Happy Birthday to you (Megan and Rachel)

Today was Megan and Rachel (Jeff's nieces) combined birthday party! It was at Pump It Up in Pleasanton. It was VERY hot over there...unfortunately, I couldn't make it due to duties at church. It was hot there...but, it was a hot kitchen!

Here is Megan and Rachel in their crowns....Jordan and Neil were the biggest kids there. Jordan said he kept tripping over the little kids.
Don't you just love the brotherly love here? Jordan probably just pounded Neil...but, hey, that's what little brothers are for, right?

Here are the seniors...don't they look exhausted from jumping on the equipment?

After the party, Jeff dropped the boys off at the Main Library. At last week's Craft Fair, Jordan bought a book called "The Tao of Yao" by Oliver Chin. He used to work at Shonen Jump. Anyways, he was giving a workshop on writing your own anime. I swear, Jordan wrote a lot during the workshop...and Neil had a very good story. They are going to work on it some more...I'll scan in some pictures and will post it.

Lazy days of summer

Okay, okay...no excuses...but, I have been very lazy about my Blog....it seems like I had more time when the boys were in school....hopefully, I can get back into the groove....

I have been back in my sewing groove. Remember I went shopping with my Mom in Salinas? This is the purse made from the pattern and material...Opps, I should have taken a picture of the lining inside. This can either be a clutch or I can attach a strap. I don't like the way the pattern calls for the strap to be attached, (tacked onto the outside sides...), so, I need to play with it a little.
I did add another Swarovski rivoli button onto this purse. I changed the pattern of the button a little and added little points. Joanie at the Bead Asylum said that it turned out great! She even commented that my purses don't look homemade...hee hee...I love her...here is a close up of the button. I love the way the button fits into the flower on the print...I would like to say that I planned it that way...but, I was just lucky!
Just to ensure that I can still buy craft items, (Jeff said he won't complain as long as I use whatever I buy....) On the two tags below, I made little flowers using the punches I bought at the JCCCNC Craft Show in SF. I didn't realize that I had to bend the petals etc....and I had to use my Tacky Glue...which isn't a problem until I can't find the cap to close it....sigh! I did find it...on the other side of the room! (The tags are for Megan and Rachel's birthday party...they have a joint party at Pump It Up in P-town tomorrow...I'll be at church making an for the Bazaar...Jeff will have to solo...)

Jeff's new toy

Hee hee...okay, that didn't go so well...I was surfing on Jeff's new iTouch...and I thought I could update my blog...no go....

So, after years and years of having that Callaway American Express...what do we have? Yup, an iTouch....oh, I think Jeff got my golf bag through them also...anyhoots...it was a total nightmare...

We needed 500 more points to get $250 worth of American Express gift cards...which I used to buy a refurbed 16GB. We have had really good luck with the refurbs...and when my brother Gary had problems they not only replaced his iPod...they upgraded him...so....hey, why not!

Well...did you know that you can only use two credit cards on the Apple site? (Amex Gift cards are treated like credit cards). I had three cards (2-$100 and 1- $50), plus I had to use my credit card. So, I ended up buying a $200 Apple gift card and then using the $50 for something else later...But, typical of me lately, I made the mistake and bought a $150 gift card...I cancelled the order, but then had to wait a week for the cancellation to re-credit my gift cards...and then purchase the $200 gift cards. Why didn't I stick with the $150? Because I wasn't thinking...

Sigh....that's my life....oh, and I went to Target the day after the boys got out of school (Thursday), they already have their back to school supplies out! Then I remembered that Staples had their supplies out when I was running my last "the boys are in school" errands...sigh...Hallmark Christmas ornaments are coming out July 11-12...I got my flyer...and there is another Disney Precious Moment ornament.

Craft Fair and Island Jam

Today, Lori came over EARLY in the morning...and we had a nice breakfast in the backyard...then it was off to SF for the Craft Fair and Island Jam! It was a pleasant surprise to bump into Great-Aunties (Great-great for Jordan and Neil) Sets and Marian. We had a nice lunch at Tampopo (not the same restaurant as the movie, but, it was very good ramen)

Here is Lori, Jeff, Jordan and Neil. Jordan said that he will be taller than Auntie Lori within a year. Which might be true with the way he has been eating....oh, BTW: Jordan ordered Kara-Miso Ramen ...VERY SPICY...he had 5 glasses of water! But, he liked it...but, then again, he likes any type of noodles!)

Here is a picture of some of my "loot". I also did some birthday/Christmas shopping so, I left those items out of the picture. Oh, and the boys bought some stuff...but, they already put it in their rooms, so, I didn't want them to bring it out....with fear that it will be out until September!

