I am the Master

I wrote this post on Saturday the 13th, a week ago, but it took until today to get the pics in!

Holy Smokes!!! What a week!!!!

Camping was super great! Fun time with the family and we got loads of "weather" which put us in the holiday spirit. Friday afternoon turned WINDY and the very blustery day turned into a very blustery night. The wind howled and the rain poured down. Sometime during the night the rain turned to hail and we woke up to an icy wonderland. The wind died down around 10 a.m. and the hail and sleet turned into snow. It was gorgeous! We spent most of the day inside in various locations (the motorhome, my uncle's trailer or the small rented condo) playing games and eating away.

Gavin became ill during the drive up (and by ill I mean that he yacked on the carpeted floor of the motorhome). He had a fever and felt terrible all day on Thanksgiving. He ate nothing more than a slice of bread! On Friday, he was better but still had a fever and later that night I noticed that he had a rash. By the time we got home he was on his way to a full recovery.
Monday started out in normal way, but after nap time Ella would not get up and she did not look like she felt well. We took her temp and discovered that she had a fever and just as we were about to call her Dad, she puked. In my lap. Thankfully it was no more than juice as she had not wanted to eat snack or lunch. She went home and rested, but by the evening she too had the rash. I had my suspicions, so I called to get her and Gavin into the doctor the next day. I had already planned to stay home with her, as Andy had a meeting that he couldn't miss. The doc confirmed my suspicion and pronounced it Scarlet Fever. He put us all on anitbiotics and sent us on our way. I worked on my paper and got my first major revision completed.

The next day, I had a fever and sore throat and Ella slept most of the day. This proved to be a blessing as I completed my second major revision on the thesis and had to have a plumber out to hydro jet our main sewer line to clear it of tree roots.

Thursday dawned with Ella and I feeling great, but not having been fever free for 24 hours, we both stayed home. We went to Target and ran a couple of errands before heading out for our big adventure. I had a doctors appointment to go to, but the tests that they ran didn't take very long so we were off to Burbank to see a special screening of "The Princess and the Frog". It was at the Disney Studios and was really cool. We met up with some friends and had a great time. The movie is super fantastic and they had a big Mardi Gras party afterwards! We got to meet EVERY princess (well, I took pictures of every princess while Ella hid behind my legs and waved). There were games, cupcakes and even an animator who worked on the film and was giving demonstrations. This may have been Ella's favorite part. She sat down at one of the tables and started drawing away! It was a wonderful event and it was even more wonderful to share it with my daughter.Friday we were back to work and school and it was like Monday after vacation all over again! The day really wiped me out. I had to finish our preschool version of "report cards" and write a lesson for next week and by the time the day was over I was ready to fall down. Ella had her dance class and then she and Gavin joined my in-laws for a movie night at their church. Andy and I took advantage of the time, grabbed a quick burger and then did the majority of our Christmas shopping. Whew! Later, Andy proof read my entire Thesis and reported that it only needed some minor cleaning up and a few changes. I slept so well!

Today, Andy worked on cleaning out the motorhome and putting up the Christmas lights while I have spent my day with my bum glued to the couch, computer on my lap, finishing my thesis. I am DONE! I even powered through and finished the 10 page Research Design Proposal!!! All I have left now, is to print both and then create a five slide power point presentation for class on Wednesday. AMEN!!!! I did it! I am so happy and releived and so very excited to spend some time with my family! In fact, I am not sure why I am still here on this computer and not playing Monopoly Jr. with them right now! Oh, wait, I heard whining.... I remember why.

Actually, I am off to make dinner and relax with some cocoa, next to a fire with my family while we watch a Christmas movie.

I did it.... I really did it... my Masters.... I can't beleive it!

It's crunch time!

Just a few weeks left until I have completed all of the work for my Masters degree in Education, but it feels overwhelming!  I have my Annotated Bibliography done and a REALLY rough 5 pages (out of 30?)  Then I have a Research Design Proposal and Oral Presentation with Power Point to complete.  All due, on December 9th.  That is it.  I will be done in a few weeks and I can hardly concentrate I am so excited.  My goal, right now, is to finish my rough draft before Thanksgiving.  We shall see!

