So, I think it was food poisoning and I’m doing much better.

Been super busy with my boys. We are on a track system with our school, so we’re gearing up for Kindergarten Promotion, end of the year parties and then we get a week off before we start the next grade. I have some stuff to share, just need to take the pictures and get them up here. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can do that soon.

Hope you all have a great day!

I started to reminisce of my childhood, happier times to take my mind off of my nausea. I spent a good time of my childhood sharing a room with my Grandma Vicky. (my Mom’s Mom) I had a very special connection with my Grandma, even before she lived with us for a while. She was a young Grandma and thoroughly enjoyed being a Grandma to her three grandchildren. (me, my brother and my cousin) I was the only granddaughter, so often times I was spoiled, but I like to think of it as just being very well loved. My Grandma was one of those people who just radiated. She had had a hard life, and was probably the hardest worker I’ve ever known. All of my friends called her “Grandma” because even when she didn’t live with us, she would still frequent our home and help care for me and my brother while my parents were at work. She always lived close enough to walk to our house, I remember many walks from our home to one of the apartments she lived in. She didn’t drive, so we traveled by foot or bus. Sometimes my brother and I remember bus ride experiences and get a good laugh. You meet a lot of interesting people on the bus routes.

While my Grandma did have a hard life (a whole other story in and of itself) she had one constant - family. She was very dedicated to her family, we were her world. My Mom and my Grandma had a best-friend relationship and that was passed down to me. I have many fond memories of “cousin sleep overs” at my Grandma’s apartment. It was a tradition for us to all spend New Year’s together, no matter where she was living. My Grandma wasn’t just a Grandma, she was also a best-friend who knew me and how I was doing just by looking at my face. We would joke and play pranks, setting each other up for a good laugh. My Grandma had a good sense of humor. I have many pictures in my Memory Boxes of me and my Grandma trying to get the best of each other - shots of one of us sleeping or walking back into the bedroom with curlers in our hair and in our pjs. Back in the day when it was hilarious to wait for the roll of developed pictures to come back revealing our good joke.

I thoroughly enjoyed sharing a room with my Grandma. We would watch shows together in our room and laugh. We loved to watch the award shows and I remember one time when we were watching a music award show - probably the Grammys. Prince (I think he was still Prince back then) was performing wearing his yellow suit. When the performance was over, he turned very dramatically to leave the stage and reveal that his pants revealed a little TMI, showing his butt. I think we rolled on the floor for a good half hour after mine and my Grandma’s startled reaction to what we had just seen on TV.

Sometimes we drove my Grandma a little nuts, but that’s to be expected when you share a closeness that allows for irritation and love. One of the things that always amazed me about my Grandma was that she could tell how I was feeling in an instant and was a comfort to me when I needed it. When I was sick she would set up a TV tray and keep fresh, ice cold 7up with a bendy straw and a plate of crackers close by. She’d put in my favorite “feel good” movie (The Princess Bride) for me to watch and cover me up with my favorite kitty blanket that I still have to this day. She’d often bring me a damp washcloth to cool my forehead and would check on me, waiting for me to fall asleep and feel better.

It’s during these times that I miss her the most and remember her for the loving Grandma she was. She was gone too soon, so I am glad she was a young Grandma whom I was able to share many years with before she was claimed by a final bout of cancer. She lived by a strong will and was able to see her Great-Grandson before passing. When Perrin was less than a month old, I went to Texas (where she lived for the last few months of her life with my Uncle and Aunt) so that she could hold him and meet him here on Earth.

It is also memories like this that remind me of the blessing I have in my Mother and for the good example she had in my Grandmother of how loving a relationship one can have with their Mom and Grandma. Because of the relationship my Mom and Grandma had, today I have a best-friend relationship with my Mom and she has a wonderful relationship with my boys as a Grandma.

So, even when I’m sick, I realize that I a blessed. Even if it ends with me hovering over the toilet, chanting words of encouragement to myself (”it’s okay” “you’re alright”) for a good ten minutes before ending the night in a not-so-pleasant way. I have the memories of my Grandma to help take my mind to a happier time.

Happy Birthday to Perrin! Today he turns eight! This is a really special birthday in my church because it means he will be baptized! He is very excited and can’t wait until the end of the month! He will also be starting Cub Scouts with me this week. I am the Assistant Wolf Leader and now he gets to come with me. We got his uniform last week and today I’ll be sewing his patches on so he’s all ready to go.

This also means more cupcakes today! I think these will have chocolate frosting! Mmmmm! That sounds good!

