House of Weaver

Santa Pics!

2011-12-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

This years Santa Pictures went WAY better then last years. When I find the pictures from the previous years, I will post them. Both girls were super excited to see Santa, though Stella would only sit with him once I gave her a sucker. I don't know if that is good that I am giving her candy to go sit with a stranger - mixed signals much? Haha.

I bought a Groupon for Santa pics - I got half off the normal price which I was very happy about. Loni had the girls today, so he brought them up to Redmond Town Center which is where the Groupon was good for (worked out well). It is so cute here - Santa has a HUGE tree and house which he sits in to get pics done.

Why does Santa's head look incredibly flat??

Holiday Fun!

2011-12-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought I would join in the fun as well:

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Egg nog at the Holidays. I can have hot chocolate any time of year!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them in special Santa-only wrapping paper. BUT if he is too tired from delivering presents to all the other kids, he will just sit them under the tree.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I like white lights for our tree and colored lights for the girls tree (whenever we get that put up - we are banking on next year).

4. Do you hang mistletoe? We had a mistletoe ornament which we left up in our apartment all year, but of course we couldn't find it for Christmas time.

5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon as I can in november. One year it was right after my birthday (Nov 2) but Loni pooh-poohed that and said never again. I like to do it at least before Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts and pumpkin pie. YUM!!!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Anxiously trying to catch Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. One year my parents had some neighbors come tap on our windows and act as elves and I remember we were SO excited about that.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think I was 8 or 9 and I remember I was SO devastated. I remember thinking...so there's no Easter Bunny either? What a blow to my sense of reality. But then again, I did think that cartoon characters were real people as well. Ha-Ha.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes. We let the girls open one of their gifts on Christmas eve. But we also celebrate Christmas at my parent's house on Christmas eve and open all the gifts from my family then, so the girls actually get two Christmases.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Simple - lights, glass balls and our random ornaments we have accumulated over the years.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? LOVE it as long as it doesn't last more than 2 days.

12. Can you ice skate? Slowly. Don't expect The Cutting Edge from me, but I will venture out from the wall if I do go.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Ummmm......I remember I got a Huffy Bike one year for Christmas. I played with it all day Christmas and then left it on the front lawn that night....where it was promptly stolen. So that was my most favorite and most memorable gift.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Spending time with family, baking and all of those moments to sit and just enjoy life and how wonderful it is.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pumpkin pie, caramel, chocolate, fudge, brownies, cookies....EVERYTHING!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I really like watching all of our holiday Christmas movies, going downtown, going to Bellevue Square to do our annual name draw and gift exchange, Christmas eve at my parents, breakfast dinner at my house. Basically any holiday activity we do I look forward to.

17. What tops your tree? Nothing. We keep talking about getting a star, but I don't want to pay $25 for a star.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving - I really like trying to find the best gifts for everyone. I always want to give gifts to everyone, but financially we can't do it. So I apologize if anyone is left out. We really need to start focusing on Christmas earlier in the year.

19. Candy canes: yuck or yum? Love Candy Canes. We usually get the cherry ones, but i had an original peppermint one the other day and really enjoyed it.

20. Favorite Christmas show? National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Family Man and Love Actually.

21. Saddest Christmas song? The Christmas Shoes which is always on the radio!

22. What is your favorite Christmas song? My favorite Christmas CD is the Amy Grant Christmas one. My favorite song from that is Breath of Heaven. L.O.V.E. it!

Everyone should do this - it is fun!

Merry Christmas!

October Recap

2011-12-08T08:08:00.001-08:00

Oh my goodness - I am SO behind in posting. We have had so much going on since October that I just feel like there are not enough hours in the day! Here is a recap of everything we did in October:

Anniversary: Loni and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary. Can't believe it's been 7 years married, but also can't believe it has ONLY been 7 years. haha. I was talking with a friend yesterday and I realized that when I am 40, Loni and I will be celebrating our 20-year anniversary - how is that even possible??!! haha. We will have our 50-year anniversary when we are 70 (if we make it that long - hahahhahah!). There are a lot of trials with getting married young, but when you find the right person, you find the right person. Luckily Loni is everything I am not, so we end up making a pretty good team. I don't know what I would do without him.

Alright, enough gushy stuff. Pumpkin Patch: in early October, we had our annual pumpkin patch with my family. I really look forward to this activity throughout the year because it kicks off the holidays for us. We went to Maris Farms, which is always fun, but it seems like they are getting more and more expensive. We had to pay $10(!) just to get in! I think that is ridiculous so we will see how many more years we go. Luckily my mom pays, so I guess it is really how long she wants to pay that. haha. Anyways, the girls had a blast, I had a blast and Loni was ready to go by the end. My parents were actually kind enough to take the girls for us overnight so we could go celebrate our anniversary (see paragraph above). Love you Mom and Dad!

The Opfar clan sans the Weavers. Reggie - what is up with your hairline? :)

The girls at a Spider Web Thingy at the PP.

Ellis looks thoroughly enthralled, right?

The epitome of a Carnivore. In his element.

Bonus points if you can spot Ellis.

Pumpkin Painting: We were lucky enough to meet up with an old High School friend of mine, Keri and her husband Sean. To cement our new found friendship, we bonded over pumpkins and painting. It was a lot of fun though Stella and their daughter Tatum enjoyed eating the paintbrushes more than painting. Oh, well.

Keri and Tatum

Sean being artistic. Seriously, his was the best out of everyone's!

Bonus - Ellis is actually wearing clothes.

Pumpkin Carving: We had an FHE one Monday night where the Weavers (Gary, Lanae, Pasha and Donni) all came over and we carved pumpkins. It (again) was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed lighting them up. Too bad some stupid kid came and punched our pumpkin in about 2 days after we put it out. I hope someone punches that kids face in. (KIDDING - ok, maybe not).

Gary and Pasha getting dirty with it!

Of course, this is what Lanae did the whole time - CLEANED!

Can you tell? It is a Jack-o-latern and a Halloween Night!

Ellis' First Fieldtrip: Both Loni and I were lucky enough to be able to attend Ellis' first Field Trip in School. We went to a Pumpkin Patch up in Snohomish. It was REALLY cold, but a lot of fun. At least the sun was shining. She had a blast and the group that Loni and I had was just Ellis and her friend Azure. But there was a group of girls which all sat together. They were able to eat lunch there, pick out a pumpkin, ride in a tractor, go to a petting zoo and have popsicles - what kid wouldn't have enjoyed that day.

from L to R: Stella, Azure, Lee-Ann, Ellis (the crew!)

Ward Halloween Party - we actually bit the bullet and decided to attend our ward Halloween party. Luckily we were able to have some friends accompany us which made it even more fun. This year our ward combined with three other wards to do a trunk or treat outside so we - uh, I mean, the girls - were able to get a TON of candy. I was Donald Trump (no one knew this - they thought I was Ellen or just a lesbian), Loni was 'Cooter Pervis Weaver' a white trash guy, Ellis was Strawberry Shortcake and Stella was a knock off Tinkerbell. Our friends that came were Tim (Dog the Bounty Hunter), Megan and Olivia along with Sean (Luigi), Keri (Pirate) and Tatum (Fairy Princess) Rooth. Highlights of the night: Walking around yelling YOU'RE FIRED while no one knew what I was talking about, watching Keri have a run in with a Kate Gosselin look-a-like, who was NOT attempting to be Kate Gosselin, inside professional pictures of everyone and just enjoying our friends. I love Halloween.

The Rooth's

The Bount-ay Hunter!

This is a Hot Mess of a Family

The crew

Halloween Dinner: the Sunday before Halloween, we all got together and had a halloween dinner. I am drawing a blank as to what we actually ate, but I am pretty sure it was Halloween Themed. haha. All I know is it was fun! Marie or Pasha will have to jog my memory.

Halloween Trick or Treating: this year we stopped by my parents house before we went out. My mom gave the girls popcorn for Halloween - talk about disappointment. Haha - just kidding, they loved it. We ended up went trick or treating in a neighborhood past Petrovitsky park. It is a really cute development and easy to trick or treat, so we will prob go back. Both Ellis and Stella really enjoyed it. Of course they would. Haha.

Well that sums up October. I am sure we did a lot more in between all of that, but I can't remember any of it. Having kids has totally made me lose my memory more often then not. My kids will prob like that as they get older. Haha.

The Girls: A Comparison

2011-12-06T15:43:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to do a little comparison of Ellis to Stella to see how similar they look. Here we go!

Birth-day

Ellis

Stella

3-4 Month-ish

Ellis

Stella

9 Month-ish

Ellis

Stella

Happy First Birthday!

Ellis

Stella

18 Mos and Counting!

Ellis

Stella

Around 2-ish

Ellis

Stella

AND! I just found these two pics of them both wearing the same hoodie! They really look like sisters, though definitely have their own looks. Stella has WAY more hair then Ellis ever did!

Stella

Ellis

Happy Birthday Stella!

2011-11-17T10:23:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to my beautiful baby girl Stella! I can't believe that two years has already flown by so quickly - you are growing up way too fast! Daddy and I both love you so much - you are a joy to have!

I am going to do a birthday interview with her tonight and will post the answers to my questions tomorrow.

Ellis and Stella 11/17/2009

Stella celebrating her first birthday 11/17/10 @ The Best Pho and Thai

The Birthday Girl at home 11/17/11 - NUMBER 2!

Sorry for the sideways pics - I can't figure out how to upload them so they are vertical.

Thoughts from Moi....

2011-11-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone with my brother who called to wish me a Happy Birthday. He and his wife just became certified to be foster parents and among our catching up he related a story to me about some children that were placed with him briefly last week. The cops found the three children at 10:00 at night, walking the streets without any real clothes on with a father who was on drugs. The youngest, a 17-month old, wasn't even wearing a diaper - just wrapped in a blanket. The cops took the kids and CPS called my brother and his wife, who took them in, clothed them and fed them.

When he told me this story, my heart broke. You hear stories on the news and see it while driving in your car, but after talking with him this morning, it suddenly became real to me. While I live in this bubble of happiness and love, there are many, many children out there who never get to feel that. I complain about stupid, stupid things when there are children, LITTLE children, that are walking the streets at night without clothes or food. I am extremely humbled by this. I feel so shallow and embarrassed that I have lived around these situations and have done nothing about them. I do know that I am going to do what I can to change how I have been reacting to these situation.

I think good, honest Foster Parents are the most unselfish, caring, charitable and god-like people I know. I am thankful for my brother and his wife for doing this hard, heartbreaking thing. I am thankful for my brother and his sweet spirit - he truly is an example of Christ.

