Phrases of the Week

** "Daddy, fix it! Needs Battries. Push button!"

This phrase is used with any toy now, whether a stuffed animals that have no button to speak of or a toy that really needs a battery.
--Note all spelling errors in this post are on purpose, since it is Isabelle speaking.

** "Kitty puuuuk"

This is a new phrase that we hear every time she walks down the hallway, since our cat puked in the hall. Isabelle went and got me the paper towels to clean it up... how sweet... :P I am not the messy cleaner upper, that is daddy's job.

Izaa--beelllee

At least that is how it sounds when Isabelle says her name. She started trying out saying her whole name on Mother's day (up until then when you ask her her name, she would say 'Belle'). Now you ask her and she says it with a 'z' sound and drags out the belle... so cute.

Also, you ask her how old she is and she will say, ' twoooo-five' Not sure where she gets the five, (unless it is from teh 'hi-5's' that we do), but she shows the right fingers when she does it... holds up 2 fingers, then all 5.

fun times

watering the goats...

ready to go....

play time with kitty...

My Coat

My mom brought over a coat that I wore when I was two... I believe it a Navy seal on the sleeve of my grandfathers, when he was in the Navy. How cute is Isabelle in it?

My new toy... Eric is setting for me... Isabelle's eyes really brighten with the right angle. :)

Art Show Photos

Mother's Day....

... Lasted the whole weekend.

It started Saturday with a brunch at our house, that I cooked for my mom. ( I know.. the word 'cook' in the same sentence as me is a new one, but I do yummy breakfasts!!) There was fruit, muffins and two different Quiches. Then after a nap, we met up with some friends at Olive Garden for dinner. For some odd and yet very wonderful reason, they treated us like VIP. For only four adults and 2 kids, we got a table for 10 in a cove and had 3 waitress' for us. They even gave us our appetizers for free. No complaining here, it was wonderful... the dads had the kids on one side and us moms were on the other, enjoying and relaxing. Of course we did have to do the diaper duty, since there are no changing tables in men's rooms.... what is up with that?? Of course, that is a whole other post and soap box. :)

Sunday began with waffles and juice in bed... lazy morning. Hmmm. Then I went to a local art show in Maple Valley and did the photography for it. I took photos of the art and people looking at the art. It is way harder then that sounds... I didn't want to take the photos of the backs of peoples' heads, or their heads blocking the art... I had to get faces and art work. That proved a bit difficult, but I got some. I'll post them next. Of course, it was easier to accomplish when some people I knew showed up, and I told them where to pose. hahaha

After the art show, I came home, changed and met up with Eric's parents and sisters for dinner at a Greek restaurant. Now I am not a big Greek food fan, but the 'Chop Chop Chicken Kabob' was SUPER!!! And the risoto... YUM

The best part of the weekend was the gift. We ALL know how much I am loving photography and taking pictures... so Eric got me a relfector set. I am going to need to practice a ton! So I volunteered Eric to be my model. hahaha, he doesn't know it yet though. But it came with a DVD, which I watched and am so ready to play.

Baby Shower

No, don't' get all excited... not mine!

My dear friend Katie, the one that moved away to South Carolina with her hubby to get her dream of living on the east coast (near a beach with her new adorable black lab Hans) came back to Seattle for her baby shower, which I oh, so happily hosted. I got my hands filled with all sorts of research and played my hand at party / event planing. Being the dork that I am, I researched ideas, games, activities, decorations (which was made so easy after she mentioned that she was having a boy and they were going with a nautical theme in the nursery) , and gifts. I was extremely lucky that another dear friend of Katie's was going to help out with the shower as well, since there would have been no way I could of done it all alone.

I loved being the behind the scenes of the event... I was able to watch people enjoying Katie's company for her short visit her, get photos taken, printed and put into a small album that she was able to take with her before she left the house, plan out how games and activities were going to go and make sure to tweak things if needed... and that tweaking was always adding more time to them... seems as though everyone enjoyed the games. I was so happy about that, but I do think that part of that is I know how to read individuals (being a teacher and all) so I tried to present things in a way where everyone could enjoy each other company - even those meeting for the first time.

The party started with food! Lots and lots of good food, all done by Katie's friend who co-hosted with me (we all know I don't cook - I just eat). We meandered into the playroom (aka living room) where we played some games.

First game was the name the baby animal that goes with the listed mommy animal. When watching the guests struggle (I borrowed form Isabelle's favorite show, Go Diego Go - not everyone is familiar with this show), I decided to give bonus points as we went through the answers... if you could make the sound of the animal - give yourself a point... that was a 'hoot!'

The second was an activity, which each guest was to draw a number, which corresponded to an age (o-18) of a child's life and each guest was to write, on a card provided, advise to / for Katie for that age. Each advice card was to go in the book with the photos of Katie with each guest that she took home with her. Since many guests were stumped at first, I lightened that mood by introducing the next game... "Baby Food Tasting." Using Popsicle sticks, guests had to taste and /or smell baby food and write it down. Now this game can easily go two ways... no one plays it, or everyone does... and YEAH, everyone got into it. Some even tasted a couple of the foods twice.

The last game we played, in pairs, was 'Finish the Nursery Rhyme.' This is self explanatory, yet way harder than it seemed... and for bonus points (can we say teacher), I let teams sing the rhymes.

After all was said and done, it was present time and then cake time. Now here was something fun... I didn't like any of the cakes I went to buy (and our Safeway only give 2... yes TWO choices... lame ones!!). So with the recommondation of some co-workers I went to a local hole in the wall, home town bakery - pricier than most - and they let me design a cake. How cool is that!!! Of course, it took a few days for me to do more research and come up with a design, but I did, and it was cute. So YEAH! It was a success... Maybe I should do this on the side ;) just kidding.

Enjoy some photos.

My Baby