Say cheese!

Easter Day, April 24, 2011

What we go through to get a nice picture of these crazies . . . .

I'm Procrastinating

I've been telling myself to go to bed, but I just can't. You see, tomorrow just can't come yet. I'm not ready. I'm not ready for my boy to be finished with elementary school. I'm not ready to watch him say goodbye to the teachers and principal who have been there for him for the last 6 years. He has come so far. From hiding under the table in Kindergarten to writing poignant and humorous prose in 5th grade, from tears of frustration to tears of pride, the changes have come, and they are vast. I am such a lucky mother to have been able to witness and share in his progress all these years. He has overcome so many challenges that life has dealt him, and I am so proud of this young man. But still . . . .

Tomorrow, can you wait just one more day? I'm not ready. Even though he is.

Phew, that was close

Recently, my Mac decided to close it's doors on iPhoto because it was mad at me for taking up so much memory with my pictures. I had no access to the last 3 years of photographic documentation. Panic set in, but the geniuses were there to rescue me. Two trips to the mall and a couple of hours of waiting had us (Mac and I) all patched up. So here are a couple of highlights that have transpired since the last post!

I had a birthday! No need to discuss numbers. It was a quiet affair, just how I like it when the numbers are, you know, where they are these days. Dinner and presents.



Unbeknownst to me, Paul had gotten me something I've wanted forever. The look on my face when I opened the box and discovered a Blendtec in there!! Total surprise. I love that guy.


And I LOVE my Blentec! I use it at least twice a day. Yum, yum, yumminess.


Another exciting event--we had a blowout on the freeway.


Just the kids and I, in Paul's car. Here's how I felt about it:


Here's how the kids felt about it.


Moving on. Max earned his Arrow of Light award!


We are so proud of him! Do we look proud?


It's the good kind of proud. He worked so hard and is a full-fledged Boy Scout now. Awesome. He had the coolest arrow too because his dad made it special.


OK, now I can download the rest of the pictures from the camera since I have enough memory. Let's see if there are any more goodies on there to share.

Reporting in from SoCal

So, we were lucky to get a visit from my awesome sister, Jo Ann (a.k.a. Jo Jo) and Layne this weekend. Love these people! Since she forgot her camera back in the frozen Utah tundra, I told her I'd blog some photos. Motivation! Yay!

We met at an undisclosed location and scooped up Jo while Layne went to do, you know, Layne stuff. Since it was sunny and 70, it was straight to the beach! And by straight, I mean by way of a couple of stops first to Bed Bath and Beyond (what could possibly be beyond bed AND bath?) and Max's fencing lesson.

See? Sunny!







Which means sweatshirt weather for us (snicker snicker).



Did I mention we have a cushy guest bed now? Am I convincing anyone else to come for a visit?? Well, maybe this will help:

Tide pools!



Crazy fun!



Adorable kids!



And this place!



Taco Loco really deserves it's own post. Yum to the 29th power. It's good. It's gooooood. We're going on a 14-year love affair now. And I always get the same thing: blackened chicken quesadillas. PK loves him a good tofu burger there. And the owner's name is Gonzo. 'Nuff said.



Too bad Layne couldn't spend the afternoon in Laguna with us so I didn't get any pictures of him. But this kind of counts, doesn't it?



Kidding, Babo!

Jo Jo really loved this little fountain. She said it reminded her of somebody she knows. Someone who likes fish, and turtles. Someone who doesn't mind water splashing on her face. Someone who enjoys being in her birthday suit. Any guesses?



Come back for more, Jo Ann! And Layne too. And anyone else too. And we'll party it up with you.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Been having some fun with my hair lately. Vote for your favorite!!

Before:


After:


Really after:

Oh what do you do?

Oh what do you do at Thanksgiving time, when you need a babysitter for a week so you can go on a free (working) vacation back East with your hot hubby of 12 years?? You go to Grandma's, of course. We weren't planning on spending Thanksgiving/Lily's birthday/our anniversary in Utah, but we are so glad we did. We made it through the "Blizzard of 2010" (yah, right) and got there in time to celebrate our little peanut's 9th birthday! It fell on T-day this year, so Lily was lucky to have so much family around to wish her well as a 9 year old. Can that be right? 9 already? Oh my . . . .

She got presents in the morning.


Then sledding at Aunt JoJo's house. Thanks Uncle Johnny for making that sweet jump!


And of course, she got to eat a feast of a meal with 32 relatives. It was a great Thanksgiving day with amazing food and family fun, and I didn't take a single photo.

We continued the birthday festivities the next day at Cheesecake Factory in Salt Lake. It was cousin Jesse's birthday two days before Lily's, so we combined forces. Such fun when the Slade clan gathers. Thanks everyone who came!













More family fun.







Then my brother Bryan showed up for a little while the next day, and it was Taylor's birthday too! Cute newlyweds.



Silly, silly, Bryan, and lovely Tammy.



I don't know how it happens that I never seem to get any pictures of my mom when I go there. Mom, you're a champ for taking on my littles for a whole week! Thanks so much to JoJo too!

Rewind

So much blogging to do, so little..., no, plenty of time really. Just been lazy! And sick. And out of town. And busy. So let's rewind to Halloween.

Lily wanted to be a zombie cheerleader for Halloween, but after searching high and low (e.g. one costume store) for a cheerleader costume, she went to her backup plan: an '80s witch. So we dug around and came up with this.



Now, if you look at that photo, as I did AFTER we went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat, and think to yourself, "Sheesh. A little, um, hmm. How old is she?" Uh . . . yah. The tights weren't quite so sheer in real life. But the flash, you know, let's blame it on the flash. OK, moving on. Max was a Jedi.





Our friends had their annual Halloween party with a Disney theme, a grown-ups only party, mind you. Awesome. In an effort to veer from the traditional prince and princess combo, Paul and I went as Linguini and Collette from Ratatouille. And I figured that was a good time to cut 10 inches off my hair, and go dark, to really get in character.





It was a blast. Look at our cute Toy Story 3 friends!



Halloween 2010 was a good time for all!