Our life and stuff

2009

   in pictures...

  

{heart} Uncle David

 

caption 1:  Sydney and Lux smile and pose as they are totally falling off the chair. 

caption 2:  David realizes this and attempts to save the little rascals.

caption 3:  Elle is oblivious - 'look at me I'm so cute'

When the girls were little, they used to be afraid of David.

I think they've outgrown that...

In fact, I think he's a little afraid of them now.

(understood)

 

 

 

caption 1:  I don't blame David for being a little scared.

caption 2:  Is it just me or does it look like Elle is ready to push them all over.

  

He's a trooper...

David, they totally LOVE you. 
  

  

Movie Night

We had to wait in line to take this picture... that's crazy.

And yes, Sydney did stand up during the movie and dance right there at her seat.

 

- the BOYS -

 

- the MOMS -

- the GIRLS -

      
  

From pancakes to portraits

 

HOLD ON

Allow me to start from the beginning.

So, we are all eating breakfast at the (Original) Original Pancake House in Anaheim.  We all eat too much and I drank one too many cups of coffee. 

As we are leaving I find myself with a car full of children... how did this happen?

 

They are giggling and silly as we drive home. 

RIGHT THEN  - I knew I had to take pictures of them - ALL TOGETHER

(passing up cute shopping spots to take pictures)
 

I'm pretty sure this is not the playdate they planned over their pancakes.  It probably included the trampoline, tearing up Sydney's room and running in circles through the kitchen. 

Instantly as we walk in the door I plug in the curling iron and start dressing children, rummaging thru my children's closets.  They were all ready in 15 minutes, I was a maniac. 

We just drove down the street.  

I let them out with simple instructions...  DON'T RUN AWAY

 

[they were pretty cute]

 

 
 
 

 [ Jake said :  'look, take a picture of me holding this big orange' ]

 

 

I did stop to reward them half way through with a kids cocoa...

just don't tell them - they think we are ALL DONE

'Hooray the photoshoot is over' (silly, silly kids)

 

 

 
  

 

  

I think they actually had FUN

 ... but they will never admit it.

 {Cousins Dec2009}

No good pictures

We went out to dinner with family after Sunday meeting.

We all had our little cameras out.

I took lots of pictures and trust me, none of them were any good.

Seriously.

Don't believe me??  Just look...

 

(I will continue to post them small)

(Because when bad pictures are BIG - they look even worse)

  

 

(this one gives you a hint of how well-behaved our little ladies are...)

 

(Editing and a switch to black&white BARELY saved this one...)  
 

 

It's not like I was trying to take bad pictures either.

But it didn't stop me from posted them. 

They will be funny to look at in about 3 months... 
 
    

Change of plans

 

Our weekend was looking busy.  Like usual.

1. We had an Adults only party to attend up in LA on Friday Night.
2. Luke was in a baseball tournament Saturday AND Sunday
3. Sydney was invited to a *girls party* on Saturday afternoon. 
4. We had family returning from a cruise Sun AM- we offered and they accepted to pick them up from the terminal and drive them home.
5. Sunday night was a family dinner to see old friends visiting from Australia. 

Thursday night I was up late, trying to plan for being at three places at once AND IT STARTED RAINING.    Things sorta fell into place.

* The rain continued to fall through Friday, cancelling the weekend of baseball. 

* My Mom is awesome and came to stay with the kids. 

* We drove up early to LA and checked into a hotel...

 

It was a quaint little place on Sunset.  There was a fireplace and everything. 

The rooftop-view was beautiful... especially on a rainy night.

  

The party that night was fabulous -  we had a great time!  It was at the House of Blues in West Hollywood - crazy place.  This is me with my friend Susan, the only picture we took all night...

 

* * * * *

Instead of rushing off to a baseball tournament on Saturday morning we slept.  We called-in room service and enjoyed breakfast in bed.  Alone.  Until 11am.

What a lovely weekend it turned out to be... 

  

In the middle of nowhere

 

(in case you were wondering)

(we went to Vegas not Salt Lake City)

We rolled into town while it was still daylight. 

Check-in was a breeze and we were jumping on the beds in no time.   

The secret to enjoying a getaway with the kids... go for the big room

The kids had their own beds and TV in a separate room.  We all went bowling, ate lots of food, slept in and went to see Planet 51.  Finally, it was time to venture into town - to see The Las Vegas Strip. 

