9-25-2010 Saturday - The First Five???

I signed up to be "The First Five" earlier this year on my friend's, Shelby's, post. And this is what I received in November - a wonderful collection of handmade cards! So, now it's my turn. And this is how it goes...

The first five...People to leave a comment on this post will receive something made by me.

However, there are some limitations:

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It will be done this year.... by December 2010.

4. You have no clue what it is going to be - cards, bows, shoes, a bag, frames or a little invention of my own. I may even bake something and mail it to you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind!

Here's the catch, if you choose to do this, you must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog. And if you don't have a blog, just email it to your friends!

Now, three people have already signed up: Barb, Jen and Anna. But I'm supposed to have five in total. So are there two more people out there that are willing to participate in this fun game? Please let me know in the comments! :)

9-24-2010 Friday - Lunch with the "Moore Girls"

My longest friend since I was 3 years old came to town from Northern California and we got to have lunch together with our mothers yesterday. It was so good to see Monique and Rene and catch up on their lives.

I have so many of my childhood memories intertwined with Monique, she's like a sister to me. Some memories that quickly come to mind: playing mermaids in the pool, watching Mister Bill on Saturday Night Live, sleepovers, laughing until our tummies cramped, liking guys who were friends, climbing trees, visiting the Nitta family and eating sushi, going to school together, playing Hobos, birthday parties, and sneaking out at night! What!?!?
Did you read that Mommy???

9-23-2010 Thursday - MVHS vs Long Beach Poly

One of Noel's Cheers:

9-16-201 Thrusday - Yes, We Are Mission Fans!!!

The girls went to the varsity game and then the welcome back dance at MVHS. Carissa, who goes to Capo Valley High, went with Noel and Aubry which was fun for all of them.

They had shirts made up for the games.

I got a red velvet cake to celebrate the win!
Am I too confident? I say not - just spirited!

Luke and Shera headed to the game also!
We won 56-34! Goooo Mission!!!

9-15-2010 Wednesday - Mission vs. Corona Football

Noel gets to do something special for her two football buddies every game. Actually, it's a little embarrassing to walk up to a group of football players in their jerseys at lunchtime and give little treats. The guys tease whichever player is getting it - but they really love the attention and besides, who doesn't love a cute girl coming up to them and handing them a special gift?
These are chocolate chip muffins and hugs and kisses candies!

Noel (left) cheering and no braces!!! She was so happy!

Noel does a Saut de chat leap, in French it means Cat's Jump.

Part of Noel's squad: Maya, Noel, Jillian, Ellie.

We won 49-12! Goooooo Mission!!!

9-14-2010 Tuesday - No More Braces!!!

Hooray!!!

9-13-2010 Monday - First Day Back!!!

Yes, that means school!

Luke couldn't wait to get all of his supplies ready!

Noel is 9th, Shera is 5th, and Luke is 3rd!

Jeff is eating his morning cereal in a plastic cup!

Mr. Snyder, their principal, showed them the new and updated Game Room!

Every Thursday the students get to go into the game room at recess! All of these items were either donated or bought by the students' fundraisers.

Luke's teacher is Mrs. Essenwanger this year. Scotty has been in Luke's class every year so far!

Mrs. Iriart is Shera's teacher. Here she is with Faith, Anna, and Sydney!

9-12-2010 Sunday - Homemade Linguine and Sauce

Since we came home from Italy, I've been wanting to try to make homemade pasta. It was so delicious there - well, it will take a few more times to perfect it, but it still was tasty!

Eggs go into the "flour well"...

Slowly incorporate all the flour with the eggs and knead it for 15 minutes...
(That was the tiring part on my arthritic hands!)

After the dough rests, I rolled it out - I need to do it even thinner next time.

We rolled the sheet up into a tube and sliced them about 1/4 inch wide.

We unrolled the pasta and laid it out to dry.

Ready to put into the pot...

When fresh pasta is cooked, it rises to the top of the water.

With our home-grown tomatoes, I had made some spaghetti sauce earlier.

Noel did the garlic bread...

Yummo!!!

This was fun to try, and I will do it again. It does take some time but is well worth it!

9-9-2010 Friday - The Last Hurrah!

Ah yes, countdown before school ends...
We had a backyard movie night to celebrate...
We got it all set up with lounge chairs, the hammock and the love sac! We watched a double feature. The first movie was called Catch That Kid starring Kristen Stewart.

Snuggling with Sasha...

We roasted marshmallows and had s'mores...

Drew's friends joined us for a while and watched The Pink Panther...

Luke fell asleep by the end... It was a fun night under the stars and a great way to officially end summer. :(

9-9-2010 Thursday - Noel's Very First Football Game!

There she is in the back with the gold poms!
We played Loyola and won 32-27.

Noel and her friend, Jillian on JV Song.

Our friend, Danielle came to watch Noel.

Luke met up with his school friend, Travis. He was watching his big brother play football.

Congrats on your first game Wellie!

9-7-2010 Tuesday - How Young Does Grams Look?

Let's play a little game ~

Give your best guess at how young my mom is and whoever gets it right, I'll send you 10 Bucks!
No family is allowed to play - that would be cheating!
(Don't worry mom, I won't tell anyone but the winner if they are right!)

My Brothers, Dean and Vern and my mom and me at the Ritz Restaurant for her birthday dinner.

Cousin Andrea with Drew...

Cousin Lisa with Luke...

Second cousins Finn and August with Shera...

Jeff and Noel...

Cousins Blake and Michele...

Boy, I hope we get her genes!

9-7-2010 Tuesday - All Summer Long...

Since Holly and Noel were gone so much of the summer, we had to make sure that Shera and Luke had fun too! Here are some of the activities and outings we did...

We had a bumper crop of beans, tomatoes, summer squash, eggplant and pumpkins from our garden...

We had friends over and swam - ALOT!

Drew took Noel, Shera and Luke to the swamp and caught tadpoles...

They went to the Children's Science Discovery Center...

They went to Wild Rivers and had Dippin' Dots - a favorite!

Shera, Luke and Lucas (their friend) went to Pretend City - check it out sometime - the kids LOVED it!

Luke and Lucas went to Lego Land...

They also went to Jumpin' Jammin' and then Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor...

Drew and Holly attended a Single's Ward Retreat to the river and attended nightly church classes and activities...

So, there is our summer - it was very full and way too short.
We didn't get to do half of the things on my list.
Oh well, there's always next year!