It has been a rough semester with all of the changes and adjustments that we are making, but we are pulling through.  Gavin struggles with not getting enough time with Mom and Dad and Ella does too.  It is rough because I do not see them on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday!  I go to work and then to the library and don't get home until after they go to bed.  Andy is overworked at home and is exhausted, but he is incredible.  

We started having "talk time" with Gavin where one of us spends 15 minutes just hanging out with him and chatting.  Catching up on his life, friends, school or the latest book that he is reading.  He is responding well to this and I am loving the time to connect.  I think that after I am done with classes, we will make this a nightly thing and trade off kids so that each one gets some one on one time with each parent EVERY day.  If I don't have 10 minutes to devote myself to one of my children every day, I really need to get my priorities straightened out.  They used to get some one on one during bath time, but they both shower independently nowadays.. so we lost that.  I think that we are on to something good here!

We have made time to do some things together... we have been having Friday Family Nights still and have gone out to dinner, ice cream, done crafts, made cookies, watched movies or played games.  We are loving that!  We also went to a play last weekend which was really neat!  The next couple of weeks will be really rough for everyone because I am going to be at the library every night except for weekends when I will be working at home on my Lit Review.  I keep reminding the kids that if I can get done before Thanksgiving I can hang out all weekend long.  (I will take time to edit, but probably when they go to bed.)

We decided to go camping this year for Thanksgiving and I am beyond excited.  My mother's side of the family is getting together in the mountains above San Diego.  I have not celebrated Thanksgiving with this part of my family for a LONG time, and the kids never have!  We are going to have a great time (and try not to freeze to death!)  

I am at the library now, and took a break to post this update.  I appreciate my friends and family who stick with me and support me and love me through it all.  I could not do it without you!  NOW... It is back to work!

Happy Halloween!

Another month has come and gone...We had a great time and especially love when Halloween falls on a Saturday. It gives us an entire day to play and have fun together!

We had ghost pancakes for breakfast that Andy and the kids made. We made a Gingerbread Haunted House and some ghost and mummy cookies to take to a party later in the day.
Gavin played his soccer game and then we carved our pumpkins.

We all took a nap and then donned our costumes, headed off to a party for a big potluck dinner and then we were off to Trick or Treat. It was a fun and spooky night. Ella was very independent and just went off on her own to the doors of our neighbors. Gavin got brave and even went to the "scary" houses.

Today, we are putting away the decorations and cleaning up the house and doing laundry. Later I will be working on my thesis and we will have dinner with my in laws. November, here we come!

The End

What a scary looking title! What comes after THAT? Well, it is not the end of my blogging days, in case you were wondering... but.... it is the end of a few things for me and my family.

The end of surprise announcements, the end of baby clothes, the end of diapers and cribs and bouncy seats, the end of birth control, the end of worry every month, and the list goes on.

After about two years of debate, discussion and several scares a decision has been made. We will not be having any more babies. At least, not genetically! (I would never rule out the possibility of some amazing opportunity to have someone else's baby live with us! Even though I am not seeking it) Late in August, Andy finally had his "procedure" and in about a month he will be tested to make sure that the "coast is clear"!

Last year I was sad and still conflicted, but seriously, once the decision was made I just wanted to move on and be done with it. After it was over, I thought that I might feel sad but honestly we have been so busy, it has been the furthest thing from my mind. I am happy that we came to this decision and blessed to have a wonderful husband who took care of it and didn't leave it up to me. Getting the appointment was a challenge and took forever (he even had to take a "class" and sign all of the paper work and release forms) but the procedure itself didn't take very long at all. Fifteen minutes? We were in and out so fast our heads were spinning! A weekend of relaxing with a strategically placed ice pack and he was back on the run! The bruising looked horrible, but he said that he didn't feel too bad!

Ahhhhh I feel like I can relax in a way that I have not known for 9 years! It is very freeing and a huge relief, although it still seems strange to have closed the book on this chapter of our lives. I keep reminding myself that there are plenty of chapters yet to be written and I look forward with anticipation to what comes next. My pen is poised. Ready? Yes!