Yum! Yum! I decided to go with red, white and blue after all! Hahaha! Owen picked out a USA circle flag balloon for his birthday and that just sealed the deal for me. I thought it would be fun to have the sprinkles around the cupcake instead of on top. I like how these turned out and it was only one extra step. I used a number 32 star tip to pipe the frosting around the edge then sprinkled all the pretties on top! After that was done I went ahead and frosted them like I normally do. I think it adds a fun whimsy to the cupcakes.

We were so ghetto with our candles this year! I completely forgot to make sure I had birthday candles. I’m sure I have some in the house somewhere, but I just don’t know where. D’oh!

But that didn’t stop anybody from eating the cupcakes. Owen thought they were all for him, and was happy to share with family! Hehe!!

It was a very low key birthday for us. Since we did Disneyland earlier in the week, we didn’t do a party. My parents did stop by with a present and a purple balloon for Owen. He got a USA states puzzle and a world map puzzle. He was so excited. My Mom had called earlier in the day to wish him a Happy Birthday and he didn’t miss a beat asking if she had a 50 states present in a box for him. Um, we’re going to have to work more on his Birthday manners!

Perrin TOTALLY rocked his Yellow Belt testing! He has such a passion for physical activities, that it’s no surprise he’s doing so well with TaeKwonDo. He even broke his board on the first kick! My Dad is going to rig a trophy stand using the two pieces of wood that Perrin broke. Then we can display them both in his room.

Sorry about the excessive family photos this weekend! I’m hoping this benefits family and friends who are far away by sharing some of the birthday activities. And thank you for the birthday wishes and good luck wishes for my boys!

Back tomorrow with Perrin’s Birthday!

We’ve had a busy week which ends with this guys big Birthday number 6!

We took the boys to Disneyland on Tuesday for their Birthday since they went back on-track yesterday. We had a fun day! We found out from some friends that if you go there for your Birthday, that you should go to the City Hall, let them know, and they give you a special Birthday button to wear all day. It’s lots of fun for the kids because people working there (as well as guests) will tell you “Happy Birthday” all day long.

This time around our favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear. I’ve decided that that ride just RULES!! For those who don’t know, it is based on Toy Story 2. The story of the ride is that you are a Space Ranger helping Buzz bring down Zurg. You ride in a “car” that has two laser blasters; as you go thru the ride you blast various “Z”s and score points. Our boys love this ride, and I have to admit that I love it, too! A teenager behind us described it perfectly to his friends as a “giant video game.” The boys both came home with Buzz Lightyear blasters that shoot foam arrows as their present this year.

Today we plan to have some cupcakes, which I think I’ve decided to decorate in red, white and blue - but I might change my mind, and Owen will get to go pick his Birthday balloon. This is a tradition I started when we only had Perrin. I take them to a local party supply store and they get to pick any balloon in the store. They both love balloons and this makes it a special treat. Owen is already excited to go and pick his out!

Perrin is also testing for his yellow belt in TaeKwonDo today, so we have a full day ahead of us!

Hope you all have a great Friday!! Tomorrow is the weekend!

We’re having a bit of afternoon excitement for us SoCal residents. Rain, thunder and some hail!

I love the lighting from the clouds so I took out my camera to catch the boys looking out at the rain (still in their pjs, I know, I know)

That was Owen’s reaction to the thunder clap!

Hope you’re all having a nice day! I love this type of weather! So glad I did my grocery shopping yesterday.

I got The Host just before Mother’s Day and finally had time to sit and read. I finished it yesterday and really enjoyed it!

I used to read quite a bit, so I’m happy to have a couple more “must reads” coming out in the next few months. I’ll be getting Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the Twilight series when it comes out. I seriously can’t wait to pick that one up!

Then I’ll be getting Brisinger! I’ll have to read that one fast, since I’ve gotten my Mother-in-Law and one of my Brothers-in-Law reading this series, too.

What are you reading right now? I’m in a big reading mood and I’d love to hear some suggestions. I like to read fantasy books, but I also like to read classics. Good adventure, low key on the “adult” situations, and something that is a good page turner!

Anyway, we went to see Ironman opening weekend and loved it! My parents were watching the boys, so we called up my brother and the three of us went for an afternoon showing. I always like a good Comic Book movie and this one was AWESOME! I’d pay to see it again, that’s how much I enjoyed it! It was also a big reminder to me of what a good actor Robert Downey Jr. is! I’m thinking I’ll have to go rent this really soon!

