getting to know you

we had a busy day of house hunting today and found a great beach house in the lantern village of dana point... ocean views, bamboo floors, airy and spacious layout, two fireplaces...

i'm really hoping we get it - the only thing is it costs $300 more a month than we wanted to pay

but i figure if we cut costs on other things (like no cable, no landline, etc...) then we should be able to swing it... we'll see... and i'll keep you posted!

(i'm already decorating it in my head - do any of you do that too when looking for new homes?)

anyway, i'm a little late in the game but here it is... sunday funday at it's best ;-)

getting to know you

 

1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?

bungee jump... i'm a chicken

2. When using a public restroom do you squat over the seat or sit?

if there is a seat cover then i'll sit... otherwise i'll squat

3. Favorite flower? 

orchids... can't get enough of them

4. Pedicure or manicure? 

i never get either done... but i would probably do a pedi just for the guaranteed foot massage

5. How many siblings do you have? 

one older brother, one older sister, one older step-sister, one older step-brother and one younger step-brother

6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)

um, seriously... who doesn't?

7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece? 

even though i probably shouldn't after having three kids, i still rock the bikini - i like to get my tan on... plus, i look horrid in a one piece and a tankini

8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?

i really don't shop anywhere that i hate... but i do hate  wal-mart and try to avoid it all costs.

your turn

link up at my seesters blog to play along or leave your answers in the comment section

and here is a little peak into our party we had yesterday for my step-dad

we rocked out and danced using the wii game Just Dance

a lot of fun was had by all

what did you guys do this weekend?

hope it was lovely!

xo,

kass

happy 60th birthday bob

we love you!

getting ready for church but i'll be back later to join in on keely's getting to know you blog hop

until then

xo,

kass

a little of this a little of that

yesterday i cut tyler's hair

i usually just give him a trim and layer it up a bit at the bottom

but we decided to do something a little different

 before

 after

such a good looking kid!

and all his hair... he was a little sad... 

while i was cutting ty's hair

(which took me around an hour... i had never used clippers before)

the girls, without ty and i knowing, were hiding out in ty's room

and walked into the bathroom looking like this

all decked out in tyler's clothes

pretty funny

i love how tannyn is trying to look 'hard' and tayli is copying her but ended up with pouty lips instead haha

it's friday and i usually play along with lauren's blog hop, fill in the blank friday, at the little things we do

but i thought it would make this post too long... so maybe... maybe... i'll do it later

go to her blog and check it out though... it's fun!

today i will be cleaning up the house 

and getting this project done

we're throwing my step-dad, bob, his 60th birthday party here at our house tomorrow

my mom and bob are coming (obviously)

my brother, sister-in-law and their three kids

and my step-sister and her husband

(we'll miss you keely, mike and kiddos!)

we'll be having a lot of food, three cakes and playing some games

should be fun!

sunday we'll probably continue looking for houses to rent

i'm praying we find a really cute house

at least cuter than this one

and preferably with no carpet... since i absolutely loathe carpet

i'm so excited to decorate a new space!

what are your plans for the weekend?

xo,

kass

formspring and mold

i've had the little formspring icon on the bottom of my page for about a month now 

but i've never mentioned it to you guys...

i've been asked a few questions that i've answered on there, but if any of you have anything else to ask 

please feel free to and i'll do a formspring post answering your questions later on this week

all you do is type your question in the formspring box anonymously... or not! :-)

today, i've been feeling pretty lousy

tired, cold and achey

and 

to top it off

 we have a major mold problem in our house that we are renting

we have wonderful landlords who we are grateful for and they've said they will get rid of the mold for us

but after finding some more behind and underneath our fridge last night

dan has decided that it is definitely time to move.

this is the mold behind and underneath the fridge... some of it is dust... but most of it is mold - how disgusting is this! 

this photo completely grosses me out - this mold is on the girls toy chest that sits against the wall under their window

i just checked it a week ago and there was nothing there... now this. so sick. 

dan is convinced that the mold is the reason for his year long suffering 

and it totally makes sense 

since he didn't start to get sick until four months after moving here to HB and living in this house...

