Cosby Family Blog

I Can't Run!

2011-09-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

I went for my 4 mile run the other day and discovered I couldn't run. No. Literally, I could NOT run! My calves were so locked up I couldn't run. Of course, at first I thought I was just being a wuss. I mean, out of all the disciplines I'm doing running should be the easiest, right??? WRONG!!!

I joined a triathlon training group about 4 weeks ago and the overall tri coach asked me what I thought my weakest area was. She thought I'd say swimming because that's what most people say, but I told her running. Definately running. She told me to meet with Coach Brett the following Tuesday and he'd help me with my run.

I went feeling somewhat confident and even a little excited. After all, I'm always looking for ways to improve myself. So I get there and meet up with Coach Brett. He takes one look at me and asks me how long I've been running. I tell him about about 6 weeks. He asks me what distance I run. I told him about 3-6 miles. How many days a week he asks me. I tell him about 2-3 days a week. He says, "Ok. You qualify to be here." Oh CRAP! I thought. I'm doomed! Needless to say, this guy is very serious about running. Then he asks me to run a lap. I'm so nervous at this point I take off running way too fast and poop out (but didn't stop) less than a quarter way around the track.

What seemed like an eternity, I finally make it around the track back to Coach Brett. Eager to hear what he has to say, I approach him huffing and puffing. He then proceeds to tell me that I'm all over the place. I'm completely out of balance and that I'm crossing in front of myself and landing wrong with each stride. He told me to stand by the fence and gave me a few excercises to do. I stood there by the fence feeling like a fool, but did the exercises he told me to do. After a few minutes he comes back to me and tells me to run 2 laps around the track to check my pace. OH CRAP! I think again. He sets his watch and I take off. Six minutes later I complete 2 laps. As I had expected, Coach Brett told me I needed to work on my pace. Poo!!!!

By this time I'm looking at my watch hoping the 50 minutes was over. It wasn't. But, to my surprise, Coach Brett asks me what more I thought I could do. Thank goodness he could see I was discouraged and struggling. I told him I thought I could do one more lap. He said okay and then told me to lean into me step and to hit the ground with the forefront of my foot, keep my head up, shoulders square and swing my arms forward and back not across the front of me. So I did. And to my surprise my knee pain vanished. AND I completed the lap with less struggle! Shocker!!!!

When I was done with the lap, I was dismissed. Coach Brett told me that he didn't want to overwhelm me (too late) and to practice what I learned. I was both grateful and relieved. Who knew running was going to be so difficult???

I wish I could say that now I'm an avid runner. Not quite. After all, as I mentioned in the beginning, I just tried to run my usual 4 miles and my calves locked up on me. However, I figure this is a good sign. After all, the correct muscles are working. Now if I can just get them not to lock up I'll be in good shape.

What Do You Do???

2011-09-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

The day started out great. I got the kids off to school early, ran 3.5 miles (and didn't stop), was on my way home when I got the text, "Have you checked your email today? something something something Jared Jones has been missing since last night. something something something. search parties up at Rocky Peak."

My heart sank.

Of course, you automatically think the worse, but hope for the best. But there is something telling you, "this isn't good".

After much texting and calling back and forth. The dreaded truth was confirmed. They found Jared but he's no longer with us. Possible cause of death: suicide.

My day goes on as life seems to do, but my mood gets sadder and sadder. I can't stop thinking about Tamara, his wife whom he left behind. What about her? How is she supposed to go on? How is she supposed to live with this? And what can I do to help her????? I want to help. I want to reach out. But I don't really know her that well. I'm friendly with her at church and I knew her husband just barely. What kind of comfort or words of reassurance could someone she barely knows give?

Tamara and Jared were my sons Primary teachers last year and my son loved them. They were the sweetest couple and absolutely loved the kids they taught. So I figure I have to tell my son but what do I say? How do I tell him? He will be so sad about this. He loved Jared. He thought he was so cool because he would bring his guitar into class and incorporate songs into the lesson.

The day goes on and I pick up Robert and Carly from school. As soon as Robert gets settled into the car I tell him, "I've got something sad to tell you. Remember Brother Jared Jones your old primary teacher? He died today."
Robert said, "Brother Jared??? What??? How????"

"I don't know, baby." I say, "He went for a hike last night and never came back and they found him on the side of the trail this morning."

"Did he fall?" Robert asked

"I don't think so."

"Was there something wrong with his heart?? He was so young." Robert says.

"No. I don't know exactly what happened." I say.

Robert pauses for a moment then he says, "Heavenly Father needed him. That's why he died." I just said (as tears welled up in my eyes) "Yes. He was a good man, wasn't he?" And left it at that.

I'm still baffled and my heart still breaks for his family and his wife. And I'm still asking WHY???? Why did he do this. I probably will never know. But what I do know is this: life will go on. Tamra will pick up the pieces and be able to live her life again. And all I can hope to do is to be able to know what to do when I'm needed.

Cycling

2011-09-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

I wish I could bottle the feeling I get while cycling through the back roads of SoCal. That way I could experience the exhilaration I get everytime I ride anytime I want.

Yesterday we rode into Hidden Valley (yep just like the salad dressing). And because you're on a bike you see things you wouldn't see in a car. The sun was just starting to set when we rode passed the lake then through the ranches. We saw horses frolicking in their pasture and heard cows mooing in the fields all while a slight head wind brushes against your face and the aroma of fresh air fill your nostrils. You feel your heart pumping your blood through your veins and filling your muscles giving them what they need to keep spinning. You feel the air moving in and out of your lungs and all you can think of is, "Man! It's great to be alive!".
Yep. There's something truly spectacular about that.

Three More Weeks

2011-09-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Three more weeks and I'm rAcing in my 2nd triathlon. I'm super nervous and confident at the same time(is that possible?). I really want to do well. Really well. Like top 5 of my age group. So that's where my nervousness comes from. I'm 44. So we'll see. I can only do what I can do right?

Ever feel like you've got something to prove? That's what I feel like. Like somehow I've got to show the forces of the world that nothing can stop me -- nothing can hold me back and no matter how hard they try they're not going to break me. So that's why I'm working so hard at this.

So October 1st is the big day. Three more weeks. Wish me luck.

What I've Learned This Year

2011-01-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

So its no secret that this past year has been most trying. But the lessons learned have been invaluable. I have learned that as difficult as life gets you are never alone - that there definitely is a God who loves and knows us individually. I have learned that no matter how you try to do the right thing there are some people who will always believe you are bad and there is nothing you can do to change their minds. I have learned to be true to myself in spite of all the bad things that have been said about me. I have learned that if you are true to yourself you will be blessed immensely with piece of mind and people who know you for who you are. I have learned that as much as you so want something in your life that maybe that something isn't always good for and you have to let it go. I have learned that I can NOT live this life without the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I have learned that I am a survivor and that because of this it appears that I never need help when in reality I do. I have learned that you can laugh and cry hard all in the same day. I have learned more about the gifts I've been blessed with and not to second guess them. I have learned that I married the most amazing man who is a far stronger person than i am and who is my partner in all things. And, it goes without saying that my kids continue to amaze me and I learn the most from them.

My senior year in college I did my senior thesis on the Jewish concentration camps and Victor Frankel's book "Man's Search For Meaning". It was definitely my greatest accomplishment achieved in my college career. I studied the life of the Jewish people while in the camps and hadn't at that time understood the magnitude it took to survive such an ordeal - not until this year that is. Now, I would never equate my life to that of life in a concentration camp. However, I understand the mind set it takes to survive and to survive well. Even when you think you can't possibly endure anymore, I'm here to say you can. Somehow. Some way. You can. And no matter how the outside forces of this crazy world try to break you down you still have the choice on how you're going to survive. And this was the greatest lesson I learned this year -- how I was going to survive.

Picture This!

2010-07-21T00:50:00.000-07:00

Carly and I were playing with the camera the other night and this is what we came up with:
It initially started because Carly insisted on doing my hair (as you can see in this photo) It's some kind of Pippy-Longstocking/Princess Leah thing and she insisted that she take a picture of it too. So in spite of no make-up I let her take the picture.

From there it turned into serveral adorable photos of my beautiful little girl :)

And then there's me....

All for the sake of making memories, right?

Dr Seuss's Birthday

2010-05-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Dr. Seuss's Birthday was in March. Robert's school had a contest on who could come up with the best Dr. Seuss hat. Of course, Carly had to get in on the action too. Although, the pre-school wasn't participating. All along I had an idea on what to do for the hats, but never got around to it until that morning. Here's what we came up with:

Turns out Robert won the contest and got the Lorox for his prize! Let's face it, if Carly's class was particpating should would have won too.

Not bad for last minute!

Saturdays

2010-05-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Saturdays are the days that I get all the projects I didn't get done during the week done. This usually includes yard duties. I make the kids come out with me because I can't stand them sitting around watching TV while I'm out working like a dog. That just irritates me to death. So I make them my little slaves fetching me this and fetching me that and also keeping an eye on the dogs so they don't undo everything I've just done.

Anyway, this one particular Saturday I guess I worked them pretty hard because while I was hosing down the patio I turn around and see this:

HEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!

Tooth Missing!

2010-05-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

I love this look! Nothing says childhood like your two front teeth missing, right?

We were in Oregon visiting my sister and her family over spring break when Robert lost his 6th tooth. He didn't want me to pull it even though it was hanging by a thread. He wanted me to wait until that upcoming Saturday "because it's Dad's birthday". I don't know why we had to wait 'til Mike's birthday. But it was important to Robert that we wait. So I respectfully waited. And waited. Honestly, it was driving me nuts. The tooth NEEDED to come out!

Fortunately the torture ended that evening. Robert was wrestling around with his cousin, Henry. I think the tooth bothered Henry as much as it did me because Henry starting tickling Rob and while he was laughing with his mouth wide open, Henry reached in and flicked Rob's tooth and that's all it took. Robert's tooth flew out of his mouth and Yay!!! It was all over.

Of course, the Tooth Fairy came that night and, once again, all was well in the world.

The Cousins:

Oliver

Carly and Lillian Putting Make-Up On Each Other

Thomas

Hyrum

The Three Amigos: Thomas, Robert & Hyrum

Sorry. No pics of Henry. But just imagine Oliver 10 years older. They look EXACTLY alike :)

People Come & Go, But Good Friends....

2010-02-26T16:30:00.000-08:00

LAST FOREVER!!!!

It is never "Good-Bye" when it comes to good friends. It's just a "See you later" or an "Until next time". But never "Good-Bye".

Our dear sweet friend, Elizabeth, is moving to New Mexico tomorrow. We had our last Friday Girl's Lunch together with her today. I would be lying if I said that I'm okay with this. Because I'm not. I'm just sad.

I admit I have a gajillion best girl friends. However, each one fills a specific need in my life and helps me in different ways. And all of them together make me who I am. I also feel like each one has been hand-picked by God just for me to help me cope and get through this crazy journey of mine. So for one (or two) to move away just upsets my whole flow in life.

I'm greatful for knowing Elizabeth. I know she knows what she means to me and how much I love her. And I also know that this is definately not "Good-Bye". I look forward to our walks and talks and hikes in New Mexico. Nothings going to change. It's just another phase that we'll get through. But nothing is going to change.

So... until our next hike together in New Mexico!

I Wish I Could Go Back

2010-02-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

The kids and I went up to St. George this weekend. It was a great weekend. We went up to Brian Head Ski Resort and enjoyed the snow as snow should be. I say that only because if ever there was the greatest snow on earth it's definately found in Utah. No doubt about it.

Carly didn't want to go tubing because she would have to go alone and ride in her own tube so she and I played in the snow while my sister, Sara, and Robert slid down the hill. Sara and I took turns playing with Carly so I could tube too. All in all it was a great day in the snow.

Sunday we went to church with my folks. They still belong to the same ward I grew up in so it was nice seeing some old familiar faces. All my friends I grew up with had, of course, moved away so I certainly wasn't expecting to see any of them. So imagine my pleasant surprise when I hear a member of the bishopric announce that the musical number would be sung by Judy, Dana, Trevor and Danette Maxwell. It was like we had just morphed back to 1985. The Maxwell Family was always the musical number when I was growing up. And Danette was one of my dearest friends and, so, to say the least I was thrilled to see her. We met up after Sacrament Meeting, chatted for a moment, and decided to get together after church.

Danette lived across the street from me. Actually is was more like across the street and across a vacant lot from me. I loved going over to her house. Her family was so warm, loving and accepting. So my sister, Maria, and I would always go over there after school. The Maxwell's home was a safe haven for us.

I went through a lot in High School. I'm sure it was no different than a lot of teenagers go through: low self-esteem, insecurities, acne, bad hair, no love life. All in all I was a loser. At least that's the way I felt. Really I wasn't, but I was convinced I was. But when we'd go over to the Maxwell's that was somewhat lifted. We would laugh so hard our tummies would hurt. We truly had some great times.

However, I had forgotten those good times or rather how fun they really were. All I could remember was how I hated St. George so bad that I couldn't wait to get out of there. In fact, I hated it so bad that I cut ties with every one I knew there. Even my dearest friends who truly loved me. Isn't that terrible? I know. It was. But I was a different person then. I had to get away. I had to heal. I had to learn to love the Lord and ultimately to love myself. It took many years.

Eventually, I started to come in contact with some of these old friends of mine. And slowly those old fun memories started to come back. In fact, I wish I could go back and live them again. We really had some good times. And Man! Were We Stupid!

Needless to say, it was so good to see my dear friend. She helped me close a chapter in my life I'm so glad to finally close. And she helped me realize that I wish I could go back and do it all over again. And that's a good feeling!

Thank you, Danette!

Sabrina

2010-02-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

Life is funny. One day it's business as usual and the next ... well... let's just say it's not. My beautiful sweet Belgian Shepherd died today in my arms. She was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma just a couple weeks ago. Just this passed Monday she hiked up to the cross with us and today she's gone. Wierd. It happened too fast.

It was only 2 years ago that Sabrina came into our lives. It was a total accident that I found her. I went into Theresa's Country Feed and Pet Supply to get a good grooming tool for Max and the Sales Associate said, "We've got a big black hairy dog in the back. I can show you how it works."

"Okay." I said. At this point, I wasn't even thinking about adopting a dog. However, we were seriously considering getting another puppy as a playmate for Max. Nevertheless, when the sales guy said that Sabrina was free to any good home, it totally didn't register. I just said, "Oh that's nice." Then as Carly and I stayed a little longer I started to fall in love with her. She was beautiful. Even though she was in desperate need of a good grooming she was still beautiful. And sweet. She and Carly instantly bonded. Before I knew what was happening, I began asking questions like, "So how much is she?" and "How much is it going to cost to take her home?" The poor kid must have said "Well, she's free." a hundred times before it clicked. For some reason the concept of "free" just didn't register. But when it did, I called up Mike and said, "I think I'm taking a dog home today. " And he, being the good husband that he is, said, "OK, babe. Whatever you want to do." So, Carly and I walked out of Theresa's with a new doggy and new grooming tool.

