The Shields' Shenanigans

Update of the Shields' household.....

2011-01-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile so I thought I would update on all the Shields.

Ethan is 1/2 way through 6th grade with a 4.0 and doing very well. He continues to run for the Saddleback Running club and has also started playing volleyball through the rec department. he is currently taking a break from soccer.

Rylyn has started preschool and loves it. She goes two days a week and looks forward to it. She continues with gymnastics on monday mornings with her Oma.

Jeff is still coaching double A hockey 18 and under and they are wrapping up their season with a few weeks left. he is also still plugging away at the commercial mortgage business.

I myself am enjoying my second year teaching high school and have also taken on two coaching positions. I coached girls volleyball in the fall and I will be coaching track in the spring. I just finished my 7th 1/2 marathon and I am looking forward to training for the MV triathlon with my team. I also finally started scrapbooking again. Guess I needed a little creative therapy.

Family Pics 2010

2010-12-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

Vegas dreams busted!

2010-11-07T14:56:00.001-08:00

So I signed up to run the Vegas Rock n Roll 1/2 last June. It would have been my 6th for the year and I would have full filled my bucket list by running 6 this past year.

Last thursday, I badly sprained my ankle in a volleyball match. Since I only have 4 weeks till race day, I am not sure that running Vegas will be possible now! The doctor put me in a boot and assigned physical Therapy. I hope to swim next week and by the following week, start spin again. Maybe with some luck and a slight miracle I will be able to run in time!

Long Beach 1/2

2010-10-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Finished the Long Beach 1/2 today. The weather couldn't have been better! That makes 70.3 race miles this year. One more to go!

Irvine Mud Run

2010-07-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

The kids and I participated in the Irvine Lake Mud Run on Sunday. Ethan ran with me, we finished in 33 minutes. Ethan took 8th in his age category and I took 9th in mine. Rylyn ran the kids mud sprint with Daddy. Ethan and I had a blast. Rylyn on the other hand screamed the whole time. Apparently she doesn't take after her mommy, she doesn't like mud!

Recent Adventures

2010-06-13T19:11:00.001-07:00

So far in June we took a family trip to Palm Desert and Jeff and I ran the Mud Run at Camp Pendelton.

First Triathlon Mission Bay May 2nd 2010

2010-05-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun at my first triathlon. I trained with the Train Like You Mean It group from the ymca and we all participated in the Mission Bay Sprint Triathlon. It was so much fun, I can't wait to do another!

Rylyn's Valentine Get-Up!

2010-02-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

Most Recent Scrap Work

2010-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Family Pictures

2010-01-05T22:10:00.001-08:00

One More catch up for today. Our family pictures were once again taken by my good friend Christa http://www.christastrickphotography.com/. Here are a few of the pics and our Christmas card that was made by another scrapp'en buddy!

Thanksgiving Photos

2010-01-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

Yeah I am behind! I hope to be a little more consistent with blogging in 2010! With that being said here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. Too cute not to share!

Wow it has been awhile.......

2009-11-15T22:57:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I've blogged! Life has just been speeding by. Family is happy and healthy and I am always thankful for that! Here are some pictures from some recent events.

Halloween Night Ry is the not so cowardly lion and I am a 50's girl. We celebrate and trick or treated at the Parker's house. Linda was a brave woman hosting 70 people!

This is also Halloween night. Shelby and Bella were a theme with Nikki and Shane but Rylyn by chance fit in with the theme also. She was supposed to be a Lion Cub and I had a Circus Tamer costume. The costume was cute and uncomfortable. So that night I dressed 50's and Ry put on the badge of courage and joined the Wizard of Oz theme. The Tamer costume is below.

Jeff dressed as the verizon guy.

On veteran's day Ethan and some friends went to Boomer's. We all played miniature golf and enjoyed the rides. Ry loved the train.

But what she really liked was this ride that had a bunch of mini free falls. My girl has no fear!

She was all smiles and wanted to go again and again!

The carousel is always a good choice!

Later that afternoon, Nikki and I took Rylyn and Shelby to Pretend City in Irvine. We went from 4 to 5pm so it was half price. Rylyn loved it so much I bought a membership.

This is my favorite picture, Shelby has some great fashion going on! Bright purple shoes and a sombrero! You go girl!

