Jumping on Beds..........

He Did It!

Well.....today ended up being the day of Charlie's presentation.

He did it!  He survived!

I am thankful that his teacher is very cool and inviting so she let me sit and watch.

Naturally I took pictures!

There were a few of the "loud"  kids sitting in the back calling out, "I can't hear!!" but that didn't bother him and he did a great job!!!  I am sorry that he gets nervous but I just love him the way he is.....it is all apart of what makes him the great kid that he is!!!  LOVE my Charlie boy!!!! 

Then after he was done, some of the kids said, "Yay Charlie!".......so cute!!!  

So, got thru that one!  

After, I met up with Suzy and Laura for  breakfast! Always great to see those girls!

Next......getting ready for Mom to arrive tomorrow.....mostly just laundry today....trying to leave the main cleaning for later so I don't have to chase the kids around telling them to stop messing things up!

That is all for today!

Have a great weekend!

Bee in my Bonnet

Yesterday Cam, Charlie and I were outside waiting for Cara to get home from school.  The kids were riding their bikes around.....when I say "riding their bikes"....I mean Cami (5) riding a little red trike and Charlie (6) riding this little Thomas bike that he has had for years.  We let the kids ride with their training wheels...I never seemed to care.....as long as they were having fun, doesn't bother me any.  So I was sitting there in my chair watching them having fun.  Then Cara got home and she grabbed her bike....again, still has training wheels....she is 7.....she is in second grade.  I suddenly began to think about when I was in second grade and how my sister and I were always riding around the neighborhood on our bikes(without training wheels).  Bikes were our life line, our transportation....bikes took us everywhere.  We wanted candy......hop on your bike and ride to town.....we wanted to play a video game......hop on your bike and ride to town.......we had a softball game to get to.....hop on our bike and ride to the park.......need to see some friends......hop on a bike and peddle over to their house!!!  I was a pro....could ride around without holding on, ya know, "Look ma, no hands!" 
 

Suddenly, I cared.....I thought to myself, "This is ridiculous! Look at these kids!!! "  Charlie's bike is so small, he looks like an adult trying to ride a kiddie bike.....sort of like THIS.....
Well, if I could ride a bike at their age...... then THEY can ride a bike without training wheels.

I totally got a bee in my bonnet and had Mannie (who had just gotten home from work, most likely the last thing he wanted to do) but I got him to take the training wheels off and we started the process..now if you see the pictures....you may notice a few things......yes, we are sort of lacking in the bike safety accessories......batting helmet for a bike helmet......we only have a certain amount of knee and elbow pads and what we do have doesn't necessarily match....princesses, Dora, Thomas, and we do have one set black pads. 
 

But anyway, we finally did it!! They finally did it!! Now we just have to practice, practice, practice!!

Hopefully Santa will bring the kids some bike upgrades and accessories!!!  

After all the bike excitement, we got ready for Gia's birthday dinner.

The kids got dressed in the clothes Gia and Gramps bought the kids from their summer trip to Barcelona.  Then Gia and Gramps arrived and we ( and by "we" I mean the kids) had the usual argument over who gets to ride in Gia's car....well....they ALL got to.....problem solved!!!  

Then we headed over to Picante for a Spanish meal........oh, wait, one little issue here!!!  PICANTE is gone.....gone, gone,gone!!!!!!  How did this happen?  I shop in the same complex and am there at least 3 times a week!!! How did I never notice that they left/went out of business!!???  Mannie and I were just there a month ago on a date!!!  But yes, typical me!!!!  We get there for our special dinner and there is no restaurant!!! Is anyone else SO sick of this crappy economy???

But that is okay....we are all flexible and resourceful!!!  We just got back in our cars and drove to another restaurant!!!!  Yes, we are genius aren't we????  

In all.....dinner was great and Gia got to see the grandkids in their special outfits...a good night.

Today, Charlie has his big ANGLERFISH presentation!!!!!  I hope he can relax and feel comfortable.  I suffer from the same nightmare of  a big fear of public speaking so I know how he feels.  Hopefully he can overcome it and of course starting at an early age helps!! I can hear him in the kitchen practicing as I type this....what a sweetie!

That is all for today......have a TERRIFIC DAY!!

Howdy Hump Day to You!!

Well....we are 1/2 way thru the week..

Here is where I am at today!!

