Rush Hour

San Diego and Stuff

2012-01-30T22:07:00.000-08:00

Oh man, so what's up? It's been a great new year so far. At least for us. I'm hoping it has been for you too. Whom ever you are that might actually still keep up with this here blog, that I update once a month. Or so.

I'm not going to go into details as to why I have not updated the blog, because it's boring, and I'll just lose you as a reader. I could possibly be talking to myself right now.

And that's cool. Me and myself have some pretty good conversations.

Okay, enough gibberish.

We went to San Diego this past weekend. To see Sean's new condo. It's pretty awesome. I wouldn't expect anything less. It's his birthday on Wednesday. He will be a whopping 26 years old! I know this because in 25 short days I will be 30. What? I know, I said it. 30. But that's okay. Cause my hubby is 37, and I will always be his young trophy wife. And when I say trophy wife, I mean like a bronze. But that is still considered a trophy. So I'll take it.

Back to San Diego, see I start blogging, and this is what takes me so long. The gibberish. I haven't talked to you in so long that I feel the need to tell you (one of my 5 readers) everything that's on my mind. I apologize. It shan't happen again.

So remember? We went to San Diego. And we passed by my favorite pizza place.

That's right, I said passed by my favorite pizza place. We didn't stop. I shed a tear, but saved their number in my phone for future deliveries. Please don't tell me that they don't deliver to Corona. I'll shoot you. I'll shoot you right in your leg. I'm not joking.

The hubs thought Mexican sounded good. So that's what we did.

It wasn't as good as my pizza place that delivers to Corona. But it was good. And this little corn on the cob with some kinda of a chipotle sauce and cojita cheese on it made up for my pizza loss.

After our lunch, which was very eventful I might add, (Mom, please start your blog again so that I can see the pics you took of you know who...I'm not asking again. After this, I will never bother you again.) we walked down to see Sean's school. We went inside and everything. It's very nice. I'm so proud of my "little" brother. One day I'm hoping, when he becomes a lawyer, he can get that murder of '98 off my record. Just kidding. It was the murder of '99. My bad.

In all seriousness though, he's doing great, and I'm so proud of him.

The girls had a good time. Have you missed seeing pictures of them? I have. I take them, but never get the pics on my computer. It feels good to get a blog post under my belt.

Our little Madi has had an eventful January. My Mom watched the girls for Tim and I when we went to Supercross and they had a little accident. Well, Madi had an accident. She is the clumsiest kid in the world! Honestly, she still looks like a newborn baby horse learning how to walk. So basically what happened is she tripped over herself, or some dust on the floor, and her face hit the tile at my Mom's. They thought she just busted her lip open, but in fact, she chipped both of her front teeth. Can you see it?

It's very small, and honestly, it is so Madi. I think it's adorable. Especially after the dentist said that everything was okay and we only needed to fix it for aesthetic reasons, if we wanted to.

And after Madi's first visit to the dentist...we will only be going every 6 months. WOW! The screaming she did in there was awesome. Can you sense my sarcasm? But Riley did really well, and we are cavity free which is awesome.

But watching this small, reserved, soft spoken dentist trying to give Madi an x-ray was classic. After he tried to clean her teeth (I thought Madi was going to bite off a finger), we had to get at least one picture of her front teeth. This dentist finally got the plastic piece in her mouth and screamed, "Take it!!! Take the picture!!!" Awe, it's nice that I can laugh at it now.

This girl.

Back to San Diego, see I wandered off topic again. So shoot me okay. I might get better. Riley had fun too, she's getting so big. Did you know that she turned 5? Of course not, because I haven't blogged since December 20th, and she turned 5 on the 28th. So big. We just had a party for her and her friends this past weekend, on Saturday. They had a great time and hopefully I'll post pictures of that soon too.

I love these girls. They keep me on my toes.

So do you want to know what else is up? Before I say good bye? We are finally doing our bonus room. See what happened was the TV Tim and I were looking at (55" Samsung LED...at least I think that's what it is, don't ask me, I'm not tech savvy) was at an amazing price, with like $800.00 off. So we bought it. And had nothing to sit on to watch it.

Because I found this really cute sectional online for an awesome price, but we went to look at it and it was not as cute in person. So then we found another one at Jerome's...here I'll show you...

But we are short...about $1000.00. So in the meantime, we are sitting on this...

and we have a toy box as a coffee table. And a borrowed TV stand. And an out of place glider. It's a long way from being done. Trust me. I know this.

But I found an awesome table on Craigslist that we bought a few weeks ago that I'm going to paint and use as a craft/homework table for the girls that we will put on the other side of the room. They love it! Even without the room being done (or even close) it has such a comfortable feel to it. I love spending time up here. I'm up here right now.

I just wish I had a lot more money so that we could finish the room. But it will get there. And in the meantime, I'll just get lots of ideas from Pinterest. And dream.

And I will show you pictures along the way. My wonderful 5 readers. I love you. I do.

Kisses and peace out!

The One and Only (at least so far) December Post

2011-12-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

Busy, busy, busy.

And tired, tired, tired. And lazy, lazy, lazy.

The good news is I'm ready for the holidays. Presents are all wrapped (except for my Dad's last minute ones for my Mom of course), even the ones from Santa, in Santa's special paper are done. Presents are wrapped and ready for the stockings. Oh, and I assure you the stockings are hung, and have been since Thanksgiving weekend. I haven't even posted pictures of my decor. But, it looks mostly the same as it did last year. Check my archives if you are curious.

It's been one of those holiday seasons. The second week into December, I took pictures of a friend's kids for her Christmas cards on Sunday, I had my Christmas bunco (hoping to find at least one picture of that) on that Tuesday, edited the pics from the shoot on Wednesday and made my cakes and fillings for a wedding cake due on Saturday, Riley's Christmas program for Preschool on Friday, my friend Crystal coming to stay with us that same Friday, and then on Saturday, we had a birthday party to go to, my very very last cake to deliver, and right after that, Tim's company party at The Queen Mary.

Why is everything wrapped up into one week? Always! Then we had our company party at my Mom's the following Monday.

I've been trying to catch myself up, and this blog. But it is not on my To Do list. Ever anymore. It might just end up being a picture blog, or something. I want to keep it up, but I don't want to keep it up. That might change after the holidays. We will see.

Almost all the pictures that you see will be straight out of the camera. I don't have it in me to edit. Editing is also not on my To Do list. What is on my To Do list is to still take pictures of the girls for our ~~Christmas~~ New Years cards. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. Or never. Ugh, and I had such a good idea, and spent $80.00 on "outfits" for them.

Well, the pictures that you are seeing today are from the Company party. I did not take my camera into dinner. I thought that would be creepy. What the pictures are of are from our room, the boat, and stuff like that.

Tim and I stayed the night on the boat (THANK YOU MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and enjoyed every minute of it. We got down there around 4:30 pm and the party didn't start until 6:30-6:45. So, I spread out my makeup, hair stuff, and clothes, took a nice shower and got to work primping myself. Not before I took some pictures of the room though.

It was really cool, for my birthday we stayed in such a modern new room at Pechanga. This room was old, and dated, and so stinkin' cool it's not even funny. I love experiencing everything, and the history of this boat is so awesome. Tim was my history buff.

So you walk into the room and right in front of you is a little desk built into the wall (no pictures, I had my 50 mm on and wow, that's just too close...so I quickly swapped my 50 for my 35...so much better). To the left, was our bed and 3 portholes. So cool! That actually opened, and the fresh breeze was to die for.

From the entrance to the right, was a hallway, and another room. With another bed, that I jokingly told Tim that if he didn't mind his manners, he'd be sleeping there...

Also in this room was a vanity (huge) that I sat at to do my makeup and hair. I'm sorry, I totally take advantage of a hotel room. I take my time getting ready with no little ones running around, and pretend like I'm rich. Not like I need to be rich, but it's fun to pretend, even if I did sip my champagne from a plastic cup. Okay, do I sound like a 16 year old? I'll stop telling you my deep dark secrets. Anyway, next to the vanity was the bathroom.

That's before I put all my goods out.

And check out the shower. The knobs were labeled fresh cold, fresh hot, salt cold, and salt hot. So cool right? So I took a cold, salty shower. Just kidding. I took a fresh hot shower. And it was awesome, before I saw the ghost. Just kidding again. But you know the ship is haunted right?

That was fun conversation. I didn't get anyone to take a picture of us when we were all dressed up, so the iphone picture will just have to do...

What do you think? I mean I'm wearing heels. I don't wear heels that often because at six feet tall, I'm already considered an amazon chick. Put heels on me and I'm 6'3". Hmmmm. And those really cute sexy heels that you see everywhere...yeah, I'd be 6'6"...right, wouldn't want to be that tall even if I was married to a six eight kinda guy. Not my bag. But it was so fun to get all dressed up and fancy. And my man, looks super hot. Love him.

We headed up to the party, and wow. After meeting everyone that Tim works with, I am thoroughly impressed. My gosh. God couldn't have picked a better position for him. Not only is he with a company that he can retire from, but he's working with amazing people, all who have faith, who had been praying themselves for the right guy to come along. They couldn't stop telling me how excited they were to have Tim on board. Amazing. Thank you Jesus. We are truly blessed, in so many ways, but this was the icing. So proud of my hubby and all that he does for us.

The next day, we took our time, because check out wasn't until noon, hello! Thank you! So we packed up, rolled our bags out to the car and headed back onto the ship to take a look around.

This was the hallway down to some of the rooms.

It was so relaxing walking around the ship, holding hands. We decided that we are ready for our honeymoon. We never got one. Boo Hoo. :) We are thinking a cruise might be nice, or skiing for my birthday. Hmmm, we will see.

Or Hawaii, Tim lived there for 2 years and would move back if I said okay. I wanted to surprise him on our 5th Anniversary, but the funds were not there...another reason why I pretend in hotel rooms, that I'm rich.

We ended up having lunch on the ship. And I wished we hadn't. The only restaurant available was this one. And the service was awful! Like awful!

But my date was cute.

And our view was not to shabby.

But the food was bad. Yeah. Bad. Not anything compared to the dinner we had served to us the night before. That dinner was amazing. This one...not so much. All though, Tim chose better than I.

We tried on some hats.

Bought one (I'll give you a hint...we didn't buy mine.). And took off back home, to relieve my mother of her babysitting duties.

It was a great evening. So happy. Life is so good right now. We are free of stress (at the moment), negativity, and are surrounded by a beautiful family and friends. It couldn't get much better than this!

Except if I would pick up my camera more often and take advantage of the unbelievable bokeh everywhere. I'll work on that. And if I don't get back on to wish you a Merry Christmas, than Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Thankful...

2011-11-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

A couple days late, but here is my thankful post. I'm posting some teaser pictures of my Mom's Festival of the Trees tree that she donated this year. It turned out beautiful and if she gives me permission to post the whole tree, I will. I don't know what her plans are for her blog, but I do miss it. Hint. Hint...

I'm thankful first and foremost for God. For His love, For Him. He has forgiven me for my sins, and through His word, I'm learning how to be a better person. He knows that I'm not perfect, but accepts me anyway. I'm eternally grateful for that and am trying to live each day better than the last.

I'm thankful for my husband, he is my best friend, my better half. My shoulder to cry on, he lends his ear to listen to me. He loves me through my faults. He loves my cooking. He always takes my side. He's the best Dad in the world. He inspires me. He makes me a better person. I'm thankful that I met him, and married him, and had babies with him. And I also thank God for him. Because he is one of the biggest gifts I've ever received.

I'm thankful for my girls. They have changed my life forever. I will never be the same again. They test me, they teach me, they love me. They snuggle up to me even after I yell at them for doing something wrong. They have made me selfless. I would do anything for those girls. They are amazing and I never knew the love of a mother until I held Riley in my arms for the first time. Thank you Lord, for my beautiful girls.

I'm thankful for my family. Family is one of life's greatest blessings. Family will always be there for you, no matter what you do. They love unconditionally. And my family kinda rocks the house. We had a blast this Thanksgiving, and I'll post about that another day.

I'm thankful for my friends, old and new. The ones that I can call once a month but we pick up like we talked yesterday, the friends that just know that you need a listening ear, and the friends that come over for a glass of wine or tea to talk girl talk. They all bring something different to my life, and I love them all.

I'm thankful for Tim's new position. It's a prayer that has been prayed a million times and has been finally answered. He has put up with so many bad situations, not very nice people, and just plain crap for so many years. And he has always stayed positive, and kind, and committed. This job is perfect for him, and I'm so proud of him. He was recruited for this position, and it's because of his hard work throughout the years, and his dedication. It's so deserving. And God has answered our prayers. I'm so thankful, it's such a blessing and I want to remember how much of a blessing it is, forever.

I'm thankful for my inlaws being here for this Thanksgiving week. They have kept me company while Tim works such long hours (they've been working 10-12 hour shifts since the 16th) and have been such a help with the kids...like they really mind that...! But I love them, and have so enjoyed their company. And I wish that they lived closer...hint...hint...

I'm thankful for my strength, for my courage, for my own determination. I'm thankful that I can humble myself. I'm thankful that I can speak my own mind. I'm thankful that I can hold the ones that I love near and dear to my heart. I'm thankful that I know how to say I'm sorry. I'm thankful that I'm not perfect, because I can learn from my mistakes. I'm thankful that I'm a giving person. I'm thankful for my mind, and my heart, and my health. I'm thankful for being the person that I am, and not apologizing for it. I'm thankful that I can speak the truth no matter what the consequence. I'd rather be honest than a liar. I'm thankful that God made me the person that I am and that He teaches me how to make myself better.

I'm thankful for our troops. Just thankful for our troops. And what they do for us, knowing and willing. Each and everyone of them is a selfless individual and I wish them much love and happiness this holiday season. Thank you for ALL that you do.

I'm thankful that KOST plays Christmas music before Thanksgiving so that I can get into the spirit earlier than December 1st. I think we should be able to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ for as long as we want. Whether that overlaps Thanksgiving or not, its our own choice. I don't think that people that start decorating early and start listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving need to be hated on by people that don't. You don't see those people hating on the people that don't start decorating until December 1st. It's personal preference.

I'm thankful that I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping :)

I'm thankful that even though I screamed mad things at the TV last weekend when the Ducks played USC (University of Spoiled Children....no hard feelings DP, I promise ;) and LOST...ugh, that I'm ready to watch them play again tomorrow. USC did play pretty dang good, I'll give them that! But I'm not promising that I won't yell at the TV again if they play liked they did last weekend. I might have to go sulk upstairs if they play like that again.

Which brings me to my next thing. I'm thankful that I have an upstairs and a house to call a home. We were blessed almost exactly 3 years ago with our first home. It's beautiful. And I'm forever grateful for our first home. Even though Tim told me when we are moving and having another baby. Apparently he makes all the decisions now. ;) But, the good news is, that I'm on board.

