Summer Vacation - Oregon part 2

We also went to Diana's college to see her place and see the college campus. We got to meet her boyfriend too! We had a nice lunch after picking up Diana and seeing her place. Before that we went to a cute Science Museum in town and had some fun there. It was nice to see where Diana is going to school and where she works. Pretty cool beans, Diana!

Summer Vacation 2010

Part 1

Oregon and Tina and Family: So we left home at 5am and drove the whole way to Tina's in Oregon. It wasn't too bad. Kaleigh read a lot and Cole read and slept. We arrived in the evening and had some dinner and visited for a while. The next day we went shopping and looked around town. It was very relaxing and the tent trailer in the back was great! Thank you to Lee's niece and her hubby! It was pretty hot during the day but it cooled down a lot and was relatively comfy (the only problem being that I am 5 feet 3 and Carl is 6 feet and not skinny). It was a tight squeeze but the kids loved it!

We had a fun time on the 4th and the kids especially liked the cool fireworks that a neighbor decided to give us! We had S'mores and what not and just enjoyed family time together. We took a trip to the coast and froze...well, it was about 58 degrees so it was a change from the 97 degree weather at Tina's.

We also had a blast on the Hellgate Jet boats! Photos of that later!

More to come!

I Am Soooo Too Old For This!




Ok, I was not into the whole Twilight book thing until a friend recommended the books about a year and a half ago. I was out of reading material at the time and so I thought I would give it a go. I am not a big romance book fan, but this was a little different. So I was pulled into the saga. So when they all decided to go to the midnight showing of "New Moon" last year, I was a little disappointed that we would be out of town. Our notorious leader, Q asked me to make some necklaces with a "moon" theme. I did and they all wore them and T-shirts and waited in line all day for the midnight showing of the movie. So I wrote that to write this...
As some may know the newest film "Eclipse" came out at midnight last night and this time I was able to participate in our 13 person (yeah, weird I know) group going to the premiere. I wasn't able to go early like my friend and a few others, after all I have kids under 13. So I arrived with another friend around 6pm to find them first in line! We got into our little cozy square of line and waited till 7pm. Oh, wait, I didn't mention that we had special tickets for a "Twilight" marathon! So at 7pm we were to see "Twilight" then at 10:30 "New Moon", and then finally the new one, "Eclipse", at 12 :15. Ok, now Tina (sis) and I used to go at 11am to a particular movie theatre and see all the movies, by just going into whichever one started after the one we saw. We could see anywhere from 4 to 5 movies in an afternoon and into the evening! No problem...then anyway. Now, is a bit more difficult. I am prone to headaches and one movie is usually all I can handle. I was aware that there were three so I drank A LOT of water, and took a few Advil before even setting foot into the theater. I have to say I did ok, I dozed a little during the second movie (I had seen it already), and we snuck out to Starbucks to get a half caf coffee around the half way mark. But my friend (who is the same age as me and arrived later) and I have decided that we would rather wait a week after the opening, go in the late afternoon, and have a good nights rest, instead of getting to bed at 2:30 am. YAWN.... So if that makes me old...so be it!

Vegas 2010!

