the sweet life

Somehow.....tasks like baking cookies..

Go a little faster...

When little hands are there to help..

almost 21 months...

My baby boy is becoming not-so-much of a baby anymore....he has definitely morphed into full-blown toddlerdom and it is just blowing my mind that he will be two years old in a few short months..:-(  Here are some of the fun things that Finn is doing these days...

1.  He can play BY HIMSELF for at least 15 minutes...( he is much better at alone play then *ahem* another child I know who shall remain nameless..)

2.  He can climb like a monkey.

3.  His vocabulary is expanding EVERY day...his favorite new word is "pissss"....which means "please".  ( try to control your laughter...)

4.  He LOVES his sister very much. ( there , of course, a few exceptions to this undying devotion...mainly when she is holding one of beloved trains and running around the room holding it where he can't get it...)

5.  He would prefer to spend all of his time either outside or in mommy's lap..:-)  ( He has NOT lost any of his snuggle-bug-ed-ness that he has had since he was a newborn).

6.  He tolerates clothing but would much prefer to be naked.  ( wouldn't we all?)

7.  He prefers "savory" food over "sweet" food.  ( i.e. he likes chips better than cake..)

8.  He very good at pointing out all the piles of dog poop in the yard and then screaming at the top of lungs for me to come and pick it up.  ( at least he doesn't try to pick it up himeself)

Here are some recent pics of my little man....*sigh*.

xoxox

Peaches N' Cream

...I had a friend tell me recently that Olivia has a Peaches n' Cream complexion...very fitting i think .. here are some pics of her taken before the annual Father/Daughter Dance around Valentines Day.
xoxoxo

Dogpaddling

My lack of posting these last few months has brought me to realize that my life is really changing. Changing for the good?  I hope so...I find that a lot of days are spent washing dish after dish, folding shirt after shirt, giving time-out after time-out..but that's what i signed on for , right?  *sigh*.  Don't get me wrong, i am blessed, truly blessed...and writing a post like this , well, it kinda makes me feel*icky*.  There are so , so many people in the world that don't even come close to what I have, BUT, this is my blog therefore a little whining now and then can do a mommy some good.

So here I am ..feeling fat, kinda grumpy, and in real need of a good , long, nap.  ( there it is world.. i have put it out there. ) :-)

Not to mention it is raining today and we woke up this morning with a wet kitchen floor...( the roof is leaking again.) ...I think that it may be time for a new roof...another *sigh*.  That might feel good though, "stripping" off the old and laying a "new" roof down?  Too many metaphors i think...

I don't have any solutions for how to fix how I feel EXCEPT to not dwell to long it IT.  I think that moving forward and having a plan might be good ....but what is my plan?  I really don't know. 

Confused yet?  I know I am...

My saving grace is my husband.  companion. friend of friends...thank the LORD that he is beside me.  Who else would put up with me?  my craziness, my lack of housekeeping skills...*a-hem*.  

...These last few months I feel like I am 'barely" keeping my head above water...can't float and can't swim...maybe like dogpaddling..

Anyone else feel that way?????

Quote of the day

Olivia:  "Mom, grandpa lives in Wisconsin..that's a state.".

Me:"  That's right".

Olivia: "Mom, we live in CaliFORnia..that's our state..".

Me:"  That's right...do you know what city we live in?"

Olivia: "Seen- o, mom, we live in Seen-o...(Encino)"

little  pause:......

Olivia:  "Mom, you know God lives in the state called Heaven.".

:-)

xoxoxo

Lounging

Nothing like a good box to lounge around in....

January Rains...

It doesn't rain much here...so when it does we try to take full advantage of the weather!  Don't get me wrong.. I LOVE SoCal weather but it is very nice when we get a little change to our normally GREAT temps and sunny days.  Last week it rained every, single, day...I'm happy to say we did NOT get cabin fever and the kids LOVED stomping in the puddles in their boots.  The air smelled really nice and the cool temperatures made the house even cozier than it normally is..Here are some pics of the kids enjoying the change of season. 

Quote of the week

Olivia runs into my room...

" Guess what mom?!!!"

" What"

" I like wiggling..yeah, wiggling is my favorite!"

:-)

Travel Town

Last Sunday was Chad's birthday and he really, truly, wanted to spend it outdoors with the kids. :-)  ( so sweet...).  It was a GORGEOUS California day.. about 70 degrees, sunny and clear, and not a cloud in the sky.. so we took the kids to somewhere I have been itchin' to go.. Travel Town at Griffith Park.  It was really fun...the best part is.. it's FREE!!  The only thing that cost money is the little 3/4 train you can ride on ($2.00) a person and whatever food or snacks you want to buy.. so great!  We ran around exploring all the old locomotives and then treated ourselves to ride on the train.  The kids loved it and I have to say we did too!  Here are some pics from our morning at Travel Town...we highly recommend it!  xoxo

Aunti Sarah

Finn LOVING the train ride..

Olivia just being Olivia....

The kids next to an engine car...look how HUGE the wheels are!!

Dada and his babies...

Happy Birthday Dada!