I'm thankful for this season of the year. It's my favorite, filled with family, and love, and thankfulness. It's a beautiful time of the year. Or some would say, "It's the most wonderful time....of the year."

I'm thankful for so many things, these are just a few. I could bore you with the rest, but I'll just keep it to that.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and continue to have a wonderful holiday season.

Let's Catch Up

2011-11-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

So I just went to upload all my pictures to the computer and they didn't upload, and then I thought they got deleted. But they are still on my mem stick so I'll try again.

In the meantime, I'll just chat.

It's been a while since I've been on. One reason is because I haven't been taking many pictures, the second is because of Tim's new hours, and the third is because I've been cheating on my blogging with reading.

My Mom gave me a series to read and it's fantastic. I couldn't put the first book down and finished it quickly, then I picked up the second, got a little upset, and put it down for a minute.

I'm still a little ticked off so I'll pick up that second book when I'm feeling better about how it's going. I'm 100 pages + in and still not happy.

Oh good, my pictures uploaded. They aren't really about anything so I'll just post them along the way ;)

This first one is the only one that needs explaining. Two weekends ago we were going to head to Disneyland on a Sunday. The Sunday after a perfectly gorgeous Saturday, the Sunday where it was raining cats and dogs, and I thought we could go anyway.

Well, one mile on the freeway had me thinking otherwise. So we headed to a movie. Puss and Boots.

It was awful. But the kids loved it.

Anywho, we've been kind of keeping a low profile around these parts. The hours of the position Tim took recently are from 2:00 pm - 10:30 pm. You'd think (as did I) that I would have a heck of a lot of time to blog. But I really haven't been feeling it lately.

By the time the kids are in bed and the house is straightened, I just want to sit on my behind. Maybe it's because I worked so hard for so long, I don't know. What I also don't know is how I did as much as I did and stayed "sane".

I definitely don't miss doing cakes. I miss sharing my creativity with people, but that's about it. So instead, I'm being inspired by other people's creativity. Some people are extremely talented. It's so fun that we have the internet to share our creativity on.

Anyway, back to Tim's job. It's amazing. The hours suck, but they aren't forever. I'm not going to name who he is working for, but it's a major corporation. You know the type that comes with benefits up the butt? And a W-2 wage. And a please go to the doctor and I'll pay for your visit, almost, kind of health insurance?

A company that he can retire from. Or also a company that might relocate us. Who knows?

What I do know is that there are some massive perks to being employed by such a company, and I'll share a picture of what my next car might look like. And I say might. Because, I'm not a spendy girl. But when the family discount is unbelievable....I'm not one to say no to a good deal you know?

lol, here she is...

Yep she's a beauty. But, like I said. We will see. I think it's only fair to take advantage of the discount for Timmy first. I mean, he is the one that got this great position.

I'm very excited about it, as is he. He's doing really well and has been there for a month on the 30th. It seems as though they have big plans for Mr. Rush there. So I'm praying that that is the case.

Also praying that if they relocate (they are looking for a bigger facility, in a few different states), they relocate to another facility in Southern California. I'd hate to move away from my family, to a place that has no family. I grew up around my Grandparents, and I know that it would be so hard on us and my parents, if we moved away. And Tim's parents if we moved even further away.

But, if I'm gonna look on the bright side, Southern California isn't my favorite place to live. The weather is amazing, but most of the people aren't as nice as they are in other parts of our country. The values are much different. There are definitely some wonderful places to live in our country.

But the down side, no family, no friends. Tim told me not to worry about it until something happens. If something happens.

So, that's what I'll do.

It's been nice having Tim here in the mornings though. The kids like it. I like it. We drink our coffee together. It's fun.

But at night, it's hard. I don't even get on my computer and either read, do laundry, straighten, or very rarely watch a show.

Speaking of, our DVR is filled with our recordings. But I can't watch them without Tim. It's our thing. :)

Nothing else has really been going on. I've been helping my Grandma shop for Christmas (she's almost done and I'm very jealous of that!), and hanging out with the girls.

Tim's folks are actually on their way down to spend the week with us. They get here right before the game (Go Ducks!) and stay for a week.

They are excited and I know 2 beautiful little girls that are extremely excited!

We are ready. Just a stop at the grocery store tomorrow for some last minute things (went to crazy Costco today to get the big stuff...including some butternut squash that I will be making into a very healthy soup later on this week :)

I'm thinking burgers tomorrow...for the game, but not before some chips and dip and home made cheese sticks, and a beer.

Because you have to have a beer when you watch football. It's the rule. Didn't you know?

It's been nice "catching up". I think I'll do a thankful post soon, because there is so much I am thankful for. And our life is in such a great place. I have only the Lord to thank for that. He has answered our prayers and I am so grateful. He is simply...amazing.

Smell My Feet

2011-11-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

That's totally rude, I shouldn't have said that.

But Halloween is sooooo over and it's taken me a looooong time to post the pictures. I'm disappointed in myself...not going to lie.

Halloween was awesome. Riley and Madi loved hair and makeup. Then Riley (Rapunzel) loved trick or treating. And...Madi (Cinderella) hated it.

But they looked so cute.

Sorry, after uploading the pictures, I realized I took no horizontal pictures. Just vertical. So just go with it.

Aren't they precious? They were having a great time, until it got dark. Then Madi got scared and Riley just couldn't wait to go trick or treating.

But we had to wait for the family to arrive. And some arrived in "costume". Gotta love it!

That's GiGi for you! She knows a good time when she sees one. That's why we invite her to everything!

The girls got a big kick out of that wig. As did I.

We kind of switched the adults in and out of candy duty. Last year I set all the candy out hoping that kids would just take one. But I don't think they did. So this year I was going to sit and pass out candy, but my awesome fam let me trick or treat with the kids while they took turns.

Thank you family! It was fun to see Riley have such a fun time. Of course we only got like our street done and half of another one.

But that's okay. We met this really cute bee on our travels. Her name is Savannah, and she is a sweetheart!

We also were not scared of much. And by we I mean Riley. Madi had more fun handing out candy with my Mom.

Do you think Riley noticed anything spooky? Or had a candy mission?

I'm going with candy mission....

But it was really cute after our one big street and half a street. Riley just had too much candy. She couldn't hold her basket any longer. It was a dramatic end to a great night.

Sorry, not much love into this post. I'm trying to adjust to Tim's new hours which I'll tell you about next time. It's a good thing, but it's been kind of hard to get used to.

I know it's late, but I hope you ALL had an excellent Halloween. I know not everyone loves it, enjoys it, or has fun with it...but for us, it's a fun night where we dress up, trick or treat for candy, and enjoy our sugar highs.

And man oh man. Did Cinderella have a sugar high.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

Boo!

(sorry I couldn't help myself, it is Halloween you know.)

Boy am I glad we squeezed this in! And I'm happy to say that after seeing everyone's pictures of their pumpkins on Facebook last night, we were not the only ones that "saved" it for the last minute!

Usually we have a pumpkin carving contest. But we didn't have the usual faces in town to do that. So it was just Tim, me and the girls.

We had a good time.

It almost didn't happen because Tim had to go to 3 different stores on his way home from work yesterday to find some. I had asked for 4, and after store 2 I was thinking we'd be carving watermelons instead!

But he found us 4, and we got to work.

Riley picked Ariel for her pumpkin and Daddy helped. I helped Madi with her choice, of Cinderella.

Madi did a great job helping me carve, and Riley did a great job of cleaning off the top of her pumpkin.

Neither one wanted to clean out their pumpkins. They get this from me. I even tried this year to clean out my own. The feeling of the pumpkin guts in my hands completely grosses me out, to the point of gagging. I know, it's bad.

On a side note, I always hate editing pumpkin pictures. There is just so much orange. I like orange, but not that much orange. Probably why I got sick of my Halloween background so quickly.

Back to the carving...

My choice was between Captain Hook and Malificent. The girls wanted Captain Hook so that's what I did!

Tim did his own thing as usual. Last year he did an "O" for the Ducks. This year he did something a little different. And if you are familiar with our little situation, you will get a big kick out of it. Thank you everyone for your prayers! His first day is today and he is super excited. What a fabulous opportunity that God has given him.

Should I get right to it?

Should I get to those pictures of our fabulous pumpkins?

Alright, you twisted my arm....

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe tonight and enjoy trick-or-treating with your families! We'll be heading out around the neighborhood and the family is coming over to watch our little Rapunzel, and Cinderella have a great evening!

Madison's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-10-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

First, sorry if you came to the blog and it was in disarray. I was changing the look of it. Do you like the one column? Sheryl, I copied you, and a few other people I might add. I love the clean, organized look of it all. I took off a lot that I had in my side column. But you can find most of it down at the bottom of the page.

Now I just need to make a new header!

But let's get to Madi's birthday party.

We finally had it yesterday. We have so many birthdays to celebrate that this was the first weekend that I was able to do it. It wasn't a huge party, just family. But I think it's nice to decorate, have cake, and dinner for all types of birthday parties. Madi definitely felt special, and loved her cake!

Let's get to the pictures shall we?

Madi decided that she wanted a Cinderella birthday party (I tried to push Little Mermaid...under the sea...but she wasn't having it) so we headed to Party City to get a few things for decorations.

And I went to work on Saturday decorating.

I made Madi a cake. Everything else is from what I made for my Mom's bunco the night before that was leftover.

Desserts:

vanilla cake with chocolate chips and strawberry mousse

petit fours

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

double dark chocolate cupcakes with either peanut butter whip or coconut whip

mascarpone cheesecake (for some special guests :)

We started our party off with some

Appetizers:

little weenies wrapped in crescent rolls
Tomato and Basil bruschetta
Mozzarella sticks

And mingling...do these not look like some serious conversations?

Really quick story that I want to remember. On Friday, we got to my Mom's house to help with her bunco and Madi saw BaBa in the driveway. She said, "Oh look, there's my friend Baba!" How sweet is that?

And this...

We quickly found ourselves watching Madi open up her gifts while we waited for dinner to get done. I really had no choice but to have Madi open up her presents first. I mean, it was either we did it officially, or she randomly grabbed presents out of bags while nobody was looking.

And who says you have to do presents after dinner?

:)

PS. Special shout out to my Mom who took all the pictures that follow this. They turned out AMAZING! Thank you Mommy, they are so perfect! You captured every moment beautifully!

It was really hard with Riley not having her birthday when Madi had hers. Wowzers. Hoping that is the last year for that. Or at least that she will understand more and be patient for her own birthday. But thank you for the gifts for Riley, family. That helped a lot!

After presents, dinner was heated up and we sat down to eat.

Dinner: (easy peasy)

ziti
salad
garlic bread

Which we then followed immediately (kind of, I washed the dishes first, quickly) with cake!

We sang to the birthday girl...

And she blew out her candles, in one try!

And then she was nice enough to let her sister take a shot at it...

Confession: The candle is on the back of the cake and she only got one. I was annoyed at this point because Riley still didn't get it through her head that it was her sister's birthday, and I was so sick of the whining. In retrospect, I should have just gone with the flow. Madi didn't seem to mind so why did I? Ugh, you live and you learn. At least I didn't say no to the candle all together right?

Poor Riley, it was so hard on her. I had gone through 2 days of it already though. I hit my breaking point. Okay...confession over. I feel better, sorry my sweet Riley! I love you!

Time to dig in!

I can't believe my baby is 3 years old. I don't know where the time went.

Happy Birthday Ms. Madison Rush!

Stay tuned for pumpkin carving, which we haven't done yet...oops...will be making it an event later this afternoon!

Under Construction

2011-10-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry, my blog is under construction. Should be back up this afternoon. Hopefully.... :)

The Pumpkin Patch, School Pictures, and Random Thoughts

2011-10-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch last Thursday. The girls and I went with Riley's friend Zoe and her Mom. We met up at the Irvine Park Railroad. I wanted to go there last year because I had heard how great it was, but it never worked out.

It was nice to go during the week and during the day. It was like stay at home Mom central. I want to be one of them, one of them stay at home Mom types, that are rich enough to be at the Irvine Railroad pumpkin patch.

And can spend $4.00 per ticket. Ahem, yes I'll repeat, $4.00 per ticket. What? Yeah, but most of the rides were only 1 ticket. So it might have been about the same as the patch here in Corona. Or not. I'm not really sure and don't feel like doing the math.

I tried to get a couple of cute pictures of the kids, but it didn't happen. They were way too excited that we were meeting Zoe there.

Isn't she cute? Her and Riley have had a few play dates, and they are in the same class. They used to get in trouble together last year in preschool. I'm not sure if they are causing any problems this year, I haven't heard from her teachers whether or not they have been disrupting lunch with their laughter. But the school year is still young...

I wish we could have stayed longer but both Zoe's Mom, Despina, and I had to get back home. I had to work, and she had to head off to work. So we only stayed a few hours. But it was fun, and I'm sure if we had stayed any longer I would have been tapping into my savings account for more ticket money. ;)

Before we left though, we had to have a ride on the train.

So we waited for it to roll back around.

And we're off! What a ride it was! Such beautiful scenery out there. I will definitely be back next year, for a picnic lunch and with the piggy bank (Tim).

We also did the bounce house and the hay maze. It was a fun day, great idea Despina!

*******************

So those school pictures?

Yep, she's a cutie. See that necklace? She hid that from me. Had it in that really stretched out blue pocket of hers. Along with some bracelets. I laughed because she put it on without me knowing. And do you see that there is a hair stuck in it? Lovely. But it's fun to have a story with the picture right?

My Mom said I used to match my jewelry with my outfits just like that. And it was my idea not hers. What happened? I was such a girlie girl! I wonder if my 4 year old self would come look at my 29 year old self (hat, t-shirt and jeans wearing self) and shake her head in disappointment. Hm..something to ponder.

*********************

And to the random...

1. Someone should seriously run a 2 for 1 deal on bed sheets. And seriously like a 2 for 1 deal. Like not a mark one up and say it's a 2 for 1 deal. It's one of the actual things that we need 2 of. And they wear out about the same time. And I really need new bed sheets, so someone should do this sale now.

2. We went to get a few things for Madi's birthday party today at Party City. First, wow it was crazy packed in there because of Halloween. And Second, I showed Madi all of the decorations (she went with Cinderella) and said, "Oh gosh, this is so cute." It wasn't what she said, it was how she said it.

3. I've had a cold since Sunday and it keeps getting worse and worse. That's why I forced myself to do a post tonight. Instead of sitting in my sweats on the couch covering myself with tissue after tissue and going through five million bottles of water, I'm writing, drinking sprite, and still sitting on the couch but hopefully I don't still look dead.

4. I had to miss bunco tonight because of my cold. I didn't want to get anyone sick. I hope they are having a great time, it's Halloween bunco and we were encouraged to dress up. Hoping there are pictures on Facebook later to cheer me up.