Well, our trip this year to Las Vegas was pretty decadent! We stayed at the MGM Grand, in a "Celebrity Suite", (no, really, we aren't celebrities-hehe) which is very nice with a spa tub and everything is really spacey. We have stayed here before and for the same price as a normal room in other hotels. We decided to see Cirque Du Soleil's "O" this year. This is the show with most of the action taking place in the water and above the water. But first...we arrived on Wednesday after dropping the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We drove to Vegas and enjoyed the Sirius radio in our new car..."80's on 8" is my fav. So we arrive, check in, and then decide to walk around a bit. Our dinner reservation is at 6:30 and we walk around trying to figure out the best way to get to the restaurant since it is at the "Wynn" hotel. We try out the Monorail but decide that the walk before dinner might be a bit long. So we head back and get ready, then drive to the Wynn hotel. The restaurant is Okada and we have been there before. The last time we were there they had this window over looking a waterfall and green lush trees. This time the view is there, but the window isn't! We asked the waitress and she said, they open the window completely on rare occasions when the weather is just right! And we were privileged to eat there at that time! Yay! So the photo of Carl is at Okada. The sign is of "O", the show that we saw at 10:30pm. It was a little past my bedtime but it was GOOD! We also ate at a restaurant called Fiamma. A really good italian restaurant that we have been to before. Usually we try new places every time but we were so happy with these that we decided to try them again. We had gone to Fiamma two years ago and Okada three years ago. At Fiamma's, we had a Eggplant parmesean appetizer, Caesar salad and then I had a Lobster Gnocchi with black truffle sauce (soooo good!) and Carl had Agnilotta (sp?) which is like a ravioli with pesto and sausage and grape tomatoes. He practically licked the plate clean! And you can see my plate for dessert, which was a triple layered hazelnut cake with chocolate Ganache and layers of crunchy hazelnut toffee-like cake with hazelnut and chocolate ganache layers....it was YUMMY! It was something my Dad would have LOVED! We did a little shopping, and I even bought some of my favs at LUSH, which sells bath products (got some for the kids too) like bath fizz bombs and crumbles for the bath. We looked around for little souveniers for the kids, but the types of stores have gone from fun souvenier type shops to more clothing and everyday gift items. We ended up checking out the Bass Pro Shop on the outskirts of the Strip and bought them water squirters there! Oh and one more thing...we had a little time so since we have never stopped at Primm (State Line) we decided to go and look around. Carl has always been interested in the roller coaster there and so we thought "what the hey? Let's go on it!" Mistake. Big. Fat. Mistake.

Oh don't get me wrong, Carl had a blast! He was laughing and chuckling the whole way. Well, I had said to him, " do you think it is smooth?" He said, "well it IS a steel rollercoaster, so it won't be as shakey as some of the wooden ones." Ok, #1 he was WRONG. It was the shakiest rollercoaster I have ever been on! After the first very loooong and steep drop, you kind of lurch forward, and then there are twists and upsy downsy type motions that just jerked me around more than I am used to. #2 there were no shoulder bars, in other words just a lap bar and a seat belt. The seat didn't even have a higher head rest. So you are sitting low, with the edge of the seat right about waist level. The bar you hold on to in front isn't even the regular height! I mean it is not the most effective use of constraint! I think I would have been ok if there was a shoulder bar that came down. Anyway this is Saturday and we went on it around noon yesterday, so you can imagine me now with a super stiff neck and my back is hurting pretty good. I already contacted my friend who does massage, 'cause I don't think I want to drive to Oregon with my neck and back as stiff as they are! So....hopefully she is free for me! I think I am just too old for that kind of roller coaster. I went on California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure about 5 years ago and that was fine! So that was the jist of our trip! We came back yesterday evening and the kids were happy to see us! Always a bonus!

An Outstanding Award!

Well, I couldn't be more proud of Kaleigh right now! She was recognized recently for the end of the year academic awards for Academic Acheivement in Language Arts. She is very gifted in that area and I am not surprised that she received the award. When the teacher called me at home to make sure I would be at the awards Chapel, she wouldn't tell me what category she won, only that I needed to be there. Kaleigh actually got perfect attendance this year due to the fact that none of us got sick at the usual time because we were all being extra careful in November (our usual time to get sick) because of the Swine flu panic. So at first I thought it was that, but the teacher let me know she wouldn't have called me for attendance. So now I am sitting there listening to the kids getting math awards (knew it wouldn't be that one), and spelling (thought maybe...), then music could have been, but then when they announced Language Arts, I was pretty sure! Now they not only gave awards for Academic Acheivement (grades), they also gave out awards for Outstanding Effort and Attitude. I would have been proud of her either way, but if you really think about it, Academic Acheivement looks better on paper, because, let's face it they worked hard to get the good grades! So, she is happy to have received an award in an area that she is very interested in! She loves writing and telling stories!

