April Week 3

April 18-24.

Welcome to my Project Life!

It has been MANY weeks since I've posted at the Mom Creative, so please feel free to check other weeks including our vacation to London!

Enjoy and please leave a comment!! :)

Sweet Sunday Morning Snuggles :)

Monday, Monday...

Tonight we thought Em was reading books in her room...

(which she usually does at this time.)

We went to check on her a little bit later and THIS is what we found!

...unsupervised fingerpainting!

She was very good though, she put the paint in the correct containers and was using the right paper and everything--she just used WAY TOO MUCH!!

(Thank goodness for washable paint!)

Tuesday, April 20th.

Our trip to London was wonderful in so many ways...

One of which was a new found appreciation for our everyday routines :)

Wednesday, April 21st.

Time to clean up quick before the sitter comes!

Mom & Dad have a date at the opera!

Thursday, April 22nd.

Just a normal night at home.

Gotta love that.

[Please don't judge me because the bathtub's dirty.

If it makes you feel better, it's not dirt, it's bathtub crayon.]

Friday, April 23rd.

Tonight was the Band & Orchestra Parent Association Soup & Pie Dinner.

My students played well and everyone had a good time.

Afterwards we came home and snuggled on the couch, watching "Cinderella".

When the dance was coming up she put on her tiara, tu-tu, and fancy shoes to dance with her Daddy :)

Saturday Night Reading and Dance Party :)

{one of her many dance moves}

April Week 2

April 11-17, 2010

* * *

Sunday, April 11th

Emily played with Grandma Cathy in the morning. Emily was really sad when it was time for Grandma to go and it was a hard goodbye, but it was encouraging to see that she had really bonded with her Grandma :)

Monday, April 12th

It's good to be home. Even with the mess. :)

Today was a LONG day. (I had rehearsal for "Annie Jr." after school.)

I didn't really have to deal with jet lag when we were in London, but now that we're back home I've been EXHAUSTED around 4 or 5 in the afternoon and waking up in the middle of night around 3 am wide awake and ready to start my day! Ugh.

Tuesday, April 13th.

Is it really only Tuesday?

Today right after school I picked up Em from Kathy's and then went to the park to take pictures of this adorable little boy.

Lots of photographers say that 2 year olds are the hardest age to get good pictures of, and I think I have to agree. We had a lot of fun, and I like a few of these pictures, but let's just say he made me work to get the shots I was able to get! :)

Once I got back home Pete left for an orchestra gig so it was a girls' night in for Em and me.

***Do you use Photoshop and Blogger?***

Please help me! :)

I couldn't get any of the photos that I touched up in Photoshop to open.

The pictures here are all .jpg and the photoshop ones are .psd

What do I have to do to upload them with Blogger???

Wednesday, April 14th.

Today was a long day of teaching. On Wednesdays, in addition to teaching three 45 minute classes at the middle school I also teach 15 private string lessons. FIFTEEN!

Anyway, as much as I love my job, I was GLAD to be home!

[[no photo]]

Thursday, April 15th.

The week is almost over. . . I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. . .

[[no photo]]

Friday, April 16th.

TGIF!!!! I lot of my colleagues said this week seemed to fly by. That was NOT true for me! I am SO glad it's Friday!!! AND we're all home tonight! :) Sounds like a good night to just hang out and relax... or... prep for a garage sale in the morning. It was a bit of work, but we had fun.

Saturday, April 17th.

Jenn came over last night and this morning to set up, and we had a pretty successful garage sale if I do say so myself. This photo is what was left afterwards. Still a lot of junk, but a lot less than this morning, and some extra cash, too! :)

NOW it's time to relax with a girls night again since Pete's at another gig. After Daddy left Emily wanted to go to the park, so we went and took the camera along and I love the pictures we captured!

{She's showing us how old she is}

Have a great week!!!

April Week 1

April 4-10, 2010

Not Your Typical Easter Photos...

I was sad to not celebrate Easter the way we normally do, at our church... with our family...

but our traditions do not make Christ's miraculous resurrection and gift of eternal life any more miraculous or real. "Christ the Lord is Risen Today! Alleluia!"

We celebrated Easter. Just not the way we usually do.

Instead we boarded a plane and flew to London!

Monday evening, after an exclusive evening tour of Buckingham Palace

Tuesday night at the Queens' Theatre (where Pete's show was a few years ago)

We had just seen Les Mis and used the mirror for a photo op.

