ok, i'm really here

Random updates:

* Priceline.com rocks...we stayed at the Hilton suites for $55...we had a great suite and it was a nice hotel, one exit from Disneyland

*Go to Downtown Disney to eat when you are at Disneyland...good food, same price as disneyland, but no wait...we ate lunch at House of Blues and then took the monorail back to Tomorrowland, so much better than the $20 dry burgers or $10 hot dogs at the park (oh, yeah, pictures are not allowed at House of Blues...)

*Spencer loved Disneyland!!!! He went on all the rides...including the Matterhorn! He loves rollar coasters (mommy not so much, as you can tell from the pic above on the Toontown rollar coaster!), though he's a not a huge fan of Haunted Mansion

*Cooper is talking more, he has been a late talker, but says: cheese, juice, dog, baby...now...he is stubborn and won't talk unless he wants to...if you try to force him, he'll clam up and walk away...stubborn little boy

*Spencer is attempting to go diaper free at night...I wasn't sure how to do the no diaper things at night, but we have had 2 good nights and 1 wet night...

*hosted a shower with Steph for Vicki last weekend...Lily is so adorable...makes me want a girl!!!

*went to two birthday parties and one is coming up this weekend, plus Jake is turning 4!

*so lovin' Ebay right now, got the newest Ali Edwards book(awesome scrapper) for 13.99 on Ebay. It's around $20 in the store. Bought another scrap book for $2.50 in Dec. I sell stuff on ebay so I have my "mad" money in paypal and I can buy whatever I want!

*we are taking walks everyday...today Spencer drove his big wheel and Coop wore his snow boots and walked all the way sucking a lollipop...it was one of those moments you thank God that you are a mom, watching my boy on his bike and holding a sticky hand of a happy boy next to you...

*Daddy is reading books to Spencer now...loving that, too...my boys adore their Daddy...

Happy Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!

whew...i'm back

OK, sorry to be MIA for so long...for the few of you that read my blog...ha! Here are some disneyland pics to tide you over...too busy to blog right now...

I'm still here...

This is that picture where a mom can see her baby growing up...getting a glimpse of him in the future, doesn't he look older than 3? My little man...where is time going? (Hat courtesy of pre-school!)

Busy, busy, busy...but now I get a break...yippee! We're heading to LA tomorrow for Disneyland! spencer is so excited because it's just the three of us. Cooper is staying home with Grandma. I know he'd love it...but would we? We know he is not a good hotel visitor, nor is he patient...he can't help it...he's 20 months and 1 year olds are all about themselves and learning what is around them. He wants to do things when he wants, and touch whatever he wants. I love watching him interact with his world, but this trip is not for him. (Can you tell I have some mommy guilt...that's why I am rambling....) It's not like we won't be going back soon...we live close enough. :-)

But we are going and getting to see Lily!!!! Can't wait to see her...Steph and I are throwing a shower for Lily and her mommy next weekend, so we'll get lots of visiting time. Vicki, don't you love being regulated to Lily's mom now...hee-hee...

I've been scrapping a lot...trying to catch up, I developed pictures from 2005! I've been doing Spencer pages...gotta start on the Coop pages. Spence has 3 full albums, and Coop doens't have 1 full one...BUT I will get there....:-)

I am looking forward to my week off, too. Yay! I have some projects around the house lined up and maybe more painting...maybe...

Well, in other news....I am going back to work full time next year. I am OK with it, especially since Daddy will be home with the fellows in the afternoon. Boys need their Daddy, and teachers have a pretty good schedule...I'll be home when naptime is over, they'll hardly miss me, right???

Joe has a great job with a great flexible schedule, but no benefits and he doesn't always get paid for his jobs right away. I think he is outstanding almost $2000 right now...that's a big deal to us. My paycheck will help, especially since I have been teaching for over 10 years (wow!)...and it's only one year and then maybe, just maybe, I can stay home OR we might move.

