Ten on Tuesday

1. We will be in San Diego in three days! SO excited for the family time, cool weather and lots of picture ops - my camera has been neglected lately.

2. We bought some patio furniture last weekend - and while I am really excited about that (I have been asking for some for about five years)... it is disturbing to me that when patio furniture goes on clearance we still have to wait two more months to be able to use it. Blah!

3. The girls both have these pretty pink soft chairs all their own. A family friend, Laurie, gave this decorative chair to us when Lauren was little - I think it is for dolls or stuffed animals to sit in. The girls fight over sitting in it. Daily.


4. Old age does many strange things to your body. And though I am not old per say, I do have creaky knees and hear myself occasionally say, "Ow, my hip!" Plus - I am very far away from being able to do this:

Though it does make me feel better that she won't be able to do that forever. ;o)

5. Lauren still has a bad case of camera-irritability. However, the moment I am photographing Paige her little head pops out from wherever she is and cries, "Mommy! Take a picture of meeeeee!" To which I am happy to oblige.


6. Justin took me out for a surprise date last week (wonderful man that he IS) - calling on Colleen again for dining locations. Seriously, this woman has the best taste in food! We went to Brio, which is an Italian chain that just opened a location over in Scottsdale. It was amazing food, though not my favorite Bruscetta, and very family friendly... which surprised me!

7. I have discovered that many wardrobe options open up to you once you can find a really well fitting strapless bra. Sorry if that is too much information! LOL!

8. I realize that this blog has been pretty vacant lately... and I want you to know I am planning to try doing a daily stretch when Justin is hunting. This all starts next week, and I hope it will give me a nice distraction while he is gone.

9. Speaking of which, anyone want to try and get together Wed-Mon of next week? I will be looking for plenty to fill the days. Call me! ;o)

10. If you are interested in having me do your holiday portraits, go to the business site and check out the mini-session dates and locations. E-mail me soon to secure your spot! I want to try to get everybody in, and can add one more day if necessary.

Have a great Tuesday!!!

Vegas, baby!

We had a wonderful trip to visit my family last weekend! On Saturday we ventured down to the Strip, which we almost never do! We took the girls to Circus Circus to play some Midway games-


Lauren was overstimulated and just went silent. LOL! But she was quite happy when she and my mom won a fish that looked like a red "Flounder". After that, she decided she was done.


Paige reacted to all the lights and noise this way-


Gotta love that! Especially after not napping at all for the six hour drive to get there. What is up with that? My kids never got the memo that little ones are supposed to pass out on road trips!

After the fish satisfied Lauren's midway experience, we headed over to the Flamingo for lunch and a walk through their gardens.


Please forgive the shadows -- but at least I remembered to get a family shot at all!


Thanks for the fun weekend Grandma, Grandpa, and GG!!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. We had a great trip to Vegas last weekend! However, I really dislike how it takes my children three days to act normal after a few days away... especially when we have had so many trips in a row. What is the deal?

2. I am going to attend the Women of Faith conference here in October and am super excited! My MIL and SILs and I went many years ago and it was amazing. I am looking forward to a little refreshment!!!

3. It is 79 degrees in San Diego today. It is 108 degrees here right now. Nine days and 14 hours until I am enjoying the salty breeze in 70-something degrees!!!

4. It took only two and a half days away from home to disrupt my attitude and cleaning improvements. Must-get-back-on-track!!!

5. In an effort to facilitate the second part of #4, I am re-reading How to Cheat at Cleaning. The author is HILARIOUS!

6. I should not order gifts early! I got a few things to give to Lauren at Christmas on ebay... and I am dying to give them to her! Partly because they stare at me while I am in the office, partly because I would love for her to have something new to play with, and partly because I just want them to be put away!

7. I have a plan to reorganize my kitchen cabinets. Any wagers on when this might actually get done?

8. May I remind you that the cute little table and chairs have yet to be refinished. This might affect said wager from #7!

9. Wishing I had gone to look at the free mini-schnauzer in Vegas. I thought Justin was against it until we were talking about it later and he never heard me say "FREE". I must make a mental note to say that part louder next time.

