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

Exploring with Pals...

Well, I had no plans yesterday and then Joann called to see if we wanted to hang out! It was a great surprise, I didn't know they had off too!  Joann had a bunch of ideas and we decided to check out a historic site that I never knew existed....right across the street where Cara had taken dance lessons for a  year....never knew this little Orange County gem was right under my nose.

Cute little school house and church....a wigwam...trails and pretty flowers....and most importantly....the place was empty so we were all alone to explore and have fun together!!  

First.....grab a walking stick and then a quick group shot!  for memory's sake.
 

Second....climb a tree! 
 

Third.....run around trails and check out the wigwam!
 

Cute school house....( I had my zoom lens so my picture range is limited)...
 

Cute Church....
 

I love stained glass.....
 

Pretty flowers....
 

Good friends......
buddies...
  

Could this place be any cuter?
 

And the day just wouldn't be a day without the "Mom is annoying with her camera!!" shot....
 

 We then headed to a great park called Serrano Creek Park...pretty spot.   A little Indiana Jones play....
We had a picnic and Joann convinced me to try the 39 Clues series...the hook for me was finding out that they have an Egypt book.....so we will dive into those this summer for sure!  The kids played and drew in the notebooks Joann brought for everyone...and we got to chat and relax.   

The day ended at Sonic for slushies....

It was just the perfect glimpse of the  care free days ahead with friends....summer is right around the corner....I know, I can be a tad repetitive sometimes.

Anyway, must go get ready for time with Gia, Gramps, Aunt Joan, Shawn, Miro and the kids.

Have a fun day!

Kids Crack Me Up

You have to know my backyard to even understand why I found this amusing....

I found them out here having a picnic....
 

They had climbed up onto the counter where the bbq is and are sitting on Mannie's  tool shed roof which is behind the wall they had climbed on.  I am sure they have a fabulous view of our neighbors houses behind us and the one next door to us.

Like wise, I am sure the neighbors are loving the little kids spying on them in their backyard.

I can only imagine what they are planning with that rope hanging....Charlie has  a horrible rope burn on his neck from trying to swing on a rope from a tree earlier this week.....Indy has to get out of danger anyway he can!!

Kids are just funny.  Just when I think they had seen and done everything imaginable in our backyard, they find another way to amuse themselves.  Just goes to show you how creative/imaginative kids can be.  

I wonder what else they can possibly find in our backyard that I have not thought of yet myself? 

Oh well.....I am enjoying a slow morning.  

It looks like  a gorgeous day....not sure what the day holds for us but it does hold blueberry muffins which are cooking in my oven right now.....and a little laundry.

AFter that, anything goes. 

Have a great Friday and weekend!  

Happy Memorial Day!!!

Thursday = Friday!

 Good morning!

I am enjoying a quiet moment today......silence is so lovely sometimes!! ahhhhhhh.

Yesterday was a very hectic day and it was all my own doing so it was what it was and that is okay.

I had scheduled a big playdate for Charlie and then 2 friends for Cara so between the hours of 1:30 and 5:00 there were 11 or so kids running around the house.  It was like a revolving door and luckily the weather was terrific so they could play outside.

They had lots of fun and it was good except for the tiny detail that Mannie got home early (at 3:30) and so I couldn't get the dinner ready until 6ish....so poor Mannie was starving for his birthday and the kids were a little overtired/over stimulated for dinner and dessert....poor planning on my part!
 

But overall, I think it was an okay birthday for Mannie.  He was watching the Angel game and then we watched American Idol which was good.  He liked the pie I made for him except for the candles I bought immediately started dripping wax on the pie.  We gave him the movie, Invictus, which he has wanted to see for a while so maybe we will watch it this weekend.  He is a big Clint, Morgan and sports in general fan!

Today, I am sooooooooo excited because we have no school until Wed. so I am really happy to get lots of time to spend with the kids.  

Laura suggested we go check out the Museum of Man in San Diego! They have an Egyptian exhibit.  I haven't been to Balboa Park (in San Diego, not to be confused with Balboa Island)  in a couple of years so I think we will try to get there this weekend at some point!  So, thanks for the heads up Laura!!!

Summer is almost here!!!!!!!!!! Who else is beyond excited??? Tricia....it is this time of year again!!!!!!!! Yahoo!!

I actually bought lots of candy yesterday for my summer movie stash!! Can't wait!!!

That is all for today....I am one happy girl......happy for all the fun ahead and happy to enjoy some quiet time right now!

