Halloween Night

Pumpkin Patch

Kind of an impromptu pumpkin patch visit that we ended up having a lot of fun at. It is really neat now with the girls getting older that we can share some fun times together. We are getting Disneyland passes soon and I look forward to some fun!

Toughest part with these two is keeping track. One always seems to go one way and the other the opposite way. It's funny how you decide who to go after first and how to maneuver. It's quite an adaptation process, being a mom of two and I can only imagine with more.

Halloween Part 1

Natalie and Noelle were baby Aurora and princess Aurora for Noelle's dance class on Friday!

Here is Natalie as Minnie Mouse for her Kid's Class on Thursday - so cute! A room full of under 2 year olds dressed up has got to be one of the cutest sites. Definitely brightens up your day.

Taco Tongue Gene

First Day of Preschool

It's amazing how the firsts just keep on coming and you try to savor them as much as you can but it just doesn't seem to slow down.

Thankfully, preschool still feels little, junior high on the other hand, yikes!

My little girl was so excited for preschool! She really seemed ready. She has always been such a little learner, loving soaking up new information and getting to impress us with her skills.

I'm also excited for what she will learn there - raising her hand, playing with other, listening, etc.

She did really well the first day but was just plain worn out by the end!

She told me that something was, "Cessary" and later I realized that she meant recess. Now, she asks Natalie everyday if she wants to go to recess. I guess that was a highlight, although she said she got "too sweaty."

Here she is before her first day!

EN-ER-GY!

Another thing that my girls are not lacking!

A-TI-TUDE!

Watch out! These little ones have personalily by the truck load! These pictures capture them well!

Tahoe and Scott's Wedding!

It sure was a lot of driving but overall a trip totally worth it. We are so excited for Scott (Ryan's best man) and Annie and loved supporting and celebrating with them! Fun to see friends and sooo great to have Grandma Julie staying with us and helping with the girls! Noelle loved having sleepovers in the same room as her grandma.

Family Resemblance

We have always thought that Ryan's mom Julie is the person that Noelle looks most like - although one baby picture of his sister looks pretty close too. Here is a picture of Julie when she was a toddler. What do you think?
We asked Noelle who it was and she said, "Noelle."

Lemon Chicken

Another recipe we love...

Lemon Chicken
• Boneless skinless breasts (Foster Farms sells a pack that are sliced thin already and work best) or slice horizontally so that you have two thin halves
• ½ cup Bread crumbs
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• Egg
• 1 cup flour
• 1 lemon
• ½ stick butter
• 2 tsp dried (or fresh) parsley
Prepare a frying pan on medium with 2 tbsp butter.
In an assembly line on your counter:
1. Flour on a plate
2. Beaten egg in a bowl (shallow like a cereal bowl)
3. Parmesan and bread crumbs mixed on a plate
Dip and cover chicken in each, one at a time.
Place breaded chicken in the frying pan.
Cook until each side is brown and the inside is done (if your sides get too brown and inside not finished, you can place in oven and bake until you finish preparing the rest).
In same frying pan on low, squeeze lemon juice and add remaining butter and parsley. Stir.
Pour lemon sauce on top of chicken to serve.
*We always serve this chicken with rice and a vegetable and pour the lemon sauce on those as well.
This is one of our favorite meals. It may not turn out perfect the first time but you can adjust whatever didn’t work for the next time.

I don't have an actual recipe for this so hopefully I explain it well enough.

This makes me laugh...

This first video is the little performance at the end of Noelle's week long dance camp. It was only 2 hours a day but a big step towards preschool! It was adorable. Each day had a new "Enchanted" theme and Wednesday they wore their princess dresses and had a tea party.
Noelle zoned out during most of the performance. She ended up not feeling good which I thought was coming on but was hoping not.
Anyways, she perked up at the end of this song which is this first video.



This video was taken right after they finished the dance you just saw. Natalie grabbed these glasses and was ready to show her stuff. No watching for this baby. She always wants in on the action. Here is Natalie's version!

Little Ganyos!

I never really looked ahead to this point of life but here we are - 5 kids. I'm thankful for all we've shared with you Brian and Erica and for the fun we have when we're together.

Oops, I chose the wrong picture from the little thumbnails. Probably a more accurate portrayal so I'll leave it :).

Halle and Hayden

Hayden's awesome moves.
He was so cute with all the girls. He told Noelle he wanted to introduce her to someone and proceeded to walk her outside and formally introduce her to his aunt (so cute).

