Friday, July 31, 2009

Favorite Things Friday: Family Fun

During our time in Vegas, we were able to sneak away for a quick family dinner. Each time we go out for sushi, the girls beg Grandma Tammy to do their hair with chopsticks.....

And of course, we have to have our traditional "silly faces" picture.....

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: How to Use Chopsticks...



Our Trip to Vegas

You won't find any glamorous pictures of nightlife, the Strip, etc. here.
We went home to work.
My husband keeps telling me that going to Vegas is not going "home" since we don't live there anymore; but I don't know when I will be able to make that switch both mentally and emotionally.
Don't get me wrong, I have wanted to move out of Vegas for AGES...
But still, when you spend 30 years in a place, know it like the back of your hand and have most of your monumental memories there (both good and bad), I think it will always be home in a way.

The one thing I do NOT miss about Vegas is the summertime heat.
Being in Florida where the heat and humidity of July leaves much to be desired, I began to think maybe the Vegas heat was not so bad (I suffer from "the grass is always greener syndrome")
But the first MORNING of this, reminded me that it REALLY IS that bad....

I did not have the camera with me the next afternoon when the temperature outside read 113!
If you ever hear someone say the heat in Vegas is not so bad because it is a "dry heat", don't believe them. It is dry inside my oven too; I don't want to hang out in there...

Anyways, my husband had business on the west coast, so we determined that now was as good a time as any for us all to go. The trip was multi-purpose; we had a funeral in CA to attend and MANY things to do around the house.
We did squeeze in a little bit of fun - but not too much.

While at "home", we had no internet service (which explains some of my blog absence) and three TV channels (one was in English!)
Ordinarily I would have welcomed the break from technology, but with many things to do (where the internet comes in handy) and children to entertain while we worked, we could have used some modern conveniences!
I could actually get my neighbor's internet signal if I stood on the bed and held the laptop in the air, but that wasn't too comfortable for blogging...for obvious reasons.

Coincidentally, we were able to make it to a class reunion where we got to visit with friends we hadn't seen in 20+ years. I had my camera, but can you believe I didn't use it? I know, bad me. Here is one picture of us that I swiped from Facebook though. I know it is tiny, but we are in there!


The majority of the time was spent organizing our things and doing some major purging. I have packrat tendencies (it's in my genes...really), but the older I get and the more tired I am of moving my junk things around, it is very liberating to start throwing things away.

I have learned I can take a picture of those things I want to remember and then toss, toss, toss!

I was able to say goodbye to the yard sign I had kept from our firstborn....


And Kylie's first sippy cup complete with teeth marks.


And SO MANY more things...It is amazing how much stuff you can throw away if you set your mind to it.
But, by the end of the first week in the garage with temperatures in the hundreds, I was ready to throw it all away so I could get back inside with the AC!
I know people don't want to see sippy cups and yard signs so I will be back once I have time to load some more interesting pictures.....

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Dear Blog, I Miss You...

Yes, I miss you terribly. It's been weeks since I last spent time with you. I miss the time we used to spend together. I miss my blogging friends. I miss the satisfaction of clicking "Publish Post".

I think about you daily, but have been busy with other projects. Each day I think, "maybe tonight?"; then I get distracted with laundry, dishes, mealtime, bathtime, and all the things that getting settled into a new home in a new state entails. Not to mention the non-stop fun of summertime.

It's me; not you. Really.

I know I have neglected you and I'm sure it is embarrassing to be still dressed up for 4th of July. I will take care of you soon. Maybe tonight?

Thursday, July 2, 2009

52 Week Challenge - 9 of 52: Can YOU "bend and snap"?...

We have had a few non-stop weeks and are looking forward to a few more coming up! I did get my computer issues solved...moving all of our space-hogging movies to an external hard drive. And now the fun can begin again!

In June, my in-laws came for a visit. Their visit was two-fold: First, to see the grandkids (of course) and Second, to see the Lakers beat the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals (pictures to follow).

Of course, no visit to Orlando would be complete without a little Disney fun! We went to Epcot since that is not a place they can easily visit living on the west coast. We just went for the afternoon and evening and it was great.

Grandma Tammy knows how to jump right in on the fun!


We did get one group shot that I almost didn't post since it is so hard to get everyone looking and smiling; not to mention my pose is reminiscent of the "bend and snap";

but hey, I got in the picture! On Thursday they headed to California for Brady's dance recital, so we spent the final morning at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
You won't see any pictures from this day because a week of:
not enough sleep + ice cream and candy from Papa + 95 degrees + 90 percent humidity = THREE.CRANKY.KIDS
Been there?
But still....All in all it was a great week!!
More updates from Florida soon!

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52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. Moms are typically the ones behind the camera, this is OUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family.

So, get yourself in the picture every week for 52 Weeks. Be in a picture with one or more or your children and post your "family photo" on your blog every Thursday - don't forget to list your post on Mr. Linky on Carin's blog!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009