28

Well, that's it. Today is the last post. I made it kind of through a month (despite the 2 I missed). Russ will probably be happy that I don't ask him him every night "What did you do today? Anything new I can blog about?" It was nice to do it, but sometimes you wonder if this is interesting for anyone to read. Almost every post started with "Today" in the first sentence. And yet I had no other word to use. Because all I could give you is what happened that day. Also I had to stop myself from repeating "nothing exciting". I wrote that a lot.

Okay, onto today. : ) Austyn, the last couple of days started clapping his hands when we say "yay". We thought it was so cute we started saying "yay" all the time to see him clap his hands. When I was on the phone with Russ while I was on a break at work Austyn actually said "yay" with us. It is so adorable!

During this last weekend Penelope went to me randomly and declared, "I don't want to write my name." A little taken back I said okay and she like the attention span of a 3 year old was onto the next thing. We recently enrolled her in preschool. They told us in the orientation that they don't push the kids if they don't want to do something because they want learning to be fun. So I knew exactly where the declaration of not writing her name was coming from. She had been probably repeating that to her teachers all day. In any way, I stuck that in my memory for a better opportunity to address. So today she walked up to me. She found a pair of scissors. We don't own a pair of kid scissors so I wasn't happy with her holding them. She was very upset and she wanted scissors. She is able to work with scissors at school. Something I have denied my left handed child at home with both right handed parents. So here it comes: I told her I would buy her some kid scissors if she would trace her name. Sure enough, she was practices before preschool today. Now if only teenage life would be that easy. (In reading this to Russ, he said "well by then she better learn to write her stinkin' name") LOL.

27

We're making friends! yay! We had another family over to the house tonight and I made girls plans on Tuesday. I do so much better when I have friends.

Church was good. Penelope went to bed late last night from having friends over and then woke up at 5 am this morning. So when we were getting ready for church she was a CRANKY to put it mildly. She fell asleep on the way home from church. (Thank God!) She had a good long nap. It was wonderful. We all laid down for a little rest. I love when Sunday's have family nap time.

While we were getting the kids ready for bed Austyn brought me a book. I like a well meaning mother went to sit down to read a book with him. Of course as a toddler he flipped through the pages quicker then I could complete a sentence on the page. He then took the book away from me and I was able to take these adorable pictures.





Here are some pictures of Penelope when we were getting ready for bed.

26

Today was a good day. It didn't snow. Thank God, I don't know exactly what I would have done if it did. I never really lived in the snow. Visiting for a day, maybe, but not while it was actually snow-ing. I didn't know what to do when there was frost on my front window. But today the sun was shinning and the sky was blue. Don't let that fool you it was freezing outside. But the outside at least looked pretty.

Russ and Penelope braved the cold weather for a little outside. You can see it was sunny. Here are some adorable pictures of them outside. Of course, Russell is still in shorts.

I got a picture of the Princess dolls on the window ledge in the living room. I used this cool function on my camera. I loved the affect.


I took a picture of the front of our apartment so you can see where we live.

We spent the day cleaning up and taking it easy. Russ got a nap. We invited some people over for dinner and had a good time. They are new to the area also (been here for a little over a year). I made a pasta dinner and some dessert. But I also tried to make this recipe I found in a diabetic cook book. It's Cranberry Almond Biscotti. It turned out pretty good. It is made with real sugar, not a sugar substitue. But it is not a real sweet Biscotti. Plus! It is only 1 point in weight watchers. Note: I had a hard time cutting it into 24 pieces (I got 20 pieces out). It was getting a little crumbly in the middle because it was too soft. Over cook it a little. You want to dry out the bread as much as possible. Below is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup blanched almonds

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350'F. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet adn toast them in the oven until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. Place the egg, egg white, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until very thick and pale; the mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail on the surface when you life the beaters.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda onto a sheet of parchment paper, then sift the mixture again onto the whisked egg mixture. Using a spatula, carefully fold the sifted mixture into the egg mixture, then stir in the toasted almondsand cranberries to make a stiff dough.

4. Spoon the dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. With floured hands, form the dough into a neat log shape about 10 inches long and 2 inches wide and flatten slightly. Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Leave to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board.