So if you have little ones, Pretend City is great! They have a pretend store, stage, fire station, house, police station, garden, hospital, restaurant, post office, and more! There is also an area like jumpin jammin where you can sit off to the side and bring lunch. The only down side is it is $10 per person child or adult. That is why I joined, if i go 5 times I have paid it off.

If you have 5 minutes.......

2009-10-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

If you have five minutes please check out this video. Children are amazing!

Halloween Pics

2009-10-18T20:47:00.001-07:00

Today my sis and I braved pictures with our four kids. We both had a margarita afterwords! Here are the pics from the sitting.

Rylyn was not cooperative today and smiling wasn't in her agenda!

Baby Bella

Shelby

Ethan (not in costume!)

Best Friends

2009-10-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

So very cute.....

Love Halloween!

2009-10-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Halloween! So every year after the race for the cure I make my way to Roger's Gardens to see their amazing Halloween display. They have a great set designer on staff and I think that position might be my dream job! If I could just find away to do that full time! Here are some pics.......

And their amazing flowers.......

Race for the Cure

2009-10-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday my mom, Ethan, Rylyn, and I participated in the annual Susan G Komen Race for the Cure. This marks our 10th anniversary participating in the event. I was a perfect day for the even, cool and over cast. There were nearly 20,000 people who participated in the four different races. The four of us ran/ walked the 5 K for my Nana. Who survived breast cancer for 10 years.

Rylyn's Two Year Pictures

2009-09-07T09:06:00.001-07:00

These are pictures from Rylyn's two year photo shoot on Saturday. Our shoot wasn't until 1pm, so as Rylyn was ready for a nap, it was very interesting!

Rock'en like the 80's

2009-08-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

Last night a group of us went to the Def Leppard, Poison, and Cheap Trick show at the Verizon theater. It was so much fun and great people watching too! Brings back great 80's memories!

This is a shout out to my mom!

2009-08-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

My mom is amazing, for those of you who don't already know! She is a great cook but even a better baker! She made the cake and cup cakes for the double party we had at the beach for Ethan and Rylyn. She used this castle bundt pan from William and Sonoma and their yummy vanilla bundt mix. She also hand made chocolate fish and stars for around the castle and iced it to look like water.

On top of the icing, my mom added raw sugar which added a texture to the whole cake. For her cup cakes, the inner ones where mocha flavored with icing and raw sugar on top and the outer cupcakes were vanilla bean with blue frosting and candy fish on top. Not only did the whole presentation turn out beautiful, everyone raved about how yummy they were! Great job mom, you rock!

Alone time.......

2009-08-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

My August Babies!

2009-08-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

Last friday night we celebrated Rylyn's 2nd, Ethan's 10th, and Jeff's 34th birthdays. August is a busy month for us. Here are some pictures from the evening at Lynn and Harvey's house.

The Ice Cream Cake

My August Babies

Blowing out the candles

Ethan opening a present

Ry reading her card

The birthday girl

The August 12th Babies

Ry doing the Hula!

Parker

2009-08-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the three of us, Rylyn stayed home, went to Parker with the Morrows. We stayed in their little trailer by night and cruised the river during the day. It was hot, 116 to be exact, but we had a blast. Sunday the boat broke down. Apparentley, the fuel pump went out which was a bummer. But, we still had fun floating down river and being taxied home! Here are some pics from our trip.

Laguna Beach

2009-07-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we spent the day at 1000 steps beach in Laguna Beach. Every year Jeff's Aunt and Uncle rent a beach house right on the corner of PCH and Cress. There entire family came down this year, including Meagan, Eric and their girls who live in Ohio. Ethan loves playing with all the girls. There are five of them, ranging in ages from 12 to 7. We played at the beach and had a wonderful BBQ in the evening. It really is a beautiful place!

Rylyn and her Daddy

Lounging in the Sand

Playing in the sand

E playing in the surf

Ry and her Opa

Ethan and Emily

All the kids together

Drinking Buddies

Two Years of Rylyn!

2009-07-24T16:27:00.001-07:00

Crazy, Rylyn will be Two in Two weeks! Here are some of my favorite pictures of her starting from the most recent and going back to two weeks old! What a ride it has been!

Jessica Sprague

2009-07-17T15:48:00.001-07:00

If you haven't discovered Jessica Sprague's site yet, check her out! http://www.jessicasprague.com/ I have been following her BLOG for over a year now. One Friday a month she devotes her post to what she calls Photoshop Friday. These are great tips and tricks for using Photoshop. She is a PRO! She also has wonderful editing, hybrid and digital scrapping classes. For her two year anniversary of her site and her amazing classes, she offered a free class for photo editing. It is a two week long course. I unfortunately was on vacation during the class, so I am doing it after the fact but here are examples of the masks, brushes, tints, and frame ups from the first five days.

