Layers of me.....

LAYER ONE:
Spell your name with animals.

P- pony
A- ant
T- tiger
T- tuna
Y-yak

LAYER TWO:
Name: Patty
Birthday: June 4
Nickname: Mom
Current Location: my couch
Eye Color: hazel
Hair Color: lt brown
Right or Left: right

LAYER THREE:
Shoes you wore today: white flip flops
Your perfect pizza: lots of meat, onions and olives

LAYER FOUR:
Best holiday: Christmas
Most missed memory: being thin

LAYER FIVE:
Pepsi or Coke: Diet Dr. Pepper
McDonald’s or Burger King: Neither.....
Adidas or Nike: Nike
Lipton Ice Tea or Hot Chocolate: Hot Chocolate
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate

LAYER SIX:
Curse?: Yes, too much
Do you sing?: no
Want to go to college?: Heck no
Get motion sickness: yes
Think you’re a health freak: absolutely not
Play an instrument: not any more

LAYER SEVEN
In the past month. . . . . .
Drank alcohol: yes, wine
Gone to the mall: Yes, pacsun & bath & body
Eaten an entire pizza: no
Been on stage: no
Gone skating: no
Made homemade cookies: no

LAYER EIGHT:
Have you ever… . . . .
Been in big trouble with your parents: Yep.
Lied about your age: No
Used a fake ID: Nope

LAYER NINE:
Age you hope to be married: For all the rest of them
Number of Children: two

LAYER TEN:
In a girl/guy........
Best eye color: brown
Best hair color : brown
Short hair or long: short for guys

LAYER ELEVEN:
Number of people you could trust with your life: 5
Number of CD’s you own: too many
Number of tattoos: zero - two for now
Number of piercings: 3 - two in each ear

Thanks to Nicole whose blog I stole this from — and feel free to steal from me and share 11 layers of YOU!

I.....

I am: surfing the net when I should be folding a load of laundry while the kids are napping

I want: to feel better about myself

I have: some many things to be thankful for

I wish: I was more motivated

I hate: nagging my kids just to get them to do something

I don't: like to exercise....... yet

I can't: wait for summer

I need: to empty the dishwasher

I hear: the hum of the fan on the desktop comuter and the cars on the road going by

I wonder: if Shawn will meet us for dinner tonight

I believe: anything is possible

I regret: a decision that was made long, long ago

I am not: the best NOR the worst mom in the world

I dance: silly with my daycare kids and they laugh and laugh

I sing: well, I used to sing...

I cry: at weddings, funerals, births, birthdays, but most of all when my kids make me proud

I am not always: happy with myself

I make with my hands: scrapbooks that my kids love to look at

I write: lists, upon lists. I love lists

I confuse: doing things for me with being selfish

I should: cleaning and getting my laundry done

I start: my day way too early most of the time

I finish: my day by kissing my husband good night

My Favorite Things from A to Z

From my friend Stacy.....blog challenge, not as easy as it looks.

My Favorite Things From A to Z

A - autumn. I love the changing of the leaves here in Oregon, it is just beautiful.

B - babies. Nothing is better. They are so precious, I would have another and another, if I could. They make everyday special! Nothings is as sweet, innocent, or as perfect.

C - capris. I love them, and wear them every chance I get! Being tall makes finding jeans hard.

D - dollars. Come one. Who DOESN'T love to find an extra dollar in the bottom of your purse, or in the pocket of your winter coat, or under the seat of your car?

E - email. I'm hugely dependent on it, and couldn't run my life without it!

F - family. It's everything to me! Nothing is better than visiting them, sure i like to leave them too, but now that they are so far away, I cherish it more than ever.

G - gymnastics. I loved to do it as a child, and now that Savannah is doing it it really has become a passion. I never get tired of taking her to practice or meets. I could watch routines for hours and hours. College......oh ya! Them are some great girls!!

H - Hydrangeas. I think they're beautiful, especially the blue variety.

I - Ice. I love ice! I must have ice in my drink, whether it is water, pop, or a grown-up drink, it must have ice.

J - Jif. Don't make me eat Peter Pan or Skippy (do they still make that?). Gotta be Jif creamy.

K - kids. A little in my coffee, or in my brownies. Either way, mmm mmm good.

