Thursday, May 27, 2010

Getting Ready for the Weekend




Allison has been getting up at 5:30 (when our alarm goes off) every morning. So we have been getting an early start to our days.
This morning we went to the grocery store, bought some stamps and cleaned the house. I can tell she is getting tired but Daddy will be home for lunch soon and she really loves to see him.

We found out what new baby is...it's going to be a surprise until after the 13th. We are having the baby shower that day. We would have it sooner, since Scott is having trouble keeping in quiet. He wants to tell people, especially his Mom.

Can you guess what it is???


We have decided to have a gender reveal party with mixed guests. I hate baby shower games so we are going to have appetizers, beer & soda, music and great company. We have also decided not to ask for gifts, instead we are asking for new born diapers. I finished the invitations last night and have to print & mail them this weekend so everyone can save the date. I think it is going to be a nice get together.

Also, this weekend we are going to Scott's family reunion. It should be fun meeting all the distant family members. There is a dinner Saturday and the reunion is Sunday so it will be a busy weekend. At least we have Monday off, right?

Well I'm off to make some lunch for Allison and me. What is everyone doing over this three day weekend???

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Fashion Advice From a 2 Year Old

Well Allison has decided to give us some fashion advice for 2010 summer, get ready for a great line up of what's to come.

"In my search for something to wear this summer I had to think pretty hard."

"After a bit of thinking I found some inspiration in my favorite movie Cinderella, the beach and my own ideas."



First up is my very own original design, 2 sunglasses. It keeps out twice the sun and looks great while wearing jammies.




Next up, a Cinderella inspired fashion. The summer princess look, high heels, 2 magic wands and no shirt...really classy this time of year.


Last I have a beach inspired outfit I picked out all by myself. A one piece bathing suit paired with ruffle socks and tennis shoes. I added some accessories that complimented it, a Party Girl purse and sunglasses. Absolute Genius, if I say so myself.


I hope you enjoyed this Summer fashion 2010 preview.

Oh, by the way, we go find out what new baby is today. I will let everyone know when the baby shower is over, since we are having a gender reveal party.

Have a great day!!!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The Return Of Douglas

It seems Douglas, Allison's stuffed kitty, likes egg white oatmeal pancakes too.




He especially likes the syrup,


Which is more than I can say for Allison, she pushed hers away with her nose in the air.

She would rather have Eggo Waffles with butter.
I'm outta here, Mom & I'm taking Pooh Bear and Douglas with me!!!

Friday, May 21, 2010

My Hometown

Today Kelly at Kelly's Korner is hosting Show Us Your Life Hometown addition. I thought it would be fun to show people my hometown of Chico, CA.

Greetings From Chico


It is a great place to live. Our house is centrally located about 10 minutes away from everything. Even Chico State University, which was voted best party school around the time my aunt attended which was back in the 80's. It has since mellowed out here.

We have a great line up of things to do all year long. There are concerts in the park, which takes place in the city plaza, there is a farmers market everyday of the week through the summer and a year round one every Saturday, downtown. Through the year there are several events like the Chico Palio,
picture from the Palio

Slice of Chico which is a watermelon festival with free watermelon and Taste of Chico where local restaurants have food samples and local breweries have beer samples, yummy!!! - all fun, great for everyone.

Speaking of local breweries we are home to Sierra Nevada Brewery. You know the makers of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It is a beautiful brewery with a great restaurant. They offer a tasting of all their beers at the restaurant so you can sip several different kinds of brews - pretty tasty.

It is also home to Bidwell Park. They filmed the original Robin Hood movie, starring Errol Flynn, there...pretty neat.

Last year they hosted their first Thrill the World which was a fun event. Gloria and her friend participated. I was going to do it this year with Allison but I am going to have a brand new baby so I don't think dancing in the plaza with a bunch of other zombies is going to work out, maybe next year.

Thrill the World 2009


There are also several events throughout the year like the Chico Wildflower and the Fall flower, both popular bike races, the local theaters put on great productions like Rent, Rocky Horror Picture Show and a new one starting this year called Evil Dead the Musical...that should be fun.
There are great restaurants, breweries and wineries around town and in outlying areas.
Nothing is to far to get to, life is a little more relaxed and peaceful here.
It is a great place to raise a family.

If you are ever in Northern California definity check out Chico, there is always something to do.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

This Weekend We...

were super busy. On Friday Scott had to work out of town and wasn't getting home till late so Allison and I had a girls day.

We made some foccacia bread...




I love baking and I guess it runs in the blood because Allison is a natural, as you can see.


We went swimming...




Watched Cinderella while playing dress up...


We had a blast.

On Saturday our beloved Xbox broke, so we had to go buy a new one. We got an upgraded model in black with a 120 gig hard drive. We love it. Now all we need is to replace our Game Cube with a Wii and we will be set.


Sunday, can you guess where we went??? Costco !!

