Tutu Cute

Every little girl loves a big twirly skirt and what better way to give her that than with a tutu? So while Grandma & Aunti were visiting, we made three of them (pink, lt green & orange) for my little ballerina. I still have the materials for 3 more but we'll see how long it takes to finish them. Not only are they fun on their own as skirts, but they also give lift to every dress she owns so now she wears them virtually every day. What follows here is how to make them - no pattern and minimal cutting necessary.Measure your child's waist (mine's was 20"). You will need some fake flower petals, thread and 1.5 times the waist length (so I used about a yard) of each of the following: - toole (double this) - sheer - ribbon - soft flannel - 1" non-roll elastic (only waist length necessary, not 1.5X, so I used 20")

1) put a finished edge on 3 sides of the flannel (I used my serger on a regular stitch).
2) put a finished edge on opposite sides of the sheer (I used my serger and did a rolled hem).
3) layer the salvage edges of the folded over toole on top of the flannel, leaving about 2" of flannel for the waist. You should now have 5 layers (4 toole + 1 flannel) of salvage edges together.
4) layer the sheer on top of the toole, again with one of the two salvage edges at the waist.
5) fold over the flannel to make a waistband including all 4 layers of toole and the layer of sheer.
NOTE: We didn't really use a yard of the flannel, it was a straight skirt (20") so we had to gather the sheer & toole separately. This does two things, makes the waistband less bulky but it also adds difficulty and time to the process.

6) pin & sew the flannel to the toole & sheer into the flannel waistband.
7) insert the elastic into the waistband (thus gathering the layers) and sew shut.
NOTE: if you sew shut the back seam then the skirt won't twirl out/up as well. Since you've roll hemmed the sheer it will still look finished. I sewed shut the flannel at this point so she could wear it on it's own without shorts under it, but you don't have to.

8) fold up the sheer and sew it to itself using the ribbon to hide the hem (mine were about 4").
NOTE: you want the sheer to be the longest of the layers.

9) fill the sheer hem with the fake flower petals, making sure the spread them out evenly then sew shut.
10) give it to your little ballerina and watch her test out it's twirl-ability.

Here's a diagram of the layers for your reference. Blue is flannel, red is sheer, black is toole, purple is ribbon, green is where to sew layers together and yellow is elastic.

My Brave Little Man

This Sunday was my little man's first Easter egg hunt. His sister was gone with Nana & Grandpa to Disney on Ice for her birthday and Daddy doesn't "do" Easter egg hunts he says, so it was just the two of us. A friend of ours invited us to join her and her daughter to the event that was hosted by her church. There was a volleyball game, tug-o-war, face painting, a bounce house, and the ever popular egg hunt. The hunt was definitely the highlight of his day. It didn't take long to figure out that there was candy in them-there eggs and has since spent every day disassembling the plastic decorative eggs laid out around our house in the hopes of finding more candy. He sure is a persistent little one.
The highlight of the day for me was not the hunt however, but the introduction of the Easter Bunny himself. At first, this 7 foot animal was quite daunting to my 1.75-year-old. He was inquisitive though and was soon following Mr. Bunny everywhere (keeping a safe distance). Eventually, with some coaxing from mom, the two became acquainted long enough for me to snap a quick photo. You'll note however, that the trust was not entirely there as my brave little man was NOT willing to take his eyes off of the suspicious rabbit.

The Derby

We spent last Saturday at the Santa Anita Derby. The weather was beautiful and my hubby was lucky so both those things combined make for a pretty great day. The four of us set up chairs in front of the jumbotron, right by the finish line. Early on, my lucky other half hit a $1 bet to win $120 and the day pretty much followed suit. I lost about $20 but he more than made up for it with his winnings. There aren't many activities where you can go have so much fun and wind up making money on the deal are there?

I was not born for DDR

There are two kinds of people in this world:
-Those born to win at "Dance Dance Revolution"
-Those who are not
I learned recently when the hurdlers joined us for pizza and introduced me to the game that I fall into the latter category. Not only were they all much more agile than I was at this endeavor, but they made it look easy. Whereas each athlete could last for several minutes and in many cases, several rounds, I only lasted several steps. All this time I thought I had some kind of rhythmic abilities and yet now I picture myself more on the same level as Elaine from Seinfeld (a show which most of my hurdlers probably have never seen - sigh). Oh well, I am consoling myself in the assumption that they have nothing better to do with their time than go home and practice this game until their feet are calloused and have sweated through their shirts. Sour grapes maybe, but it's all I've got.

