Some Alone Time

 Carleton and I took two fun trips...just the two of us!  One to Vegas and the other on a cruise.  We love being with our children but we also love any time we can just hang out together.  In Vegas we...

 ...went on a beautiful bike ride.

 ...stayed in a fancy hotel.

...visited the Pawn shop from show.

 

 There was a darling antique store close.  Too bad it was 50x what I wanted to spend.



 ...thanks to the Avalos's we went to the Wicked Spoon.  It was like a gourmet buffet.  Amazing!!  I look like I'm carrying another 10 pound baby...only this one is made of ice cream...well, it would be a long list.

Two weeks later we went on a three day cruise to Ensanada.  For our day off the boat we went zip lining, visited a blow hole, and did a little shopping Mexico style.

 We went on several bridges that were swinging around.  We had to unhook and rehook ourselves in the middle.  I thought that maybe it wasn't the greatest idea since the bus had stopped at a liquor store on the way there and some of the people had already put away a few.  Lucky we and our bus mates made it.

 


I've started a side business of refinishing furniture.  Here are some pics of some pieces that mom helped me with while she was visiting.

 Before.  This piece is probably the pretties I've seen.  It was a crazy amount of work but very rewarding when we finished it.  My friend, Brandi, put this in her daughters room.



 After.

 

Before.  My friend, Jocelyn is putting this under her tv in the living room.  I loved the gel stain and plan on using it on all my cupboards and banister in my house.

 After.  It's a dark brown but looks black in this pic.


People ask how I restore furniture with little kids.  Apollo and Annie love to do it too.  I buy wooden projects from the dollar store or the thrift store and have the kids sand and work on them.  I've bought three jewelry boxes for Annie to "refinish"...they come out an interesting rainbow of colors.  Apollo took my frames apart in this picture.  I got them from the dollar store, sanded them, and put some cute printouts for my bedroom.

This is an old mirror I refinished for Sunny.  She has a hundred year old home all done in different shades of gray.  This mirror will add some a fun pop of color.  After this pic, I rubbed black stain on it.  I'll post a pic later of the finished product.

 Here are my next projects.
 


I plan on refinishing this and painting it yellow.

 Here's my garage sale partner.

Parks turns 1!

Parks has brought a lot of joy and fun into our lives this past year.  A  couple days ago only Parks and I were in the car and I was singing...he sang along with me for the whole ride.  He is adored by Annie and Apollo...he fits right in.  He loves giving me big open mouthed-slobbery kisses.  I love them too.  He loves loves bath time and the water and is so sad every time he gets out.  He also loves driving.  He is sad when we walk by the kids' Razor (little kids Jeep) and doesn't get in.  He likes to sit on Apollo's lap while he "helps" Apollo drive.



PARTY PREP.  Carleton baked the cakes.  Apollo and Annie frosted them.  Annie and Grandma decorated them.  I love pinterest.  I found the banner and other printables for his vintage candy store themed party.  I made some pedestals for the cakes out of glass plates and candlesticks.  I found some pretty glassware to hold the candy from thrift stores and a garage sale.














BABY PARTY.  For Parks' birthday, only the babies were invited.  It was fun to focus on them.  We had toys out on a blanket so the kids could play, had a crawling race, had the kids play with party makers, then stripped them down so each baby could play with his/her individual cake.  Parks wasn't so sure about the frosting and finally made his way to Wyatt's cake.  I think he liked the candy better than the cake.  I remember at Annie's first she put her whole face right into the cake.  Londyn was a great help!...so were Apollo and Annie.

1st day with Miss Diana for Annie.  She loves preschool.  We were playing "Would you Rather" the other day and Carleton asked Apollo if he would rather go to Disneyland or go to preschool.  He said preschool!  Apollo got a baking said Mom maid for Christmas.  He said he wanted to make a treat for Miss Diana.

She always has funny poses.

Apollo and Ty were the special helpers that day.

Annie was the special helper another day.  She comes across so sweet and shy in front of others...little do they know. 

She does so well...loves homework, passing off her letters and sounds, and all the activities.  It's funny to see the kids' personalities.  Annie's been sick for the last 2 classes and has been so sad to miss.


For Funday Monday, the kids fed the ducks and danced to some live music.

Steve and Michelle were in town (from Australia).  Steve, Aileen, and I worked together so it's always a fun reunion.  I always leave this crew inspired and uplifted...wanting to be a better person.

As I write this sick little Parks is snuggled and falling asleep in my arms moaning "mama".  Poor guy.  Parks and Annie both have pneumonia.  Lots of crying and whining.  At least they are sleeping at nights.  We had a stressful doctor visit the other day with tests and breathing treatments.  I felt thankful to be a mom and to be there to comfort them.  Little man's asleep and blogging with one hand is getting annoying.