Antelope Valley Fair

Today was the annual trip to the Antelope Valley Fair for food, fun, and most important rides. We got to the fair about 4:00 to avoid the mid-day heat. Thankfully, the weather cooperated for the most part and it wasn't too hot. A little windy, but it is the AV after all so what do you expect? As soon as we got there we began the trek through the commercial exhibits booth to find a million different unique items that nobody really needs, but you can't picture life without. Of course we had to go eat dinner after that, a giant BBQ beef dip for me, chili cheese fries for Jeremy and hot dogs for the kids.

After the food we had to wait around a bit before the kids could do the rides. My dad suggested catching the high diving show that was about to begin. Sure, I thought, why not. Let's just see how long the kids last though. To my surprise they not only sat through the whole show, they loved it. Cody was enthralled with the divers. Each time they climbed higher he would cover his eyes and then peek just in time to see them jump and hit the water. He then laughed like a mad man. At the end of the night I asked Cody what his favorite part of the fair was and he said "When the man jumped out of the sky into the water"

After the diving show it was time to go to the rides. My mom picked the kids up their wristbands (thanks Mom) so they could ride all the rides they wanted and boy did they. Cody was still a bit short for some of the rides but he still had a blast on the ones he got to go on. Taylor was content riding all of the rides with her friend, Kyle.

Cody's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Cody's 3rd Birthday with a family get together. Even though it was just family we still had close to 20 people. With the craziness of August I decided to shrink the list a bit and make it easy on myself by throwing a small birthday bash. I made some yummy dips, one spinach and one artichoke (which I must post the recipe for) and then we had food from the Vallarta, cake and ice cream. Cody opened his presents and got more stuff than he will ever need. But he had a blast and finally towards the end got into opening presents. Taylor had to kick off the opening of presents for Cody because he wasn't all that interested at first. All in all it was a perfect day and my Little Stud had a great time.

A Picture's Worth - Siblings

Cristina & Kevin's Wedding

Last night Jeremy and I attended Cristina & Kevin's wedding. The ceremony took place on Point Dume beach with the reception at Calamigos. The wedding was beautiful!!! They did a wonderful job planning all the details, even down to the unity sand instead of candles because the wind can be unpredictable on the beach. Jeremy and I had a great time. Good food, music, and fun while we watched two of our friends begin their new life together. As soon as the photographer puts the pics up I'll get them posted here.

That's all for now, I have a 3rd Birthday Party to get going for my Little Stud.

The bathroom re-do

The bathroom re-do for the kids is now complete. Well, except for a single hand towel that I need to get for the counter so people do not dry their hands on the hanging ones. I just haven't found the perfect one yet. I'm going to head out on Friday though and see if I can find the one that is going to finish off the bathroom.

Before: Rubber Duckies

After: Tropical Paradise

The towels I don't want anybody to use

The counter top (minus the hand towel)

Fishy rugs on the floor

Halloween costumes

Sure, you might say what are you talking about, Halloween is still two months away. And yes you are right, but you don't understand about me and Halloween. I never used to get all that excited over the day, until Cody came along. Of course I have had a good time with Halloween when Taylor was born but as soon as Cody entered the picture and I could do matching costumes for the both of them my love for Halloween skyrocketed. It gives me a chance to be creative and get into the Holiday spirit, but I digress.

The point of my blog was to tell you that I have figured out the most perfect costume's for them this year. Well I can't take the credit completely. My co-worker, Angie, was telling me about her nieces and nephews and how she wanted to dress them up in the Alice and Wonderland theme. Super cute idea, by the way. Well it hit me then, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for Taylor and Cody.

Taylor will be a cute white bunny rabbit and Cody will be a magician!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Cody!!!

Today my little guy turned 3 years old. Wow!! He is growing up so fast. I wish I could stop time as it seems to just keep going faster and faster. My little baby boy is growing up into a little man. He has changed so much from when he was born with his long black hair, but one thing remains the same. My Cody is a complete sweetheart but totally all boy at the same time. My favorite quality about Cody is the compassion that he shows towards people. He doesn't like to play favorites and his favorite saying is "I love all of them". His personality is really starting to show and he can go from happy to mad at the drop of a hat but in a matter of seconds he is back to happy and sweet.

