Back to our regularly scheduled programming!

Enough of the political nonesense.

Geary got a promotion of sorts in swimming last night. His coach moved him to a new lane so he can swim with the faster swimmers. The coach told Geary that he's good and that in the old lane, he was being held back by the other swimmers. This freaked out Geary a bit. He told me after practice that he couldn't keep up with the other boys. But as I watched practice, he was keeping up with them just fine until the very end. The coach and I talked to Geary after practice and got him to promise to swim with the "better" swimmers for a week and if he didn't like it, he could move back with the "slower" swimmers. I tried to give Geary a pep talk after practice - the whole rah rah you're awesome speech. But I also explained to him that the only way to improve is to swim with the better, faster swimmers. I'm sure he's disappointed because in his old lane, he was the fastest swimmer, but now he's no longer the fastest in his lane. I can understand his hesitation and fear at suddenly not being the best. But I know this will help him in the long run. When I explained to him that it was a promotion from Bronze I to Bronze II and that none of the other kids had been promoted, his eyes lit up! I hope this acts as some motivation to keep him trying hard.

And...just a little layout to pump up my Fly Man!

Credits can be found here at My Scrapbook Art

The hypnotized never lie...

Do they????

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they were all flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

Yeah!

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss...

I think Pete is brilliant - and so right.
'Nuff said!

I keep hearing...

How this is the most important election EVAH! Sorry peeps! About every 10 or 15 years, we hear the same thing. I wasn't able to vote the first time Ronald Reagan was elected President...but it was the most important election ever! Twelve years later, when Bill Clinton was running for President on a "Hopeandchange" message, it was "the most important election ever." Once again, we are hearing it's the most important election ever. EVERY ELECTTION IS IMPORTANT! You (yes, YOU!) should vote in each and every election. Pay attention! Stay involved! Stay connected! It's your right AND duty as an American citizen to vote. It's the only way to affect change. So We Don't Get Fooled Again!

Public Service Announcement

--everything by Gina Miller. Credits at myscrapbookart.com

No matter your political affiliation, today is the day! Get out and vote! And earn the right to complain about the Government for the next 4 years if your guy doesn't win.

Halloween

The boys had a really good Halloween. First, they designed their own pumpkins for Dan to carve. I'm not sure who loves this more, the boys or Dan :)


Then they had to pose for Mom...Adam is in character (our little Obi Wan), but I'm not sure where the Ninja-Gangster pose came from...


And Dan couldn't be left out of the "costume" thing, since he was chaperoning:


Where was I? At home passing out candy to the tricksters that came to our door. I probably had about 10 sets of kids come knocking...including this motley crew!

It's great to have a group of friends in the neighborhood that you can run around with!

My favorite trickster of the evening was a little boy - probably about 4 years old - dressed as Darth Vader. When I answered the door, he told me he was worried that vampires had taken over my house because I had "danger signs" in the front yard.

Gotta love the imagination of litte kids.

Overall, it was a great evening for the kids. After trick-or-treating, then spent about 30 minutes down the street jumping on a trampoline...because running around several blocks just isn't enough excercise, is it?

A Lesson in Self Portraits

or, Why You Shouldn't Leave Your Camera With a 9 Year Old.

Geary had his first swim meet this weekend. It's different from Summer League swimming. The kids are required to "circle in" (circle their number on the Heat Sheets). They are also responsible for getting their Heat Number/Lane Assignment once it's been published. So, being the Mom, I went up to the great hoarde of people to figure out Geary's Heat Numbers and Lane Assignments. I figured it would be safer to leave the camera with him..HA! This is just one of the fun little surprises I found on my camera :)

The swim meet was a huge success! Geary had a fantastic time and did very well. On Saturday he swam the 100 Free, 100 Breaststroke and 50 Butterfly. He even won his heat in the 100 Free! On Sunday, he swam the 50 Free and 50 Breaststroke. The results still haven't been posted, so I don't know the final outcome, but I am a very proud Mama! His coach was really impressed, too. He told me he thought Geary would excel in Breaststroke - which is Geary's favorite stroke!

Here are a few photos. We weren't allowed to use flash inside the Natatorium during the competitions, so it was hard to get good action shots. But, I think these are a good representation:

--Self posed :) Geary wanted to make sure his team cap was showing!


--Waiting for his heat to begin.


--Take your mark!

The Amazing Things You See...

Or, why I should carry my camera with me at all times!

I was driving to work this morning a little later than normal. As I cut through the neighborhood, I saw a couple walking with their baby. The wife was wearing a Snuggli and the baby was grinning and waving her arms about. They looked like your average, happy family. OK, what so amazing about that? Nothing...except it sets up my next sight. I turn the corner and down the street I see another woman walking. I can see from behind that she also is wearing a Snuggli. As I pass her, I look in my rearview mirror to see the baby, but instead I see...
.

.

.

.

A YORKSHIRE TERRIER!!!!!!

Oh, how I wish I had my camera!

Finally, here's my Sunday photo from my Week in the Life series. Next week, I'll start sharing my completed LO's.