Wednesday.

In front of Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church.

Unfortunately photos aren't allowed inside.

Trafalgar Square on our walk back to our hotel Thursday night.

Friday at Hyde Park.

Yep. I took a picture of another man's butt :)

Our last night in London.

Cheers!

Saturday.

Back home with our little cutie!

We were SO happy to see her again!!

Spring Break in London

I think it's time to share some photos from our amazing spring break vacation in London!

Thanks Grandma Cathy for taking care of our precious little girl for us!!

We left Los Angeles on Sunday late afternoon. Funny story... we went to a restaurant near our gate after getting through security and customs. I was a bit anxious about traveling so far from home without Em, so I thought a glass of wine might help take the edge off. I had just finished my drink (just one glass... just wine...) but as I stood up everything seemed to be moving. I immediately sat back down and said something to Pete about being surprised to really be feeling the wine.... and then I realized everything was moving--the tv in the corner was swinging, plates were sliding on the table--it was an earthquake! :) After calling home to find out that everyone was OK I was relieved and able to start relaxing. (Until we felt jolting aftershocks from a different quake in Northern California. The first one was all the way down in Mexico!)

We had a 10.5 hour flight on Virgin Atlantic, and it was amazing. Individual TV screens on the seat back in front of you with 60 some movies (new ones!) and hundreds of TV shows... for free. Free wine, fantastic food (relatively speaking), comfortable reclining seats, free eye masks and other travel accoutrements... it was wonderful.

We had a nonstop flight and then landed on Monday afternoon at Heathrow.

We took the tube to Leicester Square and then walked to our hotel.

At the hotel we checked in and they gave us some free upgrades.

Then we crashed for an hour or so, and then we were off to visit the Queen ;)

In front of Buckingham Palace, after our tour.

Tuesday morning. In front of Pete's old flat. On our way for coffee at Caffe Nero.

hm. still on our way to coffee. had to take a picture of this sign. there were people standing by it. it was awkward. having this photo is worth it though. besides...i'll never see them again.

After our ahh-MAZ-ing coffee--well, chai latte for me--we went to The British Museum

Cleopatra

After a long day at the museum and walking around town we got ready to go to Les Mis.

It was at the Queens' Theatre (Which is also where Pete's show was).

Inside the theatre, after Les Mis

Wednesday morning. It was a little cold and misty out but we stopped for a few photos on our way to Westminster Abbey.

After Westminster Abbey we hopped back on the tube, went to Harrods, then a yummy lunch at an Italian restaurant, a quick stop in the Victoria and Albert Museum, then back 'home' to the hotel for a nap before going out to Lowlander's Pub for some Belgian strawberry beer and fish'n'chips.

Trafalgar Square on our way back 'home'.

Another wonderful morning at Caffe Nero.

Stopping at a park to write out some postcards to send back to the states.

Walking across the River Thames on our way to the Tate Modern.

After our visit to the Tate we stopped at the Ped bridge for a hot dog :)

You can see St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

After a LONG, BEAUTIFUL walk back we went shopping at Covent Garden.

Thursday night we bought discounted tickets and went to see Jersey Boys..

then a bike taxi...

then more strawberry beer at our favorite pub...

followed by a beautiful walk home. :)

On Friday morning we took the tube to Hyde Park. We were walking to see the Marble Arch when I think the conversation went something like this:

Pete: blah, blah, something I don't remember...

Me: Uh, wait, Pete--check out that guy's butt!

Pete: Huh?! A guy's butt? You do remember you're here with your husband, right?

Me: No, yeah...I mean of course babe, & no offense to your butt, but LOOK! {take out camera}

Pete: You're kidding, right, you're not really going to take a picture... yeah, you did. Poor guy.

After our adventures in the park, we hopped back on the tube and went to Notting Hill.

We took a breather and had some gelato and then continued to Portobello Road.

We did some shopping at the markets and among our purchases was a copy of Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities" (Pete's favorite book.)

Our wonderful hotel :)

Friday night we went to hear the Royal Philharmonic play an all Shostakovich concert. It was supposed to be conducted by Maxim Shostakovich, but he was "unwell" and hospitalized in Moscow. :( It was still a great concert though. :)

Our last night in this beautiful city!

:) Cheers!