The Flick Four

We dont do Army men

2012-01-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

'Round this house, we don't do Army men. We do police men...

and firemen...

They stand guard all around the back yard (and often all around the inside of the house too) and make sure no bad guys get in.

But apparently, they sometimes get a little rambunctious,

and need to spend sometime in a special magnetic sky scraper holding cell...

I really dont know what it is they do, to tend up here... I get distracted by the cute boys. (and its not the ones in uniform)

See this kid? Hes 6 now. Every once in a while, Ill get a shot of him where I can still see the baby face... Like this one. By his mouth, you can see a bit of cheek chub. This kid was born with cheeks, so when I get a little glimpse of them on his new big boy thinned out self, it brings me right back to the baby days.

Projects, projects, and more projects!

2012-01-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

Theres a never ending supply of projects to do around this crazy house. Home improvement projects, cleaning projects, craft projects- theres a million and one of them just waiting around for their special day. And I have every intention of completing them... once I quit adding to the list and can pry myself off of pinterest and the interwebs.

Lets look at the current projects. As in *right this very second*...

There is a little of this going on-

See the wall behind the TV? That's new. I didn't like the TV just hanging on the wall. Floating out in space. We have no mantle to hang it over, and we just got rid of the HUGE (ugly) entertainment center it used to sit in. That big empty wall definitely needed something more... So, a little looking around and I found THIS on line. Her post is all about her Christmas decorated mantle- but check out what fills the wall above the mantle... behind all the Christmas goodness... YES! That's IT! I loved it as soon as I saw, and god busy convincing the man that I *needed* him to build it.He wasn't TOTALLY sold on the idea... but has enough vision to just go with it and trust me. That brings us to that little picture up there. Its a wood grid, with luan behind it. That brilliant man of mine even routered out a path on the back side of the lower grid pieces for the TV cords to slither through down to the plugs. No wall drilling to hide cords! No fishing in said wall to find the cords and feed them through! YAY! But like I said- this is about projects in progress... An this bad boy isn't done yet. (Dang work got in the way). Its primered, but still needs a coat or 2 of good ol' glossy white. There are also going to be a couple floating shelves on each side, just for funsies... Hopefully in the next weekend or 2, that will be finished up.

Whats next...

Oh! Just today I started a couple of these cool clip-boards-

(image and project by 36th Ave. via Pinterest)

I found this idea on Pinterest (Have you been there? I love it. But I'm warning you- if you want to continue to take care of your kids, clean your house, eat, or anything else vital to life- don't go there. Its totally addicting. For reals.). I actually have 2 reasons for wanting to do these- #1: I'm hoping that if my kids have a couple chores they are responsible for each day, that remain the same and get checked off a list, that *maybe* they will actually get done on a fairly regular basis. I know I do better with a list, so perhaps they will also. Reason #2- I have a blank wall in my kitchen that needs filling up. Which brings me to yet another project...

There is a wall in my kitchen, between dinning room windows and the sliding glass door, that is currently empty. See? Ok, so there is an F on there... but its otherwise empty.

It totally needs SOMETHING on it. I have a ton of framed photos on a wall not too far away, so I don't want to do more pictures. My plan is to put the 2 chore clipboards on it, as well as a menu board, a dry erase board, and a bulletin board. Of course, I don't want just ANY menu, dry erase or bulletin boards. NOOOO. Why would it be that simple? I need to get crafty and MAKE all 3 of those... there fore adding 3 more projects to my list :)

Also near the top of the ever expanding "I need to make/fix/redo this" list- The closet in the play room. Currently it just attracts anything that needs to be stored and has no permanent home. The air mattress, the humidifier, random blankets and pillows, A bunch of junk that needs to find a new place to live. Something less transient and more organized.My craft room/office/school house/sewing space needs some revamping too. It has become too many different things to be bursting at the seams with my paper crafting supplies. I need to condense those and make the whole place more user friendly.

Whats that? Oh... you noticed there are no curtains on the slider or the dinning room windows? Dang. I was hoping you would miss that part... yeah. That is on the list too. And ones for the living room...

See what I mean by never ending? Are you board at your house? Out of things to work on? Stop on by! Have I got a list for you...

You Capture- Morning

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

woo hoo! Another post! This time its for You Capture. The lovely Beth, over at I Should Be Folding Laundry, supplies the theme and hosts this photo link up each Thursday. There are some amazing photos to be seen, so go check it out when you're done here!

This weeks theme is Morning. At our house- morning is all about the sunlight pouring through our sliding glass door and into the kitchen. I talked about it in my last post too. Its seriously how these crazy boys- and their equally crazy dog- spend each morning. As I do the dishes and make breakfast, they lay on the rung, in the sun, and talk. Mostly crazy talk, to each other. :) I cant remember now what they were discussing when I took these pictures, but it was silly. I dont think it started off silly, but it morphed into silly as the discussion went along. Do you remember those days? When you were a kid and hanging with a friend (or your siblings if you had them) and EVERYTHING always ended up being hysterically funny. I remember. And I love reliving those kind of moments with my little guys.

Speaking of silly- in that first picture, the little one is mocking me taking pictures of them. lol. See his little hands making his pretend camera? Little punk... ;)

Now that you have seen what I have to offer- go check out the others at

Feet

2012-01-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

So I had a whole 10 on 10 blog post written for you, then I went to edit the pictures I took for it. I wasnt thrilled with them. They were all taken with my phone and I just wasn't happy. I did have one though... the ONE shot I took today with my actual camera...

I was in the living room talking to my hubby and I looked over to the kitchen and all I saw was feet. Both the boys and the dog laying in the sun. Its their favorite thing to do in the mornings. (Another morning shot coming on Thursday for a different post). We have a HUGE (dirty), west facing, sliding glass door that makes for a perfect sun spot each day. Imagine how much better the sun would be in there if I actually cleaned the glass?

wow... its 2012...

2012-01-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Some how, over the last oh... 6 months or so... this little blog has been pushed to the back burner and forgotten about. And apparently that back burner wasnt even on, because nothing started burning to remind me about it. SO...

Happy 2012 to any of you who happen by to read this post! Which Im guessing will be very few, due to the inactivity. Unless you're here for the first time from Angry Julie's place. If so- please come back! I promise to post more! ;)

Now what? hmm- whats new around this crazy house? Not much. The heathens are still heathens. Im still running like a mad woman to accomplish everything I want to accomplish in one day.

I have big plans for 2012... more photos! more blog posts! more cooking! We'll see how far I get... :)

Oh. Ma. GAH.

2011-10-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Seriously. As in- OMG, where has the year gone??? and OMG, how did it get to be October??? and OMG what the heck is going on around here!?!?!?!?

Yeah, last time I posted it was alllll about how I hadnt posted in a MONTH and what had been going on. It was all fun and games that were keeping me from blogging. Fast forward to now. MORE than a month since my last post. For reals. I skipped right on past the month of September. In fact- im not even sure we HAD September around here. And now its October. And what do I have to show for that missing month? Not much. I *finally* got the fabulous couch my hubby ordered from my birthday. 3 weeks late. Pottery Barn was nice enough to contact us after it had been delivered and offer us compensation for having to wait for so long. We told them thanks, but we were fine. YEAH RIGHT! We jumped right on that gift certificate and are now saving it for a rainy day, while we snuggle up on our awesome new couch.

School started for the kids. Monk is in a charter school where I home school part time, and he goes to class part time. Its not my favorite thing, but its working well for us right now. He enjoys it. His class has like 12 kids in it- which makes me happy. And I am far more involved in his learning than if he were in a regular school.

Pea is in his second year of pre-school. He goes 2 mornings a week and loves it.

they have both been sick in the 6 weeks since school started. Dang kids sharing germs. And speaking of sick... I thought I had an ear infection. (I felt like I was a toddler going to the dr. I havent ever had an ear infection as an adult) It hurt. So I went. She gave me antibiotics and sent me home. Over the next couple days I developed blisters on my face, and more pain. In my ear, eye, jaw, and teeth. I went to urgent care and found out I had SHINGLES. I went from toddler to old lady. But seriously- that crap HURTS. A LOT. I dont recommend trying it. The urgent care guy gave me good medicine. It took a week of sleeping and another week of taking it slow before I was really feeling better. Im still (over a month later) taking medicine for the nerve pain. Like I said- I dont recommend it.

What else??? oh! I have no flooring. We *had* Pergo through the dinning room, kitchen, and hallways. Well, the drinking water guy came to change our filters and some hose came off and sprayed all over in the cabinet under my kitchen sink. Then the ServePro guys had to come dry it out and rip up my floor. Now we are on the hunt for new flooring. And waiting for the check from the insurance company. I love new stuff- but I im not a fan of shopping for it.

So there you go... the update on my little family. And since no post is complete without a picture... heres my little Pea when he was sick. Sitting on my amazing new couch.

Hi.

2011-08-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

Earlier tonight my phone alerted me that I had a new text message. I picked it up and discovered it was from a bloggy friend. The text was simple-

"you havent posted on your blog since july 26th. lol".

crap. I know. I have been meaning to! I swear! But we have been busy, and lazy. and busy! and a little more lazy.

What in the world have I been doing???

Well... all those 4th of July posts we per-scheduled to post while we were in Minnesota for a week visiting family. It was hot and humid and miserable- but we had SUCH a great time! My boys got to meet and play with their cousins for the first time (well- my cousins kids, whatever that makes them). It was both of the boys first plane ride. Well, not Monkey's first- but the first he remembers-

We had a second go round of fireworks-

and went to the Mall of America-

they were TOTALLY overwhelmed by that. Especially since our ghetto-fab mall only has like 5 stores in it. They had never seen ANYTHING remotely close to the Mega Mall.

After Minnesota, we hung around home for a while. I had a birthday, shot 2 more weddings, got a new oven, ordered (and STILL havent gotten) a new couch, my dad and step-mom were here visiting from AZ for a week, and my little guy went back to pre-school. And I have no pictures of any of it. ha!

I could show you the new oven and the couch thats *supposed* to be here next week. Wanna see? OF COURSE you do!

My old oven was the one that probably came with the house when it was built. Total cheap, builder grade, boring oven. One day it decides not to light any more. Fab. It happened to be the same day my hubby ordered me this lovely (and rather pricey) couch for my birthday-

So my brother-in-law, who is rather knowlegable about appliance type things, says "no need for a new oven! replace the ignitor" (or something like that). So hubby scouts out ignitors, and finds it will cost almost $100. He decides its just not worth it to put a hundred dollar part in an oven that was less than $400 to begin with 11 years ago. So off we go to Home Depot to order a new one. A couple days later, this baby shows up at my house!

So there you have. The last month of my life in a nut-shell. Whats next? Who knows! My other kid goes back to school one of these days, I have a quick weekend out of town with some friends, annnnnnnnnnnnddddd... thats about all I have planned for now. Other than blogging more than once a month ;)

Wordless Wednesday- fireworks, round 2

2011-07-26T21:32:00.001-07:00

At my cousins house in Minnesota, when we were on vacation last week. My boys and her boys, enjoying the fireworks.

head over to Angry Julie's place, and Project Alicia, to check out more Wordless Wednesday!

Wiggly Watermelon Jello

2011-07-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

ONE more 4th of July recipe to share. This one can be made anytime, its a perfect summer treat. AND it was another pinterest find. I LOVE that site! Speaking of pinterest- if you are in need of an invite, leave your email in the comments on this post and let me know. I will gladly send you one! And now, on to the Jello!

Heres what caught my eye in my pinterest feed-

(via Pinterest)

I read a little further and discovered that its JELLO! In a watermelon rind. How fun is that! And those "seeds"? They are mini chocolate chips. So I added it to the 4th of July menu.

A warning for you- this is sweeter than jello made the traditional way. You use less water, so it gets more firm than regular jello, otherwise it would fall right off the rind. The kids LOVED it!

Patriotic Strawberries. Thank you Pinterest!

2011-07-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Im pretty sure I have mentioned Pinterest on here once or twice. And if I havent, Im guessing you have heard of it somewhere. (if not, Ill do a post about it another time). In the weeks leading up to 4th of July, there were TONS of patriotic crafts, food, and decor floating around pinterest (and the rest of the bloggy world). These strawberries caught my eye, and I decided I needed to make them for the party.

(via Pinterest)

It was totally easy, but I have no pictures of the process. of course. I used Wilton Candy Melts and blue decorating sugar, both of which I got at Michael's with a coupon.

I dipped in chocolate, waited till the excess ran back into the bowl, then dipped the tip in the blue sugar. I turned this pile of red deliciousness-

Into a tray of pretty patriotic berries

Not quite as pretty as the original, but I was totally thrilled with them as a first time project, and the family loved them!

4th of July Tshirts- a sewing project. But not THAT sewing project.

2011-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

I decided at the last minute to make T-shirts for the boys to wear for the 4th. This is not the project I started a few weeks ago when I did a post about my new sewing machine. *That* project is not done yet. Its not that complicated, I am just that busy doing other things.

Anyway, some time on Monday morning, I decided tshirts for the holiday would be a good idea. I had no idea what I was doing, nor did I have much of a plan for what I wanted the out come to be. I grabbed an old red tshirt from my pajama drawer, and a blue tank top from my shirt drawer and went to town! Its like now that I have a sewing machine, I think I magically got sewing skills with it. HA!

I didnt take any pictures during this process. I was too busy sweating over getting it done and taking a shower before people started showing up at my house! I do, however, have some pics of the finished product in action.

Heres the Pea. He told me he wanted stars on his shirt.I cut some red strips of tshirt, rather haphazardly, and stitched them on with one straight line down the middle. I was going for a kind of shabby look. Yeah, thats it! I figured when I wash it and the edges curl up a bit, itll look cool. Maybe. Or maybe he will never wear it again. And im ok with that too. The stars are glued on with fabric glue, since I messed up the stitching on the first one, I didnt want to waste more time.

Monk's is only slightly more complicated. Same haphazard red strips. But this time I threw in a blue square too. I dug through my button stash for some largish white buttons and glued them on with fabric glue.

So there ya go... the beginners guide to 4th of July T-shirts ;)

4th of July

2011-07-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Its been over a week since barbeques were one fire, and so were the skies. And in my true slacker fashion- Im just now blogging about it. ;) Big surprise.

Anyway- as many of you did, we had an absolute blast on the 4th. The family came over to our house and we feasted on traditional summer time foods- hamburgers, hot dogs, and salads. Once the food was gone and the sun started to set, the REAL fun began...

There were sparklers for close to an hour. With 3 families buying them, we got a little carried away. "Ummm... Ill take...."

"This one!"

"Happy 'Merica!" (thats my cutie patootie nephew. one of them anyway)

Another nephew with my kid

My neice- just cause shes cute (thats her brother in the picture above)

Once the sparklers were done, they busted out the big guns. Heres the whole arsenal lined up on the tailgate...

Despite the blogosphere's best intentions, I didnt read a single one of the "how to photograph fireworks" posts that were all over. Which means all my fireworks shots looked something like this-

oh well! Theres always next year! I cant wait!

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

2011-07-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

I have been kind of a slacker about pictures lately... these ones were actually taken a couple weeks ago. I was going to just file them away and not blog them since it has been so long, but there were a couple things that I thought you should know.

Like this kid-

Is actually Captain Bubble Beard. Ruler of the high seas!

And this one is actually a living fountain. (Im pretty sure he has a job lined up in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas already.)

But really, they are just pretty cute kids. Even if I am a little biased ;)

Except I still can't figure out why "love your brother" always winds up resembling WWE...

Breakfast of Champions

2011-07-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

I guess 20 minutes is just WAY too long to wait for breakfast. Because by the time I came out to the kitchen to make a morning meal for my maniacs, this is what I found...

