January 31, 2011

Isaac is completely obsessed with trains lately.  Especially the Thomas trains.  He loves it when I help him build a big track all over the living room floor.  We push the coffee table out of the way so there is more room.  I actually think it's kind of fun to engineer new tracks and get them all to connect (it's not quite as easy as it looks).

January 30, 2011

The weather has been warm and sunny the past couple of weeks.  I know we are totally spoiled here in Southern CA but I actually wish it were a little cooler.  Something about 78 degrees in January just doesn't seem quite right.  Well today I got my wish.  High 50's and rain.  I snapped this photo on the way home from a YW board meeting after church today.  

January 29, 2011

Charlie is sick so we stayed home and relaxed most of the weekend.  We decided to head out for dinner on Saturday night and ended up at Outback Steakhouse.  We hadn't eaten there in years.  In fact, the only time I remember ever eating there with Charlie was while we were engaged.  For some reason we decided to go on this crazy "Abs Diet" in preparation for our wedding and honeymoon.  I don't think we lasted more than a week or so on the diet, but we went to Outback one night for grilled chicken and veggies.  I was working at Kaplan at the time and our office would go to Outback sometimes for lunch and I always loved their veggies.  I'm not sure what it is that makes them so good.  Okay, I'm totally rambling.  I opted for a steak tonight (which is unusual for me, but Charlie was getting the chicken so I thought I'd be different) and the veggies were just as good as I remembered!

January 28, 2011

Charlie is sick with a cold and a very bad cough.  He decided to sleep on the couch so that he wouldn't keep me awake at night.  Usually when he goes to bed early I stay up and watch TV, but since he was in the living room I opted for a book instead.  I'm so glad I did!  I don't read very often these days and I always forget how much I love it.  Charlie picked this book up at Costco last weekend.  I was expecting it to be kind of a sentimental, feel good, dog lover book but it is actually very scientific.  It's pretty interesting.  It talks about how we tend to anthropomorphize dogs and how we can set that aside and learn more about them through their body language, barks, behavior, etc.  And yes, I know I am a crazy dog lady but I also have a crazy dog so maybe this book will help me figure out why he is so psycho.

January 27, 2011

Sorry the picture is kind of blurry.  I've been taking most of my photos with my iphone because it's convenient... and honestly the photo quality from my Canon is not that much better!  Anyway, I was surprised to get this cheesy certificate in the mail tonight.  We've been selling on EBay for a couple of years now, and we always get e-mails from them about our seller status.  I never expected to get an "official" certificate.  It kind of made me feel like I was in elementary school again!

January 26, 2011

We went to visit my sister Sandy today.  Isaac loves going to the "cousin's house" - mostly because of all of their cool toys!  But he also really likes playing with his cousin Ryan.  Today we all rode together in their van to go get ice cream at Baskin Robin's.  You can't see Ryan (behind baby Hailey's seat), but he was being silly and making all of the kids laugh.

January 25, 2011

Out on a walk with Isaac and Cracker.  Isaac LOVES riding his tricycle.  He likes going around and around the park better than going to the lake.  The park has a few very slight hills so Isaac likes to put his feet up and coast down.  He also likes to collect various pine cones, rocks, sticks, and leaves to put inside the little box on the back of his bike.

January 24, 2011

Today we had a plumber come to fix a few problems around the house.  We had a toilet that ran constantly and a dripping shower.  For some reason he did all of his work in the bathroom with the door closed.  Mysterious.  So I was only able to snap a picture of him inspecting the leaky dishwasher.  I think I way over paid for him the toilet and shower ($336 - anyone with plumbing experience care to give your two sense?), so I opted not to have him pull the whole dishwasher apart and incur any further expense for the day.

January 23, 2011

This is a little embarrassing, but since I'm pregnant I feel a little less guilty about indulging myself.  Not many people know this, but I have a weakness for fake nacho cheese.  And this cheese - Que Bueno - is by far my favorite.  The other night I even had a dream about it (again, I will blame this on pregnancy) and actually woke up and googled the cheese in the middle of the night to see where I could buy it besides Costco.  See, Costco only sells it in this enormous can and it's way more cheese than I need to eat.  But unfortunately Costco is the only place to buy it.  So yesterday I gave in and purchased a can and today I am eating fake cheese to my heart's content.

January 22, 2011

Today we attended a birthday party for Isaac's friend Jack.   He's a little older than Isaac (just turned 5), and when Isaac was at ICEC Jack was his favorite person to hang out with.  Miss Erin was Isaac's cognitive therapist and Jack and Patrick are her two boys.  It was fun to go to he party and see all of our old friends from ICEC.  Isaac loved being tackled in the bounce house by Jack's dad, playing with all of the trucks out on the driveway, and taking his turn to swing at the pinata.  Here he is (in the blue shirt, by the tree) collecting his share of pinata candy.  

January 21, 2011

I've been really into smoothies lately.  The other day my friend Meredith posted about a spinach smoothie that she makes, so I thought I'd give it a try.  She is right - you don't taste the spinach!  And I felt super healthy for getting my veggies in at breakfast time.  It was pretty good, but I prefer to have some citrus flavor in my smoothies so maybe next time I will try orange juice instead of the strawberry juice that I used.  

January 20, 2011

I decided to make Paula Deen's broccoli salad to go with our dinner but I needed a purple onion and some raisins.  We went to Trader Joe's and of course I could not walk out with just those two items.  Here is what I came home with.  A few of our regulars, and a few new items to try.

