Sofia's 1st Birthday

So our youngest member of the family turned 1 a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to believe that a year has already flown by. Her personality is shinning strong and she is a strong little girl. If she wants something she is going to make it known and isn't going to give up until she is satisfied. Everyone in her house was sick the week leading up to her birthday. I was surprised they went forth with the party but it went well. She was a bit overwhelmed but what other little person isn't with that many people crowding their home.

Opening gifts was pretty typical for any 1 year old. She wanted to play with something right then and there. It didn't matter if there were 50 more gifts to open. Now the cake...that was funny. She didn't hesitate and dove right in. She had the best time digging into her personal Red Velvet cake by Red Oven, her dad's special request.

Fun and Funky's Blue and Brown

This morning I woke up determined to create something to share. I will admit that I didn't put a lot of time into this so it is fairly simply. I love to create invitations and usually prefer 5x7s when making them. This is why I decided to create a 5x7 paper. I may use this for a project but I hadn't decided yet...first priority was to share something. This paper won't look good blown up so I wouldn't go bigger than 5x7 when you use it.

Have fun creating!

Download Fun and Funky's 5x7 Blue and Brown Flower paper

PS...Please let me know if you have problems downloading the file.

Fun and Funky's First layout!

Some friends wanted to know how to create a layout so I am posting one here for them. I am just learning how to use Photoshop for digital scrapbooking but am having a fabulous time doing it. For cool ideas and digital products visit some of my favorite sites, CoffeeShop and Shabby Princess. Their links are at the bottom of my page. Have fun creating!

Taking a park

Taken at our Family Reunion in Lubbock, TX July 3, 2009
Let me start off by saying, what a week it has been! It's late Monday night and I am still exhausted from a week of traveling across the state of Texas. My goal is to take time to update my blog tomorrow when I am rested and have more time.

Me and Deja

DSCF1922
Originally uploaded by msleti

Me and Deja on a hike in Palo Duro Canyon. July 6, 2009

What day is it?

Goodness...it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone. Then to top it all off...Christmas is next week! I can't believe it. I didn't realize until we hit November 27 that Thanksgiving was so late. This threw so many things off for me as well as many others.

I was bummed to soon discover that a Christmas and holiday tradition would soon be trampled on. Shannon and I have been baking Christmas cookies for a few years now and always seem to get it in no matter what life has thrown us. This year would be different. It is such a rush and thrill to see our creations especially after working on fumes. We basically spend an entire weekend together layered in sugar, flour and everything in between. Over the past few years the kids have taken their role in the process which has been interesting.

Just when I was realizing the time crunch Shannon calls and expresses her fears. What I failed to remember was who I was talking to and dealing with. Shannon doesn't just let things slide to the way side. She would find a way and there was no way around it. At the time I was not quite sure how it would work and quite frankly didn't see it working. Well...she didn't give up.

This past weekend was really going to be the only weekend for her to bake on top of finishing putting up her trees and designing, baking and assembling 3 gingerbread houses. Oh...and be Mommy and wife. I knew I would be missing out on this years bake-a-thon and was torn but what could I do. I was so shocked when Shannon calls and tells me what she accomplished on Sunday. Then, as if that wasn't enough, she calls Monday afternoon to let me know she finished.

Now...we aren't talking about 1-2 types of cookies and a couple dozen. We are talking 12 different types on average while doubling or tripling a batch. It is mad baking at it's best. I was so sad to know I had missed the madness and thought about all our memories. Let's just say we can get tickled about the simplest things and do some silly things at 3:00 or 4:00 am.

So in a nutshell...life has been busy and I don't even know what day it is. The kids at school have checked out but just send their bodies as routine. Everyone is just walking and moving through the motions and barely doing that. People are falling sick left and right...me included. Stress has found a new meaning and it's not pretty. Oh...and as if we didn't have enough to deal with Mother Nature decides to confuse us with extreme weather.

So we move on to tomorrow and the day after. I still don't know what day it is!

Change is good...right

So we are in our 4th week of school and things are busier than I imagined. I am enjoying my new position but miss PPCD so much it's crazy. I miss it for a couple of reasons...the kids (my own class) and the fun! The kindergarten students are a hoot for the most part and bring a challenge for me since I have been working with 3 & 4 year olds for the past 6 years...mainly with disabilities. For the most part, the teachers have been receptive to my suggestions and cooperative in this team effort. However, we have a long way to go and a big plan to work through.

Deja is enjoying 4th grade so far...no complaints as of yet. She is doing much better with organization and responsibility too. Now, it is just the 4th week of school and this all could change with the change of the wind I'm sure. It is my guess that they have been doing quite a bit of reviewing which has keep their load light. I suspect that the pace will pick up from here on out. She seems to take more of an initiative and even expressed interest in trying to make the Battle of the Books team. I support her in that decision and goal whether or not I think she will be chosen.

Moving on to other fields...thanks to my dear friend, Shannon, I am back in the dating arena. It is going well but nothing serious yet. I am completely cool with that. I am enjoying getting to know a really nice gentleman but have some reservations. I am working through them and trying to keep an open mind. I do admit that I am picky and just think too much about things that are really trivial. I am working on that and hope that I can set all that aside for once. If anything changes...I will definitely keep you all posted. Hee hee

Oh...two more of my close and dear friends, Rosa and Mel, donated some of their precious time to me a couple of weekends ago and helped me clean out Deja's room. Oh my goodness...let me tell ya what that was like. Pure madness! She had so much crap it was unreal. No...seriously...call it Sanford and Son for sure! After a couple of days we got it cleared. I still had a ton of stuff in bags and boxes in my house for a future yard sale my sister and I are having. For those of you who don't know what my house looks like...it is a super small town home. I needed to pass out maps so you could navigate your way through. I am so being serious on this one. Well...I got all that into my storage shed, which is stuffed to the max now, and was able to get my house in order. I still need to get Deja's bed painted and moved in and get decorations since we are redecorating. It went from pastels...mainly purple with butterflies and flowers to red, white & black. I painted 3 walls white and 1 red. Her bedding is white with a simple floral pattern that works up for the foot of the comforter up. Much more of a "big" girls room.