another christmas miracle...

I went to trader joes today and out in the front of the aisle was a huge display of peppermint joe joe's. I'm always up for a festive treat, so I picked up a box. I just sampled one & it might as well have been crack! I am wondering to myself...how have I never heard of these before? Or are you all just holding out on me since apparently they sell out every year! Well if you haven't had one, let me just describe the experience for you...

the cookie starts off crisp and clear like a Girl Scout Thin Mint. Then when you hit the creme filling, the crispness gives way to a lush, milky vanilla, infused with bright flecks of candy cane, reminiscent of sparks of sunlight against a fresh snow.

Doubt the power of these cookies? Just try Googling them, and you'll find people who have devoted pages to these inexplicably delicious joe-joes.

I will definitely be going to Trader Joe's tomorrow to stock up on these cookies, and will bring them out to my deprived family in Boise that have no trader joes.

Taking in some of that holiday cheer--Join us!!

Just thought I'd post a few of the fun activities we're going to do in the next couple of weeks to increase our excitement for Christmas (if that is even possible)! We'd love to have any and all who would like to join us. Just give me a call and I'll give you the specifics:

Thursday 12/11--Disneyland! We're going between 3-4pm and they're open until late.

Friday 12/12--Dana Point boat parade (maybe a date night??)

Monday 12/15-- Visit santa and pic at Fashion island--FHE a few years back I learned a secret from the Draeger family that this is the REAL santa-SHHHH. Maybe a little dinne? Food court @ fashion island? We'll probably go on the early side to try & avoid crowds.

Wednesday 12/17- Newport Beach boat parade. This the 100 year anniversary and they're shooting off fireworks at 6:20pm before the parade. We're bring the kiddies.

Saturday 12/20- Christmas at the OC Zoo- 10 am. I guess it's all done up for christmas and santa will be there of course with reindeer! I mean for $2 bucks how can you go wrong with this family outing??


If not with us, we hope you're getting your holiday fix elsewhere!! Much LOVE!!

Much to be thankful for...

(i'm on a roll, huh?) Thankfully Rachel was taking pictures and sent me these or else we would have none! What was i doing the whole night? We had an excellent Thanksgiving at Brian's uncle's house in Glendora. Brian was secretly glad about the morning rain, eliminating the annual turkey bowl football game, thus ensuring him not getting hurt or throwing up because he's so out of shape. (good thing he doesn't read our blog :) My parents joined us as well--it makes it so fun to have it together so we don't have to travel. Dinner was as delicious as ever and we packed it in! I made my dutch apple pie that i do every year, but added a chocolate bread pudding to the menu as well that was super tasty. I figured there is never enough chocolate at Thanksgiving dinner. We have been so blessed in so many ways this past year. We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for giving us such wonderful family and friends in our lives. We love you!!

Yummy turkey!!


Brian's uncle has an enormous hallway leading from one end of the house to the other. It was so fun to watch Ruby and Marie trying to catch Jack as he'd run back and forth
(2million times).



I love marie's face in this picture!



If only you could hear the deafening "CHEEESSSEEE" that Jack added to this picture!

Hello my name is Dawn, and I'm a terrible blogger

Admitting you have a problem is the first step right? I really do think I started out a pretty good blogger but I'm not really sure what happened. I think it's a combination of life getting busier with 2 and the anxiety that builds as time passes between posts and you think of all of the treasured moments that have come and passed unrecorded, that will be lost forever. I have guilt for many things in my life and I have voluntarily added another thing to constantly nag at me at the back of my mind. I mean how hard is it really--get it together! So for all you haters out there here are a few posts to keep you off my back for awhile.

p.s We put up our Christmas lights today--tis the season and I'm so so excited!!

Jack's way of showing Ruby and loves her...

As much as Jack likes to hide his love for his sister, she really has become his best friend. If ever one is awake without the other, they are trying to go into their room to wake them up. These moments are becoming more and more frequent, making me so excited for all the fun memories to look forward to. Ruby adores her brother, is his constant shadow, partner in crime ( more often than mom would like) and puts up with anything Jack can dish out.