5. The hubs made me home made chicken soup tonight, complete with homemade chicken stock. Not really, but he did bring me home some really yummy chicken noodle from chick-fil-a.

6. Halloween is on a Monday. That's going to be hard.

8. I'm really getting sick of that orange background of mine. I knew it wouldn't be my favorite for long, but Halloween is on Monday (in case you forgot) and that means a nice new fall background will be in order.

7. We finally finished Lost. Thank God, because I couldn't take it anymore. But overall, worth the wait, good story.

8. I'm off, because the fact that we did take like an entire month to finish Lost means that our TiVo is crazy packed, and we have some catching up to do!

Peace.

Psshhh...Three Year Olds

2011-10-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

3 year olds know what they want when they want it.

"I want Sleeping Beauty on right now. Go get my blankie and some chocolate milk."

Hmmmm....really? First of all, where is the please? And second, um, when do you get chocolate milk on demand? And I see you've parked your little hiney on the sofa...that's not where we drink our chocolate milk.

3 year olds are big enough to get out of bed, pitter patter to the bathroom, go pee pee, and head back to bed (without heading to her sister's room to wake her up)

3 year olds are smart. Or at least smarter then me.

3 year olds are funny.

Me: "Okay, it's time to go."

Madi: Grabs her essentials, the blankie, the sippy cup of juice and says, "Let's do this man!" And heads out the door, strutting.

3 year olds think every sentence should begin with "Get me..."

(we are still working on, will you please get me...)

3 year olds don't want to snuggle anymore when you read them a story. They get their own chair, and don't stop talking the entire time you read a story. But don't worry, I will be forcing that child to snuggle me for story time. In a nonthreatening type of way of course.

3 year olds bend their bodies in ways that it's impossible for you to pick them up. I call this....'The Noodle', and Madi has it down.

3 year olds steal everything they can from their sister and "hide" the treasures in their beds....by laying on top of them.

3 year olds want to have a big girl car seat, like their sister does.

3 year olds find a way to turn off their listening skills and can get lost if you don't pay attention to them. "Madison, let's go" sounds like, "wah wah wah wah."

3 year olds brush their teeth by themselves.

3 year olds repeat everything their sister says.

3 year olds have a hard time sharing, and think stealing and running is the answer.

3 year olds have an unbelievable imagination. They take make believe dresses that are invisible and hanging in the air, away from their sister. And that makes their sister, Riley, cry. And makes Mommy question why Riley doesn't just pull another imaginary dress from the air and say, "so there." Hello? It's imaginary...you can pull as many imaginary things out of the air as you want. Oop, look at that, I just pulled a Miguel's Burrito out of the air and ate it in one bite.

3 year olds are fast. 3 year olds scream out in anger.

3 year olds color on everything if you don't watch their every move. I have the walls to prove it.

3 year olds are not too big to snuggle up with their Mommy under a nice fluffy blanket.

3 year olds still love kisses and hugs.

3 year olds love and kiss on their sister, even if her sister wasn't very nice.

3 year olds tell you that they love you.

3 year olds still need you to hold them when they get hurt and be their to protect them.

3 year olds can make you love them even more then you thought you loved 2 year olds.

3 year olds are a gift.

3 year olds make you a better person.

I couldn't imagine my life without my little 3 year old.

Happy birthday to my Madison Reagan. I love you more than words can say. You test me, you drive me crazy, you make me laugh daily, you have softened my heart, you have tested my patience, you have loved me, you are a gift from God that I will always hold close to my heart.

I love you and am so proud of the little girl you are becoming. And I'm trying hard to hold back my tears. I love to watch you get older and grow, but I want to bottle you up right now and keep you this age forever.

You will always be my baby girl.

The Birthday(s)

2011-10-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, it is birthday central around these parts.

On Tuesday of last week it was the hub's birthday. 37. Wow. At least I'm still in my twenties. Well, at least for another like 4 months and 6 days. Or something like that. I promise I'm not counting.

The girls and I decided it would be lovely if we made Daddy some home made cards. Which we had to get done in 45 minutes. (Which really meant that I had to get 3 cards done in 45 minutes).

They turned out so cute. I had the girls each pick a picture out of their princess books to color, that I cut out and put in the cards. I asked them to please pick masculine pictures, you know of like princes and such. I think they did pretty good.

While the girls colored their pictures, I did my card first.

Then we did Madi's.

Do you notice the green and yellow theme we went with? For the Ducks of course. But wait, wait...wait for Riley's card...

I tried to tell her that Daddy's don't really have pink as their favorite color.

Me: "Let's pick a boy color, like blue or green Riley.

Riley: "Hmmmm...okay how about like purple or something?"

M: "Well, that's kind of a girl color too."

R: "Then we should probably do pink then. I think Daddy will like it. And we will put it on black. Cause black is like a boy, dirty color."

I didn't argue. So we went with pink. With purple writing. And Daddy loved it.

That night Tim and I had a little sushi date at our favorite sushi place, RA. Yum. Thank you Mom for watching the kids for us! I tried to get a picture with my phone of the 2 of us but Tim was making weird faces. It must be a 37 year old thing. I don't get it. I'm still young.

Thanks again to my Mom for watching our beasts. She's a great lady my Mom. I was going to have everyone over to the house on Saturday for Tim's birthday and then my Grandma had the idea to celebrate all the birthdays on Saturday. We have 3 adults with birthdays in October. So that's what we did.

And we moved it to my Mom's house. She has that great outdoor kitchen you know so it only made sense. She is so welcoming to everyone and opens up her home to friends and family all the time. She loves to have people over and spend time with the ones that she loves. She's a pretty awesome lady and very giving of herself. I'm so grateful to have such an awesome Mom and friend. There is nobody like her. And she's going to kill me for posting a picture of her on here.

Oops.

Sorry Mom, the mouse made me do it.

And she set a beautiful table.

The menu:

Carne Asada

Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas

Mexi-corn with roasted peppers.

It was delicious to say the least.

Oh and all the birthday kids got their own cakes/pies.

Baba - cherry pie

Timmy - pumpkin spice cake with a pumpkin/orange cream cheese frosting

Gi Gi - Coconut cake

78,37,79

You got to have candles

But if we had purchased 194 candles, I think we would have been broke...or possibly started a fire.

;)

Happy birthday's you 3! It was a fun Saturday!

Arizona or Bust

2011-10-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed off to Arizona to go pick up my Grandma. She had been out visiting my Uncle for the month of September and it was time for her to come home.

We (Timmy, my Mom, Riley, Madi, and Yours Truly) decided the best thing to do would be to rent a car big enough so that we could all ride together. Then we decided the day before we were going to leave that it would be better to take the RV. But it was too late to prep that bad boy for a voyage so we stuck with the rental car idea.

We got a minivan. Um. I. am. in. love. With that minivan. I never thought it would happen. Folks, my next car might just be a mini. I know, it's so uncool. But sitting inside one of those bad boys, I realized that they are cool. And if you are thinking that you, could never pull off a minivan and make it look cool...not to worry, I'm going to make them cool for you. I'm going to make the mini's desirable. You're welcome.

Any who, the drive was nice, set the kids up with movies, snacks, handhelds, coloring. And they were back in the back. They were excellent. The entire trip. Which means that I think they are getting older. Which makes me all teary eyed and stuff.

The skies were so pretty. I took those first 2 pictures from the car. The clouds reminded me of the wallpaper in Toy Story. In the kid's room, what was his name? I can't remember.

Kasey (my cousin) had a volleyball tournament for school while we were there. When we got into Arizona we headed straight to the school that she was playing at, somewhere near Phoenix. Or in Phoenix. I think.

To watch her play.

My cousin is a STUD. Capital. S.T.U.D. I'm so proud of her. I know it's kind of silly but the first couple of awesome plays she made I kind of teared up. She's amazing. Don't tell her I said so though, we don't want her to get a big head or anything like that.

And she got taller I think. If I was a college recruiter I'd pick her up in a heartbeat. Because not only does she play well, she pulls her team together.

Makes me miss volleyball so much. I hate that I ended my career in college. Those years sucked. It should have just ended in club. Haha. My coach in college was psycho. She got fired a year after I left. Bummer. Why couldn't it have been 4 years earlier? Awe. Oh well. This isn't about me. Let's get back to my stud cousin who is a junior in high school. Which you all know what that means...

She'll be a double stud by next year.

So proud. Can you tell?

Those Kiefer's in Arizona. They are tall. Was that random? Well, I just thought it, so I wrote it. You should know by now that that is how I write my blog. Anyway, they have done some beautiful things to their home. I am in love with it. And they have such a huge yard to play in. The kids had so much fun running around with the dogs, and their Daddy.

Did you gasp when you saw that picture above? Because she's actually looking at my camera? I did. I totally did. Because if you knew how quickly she was moving her head, you'd be surprised too that she paused just long enough for me to get it. I got you Madi Rush. You can't dodge my camera forever..enter creepy laugh here.

We had a great time visiting the Kiefers. I wish we had at least one more day. It's hard to drive 5 hours and then head back 2 days later with another 5 hour drive. Plus it's just fun there. I love Arizona. And I love the Kiefers. It was fun.

And don't let Madi tell you otherwise.

Happy Birthday Tim!

2011-10-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's my hunny's birthday today.

He is 37.

What? I know, he looks like a 30 year old. He has good genes. He is 8 years older then me, did you know that? I like old men. And apparently he robs the cradle.

I love him so much. Every day that passes I love him more. He is the most amazing husband. He's there for me when I need him. He's my best friend. I'm so proud of the man that he has become and I know one day our kids will look up to him in so many ways.

When I thought about finding the right guy I knew I wanted someone that would be a great father. I definitely dated. But there were few that I would consider being a great Dad. Dating, yuck, it sucked. I thought I was never going to find someone good enough, that I might just have to settle.

Until I met Tim. You know how they say when you know, you know? Well I knew with Tim. Maybe not the first time we met (it was kinda awkward). But a few months after that when we weren't forced to meet it was awesome. I didn't fight it, he didn't fight it. I liked him a lot (butterflies, smiling 24/7) by week one. And I loved him by week 2. And he felt the same.

It was so easy. I remember asking him if it was really this easy. He told me it was. And now he is 37, and I'm more in love with that man now then I was in that 2nd week.

I thank his parents for raising such a great man and father. I'm so blessed, sometimes it's hard to believe that God has blessed me in this way. This is all I really ever wanted, to have a husband that I love, kids that we adore and a house to call home.

My hubby gave me all that.

I wish I had tons of money so that I could surprise him on his birthday with a 10 day vacation to Hawaii. Did you know he lived there for a few years? And we had wanted to get married on the beach there? But, we don't have that kind of money just hanging around so he'll have to settle for dinner and some hand made cards from his kids and a gift from me.

But you know what, he'll love it just the same.

Happy birthday to the love of my life. I thank God for you. I'm so proud of you. And I'm so grateful that I get to call you mine.

I love you.

Oh and just for the record, you are pretty dang handsome too.

Pumpkin Bread

2011-10-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Remember how I said that I baked for the fun of it the other day? And it was melt in your mouth pumpkin bread?

I know you wanted the recipe. It's good. Like real good. Especially if you follow my awesome tip.

The ingredients...

That's flour and sugar in those big containers back there. I used to buy in bulk. You know, because of all the baking I used to do not for fun...

What I like about this recipe is that they were not afraid of using spices. Pumpkin paired with spices is like the perfect relationship. And it has to be the right amount (in my opinion) of spice to pumpkin in order for the marriage to work.

I don't want to throw my bread out of the house half way through because it's just not working out. You know? That would just be awkward.

So first things first, heat up your oven. To 350 degrees. Oh and before I forget, I found this recipe on Pinterest, which found the recipe from another site. Which I then went to, found the recipe, printed it off and used it.

Have you been invited to Pinterest yet? Yeah, it's an invite only kinda thing. I've been invited. Of course I think everyone gets invited, but for the record...I got my invitation before you did. So there.

Anyway, sign up for Pinterest. And thank me later.

Here are the ingredients...

Ingredients:

2 cups canned pumpkin (or homemade pumpkin puree)
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground cloves

Have you turned on your oven yet?

Great.

Next step is to combine your pumpkin, sugar, water, oil and eggs. Beat it together until well mixed.

After that in a separate bowl, sift together (if you are one of those sifting types. I'm not. Because I live on the wild side. And because I don't believe in sifting. I've never sifted a day in my life. And for the record, I've baked a lot of goodies.) flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves.

Then mix the dry with the wet slowly, and beat until smooth.

Now, I don't know about every bread recipe, but this one makes 2 loaves. Which at first I thought was a lot of bread. You know, until I couldn't stop eating the first loaf and wondered why on Earth I thought to freeze the second. When I could be eating it right now.

Anyway, grease your pans and fill with your batter. Or, if you are like me, grease your one pan fill it, bake it, and then grease it again, fill it with the rest of your batter and bake again. Oh yeah, and bake it for 60-70 minutes. Please follow my links if you'd like to see the the recipe. Credit to blogchef.net for the recipe.

And pull your beautiful bread out of the oven!

I actually came across a lot of recipes for pumpkin bread and I ended on this one because the pictures looked like it was so moist. And it was.

And here is my trick. As soon as that bread comes out of the oven, take it out of the pan. Immediately wrap it with plastic wrap and place on a rack to cool.

Trust me. Don't let anything you bake (cakes, bread, etc.) cool in the open air. You will lose moistness. The wrap will trap your steam. Trust me. The one thing people always commented on was the moistness of my cakes. It's because of my secret that I've now shared with you all.

You're welcome.

And enjoy your bread. I would have taken a picture of it sliced with some butter but I never got around to it. I couldn't help myself but devour it before I even put it on a plate.

Happy Tuesday!

2011-10-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

I had Miguel's today. To say it's a happy Tuesday would be an understatement.

Of course there have been a few things that I could have done without. Like the fact that I can no longer change the color on my fun post title fonts so I got rid of them. Until I can find another way to change them that is.

How do you like my new look? Is it spooky? Not too spooky though right? Like you are shivering in your boots just looking at my background kinda spooky....no? Just wanted to make sure.

Guess what I did today? I forgot that it was school picture day. Whoops! I know, I'm now one of those mothers. But Riley gets to make up for it tomorrow. You know, I filled out my form with the picture package that I wanted and everything, and then just happened to not look at the date of the pictures.

In case you were wondering, I'm still entering myself for the mother of the year award. Because we at least turned in our homework. It might have been a day late. I think I'm a tad bit too honest on this blog huh? Maybe I should start sugar coating things.

But that wouldn't be as much fun now would it?

Riley loves doing her homework. The first day she took some home, we went to blows. Not really blows, I don't want to scare you anymore than I have with my new background. We just had words.

