I'm an award winner!!

Well....not really.. :)

But my lovely sister nominated me for the Liebster award!  I dont really know if I even win an award but oh well...I"ll play!  This award goes to people who have less than 200 followers. For sure that's me!

So instead of working on my credential classes...I"ll write a blog about this award and answer some questions!  Thank you Lisa!!  :-)



Here is what I do know... "Liebster" is a German word meaning sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.  The award is given to up-and-coming bloggers with less than 200 followers who deserve some recognition and support to keep on blogging.  The rules for accepting the Liebster award are as follows:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

2. Answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 new questions for the people you tag. 

3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

4. Notify the people you have tagged. (Obviously) 

So here goes....

ELEVEN THINGS ABOUT ME:

• I am not really new to blogging! I started a blog in 2008. It's all about how I got Olivia! If you're curious....Pokes and Prods, check it out :)
• Talking with my sister in funny voices while in public places is my favorite pastime.
• I really do have a "toe thumb". I once had a student ask me what happened to my thumb. 
• I am double jointed in my left elbow. I can hyperextend it the other way!  :-)
• Although I am getting older, I still feel like I am a young person. 
• I love horses and wish I could be an advanced rider!
• I am a morning person.  
• Snakes freak me out 
• I have a huge fear of public speaking.
• I have a congenital heart problem
• I am an animal activist! 
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

My answers to Lisamarie's questions

• Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I am a big time introvert.
• What are three things that bring a genuine smile to your face? Anytime I am around my daughter,  My husband acting dorky
• Where do you see yourself in five years?  Oh geez....um...maybe back teaching in my classroom, or is hubby lets me, I could still be home with my possible two children. 
• What is your dream career?to be a rescue RN. The kind that needs to fly in helicopters to reach people in remote locations. 
• Do you prefer a one-story or two-story house? One story. I"m so over two stories.   
• How many TVs do you have in your home? Two
• What is your favorite TV show? Totally Walking Dead!
• Do you enjoy cooking? I am now just starting to enjoy it. 
• Do you own any animals? Of course! I always will. 
• Do you believe in fate?
• If you could have one super power, what would it be? To read people's minds. Like Sookie in True Blood. 

BLOG FRIENDS OF MY CHOOSING: 

Now I am supposed to pick friends to nominate for this award. However this is impossible for me to do because I only have nine followers and all of them most definitely have 200 followers. So I cannot choose anyone. I wonder if this means that I cannot will the award now..... :)  (yes I am aware that I used different font)  

Dog Days of Summer!

Our dog days of summer are almost coming to an end though :( Even though I look forward to a new season it's always kinda sad when when one ends. It always reminds me just how fast time goes! Then I always think that I wish I did more with my time, and with Olivia. % (worlds smallest violin)

Well....We have gotten out and enjoyed these nice warm days! And since we live close to the beach I"m glad we had a chance to go visit it!  We went to Newport Dunes! It's a waveless beach! It's absolutely wonderful for mommas and young children. In the beginning of summer I did take olivia to the real beach by myself ( remind me not to go alone again!). With waves!! And of course I wasn't  really paying attention for a split minute and we got smacked down by a wave. But dont fret...Olivia didn't go underwater or get hurt or anything! The water just came up a little higher that I would have liked it and it was super cold! Wasn't prepared for that. So...in the meantime....we like waveless beaches!!

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Newport Dunes! Olivia and I went with our new wonderful friends (I wonder when they will not be new anymore).  I'm so happy to have them!  All the pictures were taken with my iPhone.

Um...I especially love this one of Morgan practicing her gymnastics!

All the kids!

We rented a little cabana. It was really  nice!

Thanks for looking at my  pictures! Now I"m off to work on more birthday stuff!!  OMG just two more weeks!

Cabin Fever!

 Haha..not really!!  The cabin was as cute as can be and the surroundings were beautiful!!

~ It is time for me to update this blog!!  My lovely sister nominated me for a Liebster Award! How sweet is that? I guess that means I need to get this blogs act together! I do know that Liebster means, dearest. I guess this award is for new, up and coming blogs for people with less than 200 followers. And I"m most definitely sure I fit into that criteria :) Thank you Lisa!! Maybe there is another special award for people with less than 10 followers.........

OK, Cabin Fever! The week of August 13 was filled with lots of excitement :-)

Excitement #1 -- Olivias first large boo boo :(

I"m thinking Olivia is pretty close to becoming a toddler. She is walking around everywhere! However,  still doesn't have the best balance. Because of this lack of balance.....she fell, which she does quite a bit, but this time she actually had a mark to prove it :-/ It made me so sad to see that mark on her eye..  :( Luckily she's like a vampire and it healed super quick!!  


Her war wound..:(  But I golf cart ride with Grandpa makes everything better.

Excitement #2 - Cabin adventures!

Top of the mountain!

Baby in the backpack!!

Excitement #3 -- Last but not least!.....

Yep...It is a bit darker than I though. but It'll fade a bit as I wash it. I had to come to terms with the fact that I am not a SAHM....gonna have to forgo my fancy salon coloring...even though my colorist is the best! I"m sure I'll be back! 