5. Using a serrated knife, cut the log across, slightly on the diagonal, into 24 slices. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet and return to the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. The biscotti can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

each serving: 1 cookie kcal 71, kcal from fat 14, fat 2 g, sat fat 0g, chol 9 mg, sodium 30 mg, carbs 13 g, fiber 1 g, sugar 6 g, protein 2 g, carb exchange 1.

Also I realized that I really enjoy baking. It's hard since it has so much caloric count and my husband can't have a lot of sweets. But I might get back into baking. I feel so calm and relaxed when I bake. There is something special about actually forming the dough in your hands. Forming it into place. I need to do it more often. Maybe I'll try making some bread more often. Or maybe I'll just bring it to work and have them eat it. They should love me then, right?

One thing I realized is that I put a lot of stuff in storage that I figured I wouldn't use in the time I would just be in the apartment. I defiantly sized down from the kitchen I was in. So I don't think I had room for everything. But there are some things I am seriously missing. I had to finally get Russ to go get me a square 9x9 pan. The recipe called for a sifter- I have 2. But they are in a box somewhere. The biscotti turned out fine anyways and I don't really like sifting much (ask Jen Graham why, LOL). But a cooling rack, I'm taking out my tray from my toaster oven.

25

Today was definitely not as up lifting in thought as yesterday was. But mostly over boring work stuff, so we shouldn't worry about that. I look forward to the weekend and being home with my kids. I am getting more use to working primarily and not being home. But I enjoy those days when I am home with them. Being just their mom for a day.

Austyn feel down in the their room and hit a side of Penelope's bed on the way down. Russ said he got a cut under his nose. He had to hold him down to hold down the cut to get him to stop bleeding. I haven't seen it yet, since the kids are both asleep when I got home. He is my rough and tumble-y boy!

I don't know what we are going to do this weekend. We don't have any plans. It's suppose to snow tonight and tomorrow morning. SNOW! When we first were looking at the surrounding area to think about the possibility of moving. I remember asking our Realtor if it snowed here? Her answer was 7 years ago. Thinking to myself, and knowing my luck, it will snow the first year that we are here. We will see, it is really only suppose to be a little to cover the ground. I guess we will take the kids out for a little fun if there is enough covering the ground. I'll take pictures too.

24

Russ said Austyn had a hard day today. He was crying and crying over every little thing. In talking it over, we can't put our thumb on what it was exactly. But oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Today I have been thinking a lot about God's ordinance. He has so provided and been our authority in our life. It seems sometimes that He has destined our steps. He knew exactly what we needed, exactly where we were going. I know I still have quite a road to travel ahead of me, but there are some days where I am so sure that God is the one driving us there. Of course, there are other days when I sit down and think that it is all going to come crashing down around me. My father-in-law mentioned a scripture to me once and I have committed to memory in Beth Moore's scripture memory. (Memorizing 2 scriptures a month on the 1st and 15th of the month). In Proverbs 16:9 "We can make our plans, but God directs our steps" (NLT). He later explained that he looks at it with us still actively planning our lives, but bringing everything to God. We can still make plans for our lives. And to not just sit around and wait for something to land in our lap. But God comes as we make our plans and determines the steps. Opening doors or closing, telling us where to turn or to go straight, and with that we go with God where he leads us. I like how there is a difference in explanation of actions between us and God in the scripture. There is a difference between us making plans and God doing steps. The plans don't actually count for anything. Anyone knows, you can make plans for the rest of your life and that doesn't mean that anything really happens. It takes steps, steps that come from our Lord and Savior. I thank God for those steps. The steps that have brought us here today. The ones that will bring us where we go tomorrow.

23

Let's see, what happened today? Nothing much. Well, I went running this morning. I really want to get consistently back into it. When I got home I helped get Penelope ready for preschool. I needed to trim her nails and so she talked me into putting a quick coat of nail polish on her hands. I was hoping that she would sit still while and let her nails dry while I did her hair. But she took that opportunity to apply another coat. And of course with the skills of a 3 year old she got a lot of her fingertips as much as her fingernails. While I turned my back to take care of Austyn she proceeded to paint the bathroom counter. It wasn't until she spilled it on the carpet in her room that I caught her over decorating. Thank God for Barbie nail polish. It must be water based because a baby wipe later it was all fixed.

