Memorial Day Weekend

It's been a long time since I last posted. Life is busy! Anyways, here's some pics of our Memorial Day Weekend in Tahoe. We had a great little condo and spent lots of time in the pool and at the beach. I've decided though that the beach is such a hassle! You pretty much have to pack your whole life in a bag...get annoyed when someone steps on your towel and gets sand all over...buy shovels and buckets to then have to bring them home...and clean out SAND for the next month. Oh yeah, try to spray sunscreen and then not have sand stick to you. It's impossible! It's as annoying as trying to keep hair from sticking to your lips after you just put chapstick on and the wind is blowing. Despite my love/hate relationship with the beach, we really did have a great time. Here's some pics of our much needed get-a-way. Did I mention I need another one any day now?
Sleeping kids are so peaceful!Our drive up the pass. Anyone seen my big yellow crane?Our poor kids have no chance of ever being tan. Neutrogena just came out with SPF 100. Yipee!
Digging for treasures...Cute summer bum cheeks. I love 'em!!Our happy girlThat's one way to learnI love this girl to pieces!Thirsty!

Recruit 81...Or in other words AUSTIN

So in some ways the time has really flown and in other ways it feels like he'll never be done with the Academy. Tomorrow will start week 16 out of 24. He's still really loving it. I really don't know how he does it. He's up by 5am every single day of the week and works all day and then goes to school. It's not like he has a kick back, take it easy kind of job. It's hard work. Then he gets to go throw ladders against a building all night and their physical training is like an episode of Biggest Loser - no, not the makeover one - the one where Jillian tortures the contestants until they puke or start crying and sweat is puddling on the floor forming a new reservoir. Today they are getting into Hazmat stuff. If it's not bad enough that they have to wear the Hazmat suit over their regular turnout gear, it is supposed to be 105 degrees today.

The drill instructors and captains have given the recruits Memorial Day weekend off. I took the weekend off work too and we are getting the heck outta here for a couple days. It is a much needed break. I can't say too much because I'm keeping the destination a secret from Austin. But I'll post pictures after we get back.
Anyways, life is busy but it's good. I'm so proud of Austin. He works so hard so that hopefully in the near future, he can have a great career and I can stay home with the girls.



Their class is referred to as 09-6 so they did this cool push up thing...

Flattering Plagerism

So every now and then I check up on the competition to see what they're offering. There's some really creative stuff out there and I have so many ideas in my little brain that I cannot create fast enough. So tonight I was browsing through some competitors sites and came across (wall stamp . net)--> I typed it this way on purpose - I'm not giving these guys an inbound link. I see at the top that there's a tab for their blog and I decide to click on it. Wow! They are truly original. Curious? You should first check out http://www.bloomingwords.com/Default.aspx?ID=69 then go to the site I mentioned above and click on their blog tab. Look similar? They totally took pictures from our website and made up some random story and posted it as their own. Here's the cute little story they made up...

I love to go to people’s homes and see unique decor, especially in the kitchen. I’m constantly amazed at how often vinyl lettering can be used in home decor. Aside from the traditional wall words, vinyl lettering can create some really unique home decor, even in the kitchen. Recently I was at a friends home and saw some really unique decor items in her kitchen. She had some very nice vines along the top of her kitchen cabinets with a nice home decor sign that featured a quote about hot bread (butter 25cents extra), along with some other items. However, what reallly caught my eye were some decorative plates she had next to her stove, right under her spice rack. They were simple ceramic plates that matched the decor of her kitchen, but the plates had printed on them different vegetables, such as tomato, onion, olive, etc. They were on plate stands, and the lettering and graphics were painted on. I thought, “how easy would this be to recreate using vinyl lettering?” So, I went to the store, bought a couple of colored plates that matched my decor ($2.00 each) and recreated the decorative plates using vinyl letters. When all was said and done, I had recreated the same decorative plates at a fraction (about 1/4) of the cost that my friend paid for her decorative plates.

Really!? Mom is excited because she has a friend now that she didn't know she had (those plates are in her kitchen). It's really funny that I stumbled across this the same day they posted it. Weird. Anyways, I'm not sure if I should email them or just post a comment on our vinyl blog because you know they'll be back again. It would be kinda fun to mess with them a little. I know...I should email them and say I really liked the vinyl on the plates and wanted to know how to order. Hmmm...it's going to be hard to create something you don't have. They're really good at making up stories so it could be interesting. I know, I know, I should play nice and not say anything at all but what's the fun in that!

I love this age!

Miley is everywhere now. I turn my back for one second and she's up the first flight of stairs. Her favorite place (other than Hailey's closet full of goodies) is under the kitchen table. She's grown taller in the last month or so because her head used to clear the table and now she bonks it everytime. Here's Miley saying Hi to everyone from her favorite spot. She's also holding on to the couch and walking from one end to the other. As long as she's got something to hold on to, she's good as gone.

Easter Slideshow

These slideshows are my new favorite thing!

Easter

Above are some Easter Pics. We're already into May and I'm just getting them posted. Oh well. Both of the girls got new swimming suits and some random other goodies. Grandma Vickie got the girls the cutest matching outfits. Mom got Hailey this blue dress that has flutter sleeves and it ties in the back. Just cute and comfy. It's kind of gathered on the chest and Hailey calls it her booby dress. Kids - I wish I had a photographic memory of everything that she has said in her short 4 years of life that have had me close to peeing my pants. Anyways, a few days before Easter we colored eggs. That was a $1 well spent. Note to self...pay attention to the directions next time. I added the vinegar at the wrong time and a couple of the dyes didn't disolve but we had fun anyways.