Fun with photos

A couple of days ago, I took some pic's of Dylan and edited them. Here are a couple of them that I thought came out cute.

Also, I made pop art photos of Ashlyn.

I think these came out cute, so I would like to blow them up bigger and frame them.

Random Acts of Dancing

Here's a silly video I made of Ashlyn and Bella (the little girl I babysit). They are listening to Toddler Tunes and dancing.

Caught on tape.

This evening I got out my voice recorder that my parent's bought me to record seminars and school lectures.  I had forgotten that there were conversation clips on it from when Ashlyn was really young, just barely beginning to talk.  I played them and I had tears in my eyes. It was nothing sad, just the sounds of times passed and precious little moments that had been forgotten.  I also laughed out loud a couple of times.  Ashlyn was playing in her room, so I took the recorder in there and replayed them to her. She listened to her little voice at 14 months old (as it is still very "chipmunky") and had a huge smile on her face. She enjoyed listening.  At that moment I realized the reason I taped her in the first place. To capture her innocense and to hold it captive for us to cherish.  I never would of thought I'd be playing it for her at 3 years old and I hope I'll be playing it for her at 30.

We turned it on together again to record a bedtime conversation. We spoke to each other like it wasn't even on and we giggled and she made noises and talked about random silly things that I will never let her forget ; )

 It will be priceless...

A Splendid Saturday

So, today was simple, yet eventful.  My morning started out with coffee and screaming kids.  After the kids and I were pronounced "ready" we were off to Target for diapers.  After that we took their Great-Grandma Margie to the grocery store.  The kids tried their best to behave and to stay seated in the shopping cart at Stater's. I was slightly impressed.  My Grandma Margie gave me some freshly picked parsley from her herb garden to compliment this Italian pasta dish I am making tomorrow night.  She's the best. If it's not herbs, it's flowers and if it's not flowers, it's fruit or bread or fudge or cookies or homemade soup. I could go on forever.  She is like my personal farmer's market at it's finest-minus just a few things.  I was able to say hi to my Grandpa Evan too. He is a rascal and refuses to accept that he has Alzheimer's. He knew who I was today : )

After all that, I fed the kids their lunch and cleaned up a bit around the house. My mom came over to watch the kids so I could go to a dear friend's baby shower.  The shower was a blast, especially this " don't say baby" game which brought the competitor out in everyone.  The food and cake was so good and we were all in great company, celebrating the anticipated arrival of baby Taelyn! I even won a cute candle display from a raffle.

The kids were so happy to see me when I got home. I was so refreshed from the brief outing on my own.  I got SO many sweet kisses from Dylan and lot's of leg squeezes from Ashlyn while I held him.  Craig has fallen asleep on Ashlyn's trundle bed.  She requested earlier in the evening that they have a slumber party. It is so sweet to watch them sleep. Dylan has been asleep for about an hour and a half and here I am, updating my blog in peace and quiet.  It has been a spendid Saturday.  It may however, turn into a spectacular Saturday, that is if I get off this computer and go to bed and not awake until morning. That would mean Dylan slept through the night. (Ahhh...wishful thinking.)

Our American Idol

Ashlyn loves to sing.  Here is a random clip of her singing AND screaming a bit. She loves putting on her Hannah Montana wig and using her glitter mic!

Snow Fun!

After six intense storms, we were graced with snow.  It's not too often that we get snow that stays more than a few hours here in town. On Friday afternoon, Grandpa Steve, the kid's and I went to have some fun in the snow. It was cool because we rode on an old vintage toboggan that my Dad has had forever. All four of us fit on it at once!  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pic's of all of us on it.  Here are some pic's of the snow covered mountain's from home and from the Community Center in Yucaipa.

Catching up a little.

My spare time for blogging has been minimal lately.  Since the start of 2010, I have been able to put a few of my personal goals into effect. First off, I will be continuing my graduate program again in April.  Due to some unfortunate decisions Arnold Schwarzenneger has made, my CSUSB plan would take longer than expected. Therefore, I have decided to jump into a different program to complete my Master's degree in Educational Counseling along with a complimenting credential elsewhere. As long as the place is nationally accredited right? Anyways, I'm eager to get back into the swing of school. It's aan evening program a few days a week. The program works perfectly with my priorities as a stay at home mom.

Speaking of mom stuff. I have decided to join a mom's group! How fun will it be to get together with other mom's who have similar interests and stuff, right?  So, this mom's group was brought to my attention by my friend Jessica, who bless her heart, got the start date mixed up.  Let me explain now that Ashlyn, nor Dylan have ever been apart from mommy or daddy unless it's been with grandparents, or aunt's.  On rare occassion's, Ashlyn has gone to my friend Veronica's (the mother of the two children I babysit) for playdates.  So, I told Ashlyn that she would be starting "school" in reference to the mom group get-together days.  At the group, the mom's gather separatly from the children, who play in a nursery oriented atmosphere nearby.  The mom's do crafts, chit-chat, and listen to presentations...KID FREE! I felt it necessary to tell Ashlyn, my little clinger,  that she was starting "school" so she wouldn't be sketchy about me not being right there with her. She wants to start  real school so badly, that when all us girls found out that it did not start for two more weeks, she was so upset. We still made a great day out it by daytripping at Sylvan park and lunch at the oh so kid friendly, Chic-fil-et, (where I found out you could trade a kid's meal toy for an ice cream cone). I love that place. If you rated it on cleanliness and nutritional value, it definitely surpasses McDonald's by a long shot!

My secondary role as babysitter is in full force again too.  My friend was off for the holiday's so she didn't need me for awhile.  I sort of missed the litle extra income it brought.  Ashlyn misses and loves the company and Dylan has been warming up to the constancy of the children in his home too. He has really been engaging in play a lot more since his turning one.

I also want to impress myself this summer by actually sticking to an exercise regimen.  I can proudly say that my treadmill and my Wii Active are getting  a lot of use.  I'm trying to keep it simple. Hold back on bad carb's, eat veggie salad wraps not sandwiches w/ bread, increasing the H2O intake, exercise more than regularly, and TRY not to indulge. The problem has never been sweet treats, it's pasta that holds a place in my heart : ).