So on this day, I am thankful for people who see bad in the world and do their best to change it.

Adam Sage Dougherty

2011-10-18T15:11:00.001-07:00

Introducing my newest nephew, Adam Sage Dougherty. This is my SIL's third child and first boy - and she did a great job. He is so handsome and happiest when eating and with mom. I can't wait to hold him and get to know him! Congrats Adam and Amber - he is perfect!!

Stella and my new "niece"

2011-10-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Stella and my new "niece", Olivia Gifford. We stopped by to visit the proud parents, Tim and Megan (our longtime friends) and she was PERFECT! Both girls wanted to hold her and I didn't want to put her down, so ms. Livvy Lou got plenty of attention! Congrats Tim and Megan! I can't wait to spoil her!

Check Yes or No

2011-10-18T15:05:00.001-07:00

Ellis received her very first "love" note yesterday at school from this sweet little boy named Thien. It totally reminded me of that country soung that talks about "check yes or no". Anyways, right when she pulled it out to show me, I knew exactly who it was from. He is always by her side any time I pick her up from school and they always sit together on the rug at the end of the day. Ellis was obvious to anything and said "I didn't play with Thien today". Haha. As Gary would say : "treat 'em rough and tell 'em nothin!"

My dads comment cracked me up: "did you kick his little stalker a$$?" me: "no, I thought it was really cute" dad: "they are all little pervs". Hahhahahhahah! I feel sorry for anyone who dates Ellis!

Ellis' Self Portrait

2011-10-13T15:14:00.001-07:00

With Ellis' grandpa Gary being such an amazing artist, we had been hoping that Ellis would inherit that gene. Well, I think the self portrait below speaks for itself. At least we still have Stella to hope for. ;)

Her head to body ratio is off the hook!

A Little Bit of Stella's What You Need

2011-10-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is just a little clip of a conversation I was having with Stella the other day. The original video is too long, so this is only a clip of it. She is too cute - I love her!!

Design Time: Ideas for Your Living Room

2011-10-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Because we moved from a two-bedroom apartment into a house, we have many, many rooms to furnish and things to buy. We decided before we moved in that we are going to take our time and pick our pieces with thought and care - in an attempt to make our house, Ours. I have been browsing the web looking for creative ideas, especially for our living room (which only contains two red couches at the moment) and came across this very unique framed art wall-hang. You can personalize this to your family name (or any other word you want) and hang it in your living room (or whereever) OR give it to someone as a personalized gift. Best yet - it is on SALE right now, so another reason to get it. I believe I will be ordering one of these for me for Christmas! I really like the framing they use on this - the matte around the pictures and the frame itself. It is a great, personal, unique, classic piece to add to your home.

PLUS - if you order one of these, you will get a $75 gift certificate to use on your next order. So you could order one for yourself and then order one as a Christmas gift!

Here is the link for it: http://www.broadcastbloggers.com/deal.php?i=96&a=1069897

Seven Years and Counting

2011-10-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Loni and I celebrated our 7-year anniversary this past weekend. I can't believe it has been 7 years but I also can't believe it has ONLY been 7-years. It feels like we have been married for longer than that (in a good way). I am so grateful for him and our relationship - we are very lucky to have eachother. As a fun thing, I thought I would share some pics of us over the last 7 years.

Beware - years 3-6 are very plump! Ha-ha.

Enjoy!

Such a happy, wonderful day. Look how YOUNG we look. (October 2004)

Fourth of July 2005 - I went DARK with my hair. But blondes have more fun.

I think he is so handsome. (October 2005)

No - I am not high. (October 2005)

On a cruise (January 2006)

With nephew Donni (Summer 2006)

With Donni (Summer 2006)

At the Opfar Family pumpkin patch 2006

With our little addition (August 2007). No Loni is not high.

Family picture by A Fresh Take Photography (click for more info) (October 2008)

Family pic (including Stella in the oven) (October 2009)

Hahahhahahha! (October 2010)

And here we are - September 2011!
Photo taken by ZombieCrush Photography (click for info)

<3!

The Perfect Pumpkin Patch Day!

2011-10-11T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the annual Opfar-family mecca to Maris Farm's pumpkin patch. We go every year and my entire family makes it a priority to attend. I really look forward to it as it kicks off the start of all the holidays! Thanks to my mom's prayers, we were able to have a beautiful, sunny, warm-ish fall day for the patch. No mud for me! The girls had a blast and the adults had fun just making conversation and visiting with each other (well, I did at least). I actually feel bad for all of the rest of my family bc it is mainly the Ellis/Stella show and they all just stand around waiting for the girls to finish this and then finish that and then walk to this thing and watch some more. Sorry guys - give them some cousins and it will be more enjoyable for you too! ;) haha.

My parents with the girls

My older brother, James

The girls getting their height measured. They are not very good at it yet. haha.

Stella geting her face painted - she actually did quite well.

The results - a SPIDER! (which ended up being wiped off after 1/2 hour because she kept smearing it all over herself and my clothes)

Standing in front of the slides which they had in the playground area.

Ellis' turn!

What is that you ask? Why, a candy corn. (Yes - they were amateur face painters)

She loved t his slide

The Fam-Damily. (L-R) Mom, Whitney, Tyler, James, Karleene, Reggie, Dad

Super cute pic of them playing on the spider web

Riding the cow train. Stella was a little nervous, but since Ellis was there she made it through just fine.

My bro, James and his wife, Karleene

My bro, Tyler and his wife, Whitney. Along with some creepy guy who shaves his hairline.

All of the original Opfar kids - (L-R) Tyler, James, Reggie, Moi!

Yes - there was even pony rides! Ellis rode all by herself and Stella did fantastic as well. She kept petting the pony and saying, 'Pony, Pony'

The jump pillow. Ellis almost didn't get to go on this and you would have thought the world ended. But Grandma Opfar came to the rescue and Ellis fake tears soon dried up.

A carnivore at his finest. Yes my friends - that is an actual fried turkey leg. (it was actually pretty tasty).

Getting their grub on. Combination of funnel cakes, corn dogs and fries. Can't you just feel your arteries clogging?

It wouldn't be complete with out a hay ride.

Hay ride - Ellis loved it.

Typical pumpkin patch picture.

The entire family.

A great end to a great day!

Thanks Mom and Dad for making this an annual thing for us all!

I Spy With My Little Eye

2011-10-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

Ellis loves to play I Spy in the car and Stella has started playing it as well. Her and Loni were playing it on the couch tonight and it was just too cute not to share.

The way Stella plays it involves saying "I spy with my little eye something...." followed by the object you are supposed to be guessing. For example, "I spy with my little eye...mommy's shirt". It is SO cute when she does this. Enjoy!

I <3 Vampires

2011-10-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ellis is showing me her vampire face while wearing a shirt that my good friend Veronica bought for her. Yes, the shirt says I <3 Vampires. I am starting her young, haha.

The other day I asked Ellis what she did at school and she said, "oh, we played vampire family out on the playground".... Looks like I am not the only one. Haha.

Happy Monday!

General Conference and Halloween Cookies

2011-10-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our church's bi-annual conference session where we get to hear talks from the leaders of the church. What an uplifting and spiritual meeting it was - this was really the first year I have gotten to watch all four sessions and really listen. I am grateful for the leaders and their inspired messages. And I am grateful for technology which allows us to watch from the comfort of our own homes. My favorite talks were President Uckdorfs (sp?) and the lady who talked about fathers' roles in their daughters lives. What was your favorite talk?

After it was over, we went down and frosted some Halloween cookies which we had baked during the morning and afternoon session breaks. The kids had a lot of fun with decorating the cookies, but I am pretty sure their favorite part was taking spoonfuls of frosting to the face! I am so excited to start celebrating the seasons!

Halloween How To: For the Boy I Don't Have!

2011-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

I have been looking online for costume ideas for little kids and came across this idea - and wished for the 1,025,158th time that I had a little boy to do fun things for (like this). Sadly, I am resigned to princesses and ponies, but I still think this is a fabulous deal I had to share. I think every little boy has an innate desire to be a superhero - and what a better way to put him one step closer to that dream! POW! BAM! SMACK!

Check out the link below for more information - but it is only $11.50 shipped - pretty great deal for something you could make for him or he could make for himself! (I am considering ordering one for Ellis in Pink. Hey - even superheros wear pink!)

http://www.broadcastbloggers.com/deal.php?i=87&a=1069897

Part Time Models

2011-09-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

The other day we had our family pictures with Zombie Crush Photography and it was amazing! They were so great with the girls, easy going with dealing with us and picked a great location - overall it was a fantastic photo shoot. Here are just a couple of pictures. Loni and I were so uncomfortable being photographed, but the pictures turned out amazing.

If you are looking for any kind of pictures, check them out: http://zombiecrushphotography.com/

Just a note: look how handsome my husband is! <3!

What's For Dinner Tonight? Brinner!

2011-09-26T20:13:00.001-07:00

Why, those are Rapunzel-hair pancakes! Purple colored and everything. The things we do to keep dinner interesting. BUT the girls loved it, both of them ate it all and we had a very pleasant meal at our house. Hope everyone had a great Monday!

As a side note, I have to say we love brinner in our house. We have it at least once a week. Breakfast for dinner - what could be better?

It's making our feet dizzy!

2011-09-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

Today we continued the long standing Weaver tradition and 'did the Puyallup'. It was the perfect fair day: a little cloudy, a little muggy but no rain. The only downside to going the last Saturday of the Fair is ALL THE FREAKIN PEOPLE! There were sooo many people - but at least that means good business for the fair.

Anyways- it was a blast and the girls had fun. Ellis wore her fair shirt (for all you Up All Night fans - it was ironic) and chose to get a toy instead of riding all the rides (she is still a scaredy cat). We walked and looked and ate and walked and looked and ate some more. Totally typical of what you would do at the fair. We had burgers, fries, ice cream, cotton candy, caramel apples - you name it we probably tried it. But what is a fair for if not only for eating...haha. Great day - looking forward to next years fair already!

Stella Forchella!

2011-09-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share some pics of my little angel/devil child. These were taken yesterday during a game where Loni would throw a pillow at Ellis and Stella to see if it would hit them, while they were hiding behind the couch. They thought it was hilarious and Loni and I thought watching them crack up was hilarious. I have a video which I will try to post later.

Happy Saturday!

*please ignore my empty living room. We are taking our time and SLOWLY buying things for the house.

New 'Do!