Penelope had a good day of school. Russ said when he picked her up and two other little girls went and gave her a hug to say goodbye. She is making some friends, which is good to see. We were warned about the 2 week blues. The Principle said that sometimes kids that are really excited about school will get a little blue about the 2nd week and start missing home. So far she is doing just find. Happy to go and happy to go home. We are at a good place right now. We will see how next week is.

Austyn been dancing to music when it is on. Which entails him standing with his legs hip length apart and doing small squats. It's absolutely adorable! He was doing it from time to time at worship practice the other day. And it defiantly made people smile and point, but in a good way. : ) My sweet baby boy. Russ said he's getting the sharing thing as Russ tries to be the referee on who's turn it is.

Oh we tried the white wine from Fresno State. It's like a Chardonnay. Russ likes it. It is a little too dry for me. I feel like I'm drinking alcohol instead of a sweet glass of wine.

If only.....

I was looking at more houses, because for the most part that is what I do. At least until I am tired of looking at them. And get frustrated that I am unable to move into my dream house at the moment. But here are some of the highlights I have been looking at.

Here is one that is high on my price limit. But it is so nice! Beside the fact of actually not seeing any pictures of the inside, the idea of this house seems wonderful. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 2450 square foot on a over 16,000 square foot (which is HUGE). It's on a cold a sac. It has an extra office, laundry room inside, pantry, gas appliances in the kitchen, formal dinning room. Seeing pictures of the inside would ruin the picture of it in my head for sure! It's $239,500. The problem is that it has tenants living in it right now. And it probably doesn't need a lot of updating because it was built in 2005.

Here's another one that is very nice.

Here is one that is in our price range. AND it has a soaker tub. Ah...I can go there now.

22

Well, today I went to work and came home. Nothing interesting happened to seem to mention. The kids were asleep by the time I made it home. Russell took the kids to the park. Overall it was a good day, just uneventful.

Well, with nothing else to talk about I guess I will talk about the shows we are watching this season on TV. The classics we have been following for a while are Survivor, Amazing Race, and Gray's Anatomy. We started watching American Idol, I like watching the original try outs but this year I really like the judges they have on it. So as cliche as it may be we are tuning in for that one. There is of course the occasional shows that we don't consistently follow but will tune in when we sit in front of the box. We mostly watch HGTV and Food Network. Of course it is hard to watch Food Network when you are trying to watch what you eat. That doesn't help curve your hunger cravings.

21

Today we took the kids to the Pediatrician. They both did fairly well. We got their currents stats:

Austyn (@ 15 months) weight: 24 lbs 5 ozs (50%), height: 32 3/4 inches (90%)
Penelope (@ 43 months/ about 3 1/2yrs) weight 43 lbs (90%), height: 41 3/4 inches (95%).

They are both, of course, proving to be tall. They both got shots today and did fairly well. Austyn and Penelope are both going to need to have some more shots in 3 months so we will be going back. After we finished at the Pediatricians we headed over to the Lab to get some blood test done for Russ. And then we grabbed Subway and headed over to a new friends house for a play date. Penelope and Austyn had a great time playing with all the other kids in the big backyard. We headed back home in time for family nap time. I love family nap time. And then off again after dinner to worship practice for our church. We brought the kids with us to run around the sanctuary. It went well with all things considered. But the biggest thing was everyone there was very gracious to us having our kids with us. Today you would have never guessed they had shots, they weren't cranky at all. So basically it was an active day. Tomorrow I go back to work after a 3 day weekend at home.

20

Today church was awesome! Worship was great. My parents were in town and invited us over for bbq so we headed over there after church. If anyone ever wonders how it is that I make so much food when you come over, you should have been at my parents house for the bbq. It was our family, the 2 of them, and one gentlemen and they must have bbq'd 5 chickens and 4 lbs of pork chops! Between that and the bake sale at church today I think I'll defiantly need to go to the gym tomorrow. LOL. I got this adorable picture of the kids outside my parents. It was cold at my folks house. It had snowed there a couple of days ago, but is all melted now.

