tag, I'm it

Ahhhh, I've been tagged and now here I am trying to answer these questions before a month goes by and I forget to do it.....

1. 4 jobs I've had:
teacher- NCCS
receptionist- Mission Medical
data entry- Tech-Ni-Com
housekeeper-Apple farm Inn

2. 4 places I've lived
Atascadero, CA
Portland, OR
Newhall, CA
Gonzales, CA

3. 4 movies I've seen more than once
Grease
Can't Buy Me Love (Patrick Dempsey pre-Mc Dreamy)
Dumb and Dumber (thanks Darren)
Cars (Jason's favorite)

4. 4 places I've been
Uganda
London
Seattle
Florida

5. 4 TV shows I watch
The Office (did you doubt this one?)
30 Rock
House
Lost

6. 4 people who email me regularly
I'm terrible at responding, so I won't pretend I get regular email!

7. 4 favorite foods
In-n-Out cheeseburgers
chocolate malted crunch ice cream (Thrifty brand)
diet coke
Good Earth sweet and spicey tea

8. 4 places I'd like to visit
Greece (no, this is not an ignorant reference to question #3!)
Ireland
New York city
Scranton, PA

9. 4 things I'm looking forward to this year
summer
homeschooling
moving to a new home
December

10. 4 friends I'm tagging
Jill
Melinda
Jeff
mom

(if you've been tagged, send me your answers to these questions in an email.... hey, then I could put your names down for people who email me!)

geocaching

This weekend was the perfect time to catch up on some new geocaches in the area. On Saturday, Darren and Jason set out to find some new ones in Paso Robles. They found 3 but came home to pick up the girls so that eagle-eyed mom could help them out. We found 2 more. Sunday was spent inside because it rained! It rained on Memorial Day weekend! We're trying to kick off summer, here and it rained! On Monday, Darren and Jason set out for Atascadero to find a series of caches around Stadium Park and Pine Mountain. They planned on a few simple trails but also got the coordinates for a difficult cache at the top of Pine Mountain. Although the description warned that it would be a difficult climb for kids the guys did it anyway and called me from the top. I'm glad i didn't know about the cliff-side trail until after they got home safely. As you can see, the Indiana Jones costume is useful for geocaching too!

walk-a-thon

Today was the walk-a-thon for Jason's school. Jason was an amazing runner, I think he ran almost the entire time, ending with a total of 15 laps! The kids earned tickets for the bounce house, face painting, popcorn, otter pops and games for each lap that they completed. So because he got his 15 tickets there wasn't enough time to use them all! He was a very determined runner, but he always had a smile every time he passed me. Cameron had a good time at the park too because her friends Chloe and Paige were there cheering for their siblings too. Thanks to everyone who donated to this event. It was a very fun day!

field bag

We've got "Indiana Jones" fever here in the Rusco house. The latest Lego catalogue features Indy in a few new sets to commemorate the opening of his 4th movie this weekend. Jason was very upset to learn about movie ratings today, and he could not believe that they make movies that he can't see yet! "But it's in the Lego catalogue!" Anyway as I was scanning my daily crafting blogs I found this entry for a field bag for the kid on the go. It was very simple, took less than an hour. Cut off the leg of an old pair of pants, sew a seam for the bottom and finish the top edge. Then, cut the other pant leg into a long strip for the strap. Sew a seam, turn it right-side out and sew to the bag. Voila! A field bag, just like Indiana Jones! Jason is now making treasure for me to steal (I'm the bad guy, not so cool since I just made him an awesome bag, but whatever!). He also found the whip that Darren borrowed for Jeff about 10 years ago for his Indy costume. Sorry Jeff, we never returned it.... why did you have a whip, anyway? We have a brown fedora somewhere in my closet, I've promised him I'd go find it after I posted the picture. All right, picture up, blog done, time to be a bad guy!

cookies and milk bubbles

One of my favorite tips on making cookies I learned from my friend Kristy in Portland. She would whip up a double batch of cookie dough, chill it, then roll little balls of dough and keep them in the freezer. At a moment's notice she could entertain with a pot of coffee and fresh cookies because she was prepared. I love this method because I used to get so upset making a batch of cookies that would dry out in a few days no matter what method I used to store them. Now I bake fresh cookies in the evening when the craving strikes and I'm also prepared for guests. This afternoon, Jason and I just had to have cookies. I took this picture of him blowing bubbles in his milk because I am still immature and I think this kind of thing is really funny! Enjoy!

spring program

Last night we attended Jason's spring program at school. The kids put on a production called "Donkey Tales". It was a cute story about several Bible stories with donkeys in them. Jason didn't have a specific role, he just stood up on stage sang the songs and did all the hand motions. It was pretty cute. The kids all had "cowboy/western" clothes and it was pretty funny helping him decide what clothes in his closet he considered "cowboy". Remember, Darren and I are anything but country so don't judge too harshly! I think the bandanna really helped deflect the attention from his non-country jeans and shoes! I think the part he enjoyed the most was going to McDonald's afterwards with all his friends and playing on the playground. He was a sweaty mess when we finally left for home! I included a picture of Cameron and her BFF Chloe. Those girls are too cute together, lots of laughing and running and hugging.

