I am missing a kid- she wouldnt stop playing with her friends in order to take a picture. We just left a NYEparty- i will be a pumpkin in about an hour....right now i can barely keep my eyes open!

Christmas - the day after...

It was a pretty fabulous day, if I may say so.

Early that morning I woke up with stomach cramps. The kind you get from staying rigid in the fetal position because your in considerate husband shut off the heater and the house is incredibly cold. I would never make it out on the street. I would die.
Anyway, by the time I fell back asleep, I was quickly awoken by the thumping of 3 pairs of feet coming into my room. "Mommy! It's time!" I looked at the clock quickly and told them to all get into my bed - its wasn't time yet and we should all snuggle first.
That bought me 1/2 hour of dozing before the natives started getting restless. Actually, the Hairy One was the only one who fell back asleep. I suspect his sisters dragged him out of bed, lol.
So we go downstairs and I put on some Christmas music. Hongo tells me "I put my CD in #3" I told him that was nice, but I put MY CDs in slots 4 and 5. We listened to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack a LOT so I was sick of it.
The kids opened their presents and really liked them. LegoQueen received the Naruto gloves that she had been begging for, DramaQueen received the Dora Talking House, and the Hairy One got a Star wars set that Hongo swore he would love. They got other stuff too - but those were the things that they really went wacko for.
My In Laws came later and I am SOOOO happy that they bought fewer items and bought more quality presents. Their big gifts to the kids included a bike for LegoQueen, and a battery powered Jeep for the little ones. I snapped a pic of the bike, but the Jeep pictures are on my regular camera.
Those Jeep have certainly come a long way - LegoQueen had one when she was two (nearly 10 years ago), and it was a little red thing with a pretend radio and a storage area under the hood. This one is gigantic - green and silver with running boards, a cup holder, glove compartment, and REAL radio. Sheesh.
The kids received lots of books, toys and games. I was really impressed with how well my in laws did.
After they left, I started the turkey for Christmas dinner. This was my first year making the whole big dinner. Usually we have tamales and enchiladas with rice and beans. Everything came out delicious, and I surprised myself. I will admit - I had ground beef defrosted as a back up plan, lol!
The rest of the evening was spent cleaning up and putting things away. Oh, and Hongo moved the tv BACK upstairs, so once again I have holes in the wall downstairs.
I hope to have some pictures up this week.

New bike 4 Legoqueen

My family is insane...

No children were seriously harmed in the making of this video, however, I think that I am scarred for life. But when our son yells, "Hit me in the face Daddy!" I have to grab the camera. Is this a cry for help? Do we need to abuse our children more than we already do? I say this, because it's kind of funny - today I spanked my son in the grocery store for climbing all over the cart like some kind of crazed animal. He didn't cry, but he settled down after that.
Lately I have been walking around town with a look that could kill. Usually one glance at the two crazed maniacs that I have a death grip on their hands is self explanatory.
I think it is the upcoming holiday - well, at least for the Hairy One. DramaQueen I think is going through an age stage. Today Hairy got up early and I let him play on CLub Penguin for a while (we have had no computer time because we've been living in our car and at other people's houses, and the grocery store) The site was all decked out in Christmas theme, and he was loving it. I even heard him singing Christmas songs to himself while he put away his laundry. Too cute.
I am looking forward to Christmas this year. Even though it seemed to have snuck up on me. I don't have my house decorated too much except for a tree and some snowmen. The lights didn't make it up this year, and the house didn't turn into a winter wonderland, but this year we are safe, healthy, and happy....and that is all that really matters. It's funny how sometimes we forget that amid all the frenzy.
Today our house was filled with laughter and the warmth of good friends and our family. I am so lucky. Oh, and DramaQueen lost her FIRST tooth today. We are excited for her. Too bad it couldn't have been a top tooth though, lol!
I don't know if I'll be able to blog anytime soon, so Merry Christmas to everyone. Yes, even to Miss Frankie and Miss Morgan, I hope you guys have a nice holiday too.

Its a good day!

I stole frankies candy canes!

It's COLD!!!

and I am just slightly irritated because my husband moved the TV downstairs, so now we are stuck in the colder room watching football when I could be upstairs where it is at least 5 degrees warmer.
We got our Christmas tree yesterday in the morning. Then after I got back from a mini playdate with the girls, we went to the mall to get some shirts for Hongo. Then we went to Kohls for sweaters for me, and I could only bring myself to buy one. After all, I am knitting one right now, and I plan to knit more if this one goes well. Why not make one that fits me the way I want it to, instead of getting something off the rack?
I just need to find more time in the day to knit. Actually, I should have more time coming this week.
Anyway, so while we were at the mall, DramaQueen got her ears pierced. She looks soooo cute! She cried though, but she is fine today.
We decorated our tree last night, and we were going to decorate outside, but it is way tooo cold!
*sigh* off to find another sweater to throw on to keep warm....

Pictures

Its been a long time since I have shared pictures. Today we went out and decided to just have fun. Everyone at the park was looking at us like we were strange. The kids had a good time and I let them play at the playground when we were done.
Afterwards we stopped at a friend's house to drop off something, and we ended up sitting and chatting for over an hour! Finally DramaQueen had to announce that she was STARVING and we really needed to go home right then to eat.
Hongo had to work late, so now our whole schdule is thrown off. Its almost time for bed, but I wanted to put up my pics to share.

December 4th, 2007

Ravelry update: There are 3379 people in front of me in line.

Today was a very emotional day...but before I get started, I just want to let my friends know that MOnday night was okay after I left. We worked things out and everything is fine.
This morning started out very busy, and I was very happy after visiting a friend's house. I was literally on Cloud 9 when I left!
I got home and since the house was already cleaned, I took the opportunity to rest ( I was up very late last night) and then I started to make dinner. I got a message from a lady I know who I had made plans with. She said she got my phone message and would email me later. I got a sinking feeling, and lost my appetite. When I got the message, it confirmed what I was thinking. She backed out on me. She said she was really sorry and all, but I was just disappointed. Hongo told me to chin up -not to be so bummed about one dumb lady, but it was really important to me!
So its been about 3 hours now, I am feeling better about it, and tomorrow I probably won;t even care anymore.
Speaking of tomorrow, its Anti-Procrastination Day! And my goal tomorrow is to get the kids CHristmas pictures DONE!

Oh....and my sweater. Its not going so good. It looks too small! My swatch came out fine, so I dont know what is up. I am going to have to measure again before I go any further. Now would be the best time to rip it out and start over..... :(

My Birthday....

I didn't check Ravelry yesterday, but as of today, there are 4573 people in front of me in line. Woooo!

I had a nice birthday. Lots of phone calls and emails to wish me a special day. The only person who did not that I expected would call was my mother. Oh well.

My ILs came over at about 11, and they gave the girls new boots. They didn't have any for the Hairy One, and of all times to care, that was the one time he did. He looked up to my MIL with big eyes and said "Where are my boots grandma?" SO she told him that they would all go out right then and get him some new boots. "Thats okay, I want to stay home with Daddy." LOL!
Speaking of which, Hairy is very clingy and a home-body. He doesn't want to go out anywhere. If one of us is staying home, he wants to stay too. The ILs took the kids to Knotts a couple of weeks ago, and he was ready to go home by noon. Then yesterday at dinner, he kept nudging his head under Hongo's arm so that Hongo would hold him close.
Anyway, they took the kids to the mall and I was specifically not invited. Instead Hongo and I went to Costco and got some things that we needed. We were about to go to the grocery store and then the ILs called and invited us to lunch. After lunch, we came home and I got to open my surprise. It was a black tote bag with photo slots, a tiny sewing repair kit, a needle holder for my knitting needles, and 6 skeins of yarn is the BRIGHTEST colors you have ever seen. Bright pink, teal, and SUNFLOWER YELLOW!
Gotta love kids! I love my bag - I have two projects in it right now.
After the ILs left, I took nap. Having them over wears me out! When I got up, we went to dinner at Red Robins and then went to Michaels. I bought the needles and the yarn for my new project. I didn't get the exact yarn I wanted for the sweater, but I got something suitable.
So my swatch is drying and hopefully I can cast on tonight and do a few rows. I had a very nice birthday, and again, I thank everyone who sent good wishes. You are all awesome!

That's going on the blog....

LOL!

