This makes me laugh...

This makes me laugh every time I see it....

"Put your hands up and empty the register!!! This is a hold... oh crap"

Note to self: Don't put moisturizer on hands just before robbing a convenient store.

Christmas Tree

This is our Christmas tree forest.... decorated a la Nathan.

Heidi Swapp, who is a marketing scrapbook genius, because she sells "scrapbook sandpaper" for $4.99. Which is just a stack of 2x2 sheets of sandpaper in cute packaging. Anyway... Heidi Swapp has this pic of her Christmas Tree forest.

Anyway.. I have my own version of a forest, where all the garland is weighing down a spindly tinsel tree.... a tiny baby tree is currently being dragged around by crawling Amanda.... And on the big tree... All the ornaments are clustered together by groups. (Farm Animals together, snowmen together, Santas together) And.... all the ornaments are on the bottom half. However, I LOVE IT! I'm fully embracing my bottom heavy decorated tree. This is such a magical age with the kids at Christmas.
At the end of "decorating" the tree Nathan took all the ornaments off and wanted to decorate it again later. So far he's redecorated every day.

Girls Weekend.... Again!

Wahoo!!! I attended a surprise girl's weekend for my friend Laura. (pictured l to r: Linda, Laura, Cinnamon, Jai, and moi)

My friends Laura & Cinnamon are probably my oldest friends. (Yes, Cinnamon is her real name, no that's not her profession) Cinnamon & Laura have known me for over 11 years. They met me when I was really young and ridiculously dumb. Much like Ross, they must have seen something buried beneath the layers of immaturity, because they've stuck it out with me. I truly can not imagine "growing up" without them. They have influenced and impacted me for the better. I know what Laura wished for on her birthday... to spend eternity with me in some commune in the mountains. And Laura.. if your willing to move the commune to the beach... I'm there!



I came home to find the house decorated with Christmas Lights!!!

I have the best husband!!! For mulitiple reasons, but one being that I have always wanted to have Christmas lights on my house!! And this year he did it and surprised me. It's fun that this is a first for me & the kids.

I snapped this cute pic of Nathan, Sandy, and Amanda enjoying the lights on the front porch. Nathan likes to go out every night to watch the "Christmas Tree Lights on our house".

There's an upside...

I think I'm an optimistic person. Half cup full kind of gal. So.. this no hair thing is a fabulous excuse to buy fun hats.

















Happy Thanksgiving! Here is Nathan's turkey he made for Aunt Deb's table. She proudly displayed it on the center of her table. Aunt Deb is one of those people that just makes you feel welcome and loved as soon as you step in her home.


Thanksgiving began at 6am with a Sheriff pounding on our door. Apparently our window was shot out with a pellet gun by some pranksters. They did several cars in a couple neighborhoods. While cleaning up the glass in my PJ's, I found myself getting cranky and having an uncanny urge to buy a cane to shake at these crazy youngsters.

It is done....

I postponed for a week.. and then cried the whole morning leading up to it. But it was time.


For today, a pink mohawk and blue hair for Nathan. The rest of the hair will come off another day.

Walking! Yeah Baby!

After much anticipation, Amanda took her first steps November 7th!

















She's still timid, but getting braver all the time. Today she took a bunch of steps on her own.

Eve of Halloween!

One more fun pic from the weekend of the grandkids. Amanda spent most of the weekend playing on these stairs.



Today was Nathan's Halloween Party. I went to volunteer, and loved watching him interact with his class. He has his own personality and his teacher is WONDERFUL with him. He has some sweet and fun friends.



With the schedules all wonky from Daylight Savings, and being on vacation all weekend... I decided to indulge the late naps, and we went to see a late movie. Amanda was blown away by the big screen. We ate dinner in front of the big screen, and it was a fun night. A big change of pace from our normal evenings. It was a great reminder that I need to take advantage of our fairly flexible schedule. It won't always be like this.

Beach Beach Beach!!

Here's our Beautiful Butterfly! We went to a little Halloween Party with the kids.





Nathan loved being a giraffe, but had a camera shy moment!

We spent the weekend with my family celebrating these guys 45th Anniversary in Newport.

Lots of time at the Beach, the kids were EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. Nathan misses his "friends" (cousins). He keeps asking if we could go back to the beach and stay there for "lots of tommorrows."

Look at this sweet family. This is my brother and his family. It's wild to see my brother as a dad, but he's a great father.

Girls Weekend Rocks!!

I love these girls! We've been friends since the dawn of time... or possibly just the last 7 years. they know me better than I know myself and I adore each one of them for very different reasons. Here we are happy and exhausted during the last few minutes of our girls weekend. Three years ago Brooke moved away (I bring this up only because I miss her terribly, and still can't believe she moved!) Brooke brought her brand new baby, Elaina. She's a Beauty! And we were joined by Steph's sister Annette and her new baby Lincoln. These kids are adorable.
Annette is a fun addition to girls weekend and is hysterical. She wanted us to take this pic.
I swear I just want to buy some commune somewhere and all live together all the time. I think it would such a blast.

I'm a mom...

I had a moment where I became giddy at the thought that I have butterfly wings hanging up in my laundry room.

I accidentally brushed up against the wings of Amanda's Halloween costume and I couldn't help but giggle..
I'm a girl mom...
I have butterfly wings in my laundry room hanging up to dry...
I have a drawer full of hairbows and ribbons (that don't quite fit on her hairless head yet)
I do an entire load of wash that is all pink every single week. (Ok.. well Ross does the laundry, but still there is an entire load of pink clothes)

When did this happen???

Last week was full of social activities leading up to the first day of Preschool for Nathan. He went to preschool last year, but this is "Big Time" preschool. This is a big preschool, more preschool than daycare.

