Lumbattis' Party

What a fun time we had at the Lumbattis' house last night! Lauren is a super-fab hostess...the kids played, did a craft and got to make caramel apples! Us adults had dinner, yummy dessert/drinks and chatted. Bella had a blast. The kids dressed as cowboy/cowgirl last night because Mommy was dreading putting the Beast in his costume. We will see how tomorrow night goes! Happy Halloween friends!

School Harvest Party!

Thursday was dress up day at school (if you saw the facebook picture! she dressed up as Snow White to be twins with her bff from school Leila) and yesterday, we had a great time at the school harvest party. It was fun to see the kids SO excited for the special treats they received. Bella helped me stuff the little scarecrow bag and get ready for the party. We also made ghost and pumpkin Tootsie pops to give to her friends. She is so looking forward to Halloween this year and every morning she changes the countdown calendar we have in the kitchen! 1 more day!

The Kids

I can not believe how fast time has gone! Meeting baby Taylor (Congrats my dear friend!) really made me think about how my own two have grown in the blink of an eye. 5 years old and almost 2 years old! WOW. How they brighten my days...fighting and all :) Mommy loves you, Isabella Rose and Vincent Guy!

Family Time

Last Friday night...Dinner at Claim Jumper and family trip to the Pumpkin Patch...can't get much better than that. We had a great time. And of course, I took lots of pictures.

We hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Beauty & The Beast

Boy, Oh Boy! This was the absolute hardest picture outting I have EVER had! Vincent absolutely HATES his cosutme. Yes, that is a bad word in our house! I don't know what he disliked more, his costume or taking instructions from the picture ladies. This was my second attempt at these pictures. Tuesday  night I tried. I was sick, the kids were sick, it was late, it was horrible! I walked out :( Vincent knew I was so mad in the car because he kept saying, "Sorry, Mommy. Sorry, Mom". So, I will take what we got this morning! And I will always remember how upset 'my Beast' was at taking pictures and how beautiful 'my Belle' is. I can't help but laugh at how bad Vince was...I look at that sweet little face and I just love him so much(bad and all)! I will pray he gets better for Christmas pictures!

PS...these are just from online, so the resolution is low. And if you don't know Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie :)

My Day with Bubby

Today was a very trying day with my little man. Mind you, Isabella stayed home from school sick and I am feeling crappy as well. So here is what happened today...

1. Vincent draws on the wall and couch with purple dry erase pen. Mommy was in the office. He was suppose to be nicely watching cartoons. Thank goodness it came off.

2. Mommy goes upstairs to put away laundry. Vincent dumps a whole bottle of Bombay Sapphire on the carpet, in a margarita glass and all over himself. Thank goodness he didn't drink it.

3. Mommy goes back upstairs to run a load of laundry, clean the cat litter and straighten up rooms (Maybe 10 minutes). Vincent drags his chair into the pantry in order to reach higher. Dumps lots of spices, along with some bread, etc all over the pantry floor. Thank goodness he couldn't reach the medicine.

4. Vincent is suppose to take a nap. He gets out of his bed...I go to change him and he has diarrhea. Bella runs downstairs to get more wipes. I did not notice that the diarrhea went all the way up his back and so now there is a nice poop stain on his carpet where I laid him down to change him. Thank goodness for Holly being on Gmail chat just to tell her about the craziness!

5. Vincent gets out of his bed at least 4 more times before he actually takes a nap and is still fighting with Isabella. Thank goodness he actually DID take a nap where I got to sit on the couch and watch Wizards of Waverly Place with Isabella and my Days of Our Lives I had taped.


Looks like Terrible Twos have hit a little early in our house!!! Holy Smokes!

BUT today I am also thankful for hot tea in my witches cup, my pumpkin candle burning, the sound of rain which I love, my beautiful roses blooming and my parents getting home safely from Texas. There is always a bright side...

