Girl's day out at Disneyland always includes being on the hunt for "famous" people.  Actually, we are always looking for "famous" people when we go to large public venues.  But Disneyland is a good bet.  Considering there are 365 days in a year, chances are good that there is going to be at least one "famous" person SOMEWHERE in the park.  The odds of you running across them are more diluted depending on the size of the crowd.  Admittedly, chances of finding them are a totally different story.  Once you find them, you have to decide how aggressive you want to be to document it.  Nonchalantly getting a picture while allowing the celebrity a certain amount of privacy is a trick and not conducive to good pictures.  I don't want to stalk or get in their face. Our first "celebrity" sighting happened when we entered the parking structure.  Before we could even get parked we saw… The Weiner-mobile!  They were at the attendants booth the same time as we were.  The passenger of the Weiner-mobile handed the attendant some Wienie whistles, which I unashamedly asked for 3 for us.  We wanted to chase it down, but settled for tracking it down in the outside parking.  The occupants were no longer with it, but we could still get some pictures…FUN!   Loved the license plate! After riding the tram to the park

I guess I must be ready for spring because I am so excited by the smallest of details in nature around me.  It starts when the spring flowers begin to bloom and my trip to the Carlsbad Flower Fields reignited the excitement.  I think that any time I look at just one element…a leaf, a petal, a bee busy at work…that in and of itself would be enough.   But when I consider the complexities of the whole, even just what is in my line of vision, and how they all work together to make something so beautiful, I am amazed that anyone could ever consider that there was not a divine hand in Creation.  I am reminded that great care went into even the little spider's dinner table.  Small, almost not noticeable, but very wonderful.  And then there's the flowers…   For, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin; and the kingdoms of the world, in all their glory, are not arrayed like one of these.  D&C

A few weeks ago, I made flowers - Bachelor Buttons – out of patterned paper.  They were fun and fairly easy.  While I had the folding idea fresh in my mind, I tried it on different materials.  Can you tell what I used this time?  Guess. (This is a re-creation…the first one I experimented with was white, but I think this would work as well for the colors I used, although the finished color might differ slightly!) Anyway, it had been sitting here, buried on my desk, until my cleaning uncovered it.  (This is what happens when I start to clean…I get distracted!)  I hate to just toss those little "trial and error" pieces, but it had no purpose and trying to find it a home can cause serious delay in my schedule.  But then I spied my Glimmer Mist sitting up on my shelf, and a recent trip to the Carlsbad flower fields was fresh on my mind and I thought, "Hmmm…if I spray it with color and don't like it, I can justify tossing it."  Guess what?  I kind of liked it.  I played with it a lot and was happy with the end result.  So I kept it…and kept playing with it.  So much for cleaning!  And on to finding a suitable background for my flower. I have been taught to have great respect for books.  I love books, not only for their content, but for their visual

A few weeks ago, Mike was in a play with the San Diego Unified School District's Honor Drama program…I probably am not technically correct on that description.  Anyway, it was a district wide project, with kids from around San Diego and was held at La Jolla High.  The show I attended was February 18, 2010.He really was in his element for this part.  I didn't get a ton of good pictures, mostly because this wasn't our school venue and I wasn't privy to the backstage access I've had before, but he was really great in the part and I managed to get a few shots that show how spectacular his costume was.Spectacular and HOT!  Anyone that knows Mike KNOWS he overheats in a tee shirt and shorts doing nothing!  There were so many layers and including the fake fur robe…it was brutal.  He survived and I never heard him complain…much!  The show was fun and Mike did an excellent characterization with a pretty good French…yes, I said French accent. Two of his "minions" were Megan and Emily, from UCHS.  They were both in Frankenstein with Mike, but this was definitely a more "up" role!  He even got to keep his beard for the role.  He's the only HS kid I know that can grow such a full one!  I am glad that he is currently on a more "clean shaved" kick.&#

I have been working a few days on a project that has taken up a lot of hours.  I get focused and then I want to pursue it until it gets done, although a lot of my projects never come completely to an end.  So when Megan asked if I would like to go to the Carlsbad Flower Fields on Friday, my first inclination was to say "no".  But luckily I thought about it before answering because then I would have missed all this… Is there any wonder that after reviewing the creations of the third day that God, after seeing His work, would be pleased? Thanks, my "corny" Megan, for suggesting the flower fields.  It was a nice distraction from my project!

Spring is here!  Bouquets of flowers are always welcome at my house, but if a trip to the store is not in my time schedule or budget, I'll just make a few of my own!  Not that I need spring as an excuse for making flowers!  They're never as wonderful as the real thing, mostly because they have no fragrance and I'm not as patient with the intricacies, but I sure love making them.  These sweet little flowers remind me of Bachelor Buttons.  Making one layer is great for scrapbooking or card making, but for a more dimensional project, making two and putting them back to back will do the trick.  The first couple took a while to make, working out the steps, but once that was mastered, just a few minutes will do.  You can get the directions here. Just imagine how cute these would look on a card or a scrapbook page…okay, if I didn't have to bake for the Senior Bake Sale, clean house, prepare for a wedding, 3 baptisms and a reception, not to mention out-of-town company, maybe I'd do that right now.  As it stands, I'll just have to wait until next week…oh wait!  Next week I'm working on cleaning my workroom.  Great!  It will be summer before I get back to these!  Well, we shall see!&#

When I am involved with the Scouts, it is usually behind the scenes…prepping for projects, picking up supplies for camp-outs, sewing on merit badges or patches – that Mom kind of stuff.  The moms just don't go on most of the activities.  So when retired Sergeant Major Bill Paxton called to check on our up coming Eagle Court of Honor for Mike and Tom and invited the troop to a special performance of the US Marine Drum & Bugle Corps – families included – Scott jumped at the chance and he set the plans in motion.  Three cars full of family members and Scouts left the church about 1pm on Saturday, March 20th, 2010.  When we arrived at the MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) San Diego, we got through the gate and then everyone had to pile out of their vehicles, open all their doors, hood, trunk and compartments while they were searched.  We were greeted by Sergeant Major Paxton, and guided to our reserved bleachers.  He spoke with the boys about the importance of being good Scouts and working to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.  He then introduce one of the few surviving men that was at Iwo Jima…I unfortunately have forgotten his name.  Scott spoke to the boys about the men and women in uniform and the importance of their service.  He pointed out men with Purple

I have always been a frugal shopper…or at least I thought so!  I hardly ever buy anything at the store full price.  I watch for deals, stock up on things I use a lot of and REALLY stock up on super deals, especially things that I find at the 99 cents only store.  I must admit – I'm just a little addicted to making daily trips there. I go through withdrawals – almost – and have to force myself not to go.  I'm afraid that I will miss one of those extraordinary deals if I stay away.  I used to be good at clipping coupons, but then we stopped getting the paper delivered so it depended on whether we thought about getting the "bull dog" (Saturday evening) edition or happened across a newspaper stand/box that still had issues left on Sunday.  I don't often remember to pick one up on Saturday.  It takes a lot of time and dedication to be a successful super coupon shopper and I currently don't have much of either. My husband found this article and forwarded it to me.  I think that he expects me to do better…at least better than I do now!  I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge!  Take for example the boxes of Jello reference…I don't think that I would use up 1,142 in 10 years, even though they were free, although it would probably last that long!&#