Ella's still boogie-ing down

I'm in love with...

Edward.  Only one novel down,

but the other two on order from Amazon.   They can't get here quick enough!

Highly recommend!  If you've read them...please tell me your thoughts!

Saturday in Fall

We had a busy Saturday today with Grandma (Aaron worked today).  We
had an 8:30am soccer game.  Jacob made a great goal today...he's doing very well with soccer and has definitely gotten more competitive this season.  After the game we headed over to the Fall Harvest Festival at Ella's
school.  It was a lot of fun with some great kid's activities.  It was neat for Jacob to see all his old teachers and a few old friends too. 
We then headed to lunch and to a variety of arts and crafts fairs around town.  All in all a great fall day!

Click for more pictures

FRIDAY-FRIDAY-FRIDAY

MONSTER TRUCKS, YEAH!! 

So Friday night we headed to Red Bluff to watch the Monster Trucks Nationals.  First time ever for Ella and I.  Jacob and Aaron attended them a few years ago with friends and Jacob fell asleep at that time.  And believe it or not, he fell asleep this time too!  No clue how that's even possible with all the noise, but he did it.  Ella absolutely loved the whole thing.  Her very favorite was a pink ribbon truck, for obvious reasons.  Even when she's being the tom-boy she still has that girley-girl touch!

Click to see some more pictures

And for those that missed it and are so upset you did (I know you're out there!)....Matchbox Twenty performed on Leno the other night and here it is...

My favorite moment...minute 2:35....

Some upcoming MB20 appearances this week:

Today show - 10/8

Ellen - 10/8

MB20 & Photography

I found these photos on the fan club members only portion of the Matchbox website and loved the photography style of them.  I picked some of my favorites and put them to music.  I'm trying to find out the photographer's name.  They might not be up here for long however, so if you want to view them, do it quick.  I'm sure I'm breaking YouTube and MB20 laws by putting them on here...last thing I want to do is tick them off and get kicked out of the fan club! 

New album out...TODAY!

She's at it again!

Before:                                                     After:

Apparently I do have commitment hair issues...after further review of the photos stored on my Photo Booth program I have pictures of me in the following varied hair-styles.  Keep in mind, I've had this computer less than 2 years!

4/23/06-No clue what I'm doing here, but my hair was pretty long!

11/16/06

05/17/07-Back to blonde

06/20/07 - shorter A-line

I'm not committed to the color either...to be continued.....

Alphabet Mix

It's all about the alphabet around my house and so when I saw this on another blog, thought I'd give it a try.  I created a music playlist comprised of song titles that start with every letter of the alphabet.  I put some thought into it and tried to give it a "flow," based on what I'm in the mood to listen to and how the songs blend musically.  See how I did...

To make this interactive and involve all the 'peeps,' I have a challenge for you.... the first person to post, email, or link me to your A-B-C's playlist; I will send you mine on CD!   

Off to go listen to my mix....

The Chicago Spire

While we were on the Architectural Boat Cruise in Chicago, we passed by a construction site that will be the future Chicago Spire.  It is proposed to be 2000 feet tall, 150 floors, date of completion of 2010.  When completed it will become North America's tallest free-standing structure and the world's tallest all residential building.  I was especially interested to know more about this because the architect is Santiago Calatrava.  The same architect who built our very own local Sundial Bridge.  I looked up the model and just about fell over laughing.  This dude sure likes his Sundials!

This crazy structure will completely change the Chicago skyline I'm so used to remembering and seeing.  I'm not sure if for the better, what do you think?  I'm guessing this is causing a lot of conversations amongst Chicagoans just as the Sundial Bridge did for Reddingites. 

For more information on the Chicago Spire, click HERE. 

I'm back!

Before I talk about my trip, I want to thank Aaron for being a guest blogger here and more importantly thanks for doing such a great job with the kids, the house, and all the daily responsibilities that goes along with that, all by yourself.  You did such a great job, I just think I may have to plan another trip away!  I love you Aaron and thank you!  I guess I can let you go to work tomorrow without the kids...hey it's Sunday and maybe you can relax without too many calls.

