"Girls Weekend......Tollgate Day 2"

Well day 2 started off with......................coffee..............and a 2 mile walk in the beautiful blue sky with snow still on the ground. (I would have slept in buy my younger sister (who is not here!) texted me at 6:30 am. I was awake.......which is not ok because I was supposed to sleep in! Walk was nice and rejuvinating. Back to the house for a "not very proper" breakfast. Basically whatever was within reach and some more coffee..... Aunt Sherri decided not to participate in the shinnaneghans.................

I'm not sure what we were doing? But we always find an excuse to take pictures!

We got back to the house and showered and got ready in record time. Went to Goodwill in Bend. Nightmare! So many people. Rude people. Somehow we survived. Needed a pick me up and stopped at Dutch Bros. Good thing because we were gone for about 8 hours (and didn't leave the house until about 1:00 pm). Marathon afternoon! And "someone" has been complaining all day about "grey roots" showing. So we decided to go to beauty supply and get hair color (professional of coarse!). They closed at 4:00 and we were clear across town at 3:45. I'm so happy we made it there alive. Aunt Sherri can weave in and out of traffic like a champ! Rolled into beauty supply at 3:55. Made it! Too late tonight to do any of that. Maybe tomorrow.

Decided to go down to Old Mill District.

Went to American Eagle. And a few of the fun shops down there. I went to REI for the first time. I liked it but the prices were too expensive! (even the clearance).I'm not even going to explain this picture. I went into the womens restroom for the record. These 2 need supervision...............(they are coming OUT of the mens restroom)

So much shopping and no food! Lets eat. Hola mexican restaurant here we come..............

Again.................these 2 need supervision...........................

I drank water.........(let's just say................theirs was NOT water.........ha ha!)

Aunt Sherri just goes with the flow. Whatever is going on she just rolls with it!

I don't think that was a milkshake............................

Food was yummy!

Again.................supervision needed! You would think we were tourists that had never been out in public anywhere. Who takes this many pics when you are in Bend Oregon? ahahahahahaaaaaa

And just in case there wasn't enough shinnaneghans.....................we stopped at Trader Joes. (under the pretense of getting more wine............I brought a yummy kind over and we already drank it last night.) And I had only had water with dinner.............but the little carts are funny and make me laugh. We may or may not have pushed them around the store.........................

This is the aftermath of our shopping afternoon! These girls can shop. Holy smokes! (I had one small bag). And the scary part was we never made it to Costco or Real Deals! we ran out of time.) We are all exhausted and decided we ARE NOT LEAVING the house tomorrow. May walk in the morning. Or stay in our jammies and read, watch movies, eat, nap or be crafty and just hang out. I'm sure there will be more pics................shinnaneghanns...........

I'm ready for bed.........

"Girls Weekend....Tollgate! Day 1....."

Girls weekend at Tollgate!!! (Aunt Sherri's house, Tollgate is between Black Butte Ranch and Sisters). Aunt Sherri is here. Angela. Sister Donna and Me! No boys, no husbands, no kids, no drama! We decided we needed a girls weekend. Planned it about a month ago. Plans fell apart and this weekend we finally made it! much needed! Plan on relaxing. Drinking wine. A little bit of shopping? (ha!) Originally I heard we weren't LEAVING the house all weekend. ha! Got here last night and the house was freezing (37 degrees inside........are you kidding me! Heat was turned off!) So we were literally freezing (my hands were so cold I couldn't move my fingers) so we decided to crank up the heat and go into Redmond to get some groceries (and wine) and go to the Goodwill. Lots of snow at Tollgate. So pretty.
I made some homemade pizza for dinner and we all enjoyed a few glasses of wine. Watched some TV and visited and made it to bed around midnight........................This is the aftermath of last night. Can't wait to see what the next 3 days look like.....

"family fun day!"

Well we had a fun Saturday afternoon! We went to a Harlem Globetrotter game at the Rose Garden in Portland! Family fun day! LeRoy has a cold and wasn't feeling very good, but he was a good sport and went anyways. (I wanted to dilly dally in Portland after the game but we came straight home cause he is a sicky).We had great seats and the kids really enjoyed the show. And it's a show. LeRoy and I have both been as kids (probably about Tylers age). It's a lot more refined than back in the day. More "show-involve-the-crowd" than basektball. They played an entire game. But lots of shinnaneghans.

