those ruby red lips

I've been loving the retro red lipstick look lately.  To be honest, I've loved it for ages, but I never had the guts to do it.  I was always worried that I would buy the wrong color or that such a bold color would make my lips look too thin.  After I saw a friend rocking her red lips, I decided to take the plunge and I am delighted that I did.

A few people have asked me how I get these red lips and how I make it last.  The lipstick is called "ruby woo" and it's by MAC.  It's a very vibrant red with a matte finish. 

The trick to making the color last is in the application.  I read this trick once in a magazine and I think it might have come from Taylor Swift???  Totally random.  I apply MAC lipliner in "brick" first.  Then, I apply one thick layer of lipstick.  Blot well.  Apply powder on top of lips and then apply another generous layer of lipstick.  Voila!  The retro glam look should almost last you through a meal.

So, there you have it.  I hope this beauty tip helps anyone else who might be hesitant to go for the bold red lips.  Just do it...maybe 2013 will be a red lipstick year for you!

mommy and me red boots

Lyla has been obsessed with my red cowgirl boots for a long time now.  She often goes to my closet and tries them on or insists that I wear them.  Then she sighs and says, "I wish I had some Jessie boots".  Jessie is the cowgirl character from the Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 movies.  Her wish finally came true this Christmas when she got these beauties.  It's so sweet that she actually wants to match her mommy.  I know this won't last, so I am enjoying it while I can. 

A White Christmas

I figured that once I became a parent I would be woken up at the crack of dawn every Christmas morning to kids jumping up and down on our bed.  I somehow escaped the torture of a 5am wake-up this year.  Our Christmas morning actually started quite late because Cody decided to sleep in.  I actually had to go and wake him up at 9:30am!  Lyla, on the other hand, woke up at about 6:30am but was being ever so patient while waiting for her little brother to wake up so we could head over to my parents' house to open presents and eat breakfast.  She never once complained or asked if we could wake him.  She just sat by the tree and looked at her presents with a huge grin on her face.  She mentioned over and over that "baby Jesus is her Lord and Savior". 

After a delicous brunch, we headed up to the mountains to see my in-laws' new house in Running Springs.  Even my parents and my sister came along for a quick trip.  We enjoyed a nice fire in their fireplace and then the sunset over the ocean from their deck.  It was COLD!

The next morning we woke up to SNOW!  We got about an inch of snow that actually stuck to the ground while we were there.  The kids were thrilled when they got to touch the snow...the cold doesn't seem to phase them like it does me.  We bundled up and headed into the Village of Lake Arrowhead to walk around and check out the little shops.  There's a cute little place called "The Tea Exchange" where we usually stop for hot chocolates.  I got a white peach tea latte that was delicious!

We took a quick stroll around the lake and stopped into a few shops.  It was a pretty lazy day...in a wonderful way.

I hope that you also had a Merry Christmas filled with love, laughter, and good food!

baby #3 is a BOY

Meet baby boy Mitchell.  He was curled up into a ball for most of the ultrasound appointment.  It took a lot to get him to unfold.  I had to try coughing, drinking cold water, standing up, doing toe-touches, etc. to get this little dude to show us the goods.  This little guy likes to stay cozy.

It's hard to see, but there are definitely boy bits between the legs!

Lyla wasn't thrilled about the results of the ultrasound.  This picture was taken right after we got in the car after the ultrasound.  But, by the end of the day, she seemed to be ok with it.  At dinner, she stood up to make an announcement.  She said, "Today we went to the doctor to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl...and it's a boy...but that's ok because I will love him anyways."  This was the first time Lyla has ever been tested on her faith...to believe that God still hears our prayers even if they don't seem to be answered the way we wanted them to be.  A concept that is difficult even for seasoned Christians to understand!

Cody is 2 - a birthday breakfast celebration

Our little man turns 2 today!  We started the big day with a birthday breakfast party.  It was a wonderful morning with family celebrating Cody over pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit cups.  There was also some spiderman themed tableware (per Cody's request). 

