Made By You Mondays

Okay I am going to give it a try

Here's a link to my project

It's the Wave Board for Sam's room

I hope it works!

Zizette

Experiences the Spice of Life

I have always been told that children not only learn from school but from experiences. If they cannot apply the things they learn in the classroom there cannot be definitive connections.

So, we always try to give our kids experiences.

Just last night my sweet girl experienced her first concert.

Justin Bieber over the audience

She was screaming just as loud as the whole arena. We were fortunate enough to get seats in a suite from an old friend of mine. Let me tell you, that is THE WAY TO GO. So nice.

Maya even made a friend with another little girl that was there.

It made me recall my first concert KISS. I was staying with my godmother and her son LOVED KISS and she took us. WOW.

I am just happy she got to enjoy herself.

Blast at the Beach

We had such a great time at the beach.

It made me remember how much I love the beach and I want to go some more.

The kids had a great time and I was allowed to not be in the water with them so much as they are better swimmers now (since our last time there).

I love the smell of the beach, the looking for shells, the crashing of the waves and the all day excitement from the kids as they splash in the ocean.

We truly had an awesome time.

Very odd that I love the beach but love living in NY rather than San Diego where I grew up.

I want to pull more beach elements into our home now that I have been there and felt so relaxed and at home.

I took over 200 pictures in just two days!

Have a peak

Have a lovely weekend!

Off To The Beach

We had plans for earlier in the week to go to the beach.

We cancelled them due to weather, rather we postponed them.

So, today, in just a little while, we are off to the beach!

We will only stay one night because we have to come back for Saturday.

What will happen on Saturday you ask?

Little Miss will be seeing this guy

She sort of knows but doesn't know that we got suite seats (I have never been in a suite either!).

She will be so excited!

So, speak to you tomorrow after we get back from the beach. I could really use the relaxation after a week of family and entertaining.

Zizette

Week 8, Day 5 Even

Balloon release

I worked at camp this summer.

I love camp.

I was a camper for 4 years and I have worked there for 5 ( take note people who count, as it may be 3 consecutive but it is still 5 years - 2 as a teenager and 3 now).

Anyway.

Camp ended today.

Burning the year

There were tears, there were hugs and there were memories.

My daughter, little Miss, was a mess.

Boo, hooing all the way with all her little friends. It made me tear up. I am a sap like that.

Little Miss and her ladies

You see, I went to that camp as a camper. LOVED IT! that is why when the option for camp came up in young Sam's life I thought of no place other than Ramaquois. I made my BESTEST FRIEND there. She is the greatest friend anyone could have, I love her more than anything. We had our first babies at the same time (4 days apart). She is the best.

Anyway, not all people get to experience the wonderful word of Day Camp (some experience Sleep Away Camp but I have never been so I don't know that), but it truly is wonderful - at least for me it was.

Back to my story, when I decided it was time for Sam to enter camp I thought Ramaquois. I enter the "visiting" day to show young Sam and run into a wonderful woman who I knew from "back in the day" Joan. Now I went to camp with her son and daughter. She remembered me, she asked as I walked in. "are you Z...?" I said yes. Now she did not even finish her sentence as there is NO ONE with my name in my county, State or even country. She said she thought so and we worked on getting little Sam into camp.

Sam @ closing ceremonies (notice he is not in uniform - felt the last day he would go "regular")

A few years later I did not have to work summers so I was able to work at camp. Woo Hoo (BTW Camp is VERY expensive). Here I would get some kind of discount AND be able to be around my kids in a place I LOVED!

So three years later I am working at camp and today we ended the season - Week 8, Day 5 Even - yes we have one of those weird Odd/ Even - 6 Day schedules to get everyone to every awesome activity we have available.

It was a great year and I look forward to the next. We work hard at the camp and enjoy it. I do a craft I love and I enjoy making the kids happy. Here's to 2010.

Me and one of my camp besties

** As part of camp there is color war and you can read about it here but last year they implemented a 5th team on our roster and it included the Specialists (all the people who run the activities). We had to make up a song and plaque. I helped make the plaque with my bestie (Miss Artist) you can find her here. You can guess the theme this year was Disney and our team was Toon Town.

