Pictures from the week

I had to get a picture of the sign on Kayla's dressing room door at the theater.


Collin had a great time at a back to school puppy themed party.


Kayla has learned to braid hair and likes to practice on me almost every night. :)


Poor Abby had another seizure... this time in the middle of our kitchen. Kids are just so sweet... this is how I found Abby. The kids had covered her up right after.


Abby won't play with the kitty but she sure is starting to cuddle with her.

What we did while Kayla was at rehearsal

Rehearsals were every night and on Saturday mornings.
We had a lot of help from the grandparents, neighbors and friends during this time.
And we really appreciated it!!
But there were times when Tim traveled that Collin and I were left to fill our time and figure out what to do with ourselves while Kayla was at the theater.
So...

We had a superhero playdate


We had a cupcake decorating playdate


We played in the fountains outside of Hale Theater


We had a movie night, swim nights and a couple of dates, but when all else failed...
I even put him to bed at the theater under the seats. Hey, a Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do!

San Diego

I was lucky to get to head to San Diego for an engagement shoot.
I asked my friend Brandi to join me and we made it a girls weekend.
WooHoo!! We hit the Marble Room for a great dinner and the gaslamp district for some drinks and karaoke. We had a blast!
Next day was hanging out on the beach taking pictures and then the engagement shoot on the beach. What a GREAT day that was. We finished it by eating at The Fish Market.
Here a a couple of fun pictures from the weekend and you can see the beach engagement session at: http://robind.smugmug.com/Weddings/MichaelLaura-engagement

For fun and practice


Ahhh.... sitting in the sand by the ocean...


This is our "what were we thinking, that we were shooting a commercial for toothpaste?" shot

First day of school!

WOW... I can't believe it has already come and gone.. the first day of school!
The charter school where the kids attend is on a modified year-round schedule.
This works wonderfully in AZ because the kids go back to school in July when it's really too hot to be doing much anyway. Then they have long breaks in October, December and March. This allows families to have lots of time to enjoy the beautiful weather here as well as travel to places like Disneyland when most everyone else is in school. :) We love that!
Kayla loves her 3rd/4th grade combo class and the fact that you get a teacher for two years in a row. The class sizes are small and the learning approach is neat. Learning is application based, collaborative and investigative. The kids talk and work together to figure things out. The only "no talking" time is during tests.
Kayla loves her teacher, Mrs. W.
Collin loves kindergarten although it goes by quickly at just 2 1/2 hours.
But I get to have him home with me another year so I can't complain.
Mrs. B is super sweet. She gave each of the kids a bag of treats the first day with a note describing what each object represented, such as a Hersheys Hug to remind them that she will give them a hug any time they need one and an eraser to remind them that it's OK to make mistakes in her classroom.
Collin has two buddies from preschool in his class so that was pretty nice.
All in all a good first day and a great first week.
Here are some pix:

Opening Night

I don't know if I ever blogged too much about Kayla's part in Annie Get Your Gun, so here is a recap: Kayla had a TOUGH audition at the Hale Theater for a role in Annie Get Your Gun. We truly were unsure as to what would happen. Kayla knocked em dead with her singing and acting but couldn't get the choreography down at all. Hey, two out of three- not bad right!? But it is a musical after all, and dancing is expected. While at my friend, Brandi's house I got the call on my cell from Hale and they offered Kayla the part of the youngest sister, Nellie. Kayla and I both cried and it was neat to experience it with Brandi there. Rehearsals were every week night from 7 to 10. Dress rehearsals were for an entire week from 6 to MIDNIGHT. Kayla is a trooper! She is cut out for this stuff. We slowly adjusted her body's clock to prepare her for these late nights. And even though we had requested AM TOPS at their school, all they had left when they got to us on the list was PM TOPS. How lucky are we that it worked out that way? No way we could have gotten to school at 7:30 AM! So after all the actors' hard work, opening night came. Grandma Elephant, Papa Tom, Nana and Papa were there with Collin, Tim and me to see the play. It was a big success!! It was so wonderful to watch after all their hard work! Here are a couple of pictures of Kayla after the play. The cast goes out in to the lobby to shake hands and sign autographs. :) I haven't taken any video during the play but here is a clip from "Moonshine Lullaby" that Kayla is in. I took this during a dress rehearsal.

vow renewal

We had a wonderful time while Susan, Brian, Jack and Nick were here visiting.
We swam, swam and swam some more and had a fun movie and candy night as well.
All the kids spent the night in Collin's room!
Then on Friday, July 9th we had our 10 year anniversary party and vow renewal.
The vows written by Chasing Papa were awesome, the kids were adorable and the cake was amazing.
We even got some gifts which was really nice: A bougainvillea bush from the Strizichs.
And, in what was a really touching moment, we received all of Grandma Elephant's Simpich dolls that she displays at Christmas. Even Daddy was teary-eyed.
What a great night!

4th of July

We had such a fun time at our 4th of July party.
We spent much of the day finishing our Adirondack chairs (done up in my very favorite colors) and then we got ready for the party!
Chris, Kelsey, Nana, Papa, Grandma and Papa were all here to celebrate.
Good food, night swimming and music.
Then we went out to watch the fireworks and ended the night with me throwing a whipper snapper at Uncle Chris and charring his shirt. :)
Good times!

Sleeping pictures

Have I mentioned that I love finding the places and positions that our pets fall asleep in? If not, I just love finding the places and positions that our pets fall asleep in!

I love pulling in to the garage, walking in and seeing Abby asleep with June Bug on the bed.


The kids pulled the cushions off of the couch to build a fort and Lucy and June sure appreciated it!


Every now and again JuneBug likes to curl up in Collin's lap... not sure why, but he's her favorie cuddle spot.

I just like this quote

"Before you speak ask yourself:
Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it true? Does it improve the silence?"
SAI BABA