Oh ya. Headed here today with my family (and when I say my family I mean this is like a true family vacation - my mom, dad, brother, sister).

"Las Vegas looks the way you'd imagine heaven must look at night. " - Chuck Palahniuk

“Vegas is everything that’s right with America. You can do whatever you want, 24 hours a day. They’ve effectively legalized everything there.” - Drew Carey

...and I'm off!

"You spin me right round, baby
right round like a record, baby
right round round round."
-Dead or Alive

You may remember this girl. She makes it on the blog a lot. My best friend. My cousin. I adore her. We drink coffee, we eat cupcakes, we scrapbook our hearts out.

Well, I might not have mentioned that she makes her living as a personal sadist (as in extreme cruelty). Oh sorry. I mean she is a personal trainer and group fitness instructor. Much nicer titles than evil, evil, evil torturer which is what I'm calling her today.

See, she has taught "group fitness" classes for a LONG time and I have never taken one. I hear she is hard. Well, today I took my first class. It was a spin class. It was hard. Very hard.

Lorinda (the spin torturer), brother Alex, sister DeAnne, Me, cousin Rob, and Rob's girlfriend Tasha

Some of my family joined me for my first class - I need reinforcements! The picture isn't great...maybe next time! What? Did I say NEXT? Ya, I think I'll go back. I was able to walk up the stairs and out the door and drive my car home. That is good right? And people keep saying that it will get easier...

and Lorinda? I LOVE her. Forever. She's the best (even if she torturers people for a living - someone's got to do it!).

Hope your Monday was great!

“Count your joys instead of your woes; Count your friends instead of your foes.” - Irish saying

I like the saying above because it reminds me of Archer. He is pretty lighthearted and carefree. He is friends with most people he comes across and the few he doesn't get along with he doesn't fret over. Lots of joys and few foes. That is Archer.

I thought I would do a little this and that post about Archer today (as I had the cute picture taken when we went to Gig Harbor over the weekend.

Archer's {this and that}:
*watches That '70s Show every morning before school and sometimes after school
*has gotten really "into" music lately from today's Top 40 to our 80s faves to country to alternative to 60s & 70s...He has eclectic taste just like his mom and dad...Current faves - Word Up (yep, by Cameo) and You Spin Me Right Round (you really can't hear that one enough - believe me.)
*requests Shephard's Pie at least two nights a week for dinner. He loves meat, gravy and potatoes
*makes coffee at home and drinks his fair share
*loves animals
*sleepwalks still (kinda thought he might outgrow this)
*is learning to play cribbage from his Grandpa David
*likes playing all sorts of games. Of course he loves video and computer games (he is a WOW kid and Call of Duty? LOVES it). However, he also likes Monopoly (I hate it, but play it because I am working on that mom-of-the-year award), Clue, Blink (he always wins), and Jenga. However, he does not like Boggle at all!
*likes school - never complains about going. He actually thinks year round school sounds like a good idea.
*enjoys going to the eye doctor and dentist (so not my child)
*loves his family. He thinks all of his grandparents are cool - loves to spend time with them. He adores his aunt DeAnne and thinks uncle Alex is the best.
*likes to build things - wood shop is one of his favorite classes and is looking for wood to build his mom shelves over spring break or summer...first I have to decide what I want.
*he's a great kid that is growing up just way to fast. I drove by the high school yesterday after school and saw the flocks and it really dawned on me that that is where he will be next year. Makes me excited, sad, anxious, hopeful...all those and more.

Happy Wednesday friends!

cousins.

Troy is a kid magnet. When he is around there is sure to be some roughhousing. Especially with his niece and nephews. I think they see him and a little part of their brain says "attack Uncle Troy." Archer was actually trying to help remove Dorothy from Troy's back. She is a wiry thing and escaped from Archer quite easily! I feel a bad when we leave Kirsten after one of these rounds...Troy gets 'em all wired up and leaves them with mom. What's a brother to do?
I loved this picture of Archer and Dorothy, even though the lighting is bad and there is a glare...Dorothy is quite a snuggler. She spent the night with Grandma and her last night there was our first night. So, we had a little overlap. She was in bed when Troy and I got there, but her and Archer got a little cousin time. In the morning she wasted no time crawling on my lap and cuddling away.

Wedding Flashback: Part 2

The Cake. Really what would wedding posts be without The Cake? The Cake is so important to a wedding - people actually remember The Cake.

Troy's sister, Kirsten (right) made the cake. It was delicious! It had a slight almond flavor and was...fabulous...I can't even think of what to write about the taste. (Katrina do you remember The Cake?)

