Who has time?

I do not have time to blog, I do not have time to think, I barely have time to breathe! Work is good, but full of challenges. Home is good and full of joy. Today, I am home sick. I tried REALLY hard to have a clean time sheet for the month, but last night I had a fever of 100 degrees and decided I had better just stay home to rest. I am resting, but I am trying to get a head start on lessons for next week at the same time.

I miss my friends, I miss my family, I miss so many things but only because I have so many other amazing things to fill my time!

Tonight is Gavin's first Webelos meeting and he is so excited that he has read huge chunks of his handbook already! Soccer is going great! We think Ella likes it and know that Gavin LOVES it!

The Halloween decor has started to appear so, even though the 101 degree weather tells me differently, I know that Fall is really here!

Onwards and Upwards!

A new school year is under way!

Ella with her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Pimper. She is really cool and Ella is having loads of fun!

My sassy fashion plate striking a pose, please note her crazy brother trying to get some attention in the background.

My big upper grader! We cannot beleive that he is in the 4th grade. He has been rising to the challenges so far. He gets to walk to school by himself and even ride his bike one day a week.

Back to School! Yay! I think! Busy and tired pretty much sums up the way I am feeling. I am not sure yet, but I think that being a first year teacher requires almost as much work as my Masters classes! I have stayed late at work almost every night and last week had Parent Orientation and a teacher In service. The kids have started soccer and Ella is back in dance. Tomorrow we will attend the Cub Scout welcome party together. We have been attending a new church and are enjoying it. Especially the kids who are loving having a large group of peers to interact with. (Our Jr. Church program at our former church was extremely small and many weeks it was just the two of them!) I do not have time to write much as it is dinner time on Saturday and I have yet to go to the grocery store! I also have work to do for work. eeek. I did take a nap today, but it did not help much. Hopefully a quiet evening at home with my family will cure what is ailing me and I can get recharged for another week of adventure!

The kids are settling in well to their school schedules and Ella has already had her first Back to School cold. She shared it with Andy, so he is a bit under the weather today but he still took time to kick the soccer ball around with the kids. We will be having a gourmet dinner tonight, prepared by my personal chef. Oh... sorry... I slipped into a fantasy for a moment! We are having chicken nuggets and mac and cheese (the yellow kind from a blue box) for dinner tonight. Neither Andy or myself could muster the energy for much more.

I am learning how to juggle all of the responsiblity of working full time, taking care of my family and home and not forgeting to take care of ME too. Last week I got a C for that one. Two nights I was showered with my teeth brushed and in bed reading a book before 10. Those were A nights. Two nights I fell asleep on the couch in a crazy contourted position, watching trash reality t.v. and then crawled off to bed with fuzzy teeth, stripped off my clothes and colapsed. It was after midnight. Those nights earned my an F. Good thing we work on averages here!

Looking to more A days in all ways. Wish me luck.

Vacation : Part II

So, we took the vaca up north and then we came home for a few days because the kids had Reading Club parties at the library and Andy had to work for a day and a half. Then, we packed up and headed south to San Diego. We stayed at my Dad and Stepmom's place which we affectionately call "Casa de Cutler". It was really awesome to visit with them without all of the chaos and mayhem of the holidays and loads of other guests around.

We stayed for a week and did LOTS of sight seeing. My dad was able to take some time off and join us and we got to see Leah in the evenings and on the weekend. We ate some awesome meals and had plenty of time to relax.

Our first day, we went to Balboa Park. While there we visited the Japanese Friendship Garden

and then headed to the Museum of Man. Later, we lunched near the Arboretum and walked through it to see all of the plants.

The next day we were off on a boat ride with my Dad out on Mission Bay. Ella and Gavin each got a chance to drive.

We couldn't seem to get enough of boats and bays, so we went down to Seaport Village to take the SEAL (Sea and Land) tour. It is a bus that turns into a boat and Ella was infatuated with the idea of riding it.

