Austin Jeffrey's Play Date

Scott doesn't EVER say that he wishes we had a boy, he really is a wonderful Dad to girls! But, I know that he would have LOVED to have a little guy to take hunting, fishing,riding out on the boat and especially now,flying! I was at Beckie's (my SIL) house yesterday having lunch with my 2 favorite little boys and my mother-in-law (while the cute boys' Mommy was teaching school) when in walks my husband.....to see if Austin wanted to go "work on the plane" with him. It took about 2 seconds for the reply to be "that be sooo fun!" So off they went, boy and his uncle.

Is Scott a great "blogger's husband", or what? I can't believe he waited for me to give him the camera!

This boy is ALL ABOUT buttons, cords and especially finding out how everything works!!

This was Scott's attempt at getting Austin out on the wing to take a picture, he WAS NOT getting too far out there, because he KNEW it would be time to go.
Scott called me about 6 times asking how he was going to get Austin to leave the plane...he said he would start crying when he told him it was time to go. Dottie and I howled with laughter with each phone call because Mr. Discipline--er himself seemed to be a softie! H-I-larious! I just told him to say that they were going to get ice cream or something but can you believe he actually wanted me to come get him!? (yeah, right, like I am going to be the bad guy, suck it up, buddy and practice what you preach!)
Austin didn't want ice cream, candy, gum or soda..so Scott had to pull out an old stand-by "Oh no, Austin, the man is going to come and lock the gate and we won't be able to get out!" With that, Austin hopped right into Uncle Scott's truck and home he came, tuckered out and ready for a nap!

I am glad Scott has a boy to borrow from time to time, 'cause we Luff girls are all about flying to the mall!! (Brad and Beckie, thanks for having boys! We LOOOVVVEEE them!!)
Photobucket" border="0">

Picture Fun

My computer savvy daughter (she is my tutor) found a cute thing to do with pictures...for FREE!

Check out picnik.com to "personalize" your pictures! Then you can give your uncles mustaches...and yourself a crown!

Or customize a silly team photo to give at the end of the season........

or make your little cousin feel as special as she really is! Happy" piknic"ing!
{anyone have any other photo fun hints?}

Photobucket" border="0">

Easy Picture Frame

Michael's has the most awesome wooden picture frames. They are unfinished so the possibilities are endless! I found mine in the same aisle where the wooden letters are. The price is right too....$1.00 Yes, $1.00!!! When my very crafty sister in law was here over Christmas, she and Anna decoupaged the letters of Anna's name for her room. I had these frames so they made one to match the letters! (I have made about 10 frames since..great gifts for birthday parties! )

Here's what you need:
$1.00 frames from Michael's (or your local craft store, maybe even Walmart)
Mod Podge
sponge paint brush
scrapbook paper (wrapping paper of fabric would work too)
scissors

Lay the frame on top of the scrapbook paper upside down. Trace around the outside and inside of the frame. Cut the paper out to fit on the front of the frame. With the sponge brush, spread a layer of Mod Podge on the front of the frame, place the paper carefully onto the wet "glue" and smooth carefully. Using the sponge brush carefully apply a layer of Mod Podge over the scrapbook paper. Let dry and then you can embellish the frame if you want with glitter pen. We used a small ink pad to blot along the edges and sides of the frame. I printed Anna's name and a Bible verse reference on a piece of card stock and put it in the frame....Anna was so impressed having her name in such fancy script!
*you would do the wooden letters the same way

Photobucket" border="0">

Lemon Cookies

We have had the most beautiful weather these last few weeks. Every day has been at least 70 degrees. Not exactly wintery, but look at the lemons that have grown on our lemon tree!!

There are sooo many lemons that I had to think of something new to make with them, so I found a great lemon cookie recipe!

1 stick of butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
grated peel of 2 lemons
1T lemon juice
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
Beat butter, sugar, lemon peel and juice until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350*.
Lemony Deliciousness!!!*

*Our dear friend, Tom Darnell in North Carolina (he comes out to volunteer at our camp every summer-Lindsay adores him) just called to remind me that we have those wonderful lemons because of the hard work of the bees in Scott's new bee hive! Tom gave Scott the "Honey Bee Fever" and got him all set up last summer at camp, but the buzzers are now living in our back yard. (and they mind their own business!) So look for some yummy "Luff Honey" next Chrstimas! Thankyou so much Tom! (Anna aka "moneybags" can't wait for you to come back and help her get that honey in jars and "sellable"!!)
Photobucket" border="0">

Spirit Week, Homecoming and a Princess

Spirit Week at Shae's school is always so much fun, creative and exhausting! Each day there is a theme for dressing up and points are awarded for costumes and various games. Shae and some of her friends were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (complete with trashcan lid shells) for "group"day.

