Finally...

a weekend at home!!! I have to say that I was SO nice to spend an entire weekend at home, unfortunately, Mike couldn't be here with us...so we had to make do with Uncle Stu!!! (note: not really an uncle, just my best friend from PT school. But he's like an uncle to my kids!) And a new friend...Auntie Marie (she's not an aunt either...but since we had Uncle Stu, we had to have an aunt:) She actually is graduating from PT school too...she was a year behind me and Stu, and she's an intern at the hospital that I work at!! So it was SO awesome to spend some time with them...getting to catch up with Stu and getting to know Marie. To get ready for their visit, I spent the entire morning cleaning house...being away 5 weekends in a row, and working full time does NOT do wonders for your house!!! So nice to have a clean house again!! Anyway, so when Stu got here we headed down to the beach...thankfully the weather was cooperating (we had weird thundershowers about an hour and a half before he arrived). And I got some AWESOME pictures...I think that I took almost 250 shots...but I ended up keeping about 150 (and I could probably delete some others too). So here's just a few:

Heading to the beach with Uncle Stu leading the way!!

A couple of pics of Pumpkin enjoying the ocean...

And some of Monkey playing in the surf...

And last, but not least, my Sweet Pea. It took her a while to warm up to the ocean, at first she wouldn't get near it...didn't even want to touch it...

Then, slowly, she gained a little confidence...and would run up to the water's edge...

But quickly run away!!

Then, being the gutsy girl that she is...she allowed the sea to swallow her legs up!!

But still wasn't quite sure she wanted to lose her legs...

Then decided that it really wasn't all that bad...

And really rather enjoyed it!!

And by the end of the day...was basking in all the glory of the ocean!!

Auntie Marie made a quick friend out of Sweet Pea by sharing in her newfound joy of the sea!!

And Uncle Stu was just a great place to rest a weary body!! :)

By the end of the day...a great time was had by all...

Especially when the kids got to walk "Pippy" the Doberman!!

And yes...I WAS actually there...who do you think was taking all the pictures?!

Daddy's Day!!

Well, this weekend, yet again...we went up to the Bay Area. But it wasn't as bad as the other weekends because we are finally done with our never-ending garage sale. We have an out...one of Mike's aunts has graciously offered to sell our items...over in Saipan. So, we just have to box it up and ship it over there...and it's not as expensive as it sounds because the in-laws ship a container over there every other month or so...so it's off our hands...FINALLY!!! I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to finally be done with that!

And on Sunday, we went to brunch...the usual for the in-laws, to celebrate Daddy's day and my father-in-law's birthday. The great thing about is it that I got some really great pictures!

Finally, a picture that I want to print out and frame of my entire little clan!!

Auntie Jenn and Uncle Jay are always a big hit with the kiddos!!

and this is probably my favorite picture of me and Sweet Pea recently...a picture that I actually like of myself...go figure!!

The food was okay, I got really, really stuffed off of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream...as Sweet Pea would say "mmmmmmm, DElicious!!!"

On another note...I started running again...if you can call what I do running:) I decided that I really need to start getting back in to some sort of shape and I was completely stressed out, so I needed a natural high...or so I thought I would get a natural high. But what I actually got was burning lungs and screaming muscles. I think that my leg muscles went on strike after that because the next day I couldn't even walk properly...there was no ninja here...all you could here was plop, plop, plop!! I couldn't even cushion my walk because my muscles were SO SORE!!! It sucks to be 30!! Nah...it just sucks to be out of shape! So, I made it on 2 runs, Wednesday and Friday. Then, I took the weekend off with every intention of going for a run early this morning...but I've been battling some sort of cold or allergies or something that has had me feeling really run down with a sore throat and a headache...and I did NOT feel like running at 5:30 this morning. So I thought, "okay, when can I make up my missed run?" and I ran into a co-worker who mentioned that they're playing basketball tonight..."SWEET", I thought, "this will make up for my run!!" So I go to this church at 7:00, and no-one is there...I take that back, there is a Bible Camp for kids there...but no basketball. TOTAL BUMMER!!! I was actually REALLY looking forward to playing again. So, I guess that I have to wake up early again for a run:( Just a note...I would MUCH rather play basketball to get in shape than run!! I totally need to find a place where I can play basketball!!

I just wanted to take this moment to thank my big sis...Tanya...she just totally bailed me out...again!!! I was so stressed and emotional, and she stepped in and was my sister...thank you for what you did...thank you for being there for me!!! I LOVE YOU!!! This is NOT the greatest picture of us...but, unfortunately, it's the most recent...I think that we're a little tipsy here...after all, it was taken on Christmas Eve!!!

So, not much else to relay here...just some cute pictures that I took this weekend!!

Gotta love it when the girls are playing together nicely AND cooperate with you when you want to take their picture!! And you KNOW you remember those My Little Ponies!!! They were a HUGE hit with me and my younger sister, Rachel! I was SO excited when they started coming out with them again...and now Sweet Pea has developed a love for them...thankfully, Pumpkin has...a...few, that she is willing to share:)

Okay...now this is just the sweetest little picture!!

