Family Friday

Well, another October is in the books!  Time is just flying by!  We had our fun with pumpkin patches, Fall activities, and trick-or-treating. Now it's into November we go.  I cannot believe how quickly Christmas is approaching.  This mom needs to get it in gear!  Here are a few shots from October.  This mom also need to use our camera more. Phone camera shots turned out a little fuzzy.  I am envisioning clearer pictures for the upcoming holidays already! Have a good weekend everyone!

Growing faster than a pumpkin in the pumpkin patch!

All three of us squeezed into a little train seat. 

Getting her first official trick or treating in at the mall.

First time trick-or-treating house to house!

Family Friday

I recently saw this really cute idea on Pinterest. I am beginning to think that all cute ideas might come from that wonderful site, but that's okay because a good idea is a good idea. Don't you just love Facebook, Pinterest, and blogs for that reason alone?  Let's all just share the ideas and spark some more....makes life more interesting!


Anyways, this was the pic that caught my eye....

The idea is to hold a pic of another pic on each anniversary.  Well, I don't know how this would work for every year, but we just celebrated our 5th anniversary.  I totally planned on doing this, and we WILL do it sometime this week.  So far though whenever I think to do it, I'm either still in my pj's or Chad is running out the door for work, etc.  I figure we still have time to get our pic with our pic.  Until it is actually taken though, this is what we did in the meantime.....

Soon we will take a pic of us holding this. This week! We can do it!

In the meantime, here we are holding up 5's for our 5th anniversary.

Comparing these two photos, I don't think we look that much different. Thankfully, we haven't drastically aged over 5 years or anything. Hush if you disagree! However, there is one noticeable difference there in the middle!  I still love this pic, and I still want to do the original plan.  I am thinking though that we will do one of just us holding our wedding day shot, and one with Blake in there too. It'll add interest for when we take our 10 year anniversary pic, or for any year we feel like. How cool to someday be sitting there with our kids and grandkids!  Anyways, just an idea to throw out there if anyone else would like to do the same or similar.

Have a great weekend everyone! Oh, and if you didn't catch it yesterday....all next week I will post only from my "Daily Cup of T" Facebook page (click here to see it).  So please "like" my page if you'd like to read next week's posts.  Thanks! Who knows?  Maybe I'll get all official and have a fun giveaway or something the way the other fancy blogs sometimes do!:)

Family Friday

Chocolate's "Return"

On our family vacation to Disneyland, only one thing went wrong.  We accidentally left behind one of our daughter's favorite stuffed animals in our hotel room. Shoot!  It was a little pink pony that she named "Chocolate".  Why the name Chocolate for a pink pony? Well, we met a real live horse named Chocolate not too long ago, and ever since then Blake started calling her pony that too.

Chocolate's last whereabouts.  The circle is courtesy of my new Smilebox app. :)

Anyways, we realized this was not a major problem.  However, we didn't know how Blake would react. She has a lot of stuffed animals, but this was one she was more attached to. (Remember the elephants Him and Her? They are so last season.)  Well, we checked with the hotel several times, but Chocolate never turned up.  She must have just galloped off into the sunset with some other family! Talk about one silly filly! I am still a little shocked, but we are moving on. ;)


Luckily, Blake really didn't seem to miss her as much as we thought she would. Every now and then she would ask for Chocolate, and it was starting to get more and more frequent.  We just kept replying that we weren't sure where she was, and that we'd find her later. 


We know it wasn't necessary, but for around $10 we did find a replica and just ordered it.  Another reason I love Google!  I simply put in "pink corduroy stuffed pony" and found her within a couple minutes of searching.  Awesome!  "Chocolate #2" or "Chocolate the Second?" arrived last night.  

As you can see, Blake is happy that we "found" her Chocolate.

The swap went off without a hitch! Blake was thrilled to see her pony again! Chad and I went from panicked to stalling to relief.  Next trip we will be more careful. Wallet, phones, rings...check, check, check...Chocolate...double check!  

