Behind the Scenes

Can you say X-mas???

Believe it or not I'm actually working on my x-mas cards and have about 20 made so far. The clock is ticking. I'm hoping to get another 40 made before Thanksgiving. I love being able to send out my cards Thanksgiving weekend. Mind you, that hasn't happened in recent years. I'm usually down to the wire. I need to come up with a really nice picture of the kids and that's usually the hold up. 

Anyway, I thought I would share a quick card with you today before I head off to the second day of the State swim meet and to the stamping convention. 

Here's a card I made a few weeks ago. I love the color combo.

So let's chat about the big 50 shall we?

Yes, it's true.....I'm now the big 50! Still 39 at heart:) It was actually a pretty depressing thing. Not sure why this hit me hard. Whatever the reason, it's now behind me and I'm movin' on. I've got a ton to accomplish in the next 20 years or so. I need to start crossing things off the bucket list! John is throwing a little 50th get together tomorrow night. He and the kids are off at Costco gathering supplies. 

Here's a few pics taken by my son on my 50th. Off course they are of me eating ice cream cake! 

Now onto bigger and better things like the Pioneer Woman! Yes, I went to her book signing the    
The cookbook is full of beautiful photos, fantastic recipes and good humor! I'm looking forward to whipping up some grub for the family. 

Off to do a bit of stamping:) I'll try to start posting some cards I've made recently in the next few days. 

Hello November!!!

Gosh, it's been a whirlwind around the Florence Household and my blog has been very neglected. I'm going to try to catch everyone up to speed on what has been going on around here. For one there's been lots of swimming. The big news is last weekend was the 2 day Regional meet and Mackenzie managed to place 4th in both the 100 Breast stroke and 200 medley relay in the East Valley region. She placed 5th for her 500. Best of all she dropped her times in both Breast and 500. Not sure about the medley. Because you have no idea how well other swimmers did in other regions it's always a question mark whether or not you qualify to swim at the State meet. Well, guess what? She qualified in both the 500 and the medley relay and is an alternate for the 100 breast stroke. Mackenzie was pretty stoked because just to qualify is an accomplishment! So this Friday and Saturday the State meet will be held at Kino Pool in Mesa. I'm planning on attending and watching some amazing swimming. Mackenzie's old duet partner, Emilee, also qualified. Here's a few pics:

Here she is swimming against her teammate, Joanie. They have been neck and neck all year long and Mackenzie ended up beating her to take the 4th place finish. Good thing is Joanie is a fast freestyle swimmer and had plenty of other events to keep her busy! 

Here the coaches are standing up fighting off the nerves....telling her to get moving!!!!

Meanwhile, Steven has been busy with some fort building in the back yard. He originally wanted to top off two trees and build two tree houses with a bridge in between, plumbing, electricity etc. That idea was put to rest but John agreed to help him create a fort out of pallets. Steven's very proud of it! He's cut trap doors, made sliding places where he can fire his airsoft gun etc. Basically, he's been residing in the back yard! Oh, and did I mention he got ahold of the spray paint to decorate? Take a look!

This isn't the latest photo. For some reason I can't find the most recent one. It is now a 2 story fort and has much more color to it!

For Halloween the Sprengers came over so Michael had someone to Trick or Treat with. Steven was unsure he was even going to go and ended up using his costume from last year. Michael went as the Phantom of the Opera. Believe it or not, Mackenzie's Homecoming Dance was on Halloween night. So after spending a long day at the pool she headed off to Homecoming. She was dateless. Her little boyfriend ditched her and she decided she'd probably have just as much fun going with a group of her friends. She ended up having a fabulous time! To make things even better she scored a dress at the Dillards outlet for $15.00 and then Tena mentioned Alyssa had a pair of brown sandals that would work perfectly for the dress. Let me just say...Justin you missed out on one fine looking girl!!!

 


 

Well, I must run the dog to the vet to have her ears checked. Will share more later!

A boy and his dog:)

Steven and Kelsey have always had a great relationship. The other day I had to laugh because they were both in the backyard. Steven had spray painted a box he had and then decided he'd get in the box and hold the dogs rope out the end of it. Well, following pictures tell the story! Temptation....will Kelsey notice the rope hanging out the end of the box??? Discovery! This looks like a fun game. Steven, hate to tell ya boy, that box is only going to save you so long! Game on:)
 I'm going to show you a thing or two little boy. Steven....anytime you want to give up is fine with me.

Ready for round 2! Next.

