My Dear Sweet Husband

I have been feeling quite less than well the last week or so, and today I just really hit a wall. When he got home from work, I retreated to bed to get some rest, as my body was so tired I could hardly hold myself up. I thought I would nap for a bit and then get up and start our evening routine of dinner and homework. About 2 hours after drifting off, I was awakened by the kids giving me snuggles and saying "Daddy has dinner ready." So I come downstairs to find that he has cooked a complete meal, Alyssa had done her homework and reading for the evening, and I just get to rest a bit longer. Thank you so much honey, it meant more than you'll ever know.

The timing of the sketch I completed with my mom for this week was perfect. To my dear husband, thank you for all you are to us and all you do for us. I am so honored and delighted to be your wife and partner along this great journey.

Spring has Sprung!!!

We have been spending a lot of time outside the last couple of weeks, and we have been thoroughly delighted with the beauty and splendor that spring has brought. Over the last week or so, we have been hearing baby sparrows from a nest that we know is near our house, but haven't quite located as of yet. Well yesterday after school, we were delighted to see the baby birds make their debut on our fence. We sat for over 30 minutes and just watched the little babies as they were taking in all of their new surroundings; they are way too cute!! I have also included a picture of one of the blossoms on our orchid tree in our back yard.

My take on this week's sketch

Here is my take on this week's sketch at 52 sketches 52 weeks. I had a lot of fun with this one. I really love this line by scenic route. I find it a challenge to find awesome papers to use with pictures of both the kids that aren't too feminine, this line fit the bill very nicely. The colors are so nice and bright and just make me smile =) These pictures were taken when the kids and I were playing out front with a magnetic fishing set my mom had gotten for them in a huge bucket filled with water. As it generally goes when water is involved, my kids were inside the bucket within a matter of minutes. They had so much fun and were cracking each other, and me, up.

A Really Awesome Eath Day Promotion

In the last few years, I have really been struck by how some minor changes on each of our behalves can result to a very large impact for our planet (both good and bad). I want my children to be able to fully enjoy all that this beautiful planet has to offer. I also believe that more than ever it is my responsibility to teach them how to be good stewards of this wonderful planet. Over the last few years, we have been trying to incorporate some small things into our routine that will make a difference.

When possible, we try to avoid using sandwich bags and instead replace them with reusable containers. Some of my wish list items to even lessen our waste are :

Laptop lunchbox
reusable snack bags
wrap-n-mat


We rarely ever take a plastic shopping bag from a supermarket or department store (instead opting for the canvas reusable types). Alyssa even has one of her own that she has decorated. There are so many cool designs now available.

We have pretty much eliminated purchasing pre packaged water and have opted for our own bottles that we refill as needed. There are some really cool stainless steel one's available
here and here.

I'm certain we still have lots of little changes to make, I gladly welcome those changes .

REALLY SUPER COOL COMPANY DOING SUPER COOL GIVEAWAY IN HONOR OF EARTH DAY APRIL 22, 2009!!

DISNEY STORE- If you take in 3 plastic beverage containers they will give you a commemorative earth day reusable plasic water bottle. We saw it today and it was pretty cool :)

Latest Sketch

So I decided I would go ahead and give the current sketch at 52 sketches 52 weeks, I have to say I am pretty excited with the finished product. The pictures were all taken on our trip to the flower fields over Alyssa's spring break last week. We absolutely love going there it is so majestic and beautiful when the flowers are in full bloom. Let me know what you think.

A Blast From the Past

We recently changed our cable provider and we now have an expanded selection for children's programming. One of the kids' favorite stations is Boomerang. As the name implies, a lot of the programming is old cartoons that have been brought back. It is so wonderful to spend some snuggle time with the kids watching some of these classic cartoons. A few of their favorites are the Jetsons, the Flintstones, The Mr. Men Show, Yogi Bear & Scooby Doo. What a treat it is to share a part of my childhood with them.

A Fun Project That I Have Started With my Mom

As I had mentioned last week, I found this really cool website that provides various sketches for scrapbooking pages. It is amazing how different the end product can be from the same sketch, that is what I think makes it so fun and cool. I have convinced my mom to do this project with me. At the website, she lists all of the sketches from last year as well as the ones that have been created for this current year (so far). So we are on week 2, and here is my finished product =) (We are working in the sketches from 2008) .