"Tech" day brought out lots of nerds, i phones and ipods!

Disney day was Hannah Montana for Shae (easy to do at our house...we have "Anna Montana" living here!) and Pocahontas for Rachael.

Th week ended with and exciting homecoming basketball game and a beautiful homecoming court with a Prince and Princess from each class and 4 each for the senior class.

Shae was chosen as the Junior class princess along with Andrew Baxter as the prince. Here are the Class of 2010 homecoming court couples from Freshmen year, sophomore year and this year!

The upperclassmen Princesses...and a beautiful sunset!

There is always a silly picture when these 2 get together! Jessica graduates this year, I don't know what Shae will do without her next year! (They have been together since the nursery at church!!)

Grandma and Papa Luff enjoyed the evening. Homecoming at Redding Christian is very sweet. As the couples walk toward the stage, a small biography is read about each student, stating their favorite Bible verse, their GPA , future plans and christian service they have been involved in. Papa was especially proud to hear " Lassen Pines Retreat Center" at the top of Shae's favorite things to be involved in!

Dad and his princess!
We are very proud of the young lady Shae is becoming and pray that she will always have a heart after The Lord and seek His will in all that she does. What an honor to be chosen by your peers to represent your class because of your character. What an honor to be her parents!

Photobucket" border="0">

Now That Was Just "Plane" Fun

Scott has had his pilot's license for almost 7 years now. He has flown tons of people to the airport in Sacramento and other places. The kids who come out to work at camp in the summer usually try to get him to pick them up so they can fly into Redding with him. He and his brother (the giver of the plane) just flew airplanes full of gifts into Mexico before Christmas (a pretty long flight from Dallas to Tampico) Shae and Anna have both flown with him, and some of Shae's friends too! I.Had.Never.Been. It really isn't that I don't trust him, I really don't enjoy commercial flights either! (and sometimes I don't like Scott's driving in his truck!!) Today I got up my nerve and asked if we could go for a ride!!
The weather was perfect (ok, there were a few bumps, but I remained calm!) It was a little windy in Willows( which explained the bumps) where we had breakfast at Nancy's Airport Cafe.
Breakfast was yummy, so with our tummies full, off we flew, over the beautiful north state back to Redding Airport. It was impressive to hear Scott communicate with the Redding tower and Oakland Center!! I can't believe he understood what they were saying and was able to communicate back just as quickly!
The Sacramento River {from the sky!}
A perfect landing onto Redding's runway 34! Thanks for the ride, Scott, I would LOVE to go again (just not over any mountains!)
Photobucket src="http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo169/simplyyoursdesign/ingersig.png" border=0>

We {{HEART}} Hand-me-downs!!

Being an only child I have always longed for hand-me-downs! I had a best friend growing up , she had 2 sisters and a brother. She was soooo lucky because she would have bags of clothes passed onto her from her older sister. How cool. (Sharon DID NOT think this was cool!) I still think hand me downs are sooo cool! (But we have the first 3 children of all Scott's siblings! )Bummer because the younger cousins are {stylish}. Well, at some point all dreams must come true I guess...because Scott's brother Barry and his wife, Stephanie gave us a great hand-me-down last year-a 2005 black Ford Expedition limited edition (with a tv/dvd player!) Can you believe it?? That was a little over a year ago. We just received another hand-me-down from them yesterday! What a beautiful evening to be outside in the cool crisp air!

What a beautiful view of Mt. Lassen (where our camp is!)What a sight to see this airplane on final approach onto "3-4" at the Redding airport!

and what a gooood-looookin pilot it is that now owns that "schweeeeeet"airplane! Welcome to your new home "344tx"!

Many observers came out to watch the historic landing...even Shae snuck away from a class project to watch the perfect, smooth landing.

Everyone was excited to hear the familiar voice call in to the tower to be cleared for landing!

Thankyou Barry and Steph fro making this Big Boy's dream come true!






Photobucket src="http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo169/simplyyoursdesign/ingersig.png" border=0>

Shae's Very Bad Day

While Shae was at school yesterday (a christian school, AT A CHURCH!) her car was broken into! It happened between 1:30 and 2:00- broad day light! Earlier this year some of the boys had wallets stolen during Basketball practice and a few pastors' cars were broken into as well!! The parking lot is about 10 steps from the building where the HS classes are. The cars next to her were damaged as well. with dented doors and cracked windshields, but nothing was taken. Shae's Juicy purse and wallet were taken (and her camera was in her purse too). She saved for that purse and is sad about losing it, but she is heartbroken over losing a note her Dad wrote her that she kept in her wallet!Hopefully the thief will enjoy the purse (and hopefully they know what Juicy is!!) Now I am off to make her an appointment at the DMV for a replacement Driver's Licence!