P.S. I love that my partner in crime, Chad, was concerned enough to make calls to the hotel for several days about this matter.  Also, that he considered buying more than one pony to have a back-up on hand. Haha!  I love you Chad!  Blake is a lucky girl to have a dad like you, and I am a lucky wife.  Looking forward to celebrating 5 years of marriage with this great guy tonight!:)

Family Friday

I feel like once October hit, we have just hit it in high gear.  We had our big trip to Disneyland, and we've been to some smaller activities such as a carnival, an open house at the fire station....looking forward to getting to the pumpkin patch, our anniversary is coming up, and the list goes on.

We've been busy, but it's a good busy.  The more we get out and about though, the more I get behind on stuff around the house.  I need to hit the laundry room and the grocery store.  So now the real fun begins! Here are some recent pics for my little family update.  Hope you all have a great weekend and a busy October as well!

We really enjoyed this little family vacation!

Blake was super excited to meet Mickey.

Picking out a unicorn at the Caruther's Fair.

Blake took this one of us.  This is what we look like to her.  Poor kid.

She got to see a bunch of firetrucks and spray the water hose.

Blake does not look enthused, but she was having a good time!:)

Family Friday

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

This family is recharging today after returning home from a couple days at Disneyland.  We had a blast visiting the land of the famous Mickey Mouse. However, we are now recovering from having too much fun. Naps all around...not a creature will be stirring not even a mouse.  I am so tired.  I was going for something clever there...trying to stick with the mouse theme.  However, days like this I need to just step away from the keyboard. I'm zonked.


Have a great weekend everyone!

Family Friday

While cleaning out my closet recently, I came across this old T-shirt that has stuck with me throughout years.  That would be 23 years to be exact. I do believe it is the only article of clothing from the 80's that I still have.  So what is this? This 1988 Ski-Horse Champs T-shirt?  It is a souvenir from a childhood family vacation.

This T-shirt was bought in preparation for our family's vacation in the summer of 1988 to the Lake of the Ozarks.  We loved going to this place that was about 4 hours from our home.  We would stay on the lake and go boating, swimming, and hit the town for go-cart racing and miniature golf.  One of the best parts of boating as a kid was to go on the ski-bob or ski-horse.  This was a torpedo-like inner tube that two riders would sit on and be pulled from the back of the boat.  Us kids always thought we had different techniques for holding on for the longest amount of time possible,etc.  Eventually we would spill though and it would be someone else's turn.  We would often meet up with other families and this meant more kids and more fun.

Well, mainly this T-shirt was fun because my dad and I had them made as a surprise to go along with a "ski-horse championship contest" we were planning.  I am sure there were not many rules. We just called it a championship and said everyone had to try to have the longest time riding the ski-horse.  All five of us kids that year got a different shirt each in a different color.  Somewhere there is a video of us being announced in our shirts with our recorded time. It was a big to-do and just a twist to make the day even more fun.

The other part to this story which is comical now is that our grand plan for the whole thing almost turned out to be a dud.  What happens when a 10-year-old girl and her dad plan on taking surprise T-shirts on vacation?  Well, they forget to pack them of course!  We got all the way there and I realized I left them hiding in my bedroom closet (which in that day was immaculate because I was a neat freak).  Anyways, being a typical 10-year-old, I was devastated.  Dad told mom what was up (if she didn't already secretly know) to explain why I was devastated and so we could call Grandma to ship them to us.  Grandma saved the day and we got our shirts.  I was slightly bratty and crying that dad told mom our surprise (it's okay dad, I get it now being a parent myself). Dad felt bad that I felt bad. But you know what?  It all made for an interesting story later.  We got the shirts, we had a blast, and I smile whenever I see that I still have this little old T-shirt.