I guess they were *starving* and couldnt wait. So Monk made them a delicious breakfast of dry honey nut cheerios. At least they waited for me to pour the milk... that could have been a disaster!

Photo Tales/Sweet Shot Tuesday- Its hard to be 3

2011-07-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Some days... its really hard to be 3.

Especially when your mom wont stop taking pictures of you.

Luckily, a nap still makes everything better!

Im linking up to Photo Tales Tuesday at Laugh Until You Cry. and to Sweet Shot Tuesday at My 3 Boybarians. Go check out all the other amazing photography today!

Its Independence Day!

2011-07-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

To our Forefathers who gave us our freedoms, and to the United States military who keep us free- Thank You.

I hope you are all enjoying today with family and friends, and remembering to be thankful for all that we have been given in this amazing country.

(photo courtesy of Google Images)

Happy Fourth of July!!

Summer Traditions

2011-07-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Blueberry picking has become a summer tradition for us. The first time we went the Monk, whos now 5 1/2, was only a year and a half old. The patch we always go to is about half an hour south of us- and more than worth the drive!

Each time we go, things happen almost exactly the same way. (minus the vomiting from Monk eating too many green berries, like the first year we went.) Everyone starts off really excited and anxious to get to the berries-

When we get about here...

The whining begins.

Not much later we head to the bridge in the shade (its HOT during berry season!) to check out the "swamp" (known to everyone else as a very small pond) and look for Shrek

Once we determine that Shrek must be with Fiona at the castle in Far Far Away, I am able to con the maniacs into one last picture.

Ok- so the "one last picture" is actually comprised of 42 out-takes and one decent picture. oh well! At least I got *one* where they were both looking at me!

Yellow

2011-06-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Alicia, at Project Alicia, posted that she was co-hosting a cool summer photography link-up series. Each week there is a different picture promt that is summer related, then on friday we link up with our pictures from that week. I failed miserable at participating the firt 2 go-rounds, but I promised myself I would get it together this week. And I did! Sorta.

The theme this week is yellow. Thats it- just Yellow. So I keept my eyes peeled for some gorgeous yellowness to come my way. What I discovered is that my life is fairly void of this sunshiny color. Who knew?!?!? I was lucky enough to stumble on a bit of yellow after walking down to the park with my boys. I arrived with a handful of freshly picked flowers (I use the term "flowers" loosely, as it was only one real flower and several weeds) that were ALL YELLOW! What luck!

uh... except I didnt have my camera... I did, however, have my phone! So here it is... my Yellow entry picture... taken with my phone... of weeds :). But I cherish those weeds, picked by not-so-chubby-anymore hands, given to me with love, from my little boys who are growing just like those yellow weeds.

so now, head on over to Alicia's place and check out some more of the sunny goodness!

Photo Tales Tuesday- A boy and his Dog

2011-06-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

or should I say Photo "Tails"? lol.

This is my first time linking up with Photo Tails Tuesday over at Laugh Until You Cry. The concept behind it is simple. Blog a photo, new old or in between, and tell about it. So here you go!

Izzy is our family dog. Shes an American Bulldog and just turned 2 on Sunday. Even though she belongs to all of us, I think Pea is the one who loves her best. He likes to sit with her, and pet her paws, and rub her belly. Shes a little wild sometimes, and weighs 3 times what he does, so it doesnt always end how he wants it to, but he loves her just the same. These pictures were taken when I was making dinner one night. Izzy knows she isnt allowed in the kitchen, so she likes to lay in the doorway where she can keep an eye on things. So does Pea. ;)

SO now that you have seen my photo "tail"... head over and check out some more!

A new project...

2011-06-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I bought this-

Dont be fooled. I dont actually know how to use it. Not even a tiny bit. Like... I cant even thread it. For real. Luckily, my mother-in-law is an excellent seamstress, and so is one of my a very good friends. Speaking of the very good friend- I have recruited her to come over tomorrow to help me start my first project. Im not saying what it is- in case it doesnt work out and I have to make something different.

I will tell you though- I have one of these in my washer RIGHT. NOW.

There ya go. Thats all the hints you get! Stay Tuned!!!!

Whadda Weekend!

2011-06-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! Im in Monday Recovery Mode, after a wild and crazy weekend family adventure :) And it was worth every minute!

The original plan was to head to Fresno, about 2 1/2 hours from us, for a 3rd birthday party on Sunday. Of course, if we are going to make the drive- we might as well add in some more "stuff" along the way!

Saturday morning was closing ceremonies for the big kid's T-Ball league. So we got a trophy, had a delicious tri-tip sammy for lunch, then hit the road!

On our way to the central valley- we stopped at the Ravine Water Park in Paso Robles for an afternoon of fun in the sun. We hadnt ever been there before, but we will be going back! It was pointed out to us that it isnt as good as the water parks that are in Fresno (which was our original plan, but this worked out better). But we went late enough in the day that we got a discount on admission, and since our kids are only 3 and 5- it was plenty of excitement for them. (not my picture! I borrowed it from the website)

There is a large "tadpool" with slides and water depth that are perfect for the littler guys. There is a water play structure in the same big pool with stuff to climb on too. And the best part- TONS of friendly life guards making sure the big kids arent where they shouldnt be and that no one is being overly obnoxious and ruining someone elses fun. Like I said- totally worth the drive for us- and we will make sure to go back at least once this summer!

The birthday party on Sunday was at a fairly new park that has an AWESOME water play area! Where we live its not really hot for long enough to be worth having a water play area at the park, but in Fresno its more than worth it! This park had lots of geysers that shot up, buckets that dumped, and pipes that sprayed. The kids, once again, had a TON of fun! There was even a standard type play structure that was TOTALLY SHADED so it the slides didnt burn their legs :)

Post birthday party we hit up the air conditioned movie theater for Kung-Fu Panda 2 (in 3D, of course). Just as good as the first one- maybe even better! Worth seeing in the theater for sure!

We met some other friends for dinner after the movie, so we could eat before heading back home. They picked a place called John's Incredible Pizza. Have you been there? I just looked it up online (to borrow pictures from) and its a California chain of restaurants. It has all-you-can-east pizza, that is actually pretty tasty! I was surprised. There are some great out of the norm. flavors too, like garlic pesto, buffalo chicken, and nacho. Then there are some flat out WEIRD flavors like macaroni and cheese and peanut butter. (seriously? peanut butter pizza?) They also have a salad bar, baked potatoes, pastas, and a dessert bar included in the dinner price.

After dinner came the fun part! THE GAMES! they have a few rides- bumper cars, and a spinny thing- kinda like at the fair- and some others. They had a TON of games to win tickets from. Of course its the usual junky you trade the tickets in for- but I just like winning them ;) Too much fun, for 2 little boys!

After pizza and running amok in the game area for an hour, we hopped in the car and headed back home. Im certainly glad to be back, but the wallet draining weekend was worth every minute! We havent had some good family fun like that in a long time. The boys were SO well behaved. Despite the wacked out schedule we kept, the little-to-no naps that they got, and the over stimulation of EVERY. PLACE. WE. WENT, they were amazing. There were no major melt downs, or minor ones even. There was no crying, no tantrums, and they were pretty well behaved. It was fabulous.

And the best part? I didnt take my camera. Sure, there are pictures I am kicking myself for missing. But I was happy to be in the midst of it all, taking it all in, and being present, right there with the boys and my hubby, while the fun was being had. :)

Now back to the real world! Hope you are having a great Monday!

an illness, a wedding, my new fave site, and a summer photog meme

2011-05-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

hello hello! I Hope your Memorial day weekend is fabulous. Full of lots of remembering fallen heros, thanking the ones still with us, and some damn good American BBQ to celebrate it all!

Lets see- where do I start with this totally random post? Um- at the beginning, I suppose. My wee kid was kind enough, on his week before last of school, to bring home some illness to share with the rest of us. So now I have a cough, sore throat, snotty nose- the whole 9. Great. As if it isnt bad enough to be sick- I had a wedding to shoot yesterday. I was the second shooter again for the fabulous Serendipity Pixx. It was our second wedding of the season and despite me feeling like crap- we had an incredibly successful day! Thats a whole other post in itself- so Ill be sure to share some GORGEOUS photos later this week!

Now- my new favorite internet time suck- Pinterest. Have you seen it? OMG. Totally awesome, and TOTALLY addicting. Its an online idea/pin board to keep alllllllll those awesome online projects you love, photos that inspire you, and recipes you want to recreate in one place. Like when those awesome girls at eighteen-25 post the new subway art for summer time, and you want to have it printed- but not right this second- just pin it. Or when there is super cute dragon tail tutorial on HowDoesShe, that you just HAVE to make for your kids at some point this summer- just pin it. FABULOUS new summer dress on the Nordstrom's online that you dont want to forget about- Pin it! See where Im going with this? In your account, you can have multiple pin boards to keep your ideas somewhat organized. For instance- I have one for home stuff, kid stuff, photos, paper crafts, kid crafts, fashion I like, etc, etc. You also get to see everyone else's pins. you can follow people- like on facebook or twitter- and get a "feed" of their pins, or you can go to the "everything" page- and see the stuff everyone else is pinning right now. Want to get in on this action? Its invite only- so let me know if you need one! Leave me a message with your email, and Ill send you one ASAP. I can do 5 at a time, so if you dont get one right away dont be discouraged. I wont forget! It might just take a day or 2, if I have more than 5 requests.

And my last bit of randomness for today- Alicia, of Project Alicia, is partnering up to start a new weekly summer meme. Its the Crazy Days of Summer photography challenge. It starts June 3rd- thats THIS friday- and the theme for this first week is flowers. Interested? Head over to Project Alicia and check out the details! She will have a linky party each friday to show off your faves for the week. While youre there- grab her button and add it to your side bar!

wow. ok. that wraps up my randomness for the day. :) Im going back to lay on the couch while my hubby cooks up some delish burgers on the BBQ.

Roses

2011-05-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

My roses are blooming! Ha- you like how I say MY roses, like I actually have something to do with their care? Really, its all the hubby. He is in charge of the outside stuff. Next year I am planning on having a veggie garden hats all my own, but as far as flowers and grass and things go- its ALL him.

I took these photos at 2 different times of day on Tuesday, this week. The first time I went out, I got one or 2 decent shots, then the wind kicked up so hard- everything else was blurry. I went back out a little later in the day and was able to get a couple more decent ones between wind gusts. Im over the wind.

Gallery Wall

2011-05-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

In my house I have a very large, very empty, wall. Its in my dinning room, but the dinning room is spacious and opens to the kitchen. I decided long ago that I wanted to do a gallery wall and am finally starting to put it together. Wow. I had no idea how hard this was going to be! Seriously. I have paper of various photo sizes taped to my wall. The configuration, number of pictures, and the sizes and orientation of the frames, change daily. Sometimes multiple times a day.

I have looked and looked and looked at pictures online of gallery walls. I am inspired- but really just need to sit down and pick out the pictures I want to use, have them printed, and find frames. I think it will be much easier to figure out a layout for them, when I have them in my sight. See- I don't actually have any of the pictures printed and framed. Well, I do now. I have 3. But the other ones are a mystery. On one hand- this is fabulous because I'm not bound by pre-existing frames/sizes/orientations. On the other hand- it leaves FAAAAAAAAAAR too many options open, and I am in overwhelm!

photo from Frugal Life Project

photo credit

Do you have a gallery wall in your house? How did you design the lay out?

Zoo Field Trip

2011-05-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

A couple Mondays ago, Monk's class took a field trip to the zoo. Our closest zoo is about an hour drive from us, so its kind of a big deal when we get to go. We all met and entered the zoo at about 10am. Then went our separate ways until lunch time when we met back up. After lunch, we wandered around a bit again and headed home around 2. The kids were WORN OUT and slept the whole way home, then went to bed a little early that night. It was a lot of fun and GORGEOUS 80 degree weather!!

The elephants are always a big hit...

I love taking pictures of flamingos. I always end up with a ton of them. EVERY time we go.

The goofy Gibbons. You can hear their calls through out the whole zoo. This white one is especially loud.

Heres another gibbon- oh wait! Thats not a gibbon, thats my kid! Over by the park area where we stopped for lunch, there is this cool rope spider web for the kids to climb on.

Another fun spot in the park area. A big turf covered hill. Its perfect for sliding down on a piece of cardboard. We also found out that your zoo map works really well as a sled, too :)

so Im a sucker, and had some cash in my wallet for a change, and I let the kids feed the giraffes. It was $5 a piece, but they loved it!

The cutie-patootie meerkats.

And our Bald Eagle...

We ended up buying a membership for the zoo right before we went, so now we can go anytime we want and not spend a ton of money to get in. Im sure we will make at least a couple trips down there this summer. I cant wait!

Ill leave you with one last picture... this was our view from one of the snack bars when we stopped to get some dippin' dots ice cream-

A May Day Gift...

2011-05-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have been in an online crafting group for a few years now. Its basically the same group of women that we started with, plus and minus just a couple. We all do paper crafts/scrapbooking and that was the original basis of the group- except now that we know each other so well, its much more chatting than crafting ;) The ladies live all over the US- and one in Australia! Several of us have gotten together "in real life", and each time it is like we have known each other all our lives. Anyway- on with my purpose of posting ;)

This wonderful group does a gift exchange about twice a year. Generally Christmas Stockings and Easter Baskets. If you choose to participate (and some dont- its not an issue) you get partnered with another woman and you make and buy crafty and/or personal gifts up to some pre-determined amount. Then you mail your gift box to that person by the set date, so everyone gets their goodies boxes around the same time. This year, our Easter basket plans got a bit extended and we turned them into May Day Boxes :)

Now that the boxes have been received and opened, I wanted to share with you the paper projects I did for my partner. She lives in Nebraska and is a HUGE University of Nebraska fan.So for my first project (we did 2) I wanted to do something that pertained to her ~~obsession~~ love of the Huskers and their football team. She has a Husker shrine in her basement- so I thought it would be a perfect thing to add to!

I got this 11x14 frame at Michael's using a 40% off coupon. It was an inexpensive frame to begin with, so with the coupon it was down right affordable! :) The background is a piece of astroturf that I picked up a home depot. Such a small amount is really inexpensive also. (Dang! I'm off to a good start with this project!) I used painters tape to tape off the yard lines, and a sponge brush with white acrylic paint to fill them in. Once that dried and I peeled off the tape, I just dabbed the tip of the sponge brush on the turf for the hash marks between the lines.

The Husker logo was a little bit time consuming, but not too bad. I used my cricut and a computer program called Sure Cuts A Lot (which, I believe, is no longer available for use with the cricut). I downloaded a jpeg of the logo and the computer program broke it down to be able to cut the layers (the large N, the word Huskers, and the white background) in the right colors on my cricut. Then I pieced it back together. I used another cricut cartridge (Birthday Bash) for the banner behind the logo, and the "Go Big Red" across the bottom.

The writing thats around the frame itself, is actually 4 separate quotes that can be found on the Nebraska football stadium. They are carved in to the stadium, one on each corner. (I did my homework!). I printed the quotes on the computer, and just using a plain ol' #2 pencil, colored across the backside of the paper. Once the back was covered in pencil, I lightly taped the quote to the frame so the words were lined up where I wanted them. I traced over the letters with the pencil- and the pressure left a pencil line (from where I colored on the back of the paper) on the frame. I was able to then trace the lines with a fine tip white paint pen. It worked really well. I love that I was able to keep it straight, and know how big to write so each quote would fit on the frame.

The last part was the ribbon. I tied it in a knot, then hot glued it to the frame on the sides. I also hot glued the Banner flag to the turf, so it would stay stuck down. None of my other adhesives seemed to work very well.