18/19

Well I didn't blog yesterday either, but it wasn't because I was working all night long. I was able to get off at regular time and didn't get called in. Yay! My husband and I were enjoying a relaxing evening so I didn't want to stop to blog. Sorry. I don't think anything happened yesterday that is worth mentioning. Russell enjoyed the soup I made. I, however, thought it needed some improvements. There was too much onion for me, it probably would have helped a little if I had sauteed it first as the recipe had called for. Also, it needed another vegetable in it. Something that wasn't a bell pepper. I realized that it mostly comprised of bell peppers. Otherwise adding the basil and Parmesan cheese was a very nice touch.

Today, after much deliberation, we decided to see Tangled at the 3-dollar theaters. I wasn't sure if Austyn would sit through it and didn't want to pay full price for the adult that had to spend the time in the hall with the baby. The 3- dollar theater was actually really nice. Even though we tried timing it at a beneficial time for Austyn, Russell ended up missing the later half of the movie. I thought the movie was very cute! Penelope loved the movie, but cried at the part where Rapunzel was brought back to be locked up in the tower. Afterward, we ended up walking around the Fashion Fair Mall. Only after working our way through the Christmas like crowds for an hour, did we realize that it's President's weekend sales. Oh well. We still enjoyed our time out. I've been looking for a good pair of everyday wear black shoes with a petite heal but that don't look too granny looking. Still haven't found the right pair, but while looking Penelope helped by trying on some shoes herself. She is such a girly-girl. Below is an adorable picture of her trying on some 4-inch high heel shoes. That she couldn't even stand up on! LOL.





We got back in time for us to eat dinner and for me to bake for the Women's fundraiser tomorrow. I'm making my peanut butter brownies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and my raz-ma-taz bars. I haven't made the raz-ma-taz bars in a long time and am looking forward to tasting one when the are out of the oven. But they are very good! Here is the recipe below:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups white chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 325-degrees F. Grease and sugar 9" square baking pan.
2. Melt butter in medium, microwave-safe bowl on High power for 1 minute. Stir then add 1 cup morsels, let stand. Do not stir.
3. Beat eggs in large mixer bowl until foamy. Add sugar beat until light lemon colored about 5 minutes. Stir in chips-butter mixture. Add flour, salt, and almond extract, mix at low speed until combined. Spread 2/3 of batter on prepared pan.
4. Bake 15-17 minutes or till lightly golden brown around edges. Remove from oven to wire wrack.
5. Heat Jam in small, microwave-safe bowl on High power for 30 seconds, stir. Spread jam over warm crust. Stir remaining chips into remaining batter. Drop spoonsful of batter over jam. Sprinkle with almonds.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or till edges are browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Makes about 16 bars.

17

Today was my day off. Russ and I had doctors appointments--that went interesting. Russ and I both have to go back in a couple weeks. Russ for some blood tests and me for a complete physical exam. But we will be going at different times. It seemed like a very nice office though. My sore throat that is only on my right side is tonsil stones. The Nurse Practioner was able to get one of the larger ones out but I still have more. The prescription is gargle with salt water twice a day. Yuck! If it doesn't go away then I have to see an ENT specialist. And they will have to numb me because I have a very sensitive gag reflex. So salt water here we go. :P

Penelope has been desperately trying to prove that she doesn't need a nap anymore. However, failing as it may be, we haven't been able to successfully get her to go down. With the "nap strike" she isn't the most obedient child. Testing our limits is putting it mildly. She doesn't talk a lot about school. I think next Wednesday (she has Monday off for President's day) I'll talk to her teachers and get some details so I can talk to Penelope about her friends with their actual names, not the names that she has made up in the conversation that she can't keep straight. Ya, I'm going to be one of those mom's. LOL. All in her business.

