Resolutions for 2012

Happy New Year! 2011 was a great year, what will 2012 bring?

My predictions:
Charlie will run faster than me.
Gracie will pass swimming lessons.
Libby will not change one bit.
Sandy will grow more gray hair than I will.
Lexie will turn 21 and start buying beer for me.
Katie will announce a new baby on the way.
Henry will walk, talk and yank the gate off the wall.
Me, I will get a year older, a year wiser, but end 2012 with a youthful big braceless smile on my face!

2012 Resolutions:

1. I will read 12 books this year! But, I won't buy any for myself.

2. I will complete 12 sewing projects this year.

3. I will conjure up some willpower to resist temptation to fast food and sweets, most of the time. I'll also get off my tush and get some much needed exercise once in a while.

4. I will seriously consider going back for my teaching credentials, or my masters, or update my resume for a job hunt.

5. I will be brave and be tough at the dentist.

6. I will make sure to keep Gracie up with her homework.

7. I will let Libby spend the night away.

8. I will try to hold it all together when Fenna leaves us in June. I am not looking forward to that part of 2012.

9.  I will use more sunscreen.  Gotta remember this one, I'm getting wrinkles before my time!

Who keeps New Years resolutions anyway?

I tried to keep my 2011 resolutions, but like everyone every year, I didn't manage to do it. I gave it a good try though and for that, I feel pretty good about it.  Shoot, I'm happy for remembering that I made resolutions and where I wrote them down!  That in itself is an accomplishment to be proud of.

How I ended 2011:

 1. Read 12 books this year.
I read ten and a half! I was doing great until our household went from 4 to 7 in a matter of a few weeks. Suddenly, I was a lot busier and my reading time was greatly reduced. Yeah, I'll blame the kids.


2.  Do more sewing and get my serger fixed (or me, one of us isn't doing it right).  I'd like to end 2011 with my current PHDs (projects half done) all finished! 
Well, I had problems with my serger and my two sewing machines off and on all year long. It was a struggle to keep them running. I actually managed to get quite a bit of sewing done for the little bit of time that I have  had to spend doing it.  I sewed Halloween costumes and I sewed a couple of Christmas gifts and new stockings. Plus, I altered a dress for the neighbor and for my daughter. I made baby blankets for my second grandson and for a baby of a friend. I am happy to report that I made a huge quilt top out of the baby clothes! All in all, I think I had a good sewing  year. PHDs are just going to always be a part of my life, I resolve to embrace the unending projects!

3. Get my kids to school on time (most of the time).
We're doing better!  This is not easy. I think there is a time warp in my driveway. We step out the front door and by the time I turn the key in the van, 10 minutes has gone by. Where does it go?

4. Potty train and wean Libby, yes, folks, I promise to quit breastfeeding after nearly 5 years.
 Almost potty trained the kid. She has a weak bladder when she sleeps so she is still wearing a pull-up at night, but she doesn't want to. I have to sneak it on her after she falls asleep. She wakes up mad and yanks it off, but it is usually soaked. Occasionally, she wakes up dry. I think she just needs to grow and then her body will figure it out. I quit breastfeeding in May.  Done!  Went a little over the 5 year mark so it took some adjusting to get back to normal for me. Libby had no problem weaning, but she did have to learn to eat more real food and how to fall asleep and console herself. These were harder for her, but she's doing just fine. I'm not sure I would be a good cheerleader for extended nursing, it just sort of happened.

5. Get my money's worth out of our Disneyland and Zoo passes (meaning lots of fun!).  Might even get a SeaWorld pass this year!
Oh yeah!  We are stretching our dollars spent on our entertainment passes. Fenna purchased passes too, and she's getting the most out of hers as well. We bought Sea World passes and used them three times. I wish we would have used them more, but we did our best. We used the zoo passes a handful of times. Mostly, we spent our outing days at Disneyland. We were blocked out in July and most of August, but we had a few days that we were allowed in August,  but it was too hot. When it is over 100 degrees, it's hard for an outdoor all day outing. We opted not to go in August. We went in Sept, Oct, and three times in November. Plus the first five trips of the year in Jan-May. I think we did well using our passes. Gracie's pass expired in December and it costs $199 to renew.  If I renew her pass, I'll want to renew mine when it expires in March, and now that Libby is three I'll have to get her a pass as soon as she looks like a three year old or opens her mouth and gives her real age away. Another $199. And $99 for a parking pass. $700 for our family! I decided to explore other amusement parks instead. As much as we love Disneyland, I prefer not to go broke getting in the gate. We went to Disneyland 11 times in 2011. Loved every trip!


6. Send my 2011 Christmas cards out before Christmas.
 Didn't happen.

7. Do something with all of my photos and videos.  Print them, back them up, put them on dvd, make photo books, I don't know, but something!
Nope. Didn't happen.

8. Keep blogging.  I would like to archive my Momathon blog since I kept it up for three years, and I'll have to keep this one alive. Often times, I just blog mentally and never get around to actually posting.
Well, here's a blog post! I might try to do more family updates since we killed Schuworld.com this year. It is being redirected to my blog now.

9. I will try not to destroy or lose any of my electronic devices.  You heard that right!  Cell phone, bluetooth, camera, laptop.... I wish you all the best of health and happiness in the new year. And may you all stay out of the crevices of the furniture and survive the year! Good Luck. 
My poor electronics. This year I lost my bluetooth, destroyed my camera, wore out my laptop and replaced all of those. I didn't replace the bluetooth, I just use my phone on speaker and set it on my shoulder or I hand it to one of my passengers. My phone is still in good shape! One electronic device survived the year! Not bad.

Wump Wump

Today, I drove the kids to the park... yadda yadda... so I'm driving along in the neighborhood going between 20~25... and this kid comes flying out into the street on his skateboard RIGHT in front of me!  He came flying off the curb between two parked cars. He's lucky I saw him! I braked and at the same time he saw the van and he hopped off that skateboard and landed square on his feet out of the way. 

But, his dismount was forceful and he shot that skateboard right under the van. I was hoping I would straddle it, or that it was going fast enough to roll under. I was barely moving at this point, but since he wasn't in my way I didn't stomp on the brakes.  

Wump Wump. Whoops. My back tires ran over that stupid skateboard. I looked in my rear view mirror and it was still in one piece, no harm done. He picked up his board and gave it a quick once over and just stared at me.  You should have seen his little face. He looked astonished. 

I'm not sure if he was grateful that his young life was spared, or amazed that his skateboard successfully survived a mini-van drive by, or if he was sad and ready to cry because I broke it. I have no idea.  As I glanced in my rear view mirror the board appeared to be in one piece with all the wheels still attached, but then again I didn't stop to inspect it. I'll bet it has a tire tread mark on it at the very least.

Let this be a lesson, kid. Play at the park and keep your toys out of the street!

 

Christmas Prep

I think we've been shopping every day in December. I can safely say I'm sick of shopping. Probably not done with it, but tired of going to the stores! I still don't feel ready though. I'm sure I will be out shopping again today. Sigh.

We went to several malls, Targets, Walmarts, and other stores. Of course, shopping around means eating out too. Girls need some shopping sustenance!  We've walked a lot of miles through the merchandise and down the malls, except Libby. That kid has it easy! I want to ride in the stroller for once.

Christmas shopping is fun though. Crowds, lines at the checkouts, picked over merchandise, things out of place, filthy public restrooms, no decent parking spaces... ah, good times.

I love all of the Christmas trees and decorations in the malls. So very pretty! Really, you can't get that experience online. The stores are all decked out with pretty ornaments and displays. Christmas music playing. I love that.