Silver dollar birthday pancake towers.  There are two candles on the stack in the middle.  This served as his birthday "cake". 

Big sis Lyla helps Cody blow out his two little candles.

Fruit cups.  These honeydew melons were delicious!

After breakfast Cody got to open some presents.  Cody finally got his dream lite!  He's been asking for one for ages because Lyla already has one.  He's going to love falling asleep in his crib tonight with stars on his ceiling!

Grandpa Glen got Cody an "Earth and moon in my room" astronomy explorer set.  It has an earth and a moon that you put on the wall and you can control the lights with a remote.  So cool!

Baaba gave Cody a play tent.  This is awesome!  I know Cody and Lyla will have many fun times playing under this canopy.

We have been so blessed to have Cody in our lives for the past two years.  It's funny how once you have a child, you can't imagine what life was like without them.  He's only been a part of our lives for the past two years, but it's like we've always known him.  We love him "big as the sky" and can't wait to see what the next year holds.

decking the halls

Call us old fashioned.  We go to a tree lot every year to pick out a fresh Christmas tree to adopt and take home.  It's our Christmas tradition.  One of the best smells in the world is the smell of a Christmas tree filling up the house during Christmas time.  Travis and I both grew up with this smell, and so will our kids.  This year we tried a new tree lot called "Papa Bob's".  The kids had so much fun running between all the trees and picking up pieces of tree branches off the ground.  They couldn't have cared less about which tree we chose!  But they did oblige to give the "thumbs up" on the one that Travis and I chose.  Our taste in the ideal tree is totally different, so it takes us a long time to decide.  Travis prefers the tall and skinny ones while I prefer the short and full ones.  We usually have to compromise on something in between.

And here's our tree all dressed up in Christmas glory.  I have been collecting Christmas ornaments nearly every year since we got married.  I usually go to Pier 1 for their after-Christmas sale and stock up on Christmas decor at 50% off.  Then I go home, pack them up, and forget about them.  It's always a surprise when I pull out the decorations the next year and see all the new goodies I forgot about!  My tree color scheme from the beginning has always been silver, gold, and green.  This year I added some white with the angel wings.  Lyla loves the angel wings and she placed most of them on the tree (the lower half anyways).  It was fun having the kids help to decorate the tree this year. 

I love how this garland dresses up our stairway.  I added some ribbon and felt mushrooms to it this year.

One stocking for each family member - that's five!  It's hard to believe we will have a six month old baby this time next year.  Baby will probably be crawling by then...heading for the shiny balls on the Christmas tree no doubt!

Afer decorating the whole house we paused to take a family photo in front of the tree.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and we love it.

making a list. checking it twice.

A few people have asked me what the kids want for Christmas this year.  If you ask the kids, Cody will say one thing: DREAM LIGHT (which we are giving him for his birthday).  Lyla will talk about whatever hidesouly obnoxious toy she recently saw on a TV commercial.  So, in other words, don't ask them.  Ask me!  I came up with a list of things that the kids could use. 

I found these cute travel neck pillows by "Noodlehead" on amazon.  I particularly like the black bear for Cody and the horse for Lyla.  These will come in handy for those long day trips when the kids need to nap in the car.  I hate to see their little heads dropping forward every time we hit the brakes!

These rain boots by "Western Chief" are also from amazon and I thought the dinosaur ones would be cute for Cody and any of the simple polka-dotted ones would be adorable on Lyla.  The kids currently do not have any rainwear which makes things difficult on those few rainy days we get here in the Inland Empire.

These sweaters are from "Zara" and they are to die for!  How cute is this pearl collar cardigan for Lyla or this flush jumper for Cody???  For all apparel items, Lyla wears size 4T and Cody wears 2T.

Or how about this little lady faux-fur waistcoat or this little man synthetic leather jacket? 

Of course, kids can never have too many pairs of jammies or socks!  These two are from llbean.  I love the constellation boy jammies.