I must do my Ravelry update...as of today there are 5631 people in front of me in line.

Well today was LegoClub. We had a good time, and I found out that I have a new reader! Miss M is funnier than heck, and keeps us laughing all the time. She's planning on starting her own blog, so I can't wait.
Like I said, today we had our get-together and I noticed that ALL the older kids went back for seconds on the snack (and some had thirds) I think they are all going through a growth spurt of something. I FED MINE before we went to Miss B's house and by 2pm, the Hairy One was asking for snack.
We finally got rain today...in fact it is still sprinkling right now. But that made the roads crazy because Californians (especially desert people) can't seem to drive in rain. So the kids all had to stay inside. By about 3pm they were getting stir crazy, so Miss B allowed them to go outside, but they had to stay on the patio. We kept having to define "patio" as in the covered area, not the long driveway that was uncovered and was calling to them.
And remember what I said about kids being bad when they are guests at someone's house? Well, today my son was that naughty one. I discovered he was outside - ALONE and not only that, he was climbing on the wet swing set that was NOT on the previously established "ACCEPTABLE ZONE" known as the patio. I had already told him the rules and he thought he could sneak away. I wasn't really concerned about him being alone, because the yard is fenced in, but with the wet ground he could have slipped!

I have my project that I want to do. Tomorrow I am going to get the yarn and needles and get started on my swatch. I don't know - is it rude to take your knitting to an adult party? Because that is where I am going on Sunday, lol. I have to check it out and report back.
LegoQueen is in her room, secretly making plans for tomorrow. My ILs will be here tomorrow.
You better believe I'll put it on my blog....

Park Day!

I am so close to Ravelry, I can taste it...only 5631 people in front of me! Maybe I should get back to knitting something so I have a project to post when I get in!

Today we had Park - a very eventful one!
One of my friend's kids locked her car keys in the trunk. Another mom ended up calling AAA to come and try to get the keys out, and they ended up towing the car to her house because they couldn't.
We sang Happy Birthday to another mom, and 5 seconds later her daughter had been hit in the eye and it was bleeding a little, forcing them to go home early.
Near the end of park, I overheard one of the moms telling the story of why she got kicked out of our weekly playgroup. She was saying that her son had accidently overfed the hostess's goldfish, and that he did a couple of other small things that little boys just do and now they are banned. But it was okay, because they had formed their own little group that meets weekly.
Whoa, whoa - let's back up a little bit. Her family was STILL coming to the Lego meetings long after her son killed my friend's goldfish by pouring KITTY LITTER in the bowl. Last time I checked, goldfish do not eat kitty litter in any quantity. Second, it is not normal to break the sliding screen door or tie yourself to the fence while you are a guest at someone's house. It is not okay to sit on your arse knitting, while your daughter steals another child's shoes and then begins beating the door and screaming because there is a locked room in the house. There is no excuse to let your kids act like brats in someone else's home.
SO yes, I am glad that you have your own little group....because now I can enjoy my Friday's and have friends over without dreading who is coming over. The group we have right now is awesome, and if any of the kids misbehave, we can tell each other and it is dealt with. And wow - those times are few and far between.
Whew...boy I just went off, lol! It just made me kind of mad, because I saw her being all friendly to my friend, and then she goes and says stuff like that when my friend has her back turned (literally).

SO anyway - I have a sweater that I want to try to knit. I am going to bring the magazine tomorrow (to show said friend with dead goldfish) and see how I am going to start this. OH, and its from a magazine that she lent me...lol.
We are going to a movie theater opening with our group in the morning, following with our weekly meeting at a house.

Wednesday!!!

Ravelry - 6888 people in front of me.....still moving along.....can't wait....paralyzed with anticipation....
lol.

Not too paralyzed to get going today, though. We had a busy day today. First of all I was on the phone and sending email back and forth all morning that we didn't get out of the house until after 10am. We went to Target and had to circle the store several times so I could get everything on my list. I forgot my returns in the car...DANG!
Then we went to drop off something at my friend's house, and she was on the phone and one of her daycare babies was ready to leave out the front door. you could see it in her eyes, lol! So I picked the little girl up and carried her to the dining room so that I could make a fast escape!
On the way home we went to the grocery store - ground beef on sale! We bought a few things and then it was off for home. We have still not made it to the library, or to Lowes, but we will get there.
We had lunch and then there was the "chores, lessons, work" rotation. I was trying to fold laundry and reply to email at the same time, while sneaking in help to the kids for their lessons inbetween. We got it done though - one load left to fold!
I fed the kids early, and then I made Hongo drive out to Apple Valley to pick up some stuff. We grabbed In-N_Out on the way home.
Oh, and amidst all this, my MIL kept calling and wanting to talk to Courtney. They have something "Secret" going on. I wonder what it is?
Saturday is my birthday (could that be part of the secret???) and it should be rather relaxing. It will be the first birthday where I don't have to dread a middle of the night phone call involving my dad. I guess that is something to look forward to!

Tomorrow is Park (TG!!!) DramaQueen has been driving me up the wall. She cries for everything. And when she's not crying, she harassing her siblings. LegoQueen must have told DQ 6 times to quit putting her hands on the computer screen, until she started screaming at her. Ugh. They all need a break from each other right now.

What day is it anyway???

This week is off to a great start! First, I have 7200-odd people in front of me for Ravelry....Yeah!!!


Yesterday my friend called me to ask about Nintendo Wii stuff. Our conversation was WAY too short, I am going to have to call her back soon. I didn't get to ask her about her doctor's appointment she just had, or how her hubby likes his new job....there just wasn't enough time and my brain has deserted me, so I didn't remember to ask. Doh!
Last night I made it out to Starbucks for knitting night. My friends are so awesome - I had a great time and I didn't even pull anything out to knit. It was just fun conversation for 2 hours (even though I was there for 3 hours, the first hour I was alone, lol). I had a really good time.
Today I was the queen of packages! I got some pictures in the mail that I had ordered for myself, and then tonight Hongo asked me "Hey, weren't you supposed to get some memory cards for your camera in the mail today?" OH YEAH!!! Sure enough, they were sitting on the porch! Sweet! Now I have extra memory cards!
I cannot procrastinate anymore - I MUST get the kids' Christmas pictures done this week! The dresses and the suit are hanging nicely pressed, so I better hurry up.
We weren't home today - we got up and went to the park for 4 hours. Then we came home, had lunch, and then went out to my friend' house to pick up some cards that she made for me. ANother package!!! We stayed there for about an hour and a half. Then we came home and I started dinner.
Now we are all downstairs watching Hongo play his video game. I haven't really accomplished any housework all day. Maybe I should sneak up stairs and do something.
Nah....I would probably fall asleep. I am so tired!!!

November 24th

First of all - a Ravelry update. I incorrectly reported how many people are in front of me. But as of today, there are 8969 people in front of me. I am moving up in line!

Okay, so on to today.....

We had our visit with GMIL (grandmother-in-law) and the new aunt, and the new cousins. It was obvious why they came - just to check out the house and the kids. Oh and to fish around for info about Hongo's parents and brother. New aunt kept slipping up about how the size of our house compared to hers. I guess she was embarrassed.
New aunt is kind of strange. She looks at you with gigantic eyes, as if its taking everything she has to pay attention. It may just be me though - I am a pretty boring person!
Grandma was her usual interesting self. It was obvious that the day belonged to New Aunt. New Aunt and cousins can do no wrong. Except.....
Boy Cousin took great joy in pestering LegoQueen. At lunch, the kids got free sundaes, and Legoqueen did not get one because she didn't order off the kids menu. Well, Boy Cousin (who is older than LQ and did get ice cream) kept teasing her with his ice cream. "Haha, you didn't get any.....oooooh this is soooo good!"
Grandma totally ignored LQ getting frustrated, but New Aunt caught it and thankfully told him to knock it off. Good, because I was just about to tell him something. We are all family now, right?

