Quick and Dirty

Merry Christams! Have A Happy New Year and Many Blessing for You and Yours this Holiday Season! ...more next year! Love ya Ilena



Trevor's First Christmas Concert and NOT one smile!!!




Let is snow, Let it Snow...no reallly!

A week of fun

Things are still rolling forward here in Orofino. The boys have been keeping us on our toes. Tristan has been very busy with school. His class has been studying volcanoes and they made models and "erupted" them. Tristan really enjoyed building his model. We made homemade play dough and let it dry then Tristan & Trevor painted it. Tristan used vinegar and baking soda to cause the eruption. I have not one drop of red food coloring, vinegar or baking soda in the house after the boys were done.


Trevor has been enjoying school and being a typical First Grader. His Birthday is coming up, in Oct and he is remidning me of the exact date along with giving me directives to what he wants, his party's theme, presents he'd like, friends to invite etc. His Birthday is still a month away. The boy can count...go figure.

We are gearing up for winter. We are a little sad that the boat has to be put away for another year. Yards to be cleaned, swing sets to be sealed, rotating out one season and into another.

Grandpa Mark found a juicy caterpillar specimen for the boys. The loved playing with him. I have to say he was quite plump and wiggly. It was great fun to watch the boys oooh and aww and discover. It also brought back memories of childhood. I love that such a small thing can be so precious, fun and enchanting to share and make a new memory to keep. Isn't life great?!







A little more on the Vegas trip. Lori & I went to the Bellagio to Chef Jean-Philippe Maury Pâtisserie. It is a must see. They have created the tallest chocolate fountain in the world. It stands 27-feet tall, with two tons of melted dark, milk and white chocolate that runs at a rate of 120 quarts per minute with six spouts in the ceiling through a maze of 25 suspended glass vessels.



The other creations and desserts are not to be discounted either. Enjoy.

Been a while

It has been a busy summer and it seems as if things just are not slowing down. The weather has been changing from warm to cooler in the evenings but the smell of Fall has yet to hit the air. I have been still very busy with the family business and purchasing it along with kids school, school activities, Back Country Medics and the Clearwater County Ambulance and life in general. I guess I have a lot to be thankful for.

I have been trying to be more creative and am very excited to get busy with new projects and Christmas crafts. My best friend and I took a trip to Vegas and got rejuvenated and some of the creative juices flowing. We went to the The BEATLES Love by Cirque du Soleil. It was AWESOME! I high recommend it. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com

We dined twice at the Carnegie Delicatessan at the Mirage First was a sumptuous piece of cheesecake that we shared for dinner and second for lunch on a 13. AH, THERE’S THE REUBEN. As to the size of the meal take a look at the pic. Trust me there is stuffed and then there is stuffed. We had a great time. I was sorry to see it go so fast. Well next year lies ahead. Now we are knee deep in football and fall activities. It is off and running and I am loving every minute of it. For now...Ilena
P.S. Tristan is #34 on the Blue team.

Back from the Beach

I know...I know I am sssoooo terrible with being consistent. But hey at least I am willing to admit that I am awful at it. The family and I just got back from the beach at Lincoln City, OR. We had a wonderful time. It was relaxing and wonderful to watch the kids. We id the kite flying, shell and beach combing and crabbing. We never did catch any crabs but Ryan made a valiant effort. The seafood was amazing. Trevor my youngest tried the seafood from our plates but refused to order any himself. He took it upon himself to try every toasted cheese sandwich served from Idaho to Oregon and back. It was very endearing. It was sunny there at the beach but in the 60's which was colder than we are used to...here in Orofino we are in the high 90's. So we missed the warm weather but it never gets very warm there, so considering it never rained but the day we left, I count myself lucky.



I finished my job with Grant Thornton LLC and am taking a time out to purchase the family business with the husband. I am still working on getting the studio up and ready to go and hit it hard when time allows. Sooner hopefully than later. I got lots of inspiration from the trip. Kids are enjoying the summer which is going by faster that we'd like. I only managered to get tomatoes, herbs, some cucumbers, peppers and cabbage in. I had every intention of doing a full garden..even had the box built but things got away from me due to the odd weather we had this year. Oh well there is always next.

Well enough rambling.. I am off to work on other priorities. Ta ta for now...Ilena

Back Country Medics!

