Lightsaber fun!

Oh my! It's been a while since I've posted anything.

I almost thought my busy mommy lifestyle caught up with me.

My nephew Jonathan is having his 3rd Birthday party on Saturday!

I can't believe how quickly time has gone by.

Because our calendar day is filled to the gills; and Jordan being very sick,

we're unable to attend his Star Wars themed celebration. Sad face.

So in hopes to make up for it, I offered to make a tasty treat.

I made chocolate lightsabers!

I surprised my sister-in-law with an email, asking if I could make these.

She was very excited that I was doing this!

Here are the tags I made.

I thought they were too plain. But I did the best with what I had.

Besides... little boys don't really care about the "cutsie" stuff.

 This is how they looked once I put everything together.

Again, a little plain in my opinion. I'm still waiting for the WOW factor!

Perhaps a colorful ribbon would have done the trick... Next time! :)

I made a few extra so my sister-in-law could display some on the table.

These were really fun, and super easy to make!

I'm sure they'll be a hit for the young Jedi masters!

Now that I've done this, my wheels are screeching with LOTS of ideas!

Nina's 1st ever camp out!

Nina was so excited to be going on a camping trip with her troop.

She didn't know what to expect, and had never gone real camping before!

By real I mean: Not in our trailer w/electricity, Wii, shower, and microwave.

She would be gone Friday through Sunday.

She gets homesick often when she's at a sleepover...

So I wasn't certain how this was going to work!

Here is our cart the night before her camp out.

We had a checklist to guide us on our shopping trip.

The day had come! Nina was packing for her very 1st camping trip!

I'm usually the one to pack everything for her,

but I wanted her to do this on her own.

She did a great job, and I just supervised as she packed her bags.

It was so cute watching her walk out of the house with all her camping stuff.

She loaded up the truck, and said good-bye to her brothers.

Once we met up with everyone in the parking lot, 

the girls were escorted to the camping spot, and they pitched their tents.

So cute! 

They did it!

The Girl Scouts worked well together, and they made their tent!

I thought this pile of "camping" gear was so cute - I had to snap this picture!

Sleeping bags, chairs, overnight bags, and a pillow pet!

Our very brave & awesome troop leaders!

Alex is our co-leader, and Yvone is the troop leader.

Their daughters are also in the troop, and have become Nina's good friends.

The girls anxiously started getting their beds situated.

I could tell they were going to have LOTS of fun together!

The time had come for us to pick up Nina from camp!

It seemed like an eternity since I saw her...

I don't remember the last time she was away from me more than 1 night.

I was never more happy for it to be Sunday than I was today!

Brady was so sweet to make Nina a welcome home sign for her.

Danny hung up Nina's sign in the dining room.

We wanted her to see it right as she walked in the front door!

Nina had the best time! How do I know this?

I know because she hasn't stopped talking since the minute 

Danny brought her home!

I happily listened as she demonstrated the knots she learned how to make,

the meals they ate, the skits they performed, and the songs they learned.

I'm happy to have her home, and even happier that she had so much fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And wouldn't you know it... I totally forgot to wear green today.

To celebrate today, I made cupcakes & marshmallow pops.

I was planning on bringing a few to share with my co-workers,

but I was running behind, and didn't have time to package the items.

Oh well, more for the kids I guess.

So last night around 10pm, I decided to start baking cupcakes.

I bought a cool paper punch, and some lollipop sticks.

I got these really cool/free printables from http://www.etsy.com/shop/tomkatstudio
This was the first time I did this, but as you'll see in my pictures,

I think they turned out really cute!

Here are a few of my cupcakes. Not the prettiest... but they smelled yummy!

I had so much fun putting my Pampered Cherf easy accent decorator to use.

Here they are! My St. Patty's Day cupcakes.

I'm happy how they turned out.

Not bad for my first time using the accent decorator.

The cupcake circles turned out SO cute!

Why in the world have I waited so long to use them??

Here's a quick shot of my marshmallow pops.

I found these to look a little drab, and boring.

These were an afterthought, so I just used the sprinkles I had in the house.

And yes, I had the green tin, and crinkle paper laying around the house as well.

I've got chock-full-of-goodies that I save for a "rainy day".
And I put an extra cupcake button on my tin to make it look more festive!

Here's a close-up shot of my marshmallow pops.

My house smelled delicious with warm cupcakes, and melted chocolate!

The finished product!

It was 2am when I finally finished.

Totally worth the lack of sleep!

Especially when Danny told me he LOVED how my cupcakes turned out!

