A bad scan of my latest Morgan layout, but you get the idea. I'm on a roll!

My latest Morgan layout. This is 5 months. My goal is to get 1-12 finished by the end of August. So far, I have 5 and 6 months done. I have work to do! I need to get Morgan's book done. There are scrapable happenings every day, and if I don't get on it, I will never have a chance of catching up, and the pages will be harder and harder to do, because the event happened so long ago. I wish I had done this page when she was 5 months. I would have had more to say, and I wouldn't have had to go back and look at her calendar to remind myself what she was doing at the time. I miss her at 5 months....

Kindermusic

I think I am going to sign Morgan up for the following. It looks kinda fun, it's only once a week, for 15 weeks, we'll sing and dance.... I think she'd really enjoy it. It's somewhat expensive..... but still worth it... I have to talk it over with Steve first, just found it today, but I think I am intrigued...............

http://www.developmusic.com/classes/classes.htm

The class is Our Time.

I'm so excited! Morgan figured out how to use her bubble gun. I thought it would be 6 months before she had the coordination to do it. You just dip the end in a bowl of bubble juice, squeeze the trigger, and out comes the bubbles! She sat there for a good 1/2 hour making bubbles. I am so proud of her! That was fun!

Morgan wearing a ball cap in her swing. Good girl!

Morgan at 18 months

Morgan went to her 18 month appointment on Thursday. I was dreading this one, because I knew she needed shots, and she's now at that age where she really is aware, and can say "NO"! She did great though. She got a DTP shot, and the dreaded chicken pox. The nurse pinned her legs down, I leaned over her chest, we talked about swimming, and for the first, she didn't even peep. She did cry for the pox shot, but only for a few seconds. She did great!

And, as expected, my little princess is a little amazon woman. She's over 100% for her weight, 31 pounds!, she's 90% for her height, 33 1/4 inches, and her head is at 95%. Dr Ernst had no complaints, she's very healthy, everything looks great, but I did ask for a prescription for a multivitamin, as she doesn't eat her veggies. Dr Ernst wasn't concerned about that either, as she does eat fruit. So, my girl is just big for her age, but she looks great.

I keep comparing Morgan to other kids, and I need to quit. Davinie as a little one was on the eensy teensy side, as are some of Morgan's friends. She just looks like a giant, because they are at both ends of the spectrum. But she's healthy, looks great, active, eats her fruit, has great teeth, beautiful eyes, a great smile, and a fun personality. No complaints here! Now you know why mama has some toned guns. I tote a 31 pound toddler! Could do it all day too.

RAFTING!

Steve and I went rafting yesterday with a bunch of fire department friends, and we had a blast! We dropped Morgan off in Bend at the sitter at 8am, and met out party in Madras at 9. Then we headed to Maupin, about 47 miles from there, and jumped in the drink on the lower Deschutes. Before that, we dropped off cars here and there, as we were borrowing rafts and going without a paid guide. Anyway, we rafted for 1 1/2 hours, stopped at one of our cars for a lunch (we had the cooler in the back) and then rafted for another few hours. It was SO much fun! There were 17 of us, and we had two rafts and a couple of tahitis (river kayaks). They were pretty big rafts. In the middle, attached to a frame, were coolers, for drinks.... and libations. There were plenty of slow spots on the river, allowing us to lean back, and bask in the 100 degree heat, while many sipped on a cold one. Or, a lot of the time, they'd jump in the river, and float down... with a cold one. It was fun. There was one class 4 rapid, Oak Springs, but we went through it okay. There were only a couple of times where we hit spots just enough to bump someone out of the boat. But there was no harm done, and everyone did great. I would, of course, in those moments, grab onto the framed cooler that was attached to our raft and hold on for dear life. I did NOT want to fall in.
There was one spot in the river called "Elevator" where you get out of your raft and float down the rapid on your own. The water was deep enough that you weren't scrapping bottom, but you bounced up and down a little bit. That was fun. After that, we sat in the far back of the raft, and Shawn, our tiller, held on to a rope attached to the front, and we'd "ride the bull" and pull the front up as we hit the rapids. We almost tipped the boat over. That front end went straight up in the air. The only thing that probably saved us was Jessica and I, bench partners, because as everyone else leaned back, we leaned forward. We didn't want to get dumped out.
All in all, it was a blast. We picked Morgan up @7:30pm. That's the longest I've ever left her anywhere. She did great. Good for mama. Steve and I had a fun day of bonding together. I can't wait to do that again!

This is a photo on an upper rapid, just seconds before Shawn, in the back, gets tossed out and run over by the tahiti we have tied to the back. It was funny! It was kinda scary! He'd told us we needed to be on our A game, and then our tiller fell out! What are we supposed to do then! We had fun.

