8...

i did it!
i chopped 8 inches off my hair!
not the best picture..
but the best i could do with chloe tugging on my leg for some mmukkk (milk)..
it feels fabulous and i love it ( i kinda think i should of gone about 2 inches shorter???)
ha!

day 2

i am defeated..
she likes to jump and splash in her puddles of pee..
she has thrown tantrums up the waah-zooooo..
and now I have eaten a whole bowl of m&m's..
d.o.n.e.

day 1

i started potty training today..
ugh!
she peed 2x in the potty, 4x on the floor..the girl pee's ALOT!
the only way she will sit on the potty is with a tea party, so i have the tea set on the bathroom sink with a bowl of m&m's which are her REWARD..

how cute are her new undies?

tinkerbell and mickey mouse.. she picked them herself.

THE dress.

this dress..
ohh this dress..
as you can see from here and here she loves it!
(birthday post was 2 seperate days f.y.i)..
she calls it her "pretty" and as soon as she wakes up she looks for it..
if it is not hanging in her closet, she goes through the dirty clothes basket...
i have now learned to HIDE this dress if it is dirty because the fit she will throw if she sees her loved dress and can not wear it will BRING THIS HOUSE DOWN!!
i am telling you, she LOOOOVVVEEESSS this dress..
i love polka dots as much as the next gal.. but this is getting ridiculous!!

3 signs SHE has a problem..

1. it is becoming very faded and very soft with all the washing it has experienced..
2. damian told her it is getting so ridiculous people are going to start talking..
3. a friend at the ymca today commented on "chloe and her dress"
(yes she was wearing it again today)..

now to get her to admit she has a problem..

you scream.. i scream...

so here is the scenario..
it is 7:45 pm and i am tucking my clean, coconut scented, slicked hair, CLEAN, sweet little one's in bed..
we suddenly hear a faint chiming in the far, far distance..
getting closer..and closer..
what is it you ask??
the ice cream man!!!!!!

wait a minute..

7:45??
really? how many children are at play at 7:45pm?
is this guy really just a man driving a "torture" truck, trying to torture all the parents who are tucking their kids into bed?

i picture him chuckling through the streets "hahahahaha.. you can't have any, nee-ner, nee-ner, nee-ner."

ok, i know not really but mayyyybe?!!

ok, anyways..


we told makena the next morning who has been saving all her $1 bills in her jewelry box for this very moment, that the ice cream man was on his way home. (he really was, did i mention it was 8pm? i wasn't fibbing) and so sweetly she agrees and says we will get an ice cream next time... ( how she is so understanding sometimes REALLY baffles me)
so i gave her a kiss and turned out the lights..

i then closed her door, immediatley swung open the front door, marched outside, flagged down this BLUE torture/ice cream truck..
he spots me, he smiles, he waves, he drives up to me and he turns off his engine...

the conversation..

me- "hi there! i am wondering if you always come by at 8pm because i never hear you this late and no one is on the street and both my girls are in bed?"
ice cream man- "yes, i come by mondays and thursdays at 8pm."
me- "can i make a special request for 6:30pm after dinner, i mean there are multiple children in the street and you will probably sell a lot more of your yummy treats anyway, right??"
ice cream man- "NO."
me-"ok.....??!! (he just doesn't get it) so if we keep the girls up until 8pm next week, you will come by my house?"
ice cream man- "yes"

sooooo.. we promised makena and chloe that we would wait up until 8pm next monday for the BLUE ice cream truck..
fast forward to the next monday around 6ish weare playing soccer in the backyard and suddenly we hear the twinkling sounds of delight chiming through the streets!!!
makena grabs her money, runs skips and gallops all at the same time out front and to our SURPRISE..
it was a DIFFERENT ice cream man!!
now it's my turn "hahahahhaa"
take that 8pm blue ice cream truck..man.. guy..

there is a new man in town!!!!!!!!!!
and his ice cream truck is white and he thinks 6:30pm is a perfect time for summer treats..
i have to say i totally agree..

"it's your birthday.."

me-"so, where do you want to go for lunch"
makena-"Costco!!"


really.. I am serious..
we met Damian for lunch and away we went to Costco for an $8 birthday feast.. she was ecstatic!

daddy had a few gifts for her to open on our way..
pizza + pink lemonade= a 5 year old's birthday wish...
who knew??
did you?!


so second request was Baskin Robbins and 3 scoops?!!!!
She finished every last bit of her creation of pink and blue delicious-ness..
that is Blue Raspberry on the bottom
then Pink Bubble Gum in the middle (but.. she doesn't like the actual gum in the ice cream?!)
last on top is cotton Candy..
Blue + Pink + Pink/Blue= 5 year old's birthday bliss
that..
i KNEW..



1 scoop cotton candy + 2 year old= (see below)

sugar filled twirling and dancing and singing paaaaarrrttttyyyy and of course NOT at the table. (Do you see her in the back?)

**

Let's notice the difference..

5 year old is still sitting, making sure she is slurping and scooping EVERY LAST DRIP of that monster treat...nothing going anywhere but into her mouth.