Harvest @ McCoy Equestrian

Last night we took the kids to a Harvest Party at McCoy Equestrian in Chino Hills. The kids had so much fun. We all got a pumpkin from the "pumpkin patch", took a hay ride through the Equestrian center with a  magician on it, and got popcorn/drink. Isabella got to decorate a candy corn cookie, make a fall bracelet, and get her face painted. It was a fun little family night for us and was our first pumpkin patch visit of the season! It was only the 4 of us...so I know we will be making more trips as a family!

Homework + Teddy Bear Picnic

A quick picture of Isabella doing her homework. Homework packets come home every Monday and are due on Thursday morning. Bella finishes the whole thing on Monday night. The girl doesn't stop crafting/working from the time she gets home until she goes to bed. She even showed me a little bruise on one of her fingers from the scissors. But she loves it!

Friday was her Teddy Bear Picnic at school. The kids have been doing Bear related things for a few weeks and it culminated in their picnic. Each child got to bring their bear, sit on the grass and eat lunch/snack with the other kids. One of the Moms made sandwiches in bear shapes (love it, since you know that is my 'specialty') and they had teddy grams and juice. These are things things I send donations letters out for, being Room Mom. Bella and the other kids had so much fun and she was so happy to have me at school during this special event!

No Camera = No Pictures

When you have a big camera like I do, you don't want to haul it when it is just your husband and you going somewhere. So, no camera = no pictures of our little get away to Palm Springs.

Chris was the top performing investment banker and won a trip to Palm Springs with some others. It was a 'working' trip, but we had a great time! Wednesday after school we took the kids to Papa Joe and Grammy Alice's and headed off. We had cocktails and appetizers on Wednesday night. Followed by a trip to the Casino with two other couples and me drinking WAY TOO much wine! Which reminds me why I don't like to drink that much. Thursday I slept in, Chris went to get a massage. He offered it to me and told me to come with him. But at 9am...I was not about to get up. Haha. We had lunch together and went shopping in downtown PS, relaxed the rest of the day (of course I did some reading and Chris says I took a FOUR HOUR nap...I am not so sure!) and then we had dinner that night, followed by a trip to the Pub down the street. Yesterday morning we headed home.

It was a nice little get away with my husband. I enjoyed talking to the other couples and The Viceroy is a BEAUTIFUL hotel. I loved the black/white and yellow decor. Very modern and sleek. I am super proud of my hard working husband and the man he is!

Cousin Jake Turns 7!

This afternoon we headed to San Clemente for Cousin Jake's 7th Birthday party! It was a football party, so of course my family of 4 dressed in our gear even though both our teams ended their winning streak. The kids had a great time playing at the park, playing a game of football and just hanging around.



I have been putting off the grocery store for a long time, so after we got home, I headed to the store and spent at least an hour and a half loading up the cart. Now to just catch up on cleaning and laundry tomorrow. I am excited to have my Hubby home all week, except Tuesday. Also, send up a few prayers for my Brother...he is interviewing for the "Big League" Hitting Coach job for the Diamondbacks on Tuesday (right now he is the roving Minor League Hitting Coach). This would be wonderful news for their family!

Family Fun - Too!

Last night was a reception for Ryan (family friend who Chris and Nick grew up with and the son of Alice's best friend, Jerilyn) and Janelle. They got married last weekend in Visalia/Three Rivers area and we (the 4 of us) could not make it - Grammy Alice, Papa Joe and Uncle Nick went because Nick was in the wedding. Anyhow, we had a great time last night. I think Isabella had the best time of us all...she did the dollar dance, learned a new routine, played with friends and danced away with the Bride (they are BFFs now because Janelle wore Cowgirl boots under her dress - she made the dress, by the way!). Us adults had fun chatting with friends and drinking wine. Both kids stayed up past 10...makes for tired babies today! Now, off to Cousin Jakey's birthday party!

Family Fun Night!

