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!