We went to Disneyland...

I am really late posting this...better late than never. My sister-in-law and her family went to Disneyland on the weekend of the 17th. They had chapperone hopper passes for Friday and Saturday. My 17yo niece's highschool band went. Well, the bus broke down and they didn't get to go on Friday, they only went on Saturday. There was still one day left on the ticket and we had 13 days to use it. So free tickets to disneyland!!! What..we have to go Memorial Day weekend...ok I guess if we have to we will suck it up and just go...

We got up at 6am, left home by 7am and was at Disney by 8:30am. It was a cloudy day, not cold, not hot. It was actually perfect. We were going to ride Peter Pan first, but the line had already gotten too long. We went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and some other kids ride. They are dark, loud and fast. Lil'D wasn't scared, but he was just like what is this. So we went on happier rides like the carousel:

Then we headed over to A Bug's Life. We came upon an ant. A very large ant. Lil'D didn't really know what to think. The look on his face says it all:

Lil'D was also completely intrigued by the roller coaster California Screamin'! You should have seen his face when I rode it and he realized it was me. Here are some photos of him watching the coaster "scream" by:

We also met some characters along the way. We stood in line to see Tigger and Eyore. The whole time Lil'D was waving at Tigger and saying "hi Tigger!" It was so cute. I don't think he really knew exactly who Eyore was, but he sure like him because when we walked away from him he blew kisses to Eyore.

After waiting in line for about 45 minutes...we got to see Mickey:

Here are a couple of more fun shots!

♥ Elliemae

Checkin' in...

It has been chaotic around here. I have a mean cold and I can't breath that well. Today is supposed to be "weigh down" wednesday. There is no weight down here. I am the same as I was last week. Didn't loose, but I didn't gain either.

Jeremy got the Wii Fit for me for Mother's Day. It is really a lot of fun and is a good workout! I have been putting in 40 minutes a day.

See ya'll later!
♥ Elliemae

Parties, Prizes and FREE stuff...

I have been catching up on all the new posts in my google reader. I had over 350 this morning. I'm down to 297. I came across a party!! Woohoo, you know what that means...meetin' new people, findin' some new fun blogs to visit AND possibly winnin'some stuff (oh yeah, and puttin' more to read in my google reader. I'll never catch up:)

Happy 1 year birthday to: LIPSTICK TO CRAYONS

I have been visiting their blog for a couple of months now. I love their variety of subjects. They are always featuring some fun project, fun product or fun blog!

So to celebrate their 1 year birthday they are having a party. Take a look at the prize list....oooo some yummy fun stuff there! SO LET'S PARTY AWAY!!

If I'm lucky enough to get picked for a prize, here is my prize list:

1. Initial Birthstone Necklace I have been wanting Lil'Ds initial around my neck for a long time!
2. Yellow Label kids Cupcake Assortment Toy These are adorable, and crocheted!
3. Lollitop Love this t-shirt for Lil'D.

Now on to the free stuff. Thrifty Jinxy always has tons of links to samples and free stuff. Here is what I signed up to get:

• Splenda No Calorie Sweetner flavors for coffee
• Warm Delights Minis sample
• Pink Camisole and shorts
• Miniature bobblehead

♥ Elliemae

Gas is killin' me...

I can't even really believe that gas..cheap gas mind you...is $4.00/gallon here in San Diego. I AM GOING TO DIE!

Here is what I drive:

2004 Chevy Avalanche

Isn't it perdy? Yeah, pretty but it guzzles gas. I am averaging 16-17mpg right now. Which 18mpg hwy is what the sticker said it would get. I don't drive over 60...EVER.

Here are 3 vehicles I am looking at...only possibilities...I'm not sure if I want to do this or can do this yet.

Dodge Nitro click here to see it!!

Dodge Journey click here to see it!

They both get an average of 24-25 on the highway and I can get the stroller and everything for Lil'D in the back. There is plenty of backseat room for Lil'Ds carseat and I think there will be room for 2 people in the backseat of the Nitro in addition to Lil'D. The Journey has 3rd row seating. They both get pretty good lookin' to. I'm thinkin' either the red or the white. I want to go test drive them and see how they drive. I'm just thinkin' about it. I just need to be more practical because gas is killin' me!!

Hyundai Santa Fe click here to see it!

I just added this one. It gets the same gas mileage and is around the same price.

♥ Elliemae

Weighdown Wednesday!!

Ok...I'm loosin' this weight..darn it!

