California Trip

Last weekend I spent five days in California. I flew there for the Religious Education Conference that is held in Anaheim for all Catholic educators. I attended the conference Friday, Saturday & Sunday with my co-workers, Lisa & Jamie and learned a lot to help me in my current position as Pastoral Assistant for Sacraments. Jamie, Lisa and I went to Disneyland and California Adventures every evening after the conference sessions and had a great time going on rides, eating at the park, and enjoyed chatting while standing in the long lines.

But the highlight of my trip was the beginning and the end in which I got to spend some quality time with three of my favorite people: my best friend, Lyndsey; her sweet husband, Keith; and the most adorable baby, my godson, Henry.

I was there for Henry's first taste of rice ceral, which is always an amusing milestone to witness as baby usually spits it right out. Henry however, chowed down with fervor and it was adorable. I even go in on the action and fed him a few spoonfuls myself. Most of the photos in this post are of Henry...I couldn't stop snapping away. He is so precious and growing so fast (as babies do)! I LOVE being with my bestie. She is so funny and so silly and I love seeing her be a mom. We laughed, relaxed, watched movies, and ate the most wonderful take-out imaginable. Every time I see Lynds & Keith they order a new cuisine for me to try. This visit we had sushi, Thai, and In-and-Out Burger which were all divine. The sushi was hands-down the best I have ever had in my life.

As always, my trip was much too quick and time went by much faster than I antcipated. I was so sad to leave my friends, but most especially Henry, who will most likely be walking the next time I see him. It is so, so difficult to be so far away from such a sweet baby. Lynds, if you are reading this, PLEASE consider moving closer to me!!!!

I throughly enjoyed my days in California, but was also happy to return home on Monday to my husband and kids. I missed them!

Oh boy, I sure do LOVE these two!

Soccer Babe

Ella started soccer last Saturday. Jeff took her since I was gone at a retreat and he said she loved it! She did some obstacle courses, played parachute, met new friends, and kicked the ball around. Most of all, she was happy to get out of the house and run around and play!

Ella is 18 Months

The sweet little girl pictured above is 18 months-old today! Boy, oh boy, it's hard to believe that in six short months she will turn two!! Everyday is an adventure with our little curious monkey. She likes to climb on everything: the dining room chairs, the fireplace surround, her highchair, her toy car, her rocking chair...basically anything she can stand on is fair game for climbing. She is also into everything and could care less about her toys. She wants to play with all of mommy and daddy's things. Lately she has a great interest in getting into the bills and throwing everything away in the garbage can. She loves to "help" around the house too. She likes to sweep, and dust, and stack little cups and bowls. She is perfectly content to walk around with empty sippy cups and plastic cups that she uses in the bath tub and stir up a special pretend mixture with a spoon. Maybe she will be a chef one day? She likes when we chase her around and even when we aren't playing chase, she runs away from us so we have to chase her, thus starting a fun game. Lately she has taken to sleeping in 'til around 10:00 a.m. which makes it tricky for her to nap in the afternoon. I think the "spring forward" time change last Sunday messed up her internal clock. Ella starts soccer this Saturday and I just know she will love it. I am sad I cannot go with her as I will be leading a youth retreat for work. But I know she will have a blast with her daddy and hopefully she will make some friends and get some energy out. I also hope my hubby remembers to take some pictures of her kicking around the tiny soccer ball so he can send them to me. We are so blessed to have our sweet little Ella Roo! She makes our days so bright and fills our hearts with joy and happiness.

iPhone Photos

These photos are a quick glimpse into our lives in the last couple of weeks. My wonderful husband bought me an iPhone for Valentine's Day so I have been taking lots of photos on my phone instead of with my camera (which is on the fritz anyway). I found an app called Instagram that I love because it lets you edit each photo with cool lens options. I have captured lots of photos of the kids, some healthy things I have been eating (in my effort to lose ten pounds by July), the tree in our front yard which is just sprouting blossoms (yay for spring) and items around our home. Last Sunday after mass I took a photo of the newest shrine statue of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. I think it's a very realistic and beautiful interpretation of two amazing people. Enjoy!

Pre-School on Skype

After a three-month hiatus, Nicholas joined his pre-school class again via Skype. Nicholas loved singing songs, listening to his teacher read Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, and talking with his adorable classmates. He was excited to show the kids his balloon after Ms. Wendy did a balloon counting rhyme. I love that we have access to technology that can enhance Nicholas's learning experience without having to send Nicholas to school so that he can stay away from those icky cold and flu germs. However, we are hopeful that he will get to make some trips to school this spring and say hi to his friends in person.

Snow Day

Last night while we were sleeping, we got a couple inches of snow! By the time we made it outside this morning, most of it had melted, but Ella had fun playing in it and Nicholas was perfectly content laying on the patio furniture watching her. It's not often that we get snow, so it was a pleasant surprise on this first day of March!