Still here...

...yikes. Sorry about that. Went missing, didn't I? ;) Not a huge amount to report but I will...soon. In the meantime, please pass the word about this, okay? Thanks! 

Miscellany...

If I was good, I'd break this down somewhat by topic and maybe even do separate posts. But. I'm feeling a little like if I don't post it all now, I'll forget and things will get missed. :) So...

Good Grief Blog. New challenge up today! Also, check out our mention in the May/June Creating Keepsakes magazine (page 20). 

Easter. Finished editing pictures. There weren't that many, honestly. We had a fairly low-key day, still recovering from our trip and starting the soccer season and all that. ;) Though we did see a few snowflakes early in the morning, the afternoon was perfect. We dyed eggs outside (yup, procrastinated on that one and didn't dye them until that day, lol). I get a kick out of the difference between when we started and when we finished:

Yeah. You try explaining to a four year old how to use a spoon for transferring eggs yet not spoon dye from one glass to another. ;) 

Soccer. Did I mention that spring soccer is fully underway? All three boys are preparing for their third games this coming weekend. We knew we lucked out last fall when we managed to somehow land game locations all in the same part of town and only a few weekends of overlap. We knew it. So. We weren't surprised this season when Noah's games end up being 20 minutes north and we have a single weekend without overlap. Most of the weekends, Noah and Asher's games are at exactly the same time. Lovely. But. The boys love it, so all's good.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science. We went to their bi-annual homeschool day on Monday and had a great time. The theme was "Bodies in Space" and the boys got to build rockets and launch them. They were stoked. And, their rockets definitely flew further than most. Fun times.

Clocks. Do you suppose that if I started collecting clocks I'd have more time? Yeah. I didn't think so either. Drat.

Homeschooling. This is the one that's really been taking most of my attention and time. I've recently adopted a new "schedule/routine" and it's going fabulously. It does, though, mean that my focus has really shifted of late to the boys and their schooling. Scrapbooking, for whatever it's worth, has taken a backseat. I haven't even finished more than a couple layouts this whole year. And I'm okay with that. Honestly, I've put so much energy into scrapbooking during the last few years that I haven't been able to do as much in the homeschooling area as I'd otherwise have liked. I don't regret it. Don't get me wrong! I've absolutely loved my experiences within the scrapbooking industry and know that the boys were still young enough that it didn't make a huge impact...they were able to mostly play and learn on their own and that worked. And I was able to learn more about myself and help support our family at the same time. So. It was awesome. 

But. Now I truly feel that it's time for me to shift gears. And I'm so excited. :) 

(Note: As I get this new routine more in place (and especially when soccer season ends and I regain those 10 hours of each week or so, lol), I do plan to do more scrapbooking again...so don't despair...I'll definitely be sharing more layouts. ;) I just wanted y'all to understand that my attention has changed.)

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Whew. Okay. I feel better for having gotten all of that off my chest. I felt like y'all weren't really getting what I am up to here based on what I've blogged lately. ;) Now you know.

Recap...

Okay. Just quickly. Wanted to post a recap of my Saturday cropping at the Treasure Box. But. I'm all in favor of not reinventing the wheel, so I'll simply direct you to my new pal Liz's blog where she so beautifully talked about our day. ;) Thanks, Liz!

Sunday...

One of these days I really must start coming up with better titles for these posts, lol! In the meantime, a few quick notes:

My layout is up on the Good Grief Blog today, so please check it out. :)

Noah scored his first goal yesterday during his soccer game!!!! He's so excited...has been wanting it for so long (this is his 6th season of soccer). Unfortunately. I have no picture as I wasn't there. Figures. I lug the camera to pretty much every game of every boy for six seasons waiting for a moment like this and I miss "the" game. Sigh.

On the bright side, I did get pictures of Asher playing goalie for the first time in his six seasons...and blocking two goals that otherwise might have led the game to a different outcome. (Yes, Asher and Noah's games are at the exact same time five of the eight weekends this season. We only have one, yes one, weekend where we don't have overlap between at least two of the boys' games. Lovely.)

To be clear, all the boys won their games yesterday and are quite happy. Well. Actually, Micah's team doesn't keep score. But I hear Micah was back to his "lightning force" self (aiming "lightning" out of his hands like the Emperor on Star Wars) and is happy. 

I missed Micah's game, too. But. I got to spend the rest of the day at The Treasure Box with about 20 awesome ladies that I've met through scrapbooking. I didn't get much actually accomplished but had such a nice time chatting and shopping. ;)

Today we took the boys swimming for the first time this year. They'd requested it as their "reward" for getting all our schoolwork done this week (more on this soon). Nathan and I had forgotten the work involved in taking them swimming...particularly given that Micah still can't touch the bottom or swim or float so insists on being carried around whilst simultaneously freaking out when anyone gets him wet. Fun times. ;) (The other two, fortunately, love the water.)

Okay, that's it for now. Lots of other stuff I'd like to share, but need to go get my guys moving again right now...;) Happy rest of Sunday to you all!

Getting home...

Okay. Last bit about our trip last month...promise. ;) Here are the pictures and tales from the drive home:

MARCH 12: We checked out of the unit in the morning (John & Nancy having left for the airport quite early) and headed north a bit to Dana Point where Nathan had managed to arrange a short tour of Nordhavn (a luxury boat building company that Nathan’s admired for years). We all checked out a new model (such workmanship!) and then drove to the nearest public beach for a last little stint of seashell collecting (this time with strict instructions to stay dry).

After that, we headed out of California (leaving most of Asher and Micah’s sniffles and coughs behind…must have been allergic to something there)…negotiating the horrid traffic on the way to Vegas.

We made it to Hoover Dam just before 5:00 and were able to walk across and back and convince the employees to let us in to use the penny press (though they were closed). Here are the boys straddling the state line between Nevada and Arizona.

Next, we drove through Las Vegas so the boys could see the strip, taking in the Bellagio’s water fountain show from the road and stopping briefly for the Treasure Island pirate ship show. We made it to the outskirts of town before stopping at an IHOP for dinner and continuing on to Cedar City, UT where we crashed for the night.

MARCH 13: From Cedar City to Arches National Park…we arrived about 2 pm and ate a late picnic lunch in front of the visitor center. After that, we drove into the park, admiring the rock formations as we went and speculating as to what they looked like. A couple of my favorites…(Noah) “it looks like a guy, balancing on a walrus, holding a dog”…and (Asher) “it’s a one legged man sleeping on his back with a Freeco Speeder on his belly.” We did the Landscape Arch hike (1.6 miles but through snow and mud) and the short upper viewpoint hike to see the Delicate Arch (.5 miles), finishing just as the rain started.

Here are Nathan and the boys at Landscape Arch:

And here's me and the boys from the viewpoint to Delicate Arch:

With the lightning literally lighting up the sky in the near distance, we made it into Moab to do the penny press and then stopped for a fabulous dinner (and dessert) at the Moab Diner. Yum! Amid the continuing rain storm, we then drove on to Grand Junction and stopped for the night.

MARCH 14: Waking up to another Holiday Inn Express breakfast, we got back on the road around 9:30 but were met with a snow storm over the Continental Divide along I-70. Traffic crawled. With that added delay (of maybe a couple hours), we stopped in Idaho Springs for a late lunch and were able to meet up with my friend Molly for a little visit (she was home for her sister’s birthday) before finally making it home around 4:30 pm…2955 miles after leaving home initially. Whew.

If you're lucky, I may get to Easter pictures before this weekend. ;)