This is a better photo! Shawn picked this one up. I didn't see it when I was choosing a souvenoir. This photo was taking right as we hit Oak Springs, the class 4 rapid. This is a great shot! Nobody fell out of the boat on this part of the river. This was fun!

Cheeeeeese!

The Merritt's at Prineville Reservoir. A good photo, I think. Matt's SMILING AT ME!!!!

The Merritt's at Paulina Lake

Yes, we have it! The photo post an 8 mile jaunt around Paulina Lake. Yes, Sabrina, you can have a copy. It's printing right now

Morgan saying "cheeese" while eating her first marshmallow. Obviously, she liked 'em!

Baby's got blue eyes

Morgan and mom on the 4th

A late party night for baby bean

Morgan and Krysta in the fancy wagon

A standing Rae!

The best we can do with a foursome group shot

Morgan, Rylee, and Krysta

Patriot Raegan Skye

Scout Lake

We went to Scout Lake today with Steve's parent's and his sister and Co. It's even smaller than the last time I was there, about 10 years ago! There were more people there than I expected for a Monday. The kids had a great time. I can already tell the difference that swimming lessons is making in Morgan. She really enjoys the water. Steve is coming with us to the pool tomorrow to try his hand at Tot 1. My only concern is the 2ft 6 inch water he'll have to squat in to get Morgan on his shoulder while she's swimming on her back!

Life's fun right now. Morgan is getting more fun, getting more knowledge, understanding more things, saying more words, demanding more... It's fun to watch her grow.

Our house appraised for more than we expected, awesome. We signed on the refinance last Friday. Soon we'll be able to sign on the next casa. We keep driving by and watching the progress. I want to get my hands on it now! Not October 3! I am excited to make it our dream home. We checked out a couple of houses on the Tour of Homes last weekend, and I got some great ideas for the bathrooms, which is the only safe place to start. Everything else will change, potentially. But we need bathrooms! The house across the street from the new house is listed at @$500,000. Awesome for us. It also appraised for more than we bought it, which meant instant equity, and puts us a few months closer to complete renovation than initially anticipated. Awesome. I have my house. Hopefully Morgan will be coming home to it when she's home from college, with the grandkids.... It's nice to know we finally have our home. That's a nice feeling. 2 acres is perfect, it's in a very equitable location, has great mountain views, great school access, mature TREES!, a 560 square foot scrapbook studio! Ahh, dreams do come true! I have all that I want now!

Morgan in the backyard hosing herself off after having an orange popsicle

My swiss miss

Getting stripped after playing outside

This is my latest and final zoo layout. I am ready to move on from the zoo!

http://tinyurl.com/d6vhp

HALFDAY

Today's Morgan's Halfday! We celebrated by having ice cream sandwiches and drumsticks in the backyard with Bean and Baby Bean. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's 1 1/2!

Prineville Reservoir

Had a blast camping on Saturday night! Went to Prineville Reservoir with the Merritt's and Papa and Co. We borrowed a 3 person Sea Doo from a coworker, think we might buy it, and enjoyed our weekend on the reservoir.

We got up there and unloaded around 1pm on Saturday. Our first picnic spot wasn't ideal. It was the former boat ramp. But what do you expect, this isn't a natural lake. We were just limited because we wanted a lake that accepted water toys, and we needed two camping spots next to each other, and while I made reservations a month out, everything was booked, so I took what I could get. Next time we will plan better.

Anyway, we had a blast. Morgan was in the water and shoveling dirt the whole time, and Raegan was in a good mood too. The SeaDoo was a blast, and Matt, Steve, and Papa took it out, and with the three of them on it, were able to tow one of them on a tube fast enough to go too fast, and send Papa to the ER. He ended up with just a back contusion, so got doped up on Vicodin, but when they yarded him out of the drink his life jacket was rolled up and wrapped around his neck, and his back took a beating, and once he got on shore he had the shakes pretty bad and would get shooting pains down his hands, so it was a precautionary measure to send him in and make sure he was okay. After all, he is 55!

Anyway, the SeaDoo has a lot of power, and was fun. Camping was fun except for the group that came in at 11pm and started slamming doors, which caused Morgan to wake up and start screaming for an hour. She has never screamed louder, so that was a lot of fun. My girl was so tired that she was crying with her eyes closed, but I couldn't settle her down. I started talking to her to get her to wake up, so that I could settle her down, and she started asking for Poon (Cooper) so we had to go outside and look at him in the backseat of the truck, and that resulted in a 20 minute stroll around the campground with no flashlight. I could somewhat make out the road, but then I freaked myself out that there might be a bear or a big cat lurking and I couldn't even see it, so we stuck close to our camp. Anyway, she eventually went back to sleep, but Saturday morning I was pretty pooped.

