Inspired!

We had such a great time at Inspiration Unlimited! What an amazing event with so much detail and hard work by the teachers and Ginger who is an incredible hostess!! The classes were awesome and I learned some new techniques too. We had workshops taught by Teresa Collins, Layle Koncar, Janna Wilson, Stephanie Ackerman, and Tammy Mitchell.



Christine, Jennifer and I all won some fabulous prizes. Christine won a Teresa Collins bag filled with goodies, a pack with Hambly, a tin, some trim, rubons and a scor-pal board. Jennifer won a Scarlet Lime Kit, a Quickutz squeeze tool and other fun goodies. I won a mini clip it up, an album kit, Maya road felt buttons, chipboard and also a monthly kit from Piggy Tales.
The "prize patrol" walks around a few times each day and gives out little goodies bundled together like Thickers, buttons, rubons, bling, flowers, chipboard shapes, etc..

I even "got lucky" on my favorite Deuce machine!

Sammie had a great time hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. They took her swimming, and to a magic show. She got to go up on stage with the magician and help him do tricks. She got her own magic wand and has been practicing her tricks. On Sunday we all went to an ice cream social at a Discovery Park. She had a blast. It was very hot so I let her run through the splash park with her clothes on and she got soaked! ( we brought extra clothes to change)

This is the Meadow Gold dairy cow mascot. They were giving away free ice cream treats all day. ( as many as the kids wanted /or parents permitted! ) LOL!

This is Sammie's Halloween costume this year, her favorite princess, Ariel.
She made up her own princess show for me with costume changes and singing and dancing to the Disney princess songs such as "Under the sea", "Someday my Prince will come", "Be our Guest", etc. She loves Snow White, Belle, and Cinderella as well.
Well, that's all for today. I will post some pics soon of the projects we made at IU. I didn't get them all finished but got a good start! I hope to work on them soon and get them all completed.
Sammie has been sick so we are home resting and lounging around. Hope she is better soon, we have a busy weekend planned. Have a happy Wednesday!

And We're Off

On my way to Inspiration Unlimited!! I can't wait for this awesome event! Be back soon with all the details and hopefully some pics!!!
YIPPEEEEEE

Scrappy, Soccer, Princesses and Ponies!

I haven't posted any scrappy projects in a while so here are a few of my recent scrapbook pages.

Here are some pics from Saturday's soccer game. Sammie played really well and her team played well together. Their team is the Fireballs and they won again! YEA! (They don't keep score but all the parents do!) LOL!

After soccer we had a pony club meeting and learned about safety when riding. The girls played some games and Sammie went shopping in the pony store. She also enjoyed the "jumpoline".

We went to a princess pony birthday party at "Joey's house" on Sunday. Sammie's friend, Hayley, is Victoria's niece. Victoria is Sammie's horse trainer and the girls have been friends since preschool and are in Kindergarten together. Joey lives at Hayley's Grandma's house and we have been there several times to take Joey on a trail ride. They also have a Welsh pony named Flicka who was the Princess Pony of the day.

They have a beautiful backyard with some fun swings. The girls had a blast on the swing.

They played some games. This game was the "princess ball" and they had to dance. I loved this shot of the princesses twirling around on the grass.

Well, that's all for today. Sammie wants to do a "show" for me right now and has all of her "audience" waiting. ( That would be a bed full of stuffed animal horses propped up watching) I must go watch the Princess Show now. Be back soon. Only 4 days until Inspiration Unlimited! Woooo hooo!! I am so excited!

Dear Tooth Fairy

"I swallowed my tooth while I was eating my breakfast. It got stuck in my toast. I was sad when I swallowed it so Alyssa, can you give me a prize still? I promise next time Alyssa, I won't swallow my tooth. I love you. You are my favorite tooth fairy."

Love,

Sammie

Dear Sammie,
I am sorry you swallowed your tooth. Don't worry, it is okay. You are a very sweet girl. I love your notes to me. Thanks!
I love you too,
Alyssa the tooth fairy.

We wrote that letter to Alyssa in her "tooth fairy notebook" explaining why she didn't have her tooth to put in her pillow. Poor Sammie. That tooth was special. She named it "Joey" after her favorite horse that she rides. She wanted to show it to him. Well, the tooth fairy came and left the note above, another "golden dollar", and sprinkled the usual glitter in her window and on her nightstand. The tooth fairy is going to get her a little tooth fairy doll that will come in the mail. Wink. Wink. By the way, Sammie named the tooth fairy Alyssa which is funny because it is sort of close to her real name. Tee hee hee

Speaking of fairies, we went to Disneyland after kindergarten on Monday and visited Pixie Hollow. She had fun meeting Tinkerbell and posing like her.

