Our neighborhood

We couldn't have asked for a better neighborhood. And we all moved here not even knowing what joy the years would hold. Now one of our group has left :( We will miss them so much and I am certain we will think of them when we are outside every afternoon. Bye bye Wootons!

Lauren is 5

My niece had the cutest princess party for her 5th birthday. The girls had so much fun doing all of the activities that Aunt Julie planned. Irelyn especially had fun with her favorite cat CeeCee. If anyone has a cat, Irelyn would love to cuddle it. Becky- I'll be in touch :)

Irelyn sipping from Great Gramy's glass party dishes. The girls loved having such beautiful dishes and it brought back so many memories for my mom.

The birthday girl and Irelyn

The scene :)

CA adventure

What's better than a mid-week day at California Adventure? And no lines!!

Thursday

Thursday!!! This week has gone so slow and I've had way too much to do. Those of you that know me know that I'm pretty mellow, don't get upset easily, and try to be nice to people- is that true? If not please let me know. Anyways, yesterday really got to me and I'm still not over it yet. I won't go into details, but it was just one of those days. I will be super happy when this week is over and I can enjoy the weekend with my husband and daughter. And I'm waiting for the rain to come, but it seems the weather forecasters might be wrong (gasp!) So, for now I'm in my robe, sipping coffee and cuddling with Irelyn. I think I've been given at least 20 kisses this morning. Love her!!!!

this feeling...

Do you ever get that feeling that something is just not right? After a busy morning of cooking, cleaning, and the park I now find myself with that feeling. I consider myself to be somewhat intuitive and it's not uncommon to get this feeling, but I am very annoyed when I can't figure out where it is coming from. Ugghh...

sunday

I have been trying to upload this video and it just won't do it. So here is the link. It is Kanaya and Irelyn dancing- too cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM3F1iFk27w

Our weekend seems to be winding down now, but we have tomorrow off so I guess we still have another day. We had a great weekend filled with parties, family and friends.

Our week

A science experiment

A beautiful and warm day at the beach with friends
An impromptu dinner with the neighbors

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday! This has been such a busy week and it has been unusually hot. Not that things will slow or cool down this weekend though- 2 bday parties and an adult bday party for mom and dad. Yay for nights out!!

I am so happy to say that I am no longer irritated at Disneyland! After our bad experience last Monday we went back on Sunday and were apologized to, given extra stuff, and George was able to enjoy Sunday as if it was his birthday. Some of the birthday extras throughout the park are really cool. So, it ended up great and Irelyn and I wore Honorary Citizen of Disneyland pins and got some cool perks too. This picture is Irelyn at Pixie Hollow again doing a Tinker pose with Tinker Bell. Now, she goes around the house showing us poses that all the fairies do.

What do you do when your husband is playing poker on a Friday night? SCRAPBOOK! I'm embarrassed to say that I don't have any albums since Irelyn was born. I have boxes of pictures I've printed out, thousands of sheets of paper, stickers, stamps- you name it I have it. It's just the time of laying it all out and actually doing it. Well, last night I got a great start. Now I just need to continue and get these finished. I'm not a huge scrapbooking person so my pages aren't too exciting, just cute and simple.
What else is new? Hmmm not much really. George is still home a lot since soccer hasn't really started back up yet. We have been able to do so many family activities the past month. His schedule will get more busy beginning the end of February and then the traveling starts again. Hopefully we(or just me!) can join him for a trip or two.
George is taking Irelyn for a trial gymnastics class next week- hopefully she will like it. She is always a little hesitant about new things. Irelyn has been so funny lately- a lot of one liners, funny comments and stuff. Last night at dinner George and I were talking and she said "I'm waaaiiiting to be part of a conversation!" Then she told us what she wanted to talk about and then had each person take a turn talking. She was like a little moderator. She's is so funny because she acts and speaks beyond her years, but in other areas she is just a typical 4 year old.
I'd love to be sleeping in this morning. I'm off to make some coffee and then we are going to the park to ride bikes/scooters again. And this evening, George and I get 7 whole hours to ourselves. What will we do?! :)

Disneyland for Daddy's Birthday

We went to Disneyland for George's birthday on Monday. If you don't already know, Disneyland is having that thing where you get in free on your birthday this year. If you have an annual pass other things apply...I'm a little irritated at Disneyland right now- I will get back to you about the events and if they are resolved. Here are some pictures from the afternoon
Coldstone! Mmmmmmmm

Happy Birthday George

George and I have known each other for almost 15 years and have been together for 13 of them. We've celebrated many birthdays and have both changed a lot over the years. This year has been great and I'm so happy to have a wonderful husband that I love so much.
Here is what I love about George:

• He always has a smile
• He will play hide and seek, tag, duck duck goose etc. for hours
• He does the dishes
• He takes care of Irelyn and I and never brings negativity into the house
• that he will watch my "chick shows" with me
• that is he always willing to give me a back or foot massage
• the things he has given up

and...

• for sticking with the things he loves and being true to himself

Love you babe!

Sunday

Today was sort of a lazy, fun day. Tomorrow is George's 36th Birthday and tonight we went out to dinner at Mongolian BBQ. George has been going there for his birthday since he was about 12...we have been going there together since 1996. However, our times there are not limited to birthdays. :) See my Mongolian BBQ post a few months ago...

We spent the day at one of our favorite parks riding bikes and playing at the playground. Just look at the views from this park- gorgeous! George and I actually ride our scooters and we are desperately in need of a few bikes. Scooters are fun, but I've almost wiped out a few times.

Irelyn is going through this funny phase where she doesn't really smile for pictures. It's like she can't even fake a smile or something. I guess George and I look kind of silly too... I am fully convinced the best pictures are not posed ones.

A Mosaic about me...

So if you feel that you want to make one also ... here is what you do!

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search or just google it.

b. Using only the first page of search results, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into the mosaic maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.

The mosaic maker is on this web address: http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is a celebrity you like?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name or last name -

Happy New Year!

This was the first year that Irelyn celebrated on NYE! She was so excited and happy to help clean the house and buy hats and noise makers. We invited the Simmers family over and the kids ate, played and ran around. We had so much fun celebrating with them. Irelyn, Aidan and Cameran had a wonderful time and screamed Happy New Year at 8:15pm!!

I think they were wondering what was going to happen when we counted down to 1

Really blurry but so cute. Irelyn is covered in silly string:)