Keep you valuables with you, or hidden! Guess times are tough if you have to steal from HS students!

I Did It!

I went to the gym this morning and did spin class! (okay, I wasn't going to go but trainer Sharon and spin teacher Dave texted me....peer pressure for sure!)

They started a new thing today called " I lost it at the club" it runs 8 weeks and you sign up to be on a "biggest loser" team. Mine meets at 6am on Mondays (so I will let you know how that goes!) You do a challenge and whoever wins gets a prize, then you weigh in. UGH. At least I will have some accountability this way. I might even have some bikini photos taken of me for the top of my blog! (uh, just kidding!)

*I forgot to mention that I had my BMI done too...ewwww, and the scale was not kind either. But one hurdle has been jumped, and I am on my "weigh".

A Fresh New Start {aka Resolutions}

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:31

The new year is indeed a fresh start, a chance to begin again and "do better". I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father who loves me enough to give me as many fresh starts as I need. He will even guide me along ...if I will just let Him. That is the key, letting Him guide my steps and take control, phew, what a relief to know I am not on my own.

As for "Resolutions" for 2009.....

*serve my Lord passionately
*serve my family lovingly
*nurture my friendships faithfully

Oh yes, and:
*reach my goal weight (fit in those stupid Lucky Brand Jeans THIS year, before I am too old to wear them in public)
*spin 5 days a week (did I just say 5 days a week?! )
*read more to my little girls
*don't nag (land the helicopter-this one is for Scott)
*don't have unreal expectations
*stay on budget (ouch! I HATE the cash envelopes!!!)
*practice patience (ugh)

Philippians 4:13 should come in handy this year!! I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!! I love a fresh start, and January 1st is a great day to get one! (more on that tomorrow) We had a wonderful Christmas, busy, but wonderful! Scott's sister, Laurie came out from Dallas. (and I would love to show you Christmas pictures if I ever find my memory card!) We always have fun when she comes. Brad and Beckie and the blue-eyed boys were here with us this year too. It was a special treat to have the boys around since they didn't leave to go to St. Louis until after Christmas this year. With almost a week left of school vacation we decided to go to San Fransisco (a 3 hour drive) for a few days. We had girls with Christmas money burning holes in their pockets! Scott's parents joined us after they dropped Laurie off at the airport in Sacramento. We had dinner at the restaurant which is the setting for the novel, "The Maltese Falcon". It is a quiet little quaint place to eat...and the food was delicious!

The night before Scott's parents came we decided to take the girls to "Benihana". I have always wanted to eat there, so I knew this would be a fun, exciting, memorable treat for my girls! You know, the funny Japanese chef chopping away with unbelievable knife skills and so funny that you are crying with laughter....???!!! We squished into a cab and off we went!

Here is our chef, "Angel", uh,yeah, he was Mexican! Okay, so he did catch the shrimp tails in his hat, and he made a few funny faces. I think he knew that Lindsay is "special" because he kept trying to make eye contact with her and he would give her left overs from what he was preparing for the other couple at our table. He banged the knife and metal spatula a couple times on the grill too.

And here is the happy family, posing for the picture like we are having the time of our lives and like Shae and Anna aren't arguing! I always want the perfect experience..so Scott kept telling me to "land my helicopter." (which kinda ticked me off, adding to my "experience let down"). Shae ate about 3 bites. She said that seeing the raw meat before he cooked it just "grossed her out." .whatever. So basically the picture in my mind of the experience didn't match the reality. (happens a lot for me). Look at Lindsay giving Scott a kiss for the fun time at Benihana. This was before he got the bill and pooped a brick!

Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf are such fun, and the weather was divine. There are cute shops and great snacks all over!

Lindsay loves a Merry-go-round! This was probably her favorite thing we did! Anna is in the background on the spinny thing.

The Cable Cars are a must in San Fransisco. It is fun to hear the bell and ride up and down the steep streets crammed in a car full of people. We always end up finding sweet Texans or other "sweet southerners on the cable cars (you can tell not only by the accents, but by the classy way they dress, CA is so casual! :( ) . It was so clear and beautiful, you can see Alcatraz in the background.

Lindsay got us a great hook up! The driver saw her getting off with her cane. and he insisted that she come ring the bell (Anna got to do it too) and then said for us to take a picture on the front, which was neat because usually it is hurry up and get off and out of the way!

We had a great time in the beautiful city, and came home with less money and more "stuff"!!

Happy New Year to my" Blog Friends"!