Random.... long.... hopefully not to boring.

Well...... This will be a strange blog...

I had a very 'blogable' day on Thursday... however I haven't had any time to blog about it.... now it is getting kinda 'old' in my memory and I am tired and not in the mood to blog... but I am anyway! lol. So...... Enjoy?

I woke up Thursday morning in the mood to GET OUT! Victoria was nice enough to run away with me to Gardner Village for the morning! We had lots of fun, and of course the kids love feeding the ducks. There is a great scrapbook page that goes in right here....however, since I haven't had time to make said page... you will just have to come back later!!!! :) my blog... my rules... get over it.

Here is a great picture that Victoria took for us at Gardner Village.



After we had some fun there we came home and had some lunch. Then I got a last minute surprise! I have made several good friends over the internet in the last few years. Most of which I will never get to meet. But on Thursday afternoon I got the wonderful opportunity to MEET two of my very good friends!!! These are two ladies I have met through designing at DSO. One of the ladies, Teriann, lives in Treemonton. We have always talked about getting together... but never quite get the time. Joy, however lives in SanDiego. Joy was in town for a conference and called Teriann and I up! We all met downtown and had a great few hours at the Gateway mall! TOO MUCH FUN!!! We gabbed like we have been friends since highschool! It was so much fun! Amalyssa had a hard time understanding why I was so excited. She didn't get how I had a friend... but had never met them... lol. The kids were great the whole time while we just chatted away!



Since this was a momentous occasion I of course brought my camera! I opened my case up, however, and found a shattered lens!!! NOT COOL! Now.... After a moment of panic I realized it was just my protection filter...this is EXACTLY why I HAVE a protection filter! I couldn't get the broken filter off while we were together so Teriann sent me her pictures. Scott had to pry the thing off with a pair of pliers when I got home! Luckily I have a spare filter so I popped it on and we are back in business!

Here is a nice picture of shattered glass for all of you!



I got home from this fun evening late and was rather tired. When I noticed something wonderful on the counter!



I HAVE A PASSPORT!!!! Call me weird...I have always wanted a passport! Now I have one and I feel COOL! We all got one. No... not just a senseless waste of money to fill a silly dream of mine! Who do you think I am???? Anyway, we got the passports because Scott's parents decided it was time for a family vacation... TO JAMAICA!!!! Can I get a WOOT WOOT!

So.... there you have it.... my 'blogable' day on Thursday. Hmmm.... guess I was more in the mood to blog than I though....
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings! Be sure to come back for the Scrapbook page!!!!!

A mother in LOVE!

I found this totally AWESOME web page last night and had to share it!! Scott and I have been wanting to start Amalyssa on a small chore chart for a while now. I could never find anything to motivate her.... or me for that matter. Making the chore charts was not fun and Amalyssa didn't like doing them.

Last night I found my salvation, in more than one way! GREAT chore charts AND motivation in one web space!!!!! AND IT'S FREE!!!

http://www.handipoints.com/printchart.html?gclid=CKvY2uzF8JUCFSJIagodmjA0eQ

Just thought I would share it in case any of you ladies have the same 'chore chart' issues that I have! lol (you are perfect moms so you probably don't!)

This has EASY chore charts and an extensive pre-made list of home chores, hygiene, behavior, and school related 'chores'. You ALSO have the option to add your own items! You can pick and choose to your hearts content! Keep track of it on-line or print it out to track with pen.
The motivation part.... an MMO (massively multi-player online game) for kids! It is this fun little cat world. They earn points by doing their chores and then they can use the points to buy things for their cat or do activities in the MMO! Amalyssa is TRILLED to have a cat of her own! Since she is only 5 I am not sure how much she will really get into the game but there are other ways to use the points as incentive as well! You can set a goal for a certain number of points and then they get a physical reward that you can set. This site looks awesome so far and has a lot to offer! The only down side I have found so far is the keys. To get certain things in the cat world they have to have keys which mom and dad have to pay for on Amazon. The balancing side to this is that you can set it up so they have to earn points for mom and dad to shell out the cash for the keys. I think we are just going to pass on the keys since I don't really see Amalyssa getting to much into the game. We will probably set a point allowance or something for her. Like 1 point = 1 penny. She has a thing for getting REAL money and SPENDING it! (OIY).

Anyway... thought I would share since I am ecstatic I found this site!!! I think I might even set up a chore chart for mommy! LOL... maybe then Scott could see how much I really DO vacuum the floor!!! (and I confess I was playing as Braden's cat last night! lol)

Thought I would throw this picture up too. Braden was sitting like this mimicking daddy last night. I ran to get my camera... knowing full well he would move before I got back... which he did... but as soon as he saw the camera he settled back into his pose for mommy! LOL... are my kids camera trained or what!?