We're waiting!..........for spring!!!!

We decided to go to the park after dinner tonight to take advantage of a little sun. By the time we got there, the sun was long gone and the wind had picked up quite a bit. I'm so ready for some good weather. Is it too much to ask for? I bundled the kids up anyway. Ash was really into having a helmut on. I was amazed that she didn't try to pull it off, so we just kept it on the whole time. She loves her little car.

She also LOVES the swings!

She is getting to be quite independent. She takes off and she's gone! She doesn't even look back to see if I'm following.

Everything goes into the mouth. Yesterday, I looked over and her whole mouth was bright blue. She had grabbed a marker and pulled the lid off and just started chomping away.

Viva Las Vegas!!!!

I thought that it was definitely time for a new post! Unfortunately, I have no new photos. I've been a complete slacker with the camera lately. Peter and I just got back from our weekend in Vegas. We had a really great time! Won some money on the craps table, shopped a bit and we ate like kings. Weekends like that fly by so quickly. Now we get to look forward to the end of the month when we'll head down to Arizona for a bit. "Last Chance", here I come!!!!!

Guess who just turned One?

Yay for Ashley!!! I can't believe my little girl is already one! This year has gone by so fast. The Birthday party was a success! It really could've gone either way, but Ashley was great.

The party was mostly for my enjoyment, but I think everyone had a little fun.

The "Crave" cupcakes were smashing, as usual. My new favorite is the "lovely bunches of Coconuts". Yummmmm-mmmm! Great for the diet! Caitlin, I hope they lived up to all the hype! And, I'm glad you took home the last few!

This was Ashley's face while we were singing to her. She was quite serious, but clapped along anyway.

Notice the greasy hands? Overall, she was quite neat and tidy with it.

This cupcake was way too big for such a little girl. She needed to take a break!

And finally, a four generation picutre. Too bad that Ashley's covering most of Grandma's face.


It was so nice for Peter and I to share this day with you all. Thanks to everyone who wished Ashley a Happy Birthday! And thanks for all the nice things she recieved. I really didn't want anyone to give her presents, but thank you very much! Charlie thinks the pink rubber boots are gorgeous!!! Susie, do they come in size 12?

Smiles & Boo-Boo's

Finally, Ashley sat still long enough for me to snap a picture. I even managed to get a little smile. Those of you who know her, know that it's not that easy to do. She even left her head band on for about 8.5 minutes. It's a record!~

This is Charlie's sad little bear, "bo-bo". We took him to pre-school on Tuesday and there was a Doctor there to answer questions from all the 3 year olds. All of their bears got exams. Their ears, eyes, heart and lungs were checked, as were their reflexes (bo-bo's were excellent, by the way!) Then they got bandaged! The poor thing looks as if he were in quite the brawl. It was really cute though. Charlie's been quite terrified of the doctor, so this helped put his mind at ease. No big deal!

A year gone by!

I can't believe that Ashley will be turning one year old next Saturday! I thought that it was about time for a new post, so here are a couple pics from a year ago. The one above, Mom insisted on taking just before I left for the hospital. I was not in the mood for pictures, but you all know Mom. :)

Her soother was almost bigger than she was. Oh, she loves the soother!

Champaign wishes and Caviar dreams!

I just got back from my weekend with Meg! It was an awesome weekend. Their place, as you can see was amazing. In the photo above, right across the fairway is Bill Gates' place (where the cluster of trees are). It's nice to see how the other half live for a while. No diapers to change, no bottles to make, nobody but myself to look after. It was absolutely luxurious!

After doing a little shopping in the mornings, we would head right to the pool. Meg had the tempurature set on the pool at 90 degrees! It was so warm!

A little fire and some hagen daaz after the hot tub!

Anyway, it was great to get away and I'm ready to face the kids (and diapers) again. Ashley took her first steps while I was gone and I couldn't wait to see it for myself. Thanks to Mom and Peter for everything!

Time for a new post!

It's been a crazy week for us. Both kids have been really sick all week. They actually have pneumonia! Now, I'm sick too. I'm hoping that everyone is well by next week, because I'm (hopefully) going away for the weekend. Yay!!!! Next week I'll have new pictures to post from Palm Springs!
Here are a few photos from just before the kids got sick. Don't mind her head band. I've been trying to "train her" into wearing something on her head. This band doesn't have any bows on it, so she can't pull it off. Her hair is coming in very slowly. We could do a comb-over.
Why is her nose always red?

We took Charlie down the "SALAD-DOME" as he calls it check out the Zambonie's or Olympia's rather! Dad took him right down to sit on them. He sure loves the ice-cleaning equipment.