Last night was Isabella's Family Fun Night. We had a great time as a family...enjoyed In-N-Out (man was that hamburger good!!), Grammy Alice won a huge Italian basket full of gift cards and goodies, Isabella got to rope and won at the Cupcake walk, and Vincent just wanted to run around and be crazy. My husband said to me, "you are such an Elementary School Mom now". He still won't tell me what exactly he meant, but I am going to take it as a compliment and move on (ha-ha). We then came back to our house for pie/coffee and more visiting. Now for the busy weekend ahead.

My Boy!

Wanted to share a few pictures of my baby boy. He makes me smile and laugh daily with what he says and how much he is growing. I am happy to say that for the past two days he is back taking naps...Praise The Lord and Knock on Wood!!

Cuddling this morning with the Kitty (both of which he calls by name and torments).

He loves to line up his "Vroom Vrooms".

And here he is enjoying the peace and quiet after Sissy left for school this morning. He was watching Caillou (which he decided is his second favorite to Barney). I just love these two pictures because I remember Isabella doing the exact same thing!

Working Away...

I did a beautiful wedding on Sunday for Jack and Gina Chen. Thank you Mrs. Lumbattis for being a WONDERFUL assistant and helping me every step of the way. I loved the Dove Canyon venue and got to work with some very talented vendors. Of course, we were right on schedule the whole night (as I am known to do). I can't wait to see the pictures.

(dark circles under my eyes, sweaty, curled hair going flat, and not being able to hold anything else in my hands...all in a days work!). When I got home last night, Isabella woke up and said, "did you see the song I wrote you?". She had made me a special something out of paper towel. The top layer said, "Look Under" with a huge broach. The second layer had a design and it also said, "Look Under" and the final layer was a sheet of paper that read, "I miss u, I miss u, I miss u, Best Mom, Best Mom." It was so sweet. Melted my heart and reminded me why I am always happy to be home!

Vendors
Dove Canyon
Jason Q Tran Photography
Tim @ Invisible Touch
Rebecca Calagna Events

A little laugh...

Vincent has been horrible at sleeping lately. He has decided that he doesn't need naps anymore (HELLO, he isn't even TWO!) so he crawls out of bed and does whatever he pleases. Well today I laid him in Sissy's bed and told him he needed to go to sleep. I heard a little nose a few minutes later and I opened the door to find he had pulled over the stool, got Isabella's cowgirl hat from the closet rack and was riding Smores. He was having the best time and laughing away. Of course I had to quickly get my camera and Bella had to join the action. So nice to have a little smile and laugh in my day!

Disney On Ice

On Saturday afternoon, we went with Ms. Amanda to see Disney on Ice! It was such a special treat for Isabella to spend the afternoon with her 'teacher' :) She has been trying to guess so hard as to what her surprise was. We went to Roscoe's (Bella's favorite place to eat) for lunch then headed to Ontario to see the show. It was adorable and we had a wonderful time! Thanks Ms. Amanda for inviting and spending the day with us!

10 Things To Smile About

My friend Kristi (my Sorority Big Sis actually) did a really nice post on her blog. She decided to do a monthly "10 things to smile about" list. I am now borrowing that idea from her :) I think life gets so busy that we forget to sit down and be thankful for the every day things that make us smile and feel blessed. So, here are my...

10 Things that made me smile in September
(in no particular order)...
1. Isabella reciting the Pledge of Allegiance + Dinner time prayers.
2. Fall Decorations + leaving the windows open to feel the breeze.
3. Friday BBQ Family Dinners with Grammy and Popi (instead of going out).
4. Women's Mystery Club books.
5. Finding a friend of my sister's, Serchya, whose daughter goes to school at Wickman and since finding out she lives in walking distance just a few houses away!
6. Sticking to my blogging goal for RCE.
7. UCLA, Rams + Bears Win!
8. Pictures of sweet Baby Ella (making me want a 3rd baby even more).
9. Vincent repeating nearly everything we say + loving Barney.
10. Vincent carrying around a purse and wearing dress up shoes (anything to be just like Sister).