And away they go!

And by they I'm referring to these here beauties:


Yep, these are Isabella's Carnival Birthday Party invitations. And I'll make sure to share the inside later, after everyone has received them.

The kids and I went on a quick trip to the post office this morning to mail them out. All 16 of them. To the tune of $1.05 in postage each. Ouch! I'm thinking that next time I might just hand deliver them.

Anyway, we are so excited that they are finally on their way, which means we're pretty much at the point of no return. Although the party isn't until July 18th I still have SO much to do. So I better get back to work.

Oh and BTW, is it just me or is it totally crazy that tomorrow is already July? Seriously!

Summer To-Do's

So, last week Isabella and I got together and thought about all the fun stuff we wanted to do this summer. We came up with a bunch of different activities, some small and some big, but every single one of them FUN! We then decided to put it down on paper so that (a) we wouldn't forget and (b) we could check them off as we did them (this is to satisfy mommy's love of lists and need for crossing things off).

This here is our Summer 2009 Fun List:

As you can see it's not anything formal. Just a few ideas of what we consider to be fun activities. And being that Isabella's school doesn't start back up until September 3rd, well we still have lots of fun time ahead of us.

Some of the activities on the list are ongoing things that we do rather frequently, such as color, paint, swim at Tata's, blow bubbles, play games, take pictures, etc. But then again, I did ask her to list off everything she wanted to do.

Others are currently in process, such as watching all the Disney Princesses movies. Isabella just got into the Princesses and every week we watch one or two movies. So far Tinkerbell is still her favorite, with Ariel from The Little Mermaid a close second.

And then you have the ones that are in the near future, such as the fireworks on the 4th, her carnival birthday party, and going to the beach.

Today we got to check off the Botanic Gardens since we went with our friends to feed the crazy fish and enjoy a nice picnic lunch.

I think it'll be interesting to look at the list in August and see all the fun things we did during these hot summer months.

Happy Birthday, Christian Javier!

I cannot believe that today we celebrated my nephew's 12th birthday. He is growing up to be such an amazing young man. He is such a big part of our lives. Not to mention that my children totally adore him.

Happy Birthday, Buddy! We love you so much!

Isabella's Mantra:

Yep, that's our risks averse girl at the pool this morning. Not only is she wearing a life vest, floaties on her arms, and a float ring around her, but she's also sitting on the very first step. Here's the kicker,... regardless how hard I tried, I could not get her off that step and into the water.

But then we had a breakthrough. It all started with her going out into the "open waters" (sans the float ring) as long as she was holding my hands. Than she settled for holding one of my fingers. And finally she decided she could do it on her own and this is what we ended up with:

People, this is HUGE!

She is actually on her own! You have no idea the begging and pleading I've done in the last month or so to get her to feel more comfortable in the water, especially while wearing all that protection. I guess today was the day she decided she was safe enough. As of today going to the pool has taken a whole new meaning for her. Yay!

And what about Sam, you ask. Well, our concerns with him are totally different. With Sam is more about making sure he doesn't jump off the edge when we're not ready for him or suddenly slip out our arms while in the water or going under for too long. He is a fish and a wild one at that!

Like a kid in a candy shop

Tonight I'm going out with some girlfriends.

First, we're having dinner and drinks here:

Oh Spindini, how I love thee,...

Then we're going here:


To see:


Can I just tell you how excited I am?
I'm like a kid in a candy shop!

Books Galore

This morning we visited and became members of the Cordova Public Library, after over 5 years of living here. Pathetic, isn't it? I'm not sure why we didn't do it sooner as much as we all love books. It's not like we haven't been in it a million times before for Story Time. Oh well, better late than never right? Anyway, Isabella was ecstatic to get her own membership card, just like Little Bill did on his show.

In addition, I enrolled both kids in the library summer reading program that runs through the end of July. Isabella LOVES books so this is right up her alley. Sam not so much, but we're working on it. Anyway, we're supposed to document all the books we read together and as they accumulate the kids get prizes.

Once I found a book to entertain Sam with and gave the OK for Isabella to go on her book search she went nuts! She brought so many books back to our table I had to actually reel her in a bit. When it was all said and done this is the stack of books we came home with:


Yes ladies and gentlemen, we came home with a total of 14 books, and that was after I was able to weed quite a few of them out. As you can see she picked a couple Dr. Seuss books and Clifford books by Norman Bridwell were a big seller, as well as a collection of books by Barbro Lindgren and Eva Eriksson about a boy named Sam. How appropriate!

