Katie & Co.

Fall Bloggy Giveaway!

2009-10-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

A sweet bloggy friend of mine, Miss Talia, is doing a yummy fall give away with all sorts of fall-ish etsy goodness over at her blog, This Little Life of Mine!
It ends TODAY so head on over there an enter for yourself!
Read a few of her yummy recipes posts and drool a lil over her precious 3 princesses while you are there too!
Thanks Talia for such a fun give away!
I HOPE I WIN!!!!! :D

Kick off Uppercase Living Open House Party!

2009-09-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

My place - Friday, September 18th from 6:30-9pm

Open House style - Come when you can, leave when you need to!

Uppercase Living decorative expressions can help you transform your home into a more wonderful place to live. It's so simple & the results are so dramatic, you'll want to try it yourself! Choose from hundreds of professionally designed expressions & images, or let us help you create your own custom expression. Receive a FREE sample of decorative lettering just for coming!

Send me an email if you can make it and I will send you my address - UppercaseKatie@gmail.com

My Newest Adventure

2009-08-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Care to join me?
Well folks, I am now a demonstrator for a very young direct sales company called Uppercase Living. Have you heard of them?

In the next few days and weeks I will be sharing more about my journey with this company and will be inviting all of you to an Open House to explore the products with me first hand.

I would love it if you would take a few minutes to look around my website for a glimpse of all that Uppercase Living has to offer!

Give your home a voice!

Ummm, how bout NO?

2009-08-07T09:14:00.001-07:00

So it's that time again, back to school time! Which means back to school shopping! YIPPEEE!!!! I've had the most fun picking up and obcene amount 20cent boxes of crayolas, dirt cheap markers, gobs of glue sticks, and so on :) We found great deals on some new clothes when we went outlet shopping at the beach last month. All that's left is their shoes, lunch boxes (Lacie went through 3 last year! OY), and back packs.
Now, when my kids were toddlers & preschoolers I absolutely LOVED buying them tshirts, books, shoes. etc with their fave character(s) on it. I loved that their little personalities were shining through when they had a favorite :) So for the past 3-4 years we have bought stock in just about everything Wiggles, High School Musical, Transformers, Star Wars, and so on.
So now here we are, with Lacie going in to 2nd grade and Colby going in to first. And I'm completely OVER the character-ness of it all! I want cute girly designs and cool boy designs but NO characters. Certainly not the characters that THEY want on their stuff this year.
iCarly? Seriously! And GI JOE? He hasn't even SEEN that movie!
I honestly would have no problem buying them lunchboxes with their favorite character on them, but for some reason, this year I am having a REALLY hard time being ok with it all on their back packs. 1) I now realize just how fleeting these character infatuations are. By Christmas time they will be in to some other tv show or movie! And 2) I like to be unique, and so I want I my kids to be, and to want to be, unique. Apparently unique isn't IN these days ;)
I guess I should pick my battles though. As long as their accessories aren't inappropriate or breaking the bank why not just endulge them for the time being?
I'll keep you posted on what they end up with :)

He Said/She Said

2009-07-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

I've always tried to write the funny things that my kids say down on paper. But I'm not good at remembering. Or else I lose the papers. It's a vicious cycle.
But my kids are HILARIOUS and I know that they will be grown and saying grown up things all too soon :(
So I decided to start a blog - He Said/She Said. Maybe if it's on the computer I'll be better about documenting their silliness? Here's hoping!

Failing at my job

2009-06-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

I have been a stay at home housewife/mom for about 90% if my marriage. I've never been good at it.
I'm not good at keeping up with the laundry. More often than not we are digging through a laundry basket (vs. neatly organized dresser drawers) to find something to wear. I'm not good at cooking regular meals. We eat out WAY too much. I'm not good at keeping the kitchen clean. I hate unloading the dishwasher. I'm not a big fan of loading it either. Bathrooms YUCK. I clean the bathrooms because I hate to sit on a dirty toilet or because people are coming over. Scrubbing the baseboards or the grout? No thank you! I love that we have our beautiful home, but I don't feel like I take pride in it as much I should. I can't believe I'm admitting all of this. But it's true. Of course I don't like to live in filth or mess but I absolutely despise housework!
I'm not a good cook. So I don't enjoy it. My family (myself included) is SO picky that it makes it even more of a miserable experience.
Ok enough with the excuses. Bottom line, I'm failing at my job. Whether I enjoy certain aspects of it or not.
I wanted nothing more in life than to be a wife and mother. Not everyone feels this way. I get that. But that's me. I also know that not everyone is lucky enough to have their dreams come true. I was. And I'm not being a good steward of that blessing. I mean, not EVERYONE loves their job right? I just can't imagine being anywhere else.I can't imagine my kids being at their school or a babysitter all day while I do something else. So if cleaning & cooking are the negatives to that wonderful life than I'll deal. And I have. But I have been slacking sooooo badly lately!
So from here on out I am going to renewing my commitment to my family.
I am going to be a good example of a house keeper for my children so that when they are grown they will know how to keep a house. My mom was such a good example of this for me. I just rebelled when I got out of her house LOL I could really use those chore lists, and someone checking up on me now!
I am going to cook dinner as many nights out of the week as possible. Even if my husband isn't home to eat it - he'll have a good lunch the next day! And even if my kids end up poopooing their meal and eating a pb sandwich instead!
I am going to be better at my job. Because I do NOT want to get fired!!!

If any of you have any tips or suggestions on how to make this job any easier/enjoyable? I'm all ears!

My Summer To Do List

2009-06-04T08:58:00.001-07:00

**In NO particular order**
done
in progress

1. Keep up with this blog better! - Practically a FAIL :(

2. Get caught up on my Project 365 blog (caught up to April 3oth!) - OY haven't done any more with this and I certainly haven't been taking photos everyday :( FAILx2

3. Play a game &/or read WITH my kids everday

4. RE-organize my kitchen

5. Purge our entire house and get things ready for LFR in the fall. BAHAHAHA this project will be pushed back til after school starts and their aren't 3 other beings in my house complaining about what I am or am not getting rid of!

6. Paint our bedroom, the hall bathroom, and the laundry room - How bout paint my scrap room? Almost done!

7. Switch the playroom & my craftroom

8. This one is personal

9. Lose 30 pounds

10. Complete at least 30 layouts (20/30)

11. Have friends over for a "just because" party

12. Read 8 books (8/8)

13. Go an entire week (or more!) without eating out for ANY meal OR snack

14. Record some videos of my kids doing summer activities

15. Sign my kids up for some extra curricular activities
Colby's playing Tball & Lacie is doing gymnastics!

16. Start going to church again

17. Celebrate July 4th at the beach

18. Go to Disneyland 2-3 times :) (2/3)

19. Learn how to embroider

20. Learn how to use photoshop elements - changed my mind about this one

21. Make my own laundry soap

22. Plan Lacie's birthday dinner

23. Plan Colby's birthday party

24. Get an overnight away with my hubby

25. Hang up pictures and other decor in my barren house of 2 years OY

26. Get caught up on my kids school albums
Lacie's kindergarten & Pre-K pages are DONE. Colby's Pre-K pages are done too!

2009-05-15T07:28:00.001-07:00

Testing.
Blogging by txt

She's 21 now

2009-05-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

My baby sister (well one of 'em), Emily, turned 21 on April 25th. She decided on Easter that she DID in fact want a dinner party with family & close friends. So me, being the super rad sister that I am who has absolutely nothing else on my plate, offered to put it all together for her :) We reserved her fave restaurant, coordinated decorations with her outfit, she asked my mom to bring an album of baby photos and we invited guests. It was a really nice fun evening that I know meant alot to her. I was so happy to be able to help and happy to be a part of her big day - I left the REAL partying to her friends ;)

I made those table runners! This was actually at the end of the night after the parents and grandparents and kids had left haha SIBLING SHOT! :) Buttery nipples MMMMM

The REAL sibling shot :)

Auntie with her niece and nephews

Her fabulous friends

My nephew was macking on one of the waitress. He is too much in his lil undershirt!

Birthday cake

Birthday margarita!

She got carded when she was ordering her drink haha

Pretty soon I'll be celebrating her 21st *tear

She and her friend went and got matching tattoos.

S.O.S.

2009-05-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ok people, I can't take it anymore! I NEED A BLOG NAME!
A cute one
A fun one
One that I'm not gonna want to change again in 6 months :)
I don't really want it to have a MOM theme or a CRAFT theme, just something fun and ME

Here a few that I've thought of but I don't LOVE any of them :( So suggestions are much much needed!
Mood Swings
Mood Swingin’
He Said/She Said – or I might just make a new blog of things the kids said using this name
So Rad-ish
Sugar & Spice
Cheeseville USA
Blogtastic

What's in it for you? Besides the fact that once I get a cool name I'll stop whining about not having one? :)
How about a lil prize action? I will be putting together a lil prize package for the creative thinker(s) of the bunch. I'll update when I figure out what that prize will be but trust me, IT'S GONNA BE GOOD!!
Ok ready, set, GO!

National Scrapbooking Weekend

2009-05-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

The first Saturday in May has been dubbed National Scrapbook Day and my local store always hosts a weekend long cropfest. Friday from 4pm-12am, Saturday 8am - 12pm, and Sunday 10am - 6pm. It is UBER fun people! Tons and tons of presents and prizes to be won! Seriously people FUN TIMES!!! All the ladies there are SO nice and it is really fun to see everyone's different styles. Here a few pics from my weekend and also the pages that I worked on :) (They are a bit out of order because Blogger is being a hag and not letting me move them around)

These first pages were all done digitally using Microsoft Publisher 2007.

The theme was a weekend in Paris so the decor, make n takes, and food all had a paris theme. There were lots of fun vintage hats for us to try on and play with! This yellow one was made for me don't ya think?

This is a card I made...

This is what I left home on Friday afternoon LOL

These are keychains we made Friday night. They were SO fun!

A page I did of my Lacie Bug

Yes there are exactly 100 buttons on this page :)

The only 2 page layout I did all weekend hahaha

The green background paper is actually bumpy like LEGOS are. So fun!
This page is adorable but it cost me just around $10 to make due to poor decisions on my part :(

This is just one of the fabulous presents we got.

Spring Break at Disneyland

2009-04-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

We spent the first two days of Spring Break at Disneyland with my brother and my nephew. It was my nephew's first time ever! And my brother hadn't been there since his gradnite 8 years ago! It was pretty warm and pretty packed but all in all we had a fabulous time! We got on quite a few rides, met some characters, took just around 1000 pictures (!!!!!), spent LOTS of money, and made memories that will last a lifetime! We also got the kids their annual passes this trip so we're already counting down the days until next time! Here is a lil slideshow of just a 'few' of the pictures we took. Please forgive me, some are sideways, some are duplicates, and it goes really fast LOL But they are now on the blog and off my back so there ya go. Now I just need to tackle Easter and I'll be somewhat caught up! ENJOY!

I have a new cousin!!!

2009-04-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

Only he's not a baby.

Yonas Gabriel Brewer became a member of our family, legally, yesterday. He is currently in Ethiopia. My Aunt Lisa has had an African adoption on her heart for over 10 years. She is a single mom, with 4 kids already, but finally decided to take the leap last September. In less than a year she has been blessed with a new son!

I only get to see my North Carolina cousins once every few years so who knows when I will have the privilege of meeting Yonas Gabriel. But I can't wait!

Here is my favorite picture of my handsome new cousin but you can click on over to my Aunt's blog to see more.

Lil Ole Me

2009-04-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

I love my lil blogger updates on the right over there. I have all (well most, it needs to be updated!) my fave bloggers and I can see right away when they post something new. Over the past few days there have been several posts with self portraits. A tag of sorts, making the rounds in the bloggy world. Yesterday, my friend Colleen over at See Sherm Blog tagged lil ole me to take a picture of myself and pass the tag along. The rules are to take a picture of yourself RIGHT when you read the blog. No primping, editing, etc.Well I'm not really one to follow the rules LOL so I conveniently waited till today, after I got ready, to take my picture. SO BAD I know! In my defense this is only halfway through my getting ready process so there. Also, I was in my kitchen making breakfast for the kids. See the cinnamon back there? MMMM we had cinnamon toast this morning.

Ok here are the rules! Try not to be too rebellious like myself and actually follow them if you get tagged!
1) Take a picture of yourself right now.
2) No primping or preparing.
3) Just snap a picture.
4) Load the picture onto your blog.
5) Tag some people to play along.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...I hereby tag:
1) my bestie who has not blogged in many moons - Gretchie (My Daily Balancing Act)
2) my darling Sarah at the Lefotu Lounge cause she needs more pictures on her blog!
3) Miss Ashley at Scrap Like Mad cause she's preggers and gorgeous!
4) My crafty friend Julie is gorgeous too and lots of fun!
5)Anyone else that wants to join in on the fun! GO FOR IT!