A WILD Birthday

Our little girl recently turned 3 (I am still in denial) and she requested a wild animal birthday party, probably because of our recent annual zoo membership. So we loaded up on the jungle animals, ordered a giraffe bounce-house and bought a monkey pinata. The day was beautiful and everyone seemed to have a good time. In contrast to our past 75 person "all family & friends" parties, this one was just for immediate family and a few friends. Both party types have their benefits, but this one turned out very nicely.

Finally, a WEEK Later

My two kids had become accustomed to getting served extra helpings of attention all week last week while our family was staying with us. We went shopping, made birthday party decorations, sewed tu-tus (more on that later), went to Disneyland, had a birthday party, went to track practices, a track meet, out to eat, spent lots of time playing on the playground in the back yard, and had about 10 days of general mayhem. The LOVED it. So on Sunday night, when the house was quiet again, you could almost hear the crickets chirp as they wondered how to occupy their time. All week long they have struggled with entertaining each other until finally, today, they seem to have recuperated from the overdose. Did I mention it's 2 weeks till tax day? {insert mommy's sigh of relief here}

What a lucky couple of kids to have so much wonderful family and friends to love them.

What a Happy Place

We had a fantastic time with Aunti, Grandma and three cousins visiting us last week. One of the highlights was our trip to Disneyland on Wednesday. The day was perfect. It was hot enough for the girls to want to go on Splash Mountain several times but not hot enough to get sunburned or be miserable. We got to enjoy most of the rides (except notably Alice in Wonderland and the train) and only had one long wait, for Peter Pan.

For a little while Aunti took the older girls on bigger rides and Grandma and I took my sweetheart on the stearnwheeler to eat lunch and then on some rides in Fantasyland. I couldn't have asked for a better day. We were there from opening until closing and enjoyed every minute of it.

Coach Knows Best

For the last five years or so I've been volunteering my time with the local track & field team, coaching the hurdlers. Every year is different, but I have yet to have a year that was not extremely enjoyable. My kids get to go outside and play during practice, I get some exercise, and prior to me volunteering there was no coach for hurdles so I figure my advice is better than nothing, right?

Interacting with the hurdling team this year in particular has thus far been a real joy. I have about 12-14 hurdlers (a few not pictured here) and from what I can tell, they all get along well. There are a several seniors, a few freshmen and a good mix of gals & guys. We've only had one meet so far and swept the guy's races and did well in the gals races considering we were missing two returning varsity and it was the first real meet for most of the gals.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all of these athletes develop through the season and hope by the end of the season that they are all fast enough to kick my butt in practice (I'm trying my hardest to stay ahead of them!).

What to Make

Last night we made an AWESOME fish dish that, even for those who don't like fish, is sure to be a hit. It tastes amazing, looks fancy, but is easy to make. As you may remember, we went to Mexico recently and came back with a sizeable amount of Dorado...also known as Mahi Mahi, so we had some last night and this is how we made it (I figure you could use the recipe on almost any fish though):

Combine crushed macademia nuts with a little flour, some bread crumbs and butter so that it's a dry, crumbly mix. Lay out the fish on a foiled, oiled pan and cook it at 425 for 5 minutes. Brush the fish with coconut milk then top with the nut mixture and cook again for about 10 more minutes until the topping is golden brown. Allow the fish to sit for about 10 minutes so that the topping sets up nicely and enjoy.

The topping on this was so good I almost could have eaten it without the fish at all but then I'm sure my system would have hated me today. We served it with peas & carrots that, since they're kind of sweet, paired nicely with the topping. Both our kids cleaned their plates and the littlest one ate TWO extra helpings, which, since it's fish, I was just fine with. If you like fish AT ALL I wholeheartedly recommend this recipe that I got from my good friend Alton Brown.

Coming Soon

Alright, I hear you...I HEAR you! I know it's been a long time since I've posted, but I have had family visiting and track to be coaching and a 3rd birthday party to be throwing so get off my back already! I am sorry to say I don't have time for a good post right now but coming soon:

-Our little princess's 3rd birthday party
-The first trip to Disneyland for our little girl
-My awesome hurdlers
-My week full of family
etc,etc, etc...

I've just got to find my head and I'll get right on it...

