Friday, August 22, 2008

Hayden & Will

This is a picture taken this past Saturday at our friends house. They do a songfest every year. Totally fun. This is Hayden and Will. They are 6 weeks apart and have been buddies since birth. They only see each other 5 or 6 times a year but they play like they see each other every day. Will is truly the buddy that Hayden needs. They get along so good, rarely do we have to intervene. We can go over there and they are playing from the very first minute to the last.

Hayden looks SO big in this picture. I don't know if it is the way he is sitting or his smile, but he looks 10 years older. I can tell what he will look like when he gets older and girls, you better watch out. This one is going to be a lady killer!

Calyn and Jeanann

On Saturday, our friends had a songfest. Our friend's Dad comes into town every year and they get all their friends together and he strums the guitar and we all sing along with him. It sounds kinda corny but it is a bunch of fun. Anyway, of course, I only seemed to get pictures of the kids. Well, I actually snapped this picture of my friend, Jeanann, holding Calyn. Jeanann is a baby monger. She loves to hold the babies. So, when I got there, I had to get our appetizers ready, I knew just who to give Calyn to. And later, when I needed a baby break, Jeanann was right there to take her! She reminds me of Greg's Aunt Joann. She loves the babies too!


I also had to snap a few pictures of her in her cute little hat. She hasn't worn too many hats yet, because the weather has been pretty warm since she came into this world. So, when I get the chance, I just love to stick them on her. I have a bunch ready for when the weather turns cold.

Dreams Du Jour

This card is one we did at our monthly Stamper's club. I incorporated a lot of new items into this card. Recipe below. Enjoy!

Recipe:
Stamps: Dreams Du Jour, All Scallops
Paper: Bella Rose DSP, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, WW
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: New Scallop Edge Punch, Blender Pens, Sponge (sponged edge of focal)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Hayden rides in BMX race

Hayden is now riding in some BMX bike races. In April, I went to a scrap book weekend. There is a local BMX track in San Ramon and I thought I would check to see if there were any races that Greg & Hayden could go watch while I was out of town. Just trying to keep them busy.
Anyway, they went and low and behold, there are races in the 4/5 year category. I had no idea. S0, guess what Hayden came home wanting to do? Well, it was time for a new bike, his was so small and could not go any faster. His little legs would get going so fast, they would come off the petals because the bike could go no faster. So, Greg went the very next week and bought Hayden a very nice Redline bike, but not a race bike. We figured this would suffice.
Well, if you look the the first picture, see how big the other bikes wheels are? This makes them go much faster. If Hayden continues with this sport, we will buy him an actual race bike come next Spring.

Anyway, he got off to a really good start. He is second from the left in this picture. His little feet petal so fast, he is so into it. There are 3 heats per race. The riders are placed by their averaged finish. There were 7 riders in the race and Hayden finished 5th each time. We routed him on and he was happy to cross the finish line. I don't think he totally understands the concept of finishing the race in first place yet, which is a good thing.















The race coordinators give good sportsman trophies to each rider and then the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place riders get bigger trophies.

When the races were over, we went to pick up his good sportsman trophy, only to find out that he placed 1st in his age group. The race was for 4 and 5 year olds. The riders ahead of him in each race were all 5 year olds. He was the 1st 4 year old to finish each race. He was stoked to get the big trophy!

Grammy, Papa and Uncle Don came out to cheer him on. We will see if he is interested come next year.

Fresh Cut Notes

These are two little cards that we did on Friday at my Stamper's Club meeting. Very cute and super easy. This uses Stampin' Ups! Fresh Cut notes, which has the flower cut out, all you have to do is pull the petal off. I used the new In Line colors and added rhinestones for some glimmer. Enjoy!

