Hairclippies

My friend Melanie Cadle taught me how to make these hairclippies awhile back, and I've had so much fun with them. Thanks so much Melanie! They're so much fun to make and I've had so much fun making them to match specific outfits and always having one to match Haylee's clothes. I took this picture during our Mexico cruise of a bunch I made to match her outfits for the cruise.



I love this one I made to match a teal and brown outfit she has:

Pumpkin Patch (I know I should be saying 'Happy Holidays...')

Okay, I know it's waaaaaay past pumpkin patch time, but I can't seem to find the time to update this thing often enough. Sorry about that. But I LOVE pumpkin patch pictures, so I had to post them.

Here's the family shot from our second attempt at going to the pumpkin patch:

These are from our first attempt at going to the pumpkin patch. We got there when they were closing so we didnt get a pumpkin, but I did get a couple pictures (even without my good camera):

A Little Catch-Up

These were taken awhile ago, but they are so cute so I had to share. We went to the Children's Museum in San Jose and had a fantastic time. Here are a couple shots of Haylee painting and an adorable one of my kids at storytime.



Aren't they sweet? Haylee is so sweet with McKay. She adores him. She always wants him to sit by her (or, according to her, McKay wants to sit by her) in the car and always wants to hold his hand. She's holding his arm in this picture as well.

They also had face painting there, for you to do yourself. I painted a couple shapes on Haylee's cheeks and she loved it! I just loved her facial expressions in these pictures. Make sure you click on them so you can see her expressions bigger. She's such an adorable child.


Hopefully I'll be able to post more tomorrow... there's a lot to do still!

6 Month Old McKay

My Yes on 8 Experience and THANK YOU!!

PROP 8 PASSED!!!!

I wanted to thank each one of you who had anything to do with it passing.... whether forwarding my email, talking to a friend, or saying a prayer. Thank you for everything.

I also wanted to post a youtube video I made of our experience with Proposition 8. It was an awesome ride, and I am so glad to have been a part of it.

Yes on 8 Rally

The kids and I went to a rally at the capital a couple of days ago for Prop 8. It was a neat experience and I was glad to be a part of it. I've been really excited to be a part of this whole process. Its neat to believe strongly about something and to stand up for it and take action. I'm glad we have the freedom to speak out for what we believe in - at least mostly. (I say mostly because our 'Yes on 8' sign has been stolen three times already. But that's a story for another day.)

My Thoughts on Prop 8

There have been many email messages that have been circulating about Proposition 8. This is a very important issue to me and I wanted to take a minute to share some of my thoughts and feelings with you, regarding it. For those who may not know, proposition 8 is going to be on our California ballots in a week, and it is regarding marriage. If passed, it will put into the constitution that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California. I am writing to you, my friends and family because I care about you and because I care about my family. I want you to know that I have absolutely no dislike, hate, or unkind feelings toward gay or lesbian people. I have had friends who are gay. This proposition is not about gay people. It is about the definition of marriage. There are several reasons why I personally want this proposition to pass and why I have donated much money and time to helping it do so.

1. I believe it is my responsibility to teach my children moral issues. I have a huge problem with school systems thinking they have the right to teach my children that marriage between two men or two women is acceptable. I don’t believe it is acceptable and I don’t want my children being taught that it is. If Prop 8 doesn’t pass, I will not even be notified WHEN my children are taught this, before or after. I will have no idea when my children are being taught or have been taught it. I personally watched and heard in person, a couple from Massachusetts describe how all of this has happened to them in their family.

2. Gay and lesbian partners do not lose any of the rights they currently have. They still have all of the rights of being domestic partners. They just don’t have the right to change the fundamental definition of marriage.

3. I don’t think it’s right for a doctor to be forced to do artificial insemination to a lesbian or gay couple, when he believes it is morally wrong to do so. This has happened and will happen here if prop 8 doesn’t pass.

4. Even if an adoption agency believes it’s wrong to give a child to gay parents, they will be forced to allow children to go those homes, or they will be shut down. That is taking away their freedom.

5. I don’t think it’s right for a teacher to be forced to teach gay marriage is acceptable, if he/she doesn’t believe that. This has happened and will happen here if prop 8 doesn’t pass.

6. I don’t think it’s right that a church would have to allow a gay marriage to happen in their church, even if they believe it’s wrong. That is not freedom of religion. This whole issue is not freedom of religion. That’s what many of our ancestors came to this country for. Freedom of religion. And that will be taken away if prop 8 does not pass.

7. The people already voted for this. But four judges overruled the vote. That’s not right.

8. Changing the definition of marriage will change our country. It will affect taxes, schools, medical insurance and much much more. There are no bounds to what this will affect. We have no idea of the far reaching effects of Prop 8 not passing. It will change our society.

There are so many other reasons. Go to www.protectmarriage.com or www.preservingmarriage.org for more information. I’ve also put some videos up here, on my blog and on my facebook and myspace pages.

None of these reasons even deal with my belief in God or His plan. They simply deal with the fact that by not passing this proposition, there are so many rights that will be lost in our society. Fundamental rights to believe and practice and teach your children what you want to. In schools, we don’t teach that gay marriage is wrong… why should we have to teach that it’s right? That is for the parent to teach their child according to their own beliefs. This goes for the doctors, adoption agencies, teachers, and everyone else I’ve discussed. They have the right to believe and practice as they feel is correct.

If you disagree with me, that is fine. This letteris a chance for me to do my part in supporting something that is so important to me.

Thank you for taking the time to read some of my thoughts and feelings. I hope you will join with me and do all that you can to protect marriage and the family and vote YES on 8!

Love,

Crystal

My funny kids...

Here's the other adorable story I had to share:

The other day, Haylee said she was going to 'change the baby's diaper,' which she says sometimes referring to one of her dolls, so I didn't think much of it. After a little bit of too much quiet, I went in to check on her and this is what I found! She was changing MY baby's diaper! Is this not just toooo adorable???

I was just watching at the doorway.... she went through the whole process.... I came in when she was wiping... then she went and got medicine and opened the bottle, put some on her finger and wiped it on him, closed the bottle, then got a clean diaper, put it underneath him.... She's so cute! I sure adore my children. Motherhood is great.

Here's a silly thing McKay's been doing:

Reaching all the way behind him and grabbing things from his bumbo seat:

And I had to add this cute face picture as well:

He's been doing that sucking on his bottom lip thing and its sooo cute!

Guess that's it for now! Night everyone!

Silly Haylee

I finally have something to blog about! I guess I really do every day, but these things were just too cute to not share. A few so sweet and adorable things happened in the last few days.

The other day, I had left Haylee and McKay in their room for a minute, and McKay was fussing a little bit, and then all of a sudden he had stopped. When I went back into the room, this is what I saw:

Haylee was reading to McKay! And he had calmed down and was watching her and listening! He totally loves his big sister. He always smiles when she looks at him and smiles, and he giggles and 'talks' to her all the time. Its so sweet.

Baby just woke up so I'll have to post the other adorable story later. It's a little longer. Hugs, and goodnight!

Here We Go!

Well, I guess I've taken the plunge and created a blog. I'm not sure how much I'll use it yet, and I'm still debating on this vs. the babysite I've been using, so I guess I'll see how this goes. I'm just going to make this post simple for now because I want to figure out how this all works before I put too much work into it. We're all doing well, and are happy.