Our little pumpkin is a…

We know the gender of Baby Bug! And we’re ready to share with you! Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. The final results were Girl: 11 votes, Boy: 9 votes, Velociraptor: 6 votes. We’ll see who was correct.

Since our families live out of town (or rather, we live out of town from where both of our families are) it would have been a little hard to put together a gender reveal party that they all could have participated in, in the same time zone. So we had to get creative and find a way to surprise them with the gender reveal without them having to be here and without having to try to find a time for everyone to be on group chat on Skype or Google+.

So here’s what we came up with:

Dave and I found out the gender of the baby at the ultrasound appointment and then kept our mouths shut. That night we made cake pops with either pink or blue cake mix inside, decorated them like pumpkins (because it’s October) and mailed them off to family members to bite into.

Every family group opened their box at different times and then some groups were even able to Skype with us (one-on-one) as they bit into their cake pops. It was a really fun way to share the news and to watch people’s reactions!

So, I bet you’re wondering what Baby Bug is. Here’s YOUR cake pop…

 

Our little pumpkin is a…

 

BOY!!

A new favorite photo

A couple of months ago I posted about a cool aspect of my job where I got to meet some famous artists who were scheduled to perform this summer at the winery where I work.

Well, I wasn’t able to get a photo with all of the artists who visited this summer, but Dave and I were able to have our photo taken with…

… wait for it…

STEVE MARTIN! Check out our fun photo:



I’m glad Steve was such a good sport ;-)

Go Rams!

While we’ve been in California for almost a year it still doesn’t feel like the familiar place that Colorado was for us… at least not yet. So when Dave and I received an email inviting us to the Colorado State University (CSU) football game against San Jose we jumped at the chance to be a part of the alumni group!

On Saturday Dave and I dressed up in our CSU gear and headed to San Jose to cheer on our beloved Rams.

We certainly felt at home among a couple hundred CSU fans in green and gold. At one point we forgot that we weren’t back in Colorado! Even though our team lost we were glad to have been there to cheer on our favorite college team. GO RAMS!

Wrecking Crew Orchestra video

Have you seen this video yet? All I can say is, wow.

Wrecking Crew Orchestra, a dance group from Japan, performs an awesome routine with light suits to some catchy music (including one song from the new Tron soundtrack) and it is wonderfully choreographed and timed. I am totally impressed with their creativity and skill. Dave and I couldn't stop watching yesterday! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Happy Monday!

Blogging Bible Study

Have you ever read Jenn's blog, Knee-Deep In Munchkin Land? Well, if not, you should. But besides being a great blogger, rock star blog designer and great friend she is also starting a blogging/twitter bible study. Isn't that a great idea?!?

I have signed up to participate and I am so excited to read Sacred Marriage with a group of (what seems to be) wonderful women! We will be reading a chapter every two weeks, blogging about the chapter we read, meeting up on Twitter to chat about the book, then post our prayer requests in a private Facebook group.

Sound like fun to you? Head over to Jenn's blog post about the study for more details and to sign up. I hope you'll join us!

My Midsummer Night’s Swap Package!

I received my Midsummer Night’s Swap package from my partner Laurie over at Life In Motion. In case you missed it, the purpose of the swap was to swap items that you would use on a summer evening.

Laurie and I chatted over email about what we like to do on summer evenings and I shared with her that we love to grill (well, Dave grills, but I love to prepare the food and eat it!) and have a glass of wine on our patio. This is what Laurie sent me:

The are skewers, a book, corn tray and holders set, frozen popsicle molds, burger seasoning and a sandwich & chip basket set. How fun! I know Dave and I will definitely enjoy using these items throughout the summer. The seasoning smells so good and I can’t wait to use it on some hamburgers or steak this week! Yum!

Laurie, thank you so much for the wonderful treats! This was certainly a fun summer pick-me-up!

Be sure to go and check out Laurie’s blog over at Life In Motion! Thanks again, Laurie!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

It’s time again to link up with Jamie for What I’m loving Wednesday!

I’m loving restarting morning workouts with Dave. We are trying very hard to do some sort of exercise on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The only hard part is getting up when that alarm clock goes off!

I’m loving being back from vacation and spending more time with this sweet little guy.

I’m loving that my sister, Kelly, turns 21 on Friday! We have some fun things planned to help her celebrate this milestone!

I’m loving that July 4th is on Monday! It is my favorite holiday of the year because there is no pressure to spend time with certain people and it is basically a free day to hang out with whoever is available, have a picnic with yummy food and enjoy the night-time fireworks! There is nothing better!

I’m loving that we already got out tickets to see the final Harry Potter movie at 12:03 a.m. on July 15th! Dave and I really like the Harry otter movies and we’re excited to see the finale on the big screen. Have you seen the previews yet? It looks pretty awesome…

I’m loving the fun summer blog swap I’m hosting along with Jenn and Malisa! Have you signed up yet? You have until July 5th to sign up, so do it soon! Just click the button below to get more info.

<center><a href="http://dandelion-chronicles.blogspot.com/2011/06/midsummer-nights-swap.html " title="A Midsummer Night’s Swap"><img src="http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac293/munchkin_land_designs/Buttons/SummerSwap2.png" alt="A Midsummer Night’s Swap"></a>

And I’m loving my super smart and super sweet husband!

What are you loving on this beautiful Wednesday? Have a great day!

A Midsummer Night's Swap!

