Please vote for Dylan!

I use Mixbook, which is this AWESOME website where you can create your own scrapbooks.

They're holding this awesome contest for dads and I just entered Dylan into it.

If you can, please go vote for him!

http://apps.facebook.com/contestsapps/showentry/Dads-Got-Talent-Contest/12783?fbpage_id=5942794395

<3 Thank you!

Daydreaming

About...

1. Paws-Up Resort : Oh what I wouldn't giiiiiiive to be able to spend a week or two there.

I think I'd be a great glamper.


2. Decorating & furnishing my future home (complete with a craft room) :

 

http://onelittleword.typepad.com/olw/2009/01/rondas-tiptechnique.html

http://gypsypurplehome.tumblr.com/page/16

 

http://www.houseofturquoise.com/2009/06/beachside-treat.html

http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/09/kitchen-brain-dump/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YoungHouseLove+%28Young+House+Love%29

3. Baking. I mean after all, it's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Don't believe me? Read for yourself! It makes me want to go home and make goodies that I know I'd eat too much of, but don't care. Maybe I'll try some this weekend... These recipes on Pinterest look particularly delish!

http://thecozylittlekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/11/chocolate-chip-ooey-gooey-butter-cake.html

 

http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/11/marshmallow-peanut-butter-double-chocolate-pillowtop-bars.html

 

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/cookie-dough-cheesecake-bars-recipe

All of the recipes HAD to have chocolate chips in them, I mean really. I can't resist sweets. These all look so amazing that while they were uploading, I walked down the hall in our office to the candy jar and pulled out a Kit-kat bar and a Reese's. I'm so embarrassing sometimes. Whatever.

4. The future. As always. There are a lot of exciting things in the works in our life right now and can't wait to see how they all pan out... Positive thinking, ppositive thinking, ppositive thinking!

5. Zoe. I always wonder what she does during the day while we're at work. She's been doing so great, getting so big, and shedding waaaay too much in my opinion. We gave her a bath on Sunday and I sat on the back porch for over 30 minutes brushing her out and it still showed no signs of stopping so I gave up. Our house is coooovered in her fur. We got the amazing Furminator and for anyone with a dog that even sheds a little bit... it is worth every penny. But does anyone else have any suggestions?! I can see myself going nuts here in the near future. She's becoming more and more active and our nightly walks are becoming longer and the pace is picking up quite a bit to keep up with her energy level. She is such a good dog; we definitely got lucky.

6. Last, but certainly not least... Ella. Last week on Tuesday I wrote her a letter. I'm definitely going to start making that a regular thing. My mom also suggested that I write them out, to make them more tangible for her when she's older. Maybe I'll make a scrapbook out of them? Any excuse to craft is good by me! Ella is with my mom today and they're going to the zoo. We used to have zoo passes, but with our current financial limitations, we weren't able to renew it! I can't wait until we have passes again. Ella loooves going and seeing all of the animals. It's so fun to see her grow up and become more and more aware of her surroundings and actually take an interest in what she's seeing. I can't wait to hear about their adventures today.

<3 More later.

Mother's Day Weekend & a Ridiculous Amount of Pictures.

Happy Monday to everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, and I'm sure you're already looking forward to the next one... I know I am! So on Saturday I unveiled my new hair, which after a whole weekend with it I still love (thank goodness!). It's been so nice not having to mess with it all up in my face, the tangles, etc. People with long hair know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, my Mother's Day weekend was an absolute blast. I was reminded a thousand times over as to how much I am in the right spot and sharing my life with the most perfectly amazing people.

Lately I've been feeling the pressure to "upgrade;" our living situation in particular. For anyone who has been to our shoebox, I mean house, you know how small it is. With two grown adults, a three-year old AND now a dog, storage and space are hot commodities. After this weekend though, I am committed to letting that go and letting life happen as it may. My family and I are so blessed to be in the situation that we are, regardless of how many bedrooms or bathrooms we have. No matter what, as long as I am with Dylan, Ella, and Zoe, life is as it should be. I'm working on being genuinely grateful for what we have and feeling the richness that comes with that deep appreciation.