2011-09-22T20:59:00.001-07:00

With losing all of this weight, my hair had turned very unhealthy and frankly, I was just tired of it, so I had a hair appt yesterday and decided to chop it off! Actually, I talked with my two sister in laws who are in the beauty industry and they were in full support of it, so it was definitely encouraging. Chantelle even helped me find some pics to take in. Anyways - I am slowly getting adjusted to it. I love the cut and color (I went a little darker for the fall), but it is SO short. So here's some pics from that day I got it cut and today. Enjoy!

201 Post! Time to Celebrate!

2011-09-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

Wa-Hoo! This post signifies my 201st post on this blog. While that may not seem like many to some of you other avid, regular bloggers, this is a big feat for me! To celebrate, I will make my fabulous Oatmeal Raisin cookies (found here) and send them to the first three people who leave a comment on my blog with a crafty idea to do with kids for the Holidays. (yes - I am gearing up for the holidays right now). :) I am celebrating today!

Happy Blogging!

Blast Those Germs Away!

2011-09-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

I came across this product the other day and I am VERY interested in this. Loni, being the neat freak he is, has always been disgusted by the fact that toothbrushes sit out in the open air in the same room where we go to the 'potty'. So when I found these little gems, I am really wanted to get them and now they are on sale - so it is a win-win for me! The Weaver household is one more step closer to becoming germ free! (Its a long, uphill battle....haha).

http://www.broadcastbloggers.com/deal.php?i=81&a=1069897

Feeling Old

2011-09-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

This morning my little angel turned to me and said, "Mommy - you are going to die soon because you are SO old...... and I am going to miss you". Thanks Ellis - I guess I need to apply my Mary Kay night cream a little more regularly to look younger for my daughter so I will not die soon. :)

A Hungry Child Can't Wait: Ask 5 for 5

2011-09-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5
Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you Kristy and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps.

At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world's first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother's hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called #Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on--in nine generations of 5x5x5...we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support, healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)
Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.

A hungry child doesn't wait. She doesn't wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give. She doesn't wait for us to decide if she's important enough to deserve a response. She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on...please respond now and help save her life. Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped--you are saving lives and changing history.

p.s. Please don't move on to the next website before you donate and email your friends right now. It only takes 5 minutes and just $5, and if you're life is busy like mine, you probably won't get back to it later. Let's not be a generation that ignores hundreds of thousands of starving people, instead let's leave a legacy of compassion. You have the opportunity to save a life today!

Chugga-chugga Choo Choo!

2011-09-17T19:23:00.001-07:00

Today we headed down to Chehalis to take a ride on an old fashioned Steam Train. It was a lot of fun. I thought it was going to be cold, but it was actually quite pleasant. The kids loved it - every time the train would come to a crossroads, it would Choo Choo the "horn", so of course Ellis rode the train with her ears plugged, but Stella and Donni loved it. A conductor even came through the stagecoach and took our tickets. There were even some adults who dressed up like they were from the '30's ;not my thing, but they seemed like they had fun! It was especially neat to see the steam waft through the trees and countryside after blowing the horn. Would definitely recommend this to anyone, especially with little boys.

Let the Festivities Begin!

2011-09-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

I know I have said it before, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year. And I feel like we are finally far enough into September to start celebrating the fall. So we bought our first window clings for Halloween! The girls both loved them and Stella loved them so much she kept pulling them on and off, hence the reason they are up so high. I am so excited to start celebrating!!

(please disregard the backyard - that is our project for next year)

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

2011-09-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Today was my baby's first day of school. She is officially an elementary school student attending her Pre-K class Mondays - Thursdays from 9:15 to 3:15 at South Shore Elementary School in Seattle. She was super excited and could hardly calm down enough to go to sleep last night. Everytime I went in to sternly tell her she needed to go to sleep for school, she would insist "I CAN'T!". You would have thought it was Christmas Eve. I think I may have fallen asleep before she did.

We did her hair in her special "Hannah-Montana" hair (braids taken out in the morning so it is wavy) and she wore her new shoes and new back pack. She is now ready to conquer the world - or at least the playground for now. My dad made a comment the other day about how once your children start school, every step they take from now on is a step away from me. At the time it made me melancholy, but after taking her to school today and seeing her excitement, I am really happy for her and this opportunity to learn. As Dr. Suess would say,

Congratulations!

Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the [gal]who’ll decide where to go.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea,
You’re off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

LOVE YOU ELLIS!

The traditional first day of school pose

Now with her Tinkerbell backpack and matching lunch bag

Side view in case you were wondering how big the backpack really is on a little 4-year old.

Standing next to her cubby - note her name!

Every morning she has to put her popsicle stick into the cup to show she is HERE.

Playing with the quiet time toys waiting for everyone else to get there.

A Chance for Charity: Ask 5 for 5

2011-09-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

As with many of you, I often need chances to earn pennies in heaven to make up for my wandering ways. So when I heard about Sarah and her story, I knew I wanted to participate. If you could please take a moment to read her story and donate - or even just pass along the information - it would greatly help. It really is a great cause and the fact that she has two children who could have been a statistic makes it all the more personal. Also, if any of you are open to having her guest blog on your blog, please let myself or Sarah know.

guest blogger: Sarah Lenssen from Ask5for5

photos courtesy of Cate Turton / Dept. for International Development

First, thanks to Kristy for allowing me to post on her blog today! Today, many bloggers, including this one, are standing with me to Ask 5 for 5 for Africa. Here's why....

I began pursuing a BIG dream two weeks ago. After deciding I could no longer avoid the news about the famine in the horn of Africa, I had that gut feeling that I couldn't sit this one out. I HAD to do something because I could. Something bigger than I could do alone.

Two of my children, Ashen and Bereket, were adopted and are from the region affected by the drought in Ethiopia. They would be two of the statistics if they still lived there. I see my son’s and daughter’s faces in the photos of those suffering in the refugee camps. It could have been him. It could have been her. The thought haunts me.

And moms just like us are watching their children go hungry day after day. I can't imagine what it's like, but I have to –I have to be there to help them, because it could have been my children. These families have lost their livestock, their crops, food prices are inflated at the market if there any food there, and don’t have any more lifelines to tap into. Many are traveling hundreds of miles through parched land in hope of finding help. Many are dying along the way. It is estimated that 29,000 children have died in the last 90 days in the famine in Somalia alone.

But I KNOW we can do something about it. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed, we can rally ourselves and our friends to respond! I set up a fundraiser through See Your Impact. 100% of your gift will go to the relief and development organization World Vision, where it will be combined with government grants to multiply up to 5 times in impact!

You’ll receive updates on just how your funding is being used to help save lives affected by famine in East Africa. I'm amazed at how much we've raised already -- over $7,000 in just four days! We blew through our first 3 goals in just 3 days and are well on our way to $10,000 and beyond!

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)
Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
Share Ask5for5 on Facebook to stay updated too!

I'm also looking for 100 bloggers to stand with Ask5for5 to spread the word during Social Media week, September 19th - 23rd. If you're interested, email me, ask5for5@gmail.com.

Thanks! Please donate and email your friends right now--don't wait for a calmer moment, because if you're like me, other demands inevitably crop up and you won't get to it. A child's life hangs in the balance, but you can help save her!

Whidbey Island : Never Again

2011-09-06T22:07:00.001-07:00

The first Sunday of our Staycation we took an impromptu trip to Whidbey Island for a little Sunday Getaway. The drive to Mukulteo (sp?) went great, the ferry ride was fun (we got Hot Chocolate), and we decided to head to Coupeville. Upon entering the ONE street that was Coupeville, we decided we had made a mistake going to Whidbey. Fortunately we ran into some people we new were as impressed as we were with Coupeville and who suggested we check out Langley. Since it was back the way we came, we went there and had an enjoyable time. We ate at a little bakery went into some fun shops and just walked around the two streets that are Langely. Promising the girls we would go to the beach, we headed back towards the Ferry Terminal to play at the beach. Much to our surprise and horror there was a HUGE line of cars waiting to get on the ferry. We saw a sign from where we got in line that the typical wait time from that point is an hour and a half! Yikes! This would be hard for any adult let alone a 21-month old and an antsy 4-year old. Luckily we are rule breakers and just let the girls play around in the back seat, unbuckled, while we SLOWLY crept forward. Two-and-a-half hours later we made it on the 20-minute ferry to head to a birthday party. By the time we got home that night we were all exhausted. Who knew sitting in a car could be so tiresome. Haha. So no, I don't think I will visit Whidbey on my own accord again.

Below are some pics of the day (on the ferry over, at the bakery and on the ferry on the way back <can you see the relief on our faces>)

Stacked Full Saturday

2011-08-29T22:30:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was PACKED full of things we had to do. We left our house at 8:00 Saturday morning and didn't get home until like 7:30 that night! It was a lot of fun though: helped my brother with his house, went to a baby shower, went to a birthday party and then headed home for a nice movie night. These pics were a compilation of Megan's Baby Shower and Lily's Birthday Party. So glad we were able to spend time with good friends!

Friday Fun!

2011-08-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

Last Friday kicked off our 10-day staycation! And what a better way to start it all then with a visit from my bro-in-law and his kids. It was great to see them and it was fun showing off the house.

(and no, I don't know what Ellis was doing in these pictures)...

Pre-K is on it's way...

2011-08-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Ellis had her orientation for her full day Pre-K class. This is her teacher, Ms. Nguyen-Tamara, and one of those cubbies will be hers Mondays-Thursday. My baby girl is growing up....sniff....sniff...

The C&K Bakery

2011-08-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

I decided to start a baking blog of all of the fun recipes I try. My friend Christy and I will be contributing, but would love to have guest posts by anyone who feels like it. Come on over and check it out!

Happy Baking!

http://thecandkbakery.blogspot.com/

Weekend Wrap Up

2011-08-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

Just some pics from our fun weekend: went boating, played dress up, Ellis made funny faces - the whole nine yards. Fun and enjoyable weekend!

Goin to Town

2011-08-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Every time we go to Seattle, my FIL calls it going to town. Kinda of funny. Here's some pics of our trip to "town" today to spend some time with Loni's brother Seth.

Ellis and her Cheeto fingers

Tooting Her Own Horn

2011-08-12T15:16:00.001-07:00

I feel bad I haven't posted about Ellis in a while - so here she is finally riding the little, slow train all by herself in Seaside, OR. Watch out world, she is a daredevil! This is the first year she has done it all by herself; she has always been too scared and the train whistle has always been too loud for her. I think I rub off on her a little too much. But I was proud of her, she was proud of herself and Loni just called us both wimps and took Stella on the train with him.

Falling Into Summer

2011-08-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

Because I have been so devastated by summer and the lack of it's appearance, I am moving right into Fall. And what do you do in fall? That's right, you BAKE!
So I picked up this little diddy at Costco the other day and can't wait to fire up the C&K Bakery again!