Other highlights of the visit:

- Grandma is a Pepsi freak. She's worse than me. She asked for a can and was drinking it. 3 year old cousin comes over and asks for a drink. Grandma hands the can of Pepsi to said 3 year old and lets her drink the rest.
- New Aunt had the nerve to tell me that Drama Queen looks just like New Aunt's husband, aka Black Sheep uncle who hates my husband, my FIL and is uglier than dog crap. To make it worse, Grandma agreed. Usually Grandma says DQ looks like HER, and every time I have to remind her that DQ happens to have her own grandma with blue eyes and features that more closely match.
- Sadly, 3 year old cousin DOES resemble said uncle. Poor child.
- Grandma insisted on me taking her picture with all the kids. Originally she said that she wanted pics with her grandkids, which would exclude MY kids. I guess at the last minute she realized that she had two different sets. And guess what? She offered to reimburse me the cost of printing her picture. When I asked her what size she wanted, she decided on a whopping 5x7!!! Oh wow - I don't know if I can handle $1.50 in printing costs! LOL! I told her not to worry about it - I will send it in to be printed at a Wal-Mart near her and she can just go pick it up.
-New Aunt TRIED to engage me in a negative homeschooling discussion. She started off with "Don't your kids ever ask to go to real school?" Hongo spoke up immediately and said "Nope." in a tone that said "Don't even go there." I could have gotten up and given him a giant kiss right then and there! She tried to rephrase it a few times, and eventually gave up and asked a couple of non-confrontational questions when she saw that we weren't going to defend ourselves.

It went better than I was dreading it to be. She was very nice and complimented the color I painted the walls. New Aunt was very nice...fake nice, but still nice. Little cousins were pretty cute. Boy Cousin (when he wasn't being annoying) was desperate for Hongo's attention. If Hongo was speaking, Boy Cousin was listening. Girl Cousin was pretty cute (she loved hanging out with Hayden) and my kids were on their absolute BEST behavior!

10 days....

that's how long its been since my last entry! I really need to get to this thing a little more often.
Right now it is the calm before the storm....my husband's grandmother is coming tomorro morning. I kept bugging my husband - "This needs to be done, and this, and this...." and all he was doing was sitting on the couch playing a game. He is usually such a great help, I don't know what his problem was.
We've had a really busy week. On Wednesday, we were running all around town and I wasn't able to get home in time to cook dinner. So we went out to eat that night. Thursday was a full day of being out in the middle of nowhere at my IL's house. Then today I had to get up and clean, I went to Staples for a memory card, but Hongo called me to tell me that he was able to get one online, so I put it back and left. The line at Staples was INSANE! Its freaking STAPLES!!!!
I bought lunch (because again, I am running around town and I have no time to cook)and then LegoQueen and I hit Home Depot and Lowes once each.
Tomorrow, great grandma is coming, and then after she leaves, Hongo and the two little ones MIGHT go to a birthday party, while I go somewhere else for a couple of hours.
Amidst all this, I talked to my mom on Wednesday (as I was driving from one appt to another) and she told me that my out of state family was coming down for Thanksgiving. She wanted to know if I wanted to come. I told her no, I had other plans, and thanks anyway.
But I will admit - I am hurt. I told myself that I would get over it quickly, and I fully intend to, but yeah.
I had been bugging my cousin for months to tell me when they were coming and we would get together. I also told my other uncle the same thing. Both assured me that they would. Obviously they didn't.
If they THINK they are going to call tomorrow and drop by on their way home, forget it. We are having company! Then the birthday party, and my afternoon appointment! I figure if they do call (and that is a huge IF) I will tell them thanks for the offer, but I'll have to catch them next year, if they can possibly spare any notice.
Tonight I told myself that with "family" like that, I don't need it. My life is going pretty well right now, so dwelling on this hurt does me no good. I would rather have positives in my life right now. Which means I might just delete my cousin from my MySpace account. It will make it that much easier to get over if I don't have to see his icon everytime I log in.
Speaking of "positives" and "family" - here is a story. On Thanksgiving, my Ils gave me my birthday gift early. It was a gorgeous black coat to replace the one that Hongo shrunk a few months ago. I know it set them back a couple hundred, but that is not the best part.
The best part is that my MIL went to to stores and tried on every flippin' coat in the joint to find "the perfect coat". She is 5'2" and I am 5'10". She looked insane to be trying on all those coats that were way too big for her. In the end, she bought me a gift that I love, and she put a ton of thought into it.
She could have given me any old black coat and a gift receipt. If it doesn't fit, just return it and get something that does. But no - she made sure that it fit and it was in a plain color for a plain gal like me.
I love my coat! I can't wait to wear it to park!
Hongo just asked if I was typing another book. I told him yes, lol.

I broke down and put my name on the waiting list for Ravelry. Peer pressure is SO awful! So K and B - I'll be seeing you. There are only like 8 thousand people in front of me......

November 13th

Today would have been my dad's 50th birthday.

Last year on the 13th, I sent him a text message saying "Happy Birthday Dad" I had been at the doctor's office all morning, and very tired. We also had not been on very good speaking terms, but I felt like I was extending the olive branch by texting him. It worked, because 2 weeks later he called me on my birthday. It was then that he told me that he was dying, but that he wasnt willing to do the things necessary to save himself. I remember getting angry with him again.... it was always the same argument with him - he didn't want to give up the things he loved in order to embrace a healthier lifestyle that would bring him more years with the people who loved him.

Three months later, what he told me on my birthday had come true....and there would be no more arguments between us.

Today I had to drive down the hill to my doctor's appointment, and I considered visiting the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. My dad was the only one of his 6 siblings that regularly visit the cemetery, and as a child I remember going with flowers to put onthe headstones.

But my dad is not buried there - his remains are in my home. The place where he was never permitted to come to for over 5 years. There was no reason for me to visit a cemetery where he is not at. So I came home instead.

I suppose that every year will get easier, but as each special day passes, I feel the pain of never being able to say goodbye. To have never been able to tell him one last time that even though we fought so much and the hurt he caused me growing up, that I still loved him and we were still family.

It's been nearly nine months, and so much has gone on in that time. I am so lucky to have the people around me that I do. As Thanksgiving approaches, I will certainly be giving thanks for all I have...

The fires....

I wasn't going to write anything about them until they got closer and affected us, but seeing all the smoke to the south of us just puts me in a gloomy mood.
I talked to my MIL today - Hongo's extended family has been evacuated out of the mountain. His aunt and uncle are at a hotel, and his cousin is staying with his wife's family.
But she also told me that her mother and her husband were also evacuated in Temecula, and that they stayed at a shelter until yesterday afternoon. I know Hongo will be upset that his 80+ year old grandma was in a shelter. If she had called early enough, I could have went and got them and made it back up before the freeway closed. It appears they are out of danger now, since they were able to go back.....but I think about the smoke they are inhaling. It can't be good.
We can see the thick clouds of smoke to the south. No flames, the fire is on the other side of the mountain. But if it spreads to the north, we'll be able to see something.

Today has been an off day - everyone is grumpy and so I've had to separate us so that no one gets hurt, lol. We are all feeling pretty BLAH today. Too bad we still have lots to do, I'd get back in my jammies right now, lol!

Recovering from the weekend....

oooooooh my legs and arms hurt soooo badly!

On Saturday we started on our home improvement project finish up. We had a whole list of stuff to do. We got TWO things off that list done, and Hongo didn't do either of them! I grouted the kitchen countertops (FINALLY) and my FIL hung the nw light fixture. Hongo added his own project - moving the TV back down stairs. UGH. We lugged that stupid thing back downstairs and he spent all afternoon re-drilling holes and rewiring everything. I swear- that TV is not going back upstairs. I will buy a new one before I ever do that again.
We spent all evening trying to put the house back together again.
On Sunday, I tried to finish up all the leftover stuff. Everyone else slept in. I finished putting away the gigantic pile of laundry, only to have to put in another load. *sigh*
We took a break to play softball. First practice, then the game. It was a great game - lots of action and we both did pretty well. Hongo had the game winning hit (a homerun over the fence) and I was on base and the winning run.
We came home and i was tired. But we still went out with our family friends to play another round of softball at the park. We had a good time.
After the park, I made a run to the grocery store for some things I needed to make dinner. After dinner, we all bathed (SEPARATELY!) and retreated to the master bedroom to watch SpongeBob. After we sent the kids to bed, Hongo and I watched Night at the Roxbury and I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Today I have barely sat down to relax. Same old morning chores, and then I had to call the city to straighten out a stupid mess, and then they told me I had to go down there!
Since we did not make it to Target or Costco yesterday, I decided we should go today. After we went to City Hall, we went to Costco and saw the "M" family there. I turned down the aisle and there they were! Mr. M must be pretty scary, because my little ones did not utter a peep in his presence. LegoQueen was ultra embarrassed, why I do not know. She better get used to seeing her future father in law, lol! Actually, her behavior was rather embarrassing. When will it end?????
I'm glad we saw them, because Mrs M reminded me that knitting night is tonight! Gaaaaa! I completely forgot!
I was planning on relaxing at home, but maybe I will go hang out there instead.

