A Weekend in Pictures

We're enjoying a lazy-ish weekend at home... besides a jewelry Home Show on Friday night and a Blazer's game on Saturday night, we've pretty much just been lounging around. Here are a few fun photos I've taken...

Riley creates some pretty elaborate "set-ups" in her room with all of her Barbies, My Little Ponies, and other various treasures. This was her creation after quiet time yesterday:

Highlights: Cinderella on her horse, a gift receipt from her last birthday, piano playing Barbie, the boat in the "bathroom", and the Ariel Barbie's huge lip gloss...

Highlights: Topless Barbie at the table and all the "kids" piled on the couch watching the T.V.
I love that she is so creative and uses her imagination so much. She's about to head to her room for quiet time again this afternoon and I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Tyson loving his Fuzzy Wuzzy...

And playing on his "computer" (aka the Handy Manny Repair Shop)

Cooper snuggled on the couch with two of his favs: Jett, the bear and his newest Mickey Mouse blankie

And a few other random photos:

Our hallway has become home to some repo'd toys after Tyson threw a ginormous fit while leaving preschool on Friday evening. Everything out of this room, including his Toy Story blanket- probably the most missed. He's working on earning them back by making better choices this weekend.

I also got to enjoy an awesome Trailblazer's game last night with our friend Holly. They send the game ball down through the crowd before each game and usually it's all the way on the other side of the Rose Garden... but, last night it came down RIGHT through our section!!! We were pumped to get a chance to touch the actual game ball- so fun- and our faces were on the Jumbo-tron while we held it up together!! Then, the Blazer's went on to play rather horribly for 3 quarters and we were pretty sure we'd cursed the ball... until they turned it around in the 4th quarter and came back to win it!

Another highlight from the evening- I finally bought my first jersey!! It's taken me this long to decide who I wanted; EVERYONE seems to have Roy and Oden, and they're not even playing this season due to injury. Aldridge and Mills were in the running, but I finally settled on Batum, number 88. He's my friend Melissa's absolute favorite player and he's been playing really well since all the "all-stars" have been out injured, so I'm happy with my choice!

Sorry about the boob shot, it was the best angle I could of the # while taking the photo myself.

And then a few fun pictures from my amazing trip last week, with an overnight in Burbank, CA. The first picture is blurry, but shows me sitting in the airplane engine! The second is a beautiful shot of the full moon rising over the hills of L.A.

Rick and I are topping off the relaxing weekend with a little date night tonight, which should be fun!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend as well!

Tyson's 4th Birthday

Seal Appeal Blue Birthday Invitation

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Riley's 5th Birthday

Seal Appeal Green Birthday Invitation

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I'm still here...

This poor little blog of mine… so neglected. Silly me- I thought life after the holidays would slow down a bit. You know, more time to relax. Nights at home with nothing to do but spend time with my amazing little family. So not how 2011 is starting out.

I honestly don’t know what I would do without my planning calendars AND the iCal feature on my iPhone. Rick and I are able to sync our calendars together with iCal and I have everything color coded… there’s not a single date on the calendar that doesn’t have a little “dot” indicating there is something planned for that day. It’s a little crazy, but we’re making it work.

As my last post said (yes, the one from, like, 2 ½ weeks ago), I started selling Premier Designs jewelry just after the first of the year. That’s my newest adventure, so I’ll write about it first… My training party was just fantastic! I couldn’t have asked for a better night or a better group of women to share it with! When all was said and done, I had 16 supportive, thoughtful women there to cheer me on in my new venture and my sponsor, Renee, was just awesome! It was so fun seeing all these women from different areas of my life come together in one room; family from out of town and family from in town, friends from church, Bunco ladies, flight attendant friends, teacher friends, fellow mommies… amazing! And about 8 of those women agreed to hold a Home Show for me in the next few months, which was great! I had my very first Home Show last Saturday night and surprisingly enough, I wasn’t nervous at all. The show went well, the hostess had enough sales to qualify for several bonuses and the hostess incentive of the month, which is 50% of her show’s total in FREE jewelry. We closed out her show last night and she earned $404.50 in FREE jewelry- unbelievable! I have 3 more Home Shows in the next week, and I’m really looking forward to spending time with all those fun women, talking about beautiful jewelry! The great part about my third job is that it doesn’t really feel like a “job” at all. So nice.