Austyn keeps turning heads everywhere he goes. Russ went to Costco to refill some of his prescriptions with him today and he's turning heads everywhere. You know how he is, he smiles at everyone who is willing to make eye contact. He is so adorable. He is starting to dance to the music of his toys. He'll be a totally different hand full. ;)

I was going to cook dinner tonight and then cook soup to eat tomorrow. (I work late tomorrow, but that way everyone in the family eats a good meal). I was really craving fish and saw a good recipe for Mahi Mahi Tostadas. But after going to 2 different places and calling a couple more we finally landed upon this place called the "Meat Market" in Clovis. They had some really good prices on some different things. They didn't have mahi mahi either, we ended up getting some fresh Bass instead. It just for tostadas after all. Mahi mahi isn't "popular" up here or so people say, which is a bummer because it's my favorite fish. But while at the Meat Market we found some wine from Cal State Fresno's Bulldogs. At $6 a bottle I got it in white to just see. I think it's hilarious, especially with the big picture of the Bulldog mascot cartoon on the front. The Bulldog's are really popular out here. It's not abnormal to see people wearing their stuff around town. And I've heard they get more popularity then the minor league baseball team, the Grizzles, do . I have also heard that the wineries around here are more dry due to the soil. So we will see.

Anyways after all those delays we ended up going to Applebee's restraunt. But I did get seafood. And I'll make the Bass Tostadas some time this weekend. I did come home and make the soup. That is also a new recipe. I've been on a look out for a good minestrone like soup. It's one of Russell's favorite soups. This is maybe the 3rd or 4th different recipe I've tried. It's suppose to be in a dutch oven and cook for about 30 minutes. But I put it straight into the crockpot. And Russell just has to reheat it tomorrow along with bake some chicken, because beans isn't enough protein for him : ).

Here's the recipe with thanks from a Weight Watchers cookbook.
Italian Vegetable-Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15 oz) can no-salt navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic
1 (14 oz) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp crushed fresh basil
1 tbspn olive oil
1/4 cup (1 oz) grated fresh parmesan cheese

1. Heat a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 6 minutes of until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add navy beans and next 5 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes.
2. Remove from heat; stir in basil and oil. Ladle soup into bowls, and sprinkle with cheese.

Yeilds 4 servings ( 1 1/4 cup with 1 tbspn cheese) Cal 184 (29% from fat); fat 6g (sat 1.6g); pro 10.2g; carb 25g; fib 7.1g; chol 5mg; iron 2.2 mg; sod 808mg; calc187mg. Points 3.

I, of course, bypassed the "browning" by just throwing it in the crock pot. I read an article somewhere that talked about converting recipes to crock pot recipes, except I can't find it. So I'm guessing 30 minutes would be 4 hours on high. I'll let you know tomorrow how it is. Or maybe the day after. I work tomorrow from 11am to 9 pm. But then I'm on call from 9 pm to 7 am. So we will see what time I'll be blogging next.

16

Today was Penelope's second day of school. It is the first day of probably 4 days of rain, so they stayed inside for the day. I'm going to have to talk to her about her schooling tomorrow. Russ has been picking her up so I haven't really received a lot of details.

Russell started saying to Austyn, "give me love" and Austyn will kiss him. Big open mouth, slobbery, kiss. LOL. Russell in doing laundry, noticed after taking the clothes out of the dryer that there was a red crayon in with the clothes. Half the clothes have red streaks and spots from the crayon. I looked online we need to soak all the clothes and rub WD-40 on them. (that's the prescription when I google it). I'll have to let you know if it works.

Russell and I both have doctors appointments tomorrow. We have the appointments staggered so someone can watch the kids while the other is at their appointment. I have had a bad sore throat since Saturday morning. So I'm going to have the doctor check that out.

14, 15, or something like that

Well, I missed day 14. Can I use the excuse that I was loving my family on Valentine Day? Good, I think it's a great excuse too! ;)

Valentine Day was Penelope's first day of school. She was so happy about it. As soon as we get to her classroom she turns around to us and says "Bye, go home now". LOL. She did great at her first day of school. :'( My little girl seemed to grow up so quickly in a matter of a moment. She is doing 5 hour days, 2 days a week (monday/ wednesday). Tomorrow is her second day of school. My little girl growing up before my eyes. Here are some pictures of Nelly.