Now tell me, who could resist a face like this?

Darlene & Ray's 50th Wedding Anniversary

This past Saturday, September 26th, represented Darlene and Ray's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Tena, Trisha and Joe put together a party for their parents and my house was chosen as party central. It was a very fun time and I truly believe that Darlene and Ray really appreciated the effort. Tena hired Vito's, a local Italian Restaurant close to my house to cater the event. Let me tell you I was a bit surprised when Vito himself pulled up to unload the food! He was having so much fun talking to the guests that he ended up having a large glass of red wine before heading back to the restaurant. 

Trisha made some awesome appetizers....for the life of me I can't think of what they are called! Anyway, it was marinated fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and grape tomato on a skewer. YUM!!! There were also a variety of cheeses, crackers, marinated olives and mushrooms. 

Ray and Darlene enjoying Trisha's commentary and toast!

The Party Planners!

Kenzie and Uncle Joe

These two were the bartenders for the evening and had a blast...also made $30 in tips. Too funny! 

The only negative to the evening was the temperature! 104 degrees and sizzling hot at 5pm. Other than that it was a very memorable and successful evening. 

It's been way too long!

Sorry about being such a blog slacker lately! It's finally starting to cool off and settle down in Arizona. Not sure where I left off in blog world but let me give you a brief fall update. 

Both Mackenzie and Steven are doing well in school. Steven has an awesome teacher, Mrs Wagner, and has some of his favorite friends in his classroom.  Garrett, Kira and Jessie are all in his class:). Steven's latest thing is making movies on the laptop. The other day he was laying on the trampoline dangling the dog's toy over the edge and filming with the camera as the dog struggled to get her rope back! He's been posting his creations and has a viewing audience of other T graders.....never know what's coming next with this boy. It's finally starting to cool off and I expect we'll be riding bikes and skateboarding soon.

Mackenzie has adjusted well to Westwood and has been enjoying the swim team. 

These two pictures were from Mesa Relays. The boys took 1st place in the wet t-shirt relay and the girls took 2nd and 3rd place. 

Kimmy turned 44 years old this year and Jackie and Matt had a little birthday celebration over at their house. Here's a few pictures from the birthday party.

It was really fun to have Kelsey Bullard up from U of A and to pretty much have all the kids together. I need to do a scrapbook page on how they've all grown up. I remember the very first year we went to Mexico.....the boys were so small. Pretty soon they will be towering over these girls.....at least most of them. Some one needs to put a rock on Rachel's head! She's going to be taller than the rest of us soon.

John's mom passed away September 15th. We were not totally surprised when we received the phone call because she had been failing for the last 4 months or so. Fortunately, John's older brother James and his wife Eloise lived right next door to Pearl and moved in with her when she couldn't live alone anymore. I so appreciate everything they have done the last few years. They have both made many sacrifices in order to provide Pearl with the best care. Pearl would have been 90 years old in November. 

Need to go jump in the shower.....we'll catch up more later this morning.

Two days in a row!!!

So, today was the first day of high school for Mackenzie. She hasn't come home yet due to swim team and I'm hoping things went good for her. I'm a bit nervous for her, can you tell?

Steven had a wonderful day with Mrs Wagner. I knew he'd like her and the consensus among the 6th grade is "she rocks"! He was thrilled he actually got to do his math homework in class and also was given a fun assignment for home. He's decided his future career is in professional fishing or skateboarding. Sounds like a typical 11 year old eh?

Wanted to update some of the photos from this summer since I've been such a slacker.
This is John after his eye surgery last week. He finally did the laser surgery he'd been talking about. He's still healing but his eye sight improves daily. Funny story......I put a screen saver picture of Kelsey on my computer at work and john's been telling me I need to change it because it spooks him. Guess what my new screensaver's gonna be???? LOL Bet he'll be asking for the dogs pic again!

This next picture is our group shot up at the Nordic Center. The weather was absolutely perfect!! The girls with their head lamps before we headed into the lava tubes.
The boys who didn't really want their picture taken! Sorry boys! lol BTW, it was cold in the lava tubes. Have bike rack will travel. Would consider owning one of these gems:)
The boys fishing for blue gills. Steven ended up catching 13 total and now wants to get all the gear. The girls hanging out on the Johnson's front porch swing.
Mackenzie and I on our way to see Wicked at Gammage. Good times! Riley, Jackie, Kenzie, me, Piot and Rachel at Wicked

A little stressed........