10. I miss going to playgroups. It was always so nice to talk with other moms and let the kids play (read: fight) and act crazy. We would talk and laugh and relate to each other daily. It was awesome. Now I have to wait until Lauren is in school to be part of something like that again. New moms don't really relate to the mom of a four year old!

**side note** I can't say or read "Awesome" without hearing it said in my head like Rhino the Hamster from Bolt. It makes me chuckle every.time. And I say it a lot. =)

Flashback Friday

Okay, so since I didn't get a Ten on Tuesday written this week - I thought I'd do a Flashback Friday instead.  This is where you go back in your files a year and see what pictures you had around this date. 

 

Wow!  She is so little here, just eight months old!  We were living in the apartment then (ugh), and it was boiling hot out - just as it is now.  I picked out this outfit when I was pregnant with her, and I just loved having something new that Lauren never wore.  Plus the dachshund has a special place in my heart...  it brings back memories from my childhood of dressing my Grandma's dogs up in my doll clothes.  It is amazing that the same dress that fits a Cabbage Patch Doll will work on a wiener dog.  Hee hee!  Poor things - they were so sweet to me!

Happy Friday, everyone!

IV Reunion

Last weekend we were able to go to Flagstaff for an InterVarsity Reunion. This is a Christian group that we belonged to in college. Aside from all the wonderful friends and fellowship, IV is very special to Justin and I because it is how we met, and one of their events was where he proposed! It was great to get to see these friends again and to escape the heat once more! We had a great time - but those of you who weren't there were VERY missed!!!

We started the weekend off with dinner at Galaxy Diner.


Our friends Tim & Stephanie were nice enough to let us stay at their home! Lauren LOVED it because they had chickens. She thought it was great fun to chase them around!!!



I kept Paige inside mostly - she was way too eager to jump right on top of the poor chickens, and dogs! ;o)


On Saturday morning we had coffee at Macy's (YUM) and then went on a little walk at a large park. It was surprisingly warm!!!


On Sunday we headed to Thorpe park to play and have a picnic.


Lauren was dancing here - too funny!


Paige l-o-v-i-n-g the swings:


This shot cracks me up - are they holding each other up with their heads or trying to push each other over?!? LOL!


The whole group -


What a great time! Can't wait to do it again in five more years!!!

July Camping Trip

As soon as we arrived at our spot, Lauren jumped out of the car screeching about the butterflies!!! The last time we were at this spot, it was still much too cold for any bugs - but this time, from 9AM to dark we had tons of Monarch butterflies for neighbors. They were all hanging out in this little run-off area full of daisies and sunflowers. Lauren called it the "Butterfly Forest", and it entertained her for many hours of our camping trip!

Here comes Kallie to join her!

The guys started right away with some "Cowboy Golf".

Paige was just content to practice getting as dirty as possible!

About halfway through the trip, Lauren learned how to catch the butterflies! I was referring to her as the butterfly whisperer because I was amazed that any four year old could be sneaky and quiet enough to catch them! She came up to me with at least a dozen - being ever so careful to only hold them byt the wings and never touch their body so they could "fly home to their families". =) You can see one that she captured at my Frame-A-Day.

Here is my method of "catching" them.

Doing a little sand art. I save the really messy crafts for when we are outside! LOL

Here is a better shot of what Justin used to call Paige's scarecrow stance:

I just think she was disappointed that Lauren wasn't handing over a chip... or the whole container!

Justin got some time to practice his archery, and Devin was fascinated by the whole thing! It was great to watch J be able to share all his know-how!

One of my favorite things about camping is how the smallest things will entertain children.

Hee hee!

But we really had a great time, and I was pleasantly surprised that the girls slept well (at night) and we were able to relax and just enjoy the cooler weather and mountain air!

The winner...

The powers that be at Random gave me the number of 5 - so the 5th commenter, my dear friend Jaclyn, will be receiving a little something in the mail from me this week! Thank you all for being so supportive - I plan on having many more giveaways on my business site as time goes on!

Speaking of that business site - I created a blog button:



If you would like to show a little love and add it to your sidebar, you are more than welcome! ;o)

Camping pictures are coming soon. Love you all! Happy Monday!