A Little Nostalgic!???

I have to say that I am trying to keep this blog about our family and things we do...but I have to vent a bit on this one. We haven't made it to the beach yet as sharks have been spotted two times this week! We are thinking maybe the aquarium might be a smarter choice! Anyway so today we started to clean the garage out. Rick has been bugging me to do a little cleaning out. As many of you know...being a pack rat kinda runs through my veins! It is very hard for me to throw things away that are mine...let alone things that are the girls and decide what they don't play with that should to go to Goodwill. Everything seems to have a story behind it as to where it came from and who it came from!! I start to clean out some of the baby stuff. I made Rick move it here because I just couldn't get rid of it. I did make a big step and in December when I went to Kansas City, I gave a few things to Heather's friend Cory that was having a baby. I have been trying to clean out the things that Addison doesn't wear in her closet and put them in tubs in the garage. I try to take the things that don't fit Ashleigh and put them in Addison's closet. That's not too hard...it's moving them from Addison's closet to the garage that I seem to have a problem with!! I decided to put everything in the tubs in to spacebags to try to make more room so it didn't look like I had saved as much as I really had!! (If you don't know what spacebags are...go to www.spacebag.com and check it out They are AWESOME!!) So I had to take everything out of the tub and put it into a spacebag. I had a little problem seeing the clothes that both girls wore and remembering they were that small!! Was it that long ago that I had a baby?? Ashleigh has a little lamb that you hooked on to the crib that when you pull the cord it sings. I can remember, like it was yesterday, her yanking it off the crib rail and snuggling it. I actually cried thinking that she isn't a baby anymore and becoming quite the little girl and will be in kindergarten this time next year! I am crying again now thinking about it!! As I pulled the clothes out, I saw the first thing Rick ever picked out for Ashleigh at Babies R Us, the outfit that I just loved on Addison, the dress that we took their pictures in...I could go on forever remembering things!! I'd find things that my grandma got Addison and that made me miss her even more than I do. It seemed everything I touched today had a memory for either one of the girls and many times both of them. Of course, now I have baby fever! lol It just makes you realize how fast they do grow up. I can't believe my baby is closer to 3 than 2! But at what point do you start to give all the clothes away? When do you start to get rid of all the baby stuff? When you are sure you aren't having anymore? I can't say that we are having more kids but I can't say that we aren't either! I really don't want a middle child...my aunt's a little crazy and she is a middle child....but 4 kids just seems TOO many....I don't know! Anyway I just needed to vent a bit. I guess it's all part of growing up and the circle of life! Guess I have just been thinking alot about things lately. I did manage to clean 2 bags of garbage and 3 bags to Goodwill....no clothes all toys so it was a start!

A LIttle Night Excitement......