The Rainbow Cake FINALLY!

2009-04-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were FINALLY able to try our hand at this gorgeous dessert! I made it for the Easter celebration we had with my Mom's side of the family. The kids and I had a BLAST!

I used box cake mix for a WHITE cake and then seperated the batter into 6 bowls.

I used one bowl for each color. The kids really had fun mixing these. It was like magic watching the colors appear!

After all the colors were mixed I took my greased round cake pan and took a ladle (sp?) of red and scooped it into the middle of the pan. Then I went on to the next color. You put each color right on top of each other, they spread out on their own. I ended up being able to do two rounds of this, just kept piling it all on top of the other.

Then I just followed the directions on the box for baking and after the cake was cooled I frosted it with cool whip so it looked like a big fluffy cloud!

When we sliced the cake it was SO neat to see how the colors actually STAYED seperate! You would think that by slopping them all on top of each other they would get mixed up but they didn't.

Everyone just kept raving about how gorgeous and bright and YUMMY it was! It's just a simple white cake people! But my Nana even said, that even though it shouldn't taste any different the colors somehow really add to the taste! HEHEHE I am so not a good cook and defintely not a good baker so it just tickles me so to make a tasty treat for all my family to enjoy.

We will DEFINTELY be making this one again! I'm thinking Lakers! Fourth of July! Zebra! The possibilities are endless!

School Easter Parties

2009-04-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Colby's class had a gigantic egg hunt and Lacie's class had a ice cream sunday party. I was lucky enough to be there for both. I love my life! I have about a bazillion more pictures but these are just a couple of my faves.

Scrapbooking For Fun

2009-04-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things you might hear alot of scrapbookers say is "I will never be caught up!"

It can be very discouraging to see the boxes and boxes of photos, or the countless files on my computer, that have yet to be documented. As much as I love scrapbooking, being "backed up" can often times take away from the fun of creating. I struggled with this alot last year and because of that I hardly got any pages done.

Finally this year I'm taking a step back. I decided that I am going to put all of my past photos in regular ole albums so that they are at least being enjoyed! And now I am starting fresh with my 2009 photos, of course I am already monstrously behind LOL but it is way less daunting then going all the way back to 2002!

I am also trying to really stretch myself creatively this year. I recently entered a project challenge with my local scrapbook store. My first ever! I didn't win :( but it was still a very exciting experience and I'm looking forward to participating in the next one.

So I wanted to share a few photos with you of the project I made and also photos of the layouts I made when I spent a weekend at the beach with a few of my girlie friends. Sidenote: I can NOT believe I never blogged about that weekend! UGH. Let's just say it was all sorts of crazy fun! :)

First is the memo board I created for the challenge. We were allowed to create anything as long as we used at least 2 papers from a specific line. It was fun for me to do something other than a layout.
And these are the pages I made at the beach:

I bought this little easle the last time I was at IKEA. It is perfect for taking photos of my layouts!

I need your help!

2009-04-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Ok people I need you help! I'm entering in a contest to win a weekend away at a nearby scrapbook retreat called Scrap-N-Away! I would LOVE to win this! All you have to do is go to their blog and leave a comment with my name. I will get 2 entries for each friend that leaves a comment! I will love you for-ev-er if you'd be so kind! Thanks in advance!

Another Dream Come True!

2009-03-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned my longing for a SLR on here a few times. I know I've mentioned it in real life LOTS of times! I've researched, shopped sales, played in stores, drooled, and dreamed. My dreams finally came true (Thanks to our tax return :) ) this past weekend! Target (as if I needed another reason to love that place!) was offering a $75 gift card with the purchase of a Nikon D40. I am feeling a little overwhelmed to be honest! I only have the kit lense right now and since I've tried others an have learned a little bit more about this strange new SLR world I also feel a little limited. But I'm also crazy in love! It's just so FUN! I of course have really no idea what I'm doing but am still getting nice crisp pictures! I can barely stand to put it down! Between that and my other obsession (more on that later!), my blog & house are a tad neglected!
Tonight I uploaded my first batch of pictures taken with my new babe so I thought I'd share. These were really hard to upload. I don't know if it was blogger if it's their size? Need to figure that out!

My husband's eyes look like that cause he just got out of the shower. And Lacie, wow, I didn't think she could look any MORE beautiful! But I just love this picture of her!

Colby's already tired of paparazzi mom :)

My father in law actually took this one. He's a tad jealous :)

LOVE this one! hehehe

I love how the background it blurry!!!! I've ALWAYS wanted to be able to do that!

I have lots more but don't want to bore you hehehe

Sweet Babies

2009-03-25T08:57:00.001-07:00

I started reading Angie's Bring the Rain blog around this same time last year. To give you a summary, Angie became pregnant with her 4th daughter and was told at her 20 week ultrasound that her sweet baby girl, Audrey, would not be "compatible" with life outside of the womb. Angie has shared so much of her journey on her blog including pictures and video of Audrey's precious few hours on earth. She is such an amazing example of grace and faith and especially humor.

From Angie's blog I was introduced to MckMama. MckMama was pregnant the same time as Angie. Her baby, MckMuffin aka Stellan, also was expected to die. He was miraculously born with NOTHING wrong with him! He has lived the past 5 months of his life as an adorable, happy, HEALTHY baby with his 2 brothers and a sister (ages 4 and under!!!). Well now Stellan is in the hospital. Struggling to live because his heart has fallen back into the dangerous rhythm that threatened his life when he was in his mother's womb.

Other than the pain I felt over my first pregnancy ending in a miscarriage, I can NOT imagine the horror of losing a child. A child that you have felt kick inside you or held in your arms. I pray to God I never have to know that pain! But these ladies have come face to face with that possibility, and reality, more than once.

Please familiarize yourself with their stories, their families, and join me in praying for this sweet baby boy fighting for his life.

Handy Dandy!

2009-03-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

My husband has been venturing into the world of home improvements. It's really quite adorable to watch :)

A few weekends ago he humored me and hung up a row of hooks on the backside of our entryway wall window thingamajigger.

Up until then my kids backpacks &jackets have cluttered the entry way during the week and the bottom of the hall closet on weekends or school breaks.

Now they have a little home, just outside their bedroom, but out of sight!

Oh and he also hung up a couple more rows of hooks in the playroom to hang the abundance of dress up clothes! This project didn't turn out as nice as we would have liked but we don't plan on having them up forever (since this is supposed to be Colby's room) so we didn't fret over it too much. They serve their purpose and that's more than we had before!

I LOVE IT! And the kids do to :)

Thank you my handy dandy honey!

Baby boy shoes

2009-03-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I read this gal's post about her lil guy's new kicks. One of the pairs are exactly the same as the ones my mom bought for my boy a long, long time ago. It's hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since he wore those shoes. That thought made me search through thousands of pictures on my computer to find this. Seeing this picture, and reading Lorie's post, brought back all the memories of his pudgy lil pigeon toed feet and how hard it was to find shoes that would "fit". Now when we are shoe shopping it is more about who or what is on the shoes that will make him happy and comfortable. Not to mention the size difference!

There really is no valid point to this post. I'm just a momma with a fast growing boy that enjoys reading about other momma's and their fast growing boys. Time just flies by with these little guys! Thank goodness for pictures!

9 years

2009-03-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

9 years ago was my wedding day. We dated for 6 months before that.

There are actually quite a few things I regret about that day and the days leading up to it. We were pretty crappy towards our parents, David's dad wasn't even at the wedding, something I will ALWAYS regret. I was in such a hurry to get out of my parent's house and on with my "dream" life that I ignored a lot of things and people that I shouldn't. I also allowed a lot of things to happen that I wished I wouldn't have. I BORROWED my dress :(. I let a lot of the bigger decisions just float by me (not to say that I am not totally and completely appreciative of everything that my mom and the rest of the family did for us, cause I am! I just wish that I had the forsight to be more PRESENT in my own wedding plans). Oh and we skedaddled out of our 'cake & punch' reception after MAYBE an hour. Ugh in some instances I have to agree that 19 is WAY young to be getting married!

This is me and my Daddy before the wedding.

Yes I wore flipflops under my dress! :)

The wedding party

Communion

David and the girls

But I do NOT regret getting married on this day 9 years ago. I do NOT regret WHO I married.

I know now that I didn't really know him then, I didn't even really know myself.

But I got lucky.

The man that I married is more than I could have ever dreamed of. WAY more than I deserve.

He is the love of my life. The father of my children. My very best friend.

I can not imagine spending the last 9 years of my life without him by my side. I hope and pray that I never, ever have to know what that kind of life would be like.

I love you baby, more than I can express.

Thank you for everyday that you've been with me.

I am so proud of all that you have become and am so grateful for all that you do for our family.

I look forward to the next 9 years with you and more!

All my love,

Your Wife

A GLAMOUR-ous Deal!

2009-03-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

What a fun deal! Go here to sign up! Sign your sister up, and your friend too! So fun!

Photos taken from the Glamour website

Going Backwards, and forwards

2009-03-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

Not sure what my deal is these days but I just haven't been in the mood to write about what's been going on in my neck of the woods. Nothing bad has happened, I actually don't have PMS (shocker!), I'm not drowning in a book (but I am getting ready to start this one, am I the last person on earth?). Anyway, nothing has been keepin me from writing. I've been focusing on housework and house projects and a wee bit o' craftiness. Oh and a little thing some people like to call Facebook, but I call the black hole that I get sucked into daily and only come out when my kids need to be picked up or fed!

I finally got the gumption tonight to whip up my first ever video using the pictures I took on our recent anniversary trip. Last weekend, my parents were darling enough to keep our kids so that we could get away together. Our anniversary actually isn't until March 18th but with David's work + school schedule this was our only chance to celebrate. He has class the Saturdays before and after our anniversary, he is working the nights before & after our anniversary, and has class on our actual anniversary :( So we HAD TO GET AWAY when we could hahaha!

Now some of you may think that we are crazy for 1) celebrating our big day at Disneyland and 2) for going without the kiddos. Well ya we're crazy like that :)

We had a blast going on pretty much ALL the grown up rides, something we never get to do! I was trying to be a brave little wifey and accompany my man on all these scary rides but after going on The Tower of Terror I was dunzo! That is THE scariest thing I have EVER done in my ENTIRE life! No, I do not care how dramatic that sounds. I almost crapped my pants! I will never understand why being terrified, dropped a bajillion stories, or jerked around is FUN and entertaining for anyone!!! If you can, pause it when you get to the pic from Tower of Terror. I am gripping my love for dear life and he is laughing hysterically. The other people in the pic are posing, raising their hands, & even whistling! I was CRYING and praying for the welfare of my children after my untimely demise! No joke! Not fun, not fun at all and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

Something else I have to mention, I forgot my camera charger :( I was able to eek out enough juice for these few pictures but there were so many photo ops that I just couldn't get.

All was made right with the world when my hunny bought us Annual Passes! He said, "Now we can come back when your camera is charged" hahaha he's such a sweetie pie! Seriously how did I get so d*amn lucky!? I have coveted Annual Passes for quite some time now! Did you know that SoCal residents can now use a payment plan for them? For a one income family like us that is a dream come true! Reason #1029383821 why I heart Disney.

Ok enough rambling, here's my wittle slideshow... mute my soundtrack down at the bottom so you can hear my favoritest love song ever while you look at the pics!

FINALLY!

2009-02-25T21:46:00.000-08:00

After being a month behind, I am FINALLY caught up on my Project 365 blog. You should go check it out! Especially since I have been so horrible about updating THIS blog :( I promise that I am working on a few REAL posts for my faithful readers. Those will be up sooooon!

I am SO making this!

2009-02-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Photo Courtesy of Hostess With the Mostess Blog

I can not wait to try my hand at this amazing cake! I'm thinking St Patrick's Day? If I can wait that long! You can find even MORE gorgeous pictures and a tutorial over at the Hostess with the Mostess blog.

Have you seen this?