Hey everyone! Busy as usual. I passed the EMT-Advance written and practical tests! Yeah! Hard work has paid off. Now the real training begins. Look for me in the sky and on the ground! Talk more soon! Ilena :)

Happy Spring

Still here. Very busy. Wishing everyone well. Toodles..Ilena:)

Work..work

Well, I know that I should have been doing something else. If fact I should have but the day was nice, and the sun was out, so I played. I took down the X-mas garland, old bikes to the dump, yard waste and old broken toys etc. I also took down the wooden fence around part of the yard to open it up. I then tore it all apart to recycle the materials. I am a little sore but all in all I really feel great. Real hard physical labor will do that to you. My youngest, Trevor was a great help...when he kept his attention to the job. We had fun. This is my first stage of doing some landscaping and gardening this year. Can't wait to get dirty and start the other stages. Other than that I am back to the grind. Ilena

Hectic Week

It has been a very long week and I am still looking for it to end. I just got back from a removal. I usually don't go but Ryan had an earlier hunter's ed engagement. Tristan passed with a 99% and is all ready looking forward to turkey hunting season.

Friday, I took five boys and a friend to Triple play, 3 hours away, and spent the day playing. It was for Tristan's Birthday..a little late but basketball got in the way. Needles to say I am still alive, a little worn out, but no major injuries. The boys had a blast. I enjoyed it also. The slides were great fun and great exercise walking three stories each time to go down. A little winded but OK!
I have been working toward my EMT advanced certification. My final is April 12th. Not very long, time to study. I have been studying intubation, IV administration and trauma practicals. And here I thought I was done with school. I am really enjoying myself and I love running the ambulance. I have yet to go on an emergency flight but I need to get a little more training under my belt.

Still working on illustrations. In fact I have seven to finalize this weekend….when I find time between gardening, washing clothes, cleaning the house, playing with the boys etc. Well at least I know I am not the only one overloaded …I’m in good company. See ya Ilena

Another day..

Hello all;

I have been working on my icons illustrations for my freelance job and finding that some drawings come eaiser than others. I find I am very good at the details. I have included one of the icons that I have drawn (with permissions of cource). Let me know what you think. I have also been working on the look of my blog. I am afraid that I will never be an html editor.

We have a new member of the family..Stanley (the geniea pig on the left). The dog is Twinkie, (on the right) all 5 lbs of her. I told myself I would NEVER allow a rodent willingly into this house. Never say never with kids. I am starting to warm up to him. I am getting use to the noises he makes. He lecures me in the morning around 7 a.m. letting me know that he is hungry. I now know why they call them pigs...he both eats and sounds like one ocasionally. The way he eats I am afraid he is going to outweight Twinkie. He is not particularly agile, not to mention that he startles extremely easily. My eldest received him for his 10th B-day. Now the youngest is determined to weedle one out of me ...explaining that Stanley is lonley and needs a friend. We will see how long I hold out. Any bets?

Quick Post

Hello all;

Just a quick post. Busy doing everything but what I should be doing. It is late and I have been busying catching up. I did get a drawing done for Illustration Friday's the theme LEAP, www.illustrationfriday.com/ and here it is. Enjoy and catch you on the Flip side. Ilena

Vegas

No… I didn't go to New York but close...Vegas baby. My husband and I had a kid free weekend. I am glad to be home but of course the minute you get home you have to play catch up. We had four days of wonderful sunny hot 79 degree weather. I had to laugh we got back and it was snowing, blowing and grey. I had to come back. I got lots of inspiration and my fill of people. Things seem to always change so quickly and get bigger in Vegas. The strip gets longer and longer…I have the blisters to prove it.

We stayed at the Palazzo..WOW! I felt very spoiled and living the high life. We went to KA at the MGM Grand and had front row tickets. It was to say the least amazing. We also went to Spago. The food presentation was wonderful…I an appetizer of Ahi tuna, fresh pear salad, pan seared duck and a dessert beyond words…until I saw the check but it was well worth it. Then it was off to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and NASCAR. It was a lot of fun and the extended weekend went too fast. Back to the real world and life’s little problems and triumphs and my boys. God Bless ….Ilena

A NEW Start

Hey, I got my personal work space up and running. Needs some tweaking but I HAVE MY OWN SPOT!!!! Yeah! I had an interview today for some freelance work and things went well. I start my Advance EMT class next week. Lots of things coming up. I guess I need to get organized. Well better go. Talk soon. Ilena

New Year

It has been a very difficult end of the year for 2007. Needless to say I managed to survive and successfully navigate the BIG bumps. Just wanted to say HI and I am back. I'll be updating soon and providing a fresh new start. 2008 will be a promising year full of new ideas and dreams fulfilled. TTFN:)