What I didn't find in the crowded malls, I found online.  I only ordered from three stores, but all of my shipments came in plenty of time, all correct, and none too expensive. Love it!  The problem with ordering online comes when the package arrives. Luckily, they are wrapped well and nobody can see what is inside. But, the kids are excited for packages.  The first box arrived and I told the kids "It's soap", of course, they wanted to see it.  Darn, that was supposed to work!  "It's toilet cleaning soap".  Ohhh, never mind. Excitement gone.  The next package, I said it was for Dad. Well, no excitement in that! The next package arrived while we were all in the driveway so the kids saw the box. It says Disney on it, has Mickey and Pluto on the box... it was hard to squelch the excitement over what was in the box. I just shoved it into the van and locked the doors, in fact, it is still there. Apparently they forgot.

We saw Santa twice. Once in Disneyland in mid-November and yesterday at Shakey's Pizza.  I saw him in the malls, but steered the kids away from looking in that direction. I just didn't feel like standing in line to visit Santa after we'd already seen the best Santa on earth at Disneyland. The Santa at Shakey's was great though. He could have been more animated, but his costume was the best and his authentic hair and beard couldn't be beat! He even had glitter in his beard!  His visit with Gracie was magical so I'm glad we went to see him. Two great Santa visits this year, sweet!

Make that three. I almost forgot about the Santa that comes through our neighborhood to collect food for the needy. We ran down the street to meet him. Gracie noticed that he wasn't the real Santa Claus and she had a lot of questions about that! He didn't have a real beard, that's the tip-off. Faker. 

I've been sewing every chance I get!  I'm not done yet, so I will be at the machines burning the midnight oil the next couple of nights. I made stockings for the whole family about 6 years ago. We have five stockings. We've been doubling up in them to make them stretch for all of us, but with ten of us this year (and the dog) I decided we just need new stockings. I set out to find just the right fabric and lining to make ten stockings, plus I should make a few extra since Katie will probably give us lots of grand-babies in the future and I'll never find matching fabric again. I had to go to three stores to find exactly what I wanted, but I found it. I have five done, several more to go!  I also could not find a yellow dress anywhere. I did find some very pretty yellow fabric, so I bought two yards, which is more than enough.

The kids did a few crafts. It's hard to do crafts with a wild toddler who loves to jam crayons in his ears. Luckily, we got Henry to paint his hands and feet and make some tree ornaments. My gift from my grandson. I love my new decorations!


Once again, I didn't get Christmas cards sent out. I love Christmas cards; I had every intention of getting them all done, but it didn't happen. Maybe next year.  I didn't do any baking neither. I'm not much of a baker, so this should be no surprise. I am pretty good at buying baked goods at the grocery store, and I did that pretty well!

One of our favorite things to do before Christmas is to just drive around to see the pretty lights. Some neighborhoods are lit  up nicely. Our neighborhood is fairly dark, just a few lights and inflatable yard decorations. We found a cul-de-sac of 13 homes on the other side of town that were completely lit up and set to music.  They were all connected and had a radio station for the music, plus speakers as you walked. The neighbors handed out candy canes. It was wonderful!

Christmas will come whether I am ready or not, and I'm mostly ready. Plenty of food, presents, the whole family will be here. The house is clean enough, the sewing machines have been running and whatever I don't get done, I'll finish in later days.  Maybe.

If I had a job....

If I had a job, and I mean a job in which I would leave the house with my hair brushed and go to a quiet place to sit in front of the computer and write my blog while pretending to create incredibly boring spreadsheets, the boss is an adult, I would wear nice clean clothes, and I would get a paycheck rather than a headbutt to the face... yeah, that kind of job.  If I had a job like that, I would get fired every week at least!

The kids have been passing around one germ after another. This year has been the worst ever for the 5 yr old. When she was a baby she was never ever sick. I took her to the doctor for an illness for the first time when she was 2.5 years old.  Now, she's got one thing after another. I'm chalking it up to Kindergarten cooties, but really, who knows, it might just be a bad year for germs. Or, a good year (from the perspective of the germs).

All I want for Christmas is a houseful of healthy kids!

Don't get me wrong, I don't really want a job with an adult boss and a paycheck. The lack of monetary pay more than makes up for the lack of job stress and pressure. A greater sense of sanity would be kind of nice, but then I'd miss out on so much with the little ones and they are only little once. Soon enough they will crave time away from their mama and they will wish I would just keep my distance. I know the drill. They turn into snotty preteens eventually, so I might as well enjoy them while they are still cute and loving.

Maybe by then the kids will be more resilient to germs.  They should be. They are building up all kinds of immunities this year with one crappy cold and flu bug after another.  Maybe then I'll have a job and I won't have to call out sick 3 or 4 days a week like I would have to now, if I had a job.

I've had jobs before. All sorts of jobs. They suck. I've had a job and kids at the same time, several times. It's stressful and difficult on the very best days. I don't miss any of the jobs I've ever had. I do miss contributing to the family income even a little bit; I liked the feeling of helping bring in a little money. But, I never was able to earn much, the financial burden has always been my husband's.  Good thing he doesn't value me for my financial contribution! I am a lucky wife.

One of these days, when the girls are too cool to hang with their sparkly haired mom, who drives a mini-van, I'll write up my resume and fill it full of well worded ways to express my mom magic skills, I'll add my volunteer babysitting for friends and hosting an exchange student as volunteer work, and I'll pretend I know how to use Word in a format beyond 2003.  I'll be like Nemo's dad going out on a great adventure into the frightening unknown. I might have to learn new analogies; Nemo might not be the most professional way to illustrate a point.

There again, good thing I don't have a job! 

Sinter Klaas was here!

Sinter Klaas and Black Pete were here! And they left lots of treats!

Poor Fenna. She is living with us. She is halfway around the globe and far far away from the place where Sinter Klaas and Pete give presents and treats to good children. We're in California, the land of "just another boring day".  Gracie was feeling sad for Fenna knowing that her heart would break when she didn't get anything from Sinter Klaas this year. He doesn't come here!

We put our shoes by the fireplace just to humor Fenna. Gracie told me later she just knew Fenna would cry when nothing happens. 


On Sunday the 3rd, when there was no school and almost everyone was home, I took the little girls to the park for a couple of hours while Fenna stayed home. She was going to her room to pout because Sinter Klaas didn't come during the night. wink wink. She still had  high hopes since it was night-time in Holland while it was daytime here.

Surprise!  Sinter Klaas rode his white horse all the way around the world just to bring treats to our house! Pete was running along side him. He must have some amazing endurance, not to mention really good shoes.

Speaking of Black Pete... we're just calling  him Pete. He's just a weird out of date character and I don't want to go there! In Holland, white people dress like clowns and put on a black face and wig. Umm... we don't do that here! It freaks me out to look at pictures of Pete!  Fenna explained: Pete is black because he goes down the chimneys and the soot made him dirty. Ok.... but his clothes are clean! So the old white man on a white horse has the black kid dressed in a clown costume doing all the work? Yeah, um, no. No. NO!  She insists that everyone in Holland understands the story and it is not a racist jab. Ok, well, we're still just calling him Pete.

There was a heap of yummy treats from Holland in front of the fireplace. Luckily, nothing in our stinky shoes. We all need to deodorize our shoes; apparently, Sinter Klaas thought so too.  Glad no treats were subjected to the dark smelly insides of our shoes. Eww. Most of the treats were chocolate and ginger snaps.

We had lots of traditional goodies plus chocolate coin Euros. Very cool! Also, there were two adorable dolls: Sinter Klaas and Pete.  They are super cute soft dolls and they are babyproof! They have embroidered eyes and other embellishments so they should be perfectly baby safe. In this house, that's an important feature in toys.

Being the inquisitive five year old that she is, Gracie had a million questions for Fenna about the holiday, the characters, the treats and the traditions. She must have asked questions for a good solid hour. She was firing them off faster than Fenna could answer them. Fenna listened with patience and gave thoughtful answers to each and every question. I couldn't help but laugh! I would have laughed harder, but my mouth was stuffed full of Dutch cookies.