Hope you have a wonderful day!! 
 

Egypt

Happy Birthday to Mannie!!!! 

Today is a gloomy kind of day.....but that won't stop us from throwing Mannie a super fun birthday bash later! :)

We are learning about Egypt right now....ancient Egypt.  We read a Magic Tree House book about mummies and that coupled with the fact that Indiana Jones is always looking for lost treasures, I thought a study on Egypt would be very appropriate.
 

The kids are loving it!  

I have always been fascinated with Egypt actually.  Ever since I went and saw the movie, The Sphinx, with my best friend, Beth Kuzmich, in like 4th grade or something....I have wanted to go to see the pyramids.

We made a Sphinx out of cardboard...it was a kit from Michaels and let me tell you.....nightmare! But we did it and felt like we had just accomplished something amazing!  Mostly because I just wanted to throw the whole thing out and forget about it.....but I didn't....kept on truckin' along.

The kids favorite though was making mummies....
 .they painted these little boxes and designed their own mummy.....
 so cute!
 

We also made our names using hieroglyphics.  Later this week we will be building a foam pyramid, another kit from Michaels.  What we do without Michaels??  We'd probably be more creative! Ha, ha.

Anyway, I would love to go to Egypt some day.

Well....Charlie just had another tooth fall out....he has the cutest little toothless smile going.

We are keeping that tooth fairy in business!  

That is all.....must get going.  Sort of a busy day ahead.

Have a great day!

Check...

 Charlie and I sorted Legos and got his closet organized yet again!! 

Feels good to have this accomplished.  Charlie and I were very proud of our work....as you can see since I am taking time to write about it.  All it takes is just one little project like this to make my day!!! Just one little tiny bit of organizational heaven and I am a happy camper!! Why don't I do this everyday then?  One project a day......well, that would be alot of plastic for starters.

Charlie  did have a change of heart on the Thomas thing...so we boxed up a lot of tracks and we are keeping them stored in his closet in case he decides to play again.  But after a year, if it is not touched, I will move it to the "crap graveyard"....yes, the garage.

Today....my goal is to tackle the backyard.

Tomorrow is Mannie's birthday and the kids and I have decided to go with a "Lakers" theme party for him.

We stopped by the party store yesterday and got some plates and napkins with the basketball theme...and a Laker balloon.

I think I will make tacos since that is his favorite meal and an apple pie for dessert. 

My other goals for the week......clean out the kids dressers!  Time to go thru all the mish mosh and get organized.

I guess you could say this week is all about spring cleaning.

I was sooooooo excited to see that Cara's homework packet was not due until next week!! It felt like a vacation over here last night.....although tonight we will tackle as much as possible and then on Thursday again.  

Off to get the kids to school.....Charlie woke up on the wrong side of the bed and he is crying right now because he doesn't know what to have for breakfast....I have no patience today so it is a good thing all 3 kids are going to be in school today.  So, I better go see about getting him some food. 

Bye!  

PS....U2 concert will be rescheduled for 2011.....bummer but poor Bono...I hope he will be okay!  At least I have something to look forward to in 2011 already! :)

Weekend Recap

We had a wonderful weekend....filled with resting and baseball.

Saturday we hung out all morning in our pj's and just watched t.v. and the kids played....building a clubhouse and some other fun stuff.
 

I watched the Housewives of NY and holy cow, I felt so bad for those girls on that weekend getaway to the carribean.  Nightmare.  I also felt bad for Kelly having a meltdown like that on t.v.....so sad.  Poor woman and hormones....poor women and hormones.....why?  why us? men got off too easy....  Just sayin'....maybe that is God' way of evening out the fact that men can't give birth....who knows?

Then we had Charlie's last game of the season....
I got him batting gloves and one time, he arrived at first base and Mannie looked at his hands and they were on backwards!! Ha, ha....We have been on the same team for 2 years and we will REALLY miss the families and our coach next year.  Next year, it is competitive and so the coaches draft players and all that.  Our coach doesn't want to deal with that so he won't be coaching.  We are bummed.   He is a great guy and the team had a great group..... we have been spoiled for sure.

But we enjoyed the last game.  Here is a picture of Cara...aka "Dugout Mom".....she loves to be involved in anything where she is somewhat "in charge"...... she loves to be the helper.
 It was a little chilly but when the sun was out, it was okay.  

