Family Resemblance?

We think we finally found out who Kate looks like.

Last week, my mom found this old picture of my dad's mom
(Grandma Marge) who died when I was 5 years old.

We always said we don't know who Kate looks like.
Kate doesn't look like Kevin (but Claire sure does!)
She doesn't look like me (*maybe* a little bit?)
We have always thought she looked a little like my younger sister, Rebecca.
Who does Rebecca look like? Our Grandma Marge.

So, what do you think...does Kate look like Grandma Marge or what?
In my opinion, they have the same eyebrows, smile, dimples & face shape.
{I wonder if Grandma Marge had big gap in her front teeth (like Kate's) when she was a little girl?}

Signs of Spring

It was the first "official" weekend of Spring.
Here are some signs of Spring around our house...

Playing outside with short sleeves on:
Our daisy plant in full bloom:

A vase of Daffodils in my kitchen:
Sweet Tea from McDonald's...once Spring/Summer hits, I just can't resist the $1 drink
(this is only thing I get from McDonald's except when I get a Sausage Egg McMuffin *maybe* once a year). This is the only place I can get Sweet Tea in California!

Our apple tree in our backyard is starting to blossom:
Our lime tree has it's first buds:
Cherry blossoms in our front yard:
Green hills behind our house:
Because of all the beautiful green hills & blossoms, come allergies!
I didn't get allergies until my mid-20's. Not fun!

We also spent the weekend SPRING CLEANING!
I literally scrubbed & cleaned every inch of our baseboard this weekend.

And, I touched up paint throughout the house while Kevin touched up paint on the outside of our house:
Our house is the cleanest is has EVER been!
Let's see how long that lasts....
Watching March Madness....

My bracket is DONE. Shouldn't have picked Kansas to win the whole thing. Ouch.

One of my favorite things about the official arrival of Spring....
Only 12 more days until Spring Break!

Hope you had a good first weekend of Spring!

Weekend Plans

Happy Weekend!

This weekend is one of the first weekends in months were we have NO plans at all.

None. (well, I am working in Kate's Sunday School room on Sunday morning)
But, we have no other social commitments, etc.
Just a weekend to just relax & hang out as a family & get things done around the house.
It comes at a great time.
Both girls are finishing up anti-boitics for ear infections & sinus infections.

Kevin got off work a little early today (such a treat!) and we had Friday night pizza night like we do every Friday night. Because let's face it. I am WAY too tired to even think of cooking on a Friday night.

I have spent the evening uploading & editing pictures from last weekend (while we catch up on TiVo'd shows).

Last weekend, we had a busy fun filled weekend. Kevin had to finish up a project at work on Saturday, but the girls and I went to Sam's 1st birthday party!
My friend Becky did such a great job with the party. Everything was so cute & detailed! It was a race car theme & she had the kids bring a bike/tricycle/big wheel and she set up a race around their court.
Getting ready for the Big Race!

The Birthday Boy!

Kate is officially the slowest biker EVER. But that is okay, she likes going slow.

At the finish line, checking out her ribbon & race car stickers.

I totally forgot to bring a bike/tricycle for Claire, but luckily she didn't know the difference.
She just ran and ran and ran.

After her big run, she decided to test out an unoccupied tricycle.

Last Sunday, we had a very special treat. The University of Colorado Women's Soccer team (who I played for) was playing Cal Berkeley for a spring game. And, they were playing the game in our town! I was thrilled! We took the girls to the game & were basically the only ones cheering for Colorado. It was a fun game for me to be at because my final 2 choices for college were between Colorado & Cal.

This was actually Kate's 2nd time at a Colorado soccer game. Her first game was when she was just 8 months old & we flew out to Colorado for the Soccer Alumni Weekend. Look how little she was:
(oh how I miss the beautiful Flatiron Mountains in Boulder!)

(Kate - September 2007)

Here is Kate cheering on the Buffs this past Sunday!
Claire at her first collegeiate soccer game!

Claire loved it so much, she kept trying to run onto the field:

And, here is the soccer ball she held almost the entire game:

Unfortunately, my Buffs lost the game 2-0. We stayed for the whole game, but I felt like I didn't watch much of it because we were too busy entertaining Kate (and making sure Claire didn't run onto the field). It was a beautiful day for soccer (almost 70 degrees!)

Too bad the weather isn't like that this weekend. It has been raining all day & might keep raining on Saturday. But, that is okay, because we have no weekend plans.

The only things on my "unofficial" agenda tomorrow are:
1. Make Monkey Bread with Kate for breakfast (and drink lots of coffee)
2. Stay in my pj's most of the day.
3. Tackle the laundry (I have about 5 loads to catch up on. ugh)
4. Clean out the girls closets & organize their clothes.
5. Finish up this week's orders from my etsy shop.
6. Set our clocks forward tomorrow night for Daylight Savings!
(bummed about losing an hour of precious sleep, but excited it will stay light out longer!)

Most of all, I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with Kevin & the girls.
I hope you all have great weekend! Anyone have exciting weekend plans?

