How Time Flies...

I found some old pics from 2 summers ago, when Alex was just 6, Leah was turning 4, and Celeste was 7 months. I love reminiscing with past pictures, and since I wasn't blogging then, I didn't share them much- so here you have it, some cuties from 2 years ago...

This was at a water park that we LOVE!! It is up near my parent's boat, and we went there for Leah's 4th birthday in 2006.

This water park was just torn down this year and re-built, but we enjoyed it for FREE!! (Thanks to our good friends, who gave us complimentary passes!!)

Look at that bald head!! This is at the Lake for our family weekend that we do every summer! Check out those rolls!! She was a chubby!

This is at the pool at my parent's marina- her first trip there- she was a water baby from the beginning! She can still wrinkle her nose like that!

This is us at the zoo- my kids love the zoo- maybe they should stay!!

This was the first time Celeste stood up on her own- see the chubby legs that are holding her up!

Leah so loves the water!

Mommy and Celeste at the zoo- she loved the goats at the petting zoo!

This is at the Prehistoric Forest, where we went to make Alex happy!

Thank goodness we didn't take Celeste- she may have been scared, but Alex and Leah were blissfully happy!

Alex learned to ride his bike that summer- now it's Leah's turn to ride!

My last post was about June flying by me...I remember these like they were yesterday...time really does go by, and so we must slow down so we can see these moments before they pass us by! That is my goal- I am really working on it!

A month in the life....

I feel like a bad friend...it is no excuse...I have been more busy than usual these last few weeks, and haven't been able to do much of what I love, like talk to my friends for one, and for two, I haven't ran on the tread either. Two things I love and need to do- I have neglected them for the sake of craziness in our house!! I was hoping that once school let out, things would calm down, but not so, and therefore certain things were sacrificed, and I am apologizing!
Sure, I have had time to blog, wouldn't miss that- but chat on the phone has taken a backseat, sadly, and spending time with friends, too. I have become a chauffeur for Alex and his many camps, Leah and her tennis lessons, and still doing regular errand running. The only thing benefit ting from this is the gas companies!! I have spent more than I care to add up on gas this month! Not that I mind terribly, I mean, Alex has had many great experiences that he wouldn't normally have- ie: baseball camp, camp with Ivy, Scout camp; and Leah, too- tennis lessons are a whole mile away!
June has just passed by with barely a blink for me, and I am sort of saddened by it. I feel like a tumbleweed in a whirlwind, and I do not adjust well to non-planned events! I am a planner, and like to know exactly where I will be at a given moment, and June just took over and that was not my plan!! I am planning for July to be a much calmer month- let's hope for my sanity and yours!
Baseball will end this week, but the 4th of July is soon approaching, which means fun! We love fireworks, and all the festivities, including my brother's 35th birthday!! The kids thrive ad mist the chaos and activities, and so I should let up a little and just enjoy- that is what I will try to do.

Despite the craziness, many good things have come out of this month, including,
1-Alex received the "sharp shooter" award at scout camp
2-Leah is learning to ride a 2 wheeler (she is getting really good, but had to take time to heal after riding directly into my rose bushes and scraping her little arms and legs up!)
3-Alex got a hit every time he was up to bat this season
4-We got parts fixed in our basement so that it doesn't leak water into our foundation anymore, and a part for our grill- all under warranty, meaning it was free!
5-Dana finally healed from the flu, and Celeste is no longer on breathing treatments for the pneumonia- just 2 allergy meds for her asthma-like symptoms
6-I got many new things for our house thanks to my great friend, Jennifer moving away- I am not happy about that part, but at least I get to keep a part of her here with me. I have been busy helping her finalize her empty house here (one that we would love to have, by the way), so that has kept me busy, too- but I so don't mind-she is a tremendous friend, and has done way more for me! I miss her already!

So, not all bad- and here is a picture of my favorite piece of furniture, thanks to Jen's moving van not being big enough! I have always wanted an entry bench, and this fits perfectly! I am in process of updating the pictures of the kids above it, so just pretend that they are newer!
Do you see the new purse in the center? Is it not so cute?! My friend, Alicia made it for me when I was visiting her, and I made her this: I think I am into orange and brown right now: it seems I am doing a lot with those colors!

