be back soon!

We are off on a fun adventure this weekend. Ellie is going skiing! I say Ellie because, while Chris and I will be there, her wonderful godparents will be doing the instructing. We don't enjoy it. At all. And are pretty convinced that people who do enjoy it are a little out of their gourds. BUT! We also know that if we are going to live here, where it is winter much more than it is summer, Ellie need to enjoy the snow, so off we go skiing! Wish us luck!

A gazillion pics to come.

play day

We had a play day today! Some days go by and when Ellie is in bed, I realize I hardly played with her at all, which is horrible. So today laundry, cleaning, errands, etc, were put on hold and we just played.

We went to gymnastics.

We hippitity hop scotched.

We chased each other around the house.

We fed our babies.

She helped me make lunch.

We read books. Lots of books.

We practiced our letters.

We played in animals.

We played hide and seek.

We played playground (which involved me doing alot of swinging her around. Not so fun.)

We played catch.

We played doll house.

We colored.

I asked her to pick her favorite and hold it up. She chose yellow. Good choice.

We did some sit-ups.

We watched Land Before Time (again).

We stirred tomato soup.
We built a castle.

We took a bath.

We played with Daddy.

We realized she had learned a new phrase "That's the spirit!"

She went to bed.

I am not far behind her. I am pooped.

a birthday weekend

My hubby had a birthday yesterday and in honor of that, the top 10 reasons why I love him.

10. He always gives me the first sip of his pop.
9. He always turns the butt warmer on my side of the car on before I get in.
8. He makes great scrambled eggs.
7. He will happily change a poopy diaper.
6. I never have to drive when we are together.
5. He rubs my feet everynight and know exaclty how hard I like my back scratched.
4. He is very supportive in anything I want to do and wants me to take care of me, however that may be.
3. He comes home every night and plays with Ellie to give me a break!
2. He is really, really handsome.
1. He is my best friend.

We had a great weekend. We had dinner with Paige and Ken on Saturday at a great restaurant (Boulevard Blue for those of you around here) and then brunch with Jeff and Megan on Sunday. Happy Birthday Baby! I love you!

In another note, seeing the below pic, should I be worried? I hate high heels and will wear them only when necessary. She wanted to wear them all weekend!

new fave breakfast

Trader Joe's has these awesome banana waffles. Add a little peanut butter and you have my new favorite breakfast. I usually have it with a few slices of turkey bacon and half a grapefruit. Delicious!

atta girl!

We made a trek to the mall yesterday cause Mama needs some clothes for Vegas (more to come on that on another post)! Of course, Ellie got her fair share of playing.

Queen of the Slide

She calls this the "Help Me" game. See how blurry she is. She is super fast!

And another proud moment indeed. This probably makes me a terrible parent, but when Ellie asked if she could have a sip of my Carmel Light Frappachino, I said yes. Unfortunately, she liked it. Like mommy like daughter. For those parents out there thinking "how could she??", she just had 2 little sips and she usually doesn't drink anthing other than milk or water.


As for clothing, got 3 shirts and a necklace at Express, 2 of which were on the 40% off the lowest ticketed price. Score. Now I just need some new comfortable sandles to wear and I am all set. Well, and maybe some kind of "hot mama" outfit. I don't have many of those...

2 good books

My book club chose East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I happened to have this one on my shelf because I have been wanting to read it for years (because my mother always said I should.) I am only about 150 pages in, but it is really good. I have been to the Salinas valley so I totally understand the discriptions of it. A beautiful place, and so far, beautifully written. Can't wait to see what happens! A warning though...it starts a little slow. Very, very descriptive. I enjoy a good descriptive book, but, holy moly, this one takes it to the limit!

I happened to run across this book at the library and immediately picked it up. My Grandpa Ross was a milkman and my mom always told me stories about how she would go on his route with him and how it was their "thing." It is a simple book about a small town milkman making his rounds. Very sweet. It has a nice little rhyme to it and for some reason, I love books that rhyme. After reading it I discovered that it has both Ellie and Chris' names in it. Yeah. We will be buying this book. I love it! Ellie wants to read it every day at nap and bedtime.

What are your kids' favorites these days?

recovering

Ellie still has this blasted cold. It is lingering! Her little lips are so chapped they are bloody. It is pitiful. So we are doing a lot of relaxing and hanging out. That is nice and cozy, but not very good for blogging. We have lots of fun stuff coming up though (can you say skiing and Vegas!) so my blog promises to become more interesting very soon. Please bear with me until then.

a rare moment

Ellie has a pretty good cold going so today at 10 am we had an unexpected nap on the couch. I never get to hold her when she is asleep so this was heavenly for me. Feel better baby!

a giveaway!

I love this little birdie necklace so go enter! And mention that I sent you so I get more chances. Please? All you have to do is click on the little button above and leave a little comment.

Why do I need this necklace? Well you see, every year Paige and I have a contest to see who can find the first Robin. And every year Paige wins. I need this as a little bragging tool.

my prayers were answered!

It was 60 degrees today! 60!! Ellie and I spent the morning at the zoo and it was lovely.

We started with a little snack.

Then watched the seals.

Total lucky shot.

Then we played in the snow...that was quickly melting. Ha!

Then looked at the polar bear.

Then said hello to the camels.

Then walked down a path.

Then played with a rain stick.

These kept her entertained for a good 20 minutes. She was in hysterics running through them.

Then took a group shot.

Then headed home.

It was nice to be outside.

of a sort

We are big into sorting these days...as evidenced by the pic above. We do this just about everyday.

she was running!

I am not a runner. Period. I am in awe of anyone who is any good at it. So what did I do today? Well ran a 5K of course! Just for fun!

I have been seriously exercising for the sole purpose of looking good in a bathing suit in Vegas in 3 weeks. A few of my bookclub pals are training for a half-marathon and I was going to go cheer them on at the 5K today and then join them for breakfast. I decided at the last minute that this could be my workout today. And the scary thing is, I liked it. I can't wait to run another one!

Does it matter that I was almost last? No.
Does it matter that I was lapped? No. Well...sorta.
Does it matter that I had to walk some (but not nearly as much as I thought, and mostly due to ice?) No.
Would I have been upset if the older woman in culottes had passed me. Yes. (She didn't)
Am I sore? A little.
Did I enjoy learning more about my friend Rebecca? Yes!
Would I do it again? Yes!

The best thing was, I had taken my camera to take pics of my friends and my friend Nicole (who I was supposed to cheer with, again, so sorry Nicole!) took pics of me!


Here I am signing up last minute.


My friend Rebecca and I before the big race.

Runnin'...notice the ice. Fun. They don't call it the Frostbite 5K for nothing.

Crossing the finish line. I purposely cropped the pic so you couldn't see my time. I mean, I do have some pride.

The gang at breakfast.

It was a good morning.

i am DONE!

I think I have officially entered a seasonal depression. Even poor Frosty out there is barely making it. It is supposed to be 47 and rainy tomorrow so hopefully some of this boloney will go away. I. AM. OVER. IT.

today

Today we had lunch with friends...

cuddled with Dom...

sat in traffic for an hour...and I mean, didn't move for an hour...

threw a fit due to sitting in the car for so long...

and did a little shopping.

What did you do today?

superbowl

We had a nice evening watching the game, even though the best team DID NOT win. Oh well.

Ellie and her bestie, Izzy. E adores Iz and wants to do everything Izzy does.

Me and Izzy. I love this kid.

The spread. Yeah. I overate.

Ellie by the fire. They always have a fire. I love it there.

Ellie and I toasting our backs.

Next year, it's all about the COLTS!