So, Yay, Kaleigh!

Summertime!

Well, school isn't quite out, but we are having some pretty summery weather right now. So, by about noon today it was 82-ish and now at 2pm it is more like 90-ish! So Carl took the kids to the nearby summer fair here in our area and they came home hot and worn out. Kaleigh drank a lot of cold liquid and Cole decided to go out and cool off, sprinkler style! As you can see, he was having a good ol' time!

So, our Summer is getting a head start - weather wise. Hopefully it will cool down a bit before it becomes unbearable!

Mmmmm, that "New Car" smell!

Well, we finally said goodbye to our old Honda (12 yrs with 135,000 miles) and hello to our new Ford Fusion. We had been talking about getting a new car for a little while and Carl and I always take our annual drive to Vegas and this year he said the Honda may not make it, so... We took a test drive with the kids in tow and they enjoyed the car so much we decided that with Ford's $1,000 rebate for trade ins we would do it. Our Honda's paint job was in really bad shape and we knew it wouldn't bring in too much, so with the value of the car (about $800) and the incentive of $1000, we did pretty good! So today I get to pick the kids up in the "new car". The Honda was known to the kids as the "Black Car", don't know what this one will be called after it is no longer new. So there you have it. Carl and my 3rd new car since we have been married. First the Honda, then the Excursion and now this one! Yay!

End of the Year-Spring Band Concert

So last night was Kaleigh's final band concert. They did a nice job and at the end of the program they all got certificates. Well, after they gave everyone their certificates, the Music teacher explained that each group voted for one of their own to get a special award for an outstanding job in band. Someone who is diligent and works well with others etc. Well, out of about 25 band members they voted Kaleigh as the most outstanding and she got a trophy! Yay, Kaleigh! She got to do a bit of a solo too. But we enjoyed the evening of band music and the choirs. Her two best friend are in choir so we stayed for the whole thing. Not too long, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. So, that is the end of band for this year. Kaleigh is still debating on whether or not she wants to do it next year. We are encouraging her to, but not forcing. She will still be swimming in the fall and band requires part of lunch each thursday which she may not be willing to give up.

Ah...well. She has the summer to make a decision.

Roar and Snore Part 3 - Some Cool Animals

So, here are some more photos. There are so many more! But these are some of my favs. Kaleigh of course had a great time even though at first she was a little bothered by what her two best friends got (they were in the premium tents), but soon she took it in stride and even went on to say she thought our tent was more camping, less hotel roomy, which is what she wanted. One of the moms was really nice and gave Kaleigh one of the 3 travel mugs she and her girls got. She figured they didn't need three of them! I had given her a 2 for 1 coupon for one of the attractions in the park so she was nice enough to return a favor. They try...sometimes. Mostly I was disappointed by the leaders, that they would allow the troop to be separated like this. You would think that Girl Scouts should see each other as equal, playing on an even field. This just pointed out to the girls that some have and some have not. There were even a couple of the girls bragging about their cool tents and treats they received. This is something that would really make me want to pull Kaleigh out, but that would do more damage than if I bite my tongue and let her continue. So we are signed up for next year. She will be a cadette and from what I understand, the leaders will be communicating directly with the girls and the girls will have more control over certain things. I am curious to see what will happen. I think there will be some girls that are still overly influenced by their moms, but then their moms make poor choices, so I don't really expect too much change. At least I can let Kaleigh fight for equality vs me!