This girl loves to eat and loves hot dogs. I tried to start her with fruit and break off little pieces of hot dog. She found Halle's abandoned hot dog and went to town. I took it away after I realized and took the picture (choking hazard although child never chokes - even though everyday she puts something she's not supposed to have in her mouth shows me and then runs away wanting me to chase her).

Noelle and Halle

Twirling!

We celebrated a handful of birthdays in Erica's family! Their extended family threw a big party and I questioned having hamburgers and hotdogs catered but they were probably the best I've ever had!

It was so fun to have the kids together as it only happens maybe once or twice a year with the distance between us.

4th

Noelle was really excited for the fourth. Expecially because she remembered that she ate marshmallows last fourth. We went to a carnival that her and Ryan rode their bike to and in the spirit of the day she got a flag painted on her face :).

When Ryan set off the first firework, she was close by and not ready for it. She was not happy. Do you see her in the third picture?

Gradually, I eased her back out to the fireworks, beginning with watching them through a closed window but by the end of the night she was having fun.

Later that night I was inside when i heard a thump above me of the roof. I thought, "Oh, Ryan must be getting on the roof" and then in a second I was on my feet and running out the door with the realization that Noelle was probably going with him. My dad had hoisted her up to him. So not okay with that! They made it down safe and Noelle headed to bed. And Ryan and I discussed my safety issues :).

Prayer

I'm reading a book that has been challenging me, growing me and causing my brain to change it's very way of understanding and relating to the world and to God. This book is not so much providing novel information to me but rather causing me to connect things I might have missed before or stop and really dwell on the significance of information that I took for granted.

I would have never expected to find what I have in this book. In fact, I really had no desire to read it but Ryan kept saying, "I got this book, why don't we read it together?"

I feel so thankful that God would continue His faithfulness to me and teach me more wonderful things about Himself and all that He offers me.

I now have pages of quotes that I've jotted down. Many of them blow me away everytime I read them. I might share one from time to time.

"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance," writes Archbishop Trench; "It is laying hold of his highest willingness." (95)

Jana Alayra

Years ago I became a fan of Jana Alayra, a Children's Christian Music singer/songwriter. She performed at a camp I volunteered at. We have had two of her CDs and been to two of her concerts. She's from Orange County. Recently we got her Live in concert DVD and the girls, especially Natalie, LOVE it!

So here is Noelle rocking out and if I can catch Natalie on video I will. She lifts her hands up and claps. It is so cute.

Does anyone out there recommend any fun kids music? Noelle just DOES NOT like lullabies. She reminds me constantly :).

Check out Jana:

http://www.janaalayra.com/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRIEND!

In honor of Erica's Birthday I pulled out a few old photos. Here we are at Christmas Conference on New Years Eve 1998. Erica and I were already inseparable at this point. Heading into Christmas Conference we had no idea that we would meet some of our closest friends and husbands (I can't remember did you meet Brian there for the first time?)!
Christmas Conference was also where my name changed to Kaitlyn. I thought that using Kaitlyn would be fun occasionally because it was a great name. I thought people could just interchange. I wrote it on my name tag this weekend but couldn't ever remember to introduce myself as that. Erica took the initiative and it stuck. I just didn't realize that people would choose one or the other :).

I'm not sure of the exact date of this picture but I'm guessing it was almost exactly 10 years ago!!

The first three picture are from over 10 years ago! The second was probably 7 or 8 years ago.

Erica, from the moment I met you I knew you were someone special. I love thinking back to a million memories that we share and how having you there made so much of my life so much better!

I love that we got to share a room for 3 years and am thankful that it only strengthened our friendship. I love how some of my silliest and funnest memories are with you as well as some of the most reflective and heartfelt conversations. I love how you know me so well and use that knowledge to speak into my life just what I'm looking for.

I think you are an incredible woman and I love you dearly! Happy Birthday!

Pink at the Beach

Wild Child!

When we decided to make Noelle a new room and move Natalie into hers, I remembered my dear friend Erica's comment that Noelle's soft prints and pastel colors just didn't seem to fit her passionate personality. So we stuck with pink but went with a safari animal theme. It was such a blast to put together. Most of you reading this have seen it.

A couple of months ago I took on a project of painting her dresser. I had a lot of fun doing it and think it looks cute in her room. I always meant to post a picture. So, here it is.

