Some pictures...

I didn't take many pictures, waiting for my sister to send the disc of pictures she took, but here are some of the party! I guess I should say before the party. My guests shots aren't that great. I didn't even get a shot of my two cuties together...waah!!!!

Also, beach book alert!!! Just finished another book...Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot, and loved it! Very fun! Perfect book for lounging by the pool or hanging at the beach. I read it in a day. While making dinner, while Spence and I rested....

More later!

100 things continued....

ok here goes...

69. Love to drive around with my music blasting and the windows rolled down.

70. Eclectic music taste...love disco, Maroon 5, some rap, Depeche Mode, Christian rock, 70's, etc.

71. Spencer's godmother is the mom of a great musician, the singer of Under the Influence of Giants...check them out!

72. Walked next to a rattlesnake on a backpacking trip and didn't realize it...heard it, but wondered what the rattle was!

73. Will never go backpacking again. Not a big camping fan, either.

74. Love pizza...Toppers, Woodstocks, Giovanni's, Pizza Villa...yum!

75. Putting tile in our house by ourselves soon...yikes!

76. My car has been for sale for over a year. I just have it listed on autotraders.com. Guess I am not trying too hard.

77. Want a minivan, never thought I'd say that, but I do!

78. Love to scrapbook and collect scrapbook supplies.

79. Took swing dance lessons with Joe. I am a terrible dancer.

80. Wish I was a stay at home mom.

81. Do enjoy teaching, though.

82. Wore "Just Do Me" shirt to high school dance with a group of friends. Can't believe mom let me, can't believe I did that.

83. Finished 2 fiction books already this summer!!!

84. Have kept a journal about my boys since they were born. They each have one up to 2, and then a family one.

85. Can't sew. Took sewing class in 7th grade, but not since then. Need to learn.

86. Not a morning person. Wish I was.

87. Never got a speeding ticket...knock on wood!

88. My birthday is in May...ok, i am running out of steam.

89. stay up too late.

90. Was the hospitality director for my MOPS group this year.

91. Am doing this at 7:14 AM. Been up since 6:20 with my earlybirds....

92. Love taking hot bubble baths.

93. Wish I would have said goodbye to my Grandma. Glad I got to say goodbye to my Nagymama (Grandma).

94. My dad died when I was 4.

95. Didn't like to drink milk until after I had children. Now I love it.

96. Joe and I are celebrating 7 years of marriage this summer!

97. Took sailing class in college because my dad loved sailing. I wasn't a big fan...I had capsize paranoia.

98. I think minnesota has the bluest skies I have ever seen.

99. Like writing. Have been a writer since I was a child. Started a class newspaper in 4th grade, wrote a play that we performed in 5th grade.

100. I did it! Wear size 6 or 6.5 shoes!!!!

Whew, ok, wanna see so more people try this!

100 things about me...

