xoxo, Erin
home decor 2
09.25.08
Fun with Friends
09.21.08
Good Things
Lots of good things this week! First of all – a new blog makeover! Change is always a good thing. I finally figured out how to design the header (are you impressed Heidi?) – Kenny still had to help with the technical HTML codes (putting said header on blog). Thanks babe – I know how you just LOVE to spend your evenings helping me with my blog. :)
I had such a great “mom moment” this week. One thing I love about my gym is that I can see into the windows of the kids club (where my kiddos play while I workout) from the treadmills. Every once in a while while I’m exercising I see the top of their heads running around. Last week I saw them run by and for the first time, Addison looked up and saw me through the window. She got so excited and she ran to find Ellie and they both stood there waving and blowing kisses to me with the biggest smiles on their faces. I started frantically waving back and blowing kisses to them and everyone on the treadmills lining both sides of me were looking at me like I was a total idiot. I didn’t even care. For some reason it just hit me and I was so overwhelmed with love for my two girls. I got a little teary eyed and just thought about how much I love them and how much I really do love being a mom. It was the highlight of my week. (Now I just need to remember that moment the next time they paint all over my carpet)
Another VERY good thing is the Waldorf Chicken Salad at California Pizza Kitchen. I love this salad! It has chicken, grapes, apples, walnuts, and my favorite – Gorgonzola cheese – covered in the best vinaigrette. SO GOOD! Of course dinner with friends is also the best. Happy Birthday Angie!!!
I’m a list maker. I LOVE to make lists. I make to-do lists every night (sometimes twice a day). I make lists for things I need to get done, projects, goals, recipes, scrapbook/blog stuff, ideas/ activities for my kids, etc. I hardly ever do half of the stuff on my list and sometimes I make them and don’t even look at them, but there is just something wonderful and therapeutic about making a list.
Last Wednesday (my one free morning w/o the girls) I headed to the UTC mall in La Jolla and had some fabulous alone time. I love San Diego malls! They are all outdoor and full of beautiful vines, flowers, and palm trees. It’s so fun walking around surrounded by so many enticing stores all in one place, feeling the sunshine and the ocean breeze…just makes you in the mood to shop! UTC is also fun to take kids to because they have a kid area with a jumpy, train, and little toys to play on. But I do have to say…malls are always more fun without the little ones! Speaking of lists and malls…is it too early to give Kenny my Christmas list? He just loves that every year I give him a list of things I want and then say “and don’t forget to surprise me too!”
Lastly, a good thing for my girls. They had such a great time this afternoon helping daddy pick lemons off of our lemon tree. The tree gets so covered in lemons that we have to keep picking them before they are even ripe. Kenny throws them off the hill and the girls love to pick them up and play with them and put them in bags to throw away. We don’t even eat lemons. We call the tree my mom’s “diet coke tree” because when she comes to visit she’ll pick a lemon for her diet coke and that’s the only time they get eaten! The girls also had fun playing with a snail they found among the tree trimmings – kept them entertained for an hour. That was a good thing for the whole family!
xoxo, Erin
Ellie and Addison
09.19.08
Beauty and the Beast
Addison
09.16.08
Love to see the temple…
xoxo, Erin
Ellie and Addison
09.15.08
Good Things
My girls and the color green – two very good things.
Move over Addison! So when I had baby #2 I lost my scrapbook room. That was a sad thing for me, but at the time it didn’t matter too much because I was so busy and overwhelmed with baby #2 that I didn’t have time to scrapbook anyway. Now that my baby isn’t as much of a baby anymore (Ellie will tell you – she’s a toddler) I’m finding I actually have a free minute or two every once in awhile to (gasp) do something for me!??!! I decided to do some rearranging in Addie’s room and make it into a nursery/scrapbook space. Turned out better than I thought and I’m hoping it will inspire me to start scrapbooking the countless number of pictures I’ve been taking.
What was life like before i-pods? They really are such a good thing. They can make anything fun…cleaning, exercising… also a great way to tune out fighting children.
Ellie has been really into favorites lately and we’ve had this conversation countless times this week:
Ellie – “mom…guess what!?? My favorite color is pink, my favorite animal is a unicorn, my favorite food is cupcakes, my favorite friend is Amy, my favorite dress is my blue one, my favorite place to be is a swimming pool with a slide, my favorite princess is Pocahontas……..
What’s your favorite color mom?” (FYI – that would be green)
She’s a girl who knows what she wants.
