Presidents' Day

I was lucky enough to snag 4 tickets and a parking pass to take the monkeys to go see Disney on Ice and they had a blast! Amazing how expensive everything would have been if we had paid for the tickets ($69 each for 3 of us!), the parking ($10) and then all of the overpriced goodies inside... We even got to sit in a suite so the view was incredible... Brook spent the majority of her time teetering on my lap while trying to jump the rail and bum rush Minnie Mouse. Every time Minnie would get to our side of the rink Brook would scream and wave at the top of her lungs, "Hi Miiimi! Hi! Hi Miiiiimiiiii!!!" It was so frigging cute. They spent the end of the show inhaling a bottomless carton of popcorn with Mikey ears on their heads swaying and rocking to the music.... Oh to be a child again :)

Happy, Happy 2nd Birthday Miss Brookie!!!

 Happy birthday my funny-faced little love :) 2 years ago we dropped Bubba off to daycare and you were born just a few hours later!

Why I love this time of year

The holidays are over allowing me to breathe in the cold wet air and cook my heart out. My mother instilled in me at a very young age that cooking a meal for your family is love at it's purest form. Caring about every little detail, making sure the seasoning is right no matter that it may take hours and your picky children my push it away, wrinkle their nose and say something to the effect of," why broccoli? You know I hate broccoli!!" Cooking is therapy. Cooking is creative and heartwarming and passionate and emotionally charged. It provides me with a creative outlet to create healthy comforting meals for my family and center myself.

When I moved out of my parents' home and in with my hubby, he actually did most of the cooking. In the beginning I was worried I'd screw up and burn something or make it too salty, etc. It took a lot of practice and a little self-confidence and now I do about 95% of the cooking in our house... Daddy will take about a meal a week to lighten the load for me and allow me an hour to chase the kids around the house or build a fort with them or play legos, which I appreciate immensely.

Though they may grab their nose and refuse to even try my creations occasionally, I know in my heart that the time and energy spent feeding my family meals that I've made is well worth it. Knowing that it didn't come out of a box or from a drive thru window is very comforting and reassuring to me. Don't get me wrong, we do order pizza a few times a month, but I hope to teach my children a love for cooking just like my mother did for me.

Happy Thursday! Go make something yummy!

Random late night thoughts

Have you ever caught yourself hovering over the crib, watching every breath praying to yourself that you'd never forget? Have you ever caught yourself, rubbing your nose along the top of their head, praying you could keep that clean, new baby smell forever? Ever been totally distracted while changing a diaper by the chubby little toes flailing in your face? Ever wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with your quiet, sleeping cherub, nose-to-nose just to feel the chubby fingers brush against your face?

She's growing so fast and I wish their were a way to keep her my tiny baby just a little while longer....

Photos from Stinson Beach Trip

As promised, here is a photo collage of our trip last weekend to Stinson Beach....

Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Stinson Beach for Vanetine's Day Weekend

We decided to fore go the traditional over-priced flowers, chocolates and dinner for a family trip to Stinson Beach this Valentine's Day and it was more than we could have hoped for... The weather was perfect (hey, it's California... We're spoiled), the kids were in a great mood during the drive down and the beach was beautiful. Stinson Beach is located off of highway 1 on the California coast about an hour outside of San Francisco.



As usual, I took WAY too many photos that I will share as soon as I get them organized!

My Roots

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd pay a little homage to the love that made it possible for me to be here today. My parents have been married forever, and probably should hate each other buy now, but I've never met two people more in love with each other. Love you Mom and Dad!!!

Countdown to B's B-Day

I can't believe she's going to be 1 on Saturday.... Where the heck did all 365 of those days go? In the mad rush of planning and executing her birthday after spacing on all of that throughout the holidays (NOTE TO SELF: Next year, don't wait until two weeks before the big day to plan and figure out a theme!!!), I've been a bad blogger and just noticed I haven't posted anything in almost two weeks. I'm going to try to post at least a few more times before the big day....

Birthday Plans:
(Theme)Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the places you'll go"
(Colors) hot pink, lime, teal and violet
(Invites) template designed/ordered, addressed and sent out
(Food) Still not 100% sure, but will probably do a make-your-own sandwich bar
(Decorations/Supplies) Bought and waiting for Friday night
(Cake) Gotta order today, thinkin' maybe cupcakes for party-goers and a mini cake
for Miss Brooklyn
(Prep) Still have to clean off the back porch, sweep, mop and clean the bathroom, but other than that we're good!
(Weather) Good thing we planned to throw the party inside because it's been raining all week and it doesn't look like it's going to let up until early next week




** Wish us luck for a beautiful, fun first birthday for our baby girl!! **

Happy NEw YEar!

Lukey Duke made it to the ball drop this year! Happy New Year all!!!


Hug your spouse, kiss your babies and live in the moment!

Where We've Been....

I am so blessed and there is no other way to say it.... I can't even remember my life before my babies.

Dream of Whirled Peas!

I set myself a goal this year of not letting myself get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and let the stress cloud my vision of what this time of year truly means. It's very easy, especially in this economic meltdown that we are in at the moment, to let yourself lose the spirit of Christmas, making the entire month seem more like a chore than the one time of year where you should strive to get lost in the moment.

We've spent lazy Saturday afternoons decorating the house, the tree is flodded in lights and ornaments, Christmas parties have been RSVP'd to and I think we are actually ready for Christmas.


Wish us Luck!

The Start of Holiday Mania

I haven't posted in what feels like forever and that sucks. The holidays are always crazy and this year it seems like they are double the norm. Thanksgiving, Christmas, shopping, cooking, planning my sis' bachelorette party, financial crap that I wish would just go away, and plenty of other small things crammed into my overflowing list of things to do.

