Laguna Beach Getaway

I just back back from a wonderful break in So. California & it was wonderful!! My mom & I went with no plans, agenda - nothing. We slept in, layed out on the beach & explored Laguna Beach on foot (as well as many of the surrounding beaches). I don't think I have done that much walking in the last year, but it was wonderful to go at our own pace & admire how beautiful everything is.

I had never been to Laguna Beach before. I loved all of the artsy shops, the cool bricked walls, paths & architecture & the old movie theatre that had a balcony to sit in and it showed only 2 movies. It was foggy most of the time (which made walking nice & not too hot), but the sun came out for a little bit in the late afternoon. The one sunny picture below was taken at our hotel beach looking up to Main Beach.




The third day there we went south to explore Treasure Island Beach (the pic with the arch) & Victoria Beach (with the castle-like structure) & a few other small ones. Then we went down to Dana Point for more shopping & eating. I feel like all we did was eat, eat & eat! It was great :)

Then on Sunday we checked out Newport & Huntington Beaches & shops before heading to the airport. I had such a great time hanging out with just my mom. We don't get very much one on one time anymore. But next year I am hoping that my 2 sisters & sister-in-law will join us. I would love to have an annual "girls trip" to look forward to.

Tommy did a wonderful job with the kids while I was gone - he even took them to the zoo on busy Saturday. They had so much fun with him & it actually took them a day to adjust back to having me home. Thanks honey!!!! I am so gratful to him for letting me have this break (I really needed it!). I do think he was pretty excited to get back to work on Monday though. :)


I LOVE California!!!!

9 Years and Counting.....

Today is Tommy's & my 9th wedding anniversary!!! Can you believe it???? Who would have thought we would have made it this far? (okay, we did!) HOORAY FOR US!! It is amazing to me how fast the years have gone. If I look back on the years & think of everything we have seen & done, then it makes sense that 9 years have passed, but it seriously seems like yesterday that we were dating. I pulled out our engagment photo & two wedding photos for you to laugh at, I mean enjoy :). I had to scan them (that's how old it makes me feel, I was married before the digital camera!!!!) so sorry that they are not the best quality. I think we both look like babies in our pictures - I guess we kinda were - I was 20 & Tommy was 23. Well, Happy Anniversary Tommy! I look forward to many, many more years!!!

Telling the Truth

This morning before preschool Linc was eating breakfast while I got dressed. As I sat down to put on my shoes I asked "Linc, how's your breakfast?" his response was a fast "nothing." Immediately I got curious since this made no sense, so I asked "what?" and he said "nothing's in my hands." I went over to the table to see what he was doing (obviously not eating) and I realized I had left the salt & pepper shakers on the table & he had decided to "season" his oatmeal & pretty much his whole placemat. Breakfast time was over.

Lately we have had lots of talks about when you don't tell mommy the truth or you hide something from her it is still lying. And also I have had to tell him lately that if you open candy & eat it in the store before buying it, that is stealing & lying. I am sure everyone with kids has been there (or at least I hope so!) Kids are so much fun! :)

Goodnight Already!!!

Okay, so we have been having problems putting Lincoln to bed lately. We used to lock his door at bedtime & then unlock it & crack the door open before we went to sleep. Lately we have felt really guilty about locking his door, so we have been trying some new tactics. The first few nights Tom had to do the Supernanny technique (put him back in bed over & over without talking to him), and then last night we had a little breakthrough.

I put him in bed & asked him if he wanted his door open or closed - he said locked. I didn't want to lock it so I just closed it. We have a monitor in his/our room so we were listening to him talk to himself while we watched tv. Then we heard his door open & close, so we turned off our tv & pretended to be asleep (I know we're nerds, but we were thinking he wouldn't go back to bed if he knew we were still up). He came upstairs & brought be some transformer pics that were on his wall & said "mom, I don't want these in my room." Then I brought him back to his room. A little while later we hear his door open/close again so again we turn off the tv & pretend we're asleep. This time he came into our room with his flashlight. Tom asks what he is doing, Linc says "I just went on a safari!" I seriously had to cover my face with my blanket because I was laughing so hard (maybe you had to be there & see the look on his face, it really was funny!). Then he told me he wanted me to have his flashlight & Tom took him back to bed. He came up one more time wanting his flashlight back. I took him downstairs for the last time, he had me take his mirror off of his wall & then I threatened to take his lamp away if he came out of his room one more time. He was asleep within minutes.

I know to a lot of you this won't seem like a great bedtime, but to us it was a milestone. No kicking, screaming, crying, pounding on doors, etc. Hopefully each night will go a little bit better.

I love chalk

The other day Linc got his chalk out to play with & Hazel ended up having more fun than he did! She loved to draw on the sidewalk, draw on her clothes and eat chalk & chalk dust from the container. She seemes to be growing up so much faster than Lincoln did at this age.



I just loved this picture so I threw it in there. She is such a happy little girl!!

First Day of Preschool

Today was Lincoln's first day of preschool, I can't believe how big he is! He was so excited to go to school and meet Miss Amber & Miss Aubrey. I am kinda nervous because he doesn't know any of the kids in his class, but hopefully he will make a lot of new friends. I was sad at first, all of the neighborhood kids got into the same preschool, except us :( but hopefully this will be good for him to be around some new kids. At least he will still see his neighborhood friends at playgroup & church.


Lincoln with Miss Amber & Miss Aubry - I think he is going to have so much fun!!!

Concert at the Gorge

Tommy and I just got back from a 4 day road trip with some family & friends up to George, Washington. We drove the 12 hour drive (one way) in a motorhome to see the Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge Apitheatre. We see DMB at least once every year (Tom is the stalking groupie). This year it was really sad since the death of their sax player. Friday night was not their normal enthusiasm - more like a wake for LeRoi. Saturday night was more their style & we were glad we went the two nights. The Gorge is such a beautiful place with tall canyon walls along the Columbia River. The concert is in a town so small that it doesn't even have a grocery store. Everyone that attends camps out in the field around the ampitheatre. We had so much fun, but missed our kids terribly and were ready to come home. Thank you to my sister for watching our kids so we could get a break!