Mannie and I have tickets to go to our first concert ever!!(together)....U2!!!!  If Bono gets healthy enough to do the tour that is! U2 is my all time favorite band! I have seen them before but I haven't been to a concert since college (I think...my memory is shady but that is what I have come up with for now).  I don't dance and it is just Mannie and I going on a date so it will be interesting to see how it goes.....what do you do at a concert if you don't dance?  I seriously don't know, nor do I know what I used to do at concerts.  I guess scream and sing along?

I am old!  

Anyway.....back to the weekend....Saturday night I made the yummiest dinner ever!! Pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit salad, toast and cinnamon rolls!!  I love breakfast so why not for dinner?  Everyone gobbled it up.  I can't remember what we did on Saturday night.....I think Cara read to us  from a Magic Tree House book and then we went to bed early.

Yesterday we had Mannie's baseball game!!!!!!! Hip hip hooray for the Whales....they won by a crazy number....it was something like 21 or 25 to 5.  They had to call the game in the 7th inning.  The game was in Huntington Beach and it was sooooooooo windy there.  We were freezing half the game....didn't feel like late May at all.   Then we headed to one of our favorite spots....Claim Jumper for some delicious pretzels and dinner was a baked potato and grilled asparagus....very good.  

We got home and had the kids in bed by 8 and lights out for us by 9:00pm.

I am counting down the days till Summer break! I cannot wait.  We only have 4 days of school this week so that is a good thing.

This week is exciting because Wednesday is Mannie's birthday!!!  I am going to have to plan something fun for the birthday boy!  

Today  I need to organize.  I am up to my eyeballs in Lego pieces.....OMG> by the way,  Charlie told me yesterday that he doesn't like Thomas anymore!!!!!!! I could not believe my ears!!  He has loved Thomas since he was strong enough to pick up a train and eat it (lead paint and all :P )

He is growing up!! Now what does one do with all the tracks and trains and books and anything related to Thomas??? I have to save it....for memory sake but also for the damm investment alone!  We should have just bought some stock in Thomas' company.  But, this new found knowledge has my wheels turning, thinking we can start to clean out some of this stuff and start getting better Lego organized before I step on a Lego barefoot one more time! 

Wow, I am going on and on today....well, I am cutting myself off .....time to go start the day.  

Here is a picture from yesterday....Mannie is showing the kids his baseball card collection....so sweet.
 

I think I will buy him a new pack of baseball cards for his birthday, now that I think of it....the kids can give it to him!!  

Have a T-riffic Monday!

Sunny Day Today

 Random photo of the kids playing Indy and Cassalina having an adventure in the town they built.

Charlie is designing his own Lego buildings in his journal and is waiting until after school to check out Lego.com to see if he can translate that into his own set....I guess they have a section for the kids to build their own set.  I don't know how expensive that can get but we are going to check it out later.

I never got around to the Memory Books yesterday ((shocker!!))) actually, Cami wasn't feeling well so after a quick trip to Target to pick up a few essentials, we hung out here and snuggled and watched a movie together.  Then I picked up Cara from school and took Cami to the doctor to check her out and of course she had been complaining of her leg hurting, among other symptoms(horrible cough and low fever).....well, the doctor asked her to walk down the hall and all that.....she was running like a little burst of sunshine laughing and all......I was like okay, that was the biggest waste of a copay ever!!!  

Typical. But at least I know she is totally fine and just has a yucky cough.  

So, that leaves me back to the Memory Books.....today I will sort thru all the work.  Just setting a mini goal for myself.  It is a gorgeous day and I am excited to get out there and have some fun later! 

Oh, Krista asked about preschool stuff and da da da duhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  here is what I do!!!!

Yes, a boring old box in our garage!!  Each kid has their own and the plan is to keep filling it up with all their stuff and when(if I guess I should say....) they get married(or the marrying age.....which is??), I will hand it over to them.
   

That is just for their crafts.  I also have a box for each of them for grades K, 1 and 2.....
 .then I am stopping....

These boxes all reside in the black hole of a garage where all things tupperware end their journey at the Adams house......I will be honest, they don't have much crafty stuff worth hanging onto from elementary school but they do have some memory books and I actually do save every piece of paper they bring home from school......not sure why I do this but I do.  But I am cutting myself off at grade 2!!!  

So, when they grow up they will have their  big craft box, a "treasure box" with random stuff(not necessarily school related), and 3 boxes of the first 3 years of elementary school.  I suppose I will put any other cool reports  (written) or stuff like that in their "treasure box".  

