Cricuit and a Craft

Ever seen a 1st grader make her Valentine's on the Cricuit? Isabella is cutting out larger pink hearts and then smaller red hearts to attach to the center. She is coloring them and writing on each and having a blast! Very detailed, my girl...wonder where she gets that?

Below is a cute little craft I put together. I saw an idea on Pinterest were each heart was painted pastel like a Conversation Heart with the family initials. I didn't want to spend that much time or money on it, so I bought some WalMart products and this is my version below...

10 things to smile about - Catch Up!

I realize I skipped November and December on the 10 things list. So below you get 30 things I had/have to smile about.

November

1. Thanksgiving with my wonderful family.
2. The end of a very fun Soccer season.
3. Being married to My Love for 7 years.
4. Taking a get-away to Las Vegas to Celebrate.
5. Family pictures on our Anniversary and dinner with the family.
6. Three service projects - teaching Isabella the meaning of helping those less fortunate.
7. A gorgeous RCE Wedding at Pelican Hill.
8. The return of Toodles - Our Elf.
9. Catching up with Old Friends.
10. Cutting my hair.

December

1. Vincent turning 3.
2. The look on Vincent's face with the Firemen!
3. The close of a hard month and looking forward to a new year.
4. Knowing Uncle Nick is in Heaven now - breathing free and running fast!
5. The courage of my Husband. His strength, emotional vulnerability and love he showed during his most difficult time in life.
6. Once again finding out who true friends are! And having the love of my family.
7. Picking out a Christmas Tree, a visit with Santa, looking at Christmas lights and still finding joy in these activities with our children.
8. Celebrating the Birthday of Jesus Christ.
9. Bianca's engagement :)
10. A small trip to Vegas.

January

1. Two trips to Disneyland.
2. The start of Softball and getting Coach Kristy/Jose again.
3. Watching Bella sale Girl Scout cookies.
4. Family time.
5. Cait's bday party and seeing the house, FINALLY!
6. Brynn's bday party and seeing Chris' cousin whom I love and is a role model to me.
7. Getting back on track with a Diet/Exercise program.
8. A few relaxing and almost boring weekends - many, many Lifetime and Hallmark movies.
9. Focusing on Blogging, etc for RCE
10. Keeping the house cleaned and organized. Planning dinner menus weekly and just being prepared.

14 Days of Valentines - Day #1

To kick off our 14 days of Valentines, I said "Good Morning" to my Rays of Sunshine with muffins, chocolate milk and coffee! Isabella has been waiting so patiently to see what will appear in her new adorable chair-backer and I have fun stuff in store. Happy Month of L-O-V-E!

Party Kinda Weekend!

We had two parties to attend this weekend. One was my Caitlin's bday party on Saturday evening. It was so much fun to see Cait and the new house...I got this picture of our beautiful girls. I can't believe how much they have grown.

Sunday afternoon we had Cousin Brynn's 7th bday party at a bouncy place in Placentia. The kids had an absolute BLAST!

Look at my two in the right hand corner. And so ended our busy but super fun weekend!

Picnic and Practice

Saturday afternoon we had a perfect picnic at the park! We ate lunch and practiced some softball. I also had to take that picture of Bella 'planking'. It is so hilarious, she does it everywhere...like all the big kids. It couldn't have been a more beautiful afternoon!

Sale, Sale, Sale!

With only a few more days to get Girl Scout cookie orders in, we made a trip to Popi's work on Thursday to kindly ask for some orders. I have done a lot of online sales through the Girl Scout website, but I wanted Isabella to get the experience of actually asking folks to purchase. At first she was embarrassed, but she got the hang of it and sold 33 boxes at A-W!

Friday after school we hit up Daddy's work!

They were not able to refuse this face and she sold 66 boxes (with an order pending)!

Thank you so much to everyone that has purchased so far! We truly appreciate it and know you will enjoy those YUMMY cookies...can't wait to deliver! We even got orders from AZ and TX! Woo Hoo!

SO True!

Beginning of Softball 2012

Yesterday was Bella's first Softball practice! We are so excited to be back with Coach Kristy & Coach Jose - there are also a few teammates back from last year and several new friends. I think this will be a super fun Season and I am looking forward to it...

More Disneyland!

Thursday's are early day @ Wickman. So today was my first shot at going to Disneyland after school. I wanted to check it out and see how the crowds were, etc. We met up with Leila and Amar (and Moms, too!) for some afternoon fun. I thought it worked out perfect. We got there about 1:30 and got home about 5:15 in time for baths and to finish up cooking dinner (our dinner is around 6:30 when Chris gets home). We watched the Tiki Room show and rode Pirates, Peter Pan, Dumbo, and the Tea Cups with out much wait. We are already looking forward to next time.

A Message

My Dad sent me an email today and within was the most beautiful message. So, I thought I would share it with you. Hopefully it makes your day, like it did mine ...

Look back and thank God,
Look forward and trust God,
Look around and serve God,
Look within and find God!