4 years later...

Todd and I just celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary on Friday the 13th.
To celebrate we did some self portraits. I have to admit, I don't like living in the desert. All the visions I had of photos involve trees and grass not cactus and dirt. I had a particular spot in mind that I wanted to shoot at but it's kind of far away and we had other things to do.
After our little shoot, we went to a new sushi place for an appetizer. We had the Philly Roll and Shrimp Tempura. OMG! It was sooo good!! I'm picky about sushi and thought the only places to get GOOD sushi were in Scottsdale (which is about 45 mins from here). I'm happy to report our new sushi place is about 20 mins from here. (and they make some good Cosmos too) YEAH!!! In fact, it was so good, we went there the next day with Todd's cousin and his family.
After we finished our appetizer and drinks, we went to see Watchmen. It was terrible. I could hardly watch it, it was that bad. Maybe it's better if you knew the comic book at all but we didn't. It was a long movie too. 2 hours and 40 mins to be exact. It ruined our plans because we were going to grab dinner afterwards but since it didn't end until about 10:30, we didn't have a lot of options for dinner. The only place that was really open for dinner, and that would be for awhile, was Buffalo Wild Wings. The food was pretty good but the service was awful. We got there and the lady asked if we wanted to sit outside. I said no so she said there is open seating in the bar. We walked over there and looked around but didn't see anywhere we wanted to sit. Then a guy walked by and said, "you don't have to sit in here, she can seat you over there". We didn't want to sit in the bar anyways so we walked back and she reluctantly sat us. She practically ran to the table. And to top it off she brought me back a Budwieser instead of a Bud light like I know I asked for and she didn't even bother to correct it. You would think that someone who works for tips would be a little nicer and WANT to take a table. It's not like it was busy in there or anything.

That was our anniversary and here are some of the pics I took of us in the desert. It's really hard to do different poses when you are IN the picture. It's a pain in the butt to be exact.
Anyways... The first one is my favorite.




And an out take :)

Busy shopping day

On Tuesday I ran away. After the kids went down for their naps I headed out the door to go shopping. I went to 10 places that day. 10, that's a lot of in and out's of the truck and a lot of walking, no wonder my legs were sore that night.
First I went to Joann's to look for some embellishments for my new (free) scrapbook paper stack. Then I went to Target to look for some incentives for Aiden to use the potty and to exchange some shorts for Camryn. Next I went to Old Navy to exchange a shirt for me and one for Camryn. After that I headed back to my neck of the woods and stopped at Walgreens. They had some good deals to snag. Here's my list.
1. I got the Huggies deal. Spend $25 get $10 back in Register Rewards. I had some coupons so I got 2 packages of Pull Ups, 1 size 5 diapers and some wipes.
2. Fructis shampoo/conditioner for .99 after Walgreens coupon. I had $1.00 off coupon too so that was free.
3. 12 packs of Coke were 4/$13 and get $3 Register Rewards back making them $2.50 each. The best deal on soda is $2.00 but that won't be back for awhile.
4. A Fusion Razor for Todd. $8.99 and I had a $4 off coupon plus I got $4 in Register Rewards.

Total for Walgreens - $53.50
Saved 31.48
Earned in Register Rewards - $17

Next I went to CVS.
1. I got Coke there too. 4/$13 and got $3 back in Extra Bucks.
2. 3 pack of Trident gum - .99
3. 2 x Palmolive dish soap. $1.49 each with $1.00 EB back each
4. Mascara and Makeup -$12 and got $5 EB's back. (I need to go back and spend $8 more to get another $5 back.)
5. Quatro razor $8.99 and got $5 EB's
6. Secret Deodorant $3.99. Had a $1 off coupon and got $1 EB back.

Total was 44.91
- 7.50 in Coupons/EB's = 37.41 - $25 Gift Card from transfering a perscription.
So for all that I got I only paid $12.41 and I earned $16 In Extra Bucks.
Not too shabby!