On April 28th I changed my eating habits drastically and I have lost 5 pounds. That's a little over 1.5 pounds a week.

I have been trying to workout at least 3 times a week and walk up Cowell's Mountain once a week.

This week I haven't snacked after dinner and I have eaten way smaller portions for lunch and dinner.

I haven't been very good about drinking water. I drink about 3 cups of tea a day. Last week I was really bad about coffee. I had coffee 5 days in a row. If I liked regular coffee that would be a different story, but I like 7-eleven cappuccinos! They are evil!!! I did have one on Monday morning, but I have justified one a week could possibly be ok. Especially on a Monday morning. Monday's are just plum hard!

I want to loose 20 pounds by August 20th! That is the day we leave for vacation. We are going to be doing a lot of hiking and camping. It is also going to be hot. I want to be able to wear shorts comfortably. (none of this ridin' up stuff happenin') That will also mean I will be 5 pounds lighter than my weight when I got pregnant. When I reach this goal, I will set another goal!!!

So every Wednesday I will be checkin in with my progress!!!

♥ Elliemae

Wordless Wednesday...

Please visit:

5 minutes for Mom or Wordless Wednesday.com

for more photos!!!

♥ Elliemae

Inspiration...

That's exactly what I have been looking for...something that INSPIRES me! Going through my google reader today I came across this post at Design Mom.

Mood boards and Inspiration boards is what I'm talking about. I have been blindly strolling along making this, making that. I keep thinking I need to find what inspires me, what is...me? This will be such a wonderful excercise! I'm so motivated after looking at other people's inspiration. I want to be inspired! I will be inspired, just you wait and see. Here are a few things that inspire me:

♥ Elliemae

Watch out...I've been crafty!!

I have been really enjoying 31 crafty flowers in 31 days at Pink Paper Peppermints. Here is my little gallery of flowers that I have made so far! Enjoy!

www.flickr.com

♥ Elliemae

I'm still here...

I just haven't had any time to blog. I've been doing OTHER things. I think I got really burned out from doing that silly letter blogging for a month.

What's new?

Last week at work was crazy. I finalized the kitchen measurements for the Adobe house. Here is what I have verified and know is correct so far:

Just half of the house. I am going to start on the kitchen design tomorrow. Today I have to put together a verification package for Senior Designer. He is going to Montana tomorrow. He has lots of measuring to do at MustardStone. We are in the final verification stage. Everything should be drywalled by now. Here are the final plans. I have highlighted where all the cabinetry is located. We are also doing custom veneered interior doors. This place is going to be beautiful!!

The first delivery of cabinets leave on June 6th!! I'm really ready to get this one going! I have been working on this for almost 5 years. We are READY!!!!

Because of all the hours I worked last week on the Adobe, I took Friday off. I started out the day being crafty and then I got the itch to move some furniture around. I have been thinking about it for a while now. My dining room and kitchen are all in the same room. The two are separated by a peninsula. I moved my dining table to the other end of the room (instead of in the middle of the room) and took the sofa out of my bedroom and put it where the dining table used to be. There is so much more room. I moved around the furniture in my bedroom and there is so much more room in there to! (I took the sofa out and put a bookcase and a table in) It's all about the space planning. I guess I should eventually get it right...it is what I do for a living, after all.

I will write more about my crafty projects tonight ( and show photos).

This weekend was HOT here in southern California. It averaged about 95. It usually averages 70 here. We are very spoiled. There are a lot of homes that do not have air conditioning, including myself. The house was anywhere from 83-89degrees all weekend. That is with all the windows open and fans going. I found that if you do absolutely nothing and sit in front of a fan, it is tolerable. We went over to a friend's house on Sunday. They have air conditioning. It was nice.

Lil'D survived the heat. He was just a little irritable because of it. He liked the new furniture arrangement. Every time I turned around he would be standing on top of the coffee table in my new sitting room. He finally stopped after getting in trouble a couple times. He is such the little tester. He is such a little sweetheart. This photo was taken in Coronado. When Mom comes we always visit a store called The Attic. They have all sorts of cute things. Mom has started a small collection of items she has bought from this store! There was a rocking chair in front of the store and Lil'D climbed up in it and started rocking. Watch out, I'm gettin' all photographer like!! (heh heh heh) I absolutely love Lil'D in overalls. He has only wore these about 4 times. I almost forgot about them. They are getting too short already. I will be on the lookout for a new pair for the fall. There are only so many years you can get away with putting a little boy in overalls.

