12/14/11
Christmas time
12:33 PM | Posted by
Kami |
CHRISTMAS TIME
This is by far my MOST favorite time of year
Everyone seems to be a little nicer
Everywhere smells a little better
Everything looks a little prettier
Why do I love this time of year so much?
I love giving gifts
Giving a great gift that is thoughtful and is loved
When someone is dumbfounded on how I remembered
The delight on their faces warms my heart
I love to bake
Getting all covered in flour
Wrapping the baked goods for sharing with loved ones
Bonding with my daughters over dough
I love my annual bake day with my grandma
Every year we do a full day of baking
We have done this for about a decade
It is our time to do something we both love
It is my time to learn all the traditions to pass down
This time is so valuable to me
I hope it will be equally valuable to my grandkids one day
I love our family traditions
Elfie - Our Elf on a Shelf
Fresh baked cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning
New Pajamas on Christmas Eve
New ornaments for each year
Still getting a full stocking from my Mom
I love to spend time with family
My family is number one
We have a big family and Christmas dinner is a blast
Everyone telling stories
Watching 'A Christmas Story'
Warming by the fire
Doing the White Elephant exchange
Getting so stuffed with food you can't move
I love watching my girls on Christmas Morning
It all leads up to this moment
When they come downstairs
With coal ash on their noses
and gifts left from Santa
My heart is so full when I see their smiles
They are my loves and my life
These are all the things I love.
These make Christmas time the best time
Every year is more amazing than the last
Labels:
12/9/11
Diaper Cakes
I love to make diaper cakes for soon to be Mommies.
Each one is personalized and they are full of lots of love
I love babies and this is my little way to welcome them to the world.
Here is my collection of Pink and Green cakes I have made:
12/8/11
lyla's in love
My dear beautiful 4-year-old daughter, Lyla, is in "love"
There is a boy in her preschool class that she will not quit talking about. For his anonymity I will call him "Billy".
The conversation on the first day went something like this:
Lyla: Mommy, Billy is so handsome.
Me: He is?
Lyla: Yup. He is so handsome.
Second day:
Lyla: You know Billy is handsome right?
Me: yea, he is pretty cute
Lyla: He is NOT cute. He is handsome. I am cute
Me: Oh, i am so sorry.
Lyla: Can I marry him? Do you have a dress i can wear when I get big to marry him?
Me (thru muffled laughter): Yes I have a dress.
Lyla: Oh good. Does daddy have a suit for Billy to wear when he gets bigger too?
Me: Yes Daddy has a suit.
At this point I am having a hard time controlling myself. Where in the world does she come up with this stuff. Fortunately, she is not done yet and the third day is by far the best.
Third day:
Lyla: Billy is handsome Mommy.
Me: I know
Lyla: Can I kiss him?
Me: NO! You are too young to kiss boys
Lyla: It's ok! He is four and I am four.
Me: I know but you are too little
Lyla: Ok well I am going to hug him and when he comes to my birthday party I am going to wear my princess dress for him. He is so handsome and he is so strong.
Me: ........speechless
She continues for about another 15 minutes about "billy" and I am all smiles the entire time. She is so funny. I realize later I am in a WHOLE WORLD OF HURT. This is all too soon. She is too young. I told Todd about it later that night and he was totally freaked. That is his baby and she won't be kissing ANYONE, at least not on his watch.
My baby girl is growing up. I love her so much and want her to stop growing right this second. In fact I insist she stop. Oh, but I don't have control over that. I guess just enjoy these times of innocent thoughts and first loves.
Elfie Day four and Five 2011
Day Four:
Elfie did not return because my Lyla has a hard time composing herself and keeping her grubby little paw of Elfie. He lost his magic for a whole day
Day Five:
11/20/11
It's about that time
It's coming
The turkey
The fixings
The thankfulness
And then....
It is BLACK FRIDAY time.
I have, for the last several years, participated in the black Friday madness. I do this mainly because it is a great way to save money, duh. But I do have to say that part of it is the rush of getting a good deal. I am well know for saying "Oh, you like it? I got is for $$$$." in response to someone complimenting me on something I own. I LOVE a good deal. I LOVE to use coupons for apparel (not so much for groceries). Another reason I love black Friday is because for me it signifies the start of the Christmas season. Nothing says Christmas like a good old fashion mob. I KID. Every year my plan gets more involved than the year prior. For example, last year I created a special list from the black Friday websites of all the things I wanted to get. I exchanged lists with a friend and we split up for maximum shopability. This year I went a step further. I did a picture list in order of priority (thanks to advice from my co-shopper for this year) I also visited each of my stores ahead of time to get a good idea of where most of the stuff would be. I can just hear you now saying "what in the world? this lady is kookoo" I won't deny it. I am a little crazy. Ok ok, a lot crazy. I just love it. There are of course major downfalls to this event. There is lots and lots and lots of waiting. Then you get in the store and get everything you can and there is more waiting. So you spend a total of 30 minutes shopping the entire night and about 5 or 6 hours waiting. It's worth it if you have good friends like me. Good friends make for great company.
