Christmas 2009

A few things I don't want to forget......

Makayla's face as we were unwrapping the ornaments to hang on the tree: the ohhhh I remember this one & ahhhh this one is one of my favorites

Dylan's squeals as we got out the decorations and the pure excitement that he had

The way Makayla had to really think about what she wanted this year: a crayon maker and some webkinz

They way Dylan immediately knew what he wanted and did not wavered on that want one bit: a Dsi and Super Mario game

How I was able to threaten that Santa was coming and how it wasn't all that effective until Santa told them to keep their rooms clean

They look on Dylan's face when Santa pulled out his DS to look at his lists and told Dylan that he was on the naughty list but that he would x that out and put him back on the nice list if he quit being whiny.

The look on Makayla's face when Santa took her over to Rudolph's collar and jangled the bells and told her who's there were.

Dylan's tragic look on Christmas Eve as he was going to bed and saw that his room was a tiny bit messy. Then the look of gratification when he cleaned it very quickly.

Makayla's wiggles and giggles as she went to bed. Wanting so badly to fall asleep and just to darn excited to do so.

Always Christmas morning and the excitment it contains as they realize Santa DID leave presents

Happy Birthday Mom (that would be ME)!!

Today is my birthday. A big 31. And what do I want to do, what do I want to do? In my family we make a big deal out of birthdays but when it came to mine I didn't want to do much. So Saturday night, I picked up some take-n-bake pizzas and we came home to bake them. While they baked we set up our Christmas tree. Dylan was SO excited that he literally squealed with excitement. I thought he was in pain, no, just excited. When the pizzas were ready we laid out a blanket on the carpet and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Then we finished decorating the tree. After the kids went to bed I worked on my Christmas scrapbook and Tom played on the computer. Ahhhh, what a perfect evening. So for the big day, what to do? Tom, the kids and I went to South Center and did some shopping. Now normally this might not be such a fun adventure but the kids were fabulous. Dylan was so cute, he would say, well it's your birthday. You could tell a few times he wanted to whine or complain but he toughed it up and kept on shopping. What troopers! When we came home I walked into a CLEAN house! WOW, was I surprised. Every year when Tom asks what I want I say, a clean house, and not cleaned by me. This year Tom enlisted the help of one of my dear friends and that is what I got!! We then put up some outdoor Christmas lights. Dylan was coming outside to play and I asked him to put on his coat, he started to argue but paused and said, "well it's your birthday". We then went out to dinner with Mom and Ray, Kerri and Jason and us and it was perfect. We came home and the kids went to bed without a fuss. Priceless!! What a great 31st birthday!!!!!!

1st day of school

A little behind in this post but at least it is still September!

Makayla started 3rd grade this year. She was so excited to go back and see all of her friends. She was excited that her 1st grade teacher is now teaching 3rd and she got her. Mrs. McGinnis is very nice and her other teacher Mrs. Smith seems nice as well. I think it will be a great year for her. Dylan started Preschool. He was ever more excited than Makayla I think. He has been waiting for 4 years to go to school. He goes 2 times a week but would like to go 5 like Makayla. Here are some pictures from the 1st day...

It's all coming back

I have decided to create a new blog for my cupcakes business but setting it up is bringing back nightmares! Yikes!!! I was thinking that it would be so easy since I have done it before but nooooooo. Like I can not figure out how I got my page to look so cute. I know if is from the cutest blog but I don't know how to get it back! It will come, slowly but surely. In the mean time, my other blog is For the Love of Cupcakes BUT the address is lauriscupcakes.blogspot.com

Apparently the other title is too long. Stay tuned for updates on the family too!

cupcakes,cupcakes and more cupcakes

So I have always loved cupcakes. How could one love cupcakes more than regular cake? I'm still not sure but that's how it is for me. But beyond the taste part is the decorating end. I love to make them pretty and trying out different frosting methods. It's fun for me. Recently I made a batch of cupcakes and in the late hours that I was up frosting them I decided to name them. Weird, for sure, but fun in itself....Here are a few that I came up with.....