A Week in the Life

I am a huge fan of Ali Edwards. Her ability to capture the simple things in life really appeals to me. So, I was really excited to follow along on her "Week in the Life" challenge. I have one more day to complete the challenge, but here are some highlights from the first 6 days:













I've really enjoyed carrying around my camera this week. It really got me thinking about all the "things" that I see and do during a week. I'm not sure there is any "normal" week for this family LOL! But, this is as close to what we normally do as any other week.

More blog fun

Hi there! Nothing new to report today. But I do have this fun quiz I got from The SweetShoppe Blog:

What Your These Fireworks Say About You

You are jubilant and easily excited. While you aren't very intense or passionate, your happiness is abundant. You can always find cause to celebrate, laugh, or even just smile to yourself. You find that life is full of things to be happy about!

The Fireworks Test

Happy 4th to all my family and friends! This weekend I'll bring you photos from the annual Blow Up the Neighborhood Party.

Another fun Quiz

Here's another fun quiz from my friends over at the Sweet Shoppe Blog




Yeah...not as big a nerd as I thought I'd be. I thought I might get at 75 at least LOL!

Fun Blog Stuff

We interrupt the regular mutterings to bring you this fun blog post (courtesy of the SweetShoppeDesigns.com Blog

What Your Fridge Says About You

You like to be surrounded by things you love. You aren't exactly greedy, but you can be materialistic at times. You tend to be a fairly thrifty person. You splurge occasionally, but you're mostly a saver. You are a very adventurous person. You love to try new things, and you get bored very easily. You are responsible, together, and mature. You act like an adult, even when you don't feel like it. You are likely married, possibly with kids.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

OK, not sure how much the "You act like an adult" part fits LOL! But overall, this is a pretty accurate description of our life at home.

OK, I'm trying to keep this more up-to-date (HAH!)

The boys have been swimming for the neighborhood swim team for the last few weeks. Neither one was a very good swimmer before joining the team. Adam was not comfortable at all in the water unless he could touch the bottom. 4 weeks later, both are fearless!

Geary's favorite stroke is the butterfly:


Adam's favorite stroke is the backstroke:


We won this week 291 - 256! Next week is the Division Meet, then we are done for the summer. Both boys are so happy swimming. It's the best sport we could have put them in. Since they are almost 2 years apart, the will never directly compete against each other (a good thing!), although they do like to compare to see who did better time-wise in their age brackets. I guess I have a couple of competitors :)

Last weekend we went to Texas Motor Speedway with Greg & Shari and their kids to watch the Truck and IRL races. We camped at the track, which made it a whole lot easie with all the kids. I think all the kids had a really good time (including the "big kids" LOL!):

The cousins:


The whole gang at the track:


Greg busting on me:


How Adam spends most of the race:



I'll be back in the next couple days to share some of my more recent layouts.

Weekend Recap

I had to work on New Year's Eve, so I took last Friday off as a comp. day. Dan and I took the boys to San Antonio to go see The Alamo. Dan had never been and I hadn't been since 1984. It's a little different now. LOL! The Daughters of the Texas Revolution have done a fantastic job restoring the old mission and the long barracks (all that remain of the original Alamo.). Now you can go in the old church (called The Shrine). The Long Barracks have been turned into a Museum. There is a large courtyard with many of the canons that the Texans used to defend themselves against Santa Ana. And of course, a gift shop.

The Shrine:

The guys in front of The Shrine:

Adam and one of the canons. The kid is just nuts for all things Army:


One of the best parts of the day was letting Geary carry around a "big" digital camera. We gave him the old Olympus to use for the day.

Here's one of the photos he took. The composition just cracks me up!


I'm still going strong on the Photo-A-Day challenge. I've posted a link to my Project 365 Flickr album under the Inspirations section. Feel free to check it out!

Finally, I'm going to leave you with a layout. I've started the Body For Life for Women challenge. Part of the program is writing down your personal reasons for following the plan. Since I'm a scrapbooker, I decided to turn it into a layout. Coincidently, it goes along with Emily Falconbridge's new year-long challenge of a word a week to put in an Art Journal. You can read more about it here.

Credits can be found here.

One Word

I've been a huge fan of Ali Edwards for a long time. The last couple years she's blogged about her one little word. You can read more about it here. This year, I've picked a word that I think will work well for me: PLAY. I want to PLAY more with my kids. I want to PLAY more with my camera. I want to PLAY more with my scrapping. Here's a layout I did in about my word:

Credits can be found here: Play

In the spirit of PLAY, I've started the Project 365 challenge from Photojojo. You can read more about it here. The basic concept is to take (at least) one photo everyday for 365 days. Since this is a leap year, I guess that makes it Project 366...LOL! Here are my first 3 photos:

Jan01: Our family walk on New Year's Day

Gas price on the day oil hit $100/barrel

My desk at work:

7 for 2007

A new year and a new effort to document our (somewhat boring) life here in Texas. You never know what you may find here, but I hope it's entertaining :)

I saw this thread on MSA a few weeks ago about posting your top 7 photos for 2007. I thought it would be a piece of cake. HAH! My first pass through my 2007 photos garnered 62 photos! I finally whittled it down to my top 7 (with 7 runners-up). So here you go with the Top 7. Tomorrow I'll post my runner-up photos: