Laguna Beach California 2008

Laguna Beach California 2008
Originally uploaded by pshow242

California part 2. My brother Sam invited us to the beach with him and his girlfriend Kathy and their daughter Natalie. Natalie is 4 years old and we were meeting her for the first time she is so cute and the girls and her got along great. It was a great day for the beach it was sunny and warm. Bella even went in to the freezing cold pacific water for a little swimming Abby of course wouldn't go near the surf she was content to play in the sand. It was low tide at the beach so we go to explore all the tidal pools. The girls loved all the sea creatures we discovered. I think their favorite were the star fish. We hung out all day we even drove a little further down the coast and watched the sun set at Dana point. I think some day I would like to retire by the beach I just haven't decided which one. The california adventure will continue. We were there for 11 days we have a lot to write about.

Disneyland 2008

Disneyland 2008
Originally uploaded by pshow242

Well here is our update on our trip to California. We drove Rick's big truck there or should I say Rick drove I did not drive 1 mile of the trip. I don't like driving Rick's big truck it is way to big for me. Well back to our trip. It took us 21/2 days to get there. We arrived to clear sunny skies and high's in the 70's. I was in formed that Lacrosse got about 8 inches of snow right after we left. I was glad we left when we did. Our Adventures in California started out with a trip to Disneyland it was a great day with beautiful weather. The girls had such a great time meeting all the Princess's we must have spent the first 2 hours just in that part of the park. My Friend Robyn and her daughter Rylee joined us at the park and we all had a great time. We got there right when they opened at 9AM and by 5PM the girls were done. We didn't even stay for the parade. I think Rick was a little disappointed he didn't get to go on as many rides as he would have liked too but you know it really is all about the kids we had fun watching them experience it all. Of course I have to thank my brother Philip he got us in to Disneyland and California adventure for free with some family passes his wife and her sister work for Disney. We probably wouldn't have gone otherwise the price for one day at both parks is so outrageous for our family it would have cost us $356.00 for 8 hours at the park because the girls couldn't handle more so thank you philip. Enjoy the pictures of our free trip to Disneyland. The next installment of our vacation is coming soon.

Bella's 5th Birthday party

My creation
Originally uploaded by pshow242

My first born is 5 why does that make me feel so old. Bella wanted a scooby doo birthday party she decided on it the day after she turned 4 she already has next years planned as well. It was a great party all her cousins came and her BFF Jenna from school even got to come. Rick decorated the house with the decorations I made using my new die cutter. I made the cake it took me two days but it was worth it. The cake turned out exactly as I wanted. We played two games pin the dog tag on scooby doo and we had a bone toss game. The kids had a blast. For the good bag my friend Ruiz ann custom made the scooby doo embroidery and I sewed the little bags we used old blue jeans I think they turned out super cute. Every kids got a scooby doo face mask they were a big hit they were all crawling on the floor acting like dogs. Well that is it for this update. I am not sure when I will be able to give another update we are going on vacation to California for 2 weeks. Have a great thanksgiving.

New update

October
Originally uploaded by pshow242

Well October is over I can not even believe how fast time is flying by. This could possibly be our last October here in Wisconsin. The girls had lots of fun playing in the leaves that Rick raked up I had fun taking their pictures. Halloween was super fun Rick and I carved the pumpkins for the girls this year they picked the hardest designs of course but I think they turned out pretty good. We went trick or treating at my Uncle's house again this year with my cousins we had a blast the girls were so cute and my Uncle was hilarious he was all dressed up real scary and he would sit very still until the trick or treaters came and then he would scare the pants off them. Abby was scared of him until he took the mask off then she was fine she even told him to put it back on so she could be scared again silly girl. I added the picture of my roses to make my mosaic even Rick and the girls brought them home one day they wanted me to have something special. Isn't that sweet. We have been very busy these last few weeks friends of ours from Alaska are here visiting and we have been having lots of fun. Hope you enjoy the pictures if you do leave comments I like comments.... Bye for now

All Summer Long

My creation
Originally uploaded by pshow242

Here are the pictures from this summer please enjoy them it took me forever to upload them....

What the Hell have I been up too!

Well let's see. I have been to busy reading everyone Else's Blog to update my own. I have been too busy buying things for Bella's Birthday on EBay. Of course I have been to busy taking care of the girls. There is that enough excuses or what. OK I will update you on everything that has been going on in the Showalter house. Bella is now in PreK and she is doing pretty good, she likes it most days. Abby and I go to a tiny tot program at the park & rec twice a week and she loves that. Rick has been super busy at work they have a huge unit here training and he pretty much works everyday. Thankfully that unit will be leaving soon though. I have been really doing nothing just being super lazy about my blog. I will post a few photos from the summer but I will not blog about the whole summer I am just moving forward with this blog so I wont procrastinate anymore. It is Fall and I love Fall now if I can only get out an take some pictures of the most gorgeous trees. Well here are some photos so you don't forget what we look like. I promise to update regularly from now on.

I suck at blogging

Well here I am finally updating my blog. So sorry I have been so lazy. My excuses are I was on vacation to Alaska, I got a new computer, and I have been super lazy. So there I have posted something new now every can stop complaining. I will post something  with a little more info about us and what has been going on  all summer. I just have to organize my photos to upload. So I will see ya later

Bubba's Birthday

My creation
Originally uploaded by pshow242

Ok so his real name is Ethan but when you are only 2 and are as big as a 3 year old and wears 4T clothing you get the nickname Bubba. Bubba's birthday party was last weekend and it was a construction theme party it was really fun and of course I made the cake. My cousin Marcy and I started planning this party months ago and we came up with some great ideas. For the treat bags we used orange sand pails with shovels attached and little orange canvas bags in side the pails. The pails and shovels were for a game they played Marcy took a plastic pool filled it with wood chips and hid a bunch of little toys in it and the kids had to dig the toys out who ever had the most won a prize. I also went to home depot and asked to buy there little orange aprons they have for the kids day projects but I didn't have to buy them they gave me 8 of them for free. So we took a group picture to send them a thank you. The party was fun Ethan got lots of great new toys the one we gave him was the best (JK) we got him a water table because he is a boy who loves to splash and make a mess. The one thing I really hate about the Army is living so far from family so while we are here we are always going to have the best birthday parties ever.

Mini Vacation May 9th-12th

We took a mini vacation to Galena IL. We have a time share there so we invited Rick's cousins to join us. We live 3hrs and 5min from Galena and Rick's cousins live 3hrs and 6 min from there so we thought it was a great idea for them to join us. Galena is a tourist town for adults but we had fun with our girls and his cousin who also has girls (3 under 3) had a great time too. We spent 2 nights there then Rick and I and the girls went to Wisconsin Dells for a night. We did lots of swimming. Bella loves to swim and loves water parks. Abby finally likes to swim and kind of likes water parks. It was also mothers day we went to breakfast and I had fabulous eggs Benedict without the meat of course. When we arrived at the Kalahari water park resort I was not feeling great I had a fever and super sore throat so Rick let me take a 2 hour nap while he took the girls swimming so at least I got to take a quit nap for mothers day. In the end the girls had a great time and Abby let Rick take her down a water slide. It was a fun weekend and it was great to see our cousins again.

Marble painting

I saw this art project in a craft book I bought at Sam's and I also saw it on my friend Tommie's blog. It took me forever to find marble's but I found a whole bag on clearance for .50 cents so that made me happy. The kids loved this project, Bella really loved when she shook the pan to fast and the marble went flying across the room. I hope you all enjoy their master pieces.

Sick of being Sick

I am really sick of being sick! I have strep throat again yes I did say again it has been exactly 1 month since the last time I had strep throat oh and I had it a month before that time too. What is going on? It is crazy, I never had strep throat as a child I was never sick as a child but this last year I have had strep throat I am sure 5 times I also had Pneumonia and my gall bladder out and a breast reduction(well that was by choice) My kids are sick every month, we have been to the Dr. more times in the last year an a half that we have lived here than the whole 5 years in Texas. I am sure my Dr. thinks I am a hypochondriac you should have seen the look on his face when I went in yesterday I told him I had fever and a sore throat he said well most colds start out that way but I'll give you a strep test anyway, well you should have seen the look on his face when it came back positive does he think I like to drive for 45 minutes to get there because I had a little sore throat come on I knew it was strep. He said well maybe we should think about taking out your tonsils. What is there to think about take them I do not want them anymore. My kids have and I am not kidding have been to the Dr. at least once a month since we have moved here. Isabella had 8 ear infections last year they finally put tubes in her ears in Nov. and took her tonsils and adenoids out she hasn't been sick since oh but wait now I think she has a UTI so we will be going to the Dr. tomorrow. Abby for sure has been to the Dr. every month, It was May 3 and she had fever I was talking to a friend about it and she said well it is a new month I took her in on the 5Th and she hand foot mouth virus she got from school that was Fun!! she also went to the Dr. yesterday because she has an infection in her middle finger that was fun too. Abby also had about 7 ear infection last year and got tubes put in her ears. I really don't know what is going on around here. I am taking them out of school at the end of the month so maybe we can have a germ free summer and not spend it in the Dr. office. You should see the size of our medical records. My cousin said today after I told that Bella may have a UTI she said god can't you get a break. I guess not she also said it was a good thing we have good insurance No Kidding!!!! Abby will be going back to the Dr. on Monday for her annual heart check up she will have an echo done in the morning at one hospital and an afternoon appointment with ped. cardiologist at the other hospital. Cross your fingers it all goes smoothly and that they wont have to sedate her for the echo. I will let you know how that turns out. Oh I guess I should mention for those who might not know Abby has atrial septal defect and pulmonary stenosis I wont get into medical terms basically she has a hole in her heart and her pulmonary valve isn't open all the way. Last we were told that she would need a patch on the hole when she turns five and the pulmonary valve was doing better it was a completely different diagnosis than what the Dr. in Texas said so I guess we shall see it is different this time. well enough about our medical troubles I must go now I need to upload photos so I can blog about our wonderful weekend. TTFN

A day with Papa

A day with Papa
Originally uploaded by pshow242

Last Saturday Rick took the girls for the day while I went out with Marcy and some friends. He took them to the children's museum and they had the best time. When they were done at the museum he took them to this old fashion ice cream parlor for some ice cream cones. They both had cotton candy ice cream and they thought it was the best. On a side note Rick said when Bella was getting her face painted he said that was the longest he has ever seen her sit still. Rick was so awesome to take the kids out for the day.

A day with Mom

My creation
Originally uploaded by pshow242

I haven't updated this blog in over a week. I have been busy. To recap the week. Tuesday's and Thursdays the girls are home all day so we try to do work book pages,art projects and a trip to the library. This week we painted and made cookies. The girls love to help me bake. Bella says she wants to be a chef like me. As long as she doesn't go into the military like papa. I just learned how to make these picture mosaics from my friend Tommie it was super easy. Thanks Tommie well enjoy!

MUD BUGS

Sunday we went to a crawfish boil is was so much fun and Delicious. The kids had the best time. There were a lot of kids there for them to play with and they had a trampoline with a net so Bella played in that almost all day. The crawfish were perfect it is a lot of work to eat it but we ate a ton of it. They made about 100 pounds of it. Bella loves it but Abby only ate like 2 she just wanted to carry them around all day. It was my first crawfish boil hopefully not my last.

Bella got a hold of the water hose when no one was paying attention to her and she made a mud puddle that her and Abby decided to play in. They were having so much fun in the mud we couldn't stop them . They had to have a bath at our friends house before we left.

Rainy Day Project

It rained all morning on Saturday so we did an indoor art project. We made marbled paper using shaving cream. The kids loved it. They had so much fun mixing the colors together. It was a super easy fun project. Abby freaked out when she got shaving cream on her hand but Bella just played in it with no problems. Enjoy the pictures.

