Dentist -Nuff Said (if you know me)
So Kaleigh and Cole had to go to the dentist for their 6 month check up and cleaning. Kaleigh is getting to the point where she gets a little nervous going and Cole feeds off of her nervousness. I am nervous too because I don't like the dentist's office, even if I am not going to be sitting in the evil chair. I am a dental phobic. Better now than I was before but still not like the normal person.
Getting back to K and C. They went in and were done a little earlier than I thought. I talked to the dentist and asked if he pulled the teeth that were dying in their mouths (both K and C do not wiggle loose teeth). He said they should come out soon. I said, "well, they don't chew on that side, they don't brush on that side and they certainly don't wiggle the teeth that are loose. They have been this way a long time. Can't you just pull them out now?" He said sure, so he did. I really like this dentist. I have been fighting with the kids to brush well and eat normally but they are so tentative near their "loose" teeth that they avoid any and all contact with said teeth! They will never come out on their own! So he pulled one in Cole and two for Kaleigh. They are a little down about it because they have gauze in their mouth for a bit, but it is better than the teeth breaking in their gums which is what happened to Kaleigh last time! That required a lot of gauze!
So, at least we are done for another 6 months. I told them again...WIGGLE YOUR LOOSE TEETH!!!!

Transitioning to Almost Normal

As you can now see, things are looking much better after a Saturday of work (left home at 8:15am home at 6pm), most of the "stuff" has been thrown away, put away or put somewhere out of the way, that I still need to get to... sigh..I have a few mornings more to work before I get to the point where everyone else is. August 31st we all come back (officially) to work and we start getting our classrooms ready. That means we get our class lists and we start figuring out where the students will sit, we will get the names put on supply cups/boxes, put up the bulletin boards, put up decorations in the windows, and try to make it welcoming! That is enough work for that week, so I need to get my room pre-ready for the getting ready...I am too tired to be doing this, so if things don't make sense... I really don't care at this point. I will post the last photos once the room is all done and ready for my new class. Oh the last photo is how I left the room today...almost there!

Ahhhh, My Cabinets Threw up on my Classroom!

I mentioned earlier in the month that I have moved classrooms. Well, it basically comes down to #1, how did the last person leave it, and #2, how much stuff do you have? Well, the person before me left it in pretty good shape, however, there was still a lot that was left (mostly stuff I need). So, in order to truly get myself organized, I had to take all of the prior teacher's stuff out, and organize, then put everything plus my stuff back! Well, this is worse than moving a house! Preschool teachers tend to have a lot of crafty stuff, cutesy stuff and just stuff stuff. As you can see in the photos, there is A LOT of stuff!

Most of it I need, some of it I want, and a little of it would eventually get dumped! These photos were taken on Friday morning... see next post.

Kaleeeeeva!

So here we were in Moraga, visiting Carl's brother and family and the last day the kids were just messing around with their cousin Will's toys. He was really into Wall-E for a while there so they were playing with the figures. Kaleigh started flying Eva around and then she stopped right in front of me and posed. I got this shot off and the funny thing is in normal light Eva's eyes are barely visable, but with the flash, they look as though they are lit up! Two blue eyed gals starin' at me! Pretty funny!

More Spooky Trees.

I didn't realize that I have started a series of photos, I will call "Spooky Trees". I like them a lot! The first two were these that I took after a slight snowfall in Oak Glen. The are spooky in a picturesque way..

The latest one in the previous post of Monterey is the third in the series. I think I may have a trend going and will try to keep it up when I can! A fun project I think! Anywhoo, enjoy the spooky trees!

Kaleigh Gets Glasses - Part 2

So, here she is! She picked them up with Dad at Costco today! She picked out the frames herself and she really likes wearing them! I know what it is like! Wow, everything is so clear!

I was hoping she would only need them for her nearsightedness, but the eye doctor said she has a slight astigmatism that requires her to wear them when on the computer and reading as well. Oh well. I wore mine all the time after I got them just because everything was clearer and brighter!

Kaleigh is not the type to worry too much about how she looks...yet. So by the time that happens, maybe she will be able to get contacts.

Post a comment and I will let her know what every one thinks!

She thought the frames were cute and would go with the red, white and blue and khaki uniforms at school. Hehe.

