Ingrid Michaelson Concert at Harlows!

Last night was SO MUCH FUN! Quite awhile ago, Chris noticed that Ingrid Michaelson (my favorite artist) was going to be coming to Sacramento and bought me tickets to see the concert. My obsession with her music is quite funny. I honestly can't listen to her CD enough and will have it going in my car for months (even to the point that Madison says - everytime we get in the car - "Mom... can we change the music yet????) Mom generoulsy watched the rugrats while we had a fun night out. Before the concert we managed to go on Ingrid's website and sign up for her Street Team for Sacramento. Long story short, we wound up with an email being invited for a meet and greet before the show. So at 7:30 sharp we were there and ready to meet her, expecting throngs of people waiting too, only to realize that we were the only ones! We got our own personal time with my all time favorite artist... how crazy is that! Unfortunatly for her I don't think she's that well known (hopefully it's only in Sacramento), but fortunatly for me, we got a private Meet & Greet right outside her tour bus. After that we enjoyed the show and a night out together!


I had to have a picture of the sign with her name!



Holy Cow! It's Ingrid Michaelson! She is a musical goddess!


Enjoying the show from the VIP area!




Seriously... she is awesome! The show was great, she really is a talented artist!

Happy Halloween!!

So I got one of those fabulous free coupons for the Picture People, packed up the kids and took them in for some Halloween Pictures. We ended up with some free Halloween Cards and an 8x10 for mom! Whoot! The kids took some adorable pictures, once Riley agreed to let them take his picture. Such a stinker! I love Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year!

Mad's Halloween Preschool Parade

So Mad's had her Preschool Parade and Party today at her adorable preschool. Family and younger siblings were more than welcome to join in on the festivities. So Mad's picked to wear this adorable dragon costume that Nonna tempted her with after Mom & Nonna slaved over this beautiful witches hat for a most delightful witches costume. We got ready to go for the morning, goldfish goodies in tow for the party later and off to school we went. Riley dressed up as the most adorable bear (mommy's eyeliner makeup and all - he LOVED me drawing on his face - too cute) and I wore my fabulous witches hat, festive shirt and stripey halloween socks! We had a great time walking around the school, peeking in and out of classes to collect candy from all the big kids at Maddie's school! Enjoy the pics!

Mad's the Dragon with one of her Teachers

Isn't he just adorable?!?!?!

Me and my fabulous Witches hat, Riley & Hunter (Rosanne's baby)

Rosanne and I... these things are so much more fun with a friend!

My Most Recent Quilt Project

I finished my latest quilt and man it is a pretty one (if I do say so myself!). I made my Gram & Grampa (who live in Mass.) a beautiful Square Queen Log Cabin with the Moda Dandelion Girl fabric line by Fig Tree Quilts. Joanna Figueroa (the designing genius behind Fig Tree Quilts) has such an eye for design and color and I couldn't resist working with this fabric after my Grandparents picked it for their quilt. I was so excited to choose the perfect combination for the log cabin and to use the fabric in a quilt! When it comes to fabric, I'm like a kid in a candy store! I can't get enough. I've included some pictures of the quilt and also a picture from the Folsom Quilt & Fiber Guild meeting when I took the quilt there for show and tell and got some great ooohs and aaahhs from my fellow quilt family!

Me and the log cabin quilt

Showing the quilt at the Folsom Fiber & Quilt Guild Meeting

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm Trip

Nonna and I took the kids to the renowned Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland, CA. We enjoyed so much there and were amazed at how huge this place is. We can't believe that we've never been there before and are most definitely going back next year. We enjoyed a train ride (Riley was thrilled!! That's all he talked about) and playing in the play areas, walking around the HUGE pumpkins in the patch and seeing all there is to see out there. I'm sure we didn't see everything, we were there for 2 hours and there was still so much to do! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Our Sweet Riley Guy on the big punkin!

Maddie Girl's all smiles on the big punkin!

Of course Maddie had to have a funny face picture with Nonna!

Look How Tall Riley & Maddie are this Fall!

