Its that time of day.

My two older ones are going to be running through the front door at any moment, and I still do not have a clue what we will be having for dinner tonight.

I think deciding what to make every day is the most difficult part.

I decided to consult my vault of recipes on this blog to get inspired, instead of resorting to my freezer for a frozen Trader Joe’s dinner.

Rotisserie chicken was sounding really good to me earlier today, so I am opting for the Chicken and Israeli Couscous dinner tonight.

Protein, veggies, couscous, its all good.

Hope you’ve decided on your dinner for tonight.  If not, check out my recipes for some ideas.

If you have a great last minute dinner idea to share, please share in the comments below.

The story is about a delightful fourth grader, Shelby, and how she tackles and completes a very meaningful project during her summer vacation.

This is not an ordinary summer project.  This is a project that focuses solely on giving back to her community with the help of her good friend, Mr. T.

When all of the kids in her fourth grade class are talking about their grand travel plans for the upcoming summer break, Shelby is excited to stay in her home town and spend time with her neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. T, who also happen to be her babysitters while her parents are at work.

Little does Shelby know what Mr. T has in store for her during this particular summer when he asks her to help him with a building project.  Even though Mr. T keeps what they are building a secret until the very end, Shelby dives in, works hard, and helps Mr. T build every day during her summer break.

When the great reveal of what they have built takes place, Shelby is overwhelmed with delight.  Showing her caring nature, she comes up with another project to complement the one they completed which will help even more people in her community.

The character of Shelby is simply wonderful.  She thinks about others before herself and displays a positive attitude wherever she goes.  Her effervescent personality puts smiles on faces and spreads a warmth that is eagerly received by others in her life.

She is trustworthy, hardworking, creative, and kind.  As I read through the story, I found myself hoping that elementary and middle school age kids read this book and receive the message of giving back, hard work, persistence, and kindness.

I highly recommend this book for elementary and middle school age readers.  They will be taken through a well written story while learning the valuable lesson of giving back.

The illustrations throughout the book are simply stunning.  They are incredibly lifelike and unique.  Very impressive indeed.

We will definitely be on the lookout for more heartwarming stories by Michele Spry in the future.

Legoland was the focus, as Bam Bam is at the prime age for visiting the park.  He is a lego fanatic and visiting Legoland is like a dream come true for a kid who spends several hours a day building with his legos.

We purchased the two day hopper pass through the Legoland site, and were very happy with this decision.  There is just too much to take in for a one day visit.

In addition to the main park, they have a full water park attached to Fun Town in the upper left section of the park.  We highly recommend doing this at the end of the day, so that you can go straight to your car after getting wet at the slides.

With the two day pass, we were able to visit the main park and the water park on Tuesday, then on Thursday, we went back to cover the rides and attractions that we were unable to visit on Tuesday.

There are many spots around the park to just play with legos, which Bam Bam relished.  He especially enjoyed the test and drive attraction where you build a car lego and race against other kid’s cars.  Really, really fun attraction where we spent at least an hour of building and testing.

My daughters, ages 11 and 9, were able to participate in a mindstorm class where you learn to program a lego robot to complete several simple tasks.  Very cool.

We also loved the miniland where there are lego replicas of many major cities. You’ll see some of these cities in the photos below.

San Francisco in Legos.

Hollywood Bowl in legos.

The Luxor in legos.

Excalibur Hotel in legos.

The New York New York Vegas hotel in legos.

MGM Grand at Legoland.

The Mirage hotel in legos.

San Francisco’s Pier 39 in legos.

Mt. Rushmore in legos.

Legoland Hotel. Bummed we could not get reservations here. Opening night was on the last day of our vacation. They were booked SOLID!

Loved our visit to Legoland!!!  If you have a little one that loves legos, this is a must visit.  :)

When deciding on a place to stay, I remembered staying at “Vacation Village” on Mission Bay back in the early to mid ’80s.  I always loved our visits there and wanted to share this special place with the kidlets.

Vacation Village still looks pretty much the same, but they have taken on a new name, “Paradise Point Resort and Spa”.  With the exception of the rooms all receiving major overhauls with beautiful tile flooring and luxury bedding, the beautiful pools and landscape of this very special resort have remained the same.

The whole family relished the experience of staying here for four nights.

