A few people have been asking to see the kitchen remodel we did so I created a little slide show on Smilebox. I also included the new sectional Tristan built as well as a few photos of Bella's room. It's all still a work in progress and is certainly not perfect or "designed", but we love the new kitchen for our family dynamics. Every family needs an island :)

By the way, Smilebox is a great way to make online slide shows. You can add music and order DVD's. The interface is really easy to work with and all your pics are automatically downloaded so you don;t have to spend hours doing that. I only wish they would make coffee table books.

Anyways, although I may be back to blogging, I think I may be getting Jude's cold so I might be taking another break :) We'll see.

Make a Smilebox free slideshow design

Alright Mr. Fischer...

We're missing you! Hope California is treating you well. Oh, and just in case you decide to go to Thailand or something next spring. Don't. Since you're staying with us in the Fall when you come for a visit, we're coming to stay with you next spring. Oh, and we're going to Petaluma for some antiquing or maybe I can just go with your mom or sister. You boys can go find an Irish pub somewhere. Do they have those in Cali? ;)

An ellascope...ever heard of one?

Look who's feeling better...Mr. Ro is off the couch and running around the house, finally got a bath today and hair washed, and is playinig very peacefully with his sister. For now. They have missed each other during his illness, but I'm sure they will be back to picking on each other in no time at all ;)

"Look mama, it's my "ellescope"! It can go 20, 20, 20 far high!!! I'm a spy."

The sickies....

Jude has had the sickies for the past few days so he's been in movie land laying on the couch. I think he's getting used to being spoiled because he has gotten pretty demanding. We have some major work ahead of us!





While I was taking pictures he wanted a turn and snapped this one of me. I was pretty proud of him. He shot it in manual mode and my camera weighs about 10 pounds! Yeah, it's underexposed, but we'll have a lesson on that some day ;)
Oh, and never mind the empty picture frames in the background...work in progress!





This is what you'll find Bella doing after school just about everyday of the week. She loves Junie B and checks them out from the school library all by herself. Such a big girl.



She's also very aware of the camera and has to be cheeky every chance she gets as seen in exhibit A and exhibit B below.

Exhibit A


Exhibit B


Now there's my sweet girl ;)



Jude on the other hand was not feelin' having his picture taken and said "Put that camera down!!!" in not a nice way.



I guess the stern look on my face changed his mind so he obliged ;)



Then Bella was ready for her homework and some gluten free brownies.


Granny and I took her shopping last night past her bedtime. We're in a ZhuZhu pet phase right now, "we" meaning Jude, Bella, Granny and I. So we went in search of ZhuZhu "stuff" and came home stocked. Now granny is in the process of sewing clothes for the little boogers. Glad it's her and not me. Sewing teeny tiny clothes for motorized hamsters is not my thing. Fortunately we have lots of other craft projects coming up to share soon :)

Family Portraits coming soon....

Check it out! I am so excited to have Carl take our pictures in March. I'm in the process of picking out outfits early. Please tell me we won't get pelted with snow in March. Pleeeeeaaaaassssseeeee!!!!!! He is so super talented and amazing and we can't wait!

Carl Zoch Photography Blog

Be careful....

if you're a friend of mine you might just get blogged. Poor Jeremy and Lacey never knew what hit them. A friendly visit to the coffee shop turned into a mini photo session. Not really, but I have been taking a majority of my photos lately with my iphone and using the "camerabag ap" and "shake it" ap. Oh how I love thee.

Speaking of Jeremy, Jude had this to say...
Jude: How come they call him "Germy"? Is it cause' he picks his nose?

(The thought that ran through my head): No, that would be you son. Never point
the finger baby, especially the
nose picking one ;)








I'm loving this right now too....



Thanks Eric...by the way you may have good taste in music, but you are an awful friend! Have fun in Cali....I hope you meet Miss Shanghai and never forget you speak Okie ;)

Off to bed, we have meeting in the morning now and I have to get plenty of rest for the super bowl party. I'm not sure who's playing, but I'm looking forward to hanging out with friends and eating lots of stuff I shouldn't. What are your plans?

A Note.

Some days as parents we get notes from the teacher that make our hearts full...

"Bella's card made my heart smile. I am so proud of her - I'm happy to know she likes being with me. She is such a quick learner - very perceptive and hard working. I wish I had a class full of Bellas!!"

-Mrs. Panchoo

Today was one of those days.

Extreme Makeover in T-Town

So, last week we found out that Extreme Home Makeover on ABC would be in town to give a family a new home. Cool huh? Well, then we found out that it would be in our old neighborhood. Even cooler. Then we drove by and got kicked out of the neighborhood by security. NOT COOL. I was so hoping to see Ty. Then next day, Tristan got a call from a designer locally who was helping out with some things for the show and she asked him to upholster some pieces. Then we "he" got a call to be on set Sunday afternoon to meet with the design producers to go over what he was supposed to make. So we walked our little hineys right past the security guys (if only it was the ones who booted us out the first time) and onto "the set". We sat through the meeting, then as we were leaving I spotted "Pauly" taking a break. I whispered to Tristan "look, it's Paul!!!" so stinking excited I could hardly contain myself and not look like a freak.

Me (again): Look it's Paul, ya know Pauly!!!!! Tee hee!

Tristan : Is it?

Me: Yeah, I think it is, isn't it?

Tristan: It is. I'm gonna go say hi.

Me: NO! Don't do that, he'll think you're weird.

Tristan: I'm just going to say hi, it's no big deal.

Me: Yes it is, he's going to think we're obsessed fans.

(I turn around and see him walking towards him).

Me: OMG. OMG. OMG.

I walk over to introduce myself and snap a pic. It was cool.

Then Tristan worked on the set to help do some carpentry work. Last night they were moving in the furniture so our friend (who might I add is moving to California and leaving us in the dust and we hate him for it, but love him anyways) Eric watched the kiddos for us and we volunteered to help at the house.

Apparently, they had too much help in the house so we had to go back down to "art world" and do some carpentry. I used a jigsaw and a drill and a screw gun. I handled them by myself to. If only Ty could have seen me ;) Fortunately my husband did and fell in love with me all over again (oh the things he never knew about me). I'm just sayin'. It was fun.

We eventually did get to go in the house and help carry some paint stuff and look around. It's pretty cool. It will air in March and I can't wait to see "our" handy work on TV! If you want our autograph just ask ;)