Candy showcase

Most of you know that I am a candy connoisseur. Not being allowed it when I was young led to an obsession with it as I got older. On the flip side, I have no cavities.

Anyway, I'm sure you've noticed that certain candies are particular to each holiday. I am going to showcase my favorites for each one.

The top photo is some Christmas peeps that were new this season (at least I'd never seen them). They were called Cookie Cutouts and they smelled and tasted faintly of butter and they are now my favorite kind of Peep.

Then there are the good ol' cinnamon jelly hearts...they're dangerous. It's not even February and I've already overdone it with those.

Check back for the Easter review...unless I can find candy for St. Pat's.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Wally and Mark are going to Las Vegas soon to celebrate and play some golf. I hope it's not raining in Yuba City so he can do some golfing today. Have a great day Wally!

"S'raining"

I always think of Sabrina when it rains. It was raining up in Napa, and Mike picked me up in his truck. He had Sabrina in her carseat, she was about 2, blonde curly hair all around her face.
I got in on the driver side of the truck, which made Sabrina think I was driving and she started to cry and say "No, Daddy drive!"
She certainly wasn't as thrilled to see me as I was to see her, but it was like that for a few years. Anyway, I was sandwiched in the middle of Mike and Sabrina, and she was giving me the once-over. Then she looked at me, with her pacifier in her mouth, and said "S'raining." in a real matter-of-fact tone. Then she looked down at her painted nails and said, "Polish".
I didn't get to see her often because she was born the year after I moved down here, but when I went home I couldn't get enough of her (still can't) and I wanted so desperately for her to know me and remember me whenever we saw each other. I was always amazed by her, the things she said and the way she said them (it was raining, and she was just lettin' me know).

She loves a good read

Marlo's favorite thing is paper: magazines, newspaper, receipts, kleenex. She loves to take a piece, rip it in two, and then flap them in the air. Unfortunately, she also loves to eat it.
She got a hold of my greasy Star magazine this morning and now I don't know if Britney is going to rehab.
Also, I haven't posted lately because my photos are crap. The winter light is bad, she won't hold still for a second, and I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know if they'll ever get better...

9 months old today

I seriously can't believe it. She has grown and changed so much in such a short time. I wish I could relive it all in slow motion...
She had her checkup today. She weighs 22 pounds and is 29 inches long, down to the 90th percentile. She also:

• crawls like a champ
• wants to stand up constantly
• eats just about everything
• loves to laugh and play "peekaboo"
• waves "hi" and gives hi-fives
• claps her hands
• shakes her head "no"
• growls

Yes, growls. She loves to explore her voice and growling is her latest thing. I'm amazed by her every day. She is such a good little girl and I treasure her every second.

DeWitt Hits!

We watched the boys play softball last night. Thomas is on a team and sometimes he needs Mark to play. Marlo was wrapped up in her fuzzy blanket on Grandma's lap and she didn't make a peep, she just wanted to watch the action.

Speeding

I love the sound of her hands slapping on the floor as she scurries down the hall. Most of the time she turns sharply into the bathroom where she pulls herself up on the tub and then beats on it.

Oh baby

You should see the drool marks and handprints all over the house.

Mom's birthday dinner

at the Claimjumpers! So good!

Pretty ladies

Happy Birthday Grandma!

It is my sweet mother-in-law's birthday and I'm so glad she's in town so we can celebrate together. She deserves a party every day for all that she does for everyone else. Her capacity for loving and giving is endless (she waits on me at my own house!) and she is like a second mother to me.
Thanks for all that you do Mom, we love you and wish you a happy happy birthday!

These two

Mark's grandma RoseMary and her sister Sue sat in the corner of the couch and gossipped and giggled all night. I could hardly get them to stop laughing to pose for a photo. So cute.

The one and only...

Anna Tanner is a good friend of Lane's and she was there last night for dinner. She brought some wonderful desserts...the frosted brownies actually gave me goosebumps. I just love seeing Anna, she cracks me up. She's such a character, with energy only matched by Lane and I seriously just love to sit back and watch them go!

Such a good girl...

Mark's mom and grandma are in town, and we shopped for hours with Lane. Marlo was so good and patient. She was up way past her bedtime and she never got cranky or anything. She is really just the sweetest little thing...