1. Another absolutely gorgeous day!!

2. Cam got her hair cut today! 

3. Worked on Charlie's report today for school....an oral presentation on a nocturnal animal...he chose the anglerfish!! He will give it tomorrow...he will be shy....he will be nervous....I am hoping to be there!!  

4. My Mom is coming to visit on Saturday!!!!!!! I am very excited as are the kids...can't wait to hang with their "Gammy"....cleaning and finishing up laundry for that this week.

5. We have a playdate later today.

6. Gymboree has the prettiest clothes(for the girls) out right now....great colors...all I am saying!! ;)

7. We are taking Gia out for dinner tonight as a belated birthday celebration....the girls will be wearing their flamenco dresses!!! Will take lots of pictures!!  

8. My back is killing me! I am an 80 year old woman trapped in a 39 year old body....anyone know a good chiropractor?  Is that who I go to for back issues??  The girl who does my hair (Maureen) actually felt something weird on my neck when she was washing my hair...she thinks I may have pulled a muscle or something.  

9. I am getting more and more excited for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe, just maybe...I couldn't resist buying Christmas p.j.'s today....maybe, just sayin'! 

10.  Congrats to my pal Suzy on being chosen for the CK DREAM TEAM!!!!!! Yay Suzy.....although no surprise since she is ultra talented!!!!!!!!!! :) 

Speaking of scrapping.....I did in fact scrap yesterday during my free time....

made this one because I came across these pictures of Charlie when he was little......ohhhhhh, I miss the littleness!!!  so cute!!! but he did used to eat the playdoh and that seriously drove me nuts!!! That is why I decided to scrap them...they do grow up, don't they?? You think all the little phases are going to last and they don't (the good ones and the bad phases). Although my math is wrong...summer 2005 and he was almost 2, duh!!
  

I made this one for Cam's book...still need to make one for Cara and one for Charlie obviously!

Dreaming!

Good morning all!!

A beautiful day here in Southern California!

I have a wee bit of alone time and I am choosing to spend it on the computer and then in a minute, scrapping a LO or something like that! 

There will be ABSOLUTELY NO CLEANING during this time period.......none, nada.......NOTHING, ZIP!!  nor a load of laundry!!

Just me and fun stuff!

I took Charlie and Cami to breakfast today at Cinnamon Productions......I think it is safe to say that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day......just give me eggs and hash browns and maybe a chocolate muffin :) and I am good to go!

Who is going to REFLECTIONS this year????

I am really excited about the teachers, especially Elizabeth Kartchner.....she is so creative!  I am hoping, keyword, HOPING  to go this year.  Last year was a complete blast!!!!!!! We laughed, we cried and we made stuff!!! a perfect girls weekend!!  I hung out with old friends and made new friends....all good stuff.

Susan and Karen are the best at planning out special odds and ends and finding the best teachers....and they gave so much product out last year!!!! I still have tons of product that needs to be used!!!!  But they definitely make it way worth the price.... a weekend to remember!

.......so, I am wondering who else is planning on going???

Unfortunately with ye old economy, I will have to wait a bit before signing up...see how Mannie's work schedule is....we have some things that we would like to do as a family in the upcoming year so that is first priority!   not to mention things like, oh you know... property taxes, mortgage payments, health insurance and feeding the family!!! :)  But ..... keeping my fingers crossed....maybe a combo Christmas/Mother's Day/Valentine's Day????  Maybe less trips to Cinnamon Productions?? ;)   

Alright.....well, hope you are having a really fun day!  

Time to go make something! 

Adios!

Old Faithful.....

Today, the town was abuzz.....with our very own geyser.....unfortunately, this one was not a natural wonder....a landscape truck ran over a sign and then a fire hydrant and as their car started tipping over, they jumped out....then jumped back in and then took off, leaving this geyser and mess behind them....

Lots of water was wasted, but it was quite a sight to see....we could see it from our house....

So here is Cami today....

Here is Cami at  the real thing a few years back....

gotta love computers and technology...

Once again, the fire fighters saved the day!!!
  

Thankful for the fire fighters!! and for water!!! We love you water!!!  Pretty to look, refreshing to swim in, keeping the earth green and alive and as well as us humans!!!

Have a fun day!

A Spooky Night!

Well....another Halloween has come and gone.

We have been celebrating Halloween all month with trips to pumpkin patches, parties and crafts so I have to say, I feel sort of happy that it is over....I am ready for my next favorite holiday..Christmas!!