2009-02-17T14:57:00.001-08:00

My sis showed this video to me and I just had to share. It's too stinkin' cute!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

2009-02-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Yes it's true. I am a Friday the 13th baby :) My mom always told me that it made it my LUCKY day. It's certainly has proven true so far! I've been pretty blessed to have just about all of my birthdays be great ones. This one's looking no different! Although I have to say that this whole turning 28 business is pretty interesting. It just seems so GROWN UP (I won't say "old"). I just can't believe that that is actually my age! I've never really had a problem getting older. Every year I love love my birthday. But after I turned 25 I just wanted to stay that age FOREVER. I think once I get to 30 and I can just embrace the 30s then maybe it won't be so bad? Until 37? LOL It's like on a rollercoaster when you are making that slooooooow climb up a really big hill. You KNOW the drop is going to be a big deal but also that it will be over before you know it. I'm making that sloooooow climb right now and 30 is looking all sorts of scary and exciting. But I know it'll all be over before I know it so I just need to LIVE and BREATHE these moments!
Anywho, in honor of my birthdayness I decided to post the 25 Random things that I posted about myself on Facebook. Seriously EVERYBODY is doing this and I just love it because I love learning new lil things about people or seeing what I and others have in common.
So here we go, 25 things you might not have known about me :)
*I did change a few of them just cause I did this a week or so ago and have thought of better ones since*

1. I don't care to be outside. I have to be in the mood to tolerate it and those moods don't really last very long. This is very sad for my husband and daughter who love to be outside but my son is just like me :)
2. I am not a movie person. They usually make me fall asleep. It has to be REALLY good to hold my attention for the duration. It takes alot for me to agree to even sit down to watch in the first place.
3. I am living my dream come true by being a stay at home mom to my kiddos. I don't know what I did to be so lucky.
4. I am more in love with my husband today than yesterday and tomorrow's looking even better.
5. I got married a month after I turned 19 and I know alot of people that didn't think we'd make it. Can't really blame them, not only were we crazy young, we had only been together for 6 months. We will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary in March. I can't say it has always been easy but I can't think of anyone else I'd rather share life's journey with.
6. It is really hard for me to keep my house clean. It kills me that I didn't inherit the crazy clean gene from my momma. I've gotten alot better over the years but it is still a daily struggle for me.
7. I am so NOT athletic but really do wish I was. I always dream that I just get out there and be REALLY well at softball, or be able to run really fast, or even dance well. Nope not happening :(
8. I want to graduate college but have no clue what my major would be. Not to mention the fact that I just hate college courses. I used to LOVE school and homework. Until college. I don't feel smart enough!
9. I could sit and read all day long. I've always been that way. I used to walk home from school reading. I read every night for at least 20 minutes before I fall asleep.
10. I don't really have a desire to travel other countries. I'm much more interested in my own. Which is not to say that I'd turn down a trip :) But I've always been fascinated by US history.
11. I hate hurting people's feelings. I'll do everything in my power to avoid upsetting or disappointing someone. Even at my own expense.
12. It is VERY hard for me to knowingly break the rules.
13. I feel like my personality is completely different from when I was a teenager. I think I was alot meaner and outgoing then I am now. I guess that's what happens when you get older. :)
14. It is hard for me to accept that some people don't like me. It makes me really sad and I feel completely responsible.
15. I think pregnant woman are the most beautiful creatures. It's such a miraculous thing, pregnancy and birth. I think it gets taken for granted so much these days.
16. I really don't care to be in the presence of animals. Pictures or videos are just fine by me. I really want a dog though. Maybe I just need to form an attachment to one and then my views will change?
17. I was the only one that thought Lacie was going to be a girl - the doctor said he was 85% sure she was a boy after multiple ultrasounds.
18. I am finally OK with not having any more kids. I can't imagine starting over! My kids are so fun and easy right now!
19. I have a lot of regrets. I am slowly working to let them go.
20. I have a 6 year old and a 5 year old. Catholic twins? Irish twins? Ya something like that. They are only 13 months apart. One of the most terrifyingly wonderful things I've ever gone through. I honestly did not know how we were going to survive. But we did and it's been amazing. I can't imagine our family created in any other way. I guess the Big Guy does know what he's doing?
21. I am spoiled enough to have my own scrap/sew room and love spending time in it.
22. I am the oldest of 7 - a 26yo brother, a 23 yo brother, a 20 yo sister, a 15 yo brother, a 12 yo sister, & a 5yo sister. I really wish I had better relationships with all of them.
23. I am very afraid of having poor relationships with my children when they are grown. I hope that by being continually conscious of it as they grow up we'll avoid it but oh man the possibility alone scares me. Especially when you consider the outside influences of friends and significant others!
24. I love to sing. I sound good to myself but not with a microphone.
25. I absolutely can NOT stand parents that are selfish. It's like an oxymoron to me. Parents who dump their kids off with babysitters every chance they get. Parents who make sure they're dressed warmly but can't be bothered to put a blanket over their baby - and then they wonder why the babe keeps getting sick? Parents who do nothing but complain complain complain about their children and their lives. Ugh it just breaks my heart. They look good on the surface, send em to all the right schools, cute clothes, cool toys, but that's about it. I'm not a perfect parent by any means but my kids are my world not just accessories. haha oops it's obvious I'm passionate about this topic :)

Oh Me Oh My! editedagain

2009-02-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

First off, thank you all for your suggestions for our weekend getaway :) We're still tossing a few things around and working on a babysitter but I will update sooooon!

Now, onto the purpose of this post. I just had to share something I found today. If I can get my act together (I have so much going on right now it's not even funny), I am SOOOO going to make these for my kids teachers. They are too cute not too! They look really simple to make as well.

More details AND instructions with step by step pictures can be found over on the You Can Make This blog. They have so many great crafty ideas on this site! Enjoy!

**Ya know, after reading through their directions, I think I am going to go a more edible (and less messy route) by using toothpicks to attach the taffy instead of hot glue.**

***I CAN'T FIND TAFFY ANYWHERE! HELP!!!!***

In Search Of...

2009-02-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

If you follow me on twitter or facebook you may have already heard my cry for help. I decided to expand my search to the bloggy world.
Next month the hubs and I will be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary! I can hardly believe it myself.
Hubs actually has to work AND go to class the day of our anniversary and has class the weekends before and after. SO we are attempting to plan a weekend getaway for the last weekend in February. We haven't had a weekend completely to ourselves in years. We went to Vegas in 07 with his family and before that I can't even remember.
So here's where I need your help. We are looking for something to do/somewhere to go that is not too far away, something relatively cheap, something romantic, something relaxing, something that we haven't done before or at least haven't done in a long time.
Any ideas?

OMG and this one too!

2009-02-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/2154712

Madly in love with this chick's playlist!

Her's rocks my socks too...

OMG this song!!!!!

2009-02-01T20:13:00.001-08:00

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/2151628

A Dream Come True

2009-01-29T17:06:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I got to live a dream. It actually started on Thursday or Friday of last week. I saw a post on my meetup message board and called my hubby right away to get permission :) My friend Erin, owns an online scrapbook store - ScrapWild and she is a member of CHA - the Craft & Hobby Association. Well ever January/February the CHA hosts a trade show in Anaheim. We're talking around 4000 exhibitors, it's at the convention center right across the street from Disneyland. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to this from the moment I heard about it. Now, most people don't even KNOW what CHA stands for let alone about the trade show. Basically it's every craft product company known to man showing off their new lines.

So Erin asked a few of us to go with her so that she could get feed back on the new lines to help her decide what to carry in her store. I JUMPED at this opportunity! Thankfully the hubby was on board :) Then I chatted up my friend Sarah, because she got to go last year. She got all jazzed and we made plans to go together once we learned that her 3month old was allowed to go to, he's nursing babe :)

So EARLY Sunday morning we hit the road (after hitting up Starbucks :) ) towards Anaheim. Walking in was really surreal. Right away I spotted signs of brands that I knew 3M, Prima, Scrapblog, Little Yellow Bicycle, CRAYOLA, and so on. Some of the booths were really decked out and it was just all so cool to see! We spent the day walking around and looking at the new product, sampling new product, taking pictures, meeting celebrities, and gathering freebies!

It was a fabulous fabulous time! Little baby Isaiah was such an angel baby the whole time. I even got to carry him in his carrier for the last little bit. It was a blast! Thank you thank you Erin for this amazing opportunity! If you need someone again next year I am SO your gal!

This is me with ANNA GRIFFIN!!!!

Those are pads of paper at the Me and My Big Ideas booth, isn't that cool? Sarah & I wanted to grab some so bad but it was not allowed :(

I have looked EVERYWHERE for Star Wars themed scrapbook supplies! So Creative Imaginations has it, now I just gotta find someone who carries it! Erin? ;)

This lady was hilarious. Her company created a cushioned seat pad with hang down pockets for crafters. She only talks in a baby voice and she sits in a giant chair with a giant version of her product. Her voice did kinda get annoying after awhile though. Don't you just love the baby's face?

This is me doing a make n take with Zutter

I spotted this zebra wall from far away and new that I'd love whatever was there.

OMG!!!!!!!! Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life? They'll be ready for sale right before Mother's day! Hint Hint :) There is also a matching Point & Shoot camera clutch or a large DSLR case and they are all lined with HOT PINK! Swoon!

Me and Sarah-kins! My partner in crime! Don't know what I would have done without her! We had the BEST time!

LOVED these spinning embelishments from Cosmo Cricket

This was probably THE coolest thing at the show. It's a Baby Tooth album full of places to document when teeth come in and when they fall out. Even a little storage case for them! Seriously how cute is that?

This is me and the fabulous Jenni Bowlin! Love her and her BINGO cards!!!

Me in front of the CK Media booth. Unfortunately none of the girls were there - Lisa Bearnson, Ali Edwards, or Becky Higgins :(

EEEEP! That's Heidi Swapp!!!!! She was the sweetest! Her new product looks like LOTS of fun!

The Little Yellow Bicycle display was super cute and I loved all their new stuff! Especially the pads that coordinate with the chipboard albums but the paper is already cut to fit the pages perfectly!

Here are my kids and the goodies that mommy brought home for them. Colby got some Star Wars color pages & Crayola Color Surge markers. Lacie got some piggie tail headbands and glitter pens. And they both got foam SLICEs from Making Memories.

And this is MY loot! Check it out :)

8 things...

2009-01-28T16:24:00.001-08:00

I know I know I really do need to recap my fabulous weekend but I'm being lazy and haven't uploaded my pictures yet. I promise it's coming soon! In the meantime, my friend Megan tagged me!!!
*these lists are in no particular order*
8 Things about me:
1. I only have 16 more days left as a 27 year old.
2. I am REALLY afraid of death.
3. I love to read, fiction mostly.
4. I LOVE Wicked! The musical mostly, the book was extremely weird.
5. I am a slob really, it is so hard for to keep my house clean.
6. I love to be crafty.
7. I used to play the flute.
8. I am not a good driver, especially at night.

8 TV Shows I watch:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Brother's & Sisters
3. Jon & Kate Plus 8
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. Private Practice
6. the new 90210
7. The City - not really into though
8. The Hills - when it's new

8 Restaurants I love:
1. Senor Pepes (Bakersfield)
2. BJ's
3. Don Pepes (Bakersfield - same owners as #1)
4. Claim Jumper
5. Panda Express - not really a restaurant but MMMM
6. Me n Ed's Pizza
7. McClintock's
8. Roadhouse Grill

8 Things that Happened Today:
1. I scrapbooked
2. I helped Colby finish his homework
3. My husband went to work - today is his long day because he has class tonight till 9
4. I broke up fights between my kids, several oy!
5. I ignored housework (still am! after dinner I swear)
6. Sister & I played our daily game of Mario Kart
7. New grocery list was started
8. I did NOT win any Making Memories contests :(

8 Things I look forward to:
1. My hunny coming home tonight!
2. Getting the house picked up after dinner
3. David (us) getting paid tomorrow night
4. Superbowl Sunday with the fam
5. Birthday celebrations next month
6. Valentine's day
7. the start of a new class
8. going to the beach with fabulous ladies (including my bestie!) for a weekend of scrapbooking!

8 Things I wish for:
1. continued health for my family
2. will power
3. strength
4. DVR capabilities in other rooms in the house
5. safety for my family
6. the desire (and energy) to keep my house spotless
7. a monthly game night with friends
8. the guarantee of a summer school position for my husband

8 Songs I just listened to:
1. The Suite Life theme song
2. Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes
3. Take me out to the ball game
4. The Life with Derek theme song
5. Jesse McCartney - Beautiful Soul
6-8 we've been listening to a Veggie Tales CD in the car

8 Favorite Movies:
1. Mary Poppins
2. Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea
3. The Wedding Singer
4. Little Women
5. The Day After Tomorrow
6. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
7. Toy Story
8. CARS

Tag 8 people for this :
1. Gretchen
2. Julie P
3. Doris
4. Sarah
5-8. whoever else wants to!

A Making Memories Giveaway!