Really?

So, while we were on our vacation in the hills above Santa Barbara... I got a message from my Mom. Hand delivered by the front gate guard on his golf cart. He said that I needed to call her, it was urgent. As my face blanched white, he smiled and said, "She said that you would worry, so I should tell you that it is good news." The first thought that flashed through my mind was, "Hmm, my mom had her tubes tied, so it can't be that." I almost immediately knew what she was calling about, even though it was a million miles from my radar.

I scrounged up the money I would need to use the pay phone down at the country store and called. (We were in a beautiful area with zero cel service...blessing...yes... strange, also yes) When I got a hold of my mom we had the worst connection imaginable, but she told me that the Director of Broadoaks had been trying to reach me because she wanted to offer me a position at the school. I don't know how I knew that this was the news, somehow I have the strangest ESP. It only works for pregnancy announcements and gifts, but occasionally for things like this!

I had applied for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship position at Broadoaks for last school year and was told that there just weren't any openings at the time. This was very disappointing, but I just figured that the Universe had something else in store for me. I did beat myself up a bit because the year before, the Director had encouraged me to apply and was really pushing me (indicating that I would most likely be brought on board). Ella would have only been 2 1/2 and I was really just not ready to start working full time and go back to school, so I waited. Then, there was nothing available. This year, something opened up and they found themselves with an open position, just for me!

A fellowship is like a paid internship and are only granted to a few students each year. You must be enrolled in the Masters program at Whittier and go through an application process. They had held onto my application and pushed for me to get a spot for the coming school year. I told my Mom to let the Director know that I would call her the next day at 12 noon to have a conversation. (I knew that I would have cel service where we were going the next day) I called and we talked and indeed, she offered me the spot. She told me all of the pro's and con's and explained more about what I would be doing. The benefits are: Working at an incredible school with amazing people, a small paycheck, tuition remission for myself and for Ella. I get retirement and health benefits too and I think, after a year, I get one free meal a week at the cafeteria. But, this is when I found out about two difficult elements of the position. The first is that I would not be able to complete my student teaching during the fall semester, but they would try to work it out so that I could do it in the spring. The second is that I would be teaching pre-school. Not only preschool, but the LITTLEST kids, because Ella is in the Pre-K class, it would mean that I would go to the class with the 2 1/2 - 3 year olds. Really? Really? Didn't I JUST finish with this at home? Wasn't I just saying how glad I was to be done with the whining and the pee pee pants and the boogers!? Wasn't I just saying how this is NOT my favorite age!? I told the Director that I would think about all that we had discussed and that I would call her back in two days to tell her my final decision. I really knew what my answer would be, but I wanted some time to process all of this! When I called back, she was delighted to find that I was accepting and I figured that the Universe must know something that I didn't and besides, I am never one to pass up an Opportunity when it falls right into my lap.

This news really shook me up! I had a plan and it was being completely overhauled.. I DON'T like to change my plans!

Original plan: Student teach in the Fall and not work at the church for the semester. Spring would see me working one or two days a week and writing my thesis while both children were in school. I would graduate in the Spring followed by working part time during the Summer and hopefully finding a full time teaching job for the next year.

NEW plan: Work full time NOW, write thesis NOW and HOPE that I can student teach in the Spring. Graduation in the Spring (with or without my credential) followed by maybe working at Broadoaks over the Summer and back with them full time next year.

With the original plan, I would have had two full weeks when the kids were back at school and before I started student teaching, allowing me some much needed time to work on projects around the house. With the new plan it meant coming home from vacation, unpacking and spending the next week scrambling to get myself ready to begin working full time! I had to do a lot of leg work at the college, filling out paperwork, changing my financial aid, dropping and adding classes... eek! It was crazy! I also had to arrange for child care because Andy and I started two weeks before the kids!

Well, we worked it out and went a little nutty, but here we are. I am now working full time and knee deep in research for my thesis. Thankfully, I thought about a topic all summer and even had a tentative outline in my head. I am looking at Gifted and Talented Education (or the lack of it) and finding lots of great information! There is a LOT to do and not much time to do it! Adjusting to a new work environment and schedule is extremely taxing, not to mention that my students hit, bite, pee their pants and haven't learned how to share!