I can't remember

if I posted these and I'm too lazy to look. My sister stayed the night last night and we just lunched and shopped a bit today. I've just been cleaning house...
We are looking forward to seeing Grandma and Greatgrandma this weekend...Lane is bringing them back with her from Yuba City. Lane and I are always scheming on how we are going to get them here and I love it when it works!

Premieres tonight

Oh, I love the first episodes of all the rejects. I get so embarrassed for them, but I can't look away. Besides, no one will ever top Kelly Clarkson and William Hung.

Today...

Marlo was a little moody this morning , so we went SHOPPING! And seriously she was instantly happy!
I got this cute wreath and some pink ornies to put on it (I just threw them on there to show) and it was another steal at Michael's..

And a few of the busy busy girl...

Yesterday

I really wanted to take some from outside the door, but I couldn't get past her. I'd open the door and she'd crawl right out before I could make it.

Came across this...

I have been in the spare room/office trying to get crafty for Valentine's Day (no progress) and I found some old photos. This is Dana and I, her mom Sue took this and the back of the photo says Summer 78. We are dressed up to go shopping downtown at Mervyn's (which, ironically is still the only place to go shopping in Napa). We did this often, sometimes going so far as to wait at the bus stop. Sue got a big kick out of this, and she loved to ask us what we were planning on buying and how we'd get there, which is I'm sure what we were trying to figure out when this photo was being taken.

I made great progress today. I went inside a scrapbook store and fondled all the pretty things I don't know how to use. But I consider it a step toward actually starting to do it.

Also went to Old Navy which is having a big clearance sale and I got three pairs of pants for Marlo, slip-ons, 2 rolls of gift wrap, a pair of socks and a pair of boxers for $15.29. And if you think that can't be topped I went to Michael's and got Christmas garland for $2.99! And scads of ribbon for no more than 99 cents a roll! Their stuff is 90% off people, and I NEEDED EVERY LAST BIT OF IT.

Piglet

Aunt Dianne got this for her at Halloween, but it was actually too big (believe it or not). She just wants to put it in her mouth because it's so soft, and of course she won't leave the hood on. But I thought it was pretty cute.
Mark said she looked like Ralphie in the Christmas Story.

Where's the teeth?

I think she might be getting some more...but that's what I thought just before Christmas.

I'm on the bandwagon

100 things about me:

1. I can't take naps
2. I am always doing laundry
3. Red is my favorite color
4. I always watch DIY network, but I never Do It Myself
5. I'm a really good speller
6. I look ridiculous when I whistle
7. I have no cousins on my dad's side of the family
8. I love anything with marshmallow or meringue
9. I miss fresh water: lakes, rivers and streams
10. I don't like to sunbathe (obviously)
11. I obsess much
12. I think my husband is dreamy, and I love him more everyday
13. I have a hard time meeting new people
14. I love garage sales, antique shows, and other people's junk in general
15. My daughter is my favorite person and I can't get enough of her
16. I get scared easily
17. I don't like to watch war movies
18. I have to wash my face every night before I go to sleep
19. Illegal immigration doesn't bother me
20. I won $7,652 the first time I ever played Bingo
21. I'm really sentimental
22. I love Christmas
23. I skipped the second grade
24. I'm organized
25. I love Elvis and I would have screamed and cried and fainted with the rest of 'em
26. I love having someone play with my hair
27. I miss my Granny and Pa, they showed me so much
28. I think about my childhood all the time and with great fondness
29. I don't like shrimp or lobster
30. I like to learn about other cultures
31. When I was little, I ate a toadstool off my lawn and had to go to the hospital
32. Three is my favorite number and when I set my alarm or put something in the microwave it has to end in 3
33. I always make my bed
34. I love to take baths and I usually take one at the hotel when we travel
35. I'm a fast reader
36. I love Tejano music
37. My mom is my hero
38. I'm a prude and I can't even watch people kiss on tv
39. I love celebrity gossip and its sleazy magazines
40. I'm mesmerized by QVC
41. I want another child in about two years
42. I love to travel and Mark is the perfect partner
43. I went to junior college forever before UCSD
44. I like to vacuum
45. I have no complaints about being the middle child
46. I have a scar on my thigh from being burned by hot water from McDonald's (I know, I should have sued)
47. The older I get, the less I like cats
48. If I could afford it, I'd have all kinds of plastic surgery
49. I like slicing mushrooms
50. I think camping is so much fun
51. I love the Spanish language and I want to speak it fluently
52. I want our troops out of Iraq
53. I love to cook, but I hardly ever do
54. I'm so thankful that I can stay home with my child
55. I first became an aunt at age nine
56. I can find any reason to go to Target
57. I'll try any food once
58. I try to put myself in the other person's shoes
59. My favorite ice cream is Chocolate Malted Crunch from Rite Aid
60. I like musicals--Grease, Willy Wonka, Crybaby, Nightmare before Christmas, Elvis movies
61. I don't know how not to spoil my daughter
62. I was in daycare when I was little and I thought it was great
63. I love looking at old photos
64. I have a pretty open mind
65. I've seen Ray Charles perform
66. I loved going to Moorea and Bora Bora for our honeymoon, I'm positive it's the most beautiful place on earth
67. I can't wait to take Marlo to Disneyland
68. I look forward to the fair every year and go as many times as possible
69. Whenever I go to Napa I drive by my childhood home at 3864 Yosemite Street
70. I'm so grateful I saw New Orleans pre-Katrina
71. I have a super sensitive sense of smell
72. I always get popcorn (with butter, of course) at the movies
73. I can't stand how Mark drives
74. I will eat cookie dough or cake batter till I make myself sick
75. I honestly like long walks on the beach
76. I collect cheesy snowglobes
77. I love Dog the Bounty Hunter and Beth (they are "second-chance people")
78. I think Conan O'Brian is hilarious
79. I love weekends because Mark is home
80. I love Mexican food, chilaquiles being my favorite
81. I want to go to Hawaii this year
82. I watch too much tv
83. I'm always second-guessing myself
84. I love the special childhood memories that Amy and I share
85. I would love to live in the country or on a ranch
86. My mind keeps me up at night
87. I miss my family
88. I'm not crafty or creative, but I desperately hope to be
89. I'm afraid of heights and I had to leave the theater when watching Cliffhanger
90. I have horrible posture
91. I only have a few girl friends, but they're the best friends you could ask for
92. I need glasses
93. I cry easily, not necessarily because I'm sad, but when I'm reminiscing or watching a sappy movie or even a commercial
94. The only time I like my hair is when Molly does it
95. I'm sad the O.C. is ending, even though it's gotten pretty ridiculous
96. I have the kind of mind that's always questioning and picking things apart
97. I love our home and our community
98. Easter candy is my favorite: Peeps & Cadbury creme eggs
99. I never took the SAT
100. I live for comments on my blog

Not much to say...

I'm exhausted from chasing a certain somebody around!

Do you know what today is?

Yes, it's Elvis' birthday. But it is also the day that Mark proposed to me.

I was driving home from work and I was at a stoplight right by my house on Georgia street. I looked up in the sky and there were two rainbows. And I thought, "Elvis, not everyone is thinking of you, but I am, and those rainbows are for you".

And I went home and was getting ready to go over to Mark's when there was a knock on the door and it was him. He looked kind of flushed and I immediately thought something was wrong.

But he just handed me a little box and said, "Do you want to get married?"

One rainbow for Elvis, one for me.

Happy girl

this is from yesterday. I couldn't bear to take a photo of her today because she looks like a little bruiser. She's pulling herself up on things and took a few falls. I feel horrible about it!

That little mouth

Sooo sick

of being sick! We have been sick for two weeks and it seems like there's no end in sight. The symptoms just migrate to another part of the body. I feel bad for Mark because he's having to work. I feel bad for Marlo because she's too sweet to get sick. I feel bad for myself because it's hard to take care of anyone else when you feel like crap!
And why don't we live by our parents??? This is ridiculous! Well we can't move...but San Diego is a wonderful place to retire MOM and WALLY.

Sugar cookies

These are the last of my Christmas photos I think. Mary makes sugar cookies and then everyones decorates. I had a lot of fun taking photos.
I haven't really taken any since! I really need to figure out my camera!