Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Life As We Know It.....


Life as we know it is crazy!  And full of naps, sweeping under the high chair, more naps, laundry, more sweeping under the high chair, more laundry, puzzles, alphabet cards, diapers, more naps........

Yes, lots of kids stuff!  And if life wasn't already busy with the above mentioned activities, I was hired to make a wedding dress for a bride whose wedding was in 6 weeks.  So, life as we know it is crazy! And we hope, that one day soon, it will calm down....maybe we just need a vacation!

Now, I have some pictures for y'all, but bear in mind that I just got a new computer and I haven't downloaded all of the pictures from my camera just yet....so these are just a few of my favorites!


 Lilyana and Bella are besties.  And riding on a quad that is just their size is a current favorite pastime. 

 Tristan got to taste his FIRST strawberries!!!  It was love at first taste!
 Lilyana has been waiting and waiting and waiting for strawberry season to come back!

And so has breakfast!

It was FINALLY warm enough to have dinner outside! Hurray!!!!

Tristan...ever curious, ever exploring.

And during one of our most recent heat waves (which then deserted us and left us with cool weather again), the kiddos had a blast playing in the sprinkler!

Lilyana has a love/hate relationship with water. Showers and sprinklers are fun. The bath and swimming pool....not so fun. And the beach is her favorite place to be!

Tristan loves water period!

His swimsuit from last season was much too small. I just found a new one which is super cute...now if it would only warm up again so he can wear it!

My cutie pies. 

 Guess who turned THREE??!!??!!??!!?? That's right! My sweet little angel of a girl had a birthday this month! I can't believe how much she has grown up! For her birthday, we took her to her favorite place in town...La Mo. She had a lovely time, but informed the owners that she was still a bit too small to work there....but maybe when she turns 4! :)

 Such a sweet princess. The last three years have been so short!  Where has all the time gone??!!

And life as we know it is changing again....

Friday, September 13, 2013

Deep in the Heart of....Crazy!

Ben and I have been in crazy planning mode ever since we moved into our new house. As of yet, we still don't have pictures hung up on the walls, a very sad realization for me...the photographer of the family. Most of our house is set up, and although a few rooms are lacking in furniture, the house looks lovely and cozy, and we love it very much.

So, even though our house-setting-up-mode has been put on a little bit of a hold (and that means our house-warming party that I'm dying to have is also on the back burner), we're still very, very busy planning a large event for our church's annual Church in History Festival (or CHI Fest...previously known as Reformation Day). It's going to be grand...and it better be after all of this work! :P

If you are in the area and are interested in finding out more about the event, click here or leave a comment with your email and I'll get you more information! It is going to be a blast!

And my computer is still dead, which leaves me without Photoshop, and therefore a way to resize photos....unless Ben knows how to do that without Photoshop.  So, some of these pictures came from my phone, and the others are from my camera and are HUGE. But enjoy...

My home-grown cutie-pie.
We take lots of walks. We have an awesome stroller, and the kids love to stroll. We all love the great outdoors, and evening walks are routine and very enjoyable. 

Tea time!  I LOVE that my Lilykins is old enough to enjoy tea time with me! I have always dreamed of having tea time with my kids every day! 

Doesn't this just make your heart melt?
Well, it makes mine melt!

Waiting and watching for Daddy to come home. 

My squishies! I shall call them squishies!

 He is SUCH a good sport....always putting up with the many tortures that his sister inflicts on him. *grin*

Cutest. Little. Boy. Ever.
 Lilyana calls him "The Mung Bean".

All dressed up for what?

A walk down to the Farmer's Market, of course! Lilyana has been enjoying our Friday morning walk to the market since she was born!

A gift for the kiddos!

 Awwww! It's a baby in a baby carriage!

Lilyana is tickled pink that Zorro enjoys being pushed around. 
I'm just happy that this adorable wooden baby carriage is sturdy enough to hold him!
Lilyana would be happier if we didn't follow her around the house while she pushed Zorro. :)

 Emil and Grace came out for a visit and wanted to soak up some local colour...so guess where we went?!?
That's right!!! La Mo!!!!

 Awwwwww.  

On a recent trip to Lodi to walk through the venue for our upcoming CHI Fest (formerly known as Reformation Day), we found a local tasty place to fill the void in our very empty tummies...
"Nina" and "Nana" enjoying the girlie side of the table...

...while Zorro and Daddy enjoy the boy side. 

Back home again, Lilyana wanted to show off her latest piece of art that she drew for Ben.

Back up to Lodi once more for a Ladies Encouragement Day that our church was hosting. This, my friends, was my table... :)

No slowing down yet! The following day saw us in Berkeley to pick up a gas range for our new house! The lady we bought it from gave us a discount, so we grabbed some local organic Gelato!!!  Sooooo good!

Poor Zorro got stuck eating pumpkin puree with coconut oil. Paige (holding Zorro) and I thought it was good, though!

But not good enough to replace this stuff!

Hector Girls. 

Me and my gang! It was a fabulously fun day! We should do it again, Paige! :)

The long drive home.  

 Zorro wanted to show off his messy post-eating face.

 If you have been reading our blog for a while, you will have noticed that Hectors have a weird obsession with weird head gear...I'm sure that they get it from their father...

 Yes, another angle...

 ...and another! He is just SO CUTE!
Come on, admit that you enjoy all of these photos. :D

 Soon after Grace and Emil left, the Chapas arrived in town for their California vacation!
We were sooooo thrilled to host them while they were in our neck of the woods!

 And with the Chapas, we saw the return of Jessica!!!!
Love you, Jess!!!

 And no summer is complete without a sailing trip.
Ben bringing The Inflatable" back from the sail boat. He decided he needed some exercise.

 "Uncle Bella" taking the girls out for a swim.

 Daddy enjoying some quiet shore time with his girl.

Zorro has decided that he loves duck.
Preferably smoked. :P

And I leave you with this awesome shot of Lilyana...

"The name is Audrey. Audrey Hepburn..."

Thursday, June 6, 2013

The bride comes from the heart of dawn... ~ Shakespeare

After we talked about the dream dress and shared inspiring pictures, I knew the dress was going to be special.  

Melissa came to visit in March for two weeks.
Two weeks to make the dress of her dreams.  
From scratch. 
No pattern.
Yes, trust me on this one...it was SO FUN!!!

We spent 3-4 days just creating a pattern, and then we found the perfect fabric for a fabulous price, gathered the materials for her birdcage veil, and her dreams started to come to life.

Her birdcage is full of hand-crafted silk flowers, antique bits of lace, dried flowers and lots of love. Her gown, which fit her so perfectly was finished in time, and after a very fun two weeks, she returned home to finish wedding preparations and was married on the 20th of April.  

As I mentioned in my last post, after the dress was done and my dear friend Kathryn did Melissa's hair and makeup, we went ALL over downtown for a photo shoot.  I'd LOVE to do it again!

A side view of the birdcage.

More loveliness...you can see the details on the birdcage better here.

Yellow, red and navy were her wedding colors!

Lounging at La Mo, our favorite little restaurant in town!





 All that trim...sewn on by hand!




Love brick walls!


 A happy bride!

Taken.

Oh, and I really want this door!

 So beautiful!


A bustled train.



Penny for your thoughts?

Awwwww!!!

New last name!

So there you have it...a few of my favorite shots from the day!  There are actually 127 photos, but I figured that was a bit much to upload. :P