We got a great picnic area for Saturday and pretty much had a beach to ourselves. Morgan found this even more fun, as did the dog. We set up the easy-up shelter, and vegged. Papa was feeling sore but better. He forgot to tell his lady love, Cynthia, that we were going to the lake, so neither of them brought swimsuits. They just sunbathed. Alexsandra was in the water the whole time, as was Morgan again. I would put them both in the tube (it has the solid bottom so that Morgan could just stand in the middle), and I'd push them out and then pull them in. We did that for a long time.

Anyway, we had a fabulous time and were completely wiped out by the time we came home. It was in the 90's the whole time. Fabulous weather, and no mosquitos!

Speaking of Cynthia.... She was a really nice lady, and she and Papa seem to really enjoy each other. She has an arm-wrestling handshake, but other than that, no complaints. He seemed to be happy.

My latest zoo paper piecing for TTDT. I am a pro when it comes to Zoo layouts.

http://tinyurl.com/85xhm

My little lambchop in her 4th of July outfit.

Cooper even dressed up for the parade.

Morgan and Krysta in the wagon at the Pet Parade.

There's actually a small dog attached to those balloons. His daddy would toss him up in the air and he'd slowly float down. He had a little harness on.

Morgan and her daddy. Her hair looks like a firecracker! I curled it with a curling iron.

Morgan and daddy in front of Airlife at the Sunriver Fireman's picnic

Morgan at the Hagan's after the parade and the picnic, playing in the dirt

Swimmin' with my fishy

Last night was our first Tot 1 swimming lesson at the Juniper Aquatic Center in Bend. Other than the size of the parking lot, the pool is just as I remember it. And it was just as crowded as the Redmond pool, so I guess it doesn't matter when and where you want to swim. The pool will be full.

Sabrina and I arrived late because we were at Michael's buying scrapbooking stuff, and it took forever to get across town. I was already in my suit, so we whipped the girls into their swim diapers, threw on their suits, and raced out to join our group. There are 8-10 babies in the class.

Krysta was there, but luckily for us, Rylee and co. were sick with the flu, and had decided to stay home. Normally the Samples infect us all with their commonly sicky germs, so we are glad they stayed home to recoup.

Anyway, Swimming was fun! The pool was maybe waist deep, so the mama's were on our knees the whole time, but other than that, it was a blast. Morgan was clingy at first, but eventually warmed up, and started kicking and splashing. I even got her on her back, although her legs stayed at a 45, which wouldn't be ideal if you were trying to swim. But it was fun. We really didn't do anything that I wouldn't have probably done had I been on my own, but we sang a few songs and splashed around and hummed in the water etc., and it was a good time.

On Thursday we are going to go to Munch 'N Music after we swim. There will be a live band down at Drake Park, so we'll get a blanket and a picnic, and listen to the music, eat some dinner, and watch the girls dance. That should be fun. Swimming lessons are every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:20-5:55 through the first week in August. What a great way to spend our summer! Every Thursday we'll go down to the park, and maybe on a Tuesday here and there, daddy will swim. It should be fun!

This is my latest contest entry. It was for the CK "One Sketch, Many Looks" sketch that I had posted earlier on my blog. This is Morgan's halfday. I can't believe how much she's changed.... In a way, it's nice to be this far behind in my scrapbooking. I get to go back and moon over her young photos.

This is my latest summer layout for the TTDT group on Ebay. I loved the title: Destination Relaxation. Isn't that fun! This is the first time I've done hand-stitching, I used hemp, and I also heat embossed with this layout, which I haven't done since my Christmas cards a few years ago. This was fun!

July 4th

Well, you can read Sabrina's blog for a detailed description of the day's events.........

Bend Pet Parade, 10am - Chaos. Fun chaos.

Morgan napped for 27 minutes

Sunriver Fireman's Picnic, 12pm
Burgers/dogs, beer/icecream
Kid's games
Water wars
Airlife comes in and lands right in the middle of the picnic for the kids to tour
We've been going for 9 years. This is the first year Steve didn't get on the grill! He always volunteers to cook. It was nice to have him with us!

Morgan napped for 23 minutes

Hagan's house, 3pm
Morgan and Raegan played in the pool while Krysta napped
BBQ'd shishkabobbs, had Sabrina's 16 layer dip and my taco and fruit salads

Will's house - 8pm
Played Bocci ball, croquet, air hockey, the guys listened to old records, had a few libations, lit fireworks

Pilot Butte - 10-10:30pm
We watched the annual fireworks from the top of Pilot Butte

To Bed - 11pm
Morgan went to bed without a bath, sticky from sunscreen mixed with dirt, mixed with sunburn, mixed with......... something she ate at the Hagan's house

It was a fun day! The kids all did better than expected. Pictures to come later!

