BroSis Bowling Day

Fun fun funnnnn times with my 'stistas' & 'brudder' / hopefully future brother-in-law-to-be  **wink wink** - we planned an awesome bowling day at the North County Tavern & Bowl. This place was seriously fantastic! They have another location in downtown SD, but that one was not nearly as cool as this one. I liked the vibe a lot more:

We scored on a great LivingSocial deal a few weeks ago that allowed us to bowl for an hour, shoe rental for up to 6 people, a large pizza and 2 pitchers of soda for only $30! Of course we added on an extra hour, and didn't even touch the soda...too bad we couldn't substitute it for the pitchers of beer we ended up getting.

The 1st game was actually pretty good, we all scored around the same...but by the 2nd game the girls just sucked! Which was okay, because that gave us an excuse to just play silly moves...like bowling with the opposite hand, using a lighter or heavier ball, twirling around down the lane just before letting the ball go, and my fav...bowling backwards in-between your legs - I think I actually scored better that way!!!  

Disney mania

With the upcoming birthdays of both my niece (4) and nephew (2), and receiving their invitation to Disneyland next month...I've been thinking a lot about Disney movies, naturally. We haven't taken Kapri yet, and weren't planning to until just before her 3rd bday (of course before, since she'll be free up until her actual bday, haha!). But now we may reconsider....she'd have a blast with her little cousins!!

Sadly though, Kapri has never had the opportunity to watch any of the TEN famous Disney 'Princess' movies...I loooooved these movies with all my heart growing up (with the exception of 8, 9 & 10 which I have yet to see). She knows Belle, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty & Cinderella...only because Grandpa got her a cute toy set of them, which she loves...so now I'm on a mission to get my hands on em for K to enjoy as well:

1. Snow White
2. Cinderella
3. Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)
4. Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
5. Belle (Beauty and the Beast)
6. Jasmine (Aladdin)
7. Pocahontas
8. Ming-Na (Mulan)
9. Tiana (The Princess and the Frog)
10. Rapunzel (Tangled -- yet to be inducted into the highly exclusive princess line-up! haha)

I swear I used to be able to recite entire movies and their accompanying songs...ie: I wanted to BE Ariel with that insanely unattainable, flowing red hair & gorgeous voice - in 3rd grade I vividly remember (me, having the worst memory ever!) acting out the entire "Part of Your World" scene with my friend in her huge pool/backyard area...like we were the real deal...mermaids in training, HA!! But, then you become a teen, in high school...and boys become your main focus instead of silly cartoons.  ;-)

Out of the 1st 50 Disney movies on THIS list...I've seen maybe 60% of them - so maybe I'm not a crazy Disney fanatic, but I would love for K to have the chance to see a good amount of these as well...the classics especially.

WHY can't there be a Disney Princess Combo Pack or something, maybe like, 2 or 3 of them in each?? I do not need a "2-disc" set of the same damn movie...no special features and bonus thingys...I just want the movie - plain & simple. My mom has a TON of old Disney movies on VHS...but if I convert them I worry the quality would be crap. So...what do I do? Buy 1 movie every few months to work up my collection?? But mannnnn are they expensive!! They can range anywhere from $15 - $30!! That's sad  :'-(  Maybe I'll just invest $10 in a cheapy VHS player instead & ransack my mom's movie cupboard, LOL!!! What do you think mamma?!!

My mamma, monkey & me

Look at me & my mammaaa from way back when. IDK how old I was here...maybe 2 or 3 and looks as if maybe it's from the photo booths at the Del Mar Fair. It's so weird to look at now that I have a 2 year old little girl...who coincidentally has a stuffed monkey animal of her own (well, it's a Curious George one, that she got at the fair this year, same diff)!

Anyway, I saw this sitting out at my mom's house the other day...and totally flipped because seeing that little monkey head brought me back...way back. I remember how much I looooved that little guy. He wore a little blue outfit with a gold medal...maybe because of some Olympics back in 1984ish?? Oh, duh,...how I love you Google & Wikipedia...THIS would make sense then! hahaha

Anyway...that beloved monkey got LOST during a trip to the grocery store and when we went back to find it - he was gone...completely M.I.A. Luckily my mom was smart & already had a backup on hand, but this one was in a red outfit...SO NOT THE SAME to a little girl!! I think that event was so traumatizing, that I actually remember the gist of it. Crazy huh?? It's weird to think that Kapri could potentially remember things later in life, that took place in her life at only 2 years old.

Sand, Sun & some Soulful Funk!

Whewwww...what a day we had yesterday!

