Summer here we come....

Playdates, pool parties, bike rides and the beach all summer long could not come soon enough. Stuffing toys and who knows what else( keys, remotes, snacks)in the bushes with friend Liam.
Digging the new pool. Like our AstroTurf backyard? Very WT but is much preferred over what was already there. Plus who wants to jeopardize a puncture wound in the pool? I was not on board with the idea but Tony was determined. I am glad I was overruled. Plastic lawn ornaments and cans of beer littering the yard to follow.

Enjoying a frozen treat from the new and improved Moonlight Beach concession stand.

Tony catching his first waves on his handmade Alia ( I am sure I butchered the spelling) board. He made it over the weekend for the summer kickoff beach party at San Onofre. While I think the board may need some revision he enjoyed combining his two hobbies surfing and woodwork.
I hope everyone got to enjoy the outdoors this weekend.

Belated mothers day

Mothers day was celebrated late in our house. All three of us spent the day recovering from food poisoning from Saturdays dinner. Thanks Pick Up Sticks. We NEVER eat there but we did not feel like cooking. As I am driving past the Ralphs on my way home from my run I thought - quick and easy. Why not? Tony and I spent the day taking turns sleeping in 2 hour intervals so someone could keep an eye on Brayden who also fell victim and had his own issues. Helping clean the house for mom with his toy vacuum and leaky ice cream cone.

My lovely mothers day card made of my favorite koa wood. The tab pulls out and the card is inside.

My latest project.

It will hopefully utilize a little of this amazing embroidery floss stash.
Hope all of you lovely mommies had a wonderful day.

Late spring getaway.

Brayden took his first plane trip to visit his Grandpa Jacks and Grandma Ann. There house was full of fun things to do. They were in the middle of preparing for a craft show in their area. Lots of soon to be finished projects mostly consisting of glass and glass parts filled the house. You can imagine the result when you let a toddler loose in those conditions. He did great with no glass casualties. My nerves are still recovering. I felt like a broken record. "be careful" and "that is dangerous" and "don't touch" are words I need to eliminate from my vocabulary for a few days. We had lots of fun checking out the newly built garage full of all of their projects. I learned how handy a kiln could be in my life and now am shopping Craigslist for one. They melted wine and liquor bottles and made cutting boards, dishes and nightlights. They were still cooling off when we left so we do not have any photos of the end result to share. It was very fun to learn how to re purpose bottles for cool art. Brayden logged many hours riding/ climbing/ standing on top of/ running circles around the tractor. I think he would like one of these at the house as much as I would like a kiln similar to theirs at our house.
Playing in the last of the season snow up in Tahoe. His Ugg boots had little tread. Frolicking in the snow was a very brief event.

Feeding Grandpa's horses.

Posing in front of the Truckee River

Interfering with neighbor lady's skee ball game at Circus Circus. Circus Circus still seemed to be in original condition from my childhood. I did notice that the flying trapeze circus people seemed to be missing.

The all day candy fest

5:35 am. The Easter Bunny comes early to the Jacks. The Easter bunny tried to be very green this year. Bringing a few recycled toys and books while reusing Christmas wrap. Knowing that toys and candy are not lacking in our house he wanted to make sure we had plenty of everyday items such as vitamins, socks, Tylenol and a toothbrush. Since 4 back teeth are coming in there are lots more teeth to brush.

Our talented boy. Already unwrapping Hershey wrappers with perfection.

Bypassing the plastic hot dog for eggs with treats. Can't fool this one.

Silly bunnies in the kitchen. Since my mom did not assign people specific items everyone brought dessert. Still recovering from all the sugar.

More candy from Uncle Jason.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter. !!!!

Eggcelent Times

You would think it is spring break for me or something like that. On the contrary, more work ( thanks to the stimulus package) than I can handle. But that is an good thing. Crafting and baking like I have the time. I guess I need a distraction from this one single loan that has dominated my week. Normally I am not the kind of person that complains about work in a public forum, but there is a strong possibility that the offending loan will not get approved and I could have been spending the energy on loans that will actually generate income. But that is the lovely life of sales. It has me looking forward to Easter and all of the fun events and traditions leading up to it. Opening a surprise Easter package from Grandpa Jacks. Sand toys, birds and bubbles. Fun.
Discovering the Easter Bunny's stash in a undisclosed location.

Our 2009 Easter baskets. I am not that happy with the way they turned out. They are not as stiff of as polished as I would like. I am chocking it up to learning the ins and outs of applique. They hold eggs and treats so they will do the job for this year.

Dying Easter Eggs. Tony choosing to chat rather than color. I think these eggs will end up in a spinach salad for tomorrow.

Braving the crowd at the YMCA egg hunt. We got placed with the 3 year old group due to the overcrowding of the 2 year old group. We ended up with 3 eggs.

Community Camping

Loving riding bikes around the harbor.

Our clever idea for a bed for Brayden. A 2 man raft from Walmart. One night it worked great 2nd night was not so successful. It is great for storing dirty clothes.

Hanging out at camp.

Last weekend we had our first family camping trip to Doheny Beach for Tony's birthday. Brayden had lots of fun playing on the beach and riding bikes around Dana Point. He came down with a cold the last night we were there so we had had very little sleep our last night. So did our neighbors. It was freezing at night but sunny and warm during the day. We ate only one meal at camp. We had dinner with Tony's cousins at then hit happy hour and Wind and Sea the next night. That is my kind of camping. No dishes. After this trip we are ready to step up our camping trailer search. Even though we have no where to store it.

16 months already

Tony's birthday present- a baby bike seat. Just what he has always wanted. We plan on putting it to good use camping this weekend.

Celebrating 16 months with PB & J.

Enjoying his new handmade table from dad in his room. We are big fans of the Fischer Price little people in this house.

Spending St. Patricks day at Sea World.

The last coat of stain that is almost dry on Brayden's play table. A belated birthday gift for Brayden but well worth the wait. Tony used poplar wood so it can withstand lots of abuse. I think it will double as a coffee table as soon as he outgrows it. We have been collecting surf fins over the last couple of years from our trips to Hawaii, garage sales and Tony's own broken board heap. I think we finally have an idea to put them to use. In the meantime the are fun to dump out and scatter on the new almost dry table.