Wow- this post got pretty long... Ill save my second project for another day!

If I weren't a mom...

2011-05-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

If I weren't a mom, then on Thursday afternoon when this goofy kid-

looked like this-

I wouldn't have been so scared. My amazing friend told me I had nerves of steel when I was with my Gavin on the ground, while he was laying there waiting for the paramedics. I did my freaking out internally while I was running the 10 feet across the yard to get to him after he fell. Once I got there, it never occurred to me again to be scared or worried. I had to be the calm face- so he would stay calm. Because if he freaked out, it would be bad.

So I didn't.

But once we were home from the emergency room. and the kids were in bed. and all was quiet. I had my little break down, safe and sound, in my hubby's arms. I cried for about 5 minutes about how scared I was when I saw my little Monkey laying on the ground. Then I was ok again. My kid is ok. I'm ok.

If I weren't a mom, I would have never experienced these emotions. I'm not in any hurry (at all. ever.) to repeat them, but I wouldn't give up motherhood for anything.

Its WEDDING SEASON!

2011-05-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

Hello! Hello! Hello, my bloggy friends :) Where I have I been, you ask? Well... I could totally lay some sob story on your right now about how BUSY i have been and how CRAZY my life is right now, and those things are in fact true, BUT- the real story is, im just a tiny bit lazy, and I like to sleep at night. ;) But here I am now! And I have a plethora of posts planned for you people! (HA!)

So lets start with a wee wedding post... The day before Easter was the first wedding of the season for a wonderful photographer friend of mine. Our hubby's happen to work together, and when we met we became friends pretty quickly. She has fed my photography love for the last couple years now, and calls on me to second shoot for her at weddings. This is our second wedding season together, and we are off to a fabulous start!! The wedding we shot recently involved an absolutely GORGEOUS bride (seriously. it was IMPOSSIBLE to take a bad shot of her.) and a day full of meaning to her and her wonderful new husband.

Here are just a few of the (600+) shots I took that day...

Getting made up-

A few boudoir type shots before getting the dress on...

The paint on the walls in this hotel was Ah-mazing! It was kind of an antiqued turquoise, but had a gold metallic sheen. Made for the most gorgeous light.

The bride and her mama...

They opted for a "first look". Just a quiet moment between the two of them (and the photographers), to see each other for the first time in their wedding day splendor...

The ceremony...

The adorable flower girls, waiting on their turn for portrait shots...

Just married...

And one last one of the beautiful bride...

I did very little editing on these pictures. Im just not great at it. I leave all that stuff to the big guns. Check out Serendipity Pixx for more wedding magic!

Superhero Birthday Party

2011-04-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

We did it! We survived the birthday party! Pea had a fabulous time at his party, and I think everyone else did too. It was a superhero themed breakfast. When I was starting to plan this party, I decided that not only would breakfast be fun and easy, but it would get things over with early and leave everyone the rest of the day to play.

We had pancakes, bacon, fruit, OJ, and an egg casserole type thing that cooks over night in the crock pot. Everyone said it was delish. (Ill take their word for it, since by the time husband and I were ready to eat, it was gone!) Instead of cake- I bought donuts. I piled them up, stuck candles in the top one, and called it donut cake. The kids were THRILLED!

(this is probably the WORST table picture I have ever taken. But at least you get the gist of it)

For party favors, I used felt and made capes and masks for all the little superheroes and heroines. They were really pretty easy. I found 72" wide felt online, for around $5 a yard. I was able to make 3 capes from one yard, with enough left over for masks and appliques. I bought 2 yards each of 3 colors, and made a total of 17 capes and masks. I have quite a bit of felt left over, Ill have to come up with some other project to use it for, one of these days. the best part? NO SEWING! Ok, I take it back, the velcro needed to be sewed on. I convinced a friend to help me, and it took her less than an hour to do the velcro on all 17.

The majority of the kids really liked their capes. They were all running around the back yard with them on, having a blast. Each cape had their first initial and another shape of some kind. I did hearts for the girls, and a combo of stars, lightening bolts, and the Superman shape for the boys.

The birthday hero's gift from us was his first big boy bike. He loves it and is already getting the hang of the pedaling thing. It was so cute- he wore his cape and mask while he rode it around the backyard for a large part of the morning. I love that he loves his bike! And you can see his cool cape design too. I matches the banner that was hanging on the wall.

And the donut cake. It was so easy, and no cutting! I loved it! Except for that now I have a few (almost a dozen!) donuts left...What the heck am I going to do with those? Any ideas?

Whadda ya suppose he is wishing for?

You Capture- Smiles

2011-04-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am knee deep in birthday party prep for this weekend, but thought I would take a break and link up with You Capture this week. The theme is SMILES! It doesnt get any better than that!

This kid will be 3 years old next week. I cant believe how fast time goes...

(taken with the retro camera app on my phone)

This picture was taken earlier this week. We were both standing in the shade, and I was shooting facing the super bright sunlight (it was lunch time) in the backyard. Thats why the background is all blown out. But the huge smile makes me not even notice. :)

Now head over to see Beth and link up!

Back to work... Ill be back soon!

Forget Wedding Season...

2011-04-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

Its BIRTHDAY SEASON! Seriously. Who knew there were SO many kids born in the spring!?!? My big kid is in kindergarten this year and its made birthday party invites show up at our house far more frequently than they ever did before. Classmates and friends combined with 10 nieces and nephews, who live in the same town that we do, makes for a crazy schedule. Since March 27th we have had at least one party each weekend. I think the total comes to 11 parties by the time this month is over, with 3 this past weekend (and a 4th that we couldn't make it to because of T-ball). Chuck E. Cheese, people's homes, the gymnastics place- we have run the gamut of party places available in our small town. The whole thing is crazy- but the boys are loving it. I, on the other hand, have had enough pizza to last me at least till next party season ;)

Here is the pile of presents that I wrapped on Friday morning to be all ready to go for the weekend's round of parties...

Sweet Peas

2011-04-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago, Monk's class had a little Farm Festival to wrap up the farm unit they just completed in class. The parents all brought "farm food" (apples, strawberries, corn, and various other foods that are grown locally or were made from those foods) to the park for everyone to snack on, and there were a couple games set up.

One of the parents brought a cool activity for the kids to do as well. She brought egg shells that were mostly whole, potting soil, and some sweet pea seeds for the kids to plant. She had them pick an egg shell and add a little soil. Then bury a couple seeds and mist it with the spray bottle to water the seeds. Because egg shells are biodegradable and good for the soil, once the seeds sport, you just crack the bottom of the egg shells for the roots to get through and plant the whole thing.

I admit, I was doubtful that these little seeds planted by a bunch of kindergartners and their siblings would make it. But low and behold- 10 days after planting- they look like this,

The mom who did it said she had them plant 2 seeds each. But you can see in the egg on the right that there is a 3rd little plant popping through! The boys are LOVING watching their plants grow each day. Now I have to figure out where to plant them so the sweet peas can keep growing and bloom. Know anything about sweet peas? I pretty much have a black thumb, so Im not really sure how this will go... Ill keep you updated ;)

(this picture was taken using the retro camera app on my droid phone)

Spring has Sprung

2011-04-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

Oh man... its never ending madness around here! Tball, school, field trips, oh my! We have birthday parties coming out of our ears that need attending, and one coming up in our very own house that needs planning. Life is going a million miles and hour and I cant wait for it to slow down a tad.

The weather has been pretty typical spring weather for us. We had a stretch of gloomy, rainy, chilly days, leaving me wishing I had a macro lens to take cool pictures of my favorite ranunculus with gorgeous water drops on them-

(yes. I went outside while it was still raining, to sit on my sopping sidewalk, getting soggy jeans, so that I could take these pictures before what little light we had peeking through the clouds was completely gone)

I was also wishing that the indoor jumpy bounce house place that we are getting was open already, so I could get my maniac boys out of the house for a while. The good news- the days of rain were replaced by 70 and 80 degree sunshine.

Swim-goggle superheroes appeared in the back yard.

So did sidewalk chalk pictures on the back patio

Loving the red racing stripes Gavin left when he drug a piece of chalk behind him while he rode his Ezy Roller up and down the sidewalk.

The distribution of the sidewalk chalk is taken very seriously in this house

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a super cool superhero 3rd birthday to execute by next weekend, THREE birthday parties to attend this week, and tball games tomorrow and Saturday. Ill see you when my head stops spinning for a minute. ;)

The Ikea Closet

2011-03-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

So I told you in my last post that we made a trip to Ikea on our way home from L.A. Now let me tell you, this was not just a random trip. It was well planned out. For over a week in advance, I knew exactly what I *had* to get when we walked into that amazing superstore. The list started with these drapes-

Which I originally saw in THIS blog post over at my friend Stephanie's blog, Froggy and the Mouse. As soon as I saw them I just *knew* I needed them for my boys.

Also courtesy of Stephanie's blog, I had to get this fabric-

I dont have a clue what I am going to do with it yet. But I needed to have it. Cause it matched the drapes. And Stephanie made it look so cute. Unlike Stephanie, I don't sew. Seriously. I can't even sew a button. I am, however, lucky enough to have 2 very loving and generous women in my life who will gladly help me with any sewing project that I have yet to dream up.

I also had this dresser on my list of Ikea needs-

I wanted this dresser to put in the boys closet. Since hubby built their bunk beds, its been kind of hit and miss on clothes storage for the 2 of them. Right after the beds were built, we sold the crib set- which included Pea's dresser. So his clothes sat on the changing table for a while. Then hubby constructed the beginnings of a built in closet system. It worked O.K. for the little one's clothes, but we were unsure how it would work out for Monk's clothes once it was complete. So we decided to add this dresser to the mix. 2 drawers for each of them was really helpful in the whole scheme.

Once we were meandering around the store, my previously hesitant husband (he wasn't an Ikea fan) was loving it! When we came across the Expedit shelving systems he got pretty excited. We ended up buying this one-

He concocted some idea in his head for the closet in the 3 seconds we were standing in front of this shelf. I wasn't super clear on how or IF it would work, but he was convinced, so I just went with it. I need to add here that I was surprised at how big the Expedit squares are. I thought they were very similar to the closetmaid units that you can get at Target. But the Ikea ones are at least 2 inches bigger in each direction, which is huge when you're looking at storage space.

We got home from Ikea/L.A. late Friday night, and on Saturday morning hubby was up and working on the closet. He tore out the previous shelving that was started, as well as the top shelf that went all the way across. A couple hours later he called me in to see what he had done. Ta-Da!

And then he went running off to Ross to look for baskets. He came back with these to put across the top to hold all the misc. junk that seems to get piled up there. Games, puzzles, etc, etc. They fit perfectly, and make things look much neater.

I love how this worked out! In the picture, you can see the difference in the Expedit sized cubes and the Closetmaid ones. The red buckets on the bottom are Closetmaid. The white ones on top are actually Itso (from Target) but are the same size as the ones Ikea used to make for the Expedit shelves. (They no longer carry the cloth bins.). My plan is to get 2 more of the Itso ones to fit in there properly and make use of the extra space, but my Target is totally out. The 2 white ones were the last ones they had. I'm REALLY hoping its because they are just waiting to get more while they remodel, and not because they aren't carrying them any more.

So there you have it- the Ikea closet! Next on the agenda is to paint their room and finally get around to doing the play room (which was the baby's room before the bunk beds).

A road trip for a graduation and our first trip to Ikea

2011-03-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Phew! I thought life had been busy lately, but Thursday and Friday showed me how much more crazy it could get! We left Thursday afternoon for an over night trip down south to the L.A. area. We were going down for a friend of the family's graduation. I also recently convinced the hubby that we needed to stop in Ikea while we were down there. (I *really* wanted to get THESE curtains [Thanks a bunch, Stephanie] for the boys room.) Over all the trip was loads of fun. But it was SO fast, and SO hectic, and SO lacking in the sleep department.

We didn't get to L.A. till 8ish on Thursday night, thanks to the freeway traffic. (I am however, still grateful that we didnt have to touch the 405 on the way down.). Once we got there, we hit Hooters for a quick, FATTENING, dinner. I know, I know, Hooters isnt exactly a classy establishment, but I have a thing for the buffalo shrimp. So since we don't have Hooters anywhere nearby my house, anytime we go out of town- I try and get there for some. The boys had never been there before and Gavin informed me that the grilled cheese he had was better than any grilled cheese his dad or I have ever made for him. :p

We spent the night at a different friends house, and were up most of the night talking since we don't get to see her very much. After a brief sleep, we were up and at 'em to get ready for the graduation. I would show you some of the 75 pictures I took during the ceremony but I can't. I CAN however show you the pictures of what the boys were doing...

Some of this-

and this-

and a little of this-

Who knew the braclets I was wearing would be such good entertainment? Clearly I need to wear jewelry more often. :)

And since its rainy and cold and icky here right now, I'll leave you with a picture that I found on my camera from last week when it was sunny and nice...

When Life Attacks

2011-03-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been over 3 weeks since my last post...

Ok seriously- THREE WEEKS? sheesh! Where has the time gone? Oh yeah, its been sucked up by life. T-ball, kids, husbands, the time change, you name it- it has taken all the hours of my day and tossed them out the window like they didnt even exist!

But its ok. I like it. I also like having 3 minutes to myself. But really- I enjoy being busy with my little family too.

The number one time user-upper (like that new word I just made up?) is T-ball. My oldest started playing, for the first time, last month. Opening day was on Saturday and their game was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Did I mention my husband got suckered into coaching? Yeah. They didnt have a coach when the season started so instead of letting the team be moved around, he and his brother volunteered. YAY husband! THEN- those two nominated myself and my sister-in-law as the team moms. Thanks guys. Just kidding- I love doing it. And since my sister-in-law and I are sharing the duties, its not a big deal. BUT the league has a lot of new board members and is a bit unorganized. But its ok. We are slowly but surly getting past that. Besides- I get cute pictures like this out of it-

And now I will confess to being the worlds worst mom. That picture was taken with my phone. Its the only picture I have taken of T-ball to date. I know, I know! Ill take more. LOTS more. I promise.

Um, and heres my next confession... Its one of the only pictures I have taken in the last few weeks. Sheesh. And i'm supposed to take a photography class that starts next week? I better re-learn how to use my camera first!

So thats about it... Have a great Tuesday, and I promise Ill be back before three more weeks go by!

Snow Day!

2011-02-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

Last weekend hubby mentioned that for our family fun day we could head up to the snow. The kids had never played in it before and so they were SO excited! A quick trip to Big 5 for gloves and sleds (come on people! We don't actually own any snow gear, we live on the coast!) and we were on our way!

An hour and a half later, we were a county away and several hundred feet up from where we started. It was a balmy 28 degrees out (ah!) but I was actually kind of warm in all my layers. Leggings, Jeans, Uggs, a tank top, long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, and snow boarding jacket. A jacket that I bought when I moved to Cali 5 years ago from the desert. I worse it every winter day almost, back then. Now I can say that I am happily acclimated and rarely wear it. The kids were layers too in their carters zip up fleece jammies, under lined warm up pants and a long sleeved shirt, with a heavy jacket over top.

As we made our way up the mountain, we went from over cast skies, actually being IN the clouds, to bright sunshine at the top.

This is me sledding down what looked like a small hill... until I was speeding down it on a piece of plastic!

After a while, Monk chose to forgo the sled all together and just slid down on his rear.

So.... yeah... that's about it for pictures. I was too busy having fun with my family- and being too cold to want to take my gloves off to work the camera! But really- as much as I say I don't like snow, we had a blast! I cant wait to do it again. Maybe I can pick up some cheap snow gear somewhere...

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

2011-02-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

I know! I know! I said this post would come last night, but we had the first T-ball practice of the season and things ran a little late, so here I am now...

