Kindergarten....

It has been two weeks since my baby girl started kindergarten and she is loving it! We are all getting into the swing of a new routine and little brother is adjusting to going to summer camp all by himself without his big sis and he is doing well also. I am still so sad that my sweet little baby girl is in kindergarten but I am happy that she is making new friends and is having a great time!

I snapped a few photos of my sweet little girl this past weekend for a "kindergarten mini photoshoot" that I thought I would share of few of my fav's...

This was her actual first day of school....

She thought it was funny to wear mommy's glasses

I love that I captured her in her moments of looking at books, drawing and writing....all the thing she LOVES to do! I love my sweet little girl, and she will always be my little girl!

Until next time...
{Lynnae}

Olympics

This past week has been filled with so much excitement over the 2012 London Olympics! I have enjoyed plopping myself on the couch each night and gluing my eyes to the TV for 4 hours. Yes I am exhausted from staying up every night until midnight but I just can't help pulling myself away. Of course women's gymnastics is my favorite (I have been watching these girls from the trials). I love that every four years there is unity between all countries, I love that these athletes dedicate their all to these moments, I love that you get excited not just for your own country but for any person that is trying to show the world they are the best at what they do. I love that you get sucked into watching it and you can't turn away. I love talking to others about it when I get into work. I love just about everything and anything about the Olympics, but what I love most is seeing the excitement and joy on the Olympians when they win a medal...it's a moment that is priceless! So here's to all the USA Olympians  (especially the Fab 5...my favs), thanks for making your country proud!
Hope you are enjoying the olympic games this year as much as I am!
Until next time...
Lynnae

The Night Before Kindergarten

I am already in tears. My baby girl starts Kindergarten tomorrow (year round school) and I still can't believe this day is already here! It feels like just yesterday she was learning to walk and talk. Now she is 5 1/2 and ready for Kindergarten....I just don't think I am ready quite yet. So tonight I read her this adorable book that my sweet friend Auntie Chela bought her...The Night Before Kindergarten. After reading it about 20 times to myself I put it down with my eyes filled with tears. I know, this is only Kindergarten, but it IS a big milestone for a child and a parent. So as I sit here and think of how this day has come so fast I also think of all the wonderful friends she will make, the things she will learn (even if it is just arts and crafts) the road she will walk, the life lessons she will come across, the tears, happy, sad and fun times. Even though I may not be ready for this, I know she is and she will do just fine! Here's to a wonderful first day of school my baby girl!

Mother's Day

Sorry this is a few days late, but I hope every mom had the best Mother's Day on Sunday. I had a great day, I spent the day with these two cuties and the hubby at the Happiest Place on Earth....Disneyland!

It was THE BEST day ever! After 11 hours of walking, riding rides, a few tears shed cause someone ...Ethan... was scared of some rides, laughing, giggling, 10 trips to the bathroom, princesses, fairies and parades we were all exhausted but I was the happiest mommy on earth that day!

My sweet boy made me this cute frame at school... I like that he said he chose the crowns on it because I am a princess....tear, one day I will miss these cute little innocent gifts.

And to top off my day I came home to a sweet present left on my counter from my Mother-in-Love...homemade cookies, a card and a book! I am so spoiled! Thank you!!

Mother's Day weekend is when I miss my mom the most, but I know she is looking down on me and smiling! I love you momma! One day I will get to see you in heaven.

I thought I would also share a blog of a mom that I frequent for inspiration Memories on Clover Lane this post "Long Letter to a New Mom" is a great post for all new moms and for all us moms who just need some encouragement along the way (my favorites are 5 & 8).

P.S. This is our 100th post!! Thank you for following us!

Until next time...
{Lynnae}

Special gifts...

Have I mentioned before that I have the BEST Mother-in-Love, I mean really she is! She came over to spoil I mean watch the kids on Saturday night (that's what Gamma's do best) and she came over with this cute little handmade mug cozie for me...