2 year old is dancing with ice cream ALL OVER her polka dot dress she is OBSESSED with wearing everyday, dripping down her face, puddles on the floor, and as she twirled ice cream would splatter all over the windows.. and floor.

that was our mellow birthday PRE- Party..

ya, i said mellow.. well it is the usual anyway :0)

ps- we do always clean up after ourselves and always TIP when we venture into public!!




Here is our Party in the Park...

she really was afraid she would float away with all these balloons...

i love her look of concern on that little face..

she is classic..

we did a garden theme with construction paper flowers in the pots and a craft table with fruit loop necklaces and rock painting and we made clothespin butterflies that hung from the awnings.

we were busy allll week..

the food was served out of flower pots and picnic baskets and we had silly names like ladybug pie for the pizza and sweet nectar for the drinks..

party favors were small pots with paint and brushes and a packet of seeds that i tagged and named "seeds of wonder.."

the kids loved them..

yes! even the boys!

we had 20 beautiful kids at the party and it was a lot of fun!!!!!

rainbow cake..

don't let it fool you..

there was CHOCOLATE inside!!!!!!

i think she is part kangaroo by the way she just jumped for 3 hours straight..

this is her precious face when she saw the man coming to take away her jumping paradise...

it's crazy how you love your kids more and more everyday and how now after 5 years of loving.. I KNOW tomorrow I will still manage to love her more... how is that possible?!

i am in love..

with our summer...

this is chloe's favorite spot.
(no, she is not peeing)
she just likes to sit in a bucket of water.. at the beach.. under the sunshine..
people and bird watching..
for hours..

can you blame her?

p.s.- makena's big birthday bash is this weekend so stay tuned for paaaartaaaayy post!

5..

today my sweet little girl is 5.
she looks bigger
she hugs tighter
she smiles wider
she giggles louder
she speaks sweeter
she is today
5...

happy birthday my lovely daughter...
mommy loves you..

our big party..

georgina and hannah's visit was a JAM packed party...

georgina had gifts for the girls every morning to open..

anything from these adorable green gators, to books, to little solar powered cars..

can you be anymore thoughtful??? the girls were looooving it.

day 1..

we hiked torrey pines...

it was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous...

(here is georgina taking it all in)

day 2.

we had a full day at beautiful moonlight beach..

day 3..

the zoo..

almost every animal gave us a show...

hannah's favorite part was the panda..

(here is georgina and hannah on their way)

the polar bear was incredible...

he was playing ball for 15 minutes..

RIGHT IN FRONT of us..

in between all that was tea party, swim party, bbq party, coffee in the a.m. was even a party, we had lots of reading books parties, slumber party, inn-in out party, acai bowl party..

it was just one big party..

thank you for visiting friends...

we loved our party.

sisters..

you can NOT pay for this kind of entertainment..

loving...

i am loving my georgina and little hannah staying with us from florida..
we are having so much fun..
i am loving our fun..
more to come but i have to go have more fun first..

2 more minutes.

red strawberry salad..

grilled white corn, cherry tomatoes, onion, basil and mint (from my garden) salad.



blue otter pop tongue..

We had a camp out sleep over for our 4th of July celebration with all the kids and all the crazy coming together and it was WONDERFUL!!

LOOOVE Lara in my kitchen..

well, i love her anywhere but we know her kitchen skills are AHHHHH-mazing!

Chris.. the master with the bbq..

he ties these cute corn husk bows around the corn before bbq-ing..
the grill marks on the fish were art..
and he even cleans the grill after..
did i mention he was OUR guest.
shame on me!
no! shame on damian!!!

we had quite the spread of fantastic food, children running wild, beautiful sunshine,
lovely friends and simply just enjoying..

we even made smores...

it didn't pan out for the evening once we realized that fireworks take priority and 9pm is wayyyyy late for chocolate in tots..

not.going.to.happen.

soo.. 8am smores in our pj's..

love it.

It is time to retire her Hello Kitty Pj's because she is sprouting like a ??, I don't know the saying exactly but you know what I mean...

mid-riff is never allowed.. E V E R!!

hudson was not sure about the mess of a gooey marshmallow.

i must say.. i can't blame him.. at all.
this boy is the biggest sweetheart and gives Lara about 5 heart attacks a day.

he is the definition of "GO FOR IT"

luke on the other hand, licked the spoon for quite sometime..

seriously.. can you be anymore handsome or GROWN UP!! Stop it NOW!!

All OF YOU!

late morning as our lovely friends were scrambling to get the kids dressed, brushed, cleaned and OUT OF THE TENT.. Chris overheard Makena telling Luke that everytime your daddy says it's time to go, you have to keep saying...

"just 2 more minutes"

nevermind the fact she thinks she is sooooo smart....

i too wish for another 2 minutes!!

come back my friends, we miss you already!!

xoxo

best of friends

more to come..
our 4th of july camp out...

pesto, sunflowers and party planning...

a common apperance at the dinner table these days..
the girls gobble this dish up..
pesto, dash of feta and diced up roma tomato with hearty whole wheat spaghetti

these are our newest addition to the garden..

beautiful sunflowers...

and we have officially started party planning mode..

painting, cutting and gluing..

what do you think these will be???

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!