Well, that is enough ranting for a day, but just so you know, if July is as busy as June, I will lose what little is left of my mind! I am ready for a vacation- only 33 days to go!!

Throwback Thursday 5- Summer of 78'

These were taken 30 years ago!! WOW!! That was a long time ago, huh?! I am getting old- I was nearly 3 in these pictures! We went on many fun vacations when I was growing up- and lots of parks and fun places. These were taken at Sea World...check out my hot mom- does she not look stylin' in the 70's?! She could get away with that today!! She looks amazing!

This is at some dam somewhere we visited (I meant to ask my parents where that was). Notice, I am wearing the same outfit in 3 of these pictures!! Either I didn't have many to choose from, (probably not the case) or I am more like my daughters than I want to think! (Leah has a closet full of clothes, but chooses the same things day after day!)

The other day, Dana said that Celeste is me- blonde hair and brown eyes- you can see it in these pictures. My hair didn't start turning darker until I was in elementary school.

Our vacations were nearly always near some type of body of water- the beach was a common place to be in the summer with us. We always had a boat (at some points, we had 2), and we were always out in the sun! Some things never change: from April to November, my dad is at the lake on his boat every weekend!! I am grateful for the fun summers I had as a child, and have many memories of these moments. I don't remember this summer of 78, but I am grateful for my parents who took the pictures and for the smile I had in all of them!

Latino Festival 08

Going to the Festival Latino each year is a traditon for us. We just love this festival downtown! It is so fun, and the food and music is just awesome! Our kids look forward to going, though they don't eat Mexican food, but just to be around tons of people and do fun stuff. Last year we missed it, since we were on vacation, but this year, we couldn't help ourselves! It was Friday night, and the fun began at 5pm!! Sadly, due to funding and the crappy economy, the festival was shortened to just 2 days, only 5 hours each day, and they charged admission! (It was only $1 for adults, and the crazies were free), and the space they held it at was smaller, so less vendors could fit, so there was only about 6 places to order food! Bummer, since we could not stand in line for an hour with our 3 kids! We ended up eating Wendy's at a park afterward (so sad), but still managed to have fun! The kids' crafts were incredibly fun this year, and so we did them all! Leah made this cute necklace! Then she made this cute mask! I am not sure what is up with the sad face and the mask, but it was still a fun, cute idea! Alex colored maracas- fun too! Celeste made a kitty mask, too and kept it on for about 2 seconds- enough time to snap this cute photo!

There are free booths everywhere, so we took advantage of those ones, and won free stuff- crap, really, but hey, it was free, and it was fun!
COSI was there, so they had cool things for the kids to do.
Dana helped the girls make the necklaces and masks- and it was hot in the sun- we were dying!
Daddy and Celeste groove to the tunes- they had live music and people just dance wherever they are! It is so great!
Celeste colored bookmarks from the library booth- she even broke 2 of their crayons- great!

So for under $15, we got parking, dinner, and prizes- including 2 t-shirts for Dana, one from a Latino newspaper here, and one with the Incredible Hulk on it! Lucky us- 2 new t-shirts, whoo hoo! What a cheap night, but fun for everyone!! I even ran into my friend, Justin, who randomly reads my blog, who is my friend from years ago, and Dana ran into several of his former students- the Elders were even there handing out Book of Mormons in Spanish! Awesome!

Aferward, since we are such good parents, we bought them cotton candy from the street vendor, who sells it for $1, instead of whatever they sell it for inside!! Oh, and we took in our own waters, too! Here are some last pictures of us eating our "Family Dinner"- and the yummy cotton candy!

The Many Faces of Celeste

Celeste is not camera shy- I am sure by now you know that since I have many pics of her hamming it up for me! But in these new collages, see if you notice any differences in her hamminess-

Here's the first one...

And here, the next day, is the second one...

It is very apparent to me, so in case you can't tell....in the first one she is perfectly clean, hair up in a cute ponytail, cheesy posed grin...and in the second, filthy, filthy dirty at the park, hair completely disheveled, and happy non posed grin! She was head to toe dirt from the ball diamond dirt! AND she loved it!!