OK, so Sally and Kelli had this on their blogs and it was fun to read, so I thought I'd try...see how far I can get with 2 monkeys roaming around, one who is 2 and already unrolled half a toilet paper roll... here goes...
1. I was born in Chicago, IL.
2. Lived in the safest city in the US: Thousand Oaks, for a year and loved it!
3. Hiked down more than half of the Grand Canyon in a day...whew, soooo tired!
4. Got lost in Joshua Tree at night with dead flashlights and after having some wine.
5. Buy more clothes for my boys than for myself...gotta stop!
6. Acted in high school, was in several plays, including the lead woman in Dracula!
7. Met my husband in high school and actually left him "our wedding" in my senior will! We weren't dating.
8. We were both Brown's already, so I didn't have to change my last name when I got married.
9. We knew each other for 5 years before we started dating (some of that time we didn't talk), and then dated 5 years before we got married.
10. got engaged in Santa Barbara, my most favorite city!
11. I don't know how to drive stick! I can only drive 1 of the 2 cars we own!
12. I buy cheap eyeshadow and mascara, but like expensive lipstick.
13. I set my alarm for weird times, like 6:36, and 7:03.
14. Wanted to be a astronaut, archaeologist, ballerina, and doctor as I was growing up.
15. My first major in college was Biological Sciences. Graduated with degree in Law & Society.
16. Broke my first (and last!) bone last summer: my baby toe!
17. Giving birth was a nice experience for me. I chatted with my husband, the doctors, and nurses between pushes. Epidurals rock!
18. The recovery was the hardest thing for me! I sat on a "donut" for a while!
19. Preferred to babysit boys when I was a babysitter. they were more fun, so I guess it's fitting that I have 2 busy boys!
20. Taught every grade between 1st and 5th.
21. Eddie Money was Spencer's first concert. He was a parent at the school I taught at in LA, and he played at our Family Night.
22. My father escaped from Hungary with his teenage sister with only the clothes on their backs. A very interesting story!
23. Travelled a lot as a child because my parents worked for an airline. Not much travel lately. :-(
24. I would move to Maui in a flash!
25. Not a good cook, but trying harder!
26. Met Billy Corgan...love him! He was sooo nice! He asked me if I wanted to hug him.
27. Was voted "shyest" in high school.
28. Love getting pedicures, don't do it very often. :-(
29. I don't drink coffee, ok, cold coffee only.
30. LOVE to read!
31. Lived in 8 cities/towns, and 2 states.
32. I have a hard time with things ending: vacations, visits, etc. I get all mopey.
33. Favorite snacks: nachos, slim jims, beef jerky.
34. Wear contacts. Want the lasik surgery.
35. Love taking pictures...cannot wait to get my Digital Canon Rebel.
36. Have a lock phobia. I have to check the house and cars several times to be sure it's locked.
37. Make a good meatloaf, though I won't eat it.
38. Have a "brown" thumb...even killed a cactus once.
39. Someone tried to burn my house when I was a senior. Seriously. The fire chief came to talk to my roomies and me.
40. When we had parties in college, it was mostly guys. My roomies were really my only girlfriends. Had a lot of guy friends. Not anymore. Just my hubby!
41. keep lots of lists of things to do.
42. Graduated from UCSB and listened to the ocean waves crashing at night. Mmmm....
43. Don't care for salmon or most fish. Like shellfish and the halibut tacos at "Just for the Halibut" in rosarito beach, mexico!
44. Touched a real Golden Globe award at a producer's house (when he wasn't home!).
45. Think I am allergic to wasp stings.
46. Know a bit of hungarian, some Spanish and some French.
47. Took 4 years of French in high school. don't know why?
48. Got engaged on Sept. 11, 1999.
49. An OC fan (the show). Miss it.
50. Favorite show: Grey's Anatomy. Didn't like the season finale, though.
51. Watched Forrest Gump with director, Robert Zemeckis, at USC. Joe was taking a music video class there. It was a special screening.
52. I bought a house in LA without asking Joe (he was asleep). They didn't accept our bid, though. It was in a great location!
53. Got out of escrow for a house in Simi Valley b/c we decided we didn't want to live there.
54. My Spencer and Joe have been in popular videos on Youtube. :-)
55. Spend too much time reading blogs.
56. Can't tan.
57. Subscribe to Family Fun magazine and Scrapbooks, Etc.
58. Miss my sisters terribly. wish I could see them more often.
59. Have wonderful friends: Steph, Kim, Robin, Michelle, could go on and on...
60. Favorite color is pink.
61. A Republican. Worked on Democratic campaigns in college and attended a few Democratic Club meetings. Married into a Republican family.
62. Prefer the beach to the mountains, the warm to cold, and the city to the country. Cannot live in a town smaller than 60, 000. wish we still lived in LA.
63. Love pickles, except when i am pregnant.
64. Loved being pregnant!
65. Like fast food...I admit it....loving the wraps at McDonald's.
66. Am the strict parent, but not as strict as I thought I would be before having kids.
67. Picky eater.
68. Have a long wish list on Amazon.com.

Have to stop here, my kids need me!

Happy birthday, Cooper!

It's my little man's 2nd birthday today! Yay! He's a great little boy, so clever and cuddlely, and all boy...obsessed with balls and cars. Loves his mama lots! Kind of a loner. Always climbing. Likes The Wiggles. Starting to get into books. Can't sit still very well. Loves chocolate! Carries a blue blanket with him everywhere. Says "uh-oh" a lot. A man of few words. Wants to be outside all the time. Adore that kid!

catchin' up...

