Mothers Day Gift...

For Mother's Day my sister & I gave my mom this. I just want to say that the boys were SO EASY. I got the idea from a blog that I frequent. It can be a little over the top but I've gotten some good ideas from there. http://blog.craftzine.com/
So here are some before & after.Ryan (above) & Casey (below) were so easy.
And finally... Payton's curls as cute as they are, were so difficult. I was able to find several examples of boy profiles, but none that had a girl with curly hair. The boys were done within 1 hour of beginning, Payton's took several tries & 3 days. SO here's what I came up with.

I'm okay with the end result. What is holding me back from trying again is cutting out the curls... that was a pain. I'm just glad it's done & that we were able to do something without spending a whole lot of money! Plus I think it's super cute!

Mrs. Sleepy Head

This particular day Payton didn't take a nap. She is usually fine & doesn't start whining until 5:30/6 & will go to bed close to 7p. So I was posting about the table runner (which took me less than 5 minutes) & I turned around to find this.

I tried just talking to her to wake her up but it didn't last.

So I put her in her chair & decided to get her to at least eat something... Hotdogs were the fastest thing I could think of.

I wasn't fast enough though.

After eating she did perk up & ate dinner. I put her in a warm bath & she was asleep by 7:20... I wish this were the end of the story!

At 10:30p she woke up from her 'nap' & didn't go back to sleep until, well the last time I looked at the clock was 3:30am. Donald had a midterm that morning so I pulled the cushions off of the couch & layed in the middle of the room while she played around me. It took me 3 days to recover!

6272

Her first Shiner

Payton got her first shiner. Friday I had to drive to the other side of LA, Culver City, to drop off the rents that I collected. On my way back I called Mom to check on Payton & to let her know that I was running late. Since I wasn't going to get there before she went down for her nap & Mom wasn't going to be there when she woke up, she said that she has something to explain about what happened to Payton's face... WHAT? So Payton & Mom were over at Nana's (my grandma's) & they were in her back yard watering (Payton's favorite thing to do). Payton was excited & running after Nana who was going to fill up the watering can. Payton likes to watch her feet when she runs & will occasionally run into things like walls, chairs, basically big stationary objects that tend to move right into her path. So this time it was a lawn mower, actually I could see how a lawn mower could be a hazard with it's thin, hard to see handle that protrudes out so dangerously like that.. ;) So she hit & fell & was really, really upset. They checked her over & assuming she hit her forehead were chalking up all the dramatics to her over dramatic personality.So they went to Costco & Nana looks down & notices the bruise. Needless to say that have repented & given the sympathy, as late as it was, that was deserved. Just kidding. They felt terrible but with children who find enjoyment in their feet while walking & sometimes running... what are you suppose to do?
6098

My dad has these awesome star-gazing binoculars that are rarely pulled out. It was definitely cool to watch the fire using them. Payton of coarse had to get in on the action too.Here I think that she is actually looking down. I think that she is posing for the picture here... what a good girl!
So when my dad spotted the fire he was cleaning out the jacuzzi. Every year near the beginning of the season it is drained & we use a pummis (sp) stone to file down any rough edges. Payton enjoyed being able to walk around the step, which is something that I loved to do when I was young. I would have been right there with her but hey man, it was cold!
She was being very careful!
Right after the picture below was taken she was walking in front of where there are 2 jets (you can actually see the ripples in the water in the left corner of the picture). While the pool is emptying/emptied there is a small flow of water that comes out. As she was walking by, trying to avoid it water (probably because it was cold) she fell in. Talk about living in slow motion!!! Dad almost immediately got her out. Payton of coarse was upset (VERY UPSET) & Mom took her into the house to get her in the bath.
After her bath she was better to the point that she was right back to the side of the pool helping to clean it. By then of coarse the water was already in but it didn't mater. I think we've got a little fish on our hands... well can you really call someone a fish if they don't swim yet? What would you call them?
6060

Table Runner

For Easter I made a table runner for my Nana but in the rush to finish it I really screwed up the binding. So I cut it away & re-did it. I'm so glad that I did because I love how it turned out. It's always a good thing when table runners lay FLAT on the table.I also really liked the pattern & plan to put in on the "Someday I'll" list.
The only thing I didn't like is that I planned for it to be longer. It looks great & Nana loved it so I'm happy!

How can I work....

Payton & I went to the mall so that she can play indoors & wear herself out. When we went to go get gas at Huntington & Baldwin & looked north & this is what I saw. The fire was just west of Baldwin. Yep last night it started up a again.Below is the very from my dad's office window. I suspect that he has been distracted all day today but the view of the fire.
Again amazing zoom! I spotted this flare up.
Within minutes the first helicopter came.
These guys are so good!
Yeah success!
And one more time for good measure!

I also spotted another flare up & when I zoomed in to take a look I spotted a fire engine. It's small & you can't really see it but it is directly to the left of the flames (about 1 1/4 inch). I spotted this on my 'way out' so I ended up staying for about 10 to 15 minutes longer, they were able to stomp out that flare up too. Firefighters are just so good!!!
SO needless to say I was distracted for a while & by the time that we finally left it was past Payton's bedtime. So do you think that she enjoyed herself as much as I did? She ended up sleeping for 3 HOURS! WooHoo!
So sweet! She is such a good girl!!!
5973

Now called the Sierra Madre Fire...

Yeah this is quite unnerving but let me give you a little perspective...Yeah my camera has some major zooming capability! This was taken from my parents backyard.
This plane was awesome. It was able to drop fire retardant 4 different times. There was also a spotted plane that these guys would follow in. It was very impressive.
Donald of coarse is always in the thick of things. On Saturday when this started Donald was up Monrovia Canyon (which is about 1/2 to 1 mile East of where it started) in the mountains with the scouts. We knew it was close but weren't sure how close. We finally heard from him about 4pm. They were evacuated & left about 5 hours before it was scheduled to end.

I also learned something knew. These helicopters are Black Hawks that have been modified. Interesting.
I'm not sure about the red one but definitely the yellow one is.



Just some cool shots that I thought I'd share.