I loved going on vacations as a kid, and we are planning our first official one here soon with our daughter Blake.  Of course she may not remember the first one we put on the books, but us adults will.  Finding this shirt was just a nice little reminder of how fun they can be... even when it doesn't go as perfectly as planned. And for the record, Brian and I won that year and it had nothing to do with the fact we were the oldest.  We had real skill and we were the 1988 Ski-Horse Champs!;)

Family Friday

It's not like all we do is visit parks and carousels, but we did get to do that again last weekend.  We took a very last minute trip up to Fresno, CA to visit Rotary Storyland and Playland Park.  It made for an awesome little trip for us all!  The park itself is a little older and could use some maintenance here and there.  However, Blake did not seem to mind.  Here we are taking in some of the sights...

Keeping a close eye on that caterpillar.

Checking out a "real" castle with mommy.

Having fun running around, and
with the slides that shoot off this pirate ship.

Checking out Little Red Riding Hood's
Wolf-like Grandma inside.

Squirming to leave this shack
 and go back to the
 old school merry-go-round behind us.

Quick train ride.

Chugging along and watching some ducks.

Living out her dream for the week:
A return to the horsies!:)
She was all business in this pic though.

We had never been to this place before, and we were pleasantly surprised!  Took a little more than an hour, ~$15 for us three, and included a castle, pirate ship, train ride, carousel and more!  Not too bad!  Also not so sure it'll be topped this weekend.  Oh well, it was fun!  TGIF!!!

Family Friday

What We've Been Up to Lately...

Well, I honestly kind of have a mental block as to what we have been up to lately.  Ever do that? It's like we are always busy doing something, and then when someone asks, I just draw a blank. How long does pregnancy brain last again?;) Here some shots from the past few weekends. We've been getting out and about. However, it's still really hot here so I am definitely looking forward to cooler weather.  No major plans for the weekend, but it's nice to have a weekend to lay low. I know what Blake wants to do though....ride the downtown carousel! We took her last weekend and she literally has been talking in her sleep about riding the horsies again.  The only downfall is that it makes us parents a little dizzy and then she is just unbelievably sad when it is time to go. Oh well, better to ride a little than to have never ridden at all, huh?:)  Have a great weekend everyone!

We had a lot of fun at Sequoia National Park.
In this pic, Blake is the only one of us looking at the right camera,
 and she has on the most appropriate shoes for a hike.
One of these days her parents will get it together!

We love this cute carousel that runs in the downtown square.

She got to go swimming at a friend's.  Such a little fishy!

I think next summer we'll have to hit a pool more often.
 She kept referring to it as "the ocean".   Ha!
 One trip to the ocean, and now anything bigger than the bathtub is the ocean.
Oh well, lots of years to catch up on pool time!;)

Family Friday

Just something that happened this past week I thought I'd share....


Blake and I were out on a jog yesterday morning, and we were joined by this little guy.  The happiest little dog ever!  I feel I usually have a pretty good situational awareness, but he totally snuck up on us.  I actually felt something brush my ankle, and looked down to see this little dog in between my feet!  Well, after being startled and jumping as high as I could, and yelling something embarrassing like "blablalalalalaaa", I realized he was friendly and in need of help.




He had no tag, just a collar with a half chewed off leash.  It has still been reaching high temps of 100 degrees around here and his feet were caked in mud.  Well, we got him some water and he followed us home a good 2-3 blocks through the neighborhood.  Blake kept shouting "come'ere little puppy, we'll help you!"  Seeing how friendly he was and hearing Blake say that over and over, left me no choice.  We got home to give him more water and some dog food, and called animal control to come pick him up.  It felt good to do a good deed for our four legged friend!  Hope he makes it home safely!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Family Fridays

What We've Been Up to Lately...


Today is a super busy one for us.  We are getting some things done around the house before our family arrives this evening.  I thought I'd end the week with these two cute things Blake has been saying that are new this week, and two cute stuffed animals that she has grown very fond of.