Next I went to Fry's to get some deals and headed home for dinner. After dinner I went back out again because I wanted to do the majority of my grocery shopping at Albertsons to get more Monopoly pieces. Todd was told that people in the Valley were winning so he wanted me to get more game pieces. I did. I got 41 more pieces to be exact. We haven't won anything but only need 1 or 2 more in a couple places. We're keeping of fingers crossed.
Before I went there though, I had to go back up to Walgreens. The lady rang me up for 2 shampoos by mistake so I had to get that fixed and while I was there picked up 2 more things that I missed the 1st time. I got Advil PM for $4.49 - $1.00 coupon and picked up $2 in RR making it $1.49 and I got shave gel for $1.99 and $1 RR back.

Oops, I forgot 2 stops. I also went to Office Max to find DVD cover inserts and when they didn't have them I went to Wal-Mart.

That was a long day!!

Maybe I should start taking pictures of my loot so you all can see what I get.

Blowing dandylions

I took the kiddo's to the park a few days ago and on the way back to the truck Camryn spotted these dandylions. I haven't seen these things for a long time and I know the kids never have but Camryn saw them and immediately started blowing so I grabbed one for her and one for Aiden. Luckily there were 2 there.
They both really enjoyed blowing those things until there was nothing left. Of course they wanted to do it some more but there was only 2.

It's a bugs life

The kids were playing outside this morning when Aiden discovered this bug crawling out from underneath the sandbox. He laid on his stomach for awhile and watched. Then he called Camryn over and asked if she wanted to see a bug. She of course said "mm-hmm" and proceeded to lay down on her stomach too.
Aiden then got up as the bug crawled away. Then he decided he wanted to smush the bug with a rock. He picked one up at the same time I was trying to get an eye level shot of them without laying on the ground. I held the camera down, pressed the shutter button half way and hoped for the best. This is what I got. I think it turned out pretty darn good.



Here are a couple more from today.




If you want to see them bigger, here's the link to my flickr page.
http://flickr.com/photos/14633946@N05/

Aiden is naked because he thought it would be fun to run through the sprinklers in his clothes. However, once I took them off so he could go to town, it wasn't fun anymore.

Camryn had her 18 month check up today. She's healthy but she's got allergies this time, not a cold. I don't know what it is with kids and check ups, but mine always hate the scale. Of all the things involved in a check up,the scale makes them cry the most. They could care less about the shots. Sure they cry a little but they are quick to say "bye, see you" to the nurse that jabs them. Camryn even blew her a kiss today. My kids are weird.

In case anyone is wondering she is 28.12 lbs and 33 inches long and her head is 19 1/2 inches. She's in the 95 percentile for weight and head but only in the 75 percentile for height. At Aiden's 18 month he was 28 lbs, 33 1/2 high and 19" head. In case you wanted to compare which I do every check up :)

Always something new

Aiden is always saying something new. His favorite thing now is the Transformers song. He's favorite lines are "Transformers, more than meets the eye" and "Transformers, robots in disquise."
Since he likes to get up at 6:45am, I usually send him out of my room to watch a little tv so I can have some time to wake up. Transformers is on at 7. I'll never forget the first time we set the tv up to come on the channel with it on. He said, "woah, Transformers'. Well, this morning he was singing along with the introduction. I'm laying in bed half asleep and I hear, "Transformers, more than meets the eye". I smiled and fell back asleep.

Kind of random thought...
We were eating dinner yesterday and he asked Camryn if her pizza was hot. She said "Mm-hmm" like she always does so he said "well blow on it" and she said "OK"

I love watching my kids grow and learn. Aiden is so stinkin' smart. Tonight we were reading our favorite book, Mr Brown can Moo. If you've never read that book, a popular line is "Mr. Brown can do it, how about you?" After I read that line, Aiden always says "how about me?" so I say, "yes Aiden, how about you?" and he makes the noise. Do all kids do that or just my little man?

Our other favorite book is "In a People House" I swear that kid can "read" me the entire book. I point to the words and he says them. I realize he isn't reading them but still, that's pretty impressive to have almost the whole book memorize. Even the parts that don't have pictures, he can recite to me. I'm just amazed.