Cody at 3 months old...look at his hair

Tonight at his birthday dinner. When you ask him how old he is he won't say three. Instead he holds up three fingers and says "Like this many".
The many faces of Cody

What a weekend

I knew that my weekend was going to be busy, but I had no idea just how busy. Or how tired I was going to be tonight. Whew, a quick re-cap.

Friday Night: Stopped by IKEA on my way home from work and got the stuff to finish up the kids bathrooms. Then got home and stayed up until almost midnight finishing up the bows and bow holder.

Saturday Morning: Had to run to Old Navy to get the kids some jeans for Back to School. All the jeans in the store for kids were only $7.00 a pair, awesome!! Thanks Mom for the heads up on the best shopping deal of the weekend.

Saturday Mid-Morning: 1st Birthday Party for Little Zoe. She is so adorable!! She wouldn't let me hold her like she did the week before at the park but I'm guessing it was only because there were so many people around at the party. Next weekend when she comes to our house for Cody's party she better be my friend again. :-)

Saturday Afternoon and Beyond: Let the party begin!!! I began my trek down to Rancho Palos Verdes where we were meeting up to go hit up the restaurant followed by a bar. First off though we had to decorate the Bachelorette. We then headed to Union Cattle for dinner at a place where you can actually ride a bull. After dinner we strolled down to the strip of bars in Hermosa Beach and finished off the evening, or shall I say early morning at Lighthouse Cafe. For sake of keeping this a family blog I will leave out the details. Let's just say a good time was had by all.

Whew...So that was my weekend in a nut shell. Tomorrow my little boy turns 3 so keep an eye for his special birthday post.

Busy busy weekend

I'll probably be MIA for the next few days as I have a busy busy weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow night I have to make a few bows and a bow holder for a birthday present for a family friend. Saturday morning is the birthday party. Then Saturday afternoon I'm headed down to Rancho Palos Verdes for a bachelorette party for my friend that is getting married on the 29th.

Statistics is over

I never thought this day would come. Ok, that may have been a bit dramatic...and I know deep down it would end one day. However, I really really wanted you to know just how happy I am that I can officially say....

Statistics is OVER!!! That was 10 weeks of pure torture.

The good news though is that for Statistics Part II...I got....

Are you sure you are ready??

Here goes nothing...

My final grade was...

an A- !!!!!!

A Picture's Worth - Swings

New Feature - A Picture's Worth

You all know the saying "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words" I never realized how true this saying was until I had kids of mine own and began taking pictures of them. Occasionally, I come across a picture that exemplifies this statement so I figured why not share it. This new feature of my Blog will show up whenever I see the need for now and maybe one day I'll fit it into a routine so you know when to expect A Picture's Worth until then though just be on the look out.

Alex's 16th Birthday

This weekend we went to the park to celebrate our niece, Alex's 16th Birthday. I can't believe she is already 16 years old. The time sure has flown. One of my first date's with Jeremy I can remember him talking to me on the phone at her 5th Birthday party. Where did the last 11 years go? While we were at the park I took the camera to get some shots of the kids since I have been not doing too well this summer on getting pics of them out in the wonderful weather.

Picasso's in training

One of Taylor's favorite things to do is to play on my laptop. It makes me realize how much this girl needs her own. I've realized that when the time comes to upgrade my laptop she will definitely get mine. The other day though she discovered her new favorite thing to do on the laptop, play with Microsoft Paint. Such a simple program for her to use but it will entertain her for the longest time. Of course, once Cody saw how much fun Taylor was having he had to join in to. Here are the results of their hard work.