Not quite sure, but I'm pretty sure the move jack is using to tickle Ruby's foot resembles some kind of submission move I've seen on Brian's ultimate fighting shows. Proof that I was right when I said he can't watch that stuff or else he going to start using them on his sis!

Jack's Preschool (well sort of)

Have I become a "home schooler!?" Since moving to Ladera, Jack and I joined a Co-op preschool group with 4 other kids his age. On tuesdays and thursdays from 9-12 Jack is starting to learn all the preschool essentials like the days of the week, his numbers, letters, using scissors (his favorite) etc. Each of the moms take turns having the kids at their house for 2 weeks in a row--then you get a nice long break (which you definitely need after having 5 soon-to-be 3 yr olds at your house!) I've really enjoyed the private time I've had to spend with Ruby.
We get ALL of the teaching curriculum and supplies delivered to us by this home school company--right down to all the little parts to the crafts they do. It's awesome. Jack loves his little friends and only steals their crayons and eats parts of their lunch occasionally...

Halloween 2008

The farkle family

This was the first year that Jack really was starting to grasp one of the best holidays in existence. Although this was not one of my more creative years as far as costumes go (we've been a little busy around here lately) we had so much fun trick or treating and going to a super fun party at Michael and Rachel's house.




I love this boy




Although my little monkey was looking a little haggard by the end of the night, she still enjoyed the reward of all her hard work!

1st annual gingerbread haunted house decorating party

Anyone who knows me, know I'm always looking for an excuse to party. This started out as a replacement for my annual Halloween party. I just figured its starting to get kind of hard on the actual day to get everyone home from work, dressed, kids rounded up & in the car....too hectic. SO I came up with this idea to have everyone get out their favorite fall recipes and have a haunted house decorating party instead. and let me tell you, it's a keeper! We had so many people, even more kids, tasty soups and breads (thanks all!) "fierce" competition--which is what I love so much of my friends, and did I mention, kids running all about?! I think it helped that half of our house is without furniture. We had some sparklers left over from our friend's wedding, so we busted them out and the kids had a great time. We managed to keep Jack from lighting the other kids on fire. We had a great time and there will definitely be a 2nd annual!!

Not sure Brian could ever top this one....

Buying a house has been anything but easy and anything but fun until now...our loan and how much we could quailify for kept changing from week to week so we put our house looking on hold until I got back from Las Vegas (steph and I did a trade show there--another post..). We got back late Thursday night--Friday night we met up with Brian's family in Ladera for dinner. Our agent called us & wanted to show us a house real quick before we left. It was a forclosure that just went on the market. It was a total fixer-uper & smaller than what we'd been looking at in the past. Brian proceeded to tell me that we no longer able to qualify for what thought we could. So I was trying to stay optimistic--it had potential. Our agent wanted to show us one more house--Brian said he wanted me to wear a blind fold so I wouldn't be distracted by the neighborhood and I would just see the house itself. I resisted and he insisted--so i conceeded. I was thinking it was in this area of Ladera that I didn't want to live in. We pulled up, Brian opened the door, helped me out of the car, handed me 2 dozen red rozes, and a key?! He took off my blindfold and my dreamhouse was in front of me with his whole family and our kids on the doorstep. Complete and utter shock. "Are you kidding me?" is all I could keep muttering between tears and a lot of kissing.

**side note** no way would Brian ever be allowed to do this but it was a house that we previously fell in love with and we didn't get--so he knew it was a sure bet!!

He knew that I had been having a hard time juggling all the change and uncertainty with the kids--so when the house we lost came back to us, he didn't want me to be disappointed yet again so he did it all on his own. I am shocked he was able to keep this from me. I'm notorious for having to know everything all the time and he's a terrible liar.

