kids + Disney + cookies + frogs

Riley and I have been hard at work, creating and sending cards to terminally ill children all across the country. I could not be more impressed with both her creativity and compassion. A few days ago I bought some kid-friendly postage stamps, and came up with a new idea:: starting now, for every order sold through my Etsy site, we will send an additional card to a sick child. Your purchase will ensure a customized "cheer" card is made and mailed! Thanks in advance for your contribution.

Speaking of Etsy, I decided to branch out from only cards and am now selling some other paper crafts as well. I currently have 3 Disney princess cut-out packs for sale which you can check out HERE.

As for a personal update, I have tried to make the most of my four day weekend. The kids got haircuts yesterday, then had a playdate with Miss Kelsi. This morning I woke up and baked three types of cookies, including sugar, which my kids enjoyed frosting for Halloween with their buddy, Rylee. After baking, we went out for lunch, then they spent the afternoon playing outside. At one point I had to call my son in to capture wild frog that had decided to take up residence in our downstairs! Everyone knows I hate frogs. Luckily Noah saved the day!

So, my dad is now on Facebook.

A few months ago, my mom got on Facebook. I found the whole thing to be silly and adorable. After the London Couture fashion show (could these guys be getting any more promotion from me?! haha), I thought maybe my dad should look into creating a Facebook page for his photography company, Images. We got him all set up this morning, and tagged all of the models who participated in the show. Ta-da! You can now contact him and set up your own portrait sessions through his page HERE. And, as always, on his website HERE. Love you, dad!

I've always loved my kids little feet :)

Chinese Gender Predictor.

Attention mothers-- have you ever checked out the Chinese Gender Calendar? Around for centuries, it is reported to be more than 50/50 accurate, and some claim it's accuracy to be 93%.

This chart is supposedly able to predict the gender of your child based on the mother's age at conception, and the month she became pregnant. I tested it out with the data from my pregnancy with my now 5-year-old daughter and, low and behold, it was correct. According to the calendar, if I were to become pregnant right now I could expect another daughter. Pretty cool.

What a weekend.

There must be something in the water, because my kids were monsters this weekend. I started out Friday ecstatic for some family time, especially after heading back to work that Monday. By Saturday evening, I was ready to forfeit my holiday.

Saturday we did our big grocery shopping trip, and treated ourselves to both lunch and dinner out. Sunday I did lots of baking-- oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, sparkling jello, and my first ever attempt at Cake Pops. If you don't know what those are, they're simple in theory: crumble a baked 13x9 inch cake and mix with 1 tub of frosting. Roll the mixture into small balls, insert a lollipop stick, freeze for 15 minutes, then dip into melted chocolate. I, personally, found them to be a bit sweet, but my family liked them. Since I used Funfetti cake mix and vanilla frosting, I might try them again sometime with a more subdued flavor combo: probably yellow cake and cream cheese frosting.

Today we opted for a family activity, but with the promise of rain we knew we had to stay indoors. We agreed on Glo Golf, and sans a few meldowns, it was pretty fun. I also scored a few baskets made out of recycled magazines at Marshalls for $5 each, and treated myself to a Cheese on a Stick and frozen lemonade from Hot Dog on a Stick-- a favorite treat.

I finished off this weekend with a long, warm shower, and my best attempt at a positive attitude. This was in lieu of dinner, which I let everyone else enjoy without me (lucky them... I mean me). Tomorrow is my first day "off" and my daughter and I will be going out to lunch after she gets out of Kindergarten, and I finish helping at the preschool my mom works at. Should be a better day. Let's hope.

Our 80's Wedding Reception was SO RAD!

Aloha from Maui.

Painted My Daughter's Nails for Summer.

Yes, it was difficult to get her in this pose for the shot :)

LAIRE, LARP... Judge Judy?

It's 4pm on a summer afternoon. What does that mean to me? It means my daughter is napping, my son is doing whatever it is that 7-year-olds do, and I get to sit down and watch Judge Judy.

I've seen this show enough, and expected a battle over an unpaid loan, or bickering about an agressive pet. But today's topic is completely unique: two plaintiffs were suing a woman for failing to return armor after a Live Interactive Medieval Role-playing Reinactment!

I have some experience with LAIRE (Live Action Interactive Role-playing Explorers). I've seen (and love!) the movie Role Models, which has some pretty ridiculous LARP'ing (Live Action Role Playing) scenes. But nothing could have prepared me for seeing the game upclose! A few posts ago, I mentioned that my sister-in-law, Dawn, took engagement photos of Lyle and I last April. It was Easter, in fact, and we headed out to a public park in Everett, WA. When we first arrived at the park, I was stunned to see two men walking past in costume-attire.

Later during the photoshoot, we were able to get a front-row view.



I couldn't have planned this better if I tried!

Anyway, turns out Judge Judy determined the couple "gave" the women the helmet, and didn't "loan" it to her, so they lost their case. But the defendant won $2,500 after being crushed by the 300-pound plaintiff. Whatever the outcome, I think it just became one of my favorite episodes.

[Watch Judge Judy make her ruling HERE and HERE.]

Rosebud.

Lots of American families would consider their pet to be a "part of the family". Since my fiance and I are anti-pet (and love it), one might think that the above-mentioned statement might not apply to us. And they would be wrong.

About two years ago I gave each of my children a stuffed animal. I had no idea at the time that my daughter, Riley, would fall in love with her puppy, Rosebud, to the extent that she has. On that day, our family of four became a family of five.

In less than five days, our family is headed to Maui for 8 nights/9 days of pure bliss. I have been stowing away new books and little toys to occupy the kids on the flight (5.5 hours each way... oh lordy) and realized yesterday that I hadn't yet picked up something for my granddaughter (she IS Riley's daughter, afterall). And with that, THIS happened:


Yes, that is a coconut-bra and grass skirt for a stuffed dog. And yes, this photo was taken in my master bathroom. My daughter will be getting this surprise gift the morning we leave, so I had to kidnap Rosebud and take the picture on the sly. Since Riley won't let Rosebud out of her sight for more than a few minutes, this was the only place I could get some privacy!

I'd Like You To Meet My Sister-in-Law.

If ever you are looking for a photographer, crafting specialist, or all-around amazing lady, my sister-in-law (to be!) is the gal to meet! She was kind enough to shoot some engagement photos and family portraits for us back in April. Take a look:




Rumor has it, she is still offering a 2-3 hour portrait session with a CD of all of the pictures for only $50! (Greater Puget Sound area)

In addition to photography, she is incredibly talented at all types of hobbying-- scrapbooking, card-making, and more. Check out her blog HERE.