I do also keep a binder with all of Cara's writing.  I think I will make one for Charlie now that I write this.  But anyway, any stories she makes at school or for school(HW or reports) go into this binder which is kept in her room.  They are the formal nice handwriting things....her other writing is just in journals.  But the binder is for the fancy stuff.  She also has her travel journaling in that binder too accompanied by photos(and drawings of the trip!)

That is all for today......must get moving.  I have 2 more to get to school!!  Hope you have a wonderful day!

Kids Art Journal

 Good morning!!

I wanted to share what I spent some(which means LOTS!) of my time on yesterday.....making 3 art journals for my kids.

The kids are always taking Mannie's copy paper to draw with and it drives him nuts.  The loose papers all over my house drive me nuts. 

I was at the store yesterday buying Man some more paper and then I saw the binders and thought, duh.....just give them their own stash but in a binder so it is not loose, all over my house!

So, I spent some time dividing up an art journal for them into 3 sections.....I am sure it could look waaaaaayyy more adorable with some clip art or even scrap paper but for now this is what we have...more functional than fancy.....the 3 sections are:

1. Idea starters....which is blank pages with a little idea at the top of the page for them to work on. I will share those ideas in a bit.
 

2. Your Ideas...which is the coveted blank paper so hard to find in this house.  I gave each journal a big stack of that.  But the KEY to this is that they are secure in the binder!!!

3. Coloring pages....I found a great site with just about every character out there and printed tons of pages for each kid to color. 
  

I did all this with 3 binders and one ream of paper and still have lots of extra paper left over for refills.....so Mannie is happy since they won't be sneaking into his office and taking his stuff and I am happy because I will have all their work from this point on for 2010 in a binder all organized!

I also love it because it is easy to take on the go...and it is full of instant entertainment for restaurants and long car rides.

But one issue is that Charlie has something in his personality that makes him want to complete something when I give it to him, no matter what it is.  I think he LOVEs the journal but at the same time he is seeing it as something he needs to finish.  He is not the kind of person to just half do something...once he starts  he completes the job so this being said, he has been madly working on this thing.  I don't want him to finish his whole journal in 2 days.....I figure this journal is good for a looooooooonnnnnnnngggggg time! 
  

But, I guess I gave it to them as a gift and each kid can do as they please with it.

Overall, it has been a big hit which is always a good feeling after putting in lots of time organizing.  The kids woke up this morning and grabbed their journals.

I wanted to share in case you have the same issue going on.  

Here is a page from Charlie's journal in the Idea Starter section:  so cute!
 

Here are the Idea Starters that I typed up:

-  Write your age(number) in the middle of the page and then turn the number into a picture.

- Draw a picture of your house

- Draw a picture of your favorite animals

- Draw a picture of your family

- Draw all your favorite foods

-Make a circus on this page

- Draw a picture of a place you have been that is far away.  Name of place_______________

-Draw a farm

Make your own superhero

Draw a picture of your favorite holiday

Look in the mirror and draw what you see.

Take 3 pieces of fruit out, place them on the table and draw what you see

Think about what makes the beach pretty and special and draw what you see in your head

Draw an under the sea adventure

Draw a picture of your favorite sport

Draw a picture of your favorite plant

Draw a picture using a triangle, square, rectangle and circle

Draw a picture using your favorite color

Draw a picture of your favorite toy

Pretend you are in a rainforest, draw what you see

Draw a picture of the 4 seasons. Think about what the trees look like and what animals you would see.

Draw a map of your neighborhood.

Create your own comic strip

Draw a picture of you in a rocket in outer space!

Create your own robot.

As you can see the possibilities are endless for the Idea Starters and they also paint a pretty good picture of the likes and dislikes of each kid.....sort of an All About Me.....except this wasn't my intention.  My intention was just to give them ideas of things to draw.   I remember when I was little, sometimes wanting to draw and not knowing what to draw.  

Anyway, just wanted to share what we are enjoying at this moment.

Hope you have a nice day!!!

My plans today are to start working on the Memory Books for Charlie's class.......do you remember me complaining about that when Cara was in kinder!??  Yes, I signed up again.  I don't want to be cramming it all in at the last second so I waited til May instead of June!!!   :)

Bye! Bye!

Daddy Hugs

 Good morning!!

It is raining lightly here today.

I finished my book last night!!!!  It was a great book!  Although, I finished it up around 9:30 last night. Mannie had already gone to bed.  I put the book down on my nightstand and looked over at him and thought how lucky I was but at the same time, I felt a sadness inside.  

