Yearly Q&A.

Every year on August 6th, give or take a day or two, we sit down with Atticus and Harper and ask them questions about their favorites. We love looking back and comparing their answers to years past. It's fun to read some of the silly answers and see how much has changed (or not) from year to year! 

Atticus 

Age: "9 but almost 10"

Favorites:

Book: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid. All of them"

Food: "pizza"

Candy:" twix"

Place to go to: "Knotts Berry Farm" 

Color: "red"

Movie: "Gaurdians of the Galaxy, it was so awesome"

TV Show: "Pokemon"

Thing to Play: "Minecraft"

What do you want to be when you grow up? 

"I want to be a Video game designer!" 

Harper

Age:6

Favorites:

Book: "All of the Berenstain Bears books"

Food: "chicken enchiladas"

Candy: "all kinds of candy, but NOT licorice!!" 

Place to go to: "Disneyland!!!"

Color: "pink"

Movie: "Gaurdians of the Galaxy" (yes we took her to see it, stop judging me ;P) "Baby Groot is SOOOO cute!! Mulan is my next favorite" 

TV Show: "Littlest Pet Shops"

Thing to Play: "Disney Infinity"

What do you want to be when you grow up?

"A toy reviewer like, Bins Toy Bin on youtube" 

 

Fathers Day...

Technically it's Fathers Day (it's 1:43 am here)! So, I am going to write one of those "my Dad and Husband are the best in the entire world" blog posts. To be fair (and I do love to be fair), they do have their faults , but we will save those for another day. I mean how can one be "the best in the entire world" while having flaws (hah ;P )? 

Growing up my dad was always a very hard worker, and even now in retirement (and after a couple of strokes) he is still a very hard worker. To be honest sometimes I want to be like, " hey! Relax! You are making the rest of us look bad!" Haha. But seriously dad take a break! :) If you know my Dad, then you know he loves anything and everything bicycles and even made a career out of it in the 90's! He taught all of us how to ride a bike as soon as we were able to walk! 

I think he took those long bike rides to keep sane in a house full of women! 

He even taught most if not all (who are old enough) of his grandchildren including my son Atticus to ride a bike (Harper is next)! Speaking of grandchildren, my dad is an amazing grandfather. Like so good, sometimes I am jealous! He is so willing to play with them, joke around with them and just be there when they need him. 

Missing two grandchildren who weren't born yet.

When he had his first stroke a few years ago, it really scared me. I couldn't imagine being in this world without him in it for myself, or my children (oh good, now I am teary at work). When they said he had lost sight in his left eye I thought, " how on earth is he going to ride his bike?" Well folks he still rides his bikes,motorcycles and drives a car (the last one is a little scary at times ;P). Nothing can get him down because, "it's all good" 

Atticus and Harper love their Grandpa Wilburn!!

A few things I learned/inherited from my dad:

-my love of list making

-that hard work really does pay off

- my knowledge of different types of bikes, bike parts and how to fix a flat tire

- the ability to turn bright red when I am either upset, emotional or embarrassed 

- and this last one is a toss up/combo from both of my parents. My fun sized height (they are both shorties)

Grandpa and his gang (missing a couple still)!

He really is amazing, even though he likes to scare everyone every so often with health issues or his crazy bike/motorcycle "adventures". He likes to keep everyone on their toes! My dad doesn't read my blog ( I think only my little sister and husband do), but I still want to wish him a Happy Father's Day here in the blog land. So, Happy Father's Day dad. I love you! 

I don't even know, where to begin with my husband! When we started dating, back when we were 18 years old, I knew that Keith was going to be an amazing dad! We would often babysit his little sisters, or his niece, or my nephews and nieces. He was SO good with all of them! And still is!

So much fun with Uncle Keith! 

When we found out that I was pregnant with Atticus he was so excited. I was in shock that we were going to be having a baby. Keith was there telling me that everything was going to be ok, and that I had nothing to worry about (I am a worry wart). When Atticus was born, Keith was so happy! Like the happiest I had ever seen him! Seeing him hold Atticus for the first time was the best thing ever. Then, getting to see him so happy and hold Harper for the first time was equally the best thing (and cue the teary eyes)! 

Lucky kids! 