Andy is working his buns off to keep things running smoothly around here and we are just going to hang on by the skin of our teeth until Christmas. My thesis will be done by then, and I am sure that we will be much more well adjusted to the schedule. I greatly appreciate Fridays and the time that I get to spend with my family during the weekend and I have found myself longing for the time to dust baseboards. The things that used to seem like drudgery, I now look at as something that I miss. Strange the way it works... I have on my pack again and continue to climb. I have requested prayers and accepted lots of help. This life of mine, well, it is quite a journey and let me tell you, the view from up here... it is incredible!

Time?

Well.. looks like you don't get to hear all about my fabulous vacation or see the amazing pictures. I don't have time...

Also appears that you won't hear all of the jucy details about how I got my new job.
I don't have time....

You also won't get to hear all about my 4 day trip to Vegas with just Andy... I will say it was GREAT... other than that,
I don't have time...

No time for a haircut, mani, pedi...
No time to bake cookies, walk Gavin to school or volunteer...
No time to watch tv, clean house, or do laundry....

But life is still good and amazing and tonight I made time to read to Ella and have dinner with Gavin, and to let you all know that I would love to share more about all of the wonderful things going on in my life.
I just don't have time...

Ch - Ch - Ch - Changes....

About a million things seem to have happened since my last post and life is no longer in the "chillax" mode. We are on high speed and gearing up for a new school year. The short story is that vacation was awesome, visit from New York Aunt was fun, I registered for classes, was offered a position at Broadoaks school, accepted position, dropped classes, changed all plans for school year, re-registered for classes and resigned from job at church. Oh.. also, we started soccer and registered the kids for piano and Ella for dance.

Today and tomorrow we are going to squeeze the last little bit out of summer by heading to Splash! (our local water park) and San Clemente with family the next day. Andy and I both start work on Wednesday and I think that we have emergency child care (almost) sorted out for the next two weeks until they start school.

I will post about vacation and the job... AND about my fabulous new shoes as soon as I have a spare second. Tonight I have to take my CPR class but maybe tomorrow?

Enjoying Summer

The kids have been enjoying a little extra time in the mornings to watch cartoons.

Well, it seems that I have not had much time on the computer lately. That is a good thing! I have been having a wonderful summer hanging out with the kids and relaxing. YES! I said RELAXING!!! It has been incredible! I have cut down my workload to only what is necessary. Laundry, shopping and light cooking. We have been grilling and keeping food prep to a minimum, except for the Fridays when we have had company over. We have been to the water park, the free movies and of course to Gramma and Grampa's house to swim. We also went to an awesome concert series for the kids at the Hollywood Bowl! Gavin and I have watched the first two of the Harry Potter movies and Andy and I have a date on Friday to go out and see the new one and have dinner together. We made tie dye t-shirts with friends and are gearing up for our vacation.

We will be heading to Lake Cachuma in the hills above Santa Barbara. We had many ideas about this summers trip, Andy wanted to go to some lake somewhere and stay and I wanted to drive up the coast until we got to Oregon. We decided that the coast trip would be too much driving for the kids and not enough sitting for Andy. We have also had to scale back on the cost of our trip, due to a serious money crunch. Andy did work summer school, but the hours were cut and we were left with only half of the salary that we expected. We made some cut backs and it will certainly be tight, but we know that it will be fine. We are also trying to plan for the coming semester when I will be student teaching and not working at all. (eeek!)

The compromise was this: Go to Lake Cachuma and stay there for 12 days. Because we have a membership to the campground, we pay nothing for our stay and because it is so close, we pay almost nothing for our gas. I will follow Andy (driving the motorhome) with the van so that we can drive without unhooking and resetting up. There are TONS of things to do in the area, so I am happy about that! We plan to go into Santa Barbara, see the missions in the area, do some wine tasting, go horseback riding, visit Solvang, swim at the pool, do some nature hikes and a boat trip and do some more RELAXING!

