Back to Life...Back to Reality

Well, we are home from our trip to California. I guess you can say we are rested and ready to get back to our normal routine. We had a wonderful time celebrating our 10 years of marriage. Our anniversary vacation started off by spending three days in San Francisco. Wow, what a beautiful city! Our first evening after arriving was spent on a sunset cruise around the Bay. The weather was pretty chilly (around 55 degrees) however the view was spectacular! The next day we enjoyed a jaunt around the city. We did a lot of walking around Union Square, North Beach including a visit to Coit tower. We even trecked uphill on Lombard Street "the crookedest street in the world". Our final day in the city was spent enjoying Fisherman's Wharf, including visiting one of the biggest tourist attractions and one of the most know federal penitentaries in the United States - Alcatraz. The second leg of our vacation was spent in the beautiful countrysides of Napa Valley. It began with a 2 hour train ride on the Napa Valley Wine Train, seeing the beautiful vineyards of Napa Valley. Afterward, we drove to our private lodge at the Calistoga Ranch. This was to be our relaxing part of our vacation...and it was! We lounged around in our private lodge way up on the hillside of the Ranch and were pampered by the staff like we have never been before. In the two days we were there, we played chess, watched movies, enjoyed a horseback ride in the wooded state park nearby and dined at a couple of first class restaurants. One of these restaruants was an interesting adventure for us. For two Kansans who aren't accustom to this type of dining, it was somewhat difficult to order from a menu that utilizes big descriptive words to depict what delicious entree you are about to choose. Our big surprise came with the second course. When ordering Beef Carpaccio with Truffle Aïoli, crushed Himalayan Truffles, Arugula Salad and Fried Potatoes, we received quite a different dish than we expected. When it first arrived, it looked like a red jelly-like spread on the plate with a white (sour cream looking) sauce drizzled over it and topped with some tiny leafy greens and what looked like potato crumbs. It was served with a flat spoon. When I looked at it, I wondered how I was supposed to eat it - it was so thin, it looked as if it was to be spread on a cracker. I spooned a small amount on my plate a took a bite. It was a little strange tasting, but what was mostly different was that it was slimly in texture. Chris looked at me and asked how it was. I, of course, didn't like it, but didn't want him to know or he wouldn't have even tried it, so I responded, "It's pretty good!". He then decided to try it himself and didn't care for it either; however, he didn't want the waitress to know that we didn't like it so he choked down three forths of the plate (I ate no more - YUCK). The best part came when the waitress asked us what we thought. Inquisitive me had to ask what the bottom portion of the dish was. She responded that it was the beef. I then, or course, couldn't leave it at that. I had to ask her how on earth they sliced the beef so very, very thin. She then responded that it was "RAW". Yes, you read it correctly - RAW!!! Needless to say, neither Chris nor I had much of an appetite after that. I then became extremely nervous about the next course to arrive (which turned out to be okay) but was mostly ready for the dinner to be over. My stomach was turning thinking about the raw meat we had just ate. Chris was sickened more since he had eaten most of it. Well, other than that, our experience in Wine Country was enjoyable and tranquil. One of the best parts was our couples massage. Wow, it was so wonderful and relaxing! A great way to spend some quality time together. Lastly, Chris and I drove to our final destination for our trip - Monterey Bay. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to drive south to Monterey. We spent about a day shopping and dining on the Bay. The best part was driving the "17-mile" drive along the Pacific Coast. It was beautiful seeing the waves crash along the rocky beaches. Chris even got me to put my feet in the water - brrrr... much colder than the Atlantic for sure!!! Well, as you can see, we had a wonderful time visiting a part of the country that we had not seen before as well as enjoying some relaxing time together - WITHOUT children. However, we missed them imensely. I think I talked to the girls a minimum of two times a day! It was good to get away, but it feels good to be back with our girls. Hopefully, we won't have any surprises this time like we did after celebrating our 5th anniversary (Ashlyn) Here are some of our vacation pics!

California Pics

Our Little Graduate!

