Happy Easter!

(After 3 hours at church, we have zombies for children.)
(Oh, and I swear Afton has ears...she was just tryin' out her "Aunt Jemima" look")

Lake Tahoe vs. Yosemite

Lake Tahoe:

Yosemite:

HAS ANYONE BEEN TO EITHER???
Please help us decide!
We have the option to go to (for sure) one of these spots...
If we're lucky, both.
If you've been to either and can suggest anything like:
what part of the lake
where to stay
what not to do
where not to stay....
or where would be best with two kidaroos at this time of year
Please help me plan our trip!

I'll repay you by thinking happy thoughts of you being with us on our magical journey!

A Night to Remember!

We went out to dinner with our friends Shaunjustin and CarrieJon.
(Cooinsidental names, I know!)
Poor Carriejon...I didn't want to tell him.

We went to this quaint restaurant built into a mountainish hill.
The food was taste-y but a wee bit inflated on the price.
(Sorry Nepenthe.)

We laughed so much it hurt.
Or......maybe that was just me.


Nope.

B-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-t
SRSLY.
Why am I the ONLY one looking off into the distance imagining myself weightless, swimming with tiny little seahorses?
I dunno
Thanks everyone, for the memorable night!

Jealous?

Arrrrrrr. What goes there!?
Whales?


Why No. No, it's not.
Why it's our good friends Shauna and Justin.
Poor saps.
They lost their lunch. x37


But our vommitous voyage was not in vain!
We saw a bunch of Humpback Whales.
And then I hit the deck.

Stuff I'm NOT Saying

I LOVE my Lucas!!!

Lucas doesn't like it when I say things like:
"Guess what everyone! He passed his English and Math CLEP exams so he can earn his Associates Degree!!!"
Yeah, so I won't say that.
He also doesn't like it when I say things like:
"He did all that in the midst of his break-neck pace German courses and exams."
OR
"He's pretty much the top student in his German class.
Yup, he is."
OR
"He's studying German at the Defense Language Institute...which pretty much kicks the trash of the MTC."
(With all due respect of course. 'Cause he would NEVER!
Okay...I'll go repent now)
OR
"I'm so proud of him!"
I just wanted to NOT share that with everyone.
Anywayz... that's all.
Oh yeah. I forgot. He is FREAKIN'
HILARIOUS!!!!
And he's MINE ....AAAALL MINE

This is how he decided to burst through the door of another language course going on...

Nice Tighty-whities, honey! You're saggin' a little on the right tho. I'm preeeeeeetty sure your butt cheeks don't look like THAT.

P.S. "Lucas" isn't really his name...FYI....smth my lil' sis started calling him bc she thought "Luke" was "too short." Just in case you were thinking to yourselves, "I didn't know she married a Latino."

...

Yes, these are the same children.

NOT aliens from the planet

Glorebeegimmesomeicecreamerilleaturface

But SRSLY! How fun would that be to have 2 little aliens running around. You could make 'em pluck ur eyebrows 'n stuf.

Tennis

So we played tennis for the first time since having kiddaroos!
Yes, I know. Waaaaaaaaay too long.
Excuse #1 - No rackets. Too expensive. That is UNTIL...
one of my infamous Target escapades whereupon I discovered our $30 rackets for $4!!!
don't be hatin'
Excuse #2 - No easily accessible courts (that's what we told ourselves so we could continue being lazy)
Excuse #3 - Kids
Then we found THIS court! A single, fenced-in court nestled amidst a playground-park!!! The kids loved it and so did we. They're DEF going to be the next Tiger Woods-es ...of tennis

Daddy's Ace Tennis Ball Getter

Tiger

And Pullin' up the rear, our little explorer.
She played with cans, leaves, rocks, and paint chips the entire time.
Does that mean anything?

When you have no hair...

It's NOT a brush!
It's a microphone!ahhhh shucks!

Good Bye, Ol' Friend!