2009-01-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

I saw their new lines in person yesterday at CHA (more on that later) and I could not stop drooling! I've always been a Making Memories fan and you'll see why when you check out their goods! Their doing some giveaways this week for funsies so if you don't scrap then go put in a good word for MEEEEE :) Click here for their blog and the live updates fro CHA!

Cousins!!!

2009-01-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

I am the oldest of many cousins, on both my mom and dad's side. Unfortunately, most of them live out of town/state so I'm not able to be as close to them all like I would like, or even like we used to be. I'm starting to feel like now that they are all getting older it might be easier for us to stay in contact. Some of them have email accounts of their own, and well, we all know that that is pretty much the easiest way to stay in contact! That is one of my resolutions for this year. To forge better/stronger relationships with my family members. To get to know them more as individuals. The relationships in my family have all changed drastically throughout my growing up years. Things are no where near like what I remember when I was a child.Anyway, all of this to say that I plan to really work hard on my familial relationships this year, for my kids sake and for my own sake!

My goal got off to a great start when I heard from my aunt Lisa that her kids would be in town this month visiting their dad. I hadn't seen them in 2 years, and before that it had been 4 or 5! I was really excited! I made plans for them to come over for a couple of hours this past Sunday and the rest of the local family was coming over too. Well then it turned out that 2 more of my cousins that live in Sacramento were in town visiting their dad! So it ended up being almost our whole family in one place! Seriously hasn't happened in I don't know how long! The only people that were missing were my 2 aunts (the mothers of the cousins visiting) and my sister (who really upset me by not coming but what can you do with an almost 21 year old who is in lala land with her boyfriend? ;) ).

It was seriously the best 2 1/2 hours that I've had in a long time! It's so fun to have all of these people in one place who look and sound so similiar and have history together, all laughing, hugging, playing. It was just the best! My kids love and miss their cousins so much, they haven't stopped asking for them! I have plans to put little packages together for all the cousins with envelopes, paper, and stamps so that the ones that are too little to have email can still be penpals! This is Alina, Beth, Tessa, & Lacie looking at pictures from our Disneyland trip together 2 years ago.

This is Steven (little brother to the girls pictured above) & Colby.

This is Alina showing baby Natalie the Disneyland pictures

These are my Aunt Amy's boys - Devin & Clayton with Colby. He loves his boy cousins!

Cousins rocking out!

Cousins jumping!!!

Beth and Natalie

These are all of my Nana's grandkids & great grandkids minus my sister.

Thank goodness for cameras with self-timers! This is everyone who was at my house that day. We were missing my sister and my 2 other aunts.

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

2009-01-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have a nasty cold so I don't have the energy for a long mushy post in honor of my darling husband. But I didn't want to let the day go by without a shoutout.

While America was celebrating its new President, I've been celebrating MY man :) Today is his 31st birthday! He's so old! hahaha Unfortunately he had to work most of the day but the kids and I baked him his favorite cookies this afternoon and we were able to go out to dinner (just the 4 of us) to our fave Mexican restaurant for yummy food and a bit of singing :)

This photo is actually from his birthday party last year.

I love this man so much. I still haven't figured out just what I did to deserve such a wonderful man. He does so much for me and our kids I don't know how he doesn't collapse with exhaustion at the end of each day. I am so proud of how far he has come and of his plans for our future.

I hope you had a great birthday baby! I'm looking forward to spending many more with you!!!!

President Obama's Inaugural Address in a Wordle

2009-01-20T12:53:00.001-08:00

Click on the image below to enlarge.

created by chayner

Cutesie Poo!!!!

2009-01-18T10:14:00.001-08:00

I've been following Elle's Studio for a couple months now. I've not been lucky enough to make any purchases yet but I'm hoping too soon. They have such cute stuff for scrapbooking, card making, etc. I personally think even non-scrapbookers will find several things to love in their shop.
Starting yesterday, on their blog, they are doing a week of Valentine's theme crafty projects AND giveaways. So far the projects have been EXTREMELY easy and the giveaways are to die for!
Anyway I'm just spreading the love :) I'll have add button on my sidebar as well.

For Colleen

2009-01-16T21:24:00.001-08:00

My friend Colleen likes to collect, what she calls, Cell Phone Gems. I have a crappy cell phone camera so I am rarely able to capture such surreal moments, despite the fact that I live in a town that is FULL OF THEM. But today I got lucky, I was alone, and the sun was shining so the lighting was almost perfect. While cruising the Walmart {bleck trust me I was there with purpose} parking lot, I rolled by this beauty and I could not resist! Luckily there was no one behind me because I practically slammed on my breaks.

Check it out people. JOE THE PLUMBER was at MY Walmart! Can you believe it?

hahahaha I crack myself up!

It was WICKED fun!

2009-01-13T20:48:00.000-08:00

So I wanna say it was back in October that my bestie called me with a plan to buy tickets to the very last showing of WICKED in Los Angeles. She and her sister were buying a ticket for their mom as a Christmas gift and figured I would want to go too. HECK YAH I would!

So the months go by and in December, my husband stops shopping around for Laker tickets. He always likes to go to a game around his birthday. So one night he tells me that he bought his ticket. I ask him the date and he tells me January 11th. I think to myself hmmm, sounds familiar. Well then I realize that that is our date for Wicked! Oy!

So we start to figure out the timing of it all and realize that this is actually a really cool thing. I HATE to drive. So David will be able to drop me off with my friends, go to his game, and then come back and get me when it's all done. The timing could not have been more perfect! So we got a mini date, a jaunt out of town, and the time to each go to an event we wanted to!

So last Sunday we left the kids with my sister and hit the road. We even had about an hour or so together in Hollywood before my bestie showed up. That was really nice. We hadn't been there together in SO long, like 5 years!

After Gretchen got there, David left for Staples Center, and the girls and I went to have dinner. We ate at a lil pub type place called the Pig & Whistle. Gretchen and I weren't all that impressed ;)

When we finished eating we still had quite some time to kill before the show so we went walking towards the Chinese Graumen's theater. It was really cool to see all the Walk of Fame stars along the way and then the handprints and such when we got there.

See my cute new shoes!? Yah they were KILLING ME by the end of the night :( LOL

I love this picture of the 4 of us :)

A very kind gentlemen got on his knee to take this picture for us (using Gretchen's camera).

This is my bestie and me in one of the bathrooms at the Pantages, before the show started. We were SOOOOOOO excited to see the show again but SOOOOOOO sad that they were leaving LA :( The show was AMAZING of course. We were lucky enough to see great performers, even greater than the last time. Carol Kane was Madame Morrible. And then Eden Espinoza and Megan Hilty were Elphaba & Glinda. I read before hand that these two originated the roles when it first came to LA. What a treat! I also really liked that guy that played Fiyero, Derick Williams. They were all spectacular! You could feel the heightened emotions because it was their last night. I am so glad that I was able to be there!

These next two pictures are illegal photos from Gretchen's camera. There was no photography allowed and although we both tried to be rebellious this was the best we could do, it was during the curtain call and there were narks everywhere! ;)

Me outside, afterwards, so happy but so sad

And this is me and my crazy hubby at a pitstop on our way home. Yes he is crazy, yes he paints his face for almost every sporting event he goes to. But this time his craziness paid off! He was chosen, out of gobs and gobs of people, to be FAN OF THE GAME!!!! He shake his groove thang for the jumbo-tron and won a $50 gift card to Chili's!!! Woohoo baby!!!!

A whole new me!

2009-01-13T20:42:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, the 7th, I was finally able to get my braces taken off! I had these suckers on for 3 and a half years! My kids did not even remember what Mommy looked like without them people! How crazy is that? So yah I got them off and drove my happy self straight to KFC for some corn on the freakin' cob! LOL I swear I heard angels singing! I pretty much had this goofy grin on my face all day long. Here are my Before & After pics from the day of:

Then next day I had to go pick up my retainer. Which I hate. I think I'm just so stinkin' tired of having something in my mouth :( Wah :) I already haven't been wearing it as much as I should. Funny story: Lacie was with me when I picked it up so she heard the "rules". So the other night I had just finished my dinner but was still drinking a sodie, well she comes up to me and she goes "Um Mommy, if you're done eating you are supposed to have those on your teeth!" She said this in as much of a "motherly" tone as a 6 year old could muster. Cracked me up! I'm not able to get away with much around here!

This just in!

2009-01-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

So it looks like today is Delurking Day!

Hello there, yes you, with the hair, yes you. Why not stay awhile? Say hello, introduce yourself. Despite the opinion of a few, I am quite a nice gal. I'd love to know just who I let into my brain and home on an {almost} daily basis.

So here's your opportunity - DELURK! Leave a comment. I promise to return the favor!

Put the shoes down, and walk away slowly

2009-01-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

**Updated with a really crappy pic from my cell phone. The one that I sent my husband :) **

Or quickly in my case, so that I don't change my mind and do something I shouldn't!

Ok a little background.

I went to Target today to get another tub for our Christmas decorations. I had plenty of time so I'm just moseying around the departments. I end up in the shoe department - who wouldn't! There's been this one pair of shoes that I've been coveting for the past month or so and I always check if they're are on clearance. The last few times I've seen them they have been but out of the 3 stores in town I hadn't been able to find my size. I'm not really a big shoe person. But every once in awhile I find a pair (or 2) that I love so much it's hard for me to think of much else. These fell into that category. They weren't flats but they didn't have TOO much of a heel either. They had a little ruffle on the toe (cuter than it sounds) and they were MUSTARD YELLOW! A color that I've become rather obsessed with lately as you can tell by my background.
So anyway, I'm wandering up and down the aisles and in the non-clearance section I come up some ballet flats. And they're zebra print. I love me some zebra print. Tastefully done of course. And these were like a metallicky glittery type (again WAY cuter than it sounds) so that they take on the color of what you're wearing. My brown shirt created a brown tinge but my purple sweater created a more purpley tone. Get my drift? And then the price. Regular price remember? Only $12.99!!!!! I just love Target.
They immediately go into the cart. And instead of exiting the shoe department (like a good girl) I continue to browse the clearance aisles.
Right away I see the mustard yellow adorableness but they were all size 7 1/2. So not my size! I start to give up but then see one more glimpse of mustard yellow at the end of the aisle. I kid you not these babies were sent from heaven because they were a size 9! Just what I needed! And they were on clearance for $13.98, down from 19.99.
Now the dilemma. Two pairs of shoes. Maybe to some of you there would be no dilemma. $30 for TWO incredibly adorable pairs of shoes? Both very comfortable and versatile so you know you're going to get your money's worth. Such a screamin' deal.
Well, I'm just not that person. Maybe I was at some point, maybe I will be again some day. But not today.
You see, as you may recall, we are a one income family. Which makes are budget a little bit tighter than others. Don't get me wrong. We are in the best financial position of our lives and we do live quite comfortably. My husband is really not a strict bread winner. He rarely denies me my hearts desire (a $1000 camera, or say a BABY is just a bit too much :) ).
When I sent him a text "asking permission" to buy the shoes, his reply was "I'll leave it up to you" GAH!!! See what I mean?
But like I said we are but one income. An income that comes in ONCE a month. That's it. We usually have David's paychecks earmarked before we even get them, because we like to plan ahead. We know we will get to enjoy the money. We know we have all that we need. But we do still have to be careful.
We're going out of town for the day this weekend. Gas, event tickets, lunch, dinner, babysitter, merchandise. That spending is all earmarked so that we can have a good time. Not that I think this $30 splurge would've broke the bank. I just don't think it would have been the most wise or necessary decision. Capish?
So when it comes to an unexpected glorious and very reasonably priced gift from the Target gods. Sometimes you just have to put it back.

Well not BOTH of them! These little babies did make it home with me today. I just can't say no to fate :)

These other beauties will have to sit and wait. Till next time (my birthday is next month you know). And who knows, maybe they'll be even cheaper!

*sorry blogger isn't letting me upload the pictures. so click on the links to see the cuteness!*

Project 365

2009-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize it till just a minute ago but this is actually my 401st post! Absolutely crazy talk people!

Ok so Project 365 is a little something I had heard bits and pieces about over the past year or so. Crazy people who take a picture of themselves, their world, their loved ones, EVERY SINGLE DAY for an ENTIRE year? Who would do such a thing? Well people, I am. Every day in 2009 I plan to take a picture of something, or someone, in my little world.

I got excited about this project when I read about a scrapbooking kit for sale on Becky Higgins' blog. I was of course unsure about doling out the money for something so soon after Christmas but that problem was solved for me when all the kits sold out in mere minutes. Oy! It really has caused alot of headache and drama for lots of people so I'm actually kind of glad that I wasn't totally sold on the idea in the first place. That's not to say that I would not jump up and down with glee if by some miraculous act of God & finances I was able to get my hands one one :) You may recall me mentioning a similiar issue back in June with her School Kits. She is one popular lady!