Sinter Klaas also brought something from his brother, Santa Claus. Our family got an elf. Her name is Noelle and she is magic. She's not a toy, but a messenger for Santa. She just sits in our house watching us and each night, she goes to the North Pole and reports to Santa if we have been naughty or nice that day. She returns each day and perches in a different spot. She's real, people, really! This little bit of holiday magic is a fairly new thing called "Elf on a Shelf", google it.  I'm pretty excited that we have an elf to help keep the kids in line. What a good reminder to behave!

We had a really fun and delicious day! Thank you, Sinter Klaas and Pete!

Halloween Costumes: Minnie, Dolphin and Fairy

Well, if this post doesn't seem a bit behind then I'm glad you are with me in the slow lane. Nice to have a buddy who is as much of a slowpoke as I am. :)

For Halloween, Libby wanted to be Minnie Mouse. Actually, I finally found some Minnie Mouse-esque polka dot fabric and brought it home. I've had my eyes out for it for two years. Why is it so hard to find? Anyway, I brought home the fabric and showed it to her and then she wanted to be Minnie Mouse. Good girl!

Gracie wanted to be a dolphin. For school, the kids could be an animal, any animal. They had an animal unit and they learned about habitats, what animals eat, all sorts of things like that. She chose dolphin and she would not change her mind. I suggested a hundred other animals that would be easier to sew, but she was determined and so, I became determined too.  I bought a nice blue fleece fabric, but she rejected that right away. It was the right texture, wrong color. Dolphins are gray, they just look blue in the ocean because the water is blue. Ah, ok. Back to the store for a more realistic colored fleece.

Fenna decided to be a woodland fairy. She was on her own though, luckily I didn't have to insist that she make her own costume. She was all over it! She found a youtube video with a tutorial and the costume looked very cute. We shopped for the necessary materials, but that's as far as my involvement went.

For the Minnie Mouse costume, I used a simple dress pattern. I have quite a few that would have worked well so I chose one that I know fits her nicely.  I added ties to the sides, because she's so skinny that she needs to cinch up anything around her waist. The ties also make the big Minnie Mouse style bow in the back of the dress and cover up the little crookedness from my not so talented zipper installation, haha. The polka dot fabric is thin, so I lined the dress. I used a red broadcloth to line the bodice and a white broadcloth for the skirt lining. I sewed on a piece of eyelet lace to the bottom of the white skirt lining so it would show just like the real Minnie Mouse. I decided not to make a collar. I know Minnie has one, but I was in a hurry to finish these costumes and I didn't think Libby would notice the lack of a collar. I got lucky on that too! I did make a hairbow complete with black ears, but she refused to wear it.

The dolphin costume was complicated to even begin to think about it. I researched dolphin costumes online and didn't like anything I saw, which was a limited amount of resources anyway. There just aren't very many kids dressed as dolphins out there. I asked the boss, "what do you think the dolphin costume should look like?" She gave me very specific instructions about the shape of the snout, it has to have a white belly, a tail that looks just so, and fins, don't forget the blowhole!

I had to wing it for most of the dolphin costume construction, but I did use a pattern for the basic structure. I chose an old outdated hooded pullover jacket pattern. Who knew you could get a dolphin out of that?  Gracie provided the rest of the instruction and I googled pictured of bottlenose dolphins for the shape of the fins. Piecing them all together went well and next thing you know, Gracie was the proud owner of a dolphin costume! She wore it all day long at school, it was sweaty when I picked her up. Eww.

Fenna made her own fairy costume. She was a woodland fairy rather than a tinkerbell fairy. She used 12 yards of tulle in various shades of green, brown and  yellow. Then, she cut a Tshirt to get the right neckline (with a tank top under of course), and finished it off with a long leather ribbon around the waist. We searched and searched for white fairy wings to complete the outfit, but they just weren't in stock anywhere this year. We did find several colored wings and some angel wings, but they weren't right. She still rocked the fairy costume without wings. Totally cute!

Things That “Piss” Me Off About Potty Training - 10 “Crap”py Products and Advice Meant to Help Me Help My Child

Guest Blogger today is Audrey, my friend and potty training confidant. We see eye-to-eye on this potty training stuff. She wrote this fantastic blog post and I am happy that she's sharing it on my blog as well. Audrey lives nearby, she is an amazing stay-at-home mama who cooks and gardens and bakes and all of that wonderful stuff that amazes me; she has a 3 year old son in the midst of potty training. You can visit Audrey's blog: Thatrecipe.com

Our first attempt at potty training was an abysmal failure that resulted in a skinned knee (his), some tears (mine) and general frustration (all three of us).  In order to cope I could either complain or make jokes. Or better yet, do both.
So, without further ado, I present the following list of products and advice I have found along this section of the parenting journey:

1. ADVICE: Use the term “toilet learning” instead of “potty training”: my husband and I were potty trained, so were our parents and grandparents (ok technically some of them may have been “outhouse trained”), why did we need to invent a new term? I wish the braintrust that came up with this one would stop wasting time on this nonsense and spend it on really useful endeavors like solving world hunger, curing male pattern baldness, or convincing the NCAA that a championship tournament is needed in football.
2. PRODUCT: Potty targets: A friend told me about this “wonder product” designed to help boys with their aim when they progress to standing and suggested I use cheerios or fruit loops instead.  Good idea, but my son might dive in after the cereal.  When I mentioned it to my sister-in-law in front of her 20-something son, hysteria ensued! He wanted some and wondered if they had bull’s eyes on them so he could keep score, etc., etc. for a good 5 minutes.
3. ADVICE: Don’t tell your baby/toddler that his/her poop “stinks”: Warning! Warning! Political Correctness Overload!!!!  “Oh, no, your lil poops don’t smell, Sweetie. Animal poop smells, every other persons’ on the planet stinks, but not yours, Precious.”  This is EXACTLY what is wrong with some people today – no one has ever told them their excrement is malodorous.
4. PRODUCT: Training Pants that change colors when the child pees: I can only assume the panel for girls is as low if not lower on the pants as it is on boys.  In order to see when the colors have changed the child must bend almost in half to see between his/her legs. Wonder how many heads get banged or somersaults are started using these.
5. PRODUCT: Training Pants that feel cool when the child pees: When the child switches to underwear and it is warm instead of cold, what then? Plus, these are horrid for naptime use.  My Zip Van Winkle finally conked out for a nap only to be awakened 45 minutes later by an icy cold blast to his nether regions.
6. PRODUCT: Training pants and underwear with characters on them: I searched and searched but could not find any tighty whities.  Branded products for kids annoy me on general principle, but c’mon what is this obsession with branding my kid’s behind?
7. PRODUCT: Potty Seats that make noise: I have been blessed with a child that hates toys that make noise. I guarantee that if he sat down and it made a noise he’d never go near it again. Which reminds me of the story of the man that got a toilet seat that played the national anthem and he could never finish his business because he always had to stand up as soon as he sat down.
8. ADVICE: Check your child’s pants frequently to see if they are wet: After the second day, I was nervous that Child Protective Services was going to lock us up for groping our kid.
9. PRODUCT: $55 potty training dolls: These are advertised for use with the 1-day potty training method. $55! For one day’s use?!  Does this come with a money back guarantee to potty train in 1 day?  If I have to spend that much (plus the potty seat and other paraphernalia) this kid can just stay in diapers forever.
10. ADVICE?: The perfect parents that revel in telling me “my child toilet learned in 1 day at 12 months old”:  Be gone, before a house drops on your head!  No really, go back to your perfect little planet and leave me and my kid here in this little place I like to call the real world.

When we do get back to training we will probably use some of these products and advice, but for now all I can do is laugh and keep repeating the best advice I have received, courtesy of my Great Aunt Jeanne: “What’s the rush? He’ll do it when he is ready.”

