PSE

Photoshop Elements is my new favorite toy! I've been messing with it for a few weeks, but yesterday my friend Yan taught me how to use it. Thanks Yan!!! The things she taught me made it so much easier, and it would have taken me awhile to figure all of it out. I was excited to try it so I went to work last night, and this is what I made. I had seen a page like this on a scrapbooking website, so I gave it a shot. I'm pretty happy with it. :)

Things I like...

1. Well, I am putting a couple of things into this #1, because these "things" are books that I have bought recently for Kate.

The Jesus Storybook Bible
- Love this! We were having a hard time finding a bible that we liked for Kate. I never realized that this could be a problem until I went to buy one. I first looked at just a normal bible, but obviously she wouldn't be very interested in that. I ended up buying one called the Preschoolers Bible, which would top my list of the worst things I have ever spent my money on. (I really hope that I don't offend anyone if they have this version.) Anyway, Brian saw a recommendation for The Jesus Storybook Bible so I bought that one, and it is just what we were looking for. Check it out if you have kids.
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Storybook-Bible-Every-Whispers/dp/0310708257/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235286224&sr=8-1

The Story of the Orchestra
- I bought this book so that I could start introducing musical instruments to Kate. She loves music, but basically only knows about guitars and pianos since that is what we have at home. This book is geared towards kids a few years older than Kate, but I just show her the pictures and tell her a few things about the instruments. It also comes with a cd that plays an excerpt of a piece that goes along with each instrument.
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Orchestra-Listen-Instruments-Composers/dp/1579121489/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235286633&sr=1-1


2. V-tech Move & Crawl Ball
- This was one of Everett's Christmas presents, and he loves it! He will sit with this in front of him for a really long time. There are lots of little buttons to push, and things to grab onto. Once he can crawl, he can chase it around too.
http://www.amazon.com/VTech-80-61320-Vtech-Move-Crawl/dp/B000231EX2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1235287065&sr=8-1


3. Chapstick True Shimmer Botanical Berry
- I have had some "flavor" of chapstick in my pocket since I was 13 years old. I have gone through phases when I would only have cherry or only strawberry. A few years ago I discovered peppermint, but Brian hates that one so I don't buy it much. Only if he makes me mad...just kidding honey! Recently I have been rotating, but I have found a new favorite! The shimmery botanical berry will be living in my pocket for quite some time.


4. The LA Dodgers
- I am so excited for baseball to start, and for the Dodgers to be good (fingers crossed, knock on wood, whatever) that I can't take it anymore. They don't need spring training, let's just get going already!


5. Chicken Piccata...mmmm!
- I've been watching Barefoot Contessa on Food Network quite a bit lately, and it is one of my favorites. For Valentine's Day I decided to make a dinner that I saw on her show, which was Chicken Piccata, roasted onions, and mashed potatoes. I realized about half way through making it that I had never even had Chicken Piccata before, and I started to be worried that I wouldn't even like it. It turned out great though. It was lemony and good! It is worth a try if you like making complicated chicken.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-piccata-recipe/index.html


6. Psych
- Speaking of shows I love...Psych is awesome! Whaaaat!!! It's on USA and it is hilarious. The season finale was yesterday, but they probably have the episodes online somewhere. If you have a sense of humor then I imagine you will love this show as much as I do.

Democracy vs. Socialism

I was just on www.goodreads.com and I read two quotes that my friend Nick has posted that were really interesting. With everything that has been going on in the last few weeks, it is hard to deny that we are headed toward becoming a socialist (to at least some degree) nation. I really wish the leaders of this country knew history a little better.

"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude." — Alexis de Tocqueville

"I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." — Thomas Jefferson

The Best Cookie Sheet In The World!

Yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies on my new cookie sheet that I bought at Williams-Sonoma, and it changed my life. Well, it made my baking life better! This cookie sheet is so much better than my old ones (they were just cheap ones from Target). I have no idea what makes it better, but the cookies are amazing. Just thought I would share...in case anyone wants an awesome cookie sheet! Here is a link to it... http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/b262/index.cfm?pkey=csheet-pans-cookie-sheets. It comes in silver too (in the store).

I'm back...hopefully!

I am watching The Office right now, and for some reason was thinking about my blog. I knew I hadn't posted anything in a long time, but I had no idea it had been so long. November 10 (or was it the 11th?) . Anyway, it's pretty sad. I'll just do a little review of the last few months...

1. We had an awesome Christmas! I'm not sure what was so amazing about it, but it was just...nice. (The Office is out of control, by the way!)