I love that she read my "wish list" and whipped this up in a day (see I told you she was the best!)

And the next day she was at our door with this YUMMY trifle, my absolute favorite!!

Thank you M-in-Love!!! I am so blessed to have you in my life. I love my gifts!

Until next time...
Lynnae

My Sweet Girls 5th Birthday...

My sweet baby girl turned 5 on New Year's Eve, I mean what a fun day to have a birthday! So after all the Christmas craziness I jump right into "party planning" mode. This year my little princess chose to invite her 3 closest girl friends to Disney Studio 365 in Downtown Disney for a "Rockstar Makeover", I mean how cute is it seeing four little girls sitting in salon chairs getting a fun "Bow" in their hair with a color streak of choice, a lot of glitter and not to mention a little bit of makeup. So yes it was a big day for my big FIVE year old, makeup, lip gloss, glitter and all!

Getting ready to turn into a Rockstar

A touch of light makeup and lip gloss for a final touch and they get to take home a goodie bag with the cute little makeup palette and brushes used on them

Look at these cute, darling little "Rockstars"

A fun lunch at Naples Pizzeria across the way

Each girl received a goodie bag made with felt hair bows to tie it together and each little cake pop was tied with a cute felt flower

Winter Wonderland Party for her "family" birthday!

Cake Pops
(WOW I give props to anyone who makes these, they are very time consuming, sticky and the sticks would not stay on, so they turned into cake balls!)
Chocolate Covered Marshmallows
Pink Snowflake Lollipops (super easy to make, used pink Candy Melts and a mold)
Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies, Snow covered pretzels & Sweet Sticks
Pink Straws
A cute card with every year from 1-5 years old blowing out her candles

Of course the Winter Wonderland Party was really a sunny California 78 degree party so we had to opt out on the Hot Cocoa bar :( but it all turned out perfect just the way my princess wanted it!

Happy Birthday Sweet girl!! I still can't believe you are 5!!

Until next time...

Lynnae

Christmas has come and gone...

WOW was this a busy last few weeks, blogging has taken a back seat (sorry), but we are back to normal blogging! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed every minute of this very busy season! So Christmas has come and gone and as much as I LOVE this holiday I am always glad when the craziness is over. As of today my house is put back to "normal" (whatever that may be) and all the new toys have found somewhat of a new "home", we have organized, purged old toys and re-organized all week (this is a never ending battle of trying to keep the toys "organized", it lasts for a week, maybe, and then barbies and princesses end up in the car bin or in the train track box or vice versa), but I feel like the house at this moment is in pretty good shape, let's see how long it lasts! Today my sweet girl asked if I can make another Advent Calendar to start counting down the days till next Christmas?!? and then she asked if Santa is still watching her , WOW I think I might be able to keep this Santa thing going all year! As you know we had an Elf on the Shelf this year and my two kiddos were actually quite sad a few days after Christmas that he wasn't in the house anymore, they really missed him, and YES I got through all 24 days of moving the silly Elf! I was thinking maybe he can make a surprise visit in the summer just so they know he is still around, we will see what the hubby thinks :) Well I hope Christmas was joyful for everyone and now we can all get back to a non-busy life (if that even exists!)

Until next time...
Lynnae

Happy Birthday Gizmo!

Today is my Furbaby's birthday....Gizmo is 3 today!

Birthday Treat!!!!

mmm this looks good...

The Birthday boy is  Happy!

<3 rosette

Christmas through the lens...

Do you ever take the time to photograph your life at Christmas, not just the parties, or decorating the tree, visiting Santa, etc.... I mean your house at Christmas time, the things you do, the crafts you make, the stories you read, the cookies you bake, the real moments that make Christmas! Here are a few of my favorite moments of this busy season. I encourage you to snap a few pics of the things around your house that make Christmas, well, Christmas!