My Mom and I got back last night from a great vacation to Chicago.  Still love that city and vow now that when Aaron and I hit it big on the lotto one of our three residences will be in Chicago.  :-)  We did and saw so much and yet there was still so much we could have done and seen.  I'll try to give a brief recap of what we did and as always, I've got lots of pictures to share! 

Tuesday--we left early in the morning and headed to the Sacramento Airport.  Had an uneventful nonstop flight to Chicago.  We landed in O'hare and took the El Train into the city.  I so love the subway.  Not being sarcastic at all, I truly love the subway...particularly the Chicago subway system.  Literally everything about it fascinates me.  So we checked into the Tremont Hotel, which was so conveniently located next to the John Hancock Building.  At the ground floor of the Hancock, is a Cheesecake Factory.  Because it was so conveniently located and delicious we just had to go...LOVE the fish tacos.  Some cheesecake to go and we headed back to watch the Big Brother finale (great timing). 

Wednesday--Headed to the Navy Pier.  While there, we signed up to take an Architectural Boat Cruise through the city.  We would highly recommend that.  We got to see Chicago from a different perspective
and learned so many little tidbits and facts about the city.  Not to mention got a chance to really appreciate the different styles of buildings throughout the city.  Also during the day we explored and viewed various outdoor sculptures throughout the city and did window shopping and a little real shopping at Marshall Fields (now actually a Macy's), The Magnificent Mile, and Water Tower Place.  Later in the evening we had dinner at Giordano's, and had THE BEST STUFFED PIZZA---EVER!  I would go back just for the pizza.  I'm serious.  The atmosphere was really fun too.  In the bar they were playing a Cubs game (home game, Cubs were playing just a few miles north of us) vs. the Cincinatti Reds.  It was tied when we got there, but I waited to the Cubs to score and gave Aaron a little call.  The Reds is Aaron's favorite.  Cubs ended up winning.   

Thursday--Today was the Oprah show!  Can't go to Chicago without seeing a taping of the Oprah show.  Well we almost did, but a last minute call from the show on Monday giving us 2 tickets was pretty much a miracle.   We lucked out and actually got to watch 2 shows being filmed. 
Both shows had the 'famed' doctor Christiane Northrup, M.D..  The first show was all about women's health issues for those over 35 and the second was basically an audience Q&A.  Not the most exciting of shows but it was still a great experience and fun to do.  The first show will air around Oct 15 and the other one sometime after that.  Afterwards we headed to the Art Institute of Chicago.  The place was enormous and houses many famous works of art.  Next door is the Millenium Park which has some incredible sculptures and art pieces.  My favorite was the Cloud Gate, though I prefer "The Bean."  The images you could get with the buildings reflected in it are amazing.  At that point I really wished I'd brought my Canon Rebel! 

Friday--We went atop the John Hancock Observatory and saw some awesome views.  VERY high up obviously and a bit nerve-wracking for both my Mom and I, but something we had to do none-the-less.  Around lunch time we had to head back to the O'hare so we hopped aboard the blue line for a final time. 

Such a great trip and thank you Mom for experiencing it all with me!!! 

CLICK HERE FOR 'ALL' THE PICTURES!

A new Sheriff in town

     Just thought everyone would like to know that I will be guest blogging for the rest of the week while Lisa is in Chicago with her mom on vacation. I will also be filling in as guest "mom" for the week.

     So let me tell you how my first day went. The alarm goes off at 5:30 so that Lisa can get ready to meet her mom at 6:30. After a few long good-byes they're on the road. We will miss Lisa while she is away. The kids get ready for school, we have a quick breakfast and we're off to take Jacob to school. Drop off Jacob at 7:45 the Ella and I go for a nice walk at the McConnel Walking Trails. I take Ella to preschool at 8:50 the head back to Jacob's school to help out in the class room for about an hour or so. Stop off at the grocery store for supplies and head home. I have lunch then begin cleaning the house. Before I know it, it's almost 2:00 and time to pick up Ella from school. We meet Jacob at the bus stop then head home. The kids have a quick snack, Jacob does a little homework and they have some fun time with the bikes out front. Before long it is time to get Ella ready for dance class. (Which is in Anderson!!) We go to dance and make it home with just enough time to have dinner (I hadn't planned on dinner, so it's little frozen pizzas for everyone!!) The kids have a little video game time while I clean up and enjoy a nice conversation with Lisa. (She's having a great time by the way) The kids get ready for bed, I read a couple of short stories and I finally get a little free time to write this blog.

