Father's Day @ the River Cats Game

The game was great, aside from it being pretty hot outside (thank GOD for umbrellas!!)and everyone had a blast! I took a bunch of photos so here are a few to tide ya'll over :)

Why I love weddings

* I bet I'm not the only one who cries at each and every wedding I attend
* The glitz and glamour of it all is enough to make anyone feel like a princess
* There's nothing like wedding cake.... YUM!
* Watching a bride and groom dance together for the first time and witnessing the looks exchanged is magical
* I love the teeny little ring bearers and flower girls: They make we ALMOST want to have more babies :)
* Watching love gush from a crowd of family and friends is incredibly humbling
* They always seem to make me want my hubby more and more, and I LOVE seeing my cargo short and flip flop adoring man all gorgeous in a suit :)

Pictures to follow as soon I can get my camera plugged in and the photos downloaded!

My, how your garden grows!

The garden is LOVING the last few weeks of weird weather we've had here in Sacramento... It's been 2 or 3 days of beautiful 70 plus degrees followed by several days of rain, wind, you name it... Check out my happy little veggies!















How is your garden doing???

I'm lame.... I know....

My beautiful B's birthday came and went without me blogging about it: Bad Mommmy! Her birthday was awesome, quieter than usual, but still awesome in the same. My sis had one of our friends use this crafty scrapbooking tool thing to cut out Dr. Seuss-ish styled letters in the phrase, "Oh, the places we'll go!" which looked awesome as a backdrop to the food table... She received a ton of super cute clothes as well as a bunch of toys that have been keeping her quite busy for the past few weeks. We took a few photos but I haven't had a moment to download them to post. I promise to get them loaded soon and posted here so everyone can see...

I can't believe she's a year old.... Wow, that went by so very quickly. Now on too wild and crazy wedding prep for my sister's big day in May!!!

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.

Freaky Friday!

What is it about Fridays that just make everything seem so much better? That extra jolt in the morning to get up and get movin' and get this day over with so I can come home and spend some real time with my kiddos. We'll probably bit the bullet this weekend and take Duke in and get his hair cut on Saturday morning. A local boy was paralyzed while playing on his high school football team and a barber shop downtown is doing a fundraiser for him, so we'll more than likely take him there. We also have a birthday party to attend on Sunday as well as the normal weekend chores of laundry, making Brooklyn's baby food for the week, sweeping/mopping the floors (that seems to get dirty the second after they dry), making lunches and as always, hosting football Sunday.

Have I mentioned how much my hubby adores football? He's actually obsessed with it and the TV pretty much doesn't turn off from Sunday morning to Monday nights' game. I hate it, but it's his thing so I put up with it....

What are you doing this weekend? Anything fun and exciting? ENJOY!

Wordless Wednesday

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

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm Photo Mash-Up

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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!!!

I Heart my Pup

9 Months Old

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

Luke's Birthday Party

First off, Mom, Dad and Mel, You rock! Thank you for all of your help before during and after the Duke's party!

Aside from the bounce house delivery guys getting stuck in traffic and showing up a little late, the party was awesome and I'm so happy it went off without any real hitches. All of the little ones had a blast and Lukey Duke made out like a total bandit! I'm not joking, it looks like Toys*R*Us threw up all over my toy room. We have Tech Decks, and army guys, and Transformers, and race cars, and, and, and! Thinking that Luke would be exhausted from the party I mistakenly assumed that he'd crash in the car and take a little nap after the days shenanigans, but boy was I wrong. Not only did he not take a nap, but he stayed up until 10:30pm taking dudes and trucks out of boxes and racing them around the toy room.

The cake was awesome (and free I might add! Cashier error, oops!), the skull and crossbones pinata was a big hit and everyone raved about the burgers. Thank God for my fam and their help with keeping the thank you list, refilling food as it got empty and supervising kiddos as they attempted to smash the pinata. Without them it would have been absolute hell.


And an extra huge THANK YOU to my sister for being the paparrazi! You took some killer pictures!!! Luv Ya!

New Pictures of the Munchkins

My red little rose

Gotta love that she insisted on trying to eat the prop everytime I'd try to take the picture!

My husband's new babies

Matt's been on this gardening kick for the past few weeks and has completely re-done all of the landscaping in our front and back yard. It looks amazing and finally like we live here. Before, it only reflected the people who we bought the house from and their tastes. Now it reflects us... Down to my husband's new babies; 5 to be exact. He has always had a thing for Japanese Maple trees and I pretty much blew him off about it until he brought the first 2 home. They're gorgeous and I liked them so much I sent him back to Home Depot for 3 more! Picks of his hard work!

Cute munchkin pics!

Hope Kristen doesn't mind, but I have to post a few of new pictures of her adorable little man Carson. We work together and survived being pregnant at the same time last year... Check him out! He so reminds we of Lukey Duke when he was a baby...

Blast from the Past

(Capt. Duke @ 1 year old)

God, my boy has grown up so fast... It seems like just yesterday that he was still a wee one...