Four...

Happy Birthday my sweet Savanna...4 years ago today you made me a mommy....you made my dreams come true and you have been one of the sweetest parts of my life these past 4 years. Thank you for being the sweetest daughter. You are such an amazing soul...independent, strong and beautiful...I love you! Happy Birthday!!!

Sea Creatures and Tushies....

We had an absolute fabulous time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium this weekend...it was a bit chaotic, but well worth it. This guy was my favorite...

And the seahorses were really cool too. Did you know that the male seahorses are the ones that get pregnant and take care of their babies? They are the only species in the animal kingdom that does that...amazing...wow, I wish I could be a female seahorse...

And then of course the jelly fish were really neat...except for the fact that the room that you could see them in was pitch black and I almost lost my kiddos...next time I'm bringing a flashlight...

And then here you see that yes, that is indeed my kids exploring how waves are made and yes, my booty...my husband had the camera and when I got home to look at all of the pictures, there were about 5 pictures of just my booty...men...so typical...in a room with some of the coolest sea creatures around and yet all they can focus on is the female creatures (although I have to admit, I'm glad it was pictures of my booty and not some other woman's tushie).

A whole lot of this and a little of that....

I do apologize for totally abandoning all of you out there in blog world...I have just been so incredibly busy and a bit uninspired. I haven't picked up my camera in a whole week (so sad). I also have been spending a lot of time outside getting ready to plant our summer garden. I have been working part time at my daughter's Montessori School a couple days of week, preparing for my daughter's 4th birthday party and have just been trying to take care of my family in the meantime. To say the least, things are crazy, but I love it! But...we did get to escape to Monterey, California this weekend with the kiddos and our good family friends. Today we are headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium....it should be fun. Pictures from our trip to come on Monday....I hope you all have a great weekend!
On a totally separate not, we got this cute little chandelier from Land of Nod for my daughters room for her birthday. Her room is pink and green...(I will share photos when it is done...we're so close)

How about you?

I saw this little question and answer post on Rachel Denbow's blog and I just couldn't resist doing it myself....

Picture from here

1. When do you feel happiest? In the morning while drinking my coffee and checking out my favorite blogs.

2. How do you take care of yourself? I lay on my bed while the kiddos are napping and I read. (Currently it is the last book in the Twilight Series...I'm on Team Edward if you were wondering)

3. Are you internally (by yourself) or externally (by others) motivated? Both-I get inspired by other people and then it takes some thinking and talking to myself to get motivated...but once I get going I am off and cannot be stopped.

4. What do you do for fun? Photograph everyday things in life, spend time with my hubby,paint with my kiddos, dance (essential to everyday life...even when you're just cooking or doing laundry) and go antiquing...

5. What intimidates you? Fear of people that don't like my creativity...

6. What is something you're proud of? Running a 10 K....(hopefully by the end of the year a full marathon) giving birth to my two kiddos and successfully growing a full garden last year.

7. Finish this sentence. I never _____________go to bed after a night of dancing without washing my feet before bed. ( I know...weird)

8. Favorite vacation spot. Anywhere with a beach...

9. Today is a (rate from 1 - 10). 8

10. Finish this sentence. If you knew me really well you'd know _____________I had a pig as a pet growing up and his name was Pier.

Momae

This is my husbands Italian grandmother who is almost 94 years old. My kids call her Momae (which means grandmother in Italian). She just recently lost her eye sight due to an infection in both of her eyes. She saw my daughter when she was just a baby and never got the opportunity to see my son. She now gets around with huge help from my mother in law and by touch and smell. It is amazing to see how much your other senses kick in when one isn't working. As soon as we got to the house to see her, she just wanted to feel my kids heads and faces...it was so sweet. The picture above is of my daughter letting her smell a flower...so sweet. She still has such a strong mind and can still speak Italian. We got the chance to hear her in action when she called her cousin Guisseppe in Italy...it was amazing....

My new favorite..

Have you seen this movie? Oh my gosh, it is absolutely my new favorite movie....and the soundtrack is awesome. I have been listening to it all day on my i-pod...love, love, love it!

Tell your story

So, I signed up for this class starting on April 26th. I am soooooo excited! It is an online art journal class. It will help me bring out more of my inner-creative....I am also just so excited to be taught by these two lovely ladies (whose blogs I have been following for quite some time)...Elsie Flannigan and Rachel Denbow. They both are truly inspiring, artistic women. You can still sign up at the Red Velvet Art website.

Mother of the year

I have officially won the mother of the year award! Yesterday I flew home with my kiddos while my husband flew to Indianapolis to see the Final Four game. The kids and I flew from Florida to Las Vegas and from Las Vegas home to Sacramento. During the last 30 minutes of the flight, my son flipped forward out of his seat and landed right on the bolt that connects the seats on the floorboard. He cut his head and immediately there was blood everywhere and a lot of it. I was panicked, but hid it well. Luckily there was a retired EMT/Firefighter on our flight who helped calm me down and held ice on my sons head until we landed. Once we landed another EMT came on the the plane to get us while everyone stared at us as we walked by (I wanted to cry). They said he seemed okay and probably didn't need the ambulance, but to take him to the doctor as he might need stitches. I was asked a million questions, one being my sons name. "Rocco" I replied and they said "that's it?" "Yep, that's it, just Rocco." "That's his real name?" they said, "Yes, that's his real name" I said and that was it. After some more questioning, like, "He didn't have his seat belt on?" No...you try holding a 2 year old restrained in a seat belt for 1 hour and 20 minutes....and also the fact, that he can undo it himself. I felt like the worst mother ever. I just wanted to get the heck out of that airport. I was tired, drained and done having people stare at me. After my brother-in-law came to get us, we headed to the ER and Rocco ended up being okay and did not need stitches...thank God! We finally arrived home around 3pm and I seriously got down on my floor and kissed the ground because I was so HAPPY to be home!!! Now he keeps saying "Airplane"...."Hit head"...I'm sure this will be an adventure we will never forget!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Not the most beautiful eggs, but when your kids are two and three, it's more about dropping the egg into the color and hearing the egg crack than it is about the pretty color of the egg. We had fun! Enjoy your Easter! Tomorrow its back home to Cali!

A day at the beach!

We are in Florida now and the weather is amazing...a nice 80 degrees while it's raining back home in California. Yesterday we spent the day at the beach and I couldn't resist my daughter's cute little hiney. We were going to go back today but we all got way too much sun and now are laying here drenched in aloe vera. Now we are headed to lunch at Barbara Jean's (one of my favorite southern restaurants)...just give me sweet tea, red beans and rice and a crab cake and I am one happy girl! Happy Easter!!