Andy and I have been utilizing our Netflix and have watched a ton of movies and I have gotten through several novels! I usually only make it through one, maybe two! I read: Cry the Beloved Country, The Third Summer of the Traveling Pants, Al Capone Does My Shirts, Little House on the Prairie, The Shack, and The Good Earth. I don't know what I will pick up next, but look forward to cracking a new book! I also completed my scrapbook(s) for 2007. It was the longest and busiest year of our lives! The three books are 160 pages (320 sides!) and chock full of some great pictures of all of the fun stuff that we did that year!

The garden is in it's final days and we harvested quite a few cucumbers (I am making pickles later today!) The tomatoes have been mouth watering and my only disappointment is that the purple ones got too much shade and did not produce. The corn was purple and sweet and delicious and the harvest was plentiful. The snap peas never got pulled up and finally gave us a handful or two to enjoy. The carrots are still growing (although we picked a few baby ones to eat already) and the pumpkins are not very big, but growing! I would call this garden a success! Now, what to plant for fall and winter?

Today we did this:

We are still waiting on our Praying Mantis egg case to hatch, it may be a dud... but we are waiting! They will have to go on vacation with us (I am not thrilled) but the company has reassured us that they will send us a new one if nothing happens with this one.

Summer has been great and I am glad that it is not over yet....still more time to enjoy!

Another Haircut!

Ella got her hair cut! I had always said that I would cut her hair short right before Kindergarten, but..... After a long semester in classes, I looked at her and realized that she had not had her hair trimmed since December (I had done her bangs). It was REALLY long! She and I talked about it and decided that she would let it grow just a bit longer so that she could donate her hair to Locks of Love. It finally got long enough and off went 10 inches! She really seems to understand what we are doing with the hair (we visited the website and saw pictures of girls who had lost their hair and pictures of wigs, etc...)



I am not sure that I would choose to cut it quite this short again, but it does look cute on her! In fact, her first comment was, "I didn't know it would look so cute!". She is loving the freedom of hardly having to do her hair in the morning and I am missing hair to braid! Her hair grows fast however and I am sure that it will be to her shoulders (at least) by Christmas.

4th of July

Not many words needed. Camping with family down by the water. Bike parade, boat ride, dancing, swimming and eating. Lots of fun, lots of love.

Ella's Room

Here is my little sweet girl, all dressed up and ready for a picnic. She begged me to take her picture in the garden and I obliged.

With all the summer activities I am really struggling to get things done! I am the Mom Taxi for much of the day and the sun and heat really wear me out. Not a lot of blogging getting done, obviously! (or much of anything else, really!)

We did finish Ella's room and I just realized that I never posted about that! We completed it before summer started and other than refinishing the dresser, painting the bookcase and labeling the bins (I am tired thinking about it) The room itself is done! I can't find "before" pics of the kids room when they shared it, in fact, I can't find my camera at all right now. Ugh.. don't get me started!

Here are the pics of the finished room... I was going to paint the bookcase a shade darker than her walls in the same tone pink, but now I am thinking that there is an awful lot of pink going on in there (I am wishing that we had painted it a soft blue, but oh well) So, now I am thinking that the bookcase should be white. Any opinions?

This is her room as you walk in the door... I went from the right of the room and around for these shots, to help you get a better sense of the space.

This is her doll house to the right of the door as you walk in. At first we had it on the opposite wall but it was way to chaotic to look at when you entered the room. I just noticed the picture frame on the wall that is wood colored, I am going to paint it white.

This is her bed and her name over it. It was really hard to decide what to put up in her room. We still had all of the decor from her nursery, but it felt too babyish (I am saddened by that) But the frames went up, one has her cross stitched birth announcement that I designed and stitched. One has her hand print (that will most likely change, later) and the other had a photo of her feet, we put in a recent portrait of her instead, but I don't like the dark background in it. It will do, until I find something else. I would like to make a pressed flower picture with her, and I am hoping that we can collect some wild flowers during our vacation for this purpose.

A straight on shot of her bed, with the closet behind me. I used her crib comforter on the foot of the bed to add some color and pattern, and it is perfect for napping under.

