Today was Mother's Day for us, since like I previously mentioned, Layla and I will be in San Diego tomorrow. Layla came home from school yesterday with a sweet card she had made with her hand prints. I love that she is in school now and surprises me with the cutest things. 
My niece, mom, Layla and I all went to get our toes done. Pedicures are always awesome, especially when the kiddos get theirs done with us. 
I got home to a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and tulips from the best husband ever! Since living in Germany and witnessing the gorgeous tulips that bloom all over Europe, I can honestly say that is my all time favorite flower! 
Then it was time to give MY mom her Mother's Day present. My brother and I went in on it together. A canvas of all 3 grand kids on time out, such a priceless picture (and one of my mom's favorites). 
It's always fun to have Mother's Day on/around my birthday, it's like I get to celebrate twice as much since I have 2 days so close together. Thanks for making my Mother's day super happy, Layla, I love you so much!
Of course my daughter would be shopping in her own closet, looking at (pretend) price tags, asking if clothes are on sale, and then adding them to her shopping cart. Yup, she's mine alright. 
Tonight my family and I celebrated my 25th birthday with dinner at Applebees and my absolute favorite cake of all time from Costco (vanilla cake with vanilla cheesecake filling! Heaven!). I am leaving to San Diego on Sunday and my mom leaves to Hawaii on Monday so the only day for us to all be together and celebrate was tonight. I was lucky to be able to have my mom, dad, brother, niece, nephew and Layla all there to celebrate with me. The only person we were missing was Ed, and he is a very important part of the family (who was also MIA on last years birthday). But he made up for it with a birthday package that arrived just in time, right before dinner. He comes up with the best birthday gifts! I have been wanting a door sign from Germany since the day I moved there, but of course I just never got around to getting one (typical of me) and he knew that so he sent one of those. He also bought me a digital photo frame and uploaded a memory stick full of pictures of Layla and him (my two favorite people, how did he know?). He's such a sweetie. My parents got me a ton of cute things too, I'm so lucky to have a mom who knows me inside and out! And then of course there is my brother's gift, he always goes above and beyond, ever since I was a little kid, to get me the most unique gifts. This year's gift? Front row concert tickets for Rhianna/Ke$sha and 2 nights at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (in July). I think this ranks as one of the best birthdays ever (aside from Ed not being here). And since we're moving in August, who knows when I'll be back to California for another birthday? I had to go out with style on my 25th! :) 
I think my favorite pool in the valley is at the Esmeralda. It is so much fun for the kids because it has a beach and a shallow end so they can go crazy playing and while we obviously still keep an eye on them, we probably wouldn't even have to. Actually, my first job was at the Esmeralda, I was a pool attendant. It was such a fun place to work, until it got to be 125 degrees outside, that was a little much for me. Anyway, Desirae and I had planned a trip there last week but of course the one day we decide to go, it was super windy and cold. I mean, how many times throughout the year is the weather like that here? Basically just the one time we want to go. So we rescheduled for today! We had so much fun and ended up staying there for a couple of hours. Desirae and I talked while the kids played. They made sand castles, had swimming races, made chocolate cake, and explored the all the different pools. It was a very fun day and I got a nice tan, I might add! 
Only in California can you wake up wearing a summer night gown, throw on some pink diamond sandals, and feed ducks in your front yard. What a life! I was in the bedroom with Layla when my Dad told us that two ducks were walking past the house and to hurry up outside so we could see them. Layla ran to put her sandals on and I ran to get the bread (and camera)! They were already about 3 houses down and I thought we had missed them, until my mom started calling them like you would call a cat. You know ducks are domesticated when they walk over to you after treating them like a cat or dog. Layla had so much fun feeding them, it was such a fun way to wake up. Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon and waste some more of our bread! :) 
We're one month closer to moving to Colorado and being with Daddy. I cannot wait for our family to be together again! The day after Ed left back to Germany, Layla and I went out and bought a calendar and every single morning she crosses out a day. Sometimes she'll put an X, sometimes she'll put a D, sometimes she'll put an A, but she has a blast crossing off every day knowing that it's one day closer to Daddy. She got to turn it over to May today and was so excited, here's hoping for a great May! 
My niece, mom, Layla and I all went to get our toes done. Pedicures are always awesome, especially when the kiddos get theirs done with us. 
I got home to a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and tulips from the best husband ever! Since living in Germany and witnessing the gorgeous tulips that bloom all over Europe, I can honestly say that is my all time favorite flower! 
Then it was time to give MY mom her Mother's Day present. My brother and I went in on it together. A canvas of all 3 grand kids on time out, such a priceless picture (and one of my mom's favorites). 
It's always fun to have Mother's Day on/around my birthday, it's like I get to celebrate twice as much since I have 2 days so close together. Thanks for making my Mother's day super happy, Layla, I love you so much!