I can't wait. 4. more. days.
Tis the season!
11/14/11
stella's 1st haircut
My baby girl, Stella, got her first haircut last Wednesday. The first cut is always the hardest but it was NEEDED so bad. She was a perfect angel the entire time.
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER
11/9/11
My husband
This morning I was doing a little reading on one of my favorite blogs and Casey Wiegand was answering a list of her FAQ's and I was struck, as usual, by her immense love and pride for her husband. It made me wonder if I show the same love and pride for my husband. Also, this month some people have decided to do an "I'm thankful" post everyday on facebook until Thanksgiving. I think it is FANASTICAL! I also think it is something we should try to do all year, even though I know that won't really happen. I posted today that I am grateful for my husband. I posted a short little something but then realized that isn't enough to show my appreciation so I thought I would elaborate here.
My husband is an amazing man. He is the best daddy I know. He loves our little girls "to the moon and back" as we like to say. They squeal with delight the second he walks in the door from work. It warms my heart every time. He plays dress-up and collects bugs with them. He spends his one day off a week with them for "daddy day". He also works in Lyla's preschool a couple times a month. He would do anything for those two girls. I mean ANYTHING. He completely encompasses everything a daddy should be.
He is also extremely hard working. When Lyla was about 6 months old he was offered a job working overnights from 11pm to 9am. It was meant to be an 18 month deal and it was a good financial opportunity for our little growing family. Well, 18 months turned into a little over 3 years. This put a strain on him physically and mentally. It also put a strain on our family. I am a firm believer after this time of him working nights that it is unnatural for humans to be up at night and sleep during the day. It takes a little something out of you. Ages you a bit. It is hard to put into words the toll this took on him. I know he did it for our family and I am so grateful to him for that. It ultimately lead to him eventually working during the day but he works long hours and misses family activities at times. He is always sad when this happens. I have to remember that when he is not able to be there he is working for us. So either way his love is there. Thank you for all you do for your little family of four.
Todd, I love you to the moon and back.
11/4/11
princess leia, the man and the pumpkin
Something left over from bath time. Yes, that is princess leia in the warrior outfit.
A lot of questions are left unanswered by my discovery this morning.
Who are these 2 people? Where are they going? Why do they need such a big pumpkin?
Children have such an amazing imagination.
It got me to thinking, how do we lose this imagination as we get older? Are we disenchanted with life? Caught up in the day to day activities? Too busy trying to stay connected? These little discoveries of Lyla's always make me stop and take notice of her ability to just play. She is so smart and amazing. I want to foster her imagination and creativity as much as possible.
11/3/11
Trick or treat, smell my feet
Even with two sick girls, Halloween was pretty fun this year. It was Stella's first "real" Halloween and once she realized that the people at the door gave you candy it was game on. She really just wanted the suckers. That is her new favorite thing.
Lyla of course is an old pro by now. She knows what's going on and she takes charge. The nice thing is she got just enough candy before getting tired so it was a nice short trip for us.
As you can see we had fun with the pumpkins this year. Todd even carved Stella's itty bitty pumpkin!
11/1/11
Quick Halloween upcycle
For the Saturday before Halloween we decided to go to Knott's Camp Spooky with the girls. Lyla wore a costume but I was going to just put Stella in her Halloween shirt. Only problem is the shirt was long sleeve and it was going to be very warm. So I did what any mother would do, I cut off the sleeves and hot glued the seam. I figured that this was the last day she would be able to wear the shirt so I did the following:
1. Plugged in hot glue gun
2. Got a short sleeve shirt of the same size as a template.
3. Laid the short sleeve shirt on top of the long sleeve shirt
4. Cut the sleeves
5. folded the shirt over to make sure both sleeves were the same length
6. Turned the shirt inside out to hot glue the seam
That's it! The whole thing took five minutes and Stella was nice and cool.
As a bonus I used the cut off sleeves as leg warmers! Super cute, if I do say so myself.
10/28/11
We had to Boo someone
After hearing briefly about this "booing" thing, where you essentially ding-dong-ditch someone and leave a treat behind, I knew I had to do it with Lyla. So I did a real quick run to the store and got a couple little things and we went to 2 neighbors. It didn't go as planned. First neighbor came home while we were in their driveway (we didn't know they weren't home) so we had to back out of the driveway with our cups behind our backs. Second neighbor was coming out of the garage to play right as we were walking up but they didn't see us so we were ok to go home and try again later. We did manage to hit both houses later that night after pumpkin carving. Lyla thought it was fun but really wanted to see then get the treat.