And I thought she was just like me...obviously not right in the second set of pics!! The first one, definitely! Still, she is just too fun!

Pool Pics...

While we were visiting Alicia and her family, we went swimming at a pool of her friends'. It was a very nice pool, with a hot tub too! The weather was much warmer than I anticipated, and though I sun screened Leah, she got a little redder than I hoped. She is fine- thankfully she tans easily like me! Here are some cute pics of the girls in the pool...
Leah loved the slide, and all thanks go to Morgan for willingly catching her in the water while I sat on the side chatting with Lish!
Lish teaches Leah how to swim- can you see her cheeks puffed while she tries to hold her breath?!
Celeste loved the baby slide, and went down again and again, but only I could catch her, so I got a total arm workout!
Lish's friend, Melissa (who goes on our shopping trip) has 2 daughters that swam too!
Leah and Morgan in the hot tub!
This is pretty much where Celeste stayed- on the shallow steps, which was fine with me.
Leah just can't get enough of the sun and fun.
This isn't the best picture, but this is a cicada- one of the most disgusting creatures to ever fly! They are in full force this season there! They are everywhere, literally, and they just fly into you and though they don't bite or sting, they can pinch! They are huge and gross and we spent probably 90% of our time flicking them off of us, or killing them as we walked- so gross!
This is Celeste totally crashed after our fun time at Alicia's house! I think we broke her fun button! (That is my dad's way of saying that it was too much fun!!) I agree, what do you think?!

Incredibly Impressed In IKEA!!

This week I went to visit my great friend, Alicia in her city, where there is now a brand new IKEA store!! I had never been to IKEA before, but soon found that I cannot live without it somewhere close by!! An hour and a half is close by for me, and I am excited to go again!! It was so amazing and so fun, and those of you who have been to one, know exactly what I am talking about! They sell EVERYTHING there for your home- seriously, from beds, to couches, to lamps, to frames, to curtains, to rugs, to accessories, to kitchen utensils, to dishes, to kids stuff, to pillows, to bedding, to desks, to whatever you could possibly need to furnish your home! I was in heaven- literally, I could live there, it was my kind of place! We barely scratched the surface in our 2 hour spree- but here are some things I fell in love with and some cute pics of the kids enjoying themselves! (oh, they have a play place for your kids, it's free, by the way, so Leah and Dylan- Alicia's son- went in, but Celeste didn't meet the height requirement, so she stayed with us, thus the cute photos!)
These couches are only $399.00! Then you get a super chic couch cover for under $50 and viola! This is an amazing deal!
I just love the style of the furnishings, and look forward to moving to a house that I can decorate with some of their things!
Just love these overstuffed chairs and love seats!
Celeste carried this basket through the store, and kept filling it with goodies that she picked up along the way- note: I didn't buy it, and when Alicia took it away when she thought Celeste didn't notice, she cried and cried!! This was happy time with the basket!
Do you just love the fabric?! I love it!
This is the girly room that Morgan wants- I love that they price the entire room out for you with everything in it, so you can see all that you get for the price- this entire room was under $900! Okay, that is a bit much for a little girls' room, but that includes the bed, all the furniture, the rugs, curtains, and every little accessory! Even the flooring!
Okay, this is the red bedding that I absolutely fell in love with! I am not sure why I was so drawn to the red, but I wanted to buy it so badly!! My room is lavender and sage, and cream right now, so the red would be a drastic change, but I am going to hold off until we move, and are able to have real furniture in the room, and will use it then, but I soooo love it now!!
These girls climbed on nearly every bed! Too cute!
Leah loved this fur rug!
I ended up only spending $30! I bought a mesh hanging thingy for the girls' room, for their stuffed animals for $5, some cute plastic bowls for $2, two yummy smelling candles for $2 each, two white frames for $4, swedish fish (couldn't resist!), and this wire hanging basket rod (okay, I can't explain, but I will take a picture once I hang it and repost) for $8! This was by far one of the most fun shopping trips I have had in a long time! It was great to be with Lish and her family too- she is always fun, and shopping with her is literally the best! We had so much fun and we can't wait to go back! Okay, well, I had fun at IKEA, the kids, well, they did too, but I am sure they aren't looking forward to a return nearly as much as me!