On a happy note we took the kiddos to the snow last weekend and though there wasn't much snow on the ground (probably only a foot or two) all had a blast. Brooklyn spent much of her time cuddled into her pink bear snowsuit and laughing at her brother as he threw himself down hills head first on his groovy new snowboard-style sled. Matt and I even tried out a few runs with him and that things really flies! I'm pretty sure we slid into the parking lot a few times because it was almost impossible to slow down! I'll be sure to post a few pictures as soon as I get a moment to download them from my camera.

My goal this holiday season is to forget all of the stressful crap and focus on what really matters: Creating lasting, beautiful memories for my children of what the holidays mean to our family.

Apology

In an attempt to be super helpful as always, I'm 99% sure that my sweet boy threw away the gift list and all of my thank you cards from his birthday party, meaning no thank you's to send out for all of his awesome gifts. Usually I'm neurotic about sending out thank you's but I think I'm going to skip it this time as I REFUSE to send out generic thank you notes. Hopefully everyone will understand and not be too upset. Note to self: When you ask a 4 year old to clear the dinner table, be prepared for him to assume that that means "throw everything on the table into the garbage!"

Big Boy Curls

I can't help it, but I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and get the Duke's hair cut. He's verging on a mullet and I don't want him to be "that" kid. His hair is just so darn cute all curly and soft and beautiful. It's that shade of slightly reddish blond that women spend plenty of good money trying to obtain. He came out of the bath last night and I kid you not, his wet hair reached almost all the way down his neck to the tops of his shoulders... He keeps telling me that he wants his hair to look like daddy, but daddy Bics his head, and I'm not about to shave munchkins head bald. I'm thinking military short buzz cut that will grow out nicely and undoubtedly be thick with curls again in just a few months.

My Favorite Shots from the Pumpkin Patch

My Favorite Place in the World

Last weekend we went to my favorite place and the family from LA were able to join us, making it even better. We've been going to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland for the last few years as a sort of family tradition to kick off the fall/winter season and I'm so thrilled my LA family made the trip to come with us this year. It was a large family affair, with the four of us, my parents and my sister, Grandpa John and Auntie NeNe, her boyfriend Anthony and his two kids Molina & Noah, my aunt Annie, Uncle Craig, Summer, and Aunt Jeannie all there for the pumpkin farm festivities. It was a long day of hay rides, picking out the perfect pumpkins, playing on all of the different activities and TONS of picture taking!



There is nothing better than family, pumpkins and photos!

My Birthday....

I almost forgot about my own birthday.... Sad huh?!

Good thing my hubby reminded me and the only reason I'm really excited about it is we are going to my favorite place in the whole world Sat: Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland. We've gone every year since Luke was born and it really is just a blast to wander the fields and pick out the perfect pumpkins. Some of my favorite photos I've taken over the years have been taken there and I can't wait to break out the new Rebel there this weekend. Oh, and did I mention that my amazing family from LA is driving out here to go to the pumpkin patch with us????? How awesome is that? I love them so much and wish they lived closer, but I'm so grateful that they come up to visit so often.

Can't wait to see you there!!!

9 Months Old

I say this everytime but wow, 9 months have gone by already?

Thunder Thighs

Dear Thunder Thighs,

Please don't ever leave. You look so cute squashed into hot pink shorts, all dimpled and plump! That little girl you belong to rocks you quite nicely, but I doubt she'll want to keep you around forever. So please, for now, stay with me. I love tickling you and taking pictures of you and occasionally blowing raspberries on you. You are delicious looking to me and represent all that is babyness in Cookie. She doesn't know it yet, but one day I'll embarrass her with pictures of you that I spread out on the coffee table for her prom date or her first boyfriend. As long as I promise to supply the dairy, do you promise you'll stay, at least for a little while?

Love,
Mommy D

Without Bubba

It's late and mommy's had a few beers so bear with me...

We dropped you off for a fun-filled weekend at Grandpa John's house and as we drove off I felt that familiar tugging at my heart. I know you've been to Grandpa's before, and I know you've even stayed there longer than this time, but I miss you.

I miss your incessant chatter of trucks with no backs (open bed pickup trucks) and Ricky Carmichael's arm missing (the little action figure almost made it one year before having his limbs torn off)and cops chasing bad guys and hurting themselves and blooood. I miss you getting up 8 times after being put down for bed because there are storm clouds in your room or you had a bad dream that made you laugh. You are such an independent little thing but not so independent most times. You need your hugs and kisses to fall asleep and your baby bear and blankie, and for that I adore you. I love your crazy antics and your loony bin laughter and your now constant talk of pee and poop and all things related to body functions. I love how you'll get out of bed because you have a hang nail, and then mimic the guys dancing from "So you think you can dance." I love that you adore Brookie and want nothing more in your world than to make her squeal with laughter. I love that you are afraid of thunder, want to play in the rain, and would rather watch Batman than lightning. I love that it's impossible to get you to wake up in the morning and equally impossible to get you to wind down before bed, I love your baseball slides on the carpet and your screeching car sounds as you run full speed thought the house with your little John Deer tractor.

I love your tired talk when you're half asleep and whispering about cops and bad guys and car carriers and nascar. I love your crazy fast pitches and your equally amazing batting skills that Daddy has taught you. I love that you LOVE to be naked and aren't embarrassed to tear it all off and run through the sprinklers. I love you bear hugs and slobbery kisses and tears and even tantrums...

I miss you bugs... See you Sunday...