These llbean slippers are excellent.  They are fun for the kids and they will stay on because they have an ankle elastic.  Perfect.  I like the little yellow dogand the brown bear pairs.  Cody wears size 7 and Lyla wears size 8.

What else?  Well, kids can never have too many books.  Stuffed animals and toys?  Yes, you can have too many of those.  But I believe that family reading time is precious and cherished by every one of us.  There is nothing better than when Lyla or Cody brings a book over to me so they can plop down in my lap as I read them a story. 

I hope this list is helpful in some way even if you are buying for some other kiddos in your life.  Happy Christmas shopping!

It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch

Brandy, Ginger, and Elvis on Thanksgiving 2007

Yesterday, my mom's dog Brandy passed away.  I remember the day we picked her out from a litter of Brittany Spaniel puppies 17 years ago.  We loved the heart-shaped marking on her head.  She instantly became a loved family member in our home.  She was so sweet and gentle.  She had an insatiable appetite and unhealthy obsession with food!  She caused a lot of trouble, but we loved her nonetheless.

My mom noticed that her health was declining rapidly and decided it was time to take her to the veterinarian.  She had been having a lot of trouble with standing and she was collapsing and unable to get back up. 

I met my mom at the veterinarians office...the same one that we took Ginger to almost exactly one year ago.  Dr. Fang gave her a health exam right away.  He was the same doctor that euthanized Ginger last year.  He said she had many things wrong with her including a heart murmur and severe weight loss.  The doctor said that Brandy was not able to have a good quality of life anymore and said that he supported mom's difficult decision to have her put to sleep.  They gave us as much time as we wanted to say our goodbyes.  Mom was not able to handle being there in the last moments as it was just too painful for her to watch.  I did stay and I held Brandy as the doctor made the injection.  It was a very calm and peaceful setting.  I pet her and talked to her in a soothing voice.  I told her that she was a very good dog.  At about 3:30pm yesterday, Brandy passed away very quietly and peacefully.  

Please pray for my mom as she heals from this extremely painful loss.

"If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness." -Marjorie Garber

1st annual harvest festival

Halloween was a blast this year.  The Calvary Chapel Conference Center hosted it's 1st annual Harvest Festival which was open to the public.  It was a really fun place for families to come on Halloween night.  There was delicious food, entertainment, and games...all for free!  Lyla's favorite part was the kid's magic show.

The kids enjoying some lollipops (cody calls them opti-pops) and dancing on a haybale.

This is what the place looked liked during set-up.  I got to see a lot of this because I work at the Conference Center.  This is our sports field...such a great place to host an event like this.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was the roasted corn on the cob.  They dipped them in melted butter and then had a couple different options for seasonings.  One was some kind of cayenne spice mixed with salt and the other option was a garlic salt.  My mouth is watering just thinking about how good it was!

Our picture from the photo booth.  Travis was a cowboy, Cody was a dinosaur, I was the Queen of Hearts, and Lyla was Alice in Wonderland.  The best part?  We didn't spend a dime on any of it!  Travis threw his costume together with items from the closet, Cody's costume was lent to us by another family, and mine and Lyla's costumes were from her birthday party.  Yay for a frugal and fun Halloween 2012!

fall...in a forest...in murrieta

Can you believe these photos were taken just minutes from our house?  There's a little park/greenbelt right around the corner from Los Alamos and Hancock in Murrieta.  Who would have thought there would be such woodsy scenery so close to home?  It was a really fun setting for a photo session with Lyla and Cody.  Thanks to Ashley from LoveLockandCo for once again capturing some amazing photos.  These are just a few of my favorites.

brrrrr...it's 56 degrees

I know,  I know.  56 degrees outside is not that cold.  But when you've had a record long summer with temps well over 100 degrees, this weather feels pretty chilly.  So we're bundling up around here.  The weather here has been gorgeous.  The clouds in the sky have been very puffy (I think they're called cumulus?) which makes for stunning morning skies and breathtaking sunsets.  We've also had a few rainbows due to some scattered showers.  It's really been quite magical.  Not to mention that it's cool enough to enjoy my most recently discovered favorite: the pumpkin spice chai tea latte!  Thank you, Jesus, for giving me a substitute for the pumpkin spice lattes that I love so dearly.  I'm trying to stay away from caffeine as much as possible in these early weeks of pregnancy, so I was delighted to find out that this drink existed.  If you haven't tried it, you should!  It's so good.