Lets pick some winners, shall we?

Thanks to Random.Org, the winner of the Snow Day Frame is GramMe! Congrats Mary! I have your info, so Ill get it right out to you!

Now for the Beach Bum frame... the lucky winner is Brooke at MyBoysterousLife!

Congratulations to both of my winners!!! Keep your eyes on the mail box!

A project, an announcement, and a GIVE AWAY!

2011-02-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!! I have a project to share with you that I have been working on for the last 10 days or so. This special project is for a Design Team try out for Sakura Hobby. I made it to the final round- and today is the day! If selected, I will be posting on the Sakura Blog frequently with new projects for you all. Today the team leader is visiting all of the finalists blogs and preparing to make her decision on the team members. (Hi Terri!) I'm a little nervous, and very excited, to show you my new creations!

I had a lot of fun making these picture frames. They are a little out of the box for me, so it was a bit of a learning experience... The base for both of these is a 4x6 picture frame that I got at Target on clearance some time ago. I used Mod-Podge to adhere scrapbook paper to the frame. It wraps all the way around to the back of the frame. The beach frame has real beach sand along the bottom half of the frame, I used Mod-Podge to adhere that also. The Snow Day frame has flock Mod-Podged on the bottom half and on the "hills", so its fuzzy and soft (and impossible to photograph well. I'm so sorry!). The paper shapes on each are cut with my cricut. I attached some flat to the frames and others I popped with pop-dots to give some dimension.

Now for the give-away! If you like my little frame project, leave me a comment here on this post and let me know which one you like best! Ill leave it open for one week then Ill pick a winner for each! *Disclaimer- the photo of the cute kid on Christmas day is not included in the give away. It was just used for picture taking purposes. ;)

Our First Classroom Valentine's Party

2011-02-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

It was SO cute! Today was Gavin's first classroom party and it was adorable! The kids were given a list of students who were participating (there are a few kids in his class that dont participate for religious reasons) and they were to bring Valentine's to hand out today and parents were asked to bring a snack to share.

Gavin, who FINALLY takes after me in something- insisted on making his Valentine's himself. He wanted no part of store bought or even cricut cut valentine cards. He designed and planned out the whole thing. It ended up being a heart folded in half- that HE CUT OUT on his own, that i was instructed to write "Happy Valentines Day" inside of. Then he stuck some felt hearts that we bought at Michael's inside as decor.

To go along with the Gavin's cards, I made bags for each of the kids. I bought bags that were a little larger than needed so they could use them not only be for Gavin's card, but to put all their other Valentines in also.

The final part of the valentine was lollipop flowers that I saw online somewhere. The hearts were cut with my cricut, and I punched small holes by the tips to slide up the sucker stick. I tied green curling ribbon just under them to keep the "petals" in place and represent leaves.

For both kids teachers (Gavin has 1 and Grady has 2) I used mini metal mailboxes (say that 5 times fast!) that I got at Target last year. These have been all over blogland since Target introduced them a few years ago. I never made any in the previous years, but now that there are teachers to gift- they sure come in handy!!

A few cricut cuts (the hearts on the mail box flag and the envelopes on the front) and some paper- and they are cute as can be! I filled each with chocolate and a valentine card from the kids.

I love Valentines day!! I really enjoy giving little gifts to those I love and this is just another excuse to do it!

I {heart} Faces- HEARTS!

2011-02-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

I saw the I {heart} Faces facebook post last night giving us a heads up on the challenge this week and was super excited! Its one week before Valentine's day and this weeks theme is hearts- SO fun on a regular Valentines week- but even better because I took this picture just yesterday afternoon and its perfect for the challenge!

We were making Valentines for Gavin's class and he was being silly with the scrap paper when I snapped this photo. I used a Coffee Shop action on it, as well as Rita's fab vignette tutorial. Ill admit- this is one of he first times I have actually played with actions and stuff, and MAN do I have a lot to learn. It took me FOREVER to do something very simple. Anyway- head over to I {heart} Faces and check out some more HEARTS!

CHA recap!

2011-02-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

I know its been almost a week since I went to CHA- but its taken me this long to recover! What an OVERWHELMING experience! There was SOOOOOOOOOO much to see and take in. There were freebies and make and takes, SO MANY new paper lines, embellishments, and other crafting goodies... I cant even begin to fill you in on all of it. I can however- tell you how I am kicking myself in the rear for not taking my good camera. I left it home because I didn't want anything to happen and I didn't want to get tired of lugging it around... ugh. Sometimes, I do not have the best ideas. I used the camera on my phone for the pictures I took so they are less than stellar. LUCKILY- there were many other people who took REAL cameras and have posted their pictures on various places on the interwebz for me to borrow :) (I have given credit for photos where its due- feel free to click the links and check out some of their other stuff!)

And now onto what youre REALLY here for-

The vendors were over the top with their booth decor. The Girls Paperie had one of the sweetest booths. Lots of bunting and streamers and pretty things everywhere. They had wonderful projects on display like this wreath-

photo courtesy of Shopping Diva's Flickr stream

Fiskars had some layouts with mind boggling punch work- AND they were kind enough to GIVE away a freebie grass border punch! (go ahead and click on that picture to make it huge so you can see that EVERY INCH OF IT is created with fiskars punches. How do people get so creative?)

photo courtesy of Shopping Diva's Flickr stream

One of my FAVORITE new things from Making Memories are these Bravissimo pins. They come totally finished, semi-finished, and you also have the option of putting a totally custom one together. They are made of heavy paper and ribbon, and each one has a pin (like to attach it to your shirt) on the back and a tiny envelope with a card to write a sweet note on for the lucky receiver of your gift. They have birthday, new baby, graduation, sports, and everything else you can think of for themes! Seriously- these are SO CUTE! Click the link and go check them out!

One of my new favorite companies is Canvas. They are very new and their website isnt even up and running yet (but the link takes you to where it will be). I love htem because they have all the basics. Lots of canvas- banner pieces, pillow covers, artists canvas, etc. They also have burlap and denim. You can pair their items with pretty much ANYTHING out there. They do have various lines of paper- but they are all kraft or cream or white base that will also go with lots of stuff. I cant WAIT to get some of their product in my hot little hands to play with! The photo below was a project hanging in their booth-

The Zva booth was showing off their bling and had several super cute cards on display-

One of my all time FAVE embellishment companies, Maya Road had the best projects at their booth. They have one AMAZING design team. layouts, mini albums, calendars, wall hangings, you name it- they had it! Of course NONE of my pictures from their booth turned out blog worthy- so you'll have to trust me and head over to their design team blog and check out the talent. (There is even a few of their CHA projects on there!)

And now for the GRAND FINALE! I loved all of the booths, and the vendors did a fabulous job. BUT there was one that was super amazing. Their featured projects were ones that NO ONE is going to go home and do- because they were SO awesome. I have to give my "Raised The Bar SKY HIGH" award to DCWV. The way they showcased their new paper stacks was beyond anything I have ever imagined...

See that dress? Its made ENTIRELY of paper. Every last inch of it. Think thats amazing? There is WAY more showstopping paper amazingness over at the DCWV Diary. Got look. You wont regret it. (scroll down to the CHA Day 1 continued post for their fabulous paper runway show- but be SURE to check out ALLLLLL of their CHA paper fabulosity on the way :)

So there you have it... CHA in a nut shell. Oh! I forgot about make and takes... lots of paper flowers. That pretty much sums it up. There were a few other things happening, but mostly I didn't wait in the make and take lines because we only had 2 days to cover the WHOLE show floor. (the show is actually 5 days long). SO now back to my catalogs and brainstorming...

Valentine's Day craftyness

2011-01-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Its FRIDAY! Which means tomorrow is Saturday and I am heading down to L.A. for the CHA trade show. CHA is the Craft and Hobby Association, and is the professional group that all the scrappy/crafty companies belong to. Twice a year they have a trade show showcasing allllllllll their new goodies that they are getting set to release. All the new paper lines and accessories, machines, tools- EVERYTHING we cant live wihtout ;)

Most people don't get to go to CHA because its only for retailers. There isnt sheets of paper on shelves to buy or jars of flowers ready to jump into your shopping cart- its all about ordering mass quantities of new awesome product for your retail store. HOWEVER- I am lucky enough this year to have a friend "in the biz" who was headed to CHA and was kind enough to let me tag along! EEEEEEEE! I am so excited to see all my favorite companies NEW STUFF!

Listen to me rambling... I got sidetracked- sorry! The real reason for this post is to leave you with a little crafty goodness while I head off for a weekend of crafty amazingness :)

I worked this week on some Valentine's Day decor for around the house. I love Valentine's Day. And since my kids are old enough to catch on to the holidays now- I figure I could dress up our home a little with some seasonal crafts.

Let me pause right here and say that NONE of these crafts would have been possible with out my Cricut. I love it. thats all. Back to craftiness

First up- my fan turned mobile

Totally simple- I just cut a ton of hearts on the cricut and made sure there was a match for each one. Then laid a ribbon through the middle and stuck the pairs together. Same thing with the bottom pieces, just different cuts.

Next up- LOVE banner. This is the 3rd banner I have made recently and I am really loving them!!

and my third and final project for you- these little guys. Several months ago I spray painted these terracotta pots. And then they sat. And sat. Finally today I made a few cricut cuts, punched out some grass, and stuck some floral foam inside. Voila!!

This is where they ended up living- on the high window in the living room. (notice the gorgeous blue sky outside? we have had SPECTACULAR weather lately.)

So there ya go! Enjoy the craftiness and enjoy the weekend and Im off to LA!!!!

The Joy of Love... come join us!

2011-01-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I got an email from Willette Photography saying she was hosting a FREE photography class for the whole month of February. I kind of blew it off/set it aside thinking I wouldn't really have time. Then yesterday Alicia posted this post over at A Beautiful Mess and reminded me of the FREE class. So I reconsidered. I figured- why the heck not! #1- its free and #2- I know I will learn SOMETHING from it. I will make the time for it and its always good to learn something new.

Do you want to learn something new? Head over to Willette Photography and sign up for her news letter. Then click on The Joy of Love and sign up to join me and many many others on our FREE photography adventure with Kelly Willette :) Her classes are usually too pricey for me so this is a special treat to get a free class form this wonderful photographer. Did I convince you yet? Go on! Sign up! Do it soon! The first newsletter/class session goes out February 1st, and you don't want to miss it!

Guest Post!

2011-01-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

hey friends! I am doing my VERY FIRST guest post over at Sweet Butter Bliss today :) Go check out my terrible tattoo story, and hang out with Anastasia for a while.

Monarch Butterfly migration

2011-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the hubby's birthday, but it was also Sunday. Which in our family, is Family Fun Day (or night. However it works best). We do something fun together since the week is generally too hectic for much family time. Generally we get fast food for dinner, making sure to have dessert of some kind, and rent a movie. Lately we've run out of small boy appropriate movies to rent from red box, and since there is no other movie rental place here anymore, we have been scoping out other options for fun family stuff.

It dawned on me last week, as Gavin was watching a Wild Kratz about Monarch Butterflies, thats its the PERFECT time to head to Pismo to check them out! We are lucky enough to have a eucalyptus grove near by (about 20 minutes driving) that is a butterfly pit stop in their migration route. They are here from about October to February due to our mild winters (it was 72 today) and there are THOUSANDS of them. More or less, depending on the year- but this year this is approximately 15,000 of the orange and black beauties hanging out in the trees.

There are docents who set up shop each October and give talks a couple times a day educating about all things Monarch. They are on hand to answer questions and make sure everyone follows the butterfly rules. There is a little trailer selling various butterfly paraphernalia and collecting donations to keep the program going. They also serve as guards for the butterflies who land in the walk ways while searching for their mate.

Apparently the manly side of these magnificent creatures will just snatch an unsuspecting potential mate out of the air and begin wrestling around with him or her. If it is in fact a him (which apparently happens fairly often) the suitor will let him go. If its a female, they will continue this butterfly necking session for several minutes, ultimately deciding if they like each other enough to procreate. If they do- the male picks up his conquest and flies off into the sunset with her. Well- into the trees anyway. If they aren't a good match- they go their separate ways and he tried again.

As you walk throught the Eucalyptus trees, you start to notice the movement you see isnt necessarily the breeze in the leaves- its the THOUSANDS of butterflies grouped together on the branches. I know its not easy to see- but those darker clumps on the branches are all butterflies.

The trailer I mentioned earlier also has a jar of butterflies they have found deceased in the grove. Its great for the kids, because they can hold them and examine them more closely than the ones flying around. They are so very delicate, but I was impressed when my rough and tough boys were extra gentle with them.

The Monarchs will only lay their eggs on milkweed plants and when they leave Pismo, they head further south to do so. BUT- those smarty pants docents have a few potted milkweeds around to trick a couple of unsuspecting butterflies into leaving their eggs here.

My favorite part about our little field trip was watching all the butterflies flutter from tree to tree. Its hard to capture on camera- but I was able to get this- click on it to make it larger and you can see a handful of Monarchs in flight as well as several bright orange spots in the trees.

One of Gavin's classmates and her parents and little brother went with us to the grove, and as we were walking out, I couldnt help but snap this one.

One last Christmas gift post- a REALLY cool book...

2011-01-21T12:13:00.000-08:00

So here it is (finally) my one last Christmas gift post. I could go on about the gifts my kids got this year- because I think we did a really good job. They were well thought out and we planned ahead (what? I actually planned ahead? Yes, my friends- its true.) BUT I will finally wrap up Christmas, just shy of a month later, with this AWESOME pop-up book that I, oops! I mean Santa, found at Costco one day.

Its called the DC Superheros: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book. You can get it on Amazon for about what it cost me at Costco. Why is this book SO cool? Not only is it FULL of superheros and their stories- it really is the ULTIMATE pop-up book. The pop-ups are HUGE and very detailed. Each page has 2 mini pop-up pages on it, and The Batman page even has a light up Bat Signal. Awesome, right?

The best part- Gavin LOVES IT. The last page has the biggest pop-up element I have ever seen in a book and is ALL of DC Comics heroes and villains duking it out. Each character has a tiny number and there is a key at the bottom that tells you the name of that hero or villain.

Gavin will spend hours on the floor checking out all the pages and the characters. He loves hearing how certain characters came about and what kind of special powers and vehicles they have.

Have a super hero lover in your house? Seriously, check into this book!

(this is not in ANY WAY a promo that anyone asked me to do, or compensated me for- I just like this book this much!)

You Capture- doorways

2011-01-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

I know I said I had another Christmas post- but this isnt it. Its Thursday so I had to throw a You Capture post in here before the last present one.

You Capture's theme for the week was doorways. I love seeing peoples colorful doors with lots of awesome texture from bricks or wood. Or pretty decor that some people are creative/motivated enough to put out... but I have no pictures of those doorways. (and to be honest- I dont have the ambition to run out and take any right now!) so I thought about my house and our very own doorways. There is one that stands out to me over all of them...

I love this doorway for so many reasons. Mostly because its my boys room. Its where they sleep and dream and sometimes play. Lately its been their "lair" and the only place they can hide from the Izzy dragon that stalks batman and little batman- or sometimes shes stalking transformers. Depends on the day. Another reason I love this doorway- the bed. See those awesome red bunk beds back there in all their bokeh loveliness? Know where they came from? My garage. No- not like we found them in there. My hubby MADE them. Using plans from Ana-White (love her) he made those beds with his own two hands. And I love them (and him) so much because of that. So yeah- I love this doorway. For so many reasons.

Now go check out I Should Be Folding Laundry for some more awesome doorways at the You Capture party!