Now I still need to post a picture of Natalie's room because we got incredibly blessed and were given (for FREE) an entire bedroom furniture set (Crib, armoire bookshelf, dresser, chair, nightstand, bookshelf, kids table and chairs, bedding and lamp shades!) I'm overwelmed again just typing all that out. The family that was giving it to us actually had it delivered to our garage. As it sat there I was so amazed with the generosity.

It is beautiful and Natalie can have it for years. We were able to give our old crib and changing table to a young woman I mentor who had a new baby in May and bless her. Picture soon :).

Bellybou'

One more thing that I really wanted to share!

Two of my closest friends have a fabulous Maternity store that is now online!

It's at http://www.bellybou.com/ and it's got a great selection of designer maternity denim, and designer maternity brands you can't find in your chain maternity stores! It also has a fun selection of hip baby clothes and all the newest baby accessories!
It's a Sacramento Maternity boutique but now they are able to offer more than just Roseville Maternity, with the webstore they've made stylish maternity clothes available to everyone!

So check them out at http://www.bellybou.com/ and help spread the word!

If you're looking for something specific or wants some advice or direction. Contact them and they will definitly point you in the right direction!

Sentimental...

Ryan is going to give me a hard time for the cheesiness of this post for sure but here goes...

I took the girls to Fresno to visit a friend while Ryan was gone. It had been a long week and I had hardly slept the night before, being in the same room with both girls. It was 11 at night and I was driving through LA and this song came on. I looked back at this sweet sleeping girl and I felt every word.

It Won't Be Like This for Long by Darius Rucker

He didn't have to wake up
He'd been up all night
Layin’ there in bed listenin’
To his new born baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and says
It gonna be OK

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laughin’
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
‘Cause it won't be like this for long

Four years later ‘bout 4:30
She's crawling in their bed
And when he drops her off at preschool
She's clinging to his leg
The teacher peels her off of him
He says what can I do
She says now don't you worry
This’ll only last a week or two

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon you'll drop her off
And she won’t even know you're gone
This phase is gonna fly by
If you can just hold on
It won’t be like this for long

Some day soon she'll be a teenager
And at times he'll think she hates him
Then he'll walk her down the aisle
And he'll raise her veil
But right now she's up and cryin’
And the truth is that he don't mind
As he kisses her good night
And she says her prayers

He lays down there beside her
‘Til her eyes are finally closed
And just watchin’ her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows

It won’t be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by
So, he's tryin’ to hold on

‘Cause it won’t be like this for long

It won’t be like this for long

Delight

Turning one is so significant. It was only a year ago (a little over a year now) that I had never laid eyes on this precious gift.

Natalie's pregnancy was so long and difficult for me but I love looking at her and thinking, "you were worth every minute of it and I would do it all again, and then some."

I love the joy this baby expresses and experiences. I bought a rosebush in honor of Natalie and it is called "double delight". When I look at it's gorgeous, fragrant blooms I think of my baby and the word DELIGHT seems to fit perfectly. And of course - Double Delight because I have two to delight in :).

I took a couple of pictures a while back of her at the same place that we had Noelle's one year pictures taken. I just hadn't posted them. Here they are. Also, below are some of Noelle, just for fun.

Tea anyone?

Ryan is a tea lover. We buy loose leaf tea from Tea Gschwender online. The link is below if you want to check it out. We have loved their decaf chai! We like to make it at night, especially for company. Add a little cream and sugar, delicious.

Ryan usually likes to buy the fancy ones that taste very pungent and strong (like Assam Mokalbari and China Oolong Kwai Flower). I prefer a fruit flavored black tea (like Strawberry Cream).

Anyways, thought you all might like to check it out...
Guess I'm in the mood for sharing with these last two posts. It could be that I don't get out much and just want to share what I enjoy somehow :).


http://www.teamerchants.com/Catalog/Default.aspx


p.s. The Peachy Green Rooibush is really good. This red tea is high in antioxidants and caffeine free.

Jesus Revealed

There are continually messages that I hear at our church Rock Harbor that are encouraging and/or challenging. Often there is a lot of depth and theological insights. Last week the message was pretty simple but profound at the same time and really encouraged me. It seemed a good fit to pass on.
The focus was finding Jesus throughout the Old Testament. In doing, it really points towards God's love.
If you want to hear it, the link is below. If you have an ipod, download it and keep it handy for when you get a free moment (exercising, cleaning, waiting, etc.)

http://rockharbor.org/resources/messages/index.php?series=Jesus+Revealed

Enjoy.

