The latest with Sarah

Well this past week was a fun one for Sarah. She got to stay home from daycare and do an art camp for the week. The art camp was titled Passport to Paris. They did all sorts of fun projects that centered around that theme. I was most impressed by her Eiffel Towers made out of wire, her watercolor of the Seine, and her cute Parisian T-shirt! She had such a blast and she absolutely loved her teacher, Ms. Sarah! I think they have bonded since they have the same first name. I only wish I could have her do art camp the rest of the summer. She seemed to really love it!

Also, Sarah FINALLY lost her 1st tooth on Friday. It has been wiggling around for weeks and finally decided to come out in the pool on Friday...yes the pool. Thankfully she noticed it was missing and we had her cousin Heath over who was able to locate it at the bottom of the pool. She was so excited that she could not wait to go to bed so the tooth fairy could come. Her friend Megan has supposedly "taken a picture" of the tooth fairy, so we know she exists. She looks a bit like Tinkerbell as a little bright light that floats around apparently. Sarah was excited to get her dollar and a little tube of lip gloss the next morning!

I promise and update on Lauren soon. I know I don't write as much about her, but she is not doing as much as Sarah. She mostly watches Sesame Street and wants to be carried around, so not much to report!

10 years and counting....

It was 10 years ago today that I married the man of my dreams! I was 22 and he was 29 and we had a rather large wedding (280) down in good ol' San Antone! It was one of the best days of my life. I loved that it was Charlie I was marrying and I loved that we had all our family and friends together on such a fun day. One of my fondest memories is of how happy and beautiful my mother was that day. We got married at the Alamo Heights Methodist Church and had our reception at the St. Anthony Hotel. I remember so many wonderful things about that day....I loved my flowers and my dress, I loved seeing Charlie as I walked down the aisle, I remember is brother crying during the vows, I remember my brother wrote a song and sang it for my dad and I to do our dance to, I remember the piano music at the cocktail hour, and seeing all our friends have a blast at the reception. I also remember that the Spurs won the NBA championship that night, so it was electric downtown! I wish I could go back and re-live that day. Back in 1999 we were living in So. California. We had just moved into our new beautiful apartment in Rancho Palos Verdes that had a 180 degree ocean view. I was working at NBC Studios and he at FOX Sports. He still works for FOX Sports, although is much higher up in the company now. As for me, I soon left the TV industry, worked in catering for a while, and now am loving being mom to our beautiful girls! I cannot believe it has been 10 years. Quite a lot has happened in those 10 years and I am so thankful we are still happy, in love, and looking forward to the future. Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful wedding and thank you Charlie for a wonderful marriage!

Summertime Fun Jar

Since summer officially began this Sunday, I decided it was time to bring out Sarah's summertime fun jar! She had a blast with it last year and we have added a few things to it this year! This is how it works....whenever she is "bored" or having a blah summer day she gets to pick a paper out of the jar. Each paper has something written on it that is fun to do. Ex: go get ice cream. go to the park, go swimming, play a game with mommy, paint, etc.....This year we have added playing with sidewalk chalk and play-dough. She is a lot better about not being as messy with these. Also we have added riding her bike and feeding the ducks at the park. It is a fun little thing that gets us through those slow summer moments!

Happy Father's Day

......a day late! I was under the weather yesterday so I didn't get to post this then, but I did manage to call my dad and wish him a great day! I am truly lucky that I have been blessed with such a wonderful daddy! He is everything anyone would want in a father. He is kind, loving, supportive, smart, stern when needed, and a jack of all trades. He can literally fix anything, I am convinced! I love that he is fun and enjoys a good time, but that he never is overly loud or boisterous. I love that he is smart and knows a lot, but always listens when you have something new to share with him! I love that he is hard working, was a stern principal, but yet so well liked and well respected. I love that he likes "daddy" things like working around the house, ranching, and watching sports, even though I will never understand how even 2 obscure teams can capture his attention so much on a Saturday afternoon. I love that he is a great "Opa" to my girls! They love being around him so much and he is always so great to talk and play with them. I love that my daddy always has and always will do anything for me and for our family! I love you! Happy Father's Day!