The Cake was decorated with fresh roses. Kirsten's friend Marissa came up to help with the set up and decorating of The Cake. I really didn't want a traditional tiered cake so this display was was perfect.Now, what is a wedding without at least one little mishap? While there was nothing wrong with The Cake (as I said it was wonderful) there evidently was a slight problem on the cake table. A few years after the wedding I was talking with my mom and she mentioned "the fire" at my wedding. Well, this was the first I had heard about a fire - I think I just stared at her in shock.
Here is the story: The Cake table was decorated with white tulle, some greens and roses, and votive candles in glass candle holders (if you make the picture bigger maybe you can see)...the table itself was beautiful. Evidently during the course of the reception a piece of tulle was shifted in someway and fell over one of the candles - presto! fire! It was extinguished quickly and isn't noticeable in any of the pictures...But it is a story to tell...the fire at my wedding - what excitement!

The Cousins

A few pictures from today. We went to Cabela's for some gun fun - had lunch, bought some clothes! Then we went to Kirsten and Brett's and visited for a little while. I thought these pictures of the kids were so cute. Dorothy was quite the cuddle bug.
The Cousins
Originally uploaded by jkluginbill

Dorothy, Archer, Nicholas, Christopher

Originally uploaded by jkluginbill

Archer & Dorothy


Originally uploaded by jkluginbill

Christopher who demanded his picture be taken! Of course I will take it - he is adorable.

On our way home we stopped at Secondhand Rose. Go here to see some pics I snapped while there.

Long day...

Went shopping with Cheryl today. It was tiring! Lots of people out there trying to get in our way. I really don't like to shop during the holidays...too busy for me.

Tomorrow is my Christmas with Lorinda! Looking forward to that. We will exchange our presents and eat some Thai. Yummy and fun! (Maybe we will even make a trek to the scrapbook store...oh yea!).

Happy Saturday night!

Our Weekend.

Our weekend was a nice combination of rest and work.

• Troy and I went downtown shopping at the antique stores. Troy found treasures. I did not.
• I had a Gingerbread Latte! Just one. I was good. Yum!
• Troy mowed the lawn and prepared the back patio/yard for winter.
• Archer raked and swept the driveway.
• Troy took a nice nap with Horton.
• I watched lots of CSI and Court TV.
  
• I went to Treasury of Memories for their open house. Bought lots of goodies.
• Archer played lots of WOW! and watched The Santa Clause (the first time this season - many more times to come I am sure).
• I made the Halloween cupcakes finally...Archer ate the cupcakes! (Last year we carved our pumpkin 2 weeks after Halloween!)
  

The napping room. Horton likes to lay on top of people to sleep. Eventually he falls off!

Archer veggin' while watching t.v.

Our Halloween cupcakes! Yum!

Archer has enjoyed many cupcakes this weekend!

While I was at the Treasury of Memories open house I picked up a kit to make the JOY frames. It comes with the frames and letters - just choose your own paper. I think the JOY will go on my hutch...not sure yet.

I also picked up this snowman vinyl and frame and added some cute snowflake paper! I love getting in the Christmas spirit. I spent about 20 minutes total on both project. Easy and cute!

Now it is Monday. It is very windy and will hopefully be a quiet day at home! And as it is Veteran's Day I just want to give a big thank you to all the veterans today and thank those who are currently serving in the armed forces. Thank you!

Tea for 4

Last week was my Grandma's 83rd Birthday. On Saturday we (my aunt Linda, cousin Lorinda, and Grandma) went to the Lynden Cup of Tea to celebrate. We had lunch and tea and it was all very delicious. My grandma is an adorable {little} lady. I hope that when I am 83 I am as together and spunky as she is. And I hope I have her hearing - as Lorinda and I have discussed there is no talking around our Grandma without her knowing...she's all ears! A good time was had by all...

Here we go again

After a busy summer it is "off to school we go." Archer begins 7th grade (yikes, I can barely believe it!) and I begin my first year as a teacher (with a contract)! Archer is excited - he got the classes he wanted and besides being to early in the morning he loves middle school. I hope his love of school continues this year as well.

On another note...Last night I had my brother, Alex, and his friend Jeremy out for dinner. We don't see much of Alex anymore - which I find sad. He used to spend so much time with us, but now he is a man with a job and has to pay for gas and such so being a town away makes our visits not as often as I would like. I was thrilled that he said yes when I invited him for dinner. And it was great to be joined by Jeremy, who has been friends with Alex forever! Alex brought out his X-Box 360 and left it with us for a few weeks so my guys can play it. With the addition of the 360 we basically have an arcade at our house...fun times for sure!
While in Indiana Troy's cousin Scott taught Archer how to make goo. Over the weekend Grandma and Grandpa brought the supplies that traveled with Karen and Bill from Indiana, so Archer showed Alex and Jeremy how to make homemade goo. This is very important and every boy should be able to make goo at home...geez...I remember buying that stuff for Archer.

Happy School Days!