And I just LOVE getting a picture of a natural smile...or laugh...whatever...it just looks SO much better than a posed one!! I must say that he's a pretty nice looking guy...and he's mine:)

My two guys!!! So cute!

So, that's all for now...got it? GOOD!!!

What a Weekend!!

So we had a pretty fun Sunday. We went up to Tita Vickie's in Sacramento and the kiddos basically spent the entire day in the pool...no kidding, I think that Monkey was out of the pool...maybe an hour out of the 9 hours we were there. The great thing about it was that I finally got some great summer pictures!! There's nothing better than spending a day with people you love!! Here are a few LOs that I made of our day there:

Monkey had a blast...for someone who just a month ago was totally freaked out about taking showers and baths (trust me, this fear came out of nowhere...I'm talking mid-shower, he develops this insane fear of water!!) he didn't show any fear of the water today!!! I just love the smiles on his face...he just makes you want to smile, he just exudes happiness:)

Credits:

Template & Word Art by Sue Cummings available at Oscraps

And Sweet Pea, after a few hours of playing around on the stairs, found the dessert table...and from the moment she spied the chocolate cookies the negotiating began! She wanted 4, I said 2...and she reluctantly agreed to 3. And let me tell you, she knows when I'm trying to cheat her...she made sure I gave her 3!! And she just enjoyed them SO much...look at the enjoyment on her face!! She's in heaven:)

Credits:

Template & Word Art by Sue Cummings available at Oscraps

And not to worry...I am going to make a LO about Pumpkin, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. She didn't have as much fun as the others. Apparently while I was out buying my new swimsuit, she was knocked down to the ground by my ever-so-graceful Payton, and she hit her forehead. So she was sporting a small headache for most of the day. But I did manage to get some great shots of Auntie Jenn giving her some swimming lessons. I have to say, and Auntie Jenn will agree, that Pumpkin picked up the frog kick pretty quickly!! So, stay tuned...a swimming lesson with Auntie Jenn LO will soon be gracing this blog:)

On another note...I had the opportunity to see "Sex and the City - The Movie" this weekend with Jenn. It was a totally last minute thought, at dinner she mentioned to me that she had already seen it, I told her that I didn't have anyone to watch it with, since my best friend (my little sister - who got me started on SATC) lives in Canada...and I can't wait until I go up there to see it. So she told me whenever I want, just ask and she'll see it with me...so I asked!! We had a blast!! First a cocktail at Outback Steakhouse...mmmm, yummy Kiwi Margarita!!

Unfortunately, this picture is out of focus...but thanks to TaylorMade Designs designer spotlight challenge I know just what to do to save this picture!!!

Then it was off to see Carrie and the gang!! I have to say that this was an AMAZING movie!! And I'm not just saying that because I'm a Sex and the City fan, it really was great. It had it all, I laughed, cried, felt the heartache & pain, felt hope and happiness...it was an amazing rollercoaster!! I really recommend it for everyone!! MUST GO SEE!!!

And today, I got off work a little early, so as a surprise, Mike and I took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda. Cute movie, the kids loved it, especially Monkey...I was entertained just listening to him laugh. Then the kids put on their own little kung fu show after the movie outside the theatres...that, I think was better than the movie. I wouldn't say that it's been as good as some of the other Dreamwork cartoons (ie. Shrek and Madagascar), but it was cute and entertaining.

Monkey's favorite character was of course Po, the Panda.

And Pumpkin's was Tigress, the female tiger! You go girl!!!

This totally makes me want to get the kiddos in to martial arts, I think that they would love it. And I would love to see them be able to have the confidence in themselves and be able to defend themselves, if need be. Just the mom in me wanting her kids to be safe!!

And Sweet Pea? Well, she was just happy to be watching a movie with Mom while eating popcorn and candy. On that note...can you believe that a large popcorn, a bottled water and a package of Goobers cost over $13?! I think that it's just crazy how much they are charging for snacks!!! Shhhh...don't tell anyone, but I snuck in some drinks and snacks of my own...I mean, come on...if what I bought cost that much, can you imagine what it would cost for snacks for 5?

Anyway, that's it for now...it's nighty night for me!!

I'm So Excited!!

and honoured to have been chosen as one of the winner's of The Queen of Quirk's contest that she had on her blog, there were some amazing entries. We had to make a LO of the special guy in our life...and this is the LO that I entered:

Credits:

TaylorMade Designs Blending In Paper Pack available at Oscraps

I just love this pic of my DH holding up all of my kids, the title just came so easily. And I don't make very many LO's of me or my DH, so it was fun to do one where the main subject was him. I can't wait to see what I win!!

Coming this Monday, June 9th, one of my favorite designers - TaylorMade Designs - is in the designer's spotlight at Oscraps!! She is going to have some amazing challenges, freebies and prizes to give away...you MUST come check it out. You can get info about it and some amazing tutorials, at her blog.

Well, that's it for now...aren't you proud that I updated this in only a week?! I certainly am...maybe this is a new trend for me...we'll see.