I need a nap, but there isn't time!

An all around good day!

Lots of stuff to talk about today!

This morning I had a good workout. It could have been better, but it was still really good. I just have to remember to keep up the water intake, because I know I haven't been getting enough lately.
My friend called me today and said she could do my scrapbook album for me today if I brought over the pictures. I did, and I figured she would give me back the finished album on Monday.
We went to Lego Club today. I had talked to LegoQueen last night and then again before we got there about an incident that occurred between her and the boy whose house we were going to. I made it very clear that I did not approve of how she handled the situation and I expected her to apologize.
Things went well while we were there, it looked like everyone played well together. I scored some awesome sock yarn in a rockin color scheme too. When it was time to leave, I told the kids to clean up. The Hairy One tried to weasel out of it by saying he didn't play with anything - I called him a little liar and told him he better clean up. I told Lego Queen to clean up and she ALSO tried to weasel out of it by saying she cleaned up some cards. Her friend threw her under the bus and said she didn't help at all, but covered for her saying that it was okay. I kept asking him if there was anything that he wanted her to clean and he kept saying no. How embarrassing! I was so mad at LegoQueen that I lectured her all the way home about her behavior and how she was going to keep herself from being invited anywhere. Seriously - I was livid!
So, even though I am planning on having LC here at my house this week, it is still up in the air on whether I will bring her to whoever's house it is at next week. Her refusing to help clean up is inexcusable.
On the way home, we stopped at my friend's house to pick up my album. She was done! She did a really good job - she made it nice and clean. Its just my style. Hongo thought it looked nice - he is going to take it to work on Monday to show it around.

Tonight is Family Movie night, hence the reason I am writing my journal so early. The kids are in the shower already, and I just have to load the dishwasher and run it.
This weekend we are going to attempt to finish our home improvement projects since we are getting into the holiday season and that means more people coming in and out of the house. PLus every weekend in Novemeber is booked with something, so this may be our last chance before December!

Ugh - she is SO frustrating!

I just asked LegoQueen to go and make herself lunch. She started to whine (she was online) that she was busy "looking for a job" because she was "tired of not having any spending money".

It was a bad thing to say - I am already in a bad mood, so that just set me off. I told her that NO ONE was going to hire her. She's too young to work legally! I also reminded her that her dad gave her a list of chores that he was willing to pay for, and were ANY of those done? NO! She hasn't picked up dog poop, she didn't vacuum the stairs, she hasn't cleaned her sink in her bathroom, and her room still isn't neat!
I also told her that in the real world, if you don't work, you get FIRED - you don't get PAID anyway!!!!

So boo hoo - she doesn't get money for sitting around doing jack squat. Poor freakin kid.
Meanwhile I have spent all morning running errands and doing chores. Her brother and sister have cleaned their rooms already and are playing on the computer.

Now she's stomping all around being dramatic.

My friend's daughter is so pretty....

On Saturday I took some picture for my friend. Her daughter had her First Communion this Spring, and she never had pictures taken in the dress. So they came over and I took a few so that my friend could have them on her wall.
This one was my favorite:

Its not the best picture ever, but I like it.

The crucifix belonged to the child's grandmother, and they wanted it in the picture. I also did some of her in the dress, but they didn't come out as well as I had hoped.
Little sister got some pictures done too:


She is such a little ham!

Anyway, as you can see from my previous post, I said goodbye to a dear friend today. We were in the middle of a fast food restaurant hugging and bawling our eyes out. Her family is moving to Las Vegas tomorrow.
Her oldest daughter was my DramaQueen's first friend. DramaQueen could not communicate well and was painfully shy, but little Amanda never gave up. She hugged and loved on my daughter soooo much and helped to bring her personality out. Then when our paths crossed again years later in cheerleading, there was little Amanda - still with her outgoing and loving personality.
Her son, Jacob was in love with LegoQueen the day he laid eyes on her. He has finally accepted that LQ isn't really interested, and has since prided himself on being a great friend and excellent playmate who gives LQ as much as LQ gives him.
And who can forget little Jessica? She would scream everytime they left, force hugs on my son (who doesn't like being touched by anyone but mama) and always had a hug and kiss waiting for me.
I will miss them sooooo much, but I know we will still see each other in the future. I wish their family the best of luck in their new state, and I hope they make lots of friends and have as much fun with them as we always did together.

I should have some pictures by tomorrow that my friend took of us, and some that LQ took too.

Caryn is enjoying her last day in ca. Look at her in the play tunnel!

They lost today :(

Doesn't my Hongo look cute? All swinging the bat and hitting homeruns cute!

I don't why, but there is sooooo much drama on his team. There are two guys who are real jerks and think they are all it, but they sucked today. Two guys almost came to blows - one guy is our friend and the other one is one of the jerks.

We had a good time though - I cheered soooo loudly when Hongo hit his homerun!

My computer nerds...

I started this entry thinking solely of my son, but I realize that LegoQueen was just like this (she was younger, though).

A few days ago I got him signed up with Club Penguin. He moved the mouse awkwardly and everytime he made a mistake or a window would pop up he would holler to me that it desperatly needed fixing.
Two days later, he was turning on the computer by himself, opening a browser, picking the site out of the "favorites" tab, signing in, and playing.
ALL BY HIMSELF.
He moves the mouse like a pro, and his fingers fly over the arrow keys for the little games. He is constantly spending his coins from the game, because he knows its super easy for him to just earn more by playing some games.

Drama Queen likes to play, but not as much. I still set everything up for her. If she gets stuck, she tells her brother and he comes over to fix it for her.
She reminds me of Hongo, lol.

Everyone is having a good day today. If I could only find the top of my desk, life would be really good.

Looking for booty....

Heh, Heh - how is THAT for a title?

Actually, what I meant was Pirate's Booty. Its some kindo f yummy puffy snack that was served at Friday's Lego Club. My friend told me I could get it at Costco, but when we went, I couldn't find it.
I checked the grocery store too - nothing.
*sigh* My kids really liked the booty.....so I have have put my MIL on the hunt for it and she has been instructed to find it and bring it on Friday when she comes.

Today was Columbus Day, but it was like any other day for us - with the exception of Hongo staying home. So the Hairy One stayed at home while we did our Monday morning visit to the park. Then we came home, had lunch, and then I napped on the couch while Hongo oversaw lessons and cleaned our room. He always does such a good job.

I got up and felt so much better (AF is here) so I decided to clean out the fridge. I only found one science experiment, and all I really had to do was wipe down the shelves and put everything away neatly. It looks so much better in there right now.


This week I HAVE to make the time to shampoo the carpets. They look so bad right now its not even funny. I also have to finish some home improvement stuff because the holidays are fast approaching.

Oh, and yesterday we noticed that one of the brackets on the garage door is broken. Its been noisy for a while, and I guess this is why. I tell you, EVERY TIME I have some extra money, something in the house breaks. Stupid house.

Speaking of houses, the house across the street has gone into foreclosure. I wonder who will buy it and if they plan on living in it.

Just feel like cooking....

So today I have spent A LOT of time in the kitchen.

Yesterday my friend brought snickerdoodles to our weekly meeting. They were sooo good, I got the craving for them and so right now I have the dough chilling in the refrigerator.
Then the day before we were talking about tamales - I think it was the day before, lol. Anyway, today I made the sauce for tamales and once the chicken thaws, I will cook it with the sauce. I don't think I'll get to assemble them tonight, but at least the hard part is done.
I have a yummy and hearty beef lentil and barley soup in the crockpot, and there is BBQ chicken in the oven for dinner.
Tomorrow I am thinking we will have beef stew in bread bowls for dinner. Life is about to get more busy, and so I had better take advantage of this desire to cook so that I have some back-ups for when I don't!

We went to our new Costco this morning - it was so busy! We saw our neighbors there - I was joking with them that we live across the street, yet we never see eat other. I admit, we haven't been home very much, and they both work full-time. We used to see the man in the morning when we would leave for park, but we've been leaving earlier than usual or sleeping in lately.


