A Mad Tea Party

Lately I have been seeing some amazing and unique photos of children. Some of my favorites have been the chalk scenery photos like this one done by a longtime online friend,Kimi of Coopet Photography in Minnesota.

Of course, we have a sloped driveway and rough asphalt, so my attempt at this photo has been put on hold until the new house (yay for a flat driveway!)

Because the chalk photos had to be put on hold, I didn't want to wait to do SOMETHING fun and unique in the meantime. During Halloween, I kept seeing Alice in Wonderland costumes, and the idea hit me. A mad tea party! So, I collected a few pieces of costume as well as some pieces straight out of our closets, to achieve this look. I also gathered random pieces of decor from around the house, borrowed tea cups from a friend, strung crepe paper in our backyard, and set up my freshly painted patio set in the grass. The below is the outcome from our mad tea party. We ended up having a blast!

My family mad tea party starring Freckles as skater rabbit, Bambino as the mad hatter, and DramaTween as Alice.

Date Nights

After a usually long week of activities, I'm always wishing that there was time to squeeze in a date night with B. It's important in any relationship to be able to reconnect on a regular basis, especially when life gets in the way. Because we're usually under a time crunch, a quick dinner and a movie usually do the trick for us, especially because we live under 3 minutes to our closest movie theater. Date night for us this past month was a movie, and Del Taco! Like I said, time crunch =)

In December, we actually escaped for a whole weekend! We had a hotel suite in Downtown Las Vegas. We spent the night with friends and family, slept in the next morning, and headed out to volunteer at the Toy Run at our favorite downtown bar. The hanging out with friends while reconnecting with each other was great.

Maybe for February, especially because it is known to be a romantic month (Valentine's Day), we will try something new and exciting for our date night.

Those that do get out for date nights, how often do they happen? once or twice a month? once a week? do you make it a point and set time aside specifically, for date night? What kind of things do YOU and your significant other enjoy doing when you have time together?

I will leave you with a few photos from the past few date nights of ours. Have a great weekend!

Valentines Day 2011. Double date night with my sister and her husband, at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel & Casino. Delicious food and a perfect view of the Bellagio fountain show from our table overlooking the Vegas strip.

Bar hopping in Downtown Las Vegas. Insert Coins, Commonwealth, BBB, Beauty Bar and The Griffin are all fun places.

At the Eastside Cannery enjoying a drink and a Holiday party

A quiet breakfast while the kiddos are at school

Family photos-Fall/Winter 2012

I love being behind the camera instead of in front of it, but there was a nice article floating around the internet that mentioned how you being missing from family photos may be something you'd regret later in life. I stopped to think about it, and the thought makes sense. The reasons that the author of the article stated, made me try to make it a habit to get in the photo more often. Are YOU being documented in your family memories? Here is a link to the article for those of you interested Here is our family photo session with Amanda of Triple Vision Studios in Henderson, NV. It was a beautiful November day, just one day after my 34th birthday.

A new year and a new look!

Thanks to the lovely Holly Sosa of Ourhollydays.com , my blog has a new look for the new year! My goal is to un-neglect my blog. The world of blogging is amazingly huge, and I'd like very much to expand my blog subscriptions (I love to read about you all!).

2012 ended with so many upcoming changes that are taking place this month and next.

 In December 2012, I made the decision to start looking for a job. It's been 8 months since I have been employed. While I absolutely adore the stay home Mom gig, I feel that I can help my family even more, by going back to work. With the growing costs of music instrument rental for school, sports dues, equipment/uniforms, tournament fees, and registrations, college funds for 3 kiddos, it seems like the right choice to help B financially as well. Freckles will be in the 1st grade come the Fall, which means he will be in school all day. It's been a blessing to have been able to spend so much time with him right now while he's only in school for a few hours. Volunteering in his class has been a joy, and I am very fond of his teacher and the other students.

The other big change: We're moving! We won't be moving too far away, about 2 miles from our current home. Our guy bestie will stay in this home. It is bittersweet, as guy bestie has lived with us for 7 years. He has met a nice girl and they've been dating a year now. I am hoping that the plan I have dreamed of in my head comes true: her and her daughter move in, and they all live happily ever after.

