Advice from my 2 yr old...

So when you can't figure out how to ride the bike or you simply can't reach the pedals...JUST PUSH IT AROUND!



It is just as fun and you can really go fast when the bike doesn't weigh very much.

How's My Form?

Watch out PGA Tour this little guy may be headed your way...

I mean I am no expert, but I think this looks like a decent start to his driving range adventure. A pretty basic skill, but a skill nevertheless!

Teeing up your ball!!



Now you have to get a good feel for where you want to stand in relation to your ball.

Again, I think he is taking this very serious and really trying to get it right.



OK, so it seems to feel right from this stance. I think I am ready.

"Focus, keep my head down." That's what my dad tells me anyway.



Again...I am no expert, but I think he is looking good. I am seriously contemplating no school and just solid golf from this point forward. Could we be so lucky as to have a Tiger Woods in the family... OK sorry bad example... Phil Mickelson is a much better example. (Well when you think about the ALL AROUND GUY)

Anyway back on subject...



I am afraid I have bad news...

I think we should have stopped shooting at this point. This might be the area that needs some work. A little bit crazy on the follow through.



OK he is only 4 people...we have some time.

Who am I kidding?? Time is not on our side. I think I might need to request that they head back to the driving range right now. And not because he is driving me nuts, but because he needs the practice.

Just Focus..

I have decided over the last few days that I am entirely incapable of five things at once. I am not quite sure I can even do two. I started making hair clips again...very good right?? Well when I pick one thing up something else stops entirely. How hard is it to do all of the things I want to do all at once??

Every night when I am crawling into my bed trying to forget my exhaustion from the day I think about all of the things I am going to accomplish the following day. Some days I even start off on the right foot, but somewhere between kitchen clean up after breakfast and getting ready for the day...I am very lost. I REALLY want to be that mom that can do it ALL.

Maybe someday...For now I will just leave you with a pic of my latest creation.

Very Proud

Right before I lost my computer last Sunday, I spent the morning with my family watching my dad complete his first 1/2 marathon. We were all very proud of him. It was quite a site seeing all of the thousands of people that participate in such an event. I am not a runner and it sort of made me wish I was...maybe some day???

Anyway, of course I took my camera and no matter how much time has passed, I couldn't let my blog go without sharing his great achievement.

My sis and Thomas watching and waiting for my dad to turn the corner.


There he is, almost to the finish!!!


Two very proud daughters!!

I love you dad!!

I'm BACK...well kind of

OK to make a very long story short I broke down and bought a laptop today. I have gone seven days without a computer and it has been horrible. Add to that the fact that the weather was miserable last week. As you can imagine my mood was...well not so great. I put as much faith in my hubby as I could to fix our computer, but late last night he finally admitted to me that he is not "I-T Tom" as I have been referring to him for the last week.

Literally you are my first stop on my journey to see what has been going on for the past week. I have been taking pics, but have not attempted to do any uploading yet. I will be playing catch-up this week, so stay tuned.

So dorky, but...oh how I have missed this!!

SOOO Sad!!

Well I am posting quick to let you know I have not abandoned either one of my blogs. I have been without a computer since my quick post on Sunday after my dads 1/2 marathon. Which by the way, made us all very proud. Quite the accomplishment if you ask me.

Anyway, if I haven't touched on it before I know nothing about computers and how to keep them running nicely. When something goes wrong I am definitely not patient enough to be understanding, I just want it fixed and I want it fixed NOW. This has not been the case and to make a VERY LONG story short, the only reason I am able to post right now is that my husband has restored my computer back to its ORIGINAL state. I have NO PICTURES, NO PROGRAMS to upload my pictures and have been forbidden to do anything until we find out what is wrong.

I am not a happy camper, but have decided that I WILL BE OK and life WILL go on. I know you are probably thinking, "How sad is she, that her life is not complete without her computer?" Well this may be true, but with two toddlers it tends to be my only interaction with the outside world some days.

I am taking pictures everyday though and will post what I have done as soon as I am able to upload them onto my computer. I have told my husband how important it is to my blogging that I am able to upload pictures...he doesn't seem to really care.

SAD!!!

Inspiration from a fellow blogger...

One of the things I love most about blogging is looking into other peoples lives via their blog.

They provide quite a few things for me... #1: I feel a lot less crazy (sometimes I feel more crazy, but we won't talk about those times) and #2: I am often inspired by all the other bloggers out there (even if I never really do anything with my inspiration).

Today while browsing my favorite blogs I got inspired to organize. My friend blogged about how she has been getting organized now that the holiday season is over. I decided to take a page out of her book and run with it.