We ended up getting the house for $150K less than they were asking. I love a good bargin. All the drama and homelessness was worth it--we get to move in hopefully by Sat. the 27th. We're going to have a big Halloween party & everyone can visit our new pad. But don't expect any new furniture for awhile--we're poor... Here are a couple of pics--I'll post a couple of the big "surprise" as soon as we get them from Brian's dad. We will not, however, be posting the video that Brian's brother took of the whole thing--embarrassing.

It's around the corner from the other house that was on my blog forever & it has the exact same floorplan. We've got a guest room now so please please come stay with us!

Don't die of shock...

Did you miss me? You all probably stopped checking my blog long ago but I'm making an attempt at a comeback (no promises). Life in the Lombardi family has been crazy lately. Just a quick recap on the summer's major events: A trip to the river with friends, Ruby turned 1, Payne family vacation in San Diego, started potty training Jack, 4th of July, Lombardi Family vacation at beach house in Newport and river trip, rented out our condo, and moved in with the in-laws...i know....

Tell your friends--Pink Lemonade is finally up!!

It has taken us forever, but Pink Lemonade baby accessories is finally up and running! Ryan Blad designed the site and he did an awesome job---we're so stoked! He put so much time into it (a big thanks to Steph and Luke Blad as well for giving up their husband/dad)! It has taken a lot of time and work, but it is totally worth it--it looks great. There is a link to the site on my list. Steph and I sold our stuff again at the CUW (california utah women's conference) at the Disneyland hotel on Saturday so it gave us a date to shoot for and we got it done! We sell our products at some boutiques so we can't charge a lot less than they do so, if you go to order, enter "farmers" in the voucher section at checkout and you'll get 10% off the orders, so tell everyone about the discount too! Thanks to all of our fun friends who have been our "fierce" models--maybe we'll help you launch your (or your baby's) modeling career! Also a big thanks to everyone who has ordered from us to help support our little business--WE LOVE YOU!!

Ruby's 9 months!

Still teeny-tiny but still not a sign of a tooth! She's a party girl. She would go all day without a nap if i'd let her. She loves family mealtime and eating all the food we do (in mini-pieces). you better give her food fast enough or she throws a tantrum! Among her new tricks is "head banging"--usually onto a person, but sometimes any hard object around her--ouch! She climbs the stairs and is 100% in love with Jack! He can do no wrong in her eyes. She spends most of her days exploring, putting any and everything in her mouth and giggling at Jack. Whenever there are kids around, she can't wait to become part of the action--she practically jumps out my arms and squeels with delight at the top of her lungs. She has gotten so fun!

Easter at the River

It's become the new lombardi family tradition--2nd annual--to spend Easter down at the river. It was fun to just go out on the boat, shop, relax w/ family, and eat of course (to the tune of 4lbs--yikes!) I have never seen Jack enjoy the boat so much! He couldn't get enough. "Da Boat, Da Boat" is all we heard from his mouth the whole day long!! irritating... The boys had fun riding their dirt bikes and cleaning all the toys--for hours! Rachel and I loved it because the kids all entertained each other and it was sweet to have so many babysitters around so I wasn't chasing Jack around every second ( just every- OTHER-second :)

Jack's first hunt

A few of our friends got all the kiddies together for a little easter egg hunt which basically entailed us scattering some eggs on the lawn (the 2-year-olds hunting skills aren't too keen) Jack was a little slow at the gun, but he finally caught on. But once he figured out the eggs open and there's candy inside, the hunt was pretty much over and the pigging out began. He was shoveling it in as fast as he could because he thought at any moment I was going to come take it away. Jack and Ruby were excited their cousin Marie came down from Ladera to join them. They all looked so cute--we would never have been able to get them all to sit still for a pic if they're weren't gorging themselves on chocolate! They would have sat there all day....

Little Buddies...