10 on 10 :: March 2010

10 on 10 : Take a photo once an hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a snapshot of your life and find beauty among the ordinary things of your day.

Claire decided to wake up an hour earlier than usual today. So, we did what most parents would do in order to stay in bed for an hour more..
. We brought her into our bed & let her watch a show.
Here she is screaming "Mouse, Mouse!" as we watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse:

Kate eating Cheerios for breakfast:
(this is a break from her normal which is usually pancakes or waffles)
It was a beautiful March day, this was my view as I left our house on my way to school: (everything is SO green right now, I love it!)

Here is a huge stack of 150 homework papers that I need to grade!
The grading never ends....:

After I picked up the girls from my mother in law's, I drove home & passed my favorite barn (the only barn in our very suburban town):

After naptime, we headed to Camden's 3rd birthday party:
(the theme was "Wizard of Oz")

The birthday girl:

Kate & her buddies, Camden & Leila:
(sidenote: Camden & Leila wore their ruby red slippers. Kate is holding her red shoes because she refused to take off her pink shoes that she has worn everyday for the past month)

Claire ready for bed, but she stole Kevin's shoes & brought them to her room.
(I told you she was obsessed with shoes! See post below!)

Join the 10 on 10 fun next month!
(and if you did it this month, leave a comment so I can check it out!)

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Need I say more?

Think Kate is used to me {always} having my camera with me?

She's *almost* as obsessed with taking pictures as I am.

The camera she is using actually takes pictures, she borrowed it from her friend Owen.
I think I know what the Easter Bunny is going to bring her!
She carried it around all afternoon taking pictures of everything around her. I am so proud :)

Hoping she grows up with a love of photography just like her mama!

A Lovely Weekend

We had a fun filled Valentine's/President's Day weekend.
I LOVE 3 day weekends. They rule.
Friday afternoon, Kate and I made some Valentine treats for friends.
One of Kate's favorite books is Pinkalicious, so Kate insisted we make pink cupcakes.

I took the easy way out & just bought a box of strawberry cupcake mix.
Note to self: Strawberry cupcake mix is nasty. Totally tasted artificial. Never buying those again!
I should have made red velvet ones like last year.
Kate didn't seem to mind & I kept catching her sneaking licks of batter and/or frosting!

After I washed her hands (I am a germ-a-phob, even with my own kid)
I let her decorate the cupcakes however she wanted.
First, she insisted that every cupcake get a red-hot heart in the middle:

Then, she went to town decorating them. I think she did a great job!

I let her pick out one to eat.
She chose the one with purple sprinkles (of course)
I fotgot to warn her that the red heart in the middle was spicy.
Oops. My bad.
Here is her reaction after eating the red hot.
(Good thing I had milk handy to cool her mouth down)
All weekend she kept telling us that red hearts hurt her mouth. haha!

We also made chocolate & white chocoalte dipped pretzel sticks.

FYI...melting white chocolate is a PAIN in the butt. I ruined the first 2 batches!
Here is one of our goodie bags & Valentine card ready to be delivered!

On Saturday, we headed out to our Reid & Kelly's house in Lodi to go wine tasting at this event:

We went LAST YEAR & had so much fun, we went again this year.
I think this will be an annual tradition. We had more friends with us this year!
We got a tin of chocolates when we arrived at the first winery.

There are 40 wineries that participate in Wine & Chocolate.
You buy a ticket & you get free wine tasting, free chocolate tasting & free food at all the wineries!

Elyse & I at the first winery:
Kevin & Reid waiting in line for chocolate chili. (it was SO good)

The newlyweds, Kevin & Cora!

I loved these wine charms/ornaments. I didn't buy any, but I thought they were funny!

{Click to Enlarge}

The weather was amazing. 70 degrees in February. I love California!

Reid, Kevin, Kevin & Steph:

Me & Kev:

Sisters Picture!
Christine & Kelly and Elyse & I:

Vineyards:

Kelly & Reid:

Just like LAST YEAR, we ran into a few "crazies".
The first was a woman dressed as a cupid & the 2nd one was this woman who had WAY TOO much wine to drink & was "dancing" at the last winery we went to. The winery had a live band playing and the way this woman was dancing was WRONG. Just wrong. Kelly got it on video, but there is no WAY I will be posting it. If I did, you would be too grossed out.

We managed to go visit 10 different wineries. We beat last year's record of 7.

 Kate didn't nap all day & fell asleep on Kevin's lap at 6:00 while she was eating dinner.
She was OUT!

She stayed asleep all through dinner, dessert and the one hour drive home!

On Sunday (Valentine's Day) we had a mellow day.
We went to church, cleaned our house, delivered Valentine's cards & treats and then had pizza for dinner.

It was so nice having Monday off for President's Day & I was so happy Kevin had it off also!
We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner to celebrate our Un-Valentine's Engagement Anniversary.
We had this Carmel Turtle Cheesecake for dessert:

It was the last dessert I will have until Easter.
It was delicious & a great way to end a lovely weekend!