Another favorite recipe...

This is simple and we really enjoy it.

Mom's Spanish Rice

· Cook 1 lb hamburger meat with 1 cup chopped onion until brown (in large skillet with lid)
ADD:
· 1 lb can tomatoes
· 1 ½ cups water
· ¾ cups uncooked rice
· ½ cup chili sauce (like Heinz brand, near the ketchup)
· 1 tsp salt
· 1 tsp brown sugar
· ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
· Dash pepper
COVER AND SIMMER 30-40 MINUTES.

We serve with garlic bread and maybe a salad! The girls eat this up.

Brazil

On the weekend his team (four of them) visited Ubatuba They had lunch right on the beach. I think he said they ate fried shrimp. ?

He ventured into this jungle...

He thought he was Tarzan.

He didn't have me holding him back from being adventurous...

Ryan spent 11 days in Brazil for work. His new position as part of the Lean Manufacturing Team involves some traveling. They are rounding all of the C&D facilities in the US and Abroad and providing a pretty intensive training. They then maintain contact and support with the facilities and continue to encourage growth and change in the area of lean manufacturing.

I am getting the question all the time, "What is Lean Manufacturing?" I don't think I'm explaining it well. So, I googled it. Here are the two definitions I came across that put it into more concise terms.

"Lean manufacturing or lean production, which is often known simply as "Lean", is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Working from the perspective of the customer who consumes a product or service, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. Basically, lean is centered around creating more value with less work. Lean manufacturing is a generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) (hence the term Toyotism is also prevalent) and identified as "Lean" only in the 1990s.[1] [2]. It is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota seven wastes in order to improve overall customer value, but there are varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady growth of Toyota, from a small company to the world's largest automaker,[3] has focused attention on how it has achieved this." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing

Here, let's try again...

"A business philosophy and/or strategy that focuses on eliminating waste, which includes all steps or processes that do not add value to the final product or service. It is usually employed along with the concept of kaizen, or continuous improvement." www.windowanddoor.com/article/resource/industry-glossary

So, that's what it is. Some of you may have connected with that but I'm sure you can all imagine that their training process is not without obstacles and a lot of people just plain don't get it (I can see why). But this is very valuable to the company and they are already seeing some success and potential for success.

Being a Mom!

Here are a couple pictures from Mother's Day.

I have to say that I absolutely cherish the gift of being a mom. I feel so loved and supported by my husband and I adore my girls.

Being a mom is such an interesting journey. I am continuously humbled and streched in the process. I guess I had a secret hope that my kids would not be difficult and that somehow the stories you hear would just not apply to me.

Well, not so.

Ryan is in Brazil for work - 11 days. I'm struggling a little. We don't have much going on and Noelle has had some trying moments.

Today, we got out of the house - an exciting trip of dropping off library books and getting gas. I was hoping Natalie would fall asleep but she didn't and I knew I better go home and put her down (try again). So as we are driving down our street Noelle begins to cry and complain that she doesn't want to go home. At this point I feel like I can't take it anymore and then she says,

"I don't want to go home. It's dirty and I always step on food."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a low blow.

But in the end she's right and so I went home and swept the kitchen.

And yes, tonight after just finally getting them both to bed, I'm still incredibly thankful to be their mom.

My friend Amanda and I met up at the mall with our girls. The girls love to go to Rainforest Cafe! They were playing in the photo booth and Amanda started to get some money out to let the girls take pictures. I was thinking that it would be a waste of money and then Amanda said something about making a fun memory and she was so right. I love these pictures! Noelle loves looking at them and commenting on all of Audrey's faces. So cute.

Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup

While on the topic of what things my kids will eat or not eat - whenever I make this soup they both eat so much of it. Natalie is a really good eater so far but still picky when it comes to vegetables. Noelle is a little pickier and then has her allergies to milk and wheat so its a little more difficult. (We hope that by four she'll be able to eat them). But they love this soup and eat everything in it. I'm considering making it once a week :).

1 lb or more Stew Meat
1 can diced tomatoes
5 cups water
3 beef bouillon cubes (I substitute a box of broth and less water)
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, sliced
3 celery ribs, sliced
3 carrots, sliced
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 ½ cups your choice of frozen vegetables (I usually add green beans and peas for sure and then whatever else I can find in my freezer).
1. Combine first 3 ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on High 6 hours.
3. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on High 2 hours or more, or until meat and vegetables are tender.

