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| Week at Nana and Big Daddy's |
Monday, June 25, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Photo Hunt - "Shiny"
I took this one of Ashley on our vacation at Dads last week. Ash came along for the ride while I was on a little bit of a personal photo hunt. I spied a fountain that I wanted to shoot at sunset, but as it turns out, the fountain was shaded a bit too much by the time I got out there. I found several other photo ops instead. Funny how that works sometimes. I was driving down the road when I saw how beautiful the sun was as it almost melted in to her her olive skin. We stopped right there in the middle of the road while I shot.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
It's ALIIIVE
So yeah, according to my bff, Mollie, I've been a ve-wwy, ve-wwy bad girl. I'm not the best at keeping up with everyone, and seemed to have left town, quit blogging and disappeared off the face of the playgroup/internet/Instant Messenger earth just long enough to get the one, maybe two people that have noticed a little out of sorts. I sorry. I'm alive. Trips to Nana and Big Daddy's tend to make the whole world just sort of disappear.
Mark's birthday was last week so we decided to celebrate by taking a week to relax and lounge by the lake with family. Cara and Keller, along with Cara's sister Erin, and 4 year old nephew Ethan came to spend the week as well. The week was just about as lazy and relaxing as we hoped it would be. Monday morning (as well as Wednesday and Thursday) I joined Dad for water areobics. This was my first experience with water areobics, and more importantly, my first time excercising with dad. I REALLY enjoyed myself! Everyone in the class is retired, and I'm pretty sure that aside from me, dad is the youngest one in the class. There's one lady that's 94 years old and gets around like you wouldn't believe. I'm just so amazed that dad gets up everyday and goes to this class....this is the same dad that, a year ago would have laughed at the thought of doing any sort of excercise. We are all so, so proud of him and even more so, we're thankful that he's doing this for his health and having fun at the same time.
Nana fed us like Nana tends to do. We're all about 5 pounds heavier and loving every minute of it! She made a Mississippi Mud Cake per Mark's request, that knocked our socks off, a triple chocolate cake...which I dubbed the "Dr. Suess cake" because it was so crooked that I seriously thought it was made that way intentionally. Personally, I think Dr. Suess cakes are MUCH tastier than plain ol' chocolate cake. Teehee. I could go on and on about all the incredible food we ate this week, but I'll probably gain 5 more pounds just rehashing it all, so I'll skip the details and just say that we ate way too often and way too much.
On Thursday we went to ZDT's and spent 5 hours running a muck with the kiddos. This place was incredible. I could have spent hours just looking at the painting on the walls. There is not an empty wall in the building, each one covered with detailed paintings that go with the jungle/amusement park theme. I took some pictures that I'll have to post later.
So we're home, and already going 90 MPH getting things back in order. Mark has been in the garage all day fixing up his work bench area and organizing shelves (yes, we have shelves!!!), while I'm trying to get caught up on yard work and laundry. Holy crap, laundry! I just can't believe that we actually wear this many clothes!!!!
Mark's birthday was last week so we decided to celebrate by taking a week to relax and lounge by the lake with family. Cara and Keller, along with Cara's sister Erin, and 4 year old nephew Ethan came to spend the week as well. The week was just about as lazy and relaxing as we hoped it would be. Monday morning (as well as Wednesday and Thursday) I joined Dad for water areobics. This was my first experience with water areobics, and more importantly, my first time excercising with dad. I REALLY enjoyed myself! Everyone in the class is retired, and I'm pretty sure that aside from me, dad is the youngest one in the class. There's one lady that's 94 years old and gets around like you wouldn't believe. I'm just so amazed that dad gets up everyday and goes to this class....this is the same dad that, a year ago would have laughed at the thought of doing any sort of excercise. We are all so, so proud of him and even more so, we're thankful that he's doing this for his health and having fun at the same time.
Nana fed us like Nana tends to do. We're all about 5 pounds heavier and loving every minute of it! She made a Mississippi Mud Cake per Mark's request, that knocked our socks off, a triple chocolate cake...which I dubbed the "Dr. Suess cake" because it was so crooked that I seriously thought it was made that way intentionally. Personally, I think Dr. Suess cakes are MUCH tastier than plain ol' chocolate cake. Teehee. I could go on and on about all the incredible food we ate this week, but I'll probably gain 5 more pounds just rehashing it all, so I'll skip the details and just say that we ate way too often and way too much.