I'm learning how to be a teacher okay. It's hard work this parenting stuff, I tell you. I'm working on my patience as we speak.

Look at that girl with a #2 pencil in her hand working on her A's. This is day 2 of homework. We were much happier that day. And we listened to Mommy's instructions. Which made Mommy very happy.

I got some new actions for photoshop. And I love them. Of course, I'm still learning what I like and as I go back through these pictures, I don't love them all as much as I did the first time. Like in the above pic, Riley looks kinda washed out, but I do like the bokeh.

I'll play more. I did that one photo shoot and I wanted to play with my new actions before I tried them out on editing the photo shoot pictures.

My new actions are really cool, because they came with an option to make my own actions. Look out, I'm going to learn how to do that next.

Because it's fun, and it's my new hobby. You know what's funny? I was so bummed about not doing a photography business like 5 days ago. And since then, I couldn't be more relieved. It's funny how things work out the way they are supposed to. Well, funny isn't exactly the right word.

I prayed about it. A lot. And I didn't really like the answer I got at first. It made me mad. But, only 5 days later, I'm so realizing what a mistake it would have been. Not the right time at all.

That's why I stopped doing the cakes, because of how much time it took away from everything else that I loved. Like my kids for one.

Oh and cooking. Which by the way, I baked last night, you know, just for the fun of it. I made 2 loaves of pumpkin bread, that melts in your mouth.

Don't worry, I'll be sharing the recipe. But that is for another post.

I know this post is kind of all over the place and you are probably wondering why these pictures are so random. Like, why is there a picture of a beer in the middle of this post with no explanation as to why it's on here?

I was wondering the same thing. Don't worry, you are not alone.

I just kinda wanted to chat with you, you know, like have a one sided conversation with my computer. It's fun that way, but sometimes it gets lonely.

Well, not that lonely. I wanted to let you know, those that read my blog that don't have a blog or a blog that you keep up with...if you wanted to make sure that you don't miss anything, I put a really cool gadget on the left hand side of my blog. Put your email address in that baby. You will get my post updates via email. My Grandma loves it. Don't you Grandma? :)

It says follow by email with a white box. Use it, and push submit. Not with your finger though, with your mouse. I should have said click submit.

I told you, I'm learning how to be a teacher.

So by the time Madi is in school, I'll be pro.

Well, not really pro, just better then what I am now. And what I am now ain't purty.

And by purty, I mean like Flynn Ryder. Like when I asked Madi if she thought Flynn Ryder was cute. And she said, "Yep, he's purty. Mmmm. Hmmmm."

I concur Madi. He's my cartoon crush.

Madi is funny. She is our little comedian. I need to start writing down the stuff that she says, because it's hilarious.

So, that's all. And don't forget to subscribe. If you do, I'll make sure that I make my posts more enjoyable. You know, with like humor and stuff. And I'll keep the honesty stuff going, because you know you like it.

Rush...out! (You know, like Seacrest out? I have a confusing last name and just wanted to make sure you understood. Kapeesh?)

Happy Tuesday!

It's About Time

2011-09-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a little down.

I'm trying to figure out what is wrong with me. Honestly. I'm one of those people that go, go, go. I have a hard time stopping. Even to read a book, or take a walk, or breath. I don't take baths (well for 2 reasons, I can't relax, I just think about everything I could be getting done, and it gets really HOT in there :), I don't nap (maybe once and a while but there are so many other things I could be doing), I don't do any me things. I feel guilty if Tim watches the kids so that I can go shopping. I feel guilty about so many things that I shouldn't. And this is the truth. I have a few issues.

I stopped doing cakes because they were making me crazy. I think I cried over the past 10 orders because something just went wrong, or I was dealing with a temperamental client, or I'd get impatient with the kids because they'd be trying their hardest to get into my frosting.

With taking less orders and then eventually (I have 3 orders left, possible 4) being done, I've had a lot of extra time. I didn't rest. The first week I didn't have an order, I tore my house apart to organize it. Top to bottom. You'd think I would have sat on the couch with bon bons and a bottle of wine with my feet up.

What is wrong with me? I don't expect you to answer or comment, well because you can't. But, I'm just trying to figure it out. Because since the cakes, I've had time to really pick up my camera and take some pictures. And I love it. Love it. I'm passionate about it.

I've learned more and just want to keep learning. It's so much fun, and challenging. Boy is it challenging. There are ah hah moments all the time.

But I've posted many of my pictures on Facebook, just to share with family and friends. And I've had quite a few people tell me I should do it professionally. Tim has been pushing me to do it for months and months now. He thinks I'm awesome (and I'm never going to tell him otherwise ;). So I thought about it, and thought about it. And decided to do it.

I offered 6 free shoots to get a portfolio going and I had enough within 10 minutes. Of course everyone loves something free so I can't assume they all think I'm amazing, lol)

And by the way. Do I think I'm great? No. Do I think I'm an amazing photographer? Absolutely not. Do I know everything there is to know about starting a photography business? Uh, no, no, no. Do I have all the right equipment to start up this business? Not at all.

What I do know is that I can capture the moment. I do have an artistic quality that grows with each time I snap. I do know that I love it. I do know that there are so many people telling me how awesome my stuff is and how they've been pushing me into it.

Guess what I didn't factor in? Childcare. How am I possibly going to find someone that will come watch the kids for me when I want to shoot in the best light? It ain't noon people. You all know that. And it's weekends.

It's not like the cake business when I could do everything from home. This is out on location. Unless of course I was rolling in cash and could build a studio from the ground up in my teeny tiny backyard.

So now I'm kind of sad. I was really, really looking forward to it. I will probably still do these shoots for people but that's if my Mom wants to watch the kids. I can't even ask her to watch the kids that much. That's a little much. And I think it's selfish on my part.

I think I need to force myself to take a breather. Start enjoying those walks, and pick up a good book. Do crafts with the kids and not look at the clock thinking why is this taking so long, I have work to do. My kids are getting so big. And I feel like I haven't been the best Mom. I feel like I've been selfish. By doing so much, I feel like I took valuable time away from them. Why am I just now figuring this out?

I don't want to feel like I'm missing out. I want to take a break from everything. And just be a Mom. Oh and work my real job, you know the one that pays me? And not stress out about anything.

I asked Tim why I can't just take a break. Why did I jump into something else before I'm even done with the first thing? Why can't I just rest?

I decided I'll try to do something as a hobby for once. I don't have to make everything into a profession right? I think I will though, one day. When my kids start to dislike me tremendously and I'm no longer the best thing ever. When I'm not Mommy anymore. When I'm just 'Mom' and my kids would rather be out playing with their friends then sitting in the kitchen coloring with Mommy.

Then I'll pick it back up and start that business. I want to. And by then, I'll have awesome equipment, and tons of locations to choose from. And in the meantime, I'll do some stuff for friends and family, to keep a portfolio going. But no advertising. Until my kids hate my guts.

Until then, I'll be a Princess with my girls, and we'll paint our toes. And make cookies. And watch movies. And make memories.

Because that is what life is all about. That is what makes life so special, and beautiful.
It's about time.

My Kids are Sick of My Camera

2011-09-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

I think I've taken taking pictures of my kids too seriously recently.

Madi never looks at me, and Riley is now like, "Really Mom? Another picture? Fine. But I'm not going to smile."

And just yesterday I got my new lens. And I wanted to practice today. And my kids not only didn't want to look at my camera, they were beastly. They don't listen to me anyway, like on a daily basis. And they fight. They fight. They fight. They fought today over an imaginary dress. Like a dress that does not exist except for in the eyes of my children. They were fighting for the air. Seriously. And it ended in tears.

My kids are so opposite. I'm thinking this might be why they do this fighting thing. Or I'm just a really bad Mom and need to call Nanny 911 or whatever that show is.

Hmmmm. Or put them both in school. They need to be separated. For at least half of our waking hours. Don't get me wrong, there are good times too, but 70-80% of their day consists with fighting with each other. The other 20-30% is filled with hysterical laughing, hugs, and kisses, and playing nicely. I think they have inside jokes, and have made a pact to make my life crazy.

I'm going to do a bit more research but I'll let you know my findings.

I'm just now picking this post back up. It's Sunday and I had started this post on Friday. We've had a big weekend.

So I'm just going to post the pictures. We went to the water park, and then for Frozen Yogurt. Enjoy.

Um...not our ball.

Sorry, not my typical post. But Tim and I are finally going to finish the Lost series. I know, we are way behind, but excited to catch up.

Since it has been at least a couple of years since that show has ended, I might give you all my thoughts about it and how it ends. Because I can't wait to find out.

The Drama of it All

2011-09-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

Tired.

Is actually an understatement.

What a stressful week we had last week. Well, it's been a stressful 3 weeks. You want to know the inside scoop? I'll tell you.

So that job that Tim took about a month and a half ago, remember that one? How I was excited that he was going to be home early and all that jazz so that we can start having family dinners? You can read it here if you missed it.

Well, well, well. What a crock. So, we are used to a weekly pay period. This new position is a semi monthly pay period, being paid on the 5th and the 20th. So we kind of had to go 20 days without my bread winner's pay check. That was kind of tough. Then...when he got his check, it was $1000.00 shorter (at least $1000 shorter)then what they had agreed upon. And then....the check bounced. What? Who does that? And there is a week that he never even saw a paycheck for.

So basically, the only amount of money we've received from them is $1200.00 cash, big flippin woop. That's all they said that they could "come up with". Really? But some money is better then no money. Add these 3 weeks to the 2 weeks his former employer owes him, and it's 5 weeks of pay.

So there you have it. That's what we have been dealing with. Oh yeah, then we thought we had a leak because our water bill came in at $591.00. Found out (99.9% sure) it's the toilet. If it was a slab leak, we were looking at $1800.00-$4500.00 in repairs. So thank the Lord it was just our toilet. Oh yeah, and then my electric bill came in the next day a hundred dollars more than the highest month we've had so far this year. When Tim took the new job, I put Riley back to 2 days at preschool. Just in case. So glad that I did. Once we get caught back up, she'll be going 3 days again.

So, stressful? Yes. Tears. Many. But our faith is strong. It's difficult in the situation and even though I have faith, it's still hard for me to swallow sometimes. I'm allowed to get upset don't you think?

The good news is, I'm a GREAT budgeter. I'm a saver. Not a spender. So we have money to cover all of our problems. We will get that money that is owed to us. The question is just when? I have the NSF check from the bank and have called every day since we received it back to see if there are funds in the account.

Only one day there were enough funds in the account to cover our check, and when Tim got down to the bank it was already gone. The teller told him he was 45 minutes late. Sucky!

Tim is now back to work as in independent contractor. How I miss the W-2 wage days.

Done with the drama of it all? I am. I'm over it. I've moved on. I hate drama. I hate when I've been sucked into drama. The good thing is I don't dwell on ANYTHING.

I'm totally over you, and your crap.

That's my attitude!

I'd like to say that this post has no more drama, but it probably does. Am I contradicting myself? What if I told you it wasn't really drama, and just motherhood.

Before any of that though, I had one of my final orders this past weekend. It was 65 cookies, 1 three tier cake, and 2 one tier cakes. All for one party. A bridal shower. I only have 2 more orders to go until I'm completely done with it all.

Since I decided to stop doing the cakes, it's been so much more relaxing around here. And then on the weeks that I actually have an order, I remember why I'm not doing it anymore. Talk about a ton of hours into something that makes no money. When you add it all up it just doesn't make sense. I could make more working overtime for my Dad. And, not have a mess in my kitchen.

But, they turned out beautiful. Here, take a look.

I love the black and white!

My delivery was on Saturday. One of the other reasons I don't want to do cakes anymore. My weekends were sometimes filled with pick ups and deliveries. Most of the time people were hours later then they said (which is so rude), and I was stuck at home waiting for them. On Saturday, that entire day was dedicated to the delivery at 3:00 in Claremont.

It's just not for me anymore. I will totally enjoy making birthday cakes for the kids, and they will be the best birthday cakes around! But, no more orders for me. I don't even want to do it for friends and family like I said I would. I've packed all my equipment away, and have my kitchen as a normal kitchen again.

It's nice.

Yesterday, Tim was home by the afternoon so we headed out to the park and for dinner at BJs.

We didn't last long at the park. Maybe 15 minutes? We go to a very quiet park most of the time. It's like a little secret. If you are in the Corona area and want to know where it is, let me know. I'll share my secret, because I'm nice like that.

Basically there are never more than 3 families there at a time. But Riley's not a big fan because she's into making friends with everyone. And this park doesn't present very good opportunities for age appropriate friends.

She was obsessed with becoming friends with this little girl that was younger then Madi. And with her little baby brother.

Um...she was that annoying little girl on the playground that wanted to be on top of your babies. Having full on conversations at your child.

And Madi, just had to go potty. And had an accident.

That kid has had more accidents. She waits to long. Doesn't want to stop playing. So if I don't catch her holding herself, it's a quick rush to the potty.

And the poor thing gets so upset when she has an accident.

After the incident, we headed back to the house for new pants and a potty break, and then headed to BJs for dinner. The kids were excellent, and at the end of the meal they asked us if they could go to bed now.

Check please!

And in other news, I know you are so super jealous of my fancy blue nail polish with purple glitter. They match the girls' nails. "If you are going to be a princess like me, you have to paint your nails pretty, with sparklies." -Riley Rush

And I definitely want to be a princess. I kinda feel like I'm 15. But I kinda like them too. I'm feeling quite fancy.

Oh and I'm Princess and the Frog. Not Tiana, but Princess and the Frog. Riley is Sleeping Beauty. Madi is Ariel (or sometimes the mother, when Riley wants to be Rapunzel, can you tell which one is older?). We call each other by our princess names. But I can't get them to start calling me Tiana. I'm Princess and the Frog.

Should I tell Daddy? I don't think he looks like a Frog.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

30 Day Photo Challenge, Days 12-17

2011-09-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

First, I'm thinking it's time to update the look of this old blog again. Summer is over, it's almost time for Halloween! One of my favorites! Not in an evil way...in a the kids get to dress up and we get to decorate with pumpkins, and black and orange type of way. You know, with a little spooky in the mix! ;)

The Challenge again...

Day 12: A photo experimenting with bokeh

Do you know how hard it is to go looking for bokeh? I mean honestly. I really wanted a shot taken in the day time, with the sun as my lighting, but I never got around to getting a good shot. So this picture was taken at Disneyland. Behind the glasses is the tea cup ride. It's a little more harsh of a picture then what I originally wanted. I wanted a soft picture, but the opportunity never presented itself. But this one is cool, just not my first choice.

Day 13: A photo edit that you like.

