Drumroll Please!

Alrighty then, as promised, here is some of my scrapbooking stuff that I have decided to part with. Its a lot harder than I thought it would be to get rid of things so I pulled some of the stamp sets I was going to post. Sorry! I believe I have more in storage somewhere that I need to pull out so I'll be posting things in phases.

Here is what I have so far:

Phase 1:

Chipboard Letters. 2 packs $5 each

Grommits $1

Steelface Uppercase Outline Alphabet $10

(the letters are approx 1 inch in height, maybe just over an inch?)

My Sentiments Exactly TT205 Collage Caps Alphabet $10

These stamps are also approx 1 inch in height

Wild Hearts Stampin' Up! $7

Flaky Friends Stampin' Up! Set of 8 $20

Sunshine On My Shoulder

On the Tilden Park Train...with bonus: Auntie Kirsten in the background!

Bella never seems to be down in the dumps. How could she be? Shes 2 years old for crying out loud. The world is her oyster and boy does she know it! The most traumatizing thing for her is when she doesn't get to wear her favorite princess dress all day every day or get to live on the slide at the park. She gets over it tolerably well, she just needs to say goodbye and life is good. Closure. Good lesson to learn early in life. lol.

With so many changes taking place in our lives and a crazy schedule to maintain, I have a tendency to get down and some days I really need to work extra hard at being happy and upbeat. Bella is such a great little motivator for me! We have such a great time together and she always seems to lift my spirits.

The other day I was really frustrated. I had just come home from school and Bella instead of getting into the car, broke free and ran in the opposite direction towards the park. After wrestling with her we got back to the car and drove to our apartment, got the mail and were headed upstairs when I realized I had left my purse in the parking lot. I zoomed back and luckily it was there, no problems minus the fact that I had run it over, lol. We got home and Bella snuggled up on the couch and asked for a drink (a tactic she uses to prolong going down for a nap) I reluctantly gave it to her and went into the kitchen to clean up...without being prompted she said, "Thank you Mommy!" for the first time EVER. Immediately my heart melted and all of my frustrations went away.

The next day after her nap, we were getting ready to go for a walk and after getting her shoes on and hair fixed she felt the bow on her head, turned around and gave me a big hug and said, "Oh Mommy, thank you very much!" I just wanted to sit there and cry. What a great moment!

I am so grateful for her and the little...well, big boosts she gives me. LOVE YOU BELLA!!!!!

Back To School

Yay! 2 weeks down and I'm still alive! Tomorrow kicks off week 3 for me. I am so excited to be back in school. I was TERRIFIED to go back, but I'm glad I dove back in. I really need to finish my degree!!! I am going to DVC which is a local community college and I hope to be able to transfer to one of the universities in the area within a year or so...it will probably take me a lot longer than a year to complete things since I am only going part time and art classes take up a major portion of the day, its hard to fit anything else in.

I'm taking an Asian Art History class which I absolutely love so far. The teacher is all over the place and I'm really not a fan, but the subject matter is fantastic. I'm also taking a sculpture class which is a blast! I love being able to work with clay again, I didn't realize how much I have missed it. Tomorrow I'll pick up my first fired piece so I'll be able to post pix. We had to make a chalice so I made a Frankenstein candy dish...hey Halloween is coming up...the last thing I need is another piece of crap in my house....this will at least make a good portfolio piece that I can photograph before i trash it. I know its bad to do that but really...what am I going to do with it??

Anyway, so glad to be back in the game. It is so nice to be able to have the time for myself and to know that I am on the road to completing a major goal. Not to mention setting a big example for my kids. I think it is really important to have an education, I am so glad that I have the opportunity to continue!

Its about time!!!!!

Ok I know I'm a major slacker, but I assure you we have been SUPER busy this summer....here is just a sample of what we have been up to...

playdates

pixieland with auntie kirsten and grace

cruisin in the city

Tilden Train with Nana and fam
playing hardvisiting hot spots

& getting creative

This fall is going to be even better. I love living in California. There is always something to do. I love that you can drive 1 hour in any direction and be in a completely different environment. It is so fun! :)

Isabella has probably grown 4 inches this summer. What a little weed! :) Not only has she grown in height, but she is developing in so many ways. She is talking so much and has a personality that just wont quit.

I cant wait to fill everyone in on whats happening in our lives...more tomorrow!