As it turned out, Sabrina was far from "free." She was 9 years old when we got her and although the records that she came with stated she was in perfect health, she was not. She had really bad teeth. The first week we had her she had to have two teeth pulled. And about every 6 months or so another tooth had to be pulled. Poor Baby. Then finally last Novemeber I took her in for another round of teeth pulling and the vet suspected a tumor. He wasn't sure though because the two teeth were so bad that soft tissue around the teeth was also so bad. So we watched her really close and hoped for the best.

I thought she just had another rotten tooth when I took her in a couple weeks ago. And she did, but it wasn't because of just having rotten teeth. It was because of a tumor. The tooth had to be pulled because the tumor had caused the root to be exposed etc. So she had to undergo another surgery.

The last two weeks have been a roller coaster. She had her good days and bad days. I knew something was definately wrong this morning when I got up to check on her. She was laying in a position that she has never laid in before, but she was able to walk out to the car for our morning jaunt to the dog park. When we got to the dog park she just stood there. Didn't move. Didn't go potty and then walked over to the cement and laid down and wouldn't get back up. I could tell she was in tremondous pain and knew we were near the end. I put the other two dogs in the car and came back and carried Sabrina to the car.

I knew I couldn't go to church today because I knew Sabrina was real close. When we got back from the dog park the kids and I knelt down next to Sabrina and said a prayer. We all cried together and said our goodbyes to Sabrina.

Tonight at around a 7:45 she was whining for me. She wanted to get up and couldn't. So I helped her up and was going to take her outside. As I was helping her, she collapsed in my arms and starting siezing. It was over. I just held her and waited for it to end. When it did I drove her to the Emergency Animal Clinic in Thousand Oaks and said my final goodbyes.

So, it's funny how life is. You can expect for these things to happen and you can know it's going to happen, but no matter what, it still sucks. It hurts. Sabrina was a good dog. I wish we could have known her her whole life. But it was definately worth every moment just knowing her for two years of it.

Goodbye Sabrina! You're ours now, Baby!

Huntington Library

2010-02-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

I kept Carly out of school and played hooky at the Huntington Library. The weather was perfect, the company sublime and the scenery exquisite. If you've never gone, you should. It is absolutely one of my most favorite places to visit. And another reason why I love California.

Here are some highlights:

What Can I Say?

2010-01-31T19:55:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I know. It's been a long time. I have no excuses other than life has gotten in the way. I know that may seem ironic since this blog is suppose to be about my life or rather our lives, but I guess I just don't know how to squeeze it in my busy day. However, my brother emailed me and asked me what was up with my blog. This completely shocked me since I didn't think any of my family members read it so I'm back at it.

Nonetheless, rather than to go back and try to fill in the blanks I'll start with today:

Today is Sunday. I love Sundays. It's not just that it is the laziest day of the week. I mean I literally do nothing. We go to church, we come home and I fix lunch and that's it. I'm done. The kids fend for themselves from lunchtime on. It's nice. Really. Although I do pay for it. The house is a total wreck once I immerge from my bedroom (after watching an old movie and a nap), but it's worth it. Totally worth it. But I digress. The real reason I love Sundays is because we go to church and I see my friends. It's a double wammy 'cuz I most always feel the spirit and I get to visit with my girls. I love my girls. I really do. And I hate that one of them is moving away. I'm somewhat still in denial about it but I know it's going to happen if that makes any sense. I'm happy for her and her family, but I'm selfish 'cuz I'm sad for me. I love my Elizabeth and I don't want her to leave.

Robert is turning 8 this year. I can't believe it. Eight years old. We, the kids and I, went to the little eight year old orientation tonight at the church. I filled out the Cub Scout Registration form and everything. Wierd. He is so excited about it though. So excited. He can't wait. I'm already crying over his baptism and will continue to cry over his growing up.

So far this year has been the same as last year. Mike is still gone all the time. Poor thing. He hates it as much as we do. But as my sweet friend, Shandie, pointed out there is still a lot left in the year so there is still plenty of time for it to get better.....Yep....

I'm not one to pretend that all is well. Life has been hard for the last year and a half or so. But at the same time I can't complain. Things can always get worse. But I am greatful for this life and especially mine. Because no matter how hard it gets I have a husband who loves me and two wonderful kids and, really, what else matters?

Love you Kirk!

Robert

2009-10-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today's Robert's birthday. He's 7. ..... I can't believe he's 7. It just seems like moments ago when Mike was driving me to the hospital the 2nd time (the first time was a false alarm).

I remember watching everyone rushing around when the time had come for me to push. I couldn't feel anything because I had the epidural so it was quite humorous watching everyone rushing around. But then it hit me -- the reality of my life never being the same. No more just me and Mike. No more just MY time. No more... sleep! Life was never going to be the same and that terrified me. And still I truly had no idea just how much my life was going to change.

My sweet baby entered the world October 28, 2002. He was 9 lbs 6oz, 21 1/2 inches long and as healthy as a horse. All the other babies in the maternity ward were sickly and had to stay in the hospital for weeks, but not Rob. He was ready to go home the next day. Such a stud right from the get go!

Today he's 67 lbs and 4'3" tall. Can you believe that? I was watching him walk across the playground to his classroom today and noticed that he's already got a little strut to his walk and thought "What happened to my baby??? It's like he bypassed his youth and headed straight into adolescence!"

But the best thing I love about my son is that he's a better person than me. He has a heart of gold and he's a stronger person than I could ever be. And even though I was terrified for him to come into my life, he definately changed my life for good.

Happy Birthday, Robert!

Highlights From Summer

2009-09-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

Just a few highlights from summer.....

Carly's Birthday

The Getty Museum

Grandma Sandy!!!!

(can you find her through all the hugs?)

Grandma Sandy with Logan

Beach with Family and Friends

Carly & Grandma Sandy

Robert & Shawn

(Hiding the bodies I presume)

Dolphins!!!!

Carly & Andrew

Rob & Carly hangin' with their posse

Ahhhh!! Good times! And then......

The First Day of School :(

Where Did All My Energy Go????

2009-09-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

I feel like I never get anything done. Seriously. I wake up and the activities never stop. And yet NOTHING gets done. How does that happen? Seriously, I want to know how that happens. I wake up and get dressed at 6:30 -7a. I make the bed and spruce up the house. I get the kids up. We eat breakfast, then I help the kids get ready for school. They clean their rooms and we're off to school by 8-ish. I take the dogs out for their morning run then head to the gym. If there's time I'll squeeze in an errand before I come home, maybe do a chore or two, shower, grab a bite to eat and then go pick up Carly. After Carly comes home is where I can't figure out what happens. Sometimes, I can squeeze in a couple more errands, but sometimes I'll come home with the intent to do something off the endless 'to do' list, but something happens. It's like I get sucked into this black hole and before I know it it's time to go get Robert.

When Rob comes home, forget about it. I'm done. Completely fried. I pick up Rob at 3:30. We go straight from school to either Tennis or Karate. Then home to eat dinner (usually 6p by now) While I'm preparing dinner, I'll run through spelling words, addition flash cards and 'love words' (which are really sight words). We eat dinner and then it's off to baths and bed. 8pm and nothing has gotten done: the dogs automatic waterer hose still needs to be repaired, more sprinkler heads need to be repaired, the gopher still needs to be killed. My bills, papers, movies, kids toys & closets still need to be organized. And that's just a small portion of what all needs to be done. And I'm so tired. So so tired. It's 9:30 and I'll be in bed by 10 which is actually late. I'm usually in bed shortly after I clean the kitchen by 9. So the question still remains.... where did all my energy go? I used to be able to do it all. Now? Nothin'! I get nothing done!

Needless to say, I want my energy back! Seriously, I'm begging for just a little bit of my energy back. But then again, the more I think about it, I'm too tired to care.

Starting Over

2009-09-21T13:27:00.001-07:00

I'm not even going to try to fill in the huge gap between the last time I wrote and now. So I'm just starting over.

Honestly, life is hard, but good. Mike is gone a lot but continues to do his best at being a great father and husband. I've been trying to chip away at all the household projects I've got on my list: killing gophers (still!), fertilizing and tilling the flower beds, an endless chore of repairing sprinklers and many other mini projects. It's funny how even though both kids are in school now I still have no time to do all that needs to be done AND keep up with just the regular every day chores.

The kids love school. I'm so greatful for my kids. They're so good! Carly is a blast to hang out with and Robert is just so good. There are so many qualities I see of Mike's in him. Honestly, this is both good and bad. :) But mostly good. They both love school. The first day they were so excited. They both got up early early like it was Christmas. So funny! Here they are the first day of school.

I'm still trying to get used to the daily schedule but it's coming along.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how life is. We think we're in charge of our lives and to a certain extent we are. But for the most part we aren't. There is no doubt in my mind that the only control we have in our lives is how we deal with what happens to us. That is the only control we have. We may think that if we make all the right choices and if do all the right things then somehow, some way we are exempt from all the bad things that happen in the world. But, oh, how naive that is! Things are happening in my life that I have no control over. But I do have control over how I treat my family and friends and what my attitude is going to be for the day. I have control over ..... really what else do I have control over? I mean, really I try to get things done and something ALWAYS comes up so that I don't get the things done that I want to get done. But really what is more important than the way we treat our family and friends? Especially when the times are tough? That truly is the only thing we have control over. Anyway, I'm sorry to be so serious. I just felt the need to share.

Life is good. :)

A Lot to Blog About...

2009-07-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned for the upcoming posts:

Carly's Birthday party
Beach Days with friends
Grandma Sandy's arrival
And many more thoughts to pass on.

I realize I'm a slacker. But I hate posting without pictures and my camera is SO SLOW in uploading pictures and, let's face it, I'm lazy. But stay tuned, 'cuz you maybe tagged! hehehe :0

Disneyland

2009-06-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

It's been just about a year since we went to Disneyland. We were well over do. I took Rob out of school and met Stephanie & Sydney Lovio and Liz Rose and kids down there and had a wonderful day. It would be an understatement by saying we had a good time:

(Back Row) Aladin, Jasmine, Sidney, Stephanie, (front row) Sara

Sidney was so excited when she saw Jasmine. She was beside herself. She so desperately wanted a picture with her, but wouldn't do it without her mama. And, of course, Little Miss Sara couldn't resist the picture either. We love you, Sara!

Robert wanted a picture too, but he didn't want a picture with Jasmine. Afterall, he only has eyes for his mama!

Heading over to California Adventure. Haven't yet gotten all the way through California Adventure. It's a great park, but it's not Disneyland :)

We found the perfect post to watch the parade come through at California Adventure. Don't you love the wonderment of childhood?

We ate dinner in Fantasyland around 7:30pm and the kids were still wound up. Can you blame them? Afterall, it is Disneyland!

I know I say this a lot. But I really do love California and all it has to offer. The weather was absolutely perfect and the fact that we were able to go with such great friends made it an absolutely supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day!

Olympic Day

2009-05-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

Opening ceremonies consisted of a parade (below) and lighting of the torch (above). Very cool!

Rob's class was Team Egypt.

Robert had Olympic Day at school. And for weeks the kids were practicing for their events. Robert was in 3 events: Broad Jump, Relay Race and Ball Throw. I was a little worried about the relay race because, let's face it, he's not a very face runner. So I asked him how he felt about all his events. He said that he was okay with all the events except for the relay race because he always came in last. No matter how hard he tried he always came in last. Needless to say, it broke my heart. So being the athlete that I am (hahahahahahahahaha!), I gave him a few pointers.

1. Don't forget to breathe.

I asked him to run for me so I could see how he was running. The little stinker was holding his breath at the start. No wonder he was coming in last!

2. No matter what you do, don't worry where everyone else is in the race. You just worry about you and handing off the baton. Just focus on handing off the baton.

3. Run as fast as you can the whole way. Don't stop until you hand off the baton!

I was so nervous the day of the games. After all, I really didn't want my little boy to come in last. But just in case, I was preparing myself and what I would say if he did. But Robert was as cool as a cucumber.

His first event was the ball throw. He got up and threw the ball and did fantastic. The next event was the broad jump. He didn't do bad on that either. Finally, it was time for the relay race. He was the middle leg which I knew was good strategizing on the coaches part. The gun goes off and they're off. Robert's team mate was in the lead when he handed off to Robert. Robert took off as fast as he could go. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, "Go Baby Go! Go Baby Go! Woo!" He kept running as hard as he could. The other racers were gaining on him. I'm still screaming, "Go Rob!!!! Go Baby!!!!". He's nearing the hand off. I'm screaming like crazy 'cuz the other racers are on him and Bam! he hands off the baton just ahead of the other racers and his teammate takes off. I'm jumping up and down screaming. I didn't really care how the race ended I was just so proud of my little boy. It was obvious that he ran his little heart out.

Honestly, I don't think any of my pointers really helped him (except for maybe the breathing part). But, I should have known that he would have done just fine. After all, that little boy works best under pressure. This isn't the first time I witnessed this. He's prooved me wrong before. And although his team didn't win he put his whole heart and soul into his part of the race. And I couldn't have been prouder.

Spring Break

2009-05-27T18:11:00.001-07:00

We started off with going to the beach with friends. We invited the Lorenzen's and went to the beach. We all had a blast. Even the dogs.

And we ended with going to the beach with friends.

It was no doubt a great week. We even spent a couple of days at the pool. Man, I love California!

Easter

2009-05-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Easter is one of our favorite holidays. After all, it's the beginning of spring and this year it kicked off our Spring Break. Unfortunately, Mike was out of town, but all was saved when Robyn and Tyler came up.

We started off with the annual Easter Egg Hunt up at the church:

This was Andrew's first Easter Egg Hunt. He didn't have any problem with finding them eggs!

Counting their loot...
After the thrill of finding Easter Eggs, we came home and decorated cookies:

Carly's Cookies...
Robert's Cookies...

Without Mike around Easter weekend would have been a dud, but thanks to Robyn and Tyler we had a great weekend. Thanks for the memories!

Certificate of Achievement

2009-05-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

About a week ago we got a letter from Robert's teacher saying that he was getting an award of achievement in scholar. That's all it said. We were also asked to keep it a surprise which was not easy to do since I wanted to pump my son full of questions on what exactly this meant. After all, how many kids were receiving this award? And what does "scholar" mean? Does that mean an award in academics? So patiently we waited.

