Irelyn playing soccer

Yum!!!

Thanks to Deanna, I was able to make 3 loaves of banana bread! She gave me 7 really ripe bananas and Irelyn and I did lots of baking today. However, all 3 loaves are pretty much gone-given away and eaten. They were soooooo good though. I'll make more again soon and share... also please pass along your bananas if you are just going to throw them away.

My favorite Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe! (notice Irelyn's chunk taken out, haha)It almost always falls apart, but it tastes amazing.

It's starting...

A few days ago we got a call from Irelyn's soccer coach. Oh my gosh.... It's starting- the sports stuff, the school stuff.....she's growing up. Anyways, she gets to meet her team on Thursday and get her uniform. There are 10 other 4 year old girls on her team. It is going to be the cutest thing ever. I'm so excited for her to meet so many little girls her age and probably lots of girls she will go to elementary school with. For George and I- we're curious to see the different types of parents.
There are 3 different categories that a sports parent can fall into...
1.Crazy, thinks their child is the best, never stops talking, shouts obnoxious stuff during the games
2.totally naive about the game, just happy to be there, sweet as can be
3.middle of the road, happy to be there also, but understands what is going on and how their child contributes

I'll let you know if my 3 categories change. There could be a 4th. George has already said "Do not tell him I coach." There are extremely competitive people out there and we don't want to be a part of that. If she loves it- Great. If it's not her thing- Great too. We are going to just be parents and support her. People think that since we love soccer we are going to be crushed if Irelyn doesn't. That is so silly and I have seen the effects of people doing this to their kids. Irelyn already enjoys soccer, but we hope that this season helps her understand the sport a little better and that she meets some great friends :)

A nice Saturday

Happy Birthday Mom (Gaga)!!!

There is nothing like seeing the happiness of your child. Today has been one of those days that Irelyn is full of love, sweet words, hugs, kisses and happiness. When all 3 of us are able to spend the day together, she just lights up. It is so hard with George's schedule to get a day to spend together since we don't get the usual Saturday and Sunday off. We had a trip to San Diego and Sea World planned for this weekend but decided to save that for another time. We went to Carlsbad for my mom's birthday today and spent the day with family. Anyways back to happiness- I just sat on our staircase for 10 minutes listening to Irelyn sing a Backyardigans song in her bed. It was the sweetest thing ever! For those of you that don't know..Irelyn is completely obsessed with Backyardigans. She says she wants to be Tyrone for Halloween (Tyrone is an orange moose). I'm just so glad that Irelyn is full of love and kindness and is always up for cuddling and hugging. She even asked George tonight "How did you get so cute?"

Photo Friday

Here are some pictures of what we have been doing lately. Where is the summer going??

Tanaka Farms

We had so much fun at Tanaka Farms today- and Daddy came too! This is the first time we have been for the Watermelon tours and it is definitely worth checking out. We tasted soooooo many fruits and vegetables...Irelyn loved them all but said the tomato was sour. After the tour, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. What a day!

stuff...

While I was at Costco today, I ran into a little boy (and his mom) that was in my preschool class the year I was pregnant with Irelyn. He was huge compared to the last time I saw him! He is now 8 which is so strange, he was Irelyn's age when I taught him. Time flies! I loved that class, and the school. My class threw me a surprise baby shower during lunch one day. The kids were so excited to be a part of it and drew me tons of pictures and gave Irelyn darling presents. :) About 4 weeks before school was going to start, I had to go in and tell my boss I wasn't coming back. Irelyn was only 9 weeks old and there was no way I was ready to go back. It was definitely the best choice!

Also, I can't stand fruit flies. They are so gross! I'm trying a cider vinegar trick so I'll let you know if it works.

Kids say the darndest...

I mean husbands do the darndest. Did you ever see that show Kids say the Darndest! Irelyn is definitely at that stage. She wouldn't talk to my dad yesterday until he changed his shirt. He was wearing a shirt with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner on it- Irelyn was not happy with the coyotes face, but instead of saying anything she just wouldn't look at or talk to my dad. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out what her problem was. My dad ended up changing his shirt and while he was gone my mom said "It's ok Irelyn. The coyote is sort of funny." Irelyn looked at my mom and said "Well, I don't think he is funny AT ALL."
Then she was pulling George's shirt today (which she is not allowed to do to anyone!) and I told her to stop and reminded her of the rule. She said to me "What do you mean. You didn't see that." She is already trying to out-smart me.

And husbands- well George managed to take the basket and filter thing out of the coffee maker, wash it, and then leave it in the sink while he made coffee anyways. Hmmm needless to say it didn't work out too well. Coffee started coming out the sides and bottom of the coffee maker and he stood there wondering what was going on. I guess he really needed that coffee...

Gotta love summer!

The garden fresh produce (home grown)

The fields at sunrise

The hot air balloon rides

The love! :)