The Real Stella: Tantrums and Tears

2011-08-12T15:06:00.001-07:00

This picture embodies Stella - she can be sweet as ever but at the drop of a dime can turn into a little walking terror with tantrums and tears who screams, hits and on occasion bites. Who would have known that something like this could come from someone as sweet as me. (I feel my parents rolling their eyes right now). Funny how I still love her to death and wouldn't trade her for the world. <3!

Grandpa Weaver

2011-08-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

These girls L.O.V.E their Grandpa Weaver. Whenever he comes over Stella goes running to him. They both have him wrapped around their fingers. I just wanted to share this cute pic of the girls right before bedtime watching America's Got Talent with Gary.

Funny facts about the girls and their grandpa:

- Gary started this thing called Swing and Swing with the girls. He picks them up by their underarms and swings them through his legs. They will ask him to do this over and over and over.

-Any time we go to Gary's house, Stella goes right up to Gary, takes his hand and leads him to the kitchen cabinet where Gary has stored his special nuts and trail mix. And then demands to have some - which he shares with her no problem.

Au Revoir until September

2011-08-12T09:21:00.001-07:00

On Ellis' last day of the five week summer ballet course, the parents were able to come and watch. It was really cute seeing her in action - she is actually much better than I thought she would be (does that make me a bad mom?) - haha. She holds first position, attempts to mimic the teachers, listens really well and loves going to ballet. Stella was happy to watch as long as I kept her fed.

This is her in her line. The girl in red was the teacher, Ms. Veronica's daughter - she was really good. Ellis is now showing a correct 1st position. :)
This was a fairy dance activity they were doing. They would have to 'fly' around gracefully and water their flowers. It was really cute.

This was an umbrella dance they did - they really encourage the girls to be really accurate and do their best. I am in love with British.

This was the other teacher of the class. I am not sure on her name, but she was great with the girls. Ellis brought her purple jump rope for show and tell. I don't know what the girl in the background is doing. Love random people.

British Dance Academy

2011-08-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Ellis started ballet again back in June at British Dance Academy in Renton. A couple of her aunties have attended British so this was a big deal in our family. She loves it, I love it and Stella loves waiting around for her (not). I would call two out of three a success. It was a 5-week summer course and she is now signed up for the fall class on Fridays.

Stella coloring during the class. I had run out of all the snacks I brought for her, so I was pulling strings as ways to entertain her. Haha. She looks like a hot mess with those pony tails. Ellis showing me her "first position". Good thing we are getting her back in to learn these things.

Ellis posing out in front of British. Her Aunt Chantelle has a picture of her in this position as well when she started.

Casa de Weaver

2011-08-01T08:25:00.001-07:00

Well - we finally did IT: took the plunge into becoming certified home owners! Below are pics of the new house, but here is the story behind it. In May we decided to put an offer on this house after looking at TONS of houses on the market. Everything that wasn't a short sale was basically crap, so when we stumbled on this gem we got really excited. The builder at this property went belly up shortly after they finished the houses, so this property was bank owned by the time we found it - and had been sitting on the market for a year and a half.

Anyway - we found it, loved it and decided to put an offer on it in middle of May (as I said above). We offered about $25,000 under what the bank had it listed for. 24 hours later the bank came back at $10,000 more than we offered. 24-hours after that we countered at an increase of $5,000 on our part (meeting in the middle) and the bank rejected the offer. I didn't want to come up $5,000 and the bank didn't want to come down $5,000, so we were at a stale mate. We were pretty disappointed especially considering our lease was going to be up at the end of June and we were ready to get out. Silly us for being so disappointed bc Heavenly Father always knows what is best for us.

During June, we sold the boat (basically overnight), making extra on the boat to contribute to the down paymnet, got our of our lease no problem, were able to save a little bit extra $$, decided we REALLY loved the house and decided to reoffer in July. So on July 5, we made our offer of what the bank wanted (yes, I swallowed my pride), worked it all out and were able to close on July 29 - I consider that record time for a house sale to go through.

Our move went fantastically! Thanks to my bro Tyler, Gary, Dan and Christian, two missionaries from the Skyway Ward, and Loni's friend Aaron Eastman, we were able to move from start to finish in under 2.5 hours. This was meant to be because of how smoothly everything went.

I do have to give kudos to my Real Estate Agent, Joseph Ho. He was fantastic throughout the entire process and has gone above and beyond anything I could have ever expected of our agent. I definitely suggest him to any of you peeps out there looking to move.

Garage View

Entry Way in house

Looking at front of house (my office)

Inside Office

Hall to garage door (left), downstairs bath (straight ahead) and living room/kitchen

Powder Room (downstairs bath)

Looking down hall to living room (storage/coat closet to left)

Kitchen

Kitchen/Dining Room

Stairs next to entry way

Stairs to upper level

Looking at living room from peek hole in stairs

Loft area to left of stairs

Guest Bedroom upstairs

Another view of loft area (can you tell this is Loni's favorite room?)

Upstairs hall view (girls bath to the right, master at end right, laundry direct ahead, girls room, play room and hall closet all on left side.

Girls Bathroom

Hall Closet

Girls Playroom

Ellis/Stella's Room (window facing front of house)

Laundry Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bath and Closet

Master Bath

Master Closet

BBQs, Birthdays and Boats, Oh My!

2011-06-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

Well I have been MIA for quite some time now, so this post will be epic in order to catch up on all of our happenings (for the two, maybe three people that are still interested). :)

April - my baby girl Ellis turned 4 on April 11 and to celebrate we had a fantastic tea party at this gorgeous Tea House in West Seattle called The Tuscan Tea Room. All the little girls and boys got dressed up in their finest and I provided boas, pearls and bracelets for the girlies and fake moustaches for the boys. It was adorable. I think she had a great time - she even got her own little cake to eat.

A little about Ellis at 4:
*She is very curious - she asks questions about everything and will make up an answer for herself if I tune her out too long
*She is very, very caring to her little sister, but also can be a little pill when she doesn't want to share
*She is a great arguer for what she wants - she will bargain with me to make deals, but often times she will bargain in the opposite direction of what she really wants (ie: I ask her to eat the rest of her food and she says "okay mommy, I will eat 11 more bites of my food [when there are really only 3 more bites left]
*She L.O.V.E.S the boat - she is constantly wanting to go out on it, play on it, talk about it - anything.
*She loves to read. We now go to the library and get books about every two weeks and each night we read one (or two) books before bed. She loves it.
*Each night she asks me to sing her a song before bed time and she will dance around in her pajamas (usually consisting of an old T-shirt of Loni's, a tank top of mine, or an old dress of mine) on her bed while I sing her a song (usually Tinkerbell or the Teddy Bear picnic or a church song)
*She loves running and playing outside. Everyday when I get them from daycare the first question out of her mouth is "can stella and i play outside while you make dinner?"
*She listens really well when she wants but seems to have an aversion to picking up her toys by herself (she says she constantly needs help)
*She loves writing and spelling things. She can write every letter in the alphabet (and it is getting straighter and straighter each time) both upper and lower case. She is starting to sound out words and is going to be picking up on things very quickly.
*She starts a real preK class at SouthShore Elementary in September. She will be going to school from 8:30-2:30 every day - I am getting a little anxiety right now.
*She is a great kid, a wonderful big sister and an all around amazing little girl. Loni and I love her very much. <3!

May - Loni and I started another round of HCG and just completed the Phase 2. We have had such great success on this and Loni looks really great. I just had to post this pic of him (doesn't he look SO good) and the girls on the boat. All three of them love being on the water - his girls are just like him.

Memorial Day this year we went and visited the Fortney side of the graves. We missed having Lanae there this year, but I am happy we continued the tradition of visiting the graves. Traditions are amazing for families - I am glad my girls will grow up doing this.

Ellis and Stella at Loni's Grandparents graves

The Weaver Generations: [Back row L-R: Pasha, Staci, O'Reilly nephew, Joe, Sefa, Marie]

[Front Row L-R: Loni, Stella, Donni, Malia, Ellis, O'Reilly niece, Feki]

June: For Loni's birthday this year (the big 3-0!) we went to my friends wedding over at the Alderbrook Resort for a much need R&R session together. The wedding was beautiful and Loni and I were able to relax and have an enjoyable time together. On his birthday (June 5), we checked out and went for a drive on the Peninsula. We stumbled upon this quaint little town called Port Gamble and they were having a Renaissance Festival! We went to that and walk through this town (which i would visit again for a day trip) and then took the ferry back home, and had a family dinner to celebrate his birthday. It was a great weekend.

(us on the sidewalk in Port Gamble)

Birthday Round II: As a second part of his birthday celebrations, I had arranged a big surprise dinner for him and some of his good friends and family. He even had two REALLY good friends come into town and surprise him (thanks again Ben and Aaron). It was a great weekend with friends we hadn't seen in a while and family together. I am glad we were able to celebrate Loni together - he really is an amazing person.

(Ben Candland, Loni, Jershon, Marie, Amanda and Chantelle at our house bonfire Friday night)

(one of the two tables full of people to help celebrate his birthday. His treat was a deep fried banana - it was totally worth cheating on the diet for. We were all singing happy birthday - I think its funny how uncomfortable Loni looks with all this attention on him!)

As I stated before, both girls LOVE the water and they love standing on the back of the boat and putting their legs in. Thank goodness for the handle strap on Stella's life jacket or else she would have fallen in a couple of times. She just has to do EVERYTHING that Ellis is doing - she is going to be very driven and opinionated.

June 21 - I have always wanted to have a summer solstice party and this year we did. To celebrate, we had a play date with a good friend (kylie), played in the pool and lake, decorated sun rocks, learned about the solstice and what it was, decorated sun cookies, went out on the boat and danced around the maypole. It was a lot of fun!

To end June, I just have to say - We sold the boat. :( We are moving out of here this month (and hopefully into our new house), so we put it up for sale Saturday, had a call on Sat night and the guy bought it yesterday {sunday}. Kind of crazy, but it is the first step in moving on with our lives and growing up. haha.

Hoppy April!

2011-04-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

I took the girls to Yuen Lui today to get their pictures taken with a live bunny. It was super cute and the girls loved it, though all Stella wanted to do was run around the 'stage' and not take good pictures. But we were able to get a few in there. Haha. Anyways - here are some of them. Hope everyone has a great April!

Poulsbo

2011-02-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

We we first moved here when I was 4, we moved to a little town called Poulsbo on the Kitsap Peninsula. After we moved from there and throughout my childhood we would return there at least once a year just for a little trip to get away. Well this last Saturday, Loni and I wanted to get away for the day so we decided to go to Poulsbo. I really didn't remember what a cute little town it was. Although it was COLD, it was still fun to get away and go visit another beautiful area of our lovely state.