Also in December- a lovely Winter break full of fun Holiday activities: a trip to the Ethel M Cactus Garden, playing on the Vegas strip and taking in the lovely sights at the Venetian Hotel & Casino's 'Winter in Venice', and admiring the fountain show and conservatory Holiday decor at the Bellagio. Bambino had a Winter band concert-he is doing great in advanced band! DramaTween had a choir concert, and she is having lots of fun singing with classmates.

Christmas Eve was spent at our home per tradition, and my family, family-in-law, and friends feasted, spent time together, and played White Elephant per tradition. Christmas Day was spent at the in-laws per tradition as well. We rang in the new year at a home of friends of ours, which has became tradition as well. The Wyatts always provide a rockin NYE party for both the kiddos and adults!

More December highlights:

• participating in a Toy Run with Hogs & Heifers, a local biker bar located in Downtown LV. Donated toys were packed up from the bar and transported to a local children's hospital on MOTORCYCLES ! Santa led the biker pack all the way to the hospital! There were local business who provided hot chocolate and donuts, and the bar's owner set up an amazing event. There was a local teen drama group to perform, pictures were taken with Santa, a few of the gentlemen from the TV show Counting Cars were there to airbrush stockings for the kids, and motorcycle rides, of course! I was a helper Elf who helped the children choose a toy. It was a great experience and B and I as well as a few of our friends, look forward to it every year.
•  I organized an event for the Shade Tree Shelter, a women and childrens shelter. I gathered some Momma friends and we threw a Christmas party for the shelter residents. I asked for help in the form of donations and lending a hand, and I expected friends to come through, but what I did not expect was the amount of hard work, donating, and helping that I received. The party went AMAZING and I cannot say enough how I could not have pulled off such a wonderful event without the help of all the amazing ladies who stepped up to help in whatever way they could.
• Took the kids to donate toys to a local radio station's toy drive. A local radio DJ from KLUC lives on a makeshift scaffolding for almost 2 weeks, all to collect toys, money, bikes, and gift cards for local organizations. The amount that they receive yearly is phenomenal. Local celebrities often stop by and donate incredible amounts. The kids & I love to listen to the progress up until the final day of the drive.
• B & I had a date weekend. Thanks to my cousin BMac who works at a hotel downtown, we got a room for the night, and went out and celebrated my brother in law's birthday. We bar hopped with a bunch of friends and had a BLAST. If you haven't been to The Griffin, Insert Coins, Commonwealth, Beauty Bar, or BBB downtown while on Fremont, you're missing out! 
• Bambino playing in a tournament with his new baseball team, and DramaTween and Freckles and I exploring a part of the city that we didn't get to see much before Bambino joined this new team. West side aka Summerlin area is nice. We've explored Tivoli Village and Boca Park
• B getting into the groove at his new job, and loving it. We attended their Holiday party at a local's hotel/casino and had a BLAST. It was nice to meet many new people, and get to hang out with B's coworker who happens to be a parent of a son on the football team that B helps coach.
• MNO (Mom's night out) and gift exchange with some playgroup Mommas at Cheesecake Factory. It's always nice to connect with Mommas, have a drink, good food, and to TALK for a long time until you realize it's wayyy past the time you should be out on a weeknight =)
• Freckles' end of season football party. A video game truck, huge hamster balls to run in, laser tag, parents vs parents flag football...I love our HC Bears family!

My friends mean a lot to me, so I have to share their news as well. My 'Texas bestie' HopeMarie celebrated a huge milestone in her life. She has been on a weight loss journey since December 2011. The changes she has made within a year's time have been EPIC. I probably don't tell her enough just how proud I am of her for even taking that first step and deciding that she wanted to change. She is still pushing, still losing, and still kicking ass. She teaches her first class at Gold's Gym tomorrow!!!

My other bestie CarrotCake celebrated the birth of her twins on December 22nd, 2012. Caleb Michael weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and Layla Nicole weighed 6 lbs 8 oz. They are both perfect.

 And now, photos from December 2012.

 Bellagio Conservatory & Fountain show and Venetian's Winter in Venice

 Ethel M's Cactus Garden and driving around the neighborhood looking at Holiday lights

The twins are born! Bestie and her husband created perfect babies.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

 

Toy Run with Hogs & Heifers Saloon. (some photos courtesy of Jessie Vargas)

Setting up for The Shade Tree holiday party (due to privacy, photos were not taken during the party)

Football end of season party

Making a stop at KLUC's toy drive

Mom's Night Out, bar hopping in Downtown LV, and B's work Holiday party

 Ringing in the New Year at the Wyatts