YogurtLand = AWESOME! (and cheap too)

This place is AWESOME! I LOVE it! For all of you that know me - you know I'm a HUGE ice-cream fan, frozen yogurt I can live without... but THIS fro yo is GOOD!
(and it doesn't help that it is within walking distance from my front door)

Here is what you do. You walk in, grab a HUGE cup-- fill it up with as much or as little yogurt you want. You have a choice of many decadent flavors- you are not getting your normal just chocolate, vanilla or twist flavors here!

Then once you are satisfied with the flavor or flavors you have chosen and you have put them in your bowl.. you move onto the........TOPPINGS BAR!

You can choose from fresh fruit, to mini m&m's, and other candy types, to cereal, sprinkles, you name it- they HAVE it. And if they don't they'll go to the store and buy it for you (ok, maybe that's not true) but a girl can dream:) And I LOVE toppings! You should see what my homemade banana splits look like!!!

Then when you are done loading your yogurt... you pay .30 an ounce! Our whole fam of five came to just under 10 bucks!! The next time we went though-- we did reach a grand total $11.50! (but that is NOT bad) I just think we didn't skimp realizing how good it was. :)

And last but not least

ENJOY!

NO! I really mean it-- ENJOY and SAVOR EVERY BITE!!!

(i could eat mini m&m's on ice-cream ALL DAY!)

For more info. such as franchising information (since they don't have one in Houston yet) or just to see their awesome flavors... click HERE!

AND if you come and visit me here in Cali... I'll treat you there myself! I'm just cool like that;)

I'm WAITING!!! (hint: come running)

Spiritual Sunday! - Gratitude

GRATITUDE!

Just real quick... my whole post got deleted when I tried to add pictures from our ward party yesterday... it was a little disorganized as it is-- so I will re-write it to where it makes sense. But, it will come tomorrow-- for now... enjoy the pics from yesterdays festivities and know that I'm GREATFUL to be here!

San Clemente Pier

s

And don't forget Cheerfulness is an attitude of GRATITUDE!

Look at ME... pretending to be Bakerella!

I LOVE BAKERELLA!! If you have never tried any of her yummy treats or haven't been to her site -- GO NOW!! Click here!

Tonight is our ward party-- and because our last name starts with an R- we are in charge of bringing a dessert. I decided to go all out-- and make THESE!

Seriously- what a GENIUS idea! Cookies dough clumps-- INSIDE brownies! Helloooo?? Why did I not come up with this before?? All it is missing is some yummy homemade vanilla ice cream. I even was "bakerella" enough to make her home made ganache-- which was a first for me. We'll see if it is a hit. Doesn't it LOOK so yummy though? I'm waiting for the ganache to set before I dig in for a "taste" test. I'll keep you posted. But in the mean time- if you want to make some yourself- go here for the AMAZING recipe!

And be jealous that we are having our ward party at the beach! A bar-b-que on the San Clemente pier. We are due to leave any MINUTE-- I'm just waiting for Chester to get back from some errands. I will not forget my camera- so you can live vicariously through us living in Southern California.

Unlike I did last night- when we went to the Irvine Spectrum Center-- and I was so cool that I thought I had put my camera back in my purse after blogging yesterday (because I'm on a roll) but I didn't (because I couldn't find it when I looked really, really hard.) We rode the Ferris Wheel and all! The kids loved it-- and on our walk back to the car... I was fumbling around for my keys- and what do I find?? MY CAMERA!!!! I was so ticked-- but this time I will find it no matter what! :)

Look forward to it-- until then I'm going to be pregnant body surfing;)

ps. who is impressed with my 4 posts in 3 days back to blogging posts?? Yeah, that's right I'm BACK BABY!!!

Our NEW home! (well for now:)) and lessons LEARNED!

Welcome!

This is our kitchen. It is just right-- not too small, and not so big that I feel like I dread cleaning it. Less counter space = less space to put clutter when we walk into the door- so that is a plus! (and I would like to thank my sister Amy for getting me that really cute tea pot for Christmas-- it matches my color scheme PERFECTLY!)