Let the Games Begin

Since high school I have been a North Carolina fan. As it always turns out, I DON'T join the usual competition brackets when the Tar Heels win however. So in an effort to help the NC karma, I have not paid to be part of the gambling group this year. I could not, however, keep myself from completing a bracket, just out of curiosity for how I would have done. My final score is 86-79 just in case you think you can beat me. Go powder blue!UPDATE: I'm 12 for 13, darn Texas anyways....
UPDATE: Okay, now I'm only 38 of 48 but 7 of my great 8 are still in it...getting bleaker.
UPDATE: Well, I'm only 43 of 60 now, but my two final teams are still in the running...Go NC!

Spring is springing

***********Insert deep, content sigh here******************

We are pretty lucky to live in such a beautiful area. A few weeks ago we had so much snow that my minivan was buried to above the window line. Today there is not a speck of snow on our property (nor to be seen from it except the beautiful mountain line in the distance). The great part about our location is that we get the cold winters and change of seasons but not so much rain that you spend 2 of the seasons (spring & fall) indoors trying to stay dry.

Today is a complete 180 from the weather a few weeks ago. Today we have sunshine over sunshine with an extra dose of sunshine. It's about 80+ degrees and all my flowers are peeking up out of the ground. We spent the last weekend doing some yard work and planting of seeds and general spring clean-up activities.N ow I am loving the feeling content, happy feeling. These pictures were both taken at our house this morning. Don't you just LOVE changing seasons?

What to Make

Steak, steak & more steak...

I'm always looking for a new way to make it and here's my latest find:

Mix together black pepper, chile powder, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, salt, cumin, cloves & cayenne pepper. Rub it all over your steak and let it get happy for 10 minutes or so. Grill over indirect heat for about 5 minutes per side then transfer to a plate, cover with foil and let sit for another 5 minutes. Easy cheesy and yummy to your tummy.

Oh, if you're squeemish about heat/spicy foods, then cut back on the pepper and chile/cayenne and it will be much more mild. I didn't though. We're into spicy.

Mexico

Sure, we probably didn't have the money to go and yes, we probably shouldn't have taken so much time off work, but when you take priorities into account, how could we NOT go?

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
It's always ourselves we find in the sea" - E.E.Cummings

As a warning: There are over 90 pictures here (about 1/4 of those taken) so it's kind of a big file

What to Make

I'll be the first to admit that these are the most stereotypical "icky vegetable" that there is on the planet. HOWEVER, I made this recipe two nights ago and all three of my picky eaters gobbled them up. First, quarter and trim your brussels sprouts (yep, I said it, I saw you cringe, trust me, their going to be good). Toss them with olive oil that has a little salt & sugar dissolved into it. Then lay them out on a lightly oiled, rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Mix together a little parsley, butter, pepper and lemon zest then toss with the brussels sprouts. Top it off with some parmesan cheese and voila - yummy taste and good-for-you too!

It's like living with two little mice

UGH! Okay, to set the stage, here's what happened:

We went to Cabo for a week and came back with LOADS of pictures (I'm talkin' over 400). So instead of bogging down my memory card in my camera, I uploaded them to Grandpa's laptop in the thought that I'd just get them from him when we got home. Good idea, right? Right. Fastforward to Monday morning and he offers me a memory stick filled with the pictures to take home and upload to my computer and just return the memory stick when I get a chance. Still all very good ideas. I got home and dropped off a bunch of stuff in the office (the kids didn't even get out of the car), including putting the memory stick on my desk. We headed from there to the supermarket and ran some other errands.

Having said that, you would think it would be smooth sailing from there, right?

The next morning (yesterday, Tuesday), I couldn't find the memory stick on my desk. SO I of course, asked the kids if they knew what happened to it and they of course did not know. The eldest began bringing me things that she THOUGHT I was looking for but weren't the memory stick (many of which I HAD been looking for previously, grrr). I mentioned it missing to hubby last night.

This morning we both did independent searches to no avail. He then came home at lunch and we double teamed the office and car hoping to work off of each other's insights. Nope. No dice. He headed back to work having given up and resigned to telling grandpa it was lost. I was frustrated and not willing to give up, having found several little "stashes" around the office of things (my AAA card, stale pretzels, a bracelet, old mail, a camera battery, etc) and I kept up my search. I repeated my rounds again on my knees (to be at their eye level) and it came to me...they play under my desk! A quick search of my desk drawer found another lucrative stash of treasures that they had slid over the back edge from under the desktop. Given another hefty search around I found it! The memory stick had been set on a little lip under the desk and blended (black on black) so well that I would have never found it without being nose-to-nose with it.