Kung-Zhu- Gavin's first giving

2011-01-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

Since my boys are still little- 5 and 2, we have yet to have either ask about giving each (or mom and dad) gifts on Christmas. Until this year. About 3 days before Christmas, Gavin started asking when we were going to go shopping so he could get his brother a present. Uh... Um... well... Uh... I hadnt thought about it. So when the husband got home from work, I informed him of Gavin's request. He said he would take the little guy out and I could take Gavin. I told him we were going to Target, so he didnt show up at the same place. Then Gavin and I hopped in the car and off we went...

We got to target and began walking the aisles. I repeatedly asked Gavin what he had in mind for his little brother and he kept throwing out super awesome 5 year old type toys, that Grady wouldnt give a second look. It took a while to explain that he needed to get something he thought his brother would like, rather than shopping for himself.

About 25 minutes and 11 trips through the toy aisle later- I spotted last years coveted toy- Zhu Zhu Pets. More specifically- Kung Zhus. I casually pointed them out to Gavin, hoping they would grab his attention away from the $50 star wars thing he had been eyeballing. IT WORKED! He got very excited and said he KNEW the little Pea kid would love them! Then it came down to choosing 2 little hamsters or one hamster and one battle gear (because thats what all mechanical rodents need- battle gear.). Gavin decided it was far more lucrative to get the brother 2 hamsters so they could BOTH play with them. Little did he know his dad and I were texting the entire time, and Grady was picking out some Kung Zhus for Gavin also.

Christmas morning rolled around and both the boys were excited about their Kung Zhus. There was a little switching of rodents at first, but everyone was happy in the end. They arent the most played with toy- but I will forever remember Gavin asking me to go buy something for his brother for the first time. Its awesome watching him grow and become more aware of the other people in his life.

and I have ONE last Christmas present post- if you're interested. (I know its mid-January already- but what can I say? Im a blogging slacker.) If you're not interested in it- I wont post it. No biggie, either way. You tell me!

Attack of the LEGOS!

2011-01-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

Since the Monk was the on the receiving end of several gifts containing those little plastic blocks for Christmas- its been a LEGO Nation at my house ever since. We have to clear them off the dining room table nightly to have room to eat. And we have a BIG table.

Things look something like this all. day. long.

VERY serious lego building going on here...

And then Dad comes home and instantly becomes 5 years old again. The chairs are pushed close together, and the heads bow down, and the WHOLE box is dumped out... THEN the large scale building begins.

One day I asked him if he really liked the legos...

Happy New Year and happy blogaversary to me!

2010-12-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

Happy First Blogaversary to me! And Happy New Year to all of YOU!

One year ago today, I started this blog as a way of holding myself accountable. I figured if I told the world wide web what my ambitions were- then someone out there might wonder if I had accomplished them. And knowing that, made me feel a little more responsible for following through- as silly as it seems.

Looking back at my first post, I had 3 general areas I wanted to improve on- organization, patience, and health. Despite this blog becoming more about the happenings in our life than my own personal growth- I can tell you that I have grown leaps and bounds this year as a person. No, my house isnt totally organized- but its better. My life isnt totally organized- but not one time this year did I have to stop on the way to a birthday party for a gift. We dont eat healthy ALL the time- but it has improved. The hubby got up faithfully each morning and worked out with a friend before work. (I wish I could say the same about myself). Are you ready for this? The biggest change I have seen in myself? My patience. I dont yell nearly as much at the kids. I take a second to think about *why* they did what they did before I decide how to handle it. I think a lot of it has to do with getting more sleep over all (Thank you Grady for finally sleeping mostly through the night) and for making the conscious decision to change. I said it out loud to all of you (well- threw it out into cyber space anyway) and it really made me think more about my reactions. Or maybe I just grew up a bit. Whatever the reason, it was a very welcomed change. And it wasn't just with my kids, its been across the board with every one.

I think 2011 will bring around further growth for me. Learning and changing and molding to the person I need to be for my family and for myself. I want to enjoy the little things (Thanks, Kelle Hampton) and live in the right now- so I dont miss this stuff that memories are made of thats happening right under my nose.

So Thanks, 2010, for all that you brought with you. Heres to 2011! And heres to you- the people who read my ramblings ;) Thanks for hanging around with me.

Its over? Already?

2010-12-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

Even though its been just shy of a week since the wrapping paper went flying, it didn't feel like Christmas was really over till right now. the tree has left the building. The trash comes tomorrow, so hubby took some time tonight to cut it up and get as much crammed in the trash can as possible. Next week, the rest will go. Im all for recycling our tree- but we get it flocked so they won't take it.

This is our second year not putting ornaments on the tree. Mostly its because we have a 2 year old and I dont want to have to pick them up and put them back on the tree 9 million times a day. So we have gone with tip-flocking, lights, and ribbon. I enjoy it this way and it sure is easier to take down- but I miss my ornaments too. Next year- there will be ornaments!

This picture isn't from Christmas day, but I never posted it. So here it is now- Our Elf on the Shelf, whos name is Shrek, decided to hang with Santa on top of the tree one day. I figure its a pretty good vantage point to watch the kids from.

Back to Christmas morning- The kids slept till 7ish. Well- this kid did. We wound up waking the little one up at 7:30. We do Christmas Eve at my in-laws and always end up staying up far later than normal. Works out well for us because the kids are too tired to get up at some un-godly hour on Christmas morning! So once we got going, there was some of this-

And some more of this-

Even Crazy Izzy got in on the action!

There were big dragons and scooters unwrapped...

Transformers and Kung-Zhu pets (cute story about those little guys- Ill post soon)

But the most exciting, according to my 5 year old, was the LEGOS. He got some kind of star-wars ship from his cousins on Christmas Eve, then got several million regular legos from us on Christmas day. Hes been playing with them non-stop ever since. He doesnt build a lot- mostly just plays with the stuff his dad built for him (yup- a future post on that too). But I am beyond excited he loves his legos. Its really a toy that can grow with them. I wish I still had my legos!

and thats the end of the pictures. I took this handful of shots and the rest of the day I put my camera down so I could participate. I opened presents with the boys and the hubby, I played with new toys- mine and theirs- all day, and I made a delicious steak dinner that night. It was an amazing day with my wonderful family. I am one lucky girl.

Wordless Wednesday- Legos, legos everywhere!

2010-12-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

Its Wordless Wednesday at Angry Julie's. Head over and link up, or just check out some more of the Wordless Wednesday party!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

My wee baby SUPER excited about something he saw at the aquarium (I promise Ill stop with the aquarium pictures now :)

Head to Angry Julie's for a linky party!

Monteray Bay Aquarium

2010-12-12T17:27:00.000-08:00

Last week we had the opportunity to visit the Monteray Bay Aquarium as a field trip for the Monk's school. Its about 3 hours away, a long drive if you do it first thing in the morning to get there for the tour- but we are lucky enough to have friends who live very close by, so we drove up Sunday afternoon and stayed with them for the night. AND as luck would have it- our friend is a volunteer at the museum, so we got our own personal tour once we were released from our group to check things out :)

The aquarium was AMAZING. Seriously. The exhibits are primarily centered around the sea life found in the bay. They even take the water right from the bay, into some of the exhibits, then send it back out again. There is tons of information on conserving the oceans and water ways, as well as education on types of fish and sea foods that are safe.

I took a ridiculous amount of pictures- that looked good on my LCD screen- but they aren't super crisp now that I put them on my computer. I suppose thick glass and acrylic tanks will do that to a photo. Oh well- they are still super fun pictures and we got to see some really awesome stuff.

This one Is the boys sitting in a life-sized Giant Clam. One of those things could swallow them both up!

There is a penguin exhibit that is super cool. These types of penguins live in the wild on the southern tip of South America. There was a bunch of hootin' and hollerin' going on when we were watching them. (We later heard that there was some baby penguin making going on shortly after.)

There are several touch tanks through out the aquarium. Here is the Monk feeling a sea cucumber. There were MANY other things in the touch tank too- Sea Stars, hermit crabs, decorator crabs, and urchins (you can see one on on the wall towards the right of the photo), are just a few.

This octopus was putting on a show for us when we stopped to see her. She was moving like crazy all over the tank. It was so cool to see her HUGE arms with her HUGE suction cups underneath. This picture was taken in total darkness except for the light in her tank. There was a big sign saying that flash photography wasn't allowed because the octopuses (octopi?) don't like it. I'm so happy that I have high enough ISO on my camera to get a decent picture in that little bit of light!

We found this bed of sand dollars about half way through. It was really neat to see what they look like in the water, and not dried out and being used as decorations.

My favorite sea life that we saw, was the jelly fish and the sea dragons. There were several different kinds of jelly fish, each in their own tanks. I probably could have stood there half the day watching them squich around their homes. They also live in a dark environment, except the light in the tanks themselves.

The sea dragons are relatives of sea horses. I had never even heard of them before our visit to the aquarium. The leafy sea dragon (in this first picture) is hard to spot unless you look closely. It just looks like a piece of kelp floating around the tank, especially when there is a couple of them swimming together.

The weedy sea dragon has such amazing coloring. I took several pictures trying to get a really good one- but they were just a bit too fast for the shutter speed I had to use for exposure.

This last picture is my little Pea standing next to a life-sized model of an emperor penguin. I knew they were big- but I had no idea they were THAT big!

The aquarium was AWESOME! I can't wait to go back as the boys get older and begin to enjoy and appreciate different aspects of it. They had a great time this visit playing all the learning games that are around and running from tank to tank. (I also wouldn't mind going alone so I could spend more time on each exhibit!)

**Don't forget! You can click on each of the picture for a larger view!**

The Party Post You Have ALL Been Waiting For!!!

2010-12-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

OK, OK... so maybe you haven't been waiting for it, but you're getting it anyway! Heres some details and more shots of all the hard work I put into the Buzz Lightyear birthday party.

Heres a view of the whole table, with the banner above. My original plan was to have the pizza boxes in each of the back corners, with Pizza Planet signs on them (in the movie, the little alien men on the cupcakes are from a place pizza planet, sort of a Chuck E Cheese type place, in case you're a Toy Story novice), but my injury (I cut my thumb pretty badly) the day before the party prevented me from getting the signs done. It was no big deal in the end. Oooh- and you can kinda see the stripes on my wall... more on those one day when I actually finish the project..

A closer shot of the banner. I used my cricut, cricut design studio, and SCAL. The triangles are the banner from the Straight From The Nest cartridge. The purple part on the top of the triangles is a strip of purple (the backside of Bazzill Bling in Flirty) that I punched with the Marth Stewart Zig Zag edge punch. The lettering on the banner I cut with SCAL. The font is called Neuropol X and you can find it on DaFont for free. (the green I used was the back side of Bazzill Bling in Bank Roll) The Buzz Lightyear and the HUGE Saturn both came from the Toy Story cartridge, and the "Happy Birthday" letters are from the font on the Batman cartridge.

The birthday boy's giant cupcake with the paper-pieced flying Buzz Lightyear on top. There is a BBQ skewer between the shadow layer and the base of the colored layer. It was the perfect size to stick in the big cupcake. The level below has the regular sized cupcakes, for the guests. They were purple and green and I put a paper-pieced LGM (cut at 2 1/2") in each one of them. In the very front are skewers with grapes and strawberries on them. I figured there should be SOMETHING healthy for the kids to snack on ;)

A closer shot of the big cupcake. I used a pan made by Wilton. Unfortunately, the cake didn't come out so great. It looked fine, which was the good part, but the taste and texture was off. I used the same recipe that I used for the regular cupcakes (which I found HERE) but the giant one turned out much more dense and dry. I googled after the fact and found a message board offering up all kinds of tips and tricks on cooking with this pan. The biggest issue seems to be that the top part is so much shallower than the bottom part. It really causes a problem with the cooking time. I have booked marked the page I found and will be sure to refer to it when I get the chance to use this pan again.

Another view of the regular cupcakes. I split both my batter and frosting and used AmeriColor soft gel paste coloring in Regal Purple and Electric Green. It was Buzz Lightyear perfection! (I cant remember where I purchased the coloring from, it was somewhere on line. I just googled searched for "gel paste coloring"). There are also some Toy Story sprinkles on the cupcakes. I happened across those at WalMart one day. It came with 3 different kinds- light blue sugar crystals, green and purple "jimmies", and little tiny LGM heads.

The last goody that I made for the party are these Oreo cookie pops. I saw the idea on a blog somewhere and googled for directions. Super easy and pretty quick, compared to how long the paper projects took me! The Gs and 5s that are on the pops are also edible. I am lucky enough to have a great friend who has a cricut cake. I ~~begged and pleaded~~ asked nicely ~~until she finally gave in~~ graciously agreed, to cut these out for me. They are made of gum paste and worked PERFECTLY! I just gently pressed them into the candy coating right after I dipped them and it was still warm. Now Im wishing for a cricut cake of my own!! **A few things I learned form this tasty adventure- buy twice the amount of oreos as you are going to need. The cookie part breaks easily. and a lot. Also- I believe that double stuff oreos would have worked better. The extra "stuff" would have given the sucker sticks (found at Micheal's) just a tad more room between the cookies. That said- I would make these again in a heart beat! And plan to :)

One more thing- the cups. I got them at WalMart in the party aisle. Thanks to Toy Story 3 coming out over the summer, there was movie stuff everywhere! These cups are medium weight plastic and definitely meant to be reused. We ended up serving juice pouches at the party so the cups went home as part of the party favors. They were only about 75 cents a piece. So pretty affordable considering they can be used over and over and double as a goody bag treat!

Phew! This might be my longest blog post EVER. In fact, Im certain it is. But really, the party was a big success. The kid LOVED it all, and I got many complements from the parents. The Pea is already asking for various things for his birthday (which isn't until April). The latest is a Woody Party... Im kind of hoping he sticks with it, since the ideas for a cowboy breakfast are already flowing...

You Capture- sweet :)

2010-12-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

I was going to do a post today all about the Buzz birthday party details, but then I read Brooke's post at My [BOY]sterious Life and was reminded it was You Capture day! So its not my original plan, but you still get another little sneak peek of the birthday party details. The assignment for this week was *sweet*. I would have LOVED to get a super cute cuddly picture of my boys being SO nice to each other- but it hasnt happened much lately. Since they arent being sweet- its a good thing the cupcakes at the party were! Enjoy, then head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for more You Capture sweetness.

Wordless Wednesday- Monteray Bay Aquarium

2010-12-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Head over to Angry Julie Monday's to join the linky party!

Five, and a party.

2010-12-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

SOMEONE turned 5 this week...

Probably the kid with the cake. It looks oddly similar to his first birthday-

Apparently, he REALLY likes cake-

Still...

Sorry, got side tracked by the cake... MONTHS ago, the Monk asked for a Buzz Lightyear party, so Buzz was what he got! I may have got a tiny bit overboard. But he was thrilled. He has already asked to keep the banner up "everyday!"

The kids all had a fabulous time. They ate pizza and fruit, had cupcakes, and searched for kidnapped LGMs in the backyard. (Ill do a party details post soon, Ill talk more about the game then). After all the food and running around, the birthday boy got to open his eleventy billion presents. He is one spoiled 5 year old.

The party was a success. It basically went exactly as I planned, despite my finger cutting incident yesterday. A BIG thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

Wordless Wednesday- Hes 5.

2010-12-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

Havent done a WW post in a while. Yesterday this kid, my first born, turned 5. Im still in shock.

Make your own wordless wednesday post, then head over to Angry Julie's to join the linky party!

Where the heck have I been?

2010-11-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

I have been an exceptionally BAD blogger lately... and Im sorry to those of you that actually read my blog (if there are any ;)!!)