Tuesday, May 12th was the big day for the Awards Ceremony. I got there just in the nick of time. Mike showed up by the skin of his teeth also. Anyway, after a lovely number presented by the music department, Robert's Kindergarten class was the first to be presented. I was somewhat expecting everyone in his class to be getting something, you know, being politically correct so as not to hurt any one's feelings and all. But when Rob's teacher, Mrs. McCaslin got up and said that these were her students whom she believed to have excelled above and beyond, my heart began to swell with pride and my eyes began to fill with tears. Robert was the only one to have received an award in the category of scholar in his class. He excelled in both Science and Social Studies. What a guy!

Mother's Day

2009-05-16T17:44:00.001-07:00

Carly paints beautiful watercolored pictures. She uses beautiful colors and blends them perfectly together. I love her pictures so much I save them to make greeting cards out of them. This is what she gave me for Mother's Day:

Nice!

Robert loves me. Mike told me that he was thinking for days on what he was going to say in his Mother's Day card. This is what he came up with:

He quoted a scripture... "because Mom loves the Lord." he told Mike.

This is what Rob made at school for me. It's an actual wood frame painted white. He drew the flowers on with a paint pen. It's my favorite gift ever!

Mike made me breakfast in bed which consisted of cinamon french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and fresh squeezed orange juice (he actually picked it up from somewhere). Delicious!

After church and my excrutiating lesson, I was sent back into my room to relax and take a nap. I was brought lunch and my sweet husband recorded the "House" marathon for me. To top off the day, the kids and Mike made me chocolate chip cookies and sent me off to bed.

At the end of the day I told my husband what a great husband and daddy he was and do you know what he said? "Yeah, well, don't let the word out 'cuz I have a reputation to uphold."

Don't worry, Babe. Your secret's safe with me!

Best Friends

2009-05-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

Laura Lorenzen is Carly's best little girlfriend. They have so much fun together. They play dress-up, shopping and just plain 'ol love to be together. Needless to say, Carly just loves it when Laura comes over to play.

Well, Laura came over the other day and things got pretty quiet while they were playing in Carly's room and so I went to check on them and here's what I found:

Painting eachother's nails! Is that the most adorable thing EVER!!!

What Is A Peacemaker?

2009-05-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

Okay. So I gave the lesson on being a peacemaker in Relief Society yesterday and I'm still confused....

I know what a peacemaker is: someone who helps others be happy instead of angry (blah blah blah). That goes without saying, but what if something needs to be said or something needs to be made right and others don't like it? I mean take the Prop 8 situation, for instance. That certainly didn't create peace in our community or our country for that matter. In fact, it created quite the opposite. Allbeit, we weren't the one's screaming obsenities at passersby, but we were the one's who stood up and said, "Absolutely not." and that did not create peace.

So it goes in our daily lives... or at least mine. I'm not a mean or rude person. At least, I don't think so. I know there are those who would beg to differ, but honestly, my heart is in the right place. I have come to terms with my "honesty" and rather like it. And this is where the confusion lies: Is a person considered not a peacemaker because one is honest and forthright? Being forthright and honest can sometimes cause contention. Also, sometimes we must stand up for what's right and not back down. And that almost always causes contention. How can we go through this life -- this life where we have to fight (literally fight) for truth and righteousness -- without causing a degree of contention?

And how about in our marriages? I mean seriously. Sometimes, it's a fight that creates peace. I mean, honestly a fight can bring out truth and the truth creates understanding which in turn creates peace. But that fight had to happen before there was understanding and peace.

So, this is why my lesson was so hard for me yesterday. I am not a peacemaker. I have peace. But I'm not a peacemaker. Sometimes I am. But not always. And sometimes I feel (and am even prompted) to speak up -- to say the thing that is sometimes the hardest to say -- the truth. And here's a truth I must say now .... I hated that lesson!

Face to Face Tour

2009-04-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Mike and I went to the Billy Joel/Elton John Concert. I can't even begin to tell you how fabulous it was! We're standing at our seats (because it was so hard for me to sit down -- I was so excited!) and I turn to Mike and say, "I think I'm going to cry." These guys are some of my most favorite rock stars ever! And if you ask me they are two of the last true rock stars left. They sounded amazing and can still bring down the house.

The link below is the dynamic duo singing Piano Man together. This wasn't the concert we saw. This was in Tampa, FL, but it's almost exactly the same and will give you a good idea of what we saw. The stage set up is all the same and Elton is even wearing the same costume. However, I think our concert was better. Billy heard the crowd singing during the first chorus and stopped playing and let us sing. It was so cool! Anyway, here's to Billy and Sir Elton! Love You!!! WooHooo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1pbvoD214Y

Big Bear

2009-03-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

On our way to go-carting, alpine sliding & tubing.

Hanging out on the porch swing.

Ski School for Rob.

Ski school was a little harder than he expected. He thought he'd be doing jumps and flying through the air by now. Instead he kept falling down. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy with skiing. Can you tell?

Hangin' out at the cabin.

It was so much fun!! I love cold weather. I really do. That is the ONLY thing I miss about Utah. In fact, it cracks me up what Californians think is cold weather. The first day we were in Big Bear it was 65 degrees. The second day it was a little cooler due to the storm coming in and the third day was spectacular! It snowed and was blizzardy. We spent the morning in the cabin with the fire blazing. I loved it!

Our Trip to Monterey

2009-03-14T21:19:00.001-07:00

I Love California!

Dennis The Menace Park

Pebble Beach

I have more pics but these were some of my favorites. You can tell from the kids how great the weekend was. It was absolutely fantastic and very much needed. More than anything, though, I fell in love with California all over again. We had so much fun!!!

Back To Reality

2009-03-03T21:16:00.000-08:00

So I did it. I had my facial and massage yesterday and let me tell you it was absolutely heaven!!! I felt so alive and so regenerated afterwards I felt like I could conquer the world! I'm not kidding. It was wonderful! Then today I had a great lunch with some fantastic women who make me feel so loved and whom I have such a great time with that it's always a bummer when it ends. I'm so blessed for so many things!

But it's time to get back to reality. My house is a wreck because for the last two days I've done nothing but indulge myself. But honestly, I don't feel bad at all about that.

A Great Weekend

2009-03-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

In spite of Mike being gone all weekend, I had a great weekend. Friday night I invited a couple of girlfriends out for date night. After all, why waste a perfectly good baby sitter just because my husband is out of town, right? So we went out had dinner, went to a chick flick, and had dessert afterwards. Good times. Good times.

My girl, Robyn and her husband and, of course, their baby boy, Andrew, came up the next day and spent the day with us. Robyn and I went to a baby shower and then came back and hung out and then we all went to the park. It's just fun being with them. The kids just love them and Robyn and I can laugh into the morning together if we had the chance. Love you guys!!

The kids and I had a great day at church today. The spirit was strong and we saw our friends. Mike came home and we were thrilled to have him back.

And for tomorrow..... a massage and facial for me. hehehehe.....

Visiting Teaching

2009-02-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

You know. As I have mentioned before, visiting teaching has always been a thorn in my side. Teaching and being taught -- either way I was just annoyed with it. But, I have to say that the last few teachers I've had have been awsome. I have just loved them. And, as strange as it may sound, I can totally see the whole point of the program now. I've had the best time with the gals I teach and with the ones who teach me. I feel like I'm really developing some good relationships with my girls and I know that my teachers make me feel so good. They make me feel normal and sane -- they keep me in touch with reality. So, Ladies, until next time! I totally look forward to it!

I Need A Break

2009-02-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

I'm having one of those nights where everything my kids do absolutely drives me nuts. Robert was leaning up against me and I told him to stop leaning on me. Carly keeps wanting to help me in the kitchen with dinner and I'm doing everything I can not to yell at her. But I did send her away. All I want to do is go into my room and shut the door and be left alone. But, of course, I can't. I'm a mom. We aren't allowed that luxury. Mike's not coming home 'til late tonight so I have to really practice patience. I don't know if I have in me tonight though. !&^!#$!! I NEED A BREAK! .....I'm booking myself a massage!

A Simple Little Prayer

2009-02-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

Mike has a '65 Mustang GT Fastback living in our garage. It's a beautiful car -- very sexy, if I must say. It's red with two white racing stripes that run from the hood to the trunk. Yep, very hot. Anyway, we pushed it out of the garage last night to finally put away the christmas decorations and while doing so Mike decides it's time to get the baby running. It's got a couple of leaks coming from who knows where. So in order to to get it from point A to point B we needed the car keys -- couldn't find them anywhere. All day today we looked, looked and relooked. Mike came home in the middle of the day and looked some too. After going through things for the third or fourth time, I began to think it was hopeless and that it was time to call a lock smith. Not only that but I was so exhausted and distraught. I gave up doing everything I wanted to do today to help find those keys. I was at my wits end. So I knelt and prayed. I took a break from looking and about an hour later, I find the keys. Of course, they were some place we hadn't looked -- in a bag on top of the freezer out in the garage. Who woulda thought it? I certainly wouldn't have without that simple little prayer. I know that for certain. I just wish I would have done it sooner!

Just When You Think You're Getting It Together....

2009-02-21T18:31:00.001-08:00

So I was feeling pretty good about myself this week. I managed to exercise 3 times, did all the laundry and actually put it all away, and kept the house somewhat picked up all week long. I was feeling pretty proud. Then Friday comes along and I'm getting ready to fix dinner for Rachel and the kids before Mike and I go out for our date night and what do I find in the microwave???? Three beautiful chicken breasts I had begun thawing out the night before for dinner. Needless to say, I hung my head in shame. You see, Mike had come home for two minutes before he took off out of town the night before and gave me money to take the kids out for dinner. I, of course, couldn't refuse and took the kids to Sharkey's and completely forgot about the chicken in the microwave. Until the next evening, of course. Not only was I ashamed but I was so sad that the chicken had gone to waste. Well, sort of. I cooked them up and gave them to the dogs so it was all good. But still... I guess I still have some work to do in the got-it-all-together category.

More Funnies

2009-02-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Carly: "Did you win Robert?"

Robert (playing Daily Noggin computer games): "No. It's a cat scan."

Carly: "What does that mean?"

Robert: "Nobody won."

Mom: "What kind of game was it?"

Robert: "A cat scan."

Mom (laughing so hard I could barely talk) "You mean a cat's GAME."

Kids and money

2009-02-12T20:55:00.000-08:00

Robert: "Hey, Mom!" Could you put some money in my homework folder?"

Me: "Sure, Son. How much do you need?"

Robert: " One or twenty dollars. "

Facebook

2009-02-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I don't get it. I just started my facebook account and everytime I get on there I'm confused. I just don't get it. What exactly is it for? Does anyone really care what I'm doing right at that particular moment? And what if what I'm doing is inappropriate for anyone to know about? And what is the proper ettiquette? Do I have to let everyone I know (but aren't necessarily "friends") into my facebook world? And if I don't let them in wouldn't that be rude? .......totally don't get it. I totally feel angst when I get on there. Help!!!!!

Kids These Days

2009-02-10T10:24:00.001-08:00

Every morning I have to pack a snack for Robert. And for the most part they have been pretty healthy snacks -- granola bars, apples, carrots, etc. But just for a treat I thought I'd pack him the last of the rice crispie treats I made yesterday. Thinking that he'd be thrilled, I gave it to him expecting joyous jubilations. Instead, I get this are-you-nuts???? look and a "What's this?"

With a big smile I say, "It's your snack!"

He says, "Ummm, could I get a HEALTHY snack?" I thought he was kidding and say, "Really?" in total disbelief. He said (get this), "Yes."

I was somewhat hurt but halfway laughing and said, "Go get a granola bar then you dork." And he happily did so.

How can this be my child????

And then Carly, who has always been my good eater and who always asks for a snack after our morning at the dog park, shocked me this morning too. As usual, I offered some yummy fruit, but she asked for (get this) tomatoes!!!

"Tomatoes???" I said.

"Uh huh," she says, "And could you put them in a circle on my plate please?" and then twirls and flits off to go wash her hands.

I'm standing there stunned by this request but completely laughing on the inside (because she is so darned cute) and then turn to honor her request -- tomatoes in a circle on her plate. How could I resist?

Valentine's Day

2009-02-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

We never celebrate Valentine's Day on actual Valentine's Day. For one thing you have to book reservations literally a year in advance in some restaurants and they're always so crowded and generally crazy. So we either celebrate the week before or after and then do a nice family dinner on actual Valentine's Day. So yesterday we celebrated Valentine's Day.

My husband has never skimped on special occassions. In fact, he's the chick in our relationship when it comes to these times. He's the one who remembers where we had our first kiss, where we went for our first Valentine's Day date, etc. Me, I'm sorry to say, get these times all jumbled up and seldom get them right. So anyway, he's the romantic one in our relationship.

So yesterday, we celebrated Valentine's at Saddle Peak Lodge, my most favorite restaurant. It's so very romantic. And because my husband is the stud that he is, he arranged that we be seated on the top floor. I love the top floor because it only has about five intimate tables and it's very romantic. He asked me if he remembered when the last time we sat up there was and, of course, I got it wrong. Apparently, we sat up there on our very first Valentine's Day together exactly 12 years ago.

He also made it very special because I was able to invite Robyn and Tyler to go with us. It was so great to be able to share this night with them. They were both so much fun and as always it was so great being with them. It was so great to be able to share my favorite restaurant and experience what it was like the first time I went there through them. Thank you Robyn and Tyler for that!!

And to top the evening off, we made a plan for the next steps to completing my kitchen and Tyler is totally going to help us. Yay!

And I can't close this post without saying I love you guys! As I said at Christmas time, I have never felt like I have had real friends until now. I can spill my guts out and I feel nothing but love from you all. You are the best!

I'm An Idiot

2009-02-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

Don't you hate it when you're just not thinking and you say stupid things? I do that ALL the time. I offend people ALL the time. And the worse thing about it is that I offend people I love. I think I'm just teasing or I'm much too honest, and then when it's much too late I realize I have offended. I hate it when I do this. I really do.

My problem is that I'm not a mean person. If I were mean then this wouldn't be so painful when I do this. I would be happy when I offend. But since I'm not mean I'm sick to my stomach when this happens. I want to bury my head in the sand for shame. I want to die. It's an awful feeling to have offended. I don't recommend it to anyone.

I have offended a dear friend. And there is no worse feeling to know that I have done this. I'm sure that I have caused much heartache in her life as well and this is unbearable for me. But, of course, because she is a much nicer and better person than I, she will never tell me this.

So, the reason I'm writing this is because I want you to know that I know I'm an idiot. I don't intentionally want to hurt people. I say stupid things They mean nothing. Because I'm an idiot.

