OUR 1ST KID'S SIDEWALK CHALK AND PAINT DAY

Recently God Blessed our family with a beautiful backyard and I wanted to give back. Our children are spoiled to death and I love to teach them to share, especially since it's no fun having all those toys with no one to play with ... SOOO...

About a week ago I sent out an email to family and friends that I knew had young children and might be interested in having an outside fun day. I am a guilty mom who realizes I don't let my children get "dirty" enough or make enough "messes." I always love socializing (especially being a stay at home mom) and I knew I wasn't alone. What would be a better way than to invite a wide range of people (some who know eachother, some who don't )to bring our kids together and just paint, play in water, make huge messes, spray silly string, chase balls, ride bikes, play basketball, slide... YOU NAME IT, WE DID IT! The point is for moms to connect and for kids to be kids with as low stress as possible... If I have a say so .. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

For some reason just going into the day knowing my kids would be covered in dirt, water and paint and that my backyard would be trashed allowed me to relax and actually ENJOY watching them get dirty. No other plans that day afterwards made for a stress free late afternoon of letting the kids nap after playing so hard and taking a nice bath then dinnertime! IT WAS AWESOME.

I would say the moms that showed up had a great time. It wasn't a HUGE turnout but it wasn't expected. There's always going to be people busy, sick or conflicting schedules etc. I look forward to another OUTSIDE PLAY DATE and I know that my kids do too! I was filthy and covered in dirt and paint too.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, EMAIL ME...BRING ALONG FAMILY AND FRIENDS.. WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU!!!

2ND SIDEWALK CHALK AND PAINT DAY

WHEN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH AT 12PM-2:30 PM

WHERE: THE HOFF'S HOUSE

BRING: SWIMSUIT OR PLAY CLOTHES AND KIDS EAGER TO GET DIRT

Havasu 2008

After a long day at the cove and Taco Night at Brian and Jo's... they passed out on the way back to our place!

The cutest cheeks ever!

Brave Girl standing up on the tube!

Alexa my fearless child!

She loves to drive the boat with Papa

Grandma Sue and Brielyn hanging out in style

Alexa and Brielyn playing in the "warm" pool on the deck

Just being cute

The first boat ride of the trip.. we stopped off at a cove and played in the sand.... lots of fish came and papa started feeding them Pringles.

A Pretty Lighthouse

We ended off the summer with a Bang! Chris and I along with the girls and Chris' parents took a trip out to Lake Havasu from Thursday night to Sunday night. We had a really good time. The weather was great, the boat rides were fun and there were lots of firsts on the trip. It was Brielyn's 1st time at the Lake and Alexa rode on the tube for the 1st time. The trip up was a breeze thanks to the Hoff's for taking their motor home! My girls don't do well on long trips. Last time we drove to Havasu we ended up renting a Motel Room in Ludlow for a few hours....... Yeah, don't ask... it gets me nervous and tense thinking about that night. Definitely not somewhere you want to stop off and rent a motel (but our options were limited considering I was puked on and we still had 2 1/2 hours left to go and a screaming hallucinating child that wouldn't calm down!) . But, thanks to the motor home-this trip they slept peacefully almost the whole time.

Some Favorite Memories

-Screaming my head off on the tube with Chris. Out of Fear and Fun

-Watching Brielyn relax as soon as the boat engine turned on
-Seeing Alexa drive the boat happy as can be with her Papa

-Having Taco Night with family friends
-Seeing Brian and Jo's new river house- Brian's margaritas with floaters
-Guacamole and chips

-Watching racoons at 3 in the morning devour the contents of our locked trash can

-Sue and I picking on the men in our lives .... it's nice when your husband is just like his dad ;)

-Watching the eagles soar
-Getting ice cream in town
-Beautiful Lighthouses

-Sue feeding the birds

-Chris attacking my thigh and me thinking it was the catfish below

-Brielyn and Alexa playing in the sand

-Just being with Family at the river

Thank you Hoff's for inviting us. We look forward to going again soon. Thanks for lots of memories that we'll never forget...

Catch- Up Pictures From Murrieta

Chris and I at Joel and Erica's Wedding Reception in Murrieta... It was BEAUTIFUL. A noteworthy part was the favors.... there were a bunch of amazing clear glass jars full of yummy candies with colors that matched their wedding (white, orange and brown) On the table was a bunch of boxes ready for you to grab one with a personalized thank you from Joel and Erica. Then it was time for you to fill it with your favorite treats from orange rings, white chocolate covered pretzels, taffy and rock candy. Oh and the father daughter dance always brings many tears to my eyes. Congrats again Joel and Erica, you make a beautiful couple. Oh and Chris had a great speach that was well worth listening to I told him he had to make me laugh and cry at the same time... mission accomplished. Love you honey.

Me and Joanne Scott.. I love this woman.. she's one of those people you love to be around... always smiling and looking to make it a great time! Love you Jo...

Joanne, Me and Brian Scott (Family Friends) This is a picture at The Southcoast Winery where they stayed for Joel and Erica's reception... it is a beautiful hotel and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We hung out around the pool and sipped some sweet wine together and enjoyed the sun. Made for a wonderful birthday weekend.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

Princess Cinderella Turns 1

Feelin' out her princess cake

Diving In!

Look At Me!