If anyone wants to see more photos, let me know, I will post more! : )

Roar and Snore part 2

So, here comes the part where I explain a few things about this troop. The top photo is of a premium tent. They have a bed, a water cooler, lights, bedding, a fan and a gift bag with travel mugs for everyone. Ok, we all got t-shirts, but this was a big difference between the "haves" and the "have nots". Unfortunately, our troop decided that it was ok to have some of the girls that had wealthy parents stay in the premium tents and those that did not have wealthy parents stay in the other tents. Out of the girls that came, only 4 out of the 9 girls stayed in the regular tents, the other girls not in the count were siblings of girls in the troop. There were two that stayed in the premium and one that stayed in our area. The only reason the premium tents were offered to begin with was because one of the moms required electricity for her breathing machine that she wears to sleep. Thus began the division. My second complaint was that when we were supposed to meet at 6:15 with the tour guide, only about 8 of the 21 were there on time. We didn't get going until 7pm! Now I may be a little less laid back than most people, but I figure that girl scouts should be punctual especially if it is an inconvenience to someone if they are not! Ok, so that rant is over. So then we went on our little tour and some of the moms noticed my little clip on "off" fan. They thought it was pretty funny that I was so bug paranoid, but hey, it was dusk and there was a lot of water area we were going through! Those of you who know me know that I am the first one the bugs migrate to, and I wasn't about to sleep with bug bites, so sue me! Anyway, by the end of our little hike/tour, they were all standing by me! Kaleigh had one too and all the girls were hovering around her too! : ) hehe.

So the tour was cool we saw a lot that we normally wouldn't see so well, and it was interesting.

So on to the last part of our adventure!

Roar & Snore May 2010 Part 1

Ok, so here is part one of the Roar and Snore event with the Girl Scouts. This is the start of the saga so to speak. The photos are pretty obvious. We got there, entrance, we saw "Monty the Meercat", we took a photo once inside and the last is a photo of our tent. If they end up showing up in that order on my blog. Sorry if it doesn't. We started out well, took a 1 hour 45 minute drive from home and got there in plenty of time. Unfortunately that meant we were waiting for quite a while for something to happen. The girls had fun and so did the moms. We chatted about anything and everything. Finally, everyone was there and we gave the staff the luggage to be brought to our tents. We then waited some more in the waiting area, where they had a girl with a lizard (blue tongued skink to be precise) and she told the girls about the animal for about 15 minutes. Then it was more waiting...about 30 minutes or so. The park closed at 5:00 and we were then escorted into the park and moved to the area where we were staying. We did not have time to go to our tents to check them out because it was dinner time! So, we sat down and ate our dinner ( the line was long and troops allowed all their girls and mothers to cut in with them, which was pretty ridiculous! Then, after dinner we were to go meet at 6:15 to meet with our tour guide. We ended up sitting to eat at 5:50 so it didn't give us much time to eat! I ended up getting my long pants on and getting my "Off" insect repellant fans for K and me, just in time to come back and still be on time! Too bad no one else was! But more on that later. We had a long 2 1/2 hours or so walking around the park where our tour guide "Candy" was explaining that the girls would be learning about animals and also using their wits to figure out the Mystery Animal. So we saw many animals while walking and the girls were pretty attentive. The best were the cheetahs that were becoming more active since the tour was in the evening. We got good photos (later) and the girls were the only ones at each location so they were able to see all they wanted of the animals. It was a might tough for me since I had worked that morning and I did the driving. The walking was fine, the standing started making my back ache a bit and I was relieved when we got back to sit down at the campfire. The girls all got s'mores and hot chocolate and then they started singing and whatnot. I stayed to get K settled and then ran back to the tent to make sure the stuff in our tent was ours and to kind of unpack. I found some other peoples stuff in our tent, but they were part of our troop and next to us. Then I unpacked the sleeping bags and went back down in time to see the troop perform for the rest of the group.

