Enjoying Summer

Now that the first full month of my summer vacation is almost over, I really feel like I am "into" it! (Especially since the sun decided to come out for two whole days in a row! Very strange to have had such cloudy and cold weather for so long!) We did our traditional weekend in Chula Vista and had a great time. It was really relaxing! The kids are getting easier every year and Andy and I are loving the time spent with them.

The kids went to Broadoaks Science Academy for the first two weeks of summer while I was still working. It was really cool to be on the same campus, but I am even firmer in my belief that it is good for us to be at different schools. Gavin took tennis lessons (and even walked across the college campus by himself to come to academy! Wow! What a big kid!) and the kids had swim lessons at a new pool this year. They learned a lot and had fun (except for the first week that was super cold). We did the summer reading program, went to the Farmer's Market, saw a free movie, went bowling, had the a/c fan replaced, did some home repairs, attended a birthday party, went to a baseball game, hung out with the Arizona Huffakers, swam in the pool, went to the Santa Ana Discovery Center and played at Jumpin' Jammin'. Whew!

I also worked with each kid to do a full room clean out! Each one took two days and from each bedroom we got two bags of trash and one big bag for our next yard sale. Whew! Clean and organized! Not the most fun you can have ... but needed nonetheless! I have also cleaned out several closets and the vacuum cleaner.. gross.

Last weekend Ella performed in her first real dance recital! She was in "Little Miss Muffet" and did a GREAT job. She has proclaimed that she wants to dance forever and Gavin is insisting on signing up for the hip hop class that the studio offers!

This week the kids have been back at Science Academy for dissection week and have looked at brains, hearts, lungs and eyeballs! Strange that Gavin's class is also doing Cooking Academy this week... kind of gross, really! They are also working on acts for the Talent Show! I am home alone and have found time to shop and relax and clean and SCRAPBOOK! I was hoping to "catch up" on Ella's book, but I am still terribly behind. I have had a nice time, but it is getting a bit lonely.
Not to worry, I will not be lonely tomorrow and Saturday when I have a class! Yup... back to school! Just for two days though! I am going to a "Step Up To Writing" class that the rest of my teaching team will also be attending. It will be fun, but feels a bit intrusive during my time of relaxation!

This weekend we will head out for our vacation! Andy is finally going to be done with work for the summer and we are headed north! Pismo, Monterey, Santa Cruz.... and then way down south to San Diego! Can't wait, but should probably get back to the laundry so that we all have clean clothes to wear!

New musings

I know that I sounded very down last week, but... that is just the way it goes sometimes. I am really doing very well and have taken this time to think and meditate and muse upon what it is that I really want. I don't know if I have an answer, but it is forming.

At church last week, our minister said something that made me think. (Well, she usually does, but this gem hit me right between the eyes!) The quote was, "We can choose our actions, but we cannot chose our consequences." WOW!!!! Yes!!!! I can make all of the choices that I want, but I cannot decide what will happen because of them. I can drive 90 miles an hour down the freeway, that is my choice! But, I cannot choose what might happen because of it. I could get into an accident, I could hurt others, I could get a ticket! The way I really connected it with my life is: I chose to buy this house, with a big 'ol mortgage. That was my choice. The consequence for that choice is that I have to go to work full time. (the consequences of that are many!) Therefore, I must be very clear with myself, that I am o.k. with that consequence. If I am not, then maybe I need to make a different choice!

I know that I want to be right here in this house, with my family. Maybe giving up the house is not "it", maybe it is giving up some of the "stuff" that we do. We do a lot! Concerts for the kids, sports, lesson, classes, lots of stuff.

This summer, it does not look like we are going to have much money so, I have had to start thinking about what we will not be able to do. By doing this however, I have started to see all of the things that we CAN do! If we do not have to be up early for Sports Camp, we can sleep in! If we do not have to keep to a schedule for swim lessons, we can go on an all day adventure. If we do not drive all over creation, we can play in our own backyard. If we do not have a ton of commitments, we are free to read, swim, drink kool aid and hang out together! It is starting to sound really good.

I am still working through all of this "stuff"... but I am getting there... I feel it... I am growing, again!

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!

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....

SUMMERTIME!!!!

Well... it is officially here! Not only is school out, but today was 89 degrees and GORGEOUS!!!
It got hot enough in the house to need the A/C on so that I could get some work done, but I only had it on for about 2 hours during the late afternoon. We are catching a lovely ocean breeze and it is wonderful outside, I wish that my hubby and I were out there enjoying our patio and an icy beverage together, but.. he is doing dishes, and I am... well... supposed to be packing, but here on the computer instead.

The kids enjoyed the first 2 days of the week, without much to worry about. They played at Gramma and Grampas house on Monday while I went to my orientation for the Masters program. It was very overwhelming...but I handled it with a few deep breaths and a reminder, that I will be fine!

The kids spent Tuesday with Gramma and Grampa again while I worked and today, they started their summer programs! Ella will go to preschool every morning, I will pick her up on my lunch break, run her up to the pool for her swim lesson and I will get to watch her swim while I eat my lunch. Andy will work until 12 noon and then meet us at the pool, have his lunch with Ella and then take her home (or off to run errands). I will go back to class and meet up with Gavin who will have summer day camp at Broadoaks every day until 4:00! He will take a 2 week break from that to go to Sports Camp, but that is later this summer. He will get to do the Science Acadamies and Music, Art, and Cooking Acadamies! This week they are working on Maps and starting the Music Acadamy! He had a great time today and was glad to be reunited with some of his preschool buddies!

We already signed up for the summer reading programs at the library and look forward to our weekly visits there. We started reading "Winnie the Pooh" and I plan to read that and "House at Pooh Corner" to them during the summer...I really hope we can finish them both! In addition to all of that... we have decided to make every night at mini "family night" since we will have all been at different activities all day, we thought that it would be nice to "reconnect". We are going to working on a program to learn Spanish! (any of you who remember me trying to learn in college might be shocked.. but, I think that I really DID learn a little bit!) We have a kit that we are using and it has a set of CD's and great activity books... we have done 2 already and know how to say "Me llamo ....", "Vivo en...." and played "Juan Dice" (Simon says). We are working on a silly alphabet song, but it is tough!

Gavin has started his "Summer Quest" which is a great program that we used last summer too. It is a workbook with fun activities and worksheets that act as a summer "bridge" to help him keep his 1st grade skills and start building his 2nd grad skills. It also has ideas for "Adventure Days" which are just fun things to do together and we will do these on Saturdays. This weekend we are making giant chalk drawings of ourselves and having Lunch Pizzas.

I did say that I was supposed to be packing, right? Oh, that is becasue .... 7 months ago, I booked us a rockin campsite at Carpinteria ON THE BEACH!!!! We were hoping to leave tomorrow around 12 noon, but Andy really needs to work all day to prep for Summer School, so we will head out after dinner. It will be cooler and there won't be any traffic. I baked cookies and cornbread tonight to take with us. I did all of the laundry and have clothes packed for the kids. Most of the food is all ready in the motorhome too...

I had better finish that up... AND I still need to pay bills.....and work all day tomorrow! Tomorrow is my last day of work, until after school is out! Wow! 6 weeks off!!! I haven't done that since Ella was born! I will most likely go in a few hours here and there to keep things organized and not too far behind (besides, I nee MONEY!) and I think that I will do money stuff on Sundays after church.

I am excited and nervous and ... I dunno... just wondering how this summer will go.... I guess that it will go FAST!

Off... and running....