"how I hurt my leg" by Jason

When it was snack time I was running to snack to eat my snack. But, before I ate my snack I hurt my leg when I was running because I scrapped it on the brick planter. I went to the office with Mrs. Ricks to get a band-aid because there was no band-aids in the classroom, none left. I toughened up and all I was saying was "ow". After I went to the office I went to the tables and ate my snack. And that's the end.

Best. Husband. Ever.

I must first say that I absolutely LOVE the gifts that the kids made me for Mother's Day this year. They are wonderful artists and I really appreciate how detailed Jason is getting in his work. That said, I must put Darren's gift in a whole other category: Awesome. He knows exactly how to make me happy. So today I am wearing this shirt proudly and have already received a few compliments. Instead of commenting here, why don't you head on over to textincontext.blogspot.com to see what he's up to and leave a comment. Happy Mother's Day, indeed!

kid's music

I want to pull my hair out! Every day I drive the kids to Atascadero and back, 10 minutes each way. The best way to achieve a peaceful journey is to play kid's music. We have an assortment of kid's CD's: Veggie Tales, VBS music from last summer, modern kid's worship and a Bible nursery songs type of thing. Personally, these choices drive me crazy. The VBS music is well done, it's from Son Force Special Agents, I'm not sure which company. The kids who sing have nice voices, not that shrill tone that a lot of kids have. The Veggie Tales is just that, veggie-ful. Fine. The thing that irks me the most is that there is no happy medium between the nursery songs and the modern worship. The nursery songs are all the annoying songs you grew up with and thought, "my kid's never going to listen to this!" For example, "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam". what the heck does that mean? Or how about "I Want to be a Christian in my Heart"? Do we want our kids singing along and doubting their salvation? The modern stuff is no better. Most of the songs are set to thumping club-style music. Imagine Chris Kattan, Jim Carey and Will Ferrell in the Night at the Roxbury skit. I don't want my kids jerking their heads to their sides singing "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord". Am I too picky or critical? Has anyone found a good CD out there? I'm too jaded to go to my local Christian book store... I went in at Christmas and asked if they had any advent devotionals.... "uh, well, we have Christmas from A to Z". Yeah, no thanks, they also sell Evan Almighty. Like I said, I'm jaded. Send a comment my way if you have any suggestions, maybe I'll just make a mix from all the least annoying stuff in our collection!

home ec

I cranked out 12 red gingham aprons this morning for costumes for Jason's school spring program (attention grandparents: next Friday night, the 16th... be there!). As I was sewing I got to thinking about the home ec class my mom taught when I was in school. It was a very good class. I think I made a pair of shorts and several dozen scrunchies. I was also thinking about a modern home ec class and what kind of projects would be included: ipod or cell phone cozies to protect mom & dad's investments, converting old jeans to skinny jeans, and then back again when the style changes, converting a t-shirt to a layered tee by combining 2 shirts, thrift store challenges, etc. It could be fun. of course by the time I'm ready to head back to the classroom all these ideas would be lame. I better stick to costumes.

birds

I've found myself drawn to birds lately. A few posts ago I shared my craft project for Cameron's room which was a mod podge owl picture. I made three more pictures using different bird sillouettes (how do you spell that word?) and different fabrics. Today I found a t-shirt at Ross (only $5, totally worth it, such a steal, how could I NOT buy it?) with an owl on it. The problem was a large ugly fabric circle on its belly. Being the optimist I brought it home thinking I could cover up the ugliness with my own fabric. Once I started looking at the construction I discovered that my amazing seam-ripping skills would transform the shirt. Once I got the ugly fabric off the owl looked adorable and I felt no need to replace the fabric. Why am I liking birds right now? I certainly don't like real birds, I mean, I like to look at them but I certainly would never hold one. I try not to touch animals very often. I'll let a dog lick my hand so the kids can see that it's ok, but generally I won't go out of my way to touch, er, pet one. In fact the other day I kind of freaked out at the sight of a moth on Cameron's blankie. She called me over to help her because she was trying to yell at the moth to get it to move and that was not working. "No, no bug!" When I saw that it was a moth, I called for Darren to come get it. I don't want to touch moths. They're tissue-papery and delicate and for some reason that creeps me out! Darren scolded me about freaking out about a moth, but come on, why was a moth IN the house to begin with!? All that to say, I like birds. I like them on fabric, stationary, wallpaper, t-shirts, artwork..... but not as pets!
I think I'm also reverting back to my childhood love of bright crazy colors. I was in a fabric store today and I found myself drawn to an upholstery weight fabric bolt of large orange and yellow poppies. A few pillows out of that fabric would really wake up my beige couch. Who knows, maybe someday I'll once again own a piece of clothing as awful as the pink and purple paisley sweatshirt I wore in 7th grade. As if 7th grade didn't have enough horrible drama, I also had to go through a bad fashion phase...