Ok...here are my schedule for the week:

Monday

• clean mirror in master bathroom
• fold laundry
• go for a run

Tuesday

• clean countertops in master bathroom
• clean countertops in kitchen
• weight workout

Wednesday

• clean toilet in master bathroom
• small group

Thursday

• clean floor in master bathroom
• go for a run

Friday

• clean shower in master bathroom

Saturday

• walk Cowells Mountain

♥ Elliemae

Happy Mother's Day...

I am the Mother I am today because of the Mother you were to me yesterday!

Happy Mother's Day!

♥ Elliemae

Why I'm pullin' my hair out...

This is the "adobe" house that my officemate, PJ, and I have been working on:

There are NO square rooms in this entire house. EVERTYTHING is either a radius or an angle. These drawings were drawn by hand probably 25 years ago. We are scaling it and putting it into AutoCad. And because there have been some remodeling done there are differences in this plan and what is actually in the house now. So we have decided to send the plan out and have it scanned in as a TIF and then we will insert it into our AutoCad drawing and TRACE it!! Yes, I am not ashamed to trace when I have to!!

Ok back to the hair pullin'!!

♥ Elliemae

Ten on Thursday...(instead of Tuesday)

one...

I am actually working on a new project at work. The same client that owns the condo in Montana is buying a house in Rancho Santa Fe. It is huge. It's on 6 acres of land and the house is about 6,000 square feet. We are calling it the "adobe" house. I am so excited about starting a new project. For the past 2 years all I have been working on is Mustardstone and Barn. Barn is complete and I am right in the middle of Mustardstone. Change is ALWAYS good! Right now I am doing what I call shlep work. I am putting the walls in AutoCad. It's not like this house is square or anything. the center courtyard is a huge circle and all the rooms are based on this circle. Once I am done putting all these walls in then the fun starts. I will start designing!!!

two...

I need to wash my truck BADLY!! Lil'D has his waffle in my truck every weekday morning. That is all I let him eat. There are waffle crumbs everywhere in the backseat. I have collected receipts, papers, water bottles, stuff and it needs to be cleaned out, vacuumed and the outside washed. It rained on Tuesday and it looks like someone poured a bucket of dirty water on the sides of my truck. It is white. This is the filthiest my truck has EVER been. There is no excuse...I will be cleaning it out TONIGHT!!!!

three...

I actually did something crafty last night. Melissa at PinkPaperPeppermints is having 31 crafty flowers in 31 days. The first day she made tissue flowers. I sat last night and made two small tissue flowers. They are so pretty and festive. I want to make more!

four...

I took some awesome pictures this past weekend and I haven't had time to upload them!! I really need to make time for these. I can't wait to share them.

five...

Is anyone else as disappointed in American Idol this season as I am? I'm just not into it. These people just aren't that good. They are ok, but I'm just not excited by them, I'm actually bored. My prediction is David Cook to be the next American Idol.

six...

I went for a run on Monday night. It wore me out so much that I fell asleep at 9pm on Tuesday night. I am going to run again tonight! Then on Saturday morning I am going to walk Cowell's Mountain with Chica. It is a steep mountain and it kicks your booty!!! Just what I need.

seven...

Has anybody else heard that if you don't eat something within 45 minutes of waking up your metabolism doesn't work as good and your body doesn't burn calories as fast as it would if you would have eaten something. I have been trying all week and I just can't do it. I love my sleep too much.

eight...

Our ten year wedding anniversary is coming up and we are trying to plan an inexpensive weekend. I'm not having any luck so far. Hopefully we come up with something. 10 years is definitely deserving of something special!!

nine...

I can't stop dreaming at night. I have the weirdest dreams. I wonder what makes you remember some dreams and you can't remember some. The dreams I had last night were silly! One dream I had found my Dad traveling in a truck. He had set the truck up to go in reverse by itself. The wheel slipped and it started going crooked, but it didn't hit anything. I jumped in the driver seat and tried to steer it the right way. I ran into all kinds of stuff and it was going really fast. My Dad finally told me to put my foot on the brakes. I looked down and there were 10 pedals. I had no idea which one it was. I had to hit them all. I finally stopped it. I asked Dad..."what would you have done if I hadn't come along?" WEIRD!! I also dreamed that I had my appendix removed and had gone back to work. Some men in brightly colored tshirts and funny hats came in asking us if we recycle. They were being really pushy and one of them pushed me out of the way and had gotten to our trash cans and was yelling look at this, can you believe this? One of them got their camera out and I was trying to stop them, but I was too week. I was calling for the installers to come and help me...that's when I woke up. WEIRD!!

ten...