Swim photos

Sarah finished her 1st swim session today. After 2 weeks we are close, but not quite there. I went ahead and signed her up for another 2 weeks, so maybe we will have success! This is one of the first swim classes she has ever taken that she has really enjoyed, so I hate to stop it when she is on a roll. Hope to report good news in a couple of weeks!!

Andrea Bocelli

Over the weekend we went to see Andrea Bocelli. This has been a dream of mine for years now, and (although it was actually taking place in Italy in my dream) it was amazing! We ended up going with Charlie's brother Rob and his fiance, Nina. We had a great meal at Houston's before and a fun time having drinks at Victory Tavern. Bocelli was amazing and so were his guests. I was in tears during several of his songs. They kept flashing up on the big screen behind him images of Italy and it was the next best thing to actually being there. If any one is going to be in Italy on July 1st, he is having a concert in Piazza San Marco in Venice. That would be dream concert of a lifetime so make plans to arrange to be there!! He does not disappoint! Bellissimo Andrea!

Wheathering the Stormy Wheather

What a night of storms....It didn't even look that ominous and I was not expecting at all what happened. It started out for us at CPK. We were having dinner and slowly the wind began picking up. Before we knew it trees were blowing and the wind was gusting. So much so that huge branches were being ripped from trees like they were a sheet of paper being ripped in half. I had never seen such huge branches just flying off like it was nothing. I started to get nervous at this point because CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) is practically a green house. It is wall to wall windows. At one point they shook, but luckily no shattering. We waited until the storm let up and then came home only to find our power out. When this has happened in the past we have always seemed to be the last neighborhood to get it back. Last night was no exception. Everyone else had power before the sunset that we could see, but we did not get it back until about 12:15. So Lauren went to bed easily and was out like a light. The darkness did not seem to bother her a bit and neither did the storms we had throughout the night. Sarah on the other hand is a little fraidy cat, so we set her up in her tent in our bedroom. She had a blast!

It is still storming this morning. I see lots of lightning as I type and it is very dark outside. I love the rain, just hate for the power to go out.

New Activities

The girls both started new activities this week. Lauren began her first mommy & me class. It is at the Little Gym. We had done this with Sarah at this age, so I felt like it would be good for Lauren, too. I have flashbacks to not so great times doing Little Gym (a lot of screaming and crying and not just on Sarah's part), so I was a bit nervous that it would be a repeat with Lauren. It was the complete opposite. I think we had better success because this time around I just let her do what she wanted. I wasn't overly concerned with having her do everything little thing the teacher asked and to stay by my side the whole time. I gave her her freedom and she LOVED IT! She liked the balls and bubbles the best, but I must say she loved practicing her forward rolls. Sarah was always a little afraid of this task, but not Lauren! She is my little daredevil. I look forward to doing this with her every week this summer! I think it will be a blast!




Sarah began swimming this week. She will go to the local natatorium for 2 weeks M-Th. This is the 3rd time we have done swimming lessons and she is not quite swimming on her own. I am hoping we have great results in a couple of weeks. If not, we will just keep trying! She just needs to get over her fear! She looks so darn cute in her swim cap, though!

Rock Around the Clock

That was the song Sarah danced to this year! She did a cute little tap number. It is amazing how so much work can go into about 2 minutes on stage! I know that even though she has been complaining about dance and has been ready for it to be over, she had fun tonight. Who can't have fun dressing up in a pretty costume, getting your hair and make-up done and getting to perform on stage! Not to mention all the attention afterwards and the bundles of flowers! This years class was fun because she took it with all her friends. Ellie, Jayme, Megan, and Maddy Grace. They were a cute group and will be sort of split up next year. We are looking forward to doing tap, ballet, and jazz next year. Hip Hop is a growing genre that little girls are getting into. It remains to be seen if we will explore that in the fall or wait a little longer! I can't believe another year has gone by. I can't get too sad...Lauren will be starting up with all this next year, so it is not over by a long shot!