Wonderlab

One of Archer's favorite things on our trip was spending time at the Wonderlab. For the past ten years (since her retirement from teaching) Troy's Aunt Karen has been working at the Wonderlab. The reason for our visit to Indiana was Karen's retirement from Wonderlab and Karen and Bill's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Here are a few pictures of our trips to the Wonderlab. It was nice to see and experience what Karen and Bill have been talking about, working on/at, and bringing Archer presents from for the past 10 years! Fun times!

Karen, Archer, and Bill
Large bubble blower.
Archer working on his Magnetic Sculpture.

A really, really big shadow, imprint....thing! (can't think of the word)
Climbing on the leaves. The leaves start at the ground level and go up to the second story ceiling!



Grandma got into the climbing mode as well!
Then dad joined in.

Getting ready

Today we are getting ready for our trip to Indiana. This will be our first trip back since Archer was a year old. Archer is very excited - he has been wanting to go to Indiana for years. So, today and tomorrow we are packing, cleaning, and getting ready in general. Looking forward to seeing Troy's Aunt Karen and Uncle Bill - they are awesome. Archer is happy because there will be pets on this vacation (nothing to pet or play with in D.C.) and he just love to play with Karen and Bill's dog, Ty! We are meeting Troy's parents in Seattle tomorrow night around 10 and then off we go for a week in Indiana.

Happy Birthday Alex!

Last night we celebrated Alex's birthday with a family trip to Billy McHales! Today Alex turns 20! 20! Yikes. Since I was 13 when he was born that must make me 21! Haha! Alex, like myself, loves birthdays because it equals free food (which is important when you live on your own and have no money) and presents. He raked in some good stuff! Guitar Hero 2 for the 360, Reno 911 The Movie, some clothes, a freezer and groceries! Our HAPPY Birthday Boy!
Alex & Chase. I wish I had a photo of them from when they were young. These two have known eachother since Kindergarten, graduated together, work together and are roomies. It is awesome to have friends that have known you forever (and still like you :)) BTW DeAnne was going to marry Chase when she was little - I don't see that happening...too funny - she just loved her brother's friend. Sweet.
Alex, Archer, DeAnne. Goofy!

Alex is probably one of the funniest, sweetest people I know. Here are some random memories that should bring back memories for many...

1. School X-ing...ah ha...
2. Is the truck really broke? or dear Alex is it just out of gas? Just wondering.
3. Grandma are you Jewish? (just a few candles short)
4. Walking through school in his undies...Stripping to underwear in front of Grandma and Grandpa's neighbors...hmmm
5. Locking keys in car while it is running. (this is a genetic trait I think...although I have never done it)

Just a smattering of memories to embarrass him (which rarely happens)!

Charli's Grad Party

This weekend was Charli Ann's graduation party. Fun times had by all. The whole family and lots of friends gathered at Bob & Kelly's for a big celebration. Me & little brother Alex

Troy & John Huff

Me, Archer, and Nicholas

The graduate, Charli, and her proud parents Kelly & Bob

"The Kids" John, Alex, DeAnne, me, Nicholas (behind us - John Huff & Aunt Susan)

John & Nick

Cuteness!

After going through the CD of pictures Lorinda gave me from Grandma I went through and had to pull these (and a few others) to share. These two pictures are of Lorinda and I. I love them. We have literally been friends forever! Love you Rin!

Take a look at other great pictures of the 70s...It was a blast to go through and say "Wow. Those are some cute kids." The pictures of my brother, John, are wonderful...he really should have been a child model (just like Lorinda says).
http://homepage.mac.com/jkluginbill/PhotoAlbum9.html

Oh Happy Day!

Lookey who is 35!
Happy birthday to my wonderful cousin and best friend! I am so blessed to have you as not only friend, but family as well!
I love looking back at pictures (I almost said old pictures) and seeing the girl I remember from childhood. When I look at these pictures I have so many memories. Sugar Puffs. Pancakes. Underwear bins (hey...we still do that!). YMCA. Summer fun. Thousand Trails.
And I love our new memories. Stamps. Paper. Coffee. Tea. Stamps. Shopping. Coffee. Hot Chocolate. Food. Stamps. Food. Coffee. Stamps. Paper. Hmmm.......

Thank you for being you. For your friendship, your support, your never-ending loyalty. I couldn't ask for a better friend than you! Love you!

Happy Birthday D!

Seven years ago a great thing happened in our family! Dawson was born
to "kick it up a notch." I think maybe our family was growing complacent or boring...I don't know what it was, but Dawson was born and things haven't been the same since.

He is an awesome little guy with more personality in his little finger than I have in my whole being. He is great at all sports (just ask him), even ones he hasn't played yet...I have no doubt that he will do great things.

Happy birthday little man. And congratulations to Chip and Rin for parenting him so he has the opportunity to be exactly who God created him to be. Love you!