Having fun on the old rusty tractor!

Nonna & the kids on the Bishops Pumpkin Farm Train

(Rileys FAVORITE thing in the whole world!)

Showing off their pumpkins (Riley was running on no nap! Fun!)

First Day of Preschool!

Madison enjoyed her first day at her new preschool! She reports that she really had a great time today. She enjoyed meeting new friends and even got to be the line leader for a potty break, they enjoyed painting time and also puzzle time with some stories too. This is Madison with her teacher Mrs. Hawkyard. Madison gets to attend a Student taught preschool at a local high school. This is a fabulous program where students who are looking to further their education in Early Childhood Development are teaching the class with an advisor to oversee curriculum and classroom management as well as correct ways to interact with small children. I think this year is going to be great for Maddie to get her really ready to tackle Kindergarten next fall! (Oh my gosh I can't believe how much time flies!)

They made it!!! Maddie & Paige after their first day at Preschool!

Kids say the cutest things...

Ok... so I know I'm completely bias, but my kids are the cutest and they tend to say the cutest things. So I've decided to keep them written down so I can remember forever the cute things they said:

Madison:
shey-schope = telescope
gore-get = go-gurt (a type of yogurt)
your-git = yogurt
wuwie bar = granola bar
shool = school
don-don's = McDonald's
squirrel = swirl (the type of ice cream Maddie likes)
za-zurt = dessert
fratch = scratch
feet-za = pizza
Frite = Sprite
Bee nember = remember

Riley:
ti-la-lee = kitty
ah dee = all done
bee bee = binkey
Mee mo = Nemo
Momo = Elmo
fip fop = Flip Flop
Yai Yai = Ry Ry (nickname his sister gave him)
llai yee = Riley
fwa fee = that what he says when he wants a drink of whatever you have I haven't quite deciphered it yet
If you ask Riley what a cow says he says "cow cow"
Fweep= sleep
Beam = game
Fwuff = stuff
Mama Hawt Fwuff = Mama Hot Stuff (Chris taught him to say that! Funny!)
see-wa-wa = Chiwawa = Movies (because he saw a trailer for the Chiwawa movie and now calls the movies Chiwawa)
shoo shee = excuse me
baa rees = batteries
faff = bath
lie lee = Riley
opie meal = oatmeal
gicky souse = Mickey Mouse

Kit Kat

This is our newest friend Kit Kat who moved in to our house on Aug. 30th. Our neighbors cat had a litter of kittens and they were looking to find them new homes. We quickly fell in love with this little calico kitty and brought her home to live with us. Madison & Riley quickly fell in love with her and always want to hold her and pet her and love her. She takes quite well to it but isn't always so sure about the kids. Luckily she has learned to run fast and jump as high as she can! We are really excited to have a kitten in the house again. Hannah (our Australian Shepard mix) is doing well with the kitten. She just wants to lick her and chase after her. Kit Kat holds her own pretty well and has gotten Hannah on the nose once or twice to shoo her away.

Our Lake Tahoe trip with the Johnson Family

We (Mom, Maddie & Riley) got to enjoy a fun filled and relaxing trip to Lake Tahoe with our good friends the Johnson Family (Rosanne, Matt, Paige & Hunter). We went up on Saturday, September 13th and came home the following Thursday. We enjoyed the Reno Air Races, Trips to the Lake to swim and relax, Tour around Lake Tahoe stopping at beautiful spots for pictures & to take in the gorgeous scenery, Carson City Railroad Museum & even an awesome fabric store for mom (of course)! We were thrilled to be invited to go and join our friends for some time away from home before the start of Preschool for Maddie! The kids enjoyed playing with each other all day long and spending lots of time together on our trip! A great time was had by all, but we were a little homesick missing Daddy since he had to stay home to go to work. Yuck. But we got great pictures and enjoyed our time away from home with our friends!


Maddie & Riley at Emerald Bay - Maddie told us the sign said "No Peeing allowed at this spot" We all got a kick out of that!


Mommy enjoying a photo opp at Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe (one of my favorite spots)