Snow Birds and Winter Blooms

It's February in Northern California, and although it's not covered in snow like the rest of the nation, it's still freezing. Time to visit Aunt Brooke in Arizona!

Chandler had last week off of school so the three kids and I braved the 13 hour journey to Surprise, AZ. It was well worth the drive! The first day there Brooke and I took the kids to the Phoenix Children's Museum. This place is amazing. I'm so jealous that I can't go to this place all the time! Here are a few pictures that we took there.

The kids had such a blast pretending to go to the market, making forts, and climbing huge structures!

On Saturday, Uncle Alex took us on a hike. Very different terrain from what we are used to, but still beautiful. We were lucky for an overcast day so that it wasn't too hot!

We had such a wonderful time visiting, but as always it's nice to return home. And here are a few pictures of what our garden greeted with us on our return.

There's no place like home. :)

Love is in the air!

I LOVE Valentine's Day! I love the red and pink, I love vintage cards, and I love being loved! This year I decided to take a cue from Bakerella and make some sweet treats of my own! I had also gotten the idea in my head that I wanted to send something to my neighbors. I like what Matt 22:37-39 says about loving your neighbor and I thought Valentine's Day was an excellent way to show that love!

I've never been much of a baker, much less cake decorator, but I had so much fun making these little cakes! I also have an obsession with vintage valentines. I was able to print out some cute ones I found online, thanks to my mom, and on the other side the scripture that I wanted to share. Here are a few pictures of how they turned out.

Cupcakes

Mini Cakes

Vintage Valentines with Scripture

This same night Bobby told me that he was going to take me out to dinner and to be ready by 4, which seems kind of early for dinner. However, I've learned not to question Bobby if I want to keep getting surprises! The babysitter had just arrived and I was filling her in on things when I saw a limo pull up in front of the house. I've never ridden in a limo and I was so excited! I went outside and there was a poster on the window that said "Happy Valentine's Day 2011 to our Favorite Wives" and I was confused, thinking, is this some sort of party bus? I opened the door and saw my 2 sister and brother in laws sitting in there. I was so happy to see them. We never get to spend time together. The guys had plotted over New Year's to surprise all of us and it worked! We drove around for a little while, swung by the casino and played for a few minutes. Then went to Fat's for dinner and then to Strike's Bowling for a few games of Glow Bowling. It was a wonderful night!

The day after our wonderful date night was church and what an excuse to do cute hair for Ellis!

Here's a heart braid I did for her on Sunday.

And here is a cute 'do I found on a blog for actual V Day!

And last of all, these are the little treats I got for my loves on Valentine's Day

I have so much love in my life and I am grateful for it every day! I wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day!

Broke down and busted up!

This morning I woke up feeling completely exhausted. It's a Thursday, so it's a preschool day. By this time in the week I've driven down to Rocklin about 80 billion times and I'm over it. But, Rowan loves preschool so much that I can't skip it. I drag myself out of bed and I'm already wearing comfy track suit pants, not going to change out of those. The thought of anything tight around my middle while I'm crampy isn't appealing. I grab a tee shirt out of my closet and figure that it matches well enough. One look in the mirror tells me that there isn't much hope for me. I'll need at least a full hour to look human and I have about 30 secs before I need to be out the door with both kids dressed. I grab my flip flops and my sunglasses and as I climb into my car I think to myself, "Am I really leaving the house looking like this?" My hair is pulled into a messy bun and I've brushed my bangs to the side, there are times that I do actually consider this a hair do and since I just had my eyebrows done I really don't need as much make up. Still, a little effort never hurt anybody.

I drop Rowan off at preschool and Ellis and I head to Target to do some shopping while there is only two of us. I pray that I won't see anyone I know, grab a cart and head inside. As I'm entering the store I see that I'm not the only one dressed this way. I immediately see two girls (not together) dressed head to toe in Abercrombie and Fitch sweats and Uggs. They too, look like they just drug themselves out of bed. It's at this point that I consider the irony that even though I feel like I'm totally scrubby, the outfit I'm wearing cost about the same as a car payment. Why are we all spending so much money on clothing that makes it look like we just rolled in from a camp out? I grab a few things and then of course, the inevitable happens. I turn the corner and who do I see? Why of course, it's the totally gorgeous, skinny, well put together friend I haven't seen in ages!!! I say hello and quickly admit how embarrassed I am that somebody I know is actually seeing me out like this. She exclaims, "What are you talking about, you don't look all busted up! Some girls run around here looking totally broke down, but you look super cute!" I've heard this from girls before, that I pull off the "beach bum" look really well. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that, but I'm going to go ahead and say that it's a good thing since most of the time I'm way too lazy to go for any other look.

As for the comment today, I've decided to believe her. Embracing the beach bum look seems to coincide quite nicely with raising 3 children and running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. And after all, it's just easier on my ego.