Capture the Details

the Andy car

Ten years ago Todd and I bought our first new car. We still have it and it's in pretty good shape, but our other vehicle wasn't. So, ten years later, it was time to buy another new car. It's blue, per the kid's request. It has a sunroof, per Sarah's request. I'm proud to introduce you to our newest addition, the 2007 GMC Envoy....

Why 'the Andy car' you ask? Well, if you've ever seen the movie Toy Story, at the very end Buzz and Woody launch themselves on the rocket that was strapped to Buzz's back, and then glide through the sky and in through the sunroof of Andy's car to land in the box next to him. Todd said he can see it now......Ben out in the driveway trying to throw his big, clunky Buzz Lightyear action figure through the sunroof and into the car. :-)

a sneaky peeky :-)

I will soon be sending Gigi's circle journal on to it's next stop with Ronda....Here is a little glimpse at what I did :-) .....

dancing queen

I can remember when I was a little girl...8 years old ....and my mom would drive me to my dance lessons. It seemed like every time we would be in the car driving there the song Dancing Queen by Abba would be on the radio. It seemed like it was on all the time probably because it was a popular song in 1976 and 1977 and it was on the radio all the time. Anyway, life has come full circle for me and now I take Sarah to dance lessons. She's all about Maroon Five and Fergie and Gwen Stafani on the radio, though.

She had her dance recital on Sunday. This year she did jazz and her dance was to the song Little Shop of Horrors. There were six girls in her class and they all did very well. This year she didn't have to look off-stage to watch Miss Tammy doing the steps behind the curtain. (I always get a kick out of the tiniest girls...some are looking off at Miss Tammy, some are looking at each other, some are poking at their neighbor and telling them to move...it's so cute!)

She practiced her routine at home and that brought back memories for me, too. I used to do the same thing. I did a ballet to Jean Jean, I did a tap solo to Paul McCartney's Someone's Knocking at the Door. I did others too, but I can't remember what they were. I used to practice in my living room with the 45 records playing on the stereo. ahhhhhh. The good old days.

Here is my little dancing queen, all dolled up for her performance (click for bigger picture).... :-)

deck of me

I have a bit of catching up to do with my cards. They are all done but I haven't posted the images for over a month. So, here we go (click on them to see larger images)...

week 20: change

week 21: redeeming qualities/qualities you aspire towards...

week 22: what would you like to learn?...

week 23: right now....

week 24: remember when....

the hidden journaling ( I made a pocket and stuck our pictures in it)...

and just for kicks, here are our pictures from 10th grade in 1984....

Thanks for looking! :-)

i was tagged

Stacy tagged me over a week ago and I'm just getting to it now. I have to divulge seven random facts about myself.

#1  I have never flown on a plane.

#2  I failed my driver's test the first time I took it. (I rubbed my tire on the curb. That's a no no.) (I did pass the second time.)

#3  I keep things organized that are in plain view, just don't open any drawers, closets or cabinets.

#4  I keep my nails trimmed....I can't stand it when they start to grow out. I love the look of long nails but I can't deal with them on my own hands.

#5  My favorite flavor of salt water taffy is vanilla. (hmmmmm...wonder what made me think of that? Maybe because my kids were both just standing here asking me to help unwrap their pieces of salt water taffy?)

#6  I have had ten different addresses during my life. Three of those were in the same zip code, during my college years.

#7  I can remember the first book that I 'lost' myself in (you know, where you're so involved in the story that you don't even realize that you're reading...you just picture the story in your head like a movie.) It was a Nancy Drew mystery ( I don't remember the title ) and I was about nine years old laying on the sofa in our living room. I still love to read. LOVE it.

There you go. Seven random things about me. :-)

where's the sand?

I need a vacation after my vacation.

We got back home today after spending five days in Ocean City, New Jersey. The weather was perfect. I have a deep, dark, rich, tropical tan (yeah - right). We have two new family members: Scuttle and Eugene (hermit crabs). I have almost everything unpacked and the laundry caught up. Now I need a vacation. Considering the fact that we didn't do much but take some leisurely strolls on the boardwalk and lay on the beach, we were all so tired...it was comical, actually.

We drove down on Saturday. Through Philadelphia and the horrendous traffic. Bumper-to-bumper, crawling along and stopping for miles. When we crossed the bridge from Pennsylvania into New Jersey Todd told the kids, "We're now in New Jersey." Ben said (in all seriousness), "Where's the sand?" I guess to him New Jersey and sand are synonymous. Anyway, we all got a good laugh at Benny boy's question.

Here are a few pictures from our vacation (click to see larger).....

Our first day on the boardwalk. We played mini golf and Sarah won a free game. It was taking her 7 - 8 puts to sink the ball on every hole and on the 18th hole she got a hole-in-one and won a free game. Go figure. Must be the luck of the Irish in her. Here's my two men...

This one of Todd got kinda neat... you can see Sarah and me in the reflection in his glasses.

And all four of us. The old hold-the-arm-out-and-take-a-self-portrait shot.....

We spent the afternoons at the beach. This little man was happy as a clam to sit and make 'goop' with the sand and water....

And twinkle toes here, was a water rat. She loved jumping the waves and searching for shells.

Todd and I would take turns going in the water with Sarah. Ben went in only occasionally...

A self-portrait of Sarah and me....

And, yes, I will admit, I'm one of those people. I will throw food out for the sea gulls. But I only did it late in the afternoon when the crowd was thinning out. I dropped a piece of Chex mix and it landed in the sand so I threw it out in front of our towel. Ben loved the sea gulls, so I though I'd get one to come in close. (He was so cute, calling them 'my friends' when they would land near him) I got a picture of our 'friend' flying off with the treasured piece of Chex mix....

Now it's back to the home sweet home routine. I am r.e.a.d.y. for bed. :-)

blog break

I am going to be taking about a week break from blogging. All is well, I just want you to know that I'll be back in blog mode later next week. Hope everyone has a nice Father's Day weekend! Patty :-)

hiatus

I am going to be putting the FLEX your creative mind program on hiatus for awhile. I'll leave the links up in the left column for a bit longer. The last exercise was to use felt and Karla, Lis and Angel (who combined her exercises 11 and 12) all did some awesome stuff. Be sure to check it out.

There are some great challenges out there...if you haven't already visited these sites it's worth a trip. One Little Word; Unpubbed; for the love of effers. Have fun creating!!! :-)

the closest I'll ever get?

While perusing the pages of the latest edition of Creating Keepsakes magazine (the scrapbook bible for you non-scrappers) I came upon this in the reader gallery...

Is it me, with a misspelled last name (I'm Schaffer) or is there another me out there in the scrapbooking universe???????? Is this the closest I'll ever get to being acknowledged as a scrapbook artist? My Doppleganger with an oh-so-close-to-mine last name? Inquiring minds want to know. ;-)     

(personally, I think there's another Patty S out there...I have sent stuff in, but I don't think it's been within the last month...maybe it just came across her desk in the past month? who knows..... but i think it's pretty funny...will we ever know?..........)

I got me one

Ya know...one of tham thar pint-sized cowboys. Rare breed they are. Takes to wearin' sharts in the summer months. Too hot to be fussin' with long britches. But theys still wear their boots. That thar's all important 'n case of a run-in with snakes. Any pint-sized cowboy worth his weight 'n gold knows that thar fact. :-)