Monterey

Part III

17 Mile Drive

So on our way home from Monterey, the grown ups decided (count me a kid on this one) that we would do the scenic 17 Mile Drive. I was ok with it for me, but not really for a 4, 8 and 10 year old. Which, just so happened is what was in the car with us! I was outnumbered, so we went. Well, the first surprise was that it costs $9.25 per car to travel this particular stretch of road. Since no one had been on it in a while, no one expected this. So we scrounged up the money, and drove. Most of the trip was really very nice...again, for the grown ups. The kids did ok, however, especially when we stopped on the beach or looked at some neat trees. I think my favorite part was the stop where we were able to walk a path to the "Ghost Tree". I think I captured the essence of said tree. Ooooh...spooky! I do like spooky trees.

So, the drive was almost over when we got to Pebble Beach. Then the traffic started. We got off at a lesser trafficky area, but it wasn't much better. We did get to see downtown Carmel. Nice place, very rich. But it took more time to get through the traffic than the entire 17 mile drive!

All in all, it was worth it....to the grown ups. We then had to drive 2 1/2 hours to get back to Craig and Lisa's house. The kids did really well, considering, and we did treat them to McDonalds. We just drove through and let the kids eat in the car. This was Will's first time eating in the car and he loved it!

I think the beach shots look like the cover of an album! Heehee!

Monterey Part IIb - The Aquarium

So at the Aquarium, some of the creatures we saw were pretty awesome. They had just opened the Seahorse exhibit so that was our first stop. Lucky for us we did that, because later we couldn't see anything in that area, it was sooo crowded. I don't think Carl and I would do the Aquarium in the summer again.
Too many tourists, locals and camp kids! Whew! The crowds were almost as bad as Disneyland! But we managed to see most of what we wanted. The kids had to learn to be a little pushier than they are used to. They figured out if they said "excuse me" and pushed a little, the adults would usually let them to to the front of the exhibit. Of course the other kids there had no qualms about pushing hard, and Cole lost his spot because some kid pushed him out of the front. Cole's response? "But he said excuse me." Nuff said. So we saw Jellyfish, a weird crabby thingy, and the neat sea horses called Leafy Seahorses. They also had Weedy Seahorses, but these were more exciting looking. I of course, not reading or anything, was not aware that you could not take flash photos of these creatures, and thus the photo you see. Others did it after reading the no flash sign. I was just oblivious. After that though, I did check each display for a no flash sign. I really like the kids in the clam! They were happy to smile for me as they were really having a good time!

Moraga and Monterey, Part IIa (sorry, I am getting technical!)

We had two days in Monterey. We walked around Cannery Row quite a bit so this "a" section is Cannery Row.

The area was really nice, a little stinky (all the fish), but not bad at all. We walked to some stores, ate lunch at Bubba Gumps and bought some souveniers.

Oh, and Kaleigh was attacked by a giant otter! Just kidding...she did that herself! In front of Bubba Gumps is of course a bench with the sneakers and the luggage and chocolates from Forrest Gump (the movie) so the kids and I enjoyed posing in the sneakers.

Vacation to Moraga (1 hour east of San Francisco) Part I

We decided to take another little family trip up to see Carl's brother Craig and his family. We did a lot so I figured it would be best to split it up into three parts. First part is when we were at their house doing day trips close by. The first trip was to the Niles Canyon Railway. A volunteer run steam train. It was pretty cool and the kids really enjoyed it! It was quite warm, around 90 or so, but the open air car had a great breeze! Then, it was off to the little Redwood Valley Railway, which is a littler train, just the right size for Will, Kaleigh and Cole's cousin! We all enjoy that one because it is a nice cool ride through beautiful redwoods! So the first couple of days were very trainy. : O)

We did a lot of swimming at their community pool also, but since we were always going to go in the pool, Carl and I didn't really take the camera with us! I was a little lazy this trip and it turned out more relaxing, but I would have liked to have a few swimming photos since the kids did it a lot!

Kaleigh is getting Glasses!!! Part One

Ok, so lately, I have noticed my daughter squinting at the tv and complaining every now and again that she has a headache. Usually this occurs after she has watched tv for a while in the evening. She either takes a Tylenol or she is close enough to bedtime to just let it go. I needed glasses at 9 years old. Kaleigh is 10 and I figured it wouldn't hurt to take her in and have her eyes checked. The last time she had her eyes checked was when she was in 1st grade. At that time she had 20/20 in both eyes. So we go in and they do all of the tests...Optometrist asks her questions, asks me questions, then we go to the letters on the wall test.
Cole and I are sitting closer to the chart and can read all of the letters. He asks her if she can read the bottom line...she says no. He then asks if she can read the middle line...she says, " I think so"...and proceeds to get all but one wrong! At this point I am counting the money in my purse (just kidding). So turns out that she not only is nearsighted, she has astigmatism too! Great. Well, not like it was any shock, so we go and find frames and order her glasses. Costco is really very good! And you cannot beat their prices! Whereas my glasses cost approximately $300+ (for just the glasses), Kaleigh's glasses and exam cost about $150. Not too bad. Her frames are really cute too! So look for part 2 with photos!

