CALIFORN-I-A

We had the best time in California. We rented a beach house in Carlsbad with our friends Burke and Jill, and Julee and Jody, we all brought our families and stayed for 5 days! It was perfect. We spent one day at Disney and then lived on the warm sandy beaches the remaining four days. The girls loved the beach just as much as Disney land - go figure. Here are some pics of us on our fun trip.

This is our beach house - four bedrooms and three bathroom. It was beautiful!
I'll post a slide show later, going to bed now.

You're the King of Meanness!

Tonight Jaydie asked if she could have some fruit snacks, after we just finished having brownies and ice cream for dessert. I said "no" she said "YOU'RE THE KING OF MEANNESS!... I mean... you're the QUEEN of Meanness!" I couldn't help but laugh. She still didn't get any fruit snack but with Derek she established he is the King and she is the princess. I have to agree. Sometimes she is the Princess of Meanness and I am probably the Queen.

My Birthday Was Great!

As I celebrate my birthday I try not to think about the age part and just revel in the one day that is all my own. I taught preschool on my birthday but the parents were so great! Lizzy's mom, Kami, and Kira's mom, Kristin, brought cupcakes for us and balloons for me. All the kids sang happy birthday, it was so cute! Porter and his mom gave me a darling heart shaped necklace. I love it!

Derek and the girls gave me presents when I woke up. The girls picked out the presents all by themselves. Jaydie gave me a bag of my favorite mini candy bars and Averi gave me a Disney cookbook, with recipes the kids and I can make together. It was so cute to see how excited they were to give me their gifts. They each made me a cute little card and everything. Derek gave me some cute clothes from Hollister. I got spoiled! That afternoon Derek took me to see KNOWING at the Gateway. That was a pretty scary movie, and very different than what I thought, but it was good. Next, we went to dinner at Benihana, love it! The Minnesota Timber wolves happened to be there having dinner at the table next to us. It was fun to listen to them talk amongst themselves about the game, girls, and friends.

We had a party at my mom's house last night. She was so great. She went all out making me dinner and getting my favorite ice cream and cake. Speaking of which we snapped this great picture of Macey and Grey enjoying the festivities... This was taken with Brock's phone, Kelli took some others with her great camera, I will post those when I can. Aren't they so cute. They sat there for so long eating their dessert.

My mom and dad gave me the cutest boots and Jamie and Kelli gave me Gustav Klimt's The Kiss print. I can't wait to hang it!

I also got many happy birthday messages from all my friends on Facebook! You guys are great! Thanks to everyone who made my birthday special! I hope I can do the same for you when the time comes...

Gustav Klimt

Both by Gustav Klimt, the first is titled The Kiss, it has always been one of my favorite pieces of all time. While searching for the print I found this other piece titled Mother and Child. It is so breathtaking. I want them both on canvas. Guess I better get busy with Lia Sophia so I can buy them.

She's a climber!

This little stinker climbs onto the kitchen table every time she gets a chance! I cleared the table so there would be nothing to tempt her. However, big sister Averi set her candy on the table and before I knew it Macey was at it again!

What's Gak?

We had a blast making gak (aka ooblek or slime) It was so cool to watch it come together. The kids are having a blast with it.
Jaydie said: (while giggling) It feels like a baby's bum.

I asked Averi what she thought it felt like and she said: "Um, I don't know... it feels like, well I guess I never felt a pig before...." How cute is she?

I have seen this recipe before at an Early Childhood Conference but I came across it again on a friends blog. I finally decided to give it a try. We tried a couple recipes and I liked hers the best so I have included it here.

In a small bowl mix:
2 regular size bottles of Elmer's glue
3/4 cup water
A few drops of food coloring

In a large bowl mix:
1 tsp. Borax
1/2 cup HOT water (stick it in the microwave for a minute just for good measure)

Now, pour the glue mixture over the borax mixture. Let it sit for a minute and then gently stir. Pour off any excess water. It's going to look weird and kind of stringy, but once the kids get their hands on it, it will come together.

Averi IS special!

The other day I was tucking Averi into bed and I leaned down and kissed her cheek then layed my head on hers and she said "mommy I feel special inside" my heart melted! I said "you are special, and I feel special too because you love me" She said, "I love you so much"! How cute is she? Such a sweetheart!