My husband is having a great time right now (despite the Chargers loss this 
afternoon!). In fact, I’d say he is having the weekend of his dreams. It consists of football, football, and of course – more football. Kenny met my brother, dad, and brother-in-law in Denver Sat. morning for a guy weekend. They go each year to see the Chargers (Kenny’s team) play the Broncos (Austin’s team). The game was so intense! They are having a blast and I’m happy that Kenny is getting some much deserved down time. (Don’t get too cocky Austin…Chargers are gonna come back strong!)
So while Kenny was having a great time at the Charger game, I was busy with my triple action Resolve Carpet Cleaner. Moved all of my scrapbook supplies into Addie’s room….forgot to move my Color box ink pads high enough that the girls couldn’t reach them. Yes – I walked into quite a sight last night. I was downstairs unloading the dishes and I had the monitor on so I could hear the girls playing upstairs. I was just thinking wow – they’re playing together so nicely…haven’t heard anything for awhile. Then I heard Ellie say “Oh Add – I love that color on you – purple is so pretty.” Huh? I walked upstairs and into Addie’s room to find everything COVERED in ink. Their bodies, clothes, and worst of all – my carpet. It was a rainbow…pink, purple, green, yellow. I was livid. I chewed the girls out and threw them in the tub (both crying) and then went to work with my Resolve. I thought we would for sure be replacing that carpet, but amazingly enough, after about 30 minutes of scrubbing the carpet looked great. I can’t count how many bottles of this stuff I’ve gone through since I’ve had kids. I love it – I should do their commercials.
***funny side note – when I was scolding Ellie and horrified that my carpet was forever going to be a rainbow of colors she said “sorry mom” and I answered with “sorry isn’t good enough! You know better!” Then when I was scrubbing the floor and they were in the tub I heard Addie say “sorry Lolly” and Ellie answered with an angry “sorry isn’t good enough Add!” Despite the situation I had to laugh.
xoxo, Erin
Ramblings
09.11.08
IF
Ellie and Addison
09.07.08
Good Things
Text me baby! My two years with Verizon was up (go “New every Two!”) so I got a new cell phone. It’s flat and opens up to a keypad so I can actually type my text messages. I’m excited -I feel so hip and cool and new age. I’m going to be a texting machine. Translation – now I’ll text ten messages a month instead of five.
Mercer Mayer books are simply the best. Loved them when I was little, loved them as a teacher, love them as a mom.
After being in St. George for a week I’m so happy to be back to San Diego freeways. I have a bit of a lead foot and a need for speed – lucky for me so does everyone else in this city. I love getting on the freeway and cruising everywhere I need to go. Nothing against St. George, but driving in that city drives me CRAZY! Stop…start…stop…start…pass retiree moving at 13 mph…oh wait…can’t pass because there are only 2 lanes…stop…start again…slow down because speed limit is 30 (30????? Are you kidding me?) I actually like to get where I’m going. Love San Diego freeways.
Night at the beach with girl friends. Girl friends are always a good thing.
Pre-school started! Yea! Ellie went back to pre-school this week and the really great news is that Addie started a little ‘pre‘ pre-school. It’s only one day a week for four hours, but she loved it! She had so much fun and loved that she was a big girl going to pre-school like Ellie. Kept saying “Lolly (Ellie) goes to pre-school and I go to my own pre-school!” The best part is that I had four hours (FOUR!) all to myself. No kids. It was magical. I was so efficient! Unpacked from our trip, cleaned my house, went to the gym and still had time for a quick Target run! (It usually takes me a week to unpack alone) Three cheers for pre-school!
(The girls on their first day of school)
Last good thing for this week: Kenny and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary yesterday (Sept. 6). I can’t believe we’ve been married 11 years! I met Kenny when I was 15 (he was 17) so now I’ve known him for over half of my life! I love our old high school pics when we first started dating because we were such little kids. I remember that before this picture we were BOTH so excited because I had just gotten my braces off! ;) Love you babe – Happy Anniversary!
(Nice pic Kenny – way to stake your claim. When is this hair style coming back??? I have big hair and love to rat!)xoxo, Erin
Family
09.04.08
There’s no place like home!
What a time we had last week in good ole‘ Santa Clara Utah! It’s always so much fun to be in our home town. Here’s a little recap of our trip…
SATURDAY: Time to head to Kenny’s 15 year class reunion!
(above: Kenny & Erin, Josie & Ryan, Maritza & Myron, Angie & Heinz)
The reunion was so fun! It was great seeing so many friends again. We hung out with Ryan and Josie a lot before the reunion and had such a blast (thanks again for having us over guys!). The four of us also went to dinner with Myron and his wife and had so much fun making up for lost time. Loved it!