We were both hesitant to remove our car from valet, she was so safe and cozy.

YOU SEE... On our last trip to Vegas we went to the mall at lunch time.  We were there for about 2 hours, shopping.  While we shopped our car was being stolen.  That really sucked.

3 long days later,

she was found.

We picked her up that night and brought her back home...

Anyway, I know these types of things happen everywhere but you can understand our hesitation.  We decided to drive but as we stepped outside, a bus passed.  Perfect.

Have you ever ridden the bus in Vegas?  Me neither.

Would you like to join us?  I thought so.

... Follow us

 

You can take a seat right up there next to me, upper deck front row.

Should be fun...

 

 

Pretty exciting huh.

The next day we started our ride home through no-mans-land

It wasn't nearly as exciting...

But we were safe and cozy in OUR car - this time.

  

Appreciation

on Saturday it was beautiful . too bad I felt awful

 

I was awoken invited (shhh, don't tell her that the phone woke me up - I already pretended it didn't.) to go see some quilts with my Mother.

I don't feel good... 

I've got this, that and the other thing to do...

I just woke up and plan on staying in my PJ's all day...

I have the two kids with me...   

She wasn't buying any of my excuses.  Begrudgingly I got ready, made beds, fed the kids - grabbed camera, stroller and snacks and we finally left.  On the way to pick up my Mom, Luke warned me for the third time that he didn't like shopping.  

'Not to worry my dear.  These quilts are on display with awards so we're not really shopping.'

This was a small scale quilt show, in the gym of a local university.  These women were so sweet and friendly.  They approached us and told the kids pleasant stories behind their beautiful projects.

 

 

We voted for a few BEST OF SHOW pieces.

Each of us took a turn at writing our name with a long-arm quilting machine. 

 

So many different styles and interpretations.

This is the first year that I saw bedazzled quilts with crystals.

They were machine quilted and hand quilted

To see them up close and think of the YEARS that they took to make... it was worth it.
 

 (Standing right up close - it took the quilter's description to notice the black netting that she pieced to create the illusion of smoke from her never-ending candles.)

 

 

 
  

• Mom always walks away inspired.  She is a truly a dedicated fan of the Arts.    
• Luke gained a new understanding for the amount of thought, effort and love that goes into every project. 
• Sydney appreciated all the candy that the vendors were passing out - so perfectly timed following Halloween.
• I like to see the quilts, believe me.  But the neatest thing was just being there and sharing this experience with my Mom.  I know how much she loves it.  A long time ago she taught me so patiently and I watched her do that today with my kids.  Something I don't do enough of. 

 

 

Thank you Mom.

We had SEW much fun.

     

It's my Blogiversary

This picture sums up why I started a blog...

 

We save these little scraps, jot down funny things they say, tuck away bits of their first haircut or the stubs from their first flight - all in efforts to remember.

Then, if you're like me, you buy tons of cute stickers, eyelets, papers, vellum, fancy scissors, diecut punches etc - to dress up my memories. 

And then they sit. 

I used to be okay with it because I knew I had everything to get the pages together, someday.  That photo above has my little scrap saved from 2005.  My kids were teething at the time (Sydney getting hers and Luke just starting to loose his). 

That picture was taken TODAY.  STILL undone.  I can't recall anything about those days, how we felt, looked or what we said. 

Two years ago I said 'enough', and I started this blog.  It has made me take more pictures, even if it's inappropriate.  It's helped me remember the everyday stuff, the little things - and I love that.

It also reminded us it's time to take...  a new family picture

2005 

2006 

 2007 

2008 

 
 

We are going to attempt the 2009 photo ourselves a'la tripod, we'll see.

Oh ya, coincidentally - this is post #300.

   

Tired Babies

Tonight, Luke was sleeping before 8pm. 

THAT.NEVER.HAPPENS

Little Syd had a long night on Friday.  Up several times, unable to sleep and stuffed up.  All day, the cough got worse and she lazed around.  Daddy ran out to buy Snow White & Pinnochio for her watch in a pile of pillows.  

By dinner she had a fever of 102 with no appetite. 

She ate a few bites of white rice but lost all that an hour or so later. 

Poor baby

 

 

We put her back in her room with Kleenex, a water bottle and bowl (just in case). I hope they both get a good night's rest and wake up feeling better. 

p.s.  Do you see Luke's room?  We finally re-did it.  I'll post better pictures soon.