My kids really scored in the dad department! Keith is always up for playing video games, watching movies, or taking all of us somewhere fun! I love that he jokes around with our kids and their friends,  "aren't you here to play with me?"  Haha! I am so eternally grateful that he is who he is. That he is my partner in this crazy thing called parenting. That Atticus and Harper get to grow up with a dad who unconditionally loves them and is always and will always be there for them! A dad who works hard so they can not only have what they need, but the fun things that they want too! 

He has given them a love for all things Star Wars! 

A love for all theme parks everywhere! 

Daddy's girl! 

Ducks, dad and cake! 

Happy Father's Day Keith, I hope our kids grow up to be just like you!! I love you! 

See, a fun, sweet and loving Dad! 

**as always please excuse the many grammatical and general errors in this post. It is late, or early depending on when you went to bed. 

 

It's late, let's chat...

So, my sister, my little sister (I thought I should clarify since I do have four of them) told me that my title "Its late, let's chat" sounded like a pick up line. Which made me laugh. It just so happens that I know a thing or two about cheesy pick up lines. In fact I know more then any one person should.

 At the end of my Jr year of high school I met a cool dude (who quickly became a best friend). He was the cheesy pick up line king. I am pretty sure this had to do with the fact that his favorite movie was, Night at the Roxbury or I assume since he would do the Emilio Estevez bit quite often. Anyway I digress, thinking back to those times makes me appreciate cheesy pick up lines in all of their cheesy glory. So bad, that they are so good, kind of like a pug (so ugly that they are cute). So, what's my point to all of this?  I remember trying to make up pick up lines, and let me tell you, I am NOT cut out to be in the pick up line business! But, 11 years (exactly yesterday) since I graduated high school and my skills are maybe finally coming in? Nope not yet. Check back in another 11 years. ;P

PS: Was your daddy a baker? 

Cause you've got some hot buns!

(Not my image, thank you google)

**These are my late night work ramblings. Please excuse the run ons, grammatical and all other errors! 

Oh my gosh I'm back again...

Yes, it's true I am back again ( not in a backstreet boys way, but in a lazy blogger way). Two posts in one weekend? Watch out! 

This summer we decided to make a "summer bucket list". We sat down and as a family decided on a long list of things we would like to do this summer. Some do require travel, but most are activities that can be done either around town, or at home. I feel like it has already gotten the kids super excited (myself and Keith too) about getting to pick exactly what they want to do this summer. And when we are feeling bored, we can take a gander at our list (conveniently on the fridge), pick something and hopefully keep the inevitable, "I'm bored" and "there is nothing to do" at bay a little longer. 

Here's to a fun summer with lots of sleeping in!! :)

It's late, let's chat...

Want to know what I think about at 1 in the AM? 

No? 

Well, that's just rude! 

Here is the deal, I will forget how rude you all were a minute ago and tell you anyway. 

As I sit here at work, the top 5 things I am thinking about are;

1. What didn't get done at home that day (technically the day before)

2. What fun things we are going to do throughout the week/weekend

3. Hope and pray my children sleep in tomorrow (technically today)

4. My bed and how much I miss said bed

5. Things that should be in my wardrobe that sadly are not (insert going to look on Pinterest and pin 10.5 million things)

Super riveting things I am currently thinking about right?! I knew everyone would agree! 

Hah!  ;P 

 Not my image (googled comfortable bed), but this is how I imagine my bed and husband while I am at work. Calm down people it's just a cake! 

Harper's first day!

Harper has been waiting for "10 years" for Kindergarten to start, and the day finally arrived on August 21st. She was dying for the clock to hit 12:35 because that meant we could get in the car and head to school (PM kinder starts at 12:45). I did get teary eyed, and Keith made sure to make fun of me. Haha! But, I am a proud Mama. 

Harper had a great first day, and loves Kindergarten! She also already hates homework (darn). 

Back to School Celebration

Every year we make a big deal about going back to school, but this year we had a celebration on the night before school started (August 13th). First I would like to say, I thought of this all on my own. every. single. detail. And Pinterest was not involved at all (if you believed the last couple of sentences, then you my friend have been duped). Seriously though in this day and age how can Pinterest not be involved?  I LOVED how everything turned out, but the best part was that the kids absolutely LOVED it (I smell a new tradition)!

Top left: free printable found here. Right pic: I just cut out squares and wrote school rocks, and hung up paper airplanes.

Bottom left: our table decor for the evening with our new family dinner questions jar found here.