I took before and after pics of my first organization project of the day (probably week because my kids don't leave me alone long enough to tackle multiple projects).


I started with me little hall closet that is the catch all for my extras...cleaning, hygiene and such. It gets organized and then becomes one big puzzle. How can I put this in here and shut the door without it all falling?? Such a fun game I play it in all of my closets.

Here is my after...

Now I know it probably does not look that much different to you, but trust me IT IS. I actually know what I have and what I do not need more of...Kleenex!! LOL I have 11 boxes not including the two I just opened and put in each bathroom. I think we are good for a while!

Anyway, thank you fellow bloggers!! Wasting my day away reading what everyone else is doing has paid off today, I got something done.

Volume 25

So I am driving home today with both kids in the backseat (as usual) and I am singing (quite loudly I might add) and I am thinking to myself that it is a good thing my kids' doctor has checked their ears multiple times.

The louder they get in the backseat, the louder my volume gets on the radio.

It is kind of funny too, because there have been times when my mom has heard the volume at which I drive around with and thinks I am crazy (or mean I am not really sure which). I say...drive around with two toddlers who are just in arms reach of each other and you tell me how crazy it is.

It is during these times I do my "Mommy dreaming!" About all of the things I want to do, need to do, don't need or want to do but would rather BE doing. Before I have even reached my garage I have damn near saved the world (in my head).

You moms out there know exactly what I am talking about. Sometimes when they are at their worst it is almost hilarious. Those fun, 5-point harness car seats are like mini-jails. They can scream and shout all they want, but there is no getting out!

I Hope She Never Breaks Out

Of this thing...

Today has been one of those days... and it is Taylor that is on my last nerve not Thomas if you can believe it. Well, actually if you have spent much time with my darling daughter (most of you have not had the pleasure) she is totally HIGH MAINTENANCE!! Everything is "Mine!" or "Up!" or "No!" But imagine all of those words with some serious attitude.

I took the kids and met my mom to do a little retail therapy and it never fails, one is an angel (OK maybe angel is a little bit of a stretch) and the other is showing their horns. Today it was Taylor. I had hopes of more than two stores, but once we hit a certain amount of outbursts you just give up.

With much hesitation on my part we decided to try lunch with Sarah and her girls. It has been since before the holidays that we have had our weekly lunch dates.

It goes something like this...

We order a pizza
The kids run wild in the kid area of the pizza place
We TRY to have adult conversation
We eat
We yell
...and we leave.
Wait 7 days and repeat above process!!

It was only minutes after we got home that Taylor was down for a nap and Thomas was told to quietly watch Noggin ("It's like preschool on TV") or he too would be napping. After a good 2 hours I heard my little Taylor making noise.

I took my camera in hopes to get a good, bed-head picture. As I clicked away I thought to myself...I fear the day she breaks out this jail. Things just don't seem as easy with her as they did with Thomas.

LONG day!!

I really cannot believe I am still functioning at this point. I have been awake since 4am this morning and it is almost 7. I am running on my mom back up generator. The "I have to be up because they are" generator. Besides working almost nine hours I did accomplish a few other things today though, so not a day wasted that is FOR SURE.

I finally got all of the clothes that no longer fit Taylor listed on craigslist. I have had great success with selling my kids' clothes on both ebay and craigslist, but craigslist I don't have to mess with shipping and that is WONDERFUL. Hopefully a few SAHMs will find my listings tomorrow and I will have them sold soon.

I finally tended to my VERY neglected etsy site. Since back when I did my sale in October I have been on a hiatus when it comes to hair clips. I am back on though. I listed 4 new sets.

Just a sneak peek!!

I am telling you I am feeling very motivated lately. I hope it lasts and lasts!!

Lastly I gave the kids a bath because at this point it was the only thing I could think of to contain them and... cross your fingers... wind them down. But who am I kidding, Thomas is running around as I type. I swear I would be a millionaire if I could bottle his energy and sell it on the black market.

I took a few pics during bath time and then of course played around on photoshop for my 10 of 365 today!! :( No 9 of 365 because well honestly I didn't even pick up my camera yesterday) and my dear hubby wouldn't get off the computer.

So there it is... my day!! I think I am going to pop some popcorn and read my book 'til I fall asleep.

It is only about 10 hours before my day starts all over.

Feeling Inspired

I am hoping it is more than just a phase, all of this inspiration I have been getting. Maybe it is the promise I made to myself to make the most of the year (years) to come.

I installed my photoshop and have been playing around with it every night. I am trying very hard not to let it scare me away. It is easy to see how that could happen once you open the program. Anyway, I have learned a tiny bit, but feel really good with that.