We're supposed to begin our "readathon" after today's nap time, and I can't wait. So here's to fun books, good company and spending some time in the cool indoors.

I'm alive!

I cannot even believe that it's already been two weeks since my last post. Seriously, where does the time go?

OK, so we recently celebrated Isabella's best friend's fourth birthday party at Pump-It-Up. Can I just tell you how much I love watching these two play together?

Isabella & Hudson

Both his mom and I joke about them being betrothed to each other. OMG, wouldn't it be funny if in a very distant future they actually did end up together? How cute would that be? One thing's for sure, between the two of us we have plenty of pictures of them for the rehearsal dinner slide show.

We had a wonderful Father's Day celebration yesterday. We went to church on Saturday night so that we could sleep in on Sunday and spend most of the day lounging around the house.

Scott and the kids right before the opening of the presents.

We then went over to my brother's house for dinner with the rest of the family.

Apparently the girls were enjoying a winter wonderland.
Did I mention it's been over 100°F around here?
My Mom & Dad.

My boys.

Me and my brother Chris.

Other than that, we've been SUPER busy around here lately. For one, I've been working like a maniac on planning Isabella's upcoming 4th birthday party. The invitations are made and ready to be mailed. This year we're doing a carnival theme and I'm thrilled with everything I've got planned and in the works. I only hope it turns out as fun as I'm envisioning it.

Last week Isabella had VBS and Scott used some vacation time to work on our latest DIY home improvement project, and let me tell ya it's a big one. Probably the biggest one we've ever tackled. It involves working outside under the burning sun in 100°F plus temperatures and strategically placing lots and lots of these:


As you've probably already figured out, we're putting in a brand new patio. The good news is we've gotten a lot of it done and it looks awesome. The bad news is we've still got a ways to go. I can honestly say it's been a monster of a project, but we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and cannot wait to finish it. I promise to share more and better pictures as soon as it's completed.

OK, gotta go now, but I promise to be back soon. Until then!

Birthday Weekend Recap

So I'm back! And would you believe me if I tell you I am not yet fully recuperated from my birthday celebration? Now that's how I know I'm getting old. I am definitely not as resilient as I used to be, that's for sure.

My birthday weekend celebration was fantastic. It all started on Friday night when some friends invited us to join them for the Train/Sister Hazel concert at the Botanic Gardens. The weather could not have possibly been better for an outdoor evening concert. The company was fun and funny to the point that by the end of the evening my cheeks were hurting so bad from laughing so much. Now tell me, who doesn't love that kind of pain?

Me and Danyelle enjoying a beverage before the concert began.
She gave me the cutest wine glass that I just had to use that night.

Saturday morning we got ready for a cookout. Scott cooked three racks of ribs on the smoker and my Dad, my brother and his family all came over. We enjoyed a whole lot of yummy food, sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and opened presents. By this time I honestly did not how I was going to physically make it to the big surprise Scott had planned for me.

On Saturday night Scott surprised me with dinner at Owen Brennan's where we were joined by most of the girls from my monthly Girl's Night Out group and their husbands. Scott and my good friend Hannah planned it together (which explains why she ignored me for most of the week). It was awesome! Yet again the night consisted of delicious food, awesome company, great conversation and lots of laughter.

Sunday morning Scott had to go to one of the Auto Zone stores for a new project roll-out so the kids and I had breakfast, got ready and waited for him to get home so that we could go to the zoo. We love the zoo. And although the kids and I frequent it quite often, Scott doesn't always get to join us. So off we went.

Scott and the kids immediately as we entered the zoo.

Sam totally mesmerized with the crazy monkeys.

The highlight of the day for Isabella:
Ridiculously overpriced face painting of a Rainbow Butterfly.

After walking through most of the zoo, we decided to have lunch and let the kids play on the playground for a bit before heading back home. Needless to say we were beat and every single one of us took a nice long nap.

Thanks Cakes for everything, especially for going out of your way to make this weekend so much fun and making me feel so special. I love you!

So busy. So hectic. So tired.

Phew, these last few days have literally worn me out. I have been on a constant go, go, go and need to pull the brakes, like now. Lucky for me I have a haircut appointment tomorrow and that's exactly the type of pampering I need. Hmm, maybe I should also go get a pedicure. Now we're talking!

This coming weekend is my birthday weekend and I cannot wait for the fun to begin. On Friday night we're going out to dinner with some dear friends and then to see Train perform at the Botanic Gardens. I don't know what's in store for Saturday since Scott's keeping it a secret, but I'm sure whatever it is will be awesome.

Well, I promise to be back soon with a meatier post. So until then,...