New Classroom for 2009-2010 Year- Yay!

So this is my new classroom. I was sharing with another teacher last year and it was a little frustrating because I have 4 year olds and she has 3 year olds, so our class never really looked "together". Different stuff on bulletin boards etc. So this year I am moving into the previous 5 day 4 year old class that is next to my friend....get this....Carolyn! Carolyn D, was Cole's teacher in 4 year olds and now we are neighbors. We get a long great and I get my own room! So the photos are as follows.... Top photo-bulletin board with no background is the bulletin board that has the calendar and such on it. The door in the photo actually looks into another 4 year old class. This one being a new 4's teacher, Carrie. Next photo- (the one with K yawning) are the other two big bulletin boards that I get! The door is the entry door to the classroom, where the kids come in...cubbies are to the left of the door. Next photo- the cubbies and the reading corner, that will be changed up a bit, since I am bringing in different colored valances for the windows. Want everything to matchy matchy! On the other side of the room divider is Carolyn D's room. We will be taking turns doing science and language. I do science she does language. She sends her kids over to do science and I send mine over to do language. Of course the maximum students per teacher are 12 to 1, so we have to be in the room, but we can prepare for the next order of business, which is kind of neat. Last photo- again, the calendar bulletin board and the cabinets to the right that still have stuff in them (left by previous teacher) will be emptied out and reorganized. A lot of work but definately worth it! Oh, in most of the photos you see the tables with all of the toys....they won't all fit, but these are the toys my kids had that are a little young for them so I will be filling up the toy cabinet (found in the upper right photo under the darker blue bulletin board) with these toys. We are going on vacation for a week and when I get back, I will be working everyday until my room is ready! Whew. I look forward to the challenge!

Happy 75th Birthday, Mami!
We Love you!

Weird...Ahchoo! Sniffle Sniffle

Ok, I understand sneezy, sniffley, itchy eyed allergies in the Spring. I have that problem during that time of the year. I don't normally have allergy problems in the Summer (like right now). Thinking back, I did have a pretty mild Spring outside of severe sinus headaches. My eyes did not itch they just hurt when I moved my eyeballs! Not much better. Last night I was just sitting there watching my "So You Think You can Dance" results show (yay, Evan is still in it!), and my eye started itching. Not thinking much of it, I rubbed. Bad idea. It itched some more, but I managed to refrain from rubbing again (I figured out this was allergy related, not just a random itch)and since it was close to bedtime, I took a benadryl. This morning my eye lid was a little puffy and it still has a hint of an itch. I will not rub, because that just makes it itch more. I may have to soak a Chamomile tea bag and put it on my eye.... sigh...I guess I should be thankful that my headaches have settled down. Another plus is that we are just hanging at home. Today is cleaning day (not full out, just tidying) and the weather is somewhat cooperative. Still a little cool this morning, but it will go into the 80's with about 60% humidity (blech!) I will have to turn on the air at some point, just to keep things dry and cool. The kids will go in the pool and I am hoping to get my photos back from Shutterfly to start my vacation scrapbooking of Tahoe.
That is it for me.... More posts if something comes up...Oh and I might get to see the latest Harry Potter movie tonight, if my friend can get away. Otherwise it may be awhile for my next blog. We leave for Moraga soon to visit Carl's Brother and family.

Our "Big" Pool Well, this is our new pool. It took some doing but I found just the one I wanted. Not too small (where the kids wouldn't be able to go under water) and not too big (too expensive or not enough room in our not so level backyard). This pool is 12' wide and 39" deep. It is most likely only about 36-37 inches deep because it is just slightly uneven, so we cannot fill it to the line indicated or it would be too full on the other side.
Cole and Kaleigh love it! They are in the pool every day, usually twice a day! I go in for a dip now and again to cool off and yes, it has saved us money already!
We don't turn the air on in the house until about 4pm instead of like 1 or 2. The kids don't complain about the heat as much and I don't get bickering from them either. They have a great time in the pool together! Here Cole is doing his fake cannonball. He doesn't jump in of course so it only looks like he did!