My mom called today - she was going to go to my cousin's baby shower and while she was out picking a gift, she decided to buy my kids shoes. I thought that was very nice of her. I guess if she wants to spend her hard-earned money, its better that she spend it on her own grandkids. I prefer that she not spend it at all, and save it for a rainy day, but what can I do? We discussed that I saw my one of my cousins at the farmer's market, and that I was planning to visit them soon. Her parents are my god parents, and I would love to see them again.

Which brings me to something that I had been thinking about lately.

Growing up, we never saw very much of my mom's family. When my dad left, we spent the holidays with my mom's sister that very first Thanksgiving and Christmas....but after he reappeared, we never went back. My mom had several cousins in the same town as us, but we rarely went to visit. We always went to visit my dad's family. I was never really attached to any of her family.
So now that I am older and I have dealt with the things my "family" has done to me, I find myself deeply desiring to re-connect with my mom's family. None of them have ever hurt me, none of them do things that I am ashamed of telling, I cannot think of one that is not a decent, respectable person.
My dad's side of the family is not a real family. They don't know how to love each other and stick together. They will talk nicely to each other and then talk nasty behind each others' backs. I understand that families need to vent sometimes, but they do it for hobby. No one can have anything better than the rest - then its considered bragging.
I don't want my kids to experience that. No matter what the differences between my brother in law and I, my kids will NOT hear me bash their uncle. I save that for private discussions with Hongo when BIL has done something stupid again. They know that I get upset with him, but I don't go dragging out his defects over and over again.
So I am really looking forward to seeing my godmother. Hongo wants me to ask her about my Native American heritage and get as much info as possible for our children.


I better get back to cooking.

Watching too muchbaseball on TV....

Last night we were watching the dbacks and the cubs play, and durig the break, there was a commercial playing for Levitra. So LQ says out loud, " Mommy, does Daddy have ED?"

After I picked myself off the floor and Hongo was stifling back a grin, I told her no- that Daddy did not have ED. If he did, I would know for sure.

Then she asked, "What about HIV? Does he have that?" And I told her no.
And Mr. No-Help-Whatsoever is laughing into his pillow, while I am praying that she doesn't ask what those two things are.

She didn't and then went happily along her way.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**

Speaking of embarrassing things the kids say....

On Tuesday the ILs came and got the kids to take them shopping. I had a whole 4 hours to myself!
Anyway they come back and FIL sits on the couch and he says "You will not believe what your son said in the store today."

Before I go any further, I will say it was MUCH more hilarious to see my FIL tell this story than it will be relaying it here.

They are in the store and MIL and the girls were in the girls section, and FIL and the Hairy One had gone to look at shirts. Apparently Hairy was chatting along about nothing in particular, until he says out loud, "AND DADDY DIDN'T WEAR UNDERWEAR. I SAW HIS UNDERWEAR ON THE COUCH AND HE WENT TO WORK TODAY WITHOUT UNDERWEAR ON."
FIL said that half a dozen people turned around and some old lady looked at Hairy and said "WHAT!?!?!"
All my FIL could say to the people (he was rather flustered) was "I'm not his father."

Today is all mesed up so far...

One of those days where you want to crawl back in bed and wait for tomorrow.

I woke up this morning with a headache. No surprise, I went to bed early with a headache last night.
I heard the trash truck coming down the street behind me, and I had forgotten to take out the trash cans. I jumped up and grabbed my robe, and put it on. The tail end of it knocked over a bowl that Hongo had set on the the wall and it went crashing downstairs. It was a metal bowl so now there is a dent in it. Popcorn spilled everywhere, and the dog thought it was a gift for him.
At 8 I woke the kids up and told them to start getting ready. At 9 I was still struggling to get them out the door. I drove halfway down the block, and realized I left my deposit at home. Went back and got it, went to the bank.
My inlaws had given me a $250 gift and when I went to deposit it in the ATM, I put it for $25. ARGH!!!!
SO then we went to Target, and I am thinking i forgot something, I just haven't figured it out yet. Then we went to the grocery store, because i had forgotten to get swiss cheese yesterday. After 40 minutes and 40 dollars, I get to the car to realize that I forgot the swiss cheese!
Double ARGH!
So I sent LQ back into the store with some cash to buy it. She came out upset - she was so nervous about being by herself, and remembering to hang on to the money, and getting the right cheese.....she handed all of her money over to the clerk and looked like she couldn't count money at all.
*sigh* I told her not to worry about it, and to thank her and make her feel better, I let her keep the 71 cents that was leftover.
We got home and I had to spent 30 minutes trying to fit everything in the fridge. I bought a lot of meat, so it needs to be separated and repacked for the freezer. Guess what I'll be spending my afternoon doing?
Oh and then Hongo sent me a text to make sure I put the deposit in, and so I had to him how I messed up. He was already frustrated with me anyway, so he's probably even more so now.
The Hairy One is on my last nerve - he is fake crying to annoy his sister and he's getting on my nerves too! DramaQueen is crying again - I have no clue why. The sky must not be the right shade of blue today....

I am dumb....

Today I went to my closet to get my uniform shirt for softball. I noticed that on both shirts, the tag was cut out. UGH! I HATE when Hongo does that!
So with both shirts in hand, I stomp over to him in the shower and yell "Who gave you permission to cut the tag out of my shirt!" He said "it doesn't matter!" I told him "yes it does, because now I can't figure out which one is mine!"

And then he said "Are you really that stupid? Turn them both around!"

So I did.

And one of those damn shirts says KIM #25 on the back.

Yes, I am stupid and the kids are going back to public school tomorrow, lol.

I needed a smile

so I made time to go through some of my DisneyWorld photos. Can you see what a pain that LQ was being?

Its not supposed to be like this...

I really love playing softball. I do. But lately I have been dreading it this season. There are three new girls on the team. Three sisters. Two of them glare at me every chance they get. One is really nice to everyone. One of the sisters that glares at me plays my usual position. So for the past two games we have had to switch off, and neither of us has been very happy about it. Especially me, since I have been getting the raw end of the deal.
During practices I would bring my friend Christina and she also plays first base. We would switch off every inning and it was fine. And that is the way it was last season. All us girls would switch positions and give fair playing time to each other. I usually played first base, but I would switch with the manager's wife and play outfield too.
So I guess what I am saying is that it really isn't all about sharing...its about having people on your team that you can't seem to get along with.
I coach girls softball (and T-Ball last season) and one of the things that I worked really hard to teach was that even though not everyone is going to get along 100 percent of the time, you still have to be polite and a good teammate. So I've tried so hard to be a model for that (some of the people on my team have daughters that I have coached) but privately I find it so difficult.
Ugh, I just needed to vent.I have faith that this will all work out. I keep reminding my manager that it would be really great to have Christina on the team because she's reliable and everyone likes her. But for right now I have to just keep going and deal with this situation and the weekly dread it brings.

Good, good....

Ah, what a busy weekend! The party on Friday went really well. The kids were having fun, and the little girls spent the afternoon dressing up and coming downstairs to model.
I have pictures! I will send them out to the moms tomorrow, and DramaQueen is going to dress up again so I can have some to post here.
Saturday's adult party was fun! Ladies only and we had a really good time. It was not a raunchy and gross party at all, which I am glad of. The lady who gives these parties is known to be kind of that way, and I didn't find out until AFTER I had booked her. Everything we bought should be here Friday.
Then on Sunday, that party went well too. The hostess called me today to tell me she was SO happy about it and that everyone really liked me. I was on Cloud 9! Then after that party, we played softball. I skinned and bruised my knees sliding into 3rd base. I haven't slid in about 14-15 years and it showed. It was an ugly slide. But I was safe!
After the game, we called up family friends and went to the park to have batting practice. We played until it got dark! We had a lot of fun.
Yesterday I was determined to get our family back into the swing of things. We spent a little time at the park with my friend and her 3year old daughter. She kept hitting the Hairy One and he would hit her back. Finally she pushed him and made him fall, so my friend had to leave. My son looked ready to smack her again, and stopped himself. But afterwards we went to the library and I checked out some cool books for myself to read when I massage Hongo at night.
At the last minute, I decided to go to knitting night. I wasn't going to - I had been away from my family a lot all week and I was feeling the guilt. But they all insisted that I go, so I did. I had myself a double chocolate chip frappacino and it was gooooood.

