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

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....

Help! I am drowning in Cupcakes!

We had Cam and Charlie's joint friend birthday party yesterday!

The kids had lots of fun running around in their costumes with their friends.  We had lots of ghoulish games and creepy creatures at the party!!!  And Annie took crappy pictures!!! I only have a few to share because I was too busy to really think about what type of pictures I wanted.  Usually for a party I like to think ahead of time about what I would like to get a shot of and take a few before everyone arrives.  Yesterday, I don't know what happened but I just wasn't ready for the party and it just snowballed from there....never catching up and relying on some other mommies to help chip in which I am thankful for.  I get bummed with myself because I really try to plan and be organized and then it never seems to work that way.

We had centers set up in hopes that it would be laid back and no stress for the kids and adults.....then we had a reptile gal come to show the kids some creepy creatures.  The lizard lady was late and so it seemed to prolong the party and then a good chunk of friends had to leave before we got to sing happy birthday to Cam and Charlie.....hence, I am drowning in cupcakes.

The important part.....Cam and Charlie had fun.  But I am one tired mamma today.  Just plain worn out...Cam woke up in the middle of the night throwing up....I think from too much junk but I am keeping an eye on her and taking her temp just to be safe.  So, being up a lot and having a busy weekend has left me tired and I even dozed off today while Cam and I were watching her favorite show, Dinosaur Train! 

Mannie and I had a wonderful date night on Friday.....we ate dinner at the Beachcomber in Crystal Cove and then walked on the beach.  We talked about lots of stuff and I laughed so hard I cried......LOVE laughing till I cry......the BEST!!!  Happy to have that time alone with my bud.

Saturday, I slept in till 8:30 and woke to the sound of soccer in the distance.......LOVED that I wasn't sitting on the little fold up chair watching soccer at that moment!!! But had to get moving so I could make it to Rebecca's LO class at the Oasis!! It was fun.....just fun to sit and create stuff!!  See some friends and just be for a few hours.   Thankful for this hobby!   I will try to post some pics of the LO's I got done soon....I got 5 LO's done and I love them!!! Thank you to the Oasis for always having great classes and Rebecca for an awesome class with lots of great ideas.

After that, it was all about getting ready for the party! 

Well, I have to run.....hope you are having a nice day!  

P.S....... Angels....... :(         and Giants............  :( 

Friday

No read aloud today.......kids are going to the grandparents!!!!!!

Yahhhhhhoooooooooooooo!!

I love em but sometimes a girl needs a little non kiddie time.

I hesitate to post another Angel picture because last time I did they lost ....but they won last night and can they do it again 2 more times in NY??? 

Come on Angels.....you can do it! (Picture from that game again...getting alot of mileage out of those pics, no?)

I am totally creeped out this morning.....just walked out to the garage to get water and found 2 mice in the traps!!  I ran back in the house as fast as I could trying to shake the image out of my brain....so, Cara will be taking an apple juice from the kitchen fridge to school instead!

This stuff just grosses me out! 

I laugh when I think of this time last year when we actually thought we only had one mouse and we could carral (spelling?) it out of our kitchen!! Not so easy.

2 things real quick and then I have to go get my booty moving for the day....

commercials during the Angel game have become a big thing in our family...they seem to be repeating quite a bit.....Cara loves to immitate Jack black tacos...it is pretty funny but it is also funny that the age she is at when she gets a laugh, she just keeps on going with it and cracks herself up quite a bit I might add......Charlie's favorite commercial/song is the Blackberry, "All You Need is Love".....everyone has assigned my fave as the Black Eyed Peas commercial which is not my fave and I have to tell them it is not my fave which they love that I sit and declare it is not my fave!  Mannie says his favorites are the Coors Lite ones with Mike Ditka...yawn!.......Cam likes laughing at Cara's impersonation of Black Taco.  

Charlie was in the shower the other night throwing the sponge up in the air and trying to catch it....he said, "Mom, I have to keep practicing if I am going to be an Angel when I grow up".....I thought that was cute and surprised really because I would never think of Charlie as being that into baseball like Mannie supposedly was and is.  But we have all been watching the games together and I think he is really getting into it.   Last week Charlie wanted to be an architect/builder.......so who knows what next week will bring.... cute little dreamers.

Overall, watching these Angel games has proven to be quite the family bonding time....that's cool.

But it has been hard to keep up with homework for Cara during all this and I just remembered as I am typing this that we forgot to pack her homework folder this morning!!! Yikes!!! Maybe I will run it over there when I drop off Charlie.....Cara is going to be mortified when she realizes she doesn't have it to hand in!!

Well, that is all for now......must get moving.  We are having Cam and Charlie's joint birthday party this weekend....Halloween theme, shocker!  I have a lot to do!!!!  

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!!!  Yippppppppeeeeeee!!!

Go Angels!!

P.S...ETA.....wanted to share our haunted playhouse...the kids and I made the decorations and decorated yesterday afternoon.  