SUNDAY: Sunday was a special day for our family. Austin and Dayna are getting married in the St. George temple so Kenny ordained Austin as an Elder. We took a few family pics on our way out the door because it’s so rare that we’re ALL cleaned up at the same time!
Us with the happy couple…
I love this picture of my parents. Mom & Dad – you guys are lookin’ good!
It was so fun to meet Dayna’s family – they were all so darling! Austin is one lucky guy to be marrying into such a neat family. (We missed Car and her family and Dayna’s oldest brother and his family)
MONDAY: On Labor Day Kenny and I took the girls to Parowan, Utah (population 2500) for a little taste of small town. Kenny’s parents and my dad all grew up in Parowan and Kenny’s grandma still lives there. They have a big Labor Day parade and fair every year and it was fun to be a part of the festivities. My girls had a blast and I loved seeing them do the things that I did growing up. Their cute Grandpa Rollins (Kenny’s dad) gave them lots of rides on the 4 wheeler. Good times.
Addie loved the parade…just not the loud fire engines! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Rollins for such a fun day!
A few more random pics from the week:
Ellie helping grandpa grill. Hats off to the chefs!
My mom bought the girls matching Fancy Nancy dresses – talk about a hit! Thanks grandma!
One last week of enjoying grandma’s pool. Saying goodbye to summer…
xoxo, Erin
Ellie and Addison
09.01.08
Hangin’ at my moms
Me and my girls
The whole fam
xoxo, Erin
Uncategorized
09.01.08
Good Things…and one not so good thing
I’ve been in St. George all week with my family enjoying plenty of good things!
Just a few…
-eating at Pizza Factory (funny how this restaurant never gets old – best bleu cheese salad dressing around!)
-smell of desert rain
-lots of grandma/grandpa time for my girls
-good straight hair days due to lack of humidity
-found my dress for Austin’s wedding
-pool time and morning walks with my girls
-free babysitting
-lots of time at favorite stores (Tia Pan, Interior Elements, Iron Station and Pebbles) because of free babysitting :)
-catching up with old friends
I’m sad to say that one ‘not so good thing’ happened this week. At about noon on Kenny’s birthday I let the girls run outside to play in the sand pile. (I know…I’m a San Diego mom and not used to having restrictions on when my kids can play outside because of the heat!) Addison decided to climb on top of the jacuzzi cover and it was so scalding hot that it burned her little feet. She ran in the house screaming and had huge blisters starting to form on the balls of her feet and her toes. I rushed her to Insta Care where they treated her second degree burns. :( She was in so much pain and the two of us spent a good two hours in the doctors office (both crying) before we got a prescription for her pain. She has had bandages on her little feet for the last few days and will need to wear them for a few more to avoid infection. She isn’t happy about this, and repeats over and over “socks off mommy!” She has learned how to get around quite well with them on however – it hasn’t slowed her down one bit! She has been such a little trouper. I have felt like one awful mommy (what kind of mom lets her kids play outside at noon in 110 degree weather!??) Dang St. George heat. Won’t make that mistake again…
xoxo, Erin
Birthdays
08.29.08
Happy Birthday Babe!
My cute Kenny turned 33 today. So this is for you babe. Thought I’d come up with 33 things I love about you. Not a difficult task. :)
1) I love that when you come home from work each night you take one sock off and leave one sock on. Have no clue why you do this, but I sure get a kick out of it.
2) I love your sarcasm…even though most of the time I pretend to ignore it.
3) I love that you have no problem changing diapers and if you’re home, you’re on diaper duty.
4) I love that you enjoy a good chick flick even more than I do.
5) I love that your eyes are two different colors.
6) I love your laugh. It’s simply infectious.
7) I love that you have all of the Fancy Nancy books memorized from reading them to the girls so much.
8) I love that you are such a hard worker.
9) I love all of your spreadsheets…especially the one that includes our “Fall line-up” – all of our shows we record in the fall. (Gotta have them mapped out to make sure we don’t miss anything!)
10) I love that after we fight about something you are always so quick to apologize for whatever you feel was your part in the disagreement.
11) I love that you are such a planner. That before we finish a vacation or outing you have the next one planned out.
12) I love that you are such a great people person and can strike up a conversation with anyone. You always make people feel at ease.
13) I love that you can fall asleep within seconds…anyplace…anytime…anywhere. I’m quite jealous of this little skill you’ve perfected.
14) I love how loyal you are to your friends.
15) I love that you work so hard to make me happy. That you’ve spent the last week researching shower heads because I complained about our lousy water pressure.
