Happy Birthday Sweet Isabella!

Yesterday was Bella's birthday and she woke up to a table full of pink presents and was so excited! She requested that we have heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, so we did. Then she got to open her presents and she looks as happy as she was. She was thrilled with the variety of presents.

After we got ready for the day she got to watch Mary Poppins. Wow, I had no idea how long that show was! I'm not sure if I am going to be able to let her watch it as often as she wants because it takes up half the day.

After Mary Poppins we went to McDonald's and played at the play place. It didn't seem to be the one she had in mind to play at but after going to two we just went to that one because I wasn't catching on to where the one was she had in her head.

Then it was time to get ready for her dance rehearsal. How, fun to get all dressed up and wear a pretty costume and make-up and go dance on a big stage on your birthday! Luckily she thought it was fun too. There will be more of these pictures to come after the actual recital.

After the rehearsal we ran home on put on our swimming suits and went for a quick swim at the gym. She is getting to be quite the little swimmer and is excited to finally start lessons in July.

Then we had told her that after dinner we would be taking her somewhere special for her birthday, just her and Mom and Dad. (Thank you Matt and Jessica for watching Gracie) We were about to go and she came out of her room and said, ok I'm ready for my date. It was very cute.
We had planned on taking her to La Dip Fondue. It is a fancy fondue restaurant with a big strawberry on the front of it. She has often asked to go to the strawberry place. Well, it isn't a place you just go to for any old reason. (even though we did that once on accident and that is why she even knows what the place it) So we were going to take her there and let her dip away in a pot of chocolate. Well, we pull up to it and the sign is gone and they are closed down. We felt so crappy! I didn't want to disappoint her and it made me so sad. So we thought about going to the Melting Pot in Rocklin or downtown Sacramento. We asked her if she wanted to go to another dipping place or to the Cheesecake Factory. The CF is not quite as far and very yummu too. So she chose the CF and said she knew it was very special place too because we had been there for Dad's birthday. Whew.... that was close. So here, we are at Cheesecake.

This is a little napkin trick her daddy taught her and she thinks it is pretty funny. She looks pretty darn cute, you should see Bryan when he does it.

She looked in the glass case with all the cheesecakes and desserts when we got there and we told her she could pick any one she wanted. She picked the enormous chocolate cake they have. She quite enjoyed some of it and we brought the rest home.:)

She said she had a very "special" day, which is how she wanted us to refer to it rather than her "birth"day. We love you so much our little Beautiful Bella and you certainly are special!

My first TAG response.

So I got tagged for the first time the other day and then got another one right after it. I will respond to the first one and see if I ever get to the second one. I am in need of something theraputic today and I am hoping this will help:) Here's hopin'!

5 Things on my list to do today:
1. Laundry (Bryan informed me this morning of his "sock situation." The situation is that he has none. oops.)
2. Birthday Party errands (it takes a lot to pull off a good party)
3. Clean the house (always a work in process)
4. Spend quality time with the girls (I have to make a concious effort or I spend my day doing all of the other things on the list)
5. Relax! (I have been way too anxious lately)
Things that should be on the list but are not: clean all the sheets, make a menu and go grocery shopping, clean the clutter off the shelf in my room, scrub the bathrooms, clean off the computer desk, make VT appointments, work on Gracie's baby book, ect., ect. -and the anxiety continues.

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. Yogurt
2. fruit
3. chips and crackers
4. candy
5. any other kind of treat!

5 Things I would do if I were a sudden millionaire:
1. Buy a stinkin' HOUSE!
2. Furnish my stinkin' house.
3. Buy a stinkin' house for friends and family that need one.
4. Put away enough money for my kids to go to any college of their choice.
5. Put away enough money to fly and see my family whenever I want to.