No Pics...AGAIN

2009-02-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

I hate not being able to post pics!

We went to Carpinteria on Friday to the Seal Rookery. That's just a place along the coast where the Harbor Seals go to have their babies (don't worry. I didn't know that that was either). The day was absolutely gorgeous! Warm and sunny with a slight breeze. We went up with Julianna, Kelly, Stephanie, Liz and Elizabeth and of course, all the kids. I even took Robert out of school for the special occassion. After all, it was a natural science field trip right? Anyway, I got some really good pictures of the big pregnant mama seals and somewhere amongst the mix was a tiny baby seal that had just been born that morning. Totally cool!

After seeing the seals, we stopped off at Santa Claus Lane and ate at this yummy little restaurant where there was a wonderful place to eat outside and the kids could play in this big giant sand pit. It was so nice!!! I got some really nice pics of the kids playing and stuff, but I can't post them due to the computer issue. Bummer!

I also have some really cute pics of Carly at her gymnastics class on Tuesday. Oh man! She really hammed it up for the camera. She really played up the princess hands. You know, what I mean -- arms straight down her sides with her hands perpendicular to the floor. Too cute!!! Of course, she was up on her toes just for that special princess affect. But, again, no pics.

I'm hoping I'll be getting that external hard drive soon. Some posts just aren't worth writing about without pictures!

Organized -- Kinda

2009-01-29T16:04:00.001-08:00

So this month I really wanted to get my act together and get organized. I needed some help on organizing my days/weeks so I went to the store looking for a day planner. FranklinCovey has never disappointed me in this endeavor, but this time I'm sorry to say that they did. Is it just me, but have their planners become too complicated? So I started looking at what others had to offer and was sorely disappointed.

After studying what was wrong with some of the most popular planners I decide to make up my own and have been completely pleased with the results. Now I'm planning my menus; have figured out how much time in the day I have to do what I want to accomplish and have decided to give myself a whole week to get things done. I have figured out what days to what on (ie: laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning etc.). I don't exactly have everything worked out yet, but I feel like I actually have control of my life again. Yay!!!!

Things Are Looking Up

2009-01-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Last week was a rough week. But this week things are looking up. I made it through another rough patch in my life and I feel like a stronger and better person. I don't talk about whats going on mostly because I keep myself so busy that I don't give myself time to worry about it. Plus, the kids don't need to know whats going. Not this time anyway.

So I think this time around, I learned this... no matter how painful your trial can be and how uncertain you may be about the outcome of the future, don't second guess yourself and your motives. If your choices are of God, stay strong. He will provide. That's His promise.

I love my life. I love my husband, I love my kids and I love my friends. Because of the love I feel from all of you, my life is so much easier!

VT Luncheon

2009-01-21T22:18:00.000-08:00

Visiting Teaching has always been a thorn in my side. I know that's not very Christlike but it's true. It's just one more thing that needs to be done and not only that but it's on a time line. Also, I know it's important and I know it's necessary which adds to the thorniness of the task. However, I really enjoy visiting my girls, getting to know them better and passing on the spiritual message for the month. I really do. Although, sometimes it can be really hard to get to all my girls (I have 3 girls to visit and 1 to mail stuff to). So this month I had a great idea. Why not make them come to me! We'll have lunch and a short message and then I'm done until next month. Yeah for me!!! ....So we did.

It turned out so nice that I think I'll be doing this every month. Next month we'll have a something Valentiney.... Hmmm... maybe something chocolately involved...

Now I'm excited to do my visiting teaching! Go figure.....

Life

2009-01-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

Life is a funny thing. It can be going really well for a long time and then BAM! For what seems like no reason the carpet is pulled out from underneath you and it seems like your life has changed for the worse. Usually these are things completely out of your control and you have no choice but to rely on the Lord and hope for the best. This has happened so much to me in my life that I don't even ask why any more. It just is and there isn't any other way to go but forward. But, I trust God. I just don't get why it has to be so painful.

I gave a Relief Society lesson on Sunday and we talked about how God some times tests us for no other reason than to try our faith. A lot of times, however, these same trials are meant to prepare us for the next great thing to come. I truly believe this. I figure my trials are to prepare me for what's in store for my children. I know they're meant for a great work in this life. I suppose I need to get my act more completely together in order to serve them adequately.

I had to chuckle a little when I was reading the Visiting Teaching message this month too. It's about standing strong and immovable in faith. I thought, "how appropriate." My favorite quote from the message is by Richard G. Scott: "You cannot today remotely imagine what that decision to be unwaveringly obedient to the Lord will allow you to accomplish in life. Your quiet uncompromising determination to live a righteous life will couple you to inspiration and power beyond your capacity now to understand." Let me just say that I count on that.

Princess For A Day?

2009-01-17T22:42:00.000-08:00

We went to Costco today and before we left Carly insisted on wearing one of her tiaras. I tried to distract her hoping that she would forget about the tiara but, of course, she didn't. She reminded me just before we walked out the door that I "must get her tiara".

So we get to Costco and one of the workers, noticing her tiara, asked her if she was a princess for the day. Carly says,"Uh Uh. Every day."

Honestly, I don't know where she gets it.... probably her dad. :)

Food! Glorious Food!

2009-01-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

I had my first real meal tonight. It's been nearly a 100 years since my last meal. And I swear it was the best meal I have EVER had. Really it's only been a week, but it seems like a 100 years . Anyway, for date night tonight we went to Blue Fin Grill and I a had the grill marinated salmon on sautee'd spinach. It was absolutely out of this world! I've had this before and it's always been good, but tonight it was exceptional! Mmmmmm! I would have liked to have a nice thick ribeye steak, but I have to start with lighter meats first. But it was still delicious

I've always loved food. I love cooking it and I love eating it. But I never realized just how much I loved it until this last week. Also, during the last week my sense of smell has become so acute. I swear I can smell garlic from a mile away now. I'm like a dog -- constantly distracted by smells, but mostly by the smell of food. :)

I Can't Believe It's Been So Long!

2009-01-15T22:03:00.001-08:00

I really can't believe it's been so long. Christmas is over and New Year's has passed. My! How time flies!

I really wanted to post a bunch of pictures so everyone can see what's been happening with our lives in the passed few weeks (months??!), but I can't download any photos due to a memory problem on my computer. So I'm working on getting an external hard drive so this won't happen again. But that's boring stuff. So I'll try to recap just a little:

November
Robert was the Big Bad Wolf in his school Thanksgiving Play. He did great and was so cute with his Big Bad Wolf mask.

Thanksgiving in Oregon
We hiked and played and laughed. It was a great time! (All except for the tooth incident) We ended up staying an extra day because our flight was canceled due to fog up and down the west coast.

December
We spent the first week back from Oregon just trying to get back to normal after a long trip and then we pulled out the Christmas decorations and spent the 2nd week of Dec just getting ready for Santa to come. As Robert put it we weren't ready until the lights were up on the house. It was a lot of work but very much worth it. The kids made it so.

Let's see....hmm..... Oh Yes! The Parties! It seemed like every week was filled with one or two parties. Oh yeah! And eating!! We ate like there was no tomorrow: cookies and fudge. Pecan Squares and Candy Canes. And the chocolate!! I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'm sick of chocolate ...... well, maybe for awhile anyway. Unless it's fudge. I could totally do fudge again.

Robert lost his first tooth! However, I didn't get to pull it out. He came in to my bedroom one morning and said, "Guess what I have in my hand."
"What?" I ask
"My tooth!" he says as he pulls his hand out from behind his back and shows me his teeny tiny tooth.
So, that night the tooth fairy came for the first time to our house and left a buck under his pillow. I was shocked! After all, I only got a quarter and my teeth were much bigger!

Santa came and treated us all good. The kids were thrilled, yet not so surprised. I guess they just knew he would come. After all, why wouldn't he? Right? The rest of the day we just relaxed and enjoyed the day. After all the Santa hubbub I was able to take a 3 hour much needed nap. It was absolute heaven! After I woke up we had lunch and went to the movies and saw "The Tale of Despereaux" and it was really good! It was the perfect end to a perfect day. I can honestly say that it was the best Christmas ever!

January
New Year's Eve was fun. For the past 2 years we've celebrated an East Coast New Year's on account of the kids. We figured it would be torture for all of us if we tried to keep the kids up (not to mention me. I tend to be not so pleasant when I'm tired). So we ate yummy snacks, played charades and counted down the New Year at 9pm. We donned our party hats and popped our poppers. We screamed out "Happy New Year" to each other and gave each other a New Year's kiss. We then toasted in the New Year with a glass of "Mormon Bubbly" and called it a night. It was the perfect ending to a very a fantastic year. Here's to my hubby and kids!!!!

The following weekend after New Year's we headed up to Utah to celebrate my Dad's birthday. We caravaned up with the Walden's and took our time getting up there. It was actually a lot of fun. Once we got up there we hung out with my parents and ate yummy Mexican food. My mom is the best cook! She taught me some of her secrets and I can't wait to try them out. My dad turned 81 this year. (Wow!! Way To Go Dad!) He's doing great as if he never had a heart attack and plans to be around for awhile.

The Present Day
So as usual at the beginning of every year, I reassess my life and try to figure out which area needs the most work. I've come to the conclusion that there isn't just one area, but many so little by little and line by line, I'm chipping away at being a better person. However, right now my focus is on my physical health.

My husband and I have under gone a complete body cleansing. And let me tell you, this has not been easy!!! In fact, on some days it has been down right torture. For one week, my diet has consisted of nothing but smoothies. Albeit, yummy smoothies, but that's it. Smoothies. And water. Lots and lots of water. We have to drink a cleansing drink before each morning and evening smoothie which consists of psyllium hulls and aloe vera mixed with apple juice with some veggie pill thingies. It's not so bad. We also get snacks between each smoothie which is either juice or a piece of fruit. Needless to say, by the 3rd day I was DYING for some real food. By the 4th day I began salivating at yummy smells. Today is the 5th day and I'm doing much better. Of course, I've stayed in all day so that has helped. Tomorrow I get to introduce meat back into my diet. I can't hardly wait! And in case you're wondering, the cleansing totally works. I won't go into detail, but I'll say this: So far I've lost 5 pounds and that's not fat. That's just whats been in my gut. Amazing! Right now I can't say that I feel better because I'm just hungry. But the booklet says that you don't usually feel a difference until after the cleansing. So I look forward to that.

So there you have. I know - Not too exciting, but I thought I had to fill in all the gaps.

Missing Tooth

2008-12-04T20:27:00.001-08:00

Okay. A couple of weeks ago I went to the dentist with severe pain in my right lower 1st moler (that's the very last moler). The pain was so excruciating it radiated all the way into my ear and down my neck. I could barely talk. This all happened on a Friday. So I made an appointment with a local dentist and wasn't able to get in until the following Tues. So I medicated myself with a gajillion Advil and was good to go for the weekend.

So I go in for the appointment and the Dentist, who was super duper nice taps my tooth and asked me if that hurt? To my surprise it didn't. So he tells me that the tooth is dead and we'll have to perform a root canal in order to keep it. He took an x-ray and saw that the tooth was definately abssessed. However, there was a very large space behind the tooth which he was very concerned about. He wrote me a prescription for Vicadin (yeah!) and I made an appointment for the root canal with his colleague.

The following week I go in for my root canal and while the dentist is shooting me up full of novacaine he notices that there is a much bigger problem going on than just a dead tooth. I know this because his assistant says, "Is that what I think it is?" and he says "Uh-huh." He then says, "I'm going to let that (the novacaine) set in for a few minutes and I'll be back in a few minutes." Feeling half numbed already, I look over at the dental assistant and say, "I ate a granola bar right before I came is that what you saw?" She just laughed at me and said "He'll be right back to talk to you about it." By this time I'm feeling a little nervous.

So the Dr. comes back in and says, "Okay. So we have a bigger problem here..... blah blah blah.... dead tooth......blah blah blah..... 12 mm pocket around tooth filled with puss (I know. Gross.)infected jaw bone caused it....... blah blah blah..... have to pull your tooth out." "WHAT?????" I said completely shocked. "What do you mean you have to pull my tooth out?" He explained that it could be either an endodontic or periodontic problem. An endodontic problem would mean that the problem lies in the bone meaning the tooth would have to come out and there would have to be bone grafting and a tooth implant etc... If it was a periodontic infection the root canal would do the trick. However, from the looks of things he strongly felt that this was an endodontic problem. He was very nice and very logical, however, he wasn't going to be pulling my tooth out today. That I knew for sure! So I had him call my brother-in-law who is an excellent DDS in Oregon. Yes. I actually had him call my brother-in-law in OR and explain the situation to him. So he did and they both agreed that since the origin of the infection was unsure we should go ahead with the root canal. After all, this may save the tooth for a few months or maybe indefinately since they were unsure of the origin of the infection. However, since we had taken so long to decide what to do, my dentist could only do half of the procedure today and would have to finish up the following week. Oh joy. At least I wouldn't be in any more pain.

I get the root canal completed the following week. Ten days later we head up to Oregon to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family and my brother-in-law who is the dentist. Up until a day prior to our trip I was pain free. And then to my dismay the pain started to come back which meant it wasn't the tooth. It was the bone.

So I went into my brother-in-law's office kicking and screaming and had my tooth pulled and the bone grafted. In 6 months or so I'll be going back for an implant. I'm so bummed. I'm even more bummed after having seen my tooth and seeing that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It was all the stupid bone's fault. And there is no explanation as to why the bone went bad either - just something that's very rare. Furthermore, to make matters worse, I had the tooth pulled the day before Thanksgiving which made my Thanksgiving meal not as enjoyable as it could have been.

My son has a loose tooth which means he'll be losing a tooth soon too. So he said to me, "That's okay, Mom. I'm loosing my teeth too." Cute. But not so funny.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008-11-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

We're leaving to go out of town for Thanksgiving and I just wanted to give a big shout out to you all and say....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm thankful for you all!!

(Seriously!)

Alphabet Soup

2008-11-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Carly came to me tonight and said, "I'm making alphabet soup, Mama."

"Oh really?" I said

"Yes. Would you like some?"

"Yes! I would love some." I say.

She runs out and comes back with a pie tin full of wooden alphabet letters from her alphabet puzzle and a big mouth spoon and says, "Here you go, Mama."

PRECIOUS!

Class, Style and Grace

2008-11-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

Alice Mary Cosby was Mike's paternal grandmother. I didn't know her very well, but yesterday I got a real sense of who she was.

Yesterday we met some of Mike's family at Alice Mary's condo to go through her things (she passed away a couple of months ago). I've done this sort of thing before when my sister passed away. When doing so I tend to separate the things from the person. In other words, all the furniture, dishes, clothes are just things. They aren't the person. I don't know, it just seems to make it easier to go through. However, yesterday was different.