Huge Fan!!!

2009-07-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Ok I am excited! I am going to see Harry Potter VI tomorrow and I can't wait! Yes I am a huge fan. So I had to do a shout out! If Ethan had been in town we would have been a couple of those nutty people in line at midnight last night!

1 Day!!!

2009-06-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

We leave for Twin Lakes in one more day. The kids and I are getting very excited. Unfortunately, Daddy will not be joining us this year. He is too busy at work. We will miss not having him there. Here are some pictures from last year, the sky looks hazy because of the fires in Yosemite last year.

Give away......

2009-06-26T14:33:00.001-07:00

If anyone loves This Little Piggy Wears Cotton like I do, check out their BLOG. They are doing a giveaway!

http://littlepiggywearscotton.blogspot.com/2009/06/become-fan-of-piggy-and-win-giveaway.html?showComment=1246051969360#c5341609887569447799

June Layouts

2009-06-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to enter a design team call for a kit club called Freehand Scraps. I absolutely love Heidi's kits. Here are the layouts that I submitted.

Keep your fingers crossed for me! Jeff would be so happy if my (expensive) hobby would pay off!

Had to share.......

2009-06-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

I came across this website and I had to share. It has beautiful photography of nature, which is a passion of mine, but also a great site about exploring, imagination, and childhood. When I was a kid we made yearly trips to Twin Lakes. We had a family cabin on the main road between the upper and lower lake. My sister and I grew up exploring the wilderness and loving nature because of it. I hope that my own children and others will develop the same appreciation for our Earth and this website aides in this goal!

http://imaginechildhood.com/

Palm Desert

2009-06-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we joined Jeff's parents in Palm Desert at the Marriott Desert Resort Condos for three days of fun in the sun. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was only in the high 80's and there was also a decent breeze. We played golf, swam, BBQed, and had some good old family time.

This is my first ever golf game. I did OK and had fun which I guess is the point. I used Lynn's clubs and wore my flip flops.

Here are more pictures from the golf game. Notice that Jeff's is golfing while talking on his cell phone!

Fun at the pool!

And after a long day in the sun.......

Ethan played me at chess and beat me the first time. We played again and I came back for the win. After we were done Ry wanted to know if she could play too.

After we BBQed Ethan, Ry, and I ran around on the deserted golf course.

On Saturday night we ate dinner at the Hog's Breath Inn, which has a surprisingly good and cheap happy hour in the bar.

Official Count Down!

2009-06-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Officially there is seven days of school left. Not that I am counting or anything. Ok I am and so are all of my students! Everyone is ready for the long awaited break. I can't wait to sleep in! Who am I kidding, I have a two year old. There is no sleeping in at my house but at least I don't have to get dressed if I don't want to! So happy almost summer everyone!

Wild Animal Park

2009-06-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Rylyn, Ethan, and I went to the Wild Animal park with my sister and her family. We arrived around 11am and stayed till 4:30pm. The weather couldn't have been better for the occasion. We walked all over the park, roughly 6 miles. There did seem to be an unexpected amount of absent animals. The giraffes, elephants, rhinos, and antelope were all viewed from afar, and the tigers were absent all together. Ethan's favorite unusual animal is the Okapi and we managed to miss them somewhere in the park. He was disappointed but decided to cheer himself up by spending his allowance on a stuffed animal okapi. luckily, Rylyn's favorite the flamingo were right by the entrance. We couldn't have miss those! She also managed to leave the park with her favorite stuffed animal.

All the kids!

Ry and E at the Fisher Price play park.

Can you believe this isn't a post card? Not to mention how big this guy is!

This was inside the Dino Mountain. Rylyn didn't like any of the big scary dinosaurs!

One happy mama!

This picture is priceless! When I went to pay for the Mingo as Rylyn calls it, I had to pry the tag out of her hand. She was holding on for dear life. I think this picture speaks of her attitude towards her mingo. Aint nobody taking it away!

Memorial Day Pics

2009-06-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Memorial Day. We had a BBQ at our house with my sisters family and my parents. Rylyn was excited to have her favorite playmate and cousin over for the afternoon. Ethan was at a friends house for most of the BBQ. He is getting into the stage where friends are more important then family. (sigh) Well the girls had fun anyway and the adults enjoyed good food and mojitos!

