Woosh!

Well "woosh" is for two reasons. One is that this month just flew by and it is now going to be January and I am finally updating my blog! (Some blog reading friends of mine have asked me to update!) The second reason is this photo of Sammie bungee jumping high in the air!

My parents were in town my birthday weekend and we were supposed to go to Knott's but it was super crowded so instead we went to Tom's farms in Corona. It is a great place to have a family day. There are kiddie rides, ponies, a petting zoo, train, food places and bungee jumping!!! All the kids doing it were like 7-8 years old and then went 3 year old Sammie flying high into the air while I held my breath praying!! It was soooooo scary but she LOVED it! The kid is fearless which is good but scary for me!!
We celebrated my "21st" birthday (wishful thinking) at Disneyland which was fun! The weather wasn't great and it even rained for a bit but it wasn't crowded at the park and we got on so many rides again and again. We watched the Christmas parade and the fireworks over the castle. I love to see the holiday decorations.

We celebrated Xmas eve at Brad's parents' house. We ate dinner and exchanged gifts. This year we took turns opening presents for the first time! I have been asking for years that we do that because I never get to see what anyone gets. It took a long time but it was fun! I hope this will be a new tradition! This is the first year that Sammie "got" the idea of Santa, etc. She talked all about it and said she wanted a pony. We told her Santa doesn't deliver live animals because it is too tough for the reindeer. She had her own ideas of what to leave out for him and it was not the traditional "milk and cookies" but an apple. It was all her idea to leave something for him anyway. It was very cute. So I guess that will be our treat for Santa. A nice healthy apple. ( He cut it in slices and ate it)
She tiptoed downstairs on xmas morning, then came and woke us up to tell us that Santa came. Sammie and I had matching jammies this year which was fun. We opened presents and spent the day playing with new toys, etc. I took her to see the Disney Princess Wishes show on ice. Brad didn't want to go to such a "girlie" show. It was a great show actually and he probably would have enjoyed it! We had a nice time. It was very "Disney" with lots of fancy costumes, famous songs and fireworks at the end!!
The next morning Sammie and I went to Vegas to visit my parents. The drive was miserable! It took us 7 hours and it usually takes 4. There were an expected 300,000 people heading to Vegas for New Year's. We had a nice time. It was nice to see my parents. They really miss Sammie and she just adores my mom. The weather was very cold and windy so we stayed indoors mostly. We drove back yesterday so I could be home for a party at The Red Bee. It was nice to have dinner and play some games with the "bee gang".
I am off work for another week which I need to catch up on things at home! I have so much to do!
So, I wish you all a Happy, Healthy New Year!
Here are a few of my goals:
1. Stop spending so much money
2. Lose weight and exercise more ( more than twice a year LOL)
3. Organize my house
4. Lots of scrapbooking and MUCH less scrappy shopping! (this is HUGE for me)
5. More blogging than 2 times a month!
6. To follow my advice in my last post and NJY TDAY~

There is that enough?? I hope I can accomplish even one of those!! I figure if I write them on my blog, everyone will know and I will be more accountable! What are your goals??

NJY TDAY

So I don't usually post 2 days in a row but I thought I would share a little random good thought. Can you figure out the title? I saw it today on a license plate. It says "Enjoy Today". I thought it was a good little piece of advice. It made me think. Especially this time of the year when everyone is so busy. I am always thinking of tomorrow or what I have to accomplish next and find myself so busy all the time. This made me stop and appreciate today and realize that tomorrow is another day to do more stuff but today is where I should be and just go with it! So on that note, instead of doing the daily tasks, chores, etc. I am going to go do something creative that I enjoy and that is scrapbooking! So my challenge to you is to "enjoy" and do something today that makes you happy!

December Already!

December always comes so quickly for us. We have many celebrations this month so we are always so busy! We started the month with a holiday party for Sammie at the Craniofacial unit at CHOC. I forget that she had a cleft lip but when I see all the other families in various stages of the surgery process I vividly remember what it was like to go through it all. I am so grateful that Sammie's lip was so minor and that we are most likely done with surgery. I am glad to be able to talk to other families and give them support as they go through it themselves. It is always a great party. They serve food/refreshments and have entertainment. They have therapy dogs dressed up to visit the kids and then Santa comes and brings a nice present for each child.

