American Girl Store

We took the kids to The American Girl Store to celebrate Haven and Reese's Birthday. My mom gave them new dolls for their special day so we took them up to get their ears pierced (the dolls) and pick out a new outfit. That place is so much fun! I love going there. We ate dinner at The Farmers Market and then got a cake from Magnolia Bakery which was out of this world!!! The banana pudding was incredible too. A must try for sure!

Lake Chateau Tulips 2011

Our tulip day was last saturday and went great! Bryan is always so helpful with the planting. Let's be honest... he does all the planting! He is amazing and has a green thumb! He always teases how he does all the work and then I get to do all the partying after. We always end with a luncheon and this time we had it at my mom's house in Laguna Beach. We just couldn't pass up the 75 degree weather in January. I ordered Cafe Rio for lunch and then we headed down to the beach for the rest of the afternoon and chatted and chatted and chatted on the sand. It was wonderful and these ladies are some of the funniest, smartest and classiest around. I LOVE them all! We can't wait for our tulips to bloom! Then we shall celebrate again! I think we just look for excuses to get together.

Haven's B-day Party!

Haven had a fun party this year. It was so easy for me making it one of my favorite's. We started the party at Baskin Robbins for Ice Cream and cupcakes. We then headed to Saddleback Lanes for some bumper bowling! The girls had fun and did really well. I am in love with parties that don't require clean up!

Rollarskating!

I took these two lovely ladies Rollarskating on their day off last week. Remind me to never do that again unless I have Bryan with me. I was being pulled in every which direction. It took a good 15 minutes to do ONE loop trying to keep both girls off the ground! My back was killing by the end. I think they had more fun eating the dippin dots! For me though... it's all about making the memories. And for that... I wouldn't have changed a thing about that day.

American Idol

Lopez also says that while several Season 10 contestants boast big voices, she's looking more for exciting performances. "One of my favorite moments ever on Idol was not a big-voice moment but a beautiful-song moment, which was David Archuleta singing Imagine," Jennifer says. "That was something I'll never forget for the rest of my life, that little kid at that little age taking that classic song and singing it in such a way that it changed my everything, like Steven loves to say all the time. That's what we need to focus on getting: not big voices, not singer-songwriters, just what makes us feel something."

-Entertainment Magazine

Looks like J.Lo knows what she is talking about! I feel the same way. For me... Idol hasn't been the same since little Archie was on. However I look very forward to watching this season and think the judges and talent are going to be great!

Stop growing

A friend called last night and said "I saw August at church today and she looked 14!" It made me realize that she is getting so big so fast! This girl is PURE joy! Happy as can be. Always laughing and smiling (with the David Letterman teeth for all to see)! Silliest personality. Falling down daily getting bumps and bruises. Opens the front door and tries to escape. Dances whenever music comes on. Makes a "Muah" noise when she kisses people. Eats perfectly with an adult size fork. Brings me the phone whenever it rings. Says "Uh oh" whenever anything drops! Graduated from a high chair to a booster seat. Wakes up every morning yelling "Mommy"! Is obsessed with Elmo and Barney (gag). Talking up a storm (can't understand 98% of it). Calls every kind of food "cookie". Says Lollipop exactly how Haven and her friends say it "Lolli-lolli-lolli-POP" but August ends hers with a BOP! In two weeks she will be in Nursery at church and I simply can't believe it!

San Fran

In a nutshell:

*Girl's loving the bumpy flight and having no idea that I was having a panic attack in the next row over. Bryan was distracting them like crazy while the flight attendant came over several times to hold my hand. I HATE flying! But at least I will do it.

*My parents watching August so we could have some alone time with older girls

*Christmas Dinner at the yummiest Italian restaurant

*Planning for rain the whole trip and it not raining once!

*Cookies and milk with our beds turned down every night at The Omni hotel

*Room Service and The Sound of Music

*Ice Skating in Union Square

*Haven and I playing tic,tac, toe in the empty bathtub with our clothes on so Berkley could sleep in the room. I referred to it as "A Bathroom Party". And yes... treats were in there too!

*Haven and I watching street vendors make us personalized handmade jewelry

*4 hour delayed flight on our way home! :(

Christmas Eve and Morning

This Christmas was a BUST! We were all pretty sick the whole month of December off and on. I think we had a 5 day period where everyone was healthy. It made me so sad because it's my favorite month and I feel like it was a blur. On Christmas Eve Haven came down with a high fever. She was SO tired she asked to come home early from Bryan's parents house. She didn't even want to put on her pajamas or leave cookies out for Santa (which is so NOT her). Berkley insisted on writing Santa a note to tell him Haven was not feeling well. I wrote down exactly what she said and we left it with some milk and treats. I was a little stressed because Bryan and the girl's Christmas present was a trip to San Francisco the next day. That is what the girls wanted for Christmas... an airplane ride! How were we going to take a sick kid? We ended up going since the tickets were non-refundable and then of course the next night Berkley came down with the high fever in the hotel room. Looking at the bright side... it will be a Christmas we will NEVER forget! :)

Happy 7th Birthday to you Haven Kate! Still not ONE missing tooth! This year will be great and next year you'll be eight!!! We can't believe it! Thanks for being an amazing big sister to Berkley and August! They adore you.

Slater's 50/50

Way to go Linds! You found a winner of a restaurant while watching the Food Network late one night! We made the Trek up to Anaheim Hills over the weekend to experience this rage of a place and it did not disappoint! The 50/50 burger made with 50% ground beef and 50% bacon was delish! As were the sweet potato fries with pumpkin dip and deep fried dill pickles! I will do with out the maple bacon shake next time around. NO thanks! Can't wait to go back! The wait is only 1.5 to 2 hours!!!

Benny's D-land Birthday celebration

It was FREEZING! It was CROWDED! It was SO fun to laugh with friends I have not hung out with much lately. Thank you Laura, Bryan, Benny and Disneyland worker for forcing me to stay on Tower of Terror when I tried to get off. Although I didn't open my eyes once... it was not as scary as I thought. Thanks Laura for comforting me the whole ride as I screamed and maybe said one inappropriate word in your ear. And thanks Mark Hemeon for teasing me all night about my mail delivery bag. I did you proud in this last picture by getting the goods in the box at nights end. :)