i drum, you dance.

I couldn't sleep so I thought I might write down what went on at dinner tonight.

Krew is always in the mood to play when dad gets home. To try to have a sit down dinner is almost impossible while my little impatient guy is tugging Cameron's hand the entire time to go play. Since this was the case, I thought it would be smart to eat dinner outside in our little courtyard or side deck as we call it so Krew could play while we enjoyed a peaceful dinner. We finally got Krew to eat most of his meal, which was awesome, and we promised to play with him right after we were finished eating. Krew had big plans for the three of us because he got out his tambourine drum, told us very sternly that he wanted "mama" there and "dada" here. And then he played his drum and instructed us to dance. And there Cameron and I were, looking at each other doing some kind of ridiculous tribal dance to this wild drumbeat and tambourine. We were acting to the command of the toddler and his eyes were wide with the entertainment of his two silly parents dancing to the beat of his drum. Cameron and I just laughed. At any point we stopped, we were told "More!". And so we danced on. It was such a funny moment, looking at Cameron dancing his silly dance and then Cameron looking back at me and laughing-- all for this little guy. Thanks Krew for keeping us dancing and laughing together.

Eventually, I was shewed out by the grand drum director who wanted it do be a "boys only" drum dance which I was perfectly happy with peeping through the windows.

morning around these parts

Today we will conquer a small Mount Everest of laundry (and yes Krew is climbing it).

Krew gets an m&m or two when he uses the potty. I've manage to eat quite a few myself. I figured I should get rewards as well. Monkey see, monkey do. :)

Every morning, Krew wakes up, grabs a sippy cup of milk, and eats breakfast on our bed-- lately it's been oatmeal. And if he's not too late getting up, he catches some Elmo. He eats while mom catches a little more shut eye, texts Cam to see how he's doing after some morning surf/gym sesh, reads or flips through a little insta. And of course a little morning cuddle! good morning!

a little silly over here

Krew and I thought it was an appropriate day to be silly! It's Friday! He's working on his funny faces but all he has down right now is the tongue sticking out face. I love my funny little guy. We're excited to spend some time with daddy and friends this weekend! And this silliness might last all weekend long.
Happy Friday!

i like this so much.

via

daddy's day

I love to see Cameron come home from work and to Krew, nothing else could matter at that moment. He loves seeing his daddy and looks forward to playing ball and skateboarding when he comes home. What a wonderful husband I have and I hope he had a wonderful father's day yesterday including a breakfast that wasn't half bad for me not being the breakfast chef. I am so thankful for this handsome guy in my life. He is such a wonderful father to Krew and I couldn't ask for anything more in a husband.

socks for you... and you...

Whenever Hallmark or whoever it was that created Mother's day and Father's day, did they have to make them so close? I feel like I just finished getting all creative for moms day and now it's already time for dads day?! My creative juices are running low. Maybe dads are getting socks this year or a thoughtful letter because the gift ideas are not flowing. To the official holiday creators, lets put our next one in August, okay? Thanks.

Krew and I had a wonderful lunch today and we have a bag of godiva chocolates in hand! yumm! And on my hand I've got a sunset colors going on-- don't look too close at my painting imperfections. What a great way to start the weekend... with chocolate!

breakfast with mickey

Last week we had a wonderful Disneyland character breakfast thanks to Nana! She organized this all and how much fun we had! It was Krew's cousin, Trey's, birthday and Krew joined in the birthday fun even though his birthday isn't for a few months. Krew really warmed up to Mickey which is leaps and bounds from before (before he would give a high-five if we were lucky). By the end he was hugging and sitting on his lap! Who knew?!

Some how I missed taking a group shot probably because I was too busy taking 700 pictures of my son while stuffing yummy mickey waffles in my mouth (which I do have a group shot in print and will scan in later, note to self). I know Krew enjoyed the characters but I had a blast with the all-you-can-eat buffet. Way to go Disney! You made a fan out of me with that spread of yummies.

And we never did find the mickey ears... sad. So the crazy mom came out of me and I bought a pair right before we were going in. What's breakfast with mickey without a pair of mickey ears?

Thanks again Nana for the wonderful celebration with the cousins and we had a fabulous rest of the day at the happiest place earth. (insert smiling faces and mickey ears below)

blog tip: guidlines

As I told you last week, I taught a blogging class and it went fantastic! It was a LOT of information to give in the allotted time but somehow I think I got it all out. Hopefully it was as clear as I thought it was.

