California Taylors

New Moon with Teenagers

2009-11-22T20:30:00.000-08:00

NEW MOON with friends Midnight showing!!!

Lake Buena Vista or Bust

2009-03-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

So we did it! Welcome to the trailer park - Taylor's. We expect to spend a great deal of the summer and spring break and whenever we can get out of Bako in this pop up trailer. So. . . We took it on a "trial run" to BV this past weekend thinking to ourselves that we will just go and be able to tell the things we need better by just doing it. Here were the results: (I do say this in love and some points may be slightly exaggerated.)

1. Use the potty installed in the camper - 4:00 a.m. with Bradley. . thumbs down.
2. Remember to turn on the fridge, so in the morning the salami sandwich doesn't smell so ripe.
3. Bring an ax or hatchet so we don't have to pretend we are boy scouts.
4. Ask fellow campers for help. They are really quite nice.
5. Don't do anything to the heater. It does work great!!!!!
6. Purchase a reliable hose- so we don't create a nother Lake BV. . . (note to self)
7. PAck more smores. and sodas. (Anti- bacterial soap wouldn't hurt either.)
8. Pack another pair of chonnies for Bradley.
9. Don't let your kids throw rocks at neighbor's boats.
10. Double check to make sure trailer is secured to Yukon. ;)
11. Use child lock in camper, so friendly neighbor doesn't have to tell you your baby is at the lake.
12. Play board games, but let Harrison win. Pack two dice, not just one.
13. Reassure Karlee there are no bears.
14. Let Bradley make the owl sound at 4:10 a.m. to wake up entire camp.
15. Bradley likes our "smashed house"
16. Granite is valuable and is found in the lake.
17. burnt marshmellows are still up for debate.
18. Just because we had the smallest trailer, the most kids, no boat, and no idea doesn't make us any less welcome. :)
19. Bradley if you think it is just a fart, you may want to check your undies just in case.
20. 100 text in one night Alexa- Good for you!

We had a great time. Next Spring Break in Malibu, trips to Pismo and possibly to Utah this summer.

MY LAST 3 MONTHS IN A SLIDESHOW!

2009-02-04T18:56:00.001-08:00

Wrestling. . . No Thanks!

2009-01-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I am trying to hide. Harrison has ten fourth graders over for a birthday party and sleep over. I put Mike in charge, so for the past hour they have been wrestling. Of course they all have taken their shoes off so now my whole house smells like foot odor and the pre-adolesent B.O. So, to say they least I am hiding in my computer room. I served dinner and opened presents, patiently watched them jump in between the 56 degree pool and the 102 degree hot tub, cleaned up banana splits, root beer, pepperoni pizza and skittles and dried ten swim suits and towels. Can we talk about the noise level? They do not know how to use their inside voice. THEY ARE HAVING A GREAT TIME. I wouldn't change a thing.

So just to keep you all filled in I am going to give you a brief synapses of my families last 2 months. Here goes:

ALEXA turned 12 Nov. 29. no party this year.She started YW at church. She loves it. She has GREAT leaders. She will give her first talk in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. She is beautiful!!! She has been training for track and is trying to run under a seven minute miles. She just ran it in 7:02. She has also started babysitting for real money. (We tried to pay her $1 an event.) Love that girl! SHe has recently been having dizzy spells. We and the doctors are trying to figure it our. She had a CT scan last week. I'll keep you posted.

HARRISON turned 10 Jan 12. Last week I had all of my kids home sick. We actually had to cancel his birthday party and reschedule it. Oh my, he was sad. We felt awful for him. He will start baseball in the spring. He made the honor roll in school.

KARLEE just had her birthday too. Dec. 3. The only thing she wanted was to go to gymnastics class. She got that for her birthday along with her FANTASTIC princess party. She had some of her friends over for dress up, make up and a tea party. Pictures will follow. Alexa and two of her good friends dressed up in bridesmaids dresses and helped all of the girls. They were so good to the little boys and girls. Fun times. We told Karlee that the class wouldn't start until Jan, so waited and practiced at home patiently. She could already do the splits, she perfected her cartwheel, and back bend. HEr first class was a pre-K class. Bradley went too. BRadley was bouncing off the walls while Karlee was the pricess and great listener. After just one class they moved her up to level 1 and now the team coach is looking for her to join her team. Mike and I couldn't be more proud of her dedication. And just to brag a little more my preschool girl- Karlee can read better than any of my kids at school, even my second graders.

BRADLEY 3 HE's a SUNBEAM. I can hardley believe my little snuggly, nursing baby started Sunbeams. HE has grown up so fast. His first week he was true to form and always out of his seat and yelling, "Mom- Hey Mom I talking to you" In the middle of sharing time. Music time wasn't much better either- He would just yell for dad. He is all boy. He loves to be in charge and has been caught tackling Harrison (don't tell) He has started to show some interest in his letters, so we might try that out. He does go to gymnastics. It makes him sleep better. Love that boy!!!

