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...

scrapbook postings

For the first time, I am posting some pages I have been scrapbooked. They are some of my favorites. I don't claim to be a great scrapbooker, my pages certainly don't look like the ones in the magazines, but they are mine and they mean something to me and my family. And it's a creative outlet for me. Plus, it is fun being a paper collector. :-) My fellow scrappers know what that means!

Da Bears...and a child for sale...

OK, so i am not a football fan, but hey, if it's my hometown, not to mention everyone in my family's favorite team, then...go Bears!!! Yes, we even sat and watched the game (some of it anyway). So excited, they haven't been in the Superbowl since 1985! and the first black coach in the Superbowl...lots of exciting stuff...

Meanwhile, here on the home front, one child for sale, one cute, smiley, 19 month old who in the space of about 1 hour:

a. knocked my contact out of my eye, it's lost forever...

b. dumped out 3/4 of a box of Cheerios

c. knocked over a lamp in the family room and the light bulb blew out

Luckily, Daddy arrive home in the nick of time, I was ready to go list him on craigslist.com...ha!

Happy Birthday (a little belated) to Casey, friend in LA, and Brian, our Tennesse friend...go check his site for the link to his new home being built...gorgeous! And happy birthday to my brother, feels weird to say that...Justin!!!! Jen and Just had a nice birthday, I think he went snowboarding and then they went out to Buca de Beppo for dinner...love that place...

I guess I'll keep C. after all...he's really cute....

Happy Birthday, Cindy!

We had a nice time celebrating Cindy's birthday last night. Good food, good fun, good family! Joe made Michelle's secret recipe Caesar Salad...it was her birthday gift to him. He was VERY excited...he LOVES that salad! He did a great job, too. The picture is Grammy with some of her grandkids (Riley, Coop, Spence & Jake) and her kahlua cake. Yum, I told you it was good food!

The other pic is Spencer with his new letters on his wall...hoping he is having some sweet dreams right now...

Hope everyone is staying warm...it is COLD here...brrr....missin' my LA weather again, I always do around this time of the year...Robin, adjusting back to Seattle after your trip to Mexico??? Hope you had a nice time!

Coop's hair

You can kind of see his hair cut, I need to take a better picture...it's so cute...he looks like a little boy! Where did my baby boy go? Yesterday was Cindy/Grammy/Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday!!! We are having the family over for dinner tonight to celebrate. She spent her birthday in Monterey and Carmel. Lucky lady! So, needless to say, I have some cleaning to do.

Happy weekend!

Flashback Friday

Here are today's flashbacks...Spencer was 22 months (April 05) and he got so sick with the croup that he was rushed in an ambulance to Valley Children's Hospital in Fresno and we spent the night there. I HOPE we never have to go back. (I mean, it's a great hospital, but NO FUN to be there with your kids!) Cooper was 2 months away from being born.

So back to 2007 ....it's back to work for me...less blogging...back to MOPS, back to grading papers, getting up early, no more sleeping in until 10 for Coop. He was NOT a happy camper on Monday! Spencer had a good time getting back to school. I think he missed his friends! He is big on practicing his "homework", a book I bought him to practice writing his ABC's. We're working on his name now. However, he is stubborn and sometimes will accept my help, and sometimes will only do it" all-by-myself", said in a little chant. My independent man...:-)

More babies...

Wow, baby love! My college roommate Ashley and her family welcomed baby Ella on Jan. 5! Congrats! An old work friend, Becky, welcomed baby Camille on Dec.30. Kelly, from Bible study, welcomed baby Cayden on Dec.29. Wow! So excited! And of course, Lily, on Jan. 4. Had to mention all the new babies in our world. Congrats to all the families!!!! Tell me...does baby fever ever go away?
P.S. Coop got a hair cut! Bye bye mullet! Pictures coming soon!

Going back to Cali...no, really work....

**Enjoy these recent pics! The first is the proud daddy (Chip) of Lily in the middle! The other guy is Ryan, another Merced friend!

...my break is almost over...I had a great time at home...Here is my Christmas Break in numbers:

# of days off= 18

# of visits to Santa = 3

# of Christmas parties = 3

# of birthday parties = 2

# of babies born = 2 (waiting to hear about the 3rd)

# of movies watched = 3 (good for me!)

# of "adult-type" books read = 0 (boo)

# of kids books read = too numerous to count

# of magazines read = 6

# of road trips = 3

# of pages scrapbooked = 8

# of pizzas eaten = too many to count

# of days wore pj's all day = 3

# of kisses and hugs received = millions!

She's here!