Squash Book

I was sitting in my craft room working on a project when I saw this little book I made for Rick for Valentines day. I thought I would share it with you. My friend over at 3 Army brats in pink thought I should put my scrap book pages on here for inspiration but I don't have time to work on full pages. Actually I do have time it is just that I am a little far behind and I find it hard to get motivated to catch up but I will soon. Here it is this little book when it is all folded up it a 4inch square when it is open the pages are 6x6 I have made a few of these before they are super easy and make great little gifts.

Wonderful Day

Today was a great day! Isabella had a Dr. appointment with the Allergist, Rick was able to go with which was nice. I had to take Abby to school today because I didn't have a sitter she went on a Field trip to the children's museum she was there for about 1hour and 15 minutes and it cost me 40 bucks (that sucks) but what can you do. Anyways Bella's appointment went great we found out that she is not allergic to anything. So we are taking her off her meds. Bella has been on 4 meds a day for allergies since she was 2 some times I really don't understand Doctors. After Bella's appointment we went to lunch at this great place in Lacrosse called Rudy's it is a drive up restaurant where they serve you on roller skates it is super yummy and have the best Root Beer floats. The weather here has been so nice when we got home the girls played out side for the rest of the day.








I am going to post every week this weeks tasty treat. This week I made a super yummy key lime cheesecake with a raspberry sauce. If you would like the recipe just leave me a comment and I will email it.

What a weekend

Wow what a weekend. It all started on Friday when I woke up very sick so after I took the girls to school off to the Dr. I went. (I must say having a civilian Dr. has been awesome here I will so miss that when we move.) Anyways I have strep throat again well actually it is the same strep throat I had 3 weeks ago but since I did not finish my medication it came back. I will always finish my medicine from now on because this sucks. When Rick got home from work on Friday Went straight to bed that was at 6:30pm. Saturday I was feeling better and Rick had off all day so we just hung out. Now I am feeling fine so today Rick also had off we set off on a fun family day. We went to breakfast the girls had there favorite chocolate chip pancakes they were huge and Abby ate them all. We did some shopping ate lunch at pannera and went to the park. Isabella ran in to some friends from school and they had the best time. When we finished at the park we went to Chucky cheese. The girls had an absolute blast today they wish every day could be family fun day.

Our Thursday

Today I took my girls to the library for the first time they are 4 and almost 3. Does that make a bad mom that I haven't taken them before today? Well I will tell you why I haven't taken them before today I do not have quite children. To my surprise they were very good luckily for us the children's section is in the basement part of our library and we were the only ones there this morning. I let them pick out two books each which took forever they keep picking books we already had. They thought the library was so much fun. We will even go back next week.

Rick made it home on time tonight to eat supper with us we had a Mexican fiesta chicken chimichangas , beans and rice. It was delicious! Abby of course wouldn't eat it she hates Mexican food which confuses me because she is my kids and I could live on it. For dessert I made some mini funnel cakes using pate a choux paste. Rick deck them out for the girls with chocolate syrup and whip cream and we can't forget the sprinkles they were so yummy. The girls loved them and of course made a mess.

My first post

Welcome to my blog. I think this is going to be a great way to keep friends and family updated on our lives. We are a busy family but not to busy. I should have plenty of time to keep this blog updated. Hey if my friend over at 3 army brats in pink has time I have time. My friend Tuesday update has a great blog so I will get some pointers from her so I don't bore you to death. As stated in my profile my husband is in the military, he has been now for almost 11 years and we are currently stationed in Wisconsin which is great because I have lots of friends and family here. I get to spend a lot of time with them and we have tons of fun. Although poor husband is too busy at work he has no fun at all. The girls love it here they have lots of cousins to play with. The girls are both in preschool right now and Bella will be starting PreK in the fall. We still have our two old dogs (they are 10) Princess and Aurora. Although they are old dogs they act like puppies most days. I hope you like my blog if you have any tips on how to make it great let me know.