, so I thought I'd throw in this fun "tag your it" questionnaire I got from my good friend Lara. It took me 2 years as a teen to stop calling her Lora. She just kept softly reminding me that her name included 2 a's. I'm amazed she will still take me as a friend. Thanks L-A-R-A.

A= Attached or Single: Attached for 12 perfect (crazy, hard, fun) years
B= Best Friend: I'm spoiled in this area!
C= Cake or Pie: Yuck to cake, pie is it (lemon supreme is one of my favs)
D= Day of Choice: Used to be Sunday, but now it's probably any "rainy" Monday.
E= Essential Item: I've learned besides food and water, there aren't any "essential" items
F= Flavor of Ice cream: Rocky Road with a little milk poured on top.
G= Gummy Bears or Worms: nothing gummy.
H= Hometown: Riverside, CA
I= Indulgence: baths, books, Ruby's chocolate malt, cuddling with the kids Saturday mornings in our bed.
J= January or July: Both
K= Kids: Troy, Dallin, Paige, Aiden, Landon (and sometimes my sweetie Wes).
L= Last movie I saw at a theater: "Becoming Jane" when I was in the states (so good!)
M= Musician: my son the drummer (he drums on EVERYTHING)
N= Number of Siblings: 3 brothers 1 sister
O= Oranges or Apples: mandarin oranges and gala apples
P= Phobias or Fears: heights; losing a child, not enduring to the end.
Q= Quote: Today's trial is tomorrows testimony" or "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission" or "cleaning the house while you have young kids is like stringing beads without a knot tided in the end of the string."I'll stop there.
R= Reason to Smile: my kids, my honey, my quiet time.
S= Season: what are seasons? We've got hot and humid or hot and rainy.
T= Tag: L(arge), oh you meant tag someone.
U= Unknown fact: I have to turn the tv channel if I think someone on tv is going to be embarrassed or made fun of, I just can't watch it.
V= vegetarian or oppressor of Animals: oppressor definitely, A-1 steak sauce just doesn't go well with veggies.
W= Worst habit: I'm not telling! :)
X= Xray or Ultrasound: I'd rather have an ultrasound if that's what the question is.
Y= Your favorite food: my mom's
Z= Zodiac sign: I'm not sure. I never read those! (Hee, hee)