I had to scrap this photo taken yesterday at James and Lindsey's baby shower of me with my two grandsons--Luke and Jaren.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Me and My Boys
I had to scrap this photo taken yesterday at James and Lindsey's baby shower of me with my two grandsons--Luke and Jaren.
Ella's Baby Shower
Yesterday Carrie & David, Sarah & Jeremy, and Roger and I hosted a baby shower for James and Lindsey. We had pretty much the entire Loghry clan there--all except Mindy and Teri Lin. In addition, Lindsey's parents, Sandy & Bob (I think that is his name--sorry if I'm wrong) were traveling back from Omaha to Wisconsin and were able to join us, along with James other grandmother, Rita Reeves. We had some great food and fun games. James and Lindsey got some really nice presents, including a beautiful blanket that Barb, the soon-to-be proud grandma, knitted. It was so great to have everyone together to share this happy time with James and Lindsey.
I've posted just a few of the pictures from the shower. The rest are posted on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/queenshakenbake/
Our Thanksgiving
We were fortunate to have our family over for Thanksgiving, even though it gets pretty crowded. Hopefully no one minds. The fact that we are all able to gather is what is important. We have so much to be thankful for this year. As always, there was way too much food. Our menu for nine people (Jaren's parents brought his food) was:
10 pound turkey
5 pound ham
homemade rolls
Pioneer Woman's mash potatoes with cream cheese and half & half
gravy
green bean casserole
cornbread casserole
gourmet macaroni & cheese courtesy of Jeremy
cranberry relish
applesauce
pumpkin pie
chocolate cake
I might be forgetting some items. After dinner, several family members (the male members that is) crashed for naps.
We also went to Disney on Ice that evening. Grandma Okland, Julie, and Neena also went. David bought 8 tickets for their family and Grandma, Julie & Neena. Several hours later I purchased four tickets for Roger, Jeremy, Sarah, and Jaren and myself (actually Jaren didn't get a ticket--we smuggled him in). As luck would have it, we were right in front of the Okland tribe. What fun. The shocker of the night was when I went to purchase a bag of cotton candy and was told it was $10. I balked and didn't buy it. The reason it was $10 was because it had a souvenir crown. Roger ended up buying a bag so I could have the crown.
It was a great day.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thanksgiving Traditions
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching,I got to thinking what, if any, Thanksgiving traditions we have. As I was thinking about this, I realized that although our traditions have remained somewhat constant, they have changed somewhat through the years as our children grew and started their own families.
The one tradition that has not changed through the years is watching Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Even when I was a child living at home, I would get up on Thanksgiving morning to watch this parade. Have I mentioned that I love a parade?
When the kids were younger, I would be baking a cake during the parade (my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner). Then around 12:30 we would head over to my mother's for dinner. After a few hours there we would head over to Roger's parents home for dinner.
Now that the kids have grown, I now cook Thanksgiving dinner. We always have Turkey for Thanksgiving. Sometimes I also will cook a ham. In addition, we always have mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, Jell-o with bananas, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. A couple years ago we added another dish to the meal--my cornbread casserole. Roger and David are really the only pumpkin pie eaters. Sarah might be, I don't know. We also almost always have cake for us non-pie eaters. Our dinner usually takes place between 1 and 2 p.m., followed by dozing off and on for everyone while watching TV.
The one tradition that has not changed through the years is watching Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Even when I was a child living at home, I would get up on Thanksgiving morning to watch this parade. Have I mentioned that I love a parade?
When the kids were younger, I would be baking a cake during the parade (my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner). Then around 12:30 we would head over to my mother's for dinner. After a few hours there we would head over to Roger's parents home for dinner.
Now that the kids have grown, I now cook Thanksgiving dinner. We always have Turkey for Thanksgiving. Sometimes I also will cook a ham. In addition, we always have mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, Jell-o with bananas, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. A couple years ago we added another dish to the meal--my cornbread casserole. Roger and David are really the only pumpkin pie eaters. Sarah might be, I don't know. We also almost always have cake for us non-pie eaters. Our dinner usually takes place between 1 and 2 p.m., followed by dozing off and on for everyone while watching TV.
Shabby Miss Jenn's Teacher Candy Bar Wrapper
The fantabulous Shabby Miss Jenn had this great teacher candy bar wrapper available for FREE! I have made one for each of my three school-age grandchildren to give to their teachers. What a great Christmas gift for a teacher--Chocolate! Thank you Jenna. I posted one as an example.