One looking in the window....

Today....Me, Gray Cloud Overhead.

I thought this LO I made is appropriate for the mood of today....and although this LO looks like I may have vomited Halloween embellishments, it is rather appropriate given the subject matter......cleaning the dishes!!

I am in a blah mood right now....overwhelmed with the need to clean my messy house.

My life revolves around cleaning and then cleaning some more.

We are cleaning out the garage today....and found the mice motherload! aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

Seriously? This is the sort of thing that can bring me down....pests.  Unwanted/uninvited pests. 

We found some dry wall spots that they have chewed out and they have been enjoying 2 grand entrances to the Adams Hotel.  I could just die!!!!

My scraproom is a disaster and a half.....My kitchen.....same....everyroom..... same......

I need to breathe.....breathe Annie breathe!!!!

And the Angels lost yesterday......got their halo's whipped.

Poor Angels!

The bright side?  Okay.....Mannie and I have a date night coming up on Friday....kids sleeping over at the grandparents!!!!!  I can't wait to hang with Mannie.....we had a mini date yesterday while Cam was at school and you know I adore these 3 kids.....but I do adore Mannie as well so it is always nice to be able to focus my attention on just him and vice versa and have an uninterrupted conversation every once in a while. 

And hopefully a good night of sleep too.

Then, it gets better......on Saturday, a class taught at the Oasis by the amazing Rebecca(don't have her link!).  Susan and I signed up! Can't wait.  

So, there is some good stuff in store.....just need to get past this mice/house mess I have to clean up after and then I can breathe again.  

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Let's Go Angels!!

What a game.....I am posting more Angel pictures out of superstition....I should probably post the same ones....but that would be boring.

Although, this may be boring depending on your own interests....but oh well......hoping for another win today!

A friend of mine on Facebook asked me who I was rooting for "as a born and bred NYer".....I told her I was rooting for the Angels......I felt like a traitor.....how silly is that!!!! 

Sports can sometimes be like politics or religion....especially in NY...people take the teams you root for so seriously.  I am guilty of it myself.  Growing up, I would actually take it personally if a friend said anything bad about the Giants.....crazy stuff.  

Why is that?  We want others to have the strong beliefs we do so we can feel better about our own choices/things we hold dear to our heart, I guess.

Anyway, I don't care who you are rooting for.....just enjoy the game if you decide to watch.  

I will post the rally monkey shot one more time, just in case!

Making Cookies.....

paper ones that is!!

The kids have been enjoying my circle punch(yesterday and today)! As you can see, they have been busy making cookies for "the Webkinz bakesale"...  whatever that is???  

That is what we have been up to around here!

The weather is gloomy but I LOVE it!!!  I have the candles glowing as I clean up around here today.

Lots to clean up after the weekend ....... always!

We are having sloppy joe's for dinner....a great gloomy day dinner I think!

Gearing up for the ANGEL game!!!!!! Go ANGELS!!!!
  

Being a NYer, I do like the Yanks too.....but since I have to choose I will cheer for the Angels!!!  

Go Figgy and Aybar and all the Angels!   Let's have a lot more of these.....

and these........
I am going to dig up some Angel pictures from the summer....we got to go to a game this year! It was very fun!  Dreaming of summer days again!  :)  This picture is my absolute fave....Mannie and Charlie.

 

This one of Cam with homeplate signed by the World Series team....indoor lighting, not my best but she is completely oblivious to the fact that she is sitting next to a treasure...all she wants is her M and M's....love it!

Here's to another World Series home plate!!!! Go Angels!

Crafty Sunday

Slow Sunday today.

I watched some of the terrible Giant game...... :( 

I have scrapped.  I even did some painting, I mean dripping, with green paint and glitter! Fun stuff.

I made more ghost lollies and I made 1 pumpkin pop and I am posting pictures for Rebecca of Roots and Wings.  I only made 1 pumpkin for a couple of reasons.....I used orange food coloring with the white chocolate ...mixing it up seemed to stiffen the chocolate and then the kids were "helping" me make them and basically I ran out of time with the chocolate so we only made one.  I am going to keep trying maybe when I don't have "helpers" around.  I have got the ghost pops down though and the kids think they  are the greatest thing ever!!! Thanks Rebecca for your great ideas...these will definitely be a Fall tradition in our home.

We had soccer yesterday.......painful.....just painful.....the heat!!!!!!  I can't take the heat!!!!

And speaking of painful.....the Angel game last night!!!!!!!  It went on and on and I was actually biting my nails!!!!  We all watched it together....had a sleepover in my room but the kids didn't make it..they all fell asleep one by one.  Mannie and I made it to the end....the sad end!!!!  so close!  I felt so bad for all the players and the fans out in that rain and cold at 1 am.....I hope everyone made it home safe.

That is about it for our Sunday.

Enjoying the last moments of free time with the family....then it is back to the grind!  

Have a nice day.