Jenn, Malisa, and I have put our heads together to come up with a fun summer pick-me-up. After some brainstorming and numerous email exchanges we have come up with A Midsummer Night’s Swap! We think it would be a lot of fun to swap things that we would use on a summer night among all of the fun bloggers out there.

Here's how it works...

1. Become a follower of one of our blogs that you are not already a follower of (if you don’t already follow all of us):
Jenn – Knee-Deep in Munchkin Land
Malisa – Sanity in Small Doses
Sarah – The Dandelion Chronicles

2. Fill out the form on the blog you choose to follow and submit! You must submit the form by July 5.

3. Leave a comment below to let everyone know you are participating.

4. Grab our A Midsummer Night’s Swap button below, and tell your friends / fellow bloggers about this fun summer swap! Blog about it, tweet about it, put it on Facebook and even put the button on your side bar! The more the merrier!

<a href="http://dandelion-chronicles.blogspot.com/2011/06/midsummer-nights-swap.html" title="A Midsummer Night’s Swap"><img src="http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac293/munchkin_land_designs/Buttons/SummerSwap2.png" alt="A Midsummer Night’s Swap"></a>

After July 5th-

1. By July 9th you will get an email from one of us giving you information on your swap partner. We will mix and match people from all of our blogs. Get to know your partner by going to their blog and emailing one another.

2. Go shopping to find an item that you would use on a summer evening! We have come up with some examples to get you started:

Grilling sauces
Corn on the cob handle things
Citronella candles
Small tiki torches
Outdoor lights
Napkin rings
Fun plastic or disposable plates
Picnic blanket
Ice cream scoop
Ice cream bowls
Tablecloth/placemats
CDs with songs that remind you of summer
Kabob sticks
Marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers for s’mores
Scents that remind you of summer

Please, don’t spend more than $20 on your swap item.

3. Mail out your swap package by July 18th.

4. When you get your package, blog about it! Be sure to link back your partner and show us a picture of your fun gift. Also - come back to our blogs on July 25th to link back up and show others what you got in the swap.

We hope you'll join up and share some fun summer items!


REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.
Be sure to check back for future swaps!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

WILW - When I first saw this I thought someone was posting about Wil Wheaton. Ha! Clearly I have been watching too much of The Big Bang Theory...

What it really stands for is:

This is my first time participating, so here goes nothing!

I'm loving that despite the financial strain of the situation, I only have a four day work week for the next ten weeks! But shhhh, don't tell Dave ;-)

I'm loving that my youngest sister, Erin, has decided to go to college at the same school that both my sister, Kelly, and I attended!

I'm loving that our local drive-in opens this weekend! $6 to view two newly released films that I can enjoy in the comfort of my car, eating my own food and can even bring Gromit along? Yes, please!

I'm loving that my birthday is this weekend and I get to spend some more quality time with Dave!

And I'm LOVING my wonderful husband!

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! 

Happy Friday!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

To continue on the video theme...

This may be one of the cutest and most creative things I've seen retelling the Christmas Story. So on this Christmas Eve day enjoy this video and remember why we are celebrating this week. Merry Christmas!

Digital Christmas

I saw this fun video on You Tube telling the Christmas Story in a fun and social 21st century way. Enjoy!

Novembeard - Day 24

I know, it’s December. But since Dave started Novembeard late, we’re still going!

 
Dave’s neck got a little itchy so we allowed him to shave his neck area. His beard hairs are about 6 millimeters long. I’m not sure if that a good or bad thing… Anyway, Dave is going to keep this going for a little while so we’ll see how long he can stand it. He did say it was nice to have a beard after he biked to work in the 50 degree December weather so I wonder how long he will actually keep this going. I guess we’ll see!

Novembeard - Day 15

Take a look ay my hairy husband.

Dave is starting to complain that his neck is itching and bothering him. So do you think we should allow him to shave just his neck area? I mean, his beard would still be there, it would just be more comfortable for him - and he would look a little less like a mountain man. Thoughts? Leave your comment below!

Novembeard - Day 12

We have a beard! It’s not a very long beard, but still a beard!

It no longer looks like Dave forgot to shave for a few days, there is definitely a defined beard there. We’ll see how long it gets!

Novembeard - Day 9

Dave says that on the ninth day of Novembeard, his beard is not itching and this experience isn’t as uncomfortable as he thought it would be… yet. We’ll see how the next few weeks go!

Novembeard - Day 6

Its day 6 of Novembeard and Dave definitely looks like he hasn’t shaved in 6 days.

He’s looking pretty scruffy! At this point, kissing him is difficult because his growing facial hair is really poky. I hope this phase passes soon!

Novembeard - Day 4

Its day 4 of Novembeard and Dave hasn’t shaved since Wednesday morning.

You can see there is a little stubble growing and it is pretty dark and full. Since Dave grows facial hair pretty quickly it will be interesting to see how fast a beard will appear. Stay tuned!

Novembeard - Day 1

Yesterday was Dave’s first day of participation in Novembeard, a silly, crazy thing people do for amusement where a man shaves his face at the beginning of November and just lets his facial hair grow until he can’t stand it anymore. I know, I know, its kind of stupid, but we hope it amuses you just a bit during November.

Dave had to start a few days late because he gave a presentation at a conference on Tuesday and needed to look his best. Yesterday we took pictures of Dave with his usual facial hair before the shave (on the left) and after the full shave (on the right). He looks so young without the goatee!

We’ll be updating this blog with a new picture every few days to track Dave’s progress and see how much facial hair grows in before he can’t stand it anymore and decides to shave. Here we go!