Really though, its just been busy around here and I havent made the time to post. I've barely taken any pictures lately- so Im slacking in that department too. So if im not blogging, and im not taking pictures- what the heck have I been doing? Um. Nothing too exciting. Just life. Thanksgiving was fabulous- we had half the family over, about 10 of us total. 2 turkeys, lots of sides, and yummy dessert. Thank you to the lovely Pioneer Woman for her delicious recipes that were put to good use on Thursday. (Turkey Brine, Roasting a Turkey, and Nantucket Cranberry Pie)

I have also been up to my ankles in paper. It looks like the Bazzill factory exploded in my scrap room. I made 2 birthday cards, a TON of Buzz Lightyear stuff for the Monk's upcoming 5th birthday, and helped a friend make a banner for a party in a few weeks. I dont have completed banner pictures- but I have photos of the birthday cards and a sneak peek of the Buzz-mania that will take place at my house next Saturday-

Theres a little taste of the paper-palooza thats been going on in my house. thanks to my trusty cricut and the Toy Story cartridge, I have been a paper piecing maniac. Im loving how things are coming together, but am SO tired of gluing eyes on th3 eleventy-billion LGMs that I have made! :)

And in case youre interested- here are the birthday cards I made.

The top one is a picture of the card (a gift card holder) and its envelope. The part on the left slides right into the part on the right. The crown is visible on the top to put it out. The second card is called a stair-step card. It was the first time I made one of those. It was fun designing all the little pieces to go together on the different levels.

So there you have it- besides regular ol' life with 2 crazy boys, this is what I have been doing. The party is a week from today. I have several things left to do, but nothing I am too concerned about. His actual birthday is Tuesday. I cant believe my first born will be 5. FIVE. Really? I dont know how that happened... but it has. He is sure to remind me each day, several times a day, just how many days are left till his birthday. *sniff* my baby is getting BIG.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to gluing...

Its All About the Eyes...

2010-11-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

I wasnt planning on posting today, but as I read the posts in my blog roll- I couldnt help it. Angry Julie posted a picture of her Angry Kid and said it was for Paper Mama's Sunday Challenge. So I hopped right over to check it out. The challenge is eyes. Her post says to take or find a photo of your sweet baby's eyes, post about it, and join her linky party. Immediately this picture of Monk came to mind. It was one of the first pictures I took with my dSLR when I got it backi n July. (The whole post is here, if your interested).

So now head over to Paper Mama and check out her blog and the other entries!

Honey! Im home!

2010-11-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

phew! I am exhausted from vacation! The hubs and I went- ALL ALONE- to Vegas for 4 days, earlier this week. We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary, by going back to where it all happened. It was our first sans-kids vacay since EVER. And after all the OT hes been working, we both needed a break.

(please ignore the dog in the picture! lol. I photo-shopped him in after our wedding, since he couldnt be there. And this is the only wedding pic I have saved on my computer!)

We got our flight/hotel reservations from Expedia and got a great deal (no they didnt give me a gift card or a free flight- its just me, telling you it was a good deal). We had next to no layover in LA, which was awesome. We left Sunday afternoon and got to Vegas Sunday evening. We were starving when we arrived and wanted something fast. So after dropping our bags in our room, we went to Hooters. I know, I know. Cheesy. Icky. Whatever. They have buffalo shrimp on their menu- and I LOVE them. Not just a little love, but CRAVE THEM weekly, kind of love. And we have no Hooters in our area. Im talking hours of travel to get to the nearest one- so if I have a chance to eat there, I do. And I eat buffalo shrimp. EVERY TIME. My mouth is watering right now as I write this...

Anyway... we had a great 4 days. Stayed at the New York, New York hotel. Ate a lot of food. A lot of GOOD food. And shopped. A lot. Gambled a bit, and won NOTHING. Not even enough to keep playing for longer than about 1/2 an hour! That was kind of a bummer... but its ok. We didnt have any delusions of winning a huge jackpot or anything. Well. I didnt. ;) Mostly we just enjoyed each others company without interruption.

Our actual anniversary was On Tuesday the 9th. I was able to purchase a new dress from white house/black market while we were there, so we got all gussied up and headed to dinner!

Earlier in the day, we talked about how I didnt have shoes to wear with my dress... so rather than spending another $100 on shoes- we hoofed it down the street-

Awesome right? We went all the way to Vegas to shop at Ross. lol. We have 3 Ross's within EASY driving distance of our house, but for some reason we managed to visit this Ross on the Vegas strip, not just for shoes for my dress, but over and over and over.

We walked around and saw the sights-

There were far more things we saw- but thats all the pictures I have. And they were all taken with my phone (or hubby's). I didnt take my camera on the trip. Husband was concerned about traveling with it and damage that might occur. To be honest- I love taking pictures, but I was glad after all was said and done, that I wasnt carrying it around with me. I focused on my hubby and our trip together instead of taking pictures the whole time. It was nice.

We did get to see a show. Holly Madison's Peep Show. It was pretty entertaining. Worth the money we spent on tickets, for sure. But it is a burlesque show- and they are topless part of the time, so it certainly isnt for everyone.

Im glad to be home. We both missed our boys terribly, but it was really enjoyable to just be *us* for a while. Hangout together and eat uninterrupted meals. I had forgotten what it was like!

Happy Anniversary Babe! Heres to the next 6 (and the next after that, and the next after that, and the next after that...) I love you.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

I tried my hardest to follow through on my resolution for better halloween pictures of my kids. It didnt go well. Turns out, my almost-5 year old currently hates the camera. He doesnt want to look at me, and when he does- I get no smiles. Oh well. Too bad for him. I took his picture anyway! :)

So I read on someones blog... Cant remember where... but one of the commenters said she takes a picture of her kids mock-trick or treating at their own door before they go out. That way, she gets them from the front, in decent light, before following them around the neighbor hood on their quest for candy. I thought it was a fabulous idea and gave it a try!

I managed to get a couple more before we left for the Halloween party/Trick or Treating

For our Halloween festivities, we went to a friends house for a part and trick-or treating. The kids munched on some pizza just before we went out to walk the neighborhood. There ended up being 10 kids, aged 5 and under, who were there. Wow. Thank goodness their parents- and in some cases, both parents, were there also. It was hard enough to get them all to look at us for a picture. It was CRAZY trying to keep them all together for trick-or-treating!

One of the moms caught this one of me, in my lazy woman's cat costume, helping my LGM down the stairs.

I have to say- I am glad Halloween is over. The kids had a great time, and so did I, but it is EXHAUSTING. Not to mention, I have my husband back now. (Because of work, he is ALWAYS gone for Halloween and the days surrounding it). Phew!

Now onto planning the next big thing- A Buzz Lightyear 5th Birthday Party!!! My oldest's birthday is November 30th. His party will be the 4th of December, so I basically have a month to get my act together and get his party stuff ready. I started the invites, but we are going out of town next week (Vegas here we come!) and I need to mail them the following week. I want to make a banner to hang, cupcake picks, some wall decor... ahhhhhhhh! I should probably end this blog post and get crafty!

Ghosts of Halloweens Past...

2010-10-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Robyn, over at Add A Pinch, did a super cute post yesterday of her son's past Halloween costumes. I thought it would be fun to borrow her idea and do the same!

I remember as a kid, my mom hand made me THE BEST costumes. A butterfly, a globe, minnie mouse- year after year, the very best costumes. I, however, am not as skilled in the costume MAKING department as I am the costume BUYING department. So I go all out every year with my online shopping. ;)

Gavin started off his costume career as Yoda... a some good friends of the family were kind enough to volunteer to buy his costume, IF they could pick it out. They are HUGE star wars fans! :) And seriously- could he be any cuter? I think it adds to it that the robe was HUGE and the ears *barely* buttoned under his chubby cheeks!

A little dragon... stumbled on this cute costume at Target and bought it. :)

Our little Fireman got to go hang at the fire station for a bit before trick-or-treating. We are lucky the county guys are so nice.

Then there was last year... he talked FOR MONTHS about being Batman for Halloween. He wouldn't give it up. So I said ok. Then he HAD to have a batman themed birthday party for his birthday in November. For some reason, he is of the belief that whatever he is for Halloween, MUST be his birthday theme also. I never told him this. And he doesn't seem to believe it to be true for anyone but himself. Who knows. Kids are weird.

Then there is my little guy. He has had the nickname "Pea" since he was born. So what else would he be for his first Halloween? A PEA POD, of course! :)

Last year was a lot of fun... Since Gavin picked a super hero with a side kick, we made sure he had one!

What fun Halloween is when you have little ones. I have noticed though, on this trip through memory lane- my camera skills when it comes to this candy ridden holiday, are sorely LACKING. From now on, I solemly pledge, to make sure I get flattering adorable pictures of my guys. In which, you can see their ENTIRE costume. And Ill start working on that pledge TODAY! Stay tuned this week, for a post about our fun filled Halloween 2010!

over time, vististors, and being a slacker

2010-10-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

I just realized it has been 2 weeks since I blogged last. I wanted to come on here and blame it on the craziness going on around my house. The hubby has worked OT every weekend for the last 2 months and Im really over it. I mean- don't get me wrong- the pay checks are fabulous. But the lack of help with the kids on the weekend and lack quality time with the man is getting old. Oh well. As far as blogging goes, truthfully, I just havent made the time. It has been busy here, but there were plenty of times I could have sat down and created a little blogger action. BUT, I chose to be lazy during those times instead.

THEN my mom was in town visiting all this week.

THEN I was a slug again and haven't really picked up my camera lately.

BUT- I have a little sneaky peak of the inevitable Halloween post that will come next week :)

How cute are these 2? I know, I know- NOT a good pic. But there were SO. MANY. KIDS. at the Halloween event we went to last night, I couldn't get any good pictures. So, you'll have to settle for this. For now.

Happy Halloween!

Another day, another pumpkin patch

2010-10-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Today was field trip day for my oldest maniac. Hes in kindergarten, and this was their very first class field trip. Being October- where else did we go, but the pumpkin patch! We are lucky enough to have several, no- MANY farms near by, that grow fabulous pumpkins and fall fruits and veggies for the locals. The patch we ventured to today is about half an hour from our house, and one we had never been to before. Let me tell you- we WILL be going back!

The farm itself is far larger than I thought. They had acres and acres of amazing edibles, just waiting for us to arrive. The guys (the ones who work the farm) had picked a TON of pumpkins and set them up in neat rows for the kidlets to choose. For just $3.50, each kid got a paper grocery bag. They could put in that bag ANY pumpkin that fit. They also got a wee little pumpkin, to keep their big one company, and an apple to snack on. There was a small market area with peppers, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, garlic, I could go on and on.

The kids had a great time, and so did all the parents and siblings who came. Post pumpkin picking, we made the short trek to a near by park. My kids ADORE this park and so did everyone else!

From a photography stand point, I continue to make myself shoot in manual. I think things are going ok. Today was foggy the WHOLE time we were out, so I was very hit or miss with my exposure. Luckily for me- PSE came to my rescue... I had to doctor some of these up a bit to make them look better, but over all the changes were minor :)

Pumpkins as far as the eye can see...

This lone pink flower was growing up in the middle of the rows of pumpkins the guys picked for us.

Tomatoes, on the vine.

An apple snack.

Fresh sweet corn (some of this came home with me!!)

Just a pile o' pumpkins. I love all the different colors.

Chilies. I should have gotten some of these too, but its hard to shop and keep an eye on the wee ones at the same time.

Artichokes, in bloom.

Checkin' out the antique tractor. It had tracks instead of wheels, similar to a tank. Except- they were so old they were WOODEN!

Found this guy guarding the grapes-

The last raspberries. They are a summer fruit, so there were just a few still hanging on-

Now for the park! Apparently, playing in the misters is serious business!

But the swings arent!

And neither is the tire swing :) One of the big brothers of a classmate came along today. He was the unofficial tire swing pusher, and did a fantastic job. The boys took turns the whole time we were there.

I know this is a little picture heavy, and there were plenty that didnt make the cut, is it too much? Do you like it that way? Or should I just pick a couple faves to post?

The Dreaded "M"

2010-10-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

If you read my last post, you know I have been following Darcy's photography series over at Life With My 3 Boybarians. She has been teaching us all the ins and outs of our DSLR cameras and the ~~magic~~ math behind how they work. Her latest ~~torture~~ assignment was to take all the nuggets of info she has taught us in the last 10 days, and use it. Switch your camera to the dreaded "M", and take pictures like you know what you're doing... So I gave it a shot.

Conveniently the hubby was off for Columbus Day (thanks for discovering us, Chris), and we had time to take the kids somewhere fun. We went to a barn thats near by that does U-pic fruits of different kinds, all year round. Back in late August, we went and picked apples at this same barn. Right now they have pumpkins and gourds and all those fall goodies piled high for you to chose from. Since this was my first time REALLY shooting manual- I focused on all that hings that stand still, rather than my maniac kids.

All the pictures I am going to post are straight out of the camera, except a crop here or there. I really wanted to show what I have learned to do and have something to base future work on, so see how far I will go. I didn't want to hit it with a ton of post processing and make them all look good, like I knew what I was doing right from the get go. Some turned out good. Some not so much. Which is your favorite?

Im thinking I should have gotten a different angle on this sign... I love it, but this didnt turn out exactly how I was picturing. oh well. At least I got the exposure right! :)

Gourds as far as the eye can see...

Pile o' mini pumpkins... I was so busy taking pictures of them, I forgot I wanted to get some of these for home decor. oops!

These wee ones are called Gobblin Eggs! Had to take a picture of them. My question- why isnt the yellow in focus? (any thoughts Darcy?) Im just using my kit lens, so I dont think the aperture was wide enough to make my DOF *that* shallow...

Another pile of gourds. Love all the different sizes, colors and textures...

More wee pumkpins-

This stinkin' Emu wouldnt hold still (so I went back to items that dont move! lol) I metered on him when he was more in the sun, then he sank his neck down so he was mostly shadowed. Theyre creepy anyway.

Bunches of sunflowers in the market area-

Daises- Gerbera, I think-

More daisies... I dont know what I did to get these colors to come out so vibrant! but it looks kinda cool :)

More shots from the market area-

Love all the different pumpkin colors-

My Monk climbing the monster pun'kins-

I know the side of his face is blown out in this shot, but I couldnt resist posting his cute little pose-

Piles of big pumpkins, for sale by the lb.

PROOF! despite all the fighting, they DO love each other! A little over exposed, but I had to get it!

And the sunflower field... Lots of these turned out over exposed. I was so concerned about focus and aperture and composition with the bees... I would forget to look at the meter...

Found this little lady in the field-

And one from the way home...

What the heck is depth of field anyway?

2010-10-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

The fabulous Darcy over at Life With My 3 Boybarians, is running a month long series on photography. She is aiming it people with (or who want to learn more about) SLR cameras. Covering all the basics, starting with the pieces you need to know how to work, to make a photo technically good- shutter speed, ISO, and aperture.

Today is Day 7 and the lesson was Depth Of Field, and how it works. If you want to know all about it- head over and visit Darcy. In the mean time, here are my homework results...

The assignment for today was to take multiple pictures of a subject, changing only the aperture setting for each shot. She advised we use a tripod for the best results, but since I dont have one, I set my camera on the counter for the same effect. Beginning with my F-stop at f/4, I took it all the way to f/25. I dont have many subjects that dont move, so I used Monk's giant Bakugan. He was more than happy to sit still for me!

So you can see as the F-stop gets larger, the depth of filed gets larger, and the background comes more into focus. There were many more pictures than this that I took, but I figured I would only subject you to a few shots of my *fabulous* work ;)

Want to know what all this f-stop mumbo-jumbo is about? Head over and check out this wonderful series, and everything else Darcy has to offer!

You Capture- FACES!