Memories... An old post

I found this old post and had to laugh. It was just crazy! Was I in? or not? Getting into CSU wasn't easy, but I finally did get in and out with a degree. Whew!  Here is a post from 2005:

8/26/2005 - I think I got into CSUSM, but I'm not sure... I passed my Stats class this summer, but CSU requires a waiting period of one semester (ususally the summer) before transfering in.  Well, they provisionally accepted me, then denied me, then sent me a letter stating that I was accepted but didn't show up to the orientation but I could still sign up for classes.  So, I did.  I signed up for classes and Keith & I went there today and paid my tuition.  Classes start Monday the 29th, so I guess we'll see how long I get to attend before they realize that I didn't wait out a semester and toss me out.  Maybe I'll squeak through.

9/1/2005 Revolving door to CSU -  Well, I got a phone call yesterday from the Admissions office at Cal State and the man said "We're revoking your admission and disenrolling you from classes"  I said "oh, Pleeeeezzzeeeeee let me stay!!!"  He said I could fax my  transcript to him immediately and he'd pass it along to the decision maker.

So, made a quick run to Mount San Jacinto for my final transcript and got that faxed over to CSU.  Then, I waited..   :?

Today, I got a phone call from the same guy.  He says "This is very unusual, but we are officially accepting you and allowing you to remain enrolled.  Have a good semester."

I'm Thankful for...

Thirty things I am thankful for:
 (I will add one each day of November, or a few at a time to catch up or thank ahead cuz that's how I operate, check back!)

This goes without saying since it an always and forever and most sincere feeling of gratitude; and yet I feel compelled to say it because every facebook status I have in my newsfeed says it too: I am thankful for my family and extended family. I am very thankful for my husband and all of my kids, yes, even the dog. Thank you, people, for being my people!

1. I am thankful that Halloween is over. We made it through another successful year of trick or treat! Costume making, decorating, parties, birthday dinner, candy and cake - it's all done! And we did it well I think. I am thankful for all the fun times we had, but I'm thankful to be done with Halloween and move on.

2. I am thankful for my friend, Audrey. Yesterday, she was almost hit by a car. The trailer she was pulling behind her bike was hit. Luckily, her little boy was not in it at the time (she just dropped him off at preschool so it was empty).  I am thankful that she was not hurt, only shaken and inconvenienced.

3. I am thankful for Fenna. She is sharing a lot with us and we are learning and having fun. It is really fun to learn Dutch words, hear stories about how Dutch people do things, and get a new perspective on our American lives.  It's also very cool to see her grow personally. She's having adventures that will forever change her and impact her life decisions. I am thankful that she's such a cool kid.

4. I am thankful that I got to take a nice long hot shower. Usually, I am in a hurry and dealing with crying and pounding at the door, if not an audience right there in the bathroom. Getting a nice long hot shower with no crying audience is not easy around here. What can I say? They love me every minute of the day and cannot bear to have me disappear alone into the chamber of steamy suds.

5.  Friends. I am thankful for friends. I have very nice people in my life and even though I don't spend a lot of time with any of my friends, they are all good people. I'm lucky to know so many! I've got a bunch of online friends from blogging, forums, and other online social spots. They're great and some I've been friends with for 6 years already! I really do consider them to be my friends and not just online people. I have my local mommy friends. I don't see a lot of them lately with school in full swing, but they are a great bunch of ladies. We get together for parties, playdates, babysit swap, and everyone is always very happy to see each other and support one another. If one needs help, there are a handful that are more than willing every time. So wonderful to be part of this group.  And, I have my husband's coworkers as friends. They are special people. I only see them a few times a year, some I don't see but once a year if that. But, they always are a bunch of great people who include me on their fun even though I'm not one of the coworkers and in on their every day lives. They are the friends who inspire me; they are great!

6. Coffee. Really, my life would not be the same without my morning caffeine.

7. My teakettle. My friend, Kristin, gave me a tea kettle not too long ago after mine exploded like a bomb. I really appreciate the new tea kettle! I use it every single day and lately, several times a day. I cannot live without a tea kettle on the stove, that is a fact. I'm also very thankful for my friend too! She's awesome in many ways, not just with saving my sanity with a tea kettle. Thank you, Kristin!

8.  Once again, I am thankful for Kristin! And Keith! Between the two of them, they rescued me when I had a flat tire. I was meeting Kristin at the park for a much needed playdate with our little girls. Fenna said she'd come along. Lexie and Charlie weren't doing anything so they came too. Six of us in the van! We were two blocks from the park and I heard sprinklers but I didn't see any. Odd to have sprinklers going this time of year. But, I heard Psh, psh, psh, psh.... A block later, I stopped at the red light and the noise stopped. My tire air pressure light popped on. Ding. Oh no. I went around the corner and into the parking lot at the park. My tire was mostly flat, not completely flat, but it was obviously a problem. Everyone got out and went to play and I called my husband. He got home from an out of town conference 20 minutes earlier. He came to my rescue! Since the tire wasn't completely flat and he couldn't see anything sticking in it, he decided to take it to the tire store a couple of miles away through town and he left me his truck. It suddenly got cold in the park! Kristin took my teenager and my just barely big enough to legally ride without a carseat kid, and I took Lexie and we stuffed Charlie and Libby into carseats in the jumpseats of the truck. We all fit! Thank you Kristin and Keith for rescuing me and my brood! And extra thanks to Keith for the new tires. Nice!

November Snuck in

All of a sudden, it's November! Time flies when you're having fun. I was thinking, yay, November is sort of the calm before the storm on the activity calendar but then I thought harder and I realize that it's not.

In the 30 days of November, we've got some things tentatively planned already. For example: Fenna's belated birthday party, a baby shower, Seaworld, Veteran's Day, a couple of colorguard competitions, a field trip to Pretend City in Irvine, a couple of trips to Disneyland, Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, and keeping up with school.

 I'm sure glad we aren't too busy! I just love seeing a few blank spots on the calendar. Ah, peaceful days ahead!

 Have you heard of NaNoNoWriMo or something like that? It's short for November Novel Writing or some such big long phrase. I could google it, but so can you. Anyway, a ton of people dedicate all of November to fulfill a personal and/or professional challenge to write a novel in one month, in November. I've been encouraged to participate, but I can't help but think, when? I don't know how people do it! Write a whole entire book in November? I could maybe do it if I had a November to November time frame, maybe. My sister wrote a book in a previous NoNaNuWewhatever it is. I'm proud of her and think it's really great that she managed to do it!  But I don't know how she found the time; I cannot imagine myslf finding that kind of time. Or brain power, really, where do people come up with the brain stamina, intelligence, and energy. Are you kidding me? I can't even read a whole novel in a month let alone write one. I've been reading The Grapes of Wrath for two months already and I think I finally hit the half-way point. Write a novel in November? Those are some amazing people, but I'm not even going to toy with the idea of becoming one of them. I will try to blog more though.

One really nice thing I'm excited about for November is that my husband is staying home for Thanksgiving. Yippee! He's disappointed but I'm certainly happy to keep him home for the holiday. He's the best cook! And, the holiday hasn't been very festive without him. The past few years he has taken the week of Thanksgiving and gone hunting in South Dakota.

Well, we have 29 days left of November. Let's get on with it! 

All-encompassing October post

Let's pretend I keep up with my blog and don't let 20 days slide by between posts!

We've been busy and having fun. The kids were all sick one week, and that was a trying time for all with fevers and all that goes with it, but we made it through.

There have been three outings this month so far: Pumpkin Patch, Disneyland and Safari Park (Zoo). I have my pictures up on Picasa, but I don't have the posts done on my outing blog. I'll catch up someday and backdate the posts so that it looks like I'm on the ball.

Fenna has been busy with high school. She had a colorguard/marching band competition where they won first place in three catagories! Awesome! There are performances or competitions every weekend for a while; the next one is at her school so we will all be there with cameras charged up and ready to go!  She is looking forward to a fun night at Knott's Scary Farm with her friends soon and she has a birthday coming up! Lexie put bright blond hair extentions in her hair and now she looks like a California teen. It is fun having a teenager in the house.

