Superstar among us

Well, we all know Joel is very shy in front of the camera so I am sure it is a huge surprise that he was on TV again. He went on Tram's Valley Dish, a cooking show on Ch 12. It was a competition, he was  cooking against another firefighter and they had to make a dish containing bacon. Below is a link to watch the show,( I can't figure out how to just load the video on here) it is about 15 min. without commercials. The other contestant goes first, so if you want you can fast forward a bit to just watch him. I know it is a little long, but trust me, its worth it!  

Enjoy:

http://tinyurl.com/2fddjhn

1st week

This week I sent both my babies off to school and officially became aware of how much driving moms of school-aged children do! Whew, alot of back and forth, but the kids love it so I am thankful:)

Kaden went first on Monday

He started PRE-K (not pre-school, don't make that mistake)

He an Miles get to spend another school year together and I am thankful for that.

On Tuesday, it was Gavin's turn....he was soo ready!

Kaden was excited for him too.

He looks so grown up!

They both had a GREAT week, and I got to spend more uninterrupted time with this cutie:)

I was able to make her a new dress (pardon her "drunk eyes") She looks like such a little diva!

And while I was sewing I made this for the oldest of my children:)

It suits him well!

Here's to a great school year!

Birthday Recap

Disclaimer:  lots of pictures ahead!!!!

We started off Gavin's Birthday by waking him up and serenading him with Happy Birthday. He was excited, we had been counting down the days!

(there was supposed to be a video here but after 4 attempts it still did not load!! so, use your imagination here)

Present time!!!

Lightening McQueen :)

Kaden was so excited to buy him a present this year. I took him to the $1 store and this is what he picked out.

I also decided to copy Carrie's idea and make them real superhero capes to take the place of the pillow cases we had been using. I made them reversable. They were a hit!

They were a hit!

I think it may have been his favorite present. Kaden's too. Kade's already got the superman pose down.

After lunch I surprised Gavin with his cake. (don't look too close, it didn't turn out that great!)

He loved it.

We had his birthday party later that evening at Peter Piper Pizza.

He was so excited, and loving all the attention.

Friends Dominic and Catia

Riding the merry go round thingy

Cousin Jamie

JJ looking not so excited, but I think he liked it.

Miles ready for more video games

A little Ski Ball.                                       Aunt Robyn and cousin Hannah

Cup cake time!

I am pretty sure he liked it:)

The frosting was everywhere! He looked like the Joker!

Hannah and Zo Zo enjoyed some cupcake too!

Zoey kept stealing pieces from Hannah. That's my girl!

Grandpa was almost as messy as the kids!

Presents!

Gavin had a great day! Thanks to all of you who helped us celebrate:)

My baby boy is growing up!

Last night I kissed my 2 year old for the last time. Today he wakes up as a big 3 year old....oh how a year goes by soooo fast, and how many things change. Last year on his birthday, he was still in diapers...those have been long gone for about 11 months now! My "little" chunky monkey has grown up so much over the past year. He will be starting preschool in just 2 weeks!

Hard to believe this was him 2 years ago:

And now he is well on his way to be a teenager:

This kid is soooo smart. Remembers EVERYTHING, so be careful what you promise him, because he will call you on it. Loves everything cars, superheros, and motorcycles. Thinks he knows how to do a backflip. Finally knows how to swim!! Loves Food, of any kind, and apparently, is always hungry. Can hear me descretely unwrap a candy wrapper from all the way in the back row of the van....and wants me to share. Cannot watch a tv program or movie for more than 5 min before getting up and wandering off. Is my little shadow, always coming and finding me if I am not in the room. Gives me unsolicited "I love you's" atleast five times a day. Love's his mommy and wants to go everywhere with me. Adore's his baby sister and knows how to make her belly laugh. Looks up to his big brother, even when he is not so nice. Has some of the most gorgeous blue eyes I've ever seen.

Thank you, Gavin, for being such an amazing, loving, witty, cute, snuggly, and wonderful little boy! Hope your Birthday is full of fun and laughter. Now please, stop growing up so fast!!!!!!

new creation

so its been awhile since I made anything, mostly because if I 'm not in the "sewing mood" then it doesn't turn out right. I was inspired by Jen's romper that she made so this is my first attempt at making one for Zoey! I use a romper I had from target as my template:

I just kind of eyeballed everything, and I have never done legs before, but thankfully making stuff for a baby is pretty forgiving! Here's how it turned out:

It doesn't look as good here as it does on her.(pardon the dark marks, I had just tried it on her and she drooled!)

Not bad eh? When I try again, I will put the waist a little lower on the hips, and lengthen the torso so there is more loose fabric on the top.

And, as an extra bonus, the below pictures are proof that my daughter is part puppy dog....that tongue is ALWAYS hanging out!!!

love this girl!

Back to real time....

I still have one more post about vacation,  but who knows if and when I will ever get to it. In the mean time, I thought I should update the recent happenings around here.

Zoey is finally starting to crawl for real, and she also added clapping to her tricks also. Check out this gorgeous girl:

The boys are obviously very camera shy, because this is what followed:

Starved for attention, poor kids!

Days 4 and 5....shopping and museums!

The very first night we were there, I slept horribly. Zoey was in our room and I could hear every move she made, her breathing, etc. It didn't help that we unknowingly put her crib under a vent and she woke up twice as cold as could be. We were going to try to put her out in the living room area, but then that meant the boys would probably wake her up when they cam out of her room. Then we were going to put her in the boys room, and have boys sleep on couch, but then I was worried I wouldn't hear her if she was crying. So then I had a grand idea:

Can you find her?....It's kind of like where's waldo.

There she is....that's right, in the closet! I promise you she LOVED it in there, and I never closed the door all the way. Please don't call CPS on me....

The day after Legoland we spent the day at the pool, just relaxing and getting sun. We were going to drive to the beach the next day but our car was acting up a bit, and Joel really didn't want to drive 2 hours each way. So, we found some neat stuff to do around palm springs.

First up, the dinosaurs:

Ever passed these on the way in from california. We had stopped before, but never knew they had a whole museum of them. This time we actually went in and checked them all out!

The boys love dinosaurs!

Inside the mouth of the big T-rex

It was really windy out that day, and we decided to save 8 bucks on admission by me not going in. So this is what Zoey and I did while the boys were looking at dinosaurs. She is a natural!

Next up....the outlets! I had saved up my $$ to by my favorite Seven jeans. I love them, and may have worn them the remainder of the trip. Also, Joel surprised me with an early anniversary present by letting me get this:

Isn't She beautiful!! I am in love....

On Day 5, we found a Children's Museum about 45 minutes away

Ready to do some expoloring!

They had a part where you could paint a real car!

Dress up...meet Dr. Anderson

Cowboy Anderson

Mr. Joe Cool

Next up, make your own pizza

A little motorcycle riding too!

We finished the day at Ruby's Diner making fancy cars

Our little princess had a fun day too ( look at how tan she is here!)