I tried to take some pictures of Rylyn but she is refusing to look at the camera these days. She thinks it is pretty funny. I of course find it frustrating.

The girls were enjoying their dinner on their own special picnic table.

Will someone push us please?

After dinner the girls went for a swim in the jacuzzi or as Rylyn calls it the cuzzie.

After a long day the girls were pooped but still together.

And I have to leave you with this unrelated photo of Rylyn. It deserved the caption "No Autographs Please."

How a Girl Loves Her Shoes!

2009-05-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Rylyn has hit the all important milestone of developing a love of shoes! And boy does she look stylish! She is definitely a girl after my own heart!

Spirit Week

2009-05-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

This last week was spirit week at los Alisos in honor of our track meet with the three other intermediate schools. We did ok, third place overall but the festivities were fun non the less.

Monday was nerd day. Some would argue that teachers are already nerds but we dressed up anyway.

Tuesday was hippie day. This is the day that most of the students joined in the fun. Here is a picture of my 3rd period honors girls.

Wednesday was twin day. This was a difficult one. Gabby and I decided that we would dress as twins but we didn't want to spend a bunch of money so we opted for free outfits from school. We could have been twins with any number of students at my school!

Late Mother's Day Brunch

2009-05-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day a week late to help avoid the crowds and high price brunches. We ate at El Torito in laguna Hills with Jeff's parents and Ma. It was a very nice brunch with loads of gluttonous food. Rylyn liked the waffles and jello. Ethan enjoyed the pork sausage and many sweet deserts offered. Yes, I think he samples a little of all that was offered. It definitely was not a day to try to stick to a diet! Oh well there is always Monday, right? Happy Late Mother's Day to all the Mommies in my life!

2009-05-18T17:03:00.001-07:00

Finally I uploaded all of my pictures from Italy!

That was quite a process!

Enjoy them if you have time!

New Batch!

2009-05-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest batch of layouts. I can't wait till this weekend. I am attending Timeless Treasures 16 hour crop on Saturday! I should be super productive and finish a book on my Ipod!

This is a lift from Heidi Stork This is a lift from Two Peas

National Scrapbook Weekend Layouts

2009-05-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here is my batch from NSW! I felt pretty productive!

2009-05-03T18:08:00.001-07:00

I know it is National Scrapbook weekend, and I do have layouts to post but for now I wanted to share what I am making for dinner!

Brings back memories of summers at Twin Lakes!

New Job!

2009-04-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the quality of the picture but Jeff took it with his phone. Tonight I worked at Cold Stone for an hour to support my school. We held a fundraiser and a teacher worked mixing ice cream in hour shifts. It was fun and I only had to sing three times! Thanks to Linda, Jeff, and a fellow teacher! Hope my school made some money because we could sure use it!

Weekends Work!

2009-04-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

I was very productive this weekend, I completed nine scrap layouts, finished my Random Thoughts mini book, and even finished "Dead Till Dawn" on audiobook. Enjoy!

2009-04-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share some cute pictures from last Wednesday at Mimi's house.

2009-04-22T22:49:00.001-07:00

Happy Earth Day!!!!

2009-04-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share this picture of Rylyn and Shelby from Shelby's 3rd birthday party. I though it was so cute. Shelby told Rylyn that she would always be her friend! So cute!

First Official......

2009-04-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Well I decided to switch my blogging over here. Using the .mac account is costly and not as user friendly as I would like. Hopefully this will be easier and less time consuming! So what is going on in our lives? Jeff is working on two big commercial deals. I will keep my fingers and toes crossed for those to work out. Jeff is still coaching hockey, but he is currently in his off season. Ethan received two awards this trimester at school. One for integrity and the other for the Principal's honor roll. We are very proud of him! He is also playing soccer with ESL this spring. Rylyn is keeping us on our toes! She is so verbal and very opinionated already! She is always on the go. As for myself, well work is work. At this point I am penciled in to teach at El Toro HS next year. Let's all hope that changes! I don't know if I am ready for that leap yet. I am still playing volleyball at the Y, but now I play on Mondays and Thursdays. I also still play softball on Tuesdays. As a family we are adjusting to our new house. I am not sure I like the location but it is what it is. Ethan loves that their are kids to play with and Jeff loves the lower mortgage. Guess I should count my blessings! :)