exhausted

We spent the last 2 days doing nothing but working on the backyard. Donovan started building this retaining wall before Zach was born but we always run out of time, money or it just gets too hot to work on it. Well, we worked on it again and finished the entire bottom row! And when I say we I mean Donovan. I worked on it for about 4 minutes and then gave up.







Donovan and I built this table about 3 years ago and it looked awesome until the stain wore off. Isabella said she doesn't like to sit on it because it's ugly! So Isabella and I picked out some paint and we worked on it all day today. They love it now and can't wait to sit on it!

before:



after:



How was your weekend?

another one

Donovan's mom gave us this, I love it but I have no clue what it is.



A very big salt shaker?
Some sort of potpourri thingey?

91/60/215 flyover

How I love thee! I left my house at 9:57, got gas at Costco and got to the Galleria at 10:33! I would have never got there that quick, even if I skipped the gas. I felt like I was on a ride, I was so far up above everyone else. It was super fast, maybe 1 minute instead of 10 in traffic. Yay for completed projects...1 out of 10,000 going on in the area.

5 years ago...

I was in labor! I was making Christmas cookies (that I would never get a chance to eat!) and waiting for my husband to get home from work. After dinner we went looking at lights. I can't read a map to save my life so I was driving and Donovan was reading the map. Driving...and having contractions! I went to the hospital at about 3:00am and finally had Isabella at 11:45PM. What a Chritmas gift...

Happy Birthday to my Christmas baby.

Her birthday


3 days later


1st birthday


2nd birthday


3rd birthday


4th birthday

reminiscing

We got moms and dads digital frames for Christmas and I have spent a few hours today looking through old photos. I hardly remember Isabella's baby stage. I feel like I missed it! She has grown so fast and changed right before my eyes. My baby girl will be 5 on Tuesday!

sewing

I bought Isabella's curtains when we did her room about 3 years ago and I hated them from the start. The colors were blah and the fabric was cheap. So I finally decided to sew my own. I have never really sewn much, I usually give up pretty quickly after starting. I took my time and made sure to measure everything perfectly and pin everything. They turned out fantastic!





I ordered this book:

http://tinyurl.com/23faxv

It had great reviews and started from the very beginning. I can't wait to get it and start sewing more.

my favorite new blog

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/heather_bailey/

I have just spent like 2 hours reading through all her posts. LOVE IT ALL.

this is great

And P.S. I'm still fighting with my stove.

I love Trader joes!

This insulated bag was only $2.99! The reuseable shopping bags are only $.99 and look much more sturdy than most. I want to get 4 or 5 next time I am there but today I was on a mission to get the steelcut oatmeal. This stuff is SO good! Try it out, friends.

Christmas party

We went to Donovan's company Christmas party last night, it was fun but fa-fa-freeeezing!



I love The Mission Inn all decked out.

We were in the San Gabriel room right above the rotunda.



Here we are at my parents house dropping off the kids. Thanks mom and dad!

Gay and Larry's

I miss you.

news!

I was asked to be an aqua aerobics teacher! I am so excited. We'll see what happens next, I'll keep you posted!

prayers

My parents have 2 dogs that they love more than us kids. Ok, I'm kidding but pretty dang close. They sleep on my parents bed and on their couch. Eat tons of table food...etc! Well, Molly is about 11 now and is having kidney problems so my mom is spending tons on special food and doing everything she can for Molly. Now her other dog Jacob hurt himself jumping on the couch, the vet thinks he has a slipped disc. Jacob won't eat, won't pee. It's just really sad. My parent's have paid so much money in vet fees for both dogs (Jacob had doggy chemo a few years back!) but how do you not have a procedure done? It's been really hard on them.

Anyway, could you please say a little prayer for my parents and their dogs Jacob and Molly? Thanks.

holy moley!

I think we got more rain today than we got all year last year! When we got home from school at 12:00 the dogs bowls were almost full!

I love driving through huge puddles too. I wish I had a 4x4 so I could go play in the mud! Can you tell I grew up with 2 older brothers?!

ouch

I was listening to my ipod and picked up a rug so that I could vaccuum in a few minutes. The static from the rug shocked me in my ears!

This was so much fun

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9585168173

Love this...

These silver Come Together rings designed by Joost Wever from Holland is a unique way to show you love someone. The two rings have notches that when brought together, form the shape of a heart. To inquire about pricing and shipping costs from the Netherlands, contact Joost Wever here

spacebags

ROCK! I am packing for our trip and we are always storage challenged so I bought us some infomercial spacebags. At first I was just going to used them on our down comforter (roughing it) but I decided to see if I could get all my clothes in another one. I had them in 2 seperate overnight bags that were about 6 inches tall, now I have all of my clothes in 1 space bag that is about an inch tall! Freaking cool! I want to go buy more and spacebag everything. Corky? kidding.

our own private zoo

I thought I would share some photos of our pets.

This is Corky, she is...maybe 12. Donovan got her at the pound before we met and they weren't sure how old she was. She had parvo and has had heart surgery and runs with Silver our "puppy" like she is 2 also.



This is Roxanne (named after The Police song!), but she would never know that's her name, I have called her Bee since she was a baby. She's moody, spends most of her time hiding under beds and avoiding the kids and other pets.



This is Mia, she is the greatest cat EVER. She loves the kids, loves to sit on their laps, drinks from the bathroom faucet. Chases the kids around the house, tolerates the dogs. Loves to be outside, we had a leash for her and used to let her out all the time but then she would just walk out when the door opened so we had to stop that, we can't let her go!



Here she is with Silver:







Last is Sterling Silver, Silver for short. He just turned 2 in October, but I still call him a puppy. I think he will always act like one, from what I've heard Weimaraners tend to be crazy for life! I heard someone call another Weimarner a tasmanian devil, what a great way to describe him! He completely destroyed our back yard, chewed up the wooden rocking horse that my parents made for Isabella, peed on the floor more times than I can count...but we love him. He is so great with the kids, he's got a great bark that I use when strangers come to the door. Best of all, he tolerates me dressing him up, which I love to do!

Here he is the day we got him, 8 weeks old:





Here he is in his first crate, he has had 3 and still loves them. We allow him to sleep in our room but he always goes downstairs to sleep in his crate!



I love it when groomers make them little bandanas, I think they look so cute with them on.



He looks so regal in this shot, but really, it's hard to get him to sit still for long enough to take a photo! He can't control himself most of the time.



He couldn't stop licking his belly so we got him a stylish lamp shade. Actually we got him 3...he kept destroying them!



This is probably one of my most favorite photos, ever. I love the halo on his head with the evil look on his face and the red eyes...perfect!



So that's my zoo. Come on over, admission is free.

Day out with Thomas

We were lucky, the weather was great! Zach loved the signal area, he went around and pushed all the buttons over and over.



He dragged us from place to place.



Finally we got to ride the train. Zach watches a lot of train shows and apparently he picked up "stop the train" he kept yelling it over and over. It was so cute!





We met our friends Heather and Matt there, here are Caleb and Isabella holding hands.



Heather and baby Ella





They loved the tattoos. They also had face painting but the line was sooooo long, maybe next year.





Zach slept until 8:45 this morning, all that excitement wore him out!