Though we've only known eachother for 9 months, I will miss your glorious hot pink ribbons draped over my shoulder and the perfect size-ology of your pockets de interior.
I will miss your white-picketfence-esque exterior pockets of 2 for my coupon obsessions and planner-oh-so-blue.
Your outer side pockets that held my keys so faithfully, but still I felt the need to ask "but where are my keys?" and search all other 8 FIRST...EVERYTIME!
Silly pockets!
Oh your vinyl-lined interior was such perfection for me...because I AM Queen Spillsalot.
I loved that you were a DIAPER BAG but looked like such a big trendy purse. No one knew. Except a select few...and for that I thank you!
For that was one of my biggest hangups about becoming a mommy.
But alas, all good things must come to an end.
And because I lazed about, neglecting your bath to get that dreadful mysterious stain of grossness off of your white-picket-fence, you betray me.
I placed you near the shower because I was going to bathe you!
Right after my tasks....
and LOST...
and my bag o' popcorn...
and bag of Sweedish Fish...
and my naked run through the zoo...
NOT because I thought it was okay that you become a chia-pet for mold overnight!
You know what this means?
No, you obvsly don't.
This means I have to cut you up and use you for parts. (sigh!)
Yes, and the rest will be talking to the raccoons.
Goodbye ol' girl! You were good to me!


p.s. I don't run naked...
p.p.s. I don't run through zoos. You can get in to trouble

Pfeiffer Beach

AKA: Purple Sand Beach.

Saturday was the first day in possibly weeks, that Luke has been home, it hasn't been freezing and rainy and dreary and we've not had to-dos.
YIPPEEEEEE!
So, we headed down to Big Sur and checked out the famous violet sands that come from manganese garnet particles...
hmmm, sounds like some fancyshmancy stone...
maybe I could find one and use it for my missing ring. (sigh)
Don't mind me, I'll be digging.

Along the way

This isn't my daughter.
No. No it's not.
Poor boy.
It was SO windy and cold!
Like a mermaid, I would love to come back and play in the purpley sand when it's hot...

And don't think I didn't have my gold panning equipment in my back pocket.

And don't think I wasn't ready to take out anyone if they tried to pann for my new purpley ring stone!

Who's feet are cuter?
No.
Wait.
They are totally mine, I know.

My Boys...

Anyone for a visit now?

What a Flooded Basement is Good For:

Finding old pictures of yourself that remind you of things you enjoy...

Because it's oh SO easy to forget!

*Yes, it's me....don't be fooled though, unfortunately I'm only prob catching 3 feet of air

What Makes Me Happy Today...

1. Moms who turn into Grandmas...
2. My Dyson DC-15 vacuum
3. Sick children.
Yes, they are so sweet when they are ill.

Who needs Pottery Barn when you've got ME! (she: Steph)

(This post was featured on "Or So She Says" and KSL's Studio 5)

My name is Stephanie,

but you can call me Steph. 'cause we're tight like that, I can already tell!

I am married to the most wonderful man in the world...and sorry ladies, I sleep with one eye open so don't even think about it. And I have two beautiful children that light up my life!

I’ve known Jessica since she and her family entered into my childhood on Faurot Drive back in 1991.Thank you Jessica, for thinking I’m “witty” enough to be a guest contributor. However, that is one thing I’ve never been accused of so yay!

So here it is:

We all know money doesn’t grow on trees…esp these days. Right? So, in my quest to pursue all things awesomely cute, I discovered a piece of art from Pottery Barn that made me just tingly all over. Okay, you caught me...pretty much everything from that devil of a place makes me turn green...BAD!

So, since I didn’t want to fork out $216.50, I forked out $13.50. yay!

Here is what you will need:

Here are some optional touches you may add:

Step 1: Choose your buttons and colors. I color-coordinated my buttons but you don’t need to! I’ve seen it done both ways and the product is cute either way.

Step 2: Paint Canvas (if you choose to do so)

I chose my base color, then chose a 2^nd color super close to the base shade to give it just a subtle faux finish.

Step 3: Once paint is completely dry, spread your buttons out on canvas.

(sorry 'bout lame pics...having trouble figuring out the color issues on my camera)

Start playing with the shape and arranging how you want it to look.
I started with the right side, working top to bottom, so I could then just mirror what I had done when I got to the left side.

Measure canvas to make sure everything is where you want it to be symmetrically.

Step 4: Begin Gluing.

I used Tacky glue. My friend used Elmer's school glue...I just don't know the life span of the school glue and I thought the tacky glue would last longer.

Don't worry about a little extra glue seeping out from the sides or through the center holes... here's what before and after looks like justsoyano.

Immediately after glue ... 12 hours after

Too much glue

This step is where your tweezers will come in handy!

Let dry.
Add any extra touches you want to make it your fabulous sparkly goodness of art!
This is where I added dabs of glitter glue on antenna buttons.

Now hang it in your little girl's room and ENJOY!