Maybe it was because I didn't know her very well, but I was so interested in everything. I almost wanted to take everything because it was a part of Mike's heritage. So, I just kept looking and looking at things. Not really knowing what I wanted (except the two wood screens. I knew I wanted those). I just kept looking at everything. I ended up wandering from room to room just looking. I came to the room where she kept her clothes and began sifting through her clothes. What I found there didn't at all surprise me. Alice Mary was a very classy lady. She reminded me of a San Franciscan Socialite full of class, style and grace. She had Ann Taylor suits and beautiful cardigan sweaters of all colors and styles. As I looked at those clothes I got a sense of who Alice Mary really was. In fact, I felt her for a brief second with me, because I KNEW who she was for one brief second. She was no doubt one classy lady. I teared up and was so sad I missed the opportunity to get to know her better while she was alive.

Carly found a bag of stuffed animals and with the assistance of Rebecca (Mike's cousin's girlfriend and her new found friend) she pulled them out one by one. There were so many of the same Teddy Bears and a few of the same rabbits and koala bears. All adorable and soft. But I imagined Alice Mary buying these with the full intent of making little children happy - more specifically, her great grand children and perhaps her friend's grand children. There were so many that they would have well covered her family and then some. However, for whatever reason she wasn't able to fulfill her wish.

I may be wrong, but I do believe that Alice Mary was completely misunderstood while she was alive. She was a private woman and no doubt very strong (to be married to a Cosby man you would have to be). She loved her husband so much that she was lost without him when he died. I'm so happy she's with him now.

She was so proud to be a Cosby and if she were alive today I would want her to know that we will do our best to honor the Cosby name and carry on her legacy. But, I think she knows that.

Eleven Years Ago

2008-11-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

We met on September 20th, 1996 at a Mobil gas station on the corner of Sepulveda and Sherman Way. I was coming home from work and was in dire need of gas. I had actually passed the gas station and was contemplating on turning around because I really was running on fumes. However, I didn't want to. It was one of those days that I just wanted to get home and I didn't want to stop. I was so tired, but I knew I really should stop, but I really didn't want to and so I was having this internal battle with myself (or an angel who was trying to convince me to turn around. Looking back, I'm pretty sure it was an angel. Anyway....) I finally decided to turn around after having assessed my situation. The nearest gas station wasn't for a few miles and I really didn't think I was going to make it so I reluctantly turned around. I pull into the gas station and began pumping gas.

I wasn't there for 5 minutes when this green Explorer pulls up to the pump behind me. This guy gets out (he was wearing Calvin Klein jeans, a USC sweatshirt and a USC baseball cap on backwards) and I get this distinct feeling to go and talk to him. In fact, it was more like a voice in my right ear that said, "Go and talk to him." Without hestation, I thought, "I'm not going to go talk to him". Now, let me just say that at this time in my life I was so (and I do mean SO) done with guys. I had just ended a very LONG relationship and was not interested in meeting anyone new. In fact, I was thinking about moving to Seattle. So I just stood there waiting for my tank to fill up.

The next thing I know this guy says to me, "You drove that little car all the way from Utah?" (I still had my Utah plates) I said, "Yep, and I had two big dogs with me." From there "this guy" starts asking all kinds of questions about me. I barely was able to get his name, but he was able to get my whole life story within about 10 mins. However, he never asked for my phone number and I figured that after having found out all about me he must want my number. So since I really wanted to go home, I offered him my business card and told him that this was my voicemail number and to leave a message on that and that I check it every few days, blah, blah. (I was so not interested at this point. I just wanted to get out of there. Sorry, Babe. But its true.)

I get home and later that night I decided to check my voicemail. And low and behold there was Mike. He left me a message as soon as he had gotten back to his office and left about 5 numbers for me to try to get ahold of him. I saved the message and went on with my weekend.

I decided to call him back that Sunday right before I left for church. That way, if it turned out I didn't like him or whatever, I had an out. We ended up talking for two hours and I skipped church entirely. We made a date for the following Wednesday and hung up the phone.

To be honest I wasn't expecting much. After all, as I had mentioned before, I was so done with guys and I really didn't care if this was going to work or not. So, to me it was just something to do. We didn't do anything spectacular. We just went down to Third Street Promenade and had dinner at Trilusa (not there any more) and walked down the street. But it was so easy and so comfortable like we had known each other our whole lives.

At dinner, we were talking about what our interests were. We discovered that we both like mountain bike riding and realized that we both liked riding off of Kuehner in Simi Valley. Once we realized that, we both stopped ... looked at each other... and BAM! We realized that we had met before. The image was so clear and precise we talked about it as if it were yesterday. Wierd!

The date ended and Mike was the perfect gentlemen. He took my hand, shook it, held it for a brief second and said "Good Night." and turned and left. I was so impressed. I didn't realized it then, but I fell in love with Mike that night.

After our first date, we were inseperable. And on November 1, 1997 we were married. Two years later we were sealed in the St. George temple.

To say the least, it has been one hell of a ride. We've had our ups and downs and our, "I'm out of here!" moments, but I would do it all over again just to be with Mike. He is undoubtedly my knight in shining armor and the man of my dreams. He is my strength where I'm weak and my sanity when I'm insane.

Here's to another 75 years, Baby!!!!!

Happy Birthday Robert!!!!!

2008-10-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

"On October 28, 2002 the news spread far and wide, "Did you hear?" the creatures said. "A baby boy arrived!"

And our lives have never been the same since. He has brought us more joy and happiness than anything in this world has ever offered. He has my eyes and his daddy's personality. He's full of happiness and a desire to always do right. He is powerful and smart. He loves life. And he is a gift to us that we will never be able to match and we are honored to be his parents.

Happy Birthday, My BooBaLoo!!!

Ahhh.... The Innocence!

2008-10-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

There is nothing I love more than the innocence of little children: Nothing bothers them; they don't take things personally; and anything sexual isn't naughty or dirty. It just is.

About a year ago a friend of mine was watching both Robert & Carly. They had two fairly young dogs who continually kept trying to establish dominance over one another by mounting and humping one another. Robert started laughing and asked her what her dogs were doing. My friend, Angie, said, "Oh, they're dancing." So, ever since then Robert will point out our dogs "dancing".

Well, today out of the corner of my eye I see Robert behind Jack kinda leaning over him and slightly moving back and forth. I turn to take a closer look and with a slight smile I ask him, "What are doing?" He said, "I'm dancing with Jack."

OUCH!

2008-10-17T20:22:00.001-07:00

Okay. So I did something stupid and accidently deleted my post. Don't ask me how, but I'm extremely ticked right not and will just paraphrase what I wrote.

I tripped over my dog and sprained my toe really bad.

Ugg!!

Feeling......eh....

2008-10-01T16:04:00.001-07:00

Do you ever have those days that you just have no energy -- you're fighting a cold (still) and you just don't want to do anything??? Brother. That has been me. Monday was a completely wasted day. I managed to get the laundry done and that was it. The plan was to get it all done, put away and clean the house. I thought I had the whole evening to finish it up but then Mike met up with us right after I picked Robert up from school to go costume shopping. We had dinner and went to the Disney Store at Topanga Plaza (love that mall especially after the remodel). I was, of course, all hagged out (exercise pants, t-shirt & no make-up) because I was having an "eh" day. When we got back it was time to put the kids to bed and, of course, that meant I could go to bed too. So nothing got done but the actual washing of clothes.

Tuesday we were invited to the beach and had totally planned to go, but since I got nothing done the day before I decided to forego the beach and stayed home to finish things up. We did manage to get quite a bit done -- the house is clean, the laundry folded and mostly put away. Mike was called out of town so I decided to stay up til 2am watching shows we had TIVO'd. Stupid idea because that meant that today (Wednesday) I was absolutely worthless.

My cold has worsened and because of the lack of sleep I barely managed to make the beds and finish putting the laundry away. Poor Carly has been fending for herself and I feel like the worse mom ever. I hate it when I feel like this. But then again I really don't care at the same time.

Over the weekend we went to the LA County Fair and for the most part that was a lot of fun. We left early, picked up some donuts and ate them on the way down. We wanted to get there early to beat the heat, but didn't make it. It was already 85 degrees at 10am and it just got hotter. By noon we were done. Carly fell asleep in the stroller and Robert was so tired and emotional he was crying over EVERYTHING so we decided to go. We didn't get to ride the rides we wanted to, see much of the animals or go through the winter wonderland exhibit. But all in all it was a good time. It was the cleanest and biggest county fair I've ever been to. I was definately a pleasantly surprised. We're definately going next year. Pics of the fair....

Riding the big slide with dad

Slinging webs with Spidey

Dressing up with Barbie (there was a real life Barbie there, but Carly was not impressed)

Every Princess needs flowers on her face, right?

They had the best petting zoo ever! The animals were so friendly and calm and there weren't any flies either!

This llama was the coolest. He just laid there while the kids climbed all over him. I loved him. He was so soft too!

Ahhh...Bumper Boats...Good Times...

Dragon Roller Coaster

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

2008-09-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

My Glamour Girl

So I blew it yesterday with my daughter. I signed her up for a gymnatics class on Tuesdays at 10am. Well, yesterday I don't know what I was thinking but I was thinking her class was at 10:30 and showed up just as the class was ending. Needless to say, she was absolutely devastated. So in order to calm her down I promised I would take her up to Paint A Dream so she could paint some dishes. She liked that idea so we headed up to the mall (after a stop at Target) and painted. She loves to paint and so this was completely cathartic for her.

After the painting, she wanted to go walk the mall and - get this- "look at jewelry." I kid you not that's what she said. In fact her exact words were, "Mom. Let's got look at jewelry." as she took my hand and led me to Ben Bridge. Well, we had walked through Ben Bridge before and she liked the sparkly glitter, but wasn't completely thrilled so I said, "You want to look at jewelry? I've got the perfect place for you." And took her over to Claire's Boutique.

We walked through the door and I swear she had died and gone to heaven. She gasped and said, "Mom! Look!" and ran over to the wall covered with colorful costume jewelry. She proceeded to pick out her favorites and put it on. Oh My Gosh!!! It was so adorable!!! I couldn't believe how thrilled she was with everything. She was so excited that as I took her through the store she would give me big hugs and twirl every so often. She even broke out a "You're the best mom ever!" and gave me big hugs. Mmmmmm..... it was wonderful. I ended up just sitting on the floor and watched her indulge herself. It was priceless.

My Husband Is A Stud

2008-09-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

My husband was actually home for date night tonight. Our usual date nights consist of dinner and a movie and tonight wasn't any different now that we actually have some movies to choose from. Anyway, our original plan was to see "Lakeview Terrace" with Samuel Jackson as the bad cop/neighbor. But it turned out that we got our dates mixed up and realized the movie doesn't come out until next weekend. So I suggested seeing "The Women" and since Mike couldn't remember the last chick flick we had seen together, he conceded. I really didn't mean to torture him. Afterall, date night is meant for both of us not just one or the other, but it turns out it was a bit of a torture...

When we walked into the theater it was filled with women. I'm not kidding there was not one other man there. As we're walking up the stairs to our usual spot some woman in the back yells out, "Look! There's a man!" a small applaud broke through the theater. I couldn't help but raise my arms and shake them as if I had a won a victory. Then another woman says, "That's a good man!" Yeah. I was proud.

As we were waiting for the movie to start I kept looking for other couples to walk in but not a one came in. I truly felt bad for my husband. But he took it like a man.

At the end of the movie we waited for everyone to leave and noticed that there was one other man there. So, it turned out that Mike wasn't the ONLY man in a theater of about 150 women. Although, I have to say that my husband was definately the more studly of the two.

As for my dad....
I heard from my sister that my dad had an angioplasty and had some plaque build up cleared out of one of his arteries. Apparently he knew what had brought on the attack and was able to get to the hospital before it turned into a major attack. It wasn't as serious as I was expecting so that's good. Thank you all for your concern and support. It's so nice to know that I'm not alone in this! Love you all!

Heart Attack

2008-09-12T08:56:00.001-07:00

My father had a heart attack this morning. I was on the way back from dropping Robert off at school and I get the phone call. My sister, Maria, in Oregon called me. My mom called her.

Maria said that he had felt it coming on and asked to be driven to the hospital. That's so like my dad. He got thrown off a horse years ago and suffered with amnesia from the accident. He couldn't remember his wife or his children but knew that he had amnesia from his own symptoms and called the ER and told them what they needed to do once he got there.

I don't know anything right now other than they are keeping him over night for testing. They want to know how bad it was, where it originated and what damage, if any, there is.

Wierd. My dad shouldn't be having a heart attack. He still goes to the gym for heaven sakes. He takes all the right precautions and he takes care of himself over all. I figure his body is just getting tired.

I have peace that all is going to be okay and yet I'm scared.....

What Were You Doing?

2008-09-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was reading my friend Lori's blog on what she was doing the day the World Trade Center came down and it got me thinking about what I was doing....

I had just gotten up and was getting ready for work (no kids at the time). I turn on the TV to the Today show and hear Matt Lauer talking about a plane flying into the one of the towers of the World Trade Center. At this point, nobody thought this was an attack. I was kinda half way interested and was more interested in what I was going to wear for the day. Suddenly I hear Matt Lauer say, "Oh My God! We're under attack!" (I'll never forget those words). I looked up just in time to see the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower.... That's when all hell broke loose.

Everything from this point forward was a blur. The phone rang (no cell phone then). It was Mike telling me not to ask questions that our country was under attack and to just get to the office as soon as possible. He would be there shortly (he was on the way to the court house downtown LA when he heard the news). While he's talking I'm watching the towers crumble to the ground and all the people on TV running around in hysterics. It was like everything was moving in slow motion and I'm listening to my husband giving me instructions with my jaw dropped. I had to sit down.

I did as I was told. And as I was driving to the office my heart was pounding so fast and so hard and all I could think of was, "Is my husband going to have to go to war?" Even though he was no longer in the Air Force I couldn't help think that he was going to be asked to come back for this. I WAS SCARED TO DEATH.

That's all I can remember. Probably because I was consumed with, "Is my husband going to war? Is my husband going to war?" Even though he assured me over and over and over again that he wasn't going to be asked back that it didn't work that way.

Then I heard about the airplanes that had been hijacked and the pentagon being hit. I was sick to my stomach and my heart broke. I actually cried when I heard about the plane that went down over Pennsylvania and the heroic acts of the passengers that brought the plane down. I still tear up when I think about that one. They knew they were going to die, but had to do it anyway -- Totally something my husband would do.