He was excited to go to the "Purple Door" School again. (He is in the Purple Room!) I was actually excited to get back to work and meeting with my clients. We got there, and he ran into his class and started playing with the animals. I went to say goodbye, and he said "This is Elise" (pointing to his new friend sitting next to him) He hands her a Giraffe and says "Bye Bye Mommy"

I stand up to walk outside, and suddenly I feel something coming over me. I get outside the door and a sob comes out! I was completely startled by it, so it comes out as some awful noise. The pastor of the school rushes over to give me a hug... I'm mortified because I wasn't prepared for the tears. I am excited for him to go to school, this is a good thing for him... But...But...But... We had so much fun this summer, and now he's just so... so... BIG.

And this girl... is cracking us up. She is keeps getting into the summersault position. She also tears around the house using a walker. No sign of trying to walk on her own. She loves the walker.

Love this weather!!

My friend Carly, has an amazing pool. I love it, and want one just like it. It's really baby and toddler friendly! One of the highlights of the last few weeks has been swimming at her house. The kids have a blast, mom has fun chit chatting with friends, and everyone comes home blissfully tired ready for a nap.

Thanks Carly!!

Yep.. She is a Toddler!!

She used a walker today and walked up and down the hallway just cruising on by me today.

Then, she proudly showed me this!

And now you are One!

Happy Birthday Dear Sweet Amanda!

What a year it has been, and we are so grateful today for Amanda. And on days like today we pause to give thanks for the courage of her birthparents who love her so much.

I WON!! I WON!!! I WON!!!!

I've NEVER won anything in my life. But every summer I test a theory that if you enter a contest everyday you will win. So far, my theory has failed for 8 summers.... that is... until now.

I won the Gatorade Contest. Not the grand prize, but I was a runner up. WAHOO!! It doesn't matter what the prize is, it's just knowing that I am a winner deep down inside.

Well, if you insist, I'll post a picture of the prize. It's ENORMOUS and I'm not sure it will make me more popular other than I can fit a small family in it. I watched the UPS man struggle with it as he carried it to the door. It's MONSTEROUS!!

*Large Labrador not included, just used to show scale.

Note to Disney... You owe me BIG TIME

I know Disney employees read my blog. This is for those folks at Disney. My dear sweet boy, wanted this Nemo Bubble Blower, and waited patiently until it was light outside to use it. We installed the batteries, poured in the "Ultimate Bubble Solution" and turned it on.

Nothing.

Nemo's wand moved, but he just wasn't powerful enough to blow a bubble. I poured out the solution, changed the batteries to brand new ones, turned it on, and now Nemo doesn't work.

I snapped pics of our sad and dissappointing experience. Poor Nathan is scarred for life because of Disney's defective product!
Here is Nemo looking at us with such hope and a promise of fun in his little painted on eyes.

















Nathan trying to make Nemo work. "C'mon Nemo.. you can do it!"

Sandy watches eagerly for "BUBBLES!" (Quote from Finding Nemo)








Nathan succumbs to the dissappointment that Nemo won't be entertaining us with his "ultimate bubbles" and "hours of bubble fun" as the package claimed.

I *heart* Summer!!

I LOVE SUMMER!!! The warm weather, strawberries & watermelon, and swimming! We are having a blast. Here are pics from a trip to the zoo. Nathan loves this cow, and shouted "Hi Cow, come and play with me"

Nathan touching a milipede. I wasn't even brave enough to touch it. Amanda dressed as the newest member of the Star Trek Enterprise and sealing her fate of unpopularity.

Amanda with her permanent bruise from trying to pull herself up into a standing position.

The kids on the 4th of July going to the community pancake breakfast.

Ross scored a killer parking spot for the local fireworks show. We hung out in the car for a little bit waiting for the show. Nathan was PETRIFIED after talking about fireworks for 3 days nonstop, and screamed the first few minutes of the show. We let him watch a movie in the car, and he hugged his earphones. (Check out his new shoes!)And Amanda... our brave little daredevil, was FASCINATED by the fireworks. She NEVER looked away from the sky!

June... in a nutshell

Nathan could not have been more in heaven, when we went to a party for Ross's company at a Ranch. They had a petting zoo, bouncehouse, and horses. Nathan showed us his skills as a runner, as we have never seen him run as fast as he did when he saw the ponies for the first time.

Nathan petting the chickens. He loved the sheep and miniature goat. He couldn't get enough of the ducks who had "party hats" (they had feathers that stuck straight up).
A 10 month old shot of Amanda, complete with the permanent bruise she seems to have on her forehead from ill fated attempts to stand up or walk. She is obsessed with pulling on Skoopi's face. Skoopi doesn't mind, she loves the attention. Amanda often pulls up using Sandy as a table. This is one of my favorite outfits I have bought for Amanda.


And here is a rare shot of our happy girl, being very unhappy. And poor Nathan had a fever earlier this month. I still love onesies, even though he's big. I promise he won't go off to Prom wearing a onesie.

Before I was a mother, I was unbelievably niave and cocky. "My children will NEVER do that" I'm still holding fast to some things, but most of it all went out the window. I was sooooooo naive. Did I mention how naive I was?

We bought these shoes on a whim on a trip, because he needed something more sturdy than his Robeez. They were $5, and I swore I'd never buy shoes with characters on them. Every once in a while you have to bend the rules. Nathan's loved them, and they lasted forever. Nathans been through 2 of his other pairs of shoes since we bought these. They are finally too small. Farewell Elmo! Farewell Grover!! Hello to Vans with FLAMES!

My dear friend Anna visited this week.... loved having her here. Nathan keeps asking to go to Anna's Barn. One day we will. It's great to be able to have someone you admire and respect so much as a friend.