Whew, where did this week go by? Did a lot, though. Spencer finished his first week of swim lessons, I am reading a fiction book, so happy about that! Had my family over for dinner last night, though Mom rocked and made and brought the food, guess I didn't really do much...thanks, MOM!!!!! Meg was in town, as well as Jenny and Justin, so it was fun to be together. We all watched a really raunchy movie together afterwards...can you guess? No, not Borat. Lots of laughs, though! :-)

Now, I am relaxing a bit. Our wonderful friend Stephanie threw a party for our boys today...a joint pirate swim birthday party! So much fun! Her parents' backyard is perfect for parties, so we had the pool, a monkey lagoon with a small pool for the babies, a Mt. Tiki Soaki sprinkler area, and several areas of pirate loot and skeletons set up in the gardens. There was also a tent filled with fish streamers and balloons that the kids had to crawl through to get to their pirate booty gift bags. It was incredible! steph is SO talented in party planning, and decorating, and directing, and singing, and acting...our boys adore her, too! I will post the pictures when I get them dowlaoded onto the computer. For now, I'll post some fun ones from last night (no one is 3 this year, but that was the only candle we had on hand!) and cousins this week. Lovin' Meg's fun shirt! Ha! Those rugby players don't have any clean sayings! Hee-hee! Have a super summer day!!!!

Happy Birthday to Spence!

Yesterday was his 4th birthday! How is it that my baby is 4??? He was so excited that he woke up at 6:15 AM, coming in to tell me he was 4! He had a fun day. We played all morning, and Grandma came over to give him what he really, really wanted: The Polar Express train set. He is obsessed with the Polar Express. He threw his hands up and shouted, "This is what I really wanted! I love it!" Too cute.

He also started swim lessons yesterday. And had McDonald's for dinner, his dinner pick. Then we had family over for cake and ice cream. And we tried to get a family picture, but boys don't pose...love 'em anyways!

Last DAY!!!!

Last day of school...yeah! So happy...my car is FULL of my boxes...do you know, I have packed up my classroom every year for the past few years???? I am learning not to be a pack rat....
Next year I will be teaching 1st grade (gulp!) at the school I was at before. I am very happy to be back there, especially since I will be registering Spencer for K in a year...yikes! And he will go to that school! But, I gave away all of my 1st grade stuff last year, even ebayed some of it, because I didn't think I would be going back...God has a sense of humor! Ha! But they have a great 1st grade team, so it will all be good.

Summer Plans:
1. teach spencer to swim
2. put tile in kitchen and family room
3. choose paint and paint accent wall in kitchen
4. organize office/scrapbook room/guest room
5. clean oven (seriously)
6. simplify my life, weed out knick knacks...I sense a garage sale coming on
7. read FICTION books...so anxious to do my own, not school related, not parent related, reading....any suggestions?
8. San Diego trip...Sea World, beach. etc.
9. Day trips: Monterey (Dennis the Menace Park), San Fran (Golden Gate Park, walk over the Golden Gate...always wanted to do that), baseball games
10. ENJOY every moment with my boys...soak in their 2-ness and 4-ness...will be interesting: bike rides, play dates, backyard play, art, books, library story time, picnics
11. LEARN how to cook healthier meals and feed my kids healthier foods and me, too :-) bought a book on Amazon on healthy eating for kids...i'll tell you what I learn...

What about you???????????????

Life is getting crazier...

...now that Cooper can climb out of his crib!!!!! Today I put him down for his nap, and a minute later, I see him come striding out, big smiles! So, 45 minutes later, I think he is staying put. Oh, he was so proud. I called Joe to share the *news*...bedtime at our house tonight will be nutso. Wish me luck!

Sharing some pics of the roller skating party and our field trip on the Amtrak and the Fresno park.

catching up

Had a great week, a great Mother's Day...love being a mom! My two boys are the best! Spencer is lots of fun, writes his name on everything now(has been writing it for 3 months), wants to know how to spell everything, finished listening to his first chapter book with Daddy (James & the Giant Peach), which they both loved! He also was *suspended* from school this week...my precious boy! He was throwing rocks with some of the older boys at school. It has been a problem this year, so they made a rule a while ago that anyone throwing rocks would be suspended...my poor boy cried and was very remorseful. He thought for a moment he wouldn't be allowed back to school this year. We made it a lesson for him, and I don't think it will happen again, poor boy!