I know you've seen this picture before (some of you), but I remember how proud I was of what I did with it. I edit pretty much all the pictures I take now and I love them all. But this is the first time that I really edited in Photoshop. And used like this 30 step process to get the eyes to pop. Since then, I've found a 3 step process. I think I found the tutorial on Pioneer Woman's blog. That woman is cool. And I love her tips.

Day 14: A photo focusing on eyes.

A special thank you to my model...Stacy. Talk about pretty eyes. Her eyes are such a deep blue. Love her. She was sipping her coffee when I remembered that this challenge was my next one. So I snapped a couple of pictures and this is the one that I ended up with. I love it.

Day 15: A photo of what ever you please.

I snapped that at my Grandma's house. I just like the colors and pattern. I think it's kind of cool and abstract. It's the top of her little bistro outside.

Day 16: A photo experimenting with light trails.

Okay this picture, I love! I was so proud of myself. And this is the picture that got me so far behind in the challenge. I had to wait for Tim to get home to actually get it and he has been working such crazy hours. You would have laughed if you saw me that night. I grabbed my bar stool and headed out to Foothill. I thought I didn't have a tripod. I mean I have one for my video camera. Never in a million years did I think of trying it with my camera. Until last night. Yeah, so I have a tripod now.

Anyway, I love this picture. I was proud of myself. I'm learning. :)

Day 17: A photo with street lights.

To me, the street light challenge was boring. Have you seen the street lights in Corona? Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. So I took the opportunity when we were at the Mission Inn yesterday to get something fancy. Glad I did!

I realize that I'm totally behind in this challenge, but I'm okay with that. It's not like I don't have a job, or kids, or anything like that. I can't think about it 24/7. But don't be surprised if I take a day and complete it. I will complete it, just on my own time. It's fun. It makes you think creatively. And without thinking, it forces you to try new things with your camera. I'd try it if I were you. You'll be surprised at how much you like it!

9-11-11

2011-09-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

I remember 10 years ago. I was in college. In Kentucky. And I was driving to class. I was trying to find something to listen to on the radio. I tried all my stations. Everyone was talking. No music. I couldn't figure out why, so I left it on one. You know in college, there were so many things on my mind that I was not listening at first. Until my mind wandered back to the radio, and why there were still no jams.

And then I started to listen. To the horrifying things I was hearing. It had to be a joke. But it wasn't. I finally got to school and found a parking spot. And just sat in my car. Listening. My eyes welled up and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Before I knew it, I was 10 minutes late to class. I pulled myself out of the car and walked quickly to class. My mind racing. I didn't want to go. But I did.

Class was canceled. It was serious.

We had a game that day. In Louisville. It got canceled.

Our coach had us in Memorial Coliseum and was telling us what was going on. I couldn't believe my ears. It was awful.

And the days that followed were bad.

My heart goes out to those that were lost, to those that lost, and to those that so unselfishly did their best to save those that they could.

And I'm so proud of our troops, and what they do everyday to keep our country safe.

I thank God for them. I'm sad that this devastating day ever had to happen. I'm thankful for all the heroes. There were so many.

And I'm thankful for all the articles this week leading up to today that will never let us forget.

Tim has been wanting to go to March Air Force Base for a long time now. So we went today. I thought it would be cool to visit, especially today.

There were quite a few visitors there. And all seemed to have a reason as to why they were there.

It really is a cool place, and I would have liked to have spent at least another 2 hours there. But the kids, you know, those beasts I post pictures of on here all the time? They were bad. It seems to be the pattern these days.

But we stayed long enough to have a little bit of fun. And to learn about all the men and women that have fought for our country.

I really didn't know how much I loved museums. Until today.

It's so important to know where we came from. And what others have done for our freedom. It makes you feel very insignificant. In a good way.

It helps to have a hubby come along with you that watches the history channel. And is one of those guys that knows something about everything. Very educational.

Of course, the girls thought we were going to actually be getting on a plane. Probably to go see Nana and Grand Dad. I'm sorry that we had to disappoint them.

But there is no way I was getting on one of those planes. To go anywhere. Not even to the McDonald's down the street for a milkshake.

Not this girl!

It was fun though, and the girls did have a good time before the melt down. You know, I saw another family there. With 2 little boys. About the same ages as Riley and Madi. They held their Mom and Dad's hand the entire time. And were quiet. And did what they were told.

I really want to know how those parents did that. Or where they bought their children. And if they do trade ins....just kidding...but seriously...why are mine so hard headed? And stubborn? And independent?

Makes my job hard. But that's okay. They are cute. If they weren't....

But after the Air Force Base, we headed over to the Mission Inn.

We thought we'd get the girls some icecream and take a nice walk around downtown. With all the bums. I repeat...WITH ALL THE BUMS.

Sad, but scary. They were kind of everywhere today. So we found the best place we could to kick off our shoes and have some icecream.

Aren't those cute? Thanks April, the girls love their flippy floppies! Check her out at She Flops

She's awesome. And owes me a sushi date... :) We need to set that up girlie!

It was a nice day. Considering the screaming, and crying. We walked around the Mission Inn to see the room that Tim and I stayed in on our wedding night. It's the top floor.

Best night ever that was!

But in closing, I hope you never forget about what happened that day. I know I won't.

Riley's First Day of Pre-K

2011-09-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Riley had her first day of Pre-K. I was excited to drop her off. I'm going to be honest. This summer, with the girls fighting every two seconds, was very hard. I'm sure if you walked by my house at any moment on any day, you would have heard me screaming, Riley screaming, or Madi screaming. Followed with crying, and slamming of doors.

Awe. Summer.

So much fun. But it all had to end (thank the Lord!!) and Riley is back in school.

Her teachers this year are Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Lewann. Very, very sweet ladies and I met Ms. Lewann last year, her daughter was in Riley's preschool class.

We are also very excited that Riley's bestie Zoe is in her class as well. Those two used to get into trouble last year. Causing rucus at lunch time.

So here she is. In her brand new outfit for her first day.

Yep, we go blingy. Riley likes her glitter, her ruffles, and her bows.

And she wanted this outfit at Target because it had the Shake it Up girls on the sign above it. Who are they by the way? I think they are on the Disney channel, and sometimes Riley gets bits and pieces of that one. I don't like those older kid shows. I think some of them send a bad message.

But we bought the clothes anyway. Thanks Disney.

There were no tears shed. I brought her in. She said hi to all of her old friends. Got her name tag. And then told me to leave.

And then Madi cried. Because she wanted to stay. It's going to be a hard year when it comes to that.

Good luck Riley in your last year of preschool. You start Kindergarten next year. I'm hoping this year goes by slow. Really slow. Because when you start Kindergarten next year, you will be a real kid. Not my "baby". You will be old. And going to real birthday parties. And doing homework.

When did you get so big? When did you start having these conversations with me? When did you become a person? I'm so excited for you and a little emotional at the same time.

I love to watch you grow up but want to slow it down so bad. I love you Riley Rush. With all of my heart. Your Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you.

Ignorance is Bliss

2011-09-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

So, I took the girls out for a little Mommy photo shoot yesterday. It was our second day of the three day weekend without Daddy.

Saturday he went to a wedding (I couldn't go, unless I wanted to leave our kids home alone, I was tempted...I was tempted), and Sunday he had to work.

I did not want to sit in the house, I did not want to go to the park (you all know how crowded those parks get on ~~holiday~~ weekends), and it's hard to be in public by myself with my kids (because they are crazy, which in turn makes me in crazy, which then makes me look crazy because I tell them I'm about to lose it ~~very loudly almost screaming~~ very calmly in the middle of the store if they don't stop it right now.

It's hard to be a Mom. So instead of losing it in public, I started by losing it in private when we decided we'd do a photo shoot and we were in hair and makeup.

Oh that Madi, it's hard enough just keeping her still for a pony tail, let alone an "updo". Um, quotes are for, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to hair and that's the best "updo" I could do :)

We finally got out of the house, and in the car, and plop, plop, it started raining. Ha, just my luck. It wasn't too bad though, so we got to our location and started our shoot.

Not 30 seconds in, Madi is on the ground, in the dirt, in full on tears. Well, there goes her "makeup" (we did a little blush and lip gloss), and there goes Mommy's patience. She didn't like her shoes. Thank God I had another pair in the car because ~~I don't clean that thing out as often as I should and I have an entire wardrobe for both the girls at any given time~~ I'm just prepared like that.

I think you know a while back that my friend Becky took me out and gave me a few pointers, and showed me around my camera, remember? I traded for cake? Ha, well, that was last year. I learned about Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO. And it finally clicked. And I bought my first "fancy" lens.

It taught me a bit more. But that is about the extent of my knowledge.

It's been okay. I think my pictures have gotten better.

And then, I picked up a book. And started reading. And I learned about things like White Balance. And shooting in RAW.

I was nervous going out to take pictures of the girls for some reason. I didn't know what lens I wanted to use. I really wanted to use my 35mm because it takes such cool, artistic pictures. But you have to be right up on top of your subject to do that, which my kids hate.

So then I thought I should use my zoom. I heart my zoom. He's my bestie.

So I did a little of both.

And I think it worked out.

But the more I learn about the camera, the more I freak out. And hope that I'm doing it the "right" way.

It was much easier when I shot on automatic, and just looked for an artistic shot.

And bipped along saying, "hey, look at me, I have a fancy camera, but I don't know how to use it. So I keep in on automatic, with no flash, because it doesn't matter what I do, it takes the pictures for me."

That was the best. Because the camera does take the pictures for you. A lot of the time, I still just put it on that setting and edit them after the fact. Because it's a great camera, and it takes great pictures.

Oop, it's raining, like right now, outside. So cool. I love weather like this.

Anyway back to the post. Um, I'm enjoying learning more and teaching myself what my camera does. But worrying about all the settings seriously freaks me out.

Because I don't want to miss a great photo opportunity because I'm turning my dial and adjusting crazy crap.

See, after Becky taught me a couple of things, I thought, hey, I've got that 'M' on my camera. I can handle Manual. Oh man, but I can't, lol. It's so bad!

So I normally keep it on 'A'. For Aperture. And I adjust it because I know what it's going to do when I adjust it. And my camera automatically changes the shutter speed for me. All I have to do is worry about my ISO (which I almost always forget to change when I go outside after I've been inside). And now my White Balance, which honestly, I think I could care less about.

I shoot in RAW now (like I've shot in RAW once so that makes me an expert), so I can completely adjust the way my pictures look once they are on my computer. It's totally like cheating.

I'd recommend it.

But, the problem with shooting in RAW is that it takes up way more space on your memory card. Usually shooting in JPEG, I could get like 900 pics on my memory card. Well, in RAW, cut it in half. It's like 425, and I was done.

And I didn't bring another card because I'm dumb. And forgot about that.

See, it was much easier when I didn't know all this stuff.

I'm considering closing that book and never reading the rest. See, I'm only on page 20. I had soaked in so much information that I had to put it down.

It gave me a headache.

There is so much to learn, it's like you need to go to school to learn it all.

And I'm not a big fan of school, well not anymore at least.

If you are wondering why I took so many pictures of Madi's back, it's because she wouldn't cooperate. At least not like her big sis who thought posing for every picture was what I wanted. With her arm in the air (where she got that I have no idea).

The kid thinks she's a model. Which is fun and hard at the same time. She doesn't want to pose the way the "director" wants her to. She does her own thing. She's such a diva.

That picture above, yeah, it melts my heart. You don't have to know that Madi wanted Riley to get far, far away from her after about 4 takes of this. But I'll tell you anyway...Madi wanted Riley to get far, far away from her after about 4 takes of this. ;)

Oh look, another picture of Madi's back. Ha, who would have thought there would be another one of those?

So anyway, I think I have a love/hate relationship with my camera right now.

It totally intimidates me. But I want to learn all at the same time.

I think I might pick my book back up again.

After all, it was a Christmas gift from Christmas 2 years ago from my cousin.

Isn't that picture above of Riley gorgeous? Okay, that's all I'll say.

But yeah, I owe it to my cousin to read that book, don't you think?

I think if I just try to do one thing at a time, and practice. I'll be okay.

And even if it completely confuses me and I end up shooting in automatic again, that will be okay. Because I love the editing just as much as I love taking the pictures.

Because like an idiot, I'm trying to learn about my Photoshop Elements program at the same time I'm trying to learn about my camera.

Isn't Madi Angelic looking?

See what happens when I stop doing cakes?

I have to learn about something in my free time. And look for tutorials online.

But it is a lot of fun. And it's not like anyone is grading me.

You're not grading me are you? I hope not. But I have to tell you how proud I am of Riley's hair. I did it all by myself.

Cute huh? Maybe?

So thanks for reading my ramblings today, and grading my pictures. It was fun.

Disney

2011-09-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

When it comes to my family and Disneyland, it's a love love relationship.

My Papa who passed away almost 6 years ago (I think, I'm not one to keep track. One day without him was long enough) loved Disney. He was an artist, and a good one. He made copies of all the Disney movies he could get his hands on and made his own VHS covers for them.

I would buy him a new Mickey Mouse mug every Christmas. It's amazing to me that I was actually able to find so many. I now have the collection that I display in my office and I think there are about 12 or more.

Thank you Disney for making so many. Everyday I'm reminded of my Papa when I go upstairs to work. I'm one of the lucky ones in the family too that he painted a picture for that is up there as well.

He was one amazing guy and his shoes will never be filled. Disneyland for me, always brings back his memory.

After he passed, the family got a tile for him at Disneyland. We always stop to visit.

I think one of the hardest things to deal with is that Papa never got to meet any of his Great Grandchildren. They would have adored him, and him them. He would have loved and appreciated every moment he spent with them. Especially moments like this at Disneyland.

Even in the heat, the hot, sticky, disgusting mess that it was on Sunday. He would have bought everyone icecream. And hats. We'd hold hands and laugh, and he'd be the life of the day.

The parade has nothing on him.

He also never got to meet my wonderful and amazing husband Tim. They have so much in common and would have gotten along like lifelong friends I think.

And he would have been the one to push his dear, sweet wife in the wheelchair that she doesn't need but her family pushed her into it anyway so that she could enjoy the entire day.

And they would have argued, and fought about it. But we'd all laugh. And talk about how funny they were about the little things.

I know he would have bought one of these awesome cameras that we all have and would share a love of it with me, and my Mom, and my brother.

We'd discuss settings. And take pictures. Throughout the park.

Us Grandkids would all fight for his time. Because we all thought that we were his favorite. But this one,

Would try to convince us all that she was his favorite. She even would choke down deviled eggs (Papa's favorite) with a smile and a grin right in front of him, to prove to him that she loved deviled eggs as much as he did.

Even though she hated them.

And the Princess's? Like the real Princess's, that live at Disneyland...he would have visited with them like the kids. He would have been a gentleman and told Ariel how nice she looked, "on legs, on HUMAN legs."

And he would have asked Belle if she has read any good books lately.