I had to work on Valentine Day so nothing really exciting happened from this vantage point. I did come home to a wonderful surprise. Don't I have a darling husband!



It might be a good thing that I didn't blog on the 14th because nothing interesting happened today. I ran off to bible study this morning before work. I can't wait to go to the Beth Moore Conference here in town. I would love to actually meet her in person. Do you think she will have a line? Do you think she does a meet and greet afterward?

Today I'm hoping to start my "life style change" for good. It's the day after Valentine, super bowl is over, it's time to get serious about bathing suit figure. I think I can get down to my desired weight in time for bathing suit weather. I guess it depends on how quickly it comes off and how soon it gets warm down here.

13

Wow, I'm only on day 13 and I'm wore out. I could never do this 365 days a year. The next Julie and Julia does not reside in this blog! Let me just tell you that much.

Well we just got home from going back down to LA. It was a relaxing trip but still had moments of busyness. Today we saw some old friends and let our kids play. It was really nice. Penelope was really excited about seeing some of her old friends again. But with that she had a hard time leaving them. Right before we left we had one more dinner with Dad and Mom Stade and that was another hard time leaving for Penelope. I hope she has a good day at school tomorrow. She needs something to really look forward to up here. It's those moments I hope she doesn't have any traumatic memories from this move. We will have to see how tomorrow go. The first day back is always a downer. We all mope around, feeling like a fish out of water. Day two back is better.


Here are some pictures from our trip:



Don't worry I got permission to post this ;)

Penelope watching the Aladin show at Disneyland. A scene from the show down below.






MR. INCREDIBLE!!!!!





Penelope and Alton


Kaeley and Penelope

12

Today we went to Disneyland with the kids. It was a fun trip, but a quick one. More pictures to come. Right now my computer is running slow and I'm afraid of asking too much. We went back to the in-laws and made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn for dinner. It was really good, everyone enjoyed it.

Here is the meatloaf recipe (developed with help from Saving Dinner cookbook)

1 large eggs
1/2- 14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup shredder Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 lb of Italian sausage (pork), casings removed
1/3 lb ground turkey
1/3 lb ground beef
1/3 cup spaghetti sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl combine everything but meats and spaghetti sauce. Add turkey, pork sausage, and ground beef until just blended.
3. spray large jelly roll pan with non-stick spray. Add meatloaf to pan and make into a loaf. Pat to remove any air spaces.
4. Cook for 1 hour. Top with spaghetti sauce (I had some left over Parmesan cheese I added too) and continue baking 15-30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I made it once with great reviews from the family. The second time around they loved it just as much. So I would defiantly say this is a winner. Right now I think everyone is looking forward to the left overs, since I made a 5lb meatloaf. Don't ask how big the original meatloaf was--that was completely consumed in one sitting. And that is a story for another time, when it isn't so late and my computer is acting more functional. ;)

back for a weekend

Today we drove back down to LA. We still have Disneyland passes (they expire in May) and to try to get the most out of our buck we are trying to come down once a month. I also think it is good for the kids to come back. Austyn's eyes lite up and his arms went out when he saw Granna at the door. Penelope was so excited too. Plus she gets excited about all the other family. She loves playing with Emily. Austyn, even though there is a 9 year plus difference, plays his own way with the boys. I think it is helpful for Penelope to see friends that she knows again. Even as she is makes new ones. Hopefully I'm not scaring my kids for life too much ; )

We are going to try to go to Disneyland tomorrow. Today we just hung out and went out to dinner. Here are some photos I took of the kids today. I had time to try out my new camera and had fun checking out all the functions. I'm starting to get the hang of things on it.

Here are some pictures of us at breakfast on our way down.




Some pictures of hanging out. All the cousins together.






We went out to El Paso Cantina in Torrance for dinner. The kids both tried salsa (it's fairly mild there). Here are some pictures of them enjoying chips and salsa.




Driving around in the car gives Russ and I time to talk. We have a solid 4 hour drive down--we have lots of time! LOL Driving around our old home town, it's funny how we both get assurance that we are where we are suppose to be now. Fresno slowly grows on us more and more. And "home" slowly morphs into something new.