Cooper is almost 2, and acting like it for sure. He is cuddley and affectionate and good at figuring things out and getting into things, too. Yesterday he took a red sharpie and colored the laptop screen! Just FYI, the magic eraser works pretty well. i am looking at a screen with a few red stray marks, but cleaned up for the most part. Oh Cooper-man.

I am reading a book that is fantastic! It;s called Breathe by Keri Wyatt Kent. It actually was part of my MOPS enrollment kit. It's all about living a life that is more meaningful and simplistic. She calls it Sabbath Simplicity. And it calls for us taking the sabbath off..no cleaning, working, etc...just time for God and family. It's something that Joe and I have talked about. I think we are going to do it. So, if you want to slow down your pace of life, and make more time for God and your family, read this book...great! ;-)

OK, better go...though it is Sunday, I do have some cleaning to do. Slacked off yesterday! Need to make sure that I clean more on Saturdays. We also have a birthday party at Rollerland this afternoon...should be cute, pre-schoolers on skates!!!!

It's my week!

Yes, it is! Wednesday was my birthday! Hello, 30-something....heeeheee....had 4 celebrations, lucky me! And tomorrow is Mother's Day! I love being a mom! How can one truly put into words how it feels to be a mom...I could go and on, but I think most of you know the feeling...:-)

So, i will leave you with what you most care about...the pictures....the one of me and boys (not posing, of course...) on my birthday. They gave me a "princess party"! One of me and my man about to go out for steak!

One of Spencer celebrating his pre-school birthday (summer birthdays celebrate early...though it did trick him a bit. He kept saying he was 4!)

Happy birthday shout outs to Maddie, who is 11! Morgan, who is 1!! And Robin, my fellow birthday gal! Happy wedding wishes to my cousin Paolo and his bride, Julia...so wishing I could have been there for their Italian wedding, I am sure it was beautiful! :-)

Star birthdays

Did you know that you have a star birthday when you are the same age as your birthdate? So, on June 4, Spencer will be 4...it's his star birthday this year! Tomorrow is his pre-school birthday celebration...because he has a summer birthday...so he and Grandma made star cupcakes to share! He did a great job! Thanks, Grandma, for coming over and facilitating this activity...Coop was in quite a feisty mood, think he is gearing up for 2! But I did manage to get a pretty cute picture of him!

New bike..and other mommy thoughts

So, I know you were on pins and needles waiting for the picture of Spence on his new...and first...real bike....today was Bike Day at pre-school, and he had a blast! He'll tell you all about the bike safety talk and how a policeman was there, and how he got a trophy...lucky him!

Also included a pic of Spencer as "Super Kid" at pre-school...leads the pledge, rings the bell, picks the circle activities, leads the calendar, etc. (Cute note: He calls all flags "the pledge of allegiance"). Can't believe the end of the year is rapidly approaching for him...as I have been counting down my days (20 days left...), I forgot I am also counting down his first year of pre-school. Makes me sad. Does every parent feel sadness at the thought of their child growing up? I know Joe is looking forward to the boys getting bigger and bigger, yet, I want to keep them small...is just a mommy thing???

Favorite places

So Kelli tagged me to show my 3 favorite places....


1. Maui...we honeymooned there and fell in love...I beg Joe weekly to get a job there so we can move there...sweet smelling flowers, lulling ocean waves, Hawaiian music...makes me so happy...don't have pix to post...those pics are film...maybe I will try to figure out how to copy an image...still learning here...http://www.hawaiipictures.com/pictures/maui_4.html OK, click to see the island we went snorkeling around...so incredible.





2. Santa Barbara...my college home and where Joe and I got engaged...on the 2nd bench on the pier (the bench is now gone...) The picture of Spence and Jake at age 1 is from Santa Barbara...
http://www.terragalleria.com/california/picture.usca9615.html Here is great pic of the rooftops of this paradise....





3. San Diego...just love it there, sunny all year long and lucky Jenny gets to live there... the 2 beach pictures are from two different trips to our fave beach, Ocean Beach
check this link of the skyline:
http://www.terragalleria.com/california/picture.usca34412.html

OK, sensing a beach theme...shoulda been a beach girl....





OK, tagging Sally, Vicki, and Nicole....and Michelle, if you're blogging still...and soon...Kim! Had an awesome talk with her today...miss you so much...so happy about the good stuff happening for you, new house, crawling baby, :-)

My digital page!