Recipe:
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Paper: Fresh Cut Notes, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Pink Pirouette
Inks: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Rhinestones, 5 Petal Punch, Boho Blossoms punch

All Smiles

Calyn is sure smiling a lot these days. She is such a happy baby and really only fusses when she is hungry or tired. She really gets her smile on when you talk to her and she is starting to talk back. Cooing and making little noises.
We were taking some pictures over the weekend to try to get some good ones together for her baby announcement. These were two that were really good.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Photo Session

We had a photo session this weekend. We were trying to get some cute shots for Calyn's baby announcement. These are two that turned out pretty cute of the two of them. We had set up a white sheet in the baby's room and were putting them in different positions, trying to get some unique pictures. You'll have to wait and see which one made the announcement!

True Friend is you Friend

This is a card that we did last month at our Stamper's Club meeting. It is a card that was showcased at the Oakland Regionals by my second upline, Jena Haux. It is a clear little card that pops up when sat on the counter. Very easy, with just a few scores lines to make. I made the focal "swing" so that you can put a sentiment on the inside of the card.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Brillant Blue, Bashful blue, WW and Jersey Shore DSP.
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Brillant Blue
Accessories: Brads, Scallop punch, ribbon and staple.

This is what the card looks like when you grab the ribbon and "swing" it open.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Our Camping trip to Pismo Beach

Greg's sister and her family go to Pismo beach all the time. They have all the toys: Sand Rail, Quads, dirt bikes and big trailer that haulers all the toys and sleeps their whole family. We have been once before in July 2006. We decided to join them on their latest trip at the end of July. Last time we stayed with them in their trailer, but with our new addition, we decided it was probably better to have our own accommodations. There is a company called Luv2camp that rents trailers and brings them out to the beach for you. All you have to do is show up and your trailer is there. I called to rent the trailer several weeks in advance and they were all booked, so I put our name on a wait list. This is a money making business. The company charges $189/per night. We stayed 3 nights, so our grand total was $667. I guess, since we were paying what I thought to be the price for a very nice hotel. that we would get a very nice trailer. Well, I should have realized that they turn these things around every week, not much cleaning involved and they are not new, so my hotel expectations were disolved when we walked into our trailer. Don't get me wrong, it was okay, just not what I expected. Now, maybe I am anal about some things, but on the paperwork, it listed the things that the trailer comes with: dishes, pots, utensils, one roll or TP and paper towels and a sponge. I packed extra TP and paper towels. The sponge was USED. Can you say G-R-O-S-S! I don't think so! The tanks were not filled with fresh water, so we ran out the first night at about 9:00 and then the heater would not stay on. With a 8 week old baby, we were not playing that game. Greg spent about 20 minutes on the phone with the "on-call" guy to get the heater working, but every time it shut off during the night, he would have to "massage" it into working. This was about a 10 minute program each time.
The next morning, they did come out and fill our fresh tanks with water, dump our sewage(not our sewage, another G-R-O-S-S!) and fixed the heater. The batteries were dead and once new ones were in place, we were all good. They also brought out a new sponge and comp'd us the first night. We were good and having fun, despite our initial set backs.

Hayden absolutely loves all these toys. He goes out on the sand rail, rides on the Quads with me or his Dad and also loves to ride on the golf cart. There was another family there that had a golf cart and the kids would get on the back and think they were going out to ride in the dunes, little dunes of course. Hayden loves camping of any kind and throw in some and it is all that much better. We rode the Quad around circles in our camp. It is illegal to ride with two people, so we stayed in our camp. Not only that, he is a little small for the Quads that were on hand. One of the families did bring little Quads, called 50's but they were not working. Looks like we better start checking out Craig's List because Hayden already has that on Santa's list.

