32 Birthdays!

My girlfriends surprised me on Sunday with a Pioneer Woman cookbook! AND THEN;) after opening the book we drove to hear her chat and sign books at Borders! She was so delightful and cheery. We escaped the long lines and hit up the mall while the signing began. We returned to the signing 2 hours later and tagged on to the back of the line. Poor thing, signing 2 hours worth of books......and still a smile on her face!

(Hey, hobbit on the end, sit up and shoulders back!)

Thanks friends!

Monterry Bay Aquarium!

My dad and his wife Sharon (Grandma and Grandpa) came out this past weekend to take the girls to the Monterry Bay Aquarium. This place was unbelievable! We were amazed and amused the entire time! After our trip the the aquarium we headed up the coast to San Francisco (those pics to come).



The Jellyfish were my favorite!! Pictures were not doctored. The second one down from here is from the iphone.





Malyn is a Sea Otter in her preschool class. We loved to watch these guys swim around!
Penguins!
Mattie Sue was watching the feeding.
There were so really cool little Seahorses too. This was a Dragon Seahorse.

This is the outside of the aquarium that is built alongside the ocean.
What a great trip! Thanks dad and Sharon for everything! San Fran pics to come!

Left overs

I found some pics in the camera that were too cute to pass up.

I took the girls to a Spooky Halloween Day at Manhattan Village Mall. They had arts and crafts, a sing along, story time (read by the Gap ladies), and face painting. I saw the line for the face painting and quickly walked by (maybe the girls didn't see what all the hype was about). They kept seeing kids with their faces painted and commenting on them. I finally gave in on one condition, one little mishap in line and we leave. They worked very hard and made it to the front of the line. When we got there Sue took one look at the guy and said.....no thanks. I eyeballed Malyn (praying she would get her face painted so the wait was worth our time). She totally pulled through and loved every minute of it. When her face was done Mattie Sue thought Malyn looked beautiful so she said she thought she could have hers painted but only a little bit.
Two kids is worth it! Dontchathink?

This picture is for Nama .T! These are the tea spoons you got me years ago and the magnetic ballerinas you got Sue. Here she is dressing the spoons!
Our friend Kristen came into town to play for Halloween. She brought the girls goody bags! There were lots of fun little treats and some tongue tattoos.
I love to watch kids trick or treat. I think it is the cutest thing ever. I love seeing what the little kids dress up as! It shows their little personalities in such a darling way. Her are my Ariels. Its so funny to me that they are both Ariel. It just shows how obsessed with each other they are. Thanks come playing with us Kristen!
We made our Rules chart the other day. I had Sue write it out hoping it would mean more. I framed it because I thought it was the cutest thing on the planet.
Rules
1. Hit and Sit
2. Respect
3. Be kind

Signed Mattie Sue (and she drew a picture of her and Malyn with hearts on their heads).

Witch and 2 Ariels~

Ready for school!!

A little Bono for ya!

U2

7:30am Sunday morning, Rose Bowl, U2. Just seeing this picture cracks me up! Everyone was in good spirits and so excited. Once we parked we had to walk about a half mile to the line. People were already in line from the night before (but we have kids) so we had to swiftly walk to the line. 'Mall pace'. In this picture our friend Erik is saying......'Don't break stride for the picture people'! Then followed it up with....'Wait, I left my coffee....... but I'm just going to let it go' (with his hand sadly letting it go). I woke up this morning cracking up about this walk to the line. I sensed some annoyance that I was shuffling to find the camera in this moment. Notice Nicole and Boo were not breaking stride!
Once we got our numbers we were able to relax. I was number 796. I would have been number 300 if I didn't have kids. Our friend Tim in the picture as well.

Boo parked himself on a hill to get the horizontal effect.

We waited for.....10 hours. 7:30am to 5:30pm. Nice time for a shout out to the babysitters, Nick and Shannon!! THANK YOU!!
We sat down once we got in the inner circle to keep our 'real estate'!
Some very excited concert goers seen here.
Wait for it.......

The Black Eyed Peas opened up, it honestly doesn't get any better than that.
OHH wait, it did get better, Slash walked out and played Sweet Child of Mine!
Then there was Bono. Who is the coolest rockstar in the world.




(some photos from Erik)

Falloween!

Who knew she was so particular with her pumpkin choice?

This is the right pumpkin for me!
Malyn was so proud of her pumpkin too. Malyn is our little pumpkin lover. She has been excited about going to the pumpkin patch since last October!! Each night when we say our prayers she says, 'Thank you for the Pumpkin Patch (and fireworks)."


Happy Falloween!
Thoughts behind this picture:

Stacy- I'm wearing a BOO shirt for a shout out to my husband. I wear it once a year and each year it creeps up, getting a little tighter and a little shorter.

Mattie Sue- Staring at the little girl that wanted to join us in our family picture. Her dad was taking the picture and she walked up and stood right next to Malyn smiling. He dad was like 'GET OUT', and she would not move. Both my girls just smiled looking at her.

Boo- Its fine buddy, just take the picture.

Malyn- I finally made it to the pumpkin patch. My parents finally took me. And look, I get my very own pumpkin. (Second kiddrom)