mini vacation

I just got back from a mini vacation with some girl friends. It was nice. A lot of cookies, relaxing and a few beers thrown in. I think everyone needs a non planned relaxing day or days. It makes going back to routine much easier for sure.
Of course I have no photos..mostly cause I dot feel like lugging my camera around. Also cause I have been feeling really non creative and my heart isn't in at much as it used to be. I'm going to be doing more photos just for my own enjoyment and less for other people. That may mean less money coming in but I really want to figure my way out of this photo funk.

Sebastian took this one of me holding my big (baby) boy.

My sweet hubby who watched all 3 kids for 3 days so I could get away with friends :)

YUM

So last night I was hungry and wanting something to eat. Unfortunately we had nothing really to snack on that I wanted. I decided to just torture myself with Tasetspotting.com. This site showcases different peoples recipes and food pictures. YUM! It only makes one hungrier though really.
So anyway, I got it in my head that I had to make apple pie from scratch last night. So today August and I set out to do just that. We had a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, It was a bit labor intensive, but worth it for sure. Borrowing a apple peeler/corer was definitely a good move too, it cut our work in half and was also fun to do.







It is still cooling so I cant tell you if it was a success yet ;)

ETA- The pie was really good. It had more of a tart taste to it which I liked and went well with the ice cream I put on top. The crust was yummy but quite crumbly. I may try a different recipe next week just for fun and to compare.

Grandma Bell

In the last year or so I have lost both my paternal and maternal grandmother as well as my step-grandmother.

I feel lucky that I have the memories with them that I do. I think the hardest part for me is not knowing them more than I did. Especially Janice, my Grandma Bell. I knew her as a grandmother but I wish I knew more about her life growing up in the 30's and 40's. I guess those are questions I should have asked.

Janice Marie Zaragoza Bell

Janice Marie Zaragoza Bell Beloved Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother, Janice Marie Zaragoza Bell, age 80, passed away on Wed., Jan. 27, 2010 at Tacoma General Hospital from natural causes. Janice was born Aug. 19, 1929 in Pensacola FL, where she met her husband LeRoy Bell, Jr. While in the military they traveled the world raising 6 children until the settled in Tacoma in 1965. Janice is survived by sons LeRoy, Paul, John, and daughter Michelle; 9 grandchildren, Nicole, Danielle, Brandon, Trevor, Christopher, Mary, Monica, Elana and Miles; 9 great-grandchildren, Christina, Ruby, Simone, Rosa, Veda, Draken, August, Sam, and DeWayne. Janice was preceded in death by her 2 daughters Marie and Linnea. She is further survived by her sister Regina, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Janice was a wonderful mother who left behind a beautiful legacy. Her memory will always live on in the hearts of her loving family and friends. Services will be privately held.

Sunday

Goodbye weekend! It was a good one. Although I might have liked a bit more sleep. Oh well :)
This coming week will be busy, well what week isn't these days!
Both girls start new after school activities. Rosa has a dance class she is taking with an old classmate, and Veda will be starting karate.

My girls doing August's hair at their "salon" this weekend.

The Salon was so cute the girls put together. They would sit you in the chair, give you a magazine, and braid your hair. Veda would hold up a hand mirror the whole time so you could see your transformation. Auggie transformed in to a boy with pink barrettes and braids.. ha ha . He is such a good sport.

SWIM

Swimming lessons in this house is a bad word (Just ask my kids). I'm not sure why. Both me and my husband love to swim..we assumed our children would too. Despite having them in lessons since they were young.. they all have a slight fear of the water. Now after so many years, only Rosa will dunk her head and can swim a few feet. So technically she is still in the same starter class. Veda is now in that same class as well (3 times a charm right?). This might be a bad idea since they both can feed in to their fears. I'm determined though, to have them swimming by summer!

Look :)

Just a photo

Can you fix it?

Yes he can! August was carrying his tools around today asking me what needed fixing. He asked me to call him Bob (not the builder apparently JUST Bob)too. I would point out wobbly chair legs and what not for him to "fix" when we were done playing he said .."anything else ma'am" ha ha ha So cute.