ME!!! The same old Mom, Teacher, Primary President life. Probably in that order. I love each job tremendously. Each one is very rewarding. We had a great Chrsitmas. We both have been watching seasons of the Office, Heroes, Prison Break and Lost. That could be my favorite thing to do once the babies are asleep- watch a movie on our projected 128" screen.I have made a few goals for this next year: 1. Lose 15-20 pounds. 2. Spend more time with family- camping hopefully. 3. Get out of debt- minus home and car. 4. Give more service. 5. Pick up a new hobby. (it may be running. I have started running with Alexa. I am really bad. Our first day we ran to the country club- 1 mile, got in the hot tub, then had lunch. Then finally ran, but mostly walked, the last mile home. Total time 2 hours. LOL. It was great mother daughter time.

MIKE I don't know how I can function without him. HE is the first one up in the morning. He gets the babies up and dressed and their lunch packed, while I am still getting ready. HE LOVES GOLF. If he isn't golfing he is watching it on TV.- That and UFC. He is the Primary chorister. (his favorite job ever!)

Ok- so I am good for another 2 months right???

I will post a cummulative pack of pics soon. XOXOXOXOX

Just to check it off my list to do

2008-11-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

You may say I have been out of commission lately. I just finished a marathon scrapbooking week. I completed 220 pages of scrapbooking. It is 3 whole albums. I had over 1000 pictures. I hadn't scrapbooked in almost a year and a half. I was telling some of my friends that since I have been called as a the Primary President I haven't scrapbooked at all. I decided that I couldn't let that hold me back. I spent a week organizing all the photos and finding the right paper. That was about 1/3 of the trouble. My husband tried to be supportive. I have eaten chicken and corn over the Pismo Beach 4 page layout. Several sodas have come in and out of the room, my husband may have slept in another room just 1 out of the 7 nights. I may call A scrapbook magazine and they of course will want to hire me, and pay me mega bucks, and fly me around the world, and . .. ya right. My kids love them.

Here are a few more things I need to check off my list in the next couple of weeks:

Get my house ready for Thanksgiving company- only 10.
Make Karlee's Princess PArty Birthday cards- her birthday is Dec. 3
After much deliberation - Karlee's party will be on her birthday. Princess Tea party at my house!
Buy Karlee a present.
Buy Alexa a present. Her birthday is Nov. 29. She is on an off year. She will graduate from Primary.
Buy food for Thanksgiving feast for 120 first graders.
Write my lesson plans.
Play with my kids- Karlee can do the monkey bars now and ride a bike.
Color my hair- don't tell. It is Ghetto looking right now.
Be inspired to fill a nursery and two Sunbeam calling for church.
Collaborate and plan the final Primary activity for the year.
Make 2009 Primary goals.
Prepare sharing time for Sunday.
Oh ya- I have to work everyday this week. 7-3
Pump it up party on Thursday.
TWILIGHT movie on Friday 7:30. I am taking 5 girls including Alexa, then a huge sleepover@ the Taylor house.
Go to baptism on Saturday.
Sell at least 100 items on Ebay. I think Alexa is going to be hired. She works the computer better than I do sometimes.
Think really hard about going to the gym. It takes a lot of time to think about it!
Lose 5 pounds.
RELAX!!!!
Wish me luck

HALLOWEEN PARTY 2008

2008-11-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

OK- I know I may be better suited to be a party planner. Mike absolutely hates Halloween, but I think it is so much fun. We invited some of Alexa and Harrison's friends over early in the evening on Halloween for a costume party and dinner. We had 35 show up. It was a lot of fun. I learned a few things. Junior high kids don't really want to play games. They immediately went to the farthest corner of the yard to hang out. It was fine. They were all good. We had some fun dinner treats, some costume winners and lots of pictures. Alexa was a Hippy, arlee was a witch, bradley was spiderman and harrison was a Convict. Mike and I wore out tattoos with pride. We had some fun with dry ice and with decorations. This is the third year in a row I have had a party. We'll see how long I can keep it up. The kids had a lot of fun. Happy Halloween.

The Taylors

2008-10-26T21:44:00.001-07:00

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Kern County Fair

2008-10-08T21:24:00.001-07:00

The Great Kern County Fair- Right??? We took the kids on a Thursay to the fair. We ate very unhealthy food, looked at lots of animals in 90 degree weather, weren't sure exactly what we had touched- or how many people may have touched it too. Alexa's dinner consisted of a spicy corndog, a funnel cake, kettle corn, part of a shaved ice. At 12;30 A.m. she threw it all back up. Yuck.

We do have a funny story about the fair- a few years old, but I will tell it anyway. . . . on our 1oth anniversary Mike wanted to take me on a road trip on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Karlee was just a baby-so it was a day trip. I had never really been very far on the bike. He thoght we would make it to Santa Barbara or something. Well, we didn't. (My Butt couldn't take any more than paso Robles) So we stopped there at the fair. Since it was our anniversary and we didn't have any kids - we thought it would be fun to take one of those old time photos. I dressed up like a saloon girl - and let's just say I was a nursing mother. I may have had a little cleavage. We brought the photo home and and only showed our close friends. Two years later at our own Kern county Fair we were walking by the photo shop and recognized the back drop and then looked closer and saw. . .us on display. I guess they liked us so much, we had been on display all over CA at county fairs with all my cleavage. I was quite embarrassed. All my school kids walked the fair grounds. Long story short we got a free family picture for being models and you may have seen the picture a few years ago as our Christmas card. Ask to see the other one. We might show you.