I thought I might share a tiny snippet of what I covered, I can say a lot in an hour and a half so this is just a fraction of what I shared. One idea that I think is especially important in blogging, whether it is for yourself or the rest of the world, is the idea of having guidelines.

Maybe you blog for yourself or for the public to see, it's important to have guidelines. This was something that formulated over time for me and as I blogged more, I saw how important it was to have some kind of railways leading me in a direction. Guidelines can really be about anything, but they do help with consistency which is important in blogging. Consistency is important-- even if you're consistent in being inconsistent.

Some guidelines to keep in mind are: How many times will I post per week? Will I keep with only one subject to blog about? Or will I include many? If so, which one or ones? What is my writing format? In poems? In essays? In short sentences? In a mix of everything? How long per day or week will I spend blogging? Or is there a time limit? Editing Guidelines: How will I edit my posts before I publish them? Will I read it out loud? Will I copy and past my words in a word document to check spelling and grammar? Will I have someone else read it? Do I allow comments? Are there some things I will not write about? What do I plan to share through my blog? And how? And many, many more...

I know these are vague and I could talk for an hour about these themselves. Like I said, these were things I developed over time. For example: I knew I wanted to keep my blog somewhat lady like so I knew there were things I would share and wouldn't share. I knew I wanted to be consistent in my posting for others to rely on (although the last few weeks I have been purrr-ty terrible). Over time these seemed to form into some type of guidelines of what I was exactly doing on this blog here.

And don't forget that guidelines can change and form over time! I'm a visual person so I actually have some written down on a note card from some time ago but however fits you best, do it. Even if you have written down: "I blog once a month on anything I darn feel like." That's still a guideline. If you're blogging to gain viewership, guidelines will actually help readers connect to your blog better. Readers like to know what to expect and like consistency in posting and subject matter. Guidelines give you a little more purpose and direction in what you blog about and it's nice to see where you're going.

Do you have any guidelines you blog by?

seeing the fishies

Saturday we went to check out all the "fishies" at Birch Aquarium. Krew was so interested and fascinated with every new thing (including my necklace). It's wonderful to watch Cameron explain everything to him and help him learn. Learning + family time = awesome.

cereal for dinner

Sundays are meant to be restful and a little bit lazy. Ours turned wonderful when we all took a nap at the same time... wonderful. It was a Sunday where we were supposed to have dinner at the cousins but didn't make it, resulting with the stark realization that our fridge was on empty. Between grocery shopping and the beach last week, the beach won first priority. So we got real creative with what we had, ate food that was far from first choice, and finished off our relaxing Sunday with cereal for dinner. But still ever so hungry for good food. And at 10pm, I accidentally came across ingredients for a delicious meal in our other freezer. And at 10:00 pm, I decide to make dinner and at 11:48pm, I indulge all by myself while the other two are sleeping. But what a restful day the three of us had-- playing outside in the late sunshine. Cereal and all, I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

my 25th birthday

I celebrated a fantastic 25th birth day week in two parts: one in Florida and one with my family here!

Part 1: In Florida, Kristin and her family spoiled me all day starting with a lunch date at BURGERFI (YUM!!), a delicious sushi dinner, and a movie (What to Expect While Expecting) with the Gray girls and topping it off with McDonald's milkshakes. I told Kristin that I'm coming back every year for my birthday! :) no... but really.

Part two:
At home, I celebrated with my family with a delicious cheese-themed dinner (i love cheese!), a day of shopping with mom with lunch at Nordstrom's, a thoughtful homemade card and shopping with my husband... I was showered!! Talk about feeling loved! I was so glad I could spend it with so many wonderful people.

Yay yay for birthdays!

Miracle Makers Gala

At the end of last week, Cameron received some tickets through work for a charity gala for Rady Children's Hospital. He asked me if I was interested in going, of course! A chance to dress-up, eat delicious food, dance, and all for a good cause?! Why not!
I got a few shots of us before we went in. I'm all for playing dress-up... Cameron, not so much. On the way there, we laughed about how to actually pronounce the word "gala" some say "gah-la" and some say "gay-la". I looked it up and both are actually correct but we decided to switch it up all night long. The food was great (another photo on my instagram), the dancing was fun, and my date was just perfect. The theme this year was a science theme so they gave us tons of funny props and glow sticks which made fun for the dance floor. What a great event that helps so many children around San Diego.