Taylor's

Cody's

Perfect match: Night light & shower curtain

It's really the simple things in life that make me so happy. Two weeks ago I ordered a night light off eBay, it has three surfboards on it. This single night light was my inspiration for re-dong the kids bathroom from the current rubber duckie theme which they have way outgrown. My plan was to start with the night light and see what path I ended down. Tropical, nautical, Hawaiian, really the possibilities were endless. Then last week I was on eBay (no big surprise, you will learn that I frequent that sight very very often) and came across a shower curtain that brought it all together for me and sealed the deal on where my theme would head. The shower curtain has surfboards, hibiscus flowers, and stripes. Awesome! I could totally work with that combination. I bought the curtain (thankfully a buy it now so I didn't have to play bidding wars with anybody) and this week the curtain came in. I tore open the package excited to see how it look in person.It was even cuter than I imagined!! Then I looked more closely at the picture and something seemed weird about the surfboards on the curtain. I felt like I had seen them before. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, those surfboards are the same exact ones on the night light. Score!! Turns out the curtain and the night light are made by the same company and are part of a matching set. I can't wait until I get the final few pieces for the bathroom and can put it all up now.

Little Einsteins -- Blast Off!!

I love this video of Taylor & Cody. For being a quick 42 seconds it really truly shows their personalities like you wouldn't believe. Cody of course, the happy go lucky little one who loves to just have a good time. And Taylor, wow, is this Taylor or what?!? Nobody calls her over to be on camera, she just shows up, acts like she is too good for this "babyish" stuff but insists on joining in simply so she can be on camera. Watch her eyes she looks up at a few times to ensure that she is indeed still being filmed. Ah, my perfect little odd couple. They are so different but I love the both of them so much.

3M Command: The sticky but not sticky stuff

I've used this 3M Command stuff before and was always in awe of how awesome it worked. You stick these hooks to your walls and whenever you are done they just peel right off, leavng no sign of there ever being something on the wall at all. It wasn't until recently though when we began Operation: Decorate Kid's Rooms that I realized just how much I love 3M Command. I faced a serious dilemma as we put the final touches on the paint in Taylor & Cody rooms. I had a beautiful blank canvas to work with and a million ideas of things that I wanted to put up. But, I did not want to put any holes in the freshly painted perfect walls. What's a person to do? Pile of stuff needs hanging and walls don't need holes. I thought for a while and finally remembered about these super cool 3M Command hooks that I use at Christmas time to put the wreath on the front door and hang the stockings. I pondered for a few days how I could make a set of hooks work to hang pictures and stuff. Armed with a head of ideas and my wallet, I ventured to the local Wal-Mart to take a look at the 3M Command hooks. And low and behold, when I entered the row where they used to be it was like a light was shone from above. Instead of the simple small and large hooks they used to have I was faced with an entire wall of 3M Command products. Everything from the original hooks that started it all to picture hangers (exactly what I needed now), designer hooks (need some of those later), sawtooth picture hangers, bathroom accessories, clips to hang small things, holders to keep cords out of the way. Everything organizing and decorating, 3M Command now has it. I was in heaven looking at all of these cool gadgets that would make the kids walls look cute, and remain hole free. Armed with my basket of goodies I headed to the register happy to get home and start using them.

Now, this event took place a few weeks ago, and this week I finally got the chance to use the picture hangers and the teeny tiny hooks I bought. Awesome, wonderful, superb, those are the words I would use to describe my experience of hanging the stuff in the kids rooms. Not only was it wonderful knowing that there are no holes in the wall it was loads easier to hang the stuff without the use of a nail and hammer. Just peel and stick, so simple!!!

My vacation is basically over now

Today is Saturday, which is a normal day off which basically means that my vacation is all over. Instead of dwelling on the negative that I have to return to work on Monday let's look at the positive of what has been accomplished this last week.

- Kids dentist appointments went perfect
- Cleaned and organized a million different places in the house
- Feel relaxed and recharged
- Got all caught up on my Statistics homework, even got a 94% on the final and am now 3 days away from being done with Statistics forever
- Most important, had some good quality time with Taylor & Cody and enjoyed being home with them 24/7 for a whole week

Mr. Clean

Cody is becoming quite the little cleaner these days which makes me a very proud mommy. The other day though when I was cleaning the bathroom he insisted on helping me scrub the toilet. Which was ok at first, until the little boy in him came out and he saw what a mess he could make with the toilet scrubber and some water. You can see the AHA moment when it all began to go downhill.