We go to Knott's Berry Farm every year. Brad gets in free as part of Law Enforcement. When Sammie heard me say "We are going to Knott's Berry Farm" she immediately said "Farm?" Are there horseys there?? There is a horse drawn stagecoach but when we got to it, it was already closed for the day. She did see the horses running by a few times and was very excited. She had a great time on the rides at Camp Snoopy but loved the "big people" log ride the most. We picked a great day to go and it wasn't crowded at all. We were able to stay on some rides again and again without getting back in line. (the log ride was one of them) Some rides Sammie went on completely by herself. I can't think of a time at an amusement park when NO ONE ELSE was on a ride! That was cool!

Tonight was the 6th night of Hanukkah. Sammie enjoys lighting the candles with me and saying the prayers. Or as she calls them, "the pears". The prayers are in Hebrew (I have a phonetic cheat sheet) and she tries to repeat some of the words. It is cute! She especially likes opening presents. The first night she got a Snow White Dress. Some of her other gifts were, PJ's, a Dora (cowgirl) movie, and a My Little Pony playset.

My parents are coming in town this weekend. Their anniversary is Dec. 17th and my birthday is the 18th so we usually celebrate together when we can. I think we are going to go back to Knott's for the day and eat at the Chicken Dinner restaurant.

We will celebrate Christmas with Brad's family on Christmas Eve. I am taking Sammie to see the Disney Princess on Ice show on Dec. 25th. She will love it! She likes the Disney princesses right now. (Ariel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and especially "Belt". ( Belle)

I guess that's all the updates for now. Just trying to keep up with shopping, wrapping, cards, etc. Happy Holidays to you!

Gobble Gobble

Just wanted to share a picture Sammie made at school. I have it
hanging up in my kitchen. I just love it! How was your Thanksgiving?
We had a good one. We went out to eat with Brad's family which
was nice so no one had to cook or clean up!! My Nana came with us.
My parents were on a cruise.

I was going to go out shopping at 3am on "Black Friday" but i whimped out
and my sister in law Ruth, got the item I was hoping to get, for me!
How nice is was that?? I got to sleep in until my "Sammie clock"
woke me up and then we went out shopping around noon. It is so crazy
to go so early but sort of fun too. I went last year at 6:00 am and was home
by like 7:30am and felt sort of weird, like now what do I do, I was already
out and back and it was so early!! Anyway.. got some good deals.

I had an extra few days off this week since it was only a 3 day work week.
My teaching partner worked the 3 days, so I was off for the whole week
and then a few days this week. Am I caught up on everything?? NO!!

I feel like I can never catch up with all that I want to do! I guess that's
just life these days. So what did I do?? I went on a Scrapbook bus tour,
went to the movies, shopped, went to Disneyland, organized a little bit
of my scrappy stuff, went scrapbooking to celebrate my friend
Donna Larson's birthday, and miscellaneous other things that
keep me busy!
Well, just wanted to say hi since it has been a while but now I
have to go write a few bills and get to bed! I am tired!

I've Been Tagged!

Okay.. so I"ve been tagged by Donna Salazar on the Red Bee Design Team!
I have to post 7 random things about ME! There are lots and lots of random things about me but I can only choose 7!
I am supposed to do some linky thing back to her blog but I don't know how to do that exactly so look on my sidebar and find her name under "blogs I read" and you can see her blog with the tag and other posts.

Anyway.. here are the top 7 random things about Illyse:

1. I can hang a spoon on my nose. Yes, any spoon and my dad does it to and so does Sammie.
2. I was born in Detroit.
3. I was a cheerleader in high school.
4. I love to play blackjack and slot machines.
5. I love 80's music still!
6. I have been on TV 3 times. ( In the audience of the Price is Right, also in the audience when my mom was on "The Joker's Wild" gameshow, and on the channel 9 news when they interviewed people in my neighborhood about a nearby lake that smells like fish when they drain it)
7. I always print when writing things. I like my handwriting but I always prefer to print.

Okay.. that's it! Those of you who know me well, know many more random things. Hey, if you are reading this, surprise me and post a comment sharing something random about me that you know! Here are the 7 people I tag that have to post 7 random things on their blog.... Christine, Donna Larson, Echo, Heather, Stacey D, Erika, Nan. Have fun girlies!

I know this is a shock but I posted 2 days in a row so read below to find another post.
Bye!

Halloween Pics!

Here are some pics I promised from Mickey's Halloween Treat and Halloween night. We trick or treating at Disneyland on Tuesday night. We had a fun time! Sammie loves the Matterhorn.
She dressed up as Cinderella this year for Halloween. The pumpkins she picked from pumpkin patches. The little one she got from her preschool fieldtrip to CSUF arboretum and the bigger one we picked at Tanaka Farms. We carved them together the night before Halloween. Well actually I carved them because she didn't want to touch the pumpkin goo!
The little pumpkin was tricky to do but came out cute! This was the first year that she really "got" the concept of going door to door saying "trick or treat". She had lots of fun getting candy. We wandered around our neighborhood and then walked a few blocks to a haunted house that a family made in their front yard. They did a really nice job on it and they didn't scare her too much. How was your spooky night??