Ellis and Stella on the way home - all tuckered out!

Playing in the FRIGID wind and still loving it!

Eating at a restaurant

Time Outs and Tantrums

2011-02-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

We moved to a new daycare recently up in the Renton Highlands and it is a SAHM who watches both Ellis and Stella. Well Stella has recently been into throwing tantrums and full-on fits when she doesn't get her way. Me, being the softy mom that I am, won't do anything about it but ignore it, but one day I got to daycare and Laura told me she had to put Stella in a time out for pushing (yes I am raising a bully). Well, to keep it consistent I decided to try time-outs at home and see what would happen. And I just have to say it has been SO funny to see Stella in a time out mainly because she STAYS in time out until we let her out. I never would have thought that timeouts would have worked so well on a 15-month old. But they do. And to prove it is this picture we took - I had to take Stella out of the bath bc she was throwing a FIT in the tub bc Ellis wouldn't give her the toy she was playing with. So funny. She just sat there and put her face in the towel - but didn't get up. Haha.

HCG & ME

2011-02-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

Over the course of the last four years I have gained more weight than I have ever gained in my life. I used to use the excuse that kids were what made me gain the weight and I never was able to lose it but what it really came down to was laziness, lack of discipline on my part and no real desire to change. With working full time and with the girls being so young still, I have also been unable to commit to a time to attend the gym. So it created a recipe for gaining weight - and while I didn't have a desire to change, I can't say that I was happy with myself.

Then around Christmas-time we ran into my sister-in-law who has been doing the HCG diet for about a year now and has lost close to 100 pounds. I don't know if it was seeing the success she had on the diet, or if I was just ready to start changing, but both Loni and I decided that starting on Dec. 30, we would change our lives. We started the HCG diet on December 30 and ended it on Feb 7 - and the transformation has been amazing. I dropped 22lbs and Loni dropped 35lbs - all by watching what we ate, eliminating sugars and startches and by following the HCG protocol. I know there are a lot of skeptics who are critical of the diet, but both Loni and I are proof that this does work - it's actually quiet incredible. We are currently on the maintenance phase of the diet and plan on doing another round of the diet to help us reach our goal weight. This is the part that scares me the most because this is when your body is supposed to stabilize at this new weight - I am excited to see it work.

I know that this is not for everyone because it is a HARDCORE diet, but it really does work and has inspired both Loni and I to change our lives. We now eat at home every meal, cook with very little added oils and butter, eat fresh vegetables and fruits (and this is an amazing feat for Loni, hahah) - it has given us the boost we need to change our lives for the better. I have always wanted my girls to see me as a healthy role-model for them and I am re-inspired for them. I want them to make healthy choices, grow up active and use Loni and I as examples of how healthy they want to be when they get older.

I just wanted to share with everyone for nothing else than to maybe inspire someone else out there. You can DO - you can change your life; whether it is by dieting or exercising, the time will pass anyways and it is better to start today then keep putting it off. :)

Here are some before and middle pics of us (I still need to get the actual after pictures - these were taken about 3 weeks into the diet). I can't wait to start the other round before summer!

Before (Christmas Eve and New Years Eve - our heaviest weights ever):

January 15, 2010

Loni looks even better now - I tell him he looks like the little boy I married 7 years ago!

If anyone wants any information on the HCG diet, email me at kristyw67@hotmail.com.

xoxo - me

Santa Pics 2010

2010-12-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

So I know I have been MIA for the past year, but I am making an (early) New Years resolution to at post at least once a month. Now to some of you bloggers who put me to shame, this might now seem like much, but it is a lofty goal for me right now. :) Anywho - here is our latest pic of the girls - Ellis had tons of fun, but right when I started walking towards Santa, Stella gave my arm a death grip and started clinging to me (she knew where she was going to have to sit), and the pic speaks as to what happened when I actually set her in Santa's lap. Haha. Sorry the pic is so crappy - this is an iphone pic of the actual picture. Anyways, enjoy and Happy Holidays!

We are still alive

2010-06-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

So I have been HORRIBLE about blogging lately, but just wanted to post some things to keep everyone up to date:

- We are all alive and doing well. Miss Stella had her 6 mo appt today and she is healthy as can be. She is 97% for height (27.25") and average for weight (17.15#). She is not rolling over or doing tummy time that often because she HATES it, instead she is sitting unsupported all by herself (which i am very proud of). She is one opinionated little girl - if she wants her bottle or to eat, she lets you know. But overall she is so adorable and cute and has the biggest smile on her face for me anytime she sees me. At first she was a daddy's girl, but now I have coerced her back over to my side (much to loni's dismay) and she is slowly becoming a momma's girl. :)

Ellis is doing well also - the terrible threes are continuing to dominate our household. She is a spitfire little girl - everything now-a-days is a huge debate and argument. She has quite the imagination and could play by herself all day long if we let her. Despite the Loni in her coming out (aka her stubborness), she really is a sweet little girl. She is my best little friend and I am enjoying watching her grow up. Here are some updated pics of the girlies:

Stella Sitting!

2010-04-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I was sitting at the table with Stella sitting on the table and after a moment I noticed she was not using me to support her - she was sitting ON HER OWN!! I was so elated that I took her upstairs and got the video camera out and proceeded to get footage of her sitting on her own plus a little more of the cute things she does. She is such an easy, happy baby and I just love her so much. I can't believe that she is almost 5 months old! So here she is sitting all on her own (yes she does fall down sometimes but overall, she tries to stop herself from falling):

Update on the girlies

2010-04-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Both Ellis and Stella had thier check up appointments scheduled for today and while I prepared for the worst, it went very well. Here are thier stats:

Ellis - 3 years old
33 lbs
38" tall (3 feet 2 inches)
Had a vision test and could read all the shapes except for the bottom row
The dr was able to look in the back of her eye, which she said she normally isn't able to do until they are 5 years old
Dr said Ellis was a very mature, healthy little girl.

Stella - 4 months
15lbs 6.5 oz (more than double birth weight) --> 75%
26" tall (2 feet 2 inches) --> 90%
Had a two vaccines - didn't cry AT ALL! She was a champ!
Hates tummy time, LOVES her bottle and can hold it herself
Loves to stand up or sit up with help - I think she might be walking soon
She loves Ellis - Ellis can make her smile any time
Total Daddy's girl - she sometimes cries when Loni leaves the room even if I am holding her. Sleeping through the night between 8-11 hours
She is a very happy, content baby, but doesn't laugh much. She will almost get to the point of giggling, but never quite crosses the line into full on laughter.

Wallingford Botanicals

2010-04-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that over a year ago I was approached by a friend of mine to be a part of an all-natural bath, body and home care business she was starting. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of something so cool and unique and for the past year and a half, we have tirelessly worked on perfecting our products. Well I am happy to announce that we are one step closer to launching the full line of Wallingford Botanicals! We now have an active Coming Soon page located at www.wallingfordbotanicals.com and are just working on getting the word out there about our products. Here is the full shot of our launch products:

We will have more pictures up once the site goes live, but here is an outline of what we are initially offering:

~ All Natural, Shea Butter Cremes, in the following scents (they are to DIE for): French Lemonade, Sweet Lavender and Fresh Grapefruit

~All Natural, Turbinado Sugar Body Scrub: French Lemonade

~ All Natural, Whipped Sugar Body Polish: Sweet Lavender

~All Natural, Himalayan Salt Soaks

~Hand-crafted Goat Milk Bar Soaps

~ Gift packages

We are also open for sponsoring events, donating product and mainly getting the word out about our products. We would love to be in salons and spas, boutiques and are open for consignment selling, wholesale or full retail. So I am calling on my blogger family for help in getting the word out about our products. Please go to the website for more information or email me at kweaver@wbotanicals.com if anyone is interested.

xoxo, kw

Giggles

2010-03-04T08:03:00.001-08:00

So I have to say yesterday Stella GIGGLED for the first time! Ellis and her cousin Donni were running up to Stella while I held her and she thought it was HILARIOUS! It was so cute to see her laugh at them - she is really starting to grow up (thank goodness)!

Wondering Out Loud

2010-02-06T00:04:00.000-08:00

*This is kind of a sad post*

I had a weird dream the other night that brought my mind back to the loss of our baby boy on September 11, 2008. Since that dream I have been searching for counsel or direction from the church on miscarriages and/or stillborn children. To my dismay there is not much. And what there is is very vague and not encouraging.

So tonight my heart is heavy.

Since the loss happened I have been holding fast to the belief that I would someday have the opportunity to raise my boy. That I would get to experience the sweet joy of seeing him raised to a man. But everything I could find online and through the lds.org does not promise that, especially for a miscarriage.

So this leaves me with many questions that are not answered: Is it still considered a miscarriage if the pregnancy is halfway over? Or is it considered a stillborn? Why isn't there more revelation on this? My boy had a body, had a heartbeat (I SAW it beating), had LIFE in him - how can he not be considered as part of my family? What has become of his spirit? What will become of his tiny body at the resurrection? Does he know who I am? Does he know that I am his mom who still mourns for the loss of him? Does he look down on me from heaven and watches over loni, myself and his sisters? Will I see him one day and recognize who he is (or will he recognize me)? Am I a bad mom if I do not think of him every day?

All I can do is hope. And hope that my hope is not in vain. For I am still waiting to meet you, Lon Athan Weaver. My love is still flying to you on angel's wings; sweet dreams and God speed, little man.

Stella's Blessing

2010-01-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today we held Stella's blessing and had a wonderful day! We had many people come and even had my Uncle's fly in from Utah. After church we had a luncheon - it was great. Loni made pulled pork and lots of people brought yummy food to eat. Stella is now officially on the records of the church and her first milestone in her life is done! Thanks to everyone who came and was a part of this special day.I love my little family.

More of Stella

2010-01-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

I thought I would put together a show of all the pictures of Stella's birth, so here they are!

Stella Elisabeth Weaver

2010-01-01T21:35:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday, November 17 I headed to a routine doctors appointment. Everything looked great but as we were getting ready to leave, the Dr wanted to check my amniotic fluid levels. Good thing because the levels were lower than they like them to be so Loni and I were told to head to the hospital; we were going to be induced that day! I was induced around 1:00 PM and at 11:21 pm that night, Stella Elisabeth Weaver was born!

Stella Elisabeth Weaver

November 17, 2009

11:21 pm

7lbs 5 oz

18.5"

Ellis is a great big sister - she loves to help out and do whatever she can to make Stella happy. Sometimes she is a little too overzealous and we have to reign her in a bit. Both of my girls are amazing to me!

