my street, usa

i was going through the one thousand pictures i have taken this month-yes, one thousand already-and came across this wonderfully sunny snow shot and my first thought was, aaaww the powerlines and street signs are in the way of a great shot! then, wait...this is the view out my front livingroom window and i see this every morning, noon and night. it's ok. and it even has my street, usa included.


i have come to realize that eventhough photos are not exactly what you had planned, its ok to use them in your layouts, your photo albums and your postings, cuz its a part of your life.

this will be a part of a project i have in the wings, about the things you see everyday...






S Olympic Ave., my street.

little surprises

it's the little surprises that you just cant miss. the girls and i were headed out to my parents place and were rushing in and out of the house, loading the car. i had just jumped in when devan said, "mom, look! a woodpecker!" it was all i could do to get my camera out of my large case and get the soft case unsnapped...what a rush! that bird let me snap away and get very close. about 2.5 feet away from it. then it started to hop around the tree and so we went, round and round all the while my camera is up to my face and clicking away. i must have shot 20 frames! in the background, cars are driving by...wonder what they were thinking!?...oh well, when you come upon something good, you just have to stop and click-away.

here's to the little surprises of the season. what have you clicked-away at lately?

winter 2008

can't believe its the middle of december already. havent been on this blog for a while, but after school started, a move to town and the holidays railroading us, we are finally more blog-conscious. i will try to keep this updated now that we have high speed internet. jordyn was enjoying the very rare december snow in our backyard, playing with jeffery and i got this from the safety of our back porch. this mama doesnt really like to be in the snow, she just likes the looks of it.

happy december, or the middle of december.

a new season

well, it's been a long time since i blogged...too long. a lot has been on my calendar these last couple of months. working a lot at the schoolbox to get through vacations and injuries. we have spent lots of evenings outdoors roasting hot dogs and s'mores, lots of time cleaning and having a huge garage sale. a family wedding in Phoenix and going to the WATCH Convention in Seattle at SPU were two of the highlights of our summer. steve's sister got married and all four of us were in it. great times swimming, getting pretty, taking tons of pics and basking in the 110 + degrees.

WATCH stands for Washington Association of Teaching Christian Homes, yes it's a homeschool organization. we are moving into the realm of being a homeschool family! this year we will homeschool a 6th grader and a 4th grader. completely new territory for us, so we beefed ourselves up with a training course, this convention, a lot of prayer and searching materials to train up our girls the way God intends and we are off on the ride of our lives! the girls are so excited to be home and learning what they want to learn. i am enjoying the idea of getting to know them better. daddy is happy that we are on track and doing what God wants for this family. he really is a great father.

steve has been planning a side business for us that involves buying and reselling cars...he's got good ideas and motivation. we'll see where it takes us.

i started on a mini-album project after getting my hands on the Simple Scrapbooks special issue, Mini-Albums in an evening. great magazine for those of us that get more done if it involves a mini of anything! seems like i can finish one of those in no time, as opposed to the endless 12x12 layouts that go in all sorts of albums that seem to never have an ending.

happy back to school season! happy end of august season! happy welcome to a new thing season!

girls day crafting

we had a blast with our daughters at the mother/daughter craft/scrap day! these are the wonderful girls and their finished craft projects. no, we didnt take a photo of the moms, but maybe another time. arent our girls beautiful?!

celebrate your girls or boys in a special way this weekend. you never know what you will discover about them. they are full of new, funny, and wonderful things.

ta ta

climbing and repelling larrabee

we took a trip to larrabee state park and repelled down the big rock face right on the beach. we had a blast with friends who hadn't repelled since high school. the girls had a wonderful time in the water, not so much on the rock, but the weather was awesome! here is steve making the final descent at the end of the day.

all that is blooming

these are the wonderful things that are blooming in my yard. see, i stopped a moment to capture these beautiful colors. happy spring!

mother/daughter craft/scrap day may 31st

hello all! here are the samples for our Mother/Daughter Craft Day on May 31st. If you are planning to attend, give us a buss at stevehuot@hotmail.com or call the church at 360.435.8981. a list of supplies is included here.

to do frame:

