Fire Scare

We have all seen the tragedy that fire can bring into many peoples life. Living in Southern California its very common to hear on the news about large fires that take out an entire community. Its always a area close by where you can watch the smoke in a distance and maybe get some smoke when the wind heads your way.

On Sunday the family (Grandma Teri and Auntie Kaylee, Terra, and Iris) came over to hang out with the girls while Clint and I ran some errands. On our way home from the grocery store we noticed a fire in the distance. Every time we turned down a street heading home I started to realize the fire was coming from our neighborhood. I had the worst feeling as we started driving faster down every street we turned down on. When we pulled up to the house we realized it was coming from the fields behind our house. The fire had just started and it was spreading fast, the fire department wasn't even there yet.

Terra and Iris had already went home but thank God Grandma Teri was watching the girls. I was such a nervous wreck watching the fire head right for our street. Clint immediately started up the sprinklers and housing off our house. I stayed outside I was glued to the fire, I couldn't focus on anything else. I just waited for the word that we were going to have to evacuate as I watched our neighbors at the end of our street prepare to lose their homes. Grandma Teri started packing up everything for us just in case we had to evacuate while Kaylee helped entertain the girls.

 

 

 

 

The fire was huge. I felt like I was in a war zone. You could feel the heat as ashes fell all around. We had planes and helicopters dropping water from all directions. The firemen we able to eventually get ahead of the fire. The fire ended up burning over 150 acres and no houses were lost.

 

 

 

 

 

As we laid in our beds that night still shaken up from what just happened we were so thankful that everyone had a home and bed to sleep in after such a scare. I am so thankful for our new neighborhood our amazing neighbors. I took a Thank you card around the the street for all the neighbors to sign and dropped it off with some cookies to our local fire dept for a small token of appreciation for everything they do.

 

 

Chloe is walking!

Chloe has finally decided Monday to become a full time walker at 17 months. I thought she would never walk! With Cadey running around I thought she would join right in but nope Chloe has enjoyed crawling way to much to give it up. Even when we saw signs of walking she would only tease us then start crawling again. Something about today just made her want to walk and and never crawl again. So happy that she is my little toddler and I just love see her discover new things that she can accomplish.

Another good note for Monday we passed our inspection for our retaining wall and well for the giant rock I guess its staying.

 

The rock nightmare is far from over though. Digging a pool usually takes a day or two but so far we are a week onto it. With nothing but a pool of rock and another boulder that just wont back down we are all exhausted and frustrated with this project taking so much time and energy. So to fight off this rock we discovered this product called Ecobust. Its is a powdered product that you mix with water then add it to holes drilled in the rock and magic it breaks up the rock for you. So far its working but I am sure we will be doing a couple of rounds of this next week to finish off this rock.

 

 

I just love this picture of my 81 year old grandma trying to conquer this rock

 

 

Ending this weekend of my special moments of discovering Cadey likes to eat lemons and watching the girls playing together with our giant new teddy bear from costco. Really who could resist such cute snuggly bear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solid Rock

This week we started on our backyard renovation. When we bought our house it came with a very large yard with nothing but dirt and a small patio. Now that the girls are running around it was a must that we provided them with a safe play area outside.  Our project has turned into more than what we originally visioned and I cant wait for the big reveal.

So far our backyard makeover has been in slow motion do to our hillside being solid rock with even larger rocks of granite inside that wont break up. Here's a peak of our retaining wall project that has everyone discouraged do to this huge rock of granite right in the way of where the footings need to go.

 My Grandma Beverly is in town this week to help with the girls and to get me out of this house. Its always nice going out into public. As a mother of twins and a stay at home mom you tend to just stay home since it is way to much work trying to go anywhere by yourself with two toddlers. I am so excited to say that I am so ahead of the game this year and got the girls Halloween costumes this week. For me the only way to enjoy the holidays is to be prepared and I cant wait to see my little bumble bee and ladybug trick or treating this year.

The girls are growing up so fast. I love just watching them play together and and really just seeing them develop into such perfect little girls. Here are some of my precious moments from this week.

Bye Bye Bottles

The bottles are officially gone this week. Although they recommend no more bottles at 12 months due to the possibility of causing earaches and problems with their teeth, the time didn't seem right for the girls until now at 16 months. With so much change going on with our family and trying to adjust to the move I felt we were finally ready for the next step and toss out the bottles.

Cadey seems to be just fine with no bottles she still runs over to her blanket by the tv and lays down to drink her sippy cup just as if it was a bottle. Chloe was a little bit more tricky, for the first couple of days she would taste the milk and would have nothing to do with her sippy cup. Since she is so little I was eager to find a way to get her to drink her milk so after a couple of different tries she seems to enjoy her milk cold.

Our weekend started off with a happy surprise. Uncle Kevin made it home safe from over seas and spent the day with us spending some catch up time with the girls. Although the time is always short I love that the girls got to spend a little bit of time with him before he heads off back to duty.

And whats a better way to end the weekend but in your own personal ball pit!

Happy 4th of July

4th of July felt a bit strange this year with it being on a Wednesday but it was definitely perfect. Although all of the family had their own agenda this year my dad was able to come by and have a BBQ with us. With our stuffed belly's from our delicious BBQ we hesitated if we should even head out to see fireworks. Of course we had to, last year the girls were to little so we were excited to show them what it was all about. We found the perfect spot at a church last minute after being stuck in crazy traffic and getting separated from my dad. The girls were able to play in the grass with a perfect view of the fireworks. I will never for get that night as we cuddle up as a family (surprisingly it was pretty cold out) listening to my babies say ooooohhh and aaaahhhh pointing and the fireworks. It was a perfect 4th of July

Sad this is my only photo from 4th of July but the girls just wont hold still for photos anymore 

Thursday we followed it up with a trip to the Safari Park. We try to go once a month, its a perfect way to spend a day as a family and be entertaining for the girls. This time we decided to have a plan when we showed up of things we wanted to do. We usually wonder around lost and end up doing way to much walking and not see enough animals. Feeding the Lorikeets was the highlight of this trip. You purchase a cup of nectar and hold it in your hand and the Lorikeets fly down from the trees and drink it. The girls were pretty excited and wanted  to grab the birds. Definitely will make sure we stop by the Lorikeets every trip.

Happy 1st Birthday Cadey and Chloe!

Well its here my babies are now one. What an amazing year watching them grow from little preemies and develope into toddlers.

The birthday party was amazing, everything was perfect. The house looked beautiful thanks to my sister Valerie. She always does an amazing job decorating. Our theme this year was ladybugs so everything was covered in red, black, yellow, and of course ladybugs.

11 Months

I cant even believe that my baby girls are 11 months now. I just love how they change over night at this stage. Chloe has decided to surprise me today and start crawling its a funny crawl but she definitely can go where she wants now. She also has both top front teeth making their way in. Cadey has master the roll and can roll really fast and quiet and likes to get into everything. Cadeys front teeth are coming in as well and seem to be killing her. No sign of any teeth but lots of fussiness and enjoys eating a lot of ice cubes.