This and That-

2008-10-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

BRADLEY TURNS !!!! Bradley turned three on Septemeber 24th. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. We made cupcakes for his school. He wanted to carry them in, so of course I let him. He dropped them twice, then stepped on top of them- Oh well. I oopsed and only made 20 instead of 24, which meant they split them in half at school- which also meant that we had extras after school. The bad mom I am, I thought- "Good for me, now I don't have to make a cake." We went to Chuckie Cheese later that night- which was a stretch for me. He had a great time. We stuck 3 twisty candles into a cupcake , which had been a little bit mangled throughout the day and sang to him. He loved every minute of it. Love you Ladley!!!
Mike and I had a great time at Amy's birthday party. We kind of forgot it was a dress up party, but thanks to my great friend Cheryl- she still relished this pink jumpsuit. I have just a few questions. . . WHY??? why shoulder pads? Why hair wings? Why bangs all together? Why so much hirspray and blue eye shadow? Why hammer pants? Why pegged pants? Why bangle bracelets? All good questions, but even though I really didn't have to be groomed in the 80's I did live in Idaho , which was at least 5 years behind and I did have some BIG hair. We rode in style in an '86 Mustang (Thanks Sam) Happy birthday Amy. We did it for you!!! (I did go home and shower immediately after the party.

Granny's Funeral - Paso Robles Sept. 15, 2008

2008-09-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

We all made the trip to celebrate Mike's Grandma's 97 years on this earth. She left a long legacy. Her husband died just 4 years ago. They were married for 73 years. Mike and I also share their same anniversary. These are just a few family pics from the trip.

Alexa's First Date!

2008-08-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

Alexa actually put this together. She had a great time at her daddy Daughter date at church. She wanted to dress up like the girls in "Hairspray " the movie. She looked beautiful and had a great time. She had a corsage and pictures before. We think she is beautiful. Mike was a lucky guy.

Yard Sale Treasures

2008-07-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ok- You all probably now I frequent yard sales, and pick up things to possibly sell on Ebay. I actually hate selling stuff on ebay until I get the money. I put it off for a long time and STUFF starts collecting into piles, so for the past week our computer/quest room has been turned into the ebay room. I want to share a few fantastic deals I made.

First I picked up this JUICY COUTURE diaper bag at a yard sale for $2 and sold it for $75 plus I also made about $5 on shippping too. $78 profit

Next, I spent 50 cents at a yard sale for this American Eagle mini skirt. I sold it for $39.

I bought these True Religion Mens jeans at a yard sale for $1. I sold them for $41.

I picked up these True Religion Jeans at a consignment store and paid $20 at the time. I sold them for $70

A pair of Seven for All Mankind jeans I bought at a yard sale for $2 I sold for $43.
AWESOME!!!

New STUFF

2008-07-20T19:28:00.001-07:00

Bradley loves Spiderman and Woody from Toy Story. I find them both at a yard sale. This picture is taken in the throw all room, which is now the ebay room. I spent time yesterday listing stuff on ebay. I need to recoop some money that I have spent on the new furniture. What do you think???? I had to research complementary colors. I found out the red and the blue green fall within the complementary color scheme. I like them. I love the rug. I bought both colors of pillows to decide which ones I needed, but decided I needed both colors.

Family picture '05

2008-07-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

This is an old Photo, but we love it. Harrison doesn't have teeth, Mike is bald- oh ya, he has saved that look. I am 5 months pregnant with Bradley, happy chubby and went to my natural dark color for a time.

2008-07-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

2008-07-07T21:14:00.001-07:00

The Girl's Beach Room

2008-07-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy creating a beach room for the girls. Once I get an idea in my head, I can't forget about it. It is coming a long. I will post pictures soon.

2008-07-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Pismo Fun

2008-07-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from a fun family trip. We started in Snata Cruz. We played at the beach for awhile, then went up to the boardwalk and the kids got to ride on the rides. That night the family dropped me off in Burlingham- close to the S>F. airport. I attended a school conference there until Saturday. On Saturday the family picked me up and we went into San Francisco to Chrissy Fields near the Golden Gate Bridge. Next we went to the Exploratorium. That was an amazing place. I suggest all attend.

We spent another night with Mike's mom and then on Sunday we headed toward Pismo Beach. We were able to hit some outlets in Gilroy and in Pismo. We stayed the night in a little cottage like motel with stairs leading down the bluff to the beach. The next day we spent on the beach. It was beautiful. The sand was really fine. The cliffs were amazing. Some white as snow and right next to it a very dark black cliff. Quit the contrast. We have some great pictures. Take a look.

Let's Get Started.

2008-06-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

I am new at this blogging. I hope I get the hang of it soon.