On Thursday we went to ZDT's and spent 5 hours running a muck with the kiddos. This place was incredible. I could have spent hours just looking at the painting on the walls. There is not an empty wall in the building, each one covered with detailed paintings that go with the jungle/amusement park theme. I took some pictures that I'll have to post later.
So we're home, and already going 90 MPH getting things back in order. Mark has been in the garage all day fixing up his work bench area and organizing shelves (yes, we have shelves!!!), while I'm trying to get caught up on yard work and laundry. Holy crap, laundry! I just can't believe that we actually wear this many clothes!!!!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Camp Urben
In lieu of spending bookoos on a day camp for miss Ash, I went half crazy and decided to do our own camp here at home with three of her friends.
Day 1 - A lesson in over-doing it
We started the day off with a trip to the Library, where they had an organized craft for kids 8 and up. The girls got to decorate and put together their own parachutes while Alex and I went downstairs to the childrens room to check out books. When the girls finished their craft, I sent them off with a list of books to find. They gathered books about camping and butterfly classification for activities that we'll be doing throughout the week, and each of them picked out a couple books of their choice. After the library we stopped at Sonic, picked up lunch, and headed to San Gabriel Park to have a picnic. They took their shoes off and played in the spring water for a while and eventually we made our way down to the waterfall. The water was higher than normal and the girls really enjoyed watching the gushing water in full force.
We continued roaming around the park, until we walked so far that we were just a few minutes walk to the animal shelter. We decided to keep going and pay the animals a little visit under the condition that there would be NO begging for animals. They played with the cats for a while, poking little fuzzy tails on sticks through the cages and watching the younger cats bat at the little toys. We made it out of the cat room with only a few...."don't you want to take him home!" 's. The dogs were all just as sweet as can be, and the girls spent lot of time squatted down eye to eye with them. They talked to them, and pet them and at one point I looked over to see Ashley squatted down, arms both fully extended in to a cage and wrapped around a sweet doggie. A kennel hug. And Alex spent almost the entire time at one kennel that had a sweet little brown puppy. Everytime I looked over at him he was lauging and cooing the little guy...whom we later dubbed Zander. There's something about a little boy and a puppy that just tugs at those heartstrings.
After much begging and proding, the girls convinced me that we needed to let some of the dogs out for some excercise. We ended up picking 3 dogs and taking them out one by one for about 15 minutes each. The girls (and Alex) spent quite a bit of time giving each one the perfect name, which was voted on before becoming "official". We had such a good time, it was so hard to leave without a new friend.
On the way home we stopped at Michaels and we picked out some craft activities for the week. Ash picked out foam notebooks for them to decorate and journal their week, and I will print out some picutres for them to include. We also picked up some coozies and little foamies and stickers to decorate them with. After our hour trip to Michaels I realized that allowing the girls to pick out and decided on their own crafts was a mistake. I could have cut my time in half by doing the shopping solo. By the time we were finally on the way home, the kids were so exhausted that I don't think any of them spoke the entire way home....and that is UNHEARD of.
The girls spent the next few hours laying around the house reading their library picks, watching TV and recooping from the day. By the time dinner rolled around, they'd recovered for the most part and decided they'd like to come with me to the track to excercise with some of my friends. Fast forward to 10:30, and we were finally home, and they were MORE than ready to hit the sack. They got ready and made their beds downstairs in record time and were out earlier than they had been all summer, Alex included.
Here we are Tuesday morning, at 11:00 and I have yet to hear a peep out of anyone downstairs. I guess my plans for today will need a little altering.
Day 2
The kiddos didn't show their faces until after 11, I suppose I did my job and wore them out pretty good. They woke up hungry and stuffed down 10 waffles, 8 scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of raisin bread, a few apples and plenty of OJ. After breakfast the girls decorated their foam journals, while I ran to the grocery store. After rushing home to make the 3:00 "kids in the kitchen" event for Alex I learned that it didn't actually start until 3:30, so instead of being 20 minutes late, we were actually 10 minutes early! That's definitely a first! We had a late breakfast so I packed up fixins for samiches, some fruit and some cookies. While we waited for Alex's friends to arrive, the girls (and Alex) made their samiches. The timing somehow worked out perfect despite my fear of being extremely late.
