Alison's birthday!

We had a gread time Hunting for bugs, having a Caterpillar race and playing stick the spider on the web! We also made bug catching boxes and had some bug punch with our cake! Thanks to everyone who helped make Alison's birthday really special!!!

Fall Fun!

We've had a great Fall season so far! We celebrated Lily's birthday, we spent some fun times at the pumpkin farm and had a Happy Halloween!

School is here!!!

Today is the first day of school and I dropped the girls off with no tears and no tantrums! They were both so excited to start school!!! Alison asked me on the way to school..."Are you sure all I need to know is how to write my name?" I told her yes but that she knows a lot more than that already and I know she'll do great! Lily ran right into her class and didn't even say goodbye. I will be so excited to find out how it all went when I pick them up today.

more vacation pics

My sister took some pictures during our visit so I thought I would share them.

Southern California Vacation

Thanks to my wonderful in laws Jeff, the girls and I were able to take a great vacation down to Newport Beach and to Disneyland. We stayed in a great resort near the beach and had two wonderful days at Disneyland. We also visited the Discovery Museum in Santa Ana and had a great beach party with my sister and her brood at Huntington Beach.

On our way into town we had a nice Mother's day lunch at my parent's house and were joined by Connie, Dale, Chelsea and Beau.

Our hotel was lovely and Alison was so excited, she said, "All we have to do is put Sold in front of our house and we can live here now!" The girls loved to pool and we swam almost every day. We also got to spend a little time at the beach. The girls loved playing in the sand and surf but did not like the clean up of the sand from their bodies so we really only played on the beach one day.

We did go down the the Huntington Beach pier where Alison got close enough to touch a pelican! Lily was a little nervous to be standing over the water like that.

Both girls really loved the Koi Fish in front of our hotel and the fish just followed them around probably expecting to be fed.

Disneyland was great! The girls totally loved it and so did I, Jeff, however, did not due to the crowds of people and manufactured happiness. I love happiness even if it's manufactured!!! In any case, my sister and nephew and my friend Susie and her kids met up with us while we were there and we enjoyed their company.

We went to a restaurant called Ariel's Grotto at Disney California Adventure where Lily and Alison got to meet the princesses. It was our one big spurge and the girls were so excited! Alison got the meet Snow White, her favorite princess due to their mutual love of animals. They also go to meet Belle, Mulan, Cinderella and of course Ariel. Lily told Cinderella that Ariel is her favorite and Cinderella said that she would pass on a "Hello" from Lily at their next tea party together.

Our family favorite ride was Soaring over California, we did it twice! Lily's favorite ride was Toy Story and Alison can't seem to choose just one favorite but she did like the Monster's Inc. ride. She did not like Pirates of the Caribbean and made me pinkie promise that I would never make her go on it again.

We wrapped the whole trip up with a weenie roast with my sister and nieces and nephews at Huntington Beach. We sang with the guitar, toasted hot dogs and made smores. It was lots of fun!!! I'm so excited to do it again some time soon.

Easter

I have been lazy so far this Spring but here are some pictures from our Easter. We started off Easter at 5:45am! The girls were really excited....Daddy not so much! Later in the day we went over to Uncle Greg and Aunt Stacey's house for dinner and an egg hunt. It ws great to see all the cousins together. Thanks to Greg and Stacey for having us all over! It was a really nice holiday!

Alison and the Butterflies

We have been raising various kinds of bugs at school this Spring and Alison has really shown an interest. Our Butterflies have emerged from their cocoons this week and we set up a tent at school and put the butterflies in and let the children come in and let the butterflies land on them. It created a really wonderful experience for all the kids including Alison and her friend Regan.

The bunk bed!!!

I have been keeping my eye out for a bunk bed for the girls for quite awhile but we never had the extra money, plus they were sleeping on my old day bed and trundle and it was working ok. But last week I knelt down on the trundle and it popped up in the most awkward of directions and I just couldn't get it to straighten out. So I put Alison's mattress on the floor. In the meantime my mom sent me my birthday gift...a check! So happy birthday to me, we went out looking for a bunk bed! After going to a couple little furniture stores in Yuba City and Marysville we ended up at Kmart. We found just what I was looking for and it was just the right price. I spent this weekend putting it together. I discovered that the slatted head and foot boards were at the most frustrating and at least comedy in a box....just as I would get all the slats in on one side I would try to attach the other side and all the slats would come falling out in different directions. But after a while I was able to get it all put together with a little help from Lily, Alison and Jeff (he helped me lift the top bunk up). The girls were great assistants, handing me tools and parts and getting me drinks of water. It was a fun project and the bed came out great! The most important thing though is that the girls totally love it! Now let's see if they actually sleep all night in it!

My Artists

Lily and Alison have been quite artistic lately. While I was making dinner last night, Lily got out an easle, a smock and some paint and began painting. Alison jumped right in and made a paining of her own. Alison's has a title, "Mommy hearing the cows and she's hungry like a wolf" I think I must listen to too much 80's music in our car.

The Tip jar continued

On Sunday afternoon Jeff heard loud dog barking in our front yard and went to investigate since we don't have a dog. There was a tiny, older lady holding her small dog over her head while a large pit bull jumped on her and nipped at her little dog. Jeff ran out and grabbed the little dog and held it much higher than the lady had been able to and he kicked at the pit bull to keep it back. Jeff, the lady and the little dog fled into our house with the pit bull barking at their heels. Jeff finally had to call 911 to get someone to come get the mean dog off our porch where it was just waiting for that poor little old lady and her dog to come out. The lady and her dog, Daisy, waited in our living room until the police finally came and took the dog (there is no animal control on Sundays I guess) As the little old lady was leaving she saw Lily's Tip jar and said, "Oh I wish I had something to put in your Tip jar! Thank you for letting me stay in your safe house." I was just happy that we do have a house that is safe, not only from mean dogs but also from the evil things of the world. I hope that is the "tip" that Lily got from that scary experience, to be of service to others and that home is a place of safety and love.