I really cannot remember the last time I was able to spend a good 5 hours down at the beach!! Having a kid with a pretty fine-tuned nap & eating schedule makes that a little difficult at times. But she was such a trooper & we all had so much fun visiting with some friends, eating great food, listening to some live, funky soul music and enjoying the flawless SD weather!

Two of my dearest friends have recently re-located BACK to our pretty city and I am so happy they are just around the corner again, rather than a full days drive away :-) Not to mention being able to see the one of the cutest little babes ever, Ava... who Kapri just adores. She is GORG! Her & Kapri will be breakin boys hearts in the future I'm sure.

Cannot wait to have another fun Moonlight Beach day again soon.

Snuggle-Time Sundays

My heart & soul are truly happiest during the few early morning hours of "Snuggle-Time Sundays" - rain or shine, exhausted or wide awake, sick or healthy...no matter what, we cherish the time spent laying in bed with our snuggle-bug.

Kapri lights up on these mornings. She giggles & jumps around on our bed, occasionally stopping to look at both of us & smile - it melts my heart. She jumps in-between us & securely wrap one arm across each of our chests, & we know she's silently saying to us "YAY, you're both here, together…mamma AND dada…at the same time...I love you!"

Sundays are the one & only day we all 3 get to spend quality family time together. Many days during the week, it's almost as if we are each single parents, since one or the other is at our full-time job.

Sundays are family breakfast days...something warm, delicious and comforting - today I made some cinnamony-sugary Monkey Bread 'muffins' with homemade gooey icing...mmmmm:

so scrumptious with a cup of Dunkin vanilla coffee

Sundays are OUR days. It's been this way for the past 2 years & hopefully it'll continue for many more to come! To us, it is the single most important & special day each & every week.

A gentle reminder...

Thank you people of the Pintrest world, for posting all sorts of inspiring loveliness...I *heart* this site. And today is one of those days where I just need to be reminded to keep my head up...here's a few of my favs:

Source: bravegirlsclub.com via Calista on Pinterest

Source: crazygirljournals.com via Calista on Pinterest

Source: blog.workisnotajob.com via Calista on Pinterest

Source: blogginwithbobbi.blogspot.com via Calista on Pinterest

Source: sykkelsiv.blogspot.com via Calista on Pinterest

But this one is the best I've come across so far:

Source: yesandyes.org via Calista on Pinterest

Thank you (to everyone who originally 'pinned' these quotes) for the simple little reminders  ;-)

Inspired....by a dish towel

These $3 dish towels...

I saw them at Ross today, and looooved the gray & teal combo so much, that I got a cute matching-ish rug ($8):

And a fun little $4 vase - reusing the same flowers from a previous 'red' box style container (which of course no longer matched):

Then I took down some old 'wine' themed wall decor above my sink area & replaced it with this tropical painted plate decor (added ribbon to hang it), that we received as a wedding gift (almost 4 years ago) - the colors went great:

Then I mod podged some pretty scrapbook paper around my "Splenda" container - as it no longer matched the marron/wine themed kitch:

And I covered 2 little candles with paper as well (hope they don't catch on fire...maybe I should mod podge those too!):

Kinda crazy what $15 and a few scraps of paper can do to change up a room huh??! I *heart* Ross.

Now if onnnnnnly I can come up with a good proposal to my landlords to redo our cabinets & countertops with these fabulous kits from Rust-Oleum - amaz right?! And do something like THIS to our downstairs bathroom! Wishful thinking...

Potty Training *UPDATE*

It seems K is really getting the hang of this potty thing...she's been doing great in my book - slowly but surely we're getting there! The sticker chart is a great incentive...though after a few times, she was over it a bit. So I made a potty treat jar- BINGO! I wasn't initially going to do this, but I figure she only gets one tiny little peanut butter M&M (yum.) and it won't last forever! Plus, mommy & daddy get to have one for any extremely messy episodes, so it's a win-win in my book! She gets to choose the color, which she says out loud as soon as she selects it & quickly pops in her mouth.

While she's chewing, she then gets to pick out a sticker for the board and correctly places it on either the pee or the poo side:

K in her newest Dora undies...she hearts them!

Of course AS I'm typing this blog entry....she's wearing her Dora chones and due to her lovely med side effects, proceeds to have a major accident - which THANKFULLY didn't make it's way out of them! phew

Ahhh the joys of motherhood & potty training!