The little kids are gearing up for Halloween. We are busy preparing costumes and shopping in the Halloween decorated aisles in the stores. Very fun to see them having some Halloween fun. We've already eaten all of our Halloween candy, and by "we" I mostly mean me. Gracie gets to dress up like an animal for school, she picked dolphin. She decided I could sew a dolphin costume for her and she gave me specific instructions for the shape of the nose and fin and all, plus told me what kind of fabric to buy. She wants to be the Little Mermaid for trick-or-treating though. Libby wants to be Minnie Mouse and a pink princess. Charlie has a Mickey Mouse costume and a monkey costume. Fenna is the only normal kid around here, she will only have one costume! She's going to make it herself too: a woodland fairy. The girls think she will look like Tinkerbell, but she wants to be more earthy and less Disney. I think it'll turn out great!  We're sure to have the cutest Halloween ever!

Gracie switched schools. She was doing just fine at the school where she was, but it was overcrowded which causes problems that I was uncomfortable with.  So I looked into a charter school and decided to move her over. She is now at a Montessori/Homeschool hybrid school where she goes three days a week to Montessori Kindergarten and has two days a week of homeschool. So far, she is really enjoying it but she misses her little friend with the pretty hair at her other school. We'll have to arrange some playdates.  On her first day of Homeschool, the school had a field trip to the Safari Park (zoo), so we went. Since it was her first day, we didn't know who was with the school and who wasn't, but the homeschool families were all on their own anyway. We had fun and she could talk about it at school with her class too. Off to a good start!

Gracie's word of the month has been "Awkward". She says it 20 times a day at least. It's getting old fast!  Awkward!

I'm getting excited for my friend's baby's first birthday party this weekend. I'm only excited because my friend also has a little boy and he is a devoted Cars fan, just like Gracie and Libby. Lightning McQueen is like a Disney God to these kids! I figure his one year old little sis is also an avid fan since she was immersed in her brother's Cars world since birth. I picked up the same Cars fabric that I made my girls' Cars dresses with and I am making a Cars dress for the birthday girl!  It is impossible to find girl things that have Lightning McQueen on them, so I know her mama will be pretty excited to have a dress for her little girl. I might even ruffle some Lightning McQueen socks if I can find some red ribbon that will work well. I have a few pair of new Cars socks that I haven't given the girls yet. I can't wait to see Lisa's face when she sees the Cars dress for her little girl!

I should get back to sewing. My serger is difficult to thread, but I have it running with red thread in it right now so I can make the Lightning McQueen dress and the Minnie Mouse costume. Not sure if I can rethread it for the dolphin costume, and then I need to get busy on some baby blankets for a friend who is having a baby shower the first weekend of November. Good thing my trusty sewing machine never lets me down.

With all this sewing to do, I'm not reading much. I read almost half of the Grapes of Wrath. I fall asleep every time I pick it up. I do enjoy the book, but it's never ending when I fall asleep after every page.  I might have to switch to something with more action than dust blowing.

I'll leave you with a quote from my husband's facebook page. A former student (aprox 10 yrs ago) wrote to him with a very nice comment.  It was great timing too, because my poor overworked husband was all kinds of crabby after working two jobs and ending his long hard day with a two hour traffic-hell commute home. He was not a happy camper! And then he read this which melted his heart and made all the stress of the entire day worth it:

"Do u remember u and jo esther gave me a ride home after i was expelled? u gave me some good advice thank you sincerely.  Well u said that my todays create my tomorrows no matter how small a decision is... And Jo Esther didnt have to say anything!!! She juss had to look at me and that was enuff... U brought out the smile in me i fought so hard to conceal u saw the diamond way inside of me and i thank you Mr.Schumacher."

Fwee Yeez Ode!

Finally! It's official! Libby is three!

She's actually been telling everyone that she is three for a long time. I thought I blogged about this six months ago, but I can't find the post. This means you get a backstory! (Heinz Doofenschmirtz would love me for all of my backstories).

Precisely on May 10, 2011...  Libby announced, "Today is my Birfday. I'm Fwee Yeez Ode. You will buy me a present and it will be a tea set." On the agreement that she would stop wearing diapers during the daytime and stop breastfeeding, we made a deal. We sang Happy Birthday to You and gave her a tea set. Who says you can't be three when you wanna be?

Now, six months later, she actually did turn three. For the past six months, she's been telling people that she is three. How old are you? Three. Never ever did she admit to only being two. The calendar caught up to her after all this time and now she really is three. Try telling her that! She gives a look of "What? Are you just now catching on? Good Lord, woman, I've been three for a long time!" In the weeks leading up to her birthday, she was very confused. She was fine with having a party, but for her 3rd birthday, are you kidding? She insisted that she was already three.

We had a party anyway. She was fine with that. She really didn't care about having a birthday party or getting presents or anything, because in her mind, it wasn't her birthday. She's three already and she remembers getting her tea set. It is one of her most favorite toys!

A party ensued. We invited her little friends for a casual cake and playdate style birthday party.  Since Libby is sufficiently spoiled already, I told my friends "no gifts".  The response to that was "what size does she wear?" and "does she have this toy yet?". I sent out an addendum to my "no gifts" request. I told my generous friends, "Fine, bring gifts! I know you love to shop for birthday gifts and I can't stop you. We will have a gift exchange: bring one, get one. It'll be fun!"  This was genius!

We put all of the presents on the grass in a little cluster and had the kids hold hands and play ring around the rosy. When they all fell down, they got the gift that was right in front of them. It worked great! One boy just wanted the gift he brought so he reached over and grabbed it. His mom said he threw a fit in the store when she told him he couldn't keep it. It was a Memory game, in fact, we already have it. He wanted it; he got it! Another boy got some Little Mermaid pajamas so he traded with a girl and he took home a dinosaur book. Sweet! The little girl who got the pajamas loved them but her mama told her to leave them here for Libby since she had plenty of pajamas and they were moving her up to the next size. Libby got a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt, plus the pajamas. She loved her presents! Gracie got a box of crayons and a coloring book. Charlie got a Lightning McQueen book that makes sounds. Everyone was thrilled with the gift exchange and some of the moms said they are going to do that at their next birthday parties too. The kids were pretty excited and the birthday girl didn't feel like she wasn't being spoiled enough. She got a present too! They are too little to feel entitled to 12 gifts while nobody else gets one. With the gift exchange every kid was all smiles and it was fair but not overwhelming. No tears, who could ask for a better birthday party than that!

We all came in and had cake. Singing Happy Birthday to Libby was great, she loved it! I wish I could say the same for her big sister; she never has enjoyed a crowd of people singing at her like that. Too much pressure I guess. Libby loved it and she blew out her three little candles faster than I could light them.

We had a little family party the next day just to give her the presents that we got for her. We had leftover cake, sang again and gave her three gifts.  She got two soft princess dolls and a doctor kit.

On Monday, we took her to get her very first haircut. Her hair is so thin and wispy and it doesn't grow very fast, so I really didn't want to take her in for her first haircut, but she's three! It's gotta happen sometime! She wanted to go too. She loved it, she was thrilled that she got to get her hair cut and she likes her new hair too. She didn't get much cut off, just had it evened out and trimmed straight across. I didn't want her to have bangs and didn't want her hair to be very short since she likes to have a pony tail once in a while. It was fun, she loved getting her hair cut!

So, now she's really truly three years old. 

Belle Dresses

I finished the Belle dresses just a couple of days after starting them. They were so much fun to make!

For Gracie's dress, I used the same pattern that I used for her Little Mermaid fabric printed dress and for her orange preschool graduation dress. I really like the way those dresses fit her and she enjoys wearing them.  For the Belle dress, I just added another layer to the skirt and improvised a shoulder thing. I have no idea what that shoulder thing is called. Is it the "yoke"?

