leaving on a jet plane...

and when i say jet plane, i mean jet plane...we're going on a new(er) airlines called Express jet (XJet) & they've only been around for a year or so which makes me a little nervous and i've heard it's a pretty small jet. on the upside, they serve you meals and it's a direct 2 1/2 hour flight. so, we'll be in texas late tonight, for a few days & i'm horrible about blogging while on vacation...so, i'll talk to you guys later. i'll miss y'all. :)

we love daddy!

i hope all the daddy's had a great father's day...here's ours:
kaia made derek an adorable picture frames along with this card that had a poem on one side of it (that made me cry) and this picture she drew (of derek) on the other side. when i first saw it, i thought she had drawn muscles on his arms and i thought, "hey, that's nice...she thinks of daddy as a buff daddy". and then she says, "daddy, those are your elbows." we cracked up! :)
here's to your 4th year of being a daddy...
daddy and his girls (BTW, it took forever to get them both to look!!!)
they sure love him!
whew...another successful one of them both smiling! :)
at least derek and i are looking...
happy father's day to you too papa (and you too texas papa!)
papa and nema got some really good food from L&L Hawaiian Barbecue...it was yummy! leia's favorite was the teriyaki chicken. she kept stealing auntie kimmy's chicken off of her plate...hey, at least she was eating. sorry kimmy! :)
they love leia's new skitter...poor little 'sis, doesn't really have anything all to herself :(

here are all the southern california dad's in the family...happy 1st father's day uncle John!

school's out!

i know kaia's not in "real" school...but, kaia had her last day of pre-school today. i guess it's officially summer for us. she'll start pre-k in september...until then, we have a trip to texas, swimming lessons and vacation bible school coming up this summer. it's gonna be a mellow summer this year. no big trips planned (yet, at least)...except for a weekend trip up north for a good friend's wedding in august. what are you guys going this summer?
kaia loves her pre-school so much...the teachers love the kids so much there. i'm so glad she's (and leia in about a year... when she turns 3) a part of this wonderful place and got to experience what she has here!
bye-bye kids...kaia's gonna miss you guys this summer!
leia REALLY can't wait to start pre-school too...i don't think she'd even notice if i left. she instantly gets into everything when we drop off or pick kaia up from school. soon, baby...just not too soon. ;)

for kellie...

thanks again kel...love it!



p.s.~i told you! :)

just a reminder for myself...

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn . . .
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight . . .
If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive . . .
If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself . . .
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy . . .
If a child lives with jealousy, he learns to feel guilt . . .

BUT

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient . . .
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident . . .
If a child lives with , he learns to be appreciative . . .
If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love . . .
If a child lives with honesty, he learns what truth is . . .
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice . . .
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith in himself and those about him . . .
If a child lives with friendliness, he learns the world is a nice place in which to live . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

p.s.~i saw this in the office at kaia's pre-school today...i've seen it many times before, but it really made a lot more sense today for some reason.

exactly 2 years ago today...

...down to the minute leia came in to our lives, at 10:33 p.m. after a very quick but intense labor. i can't imagine life without you. i have to admit, i wasn't sure how God made it possible for me to love another baby as much as the first...but, it was as if my heart grew the second i met you. we love you so much, my beautiful lei-lei. i want to say thank you to you and your big sis for making our lives so full. happy 2nd birthday, baby.

Pregnancy and new born pics...
this was taken 1 week before you were born...
this was our attempt at an artsy pic...
you are about 5 minutes old here...our first family pic
leia's 1st birthday pics...
me and my girls...
leia's 1 here...
yummy!
and...here's leia's 2nd birthday pics (this year)...
she's 2!!!
she can't wait to blow 'em out... ;)
good job baby...this is gonna be another great year!!!
love you.

look-a-like's

i thought this was kinda interesting...this weekend, we were at derek's parents house with my dad cuz they had a BBQ & my dad was walking down the hall and asked me to "come here" for a minute...he stopped in his tracks as he walked past this picture of derek as a kid. he couldn't believe how much kaia looked like him in the pic, so i had to take a picture of the picture and i tried to find a picture of kaia where she's kinda making the same face. also, people are always saying how they think leia looks more like me so i found a few childhood pics of me up next to one of leia that i took today. i have to say that i see what they mean! what do you think?

here's kaia at 4 1/2...
here's leia at age 2...

i think i'm almost 3 here (the one on the right)...
i'm just guessing, but i think i'm about leia's age in these 2 pics...
(gotta love how i'm obviously wearing my brother's shirt) :)

see you soon texas papa...

texas papa came in town just for leia's birthday party he left for the airport a little while ago...we're gonna miss you, but we'll see you soon. it's our turn...we'll be in good 'ol Texas in a couple of weeks. love you, dad. the girls say "bye-bye "jelly bean king" (they call him that cuz he brings jelly beans every time he comes to visit)! :)
thanks for the adorable dresses simon, kristen, max & milo. and thank you to you too, penelope...kaia's wearing the dress you sent, but it'll fit leia pretty soon. such cute dresses!
she loves her pockets! :)
silly sisters...

the party's over...

what a day! leia had her birthday party today at The Little Gym and it was a lot of fun! all the kids that came to the party must be sound asleep right now, cuz they didn't stop going the entire couple of hours. it's a great place to have a 2 year old's party. check out some of the pics i took today...
jump, jump, jump...
my little acrobat!
this is what they call the birthday girl throne & i didn't know if she's stay up there while all the kids told her happy birthday and sang to her, but she was loving it!
here's leia acting like she's swimming...
nema was needed a lot today!
parachute time!
there's always time for a bonding moment...
swooooosh! :)
they loved laying on the air track as it inflated and deflated (i don't blame 'em)
once again...nema was the one she wanted for the jumping...i think this is the only time kaia say still all day!
yes...leia's eating her pizza sideways.
puppy cake time again...
she was intrigued by the flame ;)
she blew it out on the first try!
yeah...this was on the floor 1 second after i took the picture...oops!
kaia approves of the puppy cake too...
piece of cake #2, let's try this again...
who needs a fork?
i'll tell you one thing...everybody knew that leia's favorite things are puppy's...she got SO many gifts that are puppy-related...thanks guys!
this one is great...it's the Poky Little Puppy and it has a remote where you can walk him and he barks and wags his tail. it was a hit (but hey...they all were!)
here she is with some of her puppy gifts (and a care bear, of course!)
p.s.~if you want to see more pics from the party, check out the slide show below...