Maybe after this my little guy deserves the nickname "Stuart Little"....

Georgia

So, it's been ages since I posted and for good reason. We've been BUSY BUSY BUSY! For a week we were gone to Cabo (more on that hopefully soon) and then we got home last week just in time to turn around and head back to the airport on our way to Georgia for NASCAR. We had a spectacular time and are so very very lucky to have family who live close and are happy to take the kids for the weekend. The kids get time with their grandma/grandpa/great-grandparents (who they went to visit) and Mom & Dad get some time alone together. Everybody wins!....except Carl Edwards, who came in a respectable third....

A Jumpin' Good Time

Last week we went to Jump Zone for the first time and the kids had a fantastic time. Four of their little friends were there too, which made the day extra special fun.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Today is Daddy's birthday but we celebrated it early last week at Nana & Grandpa's house since they were going to be gone today. Be happy you're getting older Daddy, birthdays are about the only thing you'll be given in your life that comes to you without effort. Plus, really if you think about it, birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest. We love you so much Daddy, here's a funny thought to make you smile today:

“You’re getting old when the only thing you want for your birthday is not to be reminded of it.”

Priority Mail

While I was working on the computer this morning, my kids were trying to get my attention so I glanced over and this is what I saw:
I asked if they wanted to be sent to Aunti's house and although the thought seemed momentarily appealing, they must have decided it would be too traumatic because after some deliberation, they vetoed my idea.

What to make

Last night I was craving something for dessert that was warm since we've been having so much snow lately. I remembered a recipe for cobbler that I had seen in a magazine this month and looked it up. Unfortunately it required apples, of which I had none. Also, it required about an hour of cooking time and I wanted something faster, like FIVE minutes. So here's what I did instead:

Mixed quick oats, smashed ginger snaps, margarine and a little coconut until it was fine crumbs. In a pot I mixed a can of peaches, dried blueberries, some brown sugar and cornstarch and heated it until it boiled and thickened. At the same time I heated the oats mixture in a skillet, stirring constantly. I then spooned the peaches mixture into bowls and topped it with the oats mixture. Voila! Peach cobbler in five minutes! The only bad things in it were the ginger snaps and brown sugar and I didn't use much of either so really, I wasn't too guilt-ridden about finishing my share. It was rather good too and so quick that I'll definitely make this again.

Good as New

My best friend from high school made the most adorable dress for her first daughter when she was three (ahem, TEN years ago...but who's counting). The dress then passed down to my eldest niece, who is somewhat smaller than the original owner but almost the same age. From there the dress progressed down to my second niece, the originator's little sister and finally to my youngest niece. Can you believe that after all that, when my daughter inherited the dress last winter, all that was needed to make it good as new was to mend a small tear where the skirt meets the bodice? She was, of course, very excited to add it to her wardrobe when I mended the tear and added a sash. After all, a girl can never have too many pretty dancing dresses.

My Valentine

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It's Snowing Outside but we have Merryweather Inside

in 2003, my sister made the cutest costumes for her girls. They were the three fairies from Sleeping Beauty, Flora, Fauna and Merriweather. Last winter, when we were visiting, my little sweetheart was the happy recipient of the (albeit rather worn) Merriweather costume. This morning mommy repaired the skirt and my little girl spent the whole rest of her day until nap time dancing in the living room and twirling in her new "princess dress". Of course, her little brother couldn't help but join in and even the dog got extra loving. Even though we're at the beginning of a nasty snowstorm outside, I always have Merry-weather with my little sweeties around me.

Sick Kids = Spoiled Kids

Now that the kids are recovering from being sick for the last week, they're having a hard transition back to our daily routine. It's hard for them to accept that they don't get to climb in bed with Mommy at any hour of the night, aren't held the majority of the day, don't watch cartoons (except Sesame Street during breakfast), and are, for the most part, restricted to one bath per day. Oh the hardships one must endure to learn to entertain one's self.

My laundry multiplies like rabbits

I am sure that my little girl has GOT to be stuffing the hamper with clean clothes when I'm not looking because how else could I possibly be having to do a load of laundry a day? I guess they're kids, so they're clothes are usually dirty. Plus, I HAVE kids, so my clothes too, are usually dirty. Now that I think of it, Daddy IS a contractor so more often than not, he's dirty too....with all this dirty business plus having three of us sick all last week (translate: snot on EVERYTHING), the poor washing machine is on more often than off.