Until next time...
Lynnae

A million reasons to....BELIEVE

On Saturday we delivered our letters to Santa in the Believe Santa Mail Box at Macy's. This is such a great tradition. For each letter that Macy's gets they will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish-Foundation. Remember to address and stamp your letter to Santa at the North Pole. The smiles on your kids faces when they drop their letters off is nothing short of making you BELIEVE!

Until next time...
Lynnae

Our Elf arrived....

Yep our Elf arrived under our tree on December 1st, and let me tell you the squeals I heard from the kiddos first thing in the morning, it was priceless! After a whole day of figuring out a name, we ended up with good old Chippy...yes it's the same name as the Elf from the movie, but the kids just kept coming back to that name (my name of Pixie was voted out!) So Chippy is officially apart of our family! He has showed up on our tree, over our pictures and today he was in a tea pot (which the kids got a kick out of). Taelor has grown to really love him and talks to him all the time and wants to sit by him when she can, I love it, I love the innocence of a 3 and 4 year old, it's what makes the holidays even that much better. I will keep you posted on Chippy's whereabouts around the house, if you have any fun ideas I would love to hear about them!

Until next time...
Lynnae

Christmas Tree Day!

The smell of christmas trees makes me very happy...which is why I will never give up the live tree. Today Matt and I went to pick out our tree.

Home Depot not the most festive environment but the best prices

7ft-9ft tree!!!!

naked tree :P

 lights!

tada!

<3 rosette

Elf on the Shelf

OK so I think we will be adopting an Elf this year! I had no clue about this Elf on the Shelf  thing until I started seeing a few ideas pop up on Pinterest and it caught my attention. Then after this weekend when "An Elf's Story" (an animated Christmas special) was on, I was sold and tomorrow I will be out getting the Elf on the Shelf for my kids! They loved the little 30 minute special, they have watched it over and over again. If you have never heard of this, well, in a nutshell, you "adopt" an elf from the North Pole, you name the Elf so he gets his magic, he watches over your house "observing" and reports back to the North Pole to Santa every night. Each morning he is in a different hiding place so the kids can find him. He is not allowed to be touched as he will "loose" his magic (what a great idea so that the kids will not "love" on him too much) and on Christmas he goes back with Santa till the next Christmas! Sounds like a fun tradition that we will have to start this year! I will keep you posted on how it goes....my only problem would be remembering to move him each night!!!

If you want to know more about Elf on the Shelf go here.

Till next time...
Lynnae

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

A family tradition of ours is the Fashion Island Christmas tree. I love this tradition, it is always a fun night of ohhing and awwing over the tree, then a visit with Santa, dinner and Starbucks of course. I love this night, I look forward to it every year, seeing the joy and excitement on my kids faces and the meekness when they sit on Santa's lap, just makes you see a little bit of magic in their eyes!

I was wondering what he was doing under the tree....

And this is what I found....ornaments hanging underneath....I kept them there...it made me smile!

As for our home, fall stuff is down and Christmas decorations have come out. Our tree is up and the coziness of Christmas is around. I LOVE this time of year, I especially love seeing Christmas through my kids eyes. Growing up, Christmas was so magical and I want my kids to experience a whole month of it! I try and make it very special, each year I buy them and us an ornament, something that reminds me of them for that particular year. It will be fun years from now to look back at all the different stages in their lives. In years from now when they are married, I plan on boxing them all up and giving it to them on their "first" Christmas ( I know I am such a sappy mom like that I can't help it). Tonight we decorated the tree and since I had kids I gave up on the "perfect" tree with all the ornaments in the right place. I do move some but I try to keep them where they put them it makes the tree look "perfectly imperfect".....but Ethan made me smile when I saw him under the tree a few times and I realized he had hung them underneath, such an Ethan thing to do. Being the nice mom I kept them there :)

December I will be doing my December Daily project which I am so excited to share with you our daily activities, so check back for some fun ideas to do during the month of December as we are counting down the days till Christmas! What are some fun things you do for the holidays??

Till next time...
Lynnae