The book stirred  up some emotions that I hadn't felt or given too much thought in a long time.  It was about a girl who left Ireland to live in NY.  The book has a few twists and I found myself going back and forth on whether I wanted her to live in NY or Ireland.  I sort of couldn't make up my mind.  I think I could relate to that feeling of being torn between 2 worlds.  

When I decided to move out here in 97, I knew that although I was making a choice to leave NY, at the same time, it wasn't really a choice, I was following my heart.  But I knew then that I was leaving my family and the life I knew (for my whole life) behind.  It was a hard decision but one I had to make. But I knew in my gut that Mannie was the only one for me so I had to go.  

Anyway, the book stirred up those feelings again of how in life sometimes you just CAN"T have it all, no matter what.  I love the life we have made her in CA but I will never truly have it all because a huge piece of me is always going to be on the other side of the country.  So, last night, as I looked down at my prince charming I was also struck with sadness because I missed home.  I can never have mom over for tea (she loves tea) or just pick up and meet one of my sisters at the mall for an hour.  I have missed out on countless birthdays, the births of my nephews and niece, graduations and a few weddings.  I just can't be there for all the stuff I would have been had we lived closer.  I am also aware of the torment that lay ahead for me when my parents are older and need to be looked after.  I don't regret living here because it was/is my fate and so I am grateful for this life we have but sometimes, I do feel a little sorry for myself and throw a little pity party.

I don't think about that very often. I just live my life and go about our days and every now and then I get homesick but then a book like this comes along and I can truly relate to the storyline and character.  

But aren't books amazing?  They can really grab hold of your emotions and take you on a journey...so cool that someone's words can do that. 

I guess words are so powerful.  

And so are pictures......switching topics.....I took these photos yesterday of the kids giving Mannie his welcoming home from work!  Cam was on the computer so she is not giving him hugs......if it is your turn on the computer over here, then they don't dare take their hand off that mouse!!!
 

off to do a school run.......have a great day! 
 

Monday, Monday!

 Good morning!

Today is gloomy and gray!  I wish I could just curl up in a blanket and not move!!

Amazing how a few clouds can effect my mood!

We had a nice weekend.  Friday night we hit the school auction to check out if our donated items went for a good price! We were happy!!  We did not bid on anything though....we figure our donations were our contribution.  

Then on Saturday we had Charlie's game! I decided to not bring my camera because after a while all the shots start to look the same anyway! He had an awesome game!!  He had lots of fun!  Every kid on the team got a game ball for their efforts! I still was okay with not bringing my camera though.  

After, we took the kids to McDonald's to celebrate (Charlie's choice)!

Then we headed back home and just loafed around.  My allergies have been really bad this year and have left me either drugged up on Benadryl or just itching and exhausted! I can't wait for whatever is in the air to pass.  So, I think I watched "You've Got Mail" with Mannie on that day!

Then, yesterday, we had Beth's first communion.  It was cute and my kids did well in church.  I was worried about how Cam would do since we don't go to church. It was kinda funny because there were limited amount of seats available but I asked the usher to find us what he could and he came back with 2 seats.  So Mannie told Cara and I to take it.  Cami and Charlie were sharing a chair in the back of church.  I have to admit I was a little happy about the responsibility of keeping Cam on good behavior not being on "my hands"....but then Cara said she didn't want to go sit and Cam leapt out of the chair and said, "I am coming!"  So, it serves me right for feeling relief, right?  Anyway, Cam was funny with some of her questions and at first she was unable to whisper her questions or observations to me.  She was good overall but she definitely knows how to push my buttons and gets real pleasure out of knowing that....she gave me the "evil cackle" a few times!  I love and hate that cackle....hard to explain I guess!! 

After church we headed back to the Motta's and the kids were just in heaven playing with their buddies!!! We had fun talking with the adults as well.  

Overall a good weekend...I wish it was one day longer though.....we had a really tough time getting out of bed today and Cara was late for school.  

I stayed up late reading my book for book club.  I love it....I recommend if you have any Irish in the family or if you have ever moved to a different place....or if you want to go to Ireland someday! or if you are curious what it would have been like to immigrate to our country years ago.  Those are the general themes.  Oh, the book....Brooklyn by....Colm Toibin

Well, that is it for today, I scrapped a couple of LO's.....nothing fancy but just glad to be doing something since I have had no desire to make anything lately!  Today, I am cleaning and have a fire going and a very bored Cami!!!  Hope you have a great day!!