After the cooking event, we went straight to the pool in our old neighborhood where I let the kids swim for about 30 minutes, and I only took half a zillion pictures. We had to book it home so I could finish putting away the pantry goods, start dinner and get ready for my girls night out. After I left, Mark took the girls down to the river where they fished and swam and explored. Mark ended up catching 6 fish and the girls had plenty of stories to tell. They made it home with some "treasures", as Alex called them. They found a nice blow up tube float, two backpacks and a camera case. I'm thinking we need to spend more time at the river, good grief!
When I got home around midnight I heard a couple of girlish whispers down in the basement, so there's no telling what time they actually crashed out. All in all it was a great day, much more low key can the previous day, but welcome none the less.
Day 3
Today Emily's mom came and picked her up at 9:30 for her ortho appointment, so I only had 3 girls all day. I woke the remaining 3 up at 9:45, and gave them exactly 30 minutes to wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast and brush their teeth. They did remarkably well. We made it to the library for the ventriloquist a mere 3 minutes late (I'll take it!). The performance was great, even though it was intended for a younger audience. They did well and appeared to be quite interested and entertained to say the least. After the show we headed over to "THE" playscape. "THE" playscape is one of our favorite places here. It's huge and full of all sorts of bars and stairs and adventures. Unfortunately, it was a wee bit hot and we ended up leaving early and making a stop at Mickey D's for lunch. The girls are such troopers...they're at that in between age where you know they're probably a little bit too old for the play place, yet, they're just not ready to give that up quite yet. I know it won't be long before "playing" on the playscapes will be much to juvenille, so watching them play is an occassion I savor these days. We rushed home from lunch in just enough time for me to meet the contractor that was coming to assess the condition of the bathroom in preparation for giving us a quote. While I dealt with that, the girls read their library books and cleaned up Ashley's room. By the time the contractor left I realized I had lost my cell phone somewhere between here and Mc Donalds, so I high tailed it back up there to search for it. I called it from every possible location in that restaurant, including the dumpster, but it's looking more and more like someone will be enjoying a new pink Katana before long. Wah. On a brighter note, Ash found her cell phone that's been missing for 2 weeks. It was in a pocket. So at least I have the back up cell now and we are not missing TWO phones. Anyway, back to camp Urben...actually that was pretty much the end of camp Urben for the day, in fact, right now it's 11:30PM and there are NO girls in the house. Paula took them to a benefit dinner and is keeping them overnight. They've only called 3 times to find out when I'll be picking them up for Day 4 of camp Urben. More tomorrow.
Day 4
We started the day off by oversleeping and missing out on the Butterfly Farm trip we had planned...which honestly, I wasn't too disappointed about. It has been so hot lately, and the drive is super long that I certainly wasn't going to complain. So, we had a quick change of plans and decided to go to the movies and see Surfs Up in the cool AC. Good choice. The girls really like it and Alex and Matthew were visibly entertained. From the movies we headed to the shoe store where the kiddos picked out some shoes...Alex finally got his "crocs" (generic crocs, but don't tell him that), Ash picked up a few pairs of flip flops and Matthew got some really cool light up Spiderman flip flops. By then, the kids just weren't quite wore out enough, so we made our way to the ice skating rink where Kelly, Matthew and Alex all got to ice skate for the very first time! Kelly was almost instantly a pro, skating around that place like she was tying a shoe, Alex was clumsy as ever, but fearless none the less, and Matthew, well, lets just say he was more interested in the gumball machines than anything. It was a little difficult keeping up with all of them, but we all made it out alive, tired, but alive.
The girls came home, wrote in their journals and spent the rest of the evening playing the Wii and finally got to sleep around midnight.
I'm sleeping all of next week. And to think, I'm this tired, and we haven't done HALF of what I'd planned!