I got the tickets for a great price at the auction/fundraiser for my nephew Drake's trip to D.C.

I loved to look over at Tyler and see him so into the action and laughing. At one time they were dancing to hip hop music and breakdancing and I asked Tyler is he had those moves? He laughed and said "ummmmm.....no".........

Globetrotters win! (like they don't always win? ha!)

After the game the kids got to meet on of the players. Dizzy. He was awesome. They got his autograph and got pictures with him.

Nicole thought he was cute!

Fun day spent with the family. LeRoy and I enjoyed the show too. Wish we could do family days like this on a more regular basis! But I will take what I can get.

They got their tickets autographed.

"I'm missing the sunshine........."

I think I miss the sunshine. Vitamin D. Bike rides. Walking in the evening (when it's not dark, cold and wet). I think I have the winter doldrums.
And I have been neglecting my blog! Nothing exciting is happening. Just work. Kids have school. Basketball. Work. Cooking. Glad we are all healthy.........but I'm a little bored. And distracted/obsessed with Pinterest! I can't ignore my blog!
I want the weather to get nice so we can go on bike rides! And have BBQ's and hang out outside! Last year we rode bike all over town all summer long. Almost every single day. I loved it! Especially when I could get the kids or the entire family to go with me! And now that I have my pink cruiser that I got last year for my birthday from my hubs I'm ridin' in style...........
The kids really think I'm crazy...........when I make them do 10 passes by me to at least get a pic.....of them riding their bikes.................Is that normal?????

Miss having wine and snacks with my peeps on warm summer nights...............

And on our back patio.....................(different peeps, different food!)

I think we have awhile before the weather changes...........so until then................it's groundhog day............everyday..................blah!

Nicole does have a birthday coming up! I thought this cake would be cute. I have a friend who is a master cake maker...........maybe I will put my order in.......................

Spring break is coming up. I really want to go somewhere. Where it's warm. Maybe a pool or warm beach. With my hubs and the kids. To get any kind of warm/sunshine in March it is about a 2 day trip! arrrgggggghhh! I haven't given up hope that we can go somewhere. But on a budget and where I don't have to prepare anything! Room service and nice linens in a luxury hotel please..................

"crafty-crafts......."

This year for the holidays I wanted to make fun, creative, thougtful gifts. Here are some of the ones I finished and the gifts were appreciated and were fun to make.
I made these cute "reindeer" for the guys (over 21 got beer!) and families with kids got root beer! Was so easy and cute and everyone loved them.

I found this idea online (Pinterest of course!) and loved it. You take a deck of regular playing cards. I found these fab ones at Micheals for $1 a deck!

You punch 2 holes and put 1" metal binder rings thru them. Basically you decide
WHO you want to cherish and tell them how much you love them and print "52" nice things and put them in a "book". So inexpensive (approx $4 each total), but time consuming and so thoughtful.

This is the one I made for hubby. He actually got a little teary-eyed when he opened it and read it. He was surprised because he saw me endlessly working on 2 for my sisters. Was hard to find the time to get his made when he wasn't around. I loved giving these. I would LOVE to receive a gift like this.................

So I made both of my sisters one too. I think they were surprised and loved them. Some of the things I put were funny, some serious, some thoughful, some inside jokes. Surprisingly it wasn't hard to come up with 52 things! You really have to like the person you are making this for or it may be difficult to find that many nice things to say! (and about 3 days before Christmas I was upset w my little sis and didn't have her book finished so it was hard to say nice things.................I had to get over it and finish her book! It all ended well.) I need to make one for my mommy! :)

I put this as the front page inside the cover on both of theirs.

These are a few pages from Donna's book..........

A few pages from KayDee's book................

And speaking of ideas from Pinterest................I decided I dress cute enough I should take pics of some of the cute outfits I wear daily like the fab ideas that are on that website. Pinterest ain't got nothin' on me! (and if I get in a rut and "don't have anything to wear" I can look back and see that I have plenty of cute clothes. I probably just need to get the laundry caught up!

These are just a few outfits I rememebered to take pics of after I took them off!

I'm currently obsessed with boots and scarves..........(and funny I just noticed that almost every single pair of jeans are Silver's. except this pair of blingy LA Idols.)

I need a walk in closet! I should be a personal shopper for people. Put together cute looks on a budget. I have those skills!