Seven years later....My heart still aches and the tears still come. I'm sadden when I hear about those who don't fully understand the magnitude of that day and how it changed our lives forever. And yet, the fight for freedom still continues.....

On a lighter note, I'd like to give a shout out to my two girlfriends, Julianna and Pam (Julianna's birthday was yesterday. Pam's is today)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS!

My Little Elf

2008-09-07T20:13:00.001-07:00

Lately Carly has been taking her pink tights and putting it on her head like a hat. She thinks it's funny and so do I. I tell her she looks like one of Santa's little elves with her "stocking cap" on. She is so cute!

Saturday

2008-09-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great Saturday.

Mike was called away so it was just me and the kids. The morning was so nice and peaceful. The kids were content just hanging out in their rooms doing whatever so I took the opportunity to finish up my Prop 8 phone calls. I was so proud of myself 'cuz I finished them all in an hour and a 1/2. Yeah! Robert did his homework and then we took the dogs to the beach. I heard there was an off leash dog beach up in Santa Barbara so I thought it would be fun to take a road trip up there.

We made it to Santa Barbara, but I don't know what happened because the place we ended up was just an off leash nature reserve which was no big deal and it wasn't enclosed so I was constantly stressed about losing one of the dogs. However, we found a little gully that Carly got stuck in. Here's what she looked like when we came out of there:

I couldn't help but laugh.

Since the Santa Barbara Off Leash Beach was a bust we headed back home. We hit McDonald's on the way back and for the first time in about 20 years I had a Big Mac. I don't know what I was thinking but I was craving something fat and sloppy. And it was disgusting. I won't do that again.

On the way back we stopped at a private beach just outside of Ventura and had a blast. Robert was able to play in the water:

Carly played in the sand:

And the doggies had a blast:

We had a great time. After a while we headed back home. All in all it was a lot of fun. I really love hanging out with the kids. They make me laugh and I just love every moment with them.

Always making memories.......

The Truth Is In The Trees

2008-09-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Could it be? Already? Isn't it a little early for fall here in California? I mean, doesn't it really turn fall around late October or even November around here?

Well. Check out what I saw in the trees this morning.....

Maybe I'm just in denial, but I swear it's too early for this. Fall leaves???? Really????? It's only September and, the truth be said, I still have to go to the beach some more!

Carly's Masterpiece

2008-09-02T17:55:00.001-07:00

Beautiful isn't it?

Close Up

ARRRRGH!!!!!

First Day of Kindergarten

2008-09-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

It wasn't so bad. Robert woke up early, got dressed, did his hair and was ready to go by 6:30 AM! Crazy kid. Of course, I wasn't even near ready, but managed to roll out of bed by 7 and get a few things done like get dress, make the beds and eat breakfast (Robert, of course, had already eaten breakfast). We did manage to get in scripture study before leaving by 8. So all and all the first day of having a schedule went pretty good.

We stopped by the office to pick up Mike so he could be a part of this momentus occasion and headed off to school. Robert was too pre-occupied to think about anything else. He didn't want to talk about anything because he was too jacked up to get to school.

Once we got there we headed straight to class and he immediately sat down with a group of boys who were playing some kind of flashcard game. My son. Not a shy bone in his body. We were able to snap a couple of pics before he shooed me off. But then that was that. I was expecting a little more emotion, but nothing. He just couldn't wait to get me out of there. I did manage to sneak in a kiss and a "Remember who you are" but I don't think he noticed any of it. Although, his eagerness certainly did make the transition go easier so it wasn't as hard as I expected. However, I have to say that it sure is quiet around here without him.

Summer's Over

2008-09-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

It's official. Summer is over. Robert starts school tomorrow. I'm really sad . We have had so much fun this summer and now it's over. But Robert is so excited! He's so excited to be staying the whole day with his friends and to learn how to read and write. And because he's so excited I can't help but be excited for him (allbeit, reluctantly). I'm just going to miss him.

I asked Robert what his favorite part of the summer was and he said, "Hanging out at the beach with the boys."

I don't blame him. It's been a blast!!!!

Pull Your Pants Up!

2008-08-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Mike was gone over Tuesday night and Wednesday so I decided to take the kids down to visit Robyn again. The plan was to leave Tuesday night and stay over night so that we could leave early Wednesday morning in order to find parking easily. So we left around 8:30pm and got there around 9:20p. Traffic was a breeze. The kids were so excited. Carly wore her soft velvety pink pajamas just for the occasion. It was her first "slumber party" although she was sorely disappointed that it wasn't outside (I have no idea where she got the idea that a slumber party is supposed to be outside. hmmmm....).

We woke up early to Andrew's laughing and giggling (he's such a happy little guy) and ate a delicious breakfast of cereal. We made our lunch and loaded up for the beach. We had to make one stop at Wal-Mart for essentials (chips, salsa, Oreos and black licorice). Traffic was good so we made great time. Once we got there I was a little worried we had already missed the window of opportunity for great parking. Even though, we got there around 10:30ish the place was already packed. But thanks to Robyn's little prayer (and I really do believe that) we found a great spot within minutes of arriving. We unloaded all our loot, found a great spot and camped out for another gorgeous day at the beach.

I had to add more coins to the parking meter so I had to head back to the car. Robyn was more than happy to keep an eye on the kids so off I went. Mission accomplished I headed back to our beach site and low and behold I see my son running towards me with tears in his eyes and his swim trunks down around his ankles! I couldn't imagine what this could be about nor did I give it a moments thought, afterall, the only thing I could think about was my son's penis out in the open for the whole world to see! The poor kid was just screaming about his legs burning as I was frantically trying to pull up his shorts. And all I kept saying back to him was, "That's okay. Just pull your pants up!"

What seemed like FOREVER, I finally got his shorts up and managed to calm him down enough to get a more accurate assessment of what was burning his legs. I was happy not to find any jellyfish stings or sea anemone quills so we headed off to the shower to rinse off. On the way to the shower I asked him if he had peed in the ocean. He said "Uh-huh" most timidly. It was then that I knew that his skin was probably really dry and sensitive from all the fun in the sun (pool & ocean) and his pee probably burned his legs. Mystery solved. The fresh water from the shower cooled everything down and we were set for the rest of the day. And what a gorgeous fun day it was!

After all the hoopla, I couldn't help cracking up and wishing so bad that I had gotten a picture of my son running across the sand with his pants down around his ankles!

Tagged

2008-08-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

I have to be honest. I'm not a big fan of these things. It's really hard to come up with answers. However, I love reading about everyone else. Anyways, here it goes....

These are the rules: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag 5 other people. Leave a comment for the people you tag so they know they have been tagged.

Here it goes:

Joys:
1. My husband and kids
2. Doing practically anything out doors
3. Physical Training... Man! I miss it!!

Fears:
1. Me dying before my kids are grown
2. My husband dying before kids are grown or before me while we're still young
3. One or both of my kids dying before me

Current obsessions/collections:
1. Cooking
2. Reading
3. My kids

Surprising Facts:
1. I'm a control freak (maybe that's not such a big surprise)
2. I can install a complete sprinkler system
3. I've got flat feet

I tag:
1. Robyn
2. Jackie
3. Hannah
4. Everyone else has been tagged!
5.

Have fun!

Catching Up

2008-08-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Man! It's been too long since I've posted anything and the sad thing is that I've had plenty to post. So, I'm going to catch up some...

Robert had his big Kindergarten Dr's Appt the Wednesday before last. I prepped him on what to expect and bribed him with a new DS game. I know that may seem a little extravagant, but he tends to be quite dramatic when the shots hit so my intent with the bribery was to get him to not scream bloody murder when he got his shots. And it worked. He did try really hard not to scream and just cried big crocodile tears while I held his arm tightly in place. With that my heart went out to him, but when he screams bloody murder I just get utterly annoyed with him. So he got his game.

The next day we went to Newport Beach to spend the day with Robin and her baby boy, Andrew. As much as I love Newport Beach I can't stand the parking situation. It took us forever to find a parking place but it turned out to be worth the headache 'cuz we got the primo parking space. It only took us about 45 mins to get it but like I said, it was PRIMO -- well worth it. We stayed all day long. It was another perfect beach day -- warm and breezy. Robert was suffering from the aftermath of his shots the day before and slept most of the day. Thank goodness I had the sense enough to pack along some Tylenol for him so he could rest comfortably. He probably slept for 2-3 hours, but woke up rearing to go. I hadn't even noticed he woke up when I noticed him playing in the waves. What a trooper. Of course, it was wonderful visiting with Robyn. She is truly my little sister from a different mother. One of my favorite memories of the day was trying to figure out what was wrong with Andrew. He was acting so fussy which is unusual for him so I suggested setting him in the sand in his bumbo so he could play in the sand a little bit. So Robyn reluctantly did ('cuz she's not too fond of the sandiness). I kinda pushed sand around his feet and he seemed to be intrigued for about 2 seconds and then he squished up his little face and began screaming. It was so funny because he was sooooooo mad that he turned bright red and began shaking. Both Robyn and I sat there and stared at him and were like, "hmmm. I guess he didn't like that." I busted up laughing (I know. I'm so mean). Robyn picked him up and calmed him down. He fell asleep almost instantly (we figured that's why he was so fussy) and slept for about an hour. I'm sure the emotional outburst had something to do with that. Hehehe. While Andrew was sleeping I got up and played in the waves with Robert. Carly built sand casltes and played in the waves as much as she dared. We ended up leaving the beach around 6pm. It was a great day.

The following Saturday, Mike was home for a few hours before he had to leave again so we took the kids to Troutdale and went fishing. Oh man! That was soooo cute. There was my little girl in her white little skirt and pink and white onesie to match holding a fishing pole next to her daddy. And Robert, of course, couldn't sit still enough to catch a fish. I have to say that I was very impressed with my husband (who is probably the least patient person I know) sat there patiently enough to catch not just one fish but two. Not bad. Not bad at all. I have to say, though, that I was the one who pulled the hooks out of the fishs' mouth. The first one was the most disturbing as I had to tear the poor lip of the fish and caused it to bleed profusely as the poor fish was gaping for air. When I was a young girl that never used to bother me, but as an old woman it really bothered me. It bothered Robert a little too. He's got such a tender heart, my son. We ended up catching 3 huge fish and one tiny fish. Carly ended up being our bait girl. She said she didn't like fishing. At least she wasn't grossed out by it all. We had trout for dinner that night.

Sunday I had to teach the Relief Society lesson. It was not an easy lesson to teach. It was on consolation of death. It's hard to say how it went. Although, I did feel the spirit overcome me just before I got up to teach and I know it carried me through. Other than that though I wouldn't have known how it went due to the lack of support I recieved from my girls -- no one commented on anything and just left me hanging the whole entire lesson! Yeah.... thanks for that, girls. Hehehehe. Nah! I'm just kidding! It was a tough lesson even to make a comment.(apparently)

Tuesday, we went to the beach -- Zuma 13. I wasn't feeling quite myself, but had a great day with the girls anyway. Oh I should also mention that practically every night this week we've been watching the olympics. Robert is way into them. I've had to tivo them so he can watch them in the morning since they run so late. Later that evening, for some odd reason Carly wanted hot chocolate. Don't ask me why seeing how it was a hot day. But she insisted on hot chocolate. I think she just wanted to use her new princess mug we got at Disneyland. Nonetheless, we all had hot chocolate and used our new Disneyland mugs.

Wednesday, the kids got their haircuts. Robert's is definately an improvement. He was looking pretty shaggy. Carly's is hardly noticeable. I've decided to grow out her bangs so her's was just a trim. Nonetheless, I got a cute picture out of it.

I got to hike up to the cross all by myself with the 3 dogs tonight. It was so nice! I got to go at my own pace and really enjoy the fresh air. I left at dusk so the sun was setting over the hills. That just added to the perfectness of the break away. And since I got to go at my own pace I actually broke a sweat and mmmmm... did that feel good.

Mike hasn't been home a lot these days and I really miss him. I think that's why I've been out of sorts -- almost depressed. I've been just like mindlessly plugging along -- not really knowing what to do with myself. I know it won't be like this forever. I just miss him.... a lot.

So there you have it. My week (and a 1/2) in a nutshell. Oh yeah. One more thing. I've been tagged.....

Another Great Beach Day

2008-08-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

This past week was a little crazy. Mike was gone a lot, but we managed to stay busy and have fun in spite of his absence. Thursday we ended up at the beach by ourselves. Although, all our friends said they were going to come and meet us there, everyone fell through. But you know what? It was okay. The kids and I actually had a great day at the beach and it was the perfect beach day. The sun was out and warm. There was a slight breeze and not too crowded. We camped out at our usual Zuma 13 and for the first hour or so I kept an eye out for any familiar faces but then gave up and focused on my babies. We truly had a great day. There was one point when we were all building sand castles and I had one of those moments where you just want to freeze time -- you don't want it to end. I was watching Robert who was so intently building his crumbling sand castle trying to get the sand to stick together - not really getting upset, but just having fun and Carly looking for a seagull's feather to put on the top of our castle we built together and I just teared up. THIS is what life is about, I thought. After Carly found her seagull feather she stuck it into one of the towers and said "Now can I smash it, Mom?" I laughed a little and said, "No, Baby. I want to live in this castle one day." And she said, "But Mom. It's too little." I laughed out loud to that one. Too Cute!

After our sand castles Robert went out and rode the waves on his new boogie board. He was having so much fun and was catching some good waves that he didn't realize how far he had moved down the beach. I was getting a little worried about him since it was getting harder and harder to spot him so Carly and I took a little walk down the beach to round him up. Carly spotted him walking toward us and said, "There's Du, Mom." (she calls him "Du". That's short for Dude.) He was walking back up the beach and when he saw us he just broke down in tears. He was so relieved to see us he couldn't contain himself. My heart just melted. You know, I forget sometimes that he's only 5. He's got such an old soul and he's such a mature little guy that I forget that he's only 5. So for the first time in a long time I wrapped him up in his towel and held him on my lap. Ahhhhhh!!!!