What to make

I made these desserts in separate little cups for the Superbowl but the recipe I had calls for it all to be made in one big bowl then divided. I also altered the recipe from coffee to cocoa, from vanilla pudding to white chocolate pudding and from plain cream cheese/whipped cream to strawberry flavored. The other way it was supposed to resemble tirimisu. Either way it's delicious.

Start by mixing together 2 cups of strawberry whipped cream, a package of strawberry cream cheese, 2 small boxes of white chocolate pudding and 2 cups of milk. Make a layer of vanilla wafer cookies on the bottom of the bowl (I crushed mine up since my cups were small). Drizzle some cold cocoa over the wafers. Top that with the pink mixture and layer some grated chocolate on next. Repeat the layers until the bowl/cups are full. Finish each cup with a spoonful of whipped cream from the tub and garnish with grated chocolate and a strawberry. Allow to set in the refrigerator for 2 hours and serve. These were so cute and just as fun to eat as they were to look at.

What to Make

Here's another of my crock pot favorites. Start by mixing spaghetti sauce, chicken, and buffalo wing sauce in a bowl. Put a big spoonful of it in the bottom of the crock pot. Then alternate layers of uncooked lasagna noodles, then ricotta cheese, then chopped bell peppers, then shredded mozzarella cheese, more meat sauce, more noodles, etc until it's all used. Top it with a little extra shredded mozzarella and some blue cheese crumbles. Top that with a cup of water then cook all it for 4 hours on high.

This recipe makes a lot but for anyone who likes buffalo wing sauce and/or blue cheese then it's sure to be a hit and especially good as leftovers.

Why Walmart isn't in Exile

After having experienced the frustration of Sunday (see below), I was adamant that I would not go willingly into a Walmart again. Fastforward to Monday. We had just left the doctor's office where my little girl insisted she did not need to use the restroom. Of course, when we arrived at Verizon where I was to merely pick up a phonebook, she urgently needed to pee. Much to my dismay, the only restroom in proximity was, of course, Walmart next door. We rushed in and in a moment of insanity, I decided to try for my box of paper again. This being a different, more rational Walmart, I was out of there with paper in hand in under 2 minutes. What was so different at this Walmart from the one across town the day before? Only the Walmart powers-that-be can know. For now, rather than being exiled from my shopping routine they are merely on probation. After all, who knows when I'm going to need a pacifier, tube of lipstick, dishtowels and 10W40 oil all in one stop again.

Walmart is on Probation

You should have seen me at about 1:20 on Sunday at Walmart. You'd have grabbed my arms and yelled at me "Don't do it! She's not worth it!" So here's how it all started:

First of all, if Walmart were a town, you'd lock your doors when you drove through. But that is neither here nor there. I still choose to shop there from time to time.

I needed three things; cream cheese, a box of printer paper, and glass dessert cups. Where, pray-tell do you think such things could all be obtained? Of course, Walmart. So the two kids and I trudged on over around noon, knowing that I had until 1:15 to pick up Daddy and grandpa from golf (Checking the times, you can begin to see my frustration, right?). As we walked in, one of my little sweethearts suggested we buy flowers for the pot they made me last year for mothers' day and some to share with Nana. Like Costco, you can't just buy what you are looking for in Walmart, you must buy at least 3 extra things, so we went to the garden department and picked a nice 6-pack of pansies to share with Nana. At 12:10 we walked past the clothes section and I remembered we're going to Cabo soon and I noticed a cute pair of shorts that would be perfect to bring along (Yes, I buy some clothes at Walmart, So does Taylor Swift, don't judge me). By 12:30 I had about 5 things in my cart but none of the three I had come in for orignially. We headed over to pick up the cream cheese and Daddy called to say he was about ready. I reminded him I had until 1:15 and he agreed that would be fine. Two isles away I found my dessert cups so all that was left was to buy my box of paper.......
.....by 1:00 I had found the place the paper was supposed to be, asked an associate who informed me I was in the wrong place, been relocated to the wrong place, relocated BACK to my original location and told it wasn't on the shelf (duh), and then led to the "area in the back" where they store the unstocked items. By 1:05 the associate had found me the unstocked item (I couldn't give up at that point, I was pot-committed). I rushed to the front to purchase my items and called Daddy to tell him we were running a little late.