Whichbrings me to today. It was one of those days where ya want to pump your arm and give high 5's. Well, at least *I* did.
Hongo got paid, so I went shopping, lol. We went to Target to get some small baggies for his lunch, and I went over to the school supply section because I knew they had some folders on clearance. Well, everything was 75% off! I got those 5 subject notebooks for 44 cents each, the packs of markers for 37 cents each, packs of highlighters, and some activity posters for super cheap. We made out well. The cart was full and I only paid about 15 dollars for it all.
So to my friends, go to the VV Target!
Then I got that phone call from the lady about the party, and I was happy about that.
Then I got caught up on all the laundry and most of the cleaning, so there are brownie points there because I was feeling like I was neglecting my house.
I made an appointment with my friend who also happens to scrapbook, and she is going to make me an album of my pictures for dirt cheap.
I've also had 3 good emails to read.

Now if my kids would JUST go to bed, the day would be even more awesome....grrrr.


Now watch - tomorrow is going to be the crappiest day ever, lol.

Its a good day...

Want to know why?

Because my crummy neighbors across the street are finally moving! YEAH! I have waited 7 months for this!

Aside from that, it has been a good day. Our playdate for this afternoon was canceled, but we made the best of it and went to the park with friends this morning. We were going to invite them for lunch ( I had everything ready anyway) but they had to go pick up the dad from work. So we went to the grocery store instead and picked up a few odds and ends. I have been perusing the sale ads to see what stuff I can stock up on during the winter. Today it was cereal. We have enough Cheerios to last all winter, lol.

The only problem with my yearly stock up is that Hongo wants to move in December. So all that food has to be packed and transported. The pantry stuff is bad enough, but the giant freezer in the garage - yikes!

So anyway - we are going to spend our afternoon doing some lessons. We have library tomorrow before we head to Park as well.

And Friday - well...its funny how things work out. My friend was supposed to have her son's birthday party at the park in the morning, and we were going to Lego Club in the afternoon. But on Monday, we found out that the weather is supposed to be bad Friday, so I offered to let her use my house to have the party. Today she confirmed that we would have it at my house, and then I came home and checked my email, and the lady who was going to host Lego Club couldn't do it! So I offered to have it at my house, lol. Now I don't have to leave my house all day! It will be a stream of friends from 10am to whenever....
I am looking forward to seeing everyone.


Time for me to get back to my day - tonight we are roasting chicken and the house is going to smell sooooooo good!

Showtunes in my house

My kids are in a singing mood...and I take it as a sign of hunger, because they always end up singing about food!
This particular song I had to take notes while I listened - it really cracked me up:

DQ: I had a dreeeeeeeeeam.....
HB: She had a dream....
I had a dream I was a tacoooooooo
Oh good a tacoooooooooooo
But I hope that no one eats MEEEEEEEE because then I would be SAAAAAAAD
I will eat you....
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSS
*Then they begin to run around the table*
Don't eat me, please don't eat, because now I am a hot dog....
That's ok, because I love hot dogs toooooooooo.....
Oh no!
Oh YES!

* AND THEN they did some kind of dancing thing where they look like tap dancers and then they did the finale*

I am still dreeeeeeeeeeaming I am a tacoooooooooooo....
And I am dreaming of eeeeeeeeeeating tacos......
Then they hugged and looked at me with puppy dog eyes, and I laughed so hard.

Dreaming of being a taco....hmmm. Well, what a coincidence - we had tacos for dinner. And they were yummy - better than I think DramaQueen tacos would taste.

I think the kids are getting cabin fever - we have been inside for 1 1/2 days, and they were inside for a good portion of the time they were at MIL's.

Today I had an appointment, so I took the kids over to my friend's house (she lives 2 doors down from where I was going to be) and then after my appointment, I went to her house and we chatted. She said the kids were VERY good, so I was very glad to hear that. We stayed for a couple of hours and then I took the kids home to have lunch and do lessons.

OH, and I was worried a little bit about my homeschooling group for a little while. There is one lady who was removed from the group, so the owner of the group had closed it off for a bit while everything was getting taken care of. I thought she might have shut it down. But no - she was just kicking the one lady off. I can't say I'm disapppointed. The woman never came to park day unless there was food involved and made it clear the group was not a good fit for her. Why she continued to stay, I have no clue. Except maybe because she just wanted to bash the group any chance she got.....
Ah, now if her little sidekick buddy pot stirrer would go with her......

I had a good workout today - and I hope to have another good one tomorrow!

Good morning Monday!

Yesterday was not a good day - I want to put it behind me and just move on!

Today has been pretty busy! I got up right after Hongo left and got started on some work that I had left unfinished. I've also taken the time to update my calendar for the week....Today we are staying home and catching up, tomorrow morning we are going to visit a friend and her daughter, Wednesday we are having friends over, Thursday is Park and Hongo's softball game, and Friday we have a birthday party in the morning and Lego Club in the afternoon. I already finished re-arranging the kids' study times, so as long as nothing unexpected happens, it will be smooth sailing into the weekend.....where I am hosting an adult party on Saturday evening, and then on Sunday I am attending a party and then right after I have a softball game.

I anticipate the next week to be just as busy, and I don't see it slowing down until October. But its a good kind of busy! But if I am lucky, I will be able to put up some pictures from our vacation this week!

Things are going pretty well for the most part - I stepped up my exercise routine today and I plan on sticking with it. Yesterday was just a mess at the softball game. I made great contact with the bat and ball, but everywhere I hit it, the infielder played it well. The last at bat, I was SURE that I would hit it over the dang shortstop's head. The placement was off by 2 inches and he barely snagged it. UGH. Then I let a grounder go between my legs, which was embarrassing.
The whole team stunk, pretty much. Hongo struck out, and flied out. The manager couldn't get a hit and then he missed a fly ball and it bounced and hit his face. We were all pretty much mad at ourselves and each other (our team had a lot of errors) so we all left the park without saying much to each other.
So that is why I am stepping up my routine - I need to be stronger and faster in my game.
Well, back to lessons for now!

My family is dumb....

I mean my extended family, not my kids and my husband.

Last night Hongo and I were at the pet store buying feeder fish. My cell phone went off and I had a picture message. After looking at it carefully, I was able to decipher that it was a picture of my dad in a frame, with a white piece of paper over his face. But I recognized the picture - it was one that I had blown up to an 8x10 for his funeral.

Anyway - I thought it was some kind of sick joke, so after texting back and forth with this anonymous person, I found out that it was my cousin Melanie, and the white piece of paper was the back of a picture.
SO basically what she wanted me to think was that "my dad's spirit" put this picture of her and my other cousin on top of his face.
I simply asked her to remove the picture from his face and place it somewhere else. I find it inappropriate to cover up the face of a deceased man, especially when it happens to be MY dad. She wrote back that she had already. Then I changed the subject and asked her how she and her baby were doing.

And she never wrote back.

Oh well, I figured. Then I went upstairs and the first thing I see on my desk? A picture of my dad, LegoQueen, Melanie, and her brother Matthew from Christmas in 1997 or 1998.

Funny.

Hongo asked me what I thought, and I told him that it was just probably one of those things where they want to prove that my dad loved them more than me and that is why all these "signs" are appearing at their house.

Whatever. I dont think any of us will ever know who my dad loved the most.

And if by SOME weird chance my dad's spirit is lingering around, I feel sorry for it.

WE ARE HOME!!!!

And let me tell you - there truly is no place like home.

But this was truly a vacation worthy of being called "an N family vacation" because just when you think we got past being exhausted from the flight, a cranky 11 year old who made everyday painful at some point, a woman who crushed my knees, poor transit, rainy evenings, and lack of delicious food conveniently located, SOMETHING ELSE had to happen.