Conversations with Ellis

2009-11-13T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were sitting in the car waiting for my mom and dad to show up for dinner and Ellis kept turning the back seat lights on and off. Growing tired of this I asked her to stop and here is how the conversation went:

Me: "Ellis, please stop turning the light on and off"
Ellis: "Why mommy?"
Me: "Because I said so - why do you want to keep doing it?"
Ellis: "Because it will make me happy"

What?! She is so funny - she will say the most random things and picks up on little details and words that I don't think she understands yet. During the holidays she is especially funny with her words: for Halloween, she called it Halloweens. Each time we go to Target she gets excited and wants to look at "More Christmas". I really think she thinks the holiday is called "more Christmas" and not just Christmas. She loves going to Costco to look at all the decorations and see all the toys she wants. We can't walk down any aisle without hearing her say "I want that......I want that...." over and over again. We tell her that if she is good Santa will bring her presents on Christmas.

Its fun to have a toddler at Christmas time because we have actually been able to call "Santa" and have Ellis talk to him (my dad). A couple times it has been when she was bad but most of the time it is when she is good and she is just updating Santa on her status. All we have to do now when she acts up is say we are going to call Santa and she freaks out. It is so cute!

She is so funny and I am very grateful she is my daughter.

Cinderwella

2009-11-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year Ellis wanted to be a princess so I started looking online for cute princess costumes. I really wanted to stay away from the generic store-bought costumes, plus I didn't want to pay a lot of money for them, so I hit up Craig's List. On it, I found a lady who actually makes princess costumes custom fit for your child for only $25. They turned out absolutely adorable and were a huge hit at the Ward Halloween Party, the mall and out trick or treating.

I tried foam rollers on her hair for the first time and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Here she is in all her "Cinderwella" glory:

Ellis (Cinderwella) and Jaida (Aurora) *note the princess dolls they are both holding*

Ellis and Jaida again (I don't know why Ellis is posing this way - she just does it for every picture she takes now)

At the Ward halloween party - all they wanted to do was run around the stage.

Loni and Amber's daughter Loralei (she was Ariel)

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

Getting ready to go to the mall

At the mall (side note - they absolutely SCORED on candy at the mall)

Out trick or treating that night. For those who can't tell, that is Loni in the pumpkin mask. They had a TON of fun scaring everyone with it this year.

She was ready for the night to end by the time we left (if you can't tell)...

Hope everyone had a great day!

Ellis' First Haircut tear

2009-10-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know Ellis, most will say that her hair is one of her best features. From the time it finally started to grow in, it grew perfectly. Loni and I have always been amazed at how pretty her hair falls naturally: it swoops in front, curls in back and just looks like we spend hours doing her hair (most of the time). For this fact, we have always been hesitant to cut her hair. But yesterday we bit the bullet and actually got her hair done by my stylist Angelina. Ellis did pretty good for her first time at the salon: she was super excited while we were going and kept asking where Angelina was, but when it came time to sit in the chair she was a little hesitant. We had to take a moment to let her get familiar with the area, gave her a sucker and then she was all game. Of course I had to keep some of her curls in an envelope to put in her memory book (Loni kept making fun of me for this).

Before the cut - she kept running around asking where Angelina was.

I had to get one last picture of the curls...

As long as she has a sucker, she is happy! (is that bad?)

Angelina and Ellis

Ta-da - the finished version!

In retrospect, I wish we would have gone shorter but she just couldn't sit still enough to make a good short haircut. I am hoping next time, since she is familiar with the process now, we can make it shorter.

Pumpkin Carving!

2009-10-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Ellis and I decided to carve a pumpkin for Halloween. I went online and found some free Disney Princess guides for carving and we decided to do Cinderella. Ellis was totally game until we had to start pulling out the guts of the pumpkin - then she didn't want to touch the stuff because it made her hands dirty (she is so funny). Anyway, after an hour and half of carving I finally finished the pumpkin - the guide was a LOT harder than I thought it would be. But she loves it and every night we go outside and light it and she calls it her "Cinderwella".

Ellis and I with our matching aprons from Sara Miller *thanks again!*

My big helper before the going got tough. She was very excited for this.

"Carving" her own pumpkin in the guts that I pulled out by myself because it was too "gross" for her.

The finished product.

Notice the lack of clothes - she kept taking off her shirt and just wanting to wear the apron. My little exhibitionist...

And all lit up!
Happy Halloween!!!

Fall Activities

2009-10-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have updated, so I thought i would just recap what we have been up to this fall. I will be going from newest to oldest due to the way the pictures uploaded.

1. We decorated Halloween cookies and ate them to get ready for Halloweens (as Ellis calls it):

Ellis' cousin Donni with his cookie

Ellis with her cookie (pardon her topless manner - keeping clothes on her now a days is a real chore)
Jaida with her cookie - she wouldn't hold still for a good picture.

2. We went to the Pumpkin Patch with my family at Maris Farms (yearly tradition). Note - this year they charged a $5 admission fee to everyone who went - LAME!:

(she hated the wheelbarrow and cried until I got her out) Me, being the good mom I am, made her sit in it until I got a decent picture of her. :)

She loved to ride the horses - she was in heaven and everytime she would pass me, she would wave to me and say "Bye, Mom!"

3. Loni and I celebrated our five year anniversary by spending the night at the Westin in Downtown Seattle. Thanks to my mom for taking Ellis for us for the night! We walked all over Seattle, ate at Gordon Biersch for dinner, saw a movie, went swimming in the pool and relaxed in the hottub at the hotel, slept in, went to Pike Place for breakfast (after our pre-breakfast of the Godiva Cheesecake we ordered the night before), got flowers and just had a great time. It was a wonderful way to spend celebrating 5 years of marriage!

We were out walking in Seattle and noticed a sign for this nail place so we both decided to get manis and pedis!

This was the view from our hotel room - it was very nice.

4. Both my MIL and my mom threw me a baby shower. It was tons of fun - but I didn't take any pics with my camera so I will have to get them from my MIL and do a post. Thanks to everyone who came out and especially the mothers in my life!

This was the diaper cake that Lanae (my MIL), Elaine Sablan and Charelene Nuess made for me. It was very adorable!

5. We headed down to Gas Works Park and saw the Fremont Troll (Ellis' first time there):

Ellis at the top of the hill at Gasworks. She kept wanting to run down the hill - she still loves to run.

Of course, the family photo - Stella is pretty prominent in this picture!

He sure loves his "Chuney"

She was terrified of the troll and wouldn't touch it. She kept saying there were monsters everywhere.

6. We did the Puyallup! It was a blast and Ellis was game for pretty much everything except for the roller coasters. Maybe next year. Her favorite ride was the train that goes around the perimeter of the kiddie area - Loni is a little disappointed that his thrill-seeking ways have not yet been passed on to Ellis. :)

Conversations with Ellis

2009-10-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

Setting: driving in the car on the way to Target last night.

Ellis: Momma - there are monsters on the jump-o-line (trampoline).

Me: Really? How do you know?

Ellis: I was watching them and then one came in my room, bonked me on the head and took my barrett!

Me: Really? Were you scared?

Elllis: Yes, I was scared because Daddy shut the door and I cried. But then I kicked and pushed the monster like this {she demonstrates for me while making kicking and pushing noises} and I was all better!

Gotta love the imagination of a 2 year-old

Saltwater State Park & Football Games!

2009-09-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we decided to get out of the house and head to Saltwater State Park. It is this quaint little beach right on the Puget Sound that is fun to see and take a little walk along. Ellis loved it; but her main enjoyment was picking any and all flowers she can find. If you are around her and have a flower she will most likely find a way to finagle it into her possession.

Later that day we went to my nephew's football game (he is #75 for the Renton Rangers, hence the #75 on her cheek). Ellis loved it but she mostly loved walking along the bleachers and eating her popcorn. Good thing we only had one minor fall. She is so busy! :)

Ellis the Ballerina

2009-09-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Ellis started her first dance class. She absolutely loves it and every Friday, since the only class they had was during the day, my FIL Gary takes her to her class. She looks forward to it and it so cute doing it. She calls it her "dance class". I am very excited to see her develop and grow throughout it and she even has a performace at the end of the year (June, I believe). She is my tiny dancer. Here she is before her class:

yes the tights are too big, but finding dance clothes for a 2 1/2 year old is a little tough. Although we did get her slippers at Payless and they are adorable (not pictured because she is only allowed to wear them at dance class). I have more pictures from her first day and will post those later.

Updated Picture

2009-09-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

I found this picture (and stole it) from my friend Kyla's blog. I liked it so I thought I would post it. We are on the pier in Des Moines enjoying a nice sunset and then all of a sudden these gale-force winds come up and we thought the peir was going to fall over! Naturally, this picture was before the wind came. Enjoy!

PS - Thanks Kyla for being such a great photographer!

In Memory

2009-09-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

Lon Athan Weaver

September 11, 2008

Sweet dreams, little man
God Speed, little man
My love will fly to you each night on angels' wings
Can't wait to meet you some day.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Skills to Pay the Bills!

2009-09-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we (being Loni, myself, Marcus Stevens and my dad) decided to go to the gun range and shoot some guns. I haven't been shooting in a couple years, so it was nice to go out and refresh my skills. :) Anyway, it was a lot of fun and after two hours of shooting, we were all ready to head home.

My dad was kind enough to let us use his pistols: a Glock, a .357 Revolver, and a Rueger .22. We brought our Rueger and then they rented two more guns, so needless to say we were going to run out of ammo before we were going to run out of guns to shoot! :) It was lots and lots of fun and thanks to my mom for watching Ellis for us while we shot!

that's right - don't mess with me! (shot with the .357 revolver)

not bad for a man who is blind in one eye!

Loni and Marcus

Conversations with Ellis

2009-09-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last night Ellis had the hardest time going to sleep so for part of the night, I laid down with her. While I was laying with her she did the cutest things:
- Anytime I would lift my head up, she would grab my cheek and push my head back to the pillow and say "lay your head down, mommy"
- She would reach over periodically and check to see if my eyes were closed by touching my eyelashes and making sure the bottom and top lashes were touching eachother.
- Anytime you lay with Ellis, she lays right next to you, facing you. We were like this last night with my arm over her body. Any time i would move my arm, she would bring it back so I was cuddling with her.
- We had lots of mini conversations, but this was my favorite:
E: Belle likes the Beast
Me: Do you like the Beast?
E: No, he is scary.
Me: Who do you like? Eric?
E: No, I like Belle.....and Mermaid. I like Mermaid.
(pause)
E (turning to face me again and grabbing my face with her hands, and looking me in the eyes): But I love you, Mommy!