After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity in line, I rang up all of my other items and all that was left was my box of paper. I scanned the barcode and was told "item not recognized" by the obviously-smarter-than-me computer. I deferred my intellect to an associate only to be shown the barcode and told to scan it [sigh]. I showed her what happens when you scan the barcode and she tried it herself (because she thought she was midas, obviously). By 1:20 she decided she would call her manager from the back. All I could imagine was the same worthless individual who led me on the wild goose chase for the box in the first place. She must have seen it in my face when she took a couple steps back. I told her I didn't have the time, left the box, and was 15 minutes late to pick up the guys.

My point here - Is the facillity of Walmart worth the hassle of the experience? Granted, there are some wonderful Walmarts, just not anywhere near me. In Texas they are an almost pleasurable experience. I think, given the option, I shall take Target any day of the week.

How do you keep kids busy for over an hour?

Take one babbling brook. Add two kids. Throw in some rocks and you have a sure fire way to burn at least an hour. I was amazed at how mesmerized the kids were with the simple act of throwing rocks into the water. Too bad we don't have a brook running on our property where I could watch them. They'd be there all the time.
NOTE: This little trick works on Daddy too.
Here's a shot of Daddy helping his little girl rinse off her hands :)

Watch where you're walking

Recently, Daddy got a cool book about the common vegetation on the west coast that are edible and medicinal. We'll spare the comments about his obsession with Survivorman and Man vs Wild that would naturally fit in here. Since buying this book, we've been looking forward to the weekend when we could test it out. This morning/afternoon we went for a hike in the woods to see what we could identify.We brought some plastic bags to collect specimen and our survival guide and of course, snacks. The kids had a great time filling up their bags with rocks and sticks and pine cones while we were busy observing the few plants that were not in hibernation. We found manzanita (to use in a sitz bath for bum troubles), ferns (good when new and curly), sage (to season dishes), parsley (to season dishes), miners' lettuce (good in salads), serviceberries (good in teas), stinging nettles (good for soup) and about 5 more plants yet to be identified by us. We plan to go out again sometime in April when things are in bloom and there should be a plethera of plants to choose from.
Our little girl's favorite part was finding the two sparkly rocks (Quartz) that she brought home with her and her little brother's favorite part was, of course, the snacks. We may not be able to live off the land, but it's a fun excuse to play outside. Plus, I'll definitely pay more attention to what I'm walking on next time we're hiking.

UPDATE: Upon further inspection, we realized that the sage was really rockcress and the Miner's Lettuce was really Amaranth. Oh, and the parsley was really sanicle...we're rookies, get off my back already.

Life's a beach

Last weekend Daddy went on a golf trip to La Parisma, so we packed up and tagged along so that we could enjoy the beach for the weekend. We spent most of the day Saturday there, collecting rocks, investigating seashells and starfish and then building sand castles. Then we headed inland to visit family. Both kids helped paint the rocks then put on eyes (my little girl insisted that most of them have 3 eyes rather than 2) and we now have a cute little herd of pet rocks. We decided we'll give them to really special friends/family to protect their gardens from yucky bugs. With a little extra daylight left, we rode tricycles down to the playground and ended the day with highly requested chicken soup.
Sunday we (the kids, their Aunt & I) spent trekking around, looking for local geocaches. Out of seven that we took the time to get to, we found five of them, couldn't get one open, another had been taken and only one we couldn't find at all. Pretty good for some amateurs, eh? We took nothing and left nothing, but it was worth the time for the exercise and time spent teaching the kids to "treasure hunt".

The beginning of the end

OF DIAPERS THAT IS!!! Yep folks, you guessed it...the little guy took his first attempt at the potty. All you non-moms/dads might not understand the excitement, but believe you me - Mommy was all aglow. He made his deposit in a big way and got loads of praise for a job well done. Granted, it took a little over a year from the time his sister started making attempts to the time she stopped wearing diapers, but I'll take what I can get. The light has begun to show at the end of the tunnel! Woo hoo!

Cousins

There are many benefits that our kids get from having a large family. One of the more obvious, is how much they are adored by their three cousins up North. Both kids look up to them with stars in their eyes and even take the time every night to kiss a picture of them before bed. When we visit, our kids take center stage with their cousins and are happily exhausted every night. Here's a couple examples of how great they are with each other. There's a clip of the youngest teaching them to build with their Mega Blocks and the other part is the middle cousin reading my little girl a story.