Her dresser, which we are going to repaint in a sour cream white to match the other furniture. We are going to change the trim from blue to the mint green that you see on the pillow on her bed. I found the angel at a little shop in town and just loved it, so did Ella.

The kitchen and doll area. I wish that there was a way for it to be neater, but there just isn't. I also wish that the kitchen was pastel (Ella does too) but when Santa brought it, he thought that we were going to have it in the family room forever.

The bookshelf. Perfect for toys, collectibles and of course, books. White? Pink? Green? My Aunt Trudy and I created the floral arch for Andy's and my wedding. I had thought that I would have a pretty living room some day to hang it in, but our living room is NOT the place for this. It seemed to fit perfectly in Ella's room. There are lots of dolls packed away that were mine that are collectible and I think that they might find their way to this space, someday. (the ugly air freshener is gone too) ...And the bins will get labeled before summer is over.. they will, they will, they will.

Well, there it is.. her new (very pink) room. Now, to finish up the furniture and move on to the bar in the family room!!!! (and the cabinet, and the trim, and the baseboards, and.....)

Flashback!

I have been trying to get all of my stuff out of my mom's basement. I realized that at my age, I should take over the storage of my possessions. I am sure that she is relieved by this. My husband, is not. He has had to endure many boxes being brought in and unpacked. Of course, I want to share these memories with someone and he has been my chosen "victim". I look over each item and decide it it is going to the trash, goodwill, to be given to the kids, or put into storage in the attic. He has listened to every story and tried really hard to sound interested.

I brought home a box of miniature doll house furniture this weekend and it went to the attic. The other box was dolls and knick knacks. Some of the stuff was silly, like a plastic mother deer with two fawns chained to her. It was supposed to look like glass, and I know that someone gave them to me, but I don't remember who. (they went in the trash) Gavin got a small train and Ella got a Holly Hobbie and Carie doll in addition to this family......

The Sunshine Family! This is the newer version, the originals looked even more "hippy-ish". Mom had long flowing hair and so did Dad and the little girl was a baby.. these guys were headed into the mid-70's with the long flowing dress and the dad's perm..and they had a new baby. Ella is thrilled with them. I only wish that I had the old camper that they came with. AHHHH, childhood.. and memories.

Can't wait to open up some more boxes. (Sorry, Andy)

The Corn

OH! The corn... I forgot to follow up.. for those of you who were left hanging.. I am sure that you have been checking my blog every hour to see what has happened...

(I AM kidding, ya know....)

The corn is holding! It has put up it's little flowery things (a farmer, I am not... ) and is looking really healthy! It looks like Andy's hard work is going to pay off!

We have a second crop of those purple beans. I am considering pickling this batch.

Still no sugar snap peas, the plants are going this week for sure. The tomatoes are growing, just waiting for color! I have a handful of recipies ready and waiting. (though, I will just eat them sliced with salt and pepper, or some balsalmic... I will eat them ALL..... oh, o.k. I will share!)

Summer is on!

Last week was awesome! I got to relax, sleep in, read and hang out with the kids. We watched "Hans Christian Anderson" from when I was a kid (KTLA ran a Family Film Festival on Sundays and that movie was shown every year!) They LOVED it and I loved that they loved it! We went to the library to sign up for the Reading Programs and the kids helped me with the grocery shopping.

We painted, did crafts, played outside, and started reading "Jungle Book", Ella couldn't hang with it and Gavin is balking at it a bit, but he is sticking it out with me and I am simplifying the language a bit. I baked and cooked every single meal from scratch! (I am already missing my Dream Dinners, however!)

Last Thursday I spent the entire day in the kitchen in preparation for our weekend in Carpinteria. We had the usual hot dogs, pancakes, etc.. but what I cooked ahead were Citrus Rosemary Ribs, Country Potato Salad (with a tangy ranch dressing, roasted potatoes, garlic, red onion and corn) and a Five Bean Salad. The work was well worth it, our meal was fabulous and I didn't have to do a thing but put into serving bowls!

