cousins

I came across this picture of the little cousins again today and just fell in love with it all over again. I took it earlier this month and can't believe that I never posted it.

Chase, Savannah and Christian

an exciting day

Well our excitement kicked off when hurricane Christian ripped through our house leaving nothing standing in his path.

Then we had a 5.4 earthquake that shook us up pretty good. It was centered around the Chino Hills area. No damage here and we are all fine, just a bit shaken up.

Then it was off to my dad's to do some things at his house including feeding the horses.

I told Christian to stand next to this big boy and he actually did. Poor kid had no idea what his mom was asking him to do and he has no real fear of horses yet.

These are two of Christian's favorite animals on the ranch. He always wants to sit on that little donkey even though he hasn't since he was about one. He remembers I guess. And he loves to throw rocks into the poor pigs pool. This was all fun and games until the crazy goat that lives with the donkey tried to attack Christian. He then decided that we were done there!

Then it was time to push Chloe all over the ranch. This included through the hay stacks and into daddy's feeding cart.

Then he ended the day like every little boy wishes he could I'm sure. Covered in dirt and ice cream!


Who knows what adventures tomorrow will bring...

she did what...

Since the weather was a little cooler than usual this morning I decided to take the kids to the park since it had been a while since our last visit there. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to try and get a good picture of Chloe and Christian together. What was I thinking? I am never going to get a goof one of my own kids together. :) So I gave up on the idea and just decided to get some individual shots if I saw any cute ones. Well what do I see out of the corner of my eye...Chloe going from a sitting position to a standing position. I almost dropped the camera when I saw that! I tried to get a pic of it, but couldn't get a good one. The event was over too quickly. She did do it a few more times throughout the day, but hasn't let daddy see her doing it yet.

Chloe standing up

piggies & paws

Finally I got them!!! We took the kids to a friends house in April and got these cool designs started. A company called piggies & paws takes impressions from either your child's hand or foot and then you pick the design and they do the rest. So finally 3 months later we have them and they are so cute, but I bet the kids prints aren't the same size anymore. :) I can't wait to frame them and hang them in their rooms.

don't cry over spilled what....

MILK! Milk everywhere! This is the second time that Christian has taken what remains in the 2 gallons of milk in the refrigerator and just poured it on the carpet. And not to mention the rest of the damage done to the poor living room.I do believe it's going to be another day like yesterday with him. Heaven help me!!

family time is play time

FUN,FUN,FUN that's all I can say. So yesterday I had my first chance to do a family shoot. My friend Shellie had seen the pictures that I took of her sis in laws babies (remember the twins)and offered up her family as victims if I wanted. Umm...yes I want them! Anyways it was a blast and all I can say is I was beat afterwards from trying to keep up with those kids. So thanks for the practice guys...you were great...and I had a great time!! Hope you enjoy!

slow down kids

The combination of booking of Christian's birthday party and watching Chloe in amazement last night got me feeling sad. Why do they have to grow up so fast?? I know that sometimes we want them to get past a certain stage, but for the most part it just goes way too fast.

Christian will be 3 next month and then that means that the following month Chloe will be 1. I don't think that I can handle that! :)

Chloe's new thing to do all the time is her head stand. She stands for a bit on her own, but not too long. She does take a step, but then falls right down. I think that she realizes that she is getting a mouth full of teeth because she has turned into a little biter. And I think every morning she wakes up with more hair.

Christian is just a little parrot and copies most things that you say to him. He is getting so tall and that reminds me that I need to get him some new church pants. He has become that kid with the high water pants that I used to make fun of. :) And after this box of diapers is done then we start the potty training. Oh man, wish me luck with the task.

this is how daddy gets her to sleephe insisted that I get a picture of the train

thanks all

I just wanted to say a special thank you to all who gave me your beauty secrets. I love them all! In fact the funny thing is that I have actually tried all of them before,except the honey and c. oil, and still have some of those products in the house. So thanks everyone and keep them coming if you have any more favorite products and it doesn't necessarily have to be skin care products.

Also thanks for all your posts on my memory entry. Those were so fun to read and I can't believe that I forgot some of them. I will blame it on mommy brain. :) If you think of anymore I would love to hear them.

I am so thankful for all the responses to my "get real" entry. I do think that we all needed that. It was great to hear that most of you go through similar things and feelings. Thanks for sharing, I'm, glad I did!

what's your secret???

So I was washing up for bed right now and was completely fed up as I washed my face. When will my face ever stop breaking out like a teenager? Umm...never I think and this humidity doesn't help either!! So I think I need a new skin care routine.