Laundry

Tonight Dan and I were plowing our way through a pile of laundry and he asked me if I remembered how to fold shirts like this:



I remembered seeing this in a email fwd a few years ago and loved it. It TOTALLY works! Since Dan has about 50 t-shirts, it makes folding laundry a lot more fun :)

New Discovery

I'm always looking for tips, ideas, how to make SAHM (stay at home mom) life better. My friend bonny had a link to this site on her blog....I'm still sitting here with my mouth open! Its amazing!!! :) So excited to dig deeper in this site!

How I Love My Little Girl!

This morning Bella woke up at 7am! Thank you construction workers! She usually sleeps until at least 8 or 8:30. I love that shes a sleeper. She is into everything today but not in a bad way. Total discovery mode. She keeps coming across things, studying them, "See?!" and handing it to me, "Here you go!" and then shes off!Last night when she was supposed to be getting in the tubby, she came out wearing nothing but a hat and her bath mat and totally strutting her stuff. Watch out Heidi Klum! This chicka is taking over the runway!

I love this age! She is so much fun and I'm glad I can spend so much one on one time with her.

Here are a few of my favorite things about her:

1. How sassy she is
2. Her independence
3. Her creativity and excellent artwork
4. Her imagination
5. How kind she is to others
6. How flirty she is
7. That she LOVES to read (she makes up and tells us stories according to the pictures)
8. That she LOVES Buzz Lightyear and runs around the house with him saying "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!!"
9. How loving and compassionate she is
10. That she totally plays Dan just to tease him
11. That she loves her family and her friends so much
12. Her spontaneous prayers
13. That she dances almost all the time
14. The random songs she sings
15. That she loves to cook
16. Her sense of fashion
17. That she pronounces yellow, "yay-yo"
18. When we are cleaning or moving furniture she "helps" us clean up by moving all of her toys from one location to the next, grunting when she lifts something.
19. That she exclaims, "OH CUTE!!!" when she tries something on or sees a cute outfit while shopping.
20. When she empties her dresser in protest of naps and decides to count to ten, make animal sounds or sing happy birthday for a few hours instead.

I really could go on forever, shes the funnest little girl ever! :)

Angels & Demons part II

I don't really know what to say about the movie except that it is pretty good. I really need to go see it again to process. I know I'm a total dork. I was so distracted the whole time. All I could think about was the book. I thought they did a really good job of not smearing the Catholic Church in this one. The changes that they made from book to movie were done well, a few things I think they should have kept in there; but I can totally see why they made the changes that they did. I don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it, sorry for being so nondescript! Ewan McGreggor's character was great. I'm glad they chose him to play that role. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I was still surprised by him. Tom Hanks' character, Robert Langdon was WAY more sassy in this one I felt, no reservations whatsoever. By the way his hair was a great deal better in this movie. not scragely like last time! AND even though it wasn't important and didn't contribute to the plot line whatsoever, I was disappointed that Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra didnt have any kind of relationship with one another. Over all I think it was pretty good!

Angels & Demons

Today's the day! I am SO excited to see this movie. Last year I finally read the book and I couldn't put it down. If you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend it. I loved it even more than the DaVinci code...and I liked that book a lot! I feel that Angels and Demons is a little less controversial and blasphemous...a lot more action and suspense. All the artwork is an added bonus for me. I LOVE it all!

We are going to see the movie tomorrow night...hopefully it is amazing and I will want to see it many more times! Ron Howard is an excellent director and I LOVE Tom Hanks. He never lets me down.

Strawberry Fields Forever!

Last May we started a tradition and with Dan's parents. We went to Wattsonville and picked Strawberries! I wanted to compare to last year, but I couldn't find last years post, maybe I never posted...? (probably! oops!) Anyway, Bella remembered exactly what to do, she grabbed her bucket and immediately started picking berries, she was a little reluctant to eat them but after the first one, she couldn't stop! She started taking bites and then putting them in the bucket. That's right, swiss cheese strawberries! :)

Checking things out...If you look closely at her face, you can see she had been grazing! lol

Our little monster, hard at work.

I had planned on making jam with the berries we picked but I have no idea how and wasnt brave enough to do it without help. If anyone knows how to make jam, or even freezer jam and wants some of the finished product for helping me please let me know!!!

We had a great time and are going back in a few weeks to get more. If you want to go with us or meet us down there let me know, a bunch of us are going together.

Me & My Shaddow

Bella recently discovered her shadow! It is really very cute! Whenever she notices, she gets really excited like she is seeing one of her friends and tries to chase it. She then squats down, waves and starts a conversation. Once she realizes everyone is looking she just says, "come on!" and she and her shadow run off and play. I love being a mom!

Livingston Family Update

Here are some pix of Grace and her new mommy and daddy from the past week:Together at long last!

