Crazy Monday

Monday morning started off busy and ended busy.  First thing we did once Aaron got home from work was head to the Turtle Bay Arboretum for a photo shoot of the kids.  The weather has been so beautiful and I thought if we did it early, the sun wouldn't be too much of a problem...I was wrong there was lots of shading issues, but it was still fun.  The kids gave lots of attitude too.  Guess they're getting tired of my photo shoots!  Well I should say Jacob is, Ella gives up quite some interesting model poses at times!

We then headed home to get ready to go to our friend Wyatt's, 5th birthday party.  That was a fun little break to the
day.  The kids were excited that they got to pet a baby chicken and a bunny rabbit.  While we were gone, Aaron started on the first of many loads of landscaping materials, we joined in helping him as soon as we got home.  We then headed out to purchase the annual backyard pool and run some last minute errands for Jacob's upcoming birthday.  We made it home just in time to get the kids ready for bed....whew I'm exhausted just reliving the day in my head!

Check out some more pictures from the day here!

Cinco de Mayo

Last night we had our monthly dinner club and as always it was lots o' fun!  We started the evening at our house with a little cocktail hour and then headed to dinner.  We skipped the Mexican restaurant this Cinco de Mayo in favor of Logan's Roadhouse.   We sat outside on their patio and it was a beautiful evening with great friends, yummy drinks (highly recommend their Roadhouse Teas...favorite so far is the raspberry), and oh yeah, some food too!  Here's some pictures...check out the guys unplanned (hmm, or was it?) dress coordination...like a bunch of J. Crew models! 

Here's a link to photos that Stephanie took too!

Thank you Stephanie...you got some really fun ones!

Basket Party 2007

The 4th Annual Basket Party took place on Saturday morning and I must say it was a tremendous success!!  We raised over $1000 to go to the Redding Library Children's Department and to Oprah's Angel Network.  We had 71 attendees this year!  This year we had a book theme...everyone put together a basket with the theme of their choice, but included a book that related to the theme.  We saw lots of creative ideas.  The "basket" I won was a really cute pink and black decorated box and included the book, "The Bad Girls Guide to the Open Road," it was filled with lots of interesting goodies! 

It's so exciting, we do better and better each year....more guests and more money raised!  Stay tuned for info on next year's event....the ideas are flowing and it'll be our 5th year so we need to make it even more special!  CLICK TO SEE PHOTOS FROM BASKET PARTY 2007!!

I will miss you Aunt Mitzi

Unfortunately sometimes I need to share sad news on here.  Late Friday, early Saturday my godmother, Aunt Mitzi passed away.  While we hadn't been back to the Pittsburgh, PA area since before my kids were born, I thought of her often and we tried to keep in touch as best as we could.  I will miss her greatly. 

On his way...and a bonus-funny!

Jacob will be starting kindergarten in the fall (wow!), so we've been going through all the steps to prepare him to start.  Friday he had to get the dreaded shots required to start school.  We were not looking forward to it but it ended up OK.  A day or two before I started talking to him about the doctor and possibly getting shots so he can be ready for kindergarten and he took it very well.  In the car, on the way, he asked how many shots he was going to need and said, "Is it about a billion?" in a very funny way, not a concerned scared tone.  Even at the doctor's office he was giggling the majority of the time.  4 shots later and only a tear or two...Jacob's definitely a big boy now! 

We had anticipated needing to soothe him after the appointment so we planned to have lunch at Chuck E. Cheese.   It turned out it wasn't really necessary but we had talked it up so we had to go.  The kids had a great time and were talking about how much fun they had the rest of the day.  Whew--doctor trauma avoided!

And I'm sure Aaron will get mad I'm sharing this, but it had to be done!

Dinner Club

Saturday evening I attended our monthly Dinner Club...
Alicia hosted this months dinner and served a delicious meal of clam chowder, strawberry salad, sourdough bread, and crab...everything was excellent!  Aaron unfortunately had to work so I borrowed Matt for a picture and I borrowed these pictures from his wife's website to post here!  (Thank you Stephanie!  I still would like all your originals to print...LOL!)

Happy Birthday Bryan!

Yesterday was our friend and adopted nephew, Bryan's birthday....he turned 8 years old!!
  Aaron and I can still remember the night we babysat him in our old apartment when he was probably only about six months old.  We had a chaoctic time attemping to change his poopy diaper as he was trying to crawl away...both of us (Aaron and I) freaking out....just as his parents come a-knocking on our door...our first diaper ever...whew!...surprised we had kids after that episode! 