After that it was close to 10pm and we all dashed off to the restrooms to wash faces and brush teeth and go potty. Then it was bedtime. It was wonderfully dark and quiet...for about 20 minutes. Then our tent mates fell asleep. The mom that was in our tent snored...LOUD. I am not talking loud, loud, I am talking train, bear and jackhammer all in one! I was wearing ear plugs ( I usually do, because Carl snores) and I could hear quite clearly through the earplugs! So to be clear, when I wear ear plugs at home and Carl snores, I do not hear a sound. This woman snored so loud that I not only could hear her through the earplugs she was louder than any of the elephants, lions and birds that were making noise right outside our tent! So, I got about 2 hours of sleep. Dozed in and out the rest of the time...but still exhausted the next day. I think K faired better because she fell asleep before the mom did. Now, I figured not too much sleep would occur so I do not blame this mom, she is very sweet. But I think I was a little disappointed because I figured lack of sleep would come from discomfort or the animal noises, both of which I was more prepared to deal with! But to continue...

Cole's "Buddy Club" Birthday Party

Today was Cole's birthday party with his best friends. They call themselves the buddy club and they are all very sweet very nice boys. We started out with Pizza and drinks and then went outside to do the Obstacle course. This was a big hit! We had a chalk track with wooden blocks and cardboard cars that they had to crush like a monster truck, with monster feet walkers. Then the boys played a game of "Hot Monster Truck" (like hot potato) so that the helpers could remove the obstacle course items. Then we got Cole's RC truck out and the boys all got a turn to drive the truck around and generally have a good time on the back hill and running around. After that, we came inside to open gifts. Cole was very happy with his presents and the boys were all very excited! Then came cake and ice cream. I must say I am very proud of my cake. The last post showed Grandma's cake and I did my cake similar but a little different. The parents that came thought the cake was totally cool! I was happy, Cole was happy, and his friends were happy! I think the parents just really appreciate the work that went into the things we put together, so yay! Then after the cake and ice cream the boys got to race their monster trucks they got in their goodie bags and then were able to paint the leftover white cars that we had used for the obstacle course! Thanks to Spencer, who made all the cars, they were a giant hit! I think that was the favorite part of the obstacle course! So a good day. I am exhausted but happy everything went well! I think this was probably the least expensive party we have done so far! Yay!

Cole's Family Birthday!

Well, today was busy but a lot of fun! We had Carl's family all come for a pulled pork sandwich lunch, with baked beans and strawberries. The sandwiches included the pulled pork and coleslaw (from Stater Bros. which was very good!) and then we had some chips and for dessert a delicious cake made by Grandma! You can see in the photo of Cole with his cake what a great job she did! We always take the cousin shot and this year marks the arrival of another cousin! Tobias is being held by Kaleigh and he is only 2 weeks old! Neither of the big boys wanted to hold the little guy, but Kaleigh did great! Taryn is the little girl in front of Spencer on the left and Trenton is being held by Tyler. Spencer and Tyler also have an older sis Jackie who is away at Trinity College in Illinois. Cole had a great time and got some money and a bunch of legos and other cool stuff! Omi sent money for a gift and he was thrilled to get the "Apple tree House" which is in the photo of him. The one in the kitchen is Carl's dad, his sister and his aunt (dad's sister), they are putting together their sandwiches and all the fixin's. So one party down, one to go! Whew! I just have to keep the house clean for a week! Then the boys come to play!

Happy Birthday Cole!

Happy 9th Birthday, Cole!

Photos coming after parties!

Happy Birthday, Sistol!










Have a Great Birthday, my sister dear! I miss having you near, to talk to and go out with! I am glad you have such a great family that makes you laugh and that loves you so much! Hope you enjoy your day! Love you lots!

I am so Proud!

Well, today Cole was recognized in Chapel for his participation in the Math Olympics! He got a second place ribbon and a medal too! Carl and his mom went to see him and got these photos. Cole is definitely his Dad's son. Not like me, that is for sure! I am a math dope. I can't figure my way out of a paper bag! Kaleigh, unfortunately, is more like me when it comes to math. Good thing is she is very talented in other areas! But today was Cole's crowning moment and I am very proud! He took numerous tests that had to do with reasoning type math rather than the comprehensive type math. Don't ask what that means, because all I know is that most of his problems were word problems which is the worst possible math outside of algebra to me! So, they had about 29 kids in the 3rd and 4th grades that participated. 18 got ribbons and only 4 got medals! Cole was one of the medal winners! I think Carl said that out of all the questions, he got an 85% or more and that got him second place! So YAY Cole! He will get a small lego set for his effort!