Let's just say we are thankful for everything and just skip Thanksgiving, shall we??

My least favorite meal of the year!

Well....back to Halloween....I love the picture above because of Charlie's expression.....the life of a boy with 2 sisters!!! Get used it buddy!

So they happily left on their way in search of all things sugar.....

We came across some spooky stuff.....

Some more spooky stuff....

And VERY spooky things....

They are brave, a little scared but not too scared to miss out on candy.....Cami however, was glued to my side for this picture....

Happy treats! 

Cami prefers decorations such as kitty pumpkins.....

Overall, a successful night...we only went around 2 blocks....kids felt they got enough candy and wanted to get home to hand out candy....we saw lots of school friends which is fun!

Cami ate 1/2 her bag last night and then started burping....I thought, oh no, she is going to be up throwing up again....she told me that, "My tummy is making the burps....the burps are saying, no more candy Cami!" 

Charlie added, "And your teeth are saying, no more candy, we don't want cavaties!"

Luckily no one threw up....another sign of a successful Halloween!

Happy Sunday! I can't believe it is only 8:30....it feels more like 9:30!! ;)

P.S.....Cara's soccer team is undefeated.....here she is after scoring a  goal yesterday (must brag you know)!!  Giddy girl! 

One more action shot..

And this is what her mischievous brother and sister do while Mommy is trying to watch her play.....

wrestling....

making sand angels on the baseball field next door....
ugh!

Happy Halloween!

Have fun today....I am currently happily making things!!! 

Frightful Friday Read Aloud!

Good morning....I am enjoying day 2 of no school for the kids!!!  

This break of no lunches or rushing around came at the perfect time!! ahhhhhhh!

Yesterday, the kids and I went out to breakfast at the "Yummy breakfast Place" aka Paul's Pantry....Charlie's fave....then we headed to Pretend City.  Charlie and Cara had never been.  They all loved it....we had a really good time...but by the end I was dragging and I could tell Cam was getting tired. 

So, we headed home for lunch, then climbed into my bed and turned on Halloween movies for the whole afternoon.....just perfect.  

I think Cam and Charlie are fighting colds right now.  Today they all want to stay home.  We changed the science table over to a post office.  Yesterday at Pretend City the kids were loving the Post Office....writing letters and delivering.

I have these cool postal stamps (I mean ink stamps) from when I taught so I got those out and printed some real stamps and some other images off the postal service site....then they got busy writing each other. 

We put little mail pouches on our doors and assigned zip codes for each person in the family.  So when the kids write their envelopes they have to include the zip code of the person they are sending it to.  Did you know that the use of zip codes started in 1963??  Just a little useless tidbit I found out from the website!
  

It has been fun.

We are going to take a little field trip to the post office as well......but for today, just chill.

Kids and I are still in our p.j.'s and my only plan is to catch up on laundry....the kids have mentioned something about digging for dinosaur bones in the backyard....I should probably keep an eye on that.  

Oh.......the read aloud!!!!  Ha, Ha!! I forgot......

Stellaluna....the kids love that story.......well, as you may know, Stellaluna is a fruit bat so we are going to make "fruit bats".....using plums......will take picture and post.

And......I love the cute illustrations and parody of Goodnight Moon in Goodnight Goon!  We are going to make slime or "Goon Guts" if you will!!

Have a great weekend......Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

P.S.....I am excited for Christmas already!

They Came Back!

Hi there!

I want to email you all back but I am seriously tired and busy cleaning today. Thanks for your comments...always fun to hear from you friends!

Yesterday, I wrote that I wished that I had more time with the girls......well, I got my wish.  They came back for sleepover #2!!

Today, I am wishing for a day at the Spa with a massage and a facial.....okay Typepad Fairies!!?

It was great to see the girls again......but I am ready for a quiet evening....so is Mannie who requested a night to do nothing.  

The kids had short day today! So happy!!!!  

My plans are to finish cleaning up and then scrapbook!!  Nothing else....except make dinner later. 

Hope you are having a fun day! 

Ask and You Shall Receive

Yesterday my blog title was "Help, I am drowning in cupcakes!".......well, I got my help with the cupcakes in an unexpected way.......all the way from Africa was this call heard.

Life never ceases to amaze me....you start your day one way and it can change so radically by the end....interesting day I had. 

