there was this one time...

like little treasures!

tonight while procrastinating on a layout, i came across a folder that i keep on my computer desktop titled: print. i don't normally print from there because most of my photos are stored by month in my photo area. this particular area is for photos i find in odd places on my computer- or in past past past months, but were never edited, just left and forgotten.. but meant to be printed at a later date. needless to say, i rarely check this folder. but tonight i did. and oh, such sweet jewels i found!!! early one morning. fluffy hair. polka dot thermal jammies. sweet breath. i could just bottle that baby smell up. i love it so. 

i wonder how annoying it is to have a camera shoved in your face when you first wake up. 

finally a smile! 

so these were all taken with a wide lens. she always looks a little different to me when i shoot her with a wide lens. she was almost 2 here. on sunday, she'll be 3. time flies. we are a big snuggle family. elsie is found in our bed numerous times throughout the day, pat pat patting her blue blankie and having fingers :) and requesting snuggles. that's our girl! we are so happy to oblige :)

being home

about nine years ago, we were living far from our family in virginia beach- we had one car and I had a toddler, a baby and a kindergartner. We spent lots of time inside our home, baking, playing, jut passing time till daddy came home. I would sit around, missing my family, and finding ways to make each day seem different than the one before.I look back and think that was the hardest time of my parenting years! Now that time has passed, i can see that those years sped by, and I am longing for just a day or two of those long, cold, virginia beach days. Today as I was cleaning the boy's room, I came across a few little toys that took me back to their little days. I ached for them. Now my days are incredibly busy with their activities and sports, which I loove them taking part in, it's just hectic.
I suppose all this reflecting has been partly due to elsie's new fascination with 'toy story'---we'd watch those movies day after day- we went nowhere without buzz lightyear. And now she loves them:)
I thought about how els and I get into our daily routine of doing stuff, busying ourself and today I stopped and threw in the towel. I got on the floor with her and made endless cups of tea and read countless books. I even took her for a walk. I'll admit that sometimes I am just not in the mood for it- I have to be in the mood :) I know that in a few years I'm going to be longing for her at home with me, just as I do now with the other 3 kids. I'm so thankful to have been home with all my babies. Long days, endless chatter and all.


what can i say, im a total sap :)

it's finally clearing up

around here. it's been raining and cold and just too much for me. i can't stand the rain. all i want to do is curl up with my blankie and read or watch movies- where my biggest goal of the day is to thaw my feet out and do as little as possible. :) ha, neither fully pans out. some pics of the elfster in vegas a few weeks ago:

chris took both of them and i just love them to pieces!! she's so funny! tonight- more funnies:

as we're getting her ready for bed, she asks: do i need to brush my teeth? 

i say: yes, of course. 

she says: say no, say no, say no. 

lol

then when discussing our selection of dessert, she says: you need to buy more ice cream for kids and babies, not just mommies. (she's referring to my freezer which is currently only stocked with coffee ice cream) 

:)

she's cute. and will be 3 in about 10 days! CRAZY!!!! 

since i haven't been taking many photos-thanks to the lovely rain that puts me in such a great mood :)

i will leave you with a few of my current favorites! chris was out of town last week and came home with the loveliest bath gel stuff for moi! honey lemon goodness :) and this cute little friend for els! also my favorite current dessert: trader joe's coffee ice cream with pavillions flourless chocolate truffle cake. sinful! craving these chicken caeser wraps from father nature so often. finally reading this series and laughing lots! and wanting to see this movie again and again! scrapbook wise- very excited to get my hands on this! lovin this etsy store mucho, this being my one of my faves. 

that's it. if anyone knows a good 'to do' list app for the iphone, i'd be ever so happy! :)

kinda funny

i made caleb's teacher a valentine card.

no i was not jazzed that he wrote on the front of the card! hello! :) oh well. here's the inside:

lol lol "i hope the school year can continue like this" lol- he's sooo funny! 

elsie and i volunteered at his valentine party today. i love how all the girls in his class are such mother hens- running up to E and loving on her. she loves it too :) outside the school: 

and her funnies from the last couple of months----

me: elsie i am going to get your dinner ready. 

elsie: is it going to be disgusting?

me: elsie, time for a nap.

elsie: princesses don't do that. 

after me spewing out numerous directions to my numerous children, elsie: mom, stop whining. 

and ever so dramatically- out of nowhere she will say in her princess voice, i never dreamed! 