And of course the handstand! Kaleigh likes doing this a lot. Their favorite thing to do however, is to make a whirlpool and then try to swim against the current. It is a hoot to watch! Take it from me, it is nearly impossible to move in the opposite direction once these guys have gone around about 10 times! Whew! But fun! Enjoy kids!

Tahoe Trip 2009 About every other year or so, Carl's parents take us all up to Lake Tahoe. By take I mean they foot the bill for a nice cabin that fits us all (barely). Each family gets a room (Carl's sister's family get the downstairs that has one big bed and a trundle. They take turns sleeping on the floor, 5 in the family and all). We make it pretty cozy in our room with one big bed and air mattresses for the kids. Kaleigh actually slept in the walk in closet, it was like a little cave. Blocked a lot of the noise (Carl and Cole snore). I just use earplugs!

One of our first stops was Sandy Beach. Aptly named for the soft smooth sand! The kids loved building with it, but the best thing about this beach was how shallow and far the beach actually went! The kids were able to walk out about 75-100 yards without even coming up to their necks! In this photo they are on rafts but the bottom is only a couple feet below them. It was nice just letting them go on their own and since there were no real waves ( just the little swells from boats going by) I didn't have to worry.

Another excursion was our traditional Truckee River rafting trip. It is always enjoyable! The whole family gets in two rafts and floats down the Truckee River. There are a few areas where there are rapids and we got stuck a couple of times, but lucky us there are always rafts coming up behind us, to bump us off the rocks! Whee!

Kaleigh and Cole have to wear life vests (anyone under 12), and the rest of us have the ones the raft company gives us on the bottom of the raft. The area is just beautiful and we enjoy getting off the rafts and swimming a little too!

Our last day all of the adults and one child (actually he is 17 so...) went on a Sailboat with Captain Mike. He has a 50' sailboat and it fits up to 25 people and goes out on the lake for about 2 hours. It was just wonderful and relaxing!

Captain Mike is the one NOT holding the wheel, he is the one with the blue shirt and the white ball cap on. Apparently the guy holding the wheel is a regular and enjoys being hands on!

Except of course when the said sail boat tipped waaaaay over! Wow, that is exciting! Now, apparently it would take a lot to have the boat totally tip totally over (something about a 2 ton something or other under the boat). But for a minute or two I wasn't so sure! It was really fun though! Kaleigh and Cole would have freaked out part of the time and been bored part of the other! I was ready to take a nap toward the end of our trip, it was so relaxing! The photo above is when I could take a photo again, after the almost vertical tip! While we were really tipped I was hanging onto the rail for dear life!

4th of July 2009! Well, this year was a little sparse family wise, but it was nice and relaxing! We spent most of the day with some friends in south OC and enjoyed their pool. Then after we came back home, we picked up Aunt Helen (pictured with Kaleigh and Cole) and headed over to Uncle Kenton's house (Carl's Uncle). There we ate an early dinner and then waited for the sun to go down. Kaleigh and Cole were a little excited about fireworks.

We didn't have that many, but the ones we had were pretty good! Especially since we bought them earlier that day! We had a little trouble finding snakes, but Uncle Kenton found some so we were good!

Carl's parents came and of course Annette always wears her patriotic blouse (that she sewed herself!) and they enjoyed watching the kids with their sparklers.

I think I was the one that mentioned the fact that this may be the last time we would be able to come to the old family home and do fireworks as Carl's grandparent's home is now up for sale. They are both gone and the only one living there previously was Kenton's brother, who passed away about 2 years ago. Kenton comes and goes from S. OC between his condo and this home.

Kaleigh and Cole had a blast with the sparklers and enjoyed the rest of the fireworks too!

Hey, Carl, are you the Statue of Liberty? Uh...you know there was only one torch, right? Oh, I see the other one went out....hehe. Hope you all had a happy 4th!

Well, there goes my theory...unless...