This is Lyla's super happy and excited face
Next year will be awesome. Gonna be way more prepared.
10/26/11
Lyla in the Trunk
We had a whirlwind crazy experience on Saturday. We were all in the front yard playing and Todd was unloading a bunch of stuff from his trunk. When everything was removed Lyla jumped into the trunk and was messing around. Todd asked her several times to get out but of course she didn't listen. Jokingly he pretended to close the trunk by tapping the hood and to his immediate surprise it latched closed. (disclaimer: the full time Lyla was in the trunk was under 10 seconds) We both looked at each other and he immediately ran to the front of the car to unlatch it. The thing is, Lyla completely FREAKED out being in the trunk. I freaked a little too. I know it was an extremely short time but boy it left an impact on her. She jumped out when it opened and ran straight to Todd and started swingin'. She was so mad and scared. After all was settled down the funny commentary from Miss Lyla started to come.
She has been going through several stages of "recovery"
She has been going through several stages of "recovery"
Lyla started with telling me, my mom, my sister and anyone else that would listen that her Daddy locked her in the trunk of the car. It was pretty funny. It was always something like "Daddy, remember when you locked me in the trunk?" or "Guess what? My Daddy locked me in the trunk of his car!" Like she was reminiscing.
This turned into her reliving the event. "Mommy, Daddy locked me in the trunk. It was dark but there was a little bit of light in there. I was so scared"
Then she really wanted to hear the "story" of events. She climbed into bed with me and said "Mommy, tell me the story again about how Daddy locked me in the trunk. Could you hear me? Was I hitting the hood? What did Daddy do?"
She continues to INSIST it was on purpose. We tell her constantly it was an accident and her response is always the same "It was not an accident"
She continues to INSIST it was on purpose. We tell her constantly it was an accident and her response is always the same "It was not an accident"
It has been 5 days now and there is no letting up in sight. She is so funny. I love her and the quirky way she is about things. She makes me smile everyday. Even an event like this makes me smile. I can't wait to see what she says next.
10/25/11
Kid Quote of the Day
Lyla: Mommy I went to the park and saw the cuuuuutest doggie. It was black and curly and sooooo cute. It was a ploodo. (poodle) I can't believe myself mommy it was the cuuuuuutest ever. I want one can we get one? i can't believe myself.
Back to school night for Lyla
Last Thursday night was the annual Back to School Night/ Spaghetti Dinner at Lyla's preschool Fullerton Community Nursery School. This is a great parent participation preschool. I love that we get to be involved in her early education. She loves learning and loves her school. Here are some pictures of the event. Stella got in on the action as well.
The reading nook is one of Lyla's favorite places
Stella enjoyed the reading nook, the discover table and the play house area
I really love this school so much and how interactive it is. Can't wait for Stella's turn.
10/21/11
It's the first "yeah, i saw that": motorcyclists
It's a new feature called
Yeah, I saw that!!
For quite a while now me and my sister, Tracy, will constantly call each other and say "YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I SAW!" These are always people and they are always doing something outrageous. Sometimes funny, sometimes scary but always eye catching.
So for the very first ever "Yeah, I saw that!" I will tell you about 2 separate motorcycle incidents that were about a week apart. I spend a lot of time commuting and I see some amazing things on the freeway. These are just a couple.
The first was a motorcyclist talking on his cell phone in rush hour traffic. You say, Kami, how is that possible? And I say that it really isn't. Here in Cali it is the law that you must wear a helmet while on a motorcycle. It is also the ONLY state where you can lane share, which is when the motorcyclist can drive between the lanes of traffic. This guy had on a helmet. He was also lane sharing. He had the phone up to the side of the helmet and appeared to be shouting while whizzing through traffic.
The big question here is how do you think the conversation went.
Something like this perhaps?
motorcyclist: what?
caller: what? there is a lot of noise!
motorcyclist: what?
caller: i can't here you!
motorcyclist: what?
See what I mean. Totally pointless and dangerous to boot.
First thing I did was call Tracy and say "you wouldn't believe what I just saw!"
The second event was a motorcyclist eating a taco while driving. I. Swear. To. You. This guy was driving down the street eating a taco through the hole in the front of his flip up helmet. A TACO!!! I mean really? There was lettuce flying everywhere, including onto my windshield. I just can't explain the comic relief this guy provided me for the ride home. Not really sure how much of the taco he actually got to consume but at least he made me laugh. And of course I called Tracy to tell her. Oh the things we see.
Well that's all for now. You may see guest posts on this, especially from Tracy.
I can't wait to see something awesome!
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About Me
I am a full time mother and full time office manager. I love both but yearn to be home more with my girls. They, along with my husband, are my life. I love spending time with them...
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