2010-10-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

Its You Capture time again! This weeks assignment was FACES. Love it! There are a couple faces in my life that I just adore taking pictures of :) so I was really excited. Then I got sick and didnt really touch my big camera. Thank goodness for my cell phone!

This one I took with an app called Retro Camera. It didnt work right when I first downloaded it, and I couldnt see anything in the view finder box... so this picture turned out to be a happy accident! I just aimed it his general direction and pushed the button... I love my older son's smiling eyes that I captured :)

This one is another cell phone shot... we went to see Legend of the Guardians the other night and there little faces were too cute in wearing 3-d glasses!

And this last one I did actually take with my big camera... I had to take a picture of this sweet face, because the body it is attached to is napping in a big boy bed for the first time! They are growing up way too fast...

Now, click that button down there and head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry, to check out some other You Capture participants!

Best. Hair Product. EVER.

2010-09-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

Before I tell you about my discovery, that isnt actually my discovery at all but someone elses, let me give you a bit of background... as a kid I had stick straight hair. Wouldn't hold a curl for anything. My mom even took me in 4th grade to get a body perm so I would have SOMETHING. Fast forward to puberty and all of a sudden there is some wave in my hair. Weird. Now after having kids my hair is curly. Not Shirley Temple curly- but its curly. and frizzy. and icky. and there is so much of it that it takes an hour and a half to dry and straighten, if I choose to go that route. So I don't. I dont have that kind of time. Which leaves me looking something like this if I leave my hair down-

As a result of this ridiculous hair I have acquired, thanks to my kids, I am constantly on the look out for a hair product that will tame the frizz, not be crunchy, and not cost me a gagillion dollars. A few years ago, a stylist introduced me to Bumble and Bumble Curl Cream. I fell in love. Its price tag drifted towards the gagillion dollar range but I overlooked it because it worked SO WELL. No crunchies. Totally tamed the frizz. It was awesome. I was in heaven. THEN I went to get a new bottle when that one ran out and something was different. The bottle that once looked like this

Now looked like this

So I figured they just changed the packaging. A little up date. No biggie... I checked with the stylist to make sure it was the same- they reassured me it was- and I trotted my happy self back home. The next day I applied as usually and went on my merry way. I discovered mid-day that the product was NOT the same. I did a little googing and it turns out the company had been sold and the new dudes had "re-done" some of the formulas to better suit their money making venture. Dang it. Back to square one...

Now that I have gone on and on- I will get to the real meat and potatoes of this post. The whole reason I am telling you of my hair woes. The coveted, most amazing, most sought after- BEST. HAIR PRODUCT. EVER. Are you ready? Hang on... this is a life changing moment.

Coconut Oil.

Seriously. Its amazing. and Im not talking some hair stuff that says "coconut oil" on the bottle- im talking straight from the jar, out of natural foods or cooking oil section of the grocery store. I hear you. Your screaming at your computer right now- "WHAT?!?" But really, hear me out...

Recently I heard mention of this miracle oil from not one, but TWO of my fabulous online friends. My favorite hippy crunchy friend, Brea, over at Contentedly Crunchy and the lovely Alexis of depressions and confessions. Brea just started her blog, and is off with a bang! Check out this whole blog post about getting your hair care products from the grocery store. She talks about coconut oil as a styling product has well as some other awesome info about making your hair pretty, NATURALLY. Alexis posted on facebook one day about her discovery of coconut oil and I was lucky enough to catch it. I asked her for some more info- and being the fabulous, awesome, amazing girl that she is- she jumped to it and sent me an email detailing her conditioning treatment experience.

I know what you're thinking... "yeah yeah, whatever", "how can some natural product be better than the one I spend a gagillion dollars on at the salon". I'm telling you- it IS.

Although it took me a while to find it (damn small town), once I did- my life was changed. As soon as I got home from the health food store I opened the jar of liquid gold and got to work! I warmed a chunk of the semi-solid stuff in my hand till it liquefied, then slathered it on- as Alexis had directed- until my dry hair was saturated with the oily gold. Then I clipped it up in a bun and waited. A few hours later I showered as usual. When my hair was dry (I air dried) I noticed it was MUCH softer than normal and the curls were more defined. There was FAR less frizz, with no product, as the day went on. I was a happy camper.

I decided the next day to give Brea's method a try. She uses the oil as a styling product. So after my shower, I rubbed a small amount in my hands to liquefy it and then worked it through my hair. I started on the ends, as that is the are that needs it most. I barely rubbed it over the scalp sections because I was afraid it would become too oily.

I have been using it every day since, with no other products. Today is the first day I have gone product-less completely in about a week. Nothing in my hair. And my hair is happy! It has greatly improved because of using this coconut oil. Even without it- the curls are defined and frizz free (almost). Even the weird middle section of my hair that is coarse and icky normally- is soft and silky and far less frizzy.

AND- I have found there are a million and one OTHER uses for this Oil of the Gods... Rub it on your skin as a moisturizer or hit the hubby up for a rub down and use it as a massage oil! People have told me its delicious when you use it to make pop corn, instead of veggie or canola oil. I hear its good to cook with in ANY dish that calls for oil. I also came across this tidbit just today while perusing the inter-webs for pictures of it to put in this post- apparently it is also good for lube. You know... *after* the hubby gives you a rub down *wink wink*. Hey now- don't get all uppity with me- I'm just trying to educate my readers.

After learning all the fabulous uses for this stuff- maybe I will buy the gallon bucket next time...

Now- go buy some. Use it. And have happy hair... and skin... and hubby :)

You Capture- Flowers!

2010-09-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Time for You Capture again! This weeks challenge was Flowers. I had every intention of heading to the farmers market and a field near my house to get some awesome shots... however- life happened, and the flowers didnt. I was going to just blow it off this week, but a certain early bird (Brooke at My BOYsterous Life) posted her You Capture post last night and inspired me to get it done despite my lack of follow through with my plans.

Luckily- I have some lovely flowers blooming in my front yard. So after dropping the big kid off at school I grabbed the camera and high-tailed it out front to catch them in all their glory, still glistening with morning dew. (which has been plentiful lately due to some super thick over night fog)

Now- head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry, and check out the other amazing You Capture participants for the week!

The enabling of bloggers...

2010-09-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Late last, week one of the blogs I follow, posted this GORGEOUS duvet from Anthropologie just for some eye candy. I cant for the life of me find the post now, so if its yours- let me know and Ill give you the credit!! Ok, back to the eye candy. Seriously. Look at it-

Isnt it divine? Its cotton. And the texture from the gathering- I may be drooling, just a little. Especially since I am going to paint my bedroom gray (once we get the boys all rearranged). And when hubby builds us this new headboard (Thank you Ana White) Im thinking a distressed white... and how delicious would that look with this duvet? Talk about sweet dreams...

Thebad news- due to the fact this beautiful hunk of bedding comes from Anthropologie, its going to take some convincing to get the man to shell out the cash for it. *sigh*

This is not the first time I have been enabled by bloggers. They are continuously posting amazing things that I just HAVE to have. Ok, ok. For the most part I am able to refrain, but this duvet is sure making me weak. I may have to resort to begging. Or maybe I need a "real" job... you know, one that pays... ;) ha!

***UPDATE- no I didnt get the duvet. BUT- a reader was kind enough to remind me that it was Beth over at I Should Be Folding Laundry who posted this luscious bedding.Not only is she a dang good enabler, she is also a wonderful photographer and hosts the weekly linky party, You Capture. Go check her out! Youll wanna buy stuff AND bust out your camera :)

The easiest apple dumplings EVAH!

2010-09-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered The Pioneer Woman's blog. I mean- Im not living under a rock- I have heard of her, I just never went the distance to check it out before. Well- my first visit lasted something like 4 hours on and off. And then some more the next day. I got very engrossed in the Confessions of a Pioneer Woman and her photography section and didnt may any mind to the cooking part.

Fast forward a week or two to yesterday- one of my daily blog stops, Controlling My Chaos, posted an apple dumpling recipe. The picture looked AMAZING. Im a sucker for desserts. Especially ones that arent chocolate. (I like chocolate- but desserts made with it are generally a little too much for me). But- as I have mentioned in the past- I am really not a baker. So I just quickly skimmed the recipe with the thought that I would never make the recipe because I have never made pastry crust or peeled apples or whatever...

(Picture courtesy of Jill at Controlling My Chaos)

See the deliciousness I wasa convincing myself I couldnt make? YUM. Anyway- as I was skimming the recipe- I realized this baked pile of apple goodness had fewer steps than a box of cake mix! I COULD MAKE IT!!! AND- the best part- I most probably would NOT SCREW IT UP! wahoooo!!! I was xstatic!

So I went back and actually read the whole post and saw that this was originally a Pioneer Woman recipe! THIS is the kind of stuff shes making over there? Holy Moly! Clearly- I need to return for another 8 hour tour of her blog and actually check out some of the goods in the cooking department!Dang it looks good... lets see it again-

(photo from Pioneer Woman)

So I took my happy self down to the corner store today to pick up a Mountain Dew. That was the only ingredient I was missing... and about half hour ago I devoured not one but THREE of these amazing little bundles. I dont even have any ice cream to serve them with, but I suppose it doesnt matter since I didnt actually SERVE them. I just shoveled them into my mouth right out of the warm buttered pan...

Now I suppose YOU want to know how to make this gluttonous apple bliss... You have a few options. Head over to visit Jill at Controlling My Chaos for a super cute digi recipe card that she created, or go visit The Pioneer Woman and use her spiffy "print this recipe" option she has on her blog, OR you can just copy and paste the SUPER SIMPLE directions from right here-

Ingredients

2 whole Granny Smith Apples
2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
2 sticks Butter
1-½ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Cinnamon, To Taste
1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

Preparation Instructions

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

However you decide to get this recipe- just GET IT, and quickly... then run off to your kitchen and whip up some of the easiest apple dumplings you have EVER had!! :)

PS- I didnt use even close to a whole can of Mt. Dew. I used maybe half of one.

Wordless Wednesday- Evening Sun

2010-09-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

My first time trying this shoot into the sun business... and using an action I downloaded from the AMAZINGLY talented Rita over at Coffee Shop. :)

Come join me at these wordless wednesday linky parties!

and

going and going and going...

2010-09-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

*phew* The last couple of weeks has been crazy busy. Not runnning around like a chicken with its head cut off, preparing for some big event, kind of busy. Just busy. One thing after another. Lots of fun- but lots of stuff.

First- My wee baby (who isnt quite so wee any more, but is still the wee-est baby in this house and is there for THE wee baby) started pre-school. Hes just about 2 1/2. Maybe a little early for pre-school, but since I have the kindergarten kid who gets home-schooled once a week- I needed the wee one to be somewhere else for a couple hours. Besides- its the same pre-school the kindergarten kid used to go to and the wee kid LOVED going there to play. Loved it SO much, that he looked like this on his first day-

See? Happy. Excited, even. And with his cute little back pack. Not that pre-schoolers need back packs. But since his brother got one for school, he had to have one too. (actually came in handy to take his diapers in)

Untill it was time to leave him... He walked into school fine. But when I picked him up, his teacher said he cried a bit when he realized I had left him. No big deal, she said, 4 others were crying too. Its a young class. And once one starts, more tend to start. She said the next day would be better. (He goes on Mondays and Tuesdays). The next day wasnt better. :( Its been 3 weeks. He seems to be kind of getting used to it. He likes it when hes there- its when I leave thats a problem. Hes never been to day care or anything, so this whole being away from mommy AND his brother is new to him. We will give it till the end of September- since thats how far we are paid- and re-evaluate at that time. He imght just be too young. Or he might just be a stubborn little punk. But thats a whole other post, that I will have to write if this wee kid doesnt decide that pre-school isnt a terrible place.

anyway- back to the business part and away from the "im-a-crappy-mom-for-leaving-my-kid" part...

The weekend after that wee kid started school, it was time for the air show. Our rinky-dink little airport has an air show every summer. Its not the best air show I have ever been to, but the bigger kid LOVES the planes and really enjoys going. And its cheap. So what the heck. And this was the first year that the wee baby was be big enough to have fun. So we went...

and saw some big guns- (Daddy was excited about this)

and a Humvee thingy-

Checked out some HUGE planes-

and a helicopter (or 5)-

Had some ice cream-

and waited around for the jet to fly-

It never went up before it was time for us to go home for naps. I heard later it was grounded. Either for wind or because some government somebody pulled the permit... I heard both stories. Who knows. the boys didnt care. They had fun anyway. :)

The following week, it was time for the kindergarten kid to start... He was OVER the moon about going to school. See?

He was also excited about his really cool Buzz Lightyear back pack-

There was no crying from him! He LOVES school.

I baked some delicious peaches and cream muffins, which I am planning on blogging about. Just havent gotten that far yet. Heres a sneaky peek! See Swiper there in the background? He was just WAITING for me to look away so he could snatch one of these yummy hunks of peachy goodness from the cooling rack. Speaking of the cooling rack, you'll notice its distinct bow in the center... it could, *possibly*, be from SOMEONES kids using it as a surf board in the middle of the living room floor. Just maybe. ;)

We also had a real live night out with no KIDS! (more crying from the wee one when we left him at his aunt and uncles) and went to a friends birthday party. Lots of fun! And there I am! Actually IN a picture on my blog!

and last, but not least, I was a second camera at a wedding that my professional photographer friend was shooting. It was a ton of fun, but SOOOOOOOOOOOOO long. We were there from 11am-10pm. PHEW! Thats a long day. We got SO MANY amazing pictures... SO MANY.

And so ends the chaos that has been my life lately. We are working on finding a good school days routine, and sticking to it. Back to cooking dinners at home and earlier bed times. This week also kicks off the start of the hubby's ridiculously crazy overtime schedule. He works normal hours during the week. an 8-5 kind of thing. But he has now signed up for overtime EVERY WEEKEND from now till the begining of November. Yes friends- November. Thats 2 months of solid work. I dont know how he does it... and Im not sure I will make it through this alive. There will either be lots more blogging to vent about the craziness, or you wont hear from me till Thanksgiving :)

Capturing the Morning...

2010-09-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

This is my second week linking up to You Capture over at I Should Be Folding Laundry. The challenge this week was to capture morning. Any thing about the morning.

Lately, each morning in out house has been a bit of a struggle for me. A struggle to find a routine now that Gavin is in kindergarten. A struggle to get them to eat breakfast after just waking up, when they are used to eating an hour or more later. A struggle to make sure everything is ready to go- including myself- to take my Monkey to school on time... and then this morning, I added in the challenge of taking a few pictures of that struggle. I know I didnt capture the difficulties I am having... but I sure zeroed in on what is a given on any morning in our house- a school day or not!

The kids are up ready to go at full throttle the second their eyes open. There is no "waking up" for them... but they dont get very far. First thing they do is hit the couch for their morning cartoon fix. On school days its Disney channel for Special Agent Oso and Handy Manny.

Breakfast... I try to vary it so they dont get bored. But the one thing that I get requests for over and over again is waffles. Its not like I make them from scratch or anything. But these boys LOVE their eggo waffles... mostly with syrup, but sometimes as a peanut butter sandwich instead.

So there you go... mornings with my boys... I wish I had it together more to have gotten more details... maybe one day ;)

Now go check out some of the talented bloggers linking up for You Capture..

You Capture: Outside

2010-08-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

This week on my journey through the bloggy goat trails, I came across yet another wonderful blog. Beth of I Should Be Folding Laundry, is amazing! Shes a talented photographer, loving mommy, and has super cute kids and an adorable blog.

A while back, Beth started a weekly photo challenge for anyone who wants to participate. She hosts a linky party every Thursday, and you can join at any time. At the end of each of her posts, she gives you the assignment for the following week. There are TONS of people who link up! It looks like lots of fun.