Now for today's fashion.  Cody is wearing a gap beanie, old navy shirt, zara jeans, and ugg boots. These boots were Lyla's last year and now they fit Cody!  Lyla wears a long sleeve shirt from target, vest from zara, jeans from gap, and boots from h&m. 

Loving this boot weather!

coming june 2013

We are very happy to announce that we are expecting our third child!  Baby #3 will be due sometime in the first week of June.  What a great month to have a baby.  The weather will be beautiful as the oppressive heat of Summer will not be upon us quite yet.  I will bear the burden of a large belly in the lovely season of Spring.  I really enjoy this idea.  I also like to refer to this baby as our little "june-bug".  We have been getting the inevitable questions with this pregnancy as we have with the others.  I will just go ahead and answer them here for your convenience.

Question #1: Are you excited?  Yes, we definitely are!  This was a 'planned' pregnancy.  We knew we wanted a third child and that we wanted the age gap to be roughly the same as the gap between Lyla and Cody. 

Question #2: Do you want a boy or girl...or twins???  We will be delighted with either outcome.  While I am not necessarily praying for twins, I do find myself day-dreaming about a baby nursery with two cribs and two sweetly sleeping newborn babies.  Then, I wake up from my delusions and realize how much harder it is to have two at once.  Yikes!  Another daughter would be lovely.  Another son would be fantastic.  It's a good thing that we don't have to decide because I think it would be a very difficult decision.  Lyla, on the other hand, knows what gender she would choose.  She wants a sister more than anything in the world.

Question #3: How do you feel?  I feel pretty good for being in my first trimester.  I have had some bouts of nausea, but nothing bad enough to really complain about.  I have been feeling extra tired and I do miss those days back in my pregnancy with Lyla when I could take naps almost anytime I wanted to.  Things are much different now. 

Question #4: Are Lyla and Cody excited?  Lyla is ecstatic.  She has been praying for a baby sister for months now.  She can't wait to be the big (bossy) sister to another kid.  Cody doesn't understand what's going on.  I think he will catch on a little bit more as my belly starts to grow and we explain it a bit more to him.

This being our third time announcing a pregnancy, we decided to get a little creative.  Here's what we did.  We got Lyla and Cody t-shirts that said, "BIG SIS Lyla" and "BIG BRO Cody".  Both sets of our parents and trav's brother and sister were supposed to come to our house on Monday night for our weekly bible study.  The plan was to just let everyone walk into our house and figure out the big news from the shirts.  The way it actually panned out was hilarious.  Kandice understood the moment she saw Cody's shirt.  She said, "Oh, is there something I don't know?"  The other family members did not catch on so quickly.  Our parents were there for over half an hour and no one had noticed anything.  Finally, Trav's mom came up to me and asked, "So, who is Cody a big brother to?"  I gave her a shrug of my shoulders and a smile and she knew right away.  Hugs and tears.  My mother (on the other side of the room) still hadn't caught on.  I decided enough was enough.  I picked Cody up and marched over to her.  Here was the conversation that ensued:

me: Did you see Cody's shirt?

mom: Yes, it's very cute.

me: What does it say?

mom: Big bro Cody. 

me: What does that mean? 

mom: I don't know. (confused expression)

me: If Cody is a BIG bro, that means there must be a little one...somewhere.... 

She finally got the picture.  Hugs and tears.  Then the news was out to everyone.  It was great fun watching everyone's reactions.

a mad hatter tea party for lyla

We had a whimsical "Lyla in Wonderland" theme for Lyla's 4th birthday.  Here's the invitation that I sent out to about 18 of Lyla's closest girlfriends (16 were able to come).  I ordered these invites from partystarking on etsy.