Yes,we are starting the moving kick again, especially since Spencer is going to be in kindergarten in one and a half years...is this where we want to raise our family? Jenny & Justin are heading to Austin this week to see if they want to move there. Maybe we'll follow them? Can you picture us Texans? I can't....I think it is hard to leave California...CA has a lot of bad stuff, but also a lot of great stuff, too...My life hasn't exactly turned out the way I planned, but it's what God has planned for me, so we'll see what happens...sorry to bore ya with the ramblings, I guess this is what happens when you haven't blogged in a while. Happy President's Day!!!!!

Websites to surf...

** Pic of my cuties at Bubba's BBQ...love ya...


If you are like me, you probably enjoy surfing through some cool websites...in fact, I have to limit my time...I could spend hours surfing, when there's laundry to do, floors to mop, and kids, of course! but for now, they are napping...:-)

So here's some cool sites:

A new blog by my friend Nicole (you will love it, especially if you like children's lit...): www.quillandcrayon.blogspot.com

A cool blog with artsy stuff: www.norththreads.blogspot.com

a link on here to the building of our friends, the Fergusons in Tennessee, new awesome home:
www.fergusonfam.blogspot.com

this is a woman who loves home decorating and scrapping and always has tons of links to great places: www.jeanettes.typepad.com

So check them out...and leave a comment IF you want the link to a great scrapbook store site that ALWAYS has stuff in stock and FREE shipping over $20...how can you not spencd under $20 in a scrapbook store...and since I rarely get a real store, it's mostly online shopping for me...

Happy Surfing!!!!

the mojo didn't work

Even with my boys sporting their Bears gear, our Bears didn't play so good...it was a fun Super Bowl, with Prince at the halftime show Joe and I have to go to a concert now for sure!

That's it for now...the battery is about to die on the computer...wanted to send a pic for my chicago fam to see!

I'm baaaackkk...

OK, so what have we been up to..lots...last weekend we went to Monterey to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. It was a special year for her. :-) We actually surprised her! She came walking into this pub for lunch with her hubby and we were all there! Unfortunately, it was a bit rainy that weekend, so we couldn't do a lot of the outdoor stuff that is fun in that area. We went to a park, the Dennis the Menace park. It is awesome...totally go check it out if you are in the area. I think the kids could have played there all day, so many tunnels, swings, jungle gyms, climbing things, and an old train to crawl all over. We stayed for a little over an hour, despite the light rain. Try pulling your kids away from that park!

Well, the afternoon messed up Coop's nap, so I tried to get him to rest at the hotel...no luck. He started to get fussy, and man, this kid needs sleep, and I didn't feel like chasing him all over during dinner, so I skipped out on dinner to put Coop to bed. By 7 PM, he was curled up in his pack-n-play and I was watching TV,thinking, maybe I'll just go to bed early tonight and get some good sleep...ha...Spence got in bed at 8 and was out...but Coop woke up at around 11 and didn't sleep again until about 4 AM...it was not fun! I was so exhausted! I took the boys for breakfast at the hotel when we woke up (they acted beautifully), and we took a long walk around the property (on a golf course, very pretty with light fog rolling off the greens), and then we went and woke up Daddy. I told him I wanted to go home, no beach, no nothing...I just wanted to be at home in my bed. I did sleep for about 3 hours when we got home. We vowed Coop would not be visiting another hotel until he is older...so we are still deciding on whether or not he is going to Disneyland. Is that mean of us?

Better go, we have a playdate at our house today with our playgroup, so it's cleaning time...happy weekend!

where do they get their info?

Why did they think I was old enough for this????? AARP membership card came in the mail for *me*...what????

Sorry I have been MIA, I have meant to blog about our weekend in Monterey, how I never am bringing a small child to a hotel again, how Joe has been stealing the computer from me all the time...but that'll have to be later...he's off to work with it again, I have to be grateful, though, b/c it means he is busy with work...:-)

More later...