For Libby's dress, I used a cute little peasant dress pattern. I love it because it doesn't require any buttons or zippers. It's super easy for her to dress herself!  I also had to improvise a bit to make it princessy. And I totally messed up with the off-the-shoulder piece; I forgot! I added a waistband before I realized I had it in the wrong place. Oh well. So far, Libby hasn't noticed. Shhh!

Both dresses are from the same fabric. The under layer is a yellow glitter infused satin and the top layer is a bright yellow glitter infused taffeta (I think, or maybe its a tightly woven tulle, I don't know).  I added little store bought red ribbon roses.  By the way, glitter infused fabric leaves a trail of glitter everywhere you go. After one wearing, the dresses are no longer glittery. However, the interior of my mini-van may forever sparkle!

Luckily, both dresses fit like a charm! Gracie said her dress was itchy, so she had to wear a cotton camisole underneath it; she didn't complain once about any itching after that.

Mostly I used my serger to sew them up.  It sure is nice for satin and taffeta! Quick and easy, looks nice too. I think my husband is happy to see me getting more use out of it; he paid a fortune for it and its been hard to find the time to devote to learning it well. I'm beginning to get the hang of it.

Chapter 9

I finished reading Chapter 9 and just couldn't get it out of my head, so I read it again!  And then I made notes in pencil along the margins and circled my favorite paragraph. It is just brilliant!

Fenna has to read The Grapes of Wrath for her American Literature class at school. I've never actually read the whole thing, so I went to my bookshelf and picked it up. She got a copy from the school so we are reading the book together, sort of. I don't think we are on the same page though.  According to her reading schedule we should be on Chapter 17 now, but I just finished Chapter 9.  No worries for me though, I don't have to take a test on the book. Reading along sure does make it easier to have a conversation about the book and it is nice to have a literature conversation with someone. It has been years since I asked anyone what they thought the turtle symbolized and actually received a thoughtful response.

But I got stuck on this one paragraph in Chapter 9. It's incredible.  It is stuck in my head. John Steinbeck earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel prize, now I see why. I've seen the movie and I've seen another movie based on one of his other books. I didn't think much of either one really, and I remember reading something of his in high school, and bits and pieces of GoW when my older girls were in high school.  I don't remember having time to think about what I was reading or reading anything that really thrilled me though.  Maybe this is why its a good idea to reread the good stuff.

Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land-in California, where the fruit grows. We’ll start over.

But you can’t start. Only a baby can start. You and me – why, we’re all that’s been. The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that’s us. This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can’t start again. The bitterness we sold to the junk man – he got it all right, but we have it still. And when the owner men told us to go, that’s us; and when the tractor hit the house, that’s us until we’re dead. To California or any place – every one a drum major leading a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness. And some day – the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they’ll all walk together, and there’ll be a dead terror from it.

It's true. Starting over is never truly starting over. A person can get a fresh start in life, but you always have your experiences to influence you.  And you bring in your memories and your feelings, whether they are good or "bitter", they are in you.

Fenna and I talked about how the characters in the book were starting over, and how they really couldn't since they have a history within them to compare the new life with the one they are leaving behind. And then we talked about anyone anytime starting over.  This concept can be applied to so many situations.

Steinbeck doesn't really say it, but what about the people who know or knew you before your fresh start? They won't erase their memories which makes a new start impossible.  To start over, a person would have to eliminate all ties to everyone. Who can do that?

Have you ever started over?  Think back, did you really start over or did you get a fresh start? Because starting over cannot be accomplished when you have previous experience to compare the fresh start with. Isn't this mind bending? I love it!

Nothing in Particular

This blog post has no topic. Like the thoughts in my head, it is a jumble of ramblings and thoughts that go every which way.

The kids are almost all over their colds. Yay! And I still didn't catch their cooties which is amazing. I've been washing my hands like I have OCD, but usually that only helps fend it off for a day or two. When a snot nosed kid sneezes in your face, washing your hands doesn't make a difference.

Fenna asked her mom if she buy a new laptop while they were on sale over Labor Day weekend. While discussing this with Keith, Fenna says to him, "you could buy a new laptop for Mary too". Ba-da-bing, I have a new laptop!  And Fenna didn't get one! She can have my old one while she is here, it works fine (usually).  It's led a long rough abused life, but she is more careful than I am with the electronics so I'm sure it will work out this way.

The new washer and dryer are awesome! I cannot figure out how much soap to add to the washer though. All of the instructions say "a measured amount of detergent".  Sure, I can measure it, but how much should I measure? I've just been winging it and the clothes are coming out great. It would be nice to know if I'm using too much or not.

 Our trips to the doctor, lab and pharmacy in San Diego have been really fun. Well, not as much fun for Fenna as the rest of us, but we've been making sure to have a good time each time we go. Also, I know my way around much better now. I hope that once Fenna kicks this infection and finishes the treatment for it, we can go other places and limit our outings to once a week or so. In the meantime, we're having a blast!

The medical community at UCSD in San Diego and La Jolla is the friendliest place on earth! I am just amazed each and every time we go or get a phone call, the folks in the clinics, hospital and pharmacy are sweet as can be. They truly care about Fenna and that just warms my heart. They've all been very accommodating and helpful. The facilities are beautiful too (And, they have an awesome playground). I am more in love with San Diego now that we've had this experience.  The hospital where Katie had her baby in SD was also very nice and friendly.

Homecoming is in two weeks! We have a closet full of formal dresses but Fenna hasn't "shopped" in our closet yet. She's pretty sure nothing that my tall skinny daughters wore will fit her, but I think she will be pleasantly surprised. Hopefully the dresses are still in style.

She's actually more excited about Halloween than Homecoming. I took out two big Halloween boxes and the girls had fun digging through them, trying on costumes and giggling.

Libby's birthday is coming up quick. Her real third birthday! I was feeling confused about what to do since Libby already celebrated her birthday back in May, and she is convinced that she is already three years old. Finally, the calendar is catching up with her!  Keith said we need to have a party for her though because Charlie's party was a lot of fun. So, we'll have a party! I have to hussle up and get it planned because her birthday is soon! Not sure how we'll explain it to her, but it will be fun anyway.

We've been learning a lot about Holland: The flag is red,white and blue but the royal color is orange.  Kids and teachers smoke on the school grounds, even right by the doors.  People in general smoke a lot more there than here and so there is a lot more second-hand smoke to deal with. The Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam, is known for drugs. Katie and Lexie both knew that and Keith and I didn't. Hmmm.  We are learning about each other too!  Kids sing a song when they trick-or-treat in Holland.  We've been discussing how the education systems work there and how they differ here. The food there is the same, but it is cooked and eaten differently. I'm still not sure what that means; I might have to go to Holland someday and find out. They do not have Starbucks on every corner like we do, nor do they have fast food everywhere.

We've also been learning a lot about Cystic Fibrosis. The condition affects respiratory and digestive systems which in turn affects everything else. I thought it was just a constant cough and you hawked up a loogie once in a while. I had no idea it was so involved! It is really eye-opening to learn so much about CF and it makes me count my blessings. A lot of people have asked me if I have to pound her on her back every day. The answer to that is No. Fenna has a lot of medications she takes daily and with her infection she had a picc line placed (an iv that goes in the upper arm and a tube is in the artery all the way into the chest) and she "shoots up" some iv medications three times a day. It's amazing to see her manage everything with so much ease and grace. The picc line is supposed to come out next week. Whew! Just in time for homecoming!

Keith is teaching two evening classes this term, back to back. And he's teaching 63 miles away in Azusa. 63 miles doesn't sound like a lot, but it can take him 90 minutes to get home depending on traffic. After teaching middle school all day and then college, that drive is a long one. Poor guy is pretty tired by the end of the week. But, he's still running the Champ or Chump game at his school! This silly game takes up a lot of his time, but he enjoys it and it helps bring the staff together in a friendly way at work. It's a good thing even though it drives me nuts.