As for job number 2, subbing, I’ve been keeping pretty busy with that as well. Flying has replaced subbing as my number one priority, so I’m not subbing as much as I was in the fall, but I’m still working about 90% of the days that I am available for. I’ve even had to learn how to say “no” sometimes, which has been tough for me to do, but ultimately it’s the best thing for my mental and physical health, as well as for our family. The occasional day off at home while the kids are at preschool and Rick is teaching is ALL I need to feel caught up around the house and refreshed. I still sub a majority of the time at Rick’s school, which is nice. I love being in a familiar building filled with friendly faces. Today and tomorrow, I’m subbing for the librarian, which is relaxing… also why I have time to actually blog. No classes to actually teach (except journalism one of the days), and down time to get things done. Such a treat. (Although I feel really guilty, because Rick is down the hall teaching 3 classes today and barely has a voice… maybe we should have switched spots today!)

So, job number 2 is good, and so is job numero uno- flying. After nearly a year of barely flying, or not flying at like while I was student teaching, I’m back to flying my full schedule of 3-4 trips a month. That roughly adds up to 10-12 days of flying, and so far it has been working out really well. Flying is where the “real” money comes from, if we were comparing all three of my jobs side-by-side, so it was important for us to put flying back at top priority this year. Student loan repayments and full-time daycare/preschool can really add up… :) I don’t regret having the kids go full-time to child care, because it allows for the amazing flexibility for all my jobs AND they love all of their teachers and friends. They are learning so much more than I would have time to teach them right now, so I’m grateful that they enjoying going so much.

Tyson cracks us up every night when he comes home with new information he’s learned at school… last night, he told us about the vines (veins) in his eyes and all over his body and how his heart is the train station and all his vines (veins) are the train tracks. Awesome. I think he’s drawn to the sciences in some way, because he’s constantly sharing with us all the fun stuff he learns in P.E./Health class. Riley continues to LOVE math and finds patterns in all areas of life, like if we’re sitting boy, girl, boy, girl at the table for dinner, for example. Cooper is in the midst of a language explosion that we are enjoying SO much. I have a blog post in the works filled with words I’m going to miss when the kids grow up and there are several from Cooper’s mouth that we just love!

There you have it, my currently crazy existence, wrapped up in one blog post- probably enough words and information for 3 or 4 posts, but who knows when I’ll find time to sit down and do this again! Flying, subbing, jewelry Home Shows… I also forgot to mention Blazer’s games that Rick and I have been attending (together and separately with friends), Bunco once a month, Riley’s dance class each week, and our date nights. As always, feeling very blessed. And surprisingly well rested. :)

Premier Designs Jewelry

I know, I know... I need another job like I need a hole in the head. But, I have gone out and gotten myself a third job. Flying for Southwest, substitute teaching, and now Jeweler with Premier Designs Jewelry! I have mailed out several letters to family and friends talking about my new career with Premier, but I also wanted to add some links and details here on the blog for further reference!

My Training Show will be held at our home a week from today, on January 8th, at 7pm. I hope to see many of my family and friends here to support me! For our address or more information on my Training Show, you can leave a comment on this blog post and I'll contact you. It will be a fun girls night out to try on jewelry, see Premier's great quality first hand, and socialize!

For more information on Premier's hostess plans, if you are interested in hosting a show, click here: http://www.premierdesigns.com/direct_sales_opportunity/hostessplan.php Between now and January 31st, as a hostess you will receive 50% of your show total in free jewelry, rather than the typical 30%!

For information on Premier's Golden Guarantee, click here: http://www.premierdesigns.com/direct_sales_jewelry/jewelry.php

And to receive a catalog and order directly from me rather than hosting a show, leave me a comment or send me an email at: brookethames@hotmail.com

My goal with Premier Designs is to earn money each month to off-set the student loans that have gone into repayment since November. I fell in love with Premier's jewelry back in September when I attended my first show, and discovered how much I could expand my limited wardrobe just by adding some quality pieces of jewelry. I would love to help you do the same with your own wardrobe, simply by adding some great necklaces, earrings, and/or bracelets!

I thank you all in advance for your support, prayers, and encouragement as I begin my career with Premier Designs!