Summertime Sicky

Well, another cold has hit the Mejia house...after a fun & sun-filled weekend (and 3 days straight in various pools), K came down with a mega cold. Sunday night I was literally up with her every 30-45 minutes as she cried out in pain...poor thing, she was unbearably uncomfortable. I was near tears at one point because I just felt soooo bad for her. I would've done anything just to take her pain & put it on me. Seeing her miserable like that just breaks my heart. Turns out as we took her to the doc first thing Monday morning, she was diagnosed with an ear infection in her right ear & beginning pneumonia - fabulous. Thankfully she's now on Amoxicillin and things are looking up. But of course now I have a little something...slight head cold, luckily nothing major like she had *sigh* I'm so OVER her getting sick...it seems to happen every month or so. What happens when we put her in day/play care?? sheesh!!

To cheer her (& I of course) up tonight, I made us some yummy after-dinner treats...chocolate dipped, sprinkled bananas with whipped cream & a red p.b. M&M on top! Easy & delish.

Fabulous Forth Weekend

Having 4-day weekends off from work is just awesome. Though it does suck going back after it's all said & done. Luckily we had a jam-packed weekend of fun...Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here ya go!


Saturday:

Sunday:

Nate's Bday BBQ/Pool Party

For the BBQ, I brought some seriously mouth-watering cheesecake-stuffed strawberries, courtesy of THIS idea I found on Pintrest (my new favvvv website)!! Except instead of only making 20 (equiv. to about 1 basket of strawberries), I did more like, 4 baskets. My hand hurt after for sure! but it was sooooooooooo worth it!

Monday:

Fourth of July w/ Auntie Manda & Uncle Steve out in Poway...with a big pool all to ourselves!

Finding "Kapri"

With the use of Grammy Mary's YMCA gift certificate bday gift, we enrolled Kapri in swimming lessons...which were pretty affordable! $51 for 4 lessons of the "Shrimp & Kipper" class (Tues/Thurs for 2 weeks)...$12.75 each lesson - good deal right?? IDK, didn't research it too much, but definitely sounds good to me! Since it was during the week, we decided to have James take her in the mornings before her nap which worked out well. I got to go to the 1st one since I took a 'personal' day off of work to enjoy the 1st lesson and that was the same day we went to the fair....and I sneak-ily snapped some pics with my phone:

Since James had the wonderful opportunity to swim with her, I'll let him take it from here!

Last month I had the pleasure of taking Kapri to the Shrimp & Kipper Swimming Lessons at the Encinitas YMCA.  Each Tuesday and Thursday morning from 10-10:30am, we would meet with our instructor Rebecca, and anywhere from 2-5 other lil’ students and parents. The class would start off by us singing a song saying hi to everyone, going into the middle of the class circle, and then saying bye everyone while moving away from the circle.  Next, we would practice our kicks swimming around & around singing another song, of course, starting with kicking slow to fast, ending in a 360 circle swirl that would make Kapri say, “wheee” and giggle everytime. 

Then Rebecca would have us split up and practice swimming one-on-one with our Lil’ Guppies.  She would grab us toys to throw and retrieve.  Kapri would always choose the purple octopus and quickly began throwing it in the pool far away and Michael Phelps’n it to the toy.  We would practice on our strokes, form, and back-kicks during this session and even work with swimming noodles and kick boards.

By the end of this period the class would almost be over and we would join up in a circle and try a free swim to Rebecca and back to parent.  Kapri was a little hesitant at first, but became the only swimmer to want to do it more than once every time after that.  After a few tears and swallowed water from the other Lil Guppies during this session we would end by once again singing a song (my singing voice was glorious after these two weeks) to complete the fun filled 30 minutes of splish-splashing. 

After class we would shower up and head home, but on the last day of class they had a middle section of the pool-grounds where a water-park like play area with waterfalls, sprayers, and inter active water spouts was open to everyone.  So Kapri and about 20 other kids ran amuck, screaming and laughing for what seemed like forever.  That day alike after every swimming class she passed out for 2-3 hours after a quick snack and shower. 

Spending the quality time with my daughter will never be forgotten and I’m just glad I had the opportunity to help teach, swim, and be there for my Lil’ Princessa as she grows into a beautiful girl and better swimmer…Next it’s on to the Little Skippers Group (Pikes) J. 

- James

She completed the class with this fun 'certificate':

I'd like to get her in further lessons - there is one a step up from what she did, that is parent/child in water... but the instructor said she could skip that & go strait to the teacher/child in the water lessons. Which of course I later found to be more expensive, ah, go fig. So, maybe we'll wait til after the summer (when costs go down for off-season), then enroll her. In the meantime, and I got her an awesome chest/arm floaty thing at Target that she absolutely loves & it works great!!