Let's Eat Cake

It's my Birthday and we are going to celebrate!! I love July, not only because it's my birthday month, but because I love Summer!!








Macaroni Grill for dinner with Rich and the boys! Hey! No one is ordering off the kid menu anymore? That's a new thing since Zak turned 11 in April.










Happy July! Happy Summer!!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Summer "Bathroom" Reads

It's a commonly known fact, that when I potty trained my kids, I sat on the edge of the tub and read to them while they sat on the potty. It was a great way to get their inpatient minds off the sometimes long wait...and got them to appreciate time with a good book! To this day, my kids are both dedicated bathroom readers.....oh don't get me wrong, they read at other times of the day...but I find evidence in the bathroom of their current reads. I'm always interested to see what books make it to the bathroom...this is good stuff! Awesome boy stuff! I'm proud that they enjoy reading, even if somedays it's only in the bathroom...

Its no secret either that getting boys to read isn't always easy...I've been known to leave comic books and science guides in the bathroom drawer...and you know what? They get read!

What are you reading this Summer...either on the beach or um hem...in the bathroom? :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Trash to Treasure

I'm on a DIY kick with yard sale/trift store frames. I'll be sharing my creations as I get them completed. Here's the first little project. I got these frames for $1 each at a yard sale around the corner from my house. I painted the white frames black, the powder blue mats I painted soft white and added new pictures from Matthew's 13th birthday at Bass Lake. These will hang in his bedroom, that I swear I have been updating for a year! It's a work in progress for sure!

I added some handwriting at the bottom of each print, just to make it somewhat custom. I love these and you can't beat the price for new artwork at 1 buck each, plus the cost of the print (it's cut down to 9x8) and cost me about $2 ....very thrifty project to decorate for this teen guy!

Father's Day Gift

Sharing this simple gift I made for Harry, my father-in-law. It's a simple little Father's Day gift that I put together using a container from Target, template download from Martha Stewart. Fun! Quick! Easy! The Chex Mix can be homemade, but I just got the big bag from Sam's Club :) Container was $14, Chex Mix $4 and template $0.

Have a great Father's Day weekend!

June Photos

Taking pictures just for fun makes me happy. Thought I'd share some of my 30 Day Challenge pictures.

Day 1: Self-portrait:
Reen-June 2011 @ 47






Day 2: What you wore today:
My new Levi's and big Sunglasses from Ooh La La!






Day 3: something new
Rich's Weber-he's cooking! Yay!!






Day 4: something green
Zak goes fishing-a view out my front door







Day 5: from a high angle
Reen & Rich @ Eureka Burger!






Day 6: From a low angle
Lazy Lucky dog!






Day 7: Spring Flowers
One from Deb's yard






Day 8: a "bad" habit
My Morning Coffee-with JNI friends






Day 9: someone you love
Rosie-my sweet Aunt/God Mother






Day 10: Childhood Memory
Zak's sea turtle comes
Home from school-5th grade






Day 11: something blue
First Swim of Summer






Photos were all taken with my iPhone! Some of them will certainly make it to my Project Life album.

I have modified a few of these challenges to fit our everyday life and what we have going on in our days. You can find all the original challenges here;
http://whitepeachphoto.com/2011/05/25/photography_challenge/

Pull out your camera, cell phone, point & shoot...join in.

Thanks for visiting me.
Reen

Location:Fresno

Testing out Blogpress App

Blog worthy? I don't know...if this app works I am golden! If it fails, then it may be another month before I update my crickets of a blog. I'm trying out the Blogpress app and it supposed to let you update AND post pictures to your blogger acct. from your iPhone? Let's ck it!

Random update: We had a nice family reunion over the weekend....I got to see my Aunt Rosie, my GodMother whom I hadn't seen in about ten yrs! Love her!! (this is just like texting on a keypad!...easy and I Am horizontal right now, since it's 3:55 and you can call me Ima Insomniac :)

Here is our picture taken at my sister's house in Dos Palos. I think she may move back to Cali from Texas. I hope so, then I'd get to see her more often.
We all need our God Mothers!
(simple to add a picture, just touch the little camera icon and my iPhone pics come up)







Whoa! This app actually works! It's amazing! I can update and share pictures straight from the iPhone.....and the best part! I'm still laying in bed! Love :)

Thanks for visiting me!

Posted using BlogPress from Reenie's iPhone :)

Location:My Bed :)

Playing with Photos and Preserving Memories

Here's my latestest update:

Project Life Feb/March 2011

Thanks for visiting me :)

Showing our Teacher some Appreciation.....

Zak's 5th grade teacher is Mrs. Caeton. She's been teaching for 33 years and doesn't seem to be showing any signs of backing down soon. She is amazing and has helped my Zak reach his maximum potential as a student this year. She recommended him for GATE, which he sincerely LOVES and enjoys. She's taken him aside when he slips back and trys to find the easy route to finishing a project. She encourages him to do the work and to stay on track. She's tough, but I have trusted her to help him learn the lessons he needs to become a successful young man. In short, she is incredible! How do you thank a woman for being incredible, patient, kind, firm, strict and loving with your child? I don't know, but I hope just a little sign of my appreciation goes a long way to somehow letting her know she's loved.