Place settings for the kids going back to school! Please note: my nephew joined us. I do not have a child starting 12th grade and do not even want to think about my babies starting high school let alone being on their last year mmkaythanks. Also what the hey, said nephew will be 18 soon...wahhh?! 

 Two happy kiddos ready for School to start! 

Back to the Grind

This year like every year it seems like school just kinda sneaks up on us. It starts out nice and slow and then right when you get into the groove of hardly having a schedule BAM! The calendar smacks you in the face, and taunts you. Anyway, the 14th was Atticus' first day of third grade. Holy moley, is he really that old? Follow up question, am I really that old?? Currently the answers to both of those are yes. However that will change at the end of this year, since I am pretty sure this will be my last birthday that I actually age up. 29 forever right? Ha! I digress, onto the pictures ( I know that is what you come here for). 

Atticus came home all smiles! He had a great day and loves his teacher(as do I)! Third grade is off to a great start!!

Harper of course was ticked off once again this year when we dropped off Atticus and, "why can't I go to school now?" was heard every hour or so. She perked up later in the afternoon when we went to  do her kindergarten assessment, which she rocked! She is so ready for it to be the 21st. 

Pins

There is literally a pin for everything on Pinterest and I have literally pinned them all (ok not literally and not them all). Although I have not pinned them all (yet), I have pinned 758 pins. I do actually use pins from my boards, but I don't tend to document it (unless it is really cool). So, I am following Jamie's lead and doing a Pinterest challenge of my own of sorts. I am hoping to get to some of my bigger DIY pins since school is starting and I will have a whole 2 hours and 45 minutes of zero kids in the house. Anyway, lets kick things off right with a dessert pin.

Pin número 1: cookie bowls (original pin)(pictures only) I also saw this over at delirious rhapsody.

This was a big hit and I definitely see more of these in our future. Super simple too! 
All you need is, a cupcake pan, cupcake liners, and cookie dough!    
  

 I used some pre-made dough I already had (two squares per bowl) and mold over each cup (Harper helped me out).

Bake for about 12-15 minutes. At this point I thought it was going to end up like one of those "nailed it" pins.

Add ice cream and chocolate syrup, or whatever your little heart desires and enjoy! 

Yearly Q&A.

It's been a long time and junk...a lot has gone on since I yada, yada, yada... you know the standard blogger (that goes on a long blogging hiatus and then pops back up after a year) speech.
 The thing is I have such a love-hate relationship with blogging. I love getting to look back on all of the posts and know they are here as long as the internet still exists, but hate having to actually sit down and blog said posts. I think however the guilt is what wins in the end. My kids scrap books are WAY behind (hey! just like this blog) and I really feel the mom guilt pile on. SO, since blogging IS easier then scrap booking ( I will catch up on the scrapbooks one of these days). I will continue to have a love-hate relationship and a post here and there, with a lot missing in between (just keeping it real) (yes, I just said keeping it real).  Plus the added bonus of pretending to write to millions of readers who are just dying to read my very hilarious antics and what nots. Here we go again.

Anyway, every year on August 3rd we ask our  children the same set of questions. Here are this years answers.

Pioneer Day july 24, 2013

Atticus
Age:8

Favorites:
Book- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (all of them)
Food- pizza
Candy- Twix
Place to go- the rec center
Color- Red
Movie- Tron Legacy
TV Show- None
Thing to play- Little Big Planet 2

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a video game designer!

Harper
Age: 5

Favorites:
Book- 101 Dalmatians
Food- eggs with cholula
Candy- all of the candies
Place to go- Disneyland
Color- pink & purple
Movie- Despicable Me
TV Show- Doc McStuffins
Thing to play- I like to play at the park with the big twisty slide

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a mom and a dentist!

First Day For Harper.

Harper had her first day of pre-k on Tuesday Sept 4th. Holy cow was she excited! She could hardly contain herself. I did manage to control my emotions until I was back in the car, and then I shed some tears. It is so bitter sweet, I love to see her grow up, but it just goes by so quickly. Even though this isn't my first time having a child start school, it was just as hard as the first.

Harper absolutely loved it and couldn't wait for the next day. On Wednesday she was ready to walk out of the door by 9:30, the only problem with that is school starts at 11:20 for her. She had a long wait. Haha.

Bleh!