The photo above is the view from our campsite! We went last year and it was heaven on earth! This year was a bit chilly and cloudy, but the sun did come out enough to get my cheeks pink and allow the kids to swim in the waves. Gavin tried body surfing and went in up to his chest and Ella was brave enough to go in to her ankles alone! It was loads of fun and although I am always happy to go, I am equally as happy to come home. I spent today trying to get the laundry done and the motorhome unpacked!

Today we started our summer activities! Gavin will be at Science Academy (Broadoaks at Whittier College) all day for the next two weeks. I missed him, but he came home tired and worn out and full of stories! Ella started swimming lessons which will continue for six weeks. Gavin will join her after Science Academy is done. He will go to Sports Camp for two weeks, but it is only a morning program, so he will catch up with us and swim at the same time as Ella!

I am working and trying to get in 15 hours per week at the office and Andy is teaching Summer School so he is gone in the mornings, but gets to join us for lunch everyday! He has a long list of honey-do's to fill his afternoons! I am so glad that summer is here, but I know that it is going to just fly by! I am really striving for a balance of work and play, busy and relaxed. We will see how I do... I am new to this kick back thing, but I think I am liking it!

My old "Martha" self even made an appearance today! I felt like making cupcakes, and so.. I did! Here they are:

I wanted to have a little of the beach with us today... but... I did not want 24 cupcakes sitting around my house while I am here, so I delivered plates of cupcakes to our friends and neighbors!

Tomorrow I will have coffee with a friend, grocery shop, take Ella to swimming, and work on my Student Teaching packet that is due at the end of the month. Gavin is having a friend over and I am going to read a magazine. See.. busy, but balanced! I think get it.... maybe....

The Garden - O.O.C. (that's "Out Of Control")

It grew fast and we have already harvested! We grew purple snap beans (like green beans but a bit fatter and purple) and had them for dinner last night. We were all kind of bummed and surprised to find that the beans turned green when we cooked them!

We have had a few small tomatoes and lots of parsley, sage, rosemary and cilantro! The pumpkins have taken over and we have figured out a better configuration for next year. They have spilled out onto the grass and we are going to let them continue right where they are. The vine that went down looks like it will be a pretty good producer and we don't want to damage the vine by moving it. The sugar snap peas never really did much and we have two tiny plants that we have already eaten all of the peas from. They will be coming out thereby giving more room to the pumpkins.

The corn fell over the night after I took these pictures and we decided that the seed had not been planted deep enough. Andy came home and piled about 3 more inches of dirt around the bases and staked them up with bamboo. We really hope that they make it! Purple sweet corn, who knew?

I am here..

I have been busy! Busy RELAXING! (and putting my house and life back in order!)

I put things away, I made lists, I read a book, I scrapbooked for an entire day, I watched two movies and a whole bunch of Oprah's, I have cooked and baked and yesterday, I slept for 12 hours. Yes, you read that right! TWELVE hours! I don't think that I have done that, since college! (technically I AM in college right NOW, so maybe that is why!) I fell asleep on the couch at 7 p.m. after my sweet son covered me with a blanket and my daughter snuggled up with me. At 11 p.m. my darling husband turned down the bed and I slept until my alarm went off at 6.. I then hit snooze until 7 a.m.!!!! I feel really good today! (ya think!?)

The garden is CRAZY out of control!!! I will post pics soon!

We went to San Diego last weekend. Here are the highlights: Before leaving, we discovered that our DVR died. It would not turn on. Ordered new one, it came on Tuesday and is now installed. Took a u-haul truckload of furniture to my cousin who is in college and moving into her first apartment. We got lost. Unloaded furniture. Drove to return truck - got lost. Went to family graduation party for my cousin who just finished high school. Had a blast, until Ella came to me crying and holding her arm. Subluxation, nurse maid's elbow, dislocation, call it what you want, it hurt like hell and we took her to the ER. Way to break up a party! Andy and Gavin went with my uncle to his house (where we were planning on staying the night) My aunt and cousin (who was the grad) went with Ella and me to the hospital. My cousin and her friend had been swinging the kids. One had the feet and one had the arms and they were swinging them like a hammock (is that spelled right?) Used to do that with my little cousins! It's fun, until a loose jointed peanut like my daughter gets her arm out of whack! Waited several hours for x-ray and when the tech moved her arm, it popped back in. 7 p.m until 11 p.m. at the ER... not too bad, really! Visited with friends on Sunday and finally saw their new place, had lunch and lots of fun! Drove home. Watched a movie, a video tape, the last one we might ever see, our VCR died. (what is up with this!?)