Day 1 - A lesson in over-doing it
We started the day off with a trip to the Library, where they had an organized craft for kids 8 and up. The girls got to decorate and put together their own parachutes while Alex and I went downstairs to the childrens room to check out books. When the girls finished their craft, I sent them off with a list of books to find. They gathered books about camping and butterfly classification for activities that we'll be doing throughout the week, and each of them picked out a couple books of their choice. After the library we stopped at Sonic, picked up lunch, and headed to San Gabriel Park to have a picnic. They took their shoes off and played in the spring water for a while and eventually we made our way down to the waterfall. The water was higher than normal and the girls really enjoyed watching the gushing water in full force.
We continued roaming around the park, until we walked so far that we were just a few minutes walk to the animal shelter. We decided to keep going and pay the animals a little visit under the condition that there would be NO begging for animals. They played with the cats for a while, poking little fuzzy tails on sticks through the cages and watching the younger cats bat at the little toys. We made it out of the cat room with only a few...."don't you want to take him home!" 's. The dogs were all just as sweet as can be, and the girls spent lot of time squatted down eye to eye with them. They talked to them, and pet them and at one point I looked over to see Ashley squatted down, arms both fully extended in to a cage and wrapped around a sweet doggie. A kennel hug. And Alex spent almost the entire time at one kennel that had a sweet little brown puppy. Everytime I looked over at him he was lauging and cooing the little guy...whom we later dubbed Zander. There's something about a little boy and a puppy that just tugs at those heartstrings.
After much begging and proding, the girls convinced me that we needed to let some of the dogs out for some excercise. We ended up picking 3 dogs and taking them out one by one for about 15 minutes each. The girls (and Alex) spent quite a bit of time giving each one the perfect name, which was voted on before becoming "official". We had such a good time, it was so hard to leave without a new friend.
On the way home we stopped at Michaels and we picked out some craft activities for the week. Ash picked out foam notebooks for them to decorate and journal their week, and I will print out some picutres for them to include. We also picked up some coozies and little foamies and stickers to decorate them with. After our hour trip to Michaels I realized that allowing the girls to pick out and decided on their own crafts was a mistake. I could have cut my time in half by doing the shopping solo. By the time we were finally on the way home, the kids were so exhausted that I don't think any of them spoke the entire way home....and that is UNHEARD of.
The girls spent the next few hours laying around the house reading their library picks, watching TV and recooping from the day. By the time dinner rolled around, they'd recovered for the most part and decided they'd like to come with me to the track to excercise with some of my friends. Fast forward to 10:30, and we were finally home, and they were MORE than ready to hit the sack. They got ready and made their beds downstairs in record time and were out earlier than they had been all summer, Alex included.
Here we are Tuesday morning, at 11:00 and I have yet to hear a peep out of anyone downstairs. I guess my plans for today will need a little altering.
Day 2
The kiddos didn't show their faces until after 11, I suppose I did my job and wore them out pretty good. They woke up hungry and stuffed down 10 waffles, 8 scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of raisin bread, a few apples and plenty of OJ. After breakfast the girls decorated their foam journals, while I ran to the grocery store. After rushing home to make the 3:00 "kids in the kitchen" event for Alex I learned that it didn't actually start until 3:30, so instead of being 20 minutes late, we were actually 10 minutes early! That's definitely a first! We had a late breakfast so I packed up fixins for samiches, some fruit and some cookies. While we waited for Alex's friends to arrive, the girls (and Alex) made their samiches. The timing somehow worked out perfect despite my fear of being extremely late.
After the cooking event, we went straight to the pool in our old neighborhood where I let the kids swim for about 30 minutes, and I only took half a zillion pictures. We had to book it home so I could finish putting away the pantry goods, start dinner and get ready for my girls night out. After I left, Mark took the girls down to the river where they fished and swam and explored. Mark ended up catching 6 fish and the girls had plenty of stories to tell. They made it home with some "treasures", as Alex called them. They found a nice blow up tube float, two backpacks and a camera case. I'm thinking we need to spend more time at the river, good grief!
When I got home around midnight I heard a couple of girlish whispers down in the basement, so there's no telling what time they actually crashed out. All in all it was a great day, much more low key can the previous day, but welcome none the less.