So that got me thinking. I wonder what some things are that other people might try. So I want to know your beauty secrets!! What are some things that you just LOVE and couldn't do without? Or maybe have tried only a few times, but love.

For example I love OPI nail polish. It stays on forever and comes in yummy colors. Also I always use Vaseline Intensive Care lotion. So old school, but my mom always used it and I love how it's not greasy. I have to have my Estee Lauder double wear foundation. I haven't found any others that compare. Too bad I don't work for them anymore so I can still get my discount! :) And if you know of a good face cleanser that will actually get my foundation off then please tell me.

I can't wait to hear all your fun secrets.

Oh and January, can you please tell me more about the raw honey? Thanks!!

Tagged

Tagged by Marci
Entry by Dustin

i am: whatever you say I am
i think: therefore I am
i know: that my Redeemer Lives!!
i want: to be with my family forever!!
i have: to fill this out because my wife said so!!
i wish: i were an oscar meyer "you know"
i hate: as little as possible
i fear: failure in any aspect of my home life
i smell: but my wife loves me anyways.. :)
i crave: as little attention as possible
i search: for little things I can do to make people happy
i wonder: why some people are so angry
i regret: things only when I'm having a bad day
i care: what you think about me a little too much
i always: pick the worst lines to get into
i believe: everything happens for a reason
i dance: only to slow songs or with my kids
i sing: very poorly to myself in the car
i don't always: have the patience I wish I had
i fight: the narcolepsy
i write: on paper with a pencil or a pen
i lose: my breath after running 50 feet
i win: e(whine) when I don't win
i never: have enough time to do all the things I want to do
i listen: to audiobooks on my I-Pod
i can usually be found: if you just call my cell phone
i am scared: but my faith in God sustains me
i need: another pedicure ASAP
i am happy about: 80% of the time, (usually when Michelle is happy)

Hey Ryan, if your reading this your it!!

our anniversary weekend

So here is what we did this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Friday evening we had a date night. The evening started off with a delivery at the door of some beautiful flowers. Rebecca (Boyd) came over about 5:00 to watch the kids and we were off. The first stop was the nail salon. Yep, that's right, the nail salon. I was in need of a pedi and I some how managed to convince Dustin to get one too. He was in love with the massage chair and pretty much was half asleep the entire time. I had to drag him away. So needless to say he enjoyed it and now he might just try to come with me every time I go! :) Then it was off to dinner at a restaurant that we had been wanting to try. It was called Buffalo Wild Wings and if you know D then you know that he LOVES his wings. It was a fun time and we enjoyed the restaurant. Then we were off to the movies since we hadn't been in longer than we can remember. Well that didn't work out so good. We couldn't find a parking spot. No joke! It was the first night that Batman was out and it was a mad house. We tried another theater and it was the same issue. So we laughed and blew off the movie. We did a little shopping and decided to come home early since the next day was going to be a long one. We got home about 9:30ish and both kids were asleep. Are you kidding me? I told Rebecca she was going to have to come over every night and put Christian to bed.

Saturday morning we dropped the kids off at Auntie Marci's. We decided that they would have way more fun at her house than in a car with us all day...I think we were right. We headed for the LA area where we planned on being complete tourists for the day. So much fun! Our first stop was Pink's hot dogs. We were set to stand in line for a while, but lucked out. By time we left though it was another story. Then it was off to Sprinkles cupcakes. No luck there. We couldn't find parking and the line was ridiculous, so maybe next time or we will try a different location. We toured a famous Hollywood cemetery and other local landmarks. We cruised a few famous streets such as Rodeo, Wilshire, Sunset, and Melrose. We were going to do the bus tour and see some celebrities homes, but we decided to do that another time. We went to the Getty Center where we spent a good amount of time. We they tried to go to the Santa Monica pier because believe it or no I have never been there. Well we picked the wrong day for that. Roads were closed and the streets were a mess. There was some kind of event going on there that they were getting ready for. So we ditched that idea and will do that on some week night and bring the kids along. We slowly headed home stopping for dinner at Logans Roadhouse, I had been wanting to try that place for a while. It did not disappoint us! Then it was off to pick up the kids and head home.

It was a great weekend and has been a great 5 years of marriage. We did realize that we need more alone time and have decided to try and have at least one kid free date a month. I do believe that it is good for the marriage and the kids too.

Pink's

the Getty Center
the tram ride up to the museumthis is the look Dustin says I give him all the timeDustin's favorite painting of the day :)Dustin thought it was funny that I matched the bedthe smoggy view of LA