So, thanks everyone for not showing up. It turned out to be one the best days we've had at the beach so far this summer! :)

Earthquake

2008-07-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

I was on my way out the door when the earthquake hit this morning. I mean I was literally walking toward the door when all the sudden I hear dishes clanking and a strange rumbling sound. My initial thought was, "Is someone trying to get in through the garage?" But then I got that strange sensation one gets when the ground is moving underfoot. My kids were already in the car so I ran to the front door (Its a strange feeling when something like this happens and you're separated from your kids). I know this sounds wierd but when something like this happens I take a second to assess the situation, wait for direction and listen. I'm not actually waiting for someone to tell me what to do because I'm paralyzed stiff, but more like I'm waiting to see what I need to do next. So I'm at the front doorway I know the kids are fine. They're strapped in their carseats. There is no danger of any trees or telephone poles crashing down on them and I'm in the front doorway. So far so good. What seemed like a lifetime the quake ended and I lock up the house and get in the car. The car is still rocking when I get in and I ask the kids if they felt the car rock and Robert says, "Yeah." And I told him that it was rocking because we just had an earthquake. Robert is like "What????" and I tell him that we had an earthquake and that made the car rock. He didn't freak out or anything just said "Oh." And that was that. Carly was completely content not really understanding what just happened. And so I started up the car and headed out. I called Mike on the way to see if he had felt the quake. He hadn't. So we went on our merry way. I have to say that this was one of the bigger earthquakes I've been in. It was a little scary. However, in spite of all that, it was another great day at the beach!

Beach and More Beach

2008-07-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Okay. So this summer has been all play, play, play. I've been trying so hard to keep our days filled with pool and beach. And so far I've been pretty successful. Thats why there haven't been too many posts since summer began... I've been too pooped to write!

Take a look at our summer so far.......

Best Friends: Laura & Carly (adorable, aren't they?)

Laura, KC, Seth & Charlie (what exactly is KC doing??)

Carly, Sarah & Shawn

Pam, Lori & Liz

(What's up with the hand in the face, Pam?? If it wasn't for that this would have been a great pic! Sheesh! hehehe)

The Boys: Robert, Zack, Brandon & Shawn

The kids and I went down to Newport one day and saw Robyn and her precious baby boy, Andrew. Good Times. Definately, worth the trip!!

Family came into town and of course we had to go to the beach with them. This is my niece, Jackie with Robert. Gorgeous, isn't she?

So there you have it. This will definately be a summer we'll remember. We're having so much fun with everyone!!

Ahhhh....I Love Summers!

2008-07-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

So here's what we did yesterday: had breakfast with the girls, went to swimming lessons, went to the pool, had lunch at the pool, came home and took naps for a couple of hours (all of us). We then took dogs out to enjoy the summer evening, rented a movie (Alladin) and topped our evening off with popcorn, lemonade and fruit for dinner. I swear it can't get much better than that!

Sorry no pics. Just fun and relaxation....mmmmmm.

Happy 4th!

2008-07-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July is totally one of my most favorite holidays and this year was no exception. More than Memorial Day it kicks off the summer with a bang (literally - hehe). We didn't do much but go to a movie and then hit the fireworks show at the church but it was perfect mostly because we were all together as a family (which doesn't happen too often). Our plan was to have a picnic on the church lawn before the fireworks began, but to our astonishment (or stupidity which ever you'ld like to call it :) ) everything was closed. We did manage to find Carl's Jr. open to get the kids something to eat, but Mike and I went hungry. Carl's Jr. just doesn't do it for us. Once we got to the church we found our friends and had a great time hanging out. It's always so fun hanging out with them. I don't have any pics because like a dope I forgot to take my camera. But you can check out some pics on Kaye's and Pam's site. They have proof of us being there. The kids were exhausted after the fireworks show and fell asleep almost immediately in the car. As usual, when the house is all quiet I tend to reflect on the day and this time all I could think of is how greatful I am to have what I have -- my friends and my family. And because it's 4th of July weekend I couldn't help to think of how greatful I am to be living in this country and all that happened and continues to happen for our freedom.....

Happy 4th Everyone and God Bless America!!!

Polly Pockets

2008-07-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

As you all know my daughter just had her third birthday. And at her little party she recieved some Polly Pockets. For those of you who don't know what Polly Pockets are they are these teeny tiny dolls about 3 inches tall. The doll comes with a full wardrobe of teeny tiny shoes, dresses, and in some cases jewelry. So if you can imagine my daughter was absolutely thrilled to have recieved such a toy. And honestly I was thrilled for her since it is completely up her alley. However, I could immediately see how this could be potentially hazardous for me. I tend to be completely anal when it comes to sets. If something comes with stuff such as teeny tiny shoes etc. it MUST stay together. Nonetheless, because my daughter was so excited about her Polly Pockets I was determined to keep track of everything.

So today Carly kept bringing me her Polly Pocket and asking me to change her clothes and shoes over and over again. It wasn't so bad. After all, my daughter was having a ball and I was feeling pretty confident about keeping track of everything. However, after about the 5th time I noticed that Polly's wardrobe started to slowly diminsh. She was missing a shoe. It was then that I started silently cursing the man behind the toy. After all, who was the genius behind the development of this toy? Who thought that teeny tiny shoes and teeny tiny jewelry and teeny tiny clothes was a good idea? I mean really? I, of course, began scouring the house for this ridiculously small shoe and getting more and more upset cursing Mattel toys all the way. I still haven't found it. And because of this I'm afraid to vacuum for fear of vacuuming it up. Needless to say, I am tempted to hunt down the jackass behind the Polly Pockets and make him come and look for it. Argh!!!

Well Lookey Here....

2008-07-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

The other night I went in to check on Carly and this is what I found:

Yeah. That's right. She doesn't have any bottoms on and she's not in her bed. I have no idea how she got this way since I didn't put her to bed that way. I actually found her hanging half way off her bed, but after I started taking pictures she moved from her bed to the floor. I managed to find her panties and her pajama bottoms (somewhere across her room), put them back on, and get her back in bed without her waking up. Thank Goodness! But, I'm still at a loss at how that happened. Hmmm..... I wonder. But what a great pic for future blackmailing right??? And this is less revealing than the others I took (heh heh heh).

Happy Birthday Carly!!!!

2008-07-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today is Little Miss Carly Jo's birthday. She was born 3 years ago at 8pm at Simi Valley Hospital. My doctor (Shayla Kasel, MD -- fabulous dr by the way) manipulated a few things here and there so that I would have little Miss Carly a week early. It worked and 3 years and 2 1/2 hours ago I had miss Carly. The labor was easy compared to Robert's and when she came out it was like instant girl bonding. I was so afraid of having a little girl because I know all the drama that comes with a little girl. But when I saw her for the first time all the anxiety of having a girl vanished. She was my sister, my daughter, my soul. She was my baby girl. The bond of sisterhood was instantaneous and I was completely in love. I vowed right then and there that no matter how hard it was going to get I was not going to ruin that bond we had. And although at the times Carly has been more than trying, she is still my sister, my daughter, my soul.

Happy Birthday, Princess Carly!! We Love You!

PreK "Gradulation"

2008-06-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I picked up Robert from school and he comes out so excited and says, "Mom! I'm going to have a gradulation!"

This last Wednesday he had his "gradulation". His little graduating class sang a couple of songs before they actually graduated. The first one was "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. The second one was "On Broadway" by George Benson. I cried during the first one and in the second one Robert got to do a little break dancing for the crowd. And honestly, he wasn't bad.

After their little program Robert actually graduated with cap and gown and all. It was way too cute. Of course, when it was my sons turn to recieve his diploma and then face the crowd he stood there for over his alloted time to soak it all in. His teacher had to tell him a couple of times to move on. Mike and I both cracked up.

Afterwards we ate at Daphne's Greek Cafe and had Cold Stone Ice Cream for dessert. It was a great way to end one of many milestones in our boy's life.

Yeah!

2008-06-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Carly went poops on the potty today!!! We are so proud of her! She just calmly came into my bedroom to let me know that she needed to go potty. I said "ok lets go" and took her into the bathroom to help her do her business. After I got her situated she told me to go (lately she's been wanting me to leave her alone so that she can wipe herself) so I went. She then called me back into the bathroom and informed me of her huge accomplishment. I was shocked and so excited for her. I gave her big hugs and kisses and she finally got to play with the pack of dishes she picked out just for the occassion. She was thrilled and so was I! Yeah!!!!

Lazy Day

2008-06-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

I think that some times it's okay to just not doing anything in a day. I mean literally not do anything. Today was one of those days. The kids and I basically laid around (in our jammies) until noon. Finally, after about the 15th time Carly told me she was hungry I got up and made her lunch. After getting up I realized what a mess the house was and how pathetic it was to have just laid around for 5 hours. After all, things did need to get done. But I really truly did not care. How wrong is that? Finally at about 3p and after putting Carly down for her nap (which was about 3 hours late) I finally got up and began cleaning up the place. And to my amazement I was able to clean the kitchen, mop the floor, vacuum, clean the bathrooms, my bedroom and the kids AND start dinner. While dinner was cooking I cleaned the guinea pigs' cage. Anyone who knows me knows that this was quite the feat especially on one of my lazy days. But, you know, I believe we all needed a day of doing nothing. We have been non-stop for what seems a few weeks now and my body just refused to do anything today. Of course, I can only take a mess for so long before my OCD kicks in, but, nonetheless it was a good lazy day.

Our trip to UT (Devon's Back!)

2008-06-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

Man, I can't believe how long it's been since my last post! Of course, so much has happened, but I won't bore you all with the details. However, there are two main events that can't be ignored. First of all, Devon returned home from his mission last Friday evening. The kids and I (and little Jack) went up to St. George to see him. We got real lucky because he was supposed to arrive at 4:20p but missed a connecting flight somewhere along the way and ended up arriving at 6:30. We would have missed his arrival at 4:30, but made the 6:30 arrival. We drove right up to the St. George airport just after he got off the plane. I was so glad we were there for his initial introduction back into the real world. He looks the exact same. However, is a little more wiser. He's going to be living in St. George and hopefully be heading up to BYU-I in the winter. Anyway, we spent all day Saturday up there and headed back to Simi early early Sunday morning so as not to miss out on Father's Day. Mike unfortunately couldn't make the trip with us so we had to leave early to get back to spend Father's Day with him so we left at precisely 4am. I loved it because there was absolutely no traffic. We didn't have to stop clear until Barstow. I loved it!

On Saturday I tried to help Milo dye his hair back to a normal color or at least one that didn't make him look like the living dead. Brother. That kid. He died his hair a black color that had like a green under tone to it which made him look all washed out with black circles under his eyes. He truly looked sickly. So I tried to get a better color going for him and I think because of all the processing he had already done to his hair it turned a dark red color. Although it didn't make him look dead it wasn't what he wanted. I don't blame him. I don't know what the final result was. I'm sure he dyed it again, but I haven't heard.

Secondly, we got our puppy last weekend and he is so good and so cute! We love him to death. We had to take up to Utah with us because he's too little to leave with the big dogs. He did so well! He rode up front with me and slept pretty much the whole way. I didn't even have to stop for him at all. I do love a low maintenance dog.

Also, while in Utah, I had my niece put together a playlist for me. I had to edit it a little at the request of my husband, but other than that what do you think?

All in all the trip to Utah wasn't bad although anyone who knows me knows what a sacrafice it is for me to go there. I figure as long as I keep the stay short I can manage the agony much easier. However, it was definately good seeing my sister and her family and absolutely a joy to be there for Devon to get him started into the real world (although I wish I could have been there a LITTLE longer for him). Although, it is so good to be home!

Run In

2008-06-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

I took the dogs on their daily roller blading run yesterday but this time I took the kids in their double stroller with us. (It's so much easier roller blading with a double wide stroller to hang on to!) We roller bladed through our neighborhood then headed over to the gated neighborhood behind us. We started skating through that neighborhood when who should I run in to???? Remember the girl who opened the gate to the dog park and I had to go chasing my dogs throughout the neighborhood on my roller blades? Yep. Her. The one and only. I shall never forget her face. Fortunately, I had decided to forgo the dog park and just make the loop around the neighborhood. However, as our paths crossed I thought, "Oh. There's that stupid girl." and waited for her to look our way. But she didn't. I was a little surprised, because I was totally expecting her to look our way but instead she just continued walking concentrating on her dog as if it was once again going to cause problems as it had before. Honestly, I was like what's up with that? Not even looking up business? I mean she had obviously noticed us from down the road and let's face it, how could she forget our little incident together? And I'm sure she recognized us right away. Hmmm...... So I continued skating right passed her.

This morning as I was running I realized that the poor girl may have been embarrassed and probably truly was concentrating on her dog so it wouldn't cause any more problems and that I should have said something to break the ice. Although I was looking at her waiting for her to look our way, but she never did. I felt kinda bad about it. After all, she was really nice. She's just kind of a dope is all.

Princess Schmincess

2008-06-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

Okay. I took the quiz. You know the one. Which Princess are you? The first time I took it I was Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). I didn't like that one because it said I was sheltered so I took it again and then it said I was Snow White. That was better, but still I wasn't satisfied so I took it again. The third time around it said I was Cinderella. I had to laugh at that one too. Afterall, I do not believe I'm at all patient (just ask my kids). So which is it? Maybe I've got multiple personalities???
http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354&m=-1

What A Week!

2008-06-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

This last week has been crazy!

First of all, Memorial Weekend is what I'd like to call Single Mother Weekend because Mike is gone the entire weekend. He helps out at the Cajun Festival and we usually don't see him from Friday 'til Monday afternoon sometime. So the kids and I make the best of it. However, this year Robert was part of the Puma Karate Demo Team and performed at the Cajun Festival both Saturday and Sunday. He was so cute and did such a great job! We were very proud of him! Thanks to Grandma Sandy we were able to get his performance on her camera so I could share it. Here it is....

Tuesday the kids and I went up to Lancaster and picked out our puppy. Robert knew immediately which one we should get. Me? I had to think about it for a couple of days. They were both so cute and loving and.... oh man! I wanted them both. However, I was leaning towards the whiter one of the two. So, I asked if I could think about it for a couple of days. I have to say that the breeder has been so patient and accomodating with me which I am very greatful for. Sorry no pics of him yet.

Wednesday and Thursday we went to Disneyland. Mike took Wed off and we went down early early that morning. The kids, G. Sandy and I stayed in the Disneyland Hotel overnight so we could get up early the next morning to hit California Adventure and more of Disneyland. It was probably the funnest 2 days I think we've had in a long time. The kids were just bouncing off the walls both days and I loved every minute of it! Sandy and I just couldn't get over how we too felt like kids all over again. We were laughing at all the grown men wearing the goofy hats because we knew there was no way they would be caught dead wearing those things outside of the park amongst their co-workers. Yet we totally understood. Robert cried when we had to leave. I totally got that. I didn't want it to end either. It was the most perfect 2 days ever!

Grandma Sandy left on Friday. We were all very sad. Carly kept asking where Grandma Sandy was and would adamantly deny that she was actually gone. When it finally sunk in that Grandma Sandy wasn't coming back she cried.

Finally, I picked our puppy today. I met the breeder in Sylmar and took a final look at our new dog. Robert was right. It's the darker of the two (he's the one on the right in the pic). His name will be Santiago Joaquin. But we'll call him Jack.