I finished the Belle dresses a couple of days after starting them. I love my serger!  And I finally hand-sewed on the little red roses for embellishment. The Belle doll the girls have has red roses on her dress, but most Belle dolls don't and most Belle costumes don't. But, I really like the red touch! I will take pictures when they both put the dresses on. Gracie tried her dress on and it fits, but she said it was itchy and she wanted to take it off. Libby loves hers. I went to JoAnn Fabrics to look for Rapunzel fabric but I didn't see anything in the right color that cost less than $12.99 a yard. I'll have to wait for a sale. But, I did buy a ton of fabric anyway!  I got Minnie Mouse red polka dot fabric, I couldn't resist! And I picked up a lot of baby boy soft flannel prints to make receiving blankets for a nice lady at Keith's school who is having her first baby.  Now, if I could just find some sewing time I'd be set!

I will briefly blog about our latest outings on my outing blog, with pictures.  In the meantime, I will leave you with some of the questions that Gracie has been asking me at the most inopportune times but she thinks every question requires a thoughtful intelligent answer.  I usually do not have one.

What are teeth made out of? Like what's inside them and what's the outside called?
What are hippos afraid of?
Are there more kinds of talking like Spanish and Dutch and English? What are they?
Where do farts come from?
Why do we call brown people black?
How do airplanes fly?
What's an exclamation point?
Why aren't there any girls on Mount Rushmore?
Why are the clouds gray and yesterday the clouds were white?
What's under the carpet?
Why aren't there more red cars?

We survived the Great SD Blackout

Fenna did it.  I told her it sure is fun to have someone to blame for all the crazy things that go wrong around here. She just laughs.

On Thursday, we needed to go to San Diego to the pharmacy to pick up some medicines and then to a lab in La Jolla for a blood draw. Neither appointment was expected to take long at all, just quickies but they were very important. And, we had to be at the lab at 4pm but had to pick up the meds before going to the lab.  Ok, we can do that (maybe). The timing was going to be tight with school letting out at 2:30 and mucking through after-school traffic always takes a while. There would be no time for Starbucks.

Fenna wasn't feeling well on Wednesday night, she looked like she was at the low point of her miserable cold. It was just after midnight when I suggested that instead of going to school from 7am - 2:30 feeling cruddy and sleep deprived and then heading out to San Diego again how about this idea: Stay home and sleep and eat some soup and sleep some more and then we'll go to San Diego. She didn't have to think very long about that one. I figured she would either miss Thursday at school or Friday. Either way, she needed to take care of her cold. She did just that, stayed home on Thursday to take care of her cold and it really helped a lot.

Since we were racing the clock, we loaded up the little kids and went to Gracie's school to take her out ten minutes early. That turned out to be a very good decision. We hit the road and made it to San Diego in an hour! Fenna opened the door to the pharmacy and rang the bell for service right at 3:35 exactly.

As soon as she pushed the button, the power went out. Poof! Fenna broke it!

Fenna picked up her prescription and we started across town to the lab. The traffic light that we had just gone through was now dead. Not even flashing red. So was the next one. Fenna, being funny, said "I hope I didn't do that!".  Stoplight after stoplight was dead. The streets were becoming more and more clogged because of the four way stops. We were realizing the magnitude of the power outage the further we went. People were pouring out of buildings and everyone had a cell phone in hand. I couldn't get any cell service though. Traffic was going from clogged to pure mayhem. Emergency vehicles were trying to get through but every street was a sea of vehicles.  I started to wonder if we were caught in a terrorist attack.

When we finally got to the lab, we found out that the hospital was closing down. Emergencies only. The lab was closed and the people working there were all sent home. People were all on their cell phones trying to get service, and talking together. We found out that they thought the power might be out all across the county. How can that be? San Diego County is huge! I asked if the power comes back on, would they like us to come back? They said no, they were calling the day over and it would be best if we just come back tomorrow. Ohhhh, no. My brain started spinning trying to figure out the logistics of a Friday trip.

The people in these San Diego medical offices never cease to amaze me with their friendliness. They were so nice! Gracie had to use the bathroom and a lady said she'd check first to make sure there was a light on in there, and there was. (Backup emergency lighting) This lady also gave Libby a little book and Libby was thrilled. They were very nice and apologized for cancelling the lab appointment.  No apologies necessary, it's a freak thing that happened. At least we didn't have to pay for parking this time, the parking permit machine wasn't working.

Before we left the house, we had decided that our fun thing to do today would be to spend some time at the beach. The kids could play and we could put our feet in the water and watch the sunset over the Pacific. Luckily, the power outage didn't spoil our beach plans although it did make getting there quite a challenge due to the traffic. Instead of going further into San Diego, we called Katie and told her not to meet us and we went to Oceanside.

Finally, we arrived at the beach just after 6pm.  The kids had so much fun playing in the water and sand. Fenna and I played lifeguards. The sea was angry. Waves were pounding into the shore and the water was loud. It even threw rocks at us. Libby didn't want anything to do with the angry ocean, but Charlie and Gracie were fearless and they didn't care if the water had a bad attitude; they ran in anyway.  Luckily, I brought lifejackets for Libby and Charlie and I had a leash, er, child harness, for Charlie. We put the lifejacket and leash combo to good use!

We took lots of pictures. The kids were adorable and Fenna too, the waves were huge and the sunset was beautiful.

After twilight, we started to go for a walk down the pier, but the lights weren't coming on. Power was still out!  We decided to head for home. My friend called, her husband works for the electric company, she said that the power will be out for hours if not a couple of days. She was concerned about Katie and Henry.  I told her I would pass along her concerns. Katie called too, and I told her what my friend said and Katie decided to drive up to our place for the night.

Jokingly, I said "I'll race ya!".  Darned if that didn't jinx me! We took the 76 home and it took forever! I didn't realize how many stoplights were on that road. But none of them were working. It took us 90 minutes to get from Oceanside to the 15.  From there, it took us 15 minutes to get home. We got home after 9pm Katie beat  us!

Murphy's Law continued to be the strongest force of the day. If something can go wrong, it will. All of the photos we took mysteriously disappeared off the camera! .  How weird. Luckily, they were just beach pictures and we can go there again. It's good to learn that the photos are super easy to delete on this camera. Nobody knows how we managed to lose the photos but nobody is upset over it since they were just fun pictures of the beach. We'll have to do it over too. 

Luckily, the power was back on in San Diego on Friday so Katie was able to get home. I called the lab and they didn't want us on Friday because the power outage caused chaos and they had to catch up from that. They suggested Saturday or Sunday. Sunday it is!

I'm Armed; They're Dangerous

The kids are sick.  Three out of the four are little cootie-monsters. I'm ready for the battle though. I have the new washer, the rug dr, and a bottle of bleach on my side!

Gracie has been battling a fever for several days. Along with that, she's been vomiting and coughing. My little firecracker has no energy. She's sleeping a lot and when she's awake, she just lays and rests. If that wasn't fun enough for the kid, she shared it!

Libby has a fever too. She doesn't have any other symptoms, but she is a bit "off" with her energy level.

Fenna has a cold too. Hers is different though, and I'm waiting for them all to swap germs.  Fenna has a sore throat, stuffy nose and plugged ears.

She also has the picc line and all of her IV medications to battle her lung infection. The medications make her tired and kind of nauseous too. Only two more weeks of this and then the picc line can come out. Hopefully it will make her feel super wonderful and keep her healthy for the rest of the school year!

Charlie is the only survivor. He's healthy as can be, but he gets his 12 month shots on Friday, so he will be sick all weekend. I wonder if he will get Chicken Pox from the vaccine like Gracie and Libby did. Our family seems to be extra sensitive to that virus.

I'm very happy to report that the new washer and dryer are awesome!  Gracie puked on a quilt and I just tossed it in the washing machine. It came out so nice and wonderfully clean!  This particular quilt is one I didn't like to use much because I didn't want it to get dirty (or puked on) because it just barely fit into the washer. With the new washer, there was plenty of room for it! I even tossed in a towel and it wasn't full.