Pinata Time

Sister was Cinderella too.....

Lots of Presents and Wheeeeewww... that was a long day!

Cinderella turned 1 year old! She had a blast at her birthday party and didn't let the crowd down when it came time to dive into her cake!!!!

HAPPY1st BIRTHDAY PRINCESS BRIELYN, WE LOVE YOU and are so blessed to have had a full year with you, we look forward to many more. You are a sweetheart with such a lovable personality.

PUT ANOTHER CANDLE ON THE BIRTHDAY CAKE!

In Line For The Jungle Cruise

Alexa with The Fairy Godmother

L is for Lynnae

A is for Alexa

Yep, It's my BiRtHdAy ToDaY.... One year closer to the "thirty" Can you guess how old I am???

I was 25 last year.. there's a hint for ya.

I feel very blessed and thankful for 26 years of healthy life. I have so much to be thankful for and I have the most wonderful husband and children. CHEERS TO ANOTHER YEAR!

We started the celebration yesterday as a family by going to Disneyland for a few hours. We had an awesome time watching the Playhouse Disney Show, the girls went on The Jungle Cruise for the first time and my most favorite was we got to meet The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella!!!! BIPPITY BOPPITY BOO!!!!

Chris and I will continue the birthday celebration today. We are leaving here in about 1/2 hour to Murrieta to stay at LaQuinta Inn for Friday and Saturday night. We will have birthday dinner at Black Angus tonight then off to a Private Cocktail Party at Erica's house (for the wedding party) . Then Saturday morning I have a 50 minute Hot Rock Massage then at 7PM we have Joel and Erica's wedding Reception.... I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEKEND. The kiddos will stay with MIMI at our house.

HURRAY!!!! FOR A FUN BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

I HAVE 2 MORE NEPHEWS

Me and the Boys! It's fun to be around baby boys.. I'm so used to the girls! Do I look like a "natural" with the twins???? Michelle, I don't know how you do it, you are a tough girl!

Sweet and innocent!

What are you looking at? I'm secure in my manhood, I can play with a pink guitar!

Joey Young with Logan and Jackson and Chris with the girls!

Yep, I didn't have enough from my sisters so one of my good friends Michelle Young had twin boys!!! I'm Aunty Lynnae.

I met Michelle Mitchell in Kindergarten. She was in the morning class and I was afternoon class and we used to line up on the wall waiting to get in. Michelle would pass by me everyday in line and for some reason she always struck me... I wanted to be her friend. For the some reason as well, I struck her, we wanted to be friends. She referred to me always as the girl with long blonde hair... I referred to her as the pretty girl with dark hair. We've been through a lot together....Elementary, Junior High, High School..... at times we were close at times distant. But one thing remains the same, I still love her and care about her. We re-connected at one of our mutual friends wedding. We were both bridesmaids. Michelle and I had great conversation and started to keep in touch more often (she lived in Hawaii and had married her High School Sweetheart a few years out of High School).... a bit later I was pregnant with Brie and a little later after that I got a phone call from Michelle that she was expecting. I was so excited. Then it was exciting to find out she was having TWIN BOYS! Michelle and I have kept in close contact via phone as she moved to Virginia right before having the twins. We have emailed eachother pictures of our kids which has been awesome to see them grow.

Michelle and Joe Young had the opportunity to come out and stay with her parents in Cypress for two weeks. More importantly to us, they were able to make time to come over our house. WE HAD AN AMAZING TIME. The girls and boys played so cute together. They crawled all over. Each of the boys had the cutest most unique personalities and I'll never forget the bonding time. I MISS THE BOYS... WE HOPE THEY COME BACK SOON. WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

THANK YOU YOUNG'S FOR COMING TO VISIT, WE MISS YOU!

GOT EYELASHES?

Okay, so my Mom told me about this AMAZING mascara. She was so excited because she got 2 compliments from 2 different people on 2 different days. One lady thought she had fake lashes and told my mom her eyes "POP" We all love compliments and feeling pretty, lets face it.

I have to say, my Mom's eyes do look dramatically different with this new mascara she's using. She was all excited about it and told me the best part is that it doesn't make your lashes feel cakey or stiff. I was like, "NO WAY, NOT ONLY DOES IT SEPARATE HER LASHES AND MAKE THEM LOOK FULL BUT THEY AREN'T HARD, THEY FEEL SOFT LIKE SHE'S NOT WEARING MASCARA!" This is too good to be true.

Mom takes a long walk down the driveway to come over a few days later and hands me a tube! What a sweetie, she let me try it myself. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT. The best part is..... IT'S BY COVERGIRL YOU CAN GET IT AT ANY DRUGSTORE OR TARGET/WALMART, IT'S INEXPENSIVE AND IT WORKS. I see a dramatic difference in my eyelashes. No more clumping, no more stiff cakey feel and it separates my eyelashes like no other! Can you say......GLAMOROUS?

I'M HOOKED AND I WANT YOU TO BE ABLE TO ENJOY THE SAME RESULTS, BUY A TUBE FOR YOURSELF IT'S CALLED COVER GIRL LASH BLAST IN A BRIGHT ORANGE TUBE, I HOPE YOU'LL LOVE IT AS MUCH AS I DO!!!!!

Thanks Mom for the free tube, you got me hooked MUUUUAHH!