A visit from Uncle Sean!

I received a text message from my brother earlier today.

He said that they had gone to the beach, and that they were stopping by!

(He lives in Bakersfield, and we don't see him often enough)

I was SO excited to hear that we would be getting visitors.

And we hadn't seen my brother & his little family since Christmas day!

Needless to say, this was a very nice surprise!

We all hung out at my Grandparent's house, and had a nice dinner.

Jordan was having a good time sitting next to Uncle Sean.

My brother had so much fun playing with Jordan - a little boy!

(My brother has 3 darling little ladies)

My nieces Mia & Ava went crazy over their little cousin!

They kept touching his chubby cheeks, holding his hand,

and loved to put the pacifier in his mouth!

Being the good Auntie/Mommy that I am,

I taught Mia, Nina, and Zoe how to make tortilla masks!

Here's Jordan with his pretty cousin Zoe.

She kept whispering to me that she wanted to have a turn holding him.

She was so sweet with him.

Auntie Reanne had her chance to hold Jordan.

He was so happy seeing all the new faces!

Uncle Sean, Auntie Reanne, and his cousins Zoe, Mia, and Ava brought Jordan a gift.

2 very special books - The Grouchy Ladybug, and The very hungry Catepillar!

Jordan LOVES reading books, and I've been searching for these two stories.

It was a little late to read to him tonight due to the visit with family,

but you can be sure that I'm gonna read to Jordan tomorrow night!

And the cherry on top of my day was a text from my sister...

She was successful in finding Jordan The Very Hungry Catepillar plush toy!

I've been searching & searching & searching for it since they came out.

Thank you Auntie Sara, you saved me from having a meltdown!

My weekend in a blog (nutshell)

Hooray for Date Night!!

I really look forward to this evening every month!

It's so hard for parents to take some much deserved time for themselves.

But since Jordan was born, we've made it one of our top priorities.

One day we decided that we really needed this.

We picked the 3rd Saturday of every month. Why that date? No clue.

But time (7 months) has proved it a success!

And Nina knows not to plan any sleepovers on our special weekend. 

We take turns planning the date; That's the really fun part!

It could be an afternoon date, or an evening event.

Either way it's a win-win, because we get to spend qualitiy time together!

This particular date night was mine to plan.

I bought 2 tickets to Wicked, in December, and it happened to fall on my turn.

How perfectly perfect this was!

Here is a picture that Nina snapped of us before we left for dinner.

My restaurant of choice was Benihanas! 

We had a really awesome chef named... Carlos. 

We all thought that was pretty funny! 

He incorporated funny jokes, and fascinating chopping techniques. 

It made for a really great dining experience!

Mmmmm Moscato! My most favorite wine!!

And in my humble opinion, all Moscatos are not created equal.

This particular picture captured the most delicious Moscato in all the land!

We really should have ordered a bottle...

Our waitress took this picture of us. 

You can't tell but... our bellies were SO full!

I'm so happy I decided on Benihanas. 

Danny & I thoroughly enjoyed our date night dinner!

After dinner we hurried off to the second part of our date.

Wicked!!

I could kick myself for not snapping more pictures of this part of our date.

I was just bursting with excitement, and I forgot to whip my phone out.

I bought our tickets back in December. 

Thanks to the Deals Diva, she let her followers know it was coming back in town!

Any-who, as I said earlier, I bought our tickets back in early December.

I printed out my tickets, and tossed them on my ever-growing pile of paperwork.

I was lucky to find them just hours before our date, and put them safely in my purse.

Once we got to the OCPAC, we were hurrily escorted to our seats.

Danny & I were surprised at how close our seats were!

I was surprised to learn that we were sitting in orchestra seats.

And I was even more surprised that I totally forgot about buying these great seats!

This is a quick picture I snapped before we were told to "silence our cell phones"

By the way... the show was FABULOUS!

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Sunday morning (the day after our date) we had a very special day to celebrate.

It was the Girl Scouts' 99th Birthday!

We joined Nina's troop for a celebration at the Nixon Library, in Yorba Linda.

The weather was beautiful, the Girl Scouts were having fun, and...

I have the pics to prove it!

Here I am with my cute little Girl Scout!

She continues to enjoy herself, and every event she attends.

The girls were anxious to enter the Nixon library and join in the festivities!

The girls were so excited to show me the water globes they made!

They're really cute. All they need to do is add water.

While the girls were going from activity to activity, 

Jordan, Danny, and I walked around the Nixon library.

I took a picture of the record. Not too many kids these days even know what one is!