Travis as the mad hatter, lyla as alice, and me as the queen of hearts.  It was not a costume party, but we decided to dress up as the hosts.  Lyla's dress and my apron both came from lover dovers clothing on etsy.  They are super cute and really amazing quality.  We will totally reuse them for Halloween costumes.  Trav's hat was from village hat shop in san diego.

The table.  This was the central highlight of the mad hatter tea party.  Every little girl had a place setting with her own tea cup and top hat.  The center of the table featured various teapots, pocket watches, and a centerpiece of red roses. 

The show-stopper was definitely the string of colorful paper lanterns that I bought from the paper lantern store. 

The raspberry tablecloth and purple chairs were rented from raphaels in san diego.

Travis painted a welcome sign on posterboard to let everyone know that "We're all MAD here!"  It was accompanied by the white rabbit of course.

We had painted signs to help guests know which way to go.

A small table also greeted guests that resembled the table Alice finds when she tumbles down the rabbit hole.  Sugar cookies featuring sayings like, "eat me", "take one", and "try me" adorned the food table too. 

Cake pops were baked by my dear friend, Melissa.  I added the wilton cake pop flowers that I purchased from Jo-Anns.  I stuck them in a round floral foamcore that I wrapped with green yarn so that it would look like a hedge in the royal garden.

My wonderful mom was in charge of the food table.  We had a variety of tea sandwiches, pigs in a blanket, fruit skewers, and vegetable trays.

3 different flavors of IZZE sparkling sodas were available with "drink me" tags that I printed on cream colored paper.  We put them in this cool vintage ice chest that belonged to Trav's grandmother.

Lyla greeting grandma cheryl and aunt kandice and showing them the way to the party.

I try to keep party games pretty simple.  Especially for a 4-year-olds party.  I figured it would be fun to have a simple craft the kids could do.  We had a hat decorting table where the girls could decorate their top hats with feathers, buttons, and ric rac.

The girls chose which hat dressings they wanted and travis and I hot glued them on to the top hats for them.  I ordered the felt hats from rebel daisy designs on etsy.

The hats turned out super cute!

All 17 girls sitting around the table enjoying their tea.  I used this recipe to make a decaffeinated hibiscus cranberry tea for them.  It got mixed reviews.  Some of the girls loved it and some said it was not so great.  I love how kids will give you their honest opinion.

Lyla's custom ice cream cake creation was from our nearby coldstone creamers.  It was a red velvet cake with layers of cotton candy ice cream.  The icing was chocolate with rainbow sprinkles.  The message on the top said, "Lyla in Wonderland".  In hindsight, I would have ordered a larger cake so that the adults could have eaten it too.  Whoops!  Lesson learned.

My mom passing out cake to all the little girlies.

The grand finale included the flamingo pinata.  I searched everywhere for a pinata that would go with our theme and finally found the pink flamingo online at hobby lobby.

I love watching the little kids trying to hit the pinata.  Their approaches range from ultra timid to freakishly aggressive.  Some are super coordinated and some of their swings are mostly aimed at the crowd.  Yikes!  Pinatas are always a festive (and slightly dangerous) way to end a kids party.

The mad tea party was such a fun concept to let my creativity run wild with.  I only wish that I had more time and money to put into it!  The party planning started about 5 months ago.  It began with a lot of google image searching and browsing through etsy shops.  I had all these grand plans of turning our backyard into the queen of hearts royal court complete with croquet and oversized decks of cards.  But, I had to scale way back when the spending started getting out of control.  My party "budget" was a joke.  I still believe that the party was a hit.  All the kids seemed to enjoy themselves and I know Lyla had the time of her life.  She was just glowing all day.  My sweet little Lyla is now a big 4 year old.  I can't believe how this past 4 years has flown by.  Now that the whirlwind of party planning is over, my first thought is...what should we do for her 5th birthday? 

All photos done by Kata Christian of mukibaba.