Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, what a busy couple of months it has been! We have done quite a bit of traveling and have spent way too much money! Here's a quick recap in pictures.

September 9, 2007

San Diego Zoo

with Roach Family

October 14, 2007

Apple Hill

Placerville, California

with the Smith Family

October 27-29, 2007

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Vallejo, California

with the Lathrop Family

October 29, 2007

Jelly Belly Factory Tour

Halloween 2007

SPIDERMAN

And introducing

IZZIE

our new family addition

Phew, I think that's plenty for now. Time to take a break, relax, and enjoy the holiday season.

Tyler's 3rd Birthday

Just a short post to finally get a slideshow of Tyler's 3rd birthday up. He had a Mickey Mouse party! As always, it was very hot, but he had a blast with all his friends at his party.

New Layouts, and Finally...Father's Day Pictures!

Hey, I'm on a roll...only 1 month to post a couple fathers day pictures. But I guess that's ok since I pretty much have only one reader (Kari, you know who I'm talking about...oh, and no I'm not ignoring your emails in case you were wondering, LOL!). You know, maybe I should actually tell people that I have a blog, then maybe I would get a bigger group of readers, huh?

Here are my most recent scrapbook layouts:

And some cute Father's Day pictures. First up, a family picture. I took this picture of the 3 of us using the remote for my camera. I think it turned out pretty good. When you're taking your own picture, it's really hard to tell if everyone is smiling and looking good!

And now, on to the cute pictures of my two guys. I just love the bond they share, they are both more than I ever dreamed of!Ok, time for bed! I went shopping with some friends (from my old work, Erika & Christina) after work tonight and didn't get home until 10:00pm. And I was too wound up to go to sleep, so I of course jumped on the computer! Oh, and I've come to the conclusion that I can't go shopping with them anymore...Erika is a terrible influence on me. I bought 4 bottles of perfume mist at Victoria Secret and spent $50 bucks! That's so unlike me really! Guess that's not too bad, but still a little ridiculous now that I think about it! Oh well, at least I'll smell good! Oh, and I just remembered, I need to finish up the invitations for Tyler's birthday party before I go to bed. We are having his party on July 29th this year. He keeps talking about all his friends from daycare that he wants to come to his birthday party, so guess I'll bite the bullet and invite the whole gang. Nothing like 20 or more 2, 3, & 4 year olds running around at a birthday party...should be fun, LOL! Now, if I can just find a good deal on a bounce house to keep them all occupied...too bad I don't have $165 to throw away on renting one, that's just outrageous! Ok, this post is getting way too long, so unlike me!

Goodnight!

P.S. Kari--if you're reading this, can't wait to see you guys! When will you actually be arriving in the area after your long journey back?

This Kid Can Sing!

Just a very quick post to share a video I forgot I had from mid-May. I took this with the video setting on my regular camera, so it's not great quality. And it's kinda long, but I think it's pretty funny. Enjoy!

Love these pictures!

Less than a week and already blogging again, I doubt that will happen very much around here. This weekend is going to be one of the last to just relax and get some stuff done around the house. Because starting next weekend, we have something going on every weekend until the 3rd weekend in August. Crazy! But I love this time of year, and we enjoy getting out to do some fun things!

Here's a few more pictures I just love of Ty that I took on June 13th. The first one is my favorite. I just love how sweet and innocent he looks. And then there's the silly ones where he was acting like a goofball. He's such a funny kid sometimes! I think this round of pictures really show the variety in his personality. I just love watching his personality develop more and more each day!

Ok, think that's enough pictures for now, LOL! The last few with the Tonka truck aren't my favorite because the color is a little off. But they are still cute, so I just had to share them, too!

Maybe I'll do another post tomorrow with some pictures from Father's Day last weekend. I think I take too many pictures...

See ya later!

Lots to say...

Well, looks like we'll be lucky if I get a new post up at least once a month. Oh well, better than nothing I guess!

It's been very busy around here lately! I started a new job 2 weeks ago in the Forestry division. It's such a busy position! I have learned so much new stuff, it all makes my head spin. I haven't been doing too much on the computer at home because I'm so exhausted by the time I get home. But, I have been taking a ton of photos! Tyler is such a ham these days. For the longest time I couldn't even get him to look anywhere near the camera, now he loves to have his pictures taken! It's been so much fun having him cooperate, so I think I've been going a little picture crazy. You know, I realized the other day that since I got my Canon Digital Rebel camera in October 2005, I have taken almost 8000 pictures! CRAZY! A lot of those are failures, but I have really learned to use the fully manual settings lately, and I'm really happy with the picture results. I also bought a new *used* lens from a guy I use to work with. He switched over to a Nikon camera, so he was selling all his Canon accessories. And it worked out good because I knew exactly when he bought it all and I know he's really careful with his stuff. So this new lens I bought was still a little pricey even at a used price, but it was soooo worth the money! Here are a few pictures I took last weekend of my little man. He was having a blast playing kickball with a new Spiderman ball I bought him for $3 at Wal-Mart...sometimes it's the cheapest toys that are the most entertaining! Anyways, he really has the kicking technique down, and while I was watching him, I kept thing I was watching a kid playing soccer. I'm definitely signing him up as soon as he's old enough! Oh, and if you ask him his age right now, he holds up all five fingers and says he's 5. We went by the local kids baseball fields one day this spring and he said he wanted to play baseball, but I told him that he has to be 5 before he can play baseball. So now he says he's 5...wish it was that easy! Wow, I'm full of rambling this morning...here are some of last weeks photos:

