my sanity

I love these girls.
They keep me sane.
Every girl needs girls.






Happy Birthday, Laura! You are the best.

first word

Marisa's first word was "Hi". Sweet, cute, a very happy moment for her proud parents. It was the kind of word that any Mom would love for their little baby girl to say first. Especially when there is a high-pitched, yet soft innocent voice to go along with it.

Natalie said her first word today at the dinner table.

"Yucky".

Not surprised at all. This girl is extremely picky. She said it when I gave her a cooked aspargaus to gnaw on. Yes gnaw because she doesn't have teeth yet.

Beach house 2010

This year was a cold, cold, cold beach house. Tim, especially, was looking forward to a week of bathing in the sun and getting some color. The poor man doesn't ever get to see it! Either way, it is always a blast being with family and getting away for a little bit. Another successful beach house.

Boating - Apples to Apples - Family soccer games - Old Spaghetti Factory - Every day morning run with Grandpa to Seaside Donut Shop - Tennis - Stories being retold for the thousandth time - Dance party - Balboa Pier walks - Maze following by Marisa- Ruby's breakfast- Watching sunsets - The Crab Cooker - TK Burger - Late night Balboa bars.

We have true California girls in our hands. Natalie LOVED the sand. Loved it so much to eat it, again. By the mouth fulls too. She kept face planting on purpose to have it all over her face and in her mouth.




And Marisa LOVED the water. It didn't even bother her that it was freezing in AND out of the water. This girl can't get enough of Newport.


We also can't get enough of the 50+ Hart family members we get to see this time of year every year. There is nothing better than being with cousins, aunts and uncles, in-laws, etc. The Harts are really one big happy family. Van has always been Marisa's buddy and this year they just couldn't get enough of each other. I think Natalie didn't mind having someone her age either.




The boating activity, or otherwise known as "The Party Boat", according to the grandkids, was so hilarious. The best way to get your children to not move a single millimeter; strap them into a life jacket. I couldn't stop laughing how my girls wouldn't move! After several minutes though they eventually felt comfortable with the jacket on and they were all over the boat. :)












16th year and still going strong! See you all next year...

Girls Camp - Aspire Higher

I was totally bummed last year that I couldn't go to Girls Camp as a leader for the first time. I was 8 months pregnant though so I guess that was a good excuse. ;) But I made sure that if I was still around the next year that I was going. And I was and I did!






It was only a three hour drive to Camp Alegre in Santa Barbara. These were a few of the girls in my car on the way up. On the way back they were all fast asleep. haha




Girls Camp was a blast, but I'm not going to lie; it was SO tiring. Let me just give all my YW leaders growing up a HUGE shout out right now! THANK YOU! Thank you, thank you, thank you for EVERYTHING! haha I had no idea the sacrifice and work that went into Girls Camp. Plus, the late nights, little sleep, and MAJOR hike. haha I sure loved every minute of it though and would happily do it again.








We did the usual crafts, canoeing, swimming, singing, eating, gaming, scripture reading, and testimony bearing. Our ward was given the value Knowledge which is the color green. Like our bright green shirts, backpacks, waterbottles, and hairbows?? We went all out. :) Plus, one of our very talented young women drew and colored Captain Moroni on the sidewalk. Amazing.
So, we went on a brutal 9 mile hike which started at 5:30 in the morning. And I know that you guys who know me well are laughing at me right now for THREE reasons. One, I'm not a camper. Two, I hate hiking. Three, I love my sleep. But I did it! Shocker, I know. It was by far not an easy hike, even for the fittest, but it was fun getting to know the girls while walking for hours, literally, and the view on top was spectacular.




Yes, that was our view on the way up. Isn't that amazing? Even though I hate hiking, once I saw this it was all worth it to me.
"Aspire Higher - I can do hard things" was our theme for camp this year and I must say that I felt pretty darn good about myself when I completed the hike. And I sincerely hope the girls felt accomplished and a sense of pride and power that they can do hard things no matter how big or small the challenge. I'm so proud of them all. Everyone made it up and down!




I heart these girls. A lot. And I hope they left spiritually uplifted like I did. Love you girls!

Giveaway winner??

I never win anything. Never. Yet, I am still determined to win something in my life. And I recently did!
My cute little friend is expecting her first baby and she has a pretty successful blog where she writes about her journey to motherhood. I entered myself into one of her virtual baby shower giveaways and I think I won one of the best giveaways she had!

Meet Modern Bird Studios. They take a photograph of your choice and turn it into a very orginal, creative, meaningful piece of art for your house. The art is on Oak and ready to hang in your house. I won a 12x12 worth $215! Sweet huh?

I sent them this photo:


And they transformed it to this!


Isn't that so cool?
I wanted something for a future boy's room because the decor of my house and the girls' room is not exactly modern. And I wanted something with a little meaning too. Tim has a ton of license plates from all over the world and we have talked about having them hung up in our "boys" room someday. So thinking along the lines of trucks, cars, and travel, I took a picture of Marisa playing on this tractor that is on our local farm where I get my baskets full of yummy veggies and fruits every week.

What's cooler is that the painting is done by hand and a true original so Gregg signs the back. Fancy. haha
Now I would like to be greedy and win something bigger. Like a free house, lots of money, a car...you know. The usual things. haha

Happy Babies' Daddy Day

On Mother's Day, the first thing Tim said to me was, "Happy Babies' Momma Day!"
Really?
I didn't know whether I should cry or just laugh.
I didn't get a "you are an amazing mother and wife thanks for all you do", or "thanks for bearing such beautiful girls, or "I hope you feel special today." haha
Instead I get a ghetto ATL version of Mother's Day.
But, I laughed, actually. Totally Tim's humor and why I married him in the first place.

So Tim, thanks for being my babies' Daddy.

I heart

Tim: "Marisa, why are you so cute?"
Marisa: (Giggle) "Because I'm fun!"
Me: :)

I love moments like this. You know what I'm talking about. The moments when everything in this world is just perfect.