This is my itinerary tonight when I get home:

• clean out my truck
• download pictures to Flickr
• work on my afghan

Simple huh? I hope so!!

♥ Elliemae

Dreary San Diego morning...

It is cloudy and gray today in San Diego. I guess this is the beginning of what "they" call May Gray. There are days when I would just rather read everyone else's blog instead of writing on mine. Today is one of them. I think my schedule is just too full. I don't have anything left once I sit in front of this screen. This was my day yesterday:

• 6am -Wake up
• 7am - Drop Lil'D off at daycare
• 7:30am - Arrive at work
• 5:30pm - Leave work
• 6pm - Arrive at home
• 6:30 - Eat dinner
• 7:00 - Lil'D bathtime
• 7:30 - Lil'D bedtime
• 7:45-8:15 - go for a run
• 8:30 - shower
• 8:45-10pm - Just be brainless
• 10pm - to bed

I had one hour and 15 minutes to myself last night and I chose not to blog. I caught up on my emails and my google reader. I am all caught up there. Now to catch up on a few things.

Lil'D update:

Mom & Dad took us to Mimi's last week and we had corn chowder soup. Yummy! While we were waiting for our food I was giving Lil'D kix. I was counting them out 5 at a time. He counted all the way to FOURTEEN!! That's it though, no fifteen.

He also knows what month it is. Well, sort of. He goes from March to June to May sometimes. Pam talks about what month it is everyday and they count the days in the month everyday. My smart little man!

I have tons of new pictures and tons of new videos but I just haven't had time to upload them. Flickr was giving me problems on Sunday and nothing would upload. I am at the mercy of Flickr. I am always at the mercy of something...

Work:

I've got tons of work to do at work. All my MustardStone plans have to be updated by Wednesday. Oh my heck... that is tomorrow. Senior Designer is flying out on Thursday morning. This is the last visit before the first delivery. He is doing the last verification measure. Keep your fingers crossed! They just started drywall 2 weeks ago. The kitchen is pretty much already built so hopefully drywall doesn't change that much!!

My time:

I have too many open projects right now. I need to concentrate on getting one complete. Here is my open project list and the progress status:

• Lil'Ds afghan - I have almost 70 2" squares, I still have to do the rectangles
• Lil'Ds 1st year photo album/scrapbook - I've started, but I have too many photos, I need to be more selective. I'm kinda overwhelmed by it.
• Lil'Ds 2nd year photo album - haven't started yet
• Lil'Ds artwork album - I bought the album on Sunday. I just need to insert his artwork. I have all his artwork together in a pile.
• Mary Engelbreit quilt - I bought the fabric on Friday.
• Make a dress - I bought the pattern while my Mom was here, but I haven't found any fabric I like yet. This will be the project to stay on the back burner for a while.

My creative juices are just achin' to be used. I just don't have the time yet. I must manage my time better!!

I would like some TIME for Mother's Day. Can anyone make that happen? heh heh
♥ Elliemae

I am playing catch up...

o.k.

My parents have been here. I didn't have any time to blog!

My parents arrived last Thursday night (April 24th). My Dad had some business up in Fresno and LA. My Mom stayed with me the entire time. Lil'D got some much needed grandma and grandpa time. He was thrilled to see them. I have photos galore, just not with me right now. We had a great time!

Today is a typical Monday and I have so much to catch up on with you people and work. Work has to come first though. My boss is leaving for Montana on Wednesday and I have to revise and update all my plans for MustardStone. Once I get all that done I will have lots of time to catch up with you on the last two weeks.

So don't worry there will be more to come...I promise!

Oh, and one more thing...I PROMISE NOT TO DO ANYTHING LIKE ALL THOSE "LETTERS" LAST MONTH. IT WAS SO BORING!!!
♥ Elliemae

This is what motherhood means to me...

I missed the photo contest over at 5 minutes for Mom. They are having another contest. They want your favorite motherhood moment. I chose this photo...

Lil'D and I are always being silly together. He is also always looking over his shoulder just to make sure I'm there. I love that my husband captured this sweet moment between my son and I. I will be right over his shoulder as long as I can be!

Please click here to see more mother hood moments.

♥ Elliemae