Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Memorial Day Weekend

We packed in every activity we could find!! On Sunday we went to Colona (a nearby IL town) for a parade. We weren't too sure what we would find, but it was really nice! Hallie got a ton of candy and it lasted over an hour! I would recommend it to everyone for next year! Sunday night we had a little BBQ and ate outside. We finished up the night playing croquet and going for a walk! On Monday we were BUSY! First, we went to Long Grove (a small Iowa town) for Heritage days. They had a petting zoo and pony rides! They had all kinds of animals! Hallie asked them to take them all out of the cages so she could pet them. (snakes, hedgehogs, rats, spiders, all sorts!) Then on our way back to IL we stopped off at Kim's to say hi and get some paper (for that darn Pickle contest). In Rock Island on Wednesday and Sunday nights at 6:30 (we caught the special show on Memorial Day) the waterski team has a show. It was really fun to watch. Again, I would recommend this-- Do I sound like the QC Tour Guide or what??? Again, we ended the evening with a BBQ. Who stops celebrating on Monday, we went on through Tuesday with a trip to "Hallie's Zoo"-- as she calls it. Now we are packing up to head over to see Aunt Jess in Iowa City and get some stuff from Grandma Carmel's house in Des Moines. We'll be back in a few days :)

Friday, May 25, 2007

7 Random Things

Okay, so this is a little "Blog game". I have gotten tagged-- by 3 different people to do this. I figure with my 50 things post and then just the other day listing 200 things you all know way too much about me, but I have been harrassed (hehe, jodi) to get this post done! So, here it goes..

The rules: List 7 random things about yourself and tag 7 other people to make a list on their blog. (If you are reading this and don't have a Blog and would like to share 7 random things about yourself, please make a comment!)

1. I LOVE to bake & make goodies-- Weight Watchers has pretty much stopped this!
2. My perfume I wear is the American Girl perfume.
3. I really want my kids to grow up in a small town.
4. I hate my Razor cell phone, but "Oprah gave it to me" so I refuse to go back to my good one!
5. I have a massive headache right now, but 100 things to do before bed!
6. I would be totally overwhelmed & excited to be a finalist in the Rusty Pickle contest.
7. I have lived in Illinois since last July and I still have an Iowa driver's license.

Now for the tagging part...

1. Becky
2. Jessie
3. Agatha
4. Keri
5. Jenni
6. Cathey
7. Ryan (yes you, my husband!)

Anyone else who would like to leave a comment please do!

On the Go

We have been on the go this week. Monday was our "clean the house day" to get ready for our new friends (Kim and her girls) to come over! Hallie even suggested we make them cupcakes (imagine that!!)

Tuesday, Kim came over with her two girls, Sydnee and Ella. The girls had a lot of fun playing. Kim and I didn't get much scrapbooking done!!-- but we decided to do the Rusty Pickle Amazing Race Contest (a scrapbook thing) So the mission is set-- now I am working hard to get it done!! (it is due June 1st)

On Wednesday, I had to venture over to Scrapaganza to get some Rusty Pickle stuff! We stopped off at the Garner's (Kim's) got the girls and off we went! We stopped at McDonalds afterwards to get lunch and played for the afternoon at Kim's. Here are the kids.

(Reese & Sydnee) (Hallie & Ella)

(Christian joined the fun after school)

(candi, kim, & reese)
On Thursday, we had our great find! Just a little park in the middle of a neighborhood. We played and had a ball. It is just a little park, but Hallie thought it was great having it all to herself! (to the right of the teeter-toters is a little merry-go-round, that is where we spent most of our time!-- it was a first for Hallie)




Today, Friday, we had a busy day! First stop was to the neighbor's house. They have 3 little puppies Hallie loves! (Reese isn't too sure about them!)

Then we were off to Niabi Zoo. We took time to stop and smell the "daisies" and ride the train, and then we were off to the goats! Hallie stayed at the petting zoo area for about an hour, then we went and did a couple things and right back we went. (for almost another hour!) She loved the little baby goats.


We also took a ride on the carousel.

When we got home Hallie was TIRED! (yes, these are the stairs!!)
We had a fun week!! This weekend I am going to be working (yes, I said it... working) at Scrapaganza on Saturday. We are going to a parade on Sunday and hopefully being lazy on Monday! Have a fun weekend everyone!! :)

Monday, May 21, 2007

Reese Walking with Hippo

100 Things I love

100 Things that Bug Me!!

That was the name of a class I took this weekend. My good scrappy friend Kim taught the class and is so creative. Each page has a pocket for my lists and pictures. It is like two books in one, on one side is the love side and flip it over and you have the bug side! Too cute, thanks Kim!!! Below are a few pictures of my book I made and most importantly... here are my lists (as requested)


