Santa Barbara

About a month ago, we took a fantastic vacation to Santa Barbara with my family. Well we took about a thousand photos, so it was hard to narrow down which ones to post, which is probably why is took me so long to do this post. The weather was perfect, the views were awesome and it was so much fun spending some relaxing time with the family.

On this trip Bre got over her fear of the water, both in the ocean and pool. She never got further in the water than in this picture, but that is a huge improvement to the screaming and crying of the past.

My kids dug for hours in the sand. Ian even didn't eat TOO much.

The rental house had a gorgeous pool and we spent hours in the water.

Did I mention the awesome views..hee hee.

Mom & Dad got some R & R

Alex & Ian became closer buds and had fun playing together.

A trip to the zoo is always a must.

S'mores around the firepit.

The aquarium on the wharf. Perfect for our little kids.

We had a nice diner out on the wharf.

My childhood friend, Stacey, came and took pictures of us. She lives in the Ventura area now, so it worked out perfectly.

Stacey did a great job...I love how they turned out in spite of the crying babies!

I can't wait till our next trip back. Craig would really like to retire here, but I wonder how many jobs we would have to work to make that happen...just a dream I guess!

Three of a kind

Mom found a darling pattern for the girls during a visit to the Cotton Ball in Morro Bay. We went to Strawberry patches to pick out fabric and found a perfect Riley Blake fabric that would be cute for the 4th of July. I volunteered to make the shirts (mom has a longer to-do list than me!) and then realized the shirts have a pintucked sleeve and serged edges - of which neither of us had equipment for. Long story short, this project motivated mom to buy a serger and pintuck foot. It reminded me of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" kind of thing (or maybe I just have been reading that book alot lately).

The pattern is the "Olivia Top" by Pink Fig. I liked that the pattern went from infant to big girl sizes. By the way, you don't have to have a serged edge, but its a but more bulky without.

I just love this line up. Each girl is 2 1/2 years apart from the next.

The pintucks in the sleeves add a cute little detail.

Don't they look darling? They were all dressed up to go to dinner on the wharf in Santa Barbara. Well worth the effort!

A New Necklace

It's the end of the month which means the end of the clothing budget. I really want to be good (thanks Dave Ramsey), but I need a necklace for my brother-in-law's destination wedding this weekend. So, I started blog hopping and dug through my jewelry supply stash and found the perfect idea. This necklace was made using these two tutorials:

JCrew inspired threaded necklace and Pom Pom bib necklace

I used an old t-shirt that never quite looked right on me for the pom pom flowers. Then I used the same flowers to make some fun hair accessories, but I'll save that story for another day.

Las Vegas here we come!

Ian - 16 months

It's been a while since I did a post on Ian and how fast he is changing! Here are some things he is up to lately:

• He loves to play outside...especially in the sandbox. He will dig and dump sand for hours.


• He is such a mama's boy! (I love it!)


• He is becoming rather a picky eating, making mealtimes somewhat of a headache.


• He wants to do everything by himself...my mom blames me for this character trait.


• He loves Bre and wants to copy everything she does.


• He is talking so much and is like a little parrot copying what we say.


• He loves to have us read books to him...especially Daddy, because he has the best Elmo voice.

Here are few pictures that make my heart melt!

I love his eyes when he wears Dodger blue, but only when Daddy's not home!

We had a child dedication this month. The verse we have chosen for Ian is:

Colossians 1:9-10

"So we have not stopped praying for you since we heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then you way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better."

Cindy-Lou-Who's Baby Shower

Cindy-Lou-Who has always been my nickname for my dear cousin who I really consider more of a sister...so what would be more appropriate for her than a Dr. Seuss themed baby shower? For my wild and crazy cousin we definitely couldn't do pastel blue, only lots of bright colors. What a fun shower to get to help plan! We can't wait to meet the sweet baby boy!

Cindy working that darling baby bump

Cat in the Hat diaper cake & photo of baby boy

"A person's a person no matter how small"

Cake Pops

"Welcome Baby" bunting and yummy Smith's cake

A encouraging devotional by Aunt Marlene

Apparently Auntie M told a funny story

Aunt Gail is very excited for this little one to come...it will be her 6th grandbaby!

A New Sundress

Its so much fun to make sundresses for Breanna now that it is warming up outside. She is becoming a girly girl and loves wearing dresses. This one was pretty easy with the shirring in the back avoiding the dreaded zipper or buttons. It ended up being much more of a mermaid style than intended, but what 3 year old girl doesn't want to look like Ariel, right?

Best of all, she can twirl around in it!

Art Display

I needed something in the playroom to display all of Breanna's arts and crafts that she has been taking home from Sunday School, Bible study and Mops (which is ALOT!). My nieghbor found a similar piece at Home Goods that had three clips on it and I got inspired. My dad did the wood work for me and then I painted it red. In case you wanted to make one for yourself the clips are called #3 bulldog clips.

I want to put some black vinyl lettering on the piece, but I need ideas...what should it say? My neighbor's said "Look what I did!"

I could actually use like 5 more of these to hold all the stuff that Bre brings home, but that would be a little excessive.