Before I get into my fun-filled weekend, I have to go back to last Father's Day. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I prettttttty much came up with the cutest idea ever to do for Dylan. Ella was still calling him "duh-duh" (for Dylan); I never called him "daddy" because if that was going to be his role in her life, I wanted that title to come from her. He was clearly that figure and I wanted to make his first Father's Day special. He'd been talking about wanting to go fishing fooorrrreeeeevvverrrrrr. It was always much too hard though, with Ella being so little. She still has never been on a boat, and at the time she was freshly two. I was just a little nervous about ever going. So instead of prolonging his agony, I found a way for Ella to take him fishing anyway.

I bought a bunch of foam sheets, cut them out in the shape of fish, glued some googly-eyes to either side, and had Ella color them all. After they were all decorated, I glued magnets to the ends. I also bought some long wooden poles, tied some string to the ends, along with some wooden thing (I can't even tell you now what it was), and glued the other side of the magnet to it for the fishing poles. A blue bucket with the words "Ella & Duh-duh's fish" was the last piece that made it all come together. I taped up signs in the house and in the backyard leading the way, and I'll let the photos from that day speak for themselves...

I told you it was a great idea! For any mom's whose husbands love fishing, but you're not ready or up for that big adventure with your kiddos yet, this was SO MUCH FUN. Ella had a blast and we definitely squeezed a few tears of joy out of Dylan. It was a smashing success.

Back to my Mother's Day... Ever since my genius backyard fishing adventure, Dylan has always said that he's going to have a heck of a time trying to top that, so this Mother's Day was his first attempt at doing so.

Let me know how you think he did!

So, I left off Saturday morning with my alone time, anxiously waiting for Dylan and Ella to return home from their secret mission. About an hour or so later, after I took my shower, did my hair and makeup, I heard movement on the back porch. Dylan walks in and quickly shuts the door behind him. Ella was clearly still outside and Dylan went back out to finish up something with her, so I just let them do their thing and I sat their patiently waiting some more. Not much later, they both walk in carrying this...

My first thought was "hmmm..." and I had ZERO clue what the heck the contents of that storage bin was.

I opened my beautiful cards, lift up the lid and saw this...

To show you better the contents of the bin, I displayed most of it on our kitchen table: bratwursts, buns, beans, Sour Patch watermelons (my favorite), horseshoes, badminton, tent stakes, my very own Little Mermaid cup, camping toilet paper, ponchos, a head lamp, camping soap, and a Ben & Jerry's ice cream that I had already put into the freezer. I think that's everything.

After reviewing the contents of my bin, I immediately knew that we had an exciting weekend ahead of us. I had bought Dylan (and us) a huge tent for Christmas and we've always said how we want our family to go camping as often as possible, so we were pitchin' the tent in the backyard! Very quickly I regretted taking the time to put makeup on, but oh well! To the backyard we went! (Don't mind our dead grass... our huge yard is very expensive to water and keep green!)

First, we laid out the tarp.

& laid out all the pieces and parts...

It was hard to take photos while I was trying to help Dylan keep it all from falling over, but TA-DA! The tent was mostly assembled.

Cutie pie testing it out!

My hubby putting together the final pieces.

The final product! How cool is that patio area?! Yes, I bought us a nine person tent. Don't judge me! I like my space! =)

After the tent was assembled, we decided to take a break for the afternoon and go swimming at Heather's house! I don't have any pictures of us at the pool, but I did manage to get a picture of Ella in her new Roxy get-up. She's so funny.

After swimming, we went to Lappert's, real Hawaiian ice cream. They are the ones who are responsible for Dole Whip at Disneyland. The stand is in Adventure Land for all of you who have not yet experienced Dole Whip. Put it on your list to do! I walked in there thinking I was going to get Dole Whip, but then I saw all of their amazing flavors. After sampling like three different flavors, I settled on "Kauai Pie." It was coffee ice cream with toasted coconut, chocolate fudge, and macadamia nuts. Hawaiian heaven! Not to mention the fresh whipped cream on top. Amazing.

