Before Another Trip...

I had to finish my scrapbook pages from our last big trip.  So here are those pages:

Happy Green Day!

Leia says she is holding a leprechaun in this picture.

In the morning the kids ran to look inside their shoes by the door to find some gold chocolate coins left by a sneaky leprechaun.

I think Addie loves St. Patrick's Day the most.  She was disappointed that she didn't have green pants to wear.  The girls always have me stamp a shamrock on their cheeks.  So cute.

Have you ever seen Green Eggs and Spam?  Yummm!

Mom's green jello salad dessert.

I don't usually make Kool-Aid but just to be festive I did.  Then I remembered why I didn't as Bre spilled most of this all over the counter and floor and into a huge drawer!  We had to take out and wash all the dishes in that drawer and wash down most of the kitchen.  Such a fun reminder.

Hope you had a nice St. Patrick's Day!

Chicago

It was time for the House Wares Show again and this time mom got to go!

Chicago was quite cold and windy...even snowy for 2 of the days.

Here we are at our trade show booth.

Enjoying some of Chicago's deep dish pizza...Yummm.

Check out all that cheese!

Thanks Giordano's!  Hollie was our model for the picture this time sporting her J Dawg's shirt!

We love J Dawg's!

And we stayed at the historic Palmer House of course!

Palmers love the Palmer House!

And yes, I even caught a picture of food network star, Guy Fieri!  Hollie and I showed up at his booth just as he was going up to do a cooking demo in the cooking theater!

And do you recognize this guy?  Iron Chef's Michael Symon!  He is not only a great chef but a great personality.  It was fun to watch and listen to him in person.

Oh, and I also got to see and meet George Duran. (Wish I had gotten a picture.) He did the show, Ham on the Street on the Food Network.  He did a demo just down from our booth.  He did a little audience participation...asking questions and giving away copies of his cookbook.  Well, I answered one of them about pressure cookers and got his book called, Take This Dish and Twist It.  At the end he personally autographed it for me!  It made my day.

Here was our most frequented places to eat right by the hotel.  With all the eating out I think I won't have to eat for a week!  But it was soooo good.

Good bye Chicago with your tall and shiny buildings...'til next year!

Best Documentary

If you have Netflix, you should watch this documentary.  It's on instant play right now.  It is funny and amazingly informative.  It helps to have seen "Super Size Me" first.  It is kind of a response to that one but way better.

There is so much controversy over fat and carbs and calories and cholesterol and what you really need and what really works.  This has some very interesting insights.

Such a Good Girl

Look it's Betsy Ross!

Breanna did her oral report on the famous American of Betsy Ross.  She did such a good job.  She was very poised and looked up at her audience a lot and even demonstrated how to make a perfect 5 pointed star. Way to go Bre!

Got Love?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love the "Got Love" mini milk cartons! (Mom's Stampin' Up creation of course.)

It's crazy hat/Dr. Suess day at school so the kids are excited to wear their Disneyland hats!

Yummmm...Valentine's Treats!

How to Beat the Winter Blahs...

Go to Sunny Southern California and visit your cousins!

It was fun to play with our San Diego Palmer cousins at the beach!

It was especially fun to be with Aunt Stefani!

Then go to Disneyland and California Adventure for 3 days and visit with all your favorite charactors!

This was a first for our kids to go to Disneyland and a first time to see the ocean and experience the beach.  We LOVED the weather.  It was so nice to get away from the cold.

My New Year's Resolution

Have my kiddos do more chores!

Yes, I needed to teach them how to do a little more housework and expect more of them.  We redid our chore chart and have added some things.  We started at the beginning of the year and so far they are really doing well!  I'm thinking why didn't I do this sooner!?  The kids actually like cleaning the bathroom...and they can't wait until it's their turn to mop the floor!  Well, the novelty may soon wear off, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can.  I think if they get into the habit of what is expected then there is less drama and less complaining. 

My oldest 3 kids are expected to fold and put away their own laundry, load their own dishes, clean their own rooms (have it picked up at the end of everyday) and then do a chore that rotates each week.  One chore is bathrooms and garbages.  Another chore is floors: vacuuming,  sweeping and mopping.  The other is dishes: unloading the dishwasher each morning and helping load any extra dishes from dinner (when everyone loads their own dishes then there isn't as many for the person on dishes to load.)  Well, it seems to be working for now.  I am just missing a picture of Leia.  She really wanted  to be involved in cleaning the floor so I gave her a sponge and a bowl of water and she went to town.  She wanted to be just like Cinderella.  She's so cute.  However, she had moved on before I could grab my camera. 

When we're helping we're happy...tra la la la la la.

Some Christmas Pages

It's that final week of the year where I try and catch up on my scrap booking to conclude the year.  However, I also get a cleaning and organizing bug.  Yesterday I spent an hour and a half cleaning my refrigerator top to bottom so it's like brand new again.  I know, I am crazy...it's just been bugging me.


I know every page is a slightly different style from different kits.  I probably should have coordinated them all.  I just like to experiment with different looks.  Oh well, I still like them all.