Gracie and Daddy

Strike a pose!

Discovering that eating ziploc bags isnt too tasty!

Gracie and her fav toy, jeffrie the giraffe!

Gracie and Jeffrie in tow.

TUBBY TIME!

Gracie and Mommy, I LOVE this picture!Look at her cute little smile!!!AWWWWWWWW!

We just found out that the paperwork that was going to take about 30 days to process for Grace to come home took about 12 hours. WOO HOO! If all things fall into place Dallan & Kirsten will be coming home with Grace in a week and a half! Can you believe it?? Before they left for Africa, the adoption agency told them that they would have to go in 2 trips (utterly heartbreaking) The first trip to get things started, be presented in court, etc. and the second after 3-4 weeks when Grace's visa and other paperwork had been processed and she was clear to come to the U.S. Thankfully the people they are working with have their ducks in a row and are so helpful! Please keep them in your prayers! Hopefully everything goes off without a hitch! :) Good luck you guys! Love ya!

Shop Girl

Kirsten Bella and I have been going shopping quite a bit lately to get Kirsten ready to go to Africa. We have trained Bella well! Now when we go to a store she grabs something, holds it up to her and says: "Oh CUTE!!!" Its really kind of sad. Kirsten found an awesome shop called 'Labels' (moreso for retail therapy rather than necessity) Its a second hand shop for designer clothes and bags, shoes etc. It is so awesome! It has a sort of vintage vibe which is so fun. Bella was really excited! She LOVES purses, hats and shoes so much. We took her to the back where all the clearance items were. I'd have to sign my life away for anything else in the store. Once again the pix are really bad because they are from my phone and someone just wont hold still...

Drive by pose

One of the sales ladies fell in love with bella, she picked out a bunch of purses for her to play with. This one was her fav.

Accessorizing!

Learning how to accessorize with Auntie Kirsten

Woman on a mission, "someone get me a mirror!!!" She was totally thinking that!
Pretty!
Here we are at lunch afterwards. All she would eat is: water, a piece of bread a few peas and parmesan cheese. nutritious.

Taking parm shots.

The Voca People

I love random stuff like this, my cousin posted it...



Its a little annoying, but totally fun.

3 Day Potty Training

Has anyone heard of this? I stumbled upon a website for 3 Day Potty Training this morning and while I'm totally skeptical, I'm really curious to see what she says in her ebook.

I have been trying to potty train Bella for months now. She is SO hit and miss. Sometimes she is deathly afraid of the toilet, sometimes she just goes by herself, or she tells me she has to go and camps out on the toilet forever and then finds somewhere else to go to the bathroom. Accidents galore! I'm sick of my living room being a kitty litter box!

A big part of the problem is that I haven't been as consistent as I should be, which is really bad

I've tried the naked technique-so doesn't work! I've tried giving her fluids all day long and having her go potty every hour and that doesn't work either. My next step was to have her wear panties instead of diapers and have her feel the difference...?

I'm at the point where I'll try anything! Any suggestions?

New Do

Last week my cousin cut my hair and I now come with bangs! I never thought I'd do it but here I am! What do you think?

Fit To The Core Update

OK. So far so good. I fell off the wagon a little bit and strayed from my diet...who doesn't. I'm still working out 3-4 times a week at 5am and losing weight and inches! 2 weeks ago i weighed in and I had lost 13 pounds, which is OK, i lost 11 gained 5 and then lost 7 so I'm OK with that. Keep moving forward! The best part is the inches. I have lost 2 inches in my thighs, 1 1/2 inches in my hips and stomach and about a 1/2 inch all over the rest of my body. As a whole, not too shabby. Kirsten is doing really well too, she has lost 4 inches from her waist and 3 inches from her hips and about a 1/2 inch everywhere else. WAY TO GO!!! here is a link to their new website:

http://f2cbootcamps.com/

Love it!

Random pix

I have been so horrible about adding pix of bella lately, here are a bunch of random shots....Fruit snacks in the toes. Classic!

Playing at the park...shes afraid of heights and debating whether to go down the slide or not.

trying on hats at the childrens place

strike a pose!

shopping at Costco with her pal Macy.

Not wanting to take a picture with daddy

Nanna and Bella

Post traumatic birthday song at the cheesecake factory. She freaked out and covered her eyes when they started singing. WHY DIDNT I TAKE PIX OR VIDEO???

Finally....hanging out with uncle Dallan. She LOVES the Bumbo, even though she gets stuck in it every time!...dallan propped her up on the coffee table with some cheerios and put backyardigans on for her...shes happy as a clam!