Last night we had a little excitement...well I guess I should say A LOT of excitement!! And not the good kind!! About 11:00 pm, Rick and I had just put the kids to bed....FINALLY! Usually it is Addison that comes out and wants a drink, snack, etc. Well last night it was Ashleigh. Finally getting then to sleep...or so we thought we headed off to bed. I was getting something for Rick out of the hall bathroom when we both heard this crashing sound coming from our backyard. It sounded like a pile of boards fell on our fence. Gus, our wonder dog, is barking in a bark that we have never heard before. I was in the process of flossing my teeth. I tell Rick to get dressed and let's go see what it is. We open the screen on the sliding door to our backyard. At night we keep just the screen closed because, without AC, and with it being over 100 the past few days, we have to cool it down at night to survive the day. Anyway Gus runs in with his tale between his legs and is shaking. So we go outside and see nothing....but start to look around a bit. The neighbors behind us came our on their balcony and asked if we heard something. Rick in the mean time is looking at the fence which appears to be wet. (It hasn't rained here since like January!) The neighbor lady said she heard something over her TV. Rick starts to be a CSI...too much TV time for him! He thinks that someone jumped the fence. He goes over to the water spots and shakes the fence. It is loose and sounds like the noise we heard. I tell the neighbor ladies I think he is crazy and laugh it off. He then says he thinks he heard sirens and saw flashing lights. Again, I assume he is on crack and seeing things! I decide to humor him and go out the front door and see what is going on...and I expect to find nothing. Well I found a whole lot!! I ran into the guy that lives right next to us. He says that he saw one person, at first, walk by his window in the yard and then saw another one. He then saw then go across the street and take a right. By this point about 15 cop cars have gone up the street. Two lady cops come over and we ask what is going on. She tells us that it was an car theft that they chased and they decided to run. The house is on the street behind ours. She asks what we know so we tell her about the noise. She comes in the house and looks around the backyard. Basically she says no worries because it is "just" a car theft. Then about 30 minutes later they had the infa-red helicopters circling for an hour looking for the two guys. Of course I can't sleep now because iI am so freaked out by all of this. I decide to turn on the computer. I turn the kitchen light on and sit down at the computer and I hear a knock on our window. It's like 1:00 am at this point so I jump sky high. It was the cops....again!! They wanted to search our backyard again. I go and let them in the gate which was locked. This time they, three of them, had guns drawn and just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything left behind in the backyard. They didn't find anything...thank heavens! For about another hour, there were three cars parked in front of our house and 6 officers standing outside. They finally left. There is a section in the paper that gives little blurbs about the crime in the various suburbs. It said that to suspects tried to rob, with guns, a business a few blocks up so who knows the real story. It's like Rick and I talked about....the cops aren't going to really tell us what is going on because they don't want everyone around here getting all excited. I'm a little...well a lot freaked out because Rick is traveling next week and of course I am scared! lol I guess it all was okay since no one was hurt. I don't know if they caught the guys. They could have come right in the house with just the screen being closed. Who knows what could have happened. Let's just say I didn't get much sleep last night!

An Evening Out Planned By Daddy...

I didn't think I would be a two post a day person....but the last one was a little long so I decided to split it into two. Yesterday Rick planned an evening out for us! A first!! And so much fun!! We went to a place called Jungle Island. It is kinda like a Chuck E Cheese's/Incredible Pizza but better and the only thing we have out here! Nothing compares to Incredible Pizza! It is free on Sunday evenings, which we didn't know until we got there. We had pizza and played games and the girls climbed in ball pits and in a HUGE maze with three slides. There was face painting so of course the girls wanted their faces painted. Ashleigh wanted hearts and Addison wanted to be a kitty. I don't do as good a job as Uncle Mike at the Children's Museum...but they seemed to like it! lol They had a nice sand box outside complete with cat poo! Just like at home! (We had to get a new covered sandbox at home due to our old, uncovered sandbox being the community litter box.) We had a fantastic day and really enjoyed seeing the girls play together. Ashleigh is very protective of Addison. She kept telling all the other kids to watch out for her Addison and would hold Addison's hand so she wouldn't get lost. Addison climbed up to the upper level of the maze and Ashleigh asked her how to get up there and she told her to go this way and pointed to a dead end. Ashleigh went and then came out upset because Addison played a prank on her! Addison definitely is the jokester in our family! Wonder where she got that from?!

Enough from me for now....next weekend is Rick's last weekend off so we are going to the beach I think. I have to go change laundry over. Ashleigh just came in from the garage and told me the wet machine is done and ready for the drying machine!
















This Place Is So Cool!!!

















Look, I'm A Kitty!

















Ball Pit Fun


















We Love This Place!






















Whew! I Made It!























I'll Catch You Addison!
























WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!


















Aren't We Cute?!

