Yes, I bought a lot of paper punches, but see the book on the left? It shows how to make a wide assortment of flowers with the punches! Lori and I are going to see if we can expand our expertise. Hmmm...if we make 3D cards, how do we mail them??? The item on the left is a little tealight holder...isn't it cute???

Jeff even did some shopping. He bought the below pictures for our bedroom. The first one is Hanauma Bay and the bottom one is Diamond Head....Michele Yamaguma who makes these "picture boxes" lives in Redwood Shores. We are on her mailing list for her Open Studio which will be sometime in November.
Oh, and I did good!!! No purses...although I was tempted a few times.....ONE more year to go!

It's Graduation!!!

Today we went to Michael's (aka Mike) Graduation Party! It was a lot of fun, while Shelley and the family were at the ceremonies, Jeff brought over two Weber grills and his handy dandy BBQ table and we went to work.

To be truthfull, Shelley did all of the pre-work, Jeff did the grilling, I housesat and covered tables...all in all it was a great time and I finally got to meet all of Shelley's sisters and her brother Robin.

Let me explain, I have no sisters, and Shelley hass THREE, yes THREE...and they are awesome. Last year, they "invaded" Shelley's house before her surgery and cleaned her house!!! They not only dusted etc...they shampooed her carpets and cleaned her windows....I WANT DIANE, CARRIE AND CINDY for my sisters!!!! Today, I turned around and not only was everything washed, IT WAS PUT AWAY!!! Oh my! Diane of course vacuumed...and I will go on record...I did not drop the food in the kitchen, it was Shelley....and Diane was there vacuuming it up in minutes...
Here is a picture of Jordan, Neil, Michael (the graduate) and Michael's cousin Joshua. Jordan and Josh hit it off well...and Neil, well Neil had his DS and Michael's other cousin (a girl)...who he played one game of tether ball with.Here is Michael and his girlfriend Christine...she's hiding....
Congratulations Michael!!! Hmm...I hope you read this via FB.

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy...

Okay, so, I thought it would be easy to take pictures of the goldfish that we bought for the pond...I should have taken the pictures before we released them...sigh, I'll remember that for next time...

This is the second time we put fish in the pond...the first time, we put our 3 year old goldfish in the pond...they loved it...until the cover of the "gazebo" blew off...and Jeff put it away for the winter...well...Mr. Egret found the fish that night....the funny thing is, we didn't know what happened to them until I saw this white flash fly past our bedroom window...then we knew...sigh...poor fishy.

These fish should be able to hide....since we have the water lilies in the pond...they are doing a good job, since I can only see movement at the bottom of the pond....I hope there are three fish...I may be seeing the same fish over and over....sigh....I'll let you know if I see anything...

(Oh Julie...your favorite commercial is on...just thought I would let you know I'm thinking of you...now, I am going to Ross...ha ha ha)

On a happy note, I found my beadweaving patterns!!!! YEAH!!!! I need to remake my purple pineapple since it broke. I am so happy since I had the crystals all packaged for a mini-workshop.

LAST day of school...wah!!!

The last few posts were about Jordan's participation in the Warwick Olympics...Now it is Neil's turn!!! The second graders had an activity day today. Each teacher had a different activity... another mother and I "escorted" the kids to each classroom.

In the first class, they were divided into two teams. Each team was given a bag full of items that they were to pass over their head to the last person who put the items into another bag. Okay, so, Mrs. Bailey and I should have figured out what came next...but, we didn't...they had to make a list of the items...typical shower game, eh? Both teams did really well, they identified 14 of 20 items.
The next game was called Silent Ball. Luckily, Mr. Murphy refereed this game...because there were just too many judgement calls...they had to toss the ball within x seconds; it had to be tossed from "boy to girl" or "girl to boy"; the toss couldn't be too hard/soft/short/high/long/etc; and I am sure I left out a lot of other rules...if you dropped the ball or broke the rules, you had to sit down. Last one standing was the winner...

And, who doesn't love Musical Chairs? It was fun watching the kids, even the "coolest" kids enjoying this classic game.
Pictionary was one of the more challenging games...poor Neil's team didn't get any of the drawings...and the other team guessed almost all of them! Neil was not happy!
In the last class, they played Volleyball...well, sort of...they played "Balloon Volleyball". This was quite entertaining....

All in all, it was a great morning...and the kids had fun...although I think emotions were running high...

Speaking of emotions....tonight we watched Marley and Me. I wanted to see it earlier, but the DVD came out around the time that we had to put our cat to sleep...so, the timing was not great...it was a very cute movie...and I am glad I waited.

Right now, Jeff and I are watching Grand Torino. Hmm...I wonder how many times the "F" word and "S" words are used in the movie? They must have worn out the keys on the keyboard!