Right next to the kitchen is the "dining area"
Here is our living room/office/piano room.
Another view!
And one more view to show you that I have hung pictures-- I'm THAT good!
This is Erin's room/future babies room/kids game stash room
Here is where Erin is sleeping for now-- we are looking at getting her a bed for her b-day(in like 2 weeks) (so, shhhhh... she doesn't know!) We only took so many BIG pieces of furniture with us to Cali.
Here are Dante and Ethan's FUN bunk beds with a futon on the bottom that folds down. They LOVE it so far! It only cost us $125 for the frame and mattress and futon, plus TWO really nice pillow toppers. !! We HEART craigslist:)
This is another angle from the boys room! The dressers used to be brown- and now they are black and white courtesy of our pro spray painter... Chester!Our hallway coming in from the garage- the washer and dryer are on the right- and the kids bathroom is on the left.

Kids bathroom! (above and below)

Here is the master bedroom! It is SO nice to clean! Actually the whole apartment is nice to clean! I don't feel like I'm doing it for days- and it is easier to stay on top of the kids for their messes- because I pretty much SEE everything:)
In front of our bed... our TV!

This is on the side of our room- Chet's chest of drawers (again spray painted)

Our master bathroom- which is TEENY compared to the one we had in Texas--- I really miss by HUGE bathtub! A 2nd angle to our bathroom. At least it still has 2 sinks!:)

Now onto 2 things re: hard lessons learned.........

Is this not such a bright and fun mat for our kitchen? I loved it- and I loved it because it was a measly FIVE bucks at target-- so cheap I got TWO!!
Well, on the above one- I spilled beef blood and put it into the wash-- and it BLED! I was SO mad-- I don't know what I was thinking--- when it said hand wash only... putting it in with a load of towels and then putting it on HOT water to get all the bacteria from the "blood" out! Now I have to debate going back and getting a NEW one. HMMMM??!!
Now I have plenty of splotchy white and pink towels! I wonder if Chet could spray paint pink polka dots onto them?? And somehow cover it up? All I know- is these towels will be hidden under our sinks and not for viewing pleasure:)

So, if it says- hand wash only- COLD WATER. You may want to actually listen-- I guess it says that for a reason. Dang it!

Mistake #2!

Chet and I saw this trashcan at costco and it is automatic-- you run your hand over the top and it OPENS. It was really cool AT the store! We didn't get it the first time around, because we thought we could go to Wal-mart or Target and get the same design but for less money-- when it was the same at Target and Wal-mart-- we went back to Costco because it came with a free mini electric trashcan.

YEAH! I now have a trashcan--- and it opens up-- when you walk by, when you don't have trash in your hands, when you cough, when you pick your nose- and basically ANYTIME that you don't want it to!

Now, that really wouldn't be all that bad if it actually opened-- when you HAD trash to deposit! But it doesn't-- I feel like one of those stupid self-checker scanner people who have to run the "bar code" over and over and over again because it is not scanning. (only this time people aren't waiting in line behind me) And instead I am waving trash around like a lunatic trying to get the dumb thing to open! (I'm not a quitter... I WILL get it to open) I don't care WHAT I look like! But without fail every time I just walk by it--- it lifts! The kids get a kick out of it- because they forget-- and they jump every time because it also makes a noise when it opens! It is pretty funny and almost worth the money to watch them freak out. So, if you thought you might be in the market for an electric trashcan- believe me- it is worth the foot exercise to just have a push thing at the bottom that opens the lid for you!

But it is pretty to look at:)

5 months already??

I used to tell people- if you want to slow down time... get pregnant! But then- after you have the baby time speeds up to double time. Well, this pregnancy has FLOWN by so far! Maybe that is because my life has been utter chaos since finding out-- with Chet's job and moving and the summer, etc... But today marks 5 MONTHS-- Only 4 to go-- and I'm golden!
(holy cow) And if you think about it- because of ALL the holidays between now and then-- it will LITERALLY be here before I know it!

All my kids have FLOWN the nest.....

(aren't they CUTE!)

Well, til' 2:05 that is:)

Here in the great state of Texas... I mean California-- school starts after Labor Day. So, the kids had an over extended VERY long summer and were super excited to get back to school! I mean- SUPER DUPER excited!! Ethan was MORE then ready and Erin and Dante were ready to start making new friends.