on our way to have a picnic yesterday, i realized it was too cold outside (55degrees), so we sat in the car with our lunch. elsie pleads with me to go outside. i open the door and let her out. (she's like my little puppy- lol) and she's running on the grass (right outside my car door, as i sit in the seat and watch her from the warm car) barefoot- come and join me, it will be fun! (i do not, i stay inside) then 2 minutes later, it sure is cold, im coming back in! 

while chris is giving her a huge dose of squeezes and kisses and she cannot get away, she says- my brothers will destroy you. (that is said in a star wars voice- not to be taken seriously people)

she's pretty funny. to us at least :)

seven years ago today!

it seems a lot of reminiscing is going on here! :) well, here's my seven year 2peas anniversary story-- it's their 10 year this year so it seems fitting to celebrate my 7th! 

seven years ago, we were living on the east coast, in virginia beach- far from our family. the internet must not have been that huge to me at that point in my life, (i mean i know i wasn't addicted to checking my email every 5 minutes, i may not have even had an email account at that time!) as i was really big into sending my family cards with photos of our family. i had been introduced to stampin up and immediately fell in love. i remember going to a stampin up party and coming home and telling chris how much i loved it- he must have thought i was crazy for sure. anyways, late one night while browsing card sites, i stumbled upon 2peas-- they had a card section that i browsed, but it was when i made my way over to the black and white section- i knew that was it. i always had thought scrapbooking was sorta cheesy before- but once i saw this gallery, i knew this is the way i wanted to scrapbook. there in the gallery were 3 ladies who inspired me so much- tara, cathy and joy U,- i will always think of them when i remember this story. this was when simple was in it's beginning phases. and so i started out categorized as that. simple. anyways, if i didn't have an internet addiction before, i clearly had one then... i would check the gallery constantly and began posting myself. two years after signing up, kristina emailed, asking me to become a garden girl- i had been a big fan of the girls' work there so i was and am still super giddy about being a part of the team. here's a few layouts i did recently for 2peas:

there you go! i can't believe how much my life has changed since i began scrapbooking, i am so thankful that i stumbled upon 2 peas that late night in february 2002! 

eight is great!

(warning, we write these posts for posterity, as such they are FULL of praise for our kids- read at your own discretion!  let the dotage begin:)
what does a dream day look like for a newly minted eight year old?  not what you might think.
no race carts, no roller-coasters, no fancy dinners.  with the one day a year that was his to write, caleb penned a simple tale: toying around with his best friend (his brother), tackling the marvel universe in 'ultimate alliance,' and spending some quality time at home, his favorite place in the world! in fact, if we hadn't dragged him to church and to the grand opening of dots, i'm pretty sure our little homebody would have been happy to stay in his pj's all day.
caleb is also our little firecracker, bringing a spark of joy, humor and passion wherever he goes.  he may be small (and he is, still wearing size six jeans) but he has a large and welcoming presence that makes him a favorite at school and of course, here at home. 
for years caleb was the baby of the family, and in many ways we still see him as such.  he's just so darned snuggly!  despite his propensity for home, caleb easily makes new friends and is extremely adaptable in his play; he's up for whatever suits his playmates, and dives headfirst into their pursuits.  his teachers appreciate this gung ho approach as well as it applies equally to his classwork.  in this manner, caleb leads in a non abrasive way, if it's possible, he leads by following. 
what i love most about caleb is his laugh. it's quick, a little husky and hopelessly contagious, tinged with just enough mischief to make it unmistakably boyish.  it's the kind of laugh that draws in all comers, the kind that makes us pray that the well from which he draws it out never dries up.
with caleb, eight is truly great!
p.s. my favorite gift for caleb was the new diary of a wimpy kid.  if you have boys, are a boy, or want to understand them, read this book.  caleb gives it a thumbs up, and take it from caleb, he knows funny:)

snow

last week we headed to vegas as chris had a work conference and we have good friends who live there. basically we hung out while he worked. :) on our last day, before we headed home, we went to a nearby mountain to let the kids run around.




stopping at a nearby lodge for a hot chocolate break. this was elsie's first time in the snow. she loved it like she loves dirt.. just laying it in and get all cozy in it!


it's quite tricky shooting in the snow!

the kids had so much fun... unfortunately at the end of our day-as we were heading back to the car, i managed to drop the keys in the snow.. and for a good 4 hours we were locked out. the rest of the story is even more crazy so i'll just leave it as it was quite traumatic for us all... needless to say we are safe and sound and thankful to be back in warm, sunny southern california!