So for now, I have gone ahead and created a second blog - Say Cheese! - to document the pictures that I will be taking every day. I'm considering creating a photobook at the end of the year, or even printing them and creating a scrapbook. We shall see. I'm happy in knowing that they will be archived in at least this way for now. So please feel free to follow along with me on this journey. Better yet JOIN me! How cool is it going to be at the end of the year to see how much my children, my family, and hopefully my photography skills will grow as this year goes on!

Right now...

2009-01-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

I got this survey from the fabulous Lisa Bearnson.

Out of my window: The only one I can see out of: the big huge trampoline that Santa brought the kids :) Hasn't been used in a few days due to sickies. :(
I am wearing: black knit capris and a gigantic East High sweatshirt. I really need to get a BHS one but this is just so dang comfy!
I am hearing: My husband curse at the Mario Kart race LOL
I am thinking: That my daughter is probably still awake in her bed.
I am thankful for: everything in my life, good & bad because it means I am ALIVE!
I am creating: a birthday present for someone special
I am going: to be getting my braces off on Wednesday! Eeek!!!
I am hoping: that the rest of this week goes by quickly
I am reading: Just finished a book last night, Final Justice by Fern Michaels. Also in the middle of Rockabye by Rebecca Woolf.
Around the house: there is MESS everywhere :( Sickies does not bode well for household accomplishments!
One of my favorite things: cinnamon gummy bears
A few plans for the rest of the week: Costco tomorrow, Braces off on Wednesday, hopefully McClane snuggling on Thursday, HSM3 on Friday, cleaning on Saturday, & WICKED on Sunday! WOOTWOOT!
I am thankful for: my family, my home, our vehicles, money for groceries, health, and my scrapbook room :)

Daddy Warbucks discovery!

2009-01-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

If you follow me on Twitter than you've already heard my craziness on this discovery. I'm just so amazed that I can't let it go!

Did you know that the guy who played Daddy Warbucks in the original film ANNIE, is the same guy who played Ed Masry in Erin Brockovich (her boss)?

Did you know that? Cause I didn't! hahaha

Lacie was home sick from school today, we've had a stomach bug traipsing around the house since New Year's Day (grrr). So in an effort to keep her busy I put in Annie. We bought it for $3 on Black Friday and she had never seen it. It is always so surreal to me to sit and watch a movie with my child that I watched when I was their age. I see things differently as an adult and even more so as a parent. Bad language, scariness, all of that shows up in ways that I never noticed before. So when I noticed, for the first time EVER, that you could see a little bit of shadow on his otherwise shiny head I started to wonder something.

And then Lacie said, that looks like the guy on Jurassic Park 2. Cause we've seen that movie ALOT thanks to our resident dinosaur lover. So I decided to google it. Gotta love google! Imagine my surprise when I discovered that he was NOT the same guy we were thinking of but that he was the guy from Erin Brockovich! Craziness people!

I immediately proceeded to not only Twitter about my discovery but also to text everyone in my family to share the news. And now here I am blogging about it. My mom said she already knew, which doesn't really surprise me. Anybody else? I swear you really DO learn something new everyday!

Forgot about this one!

2009-01-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

Oops! Forgot to share the best thing I "made" this year for Christmas (dang that woulda been a good lead in to announcing a pregnancy, too bad I'm not hahaha). It was a photo book of Disneyland memories for my kiddos - using the snapfish free code that Oprah gave out! They loved it and look at it daily! Makes me happy and also wants me to make more! It has about 20 pages (you can add more) in it and I digitally scrapped each one! Here are just a few of those pages:

What did Santa bring us?

2009-01-04T21:06:00.001-08:00

Homemade Christmas

2009-01-04T20:15:00.001-08:00

It was one of my goals this year to MAKE most of the gifts that we gave out this year. I was actually a good girl and got started way back in October :) But to be quite honest most of the gifts were completed in the last few days before Christmas and several were cancelled all together.

As excited as I was about this idea of mine, I also had quite a few doubts. Doubts of my skills as a VERY new sewer person, and doubts that the people we are giving the gifts to would be happy with JUST a gift I put together. These doubts led to purchasing gifts so that most people got something home made and something bought. And some people just got something bought.

In the end I became more confident in my skills as a crafty gal and the people that received our homemade goodness were very appreciative.

I have been dying to share pics of all of my creations with you guys for the past few months. But couldn't because I'm still not exactly sure who reads my blog and who doesn't (mostly because no one comments uhem). Oh and I didn't get pics of everything but without further adieu:

Altered clipboards for my kids teachers

A lil taggie lovie for my aunt's baby

A big fleecey flannel Nebraska Husker blanket for my stepdad. GO BIG RED!

My Nana collects nativity scenes so I had the kids draw some for her and then framed them.

These are the images I used in my snapfish calendars, digitally scrapbooked.

Not pictured: mini brag books for my brother, Dad & Stepmom, BIL & his wife, and my inlaws. The kids also drew pictures of whatever they wanted for my inlaws and they put stickers on the gifts they gave Auntie and Isabelle. Also, I used wordle.net for my mom & Nana, printed them up from home and put them in a nice frame.

Oh and I also "made" this. The kids got wii toys in their happy meals one day and this one was just screaming for some hot glue & ribbon. Voila a Wii Christmas ornament!!!

Christmas Morning

2009-01-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas with kids can kinda be stressful. I'm always worried if they'll actually LIKE what they get. Did we spend enough? Too much? And so on. They seemed happy with what they got so we'll just go with that. :) Here a couple pics of the kids and a video sharing what SANTA brought the kids. The last picture is just a cute one. Lacie got a Wii Sing It game, SO FUN! Colby isn't one to play but he loves to watch his sissy perform :)

Christmas with my family

2009-01-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I had mentioned yet that I got the greatest Christmas gift ever when my mom agreed to come to MY house for Christmas. This is a HUGE deal people! Since I was 7 or 8 I have always shuffled around houses on Christmas day between parents. When I got married that added yet another house to visit on Christmas day. It wasn't THAT big of a deal until we had kids. Well I should say until we had Colby. Shuffling 2 kids aged 1 and under and their normal baby loot PLUS all the Christmas loot got to be quite a feat. Our families and our home are spread out along the four corners of Kern County. Oh it can be exhausting and really can take the fun out of the holiday when you're just running around all day. So since last year when we got our own home I've been begging my mom to let me host, at least once. This year, I'm still not sure exactly why, she relented. It was the BEST gift ever! Add to that that we talked my inlaws AND my dad to come over for our Christmas time with them. So we didn't have to go ANYWHERE this year! Oh my it was amazing let me tell you! Not sure if it will happen that way ever again but for just this one year I got my wish :) Thanks again Mom! Ok so more than a week later here are just a few of the pics from our Christmas day. I didn't really get to take that many since I was the hostess :)

Here is Lacie giving her Auntie the presents she picked out.

These raincoats were inspired by that chilren's book that Madonna wrote. Given from Poppie & Mammie.

Auntie gave Colby a gigantic stuffed dinosaur! So cool!

My mom was reading Beverly Cleary to Lacie and she fell asleep!

Up next, Christmas morning, a couple videos, and the gifts I made :)

2008 in Review, the 2nd half

2009-01-02T08:19:00.001-08:00

You can find a recap of the first half of our year right here.

**Ok the kids are in bed and I finally have the energy to deal with this post. It's still not as many pictures as I orginally had planned but I just felt like I couldn't move on to the other posts I have in mind until this one was really done. So silly I know.**

June was dubbed dance recital month. 3 dancers, 3 songs, 4 costumes, 2 shows between my sister Isabelle, Lacie, and David. The Daddy/Daughter dance was priceless! More than worth the stress & money that we put out for it! I hope that is a memory that Lacie holds onto her whole life!

One of Lacie's dance costumes is what prompted me to have my mommy teach me to sew and resulted in David buying me my very own machine! It's only been 6 months but I can't imagine my life without sewing now!

In July, our Lacie Bug turned 6! We celebrated several times, including a huge Chuck E Cheese party that celebrated Colby's August birthday as well. The end of July was also when I said goodbye to my other daycare babe, Baby H after a year and half of care.

The first week of August was spent at the beach for our family vacation. Lots of fun time there! We came home in time to celebrate Colby's 5th birthday! Then it was pretty much immediately BACK TO SCHOOL for David & the kids!

In September was FAIR month. The good ole Kern County Fair. David & I (thanks to my sis!) went to see Boyz II Men (!!!) and then I took the kids and my (other) sister for a field trip.

At the beginning of October the kids and I made a quick trip to the beach, David went to a Dodger's playoff game (& got on national tv 2x, which I never blogged about!), and we went to a total of THREE different pumpkin patches, and of course celebrated Halloween.

I also went down to San Diego, alone, to join my bestie and her family in walking to cure diabetes. It was a moving and empowering weekend to say the least!

In November I met my first bloggy friend!!!! And got to see an old high school friend again at their fabulous art show (another first). Colby went on his first bus field trip and Lacie & I went to the Carrie Underwood concert!!!! And Thanksgiving with family too!

December was all about Christmas festivities. Several of them! All at our own home! A trip to Sea World & Oceanside. And dealing with Colby's allergies.

Obviously this is just a small glimpse at everything that went on during this last year. I knew we were busy but dang! And that's just what got posted! hahaha I am simultaneously anxious and excited for everything that 2009 will bring to our little family (a blog post on that is coming soon!) HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

So long 2008! It's been swell!

2009-01-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

End o' year/year in review blogs are all the rage these past few days, I couldn't help but jump on the bandwagon! I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed going back through my posts and seeing how my family, my writing, my photos have all evolved over the past year.

This has been a crazy, busy, eventful year for our family. Lots of trips, parties, and life changes made over the past 12 months. So here's our recap :)

In January, among other things, we took the kids to play in REAL snow for their first time ever. Fun times!

We also celebrated my husband's 30th birthday, Star Wars style!

In February, I celebrated my 27th birthday! I still can't believe I'm this "old" but it actually not so bad!!

We also had a family wedding this month. David's brother got married and Lacie was the flower girl.

March brought green pancakes for St Patrick's Day, our 8th wedding anniversary, and Easter all in one week!

April was a month full of fun! We took the kids to the first Dodger game, I hosted a baby shower for my friend Doris, and I got to go scrapbooking for a WHOLE weekend! AND I got to see WICKED for the very first time with my bestie in LA! Going to see it for the 2nd *and probably last* this coming weekend WOOHOO!!!

May was the last month of school. The last month the kids were at their school of the past 3 years. Lacie graduated Kindergarten and Colby graduated Pre-K. May was also the last month that I had with one of my daycare babes, Lil P. I had been caring for him since he was just 9 weeks old! We also traveled to Oceanside & San Diego to a Halloween birthday party & Sea World.

To be continued....

Getting Ready for Santa

2008-12-30T16:52:00.000-08:00

Colby had made a baggy of Reindeer food (glitter & oats) at school so we made sure to sprinkle that in our backyard (more landing space ya know), and we also set out Santa's magic key on the back porch because we do not have a chimney. Then we set out the milk & cookies!

BEFORE

AFTER

Lopez' Christmas

2008-12-30T16:39:00.000-08:00

or Christmas Part Deux :)

On Christmas Eve my Dad, stepmom-Donna, brothers, sister, and nephew all came over for dinner. It was so nice cooking dinner for them and just enjoying their company. We ate, exchanged gifts, & played the Wii. It was a really nice time! Here are a few pics from that night: I generally despise giving gift cards but dang teenagers are SO hard to buy for! So my 15 yo bro Josh got a gift card to Best Buy. He was happy :)

The kids had gone with Grandpa & Grandma to Build a Bear workshop & dinner the day before. That's what they asked them for for Christmas. But then that night when everyone was over they begged and begged to open a present from us, so for the first time ever we let them. Lightsabers! Luckily we had an extra one for my nephew :)

Isn't my nephew the cutest?!

My baby sis Marissa, she's jumped on the Twilight train :) This is probably what Lacie will look like at this age!

The kiddie table :) hehehe I teasingly told Marissa (she's 12) that she had to sit there.

My dad is so funny! He is really involved with my brother and his high school wrestling program so he was showing off his windbreaker :)

Funniest thing ever - watching my dad play Mario Kart after he had ragged on everyone else's attempts!