The weather while we were there was really great. The first day was overcast and that night was fairly cold, but the rest of the time, the sun was out and it was warm. Anyone who is familiar with Pismo at this time of year knows that it is mostly overcast and cold, so this was a real treat. On Saturday, we all, and I mean all, walked the 100 yards to the beach and hung out for a few hours. Let me mention the "all" of us. Eric, my brother in law, is Mr. Friendly. He makes friends very easily and is super outgoing. They planned the trip and then told all the "trailer" buddies to come along. Now some of these people are family, like us and Eric's brother and family and some are people they know from school, but other's are people he has met here and there. One couple was someone he meet while driving by their house and seeing a sand rail parked in the garage. He stopped and they talked and presto! Very nice couple, by the way. Another family was someone they met last time on the dunes and yet another was someone that we pulled out (people get their trucks stuck ALL THE TIME) that day. Very fun to meet so many new faces!
Anyway, getting back to the beach, we all went down with chairs, coolers, umbrellas and hung out and watched the comings & goings of all the people, quads, trucks, etc. Kasandra buried Hayden in the sand, after much coaxing. I should have taken the "after" picture with his clothes full of sand. Still trying to get it all out. Yesterday, I took his jeans and shorts outside and hand a
sand party. There was sand in every pocket and crease, let's just say next time, we will be taking shorts with no pockets!

This is a picture of Hayden before he was buried in the sand, notice his clean clothes!




















This is one of the only family pictures that we have. It always
seems like I am either taking pictures of the kids & Greg or vis versa, never together. We were down by the beach and I was taking pictures of Hayden and the group and then Greg was taking pictures of me & Calyn and Kelly, my Sister-in-law's Sister-in-law (get it?) said let me take some pictures of all of you together. How nice! Now we really look like a family and not just pieces of one!


Calyn gets her feet in the ocean for the first time. It was a little cold but she was a good sport!














The other baby! Eric's brother and his family came out for the first time. They just a got trailer and made their maiden trip. This is Aubrey, she is 7 months old. We laid the babies on a blanket together. Aubrey really liked Calyn and kept trying to touch her. Calyn, being 2 months, didn't notice much. Next year they should really be playing together.


This is the kids on the Golf Cart. They had so much fun. Whenever someone got into the golf cart, they all ran over, swamping the cart and whoever thought they were going for a nice quick ride.













We had a great time and can't wait to go back. I don't think that we will do the "renting" of a trailer again, not that it was bad, I just like my own things and am very particular about what I have and use. Needless to say, we are now hunting around the internet for trailers, hoping that our next trip will be with our own traveling home and all the fun stuff that goes along with that. Pismo in Febuuary 09'!

Toes, Toes, Toes!

I thought this was a cute picture. The kids were on the couch and Hayden was holding Calyn. She had her little feet on top of his and I thought......picture perfect!

Hayden is 4 1/2 and Calyn 2 month old. Little toes, big toes.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Hayden loves his little sister!

This is a shot of the kids just hanging on the couch. Hayden loves to hold his little sister. I always try to get pictures of them together and generally only one of them will have their eyes closed or the other will be looking off in another direction. In this picture, I caught both of them looking right at the camera! This was taken on August 7th.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Calyn is 2 months old

Here are a couple of pictures of Calyn. She is 2 months old in these pictures. She is smiling, cooing and kicking up a storm. This girl will be rolling over soon! Enjoy.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

July 4th Parade

More pictures of July 4th. This is from the Danville Parade. Isn't my little guy so very patriotic? The kids had a blast, a lot of the participants throw out candy and treats for the kids. Someone had been walking down the line and passing out American flags, Hayden thought that was pretty cool.




















Little Ms. Calyn could have cared less for the parade, in fact, she slept the entire time. She did not even wake up at the end when the "Big Guns" came through. I did move away from the street so that her ears would not hurt and good thing I did because they stopped directly in front of where we were standing.

July 4th

Here is a picture of the kids in their July 4th outfits. We went to the Danville Parade and then to our friends for dinner and fireworks. Our friends live on a hill right on the golf course and have the perfect view of the San Ramon fireworks. The kids had a blast!




















This picture is the afternoon of July 4th. We told Hayden to go "relax" in his room, that he had a big night ahead of him. He said that he did not want to take a nap, but would lay down on his bed. He fell asleep pretending to be asleep! Too funny