We interrupt this family for tax season

We're well into Tax Season now and Bryan is busy working harder than ever. We are so grateful to his wonderful clients who have stuck with him through the years and wouldn't trust anyone else to do their taxes! Bryan's little business is growing and he now has two offices in Corona and Irvine. He also has a nice layout for working at home and he tries to be here with us as much as he can.

I am so happy to continue writing a weekly newspaper column, Mom About Town, for The Friday Flyer. I have received so much positive feedback from readers and endless support from my editor and the owner of the paper. I have so much fun just writing about my little family and the stuff we do and it is so gratifying to know that people actually like reading it! You can check it out at http://www.fridayflyer.com/!

Here is a photo from a recent column on my favorite subject: bathing!

We are also being kept busy with the addition brother and sister kittens, Sam and Beana (started out as Sabrina, but it kept getting shorter!). They are wild and sweet, and keep the older cats on their toes. We said good-bye to Cole's cat Pepper a few weeks ago, when she died suddenly. She had health problems for some time, but was always sweet-tempered. Cole was heartbroken to lose the cat he called his own, and we buried her under the pepper trees at my parents' house. An appropriate spot for a sweet kitty named Pepper! Rest in peace.

This is Sabrina, AKA Beans or Beana


This is Mr. Sam, who we thought was a girl when got him! The vet informed us otherwise! He is ALL BOY, and getting to be such a big guy. He's more like a puppy than a kitten!

Poor Hermione. Can't you just read her mind: "Seriously?? TWO KITTENS? Are you kidding me?"

Introducing Cub Scout Pack 323 Tuscany Hills!!

We wanted so much for Coley to be involved with scouting. When we went to an information meeting at the school, we were told that in order for it to happen, we would need to start up a pack on our own. That was over 6 months ago, and Pack 323 now has 10 scouts and counting! We are small but mighty and having a great time. Bryan is a Den Leader and Asst. Cubmaster. We have an incredible support team in Troop 332 and our wonderful Cubmaster, Doug. It's lots of work, but worth every minute!

RiRo Turns 4!

It's been awhile since I last posted here! I've been busy with so many new things going on that I sometimes just forget. It's now February of 2010, and our little family is doing well. We celebrated Princess RiRo's 4th birthday in Novemeber with a fabulous princess-themed bash, complete with a visit from Ariel.
Here are some pictures of the royal festivities....






Thanks for the best birthday ever, Dada!

Summer 2009: "We use multi-million dollar military satellites to find Tupperware in the woods."

Wow! It's been awhile since I last logged an entry here! So much has changed. First of all, we moved to Canyon Lake on March 13 to a great little house on the main drag. It lacks the playroom we have grown to rely on, but we've got a great family room in front and a nice shady backyard for the little ones. We're enjoying all the fun stuff Canyon Lake has to offer...these people really know how to party! There's always a special event, parade or something cool happening, and every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday, and it's a huge party on the beach with a DJ and bouncy houses!
We were gifted Knott's Berry Farm annual passes by my brother and we go as often as we can. Always have to grab some Mrs. Knott's chicken on the way home! Cole just turned 7 and is enjoying a long summer break from his new school, Tuscany Hills Elementary. Our big news lately is our involvement with Cub Scouts! We wanted Cole to be in a pack but couldn't find a local group so we started our own. Bryan is the Den Leader and I serve on the board. We have a nice group of parents who are as excited about scouting as we are and the boys are sweet, well-mannered and absolutely adorable! We're small in numbers but large in spirit!

Here are some recent pictures of what we've been up to lately.....

Did they HAVE to hide it where people cut up their fish? Eeewww!!

Cole's new toy is the Geomate Jr.!

In the top photo above, Cole just located a geocache hidden under the fillet sink on the Oceanside Pier. The photo below shows Cole holding his kid-friendly GPS he received for his birthday. We started geocaching, which is a high-tech treasure hunt using GPS, a few weeks ago, and we have been having a blast exploring around town. There are dozens located near us and we have found about 12 to date. www.geocaching.com is the website where it all happens! Good, cheap family fun!

In the photo above, Coley gets a birthday smooch from his adoring little sister. We celebrated Cole's 7th at Legoland! We stayed at the Sheraton, which has a private entry to the park, made good use of the hotel pool, and spent the next day geocaching in Oceanside and hanging out at the beach. We wrapped up the celebration with crab legs and birthday cake at Mam and Paw's house with the Gonzales family. Happy birthday, son!!!
That's one sassy 3 year old!
Hanging out with Gavin and Alexis!

Halloween Time at Disneyland

So what if it was 100 degrees? It's still Fall and the Halloween decorations are everywhere at Disneyland! We had a fantastic day despite the heat. The Haunted Mansion was all done up in The Nightmare Before Christmas theme, which was so cool. Riley amazed us with her passion for fast and scary rides, living up to her nickname: Danger Baby. The girl is fearless! Cole continues to be Mr. Cautious, and that has become a nickname, too. He refused to ride the Matterhorn or Pirates of the Caribbean, and all Riley could say was, "Let's go again!" She is so excited to be 40 inches tall so she can go on more rides!

We had lunch at The Blue Bayou, our favorite!

Riley in a staring contest with Minnie Mouse
Cole just moments before making his mama dizzy on the teacups!
Danger Baby and her daddy on their first of several Matterhorn rides
Even Danger Baby needs a nap after a long day!

Calling All Princesses!

Last night was Princess Night at our local Chick-Fil-A. Since we get so much out of their Tuesday Family Nights, I offered to facepaint if they could ever use me. Well, they called and asked if I'd come to Princess Night. I started at 5 pm and did not even get to stand up and stretch until the last face was painted at 9 pm (it was supposed to end at 8!). I did countless princess "crowns" and unicorns, and I stopped counting kids after the 50th one sat down. Needless to say, facepainting was a hit that night, and it went well with the castle bounce house, the princess etiquette lessons and photographer offering portraits. I handed out lots of business cards and I'm hoping for a few facepainting jobs to come my way. It's something I love to do!

Our little princess, all ready to party!

Sum-Sum Summertime

Can summer be over already? Are the $500 electric bills over too, I hope? Here's a look back at some of the fun we had over this past summer. We weren't able to take a vacation this year, but we still managed to have a good time.....

Riding the train at Castle Park
Whoever thought of the double steering wheels was a genius!
Aunt Britt makes the coolest blanket forts!
Coley turned 6 on July 8th and celebrated with a pool party
We are Chick-Fil-A addicts (we blame Heather Weber for her influence) and rarely miss Family Night or special events like Cow Appreciation Day. They know us by name there!
We ate ALOT of watermelon this summer!
We had lots of great swim days at the pool with our friends. Here are Cole and Alexis!

We spent most of this summer getting unpacked and settled into the new house, and getting Bryan's new company off the ground meant Daddy was working lots of long hours. We took advantage of the free summer kid movies at the theater, did alot of swimming at our wonderful community pool, and got to spend some great times with our friends. We had fun, but we're more than ready for the heat to end and for Fall to arrive. The kids are already planning Halloween costumes!