Donna tried it out too :)

Christmas with Papa & Nonna

2008-12-30T14:37:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas with my inlaws a week early this year. They were heading up north to visit with my BIL and his wife during the Christmas week. We had a yummy pizza dinner and they brought over presents for us and the kids. Including a drum set for the boy & a piano for the girl (pictures to come later). Here are a few pics of the night:

Allergies on the Horizon

2008-12-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

Awhile back Colby started getting itchy. alot. like all over. Under his nose, his arms his legs, his head, in between his fingers. He was just constantly itching, itching, itching. But he didn't have a rash, or bumps or anything that could show us why he was itching. So we went back to the doctor, who then referred us to an allergist. We met with the allergist, my shy, nervous boy slept through the whole consult (that is his defense mechanism if you'll remember). The allergist requested some lab work and also set up an appointment for skin testing. OY. He did calm my mommy fears and showed me the tool they'd use for the testing. No needles. Just some spiky type things. Still no fun but at least it wasn't the needles. So he had to go off the antihistamines he was already taking and come back the day after Christmas. Oh and the labwork too. Instead of taking him to the meanies at the local lab, we opted to take him to our family vampire. Auntie, my sister. He was really scared but afterwards said that he didn't really feel the needle and he thought it was really cool to watch his blood go through the tube. Thanks Auntie!!!

The skin testing wasn't that bad either. He didn't like the things put on his back. Imagine a bristle brush being ground into your back 4 different times :( But it was over in seconds. We had to sit for 20 minutes while the tests ran. They all came back negative. YAY! The doctor did warn us to be on the look out for any allergies that may still develop. So no doggy for us for awhile :( As for the itching, it has toned down a lot recently. We think it might have been the laundry soap. Note to self - don't buy cheap laundry soap! We are also using ALOT more lotion on him and added a 2nd rinse cycle to the laundering. All in all a MUCH better outcome than we were expecting!

School Christmas Performances

2008-12-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

Before school let out for Christmas Break, they had a few little performances. Lacie's class sang Jingle Bell Rock and Frosty the Snowman. She looked so cute (and BIG!) up their with all the other first graders! What do you think of her jingle bell earrings and reindeer antlers? :)

Colby's class sang All I Want For Christmas Is My 2 Front Teeth and a song about Christmas cards. They each had to decorate a poster board like the front of a greeting card. He didn't sing much but he looked darn cute!

Scrapbooking Buds

2008-12-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

I have FINALLY found a group of the sweetest girls and they all love to scrapbook just as much as I do! A few of them came over to my place a couple weeks ago to exchange cookies, recipes, chitchat, and scrapbook! It was a blast! I always have a good time when I meet up with these ladies. Seriously, if you are local and enjoy scrapbooking, join us! We'd love to have you!

We also put together a few things for a local family that is losing their young daughter to cancer. A local reporter is a member of our group and the mother's request for scrapbooking supplies tugged at ALL of our heartstrings! You can find the article here.

Colby got awards too!

2008-12-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

At the begining of December, Colby was given quite a few awards at the Kindergarten assembly. He was awarded for being able to count from to 100, recognizing all of his letters by sight and the sounds as well, he can recognize and write his numbers from 0-30, he knows his birthday and his address, and for having perfect attendance for the first trimester. He was really nervous before the assembly and swore that he was going to have "stage fright" even though I promised him that his friends would be up there with him. He did great when he got up there with his buddies and was so tickled every time he heard his name called over the sound system. We are so proud of our big boy and how well he is acclimating and thriving in "big kid" school!

In this first picture he was looking and looking through the crowd to see if I was there yet. :)This is him getting his first certificate, as well as a cool pencil from the principal, that's his teacher on the right. LOVE HER!

On stage in between awards.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

2008-12-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

What a fun but exhausting day! Felt like blogging but have no energy to organize & edit thoughts or pictures :) So how bout a fun Christmas survey!

Egg nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate! With a pinch of instant coffee and some Peppermint Mocha creamer MMMMMMMM

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Usually he does, in SANTA print wrapping paper. But this year he had a hard time finding cute enough paper ( ;) ) plus the things that he brought were on the large side so he piled them all into the.biggest.gift.bag. EVER!

Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colors please! White is too "vanilla" for me!

Do you hang misteltoe?
Yes! This year it was hung in the arch that leads to the hallway. I have enjoyed many kisses under it this year from the hubs AND my babes :)

When do you put your decorations up?
The weekend after Thanksgiving

Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Unwrapping our childhood ornaments every year.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I'm sorry, what truth? Cause round these parts, if you don't believe in Santa, you don't get gifts!!!

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Colored lights, a lit star on top, homemade and specially bought ornaments from our childhood and the kids last 5 & 6 years. They are all touchable and lovable!

Snow! Love it or dread it?
It's great to look at and play in for a bit. I wish we got more here but I know I'd probably hate it if we had TONS.

Do you remember your favorite gift?
I think that would be a toss up between the year I got my own phone line - 631-BUNS thankyouverymuch :) and the year my mom set me up with contacts.

What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Teaching my kids (and remembering myself) the true meaning for the holidays, spending copious time with family, friends, and good food is fabu too!

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
I think that would be the Pretzel Hugs I made this year. I used Candy Cane flavored Hugs this time and they were SO yummy!!!

What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Putting cookies out for Santa and reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and the Christmas story from the Bible.

What tops your tree?
A star with colored lights.

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
BOTH!

What is your favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night and the one that Aly & Aj came out with a few years ago - The Greatest Time of Year

Candy canes?
Yes! Especially in hot cocoa :)

Favorite Christmas movie?
The Santa Clause movies! You know, the ones with Tim Allen.

What do you leave for Santa?
Cookies & Milk

Holy Moly

2008-12-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it has been so long since I last posted! My camera is FULL of pictures to share and my brain is FULL of stories to share as well! I had hoped to get a chance to do some updating around here before Christmas but it, along with a few other things on my to do list, just didn't quite happen. I'm heading to bed after I finish this, my house is a DISASTER, there are SEVERAL presents that still need wrapping, 2 different types of cookies to be baked, 2 meals to be prepared, my tree is DEAD, and we are hosting Christmas Eve & Christmas for my family for the FIRST TIME EVER! Can you hear me screaming from where you are? No? That's probably cause my kids are sleeping so I can't really scream. But trust me, I am soooooo close to freaking out it's not even funny :) Anywho, I wish all of you and your families a very happy, healthy, and safe Christmas!!!!!
PS I finally "got my scarf on" today! Poor thing took a whole week to get here all the way from Ms Britni in Virginia! It's GORGEOUS! Pictures of course will come after the holidays :)

Stick a fork in me!

2008-12-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

I just made 8 posts tonight! All full of lots of lovely pics and stories! Read! Enjoy! Comment! Goodnight!

Santa Hat Obsession

2008-12-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

When we got the Christmas decorations out the other night, Colby became obsessed with the Santa hats! He insisted on wearing one to bed, and also to school the next day. So stinkin' cute!

Thank you Auntie!

2008-12-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

Thank you for french braiding my hair Auntie! I love you! Love, Lacie

Sea World on my own

2008-12-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

I was pretty nervous about taking the kids to Sea World by myself but we had a great time. There were a few rides we couldn't do because it would've required another adult, and it was exhausting pushing my big ole babies around in the stroller (don't ask), and the driving oh the driving was horrid, but over all it was fine. Not something I'm in a hurry to do again mind you.

We made sure to get a few things done that we didn't get to do last time. Like the manatees and the Sesame Street Bay of Play, and the Pet's Rule show. ALL 3 AMAZING! We also saw the Shamu show of course and the penguins. But the absolute highlight was being able to actually TOUCH the dolphins! I don't know how we missed this when we were there in May, but all you had to do was pay $6 for a tray of fish and you were able to pet them!! OMG seriously SO amazing! Another thing to cross of my bucket list! I could've spent all my money and time there hahaha and I'm SO not an animal person. Lacie touched one too but not Colby. He said he'll do it next time. :) We came home with a few souveneirs too - a snuggly dolphin for Lace, a snuggly penguin for B, a dolphin keychain for me (!!!), and a DVD of the Shamu show and all the behind the scenes stuff that goes along with training killer whales - SO COOL!

PENGUINS!!!!

Who says it doesn't snow in San Diego! :)

SO FLIPPIN' (haha get it?) COOL!!!!!!

My BFFFFFFF

2008-12-08T21:18:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, the kids and I made the drive down south to visit my best friend and her family to celebrate her daughter's 3rd birthday. Aside from making a wrong turn in Fullerton we made it down there in record time! It was so cute to see the kids immediately start playing with each other. When Gretchen brought the girls in July for my kids' birthdays there was alot of tattling and fussing. This time everyone got along beautifully! Even my kids and their beast of a golden retriever - CASH. They were pretty freaked out by him but did much better than I thought they would! I think that's a sign! Daddy we are ready for a puppy!!! hahaha

Poor Presley Poo had to be taken to leave the party after cupcakes and presents because of an ear ache. She ended up with antibiotics for an ear infection :( We spent the evening relaxing, chatting, and referreeing the birthday gifts!

Here's Colby playing with the super cool remote control dinosaur toy that Presley's Grandma bought her. Sorry baby! $130 for one toy is not in Santa's budget this year! haha

Soon to be Extinct

2008-12-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

I figure this is probably just about the last picture I will be able to get of my kids taking a bath together :( They already take seperate baths most of the time now but this night I was tired. Had to take a pic to remember that they were once little :)

Gifts for my bestie's girls

2008-12-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

So happy I can finally share these pics! My bestie's youngest, Miss Presley, (yes the one with diabetes), turned 3 this pass weekend. She is a dinosaur loving girl - which I LOVE! - so I got the idea to make her a dino blankie. Someone please tell me why it is so bloody hard to find GIRLY dino fabric? Oy! Anyway, I like to think that this quilt and pillowcase set turned out pretty darn cute! What do you think?

Love those cute lil dino buttons!!!

I also made their Christmas presents. I wanted them ready to go so I wouldn't have to bother with shipping! These are crayon rolls. They hold 16 crayons, and roll up nicely to fit in mommy's purse for those restaurant or doctor's office waits! They each got a coloring book to go with. Super fast, super easy, and very cost effective! This fabric was a $1 a yard at walmart. A yard will make you ALOT of crayon rolls. Oh and I bought several boxes of crayons during the back to school sales - Crayolas for 22cents for a box of 24!

I am SO doing this!!!

2008-12-08T21:01:00.002-08:00

Pretty soon I'll be taking this

and doing this

Is it weird that I'm hoping for a stocking stuffed with spools of thread? :)

Decorating the tree...twice, and an early present!

2008-12-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday we got our Christmas tree. It was kind of a downer because we weren't really happy with any of the trees in the lot (that weren't $100, oy!). We were spoiled last year with the monstrosity of a tree that we were lucky enough to find for only $30. It's a tree, that's going to die in a few weeks time, we're cheap! So anyway, we got our tree home and as we were enjoying our pizza, before decorating, the doorbell rang. Surprise! It was the delivery man delivering my very early Christmas present - a new purple camera!!!! Eeep! I love it!!! Thanks baby!

I was so excited to get to try it out right away with pics of us decorating the tree! So this post is a wee bit more image heavy than it would otherwise have been! haha It's no SLR but it's gorgeous, sleek, and definitely an upgrade from my previous camera!

So here are a few pics of me just playing around with it. It doesn't hurt that my kids are gorgeous ;)

That first night with the tree we actually only put up a few decorations: the lights, our Hallmark ornaments from last year, and the star. It was late and a school night so we just did that with the promise to finish decorating the next night. The star was a big deal. For the past 3 or 4 years, Lacie has been the one to climb up on Daddy's shoulders to put the star on top. Well this year, for the first time EVER, Colby announced that he wanted to! Lacie wasn't too happy, but we let her have the job of plugging the star into the other lights :)

The next night, David was at work but my sister surprised us with a visit. It was fun having her here when we decorated the tree. Reminded me of our childhood :)

a partial view of the tree. ignore the mess. and i plan on adding bows to the tree so it's still not done ;)

The One Where My Addiction Pays Off

2008-12-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

So we all no that I am a shameless blog stalker. Well it paid off!
I'd been peeking around Those Corwins for a couple months now. Several of the other peeps I read, read this one. One of them is even related!
Well the other day I was snooping around and noticed that Mrs Corwin was doing a bloggy give-away for a copy of Love Actually, a movie that I have never seen.
I am by no means a LUCKY gal. But I figured what the heck. If there's ever a good time to de-lurk myself, why not now!?!
And whadya know, I WON!!!
Needless to say I just might have become Those Corwins biggest fan :)
Thanks Those Corwins for making my day! Can't wait to see the movie FINALLY!

Oy...