"Simply Sweet"

"Pearls of Wisdom""A Day in the Garden"

"Red Hat Lady"

"It's a Party"

"Purple Passion"

"Polka"

Blue Angels

At the beginning of August we took the kids down to Seattle to brave the crowds for a view of the Blue Angels. There is just something about watching those planes fly and do their tricks that both Tom and I love. The last time we saw them Dylan was just a baby and Makayla was only about 4. We left early so that we could make sure to get a spot. We went to a spot called The Point in Seattle and for the air show we got to walk out on the 520 floating bridge. It was a hot day but the show was great and the kids loved it. Dylan's favorite party was when the jet flew really fast right over our heads and it was really loud. Makayla liked it when they all went up together in the sky and their smoke looked like fireworks.

OK, no excuses!

Well, since my last post the kids have left and come back again! It has been a busy summer and we have been loving it! We had record breaking highs for a record number of days and everyone was doing anything to stay cool. I LOVE the warm weather and we had some great days at the lake and ocean! Here are some pictures to catch me up.....

July 1, 2009

The first full week out of school was hot! Of course it was the end of June but we aren't used to that weather until after 4th of July! Makayla was at camp but that didn't stop us from going to Spanaway Lake with Caroline, Christian, Sophia, Ian and Lindsey. The kids had a great time playing in the water with these pool noodles! Dylan and Christian mastered the art of blowing water out of them! Caroline and I made sure to lather up the kids really well with sunscreen but I forgot until an hour or so into into to put sunscreen on myself. Not good planning, burnt to a crisp, ouch!

***Lake Spanaway tip=if you go from about noon to 3 on a weekday is isn't very crowded.

4th of July
The morning of 4th of July we drove out the Camp Seymour and picked up Makayla and Abby from camp. They had the best time! (more on that to come). Then we came back home and hung out for the day. We brought the BBQ out from and BBQ with our neighbors Lydia, Blaine, Keiran, Janai, Abby, Troy, Evan and us. Grammy and Papa came too! We had a great time playing volleyball in Lydia's yard, eating and lighting off fireworks!!

Abby, Makayla, Troy, Evan, Dylan and Keiran with their cupcakes!

Me and Lydia

Janai and Evan snuggling before the fireworks

Makayla and Abby got their 1st official babysitting job that day too. They took the little kids in the back yard to watch while the adults got to play volleyball. Makayla loved it and wants to watch the kids all the time now!

During the day we had to unpack and wash clothes from camp to get ready to leave the next day for Grandma and Grumpa By the Ocean's house.

July 17

When they got back it was still hot so we went to Stuart Heights Pool in Tacoma with Janai, Abby, Troy, Evan, Lisa, Devon, Laura, Jeff, Madison, and Eli. It was a great water park with a regular pool, a lazy rive, a water slide, a small pool, sprinklers and a play structure in the pool.

Troy, Evan and Dylan

Dylan on the play structure

Me and Dylan on the Lazy River

Abby, Janai and Makayla

Devon and Dylan

***Stuart Heights tip=bring a cooler full of food and drinks! It is so great that they allow this in, take advantage of it. Also, get there about 45 minutes before the start time so you can get a seat and get in, they do fill up, even on weekdays!
The next day the kids were off again to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Al's for a week.

So on Sunday July 19th we went to the Bite of Seattle

It was hot hot hot and there were soooo many people there! But it was fun to people watch and eat SO much FOOD! It had been a few years since we had been and so we had a lot of fun.

Me and Kerri

Tom and Josh

**Bite of Seattle tip=go with lots of people and share the dishes and the costs. That way you get to try a whole bunch of different foods without buying all of it and getting too stuffed, althought this does still happen
July 25

Tom and I got Mariner tickets from his work and got to enjoy the game from great seats. My favorite part is always the garlic fries! But I had to pay attention this time because we were in fly ball territory!!

The batter got hit on accident and there was almost a huge fight. Both dugouts emptied in an instant to back up it's teammate. Things got settled down and everyone went back to their side.

**Mariner's Game tip= watch out for Seagulls, they poop on people's heads!
July 27

With the kids back in town again and the weather still fabulous we decided to head to Lake Tapps. And when I say it was hot it was record breaking hot! I believe we got to about 101' on this day! Perfect lake weather. This time not only did we put sunscreen on the kids every couple of hours, I also remembered to lather myself up. Thanks in part to Caroline.

Christian giving me one of his fabulous smiles! I love this kid, we have a special chocolate bond!

Dylan trying out the goggles that Caroline brought. The kids were facinated with these. All of them took turns with them and thought it was so cool to see the rocks on the bottom!Noodle fight!! Ian and Lindsey against Sophia and Dylan with a water squirter!

Sophia

Makayla tring to stay up on a noodle

And there's more to come!