Day 3
Today Emily's mom came and picked her up at 9:30 for her ortho appointment, so I only had 3 girls all day. I woke the remaining 3 up at 9:45, and gave them exactly 30 minutes to wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast and brush their teeth. They did remarkably well. We made it to the library for the ventriloquist a mere 3 minutes late (I'll take it!). The performance was great, even though it was intended for a younger audience. They did well and appeared to be quite interested and entertained to say the least. After the show we headed over to "THE" playscape. "THE" playscape is one of our favorite places here. It's huge and full of all sorts of bars and stairs and adventures. Unfortunately, it was a wee bit hot and we ended up leaving early and making a stop at Mickey D's for lunch. The girls are such troopers...they're at that in between age where you know they're probably a little bit too old for the play place, yet, they're just not ready to give that up quite yet. I know it won't be long before "playing" on the playscapes will be much to juvenille, so watching them play is an occassion I savor these days. We rushed home from lunch in just enough time for me to meet the contractor that was coming to assess the condition of the bathroom in preparation for giving us a quote. While I dealt with that, the girls read their library books and cleaned up Ashley's room. By the time the contractor left I realized I had lost my cell phone somewhere between here and Mc Donalds, so I high tailed it back up there to search for it. I called it from every possible location in that restaurant, including the dumpster, but it's looking more and more like someone will be enjoying a new pink Katana before long. Wah. On a brighter note, Ash found her cell phone that's been missing for 2 weeks. It was in a pocket. So at least I have the back up cell now and we are not missing TWO phones. Anyway, back to camp Urben...actually that was pretty much the end of camp Urben for the day, in fact, right now it's 11:30PM and there are NO girls in the house. Paula took them to a benefit dinner and is keeping them overnight. They've only called 3 times to find out when I'll be picking them up for Day 4 of camp Urben. More tomorrow.
Day 4
We started the day off by oversleeping and missing out on the Butterfly Farm trip we had planned...which honestly, I wasn't too disappointed about. It has been so hot lately, and the drive is super long that I certainly wasn't going to complain. So, we had a quick change of plans and decided to go to the movies and see Surfs Up in the cool AC. Good choice. The girls really like it and Alex and Matthew were visibly entertained. From the movies we headed to the shoe store where the kiddos picked out some shoes...Alex finally got his "crocs" (generic crocs, but don't tell him that), Ash picked up a few pairs of flip flops and Matthew got some really cool light up Spiderman flip flops. By then, the kids just weren't quite wore out enough, so we made our way to the ice skating rink where Kelly, Matthew and Alex all got to ice skate for the very first time! Kelly was almost instantly a pro, skating around that place like she was tying a shoe, Alex was clumsy as ever, but fearless none the less, and Matthew, well, lets just say he was more interested in the gumball machines than anything. It was a little difficult keeping up with all of them, but we all made it out alive, tired, but alive.
The girls came home, wrote in their journals and spent the rest of the evening playing the Wii and finally got to sleep around midnight.
I'm sleeping all of next week. And to think, I'm this tired, and we haven't done HALF of what I'd planned!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
"Wee, Wee"
It's 11:45PM, do you know where your 5 year old son and your 15 year old (oops, I mean 33 year old) husband is? They're in front of the TV playing with their new Wii!
Yes, we finally have a WII!!! Or as Alex is calling it "Wee Wee", yes, as in "Pee Pee". My ever so smart husband won an XBOX 360 Elite and accessories at work last week by playing a dorky Dell version of "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader". So he is in fact ALMOST as smart as a 5th grader, we are so proud. ;)We already have an XBox that sits in the basement unused, aside from an occasional DDR game here and there. Sooo, we decided we'd get much more use out of a Wii, and for the price of the XBOX Elite, we're able to get a ton of games and accessories as well. Major score! Wanna play?
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Keller's 1st Birthday Party
My newphew, Keller, had is first birthday party this weekend! Here are just a few of the 382 pictures I took on Saturday. The rocket cake in the picture was made by yours truly. I was pretty happy with the end result. I have to tell ya though, picking a handful of pictures from all of the adorable shots of sweet baby Keller was difficult, he's just so precious I could eat him up!
Anywho, here's a summary of Mr. Keller's very first birthday celebration.
Anywho, here's a summary of Mr. Keller's very first birthday celebration.
