Inspiration hit

While sitting in the orthodontist office waiting for Joseph I figured out how I wanted to finish a layout I started over the weekend. Go figure.

With both layouts I used my kits from Scarlet Lime. I love opening my kits each month to all the goodies

Second Day of school

Ha-Ha here are the boys on their second day of school. They are still wearing new clothes so it will work. Joseph is learning that he needs to pay attention to what he is buying because when he went to put his outfit together he found out that he has lots of plaid shorts and tons of striped shirts. Yeah they don't go together, good thing we also bought lots of T-shirts. Hunter could care less he has come down with some crazy outfits and I'm like you are so not walking out like that.

I have been busy painting and moving rooms this last week and thought I would give you a peek at how Joseph's room came out. Even though the paint was such a huge pain I love how it ended up looking. When you see it live you can see that some areas you can actually see some sand. Really cool. I really didn't want to put up posters but Joseph said they will give his room just what it needs, so up with the dirt bike posters. Next room is my scrap room. I'm excited to get started on that one.

First Day Success

It was the first day of school here in the Raskin house. The day went off without a hitch.
Hunter started 5th grade with Mrs. Newman who was also Joseph's 5th grade teacher. He was not happy about that one, he had his heart set on Mr T. and thought the teacher he got was mean. I told him that he was already a step ahead of the rest of his class because she knew him. She really isn't mean she just doesn't put up with any crap. I was her room mom with Joseph and told Hunter I would put my name in for him this year. When he came home today he said she wasn't that bad.
Joseph started 7th grade. He says he is no longer a scab but has moved up to toilet cleaner. Yeah the labels they put on these kids is funny. He seems to like his teachers and has set the goal for making principals honor roll all three semesters this year instead of only two like last. I told him as long as he does his best but he said he wants to go on the trip at the end of the year. Once he sets his mind to something he will try his hardest to succeed.
Ashley starts her first day tomorrow. I'm still in shock to have a daughter going to Jr. College. Where did the time go. I know that she has the ability to do do really well as long as she sets her mind to it. She had spent the weekend with us and today with the boys off to school I took her to breakfast.
Can you believe that I didn't take any pictures today. What the heck was I thinking, so tomorrow I will post the second day of school pictures and we will just pretend I took them today.

Yosemite

We took our last trip of the summer before the kids have to go back to school. Daren's mom & Gil were spending a week in Yosemite so we decided to join them. We left a day early and stayed the night in their unit and the next day checked into our own. We were able to spend 2 full days down in the valley. We had not been to Yosemite since we had narrowly missed being flooded in last time. The day we had left as we were driving home we heard that it had flooded and people were helicoptered out. Anyways this year because it was so late in the summer instead of to much water a lot of the water was gone. Mirror lake was but a pond and Yosemite falls was not flowing but it was still a beautiful visit. We were able to take the hike to the top of Vernal Falls which was flowing. If you are scared of heights I wouldn't recommend this trail. It felt like we kept walking uphill and weren't getting any closer then we hit the stone steps. that seemed to never end. I think the sign had said .03 miles of pure stairs ups. Yeah it doesn't seem bad until you start walking them. But we reached the top and those stairs were worth it. What a view. The kids played in the water even though they really weren't suppose to and it was freezing cold water. On the way down was easier but at one point my legs were like jello and started to shake. That was scary especially when you have nothing but steps in front of you. We made it safely down and next time we are hoping to make a farther hike. I want to make it to half dome which I think was about a 7 mile hike one way.

These are the falls we hiked up to. It was so cool to hear the water hitting the rocks

A nature made water slide. These rocks were really slippery
One of the giant sequoia trees.




These are only a portion of the steps we had to walk up to get to the top. They seemed to keep going and going

Craziness

It seems like this week has been keeping me pretty busy.
I had my first design team meeting at the Scrappping Lounge. I signed my contract and am ready to start teaching classes. I just finished the samples for my first class and I think they turn out really good. I will be sure to keep you updated on date and time so you can be sure to take it.

With Ashley gone here room went to Joseph who has been conventing the bigger room for a few years now. So off to Home Depot for the paint. He picked the River Rock texture from Ralph Lauren. The first coat when on and I'm think "oh crap" this paint is barely covering anything and all brush strokes are shown. I start the second coat hoping it will get better but it still is not looking great. I thought I can save this by putting a glaze over it but Joseph was having none of that so I decided to try a third coat and it is looking great. So I am about halfway done and will finish next week when we get home. And the sooner I get him moved in the sooner I get to start on my scrapbook room and I have some big plans.

Tomorrow we are heading to Magic Mountain with the boys. I think they are finally big enough to get on all the coasters and brave enough to want to ride them.

Saturday we are off to Yosemite for a few days. Daren's Mom and Gil will be there so when I saw some spots available through our timeshare I booked them. One last summer trip before school.