In other news, Sammie had her first soccer game of the season on Saturday and scored 2 goals. She scored the first goal of the game. She was beyond thrilled and of course we didn't have batteries in the camera to record that moment. OOPS! There's always next time! What a big difference from last year to now. She is the oldest girl on her team and plays with a great group of kids. She finally "gets it" and goes right after the ball. It is fun to watch her play and see the excitement.

I have been super busy with work. We had back to school night the first week back on top of an already exhausting week of teaching Kindergarten!! It has been an adjustment for Sammie too.
I picked her up from daycare early on Friday and brought her to my classroom. She slept on the floor ( on a blanket) for 2.5 hours!

I came home one afternoon and received a special package from Kristin that totally made my day! Thank you Kristin! She sent me a wonderful box of scrappy goodies including the Fiskars stamp factory, a bunch of acrylic school stamps, Maya Road month tags, chipboard, and even some sweet surprises for Sammie. I met her online and she is a sweetheart! She has a craft blog with awesome challenges so check it out!

Speaking of awesome challenges and awesome craft blogs, check out scrap it forward for this month's fun challenge. It's angelic!

Kindergarten

Well, we made it though our first day of Kindergarten and no tears for anyone! ( me included) I was worried that I might cry a bit but I was able to keep busy and it was all good!! Sammie had a great day and was so excited to go. She can't wait to do her homework. As she was getting ready for bed tonight she said this to me... "I think I am going to love kindergarten!" That just made my heart melt hearing her say that. I love teaching K and to know my daughter is so happy going to K is a great start to her school years! Here are some pics from her first day. This is a poem that the kids all got to illustrate and take home. I did this with my class too.

My First Day

by E.S. Lundgren

See me skip,

See me run.

I'm going to school like everyone

See me grin.

When the bell rings, I walk in.

See me work,

See me play.

I'm in Kindergarten

My First Day!

Here is a picture of the little gift for her teacher.

I think we are going to have a good year!

Tomorrow is the big day!

Yes, tomorrow Sammie starts Kindergarten! She is so excited. I am excited for her and a little sad of course since it will be a change from the "preschool days". I will try to post some pics tomorrow after her 1st day.

Almost a Kindergartener!

So, I peeked over the banister the other day and I saw Sammie busy at her "desk" working on a skill workbook. She is starting Kindergarten on Sept. 8. This day seemed so far away back in 2004 when she was born. I was teaching Kindergarten then and I never realized how quickly it would be here. She is ready. She has been asking me for months, "When is it time for me to go to Kindergarten?" " When will I learn to read?" In just 13 days, she will start Kindergarten and so will I. I am glad to be back in Kindergarten after 4 years of teaching 2nd grade. It is going to be good. ( At least that's what I tell myself so I don't feel sad!) LOL!

We have been having fun as summer winds down. We have been to a few birthday parties.
This is Julia's tea party. Her aunt is "Mrs. Crumpet" and brought all the dresses and makeup for
the girls to wear. Sammie looked a bit "Jackie O" in her attire and loved being elegantly dressed.





After the girls all had their makeup done and then had a fashion show. Sammie's dress was a "Versace original with genuine artificial diamonds adorning the bow." She was on her way to Air Force One to have dinner with the President after Julia's tea party. ( According to Mrs. Crumpet who announced this during the fashion show)

Julia was a very excited birthday girl!

Sammie and her favorite pal, Joey.

We went to Disneyland twice this past week. She rode the canoes for the first time.

Then on Friday, we went to Disneyland again. I took my nephew with us and then Brad and Ruth met up with us later on. We had a good time. Mickey and Minnie were out together ( which is rare) so I was glad to get this pic of Sammie and Dave with both of them.

When I was a kid, I loved carousels and while waiting in line, I would watch for the prettiest horse and that was the one that I would try to get when it was my turn. Well, Sammie does the exact same thing. This is the prettiest horse on the entire carousel!!

Here's the newest Disney princess, Naomi. She is a mix between Cinderella and Jasmine! Yes, she just sits there and tolerates it as Sammie dresses her up. Note the "Minnie Mouse/Rockstar" photo as well. Such a sweet, simple-minded dog!!

Oh, and speaking of Disney, we saw this new movie. Sammie loved it. She referred to it as "the girl in the green bucket". I thought it was very weird! Did anyone else see it? What did you think?

Oh yes, we have spent some time here as well. The favorite ride is the "Ken Chuckie Derby." Our favorite game is Deal or No Deal. I am seriously addicted to that game. I won the 80 tickets once. It is so much fun!

Today we went here. It was a great afternoon. I am sad summer is almost over. Waaaaaah.

Just trying to enjoy these last few days before the craziness starts!