Congratulations Maddie - who now has officially graduated from Kindergarten! She was so proud yesterday when she got in the car to go home from her last day at school. She told me "Mommy, guess what... I'm a FIRST grader!" It was so cute, but yet I almost cried. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast. She's now a full-time, all day student.





Maddie & Mrs. Lantz

Witty Ashlyn

Anybody that has children has probably experienced the bedtime excuses of "I need another drink" or "I need to go to the bathroom" that children come up with in order to stay up just a little bit longer. Well, we have a couple of children that occasionally pull this type of routine. However, I've never heard such an excuse as the other night. A couple evenings ago and after the girls had been in bed for quite some time, our witty Ashlyn pops into our bedroom, looks up at me and before I could say "get back in bed", she says "Mommy, I got to tell you something". In an quick fashion, I shot back a response of "Ok, Hurry up" and waited for the lame excuse she was about to come up with. And, what I heard surprised me immensely. She responded (in song) "God is so good, God is so good". How do you respond to that? Honestly, it made me laugh out loud. She can be so funny and witty at times, but it sure was the best excuse I've heard thus far... however, you never know what tomorrow's could bring with our clever kids.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all MOMS!

What is a mother?
Someone who cares when others care less...
Someone who encourages when others ridicule...
Someone who defends when others condemn...
Someone with patience when others are impatient...
Someone who appreciates when others fail to notice...
Someone who gives security in a world of insecurity...
Someone who is accepting when others reject...
A Mother is a friend for all time, to cherish and protect,
as her achievements will linger for generations to come.
~ Author Unknown

Today has been such a nice Mother's day. I didn't get any extra special gifts or pancakes in bed, but I received a reminder of how lucky I am to be the mother of three beautiful little girls! Mother's Day, to me, isn't about gifts or breakfast in bed but it is a day to remember what a wonderful gift I have to be "mother" to someone. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with my children and has given me the gift to be their guide, their friend, their mother. Mother's Day is also a time for me to remember my mom - a great example of the kind of mother I strive to be - I love you mom!

Dash

Thanks to Brandi and Shawn for teaching Brooke this word. She now cannot stop saying the word "Dash". Dash is Brandi and Shawn's dog and Brooke learned it while at daycare. Now, she not only thinks that every dog is Dash, but she continuously walks around saying "Dash" all day long. Although, it is so adorable when she says it.

I thought it would be cute to videotape her saying it and post that; however, it seems that I have a daughter that is camera shy. Whenever the camera is on, she refuses to say it - but she is still pretty darn cute. So, I'm posting her cuteness!

Shifting to Full-time MOM

Today I began my new job as a stay-at-home mom. It was a little different as I didn't have to get up and do projects for work or check and respond to emails and phone calls; however, it didn't feel too much diferent since I've been working from home since September. I did, however get to do some things with the girls today - like read several books to them and watch and help them learn their V-tech video game. That was nice to be able to spend some extra time with them. I do, however, have many things planned for the summer - weekly visits to the Public Library for storytime and checking out books as well as the summer movie program and play dates at the park with some friends from church. I look forward to my new job! It is the most important job I will ever have - being MOM!

Growing Up

Our Maddie is now SIX years old! Yesterday, she celebrated her birthday with a party and picnic at the zoo. We were so thankful for all the family and friends that were able to join us in celebrating her birthday! She has enjoyed all of her gifts, which included purses, lipglosses and pretend makup, earrings, hair accessories and many more "girly" things as well as her cowgirl attire, complete with pink cowgirl hat! She even got the horse she asked for (it came on a stick) and she loves it - she even puts it to bed at night. We look forward to more and more years of celebrating birthdays and watching her continue to grow!

Family Picture

All the Kids

Welcome Baby Dylan!

Welcome to the world baby Dylan! My cousin Kathy had her baby boy, Dylan Andrew, on Thursday morning, nearly two weeks early. And it's a good thing since he weight over 8 pounds. Ashlyn, Brooke and I visited him in the hospital on Friday and he is so adorable. We can't wait for him to come and stay with us while his mommy and daddy are working!