I took four pictures of Drew (one from age 2, 3, 4 & 5) where he had great goofy smiles, and that showcased his fun loving personality. This was really fun, as I have never scrapped pictures from various points in the kids life all together, it was awesome to see the changes in him over the last several years.

Enjoy!!!

Happy Easter from Our Family to Yours!!!

Wishing everyone a very happy and blessed Easter. Our precious Jesus took our punishment for our sins so that we could have salvation and eternal life through him. What an amazing, awesome and wonderful love that is. I believe that it can often be a challenge to wrap our minds around a love that is so selfless and unconditional . . . thank you Lord for all that you have done for me. These words seem quite inadequate when you understand the full meaning of the Easter season, but I offer them to you as a praise for all the wonderful blessings that you have bestowed upon me and for the change that occurs in me only because of your presence in me. What an awesome and amazing God we serve.

May Jesus bless and keep you!!

Spring Break Fun

Alyssa has been on Spring Break for the last two weeks, and I have really tried to pack in some really fun activities for Alyssa, because I think she often feels like she misses out on the fun get togethers because she has school. So over the last two weeks, we made a family trip to Legoland last week, and then to the flower fields this week and then the kids and I headed to the San Diego Children's Museum with some dear friends of ours. We have also had several play dates at the park and loads of fun crafts to prepare for Easter. It has been a lot of fun the last two weeks . . we'll miss 'lyssa when she heads back to school next week.

Hoppy Easter - - - - - - - -

Just a little Easter goody the kids and I worked on this morning. Alyssa loved doing the whiskers in multi-color. Perfect to put a few little Easter treats in for our buddies. They are made from envelopes and they open up to store a few little treasures. They are even complete with a little white pom pom on the tushie for a tail.

Love! Love! Love this site!!

As many of you know, I am an avid scrapbooker and have a huge love for creating these precious keepsakes for my friends,family and loved ones. I am always checking out new ways of enjoying this hobby of mine =) Recently, I came across this website (52sketches in 52 weeks) and I am so inspired and just love the idea of it. I love that this site has introduced me to a new way of thinking. Until now, I have always scrapped either occasion specific or cronologically, but this site has encouraged me to dig through my photos and just pull some of my very favorite photos and put them together in ways that I may have never considered. LOVE IT!!!!

My mom and I have agreed to do it (thousands of miles apart) and share our finished products with each other at the end of each week, I love that this has provided her and I to scrap together even though we are miles apart. Thanks so much to the wonderful creator and designers.

Top 5 Reasons I Love Spring Break!!

1. When we wake up, the kids and I get to cozy up in our bed in our jammies, with no real time to join the dressed ranks of our neighborhood =)

2. We get to play games and craft all day (without feeling guilty).

3. We can do whatever we want and go wherever we want without having to negotiate around a set schedule.

4. No homework (Oops, did I say that!!!)

***5. I get to hang out all day with two of the coolest and best buddies a girl could ask for. Thanks for all the fun!!

We still have one more week of Spring Break left, and I plan on soaking up every minute of it!!!

Alyssa's "Pig"gy Bank

I had been eyeballing a craft in one of our Family Fun magazines for a couple of months now and just hadn't had enough time to sit down with Alyssa to be able to complete it, with homework and school. So it was one of our first fun endeavors on Spring Break. Alyssa was very proud of him.

SUPER cool museum in Pasadena!!

So . . . a couple of weekends ago we all went up north to spend the weekend with our dear friends. One of the plans that we had was to visit the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena this place was an awesome gem. What a wonderful way to spend a day with the kids. This Museum is tucked away near the Rose Bowl, and you take a beautiful path lined with Cherry trees and a great park for the kids to play at. When you arrive at the museum, you pass through this beautiful mosaic hall that has all different materials and textures, and it just grabs your attention immediately. Once inside, the possibilities are endless. My kids favorites were the climbing discs, the trike/bike race track and the river (that they get to play in), but every corner had some really neat and wonderful area to be discovered. Do yourself a favor, and if you are ever in the area make it a point to visit this wonderful place.