Sand Dunes more shots

this is J in front and D.P. going upstream at the dunes, we have had so much rain and run off there is lots of water there, we went earlier than last year as well.
SSD1, not sure what he is looking at in this photo

The kids all enjoyed a lay down dip in the cold water, temps were mild and the day very sunny.
Here is SSD1 enjoying a lay down dip too.
A quick sand tuype of feeling as J looks like he is having fun.

Today 16 years ago-J came into the world

It was an emegency that day and it has been fun and full of emergency the whole time since that day !! These were taken on the sanddunes in Sand dunes national park. The boys went on this trip on the 19th and 20th of May.

as You can see a risk taker is what this son of mine is. Love him as much now as the first time I saw him.

Happy Birthday J

We bought him a really nice bike, that is what he wanted for his birthday. so he will be looking for a job for the summer and staying busy.

picture post mostly Hh

Field day was fun and sunny- this was a basketball shoot out.

This was a fun activity and the parashute was a fun thing even when I was a kid in school .

Invited to a board breaking at Karate!! she has very good form, She did break one board and now wants to do it again. The next thing is to decide if we are committed to earning a black belt!!

This is our new summer do, not quite as short as special's but still pretty short for this girl, she LOVES it though and it is cut with longish layers that flip UP pretty well with not a whole lot of fussing. and it will be nice for summer.

This is the last choir concert, tomorrow night tonight we have one more thing to do and help with the 6th grade banquet, I made the powerpoint presentation. and we will need to help with the execution of the evening.

wow - may has gotten away from me

I am sorry to say that my days and evenings have been filled to the brim, with commitments to attend or take or just do for everyone else but me.

The boys have been busy and the girls too.... the boys went camping at the sand dunes again last weekend and the girls did fun stuff here. We had my in-laws for the last couple of days so that has been a time taker. The visit was good though and eveyone had a nice time. evenings have been filled with commitments to scouts, school and church, we did fun things like get to two baseball games in the last few weeks as well. I have been working a bit and helping a friend, I committed to help with a power point slide show for the 6th grade banquet and J's 16th birthday is this week.

I will be posting more details and photos very soon, stay tuned.

Karate Success

Look at that pile of belts, it was a great celebration.


Hh just demoed her kick and she's high fiving the instructor. they had so much fun showing parents their skills.

Hh earned her yellow belt on Saturday at Seo National Karate

She has worked hard since Febuary on this goal and Today she earned her first black stripe to orange belt as well.

this is my kind of party

I got my invitation in the mail!!!!!!!!!!! I want to be at this party- my talented friend- sent this and it is spectacular- she missed her calling as a graphic designer and scrap artist.

I think I need to road trip- anyone up for a weekend at the trailer??

as Gretchen Wilson so aptly puts it :

Victoria's Secret Well their stuff's real nice
Oh but I can buy the same damn thing on a Wal*Mart shelf half price
And still look sexy
Just as sexy As those models on TV
No I don't need no designer tag to make my man want me
You might think I'm trashy
A little too hard core
But get in my neck of the woods I'm just the girl next door

Hey I'm redneck woman
And I ain't no high class broad
I'm just a product of my raisin'
And I say "hey y'all" and "Yee Haw"
And I keep my Christmas lights on, on my front porch all year long
And I know all the words to every Tanya Tucker song
So here's to all my sisters out there keeping it country
Let me get a big "Hell Yeah" from the redneck girls like me
Hell Yeah
Hell Yeah

the odd job

I have been doing this and that and an occassional consult. Here is a Web site for a friend I have been working on, she owns a scrub stop and more. I have been helping her with a contract for a large hospital she got too, so this has been a good diversion.

I scored some tests for Measured Progress in Longmont too. I am scheduled to do some more of this, but I think I have a JOB !!!! I will tell you more as it firms up for sure. I am happy about it and will tell you the details later.

it is neither of the two afore mentioned temp jobs. Just keep all the good vibes and prayers coming my way. I am ready for a new place to be.

boosting productivity

Found this on Katie the scrapbook lady's site who got it from Crafty-Girl's blog and I just decided to copy it outright. Very inspiring and good stuff to review and remember. I need to brush up on some of these skills!

33 rules to boost your productivity:

1. Super Slow. Commit yourself to working on a particularly hideous project for just one session a week, 15-30 minutes total. Declutter one small shelf. Purge 10 clothing items you don’t need. Write a few paragraphs. Then stop.
2. Dailies. Schedule a specific time each day for working on a particular task or habit. One hour a day could leave you with a finished book, or a profitable internet business a year later.
   
3. Add-ons. Tack a task you want to habitualize onto one of your existing habits. Water the plants after you eat lunch. Send thank-you notes after you check email.
   
4. Plug-ins. Inject one task into the middle of another. Read while eating lunch. Return phone calls while commuting. Listen to podcasts while grocery shopping.
   
5. Gratitude. When someone does you a good turn, send a thank-you card. That’s a real card, not an e-card. This is rare and memorable, and the people you thank will be eager to bring you more opportunities.
   
6. Training. Train up your skill in various productivity habits. Get your typing speed to at least 60wpm, if not 90. Learn to speed-read or PhotoRead. Develop your communication skills.
   
7. Software. Take advantage of productivity software to boost your effectiveness. Lifehacker recommends new items every week.
   
8. Zone out. Enter the zone of peak creativity, and watch your output soar.
   
9. Denial. Just say no to non-critical requests for your time.
   
10. Recapture. Reclaim other people’s poor time usage for yourself. Visualize your goals during dull speeches. Write out your grocery list during pointless meetings.
    
11. Mastermind. Run your problem past someone else, preferably a group of people. Invite all the advice, feedback, and constructive criticism you can handle.
    