Baby news: Lillian Emily (to be called Lily) is here! She was born yesterday to our friends Chip and Vicki. She's a gorgeous, big baby (9 lbs, 6 oz...if I am correct). Joe and I drove down to LA, picking up Ryan on the way, and surprised Chip and Vicki at the hospital in Fullerton! They were excited! I think Chip needed that, it had been a long night for them...We swooped him out and went to dinner so Vicki could rest. It was a great time! I am so excited for them! Welcome to parenthood!
And then Joe and I drove home that night, after a quick visit in Burbank with Ryan and Jillian. It was snowing so hard on the grapevine, which we didn't even realize for a while. We thought it was just hard rain, but no, I finally looked to the side and saw snow! Wow, was it windy, too! We saw police escorts on the other side, and realized we probably had just missed having an escort. We were tired, but happy to be home at 3 AM. And of course, my lovely son Spencer, who I missed on our trip to LA, woke up early today...so I am looking forward to naptime, to say the least!
Happy birthday also to Tyler, Spencer & Cooper's cousin. And Margo, Cooper's precious babysitter....Jan. 4 is a great day to be born!:-)

Skating Fever!!!

Wow, 2 posts in one day...that'll all change when I go back to work next week...

Why am I posting again? To show pictures of my little man roller skating (thanks to Grammy and Grampy for the the gift!)...how is that I have a child old enough to roller skate??? Thank heaven for elbow pads....

Visiting!

We had a great visit from our friends, the Schreibers, yesterday. They were on their way back home to Oregon after spending the holiday with family in LA. Nic and I used to work together at Westlake Elementary. Their son Riley, almost 2, had a lot fun with the boys. They immediately started playing, and Riley was happy to roam free. The boys got into Spencer's bed for this cute picture. I think they wanted a slumber party!

The Schreibers love their new home in Portland area, and speak so highly of the area that it makes Joe and I want to move! We will have to go up and check it out. Miss you guys! (Nic, get your blog up and running again!)

My boys are roaming pretty free and wild right now. We have been l-a-z-y this week and haven't done much, other than play, play, play. I do think they are missing school and Margo's right about now. BUT they have playing together a lot lately, and that makes me happy! Love my boys!

Ten on Tuesday

Ok, so this week's Ten on Tuesday is your Ten New Year's Resolutions...

There has kind of been a backlash of sorts against New Year's Resolutions...I was reading that people get upset that they can't keep them, and most people end up breaking them by Feb. So instead of resolutions (which I have never been very good at anyway), I want to think of them as goals. Goals I want to to try to incorporate in my everyday life...

Here's mine...

1. More time with God (devotions a daily priority)

2. More date nights with Joe

3. Be more organized

4. Scrap more...at least a page a week

5. Add some new recipes to my cooking

6. Stop and smell the roses

7. Read more, not magazines, not parenting books, but my own reading

8. Hmm....I think I need to stop at 7! OK, I'll keep you updated on how I am doing!

What are YOURS????

**The pictures are from our New Year's Eve...Coop with his Aunt "Chelle" and our family picture with our boys not posing...:-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's wishing you a wonderful 2007! Can't believe it's here! We celebrated pretty low-key...we went to an event at church and the boys played in the bounce houses and ate pizza with their cousins. By 8:30, Joe and I were ready to go and we went by both sets of grandparents houses to say happy new year. Then we did sparklers at home and put the boys to bed. I was actually in bed around 11:30, but I got up at midnight to watch the ball drop with Joe. It's going to be a great year for us, I can feel it! And for you, too!

I haven't uploaded my New Year's Eve photos yet, so I am leaving you with a pic that sums up what I wish for you....

Flashback Friday...late

OOPS...I'm a day late...here's pics from 2004...Spencer & Daddy in Santa Barbara and me and my man going to Shea's wedding...

Happy Birthday also to Evan, Tegan's brother, who was 1 yesterday! Also, my friend Kelly had her 4th child, baby boy Caden, yesterday! Congrats to her family!