The resort is actually on an island, so you have a tropical feeling as you’re roaming around the beautifully landscaped grounds.  There are at least five pools at the resort, fun bridges to cross over lily pad lined lakes, and a really cool tower to climb.  The resort has a beautiful miniature golf course, tennis courts, bike rentals, bocce ball, croquet, and a spa.

Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, CA. View from walkway by main lobby.

View from the tower at Paradise Point. The main pool is pictured here.

Paradise Point Tower. The kids love climbing the tower. The view is amazing! This tower was here in the ’80s when my family stayed here. I loved it as much as my kids do now.

The walkway to the beach by our bungalow.

Broadway and I saw this beautiful heron hanging out by the lily pads and just had to snap a photo.

Love the walkways throughout the resort.

View from a waterfront bungalow at Paradise Point.

Dusk at Paradise Point.

Views from our walk around the beach at Paradise Point.

We all loved our stay here at Paradise Point and hope to visit again soon.  We all highly recommend this resort as a top notch place to bring your family when visiting San Diego.

I had purchased my domain name the prior week and was determined to write several times per week.

I have accomplished that feat during most of these past 12 months, and much more in some months.

My topic focus was uncertain in the beginning.  I thought I would need to narrow down my thoughts and focus on a theme.  What I found is that a focus is not really necessary.  I decided to just write about whatever was on my mind that day.

For the seatbelt bag post, I remember being in love with my Harvey’s seatbelt bag in the champagne color, large satchel style.  I just had to write about handbags that day.

When my family would watch a movie together, I wanted to share how we liked it.  When we went on a fun outing, I wanted to share.  When I loved a book, I wanted to write a review as soon as possible.  When I made a recipe that we all loved, I couldn’t wait to snap photos and share with my readers.  It became such a fun outlet for me and, of course, still is today.

A few months into blogging, I found a kids literature blog hop hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews.  Both of my daughters love talking about their recent reads, so I decided to interview them about their books, then post it onto MOTM.  Earlier this year, Bam Bam, my five year old, decided to jump into the book reviewing game by discussing Pie Rits.

Back at the beginning, I remember obsessing about what the first post would be, then finally telling myself to “JUST WRITE”.  And, I did.  I’ve tried to keep this attitude going every week.

I know people say this a lot, but blogging really is one of the best forms of therapy out there.  Writing and interacting with others from around the world is a great adventure.

In the beginning, I was so excited to check out my Alexa ranking that I would click on my Alexa icon every day to see how I was doing.  What I realized after a few months though, is that it really doesn’t matter. If writing and connecting with other bloggers is fun, then its productive and successful.

Spring Break is about to start, and it reminds me of our trip to Disneyland last year.  I couldn’t wait to get back and write about our day at the big park.  I would take notes on my evernote app while waiting in lines.  :)

In this second year, there will be more posts about photography as I learn more about my DSLR.  There will be more book reviews and delicious recipes posted consistently, and, of course, more random stories about my day to day life as a Mother of 3 (under the age of 12).

Blogging gives us all the opportunity to journal, divulge, connect with other, and record our memories. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Thank you to all of my readers for making this a great first year for my little corner in the blogosphere.

Happy One Year to MOTM.

The Canon camera bag is fine with plenty of pockets and sections for my camera equipment.  However, it looks so boring.  A bag to store your camera body, lenses, battery charger, usb charger etc… offers such a perfect opportunity for creating a super cute and functional handbag.  So, I figured, surely, there must be more exciting choices out there….

When I first started my search, I kept finding boring bags that did not have colorful choices, cute details, or interesting materials.

Then, I stumbled upon Epiphanie Camera Bags.

The colors, styles, and details of Epiphanie Camera Bags are extraordinary.  Perusing through their selection was a bit confusing because I kept narrowing it down to about five bags.  I could not decide!  There were so many incredible choices.  This was completely opposite to my previous experience of not finding anything that was inspiring.

I finally decided on the Lyric Bag in the Olive color.

Isn’t she beautiful?

You can see below the contrast between my Lyric bag and the standard Canon bag.

Don’t you love the camera charm???  :)

The back of the purse offers a very wide zippered pocket that you can put an ipad in quite easily.

There is a zippered pocket inside as well, and, of course all of the padded sections for your camera equipment.

Another view of the inside…..

The front two zippered pockets are perfect for lens cap covers, chapstick, uv and polarized lens covers, etc…

I LOVE the braided strap.  It also comes with an adjustable longer strap with padding.

