How many years?!?!?!?!

On the 26th., Bac and I celebrated our Wedding Anniversary! Can't believe it's been 6 years already?!?!?!? Like I always say, "Geesh-Louise . . . . . Time Flies!!!"

For our anniversary, we had dinner at home WITHOUT the kids!! Our friends watched the kiddies for couple of hours while we enjoyed a quiet, no interruption dinner. We did all the prepping in the afternoon so after dropping the kids off (we walked 2 houses down) we started cooking/baking away.

We had a Caprese Salad to start off our dinner, followed by the Entree (pan-seared fish - forgot the name of the fish but it was yummy because it was not fishy, with grilled garlic asparagus, and garlic mashed potatoes), and to end the meal we had a Molten Lava Cake!

The food was GOOD . . . . . BUT . . . . the fact that we got to eat slowly and take our time, had dinner without one of the kids hanging from us or yelling for us, without the noisy background from the TV or the kids yelling at each other, just made the meal 100% BETTER!!!!

It was a nice little treat for us :o)

Happy 6th. Year Anniversary, Honey!
Love you much xoxo's

OH . . . they're SOOOO Yummie :o)

Ever since living in Iowa, I have become a better baker and cook! When I was in LA, I hardly ever bake let alone cook! I think the fact that there's not alot of restraurants to choose from around here, I am forced to bake something or cook something when I'm craving it!

I have been introduced to a new blogger from a friend and I LOVE her!!!! She cooks all these great yummies that I can't wait to try. Last week while checking out the blog I came across some onion strings! I haven't had onion rings/strings in ages (almost a year now) so after reading the recipe over and over, I could not get my mind off the onion strings! I HAD to make them!!!

Boy, was I glad I did because . . . . . . . OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH man, they were SOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!! They were good when they were hot and crispy and they were even good cold!! Bac and I ate them all up! The frying was a bit time consuming but boy-oh-boy, they were TOTALLY worth it!!!

All I can say is "YUMS!!!" Can't wait to try more of her recipes -- I'm getting hungry just thinking about them!!

Garage Sale Season Kickoff!

Garage Sale Season has officially kicked off here in good ol' Cedar Rapids. It's been about 2 weeks now and the Penny Saver/Craiglist/local paper have more and more ads for garage sales going on. Last year, my neighbor hosted the very first neighborhood sale and we weren't able to join because we were still in the "unpacking" stage but this year . . . . we participated!!! I was SOOOOOOOO excited cuz' it my very first garage sale ever!!! I 've always wanted to do one in LA but never had the chance to.

So . . . with 2 weeks to prepare I searched and searched every single cabinet, corner, boxes, you name it . . I checked it out and cleared it out! I found TONS of toys that the kids have outgrown. I also found tons of clothes that I never, ever wear anymore, little knick-knacks around the house, and of course, kid's clothes that they've outgrown or worn-out. The first week I was busy hunting for stuff, the second week I was busy pricing, and helping my friend set up.

With 6 families joining in to participate, she had her 3-car garage jammed-pack full of stuff/junk. We did a 3-day garage sale, Thurs. (3-7) , Fri. (8-2) and Sat. (8-12). The day of, I started bringing my goods over to her place at 1:00 . . . thinking I had 2 hours to set up. But believe it or not, at 2:00 people started showing up. Well . . . let's back track a bit by 1 day, Wednesday afternoon, my friend had someone come to her house wanting to get an early preview . . . my friend couldn't say No so . . . $160 later she made her very first sale. The day of . . . while playing outside with the kiddies (noon time) . . . I saw a lady walking toward my friend's house, and guess what . . another person wanting a "preview" and $300 later another sale.

So . . back to the story . . . at 2:00 people started showing up and my friend (again) could not say No so . . . because 1 showed up and shop . . more and more came and before we knew it, it was in FULL swing with TONS of people shopping, rummaging through bins and bins and bags and bags of stuff not unpacked yet before our official start time which was suppose to be 3:00.

By 4:00 on our first day, I was already tired of cleaning up and setting up!

It's amazing how anxious and popular garage sales are around here!!! We had cars parked all over the block and people kept on coming and coming and shopping and shopping! The first day, of course, was the busiest. The second day, not as much, and by the third day, it was totally and utterly slow but overall, we did pretty good selling our stuff/goods/junk! It was FUN :oD . . . . I can't wait to have another garage sale!!!

Garage Sales are BIG around here because like the saying goes . . .
"One man's junk is another man's treasure!"

Check out more pictures from this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=190088&id=1210394620&l=bbc78d0325

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired!!!!

With the weather being warmer and warmer . . . the kids have been playing outside every single day! Sebastian is out from lunch time till about 3:00 running around, playing baseball, tag, whatever the kids finds to do with the kiddies from around the block. Sebastian was SOOOOOOOOOO tired one day from playing that he was falling asleep while eating his dessert. After he ate his ice cream, he found a spot on the floor in our kitchen, sat down, and fell asleep. I was in the bathroom giving Alerina a bath so Bac was there to catch it on camera. Too funny :o)

"Mommy . . . . see Funny Face!"

Alerina was introduced to a new kid's show that my friend's daughter totally LoVES and as you guess it . . . . Alerina LOVES watching it as well! The show is called Yo Gabba Gabba! Bac and I thinks it's a totally mindless show but she enjoys it so much that we couple of dvds now in our house for her to watch!

Well anyways, the show has a segment where the characters and all the kids are making funny faces at each other and Alerina has caught on to make these funny faces so . . . . . . from time to time she would say, "Mommy . . . . see Funny Face!" and she the faces she makes are just to die for!!! The funny faces change from time to time and of course, I never have the camera handy till now.

So . . . here are couple shots of her and her "funny face". She gets quiet the kick when she's done making the faces :o) Too funny, I tell you!

Easter Egg Hunt

The kiddies got to participate at a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt this year and it was very, very, EXCITING for us and the kids :o)

It is the kid's very first egg hunt ever!!! Last year it was still snowing when Easter came around so the neighborhood did it at a indoor play area. With this year being sooooo nice out and no sight of snow, it was at a local park 2 minutes away from our house.

There was TONS of kids, eggs, the Easter Bunny, and running around that morning! The kids had a good ol' time hunting for eggs. Afterwards we headed to the playground right next to the park to burn off more energy . . . . . he.. he.. he.. :oD

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188690&id=1210394620&l=1a85ce0656

Happy Easter!