there was this one time...

flippy

the haircut is growing on me. especially when i see this flip. makes my heart ache. the flippy hair. the sundress. her little shoulders. she's standing at the bathroom sink here... she likes to hang out in front of the mirror and brush her hair and teeth. SOOOOoooo girly. sigh.
going to take more pics of my other kids.. esp since they are home for the summer. promise! :)
oh and suuuuuper funny. yesterday was our wedding anniversary. the kids and i were at dots (surprise, surprise) sitting at that glass window (see the website) looking out, eating our cakes...when who comes out around the corner.. chris. :) i am there getting him cupcakes, he came to get me cupcakes. lol. we are one!! or we are very uncreative! :) for a split second, i want to run and hide.. but the place is so small.. there is no where to go. he comes in and we totally laugh. everyone in the shop is laughing. this month has had so many celebrations- feels like we are there e v e r y d a y. :) yay.

temecula

--is where we went on saturday.
--is a pretty far drive without a lot of pretties to look at on the way.
--is where we took elsie to the park and discovered that she really IS a monkey.

(yes i do usually try and match the girl, but hey, we were out of town and she had to thrown on what was left in the bag) :)

--has the best looking ice cream trucks i HAVE EVER SEEN!

--is where our family from texas moved for a year.. and on saturday we said goodbye to them. :( we're gonna miss you guys. we hope to come visit you---really!!!

have a good weekend!

thanks for all the interest in the leftover kits! i sold the first 2 quick and was able to put 6 more together and sold those just as quick. i will be sure to kit extra next time! :) you scrapbookers amaze me! :)

some photos

the last day of school-- els will be so happy to have her playmates with her all day long. :)


in no rush to do anything at all... brother at her beck and call :)

our new 7th grader. SIGH!!!!!!!!!

and the new graduate:
***********oh and! :)
i have 2 kits left from my class if anyone wants to purchase them. LMK! :)

ch ch ch changes

she got a haircut last night. daddy cut it. the curls were getting in the way, making her scratch her neck too much... so bye bye they went. i think she looks younger... which i guess is a good thing since it's all just going way too fast.
kids are home for summer vacation.. we have a cousin staying for the week... should be interesting! :) back with lots more pics later.

happy father's day

to our family's coach and number 1 fan!!!!
he's also the barber, bathroom cleaner, car washer, wardrobe consultant, comedian, carpet police, chauffeur, computer technician, movie maker and protector. and he's my bestest friend in the whole wide world. we love you.

amazing time

last night was my class at the scrapbook oasis and it was an absolute blast. :) everyone was so friendly,  so into the projects... so many creative things going on in the room. so nice to connect with everyone. so glad my cousin chanda  came out. thank you. kira came along for the ride and i was so glad my little assistant was there. :) i didn't take ONE picture in class :( if anyone has any, can you send to me? :) ... sooo ironic because chris ended up taking the kids out and had to take pics with his camera phone.. he should have had my camera  because they were so cute. i am sending him back with the camera. :) i did get this shot of lovely california traffic. this is why you leave 3 hours early to go to your class even though you are really only 45 min away without traffic.

thanks again guys. hope we can do it again! :)

whirlwind

long gone are the days where we would sit around all weekend.. watching movies and relaxing to our heart's content! friday started with our wedding shoot. we were there all afternoon and night. it was fun, beautiful and tiring. :)
saturday we woke to a tee ball game (only one left for the season!) and then mom and kira helped me pack my kits. sooo thankful. that evening kira had a few friends over for a sleepover.. they got pedicures from my mom and I, watched a movie in the garage on the big screen with the projector and ate SO MUCH JUNK all night long. seriously all night. they didn't fall asleep till 4am. party animals. :)

caleb has decided he wants to learn how to play the piano. :) he taught himself how to play a tune from little einsteins and i was very impressed! i played for 10 years and could never play by ear. then he said, how does the tune from pan's labyrinth go? dude i would looove for him to learn how to play that! anyone know? :) and his mohawk is back for summer. :) even though this is the last week of school, we did it early. and got lots of funny looks from other parents. LOL whatever!

sunday we had a graduation BBQ and raced to another bday party right after. i was pooped. am pooped. and the worst part of it all is.............
i dropped my lens :( so my pictures will suffer for a bit till i get it fixed. waaaaaah. i so wanted this to turn out crisp and clear. she's so lovely. i love that glimpse of her little grubby foot. (jdm- i was sooo giddy to see that this dress still fits her! i thought it didn't and kira put her in it and i was so happy! she's totally wearing it everyday now! haha)

excited

about lots of things right now. yesterday, after we went out for birthday dinner at the yummilicious chipotle, we saw this cool painted wall and i pretty much kicked chris and kira out of the car and told them to take a picture. :) then later, over our favorite cupcakes, we asked kira what her favorite memory during her 11th year old year was. she didn't even have to think about it. she said... in my 11th year, we had her (pointing to elsie). i almost wept right there! :) we are so thankful that elsie has kira as a big sister. she's a great model for her.
she had a great day. thanks for all the birthday wishes. :)
almost all of my supplies are here. kira's having a sleepover on saturday with her friends and i joked that i'd be putting them to work doing kits. :) i am so thankful to all these companies who got this stuff out so quickly to me.
oh and this.

get it here. jennifer is such an inspiring scrapbooker and a great friend. there is sure to be a boat load of creative ideas in here!!! i am so giddy to be part of her book. i can't wait to get my copy.
and last. i am excited to use this puppy for a few days. we rented it for a wedding and we have done so a few times already and it never disappoints. it's such a cool lens. looove it. so that's it.
will be back to share mooooore pictures on monday. :)

twelve today

Kira, Kira, what color is this? 

Poorple.

Yaaaay.  And how about this?

Yeyow!

Yay.  Such a big girl.

Barney!  Again?

Hold on tight...Ready, One, two, threeeeeeeee!

Who      made       this     big      mess?

Kira, you're walking so fast, stay close to mommy.

Kira, slow down.

Slow down.

Stop!

Twelve is quite enough.

Do you hear me?  You're my little girl, the first. 

You taught me to be a mother.  You changed my life.

Are you still my little girl, because you look like a young woman? 

I miss you.  I'm proud of  you.  Are we ready for this?

Do we have a choice?

I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you.

Tomorrow is coming. 

So much to teach you yet...

Hold on tight.

Ready.  One, two, threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.