2008-12-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

Today was supposed to be the day.
The day that I caught up on my blogging and pictures uploading and laundry and housework.
Today was supposed to be the day that my son got his first award.
I know he was excited even though he claimed he would get "stage fright".
Instead today was the day that a fog delay and pms turned me into a crazy lady.
Today was the day that the awards were postponed :( Granted I found this out as I rolled up to the school a mere 30 minutes after the office ladies told me that they were still on so I scrambled to get us all ready. Oy.
Today was the day that I freaked out on my husband because he made an appointment for minor oral surgery tomorrow, when I will be out of town with the kids.
Luckily it was changed to this afternoon so my freak out was completely unnecessary. As they usually are.
Today was the day that I finished Christmas shopping for the kids.
Today was the day that NOTHING around the house got done.
Today is the day that I will not have time to update this blog - if you think today was exciting, just know that it's the end of a very exciting WEEK.
Today is the day that I will not have time to upload my pictures. And trust me they need to be uploaded because I will probably be taking a million this weekend.
Today is the day that I will pack our bags.
Because tomorrow is the day that the kids and I will kiss Daddy goodbye and drive down to Oceanside for Miss Presley's 3rd birthday. A dino party no less! :) And then Sunday I'm taking them to Sea World (ALONE Oy!) to use the rest of our pass.
Have a good weekend!!! Feel free to think good thoughts for my hubby this afternoon and for me this weekend in my travels!

Back to the Grind

2008-12-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

It sure is hard getting back into the swing of things after a nice 4 day holiday break!

Thanksgiving Recap via Pictures

2008-12-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

We had our first round of Thanksgiving at my parents house on 11/22. We always celebrate with them early because they go out of town every year on the actual turkey day :(. So we had dinner, played games, celebrated my mom's bday (it's really 11/27), and drew names for Christmas. Here are just a few pics from that night.

The on Thursday we cooked dinner for 2 of my siblings, 1 of my aunts, and my Nana. I set up coloring pages at a kiddie table, the food was SOOOOO yummy, we watched one of my cousin march in the Macy's parade, and it was just a really nice relaxing day! My baby cousin was such a hoot and we could totally claim her as ours don't ya think? :)

I picked up these cookies for my non-pie eatin' weirdos ;)

My baby makes the YUMMIEST turkey!!!

Cousins Coloring!!! :) Love it!

Hope you all had a great turkey day too!!!

changeling

2008-11-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

I think I am one of those people that actually LIKES change.
I moved around ALOT growing up. ALOT.
When we bought the house last year we figured out that David & I had moved at least one time a year for every year that we've been married - that's 8 times people.
I've always like rearranging furniture. ALOT. It's one of those ways that I can "move" without moving know what I mean? My poor husband has given up fighting me on these things :)
I redecorate ALOT. My house, my rooms, my myspace (used to anyway), and my blog.
Which brings me to the point of this blog post. Pursuing Happyness is the 2nd bloggy name I've had on here. Welcome to My Crazy Life was the first. They are both lame-so not original-bloggy names. And now I'm wanting to change it again. seriously.
I want something that is ME.
Something that is ORIGINAL.
Something that is so completely rad I won't be tempted to change it :)
Hmmmm......

It's Christmas time!!!!

2008-11-29T13:41:00.001-08:00

Thankgiving has successfully come and gone (pictures coming soon!). I (pretty much) fulfilled my quest to respect the turkey! Now we can move on to... CHRISTMAS!!!! Do you love the new bloggy decor? We pulled out the tubs full of decorations today, and we're getting our tree tomorrow! I can't wait :) This will be the earliest we've ever gotten a tree. It's a necessary thing because of my husband's basketball & work schedule, an out of town bday party, and myself hosting a cookie exchange in successive order! I'm ready for it though!
One thing that I've strived for all year is a mostly-homemade Christmas in regards to our family members that we give to. I don't know that it is really a money saver so that's not the point. The point for me is taking the time to decide what to make, taking even more time to actually make it, and then giving it to the people that I love, a token of that love. My husband's contribution to these gifts is the $$ (haha) and my kids' will be helping me make some of the gifts. I'm really excited about and I've already completed a few - our family calendars and my kids' teacher's gifts. Now that my class is just about finished (I'll submit my final on December 9th woohoo!) I will be devoting the majority of my time to completing these gifts. It's killing me not to be able to post finished projects on here but, although they RARELY leave comments, my family does read this blog. So I don't want them to see their presents until Christmas!
Just for funsies, here's the list of things that I still need to create:

our family christmas cards/letter

a blanket

photo books

ornaments

crayon rolls

an apron

a few tote bags

sewing machine accessories

ipod accessories

I don't think I'm forgetting anything but who knows. Then all of this will need to be wrapped of course :) In addition to my kids' gifts :) I'm really looking forward to setting up my lil workshop and also looking forward to my friends and family opening these labours of love.
Are you making any of your gifts this year?

BATS

2008-11-25T21:21:00.001-08:00

Guess we have one of our own :)

Rewind back to November 14th

2008-11-25T20:54:00.000-08:00

November 14th was a big day for my kiddos and I.

It started in the morning. Colby was to go on his first elementary school field trip which also meant his first time riding that big yellow school bus! This made mommy very nervous but I was lucky enough to be chosen as a chaperone! Unfortunately I accidentally deleted the uber cute picture I took of he and I on the bus :( *insert tear here* but here are a few of the other cute pics that didn't get deleted. :) The class visited a local farm and learned about all the different animals the farm had. There was a llama, a yak (!!!!), lil ponies, piggies, chickens, bunnies, turkeys (only those weren't so little!), and lots more. He had a blast and it was lots of fun for me to be able to witness it all!

---------------------------------------------------------------

That night was the CARRIE UNDERWOOD CONCERT!!!! Or as my daughter calls her "Connie Underwear" :) So she and I got ready for our date night, she wore her heels :) We met up with my step mom and baby sister (1 of em) there. They had seats on the floor (crazy good!) but our seats were pretty darn good for what we paid if I do say so myself! And spoiled Lacie got Grandma to go buy her a tshirt! We were in the aisle seats though so I had to get up and down a bajillion times so that the people in the middle of the row could go and get beer :/ The concert was AMAZING though! Ugh she is such an amazing performer! I loved every minute of it. Lacie did too, well every minute that she was awake! She fell asleep about half way through poor thing! She woke up just as the confetti fell after the last song. :) As soon as it quieted down she said "This was the best night EVER!" I just love my lil music lovin' concert buddy! Here's to many more with you baby girl!

The Future

2008-11-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

I read this in my textbook the other day (see I DO do homework!) and it was so eye-opening I just had to share!

"Consider this: A child born in 2002 (which is the year Lacie was born) will be a voting adult in 2020 (oy!), and may live until the END of the century (!!!). We are teaching (and raising!) the children of the future!"

This one is calling my name!

2008-11-20T06:59:00.000-08:00

But mostly because of the color. And I know that is NO reason to buy a camera haha. It gets mixed reviews on Best Buy. Need to go check it out. I'm really nervous about paying a cheap price for a cheap camera. So keep the suggestions coming!

I....

2008-11-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

I saw this done on another blog and thought I'd go ahead and procrastinate a bit more by doing it here tonight :) Enjoy and feel free to be a copycat just like me! I love learning more about people through these lil survey thingies!

I am: not hungry - and I didn't eat dinner, weird
I think: that I should really start working on my term paper
I know: that I have the best, beautifulest, wonderfulest kids in the world
I have: a really great and amazing husband too
I wish: that my kids would stop growing up so fast
I hate: reading sad life stories and realizing how ungrateful I at times
I miss: the closeness I used to have with my childhood friends
I fear: that my kids will eventually pick up on the family drama that is always around us
I hear: Star Wars (ALWAYS)
I smell: nothing
I crave: a more productive personality
I search: for the best deals
I wonder: what my sister is doing right now
I regret: letting David get a vasectomy
I love: my life
I ache: for another child to love
I am not: good at defending myself
I believe: in Santa Claus
I dance: to make my kids laugh
I sing: loudly
I cry: when I am passionate about something
I fight: with myself
I win: when I am my husband's team mate in whatever game we're playing
I lose: whenever I play Lacie Mario Kart for the Wii
I never: want to forget my kids the way they are right now and yesterday
I always: dreamed of being a stay at home mama
I confuse: myself when trying to do math or read a map
I listen: but not enough
I can usually be found:
I am scared: of someone in my family getting really sick or dying and me not being able to cope
I need: to be wanted
I am happy about: being cared for
I imagine: a life with no worries

Friends don't let friends SNEEZE and drive!

2008-11-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

Seriously my biggest fear! I hate sneezing and driving. I'm always afraid it'll cause an accident. It happened to this guy! Scary stuff people!

Suggestions Needed.

2008-11-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

Awhile back I wrote this post about window shopping for a new camera. Well I earned a lil bit o' cash with my sales from Little Feet Repeats but it's not quite enough for a SLR. Which is just as well because my computer is dying a slow death and I just know that it is not capable of handling the editing and all that comes with those fancy cameras.
So I was originally thinking I'd go for an advanced point and shoot. But now I'm really thinking I just want something small. The camera I have now is SO bulky (another reason I'm realizing that I'm not ready for an SLR). I'm uber picky though. This lil baby is going to be under alot of pressure. The lighting in school cafeterias and classrooms leaves much to be desired so it's going to have to handle that issue. And gives aren't the greatest at being still so it needs to be quick with the picture taking. Is that called shutter speed? It also needs to have a decent zoom on it. I have no idea what megapixels and digital zoom have to do with each other or how they effect a good photo (higher the number the better the pic???). Basically I'm looking for something under $250 - the cheaper the better but I'm looking for quality here.
I've been looking at the Canon ELPH, and some Olympus and Nikon models at Best Buy. They have some really good free shipping deals right now along with a free 4GB SD card!
So, this is where you all come in. What kind of camera do you use (point and shoots only please, I don't need any help in the camera envy department)? What do you love about it? What do you hate about it?

More Bloggy Funsies!

2008-11-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Along with the Wii Fit giveaway (fingers crossed people!), I checked up on a favorite blogger of mine, Ms Talia. She is posting an uber fun SCARF swap! All the details are over on her blog - Rejoicings and Ramblings. I think it sounds like a blast! How bout you?

Holy Wii Giveaway!!!

2008-11-17T12:13:00.001-08:00

I stumbled upon this lady's blog today and what a lucky day to stumble! She (via Nintendo) is giving away a Wii console, the Wii fit game, and the Wii fit board. Crazy huh?! I have been really jonesing for the Wii fit system! You can track your weight loss, calories burned, etc. So cool!

So go check it out and enter yourself if you'd like! :)

Ok so......

2008-11-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

The band nerd in me REALLY wants this game! Check out the commercial. <---I can't figure out how to get youtube videos on here :(

My Grown Up Christmas List

2008-11-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

aww Amy Grant Christmas songs :) Alas, tis not yet the season! I'm still holding true to my post about Respecting the Turkey. But this post idea came to me as I was vacuuming this morning and it's my blog and I can be wishy washy if I want to leave me alone!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Ok back to the post. The Christmas before I got married my mom gave me/us a vacuum. I can remember how bummed and irritated I was that I got a vacuum for Christmas! We were getting married 3 months later and I knew that we NEEDED a vacuum but as one of my Christmas gifts?! Ugh. But this just goes to show you how YOUNG I was when I got engaged/married. That Christmas I was 18. I turned 19 just about a month before our wedding. Crazy young huh?

But now looking back, I would LOOOOOOVE for my mom (or anyone!) to give me a vacuum this Christmas! Now that I'm all growed up (haha!) I realize how nice it is to get gifts that you NEED instead of gifts that you might or might not want!

David & I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary this March. That means it has been NINE years since we opened our wedding gifts. We were really lucky to have received a TON of kitchen-y items as gifts but honestly, we don't even HAVE a lot of those gifts anymore. We've gone through more than one vacuum, toaster, spatula, and so on. It is not so fun spending money on all those things! I would much rather Santa (or Mommy) give them to me! Seriously!

So here you go, this is my Grown Up Christmas List:

A new set of pots & pans. I don't really have a preference for these because I dont' really know my way around the kitchen. But I do know the difference between non stick and NO LONGER non stick. It's past time people! And because I love all things Racheal Ray, I choose these :)

A new vacuum. Again, don't really care what brand just as long as it gets the job done!

A Carpet cleaner. In a house with cheap, LIGHT, carpet, 2 kids and 2 adults, no coffee table OR Rugs, our carpet needs all the help it can get! I'd also really like to use it in my van!