Those came up kinda small...oh well. I also took some more pictures this week, but I'm still editing those. They turned out even better than those above! (ETA: I made a slideshow so they are easier to see)

Oh, and an update on the baby birds. They are gonners, something got in the nest and ate them. It's so sad really. About a day or two before they could have flown out of the nest and started their flying lives, something attacked them. Guess it's just nature, but it really is sad. We think it was either another bird like a hawk or something. Or, a cat, maybe even out cat. And speaking of our cat, we are afraid she is also a gonner. We have had Jenny for almost 9 years, so she's been with us longer than our dogs. And she was about 3 or 4 when we got her, so she was 12 or 13 years old. I remember seeing her last Saturday afternoon, then she went outside. She never came home that night and hasn't been home since. We think the coyotes got her because she has been gone for over a week now, and she had never just disappear for long periods of time like that. So that really is a tragedy...she was such a part of the family. If the coyotes did get her, I hope it was quick so she didn't suffer too much. Again, nature is so cruel! Poor, poor JenJen.

Okay, I think that's enough for now. I hope to finish editing more pictures today and maybe post them sooner than another month from now!

New blog decor, some layouts, & more

Well, thought it was about time I got rid of the Valentine's themed blog decor. This is much better and ready for summer! Love the warm weather. This is my favorite time of year! It's has been such a busy weekend so far. Ty went to see Carter, a friend from his old daycare for a few hours today. Then they went to another friends for a pool party. When I picked him up, he was exhausted but had so much fun! He really enjoys playing with these boys, so we'll probably have them over in a few weeks. We are working on getting a swingset for Ty to play in the backyard more. He loves being outside, so I think he'll really love a swingset and a sand yard to play with all his trucks and loaders and all those other fun dirt haulers.

Here are the most recent layouts (you can see credits for these layouts HERE) :

Well, that's about it for now. Robert should be home from work in a few and we need to get ready for a friends 30th birthday party tonight. Ty will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa, so he's really excited about that! Then tomorrow, we're having a family day to see Shrek the Third!

Come back in a few days for an update on our robins (see post below)! They have hatched and are growing so fast...and of course I have pictures!

New found love of nature

Check out what has made it's home in our tree out front!

I had so much fun trying to get some good pictures. I couldn't believe there were 4 eggs in the nest. And aren't they gorgeous? Love that blue! Now I'm on the quest to actually see these hatch into baby birds. We think they have been sitting on these for a week or so. I have no idea how long robins eggs take to hatch. Think I'll go do some research!

Some Layouts to Share

It's been a while since I've posted, already wondering how often I will actually get around to blogging! Not too much going on in life right now. I actually prefer it that way, LOL! I have been doing lots of scrapping lately, woo-hoo! Here's a few new layouts:

Credits can be seen HERE

Credits can be seen HERE

Credits can be seen HERE


Well, that's it for now. Going to Lissi's for dinner tonight, and get to see Geni and baby Bayley! Ty is so excited to go see Bayley again. He just loves babies, hope that continues if and when we ever have another one around!

Dream Dinners

Today I went to Dream Dinners with Karyl from work. She got a gift certificate to try it out and asked if I wanted to join her, so I thought "why not?" Boy, am I glad I went! It's sooo cool! I got 4 dinners for $21.00. It's normally a little more expensive, but not too much. I think it would definitely be worth the money. And, I could definitely use the extra time it would save me from having to figure out what to cook every night for dinner. Those of you that know me know how much I despise cooking. When I'm in the mood to cook, I'm pretty good cook, but really, who wants to cook every night after working a full day? This Dream Dinners things is just perfect for that exact situation! Can't wait to try them out!

Kickboxing is NOT for me!

Ok, so tried a kickboxing class at the gym today with some girls from work. HA HA...it was hilarious! I'm so uncoordinated it's pathetic. But, it got me to go back to the gym, so we'll see how long I stick with it this time, just never stepping foot into another kickboxing class again! I'll stick with the elliptical trainer. Well, better get to bed, must get back up for work in about 6 hours. Ooops, this darn computer has sucked me in yet again. Looks like it will be a Starbucks morning, mmmmmm!!!

A year since the 1st post, YIKES!

Call this starting over with the whole blogging thing! I started this blog over a year ago, as you can see from the extremely outdated post below, LOL. No excuses, just never came back for some reason. Maybe fear that no one would read it. But, I've come to the realization I could have saved a whole lot of memories in this thing over the last year if I would have just come back. Oh well, can't dwell too much on the past!

Now, on with the present. Been on a scrapping roll this year so far. Well, on a roll for me that is. I think I've already scrapped more this year than I did all last year. I hope to get a routine going to juggle life, work, scrapping and family. Gotta...keep...motivated...

How about a cute Tyler story? He's 2 1/2 now and such a funny little guy. We worked on potty training all last weekend and it went surprisingly good with just a couple little accidents. So Sunday night he all of a sudden took to a stuffed bunny we have as a decoration that's been around for years. This bunny (no name, "just bunny" as Ty says) has a new found personality, complete with his own blankets (dish towels), his very own Hot Wheel car, and this bunny even goes potty on Ty's training potty. It's so hilarious! Oh, and Ty has a new song he's shared with us from daycare, the Tiny Tim Turtle song. He loves to sing and has quite the song vocabulary...love this little guy!

Fun scrapping news happened over the weekend, Gina picked this layout as one of the winners in her template contast....WOO HOO!!!

Credits can be seen HERE

Well, off to watch The Devil Wears Prada movie. Good night!