While out on the water we saw lots of boats and military aircraft... and ... Sea Lions!

The kids were made Jr. First Mates! They thought it was pretty fun, and so did we!

We went to an old haunt, "Rockin' Baja Lobster" and had a great dinner before heading to Sea World to catch the night shows and fireworks. We had been on another day to hang out and ride the "wet rides", my Dad and cousin Valerie and family joined us that day.

The weekend came fast and we were off to the Cabrillo Monument and Lighthouse. I read the kids a book called, "The Ghosts of Cabrillo Lighthouse" that my Gramma had given me as a kid. It put some excitement into the visit!

At the Cabrillo Monument the kids did the Jr. Ranger program and learned a bit about Cabrillo and the Spanish explorers.

The got to try on the armor and check out a sword! Doesn't Ella look ready for battle?

On our last day, we went to visit my Dad's horse, Shadow. We all had a chance to ride and then the kids got to brush him down before he settled in for the night. I am an experienced rider, but was a bit leery of Shadow, he has been known to be rascally. I would not have had my Dad lead him, but I had Ella and did not feel like I could control him and keep her on at the same time.

Andy really loves riding, even though he has only been a few times.

Gavin fell in love with riding last summer and would love to take lessons (and own a horse!)

So, that was our trip. Now we are looking back on the memories and looking ahead to the school year! Hope that you found ways to connect, relax and enjoy the summer!

Y'all ready for this?

Back to school!!!! I had really hoped to have my newest post done before this day, but alas... that has not occured. I have some thoughts brewing around in my head that have only partially made it to "paper", but they will have to wait!

In the mean time, here are the pics from our vacation (Part 1 at least). They are not in order, because Blogger kind of sucks that way. I still have not found a successful way to move the pics around... have you?

We started our camping trip in Pismo Beach, then drove Highway 1 to Monterey and then headed to the Redwoods of Santa Cruz. We traveled with some of our favorite friends who rented a motorhome so that they could join us on the adventure. We parted ways in Santa Cruz, they headed home and we journeyed on to the Jelly Belly Factory where we took the super deluxe floor tour! We stopped for a few days to visit family in Fresno and then headed home for a couple of days.

Vacation Part 2 was in San Diego, and maybe tomorrow I will have time to post some pics from that! For now, I have finished my duties for the evening and am going to sit on the couch and watch "smut" as my husband refers to it. The Bachelor Pad.. pretty smutty.... but hillarious.

The kids anxiously awaiting to go in for our tour of "Mecca"

All suited up and ready to see Jelly Belly's being made!

The entire crew (minus the photographer!)

Gavin in front of the train that we rode through the redwoods. He might be 9, but he still thinks that trains are pretty darned cool!

Dad and Ella exploring the Tide Pools along 17 mile drive in Monterey (now dubbed 17 HOUR drive by our family)

Those crazy dunes in Pismo.. boy did they have a BLAST!!!!!

Dad and Ella in front of the one remaining bridge at Natural Bridges - Santa Cruz

View of Morro Rock - ummmm.... yeah... it was cold.... and this was one of our warmer days.

A 5 year old silly girl, some stickers and a 4 hour car ride produces some outlandish photo ops.

On Vacation

I am around! We are still on vacation. Even though we are at home. We headed North and froze to death at the beach, marveled at the Redwood forest and visited the birthplace of Gavin's favorite candy. I am not going to go into detail now, but promise to post pictures soon. We are home for the weekend to rest and do laundry and get ready to head South to San Diego for a week of play and rest down there!

I found the coolest website, Food On The Table, that helps utilizes the sales at your local market and creates a menu for you for the week. Since I am headed out of town, I just did a quick meal plan and found it to be easy, fast and wicked cool! Thought I would share! http://www.foodonthetable.com/dashboard

Enjoy! I know that I will.

Oh, and for any of my local friends... I really miss you all! Let's get together soon!