L - laughter. I love the sound of laughter. Kids, adults, babies it does not matter, it is just the best sound. My new years resolution was to laugh more, and it has been a great one! Just kick your heads back and let it rip!

M - massages. From the spa, no one is better at getting those stubborn muscles in my back to relax and loosen up. Love me a massage!!

N -news. Who'd thunk! I watch the 6 o'clock in the AM, read the paper daily and watch the 10 and sometimes even the 11 o'clock too! I can't get enough of it.

O - onions. Grilled, to be exact. I love me some grilled onions! This is a new thing for me, last year, no how no way. Trying to try some new foods, people think I'm picky for some reason. :)

P - pedicures. I would get them every week if I could afford the time. Just having someone else massage my legs, rub my toes, polish my nails............ahhhh heaven!

Q - quilt. Not just any one, the one that my great grandmother did the front to, and Aaron's grandmother did the back to and quilted. It is made by two people that I loved dearly that are no longer this us. It is perfect, not too heavy, not to thin, just right on those cold Oregon nights!

R - radio. Sure there's Ipods, MP3 players, but where for free can I listen to any type of music I want, at any time of the day!

S - sunday ads. I'm obsessed, even if I don't need anything I look through them. Just to see what is new, on sale, or what I just might need even if I don't think I need it :).........OK this was the hardest one, it could of been many things: soccer, shopping, surfing the net, singing in the car....etc.

T - teamwork. I finally have discovered that I can't do it all alone. Well I can, but I loose out on valuable family time. Everyone else is having a great day, and I am doing all the housework, laundry, grocery shopping,etc. Now we all pitch in an then get to enjoy each other the rest of the time!

U - USA. Enough said!

V - vacuuming. I love a clean floor, and try to vacuum at least once a day! To see the vacuum marks left in the carpet just makes me smile.

W - water. Fill the glass to the rim with ice, then add ice cold water. Yum!! And I won't share it!

X - Xyron, a wonderful little gadget that makes scrap booking easier by applying adhesive to the backs of hard-to-adhere things like ribbon and tiny letters.

Y - Yellow. Seriously. I love sunny yellow, baby yellow! I am never so happy to find the perfect top and it comes in yellow! Yellow daffodils, yellow lemons, yellow sunshine!

Z - zip code. Specifically, mine: 97321. I love where I live and feel so blessed to have a beautiful safe home, in such a lovely neighborhood, out of the city, with such a wonderful school!

Middle School Conferences

Tonight was Savannah's 6th grade conferences. It is a student led type of thing, were she takes you to each class, shows you what she has been working on, and then you get a few minutes one on one with the teachers.

She is taking.......
Literature
Composition
Social Studies
PE
7th grade math
Band (Oboe player)
Science

Her math, Band, & Lit/Comp teachers all specifically asked if I would be coming. Now I know that she could not be doing to horrible, since I can see her grades online for all her classes, and she was getting all A+'s. But the mom (aka not great student) in my starts to panic.

Math - She wants her to skip 8th grade Math/Pre-algebra and move on to Algebra.

Lit/Comp - Teacher want to let me know that her "Oaks" testing exceeded the benchmark, and was the highest she has this year. But she still did not feel like Savannah was at her top performance, and was just doing what she had to to get an A.

Band - He feels that she has outgrown what he can teach her about the Oboe technically, and wants her to do private lessons with the high school teacher.

All in all, great reports. Still must think she got her brains from Aaron though HA HA.

I am one proud mama!!

Spring Break Part II

Thursday 3/27 - Got up early, got in the rental car and head for Arizona. 6 hours later, we arrived. Only two slightly upset tummys, thank heavens for car sick pills. The road was like a bad roller coaster. We mainly just hung out and visited with mother and daddy until we crashed.

Friday 3/28 - Happy 70th birthday Daddy!! Today we went to the biggest flea/outdoor market I have ever seen. Dominick bought a watch, Savannah some dried pears, Aaron some nuts, Mother a new duster and Daddy a new cell phone holder since his did not work well, and he lost it down the drain at the car wash. Me......NOT A THING!! :) After we had lunch at Da Boys, the BEST pizza I have ever had, we headed home to drop off the men & kids and headed to the store for things for daddy's party on Sat. Next we headed to the pool until dinner. Around 8pm, Sis, Patrick & Autumn showed up, after some car troubles.