Well, I am not a normally a person who believes in superstition. There are the few unusual coincidences that I have found to be pretty consistant in falling into that catagory. For instance, I have always found that celebrities usually do pass away in threes. Now, many will say, well what is the time limit and who do I consider a celebrity? Well, in the last week and a half, I would say it would be pretty clear. Within this week and a half Ed McMahon (sorry for poor spelling), Farrah Faucett and Michael Jackson have all passed away. Today (or possibly yesterday) Billy Mayes (yeller seller is what I called him). For those of you who don't know the name, just imagine the infommercials where the guy yells a lot. That is Billy Mayes. Now, according to the passing in threes rule, if you count him a celebrity, then another two will follow close behind him. It is unfortunate, in that his death, though tragic will not most likely be as media covered as the others. He was a salesman and not a celebrity in my eyes, thus exempt from the passing in threes rule. I know he will be missed by his family and maybe it is a good thing that he doesn't have the noteriety, his family can mourn him in peace and most likely quiet.
This post was in no way meant to disrespect anyone, so please don't take it that way.

A Sad Coincidence in an Unusual Turn of Events
For most of you, Carl and my yearly trip to Las Vegas is no surprise, however as you read on there are a couple of surprises that all of you would not have been able to see coming! We didn't even see it coming! We received an email from Carl's uncle about a great deal at Mandalay Bay. We have wanted to stay on that property for quite a while and were thrilled that the prices were low enough for us to take advantage of it! So I researched the shows as usual and the restaurants to see what we would be doing and what yummy food we would be having. We finally decided, since the only Cirque show we haven't seen was dark during our stay that we would try seeing The Lion King musical. So we made reservations and off we went.

We had a nice dinner at a mid range Chinese restaurant in Mandalay Bay and then to see the show. It was very good! Carl is not the "musical" type but he did enjoy the puppetry and the stage design and the music. I agreed, however, there were a couple of slow parts that could have been left out (there are reasons that those scenes were not in the animated film!).

The next day we decided after a nice big breakfast, that we would take a walk and then go out by the pool for a few hours. I am not a lie-out-in-the-sun type anymore and especially in Las Vegas where the temperature was about 100 (yes, dry, I know, still hot!) so we were looking for some shade. Well, it was packed, and absolutely no shade to be had. Carl decided we could afford to rent some nicer lounge chairs with an umbrella. Sounded good to me! This included a big bucket of ice and all the water bottles we could drink! Very nice! So we had a nice private little area for a while. We watched people, went in the wave pool and then as we were watching people, a family of four decided to rent some chairs and an umbrella too. The only ones available were to Carl's left. So the family settled down beside us. We nodded our hello's and resumed our conversation. Well, with my sunglasses on I studied our neighbors...The gentleman looked very familiar. Well, after a while (he was beside Carl), we got to talking a bit and I noticed his voice. Well, that cinched it! We were sitting next to Jermaine Jackson and family? So, now you are thinking, Wow, what a coincidence, right? I was totally unprepared to hear of Michael Jackson's passing today and I thought back to how nice his brother was (we never mentioned we knew who he was) and what a nice conversation we had with him and his lady friend. We have never seen anyone famous in Las Vegas before! He mentioned that they have houses in both LA and Las Vegas. He said that their nephews were visiting and that they thought it would be nice to go to a nicer fun pool than at the house. The boys (I later found out) are his sons from a prior marraige and he is in the middle of a custody battle because his ex has been accused of child abuse! I can only assume that he didn't want his children talked about in case anyone did recognize him. He was also with a blonde lady who was definitely not his last wife or any girlfriend that has been linked to him.

He spoke so softly that I could barely hear anything he was saying, but Carl talked with him a bit. As we talked, he asked what shows we've seen and we said most of the Cirque shows, he agreed that they were all good! I asked him if he had ever been to the Red Square Restaurant (where we had decided to eat) and he had and highly recommended it.

After that bit of light excitement we went inside and got ready for our evening. Here we are...Dinner at the Red Square Restaurant. I had Salmon with mushroom risotto and puff pastry and Carl had Filet Mignon Stroganoff. Both were delicious!

This was the dessert! Yummy! Carl had lava chocolate cake with warm strawberries and ice cream, and I had my favorite...Creme Brulee! Love the presentation!

This is outside the restaurant, the statue is of Lenin without his head. In the restaurant, you can go into their Vodka Ice Vault and drink off of Lenin's head. I think you have to buy a bottle of Vodka from the Vault (a $200.00 min.) but the food was phenomenal!

So as you can read, we had a great time and rubbed elbows with a celebrity. I did feel sad today knowing he had to cut whatever relaxing time he was having to rush home without even having the opportunity to say good-bye to his little brother.

So, even though Michael Jackson's life has been rather a freak show, his brother seemed very down to earth and I am sorry for his loss.