Easter Sunday

Our Easter was pretty low-key and relaxing.  We did have a visit from Station 8 and Aaron got to see the kids hunt for their Easter eggs.  Grandma and Uncle Jeff came over for an early dinner of ham and we just hung around the house.  It was a beautiful day.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE EASTER PHOTOS

Fun comparison~2004 to today

Busy week

Spring Break is quickly coming to a close but we've had a great time.  Some of the things we've done...dinners with family and friends, visit with Grandma Lee in Willow Creek, birthday parties, just to name a few activities.  Aaron and I had a date night a couple nights ago as well.  We saw Blades of Glory and it was so funny!  Love those kinds of movies and Will Ferrell just cracks me up.  We also had some fun at Win River Casino, unfortunately we didn't leave winners...there's always next time though! 

This morning we went over to a friend's house to do a photo shoot of her family and to do some pictures of Jacob and Ella.  They live out "in the country" and it's a beautiful area to take photos. 

Click here to see some more pictures from today

Up for the rest of the evening is egg coloring, a BBQ, and a campfire...complete with S'mores!  Unfortunately Aaron goes back to work tomorrow, Easter Sunday. 

Meet the Robinsons

Today was our first day of "Spring Break" and we went to see the movie, Meet the Robinsons.  We all thought it was a really good movie, fun to watch and had an entertaining storyline for the adults.  Very reminiscent of Back to the Future which was my favorite movie back in the day.  Bonus, it featured one of Rob's songs...Little Wonders which I posted the video to a couple days ago.  Everytime I hear that song I like it more.  It amazes me that he wrote that song before seeing the movie because it fit into the storyline seamlessly. 

Happy Birthday Jeffy!

Today was my brother Jeff's 30th birthday, and now I have a younger brother (Seeing as I'm 29 and all)!  Last year we were twins.  Isn't that odd how that works?  LOL!  We had a fun evening out to dinner and then to Mom's house for cake, ice cream, and presents. 

Aaron unfortunately missed out this time because he was at work.  We're looking forward to a fun week this week...it's Spring Break!! Woohoo! 

LOVE this

Mentos and Diet Coke

Have y'all seen this by now?

Well Jacob has been bugging me to get Mentos to try something like this for awhile now.  We did.  3 or 4 Mentos in your mouth and a gulp of Diet Coke is quite an experience.  Keep an eye out for our own version of the Mentos/Diet Coke experiment video coming soon! 

4 kids fishing

Saturday we had Bryan and Josh over for the day.  Rather than sit at home
all day we thought it'd be fun to
go out and enjoy our nice spring day.  We stopped and picked up some food then headed up to Shasta Lake to have a picnic and do some fishing.  Aaron and I couldn't help but think that people seeing us with 4 kids (3 older boys, 1  girl--all blonde!) might think we just kept trying until we got a girl!

Click here for more fishing pictures

Fire Department Ceremony

This evening we attended the Redding Fire Department Recognition and Awards Ceremony.  It was held at the City of Redding Council Chambers at City Hall.  Aaron was recognized for 5 years of service with a certificate...though techically he's been there for 7 years, they're a bit behind in their ceremonies!  It was neat to be able to attend and recognize everyone for their hard work. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES!!

 

Challenge for me....and YOU!

I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun to do.  I love reading but definitely go in phases with it.  It's something I really need to make time to do and so often other things take priority.  After seeing this list I'm inspired to pick up a book again! 

Instructions: In the list of books below:
Bold the ones you’ve read
Italicize the ones you want to read
Mark in RED the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole
Put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf
Mark an asterisk (*) beside the ones you’ve never heard of

1. + The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) ~~ GREAT READ!
2. + Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)   ~~ Sorry Aaron...these do nothing for me!
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. * Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. * A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. + (Jacob’s) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) ~~ Love that so many kids have been inspired to read because of these books....but no interest for me! 
12. + Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. * A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)  ~~ Saw the movie too
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21.+ (Aaron’s) The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. + The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) ~~ Great book, The Wedding is even better...Saw the movie too.
33. *Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. + I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. + The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. + Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) ~~  Love this one!
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. + Bible  ~~ As most people, I've read bits and pieces
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)  ~~ Saw my Mom read it, no thanks!
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. * Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. + She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53.  * Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. * The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. *The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. + The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)  ~~ want to read it, but I struggle starting it.
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)  ~~ saw the movie too
65. * Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)  ~~ saw the movie, fun film-I'm sure Ella will read this when she's older
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)  ~~ saw the movie too
72. * Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. * Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. * The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. * A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. * The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. * Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. * Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. * Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. + Emma (Jane Austen)
86. * Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. * Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. * The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. * Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. * In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding
93. + The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. + The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)  ~~ saw the movie and the play
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. * A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. * The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Now for the challenge!  Copy and paste this list and fill it out yourself...post it on your own blog, a message board, or email it to me....I'd love to see it and hear your comments about the books listed here!

