Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

Thank you, Easter Bunny! The kids found eggs in all of their favorite spots, and the eggs were full of luxury treats like honey mustard pretzels, frosted mini-wheats, and pizza-flavored goldfish crackers. The bonus gifts were some Lego motorcycles for Manny, and a Monchichi for Clara. Remember those things? They're back. And the Monchichi jingle has become part of the musical repertoire of the household.
After all of the eggcitement was over (sorry!), we headed off to celebrate Amani's and Johnny's birthdays. Happy 60th, Johnny!!!!!
Did I remember to take my camera? No. I did not. It was a good time, though. And both kids needed a good scrubbing at the end of the day. I always find fresh, squeaky-clean children to be so darned cute!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Tricky

Okay, this has got to be one of the sneakiest money-making ventures that Trevi has ever concocted. Here's how it goes:

You put your quarter into the red tube, then push the button, and a "gumball" (hope you like 'em glassy) comes down the through the machine for you. Hidden under the grey blanket is the "machinery" that sets the gumball in motion.
Take a closer look, though.... See where the quarter goes?Yep. That's Trevi's wallet. :)

P.S. Baskets went out for the Big Bunny tonight, complete with a carrot-shaped note.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Laps

Clara thought that Chad and I looked pretty ridiculous sitting side by side, typing away on our respective laptops, so she grabbed the camera.We do look ridiculous, I won't debate that. But, for the record, we are definitely not chatting online with each other. Been there, done that. ;)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A Quiet Afternoon

I should take the hint from my smart children and get my nose into a good book.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

All of us

We needed a whole family shot for a photo book that my friends are putting together, so we did a bit of posing in the yard. The overexposure makes us all look kind of radioactive, but I like it anyway.
In unrelated news, Trev has been setting up a bit of a drawing studio in the living room lately. He looked so cute today that I was forced to photograph him from different angles. At least the piano bench is getting used for some sort of artistic pursuit...

Saturday, April 9, 2011

While I was playing interior decorator....

Pretty much everyone else in California besides me was at Disneyland this week. That includes the awesome bunch of folks you see here:
Apparently, the happiest place on earth didn't disappoint! Thanks, Grammy, for a Spring Break to remember!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Extreme Makeover - Tangerine Edition

Drumroll, please........

Ta da!I am beyond stoked with how it turned out, and it was EXTREMELY fun to do it all in secret and surprise the family. Speaking of the family, They're back! More on them tomorrow. :)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Art!

I have been crazy busy all week with painting and sprucing and trips to the store for all kinds of little details. Things are really coming together nicely.
I saved a special project for my last full solo day. Since our bedroom is all new, with a whole new color scheme - well, as opposed to no color scheme whatsoever - I figured we could use a fresh new painting on the wall. Luckily, canvases were 70% off at our local craft store, so I bought a gigantic canvas, and set to work. For a long time I've wanted to paint some interlocking, warped circles. I've seen circle art all over the place, and I'm a fan. So I sketched, painted, and drank coffee today, with a huge, satisfied grin on my face.






Almost ready for the final reveal. :) I can't wait for the family to come home and see it all!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Before and After - The Before and During Part

Due to some last-minute changes in Spring Break plans, I get four days alone at home this week, while the rest of the household hangs with Mickey Mouse. I had the rollers and brushes out before Chad and the kids were even out the door this morning. :)

Here's what the master bedroom and bathroom have looked like since we moved in:
Well, it's not entirely true that these rooms have looked the same for four years. We've actually (if you can believe it) made some improvements since the early days. For instance, we had massive mirrored closet doors when we moved in, which we promptly took out. We then lived with no closet doors at all - clothes and shoes and junk and mess in full view 24/7 - until we had the brilliant idea of hanging curtains in lieu of a closet door. Problem was that the curtains made our room look like Johnny Carson's stage. So, we ditched the curtains, and eventually Chad put in some closet doors (a project not without its challenges).

Another big improvement was the addition of the cool bench at the foot of the bed, which Chad built for me for Christmas a couple of years ago. Love having a builder husband.

And, we replaced our dumspster-dive dressers about a year ago, with some matchy-match ones from Ikea. Love Ikea.

Oh, ya, and the family masterpiece hanging over the bed is only a couple of years old.

So, really the place looks ten times better than it used to, but still, blecch. Time to do something about that.

I ripped out those hideous bathroom cabinets (can't begin to describe how satisfying that was), cleared everything out of the bedroom, and painted to my little heart's content, while the radio blared and no one needed me for anything. Bliss.A good day.