It has been a long day. Can it be tomorrow already, or better yet the weekend?
After the kids were tucked into bed I took a very long, much needed bubble bath with a couple of my favorite things! It was just what I needed! Here's hoping that tomorrow and Friday will fly by!!

*blogging from my phone, hopefully the post isn't all weird.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: No More Pictures Mom!

When Harper does not want her picture taken (which seems to be a lot of the time lately), this is what I get:

I tend to take pictures of just about everything (I can't help it, I want to have photos to go along with the memory) (<--Cheesy much?) (Haha), so hopefully she will go through the "no more pictures" phase quickly!

*This was right after her pre-school assessment, which she rocked!

Linking up with The Paper Mama for Wordless{ish} Wednesday.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: First Day of School

 Love this boy!!

Atticus was so excited this morning, which was awesome since last week he was saying that he never wanted school to start back up.
I found these cute first day printables here .

I am linking up with The Paper Mama for wordless{ish} Wednesday.

Trial Run.

School starts tomorrow for Atticus, and let's just say that this summer he has had practically no real schedule. So, this morning we did a trial run. We had a rough beginning with a lot of grumpy faces and a little bit of whining. While we were eating breakfast, we talked about the new school year. Like what he was excited/nervous about. By the time it was time to "leave" for school everyone was clean, dressed, fed, HAPPY and ready to walk out of the house! Atticus even said, "That was really fun and I am excited for the real thing!" It was seriously a huge relief for me. Here's hoping tomorrow goes just as smooth if not more so!

Ready for second grade!

Yearly Questions.

Every year towards the end of the summer we ask the kids the same questions, to see how much their answers change as they grow.  We always have fun comparing each years answers ( we started the Q&A when Atticus was 3 years old)!

 
Atticus Q&A
Age: 7

Favorites
Color: Red
Movie: The Simpson Movie
Candy: Twix
Thing to play: Little Big Planet 2
Place to go: Lagoon and the kid museum in Las Vegas
TV Show: Adventure Time
Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be an Engineer!


Harper Q&A
Age: 4

Favorites
Color: Pink and Purple
Movie: The Little Mermaid
Candy: Laffy Taffy
Thing to play: with my littlest pet shops
Place to go: Disneyland and the kids museum in Las Vegas
TV Show: Dora
Book: The 101 Dalmatians book

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a pet Doctor!!  

Pinterest Project.

I was in desperate need of a way to get my jewelry out of the mess of a jewelry box that I had. So, I of course turned to Pinterest! I wanted something that would keep my necklaces from getting tangled and something that would keep me from losing earrings. The jewelry frame fit the bill perfectly!

All you will need is:
- a frame
-paint
-little hooks (.80 for a pack at Wal Mart)
-screen/mesh (.86 for a yard at Ace Hardware)
-stapler
-drill with little drill bit

First: grab a frame, any frame. It doesn't even need a back or glass. Choose a pretty color (I favor yellow) and start painting! Let dry.

Next: cut your screen to fit your frame. Pull tight across the back of the frame and staple all over till it is nice and secure. Then decide where you want your hooks and mark it. Drill little holes and screw in the hooks.

Last: hang up, add jewelry and admire your crafty-ness!

This project was so simple and cheap! I absolutely love the outcome! You should totally make one. I promise you won't regret it!

My Pinteret inspiration 
My How Does She inspiration 

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: shop chair races.

Linking up with The Paper Mama, parenting BY dummies, jenni from the blog, Project Alicia, and then, she {snapped}, 5 Minutes for Mom, Sarah Halstead

The time has come my friends!

To return to this here blog! I miss this little blog, my own little space to document my children and our random happenings! Now that school is starting up in 15 days (sad face) and both of my children will be in school, um come again? Both of my children are old enough for school?!? It still boggles my mind! Any who, where was I? I don't even know. But, with Harper starting pre school and Atticus going into second grade I thought it was time to get back to documenting. Since so much time has passed between my last blog post and now, I will not be recapping it here. The pictures are on every social media outlet known to man anyhow (except for myspace...I mean seriously ew ;P)! So, here's to getting back into blogging and junk! Hehe, hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do! ♥

"Hello? Anybody there? I am back!"

and a party was had...

November 5, 2011 birthday party recipe:

piñata

bounce house

presents

cake

wishes

family

and friends!

Yes, all of those things make for a successful 7th birthday party!