My walls painted. I hate painting, I suck at it, and we have vaulted ceilings - need I say more?

That's all for now. I reserve the right to add to this as things come to mind while I'm doing other household chores :)

Respect the Turkey

2008-11-11T20:14:00.001-08:00

I'd been thinking about doing this post tonight and then I saw this over on Baby Rabies. It is basically EXACTLY what I was thinking!

What happened to Thanksgiving!?!?!

Don't get me wrong, I LOOOOOOVE me some Christmas. The music, the glitter, the colors, and those fabu red cups from Starbucks.

But I also REALLY love pumpkins, Orange, November, Fall, & Thanksgiving! I mean seriously, now that I have kids, time goes by SOOOOO fast. This is a very special time of year and I want to savor EVERY moment, EVERY holiday.

So while I have been busy making and buying Christmas gifts since September, I refuse to BUY anything Christmasy or decorate my home Christmasy until AFTER Thanksgiving!

Now who's with me?
PS there is ONE good thing about stores basically skipping over Thanksgiving - the FALL CLEARANCES! There is SO much fall/Thanksgiving stuff out there at 70-80% off! Love it! :)

Grey's Anatomy

2008-11-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

I missed the season premiere this year and never watched it online either. I set up my DVR to set up all of the episodes since then but I hadn't watched them yet. I wasn't really sure I wanted to. Last season ended kinda wonky and then missing the premiere, well I just wasn't sure.

Well, I finally got caught up today and I remembered why I loved this show so much. It is just GOOD. It's like ER (which I loved for a long time) with less blood & gore and a TON more emotions and lovey dovey stuff :) I love it!

My Boy

2008-11-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

Ever since Halloween, Colby has been saying Trick or Treat for his snacks! It is so cute and he gets so tickled when I chuckle at him. I sure love him!

This photo was taken a few years ago but it is one of my faves of him :)

Lookie Lookie!

2008-11-10T12:34:00.001-08:00

Photo courtesy of Ms Ashley's blog, taken by her hubby :)

Oy!

2008-11-10T09:00:00.001-08:00

Just clicked over to Hostess with the Mostess and look what I saw!

Nutty Peanut Butter Caramel Bars!!!!

I repeat,

Oy!

Super Fun Game on the brain

2008-11-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

A couple months ago we went to dinner at my dear friend Sarah's house and after dinner she convinced us to try and play a new game with them. We are BIG game people, and quite competitive I might add, so we were totally down! The game was called Pop 5. It was created by the fabu people at Cranium and it was ALOT of fun. Here's the gyst of the game from the publisher:
Hilarious pop culture fun gets a Cranium spin! From Madonna and mullets to moonwalks and Monday Night Football, this party game isn't about what you know, but how you show it.
Here's how it works: Each turn, the opposing team draws a clue card and assigns points to each of the five activity choices, according to how hard they think each one will be. If they pull the "Red Bull" card, they may think drawing it is easy, so they'd give it one point. But acting? Hard. Five points! Now it's up to you to decide: Will you go for the easy points and draw, or go for the big points (and glory) by acting it out?
Each turn you get to choose to act, draw, hum, sculpt, or use letter cubes to get your team to guess the clue. With songs, celebrities, fads, fashions, TV shows, movies, and more, Pop 5 cards include all kinds of fun pop culture clues that span the decades -- and every turn, you get to choose how to get your team to guess!
* Would you act out Iron Chef or draw it?

* Would you rather hum a Spice Girls song or roll the letter cubes to give clues that start with the letters that come up?

* Would you choose to sculpt a Chia Pet out of clay or hum the jingle?

After leaving Sarah's I knew we HAD to get that game! So I went on a hunt but couldn't find it at Target OR Walmart. I needed to go to Toys R Us to pick up a few Christmas gifts that were on sale and decided I'd look around. At first I couldn't find it but then I saw it. It was on an endcap with a bunch of other clearanced games. I started getting excited. You know that feeling when you find a bargain? But I couldn't find a price tag anywhere so I go and do one of those scanny thingys. Guess how much it was?

Only $3!!!!!

haha I was SO stoked and snatched that puppy right up! Only we haven't played it yet :( I REALLY want to! I think about it all the time cause it is just SO fun and after cleaning out the game closet this weekend it's on my mind again. I think this would be the perfect after Thanksgiving dinner game :) Hopefully I can convince the rest of my family of that!

If anyone is interested I was able to find it online from Target for $14.99 - not as good a deal as mine of course but still a great price for a great game!

It came & went

2008-11-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

This is the only picture I have of the night, taken in our dirveway before we left. BUT the fabulous Ashley should have a picture up soon of us (taken by her fabulous hubby), so I'll add that one when I can :)

So the big night was on Friday. The girls' work was AMAZING! I was really impressed! I knew they were amazing but they did such a great job with the pictures for the show. I was definitely proud of them!

As you know I was really excited about seeing Colleen again and meeting Ashley. I also got to meet their hubbies! :) They are SUCH nice people! I was a lil nervous seeing them because it'd been so long with Colleen and obviously having never met Ashley before and you know what they say about those internet people ;) But they were all just SO great! Ashley was so sweet and it just felt like we had known eachother for awhile! It's not very often that I meet someone so genuine and classy and I know that that is exactly who Colleen and Ashley are - what you see is what you get! I love that. This world could definitely use alot less shadiness, don't you agree?

My fave part of the night (other than seeing the girls) was when Colleen was introducing me to her husband, Kyle, and he said "oh I know I've read her blog". haha that was just so cool to me!

My least favorite part of the night was leaving before I got to meet some of the other bloggers that showed up that night. :( Especially these three girls. I am shamelessy addicted to reading all 3 of their blogs and from those I know that they share those same great qualities that Colleen & Ashley have!

But we WERE on a date night and my hubby had been so sweet in agreeing to accompany me so I knew that I needed to follow through with my end of the bargain - get your mind out of the gutter people I'm talking about dinner & Best Buy! ;)

Anyway it really was a great event and I was so happy to have been able to show my support!

Great job girls!!!!

Home Improvements

2008-11-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

For awhile now I have not been able to dedicate much time to the back rooms of our house and it's been driving me crazy! I do the kitchen everynight, vacuum the living room & dining room constantly, and have the kids pick up their toys everynight, but other than that, the other rooms have been getting neglected or just half-assedly cleaned, haha I made up that word! So this weekend I was determined to get more done! And we did! I'm so proud of how much we accomplished. And I say we because my husband did SO Much to help! He cleaned (SCRUBBED!) both bathrooms, unloaded the dishwasher, and mopped the kitchen floor. And he also hung a curtain rod and some sheers in our bedroom :) They do wonders for breaking up all the WHITE-ness and motivate me to get other stuff hung up in there too!

While he was doing all of that, I was tackling the kids' stuff. We have a closet in our hallway that is full of their art supplies, coloring books, puzzles, and all of our games. I wish I had a before photo. It was a DISASTER!!! But it is all nice and organized now, we'll see how long that lasts! I'd really like to get some baskets to put each lil category in. I think that would make it look even cleaner in there!

I also tackled their bedrooms. When we first moved in they had separate rooms. I assumed that after 4 years of sharing a room they would want to be separated! So we decorated a BOY room and a GIRL room! I should've known better! They were always begging to sleep together and were just not sleeping well at night. SO finally we made the decision to put them back in the same room. They sleep in Lacie's room now so I put all their clothes in there too and put ALL the toys in Colby's room - now the playroom. They love it! And are both sleeping MUCH better at night which means Daddy & I are too! I need to get a lil cube or somethign to put the tv on - it has to be that width otherwise those cubbies won't fit on that wall. And they have to stay on that wall because the only other available space is going to soon be occupied by........a DRUM SET!!!! (more on that later) Oh and just so you know I have NO intentions of RE-painting these rooms. I have a feeling that as soon as I did that they would change their minds! Because of their ages I'm guessing that the days of WANTING to share a room with their sibling (especially of the opposite sex) are numbered ( :( ) and so we're just letting them be for now!

I forgot to add that my kids were SOOOO grateful for all the work their mommy did for them :) Colby came out of no where and gave me the BIGGEST hug around my neck and said "Thank you Mommy for making our new playroom!" Totally worth it people!

My lil Student of the Month!

2008-11-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this week Lacie's teacher sent a letter home. Remember getting those envelopes that said "To the Parents of...." and you weren't supposed to open them, only your parents? Yah they always made me nervous even though I never really had reason to be haha Lacie was worried too :( And then the letter said that she was getting the Student of the Month award but that it was to be kept a surprise. So I had to totally make something up to appease Lacie's fears that she was getting in trouble LOL It was so fun going to the school cafeteria, my husband and Poppie & Mammie were there as well. Her eyes just lit up when she saw each of us and you could tell she was piecing it all together. They went class by class, called each kids name and she was just about the tiniest one up there hehe. When it was all done she was just a lil chatter box :)
Mommy - "Were you surprised?"
Lacie "No I figured it out in my head!"

We are so proud of you baby girl! I can't wait till the bumper stickers come in! hehehe

Moving forward....

2008-11-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

I found this here and it was orginally posted here. I felt compelled to repost it for you all to read because it is so amazingly written in my opinion. I hope that we can all rise today with humility and grace and join Obama in taking care of our great nation.

America Chooses Obama
By Roxanne Wieman
Well, here we are on the other side. A watershed moment. An historic election. And we, the American people, have made our choice.
Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States, and the nation’s first black president. And in elections across the country, Democrats won their seats in the Senate. When Obama takes office in January, he will do so with a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.
“The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly,” McCain told his supporters in Arizona after the results came in.
But what about you?
Those of you who took our RELEVANT poll yesterday favored McCain: 47 percent of you voted for the Arizona Senator and 33 percent of you for Obama. So, are you disappointed? Will you hang your heads today? Do you fear for our nation’s future? I’m not so sure.
So many of us—members of the widely contested “young evangelical voters”—were divided about this election. Not just as a group, but even in our own hearts. I know which candidate I chose, but it wasn’t an easy decision. And, to be honest, I didn’t really care who won. I agreed with both. I disagreed with both.
What I’m wondering now is where do we go from here?While the electoral vote and popular vote strongly favored Obama, our country is still largely divided. This was a hard-fought, personal and passionate race. There are wounds on both sides. Can Obama and the Democratic congress heal those wounds? Can we help?
Yes and yes.
Obama ran as a unifier. He condemned our party divisions and championed cooperation across party lines. Many of the Democrats who won seats in the Senate ran with similar platforms. If Obama and the Congress majority maintain that position and “reach across the aisle” in the years to come, that will certainly go a long way in healing our wounds and unifying our country. Karl Rove has already expressed his own wish that the Republicans would do the same, "I hope we will support [Obama] when we agree with him, persuade him when we think his mind is open, and oppose him when we think he is wrong.
"Whether unity happens in Washington or not, the question still returns to us: what can we do to help? As Francis Schaeffer so famously put it, “How shall we then live?” Now that the election is over and Obama and the Democrats have so clearly won, how shall we then live? I believe that we, the young Christian voters, can uniquely answer this question. I believe, in fact, that this is the very question we are so primed to answer. Because this election and its profound life issues has galvanized us to true action.
Yes, we voted. But it’s more than that. Through this election, we’ve become aware of the major social issues of our day. And now we want to do something about them. We recognize an election will not change everything. We do not rest our hopes for change on a political party or candidate. We vote, we hope, but we don’t stop there. Tomorrow and the next day and the next and in January when Obama takes office, we get up and we continue our sojourn to follow Jesus. We live our votes for life, for justice, for peace, for equality.
We comfort our friend who tells us she’s considering abortion. Then we gently tell her why we believe life in the womb is precious. We help her find alternative options … and we stick by her side all through the pregnancy and birth and after. She is not a statistic or a faceless evil to us.
We love beyond racial, gender and sexual lines. We reject stereotypes. We embrace individuals. We work for reconciliation.
We do not talk about “that side of town,” we live there and work there and mentor there. We are a part of educational reform, and ESL, and rehabilitation.
We recycle. We reduce our imprint. We consciously make our purchases, recognizing the global implications. We strive to “live simply that others may simply live” (Ghandi).
We personally pray for our soldiers in Iraq, for the citizens of Iraq, for our leaders who are making tough decisions that affect millions of lives. We really do pray, and we believe our prayers matter.
We continue to work hard in the jobs God has given us, saving our money and stewarding our resources. We tithe. We donate. We volunteer.
We continually challenge each other to deepen our understanding of whole life ethics and Jesus’ call to follow Him.
I believe this is who we are. I believe this is who you are. I believe we can be the change we’ve voted for—no matter who we voted for.