Camryn.. Camryn, Camryn, Camryn. What can I saw about Camryn. She is like a light switch. One minute she is completely lovey, dovey, the perfect child and the next, it's tantrums all the way. Oh it's so terrible. Aiden was never like this. We've been spoiled with that kid. He only acts out now because he gets it from her.

She cracks me up though. She gets so much from her brother. Now, when she burps, she covers her mouth with her wrist and says, "excuse me". She she falls, she gets right back up and "ok". When she walks by the stove she says "hot". If you say ouch, or that hurts she'll ask if you are ok. When she wants a drink she'll walk over to the fridge, pull on the door and say "cup, cup, cup". My favorite things to hear her say are oh no, are you (aka, where are you), uh oh and I dunno. I've got to get those on video cause they just make me laugh.

We are in for some serious trouble when she starts talking more.

Here are a couple pics of my new phone.

New on the left, old on the right.





This one came out better in CS4 but looks terrible here. oh well, don't feel like fixing it tonight.

I got a new cell phone

Hubby and I decided we are getting new cell phones for our anniversary next month. We follow the suggestions for what to give on ceratin anniversaries.
On our first anniversary, the traditional gift of paper or the traditional side of clocks, we got each other watches. He got me this nice Movado watch and I got him some watch from Things Remembered with an inscription on the back.
The 2nd anniversary was cotton or china. We went the traditonal route that year and got a new bed set.
The 3 anniverary was leather or crystal/glass. DH ordered me a ton of scrapbooking stuff, that included 2 leather albums. I got him..... I don't remember what I got him. Hmmmmm....
Now for our 4th anniversary which is March 13th. We've had our phones for 3 years and it's time for a change. They are super cheap since we will just be renewing our contract for 2 years.
Those are our versions of "appliances". All of our appliances are 3 years old so we don't need anything.
The only appliance I can think of that would be nice to have is one of those fancy stand mixers but I don't bake enough to justify $250.
Oh, if we went the traditional route it would be fruit/flowers. BORING!

Too bad I didn't have my DSLR last year for the crystal/glass anniversary :)

Here is where I'm getting the list from if you are interested.

http://www.findgift.com/Anniversary-Table/


Sorry I don't have any pics of it yet. I'll get right on that tomorrow when the sun is up.
Too bad I don't have a fancy macro lens to use ;)

I've been preoccupied..

I've been spending a little too much time learning more stuff about Photoshop. The good news is I know A LOT more, the bad news is that my little blog has been slacking. Don't worry, I'm almost done with this set of videos and then I'll take a break.

In the mean time, here are some funny things the kiddo's have been saying/doing.

Camryns new thing is to call me Mom instead of Mama. 17 months old and she's calling me Mom already. She doesn't just say it once to get my attention either. It's more like... Mom, Mom, MOM, MOM, MOM .

Aiden likes to call me Becky on occasion. I tell him that he can call me Mommy. It's so cute to hear him say my name though. He doesn't say Backy like some kids would but he doesn't pronounce it completely right either. Hard to describe. I'll have to see if I can post a video of him. It's really cute.
He calls Todd, Todd on occasion too but it's only when he gets frustrated with him and he says it drawn out like I do when I get frustrated with him.

Last week Aiden kept asking me what time is it. I chuckle every time he asks. I tell him the time and occasionally he'll tell me no, it's lunch time, or time to go to the park, or bath time etc, etc.

We went to the park 2 weeks ago with his cousins. (I haven't gotten around to editing those pics yet.) We were getting ready to go and Aiden says, "hey guys, wanna come over to my house for some fruit snacks?" Cracked me and his Aunty up.
If you can tell me what show he got that from, I'll be impressed :)

Aiden is already getting Camryn to agree with him on things. He'll ask her a question and if she doesn't agree with him, he'll tell her to say yes. She'll of course keep saying no but eventually she agrees and he'll tell me, "see mom, Camryn said yes". Well duh she said yes, you told her to.

I realize my examples kind of suck but maybe you'll get the idea.
The boy is too smart for his own good. If I could only get him potty trained, he'd be ready for preschool.


I'll leave you for now with a couple of pictures from Valentines Day. Hope you all had a great day with your loved ones.