4 colors of cardstock

1 sheet each black/white cardstock for letters

8X10 frame (no mat necessary)

any ribbon, stickers, etc that you would want to embelish with.

adhesive of your choice

i love you frame:

5X7 frame with mat to hold 2x3 photo (you can make your own/purchase one at Michaels)1 color cardstock

stickers for "i love you" or similar phrase

adhesive of your choice

pen holder with button pens:

1 jar or can

3-5 pens with or without lids (no clit it pens)

1 color cardstock

wallet sized photos to circle the jar or can

handful of buttons (any color)

22 gauge wire and floral tape (we will have these on hand if you cannot provide your own)coordinating ric-rac ribbon for jar/can and pens

extra buttons, beans, marbles, jems or fishtank rocks for filling container.

rub-ons were added ( you can do stickers or leave it blank)

adhesive dots or tape runner with clear adhesive works best.

scrap day is 11am to 6pm, come when you can and stay til you need to leave. bring a sack lunch, we will have snacks and coffee/water available. bring your supplies and any projects you have going. see u there!

an end to winter

never thought i would see the end of winter, but here it is. got this picture on the bridge leaving town. i had passed it and then turned around in a big circle, parked on the bridge and snapped it with my kids in the car, thinking their mom had gone crazy. sometimes you have to do the crazy to get a good picture. one that captures your everyday life. like this sunset that always happens over this river, everytime i cross it going home. now i have it in print. i have determined not to pass by these occurances, but to record them. savor them. remember them.

so, what occurances have you been passing over lately? not just picture events, but real life occurances.

cuddle time with your kids? flowers in bloom? phone calls to friends/family? an extra cup of coffee with your spouse? a chat with your neighbor? a hello to your cashier?


Take some time today and really live in the now of your life. dont get too caught up in the "have-tos" and miss the "get-tos" that come your way. some day the "get-tos" will be "used-tos" and they will just be memories. make them memories with meaning, not just memories from wishful thinking.

so, here's to remembering to BE A PART OF YOUR NOW.

first game

these are the pictures my husband took of the first game. jordyn is #8 in the first pic. devan is #18 is the other pictures.

devan rides!

well, this is devan during practice this last week. she has done a great deal of improving since the beginning. the first game was today and i will have some pictures of that soon.

God has been good to us and blessed us with lots of sunshine and warmth!

my tulips in the house are blooming and i have crocuses in the yard...

aahhhhh, blessed spring!

heres jordyn all decked out in her lacrosse gear at the first practice of the season. obviously shes the one in black, but you could have been confused. they absolutely love playing and getting the time outside. the running.....im not so sure.

say it loud

man, was this a great day! yesterday was a snow day. yeah....first one this school year. here's devan getting the word on the street from jeffrey. like he knows whats happenin. the girls enjoyed their day off playing, cleaning, playing and more cleaning. grandma had them washing windows as i left for work. great she is!

the snow is all gone now. the day after. too bad. i really wanted to stay home, too. oh well.

been looking at all my pics from xmas and yikes! theres a pile of them. how to choose the ones to print, scrap, give away....i may have to do an album for just this years christmas. in a way, its great because you never know when you will get the chance to meet up with your relatives again.

so. heres to too many pictures taken at yet another family gathering and to snow days and singing dogs and happy kids. gotta love this remembering stuff.

ta ta

a new year

well, i am sitting here getting caught up and am listening to our songs for easter. great new songs from I've Seen Jesus. it's a resurrection story about the 40 days after Jesus is resurrected. His touch with mary magdelane, thomas, the travelers on the road to emaus...wow! great songs. you can listen if you just type in Ive Seen Jesus into your search engine.

our family has begun it's crazy new year by starting Lacrosse season. both girls are playing this year and daddy will be coaching again later in February.

this year has opened new things for me, new responsibilities at work, with more hours and a new location. the school box is a learning resource center for homeschool and supplemental education materials for just anybody. we have a tutoring center, Pacific Learning Solutions, as well.

went to a new blog through Memory Makers Magazine...great winter photo challenge and great moments of encouragement on her blog. http://onmyway-journeytoheaven.blogspot.com/

be blessed today!

Forget mistakes. Forget failure. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day.
Will Durant, 1885-1981 American Philosopher, Historian and Author