My Weekend of Mowing

You can hardly tell where I mowed in this photo, but believe you me I did! We try and mow our field 3 times a year and the earlier the better. It helps cut down on the star thistle which is a nasty bugger, it is less of a fire hazard and heck it just looks better! lol

So I am out there on the tractor acting like I know what I am doing. ha ha, but I have to say it is quite pleasant just riding that thing back and forth, ya sorta just zone. Well that is until you hit a stinking huge digger squirrel hole/mound and ya really bounce all over. Man that makes your heart pump! Especially for a city kid like me. you can see the area I mowed better in this photo cause the grass is longer on this side of the field.

4 hours on the tractor is about all I can take at one time, seems like it would be a piece of cake but golly you do bounce all over the place!

It does give you a lot of time to think, Tracy Blankenship blogged about the computer spread she is sitting on. I am joining in with her SBG (Scrapper's Butt Group) to get off the computer more and MOVE! I sure wish it was as easy to loose the extra poundage as it is to put it on!! :) Maybe I should mow the field with a push mower! ummmm.......NOT! lol
Happy Monday
Brooke

Party Central, Justin's Birthday

My two kids, wow seems like they should be about 8 and 11! lol Hard to believe Justin just turned 25. We had another birthday BBQ cause we all love BBQ's :)
The only damper on the day was that we didn't get to have Kaylie and of course everyone was looking forward to seeing her and some meeting her for the 1st time :( We did have beautiful weather all day, even though the weatherman said it was supposed to rain all day! (Thank you Lord)

Lots of Family and friends,our house was packed as usual when we all get together and of course the more the merrier. lol

It was great to see some of Justin's friends all grown up, married with little ones. All the babies were within 3 months of each other. Really cute to see them playing.




Justin started Kindergarten with this little guys Daddy and his Mommy's big brother. What a cutie, they would put to coke can to his mouth (not opened) and he thought he was drinking it! So very proud of himself and so darn adorable!! :)


These two are meeting for the 1st time, Wesley was excited but Jada, she was not so sure. That is until later when she took to toy from Wesley! lol You know how we girls are, play shy and then when you are not looking we will sneak in and grab what we want! Only Jada didn't sneak! I was totally laughing most of the night!

Jada and Tory on the stairs, man Jada heads up those stairs lickity split. I can see 'baby gates' in our near future with Kaylie!

These cute scalloped frames are a freebie on Lucie's blog: http://lemonaidlucydesigns.blogspot.com/2007/04/alive-and-kickin-and-freebie.html

Then and Now

Here is a layout of our house in the 1st stages and where we are now.

My daughter Amber totally inspired me to start posting about the steps we have gone thru to build our house. She has been blogging about what they are doing and I love seeing her pictures (even though I see it in real life) You forget so quickly. (see her blog Bright Beginnings on my side bar)

Plus Hummie http://blog.hummiesworld.com/2007/04/themed-thursdays-then-now.html

posted a challenge and this is my layout for her challenge. Just a challenge to get yourself going!!

Credits are:

Template by: Di Hickman

Little Dudes kit by: Shabby Miss Jenn

Pristine Chipboard action - Thank you Atomic Cupcake!

Fonts LB Sandbox and LB Kerri

Our Mini Vacation / Business Trip :)

Here are the pictures of our trip. We call it a mini vacation because we got about 4 hours Saturday morning to do what ever we wanted and in the Nursery business that is nothing sort of a miracle this time of the year!

This is Bandon Inn, what a nice little jewel to have found. Great service and a lovely view of the bay out to the ocean!

Paul, enjoying the view and working on a Nursery article, like I said never just doing nothing, that's my honey!





















Paul wanted a photo of me on the laptop (not surprised are ya) plus a view of old Town and the bay, so he stood up on the bed. Hey he is really getting creative with his photos!











Some hardy folks out on the bay setting Crab traps out so they can have a wonderful crab feed! Oh that really makes ya hungry for some nice fresh crab doesn't it! This was taken off the deck of our room.

OH NO LOOK OUT!!! (insert the theme to 'Jaws' duh na duh na duh na) This is a sneaky seal after the bait in the crab trap. But I did look closer at the boat and they are smart crabbers, they are using the crab cages that keep seals out but let crabs in!