Caterpillar dancing

Ever since going to a production of the Nutcracker last December, we have a little prima ballerina on our hands. She absolutely ADORES dresses and dances to any music she hears whether it is on a radio, in the car, a tissue commercial on the television, or her own humming. Needless to say, since her brother idolizes her, he follows suit. One of her favorite sources of music is her toys. This Christmas, her brother got a cute caterpillar toy from one of their grandmas, who, although not technically related (she's my mom's best friend), might as well be.

He likes to push the feet on the caterpillar to make it say the alphabet and their sounds, but her favorite aspect of the toy is that it plays music. Daddy had the cutest little display of caterpillar dancing when he got home from work today, compliments of the caterpillar.

SDWAP

Last week we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park with Aunti since she is visiting for the week. Despite a nasty incident when we first arrived, the day turned out to be a great way to spend time in the 85 degree sunshine. Everyone had fun and we were all exhausted when the day was done.

Go Baby Go!

We spent the afternoon last weekend with some friends at the racetrack. Although Daddy and "Uncle Jarrod" felt compelled to psych out our shoe-in winner so that he came in 5th instead, Mommy still won for the day and Aunti broke even. Everybody really was a winner though because it was a beautiful 85 degree day and we all enjoyed a relaxing day at the horse races.

Bedtime

Few things are as wonderful and bonding for our family as reading books at bedtime and our nightly routine. There's always a negotiation period to decide how many books shall be read and then there's the unavoidable debate over which books shall then be picked. Usually Daddy reads one and Mommy reads one but lately our 2-year-old has taken it upon herself to re-"read" one of the books to her babydolls as well. Man, there is just nothing like being a parent. It's one of the most indescribable wonderful feelings ever.
PS~Thanks aunt Vetti for these great new jammies.

Our new ATV

About a month ago, my hubby bought us a new ATV so that he and I could go riding together in the forest near our house. This week we finally got that chance (thanks grandpa for watching the kiddos!). I hadn't ridden with anyone that way before, as my companions were always on the same ATV as I was. I hadn't had the opportunity to ride alone before. I always had fun but now that I've ridden this way, I see what all the fuss was about. I had SUCH a good time that even though I brought along my camera, I forgot to take pictures. I only got this one, while I was waiting for him to check the trail (a long winding downslope) for downed trees. There was more than a foot of snow in some places and we made loads of first tracks, had to traverse off the trail to avoid obstructions, and had a blast. Now I can't wait for our next chance to go again.

Fun Learning

Quite a while ago, Daddy helped teach our little girl her colors by playing Candyland. Of course, at first she didn't get the whole "game" part, but was happy to choose cards and tell us what color it was, then try to find a space on the board that was the same color. Recently she has grasped the "game" part of the package and is becoming quite the Candyland connoisseur. She also works on matching by playing Memory & Picture Dominoes. Our latest upgrade to this fun learning process is attempting to teach her numbers. To do this, we're using Chutes & Ladders. We put little dots on the spinner so even though she doesn't recognize all her numbers yet, she can count dots to know how far to move her player.
The hardest part about C&L is that the path is less defined (the path covers the entire board) but she seems to be getting the general idea - so much so that Daddy lost to her last night. She squeeled with delight and danced around when she realized that she won. Mommy was very proud of her because believe you me, there is NO WAY Daddy loses on purpose at ANY game.

At the Hop

I was mid-process of making tuna fillets for dinner last night, listening to music and hearing the kids playing and daddy acting as referee when suddenly there was no noise from the other room besides music. Any mom knows that when the kids become quiet, something is brewing, so I stepped away from the kitchen for just a moment to investigate. Here's what I saw:
Don't they make cute dancing partners? Isn't it nice every once in a while to be pleasantly surprised?

Christmas in January

Somebody has GOT to tell those roses at Great-Grandma's house that it's JANUARY. It's just not natural I tell you. Other than that peculiar observation, the day with Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa turned out out very nice. Even though we couldn't make it for the huge gathering in December, there were still eleven people there. We had some snacks, a yummy dinner and got to open presents again (always a hit with the kids). Our little girl had a fun time being the one to hand out gifts and even managed to carry one to her uncle that was twice her size. These were my two favorite pictures from the day. The rest are in the smilebox photoalbum.
So it seems we've finally finished our Christmas celebration....just in time for planning our annual valentines day trip.