All the hard work is finally starting to pay off. Now that Ruby is mobile, there's no keeping her away from Jack! When he's not stepping on her, or throwing toys at her head :( He's tickling her, giving her his blanket, feeding her her bottle/snacks, trying to pick her up, or giving her a slobbery kisses!

April Fools!

The previous post was part of a little april fools j0ke on Brian yesterday. Surprisingly he was really excited. I don't think he realizes what that would even mean for us. (basically triplets!) For sure that would push us over the edge! We'll at least wait until there would be 2 years in between!

Does anyone know what this means??

A much needed girls night....

Nora planned a little girls pamper night, because we deserve it of course! So a few of us met up for $25 dollar facials at the Marinello school of beauty. Don't get me wrong, I will forever be a fan of the mani-pedi, but now our eyes have been opened and there's no going back. Let's face it, if you go for a pedicure on a Saturday, you're lucky to get a half-way decent massage--not here, we went back around 8:15 and they finished up at 9:40!! They started off putting us under the black light so we can see all of our imperfections and sun damage (hurray) and then we got a deluxe treatment with several kinds of masks, steaming, massage-the face all the way down to the hands! Not to mention the extractions--Nora's girl was even more excited to pop zits than Nora (which is hard to believe!) capped off with a little fro-yo from GAYS. I'm content with my mini from golden spoon but there you make your own--not good. I cannot be trusted with my own toppings..."hmm, one more scoop would be better!" I've decieded that I can only go there on special occasions! We are going to make it a monthly outing! For all you ladies that are now dieing to go, we discovered going to the last appointment (8pm) is best because they're open till 10 so they give you extra long ones :)

Does anyone need some work done on their car?

Brian needed an oil change and alignment for his truck, so he took it to Big-O tires on Beach. It turns out he needed new brakes, rotor, etc (that always seems to happen) anyway, they're having some kind of give-away promotion right now and we got a free Royal Caribbean Cruise to Mexico! So yah it sticks to have to pay the money to fix your car, but we would have spent it anyway and now we have a get-away too! SO if anyone needs any work done, go there and come on our cruise with us!!

I swear I have a life...

So I haven't been the best blogger lately, but looking at my last posts, they all have Ruby on them. Don't get me wrong, she is adorable, but I thought I might let some of you know what is actually going on with ME, my life outside of kids. (Let's be real honest, that's about 2-3 hours out of the day)! First off, got my hair "did" yesterday and chopped it off. A little A-line to the shoulders number. Steph and I have been busy still doing our "Pink Lemonade" on Fridays at the Farmers market and trying to get our website up! ARG! We're selling at the California Utah Women's Boutique (free admission) at the Disneyland Hotel on April 12th and doing a huge trade show "ABC Show" in Vegas in September, that we're completely not ready for, but hopefully it will force us to get ready.
I was all motivated to get "toned up" for summer and then I hurt my knee at kick boxing last week and it's all swollen up. I had surgery on that knee before, and i'm pretty sure it's messed up pretty good--which has depressed me all week. I was excited to have a summer not pregnant or w/a newborn.
For the past few months, Brian and I have been trying to figure out where we want to raise our little family and take advantage of the "down market" to get into a bigger place. We are just busting out of our little 1400sqft condo and the neighbors up partying all night and their nasty smoke filling our house! After looking at several different neighborhoods, I think we've finally decided on Ladera Ranch. We have spent the several of the past weekends out looking at houses. It's fun, but hard at the same time. Do you go with the one you LOVE but is a stretch, or settle for one that's smaller but would do? and then in a few years, when you want something bigger, the prices will be back up and you won't be able to afford it! So hard!

a little side note--I was pleasantly surprised to see the bachelor pop up on my DVR the other night! A little recap on the haps of the people previously on the show AND revealing the new bachelor--a British guy--can't wait. Deanna is going to be the new bachelorette! It's sure to be "the most dramatic in Bachelor history..! (anyone up for a girls night "bachelor" party?)

Ruby's 8 months!