Made my heart melt! She is such a doll and moments like that make the difficult two's worth it. I love her so much!

Sundays....sigh

2009-08-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

So, before having a kid, I remember Sundays as being very relaxing and restful filled with lounging about, reading books and enjoying church. Now that I have a two-year old, I am filled with fond memories of those peaceful Sundays because they do not exist anymore. Especially during church time. Especially Sacrament meeting. Ellis has not been a great sitter and does not have an inside voice, and she seems to choose Sacrament meetings as the time to really make these traits known - to the whole congregation. Here is a timeline of how our sacrament meeting went yesterday:

12:30 - 12:40 : getting settled in and Ellis asking for a sucker(a DumDum which is my quite trick that will usually keep her occupied for about 10 mins). I keep telling her that she has to wait until after the bread and water are passed, which subdues her for about 1 minute before she is asking again. Opening song and prayer are given and the whole time she is talking about her sucker.

12:40 - 12:45: Ellis constantly moving from Loni to I; I give her some paper to color on. She is good for about 2 minutes and then starts asking me to draw pictures for her (mermaids, grandpa, sucker, Donnie - whatever she is thinking of at that moment). Still asking for sucker, but thankfully the bread is getting ready to be passed. Take the bread and proceeds to ask LOUDLY for her sucker. I tell her the water still needs to be passed. She protests LOUDLY.

12:45 - 12:50: Prayer for water is getting ready to be said. Ellis chimes in with "NO PRAYER...NOOOOOOOO!" Finally we get her to quiet down. Water is passed and she takes hers, then while I am getting mine, she starts sipping out of another cup - while it is in the tray! Once the water leaves us, she immediately asks for her SUCKER, which i tell her she can not have until everyone who is passing the water sits down.

12:50 - 12:55 : Ellis gets her sucker and is happy for this little while. Then she starts talking loudly. Loni threatens that he will take away her sucker if she doesn't whisper.

12:55 - 1:35: LONG meeting filled with squirming, bouncing between Loni and I, whining to see Jaida, trying to climb onto the bench in front of us, being taken out of the room 2 times, protesting about singing and prayers, coloring, giving me loud kisses, speaking very loudly and being obnoxious to everyone in the room.

So we finally get out of sacrament meeting and ship her off to Nursery *Thank Goodness*! Once in the car after church, she beats the world record and falls asleep before we are out of the parking lot. Oh, sweet relaxing Sundays - how i miss thee!

Ellis and Jaida

2009-08-14T07:19:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I posted about Ellis, so i wanted to post some pics of what she has been up to lately. She is REALLY into Princesses and Candy, so alot of these will involve those two items.

Chantelle's soon to be sister in law brought her kids over (and a bunch of princess dresses) and Ellis was in HEAVEN! This is her in the mermaid dress:

This is her in the Belle dress. You can tell how excited she is by her hands by her face - that is her excited gesture.
This is her showing me her 'treat'. This is how I reward her for being good - dumdums. She LOVES them.

Ellis and Jaida with Ellis Princess comforter, watching the Little Mermaid. Note the princess nightgowns on both kids....

Jaida with her tutu and Ellis in the *ADORABLE* apron that Sara Miller made just for her as part of the {Lucky You} post from her blog (she also made me a matching one). Ellis loves it and considers it her dress. THANK YOU Sara!

Both girls playing in the pool.

The water was really cold!

Ellis is really growing up lately. She now talks in complete phrases and sentences and even jokes around. The other day we were sitting in the car and she was carrying on a conversation with herself and we heard her say "I'm just kidding" and then crack up. She is so funny. She is constantly asking for a treat and will throw a fit if she can't have one right then. She loves to jump on the "Jump-o-line" and she says she "jumps hard" when she is out there. She still loves to run, especially running "fast or hard" as she calls it.

She is also very bossy now and takes on the role of mother hen, constantly telling people to "stop doing that" or "come here" or "this is MINE". One of my favorites is when she tells people to "leave her alone", as she told me yesterday. If you tell her something she doesn't want to hear (like that it's bedtime) she will say "Don't tell me that Mommy" or "No tell me that Mommy". Contrasting all of the meaness in her, she is incredibly sweet and kind, giving kisses to Lorelie and Malia and telling Loni and I "I love you, Mommy" or "I love you Daddy". She loves to snuggle and would come in our bed every night and take it over if we let her. She is a doll and gets more and more beautiful everyday, though I will be glad when the 2's and 3's are over!

A Secret I wanted to Share

2009-08-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Though I may just be out of the loop and this may not be that secret at all...but here you go: Tuesday, we were out at Nordstroms the other day buying Ellis her yearly pair of Uggs and as I was walking up to pay for them, the saleslady turns to me and asks me if I would like to try on a pair. I was like "Ummm...I don't fit in children's sizes" and she looks at me and says "You would be surprised; lets just try on a pair". Well, guess what....THEY FIT! Apparently I am a size 5 in kids (which correlates to a size 7 in womens). Who would have guessed?!! And the best part is that the shoes were $60 cheaper than the women's Uggs downstairs. DEAL!

Here are mine and Ellis' matching Uggs:

I will have to say that the CHOCOLATE color is what is going ON this year! So adorable!

So my tip for all you ladies out there - look in the kids section - you never know what you might find!!!

Happy Friday!

I think I am going to be here a while!

2009-08-04T11:40:00.001-07:00

Occassionally Ellis will get the desire to sit on the "big people potty" and try to go the bathroom. Rarely does it evolve into any type of action happening, she mostly just wants to sit there and pretend. Well, the other night before her bath, she wanted to try it out again, so i put out her stool made sure she was situated and stepped out of the room for a minute. When i came back, this is the image I saw:

She had pulled a magazine from the rack and was totally concentrating on reading it. She is hilarious!!

Update Aborted

2009-07-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

So I have been putting off updating for so long because I have so much to update, but I am just going to do a short recap of where we are now and move forward from here. This summer has been full of fun things:

June - Loni and I both took a week off during the first week of June and had a blast! We went up to Birch Bay for a night, went to Seattle for the Pike Place Festival and University Street Fair and then Dan and Kyla came into town with their two little girls! We had a ton of fun with them going to the zoo, hanging out, eating out and just enjoying thier company.

July - for the 4th this year, we went to Seaside Oregon and it was a blast. We were able to get a hotel room and walked around, ate out, played on the beach and watched an awesome fireworks show put on by the city and by all of the campers on the beach. We will probably go here every year for the 4th, so whoever wants to plan a trip with us, let us know!

We have been busy with lots of other little stuff and trying to stay cool amid this HEAT WAVE we are having, but that is a good enough recap for me, so maybe I can start blogging on the regular again. :)

Here are a couple pics from Ellis at Seaside:

she LOVED this horse on the carousel: it was a horse with fins- anytime we wanted to reward her, all we had to do was say we were going to ride the mermaid horse!

She loved the beach, though she wouldn't go near the water. She is a doll!

Need some sympathy...

2009-06-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

So I know i haven't posted in a while, and I will catch up, but I just needed to post this item because I need some sympathy from my girl friends that read this blog:

Last night we were reading Your Pregnancy Week by Week and I came to the part in the chapter about how much weight I should have gained by now (10-13 lbs). Right after I read that part, Loni turns to me and says, "Well, you have blown past that by now, right?"

I was really dumbfounded that he would basically call me fat to my face. :) I know he didn't mean it the way it sounded, but I just have to gripe to my friends about the insensitivity of men sometimes.

Thanks for listening!

Pint-sized Swimming Pool

2009-05-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend was absolutely GORGEOUS here in the PNW (Pacific Northwest), so Saturday we went out and bought a little inflatable pool for Ellis to play in. Since we have no yard, we had to put it up at Marie and Sefa's place. She loved it of course. I will post pictures of her weekend in the pool, but here is a picture from yesterday.

All she wanted to do once I picked her up is go to "JoeFeki's" and "go in the swimming pool". We had to pick Loni up at our house first and she didn't even want to do that:

Me: "okay, we have to go pick up Daddy"

Ellis: "NO! go to swimming pool. No Daddy".

Ahhh....the loyalties of a two year old. Anyway, it was freezing yesterday and overcast, but that didn't stop her from playing outside in the pool for about 40 minutes before she started to get cold. She is a trooper! Also, here is a video of her playing in her pool:

A Little About Ellis

2009-05-13T08:30:00.001-07:00

So Ellis has been growing up so quickly recently that I thought I would post a couple noteworthy things she does or has done:

- She loves to sing. Specifically any Disney princess theme songs. I downloaded 'A Whole New World' (Aladdin) and 'Part of Your World' (Mermaid) for her and that is all she wants to listen to in the car. She will mouth the words until she is comfortable with them and then she will sing them whenever and where-ever we are. There have been many times I have been wandering through the supermarket singing 'Mermaid' with her. She loves doing duets with her mommy.
- She loves to talk and repeat anything you say. She is quite the little chatterbox and will have random conversations with herself. Then she will start to laugh like a mad-man. She is crazy.
- She loves to call herself crazy, silly or funny. If you don't agree with her (that she is either crazy, silly or funny) she will fight with you until you admit she is one of them. It is so funny.
- The other day we were driving in the car and she says, "Mommy, I am breaking it down" and proceeded to dance like crazy in her car seat. She is so funny - I mean, where did she get that from?!
- She is getting very bossy. She likes to demand that you do things for her and she will whine until you either do it for her or put her in time out. Time out is becoming her best friend lately.
-When I tell her there is a baby in my tummy, she says "No, there is a baby in MY tummy".
-She is becoming very independent. She loves doing everything herself. She can put her pants on the majority of the time but she never gets them up over her butt. So she walks around with her butt hanging out of her pants.

So this is just a few things she does. There are tons more, but I don't want to bore anyone. :) We love her and are excited to see her grow up.

Ellis the Beautician

2009-05-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Last night Ellis channeled her inner beautician and decided to do my hair. She sat on the couch for about 20 minutes just brushing my hair and telling me that I have 'princess hair'. After she tired of that, she decided to get creative with her barrettes (I had to google the spelling on barrette - how lame is that?!). Anyways, this was the outcome of my first beauty session with Ellis:

Ellis admiring her handiwork

Side view

Finished product.

Ellis and Bubbles

2009-04-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Ellis having fun on our porch with the bubbles. She is a doll!