I promised you more

Just didn't think it would be so soon that I would finish one of my projects for Taylor's room and have it up and ready for pics. I had been working on it yesterday and last night made the finishing touches to get it to the way I wanted. This morning I was able to get it printed out, matted, and framed. This is in the entrance to her room, Taylor wanted something like Cody has (his room has the sports balls with his name) with her name on it so people knew whose room it was when they walked in. Like the pink walls in a house with only one little girl didn't give it away? :-)

Monthly Organizing Round-Up - Entryway

I'm posting a bit early this month my completion of the Monthly Organizing Round-Up from Org Junkie for two reasons. 1) I was on vacation this week, therefore allowing me time to get the entryway done early and 2) The end of the month is going to be very busy so I figured I would take advantage of the "down" time to get it posted. Now this month was a bit tricky for me, as the challenge was for Entryways/Mudrooms. Well a mudroom is something that I just don't have. Not sure if it's a "California" thing or what but the two houses I have owned and all the ones I have visited in this state simply do not have a mudroom. I guess it's just not on the list of pre-requisites for home builders. LOL!! Can you sense my jealousy of not having a mudroom? After seeing the mudrooms posted on Org Junkie I am a bit jealous that I don't have a mudroom. The other option for me was the front entrance, but there is nothing in the entrance at all, I promise you that. The front door opens and BAM you are in the living room. That left me with my only other option, which in a sense is the "entryway" for us. Through the garage. When you enter the house from the garage you are smack dab in the laundry room. I only call it a room because it has a door, but really it's just a laundry pass through space. It had a lot of potential though as it looked like a mess before I tackled it.

This is a shelf above the washer/dryer. It goes the length of the room and is a good height for all the necessities of a laundry room.

The other half of the shelf. My supply gathering spot. I used to have the supplies in a container, but needed the container for the kids closets, as I was short one basket and the one that used to house my cleaning supplies was a perfect match, so off it went.

(check here for their closets Taylor's Room & Cody's Room)

The side of the washer/dryer. So much potential what is that chair doing in this space though when the garage is literally on the other side of that door?
Ahhh...The aftermath of a day of FUN!!!!!

Looking into the laundry room from the hallway. So peaceful!!!

Purchased a container to put the iron and starch in. Makes it look cleaner and nothing better than having things that go together in one place. I was also able to bring some craft stuff in to fill some of the space on the shelf and finish off the room.

The other half of the shelf. Brought in some baskets for sponges, cleaners, and light bulbs. Also, have a nice little nook on the side for the home improvement books.

The chair that didn't belong made it's way into the garage, where it does belong. Added a hanging storage rack to hold dryer sheets, extra soap cups, and hooks for the hangers.

And of course, with each project there is always something that ends up being my favorite transformation. This is exactly what the laundry room needed...A bar to hang those extra hangers on, nice and organized and easy to get to when folding all the clothes. For this transformation I purchased a tension shower rod, easy to install and extremely functional.

There you have my completed laundry "room". I love doing laundry in my new space.

Taylor's New Room

Taylor's room is far from done. I have a lot more to do in here. But it's a start.

Taylor's room from the hallway

Up close of her bed

Her name above her bed

Close up of her name

Probably Taylor's favorite part of her room.

This is where her stage will go once Jeremy & I build it

Some simple decorations. She loves flowers in her room.
Her closet, no doors and so organized. My fav part of the room.

Cody's New Room

It's been a little over a month since we started the whole re-decorating of the kids room projects. And while I would love for them to be done, they just aren't yet. Each day I think of something new that I want to add and do to their rooms. It's a never ending cycle of wanting to add and change though so really are the rooms ever going to be done?? Instead of waiting until the room is "done" I'll post what we have done so far and as more gets done more pictures will be added.

Entrance to his room. I painted the letters to look like

the different sports that are represented in his room.

Cody's room from the hallway

Another shot looking inside the room at his new bed.

Taylor and Cody love playing on his new bed they think the bottom part is a fort.

His sports toy holder, and a sneak preview of his baseball murals

The baseball murals

The closet, all painted and doors are off, an organized haven so peaceful

His tool bench and boocase/desk