OK, one of my first digital pages....hope you like it. I saved it as a jpeg so I could post. I usually save in psd. Maybe that makes sense to you, maybe not...I am learning. IF you are interested in this kind of thing, I recommend taking a class from Renee Pearson at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Awesome! I can't wait to take her next class! I think it is going to be on digital brushes, which I really don't know what that is...hee-hee...

Is it a bad sign...

when the ice cream lady knows your kids' names? We are suckers for the ice cream truck. And she knows it! I swear, she slows down when she comes to our house. And she has impeccable timing...just when we are walking out! Our boys know we can't say no to the ice cream lady....

The picture is of our man and his brand new bike (plus one of mr. c for good measure)! Bike Day at the pre-school is quickly approaching and we were told that "big-wheels" don't cut it. A bike. And not a trike. So, we got him a bike. He is thrilled! After trying out cousin Jake's bike for the last month and proudly riding it down the street (getting off to turn it around!), he has his OWN. You should have seen the first time he rode Jake's bike...down the driveway...right into the street! Mommy was screaming! Jake ran over, "Bender! Bender (what he calls Spence), here's the brake!" Now Spencer know where the brake is...thank goodness. Edited: We are returning the bike...16 inches fits him fine, but he's a growing boy, so it's off to get a bigger size!

Hope all is well...enjoying spring here...finally getting some nice weather again...though it is supposed to be 90 degrees all weekend, not exactly spring weather! I think our corner of the world skips spring...I remember this happening last year.

Happy Tuesday!

I'm a winner!

No, really I am...I won a giveaway on someone's blog...I always enter and never win! But I did this time, and I won a copy of the new digital scrapbooking book! It's Joanna's blog, she has a cool blog. She has 2 beautiful kiddos, Cole and Harper (love that name!) and I really like her scrapping style. So, yes, I am a winner!
Cute quirks: Spencer thinks when he turns 5 and goes to kindergarten that he will be a "grown-up". Ha! Coop loves dogs...never met a dog he was afraid of....but doesn't seem to like other animals....did NOT want to touch any other animals at the petting zoo...he liked looking at them from afar in mommy's arms, thankyouverymuch!
Ok, gotta go...planning for pre-school tomorrow...it's our day for the lessons, it's a sunflower theme (thinking of Colleen right about now!). Bye!

We went to the....

...Fresno Zoo! We had a nice time, Cooper was so good! I think he is trying to prove to us that he should not be left home again....our Disneyland trip! No, Coop, you won't be left home again. :-) Spencer touched a manta ray! That was a highlight. He said it felt like "a popsicle"! That evening, we had dinner with my parents, home safe from Arizona and a 2 day visit with the San Diego Littrells. They had a nice visit and brought home moccasins for the boys. And sarsaparilla...yum!

It was a nice way to wrap up our break and now it is back to school. Spencer was excited to go back to school and play with his friends, and his current "crush", Katelynne. Hee-hee.

But I am doing the summer break count-down...7 weeks to go! This school year has been great, but long in some ways...

I am taking a digi scrapping class this month online. It has been a lot of fun, I'll see if I can post some of my creations. For now, check out Sally's blog for her great creations!

Happy birthday to Vicki and Monica!!!! Hope your days were great!

Happy Easter!

We had a lovely Easter! We had wondered what we were going to do, all alone without family...my parents are in AZ, Joe's dad is in Mexico on a mission trip and his mom went to Sacramento to spend Easter with his brother and family. But we ended up having a great day, that ended with all 4 of us asleep in our bed for a long family nap.

We started the day at church, an outside service, where I got a work out following Coop around. Then we went to our friend Steph's mom's house for a celebration. yummy lunch and lots of fun! The boys played with the other kids (including Spence's latest "crush", Haley), drew with sidewalk chalk and playdoh, hunted for eggs, and saw a surprise visit with the Easter Bunny a.k.a. Steph! Spence was on to it right away. A great way to spend such a wonderful holiday. Remembering the real reason...Spence told Daddy last night, "Jesus died on the cross." "Why, Spencer?" "So we could live!" Indeed He did, so we could have life on Earth with the promise of everlasting life, a wonderful life with Him in Heavan.

Now we are enjoying our Spring Break. Family time, relaxing, playdates...