Under the Vegas Sun

Weather forecast today is nice and comfortable with a little breeze at 75 degrees. It's a BEAUTIFUL day outside but I'm stuck indoors with the AC blasting and a stunning view of a concrete wall outside my window.

What I need is some sun.......... get some colors in these pale legs!

I did get a little bit of a tan last weekend when we all went to Vegas for a few days. Thanks to my mom's high-stakes "playing" habits (she will not admit she's a gambler), she can pretty much get comped rooms any time she wants. So north bound we went, and 4 hours later, we were in Paris........

I could only wish the real one is that drivable.

So we did a little bit of sightseeing -- checked out the new Aria hotel and the City Center that's not quite done with the construction. Spent a few hours at Circus Circus. Saw the Lion King Musical. Hung out at the pool with a margarita while sulking in the tragedy of not having a bathing suit that fit. No gambling for me, but Mike did manage to lose $60 on a poker table in 10 minutes (see why I don't like gambling?). But the highlight of the weekend was the buffet of all buffets......

Free rooms and all we could possibly eat in 24 hours for $30 in 5 different hotels. You had me at buffet. :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Meet the Cubs

I ♥ having new reasons to scrap about!

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Ethan's First Year - in Scrapbook pages

I finally ordered Ethan's book of all scrapbook pages I created for his first year. Yes! Finally! Four years later! I knew I was missing some photos..... but I was on a deadline to use the flatrate book sale over at Winkflash. I did put some blank pages towards the end of the book so I could "manually" scrapbook the ones that I missed -- who does that still anyway? :)

F-O-U-R!!!!!! (and we're not talking about golf)

I know I still need to post details about his birthday party, but I couldn't resist posting this one. I've been scrapbooking like crazy the past week (Winkflash has a flat rate book sale and I want to make one for his first year at least) -- I'll post those too when I get a chance.

Happy 2010!

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Baby Fever

Scrapbook page of Ethan's Birth [Click to see larger version]

Ethan totally loves babies. He pretends all of his stuffed animals are babies -- feeds them, cuddles them when they're hurt, tucks them in bed. Sometimes, it actually takes up most of his full-size bed. He carries them like how you're supposed to carry a baby, and gets mad when I don't talk to them like he does. It's really sweet.

But if you ask him if he wants a little brother or little sister, his answers vary according to whether he's just been denied something -- a toy, tv time or just plain ol' attention. On a good day, he'd say, "I want a baby brother"... and I try to counter it with "Don't you mean a baby sister?"... in which case, Mike jumps in and reaffirms that they collectively want a boy, and not a girl and that I'm outnumbered (all the more reason for me to want a girl).

I have to admit, that I have been struck with the so-called baby fever. Yesterday, I found myself playing peek-a-boo with a stranger's baby at a Target checkout line and didn't have a care in the world how silly I must've looked. A friend brought over her 1 year old at our house warming last weekend, and I was so excited to teach him how to putt with one of Ethan's plastic golf clubs. We're throwing a baby shower for a coworker next week and I had eagerly volunteered to design her baby shower invites and even decorate the lunch room for the shower. And yes, I have already been thinking about baby names: Gavin Chaise or Addison Faith.

*Sigh*

With Ethan's 4th birthday lurking around the corner, and the pressure from all sides it seems to have #2, Mike and I have been toying with the idea. Not fully decided, but toying.

We have always agreed we wanted two.... but timing had been a challenge. Mike wanted to finish school. Done. We wanted to move back to California. Done. We both wanted to have steady jobs. Done. We wanted to buy a house and settle in. Done. As much as you try to plan to make sure you're as prepared as you can be, you're left wondering if that perfect timing will ever come.....

For now, I'll get my baby fix from going through Ethan's baby photos and playing major catch up with 3 years worth of scrapbooking. Better do it now before the next one comes, right? :)

Halloween is just around the corner!

We haven't really quite figured out what we're doing for Halloween this year. We got our pumpkins much earlier this year (last year, we bought it the day before Halloween because we wanted to wait for Mike to come home on leave to pick the pumpkins as part of our annual tradition).

Best part of that tradition is carving them since it always turns out to be a competition between me and Mike --- I think I won this year :)

My pumpkin

Mike's pumpkin (started out to be gargoyle until it collapsed so he carved an easier stencil of a cat on the other side)

Ethan's pumpkin (that he picked out and I carved)

Ethan's has two half-costumes -- I bought the "Dash from The Incredibles" costume from a yard sale last year but it's missing the mask and the boots (I think I may have found someone to borrow the rest from), and the other is a fireman suit -- the coat, i bought from Goodwill and the hat from a clearance rack at CVS (have to find some rain boots and a toy hose to finish it). Ethan seems okay with either one....... so....... I have until Friday to figure out which one he'll be wearing.

Mike and I haven't picked any costumes yet, but I found someone who might be able to lend us a Wilma and Fred getup. So if we do end up going to a friend's costume party, we won't have to go as the socket and the plug again.... LOL

I got the candy for the neighborhood kids -- I'm excited to finally live in a neighborhood that promises to have fun trick or treating. For 4 years in WV, we lived in a townhouse where we got zero trick or treaters... but every year, we kept buying candy anyway just in case (which we ended up eating ourselves). No good for my diet, if I were in one.....

Oh and I have to put the treat bags together for Ethan's class..... all 38 of them. Time to round up the guys for an assembly line!

I Love Being Your Mom

I am so blessed.....

O' Christmas Tree

I've recently re-kindled an old hobby -- digital scrapbooking. I first got introduced to it sometime last year and had become quite addicted to it, until other priorities had to step in and I just kind of started reducing time spent to eventually not even bothering with it. But every Christmas, I get reminded by friends and family that I oughta be doing more to my digital photos than just letting them rot in my hard drives (sadly, it's mostly true).

I could start printing them out and actually making scrapbooks, but then I realized I am much more efficient with the mouse than with scissors so I thought I'd take a crack at it again.... :)

Here's one I started playing around with last week....