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| Keller's 1st Birthday |
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Shower, anyone?
Remember the master shower ordeal that I posted about back at the beginning of September of last year...some NINE months ago? Well, as embarassing as it is to admit, that nasty mess has sat untouched this entire time. Which also means, that we have not had a functioning shower of our own either. We've been using the kids bathroom to shower and looking at our way-to-expensive-to-fix mess wondering how long it would be before we hit the lottery so that we could afford to repair all the damage. As it turns out, we hit the lotto much sooner than we expected. In the form of insurance coverage! We discovered that our home owners insurance covers this mess!!!! We had an adjustor come out Friday and he cut us a check to repair the shower, the flooring and the wall covering. Now it's time to shop! Actually, two days later, Mark and I have done a majority of the shopping and planning. We bought a bathroom planning book at 1/2 Price Books, and have so many ideas already! We know we're going to get rid of the silly carpeting and the horrendous wallpaper, paint the cabinets, replace all of the light fixutres and cabinet hardware and paint. Basically, we're getting a brand new bathroom and we're just gidy about it. I'm planning to blog the whole process with plenty of before, during and after pictures. This has been my one regret about all the improvements we've made to the house. I WILL document this project.
Soon we won't have to peer out the bathroom door, checking for neighbor kids before darting up the stairs to the privacy of our bedroom. Yahoo!!!
Soon we won't have to peer out the bathroom door, checking for neighbor kids before darting up the stairs to the privacy of our bedroom. Yahoo!!!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Happy Birthday to meeeee
I suppose I'm supposed to be distraught over this major life event, but I just haven't quite got there yet. 30 just doesn't seem old to me. Now don't get me wrong, it seems much older than I FEEL, but I just can't bring myself to mourn this new era. If anything I should be celebrating. My 20's were about learning to feel comfortable in my own skin, accepting who I am and learning from my mistakes instead of regretting them. I feel like my 30's are going to be just as significant, how can I fear that?We spent the holiday weekend at Dad and Ruthie's where David, Cara and Keller so graciously joined us. I know their 5 hour trek from Plano with an 11 month old could not have been pleasant, but despite the little obstacle in the backseat, they came, and I am so, so grateful for that. Keller is walking all over the place now, and is just getting bigger and bigger each time I see him. The kid eats more than Alex. He's a TANK! He's such a good little guy and so fun to be with. Ashley is just in love with him and spends time chasing him around and playing baby games with him. Anything to get her hands on him. Alex, on the other hand, is Alex, and tries to pretend he doesn't exist. Seriously.
He does a pretty good job of it too. It's nothing against his cousin, but Alex has always had an aversion to "babies". He says they always "bother" him. I know it sounds awful, but really it's quite entertaining to watch Keller try to get Alex's attention. Alex's eyes bug out and he just stares at me as if to say "MOM HELP ME!" You just can't help but laugh. Of course, I required "mandatory" love and bugged him to "give your cousin a hug", "give him a kiss" etc. Translation: "Do something cute so I can at LEAST get a picture." I drove him absolutely crazy and more thank likely this worked against me since remember, this is Alex.
While we were there we got to check out dad's insanely lush garden. This year he used organic turkey (or was it chicken?) compost mixed in with his regular stuff, and he also raised the bed. His garden was so green and full of veggies, it was just gorgeous. Dad saved the kids some cucumbers and zuccini to pick, and as you can see the zuccini was more than ready! I just can't get over how lush it is, and tall, it is just so tall! In a week or so, he's going to have soooo many ripe tomatoes, too bad he doesn't even LIKE tomatoes! Ha! I can't wait to go back next time and see if the corn stalks produce. I guess he has about 5 or so stalks and a couple appear to be growing pretty good. I think this is his first time to attempt corn, so his expectations aren't too high.
So yeah, I fully expected to wake up on the 30th anniversary of my birth and find my boobs sagging to floor, my back aching, and an undeniable desire to nag at my husband. Fortunately, for me (and Mark), that didn't happen. Instead, I woke up to my three most favorite people in the world singing happy birthday to me with a tray full of yummy breakfast treats in tow. They made fried eggs over hard, just the way I like them, bacon, an everything bagel with cream cheese, a bowl FILLED with fresh strawberries, banannas and apples and a cup of perfectly sweetened and creamed coffee (mind you, this is no easy task). The four of us lounged there in bed together picking at my breakfast and chatting about whatever silly little children chat about. It was the perfect start to a perfect day.