I got this really great self sufficient book, it's called "Natural Living The 21st Century Guide to a Self-Sufficient Lifestyle". It is pack with so much info on everything from gardening, to canning and preserving, to keeping bees, to raising livestock and butchering it. It is a great refrence guide when I need some info on one of the many projects I want to start to make our lives more self sufficient.

When Monday morning rolled around it was so hard to get up because it felt like we never had a day off. But this week I have a ton to do so I will just keep rolling with the punches.

Today Allison and I worked out in the back yard for a couple of hours and cleared the patio. Later this afternoon we are going to plant a few basil plants and some kind of ornimental grass, maybe weed a bit and work in the garden...as long as the rain holds off.

I have also been working in the kitchen, cleaning out cupboards and drawers, getting rid of things and tossing others. It is looking 100% better...I just love a clean kitchen. The bathroom is next, then the bedrooms and last the closets. I might be done by next week if I am lucky.

I hope all of you had a great weekend and are keeping busy this week.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Big Hair

If you haven't noticed before, Allison has curly hair. When she sleeps her hair gets really poofy and big, as you can see...



She can now say "big haiw" and "cheap mousse" when she sees herself in the morning.



If I let mine go it would look just like this. Thank God for hair products & conditioner.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Semi-Retired by 37???

On a weekly basis Scott & I have discussions about getting our debts paid off. We walk in the park and talk about when we have the house paid off, which, if all goes well should be in about 5 years. We sit and talk about our investment returns and making the house work for our growing family.

We have a 3 bedroom house; one room for us, one for Allison & Scott's office, there is only one bathroom and we have another baby on the way. If it's a girl then the girls will share a room but if it's a boy we are going to have to make some changes to Scott's office. Either way our cozy house is just perfect for us. We don't need to have a brand new house with all the new fangled gizmos and gadgets. We have made our home here and we are very happy with it, the location, the school district, the town we live in, the family nearby, the yard (1/3 of an acre), the garden...pretty much everything. A very sound investment for a couple of 21 year olds first house (that's when we bought it).

We have also discussed the homesteading thing, since I am such a nature girl...well becoming one anyway. Now, we are not going out to buy a piece of property and start living off the grid, we are staying put but, we are going to start doing things like, canning our garden leftovers, maybe raise a few chickens for eggs, grow a fruit tree or two. Kinda becoming self sufficient, in a way. Relying less on the major retailers and focus on creating a healthy & (I hate using this word but) more "green" living space for the family.

We beleive it will cut out cost of living down to around $1000 a month, after the house is paid off and a few other debts are paid.

So in 5 years Scott will be semi retired at the young age of 37 how is that for retirement planning???

We are counting down the days.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Mother's Day Leftovers

The rest of Mother's Day was great. We took Allison to the elementary school to play on the slides & swings. She had a blast going down the big kid spiral slide.



Then we moved on to the kindergarten side of the playground where everything is more her size and let her have free run of the place.



She goes down the slide all by herself,



and she can finally ride the big kids swing (with help).


Here are the tomatoes all staked and ready to go. You can see all my little sprouts are starting to come up. Little Miss Allison keeps stomping them so I have to keep her out of there until they get bigger.



Scott also helped me plant the lemon tree. As you can see, the side yard where I put it is a little dead and full of weeds but in my last post I mentioned the yellow garden idea which I am planning on planting later this summer and finish up next year. It is a big project and with new baby arriving in September I don't think I will have it done this year since my nesting syndrome has already started and I am obsessed with keeping the house clean and organizing everything including the laundry room in the garage.


I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day, mine was awesome. How was yours???

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day 2010

We celebrated Mother's Day yesterday. We had lunch at Applebee's for Scott's birthday and just included Mother's Day in the mix since we didn't want to deal with the crowds.
I took these pictures before we left because I knew those dog ears wouldn't last past lunch (I had to put them back in about 3 times).





Afterwards we went to Gloria's and Scott helped her with some yard work while Allison rode her bike, drove the Snapper with daddy, gave Elvis dog treats and tried to drive the Snapper herself. She was a busy girl yesterday.





Today went went to Osh and picked up some potting soil, stretch tape, and a pitch fork. I got my lemon tree planted, my tomatoes staked and the compost turned. The yard is looking great. I finally found a garden design from Better Homes and Gardens . I chose the yellow garden idea since I have the lemon tree and I love yellow flowers. It is going to make the back yard look so nice since we don't have any flowers out there, just alot of green. I can hardly wait.

I hope all of you are have a wonderful Mother's Day.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Breakfast with Douglas

First off I want to say...Happy Birthday Scott!!!! We love you and hope all your birthday wishes come true.

This is Douglas

Allison has had this kitty since before she was born. She loves this kitty and has to take it everywhere, along with pooh bear blanky. They are her special lovies.

So it didn't surprise me when she wanted to have Douglas join her for breakfast. Here they are sharing some oatmeal and a glass of milk. They are just so cute together.