The morning that we left, we could not find our vouchers for the bus trip back to the airport. But they gave us a letter to give to the driver, and I swore that Hongo had thrown our passes away or something. So we strolled around the hotel, in limbo after checking out and waiting for our bus to arrive. The bus arrives and we get on, make a few stops, and then head to the airport.
Halfway to the airport, Hongo looks at me with horror on his face and says "I LEFT THE CAR KEYS IN THE SAFE AT THE HOTEL!!!!" Sure enough, the key to the safe is in his pocket, and OUR keys to get home are in it.
So I call the hotel and speak with them. She tells me they will hurry and they may have to break the lock, which will take more time, but that they will try to get the keys to us before the flight leaves in ......two hours.
I call MIL, and tell her that she may need to go back to our house and get my spare set, then bring them to the airport where we are arriving. Oh wait - I think we locked the keys in our bedroom, so maybe she and FIL could bring our other car to us instead?
The hotel called back - they have our keys and are sending them on the next bus to the airport.
HOngo waits at the welcome center, while I must now take 3 kids and carry-ons through the airport by myself and reach our gate. We had planned to have a meal at the airport, but all I can think is if Hongo could get back in time, we can all eat together. A hour passed, and I was on the verge of tears. I was knitting furiously to keep from thinking about missing my flight, and there are some STRANGE people that they let go on airplanes, BTW.
At 3:20 we went into the conveinience store to get some snacks and water. I was going to buy a bunch of stuff, but then I thought I saw Hongo get off the shuttle so I told the kids to grab what we had and made the guy ring it up. Turns out that it wasn't Hongo at all.
The flight began to board, Legoqueen is saying that we are going to have to leave without Daddy, and I told them "WE ARE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT DADDY!!!" They call for our zone, and still no Hongo. Finally, I see him. The keys got to him and he ran from one end of the terminal to the other to make it to the flight.
The rest of the journey was long and uneventful. Except for us scarfing down food in 15 minutes during the layover in Atlanta. The kids were well behaved and we made it home around 10pm. OUr house was still standing, and my fish are still alive.
I have a lot of catching up to do, today we went to the grocery store and Costco, and did laundry.
I do have to tell everyone the story about the keys, though. LOL!

Oh, and BTW - the bus vouchers were in the safe with the keys and medical cards.....

Its pouring rain!

Amazing weather here in Florida!
We just went out to get some juice from the store in the lobby. It was dry when we went in, it was pouring rain when we left! So we are sitting here watching football and waiting for room service to arrive with dinner and enjoying the rain. We have the slider wide open and the kids are watching the rain and lightning. Quite a novelty to us since we have seen very little rain in California.
We visited Animal Kingdom today and the kids had a really good time. DQ had her picture taken with Minnie again, and she bought a minnie safari hat. She also dropped her sunglasses in the ciclid pond but the guy supervising fished them out for her!
Tomorrow is our final day of parks, we are headed to the Magic Kingdom again. What a way to end our trip! The kids can't wait to go, and I think we are going to have another night full of whispering and giggles, lol.

The trip is lookin up

We are finally having a good time! Today was a nice day - it wasn't hot and humid and we got to go on all the rides we wanted and looked at everything that we didn't get a chance to on Friday.
I am online for a little bit to answer some emails and to check on things, so wy not blog for a bit?
We are going to Animal Kingdom tomorrow, so we have to go to bed early. Its hard because its really only 6:45 back home and its 3 hours later here. MIL has been watching the house for us, and keeping me posted on how my dogs are doing. She also reminded me that I need to feed the fish live goodies when I get home....
I just wanted to also say that our hotel is very nice, but I don't think we'll ever stay here again. It is too inconvenient to travel with 3 kids from parks to hotel. We were spoiled by our lst trip, we had access to park via bus, Monorail, and boat. I really miss the Monorail.
LQ has been making new friends here and just being all around social. There is a little boy who always happens to "appear" near our room and the pool we visit each night. Hongo is finding very annoying, while I find it rather hilarious, lol.

Its hard 2 eat ice cream in FL

We are going back 2 epcot today we didnt finish it all Friday. Yesterday was an unemxpected rest day it rained a lot. I am still bummed about the camera but a least i brought my little one. We are all having fun but missing the dry heat of CA. You dont walk around here drenched from the rain.... Race for the cure was yesturday. My friend Amy was in it, anyone know how she did? off to epcot now!

She is choking me!

A better day

We are here on day 2. We are going 2 Epcot. Day 1 was not good. every was going wrong. I left the battery to my camera. MIL is overnighting it as i type. on flight i sat behind a brat and his mom and she crushed my knees when she reclined. Everyone was tired and crabby. LQ was a huge brat, we almost sent her back 2 the ils. We couldnt find dinner for everyone so the kids ate sandwiches. then some west coast friend called at 11 30 woke us up. MIL just called and it would cost more than the battery is worth. sigh i told her never mind.

Waiting to board. The day has been eventful. I will update later if i can

Back to pictures

I figure that I should be getting back to pictures. We've been so busy, that I really haven't taken shots of kids. And when I do, I barely have time to offload them and glance at them.
As you can clearly see, DramaQueen is all smiles for the camera. I haven't really noticed that she is pretty pale looking, and using sunblock probably is a big reason she doesn't have a little color in her cheeks.
And then we come to LegoQueen. Its been, um....rather difficult with her lately. She is going through a lot of changes in the past few months, some physical and some emotional. It appears there will be two cycling women under one roof in the near future. Just what Hongo needs!
Anyway, she was all gung ho for pictures, but I guess I drained her joy when I insisted that she wash her face because she had kool aid mouth, and I also insisted that she brush her hair. So basically that is what set her in her bad mood - she wasn't able to have control over the situation and not everyone has realized her greatness. How frustrating for the LegoQueen.
We go through this every few years - the power struggle...her thinking that she rules the earth, the moon and the stars and all of us insignificant people that share the same dwelling.
She and Hongo have been clashing daily, and its become very irritating. He keeps threatening to leave her home this week, and she backs off. I know he wouldn't be so cruel, but obviously she doesn't.

This weekend we've been getting ready for vacation. The ILs came on Saturday to celebrate our good news on Hongo's health. They asked us if they could take the kids clothing shopping and we said sure and we all went shopping out in the high desert of LA. That mall is much better than ours is.
The kids scored mounds of clothing, which meant more washing for me. Nice. I think I will be able to finish the last load tonight. I am going to start packing the bags tomorrow, so that Wednesday is not so hectic.

I am excited, but I am SO scared. The plane ride just frightens me. This time we will be flying in the middle of the night, so hopefully I will be too tired to be scared.

Appointmetn details...

I was exhausted last night. I had a vivid dream that Hongo and I had gone out for the evening tonight and came back to a ransacked house. They even took all the food in the pantry! But you know what they left? His car. Damn people couldn't take his stupid G6, lol. And then one of my aunts was sitting at the table talking about people Hongo and I know, but she doesn't.
Weird.
But you know what this dream means, right?
I am worried about my house being ransacked while we are gone to FL, the whole family is glum about the lack of food in the house. (Really people, you expect me to stock a full fridge and pantry and just let it spoil while we are gone?)
And I don't like Hongo's car. Oh, and my aunt is just really wierd.

Anyway, back to the appointment.

I didn't sleep well - I stayed up til 1:30 am reading Harry Potter. When I finally crawled in bed, 10 minutes later the room flashed brightly. I got up, and there weren't any cars or people outside moving around. After the next few flashes, I finally realized it was lightning. Then at 2:30 there was a loud BOOM and I jumped so high it wasn't funny.
Needless to say, I was tired when we went to the park. We ended up leaving at around 12:30. I just wasn't a very fun person to be around, so no need for me to ruin it for everyone else.
When I got home, Hongo was pacing, and then he was laying on the bed fidgeting, and then he would turn on the tv. I finally told him we should just go and be early.
The ride down was very quiet. I was working on a sock for the Hairy One. I call it my "sock of dread" I cast it on Monday night, and then started knitting it on the way to the bone scan. I am working on the foot already, and all my friends KNOW how slow I knit.So to be almost done in 3 days is pretty darn good!
We went shopping for some last minute vacation clothes, and then we went to the dr office. We had to sit outside because the waiting room was so full. We waited for about 1 hour, and then they actually called us in at 5pm.
We took the Hairy One with us, and told the girls to sit quietly in the waiting room. They took us to the room and I could see beads of sweat on Hongo's forehead. I held on to Hairy and we sat down.
We could hear thedr talking outside the room. I think I mentioned that our dr's language is quite funny. Last time he used the word "homie" Yesterday he said "This guy is DA BOMB!" I could hear his nurse laughing!
he came in, checked the chart and read the results. He had his back to Hongo, so Hongo couldn't hear what he was saying. However, I could - and when I hear him say that the scan was clear, and there were no conditions to report, I broke out in a grin. Hongo was puzzled and was mouthing "What? What did he say?" and the dr turned around and gave him the good news.
After that, Hongo was just tripping over his own tongue. The dr said that Hongo's left elbow might be to blame. It hurts occasionally when he throws, so there might be damage to it, which WOULD be an explanation for his levels being so high.
Hongo was on Cloud 9. He just has to go back to do another round of blood work to check his levels again and then we will be done.
We had dinner out last night, and his parents are coming over tomorrow to celebrate. When I called MIL to let her know, she was quiet. She kept saying "You aren't lying to me, right? He's okay, right? You would tell me, wouldn't you?" And then she started to cry and FIL had just pulled in, so she had to go tell him the good news.