After our ice cream we headed home. Ella fell asleep in the car on our way, so Dylan and I just laid around and did laundry. Eventually we woke Ella up, stuck her in the stroller and took Zoe on a walk. We walked down to the Redbox and rented "TinTin" for later. We got home just in time to make dinner! We love BBQing, and Dylan is quickly becoming the master of the grill.

After dinner, it was pretty dark. PJ Time!

Along with our huge tent, yes we also had blow-up mattresses. We clearly know how to "rough it."

Ella's ready to go!

We watched our movie and went straight to sleep. We were all tired from the day's activities. I woke up Sunday morning to this adorable sight...

Our movie theatre from the night before, complete with a space heater!

 

 

7:30 am rolled around and Dylan came and woke us up for breakfast!

I've never really trusted Dylan with cooking. His idea of a good meal is a recipe from his (what he calls a) cookbook, "A Man, a Can, & a Plan." Ladies, tell me you'd be frightened as much as I am. I will say though, I was pleasantly surprised by his special version of french toast. I didn't see Cinnamon on it, so I was like, "babe... you do know that cinnamon is a key ingredient to french toast, right?" He proceeded to tell me about his new creation. Brace yourselves, it sounds odd.

He mixed eggs, butter, and brown sugar in a bowl for like ten minutes he said. Cut up the bakery fresh french bread (which is always the best for french toast) and soaked the bread in the egg concoction. He heated the oven to 425 and baked the slices of bread for about ten minutes. It was reallllllly good. Next time he said he would put the oven at like 375 and cook it a little longer to try and get the middle a little more cooked, but it was oddly a success. I think I'll try to re-create this with my own flair next time! (Good job, babe!)

The rest of our day was spent finishing laundry, washing the dog, and going to dinner with my parents, sister, and grandparents. We got home early in the evening and took Zoe on a walk. Ella wanted a few more pictures.

Needless to say, my Mother's Day weekend was so much fun and fun times with my family I will never forget. Dylan did an amazing job of putting it all together and I couldn't be more thankful. Father's Day is coming up and now I have to figure out what the heck I'm going to do next! I think Dylan and I are now all tied up for our friendly, little competition of the most creative holidays!

If you're a mother, I hope you felt love and appreciation this weekend. Being a parent is such hard work, but it's weekends like this that make every tear, every booger, every tantrum, and every battle worth it!

<3 I'll be back with more tomorrow!

P.S. OMG, how could I forget?! Guess what?! I made my first sale in my Etsy store! I got to work this morning and opened an email congratulating me on my first success! I am so beyond ecstatic.

New Look!

My babies just left to pick up part of my Mother's Day surprise and I'm left in the house BY MYSELF. I can hardly believe it... this rarely happens. And it's very strange. I enjoy their company so much, but I suppose it is nice to have a few minutes to myself that aren't just in the shower.

I have no idea what our plans are today, but that's okay. Whatever they end up being will be great because it will be their way of showing their love for me and I feel so special because of that fact alone.

I didn't write anything yesterday because I was having a hard time getting in the mindset of writing. I had so many things on my mind and I didn't want to just ramble on and on. However, I did make a huge change yesterday...

I chopped off my hair!

Crazy, I know, but I've been talking about doing this since before my wedding. The only reason I grew it out was for my wedding and I literally could NOT take it anymore. I felt so ugly putting my hair back into a ponytail every single day. Now I feel like I can easily do something to make it cute and add a little more spunk and personality to my everyday look.

I cut about 13 inches off which I will be donating to Locks of Love...

Aaaaand, my new look. What do you think?! I thought Dylan wasn't going to like it because he loooved my long hair, but he does! I can't wait to have the time and energy to do my hair again!

I have things I'll definitely be writing about on Monday, especially this Mother's Day surprise I'm waiting on, so I'm sorry to only leave you with this until then! But I hope everyone has a great weekend and make sure to hug and kiss your momma!! Make sure she knows how much you love and appreciate her. Not that you weren't already planning on it, but you know what I mean!

xoxo