Summer Days

We have been real busy this summer, between parties and visiting family and camp that we have not had too much down time.

This weekend we chose downtime.

We hung around the house, did some errands and in the early evening we had some friends over. Thankfully the weather was GORGEOUS. I spent the afternoon sitting in my screened in porch finishing up my book, The Help (only took me a week - not bad eh?).

When our friends came over the kids were in the yard and we were having cocktails in the porch area. We ordered in some food and the kids finally watched a movie inside. It was so nice a relaxing.

Today my grandma came up to stay a few days at my folk's house (they live 3 blocks away).

I went and picked up some food for us to have a nice Sunday dinner.

I did all the cooking since my dad was feeling a little ill from bad food last night.

I made Cedar plank brie and peaches on the grill (oh with grill toasted baguette), grilled Shrimp on skewers, grilled chicken breasts, fried chicken breasts (for my picky eaters), grilled asparagus and salad.

Everything was delicious (and I was happy that I was able to time everything pretty well).

I also had my tasty new drink (found the Vodka).

Hangar One Mandarin Blossom Vodka

Elder Flower Liqueur

Blood Orange Soda

Mandarin Seltzer

Nice little refreshing drink.

So it was a very nice dinner all made on the BBQ. Nice way to end a great relaxing weekend. (Oh yeah, I spray painted some bookcases I got on clearance at Target for Sam's room and 4-5 months later I finally painted them - they have been in his room the ugly brown color AND oddly enough I came out looking like a smurf! I had a nice blue tint to myself).

Have a great week!

Zizette

Lookie What I Made

I have been busy at camp lately.

Great inspiration from a great artist.

I started with a 24 x 24 piece of plywood. I sanded it down, made it real nice.

Mixed up a nice blue and then distressed it with my handy dandy Black and Decker hand sander (a real favorite with my camp buddies).

I wanted a wave and was not confident enough to want to paint it right on the board so I drew a wave out on a piece of contact paper, cut it out and laid it on the board. I then painted it the lighter blue color so the dark blue would be the wave. I distressed that too.

Then I put a white wash over and would apply a little and rub it off. It gave it a nice cloudy/worn look.

I loved the wave but needed something else. I took to the National Geographic Magazines my friend had laying around for the campers to cut and found this awesome pull out of the Titanic - a picture, rather 70 some odd pictures making one, from undersea cameras. The colors were screaming my name.

I then tore the picture for a rough edge. Thankfully the Titanic and a surfboard are the same shape :)

I Modge Podged the "surfboard onto the wave. I sort of put it running off the board.

I wanted some color in there to make it more surfboard like, so I added the yellow stripe.

I have been playing with stamps lately and was trying to think of what to write on the board. I was going to do Surf Shack. My friend suggested "Sam's Surf Shack" since it was for my son.

I tried black but it did not work (thankfully with the modge podge and a clorox wipe it came off real quick).

I decided to use Orange because when I was taping out the stripe I had Orange painters tape and it looked real good, not to mention that I pulled up the color wheel and orange is next to yellow and across from blue. JACKPOT!

I am very Happy with my result and next week I will add the wire to the back and hang it in his room.

Have a great weekend!

Zizette

Proud

This is my latest piece.

This photo does not do it justice.

I love it!

Just another possibility.

Funny thing is, this started by a friend at camp and has taken on it's own life. Everyone wants to do one.

Let's see what is next....

Zizette

Picture Taker or Photographer?

I am loving my camera and I am getting more comfortable taking it with many places I go and just snapping away

But

Am I picture taker or photographer?

I would like to think I am a photographer.

I was sent this great deal to take pictures in Central Park, check it out here it is a Photography Hike of Central Park. How cool is that?

I got a friend or two to join and we are deciding on dates - we are thinking late September, early October when the park really looks magnificent.

A few weeks ago we were up at the lake and I shot these:

This guy kept coming closer and closer to the fence

These pictures are taken across the street from my in laws house. Most days we see and HEAR them early in the am before they are fed but this day they were just grazing in the field.

So, are you a picture taker or photographer?

Zizette