Saturday 3/29 - Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, and then got things ready for Daddy and Wes's (another man from the neighborhood that was born on the same day as Daddy) 70th birthday parties. We partied until 6pm or so, then headed back to the pool. nice day. Oh ya, then Mother watched the kids for us and Aaron, Chris, Patrick and I headed to the casino for a few hours just to relax.

Sunday 3/30 - Breakfast, Chris and family head back to their house (about a 6 hour drive and Autumn had school on Monday). The rest of us headed to Mexico, browsed the shops, Savannah got her hair braided, ate lunch and had some great margaritas! Made it out safely, though Savannah was scared she would have to stay there since we did not have passports :) Silly girl of little faith! And I made it back without the Border Patrol being angry at me, much better than last time! :)

MONDAY 3/31 - We woke up and said our goodbye's, hopped in the car and headed back to Las Vegas to catch our plane (5:35pm ). We drove through Lake Havasu and the Hoover Dam. Much straighter road, but took almost an hour longer.

All in all it was a great vacation, no missed flights, no car troubles, great times, good food and great family memories!!

Blog challenge from Sherry in Southern CA

1) Right now I want: My back spasms to stop. They hurt, I can sleep well, and I am just tired of it.

2) I wish I knew how to: forgive and let thinks go. I am not good it it, I hold a grudge and a good one at that. Especially if it effects my family.

3) When I want to indulge myself, I: head to 14th Ave Day Spa, and get the "works"

4) You’ll never see me: NAKED ...........ha ha ha

5) A childhood memory that I love: flying kites at the Oregon coast with my grandparents and all my cousins.

6) 2 things I do every single day: Take my medications, bathe

7) Happiest moment of 2008, so far: The most beautiful peach and yellow roses from my husband

8) Describe yourself in 3 words: giving, anxious & organized

9) 2 scrap related goals for this year: Get our spring break vacation into an album, and make it to at least 3 crops

10) You have $40 that you MUST spend on yourself – what do you do with it? Spa Pedicure!

YOUR TURN!!

Savannah's Birthday & Spring Break 2008

What a busy week + a few days!!

Friday 3/21 - Savannah's 12th birthday. We both worked all day until 6pm, at 6:01pm, she had a sleepover with 6 girls (Kacie, Adrienne, Chelsea, Kiley, Dani, Jessica). Goodness they were crazy and loud.

Saturday 3/22 - Girls still here, had a Cosmic Bowling party where 3 more girls showed up who could not spend the night. Ran home, cleaned house, finished packing, and left to spend the night in Portland.

Sunday 3/23 - (Easter) Got up to catch our flight to Las Vegas, the kids first flight. Savannah was her usual anxious self, Dominick excited until we take off and his ear hurt (previous surgeries seem to have made it hard for him to unplug them). Arrive in Las Vegas, take the shuttle to the rental car center (oh my, I have never seen such a huge building just for rental cars, and busy it was), drive to the hotel, check in. Then drive to Mike/Karen/Ana/Sam's for Easter dinner. Great food and company!!

Monday 4/24 - Walked around the strip all day. Saw the MGM, NY NY, M&M, Luxor, Excalibur, ESPN Zone. Then for dinner we went to the Excalibur (where we stayed) and saw the dinner show (Tournament of Kings). We got great seats (front row, Russia area) or so we thought they were great until the horses went flying by and dirt also went flying, right at us. They do a jousting match against the other areas, and the Dragon. It was awesome. The only draw back was eating dinner with NO silverware. Not my cup of tea but the kids and Aaron enjoyed it.

Tuesday 3/25 - We went to the Red Rock Canyon and went on a 1 1/2 hour horse back ride. It was beautiful, wonderful, great, THE BEST! Everyone loved it!!

Savannah & our trail guide Justin

My favorite picture of the trip so far!

Then we went down to Fremont street to see the "old" town.It had an amazing over head light show. Though pictures did not turn out well, it was still a memory I will cherish forever.

Wednesday 3/26 - We went to Mandalay Bay and saw Shark Reef, then sat by the pool. Great relaxing day.

Stay turned for part II