Super Smoothies!

Noelle has really started to love making and drinking smoothies with me. We have one of those hand blenders and a big plastic cup and we make them multiple times a week. My cousin Lindsay gave me some ideas of what to put inside them and it makes for such a healthy treat. I thought I'd share our ingredients to add to the ones you may use and would love any recommendations.

Smoothie:
Vanilla Soy Yogurt
Juice (usually Apple)
Tofu (a big chunk of soft)
Flax seed (approx. 1 Tbsp ground)
Frozen Spinach (approx. 2 Tbsp)
Frozen Strawberries (handful)
Banana (half)
We experiment with all sorts of different frozen fruits along with strawberries (peaches, mango, blueberries, etc.)
Honey (approx. 2 tsp)
We just started adding a little frozen Acai (too much is too sour).

You can't taste any of the healthy stuff and the tofu actually gives it a really great thickness. They taste so good!
I wasn't really ready for Natalie to start drinking them (they have so many things I hadn't tried with her yet) but she wanted that cup so bad. I put it in the middle of the coffe table one day so she couldn't reach it. I went out of the room only to come back and find her sitting in the middle of the table downing that smoothie as fast as possible. She had found a nearby object to climb up on. She quickly looked up to see that I saw her and tried to keep drinking as fast as she could. So she joins in the fun now too.
Like Lindsay, we use those cool cups from the Disney store and just put our own straws in them.

Birthday Girls

We partied...opened presents...played instruments (my dad got Noelle a drumset)...

Bap Bap and Natalie did "Ta das" (little flips)...

Noelle was thrilled with her new twirly skirts and showed them off...she has three on in the picture...

Noelle was in to her presents as you can see...

Wow, I can't believe that an entire year has gone by since Natalie was born. And of course I can't imagine life without her. She is such a joy! It is so funny to see how she toddles around the house with a big grin looking for fun. I love when she comes running for me and buries her head in my shoulder, kicking her legs. My favorite thing she says, is "Ohwell" (for Noelle and in a high voice mimicking me call for her).

And Noelle, now my big girl. She is such a sweetheart. It looks like we are finally getting potty training on a right track (we'll see). It seems as though being three brings some ups and downs emotionally for her as she tries to figure life out but it also brings new interests and new abilities. It is so fun to see her get excited about new things.

Here are some pictures from their birthday party at the park. We had a really great day. I always wish that I had more time with my adult guests at the end of the day. I guess that I need to accept that birthdays are for the kids or maybe brainstorm some new birthday party options, like my friend Carly talked about on her blog (Pray Family).

Thanks to all of you who came and celebrated with us!

Easter

Grandma Julie came down for Easter weekend. It was a great weekend. We really enjoyed time with Grandma and celebrating together. Julie, my mom and I went to Rock Harbor's Good Friday service and I am always so moved, reflecting on His death. Saturday Ryan and I celebrated my birthday by going to Glen Ivy Hot Springs- woo hoo!!!!! Sunday was great enjoying church and easter eggs. Noelle still only cares about finding an egg and quickly emptying it's contents into her mouth. Maybe next year she'll actually be interested in the "hunt". Natalie just walked around pointing, mimicking mommy.

Twirl

Noelle has entered the "twirling" phase. She wants to wear a skirt or dress "that twirls" everyday. Natalie has picked up on it and this morning she began to twirl when I put a dress on her but it was too big so I took it off and she cried. I put another one on and off she went. This video was from a few days ago.

My Loves!

I have really enjoyed having this new camera. We went down to the beach on a random Monday night when Ryan got home from work. The girls just love being outside and running around.


I know so little about photography or lighting but it sure seemed like we caught it at a good time. Little Nat is so photogenic. Noelle on the other hand can only bear to standstill and look at the camera for a quick second and then she's off. I'm sure Nat will be that way soon.

I feel as though I am coming out of the fog that is pregancy and newborns. Don't get me wrong it is an absolutely wonderful time of life but not a time that I feel fully present or myself. Lately, I have been really enjoying the girls and my husband. Thankful that seasons change and for this one right now. Also thankful that God uses every season for its purpose and for good.


I love my family.

HAPPY EASTER!