Leave it to my mom to point out that my photography blog cannot be ALL about my kids. I know that, trust me! It is just so hard to think of other things when they are in your face all day long. Plus when other people photograph food and such, it looks so good...when I do it looks ridiculous. I will get over it I promise.

My sister sent me to a blog last night that I can say I am totally obsessed with now. The Pioneer Woman... have you heard of this lady?? Neither had I, but she is WONDERFUL. Her blog has just about everything, but she has a section devoted to photography (tips and tricks). She writes in a way that is very easy to understand. I read until my eyes hurt last night and I will be back on tonight after I put the kids to bed.

Come hell or high water I am going to learn how to do something besides be a mom and a wife and work at SAFEWAY! Not that I am complaining about the first two, but well you either know what I mean or you don't.

I DISPISE being sick

Okay I know that everyone dislikes being sick, but having toddlers and being sick are a BAD combination. I am usually running low on patience anyways, so add not feeling well to the equation and "MOMMY not so NICE!"

Needless to say I am blogging quick before I head to bed. My little ones are already tucked in and sleeping sound.

You may have noticed on my sidebar I added a link to my new blog. I started a STRICTLY photography blog, one photo for each day of the year. My goal is to pick my camera up as much as possible and hopefully start learning how to use it (better). My hubby bought me adobe photoshop 8 for Christmas, so I really need to focus on learning. No more excuses. Making sure I have something new to show you all each day will keep me motivated. Plus it makes me actually have to put some effort into coming up with new, fun things to photograph. Although please beware, my kids are the focus of most of my days, so they will often be the subjects.

Resolutions ???

OK I must start off by saying that I am not a huge fan of making New Year's resolutions because undoubtedly by mid-January I have already broken them, but this year I am going to try.

2010 is a big year for me as I am turning the big 3-0 on March 11Th. Anyone that knows me can attest to the fact that I am not a huge fan of getting older. With that said though, I have decided to embrace this next birthday and the decade to come. I have learned over the last few years that life is way to short to not live every day to the fullest. I look at my kids and wonder everyday where the time has gone?

My mom, sister and many others have laughed at me and my "Plans". I always say "I need a plan!" I planned that I wanted to be married and done having kids by the age of 30 and well... I stuck to my plan. I have gone back and forth for a while about the idea to have more kids and decided the other day that I am OFFICIALLY done. I want to spend the next decade (and the rest of my life for that matter) enjoying my family and friends.

My resolutions for 2010 are a little broader, but much bigger in the long run.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

A Wonderful Holiday!!

Christmas 2009 was wonderful as all the years past. We went to my moms on Christmas Eve for a nice afternoon/evening of fun, friends, family and of course YUMMY food!! The kids were wound up from the time they work up that morning in great anticipation for Santa Claus.



I had to work like always, so I enjoyed the evening until around 5:30 when I headed out. Tom was left in charge of putting the kids in their Christmas pj's and taking a picture. I am proud to say he did just as he was asked. And they even look like they like each other...bonus!!



After I worked until 10:45...YUCK I thought I would be home by 10. We got everything ready for the next morning. I think I was more excited than the kids. I couldn't wait to see their little faces. At a little after midnight Thomas came in our room and informed us that Santa had already come. Don't worry we did not get up at this time. We made him lay down with us and surprisingly he slept until 6:45 when I got up.



Thomas went into Taylor's room, woke her up and told her that Santa brought her a new princess bike. It was very cute. They both loved their presents!!





After we opened all of our gifts from each other (among lots of other things mommy got Adobe photoshop 8) we headed to my parents for more gifts and a yummy breakfast. As usual my parents went overboard and we all got lots of great gifts. The kids both got new bikes and that pretty much kept them occupied all morning long.








It was a wonderful Christmas and we all have lots to be grateful for. At bedtime we had two tired kids and one pooped out mommy! As I look out my office right now I keep hoping and wishing it would all magically clean and organize itself.

I hope all of my friends and family had a wonderful day also. And now on to 2010!!

Naughty or Nice??

We took the kids to see Santa tonight and what an ordeal that is with two toddlers. And what a cash cow that is for whoever gets that money.

I am happy to report that the Santa at our mall was the best I've seen and he was even jolly. No BAD SANTA for us. And my kids...made me proud. They both got right up on his lap and smiled for the camera. Taylor started to get a little unsure after she sat there for a few minutes, but no tears. It probably helped that I told Thomas if he didn't sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted there was a good chance he would skip our house on Christmas Eve. I know, mean mom!!!

Anyway, I would say that this good behavior puts both my kids back on the nice list. When you are 4 and 1, it only takes little things to get you on the nice list.