     I don't know if I'll be able survive the week. Being "mom" would kill the average person. I just hope I'm tough enough. Pray for me.

Off to the Windy City!

My Mom and I are headed out East tomorrow for a vacation to Chicago...lots of fun in store for us, including seeing her....

Just might have a guest host blogger on here though!  You've been warned!  LOL!

Weekend stuff

Another Saturday, another soccer game....today's was especially exciting because Jacob scored a goal!  He has been so excited and as soon as he did it, he had a big grin on his face. 

After the game we headed over to the Kid Zone event held out by the convention center.  Lots of activities and displays for the kids.  They even got to touch a big icky snake! In the second photo, Ella looks like she's crossing her fingers...probably hoping that it won't eat her!

Ella's favorite anywhere is always the horses....

Friday...Karen, Ella, and I had a girl's day out and got pedicures.  Ella thought it was so fun, though she was a little bashful at first.  She picked the purple polish herself!  She also got an extra special treatment with hand painted flowers.  We also had lunch and did a little shopping/browsing.  It was a fun morning. 

In other news, my Mom's poodle Andre is a contestant in the local paper's "Pet Idol."  The top 12 winner's will be featured in a calendar.  Please vote for Andre-#313-HERE!

To round out our day, this evening we stopped by to visit Aaron at the station.  He's stuck working for 3 days in a row due to the start of hunting season.  Lots of hunters at the fire department!

What Aaron did today

Guess who's riding without training wheels now?

She's only 3!!

First Game

'Soccer Saturday Season' is in full effect!  We attended Jacob's first game and it was great.  He has really improved from last year and is getting right up there and got some good kicks down the field.  Must be that extra UK training over the summer!  We also watched Brayden and Chase's game and they both did so well...lot of determination from all the kids.  It really is so fun watching all the kids on a Saturday morning!

Click here for more photos  

My Model

Playing around with a new backdrop and trying to remember how to use my camera...it's been awhile since I've done a photo shoot!  Check out some more photos here.

Soccer Season!

Soccer season kicked off this evening.  We attended the opening ceremonies for Jacob's soccer team this evening.  This year he is on the Alligators.  The first game is tomorrow morning...it's gonna be fun!

Love It

I love this video, I love the guys in it, I now love the song.  Please check it out and let me know what you think. 

I cannot wait until October 2nd when the new cd is out.  I have already pre-ordered and I'm impatiently waiting.

For even more Matchbox boys, they now have they're own YouTube channel with all of their past videos up for viewing....check it out here.

Our Anniversary

Today is Aaron and I's 9 year anniversary.  9 years, wow!  I cannot believe it has been 9 years since we've been married, almost 11 years since we've been together, 2 children, many-many happy memories, a few sad events.  Time has flown by.  I love you Aaron and all that is our life together.

One thing I know for sure in these past 9 years?  I know I would love to go back in time and pick a better wedding photographer.  :-)

Today Aaron is at work, so we did our celebrating yesterday.  It was a big day yesterday because Ella had her first day of preschool!  She loved it and fit right in.  I think it's going to be a great experience for her. 

For the first time Aaron and I had an entire day (well only about 5 hours) together to do what we wanted while the kids were in school.  Wow, what an amazing concept.  The time flew by we did some browsing in antique shops and some fantasy shopping then went to lunch.  In the evening, Grandma watched the kids and we went to a movie and ice cream.  We saw Superbad...HILARIOUS movie, we could barely stop laughing.  McLovin is the man.  So funny.