I took this bag on my trip to NYC and absolutely relished it.  The compartments inside kept me organized throughout the trip, the camera and its different accessories were easily accessible, and the color and style made me happy every day.  :)

Thanks Epiphanie!

Imagineer loves Judy Blume’s Fudge books.

So, its no surprise that Double Fudge ranks at the top of her favorite stories.

She has read this one a handful of times in the past few months.  Its on her kindle and serves as her “go to” book, when she is in between books.

She thought it was silly that we had not posted a review yet on one of her favorite stories.  And, I agreed, so we sat down today for a short interview.

Q. Describe this book in a few sentences

A.  This book is about a boy named Fudge, and his older brother Peter.  Fudge gets interested in money and money becomes his whole life.  Fudge and Peter’s parents get worried and then his Grandma says that they should go to Washington D.C. and show Fudge where money comes from and Peter’s Dad agrees and says it might even help Fudge understand about money.

Q. Describe the main character                    

A.  The main character is probably Peter who is in seventh grade and his brother, Fudge, who is in mixed group, which is an accelerated program, that let kids who have either done kindergarten or are smart enough for 1st grade, but not old enough.

Q.  What is your most favorite scene in the book?

A.  My favorite scene in the book would be when Peter’s friend’s Dad, Mr. Fargo, who is an artist, has an art show and puts Peter’s little sister, Tootsie, on his shoulders and says, “Here is the star of my show, the one, the only Tootsie Pie!”  I like this scene because I like imagining Mr. Fargo with Tootsie on his shoulders and saying “the one, the only, Tootsie Pie.”

Q. Would you recommend this book to your friends?

A.  Yes.  I would recommend this book because it is funny and it is a book you can read over and over, again.

For another review from Imagineer check out Bandit.

Here’s a few shots from the homestead.

I love photos of jellybeans around Easter time.  Black jellybeans are my favorites – what’s your’s?

Love the Easter baskets too……I think aqua is my new favorite color.

My favorite strainer hanging from my ceiling pot and pan organizer….

My nine year old daughter painted this at a painting party.  Its hanging in my kitchen now.  I LOVE it.  :)

Remember when I planted the vinca minors last year?  They’re blooming!!

My favorite tea mug…..

My favorite candlesticks….

I liked the variety and the lengths of the swims.

Great workout and great start to my week.

5:30am is reeeeaaaaally early to get out of my cozy bed, but I suppose its worth it.

I really should try to get to the pool more.

What would you do if your town was overrun by rats?  Would you move?  Would you call an exterminator?  Would you pay someone to calmly lead the little rascals out of your town?

The people of Hamelin Town were faced with this very problem and were offered a unique solution in Paying Piper, by Ilana Waters.

They enlist the help of a mysterious Piper to solve their problem and embark on quite an adventure.  The people of Hamelin Town learn an important lesson in their dealings with the Piper, and this lesson is the heart of this fantastical story about rats and men.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of rat excavation, a whimsical piper, and lessons learned.

Stories that keep you guessing and beckon you to turn the page to see what’s going to happen next are my favorites.  Paying Piper fits into this category for me.  After a critical scene where the Mayor pays the Piper, my head was spinning with the possibilities of how the Piper would react, and I could not wait to turn the page to the next scene to find out.

As I have mentioned before on my blog, I really appreciate it when authors take the time to incorporate important life lessons into their captivating stories.  The lesson learned here is focused on treating others with kindness and respect.

Children learn a great deal from books, and when a lesson is presented in a fun and interesting manner, it will stick with them for years to come.

My 9 year old daughter enjoyed reading Paying Piper as well, and  I sat down with her to ask her a few questions about this delightful fantasy.

Q. Describe this book in a few sentences

A. This book is about a piper who solves 2 problems in the town of Hamelin.  One of the problems he solved was he made the adults be better, kinder, and they didn’t scream and yell at each other as much.

Q. Describe the main character                    

A. The main character is The Piper. The Piper has a pipe, and pointed ears at the tip.

Q.  What is your most favorite scene in the book?

A. My favorite scene in the book is when at the end the rats dress up as the children.

Q. Would you recommend this book to your friends?

A. I would recommend this book to my friends that like fiction or fantasy, books. I would also recommend this book to my friends that like a good, short book.

For another review by Imagineer, check out:  The Secret of Platform 13