This is how she looks when she sees her daddy. I really can't believe she is 8 months already! Time has just flown by too fast--i want to freeze her. This is my favorite age. She's crawling around everywhere! She will always give up a smile (especially to strangers). She's still a little peanut. Just 15lbs 6oz (10th percentile) and 50th percentile for height. She is so chatty and squeels all day long. Her favorite toy is a little baby doll given to her by her grandma Lombardi. Her favorite person is Jack. I'm not sure why, because he's constantly mauling her, but she can't get enough. Whenever he sees her, he stops what he's doing and climbs up to her and gives her a big old slobbery kiss on her head. It's so sweet. Brian's favorite thing is she does this sniffing thing when she get's excited and scrunches her face. My favorite thing is her sweet little breath, breathing in my face as she's about to bite my face...




















She just started making this kissey fish face...in this picture, she's giving one to all our friends and family!

Big Day

On monday, my mother-in-law came down for her birthday. We spent the day together and then we went to Michael and Rachel's house for dinner, cake/ice cream, and presents! The cousins had fun playing together and Ruby had a major breakthrough...she'd been spinning around in circles on her belly for a while, and even going backwards, but today she learned to army crawl to whatever she wants. I think she was jealous of Marie and Jack. Then she also started to pull herself up to her knees, and then later that night she pulled herself up to standing! All that in 1 day! Even since i took this video (yesterday) she's gotten a lot faster! I used to be able to plop her down in one spot and go chase after Jack. Now she's not in the same spot and usually has something choice in her mouth (i.e. Jack's shoe). Two on one --they've got an unfair advantage!

This one deserves it's own post!!

We might be close to the line of TMI, but...our little man went poo poo in the potty! A couple of days ago he said "poo poo" and I said, "do you need to go poo poo? Let's go on the potty!" and I sat him up up there and he gave a serious effort, with no success. Then the same situation this morning--except...his efforts produced a poo right in the potty!! I was shocked! We haven't thought he was showing any of the signs of potty training. who knows if it'll happen again any time soon--but i couldn't of felt prouder of my little guy!

(at least i didn't include a photo right?--the thought did enter my mind :)

The curse of 2008!

Finally some updates! You get so outdated that it's hard to come back because so much has happened. To my defense, 2008 has been a little rough for the Lombardis so far:
1)Jack and Ruby caught some nasty cooties from the runny-nosed kids at the daycare in McCall
2) Ruby got RSV and we had to do breathing treatments 3times a day and a round of antibiotics.
3) Jack then got some kind of infection in his lymph nodes, which made his neck swell up. He looked freakish--like two golf balls on either side of his neck--another round of antibiotics
4) I caught a cold from my diseased kids
5) Brian got food poisoning/or the stomach flu
6) I got sick again with an intestinal something or other....

geese, can we get a break?! Let's hope we'll just get it all over and done with for the year!

"The Destroyer" turns 2!

February 3rd Jack turned 2! We had a great day at the park with tons of our friends and family! The weather was great and it turned out so fun (despite the fact that there were 2 other bday parties there that day and we got banished to a picnic table on the edge of the park!) The kids had fun playing at the playground, running through the giant bubbles Brian made, the pinata, and some monkey impressions for a prize (I was surprised how shy they got on me!) Jack is still too small to really get what was going on, but I like to think he still appreciates all my hard work in his own special way. He's been a "terrible 2" since about 18 months--with all the temper tantrums and freak-outs, so we figure we should be out of it by 2 1/2 then right? The boy is seriously crazy and 100% boy. Anything he can find to climb, jump off or smash. He's still not too verbal, in English, that is! He goes on and on about all kinds of things and explains in great detail how he got hurt, in "jack language!" Although this last week, he's picked up quite a few new words. He can be so rough and tough, but has such a tender little heart. My favorite are the unexpected kisses--he gives them to everyone--and everything (his stuffed animals, a toy truck...) and he is so sweet with his baby sister! He has such a fun personality and i cherish my time with my little buddy!