Can't believe the Summer had flown by and the kids start school tomorrow. Yesterday we went to meet Steven's teacher, Mrs. Wagner. I was on the SIAC committee with her last year and I think Steven will have a very good 6th grade year. This will be our last year at Johnson Elementary. The end of an era.

Today was crazy!!!! We went to Westwood High School for Mackenzie's orientation and it was a bit overwhelming for this old lady. Yikes!!! I have a kid who will be out of high school in three years people.....not dealing with this well at all. To make matters worse Mackenzie thinks she'll be able to do swim team, synchro and weighted classes. We will see. She's still trying to finish up the on-line Geometry class. Granted she's on the last chapter and then has to take the final. It's been a bit crazy because the communication at this new school hasn't been the best. We were not notified of swim team practices and so she's missed the first week. Then today I find out the bus she is to take from Mesa High to Westwood doesn't start until next week. Wouldn't you have thought this would have been announced???

Last week the kids and I headed up to Flagstaff for a little two day R&R. We pretty much did all we could in 2 days. We took the mountain bikes, rode all over downtown Flagstaff, over to NAU to see the Cardinals at Camp, went to the Lava Tubes and out to the Nordic Center to spend the night and roast some marshmallows.

I'm hoping to get a little touch up painting, some curtains made and a few other projects underway once school is back in session.

Off to figure out dinner! Over and out:)

Take Shape for Life Convention & Photo Update

This past weekend the Phoenician hosted the Take Shape for Life Convention. There were almost 1300 health coaches in attendance. All I can say is AMAZING!!! I not only learned about this fabulous business but had a chance to meet and talk to people who are changing lives on a daily basis. One lady I met said she couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs or wear high heels last year. She is now down almost 80lbs and is now helping others achieve their goals. There was story after story and all I can say is I spent the weekend with a bunch of happy, healthy and interesting people. For myself this has been a life changing experience. I now know what I want to be when I grow up! Not only have I lost the weight I've been fighting with the last 20 years I feel like I can help others do the same:). 

Heading off to Tucson tomorrow to watch Mackenzie swim at the US Opens which are being held at the U of A rec center through this Saturday. Mackenzie is pre-swimming for both duet and team and also swimming the combo event. This will be my first US Opens and the first time seeing teams from out of the US compete. Should be a good time. Go AAS!!!!

Here are some of the long overdue photos from Nationals.

These were all from her duet. I will post others later!

Back to the blog....back from Gainesville and hello 4th of July:)

It's been forever since I've posted to the blog. Life is suppose to slow down once your kids get older right? WRONG!!!!  So what's been happening??? I chaperoned the 13-15 team to Gainesville with my friend Michelle. Can I just say we were awesome chaperones and the girls arrived on time, were well fed and rocked Gainesville. Mackenzie's team came in 4th after dropping from 2nd place in their routine swim. This was due to having very young swimmers whose figures weren't quite as solid as the older girls. Still 4th in the US is nothing to complain about!!! Proud, doesn't even come close to describing my feelings towards these girls. They are strong competitors, wonderful athletes, supportive of each other, caring and the list goes on!!!

As far as the other placements go....Jamie Kuchan came in 3rd in the solo category. She's had a beautiful solo all year long and it's wonderful to see her get the national recognition she deserves. I believe Courtney just missed finals with a 9th place finish in her solo. In duets, Courtney and Jamie had a first place finish. Mackenzie and Emilee placed 5th. Not bad since this is by far the hardest category to place in. The trio placed 8th after a 3rd place swim....again, the figures played a major part in this...but, to place 8th out of 49 is still pretty decent!!!

In the below photo are the girls messing around with Coach Jessica. Cindy left on her family vacation and was the only one missing from this photo.

Thought this was a cute picture of Jamie and her Dad. He was so very proud of her!!!!

Steven has been having his own kind of fun...he's partied at Jon and Jessie's house with Adam, had a sleep over at Drew's, dinner and swimming at Matt and Jackie's and then Garrett's house for two days! He didn't even want to call me so I know he was having a fantastic time!!!

This next weekend is the Take Shape for life Convention. I can't tell you how excited I am about it. I'm now just 6lbs away from my goal weight of 135 and am very excited about helping other people reach there goals. My sister in law lost 4.5lbs her first week and her granddaughter lost 3.5lbs and 2.5 inches from around her waste. 

The menu for today is rib-eyes on the grill, roasted corn salad, baked potato and watermelon! I can't wait:) Happy 4th of July everyone.