I want to do my "want to's"!!!

Every day I tell myself I'm going to kick some tail on my "to do's", or more my "have to's", so I can play when all is done for the day. I saw this picture tonight on a site I was checking out that made me wish it was 8pm, with a full pot of coffee and a quiet house.
I am always preaching to my kids "you have to get your "have to's" done before the "want to's". Darn it when I take my own medicine! Why can't my "have to" list be smaller!!!! I want to play.

Forget it, I'm gonna protest and do nothing but go to bed. Yes, everyone can pull their jaws closed now. It is BEFORE midnight and I am off to get some sleep. I will play tomorrow, even if I have to break my own rule!!

XOXO,

Lauren :O)))

Morning fun.

I love to watch my kids playing together. This morning Alyssa and Evan made puppets and put on a puppet show for me. They had quite the script. What a great way to start a Monday morning. Oh, and although it was nice...looking at the photos makes me add one more thing to my "to do" list. CLEAN OUT THE GAME CABINET!!!

Taking a bow at the end of their performance.

Here's to a great tomorrow!

Lauren :O)))

Spring Break fun.

Most people I think, look for sunshine when they pack their bags for a spring break vacation. In our house, we grabbed our bibs, gloves, and hats and hoped for snow. As you can see, we found it. Not that we were snowed in somewhere, but we did find enough snow in Big Bear to have some fun. Here is Alyssa's snowman. She was trying to make it look like her. Like the glasses? Close up farther down the page!

I am not sure why I love this silly hat so much, but man is my little guy is so cute in it.

Not hard to believe she's almost 10 when you look at this picture. Wow, time sure flies.

Matt getting ready to throw a snowball at one of the kids. The camera in my hands kinda gives me a pass on the target part of the snowball fight!

My mountain man, ha ha ha. I swear if my family would cooperate, I'd take pics all day long. Love the beauty in nature shots. Now if I could just photo shop myself in!

My guys.

Love this photo of Matt!

Shocker...me in a pic. Not that I love to be in them, but it is nice to see I was actually there.

Oh, here's Peezie being just like her snowman.

The best dressed snowman on the mountain. Snowy loves my glasses! I almost forgot them on her. Can you imagine?? Honey...I have to back up in the snow to get my glasses off of the snowman! I think that would not have gone over very well. Good thing I am just blind enough to have noticed they were not on my eyes before we left.

After a long day of snow play, we went back to the house and cooked a great pasta meal. Mmmmm, loved the sauce.

What better to drink while cooking a great dish, a great bottle of Cab. Matt & I enjoyed every last sip. We used this super cool bottle opener. Yes, I had to take a picture before we could drink it. My honey tells me I get to buy a SLR camera for my b-day (April 26th...shameless plug)...he sees now just how much I LOVE taking pictures of random things.

Does it get any better than this?

I don't think so!

Evan thought he'd take a break and eat some snow!

A little down hill action for Matt & the girls.

Evan was helpful prepping for breakfast.

The girls played Clue with Daddy.

oh, more snow fun.

Found this cool spot to peek at a little creek. If the family would have been able to stand it, I would have used that green outbuilding for a back drop for some photos.

This picture makes me laugh inside. My hubbs..the footboarder! I guess cervical spinal fusion makes extreme sports, no matter how much you love 'em, seem a little more risky. Matt is not back to doing anything that will even come close to hurting him. We like him healthy!

Hanging out in the village. The kids got a free sample of gilato from the shop a few doors down from the cool hand chairs they just had to sit in. Of course, I had my camera. Matt ...so silly of him said "too bad you don't have your camera".......I opened my purse and got this shot before he knew what was happening. Me, without a camera...NOT!

This one makes me smile. Our first time up to BB I explained to the girls about how people like us are known as "flat landers" and people who live in the mountains are sometimes called "tree huggers". I was simply trying to explain turnouts and mountain driving. Tree huggers are used to the roads, and drive much faster than us "flat landers". They got a kick out of being true "tree huggers" for a second!

We had such a great time. It was, as Brad Paisley says, Time Well Wasted. We really enjoyed not having a schedule, no plan, nothing to do. It was a great way to spend the first part of our break. Thanks to Glenn and Michelle for letting us stay in your amazing cabin. It was such a needed break from life.

Hope ya'll are having a great spring break!

Lauren

We shopped!

We hit the road and met up with Matt's sister "Aunt Pooh" to try on flower girl dresses last weekend. Alyssa learned in her American Girl Guide to Manners book on the way there that she technically is considered a junior bridesmaid because of her age. So, with that in mind, we headed into the mall to see what kind of dresses we could find. We did stop for a nice lunch before we went in. CPK was yummy. The girls had dessert and Aunt Pooh and I watched.

They look a little happy about the dessert huh?

Aunt Pooh is so sad now, but will be happy when she is hanging out on her honeymoon in her bikini not thinking about that silly dessert.

Food, done. Now for shopping.

Megan in the first dress she tried on. It happens to be the dress we chose for her.

We thought about getting matching dresses for them. We didn't, but this is the dress that Alyssa will be wearing on the big day. Wow, don't they look all grown up?

Oh yeah, love this dress try on thing.

Peek a boo. Hiding in the dressing room waiting for us to bring more dresses!

Trying to decide if what she wants and what looks the best is the same thing.

Discussing the choices with Aunt Pooh. These dresses hanging are the final choices. The dress Meg is wearing in this picture is the dress she really wanted.

Look at me!

Here's the shop where we bought the girls' dresses, baskets, and Evan's suit.

Now for shoes...

......and jewelry.

Here are the final "looks". We had a quick try on session when we got home. Evan's suit fit and the girls look great. What a great and productive day. Hmmmm, what's next?

We are excited about our trip up to Napa for the wedding. We are taking a HUGE motor home and calling it a trip. We will stop in our favorite camp spot in Pismo on the way up. we even get to show the kids San Fransisco a little. The most exciting part is after all this time, Aunt Pooh and Uncle Ed will be married. Yeah!!!

Lauren :O)))

I have no excuse!

So my friends, I was told that not everyone is not on Facebook. In fact I hear some people are even trying to wean themselves. I promised and I did not keep it. So, as I hate to be a promise breaker...here I go again. A NEW vow to my blog. No blah blah excuses. Just posts.

Softball is a new twist in the family dynamic. We have fought team sports for a while. Not because we don't value their importance. It's just the time commitment. We finally bit the bullet and jumped in. Alyssa is playing softball and Megan will be playing soccer soon. This is a new adventure for all of us.

Alyssa got her first hit today. The pride. The accomplishment. The sheer joy. We both felt it. Isn't it just sweet seeing your kiddo feel all of that? I even got a picture of it. Not this picture>>>

This one>>>

Oh wait, here's the cropped version....

Here's Alyssa and her friends.

Opening day was fun. It kinda reminded me of when I was a kid. We always were anxious to be a part of opening day ceremonies. It was a great feeling to see her running with her team on the field. Brought me back a few nearly 30 years. Wow, am I old or what???

OK, don't want to prevent myself from hitting the old publish button so I'll sign off for now. We're headed off to hang out with Matt's sister tomorrow to try on flower girl dresses for the girls.

Goodnight, and thanks for not giving up on me.

Lauren :O)))