Having the rug dr ready and waiting at any given moment is a godsend. It is the only way to spot clean some good old fashioned puke on the carpet and couch.

Gracie missed two days of school so far with this round of germs. I looked in the school student handbook and it states that a student is allowed 5 absences per year. This has got to be a typo!  Five?  My kid has missed four already! And it's only the first week of September. Poor child is doomed. Her future as a Kindergarten student is secure for many years ahead. Wonder if I'll ever see her graduate.

Fenna tried to go to school, but I had to go get her after an hour of toughing it out. When I wheeled the double stroller of toddlerness into the nurses office,  I wasn't one bit surprised to see that it was packed with sickly teenagers. The line of waiting chairs were full and a few sick ones were standing. The health clerk was swamped!

This evening we have an appointment to get that picc line checked, a new bandage and restock the meds. I guess since the kids aren't in school today and we have to go, we might as well leave an hour earlier to make the best of the day and go to the aquarium.  Maybe I'll let them lick the glass this time. Hell, why not, they're already sick! We'll test that Darwin theory: Survival of the fittest!

Living in the Fast Lane

We've been living the past couple of weeks in the fast lane!

Since my last blog post, we've had two trips to La Jolla and one to San Diego for Fenna's doctor appointments. Since we were there, we made the trips fun and visited the La Jolla Westfield Mall, San Diego Zoo, and the beach and shopping in downtown La Jolla. Katie and Henry came for an overnight visit and she sang at a back-yard party. I attended "Back to School Night" at MVHS and Keith had his back-to-school night at his school the next day, which is an overview of the curriculum for each class.  Fenna went to the first home football game. I had an orthodontist appointment.  Plus, we've been busy doing homework and on occasion, actually attending school.

To top off our busy couple of weeks, we have seen a lot of improvement in Gracie's pre-reading skills, Libby's art, and Charlie runs faster with less of a wobble. Keith has gone from an amateur coffee cup salesman to a packaging expert. Henry has grown so much that he's ready for a high chair; we had a successful shopping trip to the baby store! The best improvement is Fenna is finally getting the meds she needed to get better. Yay, no more cooties!

I started a sewing project and hopefully can finish it up and give you a fresh new sewing blog post to read very soon. I blogged about our excursions on my other blog; hop on over there and check it out. In the meantime, we have declared this holiday a lazy day. We are catching up on house cleaning, homework and just recharging our batteries for another week in the fast lane.

The Whole Fam Damily

I bragged about Libby, now to give Gracie equal billing here is her latest Kindergarten homework project. She was to paste pictures of her family onto a Tshirt shaped piece of paper.

First, I had to get on the computer and find pictures of everyone. We do not have one picture of the whole  family, someone always needs to stand behind the camera I guess. Maybe we can resolve this problem at Christmas when we have the tripod out and everyone is together and photo-ready.  In the meantime, we have plenty of pictures of everyone, including lots of group shots that include nearly everyone. We sure do have a big family!

I asked Gracie who she wanted to include and she named everyone in our house, Jillian (her best friend), and the grandmas. She also wanted Katie in it since she is her sister and of course, Katie's family.  I talked her out of adding Jillian because it is a family collage, but I promised her she could make one just for home with pictures of her friends.  After she named everyone, we chose the photos to print.

I printed a couple of photos of each person so that she had options when it came to cutting and gluing. Good thing I did, she had a few cutting mishaps and a couple of photos turned out too big. Gracie cut each person out and arranged them. She put herself in the middle and stuck everyone around her. I think it turned out so wonderful! 

Top: Sandy, Great Grandma Gracie holding Henry, Lexie, Grandma, Andrew, Katie. Bottom: Fenna, Libby, Mom, Dad holding Charlie. Gracie in the middle. 

Smarty Pants!

Libby wrote her name all by herself! She knew the letters too, nobody told her what to write next.  I'll let the photo tell the story. 

For the record, she is still only two years old. Oh Yeah, I'm a proud mama!

Two Outings in a Row!

Outings! My favorite!

Sunday we went to the San Diego Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park which is why my folder of photos is labeled WAP). After a full week of school and colorguard, Fenna requested a sleep in morning. I am never one to argue with laziness, bring it on!  I ordered our zoo passes online and printed the confirmation page. We left the house just before noon. Laziness accomplished without getting in the way of our fun day!

The Safari Park was crowded, but not so crowded that you couldn't get up to see the exhibits. The line for the tram was way too long though, we'll ride it another day. I got season passes for the three of us since a year long pass was only $10 more than buying a day pass, plus it's a tax write-off. Good deal.  We wandered all over the park; it was a beautiful day for walking. It was too hot to stop at the sculpture garden on the way home, so we'll add that to another zoo day. It will always be there.

Monday, the girls skipped school for another outing. Fenna had a Cystic Fibrosis doctor appointment in San Diego at 11am, so there was no point in sending them off to school when the appointment is right in the middle of the school day. We usually leave for school at 6:50am but didn't have to leave today until 9am. Another sleep in day!

We took the little girls to Katie's house to play and then Fenna and I made our way to the clinic.  I only got lost once. I thought I was on a street, but it turned out to be an exit ramp and I ended up back on the freeway. I managed to get off and twirl around and find my way back to where I needed to be. Fenna found the problem, on the map it looks as if the streets intersect, but in reality one street is a bridge over the other one. Ah, there is the problem: a two-dimensional map in a three-dimensional world. We found the clinic and used their valet parking to avoid being late or getting lost trying to find a parking space or getting lost afterward trying to remember where we parked. Valet parking rocks!

The appointment went well; the doctor and his staff are very nice. We will go see them again in 10 days or so at their other office in La Jolla. Another adventure with maps! I hope they have valet parking there too. I found a new love: the parking guy. I don't know where he took my van and I don't care. Love it!

I consulted the map and found the route back to Katie's house; Fenna concurred.  We were wrong. Map mishap #2, but we were able to get turned around. We took "the scenic route" back to Katie's house, but we got there just fine. It took us 20 minutes instead of 10, but I'm ok with that.

It was only 12:30 in the afternoon! We could go back and put the girls in school for a half an hour before dismissal, or we could do something fun since we are in San Diego and there are lots of things to do.  Hmmm.  We all voted for doing something fun. After pondering over our options, we settled on spending the afternoon roaming around Seaport Village.

The afternoon was beautiful! The weather was sunny but not hot with a light breeze. Couldn't ask for a better day! We had lunch and then we wandered around the mall. It was nice to just walk and enjoy the day. We sat in the park and watched the kite salesman fly several large colorful kites; we watched an aircraft carrier head out to sea, and we watched the seagulls scavenge for scraps around the picnic tables. Fenna wasn't shopping for souvenirs; I thought she might, but we all enjoyed window shopping quite a bit.

At 4pm, we said goodbye to Katie and Henry and we headed home. It is usually an  hour long drive, but we hit five-o'clock traffic and it took us 90 minutes. I wasn't sure if I was headed in the right direction to find the freeway or not, but I was traveling west and the ocean is east, so I figured west would get me there. Fenna gave me a look that said "Really? you are lost again?" so I confessed.  I have a GPS in the drawer under her seat, but I never use it because I can't figure it out. It always tells me that I'm in San Antonio, Texas. She reached under the seat, plugged it in and bingo, had it working!  How did she do that?  While she was plugging it in, I said, "If that is Grape Street right up there, I know where I am." It was. I wasn't very lost at all this time!  She kept the GPS on all the way home though. Funny kid!

Fenna had colorguard practice at 5:30 and needed to go home to change and grab her bag, I got her to colorguard, but we were about 15 minutes late. I told her the coach was gonna make her do an extra 50 crunches for being late, but she said he didn't.  Ha! Good thing, because she doesn't enjoy doing crunches.

Two outings in two days, not bad for a boring host mom! 


*More photos of our outings on my picasa page.