Granny's Visit

This past week Granny showed up for a visit. What a surprise and what fun! The first part of her visit I was getting ready for my Eclipse Party.
We made pillows for my couch.

We got crafty and made tissue flowers/pom poms.

Then we began to have fun with the kids. We went out to the lake.


We had lunch and then went on a walk.

There was a nature center that was closed. I thought the kids looked so cute looking in.


We made homemade ice cream in a bag. That was fun and tasty!

We made homemade tortillas! All the rolling pins are at my Dad's...hey, in the old days they used bottles!

Today we put Granny on a plane.

How sad! We sure did enjoy her visit. Thanks for coming and enjoying our home with us, Granny!

Summer Activities

Every summer I'm so worried about keeping the kids busy. I really don't like the statement, "I'm bored"! I try to come up with some fun activities to keep them busy. Here is what we've done so far.
*one day I had them help me make cards; bday, miss you and Father's day. I handed them some card stock, markers and stickers and let them design 'em.


*one night we made donuts, YUM!

another day we went to the dollar store and they got to pick out some activities to keep busy. Tina found this fake mustache/beard.

Today I let them play with water balloons. Why not? It's so hot today! Gotta stay cool some how!




So what are you doing to stay busy?

Eclipse Party!!

Well I believe I just put on the best party in the whole world!
I have been dying to have a Twilight/Eclipse party. When New Moon came out last year I had no time. So this time I made sure to plan ahead and schedule everything just right. I started by doing some research. I wanted to see what others in the blog world have done. I also checked out my favorite site Oneprettything for some more great ideas. I invited friends and their friends and their daughters. Let's just say there was a lot of people in my house! I began shopping for fun party supplies. And then I got crafty!
I filled these boxes with bing cherries and called them blood shots.

My favorite, red vines became vials of blood. Choose your type.

Gotta have popcorn during the movie, but with red butter!

I had a bowl of muddy buddies, renamed puppy chow, for all those wolf lovers!

We had chocolate covered strawberries, because they're my favorite. The colors work, too.

Now the highlight of the food was this cake! My girlfriend made it and it is the most awesome cake ever!

Now for some of the decor.
You might ask, why a New Moon poster if it was an Eclipse party? Well we watched New Moon to catch some girls up to Eclipse (which comes out next week). Plus I really like this poster! I also printed some quotes and posted them on the wall.

I needed some candles and had to throw in some apples. So here you go...2 birds w/ one stone!

Now you gotta have roses! I also had some twilight books on display along with Stephanie Meyer's Host. Oh, yeah that's a signed picture by Emery. My girlfriend brought it to share!


We also made t-shirts after the movie was over and had the Twilight soundtrack playing in the background. I so wish I had a pic of the whole group to show you. I was having so much fun chatting that I forgot to gather everyone for an embarrassing photo, man!
Now that really was the best party ever! I'm so glad it had me stressed for a week, hoping I could get everything done in time. Especially, since my Grandma came in to town three days before the party. Boy, you better believe that I put her to work helping me! Now all I'm waiting for is to go to the movies. I've had my ticket purchased for three weeks and I will be in line at the midnight showing! And you know I'll have pics of that!

Hubby's Surprise

This weekend was Hubby's birthday. I wanted to do something special because he's worked so hard to get us in our new home. I got the whole family in on it and came up with a story. We had "plans" to have a bbq at the In-Laws but we were really going to take him to an A's game. I purchased the tickets, made arrangements for the kids and kept the story going for weeks (with help). Now if you know my Hubby, he kept trying to throw in a softball game for his birthday. His brother and friend had to keep telling him they already had plans. It was so hard for everyone to keep a straight face. It was so much fun!
Finally the night before we met up at my house and gave him is present.

Inside was two A's shirts (one for me) and tickets. His reaction was, "What is this?". It was so much fun to tell him how we had this planned for weeks and that everyone was in on it!

We went to the game as three couples (left the kiddies at home). We prepared ourselves for a HOT day! We had great seats! We had a great time!!

Steve and Nicole

John and Marci

Birthday boy and myself

Without kids!

New Decor

Well I've said before that I don't have much on the walls. Recently we just had our first house party and it took a lot from me to not worry about the house. I just wanted to enjoy company in our new place and I did! Since then, I have been working really hard to get things up on the wall. It also helps that the kids are out of school and I have more time. So here is the latest decor on the wall.