For us, this movie was the perfect kick off to a summer full of “must see” movies! A “must see” means that we are willing to pay movie theatre prices to see it on the big screen, instead of waiting for it to come to DVD. Since I don’t have any projects to share, I thought I’d share our list of “must see” movies

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian We love the Narnia movies, including the PBS ones! Sometimes the boys groan when we put those in, but they always end up snuggled up watching them with us! I think Disney did a great job with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, so I’m really looking forward to Prince Caspian!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I can not tell you how absolutely excited I am for this one!!! I think Indy was my first movie crush! I remember going to the drive-in with my parents to see Raiders with a double feature of 9 - 5. My Mom told me to cover my eyes when they opened the arc, I didn’t listen! I watched thru my fingers and was totally grossed out, but I still loved the movie! LOL!

The Happening I’m really curious about this one! I’m sure I’ll be cursing M. Night Shyamalan when I’m trying to sleep after watching this, but I always enjoy his movies. Even if the closing line is “They called me Mr. Glass” Hahahahaha! Lame!

The Incredible Hulk Remember what I said about a good Comic Book movie? Well, I never watched the other Hulk movie that came out a few years ago because I thought it looked pretty dumb. But this one looks good and we’ll be seeing this in the theatre!

Wall-E My boys are really excited for this one and we’ll all be going to see this together. I think we only take them to a movie once a year, and 99% of the time it’s a Disney show.

The Dark Knight Okay, I love Christian Bale and I LOVE him as Batman! Still so sad about Heath, but he looks phenomenal in all the trailers.

X-Files: I Want to Believe I’m still shocked that this movie got made after all the guffaw from the actors in the past over having another X-Files movie. I can’t wait to see Mulder and Scully back together again! Hopefully we’re all caught up with our X-Files watching by then, too.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor I’m a sucker for these Mummy movies! I also wish they’d do a Scorpion King sequel, that would be fun!

And I will go see this one with my brother if he wants to see it in the theatre, otherwise I’ll just wait for DVD.

So what movies are you looking forward to?

The tall cubbies are this one: Expedit bookcase (tall)

We have two of those in our house. One is in my Stamp Room and the other is in our boys’ bedroom.

Then they have this size: Expedit bookcase (medium)

We also have two of these and they are both in our bedroom. We opted for this size so we can put pictures on top.

Here is the smallest size: Expedit bookcase (small)

Again, we have two of these. One is in my Stamp Room and the other is in our front room under our window. We have both of ours laying down instead of standing up, this way we have a “table top” to put things.

We have a ton of Ikea in our home and it cracks me up! We even spent one whole weekend trying to find a solution to displaying some beautiful dishes Don got me for Christmas, only to find that Ikea had the best solution and was MUCH less expensive than what we were finding elsewhere. I think the only rooms that don’t have something from Ikea in them is our bathrooms, and that will change when we switch out some stuff this coming year. Hmmmmm, maybe I love Ikea more than Target. Naaaaaaaaaah!!

Here is a shot of what you see when you walk into my room. My table is against the wall with my computer and stamping stuff I use on just about everything. I went to Ikea this past weekend and picked up a new table : Vika Amon

I ended up picking out different legs for it after seeing how it was in person. I’ll still be able to have some shelves under the table, which I hope to put to good use. I want to be able to have two people at the table, so I’ll be pulling the table away from the wall and more in the center of the room.

This is what is to the left of my table, you can see part of my table in the picture. I plan to rethink what I put in these cubbies and move the cubbies into the closet. This will be my biggest project since I’ll have to move some of Don’s stuff out of my Stamp Room closet.

This is behind my table and secured to the wall, which means I won’t be moving it. Just like the smaller one, I’ll be rethinking what I store in these cubbies. Mostly is has my stamps and some miscellaneous materials/embellishments. I’d like to get some labels up, but I’m not going to stress myself on that.

And here is the big problem:

This is just a partial of my Stamp Room closet. I have my 12×12 papers on a home constructed paper holder, but I really need to go thru them and just toss what I don’t use. Seriously, I go thru them and wonder why I even bought some of them. What was I thinking?? Hahaha! Here you can also see some of the stuff Don has me storing in this closet. I’d really like to get those boxes moved outta there and put the smaller cubbies in there. This would really open up my room and let me use all the space. You can also see how bad I am at remembering things. That cute BE box was supposed to be returned to Jami, and I keep forgetting to take it when I go to her house! D’OH!

I also have boxes of way too many alterables in my closet. I went thru those not long ago and threw some stuff out, but I think it’s time to throw more stuff out. I do plan on going thru all my stamps and getting my “sale” page updated. I have lots of stamps that I just don’t use and need to get them moved out.

So that is what I’ll be up to this week! I hope to get this plowed thru and done by Sunday so I can enjoy Mother’s Day in a nice organized Stamp Room! Wish me luck!