I do love teachers! I think they are amazing, wonderful, and some of the most giving people on earth! I have many, many teachers to thank for helping be become the person I am today. I like to take time out of my busy schedule every year and thank the kids teachers. This year is no different, I took the time yesterday to make some simple bookmarks and to package up a little goodie for Zak's Teacher/5th grade class.

Just thought I'd share my little gift that I put together with my blogger friends. Now go show your favorite teachers some love! :)

Project Life 2011

I'm sharing some of my pages from the Project Life kit that I started in January. It's a fun way to document the special moments, the everyday memories, and the times we share with friends and family. In January I didn't have too many photos, it was a hectic first month of the year so I used a few of our holiday shots to fill in. I kept the first month simple since I was just trying to figure out how to get it all organized.

Now I have it setup and keep it out on the table to work on each week.

In February, I am starting to incorporate some of my own scrapbooking stash and using the embellishments and papers that I have on hand. It's been fun to document the year in progress.

I'm Living in the moment and capturing the best and the mundane of it...I love it! Someday I'll look back on this Project and be taken to this special time and place in life when my boys were little, just 10 and 12.

January - filling in with some holiday memoies, incorporating my "one little word = JOY"

Capturing school sporting events, science fair projects night.

Family day in Dos Palos - those are the fabulous, famous tamales!

Concert - Reba and George Strait

Girls day out - everyday stuff: laundry, treats, etc.

Starting to incorporate my own stash and memorabilia

I keep a stash of journaling cards in my car and in my purse. When I have a few minutes, I take note of life's details.

Using the numbers that came with the kit makes documenting the photo memories simple

Thanks for visiting me, I hope you're inspired to document your life and to leave a legacy for your own children. You won't ever regret doing it :)
reen

1/52 Photography Challenge - Self Portrait

I'm joining Krista Lund and her fabulous photography friends in a little challenge this year. One Photog challenge per week all year long. This is number 1 of 52


Reen 1.17.11 - taken w/ iphone4

it's a new day..

The holidays are such a blur and they flew by so very quickly. It was a simple Christmas this year, with very few gifts. Refusing to get caught up in the crazy madness that the holidays can become, I skipped a number of pot lucks and parties to regroup and enjoy the time with the kids. They always make my season brighter! This is a photo of my family on Christmas Eve at my in-laws. (Notice that cute 20 yr. old neice of mine?...that's Elise Irene!...she's the light of my life, as are my boys!) (Also notice those cute cutains at my mother in-laws house, with the matching table cloth?.....I made those for her, aren't they fab?)...



The New Year is upon us and our weekends consist of football, football, and more football. I manage to do a little crafting during some of the games. Here's a photo of the new Valentine banner I made during the Auburn/Oregon game. Everything on the banner came from my stash of supplies. Sending my love to you all as we head into February.




Sketch iphone photo using photoshop express app:
For my love of journaling, photography, and memory keeping, I'll be working on Project Life this year. I still love the idea of leaving a legacy, leaving a footprint for my kids to know a little about me and a lot about their childhood. Join me in this journey, I'll be posting a monthly update reminder. If you want to learn more go here:
http://www.beckyhiggins.com/products/



We are back to the routine of school, work, sports, homework and projects. Before we get to busy....Thanks for visiting me. I'm wishing you and your family a blessed New Year in 2011.

I love you friends.

Flashback Friday

This was taken at the end of 2000 ....It's one of my favorite photos of my boys as babies

Christmas Crafting

I made these little treats for friends and co-workers. Here's the link to the download if you'd like to make them for your friends too.

http://iloveitallwithmonikawright.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-11-23T07%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=5

Thanks for visiting me and happy holidays!

Little Scrapbook for 2011

I made this yesterday afternoon. Totally fun mini album kit by Mellie. All I have to do is add photos from each month and by year-end I'll have a snapshot of "Our Family 2011".

First Day of School

Matthew is in Jr. High this year. First pimples, first laptop and a whole bunch of new friends at this school. He's 12 and says he has NO interest in girls and it's fine with me if he keeps it that way until he's 20.

Zak is 10 and starting 5th grade. The boys are at different schools this year and won't be together again until high school. Zak is taking up the drums this year and wants to play football and wrestle.

I'm hoping for one great school year! Fewer days in detention that last year and lots of good grades.



Happy 2010/2011 school year

April is Birthday Month

Zachary is 10 this Month. We celebrated his birthday with a Fun Time at Cal Skate!! Zak invited a few friends from School, Summer Camp, and our old neighbors. We all had a great time and everyone (even Richie) got on rollerskates that day.
It was a fun way to celebrate Zak!








Matthew turns 12 on 4/26, we celebrated his birthday at Boomers this weekend. The boys had a great time on the cars, bumper boats and playing mini golf and video games. We took Matthew out for dinner afterwards, to Marie Callendars, then had ice cream cake for dessert here at home. I love family parties and I'm happy that he wanted to keep it small and low key this year. We all enjoyed the day of celebration! It was a fun time for the 4 of us.