What I like about teaching Preschool.

I was told many years ago (even before I had my own children) that I would make a good preschool teacher. I really didn't think so at the time, seeing as I didn't really like kids...yes, the nieces and nephews weren't so bad, but I did like going home to a place without the little rugrats! Obviously, at some point Carl and I changed our minds. Mainly the fact that we no longer worked at Disneyland made it easy to see that all children weren't horrible little beasts! Anyway, we had ours and then we ended up having the kids go to a private school that we couldn't afford without me working there. I got my ECE certificate and started teaching. I was terrified at first, but then I realized that the person that had told me I would make a good preschool teacher had been right all along! I enjoy teaching (for the most part) and there are more good days than bad (this year has been tough), but I really enjoy the creativity that goes along with it! When I first started teaching four year olds, they had some lame crafts. I asked if there was a chance that some crafts could be updated, and was met with a very enthusiastic YES, Please! So since then I have worked to make the crafts and other aspects of the curriculum a little more fun and new. One other thing I have done is made up some special days of fun for the kids. One such day, as you can see in the picture, was "Silly Dress Day". This stemmed from April Fools day which normally we take photos at the end of March with the kids putting on funny hats and we put the photos in our classroom window, saying "April Foolishness". It is fun and the kids love seeing themselves. Well, since Easter vacation happened at that same time this year, I decided to have "Silly Dress Day" instead. I send a flyer home before the break, saying that the week they return our class would have a silly dress day. So last Friday we (yes, me too!) all dressed up with mismatched socks and shoes, funny hats, inside out clothes, and anything else we could think of! As you can see we had quite a few participate. The girl in the front with the "Fro" wig, didn't want to dress up, and took off the wig and sunglasses right away. Everyone else was fine with it. I had fun dressing up too! I didn't get a shot of myself but basically imagine messy hair with flower clips everywhere and swim goggles as a headband. Lots of stripes and different shoes and socks and an apron tied on backwards! It was fun and the teachers had a blast too! So, sometimes my work is fun! I look forward to the next fun thing!

Another Spooky Tree

This one is again, from Oak Glen. It isn't so much spooky as it is weird looking...but hey, that can fall into the Spooky catagory!

The way the branches are so thin compared to the truck makes it eerie looking. It got a little less spooky when the sun came out. At dawn it was more eerie looking, but I didn't have my camera at that time!

Easter 2010 Photos

Easter was great! Outside of the fact that I have a work thing hanging over my head that I might get in trouble for when I get back, I tried to relax and enjoy Easter with the family. We had a good meal and yummy dessert and the kids got to search for 215 eggs with their little cousin Will! So three kids and 215 eggs! Whew! The older cousins got to hide them this year and I think they enjoyed doing that too. What was funny is they are both very strategic and it took them a while to hide the eggs. My sis in law Lisa and I went out and took some of the eggs to hide so we could move things along! We just dropped into bushes and so on. Spencer and Tyler were very methodical and were trying to find the perfect spot for each egg! I think Will had the most fun! Cole kept yelling out, "I think my bucket is getting too full!" Kaleigh was more subdued, but when Cole took one of her eggs she was going to pick up, she was not happy!

Competition is fierce in egg hunting! But having a lot of family there is always nice. It is very different from what I grew up with. Nice. So I hope everyone had a nice Easter, this was ours.

Happy Easter, 2010!






Happy Easter to friends and Family! I had more photos of our nice day, but I forgot my camera at Grandma's house! So I will post more photos later! This was a pretty flower that I was able to photograph up at Oak Glen! Purdy!