I passed the CSET... with flying colors I might add (or brag!). SO relieved! I think that is why I slept so long! Today I spent the day with my mother-in-law! She cashed in her Christmas present! There are a bunch of antique and gift shops along the Boulevard that we both have wanted to check out, so together we went shopping today! I got a cool night light (my early birthday present) and I did some Christmas shopping. She bought a nice grocery shopping bag and a clock. We stopped for lunch at a little bakery and had chicken salad on fresh croissants (heavenly) and a homemade chocolate chip cookie for dessert! Yum!!! It was a great day!

Ella had her last day of preschool today and Gavin will enjoy his last day party tomorrow. He is sad and excited to be leaving the 2nd grade. It was such a great year for him! He has grown up and matured SO MUCH this year and especially in the last couple of months. The tantrums have almost dissappeared and the level of focus and responsibility have increased. Oh, I do see the light! He has been practicing piano (WITHOUT BEING ASKED) EVERYDAY!!!!!! He really likes his songs right now and FINALLY realized that if he practices...the songs are REALLY easy!!!

I should get off to bed, the house is a mess and we have company coming over for dinner tomorrow. They might be shocked to see my house this way! I will be running the popcorn machine at the party tomorrow and then we are going bowling to celebrate the end of the school year! Later you can find me drinking Mojitos and celebrating my wonderful and amazing life with my incredible family. If you are local and care to join me.. stop on by!!

Crazy Projects

Does anyone else "assign" themselves "crazy" projects? Things that you decide "must" be done, but really may not be all that important? I do it, I do it all the time! Cleaning out cupboards, reorganizing closets and other such things.

This time I have started on a project of transfering all of my childhood records onto CD. Of course, I can't just transfer them, I feel the need to copy the album cover, reduce it to the size of a CD and then type up all of the information from the back jacket onto a paper and create the insert. I have several CD's made, and several copies of the albums copied, but the rest is just waiting.

The pile is hiding on a dining room chair and I am hoping that after school is over for the semester I can complete this crazy project. It has been really fun listening to these recordings and my kids are enjoying them now too. I will be glad when I can dump all of the old records (sad, isn't it?) into the trash can and get them out of the box in my garage. (before you ask, I looked into selling them, but really I only find them for under $1.00 most places that I look!)

Crazy Projects... do you have any?

New Bikes

Our yard sale was a success and we met our goal of making enough money to get the kids new bikes. They had both outgrown what they had and it was time! Thankfully, Toys R Us put bikes on sale and we headed there quickly, before the sale ended.

The kids didn't know WHEN they were getting the bikes, so for our Friday Family Night, we had dinner together and then the kids did a treasure hunt. They found clues and plastic coins hidden around the house and when the came to the end, there was a small treasure chest. Inside, they found some chocolate coins, the Toys R Us ad page and a coupon for ice cream!

I have never seen those kids move so fast! They left a vapor trail as they ran to the car! We picked out the bikes, loaded them up and then went to Baskin Robbins for dessert. We had enough money for the bikes, some accessories, ice creams for Mom and Dad (the kids had free scoop certificates) and even enough to pay for some video games at the pizza party that we went to on Saturday!

It feels so good to pay for things in cash and KNOW that you have the money for them! Andy and I put the bikes together on Saturday afternoon and Ella could not get enough! Once she figured it out, she rode for 2 hours. On Sunday morning, she was up and dressed WITH shoes on and asking to go out and ride!

Gavin likes his bike, but wants to ride with a friend. I am sure that he will ride a lot on our next camping trip. He went up and down the street a couple of times, and then played handball.

Here is a quick clip of Ella riding, I am not sure why she was going in a circle, but my guess is: because she can.