rain, rain, come again

My children love to play in the puddles you leave behind.They can not resist themselves
Even when I tell them not to get wet.

I did have to explain that just because I was taking pictures didn't mean I wasn't mad:)

A day of good food

I like going out to eat. I really like other people preparing my food and not having to clean it up. I really do like to cook and I know I can cook just as well as those at the restaurant but I am more critical of my food. Just like everything else I do, I think it is just human nature. So I told Russ a few days ago that one day when we have a lot of money (laugh) I am going to ask for a week of eating out. That was mostly a joke but you can imagine how excited I got when Connie called me this morning to ask if we were going out to lunch. I remembered that there are three sister restaurants (meaning owned by the same local people) that give you a free meal on your birthday. Two of those restaurants are on my list of favorites.

So the kids and I headed out to Liberty Market (a favorite) for breakfast. I got bread pudding and the kids helped me eat it and we didn't finish it because it was too sweet. But very good.

here Gracie is eating the powdered sugarNext year I will probably do eggs.


Then to kill some time before lunch we went and watched the fountains. They wanted to get in them so bad, but I was firm. It was too cold!

Then we browsed around at Anthropologie which just reminded me how much I want to get better at making cloths for myself! That may have to be the new years resolution for next year along with the goal of finishing ALL my projects in a timely manner. I don't want to be an old lady with a bunch of unfinished projects and I am quickly becoming a young lady with a bunch of unfinished projects.

Then I accepted my good friend Jennie's offer to drop William off at her house to play while I went to lunch with Connie. I took Gracie with me because she is not feeling well and because she was asleep in the car at this point. When we got to the restaurant she woke up and as I was carrying her in she asked (very worried), "where is William?" I felt so insensitive for not realizing that she was asleep when I dropped him off. She must have been so confused.

She let Connie hold her for most of the time which let me enjoy my fontina burger (with the beef swapped out for a mushroom). I really love that place.


Then I went back to Jennie's and finished watching Kung-Fu Panda with the kids and then chatted for awhile with Jennie. That was a treat in and of itself. I wish we lived closer together.
But really - we are not that far. We need to get together more.


Then I took the kids to the video store to return some movies and pick out some new ones. This is something new that we have been doing and the kids love it. Then we went home and laid on the couch and watch movies. Gracie requested some cheetos and since she has not eaten much of anything for the past few days I was happy to oblige. She and I ate half the bag. Oh well - it's my birthday. And they are not real cheetos, they are Trader Joe's cheese puffs or something like that. And that probably shouldn't make me feel better, but it does so whatever.

Then we got ready to go meet Russ at Joe's Real BBQ for the finale of my out to eat extravaganza. Russ playing around with the camera. I get the BBQ sandwich they give you on your b-day and give it to Russ while I have the chopped salad and home made root beer. And the kids snack on it all, everyone leaves happy.
William spent most of the time under the table.
In the car on the way home I asked Gracie if she was ready for bed and of course she was. Then I asked her if she wanted to sleep in my bed (it is much easier to calm down her coughing fits and fever when she is in bed next to me and I don't have to get up and go to her, we both sleep better that way) and of course she wanted to. When we walked in the door she walked straight to my dark room and climbed up in the bed. Within ten minutes she was asleep. She woke up later and Russ and William were laying down with her and talking and singing and such and before I knew it, it was real quite. This is what I saw:

What a day. Gracie handled it really well. In fact most of the whining happened when we were at home. I just held her all day and she was fine:)

I just wanted to post that it has turned out to be a much better day than I originally thought. I am a very lucky and happy girl.

Sheesh, maybe turning 26 made me like to talk/type more:)

26

But who is counting? I am definitely not. I had to be reminded of my age this year...and last. Age really does not matter to me. at all.

Yes today is my birthday. I didn't really remember till William said this morning, "what day is...HEY it's your BIRTHDAY!" I am not really celebrating today. I am just trying to recover from yesterday. Gracie has been pretty sick. Below are some pictures from Tuesday. She was eating (which she does not do a ton of) and she would keep resting her face on her hand like her head was just to heavy to hold up. It was heartbreaking.

She always wants to be held and here she fell asleep on Grandma.