100 Things I Love:

1. My husband, Ryan
2. My beautiful girls, Hallie & Reese
3. My family & friends
4. Peach Tea
5. Walt Disney World
6. Summertime
7. Scrapbooking
8. Oprah!
9. Pink
10. Playing games
11. Reese’s stinky feet
12. New clothes
13. My vinyl wall writings
14. Jessica Simpson
15. Kid’s TV shows
16. Red Robin
17. Going on walks
18. Pedicures
19. When family comes to visit
20. Cheerleading on ESPN
21. Lip gloss
22. Coloring
23. Corn on the cob
24. Flip flops
25. Chocolate malts
26. Downloading new fonts
27. Taking pictures
28. Game shows
29. Polka dots
30. Beauty & the Beast
31. Dad’s Cooking
32. The Beach
33. Banana Baby food
34. Purple ink pens
35. Fake eyelashes
36. Upbeat Music
37. A good pair of jeans
38. TIVO (DVR)
39. Planting Flowers
40. Baby Gap
41. Christmas
42. Weddings
43. Pina Coladas
44. Lori Hamman’s Handwriting
45. Price is Right
46. Purses
47. Zebra Print
48. My purple quilt- from Grandma Bolles
49. Nail polish
50. Being pregnant
51. Hallie’s Curly Hair
52. Hanging out with my sisters (I have the best!)
53. Being outside
54. My Hooter Hider!
55. Q-tips
56. Talking with my mom
57. Finding lost things
58. Scrapbooks Etc. Magazine
59. August Moon
60. A Clean House
61. Reality TV
62. Black Friday Sales
63. Rachael Ray
64. Tricia’s frosting!
65. People having babies
66. The Zoo
67. A good firm pillow
68. Heidi Swapp
69. My Blog
70. Crocs
71. Big Hugs
72. Baking
73. Dancing
74. Movie- Sweet November
75. McDonald’s ice cream cones
76. Snowstorms
77. Nap time
78. Wheel of Fortune
79. Live Shows
80. Finding a good deal
81. Chocolate
82. Sewing
83. Cirque Du Soleil
84. My wedding ring
85. Candles
86. Cuddling my girls
87. Hot tea & milk
88. Shopping
89. American Idol
90. Baby Bjorn Carrier
91. Mary Kay Cosmetics
92. Dressing up
93. Product (RED) campaign
94. Parades
95. Vacations
96. The excitement of kids
97. Johnson’s PINK baby lotion
98. New socks
99. Daisies
100. Me




100 Things that Bug Me

1. Putting laundry away
2. Buying toilet paper &
3. Trash bags
4. Carrying groceries in
5. Junk mail
6. Stoplights
7. Spiders
8. Ryan’s driving
9. Selling a house
10. SciFi Channel
11. Cigarette smoke
12. Busy signal
13. Potty training
14. Picking up toys
15. People touching my hair
16. Runny noses
17. Mean people
18. June bugs
19. Hard Rock music
20. Cranky kids
21. Changing fish tank water
22. Donald Trump
23. Spam e-mail
24. Bad haircuts
25. Martha Stewart
26. Golf on TV
27. Running late
28. Car repairs
29. Severe weather warnings
30. Babies with pierced ears
31. Mosquito bites
32. Weird piercings
33. Dirty public restrooms
34. Mountain Dew
35. The News
36. Taxes
37. Neglected, abused, mistreated kids
38. Computer problems
39. Being home alone overnight
40. My hair
41. Burberry plaid
42. Guns
43. Airline (NWA) customer service
44. Car repairs
45. Shaving my legs
46. Pushy sales people
47. Un updated blogs
48. Pottery Barn prices
49. Running Errands (with kids)
50. The President/War debates
51. Anything creepy
52. Anything crawly
53. Tang drink
54. Wrong numbers on my cell
55. Sick kids
56. Weight Watchers
57. Tom Green
58. People “hawking loogies” – gross, sorry
59. Traffic jams on the bridge
60. Postcards in magazines
61. Insurance
62. Stupid commercials
63. The smell of rain
64. Bad McDonald’s cone & cold fries
65. Not seeing my family often
66. Copycats
67. Painting (houses)
68. Cleaning out the fridge
69. Backordered items
70. Stargate
71. Night time feedings
72. Waiting at the Dr’s Office
73. Floam
74. Museums
75. Dog walkers with no “bag”
76. Bad customer service
77. High gas prices
78. Waxy ears
79. Stained clothes
80. Watering plants
81. Barking dogs
82. NASCAR
83. Gap Inc’s security tags
84. Burning my tongue
85. Line budgers
86. Kids out of car seats
87. Jimmy John’s
88. Brussels Sprouts
89. Fat free/sugar free products
Why can’t we just be fat free??
90. Hard drive crashes- losing pictures
91. Working out
92. Small closets
93. My dishwasher- too small
94. The nail file booth at the mall
95. Blockbuster’s “no late fee” policy
96. 3 year old tantrums
97. Long lines
98. Dial up internet
99. My reality star getting voted off
100. Did I mention SciFi channel?