He would have come over to my house before we left to paint the girls' faces, so that we didn't have to cash in our Investment CD to pay for face painting at Disneyland.

He would have loved the entire day. Him and my Grandma would have been up and at em' as early as possible to get as much in as possible.

These Grandkids would be his world.

And he would tell anyone that would listen how beautiful they are, and smart, and funny. It's what he did with us. He was our biggest fans.

When he passed, I found a million newspaper clippings and Internet printouts of my Volleyball articles from High School through college.

He was Sean's biggest fan and was at every baseball game.

He was one of the only supporters of Stacy moving away from us all the way to Oklahoma to start a beautiful new life with James.

The man loved his family.

My Mom is a female version of my Papa.

She loves Disney just as much as he did. That's why we all have passes. And we go together. Because it's magical. And it's good. And it's a great wholesome day for the family.

Papa would have sat on the curb with me to watch the parade. That I cried at. Because it was so overwhelming to see the joy on Riley's face as everyone danced by. The squeals were delightful, and when she came around to hug my neck in excitement, I cried. More tears then I'd like to admit, and to this day I'll blame them on the sun that was in my eyes.

My Papa had a huge influence on us. He was a great man.

And my children will never know him. It breaks my heart, but I know that these kids will know him through the stories that we tell.

Through the stories and memories that he made.

And they will get it. And they will know him.

Awe. That post went in a totally different direction then I was planning. It just kind of came out when I came across that picture of the tile we got for him at Disneyland.

I hope you enjoyed it, and the pictures. We had a great time, and it was HOT!! And on a side note, we rode in the caterpillar behind Kobe Bryant on the Alice in Wonderland ride. No joke. We did. He stole the caterpillar that Riley had her heart set on. I think she's over it by now.

Oh yeah, and Riley rode her first roller coaster! And ran back as excited as ever to ride it again...and again...and again...

And Madi rode her first roller coaster...once.

Stacy Visits!

2011-08-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

My Dear sister came to visit last week with her family. We haven't seen Stacy and Bella in a year, and James in two years. To say we had fun would be an understatement!

What a great visit we had.

Dinner and visiting at my house on Friday.

Breakfast at Gi Gi's and Shopping on Saturday.

Disneyland on Sunday.

They left on Monday.

It was fun.

Bella is getting so big. I took a few pictures at my Grandma's house that I thought I'd post right now while the kids are eating lunch.

So Grandma Kelley makes the best biscuits and gravy, and Grandpa Kelley makes the best eggs.

Breakfast at their house is such a treat.

We ate outside before the weather turned hot, disgusting, nasty, and gross. It was really nice for a while there. I was able to drink my coffee without sweating. Always a plus.

The kids love Grandma Kelley's house. We did too when we were little. She has such a beautiful, big yard with lots of places to explore.

Doesn't Bella look pretty in her tutu? She has gotten so big. I can't believe it.

Her and Riley got together great, better then I was expecting. They pretty much would have slumber partied it up every night if we let them.

That's it for my short post. More pictures in a couple of days, or tomorrow. Whenever I can get the Disneyland pictures edited.

I'll leave you with a teaser.

;)

30 Day Photo Challenge, Days 5-11

2011-08-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Let me start off by saying, I'm alone. I think I'm the only one doing this challenge now. I've even had a few people say that they want to do it with me. But then they don't.

And I'm sad.

Because nobody wants to play with me.

So blogger friends, feel free to join in. If you want to. Here are the rules again...just in case you feel like playing.

Day 5: A photo of whatever you please.

In case you can't tell, those are sprinkles from a Cookie Monster cupcake that the girls got at Dizzy Desserts.

I had, taken pictures of a glass of red wine with a white background, they turned out really cool. But when I turned off my camera, they were gone. Once again, this bonehead forgot to put a memory stick in my camera. What is wrong with me? It's like I have pregnancy brain.

Anyway, I took this picture as a back up. It's not my favorite, but I like the hot pink plate in the background on the white table cloth with the bright blue sprinkles. I like the color.

Day 6: A photo from a low angle.

I took this one at my Grandpa's birthday party. While we were eating dinner. I just think it's a fun picture. I just took it from my seat, in the middle of bites. Because the food was so good, and I couldn't stop stuffing my face. I was like, oh, hey, a photo from a low angle for the challenge...mmm...these ribs are delicious...mmm...one more bite....anyone have a wet nap?...snap...mmm where are my ribs...so good...hope that picture turned out okay...mmmm...:)

Day 7: A silhouette photo.

So long story about this one. It is Day 7, but I didn't take it until last night. I had plans to get a picture of Riley's bike in the street with her helmet either hanging from the handlebars or laying on the street.

Well, let's just say, the sun sets behind the mountains so you can't really get a good silhouette of something so low to the ground in Corona. Well, at least I couldn't. I even tried a couple of spots, over a few days. So, I knew in order to get a silhouette, it would have to be of a tree or something.

So, as we were pulling into our neighborhood last night, the sky looked so beautiful and vibrant that I thought, it's either now or never. Tim pulled over so that I could get out of the car. How sweet is he? Actually he told me, get out of the car and take it. I was just doing to take it through the window! I'm glad he "made" me do it!

I think it's a pretty picture, mostly because of those vibrant colors.

Day 8: A photo of something close-up.

That's as close up as I can get with the lenses that I have. What I really like about this one is the juice on the white board. And it's a lemon, in case you were wondering.

And an old lemon. Not like grossly old, just older than I'd like. I had to do some editing to make it look a little fresher then it was.

Day 9: A photo of something from a distance.

I took this at my Grandpa's house, when we celebrated his birthday for the second time. I have to say, most of these pictures actually have something to do with my Grandpa!

This picture was fun, I thought about it on the way over to my Grandma's. I knew we'd all end up on the patio out back. We always do, and my Grandma's yard is so pretty.

Of course it's not from a long distance, but the rules didn't give me a measurement, like take a picture from a distance, from at least 250 feet away. So there.

I like it, but it's of my family, and you all know how much I love my family.

Day 10: A photo of whatever you please.

My Grandpa's cane. (I told you these pictures were all about him...but you didn't believe me did you?)

I love, love, love this picture. I don't know why either. I think it might be that stunning brick fireplace in the background. Or the rug under the cane. Or just the way it's resting on the furniture. Or maybe it's everything all wrapped up in one. I like it.

Day 11: A black and white photo.

You might be telling yourself that you've seen this picture before. I posted it a while back. I thought I'd use it for the challenge. I love this picture.

Time Lines.

Hope you enjoyed my pictures! If you join in on the fun, let me know. It helps you become a little more creative I think. And you try to out-do yourself. Which gets old around Day 5, so you stop trying to out-do yourself and just have fun with it.

Try it. You'll like it.

How to Make Onion Rings

2011-08-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

First off, you have to be kind of smart to make these. Or be completely stupid. They are so easy and I don't know why I never made them before.

Well I do know why, they are fattening. But delicious. I always go for, "make them, they sound delicious." Over, "wow, don't make those, they are so fattening."

Everything is good in moderation though right?

Anyway...get an onion, I use a yellow.

Cut it as thin or as thick as you want. I like an in betweener. Is that a word? It doesn't really matter if it is or not.

I'm using it.

Once you slice your onion, soak your slices in buttermilk.

I'm not an expert, but I think you can soak them for as long as you want. Well, not as long as you want. But over night might be okay. I don't know, I just do a couple of hours.

After that, warm up a lot of oil. I mean a lot. I did it in my Mom's iron skillet because I don't own a deep fryer. (this is probably a good thing, or I'd fry everything, like everything.)

Mix together your batter. I do regular flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper.

I know it sounds weird, but I taste my mixture. It won't taste like it does on your onions, but you can get an idea for how seasoned they will be.

I really don't know how much of everything I put in. But it's not a science.

Throw your onion slices in your batter. Coat well. Then, throw them in your hot oil. I heat my oil at medium high.

When they turn golden...they are good to go.

Cooks note: Don't make enough onion rings so that you can freeze some for the next time you make something yummy that needs them on top (aka BJ's BBQ salad - which by the way I found the perfect BBQ ranch recipe to use on it) because they will be eaten if left out. I mean, ALL OF THEM. They are that good!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2011-08-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

I was going to post about the party that my Mom threw for my Grandpa on Saturday but she did such a beautiful job on it, there is nothing else to say. Please go and read it, it's great, click here!

The only thing I will share with you about that is the bbq chicken salad I made. Have you had the one from BJ's? My Mom and I have been sharing this salad the last couple of times we've gone. It's so good. So we recreated it.

And I'm so proud to say, I made those onion rings. So easy, and so yummy. Next time I make them, I'll post how I did it. I had taken a million pics when I was making them only to see that I didn't have a memory stick in the camera. Woops. :)

Last night we were invited for a birthday glass of champagne and cake at my Grandpa's for his actual birthday.

We never decline an invite to a party.

GiGi made the girls some very yummy icecream cones while we were there. I think it's safe to say that they enjoyed them. And yes, that is dinner on Riley's face from home. No, I did not clean her up after dinner. Yes, I have given up on the mother of the year award.

My Grandpa is such a nice guy. He always has a smile on his face, and he's always the first to give you a hug and say hello. This man loves his family.

And knows how to celebrate a birthday! Two pineapple upside down cakes in 4 days? And 2 parties? And the phone didn't stop ringing the entire time we were there with friends and family wishing him a happy birthday.

And the dining table was filled with birthday cards.

Happy 80th Grandpa! Cheers to many, many more! We love you bunches!

Posting Last Weekend This Weekend

2011-08-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

To make room for this weekend's post!

Did that make sense? Probably not. Just in my own mind.

So last weekend huh? Ours was epic.

Well that might be going a bit extreme. It was pretty cool though. Our little Riley Rush has learned how to swim. I've been wanting to get this girl in swim lessons but I don't want to take her just anywhere. I am looking for private lessons but I have no recommendations. Blah.

But that don't matter, cause Riley taught herself how to swim.

She's pretty smart. Tim and my Dad might have helped her a little bit. What happened is, Riley jumped in the pool from the side, and her floaty slipped off.

Tim saw this happening and saw Riley treading water and staying afloat. He decides to see if she goes for it.

Bang. Bam. Boom.

Riley decides she can swim.

We have been working with her, but she's never wanted to put her face under the water and hold her breath. Or anything like that. Once Riley decides she is ready to do something. She does it. Period.

Now that she's "swimming" though, I'm even more anxious to get her in lessons. Anyone know of someone they could recommend in Corona? email me.. k_rush82@yahoo.com

Thanks.

And this guy, he's pretty awesome. And his hair is growing back...

Yes! I love him with hair. It's my favorite on him.

He got in trouble with the littlest one. She wanted to take her floaties off too. Because she wants to be just like big sister. But we didn't let her.

It's got to be so hard for her to see this...

And not be able to join in. The tears were okay. I understand Madi. I too am the second born. It's just not fair sometimes.

Your time will come.

Did I mention why we were over at my Mom's house last weekend? We were invited to a fish fry. To eat all the fish that were caught up in Rock Creek. We weren't the only ones invited either.

And we didn't just eat fish. There were appetizers.

One thing I love about the pool is the appetites that my girls have when they get out. They eat so good. Make a Mama happy.

I'm going over to my Mom's house again today. Tim has to work.

Blah.

It will be so nice to just relax by the pool though, like we did last weekend.

I was fortunate enough to hear some good fishing stories from my Grandpa. He tells a good one.

And a long one. By the time his story was over, it was time to get out of the pool and start helping with dinner.

Well, most of us helped. After we got dressed of course.

Don't you just love little bathing suit tan lines on toddlers? I sure do!

My Mom is so good at having people over. I swear. She's kind of the best. She works her behind off to have everything ready for dinner before anyone even gets to her house. So when it's time for dinner, it's heating something up, and just throwing dishes together. Like her tomatoes. Everything was sliced, all she needed to do was spoon some pesto over them, sprinkle some cheese, and in the oven.

She needs to tell you guys about these tomatoes. OMG. Best. Tomatoes. Ever.

The spread was pretty dang yummy. And guess where we ate...

Yep, the porkadillo.

It was a great day. I always love days like this. That end around the table outside.

It feels good to have this post done. I've been going through the pictures everyday not wanting to edit them, or even choose which ones to edit. It was a project!

But I think I got some good shots. So it was worth it.

Stay tuned. It is someone's birthday on Tuesday. And we celebrated yesterday.

I have some pictures to share.

Peace out folks. I'm off to go....swimming! I know, you already knew where I was going. I'm addicted to my Mom's house, oh, and there are leftovers.

My type of day.

Happy Sunday!

30 Day Photo Challenge, and Man! I'm Behind.

2011-08-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

My friend April (April, I hope you don't mind me calling you my friend, all though we've never met in person, I feel like I know you...about that wine ;) is doing this great photo challenge and I thought it would be fun to join in. It's not a contest by any means but it's one of those things that really make you think about the pictures you are taking.

Here are the "rules"

I started on Sunday and I'm kind of a day behind, but I'm sure I'll catch up over the weekend.

Day 1: A photo of yourself.

Let me tell you, at first, I tried to just get a picture of myself, like in the mirror. But that was boring. And I didn't look good from any angle. I mean seriously. From. Any. Angle. I get it, I'm not photogenic. Whatev. Thank God I'm behind the camera right?

So on Sunday (last Sunday), we were all hanging out at my Mom and Dad's pool (and when I say I'm behind - like in the title - I took over 400 pictures that day and haven't had a moment to post them, well not all of them, but at least a few) I was sitting by the pool and notice my reflection in my Mom's sun glasses. So I snapped. I normally wouldn't, but I did it because of the photo challenge.

It didn't turn out really good, I mean my whole head was cut off. So I think my Mom mentioned that Tim's glasses would be better because they are mirrored. So as I was snapping, I thought, how cool. Not only is this a picture of me, but it's a reflection of me in my hubby's eye. This is an awesome photo. I love it. And I'm going to share a message I got from my friend Becky when I posted this on Facebook. Sorry Becks, didn't ask for your consent, but I don't think you will mind. And if you do, tell me, I'll think about taking it off ;)

Interesting self portrait. I like it....... Hmmm. Let me go all college on you..... "what kristi has done here is portrayed herself in a reflection. Does she see herself as a reflection of her husband? Or perhaps her reflection is what she portrays to others- yet is the apple of her husbands eye." " or perhaps- she sees herself as small, as to really see her is to get up close and personal and really stare at the picture." "or maybe she chooses to be hidden, protecting herself until she can really trust someone."

Anyways I thought your picture spoke more than just being a picture. Hope u don't mind me playing college student again...:) I like pictures that make me think... :)

Loved this message. Thank you Becky for taking the time to play all college student. I'm glad that you got it!

Day 2: A photo of what you wore today.

