It's Brown... It's Brown

Here's Maddie's reaction to my new hair color!

I'm still getting used to it... I think it's a bit too dark but we'll see what happens as it fades a bit.. I was ready for a change but didn't want to cut it short again.

It sure is different! (now I REALLY need a tan!)

Another Proud Grandparent Moment

Our little Maddie was once again featured in a local news story. It seems her public can't get enough of her... ok, maybe the story was about a local fire and not our Miss Maddie but she still made it on the paper's website.

A helicopter landed near our home to fill with water and Maddie and daddy went to check it out!

Park Talk Printables: MOMS Club of Camarillo Annual Tea Party/Fundraiser...

Park Talk Printables: MOMS Club of Camarillo Annual Tea Party/Fundraiser...: "One of my favorite MOMS Club events is our annual Mother's Day Tea and Fundraiser. We have a committee of wonderful ladies that collect dona..."

Introducing Park Talk Printables

On top of everything else going on, I've officially started my own business! Aaaahhhh!!! See, I have been busy!

Introducing....

Park Talk Printables

(clink the link to check out my blog) I'm offering my design services on anything you can image to throw a completely customized party (of any sort). I create water bottle labels, napkin rings, thank you tags, invites, signs, cupcake toppers, party favor tags... anything!

I'm also blogging about being a mommy in general.. things we talk about at the park while the kids are playing. How to save money for our families and great deals around town. That's why when Juice in the City gave me a call looking to connect with our MOMS Club, I thought it was truly meant to be!

I had my first "official" Park Talk Printables customer a few weeks back. A friend's sister heard about Maddie's Sesame Street bash and wanted some of the same for her little girl's big day. I created super cute Elmo invites, water bottle labels, cookie monster buttons and sleeves for CD favors. I was just so happy someone was impressed enough to want it for their own party! My client was so great to work for and I hope she's proud of the party she puts together.

Now I just need to work on getting my blog looking as beautiful as it should and functioning well so I can connect my facebook page (Please go "like" me on Facebook.. search for Park Talk) I think I need 25 people to do that before my page becomes official.. let me know what you see if you find my page. AND I opened an Etsy store but seriously I think I'm doing about as much as I can right now to stay sane so probably won't be actually selling through Etsy until I get my blog moving... any bloggers (or generally tech savvy folks) out there wanna help me?

I'm a Juice in the City Affiliate!

I have some super exciting news. I'm the newest affiliate for Juice in the City. Today was the launch for their Ventura County edition of this deal of the day site. (like Groupon). I've been busy spreading the word to all my mommy friends.

Here's a link to sign up for Juice in the City deals. This site is super cool because it's ran by moms and deals are created with families and moms in mind!

Like I said, I'm an affiliate so they're tracking to see how many folks I get to sign up. Check it out to see if they're in your area yet.. if not, just wait because they're launching new cities each week.

Go mommy power!

Juice in the City

Strawberry Picking- Underwood Farms

I must apologize for not posting in so long! I've really been super busy. I was in charge of decor for our annual Mother's Day Tea/Fundraiser and that kept me up many late nights. I'll post later about that.

On April 19th Maddie's Horizon Hills class had it's last field trip for the year. (Sad to think our school year is almost over!) We went to Moorpark's Underwood Farms to do Maddie's favorite summertime activity.. Eat Strawberries! Officially we were picking the strawberries but if you know Maddie, she ate almost as many in the field as we brought home. It was a pretty warm day but the kids had a blast! We spent the day with Bella (Maddie's BFF) and also invited our friend Sophie, her mommy and baby sister to come along too. All three girls had a great time.




The girls hoisted carrots up a conveyer belt to a hungry goat.

They high-fived their teamwork!


Maddie, Sophie, and Bella loved playing in a wooden truck







Can't forget they have pony rides!!





The girls have such a great time at Underwood that Sarah and I are going to host their birthday parties there this year! Be on the lookout for your invitation in the fall!

Eggstravaganza 2011

I can't believe I haven't gotten a chance to post about our Easter yet... I've been super busy (more on that later). AND Maddie and I have been sick pretty much for the month of April. We're both finally done with two rounds of antibiotics and steroids for sinus and ear infections... hopefully both are gone for good. Last summer we were sick for two or three months... ugh!

The day before Easter we once again went to our town's Eggstravaganza filled with an egg hunt, pony rides, and games all for free! Last year was fun and we were looking forward to it again this year.



It's fun being in town and seeing friends and families that we know. Maddie has made some good friends in her short 2.5 year life. :) The kids are starting to interact and play together. I'd like to think I've made some really good friends too!

Games with daddy




Maddie and Sophie were really into this hanging bunny


Best of all, PONY rides with her friend Peighton!







Petting Zoo


Of course we stopped at the Gymboree booth to see our old friend Gymbo


The egg hunt ages 0-3
Last year we weren't very quick and only got 2 eggs or so.. this year Miss Maddie picked up the speed and got a bunch of eggs! She was a real pro after all her practice eggs hunts.


Thankfully I had a sucker on hand.. Maddie was a little disappointed there was no candy in any of her eggs. It was strange because they contained tiny erasers, and little trinkets like rings, a compass, etc.. total chocking hazards! lol


The best place to see the Easter bunny in town is at the Las Posas Plaza.. no lines!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Snack Day

At the end of April my friend Sarah and I had snack duty for our Horizon Hills class.. most moms bring hummus or bagels and fruit for the kids and parents to share... um, we took it a bit further. I've been dying to do a Very Hungry Caterpillar party and with no kid birthdays coming up, I decided to use this opportunity to have some fun. And oh boy, did we!

Our teacher, Mrs Kandy had this awesome caterpillar puppet and large fruits and objects to go with the story. One mom read the book while the kids waited for their turn to come up and "feed" the hungry caterpillar.


Miss Maddie was an orange! She really took her role seriously.. lol


Miss Bella was a sausage


Then it was snack time!

We had water bottles


Butterfly crackers


Watermelon that was devoured!


and of course caterpillars made with grapes and strawberries


Fun Fun Fun! There are so many things you can do with this theme.