Shrek the Third

Last Friday our family went to see Shrek the Third!! Of course we had to go on opening night because we were all sooooo excited ;) Hallie is a HUGE Shrek (and Donkey) fan-- as you have seen in previous posts. I just had to post this picture, it is so much fun making!! We had it done at Universal Studios...




Hehehe, can't wait for Shrek the Fourth (we heard is in the making!) We also had some fun with the Simpson's set they had at the theater.







Sunday, May 20, 2007

Video FYI

When you are watching the videos go down to the bottom and push pause on the music playlist so you can hear them talking.

I scream, You scream, Reese loves ice cream!

Hallie meets Donkey

Talking with Donkey-- again

Last days of our vacation!!

Okay, so I am getting to the last few days of the vacation. I am getting very tired of posting vacation pics-- so I am posting the last of them kind of crunched in. Enjoy...

Here is a slide show of the last day at disney-



create your own slideshow





Now a little show of Universal.-- as you can see the characters are a little more grown up, but Hallie was still very excited to see them. However, she could have spent all day petting the dogs from the animal show! (the little one's name is Bentley) We got the "Front of the Line Pass" so it entitled us to a backstage pass to the animal show! (obviously many other things, but this was great for Hallie)



create your own slideshow



Here was my "surprise" Ryan and Hallie did. They posed because they thought it would make a great page for my scrapbook :) Thanks guys, can't wait to scrap it. I thought it was soooo cute! (PS-- if you don't catch the beginning, it starts with C!)



create your own slideshow



Thank you all for viewing my vacation on the blog! Now we will be back to everyday posts!!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Disney Day Three

On Day Three we were busy! First, we went to Disneyland and got to go in early and ride LOTS of rides. Then we ate breakfast at Minnie's (where we met several characters) We finished up anything else we wanted to do there and headed over to Disney's California Adventure-- about 75 yards from front gate to front gate. Hallie loved the playhouse disney show and meeting TONS of characters. I put a SMALL sample of our celebrity sitings on here. Needless to say with all the excitement both girls were completely tuckered out by the end. We ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney, stopped at Build-a-Bear for a few new friends, and went back to the hotel to crash-- only Hallie had swimming plans... so we swam for a bit and then literally crashed!!! It was a very exciting and busy day. (Two more days of vacation!!)



create your own slideshow

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

A Break From Disney...

Are you all sick of Disney pictures yet?? I still have another Disney day and a Universal Day to post, but decided to take a day off and post about Hallie yesterday.

Hallie was so excited to get on her suit and play in the sprinkler... until she got out there... she said the water was too cold and went in and got her umbrella! Must have been entertaining for the neighbors to watch :)




Monday, May 14, 2007

Save the Date!


Okay, I just had to post once more today! I just got the mail and in it was a little box (like checkbook box size) it was really light and I thought "what the heck"? I opened it up and inside was the cutest save the date!! My sister Agatha is getting married in November and she sent out these little birds for save the date! The tag says "A Little Bird Told Me...." and then the info!

Agatha, you are so creative! I love all of your graphic design work you did on it! I can't wait to see what other little things you create for your big day! PS... I saved the date! Love you!

Kim & Lynn-- see how cool she is?? I have to come up with really great wedding & shower gifts!!

Disney Day Two

Here is the second installment of our vacation! There is a picture of Ryan and I on a curb, my mom and Reese on a bench and two other couples on the bench by my mom-- Hallie made all of them pose for the picture :) She was out in the street (closed Disney street) snapping away! No videos for today. Enjoy the sunny warm weather and be sure to tune in tomorrow when our adventure takes us to Disney's California Adventure Park :)



Get Your Own!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Hallie & the Slide Headfirst

Hallie and the Slide

Disney Day One

Hello everyone... I have so many pictures & videos I just can't pick a few!! So I decided to make different blogs for each day. So, here is Day One (Sunday)...

We flew out of the Quad Cities headed for Orange County, CA. (That's right, Jess, the OC!!)

Once we checked into the hotel we had to wait for our room to be cleaned, so what else can we do but.... SHOP! We did a little shopping in the Downtown Disney (yes, still in our pjs!!)
As soon as we got our suitcases we were off to the pool! Hallie was very adventurous (I will post her videos in a bit) and Reese just fell asleep! :)

To kick things off right we decided to eat at Goofy's Kitchen for supper. We met Goofy and all his friends. Both girls had a blast. Hallie was smiling the whole night!!

Hallie & Pluto
Reese & Princess Jasmine
It's Minnie!
We got to meet Belle-- don't know who was most excited?? Mommy???
Cookin' with Goofy!
Grandma Carmel & Goofy
This picture was for Levi!! The Darth Vader made with Legos.
Mommy & Girls with the lego guy :)
Next blog... the videos and be sure to stay tuned for Day Two's installment!!