2. We went to California for 10 days, which was way too long to be away from home with 2 kids. It was a really fun trip, but very busy. We had Christmas with my family, I turned 30 (very weird), went to San Diego, celebrated New Years and my birthday again with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend, went to Sea World, and was a bridesmaid in a friends wedding. It was so nice to be home after all of that!

3. Everett is 7 months old today. It makes me a little sad that he is growing up so fast, but I love seeing the new stuff he does all the time. Today he started going up on his hands and knees. Kinda scary that he will be crawling soon. He is an amazing little person already, and I feel very blessed to have him.

4. Kate turned 3 in December. She is growing up so much! She uses words like otherwise, and weirdly enough her favorite phrase is "goodness gracious me!" She loves princesses, which I don't quite understand because that was never my thing. She loves preschool, her friends, and swim lessons. She is going to start ballet in March, and I can't wait to see that because she loves to dance. Whenever she dances she always ends it with some dramatic pose. We think she learned it from So You Think You Can Dance. It's awesome! She also really likes to cook with me, which is never helpful but always cute.

5. My sister gave me a french cookbook for my birthday, and I love it! It's been fun learning new techniques and flavor combos. I know if I ever get to spend a significant amount of time in France, I will come back at least 20 pounds heavier.

2009 has been pretty good so far, and I am looking forward to the rest!

California

On Halloween we drove to California to see my family and friends for the weekend. I was very excited to go home, because I had not been there since April. It was the longest Ventura drought I have ever experienced. Hopefully, it will never happen again!

We did the Halloween thing with my parents, my sister and my brother-in-law, and my three little nephews. Kate was so excited to get to dress up with her cousins! Kate was Tinkerbell, Austin was Peter Pan (we planned that), Zach was Mr. Incredible, Ian was Winnie-the-Pooh, and Everett was a dinosaur. Here are some pictures from the parade that they do in my parent's neighborhood every year.

After the kids were done getting candy, etc. we went to my friend Ruth's Twilight Party. She did an excellent job! Yeah, Ruth! It was very fun, and I'm even more excited for the movie now.

The next couple days we spent with my family. It was nice to actually get to hang out and spend quality time with all of them. We even had a slumber party that night. I don't think it worked out that well for Tamara, but it was fun to get to all stay up late together. We went to a baby shower for my friend Kristen that night too. It was very convenient that most of my friends were there. I miss all of them a lot! (The next picture is of my best friend Ruth's daughters with Kate and Ev, and the one after that is all of the kids at the shower.)

Monday we went to Disneyland with my parents. Kate loved it! I can't wait to go back, and take her again. Everett did really well too thankfully. Kate's favorite things were the Tea Cups (she calls them the Coffee Cups, haha!), the parade, and Pixie Hollow, where she met Tinkerbell. Next time we go to Disneyland we will stay longer though. One day is not really enough with little kids, because you can't go very fast. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to go again soon!

4 months

Everett turned 4 months old last Wednesday. I can't believe he has only been here for 4 short months, I can't imagine my life without him! He is an amazing little baby. He is so happy, almost all of the time. His laugh is hilarious, and his smile is so cute. He loves his sister, but probably not as much as she loves him. She still can't get enough of him, which is better than her asking to send him back! I took him to the doctor on Thursday, and he was doing great. He only gained a few ounces in the last 2 months, but he is still in the 70th percentile for weight. He is 26 1/2 in long, which is the 98th percentile. He is growing very similarly to Kate, but I think she stayed chubby a little longer.

Farm Animals

Two weeks ago the theme for school was farm animals. I honestly barely remember what we did, because the last week has been kind of crazy. I didn't do everything with Kate that I had planned since we were both sick, but below are some pictures of one thing she liked. We read a book titled Mrs. Wishy-Washy, which is about an old lady who washes her farm animals when they make a mess in the mud. I bought her some plastic farm animals, it was called a Farm Animal Toob. I thought it was weird! Anyway, she made a painting with her farm animals and some mud, aka brown paint. After the farm animals were dirty, she cleaned them all just like Mrs. Wishy-Washy. I was finally brave and just let her paint on her own that day. She actually did really well, no messes!

We read some other books about farm animals, she really liked one called Barn Dance by Bill Martin, Jr. She also learned the letters N and O. I was planning on taking her to the zoo, because they have a farm section and they added a new Little People Farm area. It didn't happen since it was still too hot and we were sick. Hopefully soon!