Well anyway, yesterday she still did not feel well and we had to spend quite a bit of time at the home we are purchasing. I also had to spend quite a bit of time on the phone setting all that up and then a lot of time afterwards thinking (stressing) about the different options I have. Today there will be more of that.

I am also not celebrating today because Russ will be gone all day at work. If Gracie starts feeling a little better (oh please, oh please) we will be going out to dinner and a movie tomorrow.

But the real reason I am not celebrating today is because I had a surprise party (it was a surprise to everyone) on Saturday. While I was throwing a baby shower Russ went and bought my birthday present, wrapped it, and then came and set it on the piano. I asked him if he was really going to make me wait and he said he wouldn't. Then Connie and Mimi went and got me a cake and Connie's present for me. I will post more about this evening when I have the pictures (hint, hint Mimi). Anyway Russ got me what I wanted and have wanted for a long time. A Canon Rebel camera. Yea! Now I can be a better mom-ographer. I am so happy about this!

My sister of course wrote a beautiful post for me. It made me cry, because I love her.

So today is probably not going to be the greatest day, but all in all this will be a most excellent birthday. Now excuse me, I am going to go hold my snugly child.

Coming home to cousins

When we got back from California our cousins (from California) were her staying with Russ parents so we went to see them. When we got to the house they were at the park so we hopped in the stroller and headed on over. I had never seen the kids do this before and thought it was so funny.

Here are all the cousins playing later that day.

Natasha and I took our kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the movie theater. Quite a treat and it was even cooler because they got to pose with the statues after the show.

I couldn't stop taking picture because they would not stop being cute!

Harper just might be one of the best posers I have ever seen.

Then we tested some new cleaner I got on my mother in laws grout and it worked pretty good. It was kind of addicting.

And somehow I don't have any picutre of my adorable nephew Clyde. We were even celebrating his 1st birthday. He is quite the cutie with the best smile.

You guys will just have to come back so I can get a picture. Deal?

What a kid

Here William is wearing the pieces to his Darth Vader potato head. He makes me laugh.

Cutest game ever

My kids invented a game and luckily I got to watch it. One of them would hide under a bin while the other one would mop. The bin was an egg and the one inside was a baby bird and the one mopping was the mommy or daddy bird.

Then the baby bird would pop out of it's shell and say, "mother,mother, here I am mother." And they would hug and kiss. They took turns doing this for awhile.

When Gracie would pop out she would say, "mother mother, here I am mother" and William would always say "I'm the Daddy" then give her a hug.

I am pretty sure this game was inspired by the book Are You My Mother? And I love it!

The Land of Disney - part 2

The next ride was the rocket ride. Which Gracie decided last minute she was not so sure about.But Bryant was!

Then we went and ate out lunch at the in front of where they do the Star Wars show. I told William and Bryant that if they wanted to be in it they needed to stand up and raise their hands. William informed me that he did NOT want to go up there he just wanted to watch. But Bryant got picked!

Here he is waving to Bryant and Bryant waving back.The kids watching the show.

It is very intense for a 5 year old to watch his cousin battle Darth Vader, especially with Darth Mal(sp?) roaming around. He came back to stand by us. The rest of the day William kept saying he wanted to go home and get his light saber. He has a hard time understanding that we couldn't just go home real quick and get it. As soon as we did get home he got his light saber and practiced all the moves and then told me he was ready to go to Disneyland to fight Darth Vader.

These next pictures I didn't even go on, Mimi just took some great pictures of some of my family that I wanted to have.

Then over in California adventure we watched the Aladdin show which was way cool

Then we went on the Tower of Terror. I can't believe we did that. This is a picture of the picture that they take during the ride. William is behind Connie and I like how both Russ and I are pointing to William to look out and see how high we are. He didn't make and noise during the ride, but he did cry afterwords. I felt bad.

After that I took him on Monsters Inc. which was a nice slow ride and he loved it. Then we went on Pirates of the Caribbean. I forced William to go. He was soooo tired and just wanted to sit in a stroller and go home but I made him go because I knew he would be sad later. He and Grace both seemed to like that one.
Here is everyone asleep the next morning. I didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought I would.

Here is William on the ride home. It was a very fun/ exhausting trip. The invaluable thing we had with us was Mimi. I am sure there are few who know more about Disneyland than she. She saved us so much time. It was such a great trip and I can't help but think about when we are going back.

Thank you, Thank you Mom and Dad!