Friday, November 21, 2008
My addiction to Email
Blog Prompt from Digital Scrapbook Place: Can you survive without e-mail? How has it changed your life?
I've never been one for writing a letter and mailing it. Of course I never really had anyone to send a letter to since my family all lived within a short distance from me. There were of course a few short-term pen pals through the years and the four years my brother was in the Navy.
In the late 1980s we got our first computer and we used AOL. At that time it wasn't unlimited use--you had a small amount of time each month to be online so I got adept at working offline. I became interested in genealogy and my world started opening up with family far and wide and I lived to sign on each night and download my Email to read. There was not the spam at that time that there is now. I would check my Email at least once a day. The only time I didn't check it was when I was on vacation, which was not a problem.
As time went on, Email became a standard in the workforce. Until I learned to set a reminder to check my Email only twice a day and how to manage my Email, my work day centered around reading Email and responding. It became harder and harder to get any work done. Although I love Email, learning to manage your Email is very important so it doesn't rule your life.
Back to the original question, can I survive with Email? Yes, for a short period of time while on vacation if I don't have Internet connection, but I have come to look forward to my Emails to see what's new in my interest groups. I still check my Email too much. My personal Email is checked at least three times a day, but usually much more.
I've never been one for writing a letter and mailing it. Of course I never really had anyone to send a letter to since my family all lived within a short distance from me. There were of course a few short-term pen pals through the years and the four years my brother was in the Navy.
In the late 1980s we got our first computer and we used AOL. At that time it wasn't unlimited use--you had a small amount of time each month to be online so I got adept at working offline. I became interested in genealogy and my world started opening up with family far and wide and I lived to sign on each night and download my Email to read. There was not the spam at that time that there is now. I would check my Email at least once a day. The only time I didn't check it was when I was on vacation, which was not a problem.
As time went on, Email became a standard in the workforce. Until I learned to set a reminder to check my Email only twice a day and how to manage my Email, my work day centered around reading Email and responding. It became harder and harder to get any work done. Although I love Email, learning to manage your Email is very important so it doesn't rule your life.
Back to the original question, can I survive with Email? Yes, for a short period of time while on vacation if I don't have Internet connection, but I have come to look forward to my Emails to see what's new in my interest groups. I still check my Email too much. My personal Email is checked at least three times a day, but usually much more.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
If I could take tomorrow off of work, I'd...
pretend I was at The Chick Nest and sit at my computer and scrap to my heart's content. What could make it even better would be someone would fix my meals and clean up after too.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
For Carrie....
Isn't she so sweet? I'm still at my retreat at the The Chick Nest and have scanned some pictures from 1982 or 1983 and this is my first layout.
Friday, November 14, 2008
I'm at The Chick Nest
I'm in Clear Lake at "The Chick Nest" at a scrapbook retreat. Was working on this layout last night and although I loved the papers and felt they fit in with my theme of High School Musical, they clashed with the red High School Musical in the pictures. Linda showed me how to add an adjustment layer to my papers...WOW...this made the trip completely worth it.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Shooting in RAW
I have been shooting my pictures in RAW lately. I love the control it gives me in cleaning up the not-so-great lighting pictures. Here are a couple pictures I took of the girls on Beggars night. The RAW photos were pretty dark. I used "100 Free Presets for Adobe Camera Raw" from photoshop guru, Jack Davis. Click here to get them for yourself.
Here's an example of the image straight out of the camera (SOOC) and then adjusted in RAW. The photo in the upper left hand corner is SOOC, the two square ones have had some presets applied to them,and the larger one in the bottom right-hand corner has a vintage look applied to it.
Thinking of warmer days...
The cold hit us on Thursday after a week of beautiful temperatures. I pulled out some summer photos to remember what it felt like to be warm. These pictures were taken on the West Terrace of the State Capitol when we were there to take some family pictures.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Yes we can!
Finally after almost two years leading up to it, the elections are over and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I feel he is what this country needs right now. He is positive, has some great ideas and is one fabulous speaker. I had the pleasure of seeing him at an event or two leading up to the Iowa caucuses.
I just ran across the following video on YouTube and think it is worth sharing. Unfortunately I have been unable to embed it here so I'll just give you the link:
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