12. Twenty. Take a piece of paper, number 1-20, and don’t stop until you’ve listed 20 creative ideas for improving your productivity.
    
13. Challenger. Deliberately make the task harder. Challenging tasks are more engaging than boring ones. Compose an original poem for your next blog post.
    
14. Asylum. Complete an otherwise tedious task in an unusual or crazy manner to keep it interesting. Make phone calls using pretend foreign accents. Fill out government paperwork in crayon.
    
15. Music. Experiment to discover how music may boost your productivity. Try fast-paced music for email, classical or new age for project work, and total silence for high-concentration creative work.
    
16. Scotty. Estimate how long a task will take to complete. Then start a timer, and push yourself to complete it in half that time.
    
17. Pay it forward. When an undesirable task is delegated to you, re-delegate it to someone else.
    
18. Bouncer. When a seemingly pointless task is delegated to you, bounce it back to the person who assigned it to you, and challenge them to justify its operational necessity.
    
19. Opt-out. Quit clubs, projects, and subscriptions that consume more of your time than they’re worth.
    
20. Decaffeinate. Say no to drugs, suffer through the withdrawal period, and let your natural creative self re-emerge.
    
21. Triage. Save the lives of your important projects by killing those that are going to die anyway.
    
22. Conscious procrastination. Delay non-critical tasks as long as you possibly can. Many of them will die on you and won’t need to be done at all.
    
23. TV-free. Turn off the TV especially the news, and recapture many usable hours.
    
24. Timer. Time all your tasks for an entire day, preferably a week. Even the act of measuring itself can boost your productivity, not to mention what you learn about your real time usage.
    
25. Valor. Pick the one item on your task list that scares you the most. Muster all the courage you can, and tackle it immediately.
    
26. Nonconformist. Run errands at unpopular times to avoid crowds. Shop just before stores close or shortly after they open. Take advantage of 24-hour outlets if you’re a vampire.
    
27. Agoraphobia. Shop online whenever possible. Get the best selection, consult reviews, and purchase items within minutes.
    
28. Reminder. Add birthday and holiday reminders to your calendar a month or two ahead of their actual dates. Buy gifts then instead of at the last minute.
    
29. Do it now! Recite this phrase over and over until you’re so sick of it that you cave in and get to work.
    
30. Inspiration. Read inspiring books and articles, listen to audio programs, and attend seminars to keep absorbing inspiring new ideas (as well as to refresh yourself on the old ones).
    
31. Gym rat. Exercise daily. Boost your metabolism, concentration, and mental clarity in 30 minutes a day.
    
32. Lovey dovey. Romantic love will spur you on to greater heights, if for no other reason than to persuade your partner you aren’t such a loser after all.
    
33. Troll hunt. Banish the negative trolls from your life, and associate only with positive, happy, and successful people. Mindsets are contagious. Show loyalty to your potential, not to your pity posse.

extreme kingdom games, from quest weekend

Every time I look at this video it cracks me up, I am the one laughing in the video too..... the intent of the game was a variation on steal the flag. 2 teams with a dragon head and tail. then the goal is to get the tail off the other dragon. Funny to watch.


EXTREME GAMES AT QUEST2K7

percussion princess plays Boettcher concert hall

boetcher concert may 1st


Here are stats on this location Boettcher Concert Hall Denver Colorado

This is HH in her grand 1!st public performance!!

Boettcher Concert Hall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Boettcher Concert Hall, located in Denver, Colorado, was the first symphony hall in the round in the United States. Built in 1978, the hall is part of the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the second largest performing arts complex in the United States next to Lincoln Center in New York.
Boettcher originally opened to mixed reviews. Due to its size in relation to the size of the community it serves, its 2,634 seats are often not completely filled. Tuned acoustically with a full house in mind, Boettcher originally suffered from hot and cold spots when the theater was only partially filled.
In 1993, the theater underwent a major acoustical renovation. The height of the seat backs was adjusted, additional acoustic reflectors were added, and acoustic curtains were installed which that allow the theater to be tuned for specific performances--even during a performance.
Boettcher is home to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Kahane. It was formerly conducted by Marin Alsop

creativity

You Are 78% Creative

You are beyond creative. You are a true artist - even if it's not in the conventional sense of the word. You love creating for its own sake, and you find yourself quite inspired at times.

How Creative Are You?

more photos from the weekend

As a part of the weekend program, there is a special power point presentation type thing, made of images made from LEGO r themed toy bricks. The gospel according to " Brick" what a wonderful and creative way to get the message to kids from 6-12th grade- fun and made accessable. Our Diosesian youth formation pastor -Neil Reilly- is the creative force behind this and what a talent for legos he has.
Here you can see the " recreation- option" that was available in free time. A really nice Warm pool and very neat water slide too. There were lots of other fun and games to be had too. LIke foosball and pool tables. What a nice place to have this kind of activity .

And this Shot is the mountain with its native inhabitants ( mountain goats) and the really fabulous blue colorado sky- this was a neat thing to see, the contrast of their coats against the sky and the hill made them really stand out. We saw elk and big horn sheep on our way to the ranch too on the road colorado - 287
Another shot of the " screamer" and the platform down below. I climbed down on the far side of the hill under a rope course and some other steep stairs to get the best vantage point to " see the Kids" again look at the light and beautiful day we had for all these fun activities in the mountains.
The veiw from " Sunset point" not at sunset, but I heard it is spectacular then with the red and orange light bathing the mountain range. Still I think it is all good.

on the flip- Frontier Ranch- Quest2k7

This is the view from right behind the main lodge - fabu

All of the kids that when from St. James and Me.

The logo of the weekend theme- cool trip to paradise theme.

The Screamer- a 50 foot drop off swing- very cool - J did this

Here he is at the end of the ride.