anyway

we are praying for a place to live

dan wants to stay in HB for now so that the kids can continue the school year in the same schools they are in now

but i'm willing to move anywhere

and i mean anywhere

even timbuktu

seriously

how is your wednesday going?

hopefully better than mine

xo,

kass

Two Things i Love... Around my Home

time for another round of 

two things i love... around my home

here are my two things for today

i love this little chair... i found it at an antique store up north and i fell in love right away... 

i've been toying with idea of painting it but i love how it looks as is. 

my great grandma made the pillow... i have three... and i love them too

i found this great kitchen stool at the same antique store that i found my little chair at.
the gal said it was from pennsylvania
i love this little guy and he has served us very well over the years.

what are your two things? 
i would love for you to share!

to play

write a post with your two things that you are lovin or appreciating this week 

link back to me and then come back here to link up to the mcklinky so that all who have played can see your two things!

thanks to all who played along last week!

enjoy your tuesday my friends!

xo,

kass

get to know me... get to know you

whew

the weekend flew by in a flash!

friday i ended up going to blog sugar 

that the sweet and beautiful rachel from no.17 cherry tree lane threw

i wasn't sure if i was going to go 

but i'm so glad i did!

i totally forgot to take pictures 

bummer

i met some wonderful people

of course, rachel

the super stylish and gorgeous laura from ascot friday

and elsie from namaste who is a total riot

 so much fun!

i met a few others who were super sweet but sadly, i forgot to write down the name of their blogs

i hope to see them again at another blog sugar event

thank you, rachel, for a fun evening

it was so great to finally meet you! 

saturday i decided to finally spend my gift card to anthro 

that i had been sitting on since christmas

i bought the cutest shoes ever!

how cute are these? oxfords meets gladiator... and so comfy! i absolutely love them!

dan and i had fun hanging out with the girls

and enjoying a double feature date night

two movies in one night

we never do that!

today was church and then a fun dinner back there in celebration of their 14 year anniversary

where we met some more incredible people

and got to talk to tyler's youth pastor and wife 

and hear all about his amazing time at winter camp

a good weekend indeed

what did you guys do this weekend?

now onto my seesters blog hop

getting to know you

1. How often do you wash/change your sheets? not often enough.... gross, i know

2. When is your birthday? april 4, 1980... the big 30 is fast approaching!

3. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life? why yes i have! (mentioned above)

4. Brad Pitt or George Clooney? i'll take both por favor ;-)

5. If you could change one thing about your body what would it be? longer legs which in turn would make me taller

6. How often do you wash your hair? just about every day... i prefer my hair to be clean over dirty

7. Do you have pets? ruca dog... a sweet and pretty black flat coat retriever... pretty much the most tolerant  dog ever

8. How many social networks do you belong to..if you had to give up one, what would it be? three... blogger, twitter and facebook. hmmm... that's a hard question... maybe facebook?

check out keely's blog to link up

or 

leave your answers in the comment section 

sleep tight

don't let the bed bugs bite!

xo,

kass

blankity blank friday and a little hair fun

whew

it's friday

fill in the blank friday

over at

the little things we do

go link up!

1.  If I could  medal in an olympic event it would be  swimming   .

2.  If I was stranded on a deserted island I'd take    dan,      the kids    &  bear grylls  .

3.     my kids being kidnapped or murdered... and getting in a gnarly car crash (any of my loved ones)   are my most irrational fears.

4.  I'd rather   fold socks or do any other stupid chore   everyday,  than    change poopie diapers   everyday.

5.  I am   going to highlight my hair again today - two days in a row.. watch out!

6.  I should really be   changing tayli's stinky diaper - oh my how it stinks! 

7.  One of my favorite things in all the world is   laying on the beach with the warm sun beating down while reading a good book and drinking a cold beer .

either go to lauren's page

or

leave your responses in the comment section!

today my little boy is going to winter camp with our church

the first time he's ever gone away at camp

i told him to call me

but he said 

that would be too embarrassing... boys!