After I blogged about drowning in cupcakes, I got a call from Susan.  This group of children from Uganda had come to her school to sing and her principal had promised to house the group for the night.  Well, a few of the families backed out at the last minute and the principal was left with 25 choir members to house for the night.  As fate would have it, the prinicpal lives just a block away from me and Susan wondered if we would take in some of the kids for the night.  

So, we had 5 wonderful guests for the night.  Such great kids.  We all walked over at 7pm to pick up the gang.  Then we headed back here to get settled in for the night.  Things that struck me.....

1. The girls slept in "Camp Adams".....all the beds in one room....so perfect that it is still set up that way.....there is enough room for 4 to sleep....we had 5 girls.  Our kids slept in my room.  So, the girls were giddy with excitement at their sleeping arrangements....and 4 of them fell into beds quickly, just giddy. I said that one girl would have to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor and they would have to decide who that would be.....immediately the girl not already on a bed said that she would.....she said it with a smile, not a hint of disappointment.....I thought she was amazing....her name is Anna....a little gem she is. 

2. They LOVED everything....I mean everything!  The pencil sharpener, the stapler....everything!  I loved that....I loved seeing the happiness and appreciation and excitement over things that I see and walk by everyday.  

3. First I had everyone get in their pj's then they all started out in Cara's room completely engrossed in Barbie dolls....all 5 just sitting in their own happy world dressing the dolls....humming to themselves....we talked about Disney characters since some of the dolls were Disney characters.....they told us they would be singing at Disneyland soon!  One girl, Berinda, was cute when we told her she would see Tinkerbell....she asked if she would have wings and do magic!  I am excited for them to go, I think they will have a wonderful day.  The girls were very "into" Disney I noticed.   I think they could have sat in Cara's room all night playing with the dolls but after a while I asked if they would like a cupcake?  so we headed downstairs for some.

4. After cupcakes, all the kids got paper and drew pictures.  The girls were very "into" copying pictures from Disney books....luckily we have quite a few....they sat and could have spent all night drawing....2 of the girls also copied word for word the text of the page that they were drawing from....I was struck by their complete concentration on everything they did......they would all just go into their own little world and emmerse themselves in each project.  I loved watching that.  

5. Then we had to go to bed....it was a school night for my guys and we stayed up till almost 10:00.  Anna was so loving her drawing time, she had it out when I said goodnight....I wonder how late she stayed up drawing....she was a very good artist....all the girls were good artists.  

6. This morning we woke up and only had time to eat breakfast and a few moments to play before I had to get them back to their group for their days activities.  2 of the girls choose to do the dishes...one of them wanted to take pictures with my camera....another girl played with the dolls upstairs......I can't remember what the last one did now......I am so tired right this moment.  I will sleep good tonight.

I didn't find out too much about their life stories because I just didn't want to intrude on their "happy places" while playing and drawing.   Just wanted to let them be and hopefully feel safe and taken care of which I think they did. Here are the girls and what I did learn......

Anna.....

Favorite animal....kob

Favorite food....pineapple, french firens and chicken

Favorite month....September (birthday month)

Favorite song.... "I am a Warrior"  (one of their songs)

Little artist,  could practically see sunbeams bursting from her heart.....corny, but true.

Berinda...

Favorite animal....lion and zebra

Favorite food....pizza

Favorite song..... "I am a Warrior"

Favorite month.....April and December (birthday month....doesn't know the date.....and Christmas)

loves photography and tea. She is a leader.

Jackie....

Berinda's little sis.

Favorite animal....giraffe

Favorite song....any Disney song

Favorite month..November

Favorite food....french fries and chicken

Maria....

wanted to do the dishes.....likes to be a helper.

Favorite food.....hamburgers and french fries

Favorite animal..zebra

Favorite month......January....(birthday month)

Favorite song..."If Love was Love" ....Disney songs...."I Won't say I am in Love" from Hercules.

Ruth
....quiet girl ..... great laugh

Favorite food...french fries and fried chicken

Favorite song....."I am not Forgotten" and Michael Jackson songs....faves, Beat It and Man in the Mirror.

Favorite month..June (birthday month)

Favorite animal...monkey and a bunny

Overall......fun experience wish we had a little more time so they could relax and play more....I wish them lots of love and happiness in their life! Maybe we will meet again!

A few more pics......

friends...

sisters....