5 Bad Habits: (Yikes)
1. Stressing and worrying too much
2. Not getting going quick enough in the morning (0ne of the causes of my stress)
3. Eating too many treats
4. Reading celebrity gossip
5. checking my email too much ( I crave interaction with the outside world)

5 Places I have lived:
1. Colorado
2. Utah
3. China
4. Maryland
5. California

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Burger Bar
2. Provo Floral
3. DC Florist
4. Wife
5. Mom

5 Things people don't know about me:
1. I love playing the saxophone and being part of a band and I miss it.
2. I love tap dancing and taking dance lessons and I miss it.
3. My house usually "looks" clean, but don't look too close because I hate to scrub stuff.
4. I know probably way more than a girl should know about The Lords of the Rings series and so does Bella. (Thank you Bryan)
5. I consider myself an accomplished slalom water-skier. (only compared to some)

OK, I am now sitting here wondering if this was theraputic at all. Nope! I'll have to try something else.

Let our Rock Band Rock Your World!

Introducing Adolf Shatz! Our group has been together for a while now and we have been touring playing at all different venues in Europe for the last few months. We are now playing all over the states. Contact our band manager to book a show in your area (because we have one.) You can also look for our tour bus driving us around from city to city (because we have one with our name on it!) Also search the skies for our personal jet taking us to different gigs from state to state (We have one of those too!) Check out your local record store for our latest album titled "Adolf Shatz the Best of." (It has a picture of our lead singer on it)

Ok really, if anyone wants to join us for a jam session let us know.

Meet the Band Members:

Our band leader and drummer with "serious skills" is Jacquehole!





He's not as into the guitar.






On bass we have Numb, best known for being able to play the "longest note streak" ever heard!






Our lead singer is Poison Ivy! She has the best vocals you have ever heard in a group.





She's also an old school couch-jumper. However there was no crowd to surf on in the living room. The results were unfortunate...





On guitar is Chick! She has some serious moves and knows how to get the crowd going.

So many uses for big screen TVs.

The girls quite enjoy listening, dancing, and singing to a good rock song. I once asked Bella where she learned some of her moves and how to make her face look like a rock star and she said that's what Dad does. I know some of you will have a hard time picturing Bryan doing that but some of you.... perhaps not.

So here is Bella singing and dancing as she watches her reflection in the big screen TV. It is not a great video because it is just taken with our digital snapshot camera. Maybe some of you can help me convince Bryan that we need a real video camera. Hope you giggle as much as I do when I watch it.

Hobbies......fun or crazy?

So one of my hobbies is card making. I have been part of a few different card clubs. I enjoy making the cards and seeing what others make and getting to swap. Usually you make all your cards the same and then take them and trade one with each person at card club and go home with all different cards. It is much easier to make 10-12 of the same card than to make them all different and that is the whole idea behind being in a card club.

Well, this month I decided I wanted to be more creative and didn't want to just use one idea. I decided to do them all different. It was fun and luckily I like doing it but it took quite a bit longer than the usual way. I guess sometimes our hobbies are a little bit fun and crazy.

I want another cookie!

I thought this was too funny not to share. Gracie had just woken up from her nap and found that there were fresh cookies out of the oven. I gave her one. She enjoyed it very much. When I wouldn't give her another one this is the face she gave me for quite a while. It made me laugh......then I gave her another cookie.

Very Important Graduation Day!

Let it be known that Isabella Evelyn Gibson graduated on the 23rd day of May the year 2008 from a very prestigious school, The Fun Factory. She excelled in her program and recieved great honors.

As you can tell this was a very formal and important day. The only appropriate attire for a day like this is a swimming suit, don't you agree? You can tell by the look on her face and that little pose she is striking that she is a very serious girl.

Actually it was just as a preschool graduation should be....a picnic at a park with a water playground. The kids loved it. They got to play and eat the whole time and were just quickly gathered to be given a certificate and a cute little book called Chicka Chicka Sticka Sticka which Bella was very excited about and couldn't stop laughing at the name.

This was a day that will always be remembered!