even though i'm going to miss my tyler

it'll be fun having the girls 

to ourselves this weekend.

yesterday i highlighted my hair myself

and 

it turned out pretty good!

it's still darker than i want it 

so i'm going to do a little bit more today

i feel like myself again

which is a great feeling!

i also layered up my hair and trimmed my bangs

if you can't tell the difference then go back to this post or this post and you'll be able to tell

what do you guys think?

what are your plans for the weekend?

anyone doing anything exciting?

tonight i'm suppose to go to blog sugar 

which is a blogger party that my friend rachel from number 17 cherry tree lane is throwing

but last night dan asked me to stay home to have a date night with him since the girls go to bed so early....

now i don't know what to do

if i end up going, i'll be sure to take lots of pictures for your viewing enjoyment!

have a lovely weekend my friends!

xo,

kass

banana cake and pillow talk

wow, thursday got here quick

happy day friends!

on the way up north this past weekend

 i finished sewing and stuffing a pillow i made my mom for her birthday

that i thought i would share with you

mucho mucho grande 

is something my mom and i say to one another following 'i love you' or instead of 'i love you' 

she started saying it to me when i was six

so it has a special meaning to us

i decided to embroider it on the pillow

these pics don't do it justice

it's much cuter in real life

a few of you mentioned in this post that you would like the recipe for my banana cake

when you say you want something

i try my best to deliver

so here it is

Banana Cake 

2c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1c. sugar

1/2c. butter (1 stick)

2 eggs

2 bananas 

(mushed... i like to use three and the really ripe dark yucky looking ones)

1tsp. vanilla

1/4c. milk

cream together butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and bananas

add dry ingredients - gradually add milk

pour into cake pans

bake at 350 for 20 minutes

Carmel Frosting

1c. brown sugar

1/4c. butter (1/2 stick)

1/4c. milk

1tsp. vanilla

cook the brown sugar, butter and milk on the stove

let melt and stir

bring it to a boil for 1 min.

take off heat

add vanilla

stir

and spoon generously onto the cake

i usually double the carmel recipe...mmmmmm

let me know if you make it 

and of course, what you think of it once you do!

enjoy your thursday my friends!

xo,

kass

weekend review part two - camping

ahhh... camping

the smell of wildflowers, the ocean, fires blazing...

getting dirty, not showering, not caring

being carefree

i love it

dan and i had a great time on our night away

we camped at el capitan state beach just north of santa barbara

a usual surf spot for the boys when we lived up north

i miss the central coast like nothing else

i pray we get to move back

sunday my mom and step-dad took the kiddos for us and dan and i cruised a little south to el cap

dan and i set up our home away from home

and then met up with my besties kim and her husband jeff and christina and her daughter juliet

we layed on the beach talking and enjoying being with one another while dan and jeff surfed

the weather was gorgeous

it felt like summer

after the gang left 

dan and i built a fire

had some beer, pita chips, hummus, cheese and bread

and of course, smores

we talked around the fire and just enjoyed relaxing and being with one another

sunday morning we woke up and made coffee using our trusty french press

which makes the BEST coffee

we took a nature walk past the creek and down to the beach

it was such a beautiful morning

you'll see why i love the central coast so very much

after our walk, we packed up camp

and headed down to the beach

i got some much needed rest - laying out and reading

while dan surfed

we had to be back by three so we packed up around two and headed back to pick up the kids

the kids were excited to see us as we were them

we hung out for awhile and played outside 

while my mom and bob took tyler to see a movie

we then headed back to santa barbara to say a quick hello to my grandparents on my dads side

and then headed back down south for our two hour trip home

all in all

a most lovely weekend 

thank you so much mom and bob - you two really blessed us!

i highly recommend you go to the central coast if you ever come to california

big sur

san luis obispo

santa barbara

are three of my most favorite places and where i grew up... 

i hope and pray that God brings us back

a socal girl i am not

how many of you have driven the coast of cali?

have you been to the central coast?

have you lived there?

i hope you all have a lovely wednesday my friends

and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my blog and peruse all of my photos

i appreciate you all dearly

xo,

kass