Jordan had a really great time being pushed around the library.

Danny had to stop the stroller because Jordan was reading this exhibit.

He's a sponge you know, he likes to be stimulated. Tee hee hee!

Meanwhile, when Danny & I caught up with the rest of Nina's troop,

this is what we saw... 

The girls, and the troop leaders, were in a conga line!

It was so great to see all of them having a super fun time!!

This was one of several cakes that were displayed for the Birthday celebration!

All the girl scouts, troop leaders, co-leaders, siblings, friends & parents,

gathered around to sing Happy Birthday!

Time for cake!

Before Nina took a bite of her cake, she tugged at my shirt to get my attention.

As I bent down to see what she wanted, she whispered to me...

"Buddy from the Cake Boss would have made a really great cake for today."

She loves that show! 

It's actually inspired her to become quite the little baker in our house.

(But we'll save that for another blog post)

This next picture made me laugh out loud!

Earlier in the day, Danny took a restroom break.

To his surprise, he noticed that there were changing tables in the mens' room.

I thought it was really cute when Danny offered to change Jordan's diaper in there.

I had to snap this picture of the two of them.

Jordan & Daddy, entering a men's bathroom together for the 1st time!

And as you can see, Jordan was thrilled.

 

He's my sunshine!

Every day I take a moment to thank God for my little Jordan.

We are so blessed to have him after a very sad miscarriage 3 years ago.

Time, faith, and Danny's support has helped with my healing process.

Since Jordan has come into our lives, my heart is happy again!

He really is my little angel. My sunshine.

Jordan is the missing piece to our family puzzle.

Our family is now complete. 

Mommy loves you Jordan.

Here's a little video I made for him.

He was actually sitting on my lap while I was creating this on my mac.

He squeeled with delight every time he saw the picture of Danny & I at the end.

Jordan's Lovey

This is a post about little Jordan & his Lovey.

He loves his Lovey very much!

He got his Lovey as a gift, when he was first born.

One day, when Jordan got a little older, his mommy gave him his Lovey.

To her surprise... Jordan really, really, really loved his Lovey!

And one evening, not too long ago, 

Jordan's mommy took pictures of him, holding his Lovey.

And this is what she saw...

Jordan likes to hold his Lovey. With both of his chubby arms.

He also likes to clean his high chair tray with his Lovey.

Jordan likes to hold his Lovey tight, and sniff it.

And often times, Jordan likes to sit, and daydream with his Lovey.

Jordan's Lovey makes him smile.

But most of all, Jordan likes to read books with his Lovey by his side.

The End.

Weekend Fun (Part 2) ...continued

After Brady's senior photo shoot, I just had to stop by Sprinkles!

Have you tried a Sprinkles cupcake yet?

Prepare to be hooked!

Such darling, delicious treats. 

It's hard to claim 1 flavor as your favorite.

Don't ask me why, but I always snap a picture of my Sprinkles cupcakes.

I guess maybe because I like to savor the whole experience! 

I thought the shamrocks on top of the Irish chocolate cupcakes were adorable!

Not to mention... DELISH!

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This afternoon, Jordan & I went to visit with my Grandparents.

They really enjoy when Jordan comes over!

They watch him a couple days during the week for us, and Jordan loves them! 

Here is Jordan playing in his great-grandparents' living room.

They spoil him rotten!

Every weekend they call me over to see what new toy they bought for him!

I think it's so special that he gets to spend time with my Grandparents.

They are my heart & soul, and we love them very much! 

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Nina likes to plan fun stuff as much as I do!

Danny says Nina & I are dangerous when we put our heads together.

You know what? I think he's right!

This morning, before we left for Corona Del Mar, 

Nina was on the phone with one of her little friends, planning a sleep over!

I thought it would be fun for them to hang out, so I said yes.

They started off the evening by applying tatoos to their arms! Funny stuff.

After a huge amount of giggles & laughter pouring out of Nina's room,

I called the girls to come out to the patio.

Before Nina's friend arrived, I had set up our projector in the backyard -

(Complete with chairs, a snack table, and plenty of cozy blankets)

They were SO excited for the outdoor movie experience.

I popped the popcorn, and they picked the movie.

Here they are watching Diary of a wimpy kid.

The picture is dark, but you kinda get the idea. 

So fun!

SATURDAY RECAP

The beach for a photo shoot,

Sprinkles for cupcakes,

Seeing my Grandparents for a visit,

And a sleepover for Nina.

It's been a very busy day! But honestly... 

I wouldn't have it any other way!