I feel so much better today - we are going to go to a friend's house this afternoon!

Good news!

Everything looks fine, they found no sign of cancer. I tried to send an update from my phone, but I guess Blogger didn't get it.

I will write details tomorrow - we just got home and I am SO tired!

Tomorrow at 5pm Pacific Time

We will have the results of Hongo's bone scan.Actually, that is misleading. The appt is at 5, but with our dr it could be 6 before Hongo is seen. He is taking a half day off of work. I am not sure if we are going to park or not. I think we may do a half day. I don't think I will be able to handle sitting here watching the clock until it is time to leave.
I will try to update tomorrow as quickly as I can. I can blog using my phone, so hopefully I have some good news to tell!

It's NOT CUTE ANYMORE!

I am trying to work, and my husband keeps sending me email messages. He's sitting right next to me! I can't get anything done because every 5 minutes there is a message popping up. Grrr! Then i have to answer it, andit just earns me another message in 5 minutes.
I'm trying to be nice, though - he's had a long day, was a good boy at his dr appointment, and is just bored. But I secretly can't wait until the Cardinal game starts at 5pm so I can have some peace!

What a nasty layer of smog!

An inspiring woman,,,,

Yesterday we had our softball scrimmage (it was really fun, BTW)

One of the ladies that came to play on our side is the best friend of the manager's wife. Still following me?
ANyway, she has breast cancer. Or HAD, should I say. She found a lump in her breast and it was cancer. So she had the mastectomy, and is currently doing Chemotherapy.

We were sitting on the bench talking, and she was telling me about her ordeal. While she was speaking, my thoughts would drift to Tim and the reason that he is having his bone scan tomorrow. They are looking for cancer. They are actively seeking it out so that they can get rid of it. We don't want it to be there in the first place, but if it is, we will deal with it as best as we can.

Anyhow - back to this woman. She is sitting on the bench next to me, with a white cap that covers her bald head, a tank top that shows the port into her chest, and the most unbelievably upbeat attitude.

She told me "When the oncologist told me I had cancer again" (she's already dealt with melanoma) " I said to them 'I'll be fine'. They asked me if I needed a phone to call for a ride home and I just kept telling them 'I'll be fine'.

"I plan to be back in October" she told me. "I won't have a full time team, but I'll be subbing for you guys and the team I play on normally."

To her, cancer is not a death sentence. It simply sidetracked her for a few months. She's excited about getting breast implants, getting back to softball, and enjoying life with her family.

No one wanted to touch her yesterday. No one wanted to be the one to knock her down, possibly injuring her. She was bald. They all knew what that meant. But she did her best to reassure everyone that she was fine, perfectly capable of getting up in case she bumped into you.

Now me, on the other hand - I was in danger of having my butt kicked. I trash talked so much yesterday that at the end of the game, my friend told me that we were welcome to come to her house for a BBQ, but she wasn't going to feed us, lol. We hugged and made up over the sizzling carne asada that her husband was cooking. He wasn't even angry that I came out of nowhere and caught his fly ball when he was trying to fake everyone out. LOL!

A birthday, a burn, and a busy week.....

Let's start with the birthday...

Saturday was the Hairy One's birthday. He is FIVE! The kid has more money than I do! LOL! We had the ILs over on Saturday. We went to Olive Garden and it was BLAH. My MIL found plastic wrapped up in her fork. SOMEONE had to have seen that when they were wrapping it in the napkin.
Hairy was pleased with his gifts. Lots of Legos, and now he sits in his room and "builds" like his sister and her friends do. He's hoping it gives him some "street cred" with the older boys so that they will allow him in their presence, LOL!

On to the burn...

LegoQueen burned her wrist this afternoon. We were at the park with some friends, and at the last minute we decided to go to an area that has a pretend beach. Some other moms were going to meet there too.
Well, LQ was fixing her lunch and she was trying to hurry and wasn't paying attention. She ended up pouring boiling water over her wrist. She screamed and she was trying to hold onto the bowl at the same time. I took it away and she had her arm tucked towards her. I had to wrestle her for the arm to put under the sink and start running cool water over it.
It didn't look too bad, and so I figured it was not serious. We ended up not going to the beach thing because the other moms couldn't go. So we came home and I noticed her arm was swelling pretty badly. I took a picture of it with my phone and sent it to Hongo. then I sent it to his mom, who sent it to his dad. So we were all on the phone debating on if we should take her in to the hospital or not.
We ended up not going - Hongo came home early and he wrapped it up really well.
She's not in pain, but its definitly going to leave a scar. Tough lesson learned.

Its another busy week. Tomorrow will be our relaxing day - kinda. I have a lot of phone calls to make. One of the guys can't do the men's softball team, so we have been trying to find a replacement all weekend. I have found that I know a lot more men than I really care to, lol! Wednesday my friend is coming over to do pictures, Thursday is Park, and Friday we are having people over to celebrate the Hairy One's birthday. Then on Sunday we are having a scrimmage (providing there is a team still) and then heading over to a BBQ.

Guess I'll clean tomorrow since there won't be time for it any other day this week!

Relax....its Wednesday!

I think this is the only day that we are going to relax this week.

Monday the kids wanted to go to the park before the library. Just as we were pulling into the parking lot, our friends were pulling in too! So of course my kids were bouncing around in the car, lol.
So we didn't go to the library - we spent all morning with our friends!
We came home and I was about to hop on the treadmill and the phone rang - it was my mom. We talked for a while - my cousin is still all pissed off at me, and I told her about my aunt's email. I did write her back, btw - something short and sweet and threw the ball back in her corner. She hasn't written back.
Anyway, my mom told me that my other aunt (the nice one) was having a b-day party that evening, my uncle in UT was in the hospital, and a friend of the family (well, my family - she's my cousin's aunt) died last week. She died of liver failure, which is no surprise, because she would party with my dad and uncles.
So when I got off the phone, I made a note to text my aunt Happy B-day, send my uncle a get well card (I still need to do that) and send a message to the son of the woman that died.
I text'd my aunt, and my uncle called me back. He thought I called him. I had to explain the concept of text messaging to him. But that got me roped into a one hour conversation with him that wasn't really about pleasant stuff. He put my cousin on the phone (she just had a baby and is the sister of the cousin that hates me) and after I talked to her, I told him I was surprised that she would speak to me, considering how close she and her brother are. He assured me that she realizes that the relationship that SHE and I have is different than the one between her brother and I.
After the phone conversations I had a headache - I still had to get money from the bank to pay Tim's softball manager. He came by, and Tim got home, and my head was just pounding. I missed knitting night.
I fell asleep exhausted.

On Tuesday, I had some friends over with their kids. Four moms, 9 kids. We had lunch and got the conversation started. Then we went to the park and met up with some other ladies that I had met online. It was okay - it was kind of wierd. I told my friends that I spent so long being in "the circle" that I had forgotten what it was like to sit on the outside, not knowing anyone (well, except them , of course)
I had A LOT of fun on Tuesday. I missed talking to my friends - it felt like I hadn't seen them in forever, since Hairy was sick and i missed knitting night. When Hongo came home, he could definitly see that my spirits were lifted and that I was feeling good. So Beatriz, Frankie, Caryn- THANK YOU!

Which brings me to today. We got that library trip out of the way, and then came home to clean up. I've been playing with my new Photoshop CS3 that Hongo got for me - its pretty cool.

Tomorrow is Park, and then on Friday we are going to a friends house so I can take some pictures of her kids for her. I'm blessed to have friends with cute kids - it makes my photos look that much better :D
We are trying to fill in the gaps with lessons here and there. LegoQueen is totally into geometry, so I am doing my best to keep her interested.