This weeks mission was to take a picture outside. Any picture. Of anything outside. Just get outside and hunt down a subject! I accepted my mission, and came up with these-

It is SO rare I take photos of anything but my kids, I thought it would be a nice change to do some nature shots. Ill admit- these arent my fave pictures I have ever taken. But I do kinda like that first one of the pink flower... and, heres my guilty concience kicking in, I took these in program mode. Its not a requirement of You Capture to shoot in manual, you can shoot with your phone camera if you want. But I do want to use this challenge to force myself to shoot in manual more. And get to know the camera, and how it works, better. So- my own personal challenge, to go along with You Capture, is to shoot in manual mode! I promise I will form now on. Ask me each week! Hold me accountable!

And now- head on over to Beth's blog, and check out You Capture-

Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-08-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

I know I already posted this picture along with all those other in my last post- but it is seriously one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken... I LOVE it!

Check out Life With My 3 Boybarians for a Sweet Shot Tuesday linky party!

My Oh My, What a Wonderful Day...

2010-08-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I have to get up bright and early to take our amazing Alicia- who has been here all week, visiting from Arizona- to the train station. No one wants her to go, we have all had such a great time with her here, and we wanted her last day to be special. We decided to take her to one of our favorite places to go, Avila Barn.

Fist things first- a climb to the top of the straw platform. A great place for pictures. Especially in the fall when its covered in HUGE pumpkins!

Then a wagon ride out to pick our own apples and play in the rows between the trees-

We sampled our handy work-

And played with the straw on the wagon-

We checked out the tractor-

And contemplated what mischief there was to be found amongst the trees-

When we were done in the apple orchard, this is all there was...

Back at the barn, we ran into a cousin-

Or two...

After some visiting with them we made our way down the street to the beach, for a snow cone break before the trip home.

It was truly a WONDERFUL day!

The things they find...

2010-08-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

The last 2 days the boys have been busy in the back yard. They were very productive days in the critter fiding business.

Yesterday, they made friends this this guy-

and today, Pea stumbled across this guy hanging out on his scooter-

Strawberry Cupcakes

2010-08-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

**disclaimer- I am not a baker. Everything I bake comes out of a box. And even then, its a little iffy.**

Last weekend I stopped by the strawberry stand on my way home from the farmer's market and picked up 3 basket of berries, fresh form the field. As the week has worn on, the berries have gotten a little... mushy. The kids ate a ton of them, but I also had raspberries, a watermelon, and blueberries in the fridge for them to eat. So not everything got consumed in a timely fashion.

Today I decided I wanted to make some cupcakes. But I didnt want plain ol' cupcakes. Its really warm today and that made me crave something summery. It dawned on me that I could use the strawberries (maybe) and add them to my boxed cupcake mix for a refreshing treat!

Ok, so I really didnt know how they would turn out, because as I said before- Im no baker. I figured "what the heck!" and tried it anyway... I was pleasantly surprised with my results!!

First- I cut up my not so attractive berries. Sure made them look a lot better!

Then I used one box of white cake mix, mixed according to the directions on the box, and added a bunch of my berry bits-

I fillled the cups and baked according to the box.

Since I didnt want a ton of sweet gooey frosting, I just used some Cool-Whip and a couple left over pieces of strawberry to top them-

The strawberries in the cupcakes cooked a little bit, but not to the point that they were really mushy. They give a nice tang to the white cake, and the cool-whip was just enough for a topping. I think cream cheese frosting would have also been really good. And plain would work also. I dont see these little goodies lasting very long! Yum!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday!

2010-08-10T21:44:00.001-07:00

(ok, so I didnt take this picture. Kinda impossible since thats me right there in the middle. but it was on MY camera and its my fave picture this week!)

Happy Birthday to ME!!!! (picture HEAVY)

2010-08-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

I mentioned last week that my birthday was Friday and that my hubby "may or may not" have been planning a party for me. Turns out- HE WAS! It was amazing! We had fabulous friends, delicious food, and a homemade cake :)

I got home from my WONDERFUL day of pampering to these beautiful roses-

Fun decorations-

My favorite champagne-

And LOTS of food, family, and friends!

The BIGGEST surpsise? These girls showed up-

I have known these two since we were in our early teens. We have pretty much seen it and done it all, together. They both live in AZ and I am STILL on cloud 9 that they made the trip out for my party. And apparently- that sneaky one on the right was in on the whole thing form the very beginning! If it werent for her putting a bug in my hubby's ear- there may not have been a party! Thanks Scuba!

The entire party was SO SO MUCH FUN!

Gavin and his buddies in their "table fort"-

Blowing out the candles on my homemade (from a box) red velvet cake-

Grady with his "Aunt Manda"-

The man behind it all! Thank you so much to my wonderful hubby for an outstanding birthday!

Fresh Fade Friday (also known as Friday Photo Bliss)

2010-08-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

I have missed Wordless Wednesday this week due to our ridiculously busy days, but I made up for it today!! Im taking a page from Coffee Shop Photography and posting Friday Photo Bliss pictures. Which, for today, has been dubbed FRESH FADE FRIDAY! Gavin got to go to the barber shop and is sporting a fresh fade just in time to start kindergarten in a couple weeks. He looks so much older with a new 'do... and is SO silly these days- its really not an easy task to get pictures of him...

Is the week over yet???

2010-08-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

I am now officially halfway through the busy week of staying home, that I have ever had! Ok, maybe not EVER had. But really close.

The reason behind all this business, you ask? MY BIRTHDAY. Not just any ol' birthday. Its the big-

Yup. Thats right. As of Friday, my 20s are officially over. Im ok with that. I think. Maybe. Ok, ok. Im working on it. A lot of things happened in my 20s. A LOT. The biggest? I met and married my amazing hubby and had 2 fabulous kids. (confession- right this second, Im a incredibly relieved that they are sleeping because today has been not so fabulous. But in general- they are fabulous kids). Left my lifetime home of Arizona and moved to California. Bought our first home. So many HUGE things. I guess now Im ready to tackle my 30s, and use them to work on perfecting those huge things. Make my marriage stronger (no, we dont have marriage issues. but things can always be improved). Continue to raise my boys the best way I know how- and to improve on that best way. To keep them healthy and bring them up to be the amazing people that I know they will be. And to work on our house. Continue to make it ours.

Ok, totally got caught up in the whole leaving my 20s thing... back to business...

Several months ago, I mentioned to my hubby that since its a big birthday- there better be something big happening. I was only partially joking. However- since the man loves me as much as I love him- he remembered I said that. I dont know what *exactly* is going on. Only that I "may or may not" be having a birthday party here at the house. Which leads to the business of this week...

When we bought this house, we primered everything and painted nothing. (ok, almost nothing. my scrap room did get painted. then repainted. but thats a whole other post...) So for the last year everything has been a stark, flat, chalky white. We finally picked some colors and painted the kitchen, last month. Yay! However- the dining room was half painted and the living room and hallways were still untouched. SOOOO... in preparation of people "maybe" coming over, I have been painting.

I am not the worlds best painter. Actually- Im FAR from it. Much closer to the painting skills of a 2 year old, to be honest with you. And because of this, my husband normally tells me that I am, under no circumstances, to paint in this house. BUT... I surprised him the other day and finished painting the dining room wall. I didnt even make a mess. He was MUCHO impressed with me! Since the wall turned out so well, I have volunteered myself to help do the rest of the house while hubby is busy working. So the people, who "may or may not" be coming over on Saturday, dont have to look at primered walls. Fabulous. But add to that, the fact that I also have to CLEAN the whole house for said people. AND cook as usual. AND deal with my kids (who have decided to turn into the spawn of satan this week and resist naps and sleeping at night). UGH!

So there you have it... the story of my crazy week. Frankly, the whole thing makes me want to do this-

Im just hoping to survive until Saturday morning when I can head to the salon for one of these-

and some of this-

Followed by a stop at-

Where they will add a touch of -

Ahhh... then when I am allowed to, I will return home. With high hopes that those people really DID show up!

Back-To-School Giveaways!!

2010-08-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of the blogs that I follow regularly are participating in a multi-blog Back-To-School Giveaway! The whole deal starts on Monday Aug. 9th and continues through the week. They have announced some of the sponsors- and this thing is HUGE! There will be prizes from Mabels Labels, Crocs, Goodbyn Lunchboxes, and Agoo clothing and even more that they havent announced yet!!

Angry Julie Monday and Hoosier Homemade have all the details on the giveaway and the participating bloggers. I adore both of their blogs, so Im SURE the rest are just as great! In fact- Im going to check out the rest of them later on!

So head over to facebook and "like" Back 2 School Giveaway Bonanza to keep up on all the latest news and updates!

Giveaways Galore!

2010-08-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

hello friends! I wanted to tell you about not one, but THREE, amazing Silhouette giveaways! These 3 blogs are all on my blog roll because of their amazing crafty-ness and inspiration!!! Go check out all 3 and enter to win a Silhouette machine! Then stick around and check out some of their projects and other posts!!

Tidy Mom

The Idea Room

The Motherload

***edited to add- not sure what the deal is with the odd formatting on this post... I cant get those boxes to go away. ***

Indoor S'mores

2010-07-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

The other night, after dinner, this cute kid-

was begging for S'mores, for dessert. He begged. And begged. And begged s'more (ha! I crack myself up!). Finally, the world's best dad gave in and fired up the stove! Gotta love a gas range!! In no time there was lots of this-

Which led to this-

Yum... Thanks Hubby!

A trip to the park and something new!!

2010-07-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

After naps this afternoon we packed up the kids and headed to the park. And when I say "packed up", I mean we walked out the front door and down 2 blocks. :) We are luck enough to live within walking distance of a fabulous park. We go pretty often, but we go in the morning so my husband is usually at work. Since today is Sunday afternoon, he made an appearance. Which the boys loved.

And to prove it, they RAN...

And RAN...

And RAN some more...

And when it was time to go home...

Now the something new- when you get to the end of this post you will notice the comments look different. I loaded a program called Disqus onto my blog. It will let me reply to directly to your comments, if you leave a question or I have something to say, and it will email you that I replied. No need to keep checking back to check if I answered or not. Not that I get a ton of questions here... but I think its a cool feature and thought I would add it! Let me know what you think :)

Watermelon

2010-07-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last week at the grocery store, we were in the produce section and I spied a huge bin of seedless watermelons. I asked the boys if they were interested- and they were THRILLED. (Really they are thrilled at the thought of buying any fruit- or maybe just the buying part. Clearly they are my kids... Anyway...) I picked up a watermelon and brought it home. This morning rolled around, and I figured I should cut it up before it went bad. Then I thought "hey! it might be fun to had out large slices of melon (outside) and bust out the brand new camera." I was not disapointed. This was some serious watermelon consumption!

Luckily for me- the sprinklers came on just after they were done, and took care of the sticky mess...

I love summer!

Wordless Wednesday: A Day at the Beach

2010-07-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

This weeks Wordless Wednesday Linky Party brought to you by A Beautiful Mess!!!

Wordless Wednesday: A Boy and his dog

2010-07-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Join us at Angry Julie Monday's

for a Wordless Wednesday Linky Party!!

Yesterday

2010-07-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a little bit busy. Not crazy what-the-heck-are-we-doing kind of busy, but what seems to be pretty typical for us this summer.

We were out of milk yesterday morning and had minimal everything else... so I decided a treat was in order and we went to Burger King for breakfast. French toast sticks- YUM!

Then off to Target...

With a kid who, clearly, dresses himself-

Home for lunch and a nap. Then off again, for a little of this-

Then we had time for one last night of fun with our friends form out of town. So we headed to SLO for farmers market. First stop- Firestone for dinner! Delicious, as usual. And with so many of us, dinner looked like this-

And after dinner resembled this- Yum. Shock Top.

Out walking off a few of the 9 million fries that were consumed-

And what trip to SLO would be complete, without a stop by bubble gum alley?

Foul. I know.

And now its Friday. We are off and running on another amazing summer day. Only not quite as fast as yesterday. The weekend is coming, and its a holiday. We need to rest up!

Another giveaway at My Domestic Adventures!!

2010-07-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

My fabulous friend Chelsea is hosting another give away on her blog. Head over to My Domestic Adventures to enter for a change to win this SUPER cute bag!

How adorable is that!?!? We all need a little extra room for this summer. This is PERFECT!

The Great Debate...

2010-06-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

So there is this mental debate I have on a regular basis. It confounds me each time I think about it. I went round and round about it TODAY, as a matter of fact... Its my blog template... layout... format... whatever you want to call it.

I *love* looking through all the awesome things other people have come up with and changing it up now and again. But then I run into this narrow-ish main column that cuts off my pictures and that I cant fix. So my choices are this- 1. suck it up and deal with it. 2. use the minima template option here on blogger and be able to expand my column width and therefore, my pictures. 3. pay someone to make me a blog template.

Pretty much #3 is out. At this point, I can't say I blog enough to make it worth paying someone to make me a personalized template. Just like I havent purchased a domain name, like all the bloggy masters say you should do.

That bring us to number 1 and 2. I love having a cute blog, but I don't love having my pictures cut off. SO- what do YOU think??? Plain white blog with bigger pics? or a super cute bloggy page with normal (and sometimes cut off) pictures???? hmmm??? Please help me solve this Great Blog Template Debate!

Wordless Wednesday: Picking Blueberries

2010-06-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

Join us at Angry Julie Monday's
Wordless Wednesday Linky Party!

Blueberry Picking

2010-06-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

One of the awesome things about living in California, instead of Arizona, is the produce! There are many pick-your-own places all year round, that are super close by. On Friday we headed down the 101 to the blueberry patch for a big bucket of fresh picked berries :)

Each time we go, it makes me think back to our first visit there... We went with my Brother-in-law and his wife and kids. Gavin was about a year and a half, which means Grady wasn't here yet. And Gavin ran all around picking berries and stuffing them in his mouth. Over and over. Pick and stuff, pick and stuff. And it was HOT. Like 90-something hot. All of a sudden Gavin stopped and said he was done. We told him the buckets werent full yet, so it was going to be a little longer. Then it happened. ALLLLLLL those berries he has stuffed in- came right back out. Right there in the middle of the blueberry bushes. After about 10 minutes rest in the shade and a drink of water- he was back to picking and stuffing. Judging by the smear of blueberry on his cheek in this picture- thats still his preferred method.

This was Grady's first time really being able to pick. Last year when we went, he spend much of the time in the stroller hanging out. Blueberries aren't his favorite, so I must say- he wasnt super into this whole thing. He carried his bucket around and picked a few. then got mad when he tripped and spilled them. Towards the end he tried to snatch my bucket and pour all my berries in to his. Then he tossed his bucket down and said he wanted to go home. He is SO two.

Over all it was a good time... we got several pounds of blue berries fresh from the bush. I also picked up some locally made blueberry honey. Now I need to find something to do with all this blue goodness sitting in my fridge. So far I have tossed some on my cereal in the morning and eaten them by the handful right out of the fridge... Got any good blueberry recipes?

Good friends and good food.

2010-06-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

This week we have friends from out of state visiting. We declared Sunday to be "BBQ at our house" day, since my lovely husband had the whole day off.

And BBQ we did!!

Tri-tip... bread... beans... corn on the cob... DELISH! I cant begin to tell you how satisfyingly STUFFED I was last night. Yum. And I ate left over bread for breakfast. Bread toasted on the grill and dipped in garlic butter... ahhhhhhhh... Doesn't get much better than that!

and P.S.- how great does our grass look? My fabulous hubby put some major work in out there recently, and it has totally paid off!

omg! ANOTHER silhouette give away!

2010-06-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Want another chance to win???? Head over to Thrifty Decor Chick and check out her give away too!!!!