Dante started 3rd grade this year... and loves to make new friends- and he is happy to get to play handball EVERYDAY during recess (which they have quite a bit here- they even eat outside- because the weather is pretty much gorgeous 365 days out of the year:))Dante and Ethan were both down to the car early so I took some shots of just them to take up time. They so cute when they aren't fighting or making one another cry! Why can't they be like this ALL the time???


Erin started 1st grade. She is the oldest, OLDEST in her class, because all the other people who were born between Sept- Dec. of that same year are in 2nd grade, because the cut-off here is in Dec. vs. August. But she still loves first grade and wouldn't change a thing. She can't wait to start learning new stuff because right now they are just reviewing what they learned in Kindergarten- like her answer to my question: "What did you do today in class?" "We counted to THIRTY!!! So easy, PEASY! We could have at LEAST counted to 100!"

The days of loving to count and count and count! I remember that-- I could count to 1 MILLION everyday and feel SO proud of myself:) And would count for anyone who would listen-- I love how much children are so much a like.
Then there is my NEW kindergartner. Yes, he is into throwing symbols anytime I try to take his picture pretty much-- or giving some kind of face. He is a funny little dude who still LOVES to pick his nose! He just looks so grown up I can't take it. At this school they have all the parents of new kindergarten students come up for the first hour and a bit to do a craft with the kids and give them a good easy send off.. when I told Ethan that -- and then asked, "Aren't you SO excited I get to come with you for a little bit?" His reply was, "Awwww MOM! I can go by myself!"


That whole morning- whenever I looked at him, he would try to slip and hide behind someone else- it was pretty funny. My independent children-- how I actually don't really miss the days that you would cry and cry and cling to me and claw at me whenever I tried to leave you somewhere-- the gym, nursery, wherever-- I'm SO glad you are past that stage;) I love seeing their independence and seeing them blossom and grow!

The schools here are a little bit different then the ones in TX. The hours especially are different- in TX they go from 8-3 everyday- and here on Mon, Tue, Thur. Fri they go from 7:45 - 2:05 and every Wed. is early dismissal and they go from 7:45-12:50. (that will be my biggest challenge- remembering THAT!) Hopefully I won't forget them:)

Also, gone are the days of living across the street and shoving my kids out the door at 7:30 and not having to leave to go pick them up at 3:00... however this school traffic really isn't near as bad as Commonwealths- which has been nice. I'll miss them walking to school- and would have them ride their bikes- but it is straight up hill for 3 quarters of a mile- and I'm pretty sure Ethan would die on the way home riding his bike down the hill because he would NOT exercise ANY caution (and it literally is a STRAIGHT up hill) like San Fran type hill-- it is GREAT for exercise for me though:)

I am training them to walk all the way down the hill to meet at a cute little park after school so they can get energy out before having to do homework or whatever. Each day I'm parking further and further down the hill til' they find me-- and before we know it- they will be walking to the park:) Today they were really cute- Erin and Ethan were holding hands in front and Dante was walking behind them just watching over them-- I wish I had my camera. It was like an Easter Egg hunt-- as soon as they saw my car- they were like, "There she is! I FOUND Mom!!"

It is nice having my days to myself-- but they still seem to just slip by me. But then again- this is only day 3 and really 2 1/2 because yesterday was Wed. (early dismissal)

Well, I'm off to bake some promised chocolate chip cookies!!

Tomorrow I'll tell you about our new family favorite yogurt place-- DELICIOUS! I love finding the joys of Southern California.

Googling pictures for.... "Back to Regular Blogging"

And this is one I found to be appropriate! We are onto our new adventure in a smallish apartment in a brand new city-- 10 min. away from the beach--- and so far SO GOOD! So, starting Tuesday (when the kids finally go back to school- they have had an EXTRA long summer) I will be back to my regular blogging! YEAH!!! (and that is where the fireworks come in)

From that point- I will begin to tell you some crazy stories, some funny stories, the pros and cons of apartment living and Cali vs. Texas living (Texas will always have my heart:)) and much much more!! Plus you will get more belly pics- as my tummy has grown EXPONENTIALLY over the last WEEK!! Even Chet agrees - so it is not just "in my head" I can't believe that it has been so long- that I've pretty much forgotten how to be "pregnant" WEIRD! But I'm loving every minute of it:)

Publish Post

More soon--- look for it on TUESDAY!!!

Until then ENJOY your Labor Day weekend.