New Camera

Our little girl got a camera for Christmas from Nana & Grandpa. Although there's quite a learning curve, she's figuring out that the camera takes a minute to actually get the shot and you've got to hold your hands rather still or the shot is blurry. Still, of about 100 shots, 30 or so turned out so that's not a bad ratio for a beginner I figure. You have to take into account that family (cousins mostly) and friends helped her take some shots too. All the same, there's 30 pictures I wouldn't have otherwise had. It kind of gives you an inside look into her world when you look them over, which is neat.
PS~thanks to Daddy, I have a new camera too so even though my new one is waterproof and shock (translate-drop) proof, I'm extra happy my 2-year-old has her own now.

Not enough time in my day & 2 IOUs

There are several times that I wish I could freeze time so that several thing I want to do could all get done in time. Yesterday I wanted to go ATV riding with my hubby (he wanted to take the day off work) but since we just had a week off for Christmas, I convinced him that we really couldn't afford another day off. Then last night we were listening to music during dinner and heard Tim McGraw's new song (I didn't catch the name) that had some lyric about lots of people working graveyard that didn't have time to die...or something to that effect. Basically, from what we could tell, it was about choosing the right things in life to live for and work isn't one of them. We both liked the song and hubby looked at me and said "I bet HE would have gone 4-bying with me"....I was already sad for missing out on riding with my hubby and the little stinker just rubbed it in. Sweetheart, I owe you a day of just us, riding around together.

A few days ago it also happened. We were leaving at 2AM the next day to fly home. There were WAY too many packages to fit into our suitcases and I realized I would have to send something home instead of trying to get it on the airplane. I also needed to exchange a couple gifts for my nieces and try to find a package that had been held up arriving due to the storms. I couldn't do any of those things prior to that since the storms had made traveling for me virtually impossible. Unfortunately, I had already made plans to have lunch with a few friends and my brother at his favorite locally owned pizza place before he flew out that afternoon back to his house. So I was left with these two options:
1-exchange gifts for three nieces, get my package, send my other package, and reschedule for dinner with friends but miss out on lunch with my brother
OR
2-lunch with brother & friends but not get nieces gifts exchanged, lose my package and deal with paying for another $50 piece of luggage and toting it around the airport with all of our other stuff.

I chose to miss out on lunch with my brother and he was, to say the least, very bent out of shape about it. I did get everything else done, but wish there had been some way to get all things done that I had wanted to that day. Although I know he was mad when he left, I gave him a hug and told him I hoped he got home safely and he (I think reluctantly) hugged me back and said "see you later".

Little bro (okay "younger", not "littler"), I owe you lunch at your favorite locally owned pizza place next time we're there together. It'll be my priority. Sorry I missed out on it with you.
Love, your older, but not bigger sister

What to make

Okay, last year I was naming my recipes "What's for dinner" but then that excluded anything you wouldn't necessarily eat for dinner, so now I'm changing it to "What to make" just to be more inclusive.

Today I made a YUM YUM YUMMY treat. If you weren't sure what kind of cookies to leave for Santa (word has it, his favorite is sugar cookies) or were all out of flour or some other raw ingredient, here's an easy cookie that's sure to earn you big rewards from the big guy, or at least make up for some indiscretions from earlier in the year. I call them "Reindeer poop" but you shouldn't include that in Santa's note if you know what's good for you.
For all you brownie lovers, who fight over the edge pieces, this one's for you too. Stir together a box of dry brownie mix, 1/4 cup each of oil, water & cocoa and two eggs. Sprinkle the top with chopped up pretzels and cook for about 10 minutes then top with a kiss (I used the peanut butter filled ones, but any kind would do). They turn out looking like Reindeer poop, thus the name, but taste just divine. As you can see, they're good for 1-year-olds too, not just Santas.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope you're all celebrating and having fun tonight. Best wishes for a prosperous and wonderful new year!

Christmas Day

We're finally back from our trip up north and although we had a really fun time, it's nice to be back home. We hope you all had as much fun as we did over the holidays.

Merry Christmas Everyone
from our family to yours

So many Christmases

Our kids are especially lucky to have so much family around them with whom they get to spend time. As a result, this time of year is especially fun for them. It started about a week ago when we got together with friends for Christmas crafts. Then last weekend we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa's family here in California. Next, we're looking forward to spending time with Mommy's family up North. After that we head west for more fun with Nana's family. By early January, we are going to have gotten to spend time with almost everyone and be ready for some home time. For now though, we're all excited to be caught up in the holiday fun.

Here's shots of last weekend with Grandpa's side of the family.