January 19, 2011

Isaac and I were out running errands and I decided to drive through Construction Circle.  There is a cement factory, heavy equipment rentals, school bus parking, and a Waste Management plant.  We probably could have driven in circles for an hour, but instead I decided to pull over near the dump.  Isaac was in heaven watching all of the trash trucks and tractors dumping and pushing trash around.  I posted a picture on Facebook and Mikael made a comment about things we do for our kids.  Would I ever be hanging out at the dump by myself?  I don't think so!  

January 18, 2011

Sorry it's blurry.  And Isaac is supposed to be in the photo, but he's not (he's sitting behind me).  We took Charlie's Audi in for an oil change and they told us it was due for the 55,000 mile check-up.  We ended up having to leave it for the day so they gave us a loaner.  I was hoping they'd give me a Q7, but it was an A3 and it made me so glad I convinced Charlie to get the A4 wagon because it is much nicer!

January 17, 2011

I told Isaac we were going to the car wash and he was so excited, but when we got to our regular hand car wash it was closed. So we waited in the long line at the drive-thru gas station car wash. Isaac was getting really impatient in his car seat so I let him come sit up front.

January 16, 2011

Who done it?  Take a guess:  Isaac or Cracker?  I came around the corner from the kitchen where I was making dinner and discovered the culprit tearing out chunks of stuffing from our couch!  I had to send him to time out before I took a picture because I couldn't keep a straight face.  Yes, it was Isaac.  And luckily it was just an unzipped cushion and it all went back together just fine.

January 15, 2011

Charlie was out of town, and Isaac and I were bored at home.  I decided we would go get Golden Spoon frozen yogurt.  It was a Saturday night and Golden Spoon was packed!  After waiting in line for what felt like 20 minutes (but was probably only 5) with Isaac going crazy, I gave up.  There is a McDonald's in the same parking lot so we got ice cream cones instead.  I think Isaac was probably happier with the cone anyway!

January 14, 2011

Ever since I bought the animal print fabric for Cracker's baby jaguar Halloween costume, Isaac has taken note of animal prints everywhere!  Anything with spots is "baby jaguar."  For example "Ma!  Baby jaguar purse!" or "Ma!  Baby jaguar jacket!" or "Ma! Baby jaguar umbrella!"  I think it's pretty cute.  Tonight we went to Petsmart to get some new dog food for Cracker.  Isaac loves looking at all the fish and other animals.  And this time we found - you guessed it - a "baby jaguar fish!"

January 13, 2011

The night before Charlie left for Atlanta we decided to get a baby sitter and go to dinner and shopping at Bloomingdale's.  We didn't find anything at the store, but we did find some fabulous food!  I was feeling a little sad that I wasn't going to Atlanta so when Charlie asked what I wanted to eat I told him I wanted Southern food.  We found this place called Memphis Cafe.  The macaroni & cheese was absolute heaven! Totally made up for staying home from Atlanta this year.  The fried okra and the cornbread were very good too.  

January 12, 2011

Isaac eating lunch in his pajamas.  It was a Wednesday so he didn't have school and I guess we had a lazy morning!

January 11, 2011

Ooops, no picture!  So I'm using a screen shot from this news story that a friend sent me that day.  Dave Dean, a good friend from my Provo days, was saved by Utah Search & Rescue.  Though I'm really glad he's okay, I also think this video is kind of funny.  I haven't seen Dave or Kurt in years, so it brought a smile to my face to see them both in this video.  They are just how I remember them!  Here's the link to the story: http://connect2utah.com/news-story?nxd_id=125997&watch=1

January 10, 2011

I've been trying to get out and go walking (though I'd prefer to be running).  I didn't exercise at all when I was pregnant with Isaac and I gained a little more weight than I wanted.  This is one of the trails that goes through Woodbridge.  I love this part because, though it's no where near as cool as the tree tunnel in Kauai, it reminds me of it just a little bit.

January 9, 2011

These are a few of my favorite things!  I love these glasses that Charlie helped design when he worked for Anchor Hocking.  They are made of Murano glass (a Venetian island that we visited on our trip to Italy in 2006).  We only have a few of these left because they are starting to crack.  Boo!  I also love my colorful striped socks from J. Crew, and my MacBook with the purple cover.

January 8, 2011

This was Isaac's second trip to the movie theater.  We saw Tangled.  I think he liked it will enough, but the real secret to keeping him seated for 2 hours was the popcorn.  I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that he ate popcorn for 2 hours straight.  At one point we figured we should make him stop so he didn't get sick, but then he started eating it off the floor so we just went ahead and gave the bowl back to him.

January 7, 2011

A week later, Isaac still wants to sleep in his "big special bed" - the blow up mattress that he slept on while Amy & Paul were visiting.  Cracker loves it too because he can climb on it with his short little legs.

January 6, 2011

I'm about 19 weeks pregnant here.  Still wearing my regular clothes and not showing much.  I just look fat!

January 5, 2011

It's tradition that after the girls go to the temple we always go to In-N-Out.  Here are two of my Mia Maids, Kiara & Naddia.  Naddia (on the right) polished off an entire 4 x 4!

January 4, 2011

Isaac LOVES pushing the little shopping carts at Albertson's.  It works out okay on days that I have some patience left.  And I guess it is easier than having to push the gigantic cart with the plastic car attached... But if you see us at the store, watch out for your ankles!  

January 3, 2011

Dinner at Rubio's - taken with my iphone.  Charlie will probably be annoyed that I am posting this, but it is my only photo from the day. 

January 2, 2011

Didn't take a picture today.  Amy & Paul were visiting and we played Yahtzee, Apples to Apples, & Trivial Pursuit.  

January 1, 2011

It was a few days into 2011 before I decided to commit to this project.  But I did just happen to take a few photos on the 1st.  Here is Isaac climbing on the giant presents around the Christmas tree at Fashion Island.