Riding The Flintstone Car

Busy Days

We have been pretty busy the past few days. It was one of the last weekends that Rick got off before he is so busy with camps that he will be at work 7 days a week. He only stayed home on Sunday and went in half a day on Saturday. Anyway we are happy that he is home the time he is knowing that when the season officially starts, it will take some getting used to with him not being her. The girls and I went to Gilroy Gardens on Thursday. It is an amusement park that had a bunch of rides and educational things for the kids to learn about flowers native to California and things like that. It is only about 30 minutes away. We bought a membership in May and figured we needed to go at least a few more times. The girls LOVE GG as we call it. I, being a bad mom, forgot their swim suits AGAIN this time! I can hear Ashleigh telling me "Dir Den Dir!" They have a water spray park which you can only play in if you have your suits. It is supposed to get to 100 or over on this coming Thursday so I think we might have to go and play in the water if they are open! I think they close during the week when school starts. Back on track now! lol The girls had so much fun riding all the rides. It was pretty hot too. I even get to ride a few rides with them! Since I learned how to post pictures now...I can share our day with everyone! I'm so proud of myself! lol I had to put up a picture I took with a dragonfly on a flower. Rick got me a new camera for our anniversary and I wanted to try it out taking pics of things other than the girls. I am still working on it but I kinda like taking pictures!


















Before The Ride Started....


















On The Ride And Loving It!!























Addison Loves The Carousel


















I Just Love Ashleigh's Expression Here! So Her!




















This Was An Antique Carousel....I Like This One Because You Can See Why The Hooter's Girls' Liked Their Hair!


















My Dragonfly On A Flower Picture

I Ate An Ant And It Was Kinda Spicy.....

So Ashleigh just informed us that there were ants crawling around in the garage. These ants out here are army ants and don't bite....like the fire ants in Houston. So we go out to the garage and see the ants. They tend to come in this time of year apparently because it is so dry and they are looking for water. She then proceeds to tell us that yesterday she ate an ant and it was kinda spicy!! Are you kidding me?!?!? lol Rick then asks her why she ate an ant and that you probably shouldn't do that. She tells him that in Jungle Book the bear ate the ants and the boy ate the ants too so she wanted to try them. That's what she is learning about! Quote unquote! lol I'm telling you it is something different every day with these two! Yesterday we went to Ikea...LOVE Ikea by the way! Addison was "fluffing" her hair and shaking her booty as we walked to the store! Once I figure out how to put up pics....I, thankfully, had my camera so I could capture the Kodak moment!

Addison "Fluffing" her hair! lol

Hooters And Kids.....

We decided to go to lunch/early supper at Hooters last night. We haven't been to one since we have moved here. I LOVE Hooters hot wings! When I was pregnant with Addison, that's all I wanted! I kept hoping the hotness would put me in labor! lol We lived very close to one so it was convenient. Anyway, being a woman, Hooters is an experience in itself.....well try taking two little kids!! It wasn't too busy but all we were able to sit at was a high table...okay for Ashleigh...but Addison....not so much! We had to get a bar chair for her to sit on instead of the stool. Our waitress was very nice and asked us numerous times if we wanted to wait for a table. I think they had four short tables in the whole place! So we get settled and one of the girls bringing our food to our table asks me who cuts the girls hair because she just loves the layers and all the girls were talking about how beautiful their hair was! I tell her that the girls' aunt cuts their hair when we see her. She then tells us, again, how much she loves it and that usually kids come in with boring cuts with not much shape....but not your girls! I just have to laugh because who would of thought that while dining at Hooters someone would comment on the girls' hair! Ashleigh then proceeded in telling us she wanted to work there when she grows up...keep in mind that the day before while watching the marathon in the olympics she wanted to be a "runner girl" when she grew up! I'm sure she'll get a kick out of this story when she is grown up. Addison had a great time hanging from the table like a monkey! I looked over at her at one point and she was totally off her bar chair and hanging from the edge of the table and the edge of her chair. It's no wonder why she is so strong!! lol Hooters, as always, was an adventure!

New At This.....

I think I tried to start one of these a while back....but this time I am really going to post and keep things updated! I figure that there isn't a better way to keep everyone update and I have no time to email...and I HATE mass emails...so this is a little better! lol So here's to our blog...and keeping it updated!