Catching Up

2009-04-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

I feel like it has been a while since I last posted, so I wanted to catch everyone up on what we have been doing:

1. We had some awesome weather around the Pacific NW a couple weeks ago, so I brought out the bubble machine for Ellis to play with on the porch. She loved it! Every time the bubbles would be taken away by the wind she would reach after them and say "don't leave me bubbles!". So sad, but so cute:

Posing - her favorite thing to do.

Looking longingly after the bubbles.

Posing again (you can see the bubbles)

2. We decided to head down to Seattle and hit up Pac Place and Pike Place. It was a lot of fun; of course a visit to Seattle couldn't be complete without a Gyro and a Humbow (sp?):

Loni ordering my Gyro for me. Such a gem.

Prego Marie - chowin down.

Ellis grubbin on her sucker. She ended up dropping it on the ground.

3. We met up with some old friends of ours: Ashley and Scott Loughran. They have two little girls (Olivia and Ella), one of whom is a month younger than Ellis. We went out to Tacoma, went out to dinner, then took the kiddos swimming and had drumsticks for dessert at thier house later. Ellis loved the water and would have stayed all night if she could. Thanks Ashley and Scott for inviting us down!

I love these two pictures of the girlies:

This is great shot - they were all looking! Yay!

All three of the girls LOVED the hot tub - it was great. Except when you had to get back in the pool.

Ellis and Loni swimming in the pool.

At dinner that night. Ashley was a mystery shopper for Applebees. It was very funny!

Conversations with Ellis

2009-04-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

This morning, while driving in the car:

Ellis: "Mommy, Mommy!!!" (very frantic)
Me: "What, baby?"
(slight pause)
Ellis: "Oh, I just freaked out"

Ellis & Jaida

2009-04-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Ellis and her cousin Jaida hanging out together.

Ellis

2009-04-21T12:55:00.001-07:00

Ellis enjoying an Ice Cream Sandwich!

Happy Birthday, Ellis!

2009-04-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Ellis,

Today my little baby girl turns two years old. It is hard to believe (and also very cliche to say) that two years have just flown by. You have grown up so much in the last year, its incredible to think about. You now talk non-stop, love non-stop, play non-stop and laugh non-stop. You are one of the funniest little girls I have ever seen; you know how to finagle your way into any situation you want to be in. You bat your eyes to get you whatever you want and you have your daddy wrapped around your little finger. You are such a joy to both mine and your father's life. You are the best daughter and I couldn't imagine anyone else but you to fill my days with laughter and sunshine. I love your little personality - how you can get so angry sometimes yet so joyful at others. I love that you are so much like your father, yet also like your mom as well. You love unconditionally and will give your heart to anyone. You have such a temper sometimes and the crocodile tears you can produce at a moment's notice would put any actress to shame. I love waking up to your face looking at mine and how cute you are in the mornings. I love it when you want to cuddle with me, but also when you want your alone time. I love your love for books and learning. Everthing now-a-days is "what's this, mommy?" and "what's that, mommy?" You love to find out about new and unique things and drive me crazy with all of your questions! You are more and more beautiful everyday both inside and out and I wish you would always remember that you are a Daughter of God. Your dad and I wish the best for you and want you to know we will always love you.

Happy Birthday!

XOXO,
Mom and Dad

Ellis at 2 years

Ellis at 1 year

Ellis as a newborn - 4/11/07 5:07 pm

Celebrate!

2009-04-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last night we celebrated Ellis' birthday two days early by going to Pump It Up in Kirkland, WA. It was a blast! They have this entire warehouse filled with inflatables that kids of all ages (and I mean ALL ages) can run around and jump to their hearts content. Ellis had a blast and I think most everyone else there did too. The kids and the adults were all sweaty and worn out by the end of the party. It was a mixture of family and friends that came to help Ellis celebrate and we are so thankful for everyone that came! Happy (early) birthday Ellis!

Picnic at the Beach!

2009-04-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday was so nice (topped out in the mid-70's) we had a wonderful FHE picnic at Coulon with my family. We had fried chicken, potato salad, veggies and strawberry shortcake. It was a great way to welcome the warm weather and say GOOD-RIDDANCE to winter. I know it won't stay like this for long, but we are sure enjoying it while it is here!

Starting to Party!

2009-04-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my parent's hosted a birthday party for Ellis with the Opfar/Rider side of the family. It was great timing because my two Uncles were in town and we were able to visit with them as well as start celebrating Ellis' second birthday. It was a lot of fun: we have pizza, salad and cupcakes as well as tons of presents for Ellis. She is still the only grandkid on my side of the family, so my parents like to go all out and spoil her. She got a lot of cool stuff but her favorites would have to be: her princess shoes from my dad, her princess books from my mom and her princess jacket from both parents (do you sense a theme going on here?). All in all, it was a great day!

Early Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

Loni's work is great about putting on activities and events specifically catered to families. For Easter this year, they hosted and Easter Egg Hunt for all of the kids. It was a lot of fun - their event planner, Jacine, is great about hosting the parties and making them fun for kids of all ages. Ellis had a blast. She absolutley love hunting for Easter eggs - in fact the whole time they were hiding the eggs, she kept trying to go collect them. After she got them, we went and sat down and she started opening the eggs - that made her even more excited b/c there was CANDY inside! That is a direct way to her heart - give her candy. Anyway, it was a great day and beautiful weather to boot, so THANKS Centennial!

Sunny Days!

2009-04-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

I love the weather here in Seattle when it is sunny and in the 60's. Here are some pics of Ellis enjoying the weather:

This is what she does everytime I ask her to smile for a picture - she strikes a pose.

She LOVES jumping on the trampoline. She would do it all day if she could. That's all she wanted to do yesterday.

Posing again...

Trying to stay still long enough to get a good picture.

Wake-Up, Jacob

2009-03-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

When I was little, my grandma would sing this little ditty to me when she would come in to wake me up from a nap: "Wake up, Jacob, Daddy shot a bear. Where? Where? Over there." Don't ask me where she got it from but I remember her singing it to me all the time (i must have slept alot!). Anyway, that story had nothing to do with this picture except this is right after Ellis woke up from her nap. How would you like to wake up to this everyday? :)

Interesting Tidbit

2009-03-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that today Ellis is:

1 year, 11 months, 1 week and 1 day old!

I just thought that was interesting!! :)

Ellis needs your VOTES!!!

2009-03-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

I entered Ellis into Movin' 92.5 Baby Idol contest and the voting starts today. Please vote for her - you can vote up to 10 times each day for each registered email address:

http://babyidol.movin925.com/photos/all/E/5/

Scroll to the middle of the page, click on her picture and vote please!!!! the winners are selected by the number of votes, so the more people to vote, the better!

This first round ends on Friday, so if you could please vote each day, that would be great!

Thanks!
Kristy

Catching Up

2009-03-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a couple weeks, so I just wanted to catch you up on what we have been up to:

1. A couple weeks ago, we went to a Hockey Game with Staci and Greg Mattson at the new Kent Arena. It was so much fun - not to mention the three simultaneous fights that we saw. I love hockey!

2. We went and saw our neice, Madison, play basketball. It was a lot of fun and we were glad we could support her!

Ellis got so freaked out everytime the buzzer rang - so we had to cover her ears.

3. We went out to dinner at Siam on Broadway (a Thai restaurant) to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday

4. I took some pics of Ellis in the bubble bath - she is so adorable!

5. Oh, yeah - we found out we are pregnant! :)

Photo Tag

2009-03-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

For this tag, go to your pictures, select the 6th photo in the 6 folder. Then tag 6 of your friends.

Here is my photo: it was taken last year at the Seattle Aqaurium - we went with Sefa, Joe and Feki. Loni is using his knowledge of 'everything' to inform Sefa and the boys of what is going on (actually I don't know what he is doing - if anyone has any funny captions for this picture - leave a comment with it)!

I tag - Kandy, Kyla, Sara M, Jenny, Bekki, Cheris and Ashley.

Monroe

2009-03-02T21:15:00.000-08:00

Since the day was so nice today, we drove up to Monroe to pick up Loni's motorcycle which we have been storing in Jesse's garage through the winter. It was a fun visit complete with laughs, going to the park and eating. Thanks Jesse and Kandy for letting us visit!

Counting

2009-03-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I posted a video of Ellis, so I thought I would get her counting. She is NOT a performer, so I am surprised she gave me what is in this video. Either way, it is adorable and she is just so cute!

Conversations with Ellis

2009-02-27T09:20:00.001-08:00

(Setting: sitting in the car driving home last night)

Me (to Loni): I am really tired
Loni: Yeah me too
Ellis (from backseat): I tired too.

House of Weaver

Santa Pics!

Holiday Fun!

October Recap

The Girls: A Comparison

Happy Birthday Stella!

Thoughts from Moi....

Adam Sage Dougherty

Stella and my new "niece"

Check Yes or No

Ellis' Self Portrait

A Little Bit of Stella's What You Need

Design Time: Ideas for Your Living Room

Seven Years and Counting

The Perfect Pumpkin Patch Day!

I Spy With My Little Eye

I <3 Vampires

General Conference and Halloween Cookies

Halloween How To: For the Boy I Don't Have!

Part Time Models

What's For Dinner Tonight? Brinner!

It's making our feet dizzy!

Stella Forchella!

New 'Do!

201 Post! Time to Celebrate!

Blast Those Germs Away!

Feeling Old

A Hungry Child Can't Wait: Ask 5 for 5

Chugga-chugga Choo Choo!

Let the Festivities Begin!

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

A Chance for Charity: Ask 5 for 5

Whidbey Island : Never Again

Stacked Full Saturday

Friday Fun!

Pre-K is on it's way...

The C&K Bakery

Weekend Wrap Up

Goin to Town

Tooting Her Own Horn

Falling Into Summer

The Real Stella: Tantrums and Tears

Grandpa Weaver

Au Revoir until September

British Dance Academy

Casa de Weaver

BBQs, Birthdays and Boats, Oh My!

Hoppy April!

Poulsbo

Time Outs and Tantrums

HCG & ME

Santa Pics 2010

We are still alive

Stella Sitting!

Update on the girlies

Wallingford Botanicals

Giggles

Wondering Out Loud

Stella's Blessing

More of Stella

Stella Elisabeth Weaver

Conversations with Ellis

Cinderwella

Ellis' First Haircut *tear*

Pumpkin Carving!

Fall Activities

Conversations with Ellis

Saltwater State Park & Football Games!

Ellis the Ballerina

Updated Picture

In Memory

Skills to Pay the Bills!

Conversations with Ellis

Sundays....*sigh*

Ellis and Jaida

A Secret I wanted to Share

I think I am going to be here a while!

Update Aborted

Need some sympathy...

Pint-sized Swimming Pool

Ellis' First Haircut tear

Sundays....sigh