1. Sometimes when I go to get Blake up from either a night of sleep or her nap time, my hair might happen to still be wet from taking a shower.  Well, she does not like me to have wet hair at all.  In fact, she asks that I go dry it before she gets out of bed.  Why?  No clue.  I think it is cute though.  She'll say "you have to keep your hair dry mommy, okay?"  So I'll give her a book to read to her stuffed animals and I then I get extra time to dry my hair and/or put on make-up.


2.  At night, she used to really cry for maybe 20 -30 seconds in protest of bedtime before just giving up and laying down for bed.  She used to cry much longer, but the 30 second thing was our last phase, and I thought that was good.  Well now, magically, she is fine with bedtime as long as we tell her what we are going to do.  For example, if I'm putting her down and Chad is downstairs, she'll say "you go downstairs mommy and go talk to daddy".  I'll agree to do that, and it's lights out and goodnight.  I'm loving this new stage.  She's been doing the same thing for Chad.  I'm sure it will not last long, but I'll take it!

Meet "Her" and "Him".

They go where we go.  Here is Blake and "Her" getting the mail.

Chad got her these two elephants out of a crane machine at the bowling alley.  They are named "Her" and "Him", and they are Blake's babies.  She takes very good care of these little guys.  Not a lot new this week, but with Blake's personality coming out more and more each day, we are plenty entertained!  Have a great weekend everyone!:)

Family Fridays

What We've Been Up to Lately...


I'd say this week went by quickly for us.  I feel like I just wrote last Friday's post and here we are again.  We had our basic routines of work and play.  Sometimes play can still feel like work though. At least it sure did for me this morning at a bounce house full of toddlers.  Mommy was more worn out than Blake without question.  All that bouncing, chasing, and disciplining makes me question who really needs that afternoon nap more!


Anyways, last Sunday we had our pictures taken by professional photographer so that was something new.  This was a first for us.  We take lots of pictures ourselves that we like, but we've never actually paid anyone to take any (except one time at The Picture People when they were having a deal). I see lots of great photos that families have taken. I just never have been dying to spend the money or time getting them done.  


Well, it was actually a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it.  We'll see how they turn out.  We were in an outside setting near some horse stables.  It was still kind of hot out being 91 degrees, and it's not easy getting a two year old to always follow direction, but we did it!  I originally did not want to be all in the same color, because when are we ever?  However, after unsuccessfully putting together a mix of outfits, I settled on all white after all.  This particular photographer does "lifestyle shots", not really posed, just us hanging out.  Hopefully soon we'll get to see our shots, and I'll share them on here.  It will be us in our all white shirts, just hanging out by the horse stables, like most days. ;)


This pic is one I snapped on my phone when we were all done. It's a little fuzzy, and by no means professional looking.  However, I find it to be "the real lifestyle shot".   It's a little more of our real day to day. Monitoring what is going in, and when it is coming out...... :)

Family Friday

What We've Been Up to Lately...

We started potty training with Blake about a month ago.  She has been doing great overall.  We've found it's not always an easy process.  I wouldn't say we have it down all the way yet, but we are showing major improvement.  One thing is for sure, she LOVES to wash her hands.  So much that this is what happens when we stop....

Awww! I want to wash my haaaaannnnds!  Sniffle, sniffle.... :)

 When Chad is not at work or working on his car, he is checking on the fruit trees out back.  Blake loves this too.  She often says  "I want to go see the trees, daddy!"

 

 I am usually the picture taker, but Chad snapped this one of me last Sunday.  I did alright until they kicked up the speed.  Kind of scary in the moment when you have no clue how you're going to land.  No broken bones though!  So I guess I did better at this than the last time I went rollerskating!

Sierra has been a good girl lately too, so I thought I'd include her on our little family update.  Yesterday I was trying to take a picture of this sign I recently bought, and she kept jumping in the shot.  Thought she looked cute posing for me.  

Not any major events, but we've been enjoying just taking it easy!
Have a great weekend everyone!