Manic Monday #18

This week's MM meme is candle.


Since my kids are so young we have stopped using candles. We used to burn them all the time along with incense but now we rely on the wonderful glow of incandesent bulbs and the natural aroma brewing in our house.


Here's a few pictures of my aroma makers:

Aroma maker #1 a.k.a. The boss

Aroma maker #2 a.k.a. present snatcher

Manic Monday image courtesy of Jannaverse.

Manic Monday #16

Today's Manic Monday meme is harvest.

I had a hard time coming up with something that had to do with the word harvest that wouldn't be totally clique so I decided to photograph what we harvest every winter.




Yes, our bountiful crop is weeds...and mushrooms.

Manic Monday image courtesy of Jannaverse.

Manic Monday #15 Baking Season

This is the season for baking in my house. During the summer we buy most all of our cookies and cakes because the weather is so hot and it costs so much to run the air conditioner all day long. But now that the weather has cooled down, ok it is 80 degrees today and supposed to be hotter tomorrow but it is definitely cooler than it was over the summer, we can now bake cookies all day long. Then we hand them out to all of our neighbors and friends at Dave's job.

Here's a few pictures of the baking team...










Yip those cookies taste as good as they look...Yummy!!

Those are just are first batch for the season and we have many cakes and pumpkin bread loafs to make too. With my helpers we should be able to make great treats!

Manic Monday image courtesy of Jannaverse.

Manic Monday #13

Mo has chosen the word ghost for today's Manic Monday Meme.

When I was a kid my Aunt told me a story about a woman visiting her husband in their bedroom. She said every time the woman would appear he would be talking to her and my Aunt was told to go back to sleep. She said there was something calming about the woman and she wasn't afraid even though the woman possessed ghost like qualities.

I personally don't believe in ghosts. I don't believe people will come back and talk to you and give you messages. I believe you see what you want to see and fate is what you make of it. I also don't believe your life is predetermined. Choices that make I predict my future.

To me ghosts belong in scary Halloween flicks and should be enjoyed with popcorn.

Manic Monday #12

Mo has chosen today's word for Manic Monday to be: Bite

My first thoughts went out to McGruff the Crime dog and how he would take a bite out of crime when I was a kid. His commercials used to run before and after the after school special. So I decided to look around to see if he still exists and what do you know he does and he has his very own website and blog!

According to the site October is crime prevention month. The blog explains how to be safe on the Internet with children as well as other things like what to do for bullying prevention. It's a pretty cool site for parents and children. My kids are too young to benefit just yet but when the time comes we know where McGruff is and how to take a bite out of crime.

Manic Monday #11

Mo's word for Manic Monday is Moon.

One of Olivia & Ava's favorite books is titled The Moon in My Room. This board book is cool becuase it comes with it's very own night light that stays lit for about 4 minutes each time you press the button. It tells the story of going to bed and if the child needs to get up at night they have their very own flashlight. I recommend it to parents of small children especially if they are scared of the dark.

Manic Monday #10

Mo's word for Manic Monday is LEAF.

Even though Fall is coming, or in some states has come all ready, and the weather is changing I have to say that most of the trees still have their leaves in our neighborhood. We live in California and our seasons hardly differ from one another unlike on the east coast.

Typically on Christmas day the kids here go outside and ride their new bikes and skateboards, fly their kites, play with their remote control cars, and leave only their jackets, socks, and shoes in doors.

I must admit I have always dreamed of a white Christmas with mounds of snow... not just a sprinkle. I think our daughters would love to play in it. Sadly, this year I have a feeling that they will be playing on green grass with a leaf here and a leaf there but not a snow ball in sight.

Manic Monday #9

Mo's word for Manic Monday is NUTS.

Looking back on the weekend I think I was nuts for taking the girls to the winery to pick up Dave's surprise. But at least I didn't get kicked in the nuts like he did while playing on the floor with the girls. Life's rough.

Manic Monday #8

Mo created this fantastic word for today's Manic Monday : formula.

My first thoughts go to baby formula. When I had my first daughter she breastfed until about 5 1/2 months. Then she nursed but she also drank formula. By the time she was 7 months old she was strictly formula fed. Now my second daughter was completely different. She was strictly breastfed until she was a year old. She refused anything in a bottle even breast milk. I had received a bunch of cans of formula for her for free and most of it went to waste because every time the bottle went near her she violently gagged and it came out her nose. She also refused to drink any type of milk once she stopped breastfeeding at a year. She is now 19 months old and has officially begun drinking milk as of 2 weeks ago. I don't know what changed for her, but the next time we visit the doctor and he asks his usual questions of "does she drink at least 2 cups of milk a day?" I don't have to give him the speech about how she doesn't but I feed her plenty of dairy and leave his office in dismay.

Manic Monday

Olivia on drums...

I am not partaking in MM today. It is something about a carnival and different then I am used to. I am still too new at all of this to venture into new terrain on a Monday morning with my girls sitting beside me. I'll be back next week though. It looks cool, happy Monday to everyone participating.

Manic Monday #7

Mo from It's a blog eat blog world created this fantastic word for today's Manic Monday : Juice

When I hear the word juice I think of "daddy's juice" a.k.a. beer. We don't buy juice for our kids. They drink water or milk and have never really cared that anything else exists. Olivia somehow came up with term "daddy's juice" when Dave told her that his beer was for him only to drink. Neither of our girls see "the juice" and ask for it or care at all about it.

So when this daddy get thirsty for his juice he drinks Fat Tire. It's his Colorado favorite.

Manic Monday #6

Mo from It's a blog eat blog world created this fantastic word for today's Manic Monday : Club

In my state of mind this weekend the first thing that I thought of when I saw the word CLUB was cavemen clubbing their women. This lead me to examine medieval CLUB weapons. I wasn't really liking the way my PMS thoughts were going so I started thinking of different types of communities or CLUBS that exist. Since my posts are geared towards my kids I started thinking of moms clubs, book clubs, athletic clubs, and then the good old fashioned bars/pubs/clubs. I sometimes miss the club scene. It was fun when I was younger to try out different clubs with my friends, get all dressed up, spend lots of money, and then go out for a bite to eat afterward. Yeah, that was fun then, but my life is so much better and fulfilled now. Spending time with my family at the zoo, or the park, or lounging around on a Sunday afternoon wiping runny noses, beats the club scene any day.

Manic Monday #5 ~ Wax

Mo from It's a blog eat blog world has given us the word WAX for today's Manic Monday
This makes me think of Candy WAX lips. So yummy.

Manic Monday ~ Boil

Mo from It's a blog eat blog world created this fantastic meme word for Manic Monday : BOIL

If there's anything great Boiled it's a Shrimp Boil

Manic Monday ~ Big

Today's word is big from Mo's Manic Monday Meme.

When I saw the word this movie was my first thought-
I loved this movie when it came out and still love it today. I think now I want to take my kids to FAO Schwartz to let them see where it all began..

Manic Monday

Photo by: The Jannaverse

September 2004 we had planned on getting married in Grand Cayman until the STORM hit which later became a hurricane and wrecked havoc on the island. Grand Cayman was without water and electricity for a very long time.

Shortly thereafter, the STORM known as Hurricane Katrina, made it's way to New Orleans and wrecked havoc again. Many people lost everything, as well their lives. My brother-in-law lost his house.

In December we made our way to Maui and were married. The sun was high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud anywhere. We were married on the beach. We had hula dancers and a fire dancer and thankfully not a STORM anywhere around.

Manic Monday

I think these speak for themselves....




Nothing can clean a baby better than a good lick from the dog!