So we always have to take a drive out Beach Loop, this the house my Parent built over 40 years ago when we lived in Bandon. I was about 5 when they built this house and you can just imagine what the weather was like for most of the building. My Mom, being the good mommy she was fixed up the back seat of the car like a Doll House and I spent hours playing there while they worked on our home. Funny I had not thought about that until I was writing this! The 2nd story was added about 3 years after we left.
A stop to see Elephant Rock










This is better, you can see the 'trunk' of the Elephant and the ocean coming thru. This is the Elephant 'crying'













Face Rock, either I am not at a very good angle or the nose is wearing down!! ha ha



















Time for some yummy fish and chips on the bay. I am not a huge fan of fish and chips but Paul wanted them and they were pretty good. Plus it was nice to be able to sit outside on the coast in April!! Just could not pass that one up :)













The entrance into Old Town, when I lived there it was just downtown! ha ha now they have really fixed it up and made it a fun place for people to go shop and spend their 'tourist' money which of course is good for the regular towns folk! Also a better shot of the Bandon Inn.









Now down to the Jetty, I have certain places I always have to see when we go to Bandon and I always have to go out to the Jetty. I remember as a kid there being a Tidal Wave warning and crazy people going down to the Jetty to ummm 'SEE IT' good golly can we say total idiots! The coast guard guys had to risk their lives to go evacuate them. It just ended up being a bad storm but it could have been really bad! Some people just never cease to amaze me!

The Bandon Lighthouse, which is what everyone calls it even though it is really the Coquille River lighthouse. No one would know what you were talking about if ya called it that! I remember going in this as a kid, way before they fixed it up and it scaring the begeezers out of me. It had a big ole hole in the bottom where you could have fallen. Of course that was a couple of years ago before all the safety regulations they have now. Hmmm wonder if that is why they have those regulations, to keep dumb kids out and stupid tourists under control! lol










The Jetty and a bit of spray














From the stories I have heard this is one of the worst 'Bars' to cross in a storm! This picture does not really show just how big these waves are. I also remember coming down to watch the Whales here. The story I remember and I do not know just how 'true' it was or if it was one of those 'slightly stretched stories' but it was about the whales wanting to rub the barnacles off their backs on the boats coming into the bay. I know it gave me nightmares thinking about being in one of those boats!! And no I was never even in a boat here in this bay, but my young mind sure did get scared! :)

Look at how blue the sky is in this photo, it was just taken a bit to the left of the last photo but that is Oregon for ya! Blink and the weather changes!! I just had to take one beautiful 'Beach' photo. Before we headed on to the REAL reason we came to Bandon!










Here is the Truck all draped in a tarp before we load the Furniture in, since we had spoken with Amber (our daughter) and she said it was pouring for the Pear Blossom Parade. She took pictures for me of Justin (our son) riding a horse as the Lone Ranger. You have to know Justin to know riding a horse in a parade is no big deal but putting on a costume now that is a bit of a stretch for him! ha ha. Oh sorry I sort of got side tracked there didn't I! lol
Anyway we are all ready to load up!













WOW what a stinking huge load! We had planned on bringing the trailer but Justin, who is our local delivery driver for the nursery had a huge delivery that was really late and we didn't want to wait until 8:30 to leave. So Paul being the great packer he is, just managed to cram it all in, with lots of tiedown straps,bungee cords and even some twine! And we are ready to head back to the Valley! So ends our Mini Vacation,but it sure was fun while it lasted!! As soon as I am finished with this post I am headed to the Nursery to plant some more hanging baskets :)

Bandon by the Sea!

Well I am sitting here in a hotel room at the Bandon Inn, looking out toward the ocean. I can see beautiful white caps and the Bandon light house. Yep we made a crazy quick dash over here last night after work to pick up some fabulous Teak Furniture for the Nursery.
Quiet, leisurely mornings are so rare for Paul and I, this is a total treat. Even if he is working on Nursery stuff at the moment! lol If you know anything about my hubby you know he is never 'not doing something' :)

We are headed back this afternoon but what a nice morning it has been. I am taking some photos and I will post them when I get home. Just saw a seal in the bay following a little boat that was putting out baited crab pots. Those seals are no body's dummies that is for sure. We started getting the 'crab cages' for our crabbing because the seals really like that easy free meal (the little stinkers) and the cages keep the bait inside out of reach. We have had some fantastic crab feeds at Sunset Bay after a day on the bay out at Charleston. Sure hope we get to do that again this year, we have missed a couple of years due to weddings and building our house but we are so ready to play this Summer! :)

I lived in Bandon for 7 years with my family as a child. So I have some really fond memories of this place. I am going to try and get some photos of places I loved as a child. If not on this trip then when we come over with our group this summer. So who wants to come with us?? We camp and feast on Crab, clams,BBQ'd Oysters and fresh caught fish! While I am NOT a clam lover I do like to go clamming and dig those little treasures up. My MIL makes the best clam chowder, I even like it. Not the creamy one but one with a broth base and lots of veggies, YUMMM. Ok now I am really getting into the trip, I had best get it all planned out when I get back or it might slip thru my fingers.