Birthday party sneak peak!

Well...it's only a little sneak peak :)  I just hope I can pull it all together. The theme and party decorations are from another blog that I found while blog surfing for ideas. (Im basically copying everything she is doing. Kinda glad she doesn't follow me. Others of you might follow her. Please dont tell her I"m stealing all her ideas :)  )  

Less then a month to go! Everywhere I looked for ideas, everyone had such cute stuff! Nobody had a simple party. Simple is just out of the question. And since I"m a PB&J type of girl...having a non-simple party is out of my comfort zone. I"m feeling a little pressure. But I think I've got some people willing to help. My sister and Asian Martha are going to be a great help!  :-)  Oh ya..I've also enlisted my mom in making the lemon bars. It seems that the "sweet table" is a big thing at partys. Well bring it on!! I"m gonna have myself a damm sweet table!!

Before

AFTER!!

YAAAAY for pretty yellow high chairs!!

Hat and pennant banner :)

Didn't make the hat, but I made the banner. OMG I made something!

~~Peace <3

Brithday Party Part Deux!

More party celebration for me! A Woodranch dinner with the hubby, sis, and baby! And I got a delicious birthday sunday!!

After dinner, I left hubby at home and took off again with the sista! We went back to Woodranch, had another martini and we even got to enjoy a second birthday sunday!!

Cheers!! (I feel like this photo would have been a bit fancier if there was not an open diaper bag in the background)

Me an sis!

I will be continuing with my birthday celebration this week when we go to AZ tomorrow! We will be at a cabin so I might not be albe to blog for a few days. 

Side note: - - It will be a 7 hour drive with our 11 month old. I know it's been done before, but its a first for us. She is more alert now... and I dont think she will  sleep the entire way :-/ Wish us luck! 

Birthday party part 1 And great new friends!

I"m going to start out by saying how lucky I am to have the brand new set of friends that I have. They came into my life at the most perfect time.  I met them through my daughter. It's interesting how you meet new people when you have a  new "thing", something in common with people that otherwise you would never talk to. When we got our dog Chloe, we met new people through her. Dog people. Other people like me and my husband who get outside with their pets and go on walks or the local dog park. These people have the same thing in common with us. Their dog. :) Dog things.  And now that I have my daughter..I have met wonderful people through her, and it happened at the most perfect time.

I had just decided that I was going to take my year leave of absence. I had been going to my local Gymboree class with Olivia for something to do, just to get out of the house. Long story short, I ended up falling into this awesome "Mommy group"!  I absolutely love it! If I never signed up for Gymboree I would not know these girls right now. Olivia and I would not be going on these fabulous play dates. Thank you girls for being our friends!!

Not only was it MY birthday today..but it was also Princess Kathryn's birthday. She turned 1. I turned 24. ...  :)  

The birthday girl's mom Jamie invited us over to her house for a little birthday party.
Seriously?!? Kathryn's mom is the asian version of Martha Stewart!!  Cooks..bakes...and decorates!! I will not be able to top that. I will never be able to host them at my house! I"m scared.  Asian Martha Stewart actually did come to my house one day and I offered her a PB &J sandwich!!  WHAT?!  This was before I knew what I was up against! Anyways, this girl is amazing! I am worried about hosting them at my house. I cannot top them.  I"ll have to have fancy whole wheat bread from Whole Foods for the PB&J or something, and put the dogs in the backyard. Yes, dogs, plural. I have more than one.

I have provided some cute pictures from our birthday playdate and the fancy set up from Jamie! I think it you click once on the photos you will see them a bit larger. I wish you could we every detail of the little display that she had setup in her home.

My presents. The girls I hang out with are crafty. I"m going to have to step things up in my life! Does it help that I am starting to really like "Mod Podge"??

This is Wyatt! The only boy. (I did get permission to show his photo) Loved the horsie!

The birthday girl and Asian Martha!! She made that cake!! Making cakes is a very large deal to me. 

The girls!

All the kids! Birthday girl Kathryn, Olivia, Wyatt, and Morgan

What is this face? I dont think it's enjoyment. I dont think she liked the horsie as much as Wyatt did. 

Cheers to us! Of course that drink was not a juice from the grocery store. It was created. 

I think I am going to post Brithday party part 2 tomorrow. I"m tired now. 

Thank you everyone for reading  :-)

11 Months!

I dont remember anyone telling Olivia that it was ok for her to grow up so fast! Seriously?  She will be 1 next month?! It really did go by so fast.  In a way (not sure if this makes me a mean mom or not) I am anxious for her to get a little older so we can go run around at the beach, park, get manni pedies, and just frolic through life together. But I guess we already are frolicking through life together and going on adventures!  <3  I love this girl more than anything in the world and I hope she is enjoying all she is doing with me! I remember telling my mom that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to love her as much as I love Molly. Crazy crazy thought I had. 

If you click once on the pictures, I think you can see them a little larger. 

happy girl with that huge smile that she does quite a bit. (Yes, that is a bunch of drool on her shirt)

If you just open up the fridge for her she will be throughly entertained for about 5 min:) That is a good thing, and a long time!  :-D

HAPPY 11 MONTH BABY!!  <3