It's the start of my "Family Organization" wall. I made the calendar from an old picture. Hubby helped me by measuring out the calendar. It would have taken me forever to do that. I'm able to use dry-erase markers to put in our activities. I also use different colors for each family member.
Disclaimer: this was not my idea. I found it on a blog (sorry I can't give credit, lost the blog) and copied it.
Below the frame is this cool way to display your child's artwork. Last year we made this at a Fabulous Friday night. That's when a bunch of ladies get together and make prepared crafts. Tina just loves putting her work up and I love that it can be on display and not on the floor!
Hopefully soon I'll be able to finish the last project for this wall and post it. I'll give you a little hint; it has to do with CHORES!

Memorial Day Events

This weekend was just full of fun events. It started with spending Friday and Saturday with my Hubby. We went out to dinner, sushi of course, and then to the movies, Iron Man 2. We saw a late, late movie since we had no kids; haven't done that in awhile! Then Saturday we had brunch at Denny's, nothing like some pancakes, followed with some shopping.
We had planned to be gone all day but I kept thinking about the projects we could be doing at home. So we picked up the kids and headed home. I put everyone to work, cleaning, organizing and fixing things. Monday for Memorial Day I planned a family bbq and ball game.
I made a slide show of the day's events. We made two teams and began our little softball game. Myself and Marci were so up to playing but I had to talk the other girls into playing. I believe/know everyone had a blast. It was so much fun watching everyone play, bat, run, etc...

I have to say, that was the most fun I've had in awhile (with the whole family).
I remember many times going to the park with my Mom and Dad and playing a game of baseball. I just wanted to re-create that memory.
Mission Accomplished!

It's Our Anniversary!

Yes, we've hit another year, "15" in fact! The other day we had so much fun reminiscing with the kids. We've told them hundred times how we got married but they asked again. This time they actually paid attention to the details.
I can't believe I'm sharing these but here is a photo of when we first started dating.


I can't find my photo album right now. These were extras. They'll work for now. Man were we young!



There's one more photo I wanted to share but haven't dug it out yet. I'll post it later. Along with our wedding story!

In A Stump!

I usually love planning meals but for some reason this past Sunday I had no appetite. Which made it really hard to decided what we would be having for the week. It also didn't help that I was looking forward to this weekend with my Hubby. We will be celebrating our "15th" wedding anniversary! I plan on eating a lot of great food that I won't be making!
So I had to research and dig to become motivated. Eventually, I came across some great ideas. This is what my week's meals looked like.
Monday- Chicken Fajitas
Tuesday- Satay noodles
Wednesday- Corn Chowder
Thursday- Tostadas
Friday- Eat Out!
Saturday- Pizza
Sunday- Salsbury steak

Satay noodles! They were so yummy and pretty easy to make. It just took a lot of prep work. I really liked this meal because you can change it up and add different things to it. I found the recipe from Rachael Ray's site. Here's the end product.

I added shrimp, spinach, radish and fish cake. Yum-O!
This coming week I'm gonna try Indian fry bread. I've watched my Sis-in-law make it and I think I can accomplish it. Wish me luck!

Baseball...My (our) Life!

Kenny just finished high school ball and is now beginning Babe Ruth (city league). I had to take just a few more pictures in his hs uniform. He's wearing RED and BLACK now but next year he'll be wearing my hs colors, GREEN and GOLD!!
He is now a Mariners. His first game was Saturday and he did great! We were worried that there might be issues because he's coming in late due to hs ball. Nothing to worry about though, they put him right in and he feels apart of the team. Doesn't he look great in these uniforms? I think so! I can't believe how old he looks.


Mateo has a big game tonight. His team is tied for first! It's gonna be a good game. Bad thing is, the boys are playing at the same time. I don't like having to choose between who I go watch. I think I'm going to split it up, start at one and finish at another. Mateo has been having some amazing games, lately. He started off kinda rocky but has really been showing everyone what a great ball player he is.
I've said it before but I'll say it again. "I just LOVE watching my boys play!"

Here's a quick pic of the girls staying busy during the game. They always have a blast playing at the ball field. We bring them tons of stuff to keep them busy and they always find friends to play with.