Chad didn't like this sign too much... hahahaha!

Halloween 2009

Well,  Halloween was a blast this year!  ( it is my FAVORITE holiday after all).. we had good food, good company , and lots of fun trick-o-treating..Olivia definitely enjoyed knocking on doors and waiting for the loot and Finn really enjoyed following along and then trying to climb into peoples houses.. ( no joke!).. I must have had to retrieve him out of like 4 or 5 houses... *sigh*.. Luckily all of our neighbors are easy going... ha!   And one more nice thing... Olivia has only asked about her candy ONCE since Halloween.. good thing too cuz her daddy and I have been munching on it every night after bed... hee..hee.. Here are some pics that I took of them in their costumes before Halloween...( my halloween pics didn't come out too well, bad lighting)... They were Woody and Jesse from Toy Story...Olivia loved her costume and wants to wear it all the time...Finn tolerated his but actually didn't mind it too much....score one point for Mommy!!  Happy Halloween!!!

xoxo

Finn bein' silly!

Here is our happy little man... he is seriously a very jolly soul...and very silly ! xoxoxoxo

Two year old interview...

I had completely forgotten that I had videotaped this last year ( almost exactly a year ago)  a couple of months past her birthday ....I'm actually amazed at how well she sat through the interview...what a cutie!

xoxo

Three Year old Interview

Here is a taste of what Olivia is into these days....some of the answers really suprised me !!! ha!

Too pooped to party...

This is how Finn finished his lunch the other day.....:-)

First Day of Preschool!

On September 16th, Olivia started her first day of Preschool!!! She was a teensy-weensy bit hesitant but I stayed for music time , gave her a kiss, and she said "good-bye mom!"... Later on she told me that preschool isn't for mommies, just kids...*sigh*.  She goes 2 days a week for just 4 hours a day... perfect.  The best thing about it ( I am finding) is that I finally get some one-on-one time with Finn.  Second children really seem to get the shaft...but now I'm making up for it!  Here are some pics from her first day..xoxoxo

Olivia is 3!!

On September 3rd Olivia turned 3!!!  We started on her actual birthday with a mama-made breakfast of a chocolate chip mickey mouse pancake with whipped cream!! She loved it and it was the first morning I can think of that I didn't have to prod her along with eating.. hahahaha!  That night we headed to Chuck-E-Cheese to hang with her cousins.. she had a blast running around , playing Skee-ball, and eating lots of pizza!  The weekend after her birthday we headed to Huntington Beach and enjoyed a great day with family and friends.  She reminds me every day that she is a big "3" year old girl and it's really hard to believe that she is that old already... *sigh*.  Here are a bunch of pics from the various fun activities we did!!

OH, and my mom MADE that beautiful Cinderella cake and then like a saint hauled it all the way to the beach... THANKS GRAMMY !

xoxox

Did that just come out of my mouth?

Here are some things that you might hear if you open the door to my house..

1..don't eat that!

2..I don't care if your brother touched your knee you are not allowed to whack him with ANYTHING!

3..yes, mama uses tolit paper too; no, i do not need help using it!

4..don't eat that!

5..Agh! Get down from there...no climbing the bookcase!

6..books are for reading not for hitting your brother with!

7..love the doggie, don't use her as a jungle gym!

8..Pleaseeee...don't eat that!

9..no, I don't think your brother would like it if you stood on his arm.

10..water stays in the bathtub please!

11...get your head out of the trashcan!

12..Ugh... PLEASE DON"T EAT THAT!!!!!

xoxo

Proceed with caution..

So , we are here.. we didn't give up on the blogging world. Just a bit of a hiatus due to a number of things:

1. Mama's just plain tired. ( which translates into= doesn't want to spend any time on the computer at night, just wants to "veg" with hubby in front of tv. )

2. Kinda got bored with it. ( do you ever find yourself just burnt on the whole computer, internet, electronic age, stuff????)

3. And, last but not least...

4. SICK! SICK! SICK! Yup, we have all been very sick..well, I should say the kids were VERY sick. Chad and I are just suffering through very mild forms of what they had. And while I have been through illnesses with my kids before, for some reason this one just hit us out-of-the-blue and without warning. ( not that they every give warning, but usually you know of someone else's kids who have been sick, etc,). This illness caused the kids to not only be miserable but to also be MUCH more clingy, sad, lethargic, whinier, did I mention more CLINGY??? Needless to say, I am just plain exhausted... thank goodness I am not in this alone.. Chad has been a dream helper/partner.

And last night we actually got more than 4-5 hours of sleep in a row. *sigh*.

So, with all of that said.. I will return to the blogging world soon. Just need to recooperate and restore my body to all of it's mama glory.

xoxox

Pic of the week

Ok, mom, I'm ready for my close-up!

*sigh*

( I am sooooo in for it when she becomes an adolescent.)

xoxoxo

New Blog!

This is for all you mama's out there ( although please stop by even if you are not a mama!)...I have started a new blog that I would LOVE for you all to check out!!

www.wellbalancedmama.blogspot.com

Hurray!!

xoxox