Yes I am so ready for school to start. I was so excited for them to get out for summer break and now I am so happy to see them go back. Ok I will admit they are starting to drive me batty. Is that bad to say about your kids?

Moving On

It is that time every mother dreads. My baby girl has flown the nest. Today Ashley packed up her little car with all her stuff and moved into her dads house. I know I have been preparing for this moment from the time she told me of her plans but getting ready and actually facing it are two different things. I guess it could be worse and she could be moving across the country rather than an hour drive but it is still hard. And I know that she is still being looked after living with her dad. Ha, to be a fly on the wall in that house. He is in for a huge reality check if he thinks living with a teenage girl is going to be easy.

I can only hope that she takes all that we tried to teach her and make the best decisions for herself. We love you and will miss you.

More on Mazatlan

Just a few more details on our trip.
This little guy was found walking around the pool area. Yeah not something you see everyday unless you are in Mexico then you see them all over the place.

It is so funny how the kids love Mexican food and were so excited to go to Mexico and eat everything they love. They ended up a bit disappointed. Ashley kept saying I want a huge burrito, but learned that the burritos they make are not what she eats here. I think in the end they like the American version of Mexican food. What I thought was funny was the hot dog stands and how crowded they were. Yeah I had some issues. I don't hide the fact that I am very picky about what I eat but one of my huge issues is cleanliness. I could not in any way bring myself to eat food off a cart around my house there is no way I'm eating food off a cart in Mexico. I even have issues at potlucks. If I don't whose kitchen made the dish I will usually skip it. Buffets also give me the creeps. But we did find a really yummy spot that was packed with locals, we found out why the meat they had was super good.
Don't go there in the summer because it is so freaking humid. I can handle the heat but humidity is the worst. I gave up on make up because I would sweat it off within a hour.
We finally found out why the chicken crossed the road. It was to get to the surf shop across the street. Ha-ha we saw two guys chasing a chicken across a very busy street and it happened into the surf shop parking lot. I wish I had taken a picture.

Henna Tattoos and Searching for Mussels

We took a tour and ended up on Stone Island. It had just rained the night beore so the water wasn't great for snorkeling so instead we did some boogie boarding and rode the banana boat. It was so much fun on the boogie boards I don't remember the last time I did that. And the banana boat was crazy. I was bouncing around and laughing so hard my stomach hurt. And we also learned a lesson on the banana, don't fall off because the driver doesn't understand English and when he hears you yelling to stop he has no clue what you are saying. Ashley feel off and he kept going luckily we went to far from shore and she was able to swim back.

The crew got talked into getting some Henna Tattoos. Yeah even Daren got one. I thought he looked kinda sexy with it.

On another walk we discovered mussels close to shore. The kids had fun trying to pick them up. They ended up with a pretty good amount and we brought them back and boiled them and ate them. I don't do seafood so I skipped this one but everyone loved them. It's not everyday they get to pluck something besides fish from the ocean and eat them.

Senor Frogs

We had to stop by the frogs just to check it out. We had the whole place to ourselves. We had missed the cruise ship crowd by a day but then the kids wouldn't have been able to get in. The gave us pens and we all left our mark on the walls so next time you are there be sure to look for us scattered around the walls.
The waiter was really great and gave the kids a taste of what they do for the party crowd. Don't worry it's a Shirley Temple

But we gave Ashley the real stuff. Yeah It's bad but hey she is almost legal in Mexico and they didn't even question it.


More of us doing some walking along the shore.
We found these steps that were kinda scary because they had no rails and looked really old but up we went anyways. We later learned that at the top of these stairs the divers jump off into the ocean. It was scary just walking up the stairs there is no way I'm jumping off into the water.

Mazatlan has Two El Diablo caves Also know as The Devil Caves. That is my new nickname for Daren. He is my Diablo

A little slice of heaven

We have landed safely back on American ground. As much as I love going away I love coming home just as much. I was very pleased with how everything went though. Going through customs with kids in tow can sometimes be a bit exhausting like when the drug dog started sniffing Hunter's backpack, it turned out he was just sniffing beef jerky but thoughts do go through you mind like maybe someone put something in their without us knowing.
Here is the view from our home away from home. Who couldn't fall in love with waking up each morning to this.

Or how about swimming in the ocean at sunset. Yes that is Daren and the kids out there. The water was so warm sometimes I would find myself saying it feels a bit to warm.

Here's our Condo from the ocean.
And here is a quick look at the inside. I really do love having our timeshare and being able to stay in two bedroom units with kitchens when you are traveling with kids. This place was bigger than our first apartment.
Our first day we went walking through the old town Mazatlan. You feel like you are in a whole different world. The buildings look like they just used whatever they could find and most shops and restaurants are just opened in any small little spot. Driving in Mazatlan is a whole experience in itself. I swear I have cut off years on my life. You have cars coming from every which way and no one thinks twice about turning right in front of you. I kept pushing my imaginary break.
Here are just a few pictures from around the old town.