Happy Halloween!

Well, today is the last day of October and I have only blogged once! Bad blogger, bad blogger.. I apologize. I actually enjoy keeping a blog. It is a fun way to keep track of life these days.. I just have been pretty busy lately and haven't had an extra block of time to update. I have over 1000 pics on my photo disc so I need some time to upload pics. I am waiting for them to get printed at Sam's club which is really exciting because that means new pics to scrapbook!!
Anyway.. this is just a quick hello so you don't give up on reading my blog and I will post some more pics that show what we have been up to! I hope you had a fun Halloween! We sure did!
Boo!

Breakfast at Disney's

I feel like I have been LIVING at Disneyland lately. We went last week to Ariel's Grotto to have breakfast with the princesses. Sammie absolutely loved it! It was a very nice meal and she got special time with all the princesses. We met Cinderella, Belle ( she calls her "Belt"), Snow White, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty ( aka Princess Aurora). We spent the day at Disneyland and had a great time. Then, I attened a Professional Conference for school at the Disneyland hotel for 3 days. Brad had the day off today so we went again so that makes 5 trips to Disneyland in 1 week. ( OH yeah, and we went the day before the breakfast to get Brad's annual pass so that really makes 6 trips to Disneyland in 8 days.)

Today was a little more crowded than last Monday. I think many people had the day off for Columbus Day. We just went for a few hours and rode Pirates, Small World, Monster's INC. and the Matterhorn. Sammie rode it for the first time last week. She loved it! She calls it "the horn". We rode "the horn" several times and she rode the giant "fursis wheel" at California Adventure. Brad and I switched off and each got to ride Soarin' over California. It is an amazing ride. It is as if you are flying over all the scenery of CA. You are actually suspended in mid air with your feet dangling.. WEIRD! I was a little scared acutally but then I relaxed and enjoyed it. In my "old age" I am a little more afraid of rides than I used to be. I still really enjoy fast rides like roller coasters, etc. I just got a little more "chicken" over the years..
Sad news though.. I lost my cell phone there at the park today. I sure hope someone turns it in. I don't know exactly where I lost it. Possibly on Pirates since that was the last ride we rode but who knows?? boo hoo

I got to scrapbook yesterday at the Bee and was happy to have some quiet "mommy mental break" time. I got all my design team projects done.

I have been addicted to all the new TV shows. I have been recording them ( thanks to Echo who taught me how) and watching them without commercials. I am not much of a TV person except for these shows: Grey's anatomy, Desparate Housewives, Private Practice and The Bachelor.. which is starting soon so I am going to go watch it!!
Bye!

"Fursis Wheel"

Sammie calls it a "Fursis Wheel" but you know what she means. We had a great time at the Spectrum today. My parents were in town for the weekend and we met Jill and the kids. ( First we met my aunt and uncle for breakfast at Rockwell's cafe/bakery) Nana came along too and we all had fun.
The middle pic is all the "cousins". Stephanie (6) Jack ( 1) Matthew (3) and Sammie (3.5)
They rode the "Polar Express" train a few times, and the carousel a few more times than the train! After, the kids all ate churros and Matthew and Stephanie ate cheetos. It was hard to get them all to go home. We had a busy weekend but it was fun! On Saturday, we were going to go Oak Glen apple orchard but the weather wouldn't cooperate so we went to lunch instead and then my mom and I went shopping. I really want to go to the apple orchard soon. Echo and I tried to go last Fall but we were too late and the apples were "done". September and October is the best time to go. I am hoping to go in the next few weeks. If you don 't know about Oak Glen, it is a scenic drive toward the mountains and then it is a small "village" with shops and lots of different apple orchards where you can pick them yourself, and/or buy apples, pies, goodies, etc. They have pony rides, a petting zoo, etc. Being the scrapbooker I am, I just HAVE to get some Fall pics and apple picking would be just perfect!
Anyway... I'll be back again soon with some more pics! I want to wish my friend Christine's son, Nicholas, a Happy Birthday. The poor kid turned 8 yesterday and was home all weekend sick. What a bummer!

