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Mine on Monday | Inland Empire Photographer

Nicole — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:17:48 +0000

Whenever I start thinking that my little boy is growing up quickly, I get a subtle reminder that he is still so little. Like when he still needs a little help to reach the taller places on his path in life…

Five on Friday

Nicole — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:40:35 +0000

1. This week I brought Ashton to the El Cerrito Public Library for storytime with the local firefighters. I haven’t been there since Amanda was about a year old… maybe around the time they opened up for business… not sure. It’s a cute {very little} place with fun activities for the kids. Their hours are kind of odd but I’ll take it. If you haven’t been, they have storytime on Wednesday mornings at 10:30am. You can always check out their Facebook page for information on upcoming activities. Maybe I’ll see you there sometime! The picture on the left is of Ashton when the firefighters walked into the room. He was SO happy to see them!

2. We’ve gone through about 13lbs of Gala apples in the last 10 days! I guess it’s a good thing they have been about 88 cents a pound lately because this family is mowing through them. I’ve made baked apple chips and plan to make apple coffee cake this weekend. But if I don’t prepare them quickly, they get eaten whole {or with Nutella or peanut butter for miss}. Do you have any favorite apple recipes you want to share?

3. I have to set mental timers and readily prepare myself if I’m going to even click on the Pinterest link. One rule to myself is that unless the kids want to look for something on there {and yes, they definitely do sometimes} then I won’t get on when they are awake. It works. Most of the time.

4. I haven’t seen my mama for nearly 18 months. That is one heck of a long time for this mamas girl… in fact, it’s the longest time ever! BUT my fabulous grandma bought her a plane ticket for her big 50th birthday to come spend a long weekend with us next month. Can you say EXCITING?!?! I’m debating on telling the kids that Grammy is coming or surprising them when we go to the airport to pick her up. Oooh, it’s going to be awesome!

5. It’s 5:25am and I just poured myself a second cup of coffee. At this time of the morning when I can sit down, uninterrupted, with a cup of hot joe in my hands… or sitting on my desk, whatever… I’m able to prepare myself for the day. It’s rejuvenating. So, happy Friday to you! Have a great weekend!

Pumpkin Patch

Nicole — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:08:06 +0000

Amanda wasn’t feeling well yesterday morning. She had a fever and was on day 2 of a cough. Nonetheless, I had to take her out of the house to drop the big one off at school then off to the store for groceries. Some things need to be done, rain or shine. Or, in this case, sick or not. I just picked up what I needed then came home and hung out all day. She napped at one point and when she woke up she felt back to herself and had a lot of energy to burn off. So after dinner we decided to load the kids up in the car and head to The Corona Pumpkin Farm at CJ’s Ranch. By the time we got there the sun was just about gone. I told everyone to hurry up and get out of the car so we can get some photos before anyone picked out a pumpkin. They must love me, haha. It’s part of my quest to get more photos of them. So nevermind the colorcasts… these are just fun snaps of my family.

This is the first year this place has had a pumpkin patch and I hope they continue to do this yearly because it is so much fun! We have picked our own pumpkins in the past while we were out in Colorado but being back out here we’ve missed that experience. Until now that is. They are really nice people and the kids LOVE to pick out their pumpkin and wait for daddy to come cut it off the stem. It’s just as fun as picking out a Christmas tree to cut down! And if you haven’t done either of these, I strongly recommend you do it this year! Your kids will never forget the memories you will make!

Mine on Monday | Inland Empire Family Photographer

Nicole — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:15:01 +0000

I really have no words for this. Which may be a first. These were such sweet moments the two of them shared. Oh how I adore my family and lazy Sunday afternoons!

xoxo

Me and my kids: Week 8 | Inland Empire Photographer

Nicole — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:19:07 +0000

Week 8: We are now 16 weeks into the new year and I’m on week 8 of pictures. *sigh* I’ve tried. Really, I have. And we’ve done pretty good… it’s just that most of our pictures are taken with Photo Booth again, lol. That’s the only way the kids will agree to pictures. But I haven’t posted them because they are just that… photo booth pictures. But I finally was able to get one yesterday that we can actually post.

Tony is tracking off on Monday for the month of May so last night was his open house. His teacher is so sweet and kind! Oh and her classroom rocks! The whole place was decked out with animals, bugs and reptiles. We loved it! Thank you Mrs. P for all you do in making 1st grade exciting and memorable for the little kiddos!