My terrible photography....

There was a really BIG spider hanging outside our bedroom the other night and the moon was right behind it from my view point. I tried getting a cool, spooky picture, but failed. Here it is anyway. I really need LESSONS!!!

My little stamper!

So if you know me, you know that I enjoy stamping and scrapping. I like the card making probably more than the scrapping. I've begun to slowly get back into the groove with having some craft time with another mom, Holly, and her son, Christian. They've come over twice and Christian and Maddie play while the moms get to make some stuff! It's awesome!!! I've missed it so much. I feel very rusty, but it's coming back slowly.

Anyhoo, Maddie is showing an interest in being crafty as well. I think most kiddos like to draw and color so it's not like this is a revelation or anything... I've let her use a few stamps and an ink pad (washable of course) and she likes it! I'm so tickled! One day we'll be able to go to one of Ah-Amy's Stampin' Up! workshops TOGETHER. I must admit that by that time rolls around, she may be interested in something completely different, but that's o.k. I'll continue to have craft time with her until she can't stand it anymore.

Self Portraits ...... by Maddie

This is what happens when a 2 year old gets in possession of the digital camera:

Some birthday pictures

Maddie's favorite thing -- CUPCAKES! We had some help decorating them!

We had some friends over as well as Maddie's grandmother, aunt, and cousins from KY.

She got some nice gifts. We had to find a bigger Elmo jacket since she still wears the 12 month sized one and it's a "little" small. She loves the chalkboard. They have them at her doctor's office and she's always enjoyed writing on it. Daddy needed help putting together the trike.

Another one of Maddie's favorite things -- M & Ms. Can you tell who's on the shell?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!!!!

Well, it's the big 2 today! I can't believe it myself. Maddie's cousins, aunt, and grandma are here to celebrate. We're going to have cupcakes (Maddie's favorite things) and ice cream. Some of the neighbors are going to come over after dinner time and help us celebrate as well. I'll post some pictures later.

Earthquake

Just in case you heard about the earthquake near L.A., we're fine. We felt it somewhat, but nothing terrible.

Life experiences:

Live in California --- X

Experience earthquake ---- X

Never thought I would do either!

L.A. Zoo & Seaside Lagoon

We visited the Los Angeles Zoo on July 6th. Maddie really liked the flamingos. She has a picture of them in one of her word books and she's always liked looking at them.




The giraffes were awful cute. There were two babies and two adults.




These guys cracked us up! Both were lounging in the sun.





Maddie and I went to the "Seaside Lagoon" last week. "The Seaside Lagoon is a salt water facility. Water for seaside lagoon comes from the other side of the breakwater, at about 50 feet deep, travels to the near by steam generating plant where they use it to cool the turbines. The water then travels under the street in large pipes to the Seaside Lagoon where it is chlorinated when entering the lagoon and de-chlorinated when leaving the lagoon back into the harbor. The Seaside Lagoon has approximately 1.5 million gallons of water and has a flow through rate of approximately 200,000 gallons per hour." (this is from their website)