What I was trying for here is a trail of clothing leading to my room. Because the challenge said, "of what you wore", not of "what you are wearing". At first, I was thinking a pile of my clothes on the floor would work. But the more I thought about it, I thought for a romantic picture, I'd do a trail of clothes leading to my bedroom. I got the idea from a country song. I think the title is, "Who are You When I'm not Looking."

It's so romantic, a trailing of your clothes to the bedroom. And I'm not going to lie, that is kind of the way the evening ended. For Tim and I. Hey, at least I'm happy okay. Did I share too much? I know my kids will think so when they read my blog one day. But at least they will know how happy their Dad has made me. :)

Day 3: A photo of your favorite place.

I think this photo speaks for itself. I'm happiest when I'm with my Tim (did you see the last photo?). Sitting in front of the TV watching our shows, pausing every 5 minutes to talk to each other about what we are watching, or something we forgot to tell each other about our days, or to just tell each other we love you and share a kiss.

I could have shared a picture of the beach, or Rock Creek, or our house. But this is my happiest place. With my husband. No matter where we are.

Day 4: A photo from a high angle.

I'm not going to lie. For this picture, I was wishing we lived somewhere like New York City. So I could be in a high rise, and take a really cool picture. But honestly, I'm just happy that I live in a 2 story home. So that I could actually get day 4 taken care of!

I think it turned out cool though. 'Home Sweet Home' with my kiddos underneath it. Those kids make it a home. Like no other. I love them so much.

I was going to wait until I had day 5 taken care of but I couldn't wait. Plus I wanted to do a post but not edit all those photos I took last Sunday.

I promise I will get to those. They are pretty cool, because someone learned how to swim. Without floaties.

I'm so proud.

Undies and Dinner

2011-08-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

Have I told you that one of my most favorite things about blogging is the titles? And have I told you lately how much I'm enjoying blogging again?

It's wonderful.

And have I told you that I'm no longer taking cake orders?

And how good it feels?

Well, I may or may not get into it in another post as to why but it really doesn't matter. What matters is how happy I am that I'm not doing cakes anymore. And how much stress has been lifted off my shoulders.

I get to be "normal"!! Hee hee!

So about those undies. Guess who's sportin' them now?

Still no guesses? Really? I can't believe that the pink blankie didn't give it away.

Should I give you a hint?

It's this girl...

We've been arguing about it for a week. Last week, she did dukey (twice) and pee pee (twice) on the potty in one day. So we headed to Target to pick out some new undies.

The next day was bad.

The day after that...worse.

M&M's could not fix our problem.

Two nights ago, I changed her crib, to a toddler bed.

Since then, that girl has been strutting around the house telling anyone that will listen that she has a big girl bed.

And that she wears undies now. Like a big kid.

And she does her business in the potty, the way it was meant to be, with no accidents.

Score 1 for Mommy.

So about that dinner. Most of you know that Tim, on a good day, gets off at 6:00 pm and then doesn't get home until 7:00, or later. And that's a good day.

So we never, never get to have dinner together as a family. The weekends are too short so we do very easy dinners or go out to eat. We just never sit down at the table, the four of us, all together. To share our stories about the day.

Well that my friends, is going to change. Tim accepted a new position closer to town. We are very, very excited about this and I'll share more with you in a couple of months. I'd love to spill it all out right now but I want to wait and make sure everything pans out the way it's supposed to. I will tell you, that it is exciting.

So guess what time Tim got home tonight? 6:00 pm. He called to tell me around 4:45 what time he would be home so I ran downstairs to see what I had in the fridge to throw together for our "first" family dinner together.

Have I mentioned that I haven't really been cooking? And that I am in desperate need of the grocery store?

So I went with...

Have you guessed yet? We had grilled cheese and tomato soup. I know, I know, it's a little hot for soup. But I blasted the air so it's fine.

Check out my grilled cheese super station.

I'm the boring one that had that grilled cheese on wheat instead of potato. Boring.

Riley had helped me set the table as quickly as possible. She's such a good helper.

I ran upstairs while Riley was setting our table to grab the camera and I came back down to screaming. "No Madi, stop it, that's sooo gross...Mommy, come look what Madi did."

Really? I took these out to cut up for dinner. She's been taking bites of apples, chewing it up, and then spitting it out. She chewed up and spit out an entire apple the other day. I don't know how I didn't notice, but I didn't see what was happening until I had a pile of chewed up apples on the table. Yuck.

Tim got home soon after this incident so we sat down to eat. But not without a prayer first, something about giving thanks, and family, and please help Madi stop chewing up and spitting out apples. Amen.

The girls were loving having Daddy home so early. Most nights they go to bed before he gets home. So this was definitely a treat.

But not a treat that was too good for a fit. Thrown by none other then...

Madi. That girl.

But it wasn't anything that Daddy and an airplane spoon couldn't fix.

Does life get any better then undies and airplane spoons?

I didn't think so.

Did you Say you'd Like Some Random?

2011-08-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

I've been talking to Nikon lately. The good news is that they can fix my camera.

I'm so excited. Last week the status of my girl was 'IN SHOP'. Her current status is 'BILL'. I'm assuming that now they will charge me for the amount that I approved 2 Fridays ago.

Little do they know, I had the money 2 Fridays ago. Now I'm not so sure. I had to buy a new iphone for myself because my other one has been broken for about a month, and we just treated ourselves to Macaroni Grill last night.

I sure hope that money is in my account.

I'll let you know how it pans out, and when her status is either 'SHIPPED' or 'HELD CAPTIVE TILL WE GET OUR MULA'

Meet my Uncle Tommy.

The Kiefers found themselves in California this weekend. It was nice to see them, as it always is. We laugh a lot.

My Mom made us a dinner with awesome ribs on Saturday night. We ate in the porkadillo. If you are wondering what the porkadillo is, head over to my Mom's blog she posts about it all the time.

We ate, we drank, we be'd merried.

I was a little bummed on Sunday when we woke up because we had made big plans Saturday night to do some leisure diving. And planking.

But it was raining. Which was so cool I might add, but totally ruined our awesome plans for the day.

Instead, Tim had to go pick up his tools at work, while I stayed home with the crazies.

Who decided to be that extra bit of crazy for me yesterday. Such a fun time. When they act that way. I'm blaming it on the pool. They tire themselves out so good in that thing but then refuse to sleep.

Except for this morning, they are still sleeping. They need it. And I'm not making any kinds of noises to risk it. Neither is Tim, but, he hasn't been here for an hour.

I'm enjoying my coffee (which I only made a few cups of because I'm out of creamer, blah, why don't they make the nonfat creamer in the large container? I'm out like every other day.)

Do you like my mug? On the other side it says "Mornings Aren't Pretty"

I concur.

In other news, I'll be making salsa tonight. I'm going to wing it. Just cut up whatever I feel like and throw it together. I'm just hoping Nikon doesn't take my money today, or I won't be able to buy the rest of my ingredients at the store.

;)

Happy Monday ya'll.

Splishin' and Splashin'

2011-07-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Man was it hot this past weekend or what? We spent almost everyday at my Mom and Dad's pool. Friday we came over because my Dad's cousin Carston and his wife Laura were in town along with their 2 little boys.

Talk about some gorgeous kids, those boys are adorable and will break quite a few hearts! I wish I had gotten a couple of pictures of them, but honestly, they moved too fast!

The boys influenced my little Riley Rush a bit too. Let's just say she is now jumping off the side of the pool. This is big for her, if you know Riley, you know it's big.

This is Laura, I'm totally jealous of her tan, and her skinniness!

I've been playing around a lot lately with black and white pictures. I never used to like my own pictures in black and white. But now they are growing on me, I think I'm learning how to make them more interesting.

I went back on Saturday because Tim had to work. Two days in a row of myself with the kids in the pool is hardwork. I did have some help of course with Pop Pop and Grandma, but I was tired!

Kids, they just don't stop moving.

Hope you all had a great weekend. I hope you don't get tired of pool pictures, because it looks like we will be spending many days over at my Mom and Dad's.

Give Your Kids a Haircut 101

2011-07-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: The writer of this post is completely sarcastic and has not a clue what she is talking about. She is far from being a professional and knows nothing about cutting hair. At one point she let her daughter cut her own hair, you can read about that here. This person can't be trusted.

Welcome to Give Your Kids a Haircut 101. I am your instructor Kristi Rush and I will be walking you through the correct steps of cutting your kid's hair. I know it can be a stressful situation especially if you have no experience whatsoever. Hopefully after reading this tutorial you will be able to get your own kid's hair cut with ease and confidence, and most importantly stress free. Please read through all of the instructions first before actually taking a scissor to your kid's head. Trust me.

1. Make sure that you have all the right tools. A pair of scissors is a must and it doesn't even really matter what kind you use. Even a pair of craft scissors will work if you don't have shears. Just make sure you don't use those scrapbooking scissors with the really cool edges, you know like the ones that will cut a wavy line, like these...

unless of course you are going for that look. You will also need a comb and something to hold pieces of hair up. These are the tools that I used...

2. Set up a stool somewhere, like your bathroom, or kitchen, or outside if the weather is good. It doesn't matter if you are on a level surface because your child will move around so much that putting them on a slant might make your outcome better.

3. Make sure that your stool is broken. Just because mine is. Not to worry though, I fixed it well enough so that my child wouldn't fall to the floor.

4. If you have more than one child that you will be giving a haircut, be sure to start with the youngest and most wiggliest child first. It will be good practice and it's best to get the hard one out of the way first. Why warm up on the easy child? That would just be silly.

5. Wet the child's hair completely and set her up on the stool. To wet the hair, use a spray bottle, put them in the tub, or just pour a full bucket of water over the top of their head. It doesn't matter if you get the hair all wet or not, it's all about personal preference.

6. Comb out most of the tangles and just use your scissors to cut out the knots that the comb can't get out. I mean you already have the scissors handy, you should get a feel for how they snip.

6. Pin up some of your child's hair. It doesn't matter if you part it perfectly, all the hair is going to be one length anyway (hopefully). And comb this hair straight.

7. Make your first cut. It doesn't matter where, it's just a starting point. You will want all the hair to be cut to this length.

8. You'll start to trim the hair all to this length all the while your child is squirming, screaming, and doesn't listen when you tell her to keep her head straight. The oldest child will be dancing around your first child being constant entertainment for the wiggly one in your chair. This is kind of hard because the wiggly one doesn't just keep her head straight and follow the oldest one's dance moves with just her eyes. If you let them continue to do this, it could be fatal.

9. Take a deep breath and send the oldest to her room. Sternly, because if you do it soft and nice, she comes back to peek around the corner of the bathroom where the littlest, wiggly one can see her in the mirror and she will throw her head back and burst into hysterical laughter. This will cause so much anxiety within you that you will snap. You will yell at the oldest to get her butt back into her room and ask the little one in a very loud voice, "Why can't you just keep your head still!!!!" This will cause the little one to cry and cause you to feel bad.

10. Take another deep breath. Go over to the radio and turn it on a rock song and blare the volume. This will drown out the cries coming out of the wiggly one.

11. Keep bringing down hair and putting some up and just snip away and trust God to guide your hand. You know He's not happy with you right now because of the way you just treated your children but you are going to have to have faith that He won't want you to ruin your child's hair and He will guide your hand through the rest of this process.

12. Just pray at this point and close your eyes. Snip away. Remind yourself that your child's hair is not completely straight and is kind of wavy so it will be okay if it's not perfect. Once you are done with the back, if your child has bangs, this is the time to do it.

13. Grab some hair from the top of her head and comb it all straight. Try your best to cut a straight line.

14. You are now done with the first haircut. Get your child down from the stool and let her run far, far away from you while you put your attention on the second one. Repeat steps 5-14. Then get yourself a drink. Unless it's like 11:30 in the morning. Then you put the kids to bed and have a nap yourself. Feel free to clean up your mess the next day.

15. Wake up from your nap and by this time your kid's hair should be dry. Cover your eyes and walk slowly towards your child and tell her to turn around. Peek through your fingers first to see if you did a good enough job to uncover your eyes completely to take it all in...

16. Pat yourself on the back because it turned out pretty good.

17. The final and most important step of all. Wake yourself up out of this horrible nightmare that you are having and pick up the phone. Instantly call your hairdresser to set up an appointment to take both of your kids in to get their haircut. Now you know that it is not worth trying to give your kids a haircut on your own.

You're Welcome.

In other news, I finally got my camera to UPS. They should get it tomorrow at 3:00 pm. Please cross your fingers that she can be fixed.

Freedom

2011-07-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

My Mom asked me yesterday, "You really are enjoying not having comments on your blog aren't you?"

And the answer, yes, yes, and yes.

I feel free. Free of everything. I am so enjoying my blog. And it's not like I don't get comments. I've gotten emails, and Facebook messages, and that is really, really cool.

I like getting comments from the people that feel the need to go out of their way to comment. That they love my posts, or I make them laugh, or they love my pictures. They mean so much.

The comments I'm getting through email and Facebook just brighten my day. It's cool. I have fallen back in love with blogging by not having comments here. And I've still been around and comment on your blogs when I'm moved, or I like a picture, or a story. I'm still here.

I blog to remember.

I blog to remember. I saw that somewhere and I can't remember where, I think if I had blogged it, I would have remembered. I hope that nobody feels offended that I took my comments off. I loved reading your comments, I really did. That part of blogging just wasn't working for me any more.

I honestly feel so good about this that the comments will probably never come back onto my blog. You know where to find me, and I have links to my email and Facebook to the left of my page. And if you don't ever feel like contacting me, that's fine too. I'm the one that took the comments off and I did it not even expecting anyone to leave me comments elsewhere. That happened to be a plus!

I just wanted to do a follow up post about this to let you know how it's going. It works for me and I know that you all are still reading, I'm like the easiest blog to go to. You can come and read and you don't have to comment. Commenting takes time, and I'm letting you off the hook. You should be thankful! Haha!

So thank you to everyone for understanding, and a big thanks to those of you that have made my days brighter! I'm blessed to have so many great people in my life!

Exploring and a Hike

2011-07-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

Man. I'm pooped. This has been a lot of posting for me, but I'm anxious to be done with the whole Rock Creek thing. I mean enough already right?

One more time, to read these from the beginning, click here and then follow the links at the end of each post and you'll end up right here!

At least I didn't spread it out over 2 weeks of posting. Give me a little bit of credit for that.

On Saturday, we went for a drive to the other side of the lake to see if there was any good fishing over there. I think we might try it out next time we go. To spare you all the Rock Creek talk, I'll just be posting pictures.

So the last day we packed up on Sunday morning and before we left, we took a "hike" around the creek. We thought that was all the kids could really handle, and we got a few family shots while we were at it.

We were sad to say good bye to Rock Creek but very excited to get home, and sleep in our own beds.

See you later site 29! Until next year...