Well it is 9:00and the store will be open so we are headed out, It was fun to watch old Towne wake up and start humming! Later gaters

Super quick Easter Layout

Oh my gosh I totally love this minibook by Corina of Funky playground designs. It is a 8x8 Easter book that I had to grab as soon as I saw it. I did re-size it to a 12 x 12 since that is the size I like to do :) Super fast and I love the look!

The journaling reads:

Justin, I am so proud of the Daddy you are. You Love that little bundle of joy so much :) Being a Daddy is something you've always looked forward to. Even though things might not be 'white picket fence' perfect, you're doing a great job with the solid loving, supporting stuff & that's what's important. It's what Kaylie will Remember. Love ya! Mom

Credits are:

Quickpage by Corina Nielsen at:

http://www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=452

Journal Card Doodle blog freebie by Lauren Grier at: www.scrapfasticdesigns.com/blog/?p=14

Love Chipboard blog freebie by Mary Burke at: http://scrapapple.blogspot.com/

See I love digi freebies and awesome digi kits too!

Easter and Party Round 2

So Easter was fantastic here on the hill! Started with breakfast with my 3 guys, Hubby, Father and Son. Then off to Church, such a beautiful day and a beautiful setting.














This does not really show the area very well but I didn't want to post pictures of people without permission. I don't want anyone knocking on my door and bopping me in on the head for being bad! lol

Then Easter Dinner at the house here is a layout of Miss Kaylie Sue in her 1st Easter Dress.


Journaling Reads:

Easter 2007
You looked so precious in your 1st Easter Dress! We were just thrilled that you got to spend some time with us, it really made Easter even more special for all of us and Your DADDY was absolutely walking on cloud nine the whole time! We all Love you Little One.


Credits:

Rose Farver_Digitally Speaking Journaling Stamp

Chipboard Eggs and Bunny by Christina Renee

Quick page by Corina Funky playground Designs eggciting minibook

Easter Title Letters blog freebie by Carrie Bombria

10 things that make me happy

The very wonderful Jessica Sprague http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/posted a challenge on her blog to list 10 things that make you happy right now. So here are mine!

1 We got to have our Granddaughter on Easter. That was totally a blessing!

Got these little shoes at Wal-Mart, I just could not resist them. I just love baby clothes!

2 Hanging out with my daughter doing whatever, whether it is scrapping, painting walls or working out.

3 The Pear trees blooming, I know everyone will get tired of hearing this but our view, but we just feel so lucky to live here :)!

4 Getting the last of the 100 trees planted!
5 Spending an evening at home with my hubby and no one else
6 My Dad living with us, he is easy to be around and my hubby gets along with him so well
7 Cool free digi finds, great tutorials and even awesome kits to buy!
8 Happy not to have any plans for this except to get my garden in
9 the kids club at our nursery (Our family business is a retail Nursery) we just started, so fun to see kids getting all excited
10 Last but by no means least, being able to worship outside in such a beautiful setting!

Party Time, round one

So April is a busy month in our family. My Mother in Law's Birthday - Easter - Son's Birthday - Grandmother's 95th Birthday and Son - in - Law's Birthday! WHEW

Here we are starting the Month with a Party at the house to Celebrate my MIL's Birthday. You have all heard horror stories or even lived horror stories with MIL's..... well mine is wonderful. I could not have been luckier over the years with anyone else. We had family and a few of her friends over, just a bunch of fun.

I have to share this great recipe with you my Daughter makes it all the time for parties. So so so easy and YUMMMM

Artichoke Dip
1 Block Cream Cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp crushed garlic
1 large can artichoke hearts (drained)

Cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 15-30 minutes
Toss it all in a food processor or use a hand mixer, totally easy :) Don't ya just love great recipes that are super simple but make you look like you are a fantastic cook! I know I sure do lol