It is a new year!

Of course there are new resolutions and what not. Does anyone really stick with them? I don't know, it is fun to start fresh though. I also love having goals, even if they may not all get seen through to the end. It is worth a try right?
One of my goals is to cook more at home. More fresh and from scratch dinners. That and branch out from the same 4 dinners we always eat. This is going to require more planning on my part, thinking of what is for dinner at 4pm is not going to fly anymore. I will try though.

Goodbye old pal.

He used to run super fast even having only 3 legs.
He loved to chase birds and squirrels. He was known to jump in to lakes and chase ducks for up to a half an hour, just swimming after them.
He really was a sweet dog. Loved to love and be loved.



I admit that I was put out a bit by this last year with him. He was not the dog I had loved for so many years. More of a shell of that. I know that is what happens with age. I know that is part of caring for a animal companion. It was just hard, and I feel bad for all the frustration I had when he had to be carried up and down stairs, for being mad that I had to clean up dog urine or crap at least 3 times a week and almost every day in the end if I didn't get him outside in the AM. The thing was though up until the last few weeks he still had that happy look a lot of the time. Not the last two days though. He looked so out of it. His body seemed so worn and so sad.
I will miss you Angus!

Rosa saying goodbye

HEAT!

Woohoo, the heat is ON! It has been in the upper 80's and will venture in to the 90's soon. That is pretty darn hot for Seattle. I have been sweating all day!
The kids have been enjoying it though. They have been swimming and using our new bigger than life water pistols.

Anything to keep cool. I'm more of a 75 degree weather girl, but I will deal with it. Beach trips and open windows helps.



I HAD been doing this great running routine the past 3 weeks, of course my vacation to Ocean shores with the ladies totally screwed that up. Instead I was eating, frolicking on the beach, and hitting the Indian casino! Did I mention eating? Oh the fried food!! It was fun though. A lot of laughs. I didn't have my camera, but I'm sure some crazy candid shots will pop up on facebook ;)

4 Years old

My last baby was born 4 years ago today. He is such a bundle of sweetness topped with bizarre boy energy.
We had a bbq for him yesterday. We broke out the water pistols. You can imagine what happens when you give kids ages 3-9 water those things. Water and fun and of course some tears lol.

Today we just hung out, went to the beach and I told him that I would make him anything he wanted for all his meals HIS choice. So for breakfast he chose dutch babies, lunch he wanted mac and cheese lol, then for dinner he requested lasagna with salad and garlic bread. IM FULL! IT was good though. For dessert we are having fruit pizza. YUM!( sugar cookie dough cream cheese sweetened and fresh fruit yum)

Summer fun

What a summer. We have been so busy. With camps and swimming lessons, and just playing outside! Yesterday we went to a youth circus that had children doing neat acrobatic stuff. The kids enjoyed it for sure. My little man's birthday is coming up too!
I have a large amount of back up photos to post. I may do that in the next few days.
My outside garden is really flourishing. It is almost jungle like. The best part is the humming birds! I keep trying to get photos of the little guys. I have a few but they aren't great.

August also got ANOTHER hair trim courtesy of his big sister. She was trying to make hat for him. In order to do that she needed to cut the fabric around his head. This resulted in the unfortunate loss of a chunk of hair. I kind of tried to fix it, then I decided to leave it and let it grow out.

Berry picking

Frozen pizza??

Is this an acceptable dinner for 3 growing bodies? hmm the answer is YES. If you have 3 kids and your home with them and there is nothing else to make them, and taking them to the store would cause me to go insane.

Don't worry, its not like I gave them donuts for snack earlier...o.k guilty again.

I promise to feed them broccoli, tofu, and various fruits tomorrow ;)

BBQing

Summer is here, the kids are out of school, and we went to 2 BBQ's today! Actually, me and Rosa went to one, but the others went to two. Veda and August were super tired. They played ALL DAY! The first BBQ had a jumpy house and the second had a trampoline, and we also played kickball there. It was fun times all around!