The West Nile Virus and Model Material

2011-07-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

This is part 3 of a 4 part series of posts. Please click here first, and then here, and then come back to this post when you are done.

Trust me, it will be a better experience. ;)

Are you convinced yet that it's beautiful up there? I wish that I had brought my camera up to the lake to get a good picture of it. I did get one with my Mom's water proof camera but I haven't seen those yet.

So about that West Nile Virus. I contracted it. Well, possibly. I thought I might have. The mosquitoes were crazy this year. The kids didn't get one bite, but we kept bug repellent on them at all times. I guess one Saturday morning I forgot to dose myself.

I think it's because I was in doing dishes from breakfast and saw a photo opportunity with Tim down by the creek with the kids. I heard my Mom say, "Kristi, hurry, grab your camera!"

So I did, and ran out the door....UNprotected.

Right about here I notice I got bitten. It started to itch like crazy.

But that's normal, so I took a few more pictures.

We headed back to camp so that I could finish those dishes and the guys could get our poles ready for fishing again.

And that's when it happened. My hand started to swell up uncontrollably. I couldn't even see where I had been bit anymore because it pretty much just spread, and quickly. I thought maybe I was stung by something? Well, it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and bigger.

So we figured we would take a drive to go get me some benadryl. Oh and more flies. Well, basically more flies and we thought maybe while we were there we could get me some benadryl. I think I was an after thought.

We headed up to Pie in the Sky.

Riley had her heart set on a grilled cheese sandwich but they didn't have one on the menu. She was a bit bummed so I told her and Madi they could both pick a piece of candy to take with us. Well Riley wanted a dining experience and wanted to sit outside while she ate her candy.

So we did what Riley wanted to do, because it's all about her. Tim ~~took my Mom's cash to buy us beers because it was going to be under $10.00 and that is not enough to run a debit card~~ bought us adults a round of beers and we settled in with the kids.

I was ordered to take my Benadryl.

Do you see how swollen my hand is? Well, at this point it started to hurt, not itch, and by the end of the night, it had spread all the way to the other side and when we went fishing that night, I got bit by another mosquito, on my other hand, and my wrist. Well, that one swelled up just as big, but spread into my hand and into my arm.

It hurt. And I have a high pain tolerance. I'm not going to lie, I thought something might have been wrong. But no worries, my hands are finally back to normal today, and the bites now itch. I now think I'm clear of the West Nile Virus. But I found out on the way home that I had Skeeter Syndrome. Not an extreme form of it, but a form.

Look at that, I got so caught up in my West Nile Virus that I forgot all about Model Material.

While we were at Pie in the Sky, cheersing our candy...

And getting dirty. Because if we can get dirty, we do...

I noticed that red wall behind the girls and I thought one picture of them together would be nice.

And it basically turned into a photo shoot. With my models posing.

Is Madi not cracking you up? Okay, well if not yet, then she will now.

Oh man, it was so funny. And then they went after Pop Pop.

But he was a really good sport!

Stay tuned for the last post...Exploring and a Hike.

I know you are excited that it will be my last post on Rock Creek. I do. You've made yourselves perfectly clear about that.

The Next Day

2011-07-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read The Drive Up please read that post first. It's a series of posts people, you don't want to be lost. :)

We all woke up around 7:45 the next morning. The kids were excited, and bouncing around. I couldn't wait to make our first pot of coffee in the RV.

But first I had to peek out the window at our surroundings.

Gorgeous blue skies. I couldn't wait to get down to the creek. We all got dressed and we headed over to my Mom's RV so that we could get our day started.

Her site was right across from one of my favorite parts of the creek. It's very calm and you can see the fish in the water. The girls wasted no time dropping their lines in.

I gave Riley a quick lesson and she caught on after two casts. Madi just wanted to play in the water. The ICE COLD water. I should have known. So we gave her a net thinking she could get busy with that.

Let me tell you, she did not disappoint.

Daddy couldn't help himself and quickly dropped a line in too. It's kind of hard to fish in the creek unless you have the right equipment. It's a pain in the behind unless you are fly fishing. I don't like it very much, but that's just my opinion. I like fishing the lake. But we both gave the creek a little whirl.

Before we knew it we were all starving and didn't realize how late it had gotten. We decided on making a great big breakfast, or brunch actually by the time we got around to eating.

I cooked outside, and it was wonderful. I seriously could cook outside all the time. In surroundings like this of course.

But word quickly got out that I was the best cook in town and we had a few visitors.

Everything tastes so much better up there. I'm not just saying that, it really does. But it could be because of the fact that we use lots of butter, and fry things. And eat things that we don't normally eat because if we ate like that all the time we'd weigh 500 pounds.

Yeah, 500 pounds easy.

Mmm, I'm reliving that breakfast. It was so stinking good. Please enjoy the scenery while I go get a napkin to wipe the drool from my chin.

Friday was kind of a weird day. My Dad wasn't there with the CRV so we had to take our motorhome up to the lake. My Mom offered to sit with Madi in the RV while she napped so that Tim and I could take our poles and Riley out to fish a little. I didn't take my camera for obvious reasons but we had fun with Riley.

She wanted to come out in the water with me but she didn't have any waders. I think she would have stayed out there all day if we let her.

After fishing for a bit we headed back to camp where Tim took that 45 minutes to level the RV. Remember him? The guy that shaved his head? Here, I'll refresh your memories...

Yeah, it's not my favorite. But he's still handsome. Especially when he makes that face. Gets me every time.

The kids enjoyed exploring our campsite and just as I was getting appetizers out for dinner, my Dad showed up. We enjoyed a yummy spaghetti dinner, wine, and a great bonfire before calling it a night.

So even if you are already sick of the Rock Creek posts, I don't care. I still have at least 3 more posts to do. Maybe only 2. I haven't decided.

Stay tuned for The West Nile Virus and Model Material

The Drive Up

2011-07-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to figure out how I should post this vacation because I have a ton of pictures that I want to share.

I guess we can start with the drive. Because, you know, I had to take pictures in the RV.

When we took the motorhome to the reunion a while back, I was crazy nervous about taking the kids in it. Do we use their car seats? The seat belts at the table? Let them wander around aimlessly? Just kidding on that last one.

We decided to just use the seat belts at the table and that worked out good. Once you get out on that open road, it's a completely different experience then traffic.

So, once we get out of town, the girls like to sleep and play up top. We have a TV with a DVD player that works out great. I am the generator nazi though and don't like to run it all the time. Just ask Tim. He hates me and my generator restrictions. I don't care though. I'm the one that has budgeted the money so that we can even go on the trip in the first place. Next time it takes 45 minutes to level (with the engine running the ENTIRE time) the dang thing, I'm going to divorce him. Just kidding again. Maybe. That's wasted gas. I know. I have a problem. I'll get better.

Maybe not though, I'm a saver, what can I say.

The girls do so good in the motorhome. They listen pretty good and I only find myself yelling at them about every 20 minutes. Just kidding. Maybe every 21 minutes.

They play well and what I usually have to break up is their newly found wrestling games. That's not safe in the motorhome. They love to wrestle, and tackle each other. I could just see one of them flying off of that top bed so I have to stay on top of them.

I'd hate it for our tour guide to get upset and have to, "pull this rig right over and turn around and go home."

Have I mentioned yet that Tim shaved his head? Would you like to know what I think about it? To be nice, I'll just say, it's not my favorite. He knew this too. I used to say that Tim would cut his hair shorter on purpose when he is mad at me. It's true. But this time I knew he was going to do it.

It's not my favorite. And he's supposed to keep his hair the way I like it right? I mean, I'm the one that he is trying to get into bed right? Is that inappropriate? Oh well, you can't tell me if it is or not because I took my comments off. So there.

We ended up picking up a hitch hiker on the way there. She looked decent and not serial killerish so we let her jump in. Good thing too because she brought smut magazines with her.

My Dad ended up not driving up until Friday and we left on Thursday. So we took Mom with us. It was nice to have some company. All though she made me serve her. Sandwiches, beverages, cookies, it was never ending and I'm still recovering from the drive up when I waited on her hand and foot.

And, she can't comment either, so she can't say anything about it. Ha!

If I remember correctly, we got in around 11:00 or so. Riley stayed awake the entire time. Madi had a little nap. The kids were basically tired the entire time we were up there. But they still had a lot of fun. I'll leave you with a sleepy Riley picture I took the next morning.

Stay tuned for The Next Day. I promise it will be more interesting.

And We Are Back

2011-07-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

What a trip!

We had so much fun. Spending time with family is what it is all about. The girls did great and I realize that they are still a little bit young for this type of a trip. It's a lot of hard work but they had a fantastic time. I know this because when we got home, Madi threw a little fit because we had to get out of the motorhome and into our house.

Ah. That girl. She's definitely a keeper. And Riley...born fisherman. She didn't catch anything but she has the personality for it.

I'm a proud Mama.

You know what I've really enjoyed? The fact that my Dad introduced us to fishing and Rock Creek and his love for this type of a trip, that I'm feeling the need to pass this down to my kids.

I love my Dad. I've always loved my Dad. I get him. When you see my Dad in his element, it's a fantastic thing. He is a completely different person when we are out, camping, and spending quality family time.

I've never been one that was good with words and can never express what I really want to say. It's not my gift. And that's okay. But I hope that at the end of the day, my Dad knows how much he means to me.

He's taught me so much and I think you are a very lucky person to really know my Dad. He's not the guy that shares his emotions all the time. Or the guy that is the life of the party. Or the guy that people say, you know, he's a really nice guy.

And do you know why? It's because he doesn't let everyone really know him. He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve and for most, he is hard to read.

But not when he is camping. When he's actually letting himself take a break from his hard 7 day work week. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he is the hardest worker I've ever met. Ever.

And he's done it for his family. The man loves his family. He doesn't show it like "normal" people do. But you know that he does. And when we are camping, there is nothing better than seeing that in my Dad.

I had the opportunity to go fishing with my Dad and my Mom alone on Saturday morning. The only thing that could have made it better is if Sean were there. It's the first time I've spent time alone with my Mom and Dad since having the kids. And I have my wonderful hubby to thank for that.

To say I'm blessed doesn't even begin to describe it. Growing up in my shoes was not always the easiest, but now I see that it has made me the woman I am today. I would never wish for it to end up any other way. My Dad has made me half of the woman I am today. My Mom has made me the other half.

Which made me a whole that I can give to my husband. God works in mysterious ways, but he has a plan. And that plan is perfect.

There is something about being somewhere majestic like Rock Creek that brings out the best in people. I can't wait to share with you all the pictures and stories that I have from this trip.

I didn't get to do a photo shoot with the girls, we didn't get to roast marshmallows by the fire and make smores, and we didn't get to really fish with the girls.

But, it was the best trip. And a much needed trip.

To say it was fun, would be an understatement.

We are home, the motorhome is unpacked and everything is put away. But we have great memories, and pictures to talk about forever.

Stay tuned for more Rock Creek!

Bow Chicka Wow Wow

2011-07-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

Mmmm Hmmm.

You heard me right.

Bow chicka wow wow....I'm having an affair.

I know what you are thinking, why would she ever post this online for the entire world to see. Well, it's because I am just so dang excited about it.

Do you want to meet him?

Meet Big Papa...

He's my loner for the weekend and I have to say, we are off to an amazing start. I feel a little bit bad, cheating on my girl while she's still in the house. She's in a box, ready to head over to the fine folks at Nikon, and her box is all taped up, so she can't see what's going on.

And what she don't know...won't hurt her.

And honestly, I was afraid she might make fun of Big Papa. Due to the fact that he needs to have his flash taped down at all times. He has an overactive flash.

He's older. But as you all know, I like my men older. So I totally don't have a problem with his older body.

I'm just excited that I have something for this weekend. And I owe my friend Becky many, many thanks for letting me borrow him. I'm so grateful, and he is in good hands, Becky, I assure you.

It's her old camera that they just keep around. And I took him out for a bit just to make sure I knew my way around him. The sneaky devil has a hidden dial that took me forever to find. But I found it, and now I can change his settings.

With that said. I can now pack for this weekend in higher spirits. I'm a bit nervous that I won't get everything done in time, but after this I'll be making my lists of things to do.

I love my lists.

So in closing, thank you Becky, thank you Sam, and thank you Big Papa.

Oh and God bless the USA.

The Fate of a Camera

2011-07-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

I should not be posting right now. I'm supposed to be cleaning and packing up the motorhome because we are leaving for Rock Creek on Thursday.

I can't wait. Three days. Three days, of fishing. Well, kind of, two and a half. But still. I can't wait.

It will be our first "real" trip in the motorhome. An actual camping trip. All though, Riley told me that sleeping in the motorhome is not camping. It's only camping if you sleep in a tent.

Hmm.

So far it's been a pretty good weekend. It started on Friday when I went to lunch with my Mom and Baba. I love Fridays.

Riley has been taking her camera around everywhere. But I think all of her pictures are coming out with a bit of blurry skin color in the corner. I just can't figure out why.

I've been enjoying my camera lately. I tend to put it down for weeks at a time because it gets to be a bother. I feel like I have to take pictures of everything. But then I pick it back up and I remember how fun it is. How great it feels to look through my lens and snap a great picture, and freeze time.

It has been great learning about what it can do. And how to do it. And how to get the shot you want.

But then, just then, when you have fallen back in love with your camera. It does something. It does something unspeakable.

Something that makes you want to curl up in the fetal position and bawl your eyes out.

You can feel it happening. It happened once before when I first received my camera in the mail. I started playing with it. I had giddy excitement. And then. I got. The warning.

This time, I just knew it was happening. The shutter release was abnormally s..l..o..w... And instead of maybe turning off my camera and giving it a break, or something, I pressed my shutter release button again. And then. It happened.

That is the last picture my camera took. And then it gave me the warning: Error. Press shutter release button again.

So I did.

And nothing. I called Nikon. We tried to reset it. Nothing.

It's going to have to go in, and get some work done. Hopefully, it's not completely broken. I don't know what I will do.

Last time it happened they just had me return it and get a new one. I think that is because it was only a day old.

I called another camera place to see how long it would take to get it fixed. 2-4 weeks. I need it for this weekend. How am I going to go up to Rock Creek and take pictures without my camera? I was planning on doing a little photo shoot with the girls too.

It's the perfect setting. I was looking forward to it. And now, I have nothing. Nothing. I even thought about buying another one today just to have something.

But that would be silly. And expensive. And I would have to research them. Because they don't make the D60 anymore.

Sigh.

It's a sad day. But my Nikon girl will be sent off to the repair guys in hopes to be fixed, or sent to the camera graveyard.

And I will be without.

Tim offered to steal me one. I'll let you know how that goes.

Until then, I'll stare at the last real picture my camera took. And hope that it's not the last.

Alright, enough moping. I have to go out and get something done in that motorhome before Tim gets back from work!