New Puppy

2008-05-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

I get to choose between these two

I get an email from the breeder this last weekend and she sent me a picture of the two puppies I have to choose from. The kids and I are going tomorrow to actually pick him out and then we'll be able to pick him up next weekend. I'm so excited I can't even believe it.

More Robert-isms

2008-05-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Grandma Sandy served pancakes this morning. When pouring syrup onto the pancakes she says to Robert, "Say when..." and Robert says, "Okay. now."

Anyone Want A Child????

2008-05-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Okay. This morning I got the kids ready to go to school and every thing was going smoothly. Carly was her usual self -- grumpy. It's always so hard to predict how she'll be throughout the day because sometimes she'll snap out of it and be so much fun to hang with. HOWEVER, today was not the case.

Robert had those old-fashion pictures being taken at his school. I was very excited to have both the kids' pictures taken. So Robert's teacher kindly made special arrangements for us to have the pictures taken this morning. So I got the kids ready to go and was on my way. At this point I thought Carly was good to go too.

We get to the school and all seems good. Carly seemed even excited to be there. The photographer was obviously a master with children. He was making them laugh right and left. I was truly thinking that this was actually going to happen. HOWEVER, once Carly saw that she had to change into a dress she didn't like, she went crazy. At first I was baffled. After all it was a cute gunny-sak type dress with a cute hat with flowers on it and she was FREAKING out. She calmed down some when she saw her ham-ola of a brother getting his pictures taken. But when it came time for her to sit down with him she began kicking and screaming and actually smacked the photographer screaming "NO!" After a few minutes of this, I realized that my dream of an adorable old-fashioned picture of the two of them was futile. I told the guy to forget it and apologized for wasting his time. He apologized in turn for not being able to take the picture. As for Carly? She screamed the whole entire time I was changing her back into her own clothes and back to the car. At this point I'm ready to give her away.

The rest of the day she seemed to mellow, but was still pretty nasty. I had to put her in the naughty spot a couple of times for smacking her brother for no reason. Finally at dinner time she started to fall asleep while eating. It was really quite funny. However, she still had some fight left in her because when I went to go lay her down she woke up just enough to screech at me and say, "No! I want Grandma Sandy!"

So. Anyone want a kid????

Robert-ism

2008-05-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

We were in the car running an errand. Carly was finishing off Robert's apple. Robert says, "Look Mom! Carly ate the whole thing up to the seeds!"

I said, "Wow! That's good!" Reminiscing, I continued, "When you were tiny -- even littler than Carly -- you used to eat the whole apple seeds and everything. You were this itty-bitty thing running around with this huge apple and the next thing I knew you had eaten the whole thing!"

Robert with a huge grin on his face says, "Yeah and before I could eat food I ate from mom."

Me and Sandy just cracked up.

Some Things Never Change

2008-05-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good day. Mike, G. Sandy and I went with a bunch of Mike's friends down to LA. One of Mike's good friends invited us down to the Farmer's Market. It had been a long time since we've been and thank goodness for our trusty babysitter, Rachel, we were able to take off early. We all met up and had a good time. We drove through Hancock Park (which was beautiful) and walked around Farmer's Market and the Grove. I never saw the LA so up close and personal before. And honestly, I found a new fondness toward the city. Anyway, I bought some outrageously expensive balsamic vinegar ($33!!!!) with ever intention of using it to the very last drop. (I'll make a salad for you all so you can taste. It's out of this world!) And I bought a beautiful pork loin from the butcher (a real butcher! very cool!!). We ended up eating at Taylor's, an old school LA restaurant. The food was amazing. Anyway, so we're eating dinner and I began talking to my friend, Debbie (whom I love) about movies (because we both like movies a lot). I told her that I had just seen "PS, I Love You". And she said how much she liked it and I said that I did too -- yadda yadda yadda. And then she says that she just saw a movie that she wouldn't recommend to see but that she liked it because it was funny. I asked what it was and she said "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". I said, "Oh really? You liked it? Howcome?" She said that it was funny, but in a raunchy way. I said that she was right. I specifically didn't want to see it for that very reason. She just shook her head acknowledging that she knew that. And we went on to something else.

Later I got to thinking about that and it got me to reminiscing about my youth. It use to bother me that people thought I was a goody-goody and I always wondered how they new that. My husband always throws that at me. He tends to laugh at me at times (he laughed so hard when I called prison "the joint" one time. why????). I mean, I feel I've lived a pretty full life. I've seen things and know things. I feel I'm somewhat wordly. However, I'm still seen as a goody-goody. It bothered me a little bit but then I just figure that some things will never change. And I suppose, in this case, that's a good thing.

My Favorite Day

2008-05-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Friday's are my favorite days. Call me crazy but I love them. But today was especially a good one.

It started out with attending my son on a field trip to Young Chef's Academy. It was fun. The kids got to make their own pizzas and ate them for lunch. However, I learned how outstanding my son truly is. Not to brag or anything, but truly I was so impressed with him. He was kind, courteous and supportive. He waited patiently to be called on and when his friends were taking their turn he would pat them on the back offering support. He was witty (he named the pizza dough "Peter" which everyone thought was funny) and charming; and such a gentleman! He has a little girlfriend whom he made sure was taken care of by helping her onto the bus and sitting with her with his arm around her. I truly was very proud of him. Here's a picture of him with Asahli:

Next we met our friends at the pool. We ate lunch and swam. Unfortunately, I had to take Robert home after he threw a bit of a tantrum. That broke my heart. Not because he threw the tantrum, but because he couldn't be with us. Thank goodness I could just drop him off at home since Grandma Sandy was there because it is ALWAYS good having lunch with the girls. Friday just wouldn't be Friday without it. Also, I was able to have some one on one time with Miss Carly Jo which she loved (and I did too).

When Carly and I got back my house was miraculously clean. This is another reason why I absolutely love Fridays. My house is cleaned by our cleaning fairy named Rosie.

To top it all off, it's date night. Without fail we go out. And if my husband isn't available to go out, I go by myself. He's mostly available and tonight he we went to a new restaurant in Newbury Park and saw "Iron Man" afterwards. It was the perfect movie to end my favorite day.

Annoying People Part 2?

2008-05-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

Every night I try to take the dogs out for a run. I usually try to rollerblade along side so that they can really run fast. Quite honestly, I'm not a very good rollerblader and because I'm not a very good rollerblader I get nervous when the dogs start going really fast. I have practically worn my brake down to a nub because of it. However, I manage to stay upright when the dogs are pulling me. Anyway, last night I rollerbladed with the dogs to the housing complex behind us. They have a dog park designated for residence there and I like to sneak in and let the dogs run around. Usually there isn't anybody else there so it makes for a nice quiet time alone. However, last night a nice young girl came by with her dog. She came to the gate and asked if my dogs were friendly. I said "yes" and she proceeded to open the gate. Most dog owners know that dogs like to sniff each other at their first encounter. And as expected my dogs went to the gate eager to sniff their new friend. HOWEVER, apparently this young girl didn't know this and opened the gate ALL THE WAY. I'm sitting there with my rollerblades on watching this whole thing as if it were happening in slow motion. Of course, my dogs saw their chance to escape and did. So I began running across the grass in my rollerblades and attempted running up the stairs and rolled out onto the street. The girl not knowing what to do stands there a moment then went after the dogs. I was, of course, greatful. But that soon passed when I realized that the dogs just kept running down the street. At this point the girl and her dog disappeared. Again, because I'm not a very good rollerblader I'm rolling down the street swaying back and forth so as not to fall. Yes. It was humiliating. Nonetheless, I managed to catch up with the dogs and did capture them. But I had to take off one skate to walk/roll back to the dog park because in my haste to get to my dogs I left their leashes behind and had to hold onto their collars. As you can imagine I am NOT happy at this point. Nonetheless, on the way back to the dog park the girl who caused the whole mess shows up apologizing up and down. I have to admit she was really nice about it, but I was too upset to acknowledge that and just muttered that it was ok and went on my way. After I got the leashes we went home. Needless to say, I was really annoyed. Yet, the girl was so nice that it made it difficult to be completely annoyed. Which annoyed me even more because I really wanted to be annoyed more than I was. After all I had every right to be, right? At least, this time I refrained from any bad words.

My Favorite Rock Star

2008-05-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

My son wrote me a rock song today and played for me. I got it on video, but I'm not sure how to upload it so here are some pics:

This is the sheet music for the song. He said there are a lot of "O"s so that he can sing "ooooo" a lot.

Here he is playing the song for me. He went and changed his clothes to put on the black t-shirt and slicked down his hair to give me the full affect. You can't tell from the picture, but he's totally bouncing to the beat of his song. At the end he threw up his hands and said "Goodnight Everybody!!"

Ahhhh!!! My favorite rock star ever !!!!

Time Out For Women

2008-05-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

In spite of the rude awakening back into real life Saturday evening, I had a great day. I spent the whole day with my girlfriends down in San Diego. We went down to the Time Out For Women women's conference. For those of you who don't know what that is it's a women's conference that is church affiliated and put on by Deseret Book. We met at my house at 5:30 SHARP (that was for you Pam) and began our trek down to San Diego. The whole way down was a blast. As soon as we began driving, the joke cracking began. And in between the jokes were serious conversations. To me, that's how you know you've got good/real friends -- you can talk about anything and not have to worry about what you say.

Once we got to the convention center we parked and tailgated with some bagels, cream cheese and oj (juice not Simpson -- hehe). We then headed into the convention center to be spiritually uplifted by excellent speakers and wonderful music. My favorite talks were by John Bytheway and Emily Watts.

John Bytheway was true to form. He was quick witted and full of energy. The main thing I got from him was this simple statement: The Savior saves our families we don't. Emily Watts talk was very similar in that her whole talk was about Free Agency. More specifically, our children are free agents and we don't get to control them. So, since these two talks were my favorites do you think I must have some control issues? Actually what I mostly got out of them was that I can't control my spouse not so much my children. He is in control of his own life not me. It wasn't a new concept it was just one that I needed to be reminded of and very hard to let happen.

Here we are eating lunch at a deli in the Seaport Village:

We got back into Simi around 7pm laughing all the way home. We ended our day at CPK and then went our seperate ways. I truly had a great day with my girlfriends. It was the best time out I've had in a long time. Until next time, Ladies......

Happy Mother's Day to Me

2008-05-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

So I was gone all day today (I'll explain where what and why at a later time). I got home at around 9pm and Grandma Sandy was just getting the kids to bed. I was actually happy they weren't in bed yet. I wanted to ask them about their day and talk about how much fun they had with Grandma Sandy, etc. It was nice catching up and giving each other loves (mmmmm). However, after we got caught up and I had given them their gifts it was time for bed. The kids wanted to sleep with Grandma Sandy again, but I suggested they sleep in their own beds since nobody sleeps well when they're all together. Well, you would have thought I was "whipping them all soundly" the way they were carrying on. Carly screamed a blood curdling scream so loud I had to shut her into her room until she settled down. Robert was throwing himself onto his bed and wailing like a banshee, "I want to sleep with Grandma Sandy!!!!" over and over again. I was so tired myself that I was tempted to give in to their rantings, but I stayed strong and even kept my cool and within just a few minutes they were sound asleep. HOWEVER, after I had gotten Robert settled down and asleep I went to check on Carly. I knew she had most likely fallen asleep in front of her bedroom door and she did, but I also noticed that during her rantings she had taken the gift I had given her and broke it. It's easily repairable but that's not the point...My sweet little princess was so mad at me that she broke the gift I gave her. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? Brother. I really hope she grows out of that. If she doesn't, we're in for one heck of a ride! Anyway, during the time of the rantings all I could think of was: "Happy Mother's Day To Me."

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE BEAUTIFUL MOTHERS I KNOW

Grandma Sandy's In Town!!

2008-05-08T21:35:00.001-07:00

We're so excited! Grandma Sandy is here! We love it when Grandma Sandy comes for a visit. We went to the airport to pick her up this afternoon and we just got back a little while ago. The kids are sleeping with her tonight. How cute is that? Here's a pic of the kids and her. She's reading them their bedtime story (she got to do the whole bedtime thing tonight....whew!)

They're all in Carly's room right now just talking and giggling with the lights out. I love that they have that experience of what a grandma is. I never had that. My father's mom died when he was a young boy and my mother's mom only speaks spanish and lives in Mexico so I never did develop much of a relationship with her. I was always so jealous of hearing how my friends loved their grandmas' so much. But it's all good now that my kids have the experience of a real grandma.

We love you Grandma Sandy! Welcome Back!!

There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe

2008-05-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Remember the nursery rhyme about the old woman who lived in the shoe? Well, let me refresh your memory:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe

She had so many children she didn't know what to do!

So she gave them some broth without any bread

And whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.

When I was a little girl I was quite disturbed by this. I pictured this crickety old woman with gray hair and worts on her face. She was permanantly bent over and just mean. As a mother of only two children I totally relate to this old woman. By the end of the day aren't you just done with your kids? Don't you just want to whip them all soundly and send them to bed? It doesn't mean we don't love our kids to death we're just tired and still have so much to do. Like tonight for instance. I've got a pile of laundry on the couch; the kitchen still has to be cleaned and the carpets need to be vacuumed. So after the kids' bath I tried to rush them into getting their jammies on and all they wanted to do was goof and play with each other. The NERVE! So I threatened my son with taking away ALL of his priviledges and Carly with the naughty spot if she didn't stop bugging her brother. It worked and I got them to bed quickly. However, I hate to admit, but I think I am the old woman who lives in a shoe!

Turning 40

2008-05-03T22:56:00.001-07:00

Why is it so hard to turn 40? What is it about that age that makes it so hard to accept? After all it's just a number right? So why is it that it seems like our lives are over at 40? My friend Janna is turning 40 tomorrow and her sweet husband threw her a surprise party today. At the party she expressed how difficult this birthday was for her. I completely understood. After all I turned 40 last year and absolutely did not want to. Those of you who have turned 40 know exactly what I'm talking about. It's like a shock into reality. It was like life was passing me by and I'm not doing anything about it. So I decided to do something about it. I ran a triathlon. It cured me of this "I'm so old" attitude. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it -- that 40 means nothing. And it worked because while I was training I met women in their 60's and 70's who were or had trained for triathlons. There was one lady who was in her late 60's who was running the same triathlon I was and she blew me out of the water. She was amazing. So once you get over the initial shock with turning 40 you realize it's not so bad. Life does go on. Although, you may not have as much energy as you did when you were 30 and you may take a little longer to recover from injury or what have you. But life certainly isn't over. I went roller blading with my dogs this morning for goodness sakes. Life definately is not over.

Happy Birthday, Janna!!!!