Cute, cute, cute

Jacob loves this little video so I had to include it here.  He cracks up every time he sees it!

Love these

Playing around in iTunes looking for some new music to download and came upon these videos.  I had seen them awhile back but still really love them and wanted to share.  This first one is so powerful and tells such an interesting story.

Another inspiring video

In honor of Richard Lee

This morning we did a dedication, flag raising ceremony in honor of Aaron's dad, Richard Lee.  The City of Redding Fire Department will fly the flag of your passed loved ones who served in the military and/or fire service.  They happen to do it at the station that Aaron works at which makes it that much more special.  His flag will be flown for the next 30 days. 

American Idol....boring...

I don't think I've commented here on American Idol and since I have nothing else to talk about right now, I'll talk about that.  Last year (Season Five) was the first year we watched American Idol and both Aaron and I really enjoyed it.  The top 24 or so were all very unique characters with a lot of personality.  I still remember a lot of their names....Chris Daughtry of course, Bucky, Ace, Chicken Little, Kelli Pickler, Mandisa...  We were really looking forward to it starting up again this season but we quickly grew bored.  We gave it up for a few weeks and picked it up again the last two nights, but we're still bored by the contestants.  The only one I enjoy watching is Blake.  He seems to offer some originallity and he's a good performer.  If I had to pick my top 3, I'd chose Blake, Lakisha and Melinda (in that order).

Photo inspiration

I came upon a site that featured a really fascinating photographer named, George Lange.  He had put together a slideshow of his favorite photos of 2006. 

Check out the slideshow here!

Spring weather

We've been having some beautiful weather here the past few days and have really enjoyed it.  Aaron has had a number of days off as well so we've thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend.  Friday we had some friends over for dinner, Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a birthday party, and Sunday we invited Uncle Jeff over for a BBQ and to watch Borat~Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (whew!).  I thought the movie was hilarious, though a couple scenes scarred Aaron and Jeff for life I believe!  LOL!

This morning we took a bike ride along the river trail and then over to Turtle Bay.  As often as we go to Turtle Bay you'd think the kids would get tired of it, but no, they see it as a new and exciting place every time.  I personally would like to see something new there! 

I sure hope this beautiful weather keeps up!

Poor dude

I caught Molly (our dog) chewing up one of Jacob's little action figures earlier this evening, chewing is not something she's really done since she was a puppy.  Well as I grabbed it from her and said, "We don't do that!", Jacob comes in and adds, "Yeah, and it's not very healthy either!"  He wanted to see all the pieces and I thought he'd get upset but instead, with a goofy smile, he says, "I guess Molly thought he was with the bad army so he she had to kill him."  Wow, you just never know what kids are gonna say! 

Passing of the Books

Saturday was a long awaited event for many people where we live...the opening of the new Redding Library!  We participated in a ceremonial event called, the "Passing of the Books."  There was a line of some 2000+ people from the old library location to the new one about 2 miles away.   In the course of about an hour, we passed something like 750 books!  It was a fun and unique experience to be a part of.  We did the event with our friends, the Nostrands, in the morning and then we headed to a nice Mexican lunch out.  We spent the afternoon at the Nor-Cal Boat and RV show planning some future purchases.  So Aaron, should we get the 5th-wheel, the ATV's, the dirt bikes, or the $82,000 ski boat first?  LOL!  The only thing we could afford was some kettle corn and a pony ride for Ella...oh well, there's always next year, right?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep, now it was my turn to celebrate my birthday yesterday!  Ella and I are so lucky, we essentially get two parties back to back!  I had a wonderful day yesterday...Aaron spoiled me rotten (I love you Aaron!) and we got to spend the day together going out for lunch AND dinner and to do some shopping.  We then ended the evening at my Mom's house where my brother made an INCREDIBLE
dessert.  Right about now I'm wishing I had taken the leftovers home, darn it! 

Once again thank you to everyone for all my birthday good wishes and thoughts!!