Spring Break at Disneyland

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!

Going Backwards, and forwards

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!

In Search Of...

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?

A Dream Come True

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 :)

It was WICKED fun!

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!!!!

Sea World on my own

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

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

Oy...

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!

Dinosaur Obsession

One of the many things that I love about my boy is that he has had an obsession with dinosaurs since he was about 1 year old. He never fell in love with trucks, cars, & trains like most boys. He has always been about dinosaurs & animals. I LOVE that about him! I would of course love him if he liked that other typical boy stuff. ;) But if you know me, I like to be different, unique, and while a dinosaur loving boy isn't COMPLETELY unique - it is in our family :)

The Day That Dinosaurs Took Over The Living Room

(well not the ONLY day mind you)

In the above picture, Colby is sitting in the giant (65qt) tub that his dinosaurs live in

The Day That Dinosaurs Took Over Our Fridge

All that to say that my son's dino love is about to step up to a whole new level!

In just 10 days, he and his daddy will drive down to LA to see this show!!!!! (2 different links - seriously click on them and watch the videos!!!)

When I got an email about this event I just knew that Colby HAD to go! It is unfortunate that it falls in September (on a teacher income this is our shortest month) but we have willingly scrimped and saved to make sure that he gets to enjoy this amazing experience. Lacie & I have seen a High School Musical concert, a Cheetah Girls concert, a Hannah Montana 3D Movie concert, and in November we will be seeing a Carrie Underwood "Connie Underwear"(Lacie calls her that) concert! So it is HIGH time that this boy gets to enjoy something that he LOOOOOOVES! I so wish I could be there to see his face but it is a $60 sacrifice I will gladly make :) I have threatened my husband that he had BETTER come home with decent pics and videos though!

Colby and I watched about 10 different youtube videos and the promotional videos this morning and he is BEYOND excited! :) This is seriously one of the greatest things about being a parent!

Oceansiders celebrate Halloween in MAY

A few weekends ago we were invited to a very special party. My bestie's lil girl was turning 4 and she wanted to have a HALLOWEEN party! And requested that her guests come IN costume! How fun! I really love that her parents didn't even TRY to discourage this idea that lil Gracie came up with! No, they completely went with it! My bestie found tons of party stuff at Oriental Trading and made cute lil invitations. We had SO much fun dressing up and hanging out with friends.

My family - David was a Lakers player, I was a Dodgers fan, Lacie was the Little Mermaid, & Colby was a Power Ranger
Me and my pirate bestie hehehe ARRRR
The kitty cat birthday girl & I playing our pumpkin kazoo duet
My bestie's youngest daughter Presley POO
They even had face painting!!! We thought he was Harry Potter but he said he was SIMON from the Chipmunks hahaha
Sister got her face painted too