This is Ashley's new favorite hang out. She loves to check out the action in the back yard. She and Charlie put their chairs there and it gives me a good 5 -10 minutes to do other things. Hooray!

Is it almost spring yet?

I thought that it was about time for another post. Not much is new with us. I find January and February a tough couple of months to get through. Especially when it's as cold as it is. I keep looking forward to March. It will be Ashley's first Birthday, Peter's Birthday and at the end of March, Peter and I will be going to Vegas together without the Children. Ya-hoooo!!!! Can't wait!

Charlie has been especially sweet these last few days. He wants me to take his picture all the time and he gives me hugs and kisses without me asking for them. Maybe he knows I wont be getting them from Ashley so he's piling them on. He's a good kid.

It seems like one of the only places that Ashley is really happy is in her bath. I thought that if she like her bath, then she'll love swimming at the pool. But no. It seems like a lot of effort to get yourself and child into a swimsuit only to have them freak out the moment those tiny toes touch the water.

This is a face that many people know, because she looks at almost everyone this way. Stares right through ya!

She gets a kick staring at herself in the tub

Mom took this picture of Ashley a couple of days ago. She almost looks sweet in this photo. I'm really having a hard time with her right now. I don't know if it's just the teething or what, but she's extremely difficult to be around. I remember Charlie going through a "phase", but I don't remember it being like this. Ahhh, this too shall pass! Right?

Ringin' in the New Year!

Ashley hanging with Stewart (4 months old).

Dad and ladd.

Charlie's buddies, Jack and Georgia

Charlie's and the chocolate factory and my smudged lens, oops!~

Happy New Year Everybody! I was getting tired of my last post, so I thought I would post something new. Although I don't really have that many new photos. Here are some pictures of our New Year's Eve. We went to Elbow Park and skated then we went to the our friends' the Valentine's for dinner. They put on a fire in their back yard so the kids could roast Marshmallows for Smores. Yum. We were all in bed by 9:30! It was great ! How the times have changed!

I hope that 2007 is filled with happiness and good health to all!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Sooooooo Big!!!!!

It's a miracle that he even put the hat on!
Cookies and Egg Nog for Santa and a couple of apples for the Reindeer!
Ashley's new chair. I think she likes it!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Gingerbread hopeful!

Okay, so this is our attempt at a Gingerbread House. I feel kind of guilty because I didn't bake my own gingerbread. We bought a kit at Safeway that came with everything. I haven't tasted it yet, but man, it smells great! Charlie was totally into it! I remember when I was young and watching my mom cut her pattern and bake her gingerbread. I loved tasting the icing and nibbling on all the "decorations". Anyway, it was so fun to watch Charlie's excitement. Everytime I look over, there he is picking away at the icing. He can't leave it alone. Does anybody from my family remember when dad won that huge big gingerbread house? It was more like a ranch and it took up the whole coffeec table. Jason's got to remember - he ate most of it!:) It's so funny how little things can spark a memory.

NO SNOW FOR US!

So, we just got back from a quick trip to Arizona to visit Peter's parents. I have to say that it was so nice to get away from the snow. It's really great down there. I love it. Peter got to play a little golf, I shopped a bit (too much), the kids got to swim and play with grandma and grandpa. Charlie got to boss around Peter's dad. Grandpa Doug played golf and tennis with Charlie and Grandma Wilda took Charlie for lots of "loops" on her cart. He loved every minute! I got to see my friend Kathy and her kids. She looks amazing and her kids are so cute!
Charlie got to try out his brand new putter from Grandma and Grandpa Allen. He was very excited!

This was an attempt at a self-taken family picture. In the back-ground is the cactus that Doug and Wilda drape with Christmas lights every year, but you can't see it that well.

I hope everyone is having a good December! Less than two weeks till Christmas! Yay!

Madamme Butterfly

I just thought I'd post some pics of Ash in her room. I put her in her crib to do some laundry and when I came back, she was standing up. That's all she wants to do. You have to break her at the waist if you want her to sit down. I dont think that she will be really happy until she's movin.

Breeder's Cup

Peter just got back from a weekend in Kentucky. He went down to watch the Breeder's Cup and stayed with his friend who breed's horses. This is Hill 'n' Dale Farm, his friend John owns.
The famous racehorse, Seattle Slew is buried right there on his farm. I've been to this place years ago, and it's amazing!
A lovely shot of the driveway up to the farm
This is where Peter stayed
Across from where John's farm is this other farm. Sharon Stone filmed the movie "Sympatico" there a few years back.And this is also a part of John's farm. This is called the "Stallion Complex". Pretty nice digs for the horses!