Back to school

Well, I'm finally back to the blogging world again. Once "Back to school" hits I have to jump in with both feet and then catch up with my life again afterwards. Sorry it has been so long. I thought I'd start with a few pics of my classroom and then catch you up on what we've been up to. I started back to school on Aug. 27th to attend meetings, inservices, etc. ( setting up the classroom is all done on my own time without pay!) It was tough to go back after being off all summer. My first day with the kids was Sept. 4th. I have a nice group of kids this year. So far, only 16 which is FANTASTIC!! Yes, that is their REAL art. (Self Portraits)

Well, enough about school because I am off until Thursday so no thinking about it for me right now!

Labor Day weekend was fun. Brad and I took Sammie to the beach. She had a blast picking up every shell on the sand. She was afraid to go into the water at first but after lots and lots of coaxing from daddy, she finally tried it and then loved it so much! We went to the Balboa Fun Zone afterwards and rode the carousel and had a yummy ice cream cone. ( I made scrapbook pages of all this so I'll post them soon) I did get to scrapbook a little bit so I'll share some of those pages soon.

The horse picture was taken at the Equestrian Center which just happens to be practically next to my school. Sammie and I stopped there Wedneday to visit some horses on our way home from school. That big horse is Phantom. He was HUGE! When we got there, he was in the exercise pen and was running and kicking up lots of sand. When Sammie walked up, he stopped and put his head over the fence to nuzzle her. TOO CUTE! We pet many of the horses there and talked to lots of nice horsey owners. ( one who snapped that pic of us and Phantom)

Since Sammie can't have her own horse, we went to visit the one she thinks is hers that lives in front of the 99 cent store. She rides this horse all the time. Much cheaper for me than a real one!

Trick Or Treat..... EARLY

Hi There!
Just wanted to share the photos for a class I will be teaching at The Red Bee on Sunday, Oct. 7th, 10:30-12:00 noon. It is a trick or treat can designed as a Halloween candy holder for passing out your Halloween candy or for a young trick or treater to use on Halloween night. It is decorated with the new Making Memories Halloween paper, lots of ribbon, buttons, and sparkly accents. It will be a spooky fun class and I will have a prize raffle! Feel free to post any questions or comments. Thanks for stopping by!

Check out my Slide Show!

Enjoy Summer

So now that it is nearing the end of August and the end of summer, we are keeping busy and trying to enjoy and savor each day. Here's what we've been up to....

*Disneyland to watch the "Magical Parade" ( Electrical Parade in Sammie speak)

* Turtle splash pool in our backyard
* Lots of Birthday Parties
* Cousin Dave at Pump it Up
*Julia Bell's Wizard of Oz Party
* Ellie Larson's Princess Jasmine Party
* Water Park in Tustin. Of course Sammie found a horsey water sprayer but was too afraid to run in the water. She finally attempted the small sprinklers that just spray her legs. It was a fun day with Donna, Ellie and Jake.
Scrappin' with Christine, Jennifer and Heather after the design team meeting at The Red Bee.
STILL working on the closets. UGGGH
Gymboree art class and play class.
Shopping and having lunch with friends.
Playing at the park on the swings.
Mommy day! Sammie goes to school 2 days a week so mommy can get a few things done like go to the dentist, laundry, housecleaning and a massage!
Anyway.... I will post again soon and some more pics too. I spent 2 hours creating a slideshow but couldn't figure out how to post it on my blog. To be continued...
I am going to continue to enjoy summer because a sad week is soon approaching where i have to go back to work to attend trainings, meetings and get my classroom ready for the students who start Sept. 4th. Gotta cram in as much fun as possible this week!
Bye for now!

Closet World

Well, here are some before and after pics of what I have been doing to keep busy these last few weeks. We had an entertainment center built, cabinets put in our garage and all 5 closets in our house redone. This is no small task since we have lived in our house for 13 years and have lots of "stuff". Everything had to come out of everywhere so that all was empty! EEEEKKKK The one picture shows my living room before we got it put back. ( It isn't all back yet... some is in the guest room now but my downstairs is as clutter free as possible now) Anyway.. it has been such a huge job but I am happy with the results so far. My closet is very organized and I have a HUGE scrapbook cabinet in the garage. ( yes, it is already FULL) I was hoping to have this all done before I go back to work at the end of August but as the time goes so quickly now, I just want to have fun during my last few weeks and take my time putting the rest of the guest room back in order. For those of you who are teachers you completely understand how the month of August is. For those of you who aren't teachers, I know you don't feel that sorry for me having a summer off and having to go back to work but it is really tough!! I love summer vacation and all the freedom that goes with it. I love to take Sammie everywhere, scrapbook, see my friends, travel, etc. It all comes to a screaming halt once the school year begins. I am thankful that i work part time! What have you done this summer??