16) I love that you love having girls and have never once cared that we don’t have a boy.
17) I love that you always put others’ needs before your own.
18) I love the way you make me feel. That when you come home from work and I look like an exhausted mommy, you still tell me how hot I am.
19) I love that you are so incredible with directions and finding your way around anywhere we go. I was so impressed in Italy! This talent of yours comes in especially handy since it’s an area in which I lack any skill.
20) I love that you are an amazing swinger. (Of course referring to how high you swing the girls at the park). ;)
21) I love that you are such a researcher. We don’t buy or do anything without you doing your research.
22) I love that you’ve seen Armageddon over 1,000 times and you still get choked up when Bruce Willis sacrifices himself to save the world. Stupid movie.
23) I love that whenever you’re home we end up with 3-5 empty Coke Zero cans on the counter. It’s the first thing I miss when you’re out of town.
24) I love that you enjoy a walk with your girls. All three of us.
25) I love that you are so good at saving money and planning for our future. Another area I lack a little discipline.
26) I love that you are such a good son and son-in-law. You make our parents so proud.
27) I love that you are so smart when it comes to computers. You always know the answer.
28) I just love that you are so smart. Period.
29) I love that you get absolutely giddy like a kid on Christmas when football is about to start.
30) I love that you are so supportive of me in whatever I’m doing.
31) I love your calf muscles.
32) I love that I know you’d rather be with me than anyone else.
33) I love that I’m on number 33 and it would be so easy to keep going….
Love you the most babe. Happy Birthday!
xoxo, Erin
Good Things
08.25.08
Good Things
Ok…here are my good things for last week – in no particular order…
Seeing Shawn Johnson win the gold medal on the balance beam was amazing. I completely fell in love with this girl during the Olympics. The smile on her face after she finished that routine said it all. Then it shows her darling mom and dad hugging and crying in the stands and Bob Costas starts talking about how they had to mortgage their house several times to keep her in gymnastics….(you had to go there didn’t you Bob). I bawled like a baby. Go Shawn! Thanks for representing America so well. (Such a cute little bunny face…I just want to give her a carrot)Lunch Ramblings – Ellie said to me during lunch “I’m full eating those mommy (pointing to her veggies), but I’m not full eating those (pointing to her fishy crackers).” Then when Addie refused to eat her turkey she tried to persuade her by saying “Come on Add…it’s really bubble gum turkey!” Addison then ate every bite.
A trip to Costco was a very good thing this week. First good thing: I made it through the store with BOTH girls staying in the cart the entire time (with the help of various snacks). That never happens. Second good thing: Fall stuff has arrived! So fun to cruise up and down the aisles looking at Fall paraphernalia and Halloween decor. It’s so boring in the summer with nothing to buy but diapers and toilet paper. I bought the most beautiful Fall wreath. Before you know it, all the toys will be in for Christmas! I know some people get annoyed that the stores start selling holiday stuff so early – just a ploy to get the average consumer to spend spend spend. Well this consumer LOVES IT! Costco just got really fun again.
Bran Chex. I so love my Bran Chex. I’ve never been a breakfast eater. I’m just never hungry in the mornings and I don’t like pancakes, eggs and the usual breakfast menu. But I know…breakfast is the most important part of the day…blah blah blah. So I try to eat breakfast. The only thing I like to eat in the mornings are Bran Chex. So imagine my panic when at one point our local grocery store stopped carrying them. I shopped around and couldn’t find them anywhere! Kenny came to the rescue and for part of my Valentines Day present last year gave me this Bran Chex pyramid. He had ordered them from Amazon.com! What a doll. We’ve been ordering them by the dozen from Amazon ever since and each day I eat a healthy breakfast. Plus we count it as our food storage. If there is any type of major disaster, Bran Chex will keep us alive. It’s a win win. Love my Bran Chex.
Mat. Mat sat. Sam. Sam sat. Mat sat. Sam sat. Mat sat on Sam. Sam sat on Mat. Mat sat. Sam sat. The end. These are the words from the first book Ellie read. My Ellie is starting to read! I’ve been working with her for a year on letters, sounds and handwriting and each night Kenny tucks Ellie in and reads to her. A few nights ago Kenny called me up to her room at bedtime and Ellie read her first little book that they had been practicing. It was so cool! I helped teach many children to read teaching school, but nothing feels as good as when you first hear your own child sounding out letters and reading. Unreal. The three of us did our happy dance around the room. This wasn’t just a good thing…it was a great thing. I love you Ellie – I’m so proud of you!!!
xoxo, Erin