"Hiding" from mommy

Morgan doing a dive. One, two, three, GO!

She made it! She loves diving into the pillows!

Camping at Paulina Lake

Well, I finally got my film back, but missed developing a roll, so I can tell you the story, and I'll post the final pictures later.

We went camping. Weather looked to be ugly. Forecast said snow was potential. The elevation was high. We went anyway, because some of us had taken vacation time, we scheduled 4 days, had already paid, wouldn't be able to get in anywhere else anytime soon, because everything is always booked, so we loaded up the camper and headed out bright and early Friday morning. We met up with the Hagan's and the Samples, and marched on.

We were later joined by Steve's parents, and the Merritt's. We set up their tents, despite the somewhat frigid temperatures, and were determined to HAVE FUN! It was cold though, and we experienced wind, rain, hail, and only occasional sun.

We were later joined by another camper driven by our friend Josh, who brought his fiance and her young neice. Even later, the "Luxury Motorcoach" driven by the Sallee's arrived with what I can only compare to the Sweet Pickles Bus, Barnabus, to be exact. Our friends have such silly riggs, but they were big inside, and kept them warm, so that's the point!

We had quite the group, and quite the weather. I can't believe we made it. The Merritt's came and went a few times before Raegan finally put the halt on the camping in the cold, so they went home Friday night. After the first night Steve's parents didn't think they'd make it another, but toughed it out and lucked out with better weather the second night. The rest of us were warm and cozy in our campers/motorhomes, so we determined to stay, and fortunately for us, the children also agreed that this was a good idea.

The fishing stunk, but we had a great time. Most everyone went home on Sunday except for the Hagan's and Samples, but Steve's parents and the Merritt's played with us on Sunday before they went. In fact, the mom's all strapped the kids in our backpacks, and decided to go on a little walk while the boys fished. Sabrina wanted to fish as well, so Raegan was in the front pack and Matt was with the mommies. What started as a little hike, ended up being quite a jaunt, and we hiked around the lake! It's a 7 1/2 mile loop, 8 because we took the wrong turn!, but we did it! And with our kids strapped to our backs, no less. I was only sore where my backpack rubbed my shoulders wrong. All in all, that was fun and we are glad we did it. My backpack squeaked and Raegan sang a majority of the way. We had a few minor meltdowns, but considering that we hadn't prepared for a 3 hour tour, everyone did very well.

Back at the camp, Sabrina was the only one who caught a fish. You go girl!

We had a great camping adventure and look forward to the next one. In fact, Papa is coming down July 16, and we are spending one night at Prineville Reservoir with a skidoo that I am borrowing and maybe buying from a gal at work. That should be fun!

The Fiero family, Paulina Lake, June 2005

Eric, Marci, and Krysta Hagan, the Fiero's, and Tami, Rylee, and Dan Sample - We toughed it out and made it 4 days!

Morgan and Rylee and Krysta. Krysta had just started walking a few days before, but was unsure when on uneven ground, so she was getting a little help from her friends!

Morgan playing in a fun tree

Morgan, dad, and Grandpa on Father's day

On mom and dad's bed in the camper

My sweet cheeks!

My tag!

My first TTDT layout in a summer theme. I call it Summer Sunshine! Look for it on Ebay under TTDT!

Here's the logo! I haven't submitted anything yet, just joined yesterday, but am busy working on a few things. :)

TTDT

Hello! I will talk about our recent camping trip as soon as I get the photos to post. In the meantime............

I have been invited to join a Design Team! Basically all it involves is a special logo and verbiage that we put at the bottom of our scrapbook listings, and a special TTDT that we add to our auction titles so that people will search for our auctions and boost our sales. It's called Treasured Themes Design Team. Twice a month we will have special themes, and we can scrap tags, layouts, CD cases, whatever, in that theme. From the 1st to the 14th, our theme is summer. We can have our auction start anytime during that two weeks in this theme, and use the TTDT in the search. The second half of the month is, ZOO, which of course, I am ALREADY obsessed with, so am excited to list zoo themed stuff on the 15th. I can also list any other ebay layouts at any other time, and reference the TTDT in the auction, I just can't use the TTDT in the description title, unless it is an auction under the designated theme. Make sense?
Anyway, I am really excited about it, because part of my problem is coming up with an idea, which is why I like entering contests, because you normally get a starting off point. May this boost my sales enough that I FINALLY get some of my scrapbook supply purchases reimbursed!