The rest of the day was just as perfect. Ashley and I went shopping, just the two of us. We spent a good two hours trying on clothes and just being girls. We had so much fun shopping together and probably tried on half the clothes in the store. We left with our loot and went home to Nana's where we had an early dinner of homemade fried shrimp and I forget what else...does it matter really though? I'm telling you, Nana's fried shrimp is the best anywhere. I don't even order fried shrimp at restaurants anymore, I'm always disappointed. I just hold out for special occasions at Nana's and make up for lost time by eating and eating and eating. After dinner we had homemade chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing a la mode. DE-LISH! It was so good, that we had a second helping later that night. (shhhh)
You know you're old when you get gifts like these...and you LIKE IT!
Camera used to take above pictures *not pictured. :) Thanks Dad and Ruthie!!!
Thanks to all my sweet family and friends for making my birthday special...and Mollie, for making me smile when I read your text message. :)
Thanks to all my sweet family and friends for making my birthday special...and Mollie, for making me smile when I read your text message. :)
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Our camping trip
After dropping off Splash Cinnamon Stick Urben, Turkey, Prince Roker (all fish) and Sarge at Grams and Pops house, we headed out to Inks Lake State Park last Friday. By the time we arrived around 3ish, most of the campsites were already taken. This is definitely prime time for camping, but thankfully Mark made reservations over a month ago. In leiu of writing about our experience, I decided to upload a small portion of the 500+ pictures I took over the weekend.
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| Inks Lake Camping Trip |
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Pass The Torch Tuesday
I'm so proud of my sweet girl. Once again she's knocked my socks off. For Mother's Day, she created (and presented) me an incredibly sweet Power Point slide show. What a sweetie she is to take the time to tell me how much she appreciates me. It makes it all worth it!
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| Mother's Day Power Point |
Monday, May 14, 2007
Photo Hunters "Five"
This one was taken at Inks Lake this weekend. Five, in need of a nap and driving sissy crazy. The perfect capture of "five" in our family.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Pass The Torch Tuesday
This morning, Mark and I found a book of poems written by miss Ashley in her Monday folder.
The cover is a pink piece of folded construction paper entitled Book O' Poetry, by Ashley. Each page inside is an illustrated half a sheet of folded paper with poems written in pencil. This is no ordinary poetry book. This book is amazing. Each piece of work is filled with meaning and a sort of unexpected depth for a 10 year old child. A sort of depth that I'm not even sure I'm capable of expressing myself. I am just so incredibly proud that Ashley is growing in to this AMAZING human being, that is capable of expressing herself this way.
I Am
by Ashley Urben
I am curious and creative
I wonder if pigs will fly
I hear myself think
I see my brother grow
I want to go to the moon
I am curious and creative
I imagine that there'll be world peace
I feel good when I talk about problems
I touch the paper with my pencil
I worry about my great grandpa
I cry when a friend or family member dies
I am curious and creative
I understand that people make mistakes
I say that one day I'll become a vet
I dream of one day working with animals
I try to do my best in life everyday
I hope to get a good job
I am curious and creative
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Homeschooling?
In my quest to find more information on whether or not homeschooling for Kindergarten is a good choice for Mr. Alex...(yes, I'm thinking about it) I ran across this and found it to be very thought provoking. I thought I'd share.
What About Socialization?
Two women meet at a playground, where their children are swinging and playing ball. The women are sitting on a bench watching. Eventually, they begin to talk.
W1: Hi. My name is Maggie. My kids are the three in red shirts -- helps me keep track of them.
W2: (Smiles) I'm Terri. Mine are in the pink and yellow shirts. Do you come here a lot?
W1: Usually two or three times a week, after we go to the library.
W2: Wow. Where do you find the time?
W1:: We home school, so we do it during the day most of the time.
W2: Some of my neighbors home school, but I send my kids to public school.
W1:: How do you do it?
W2: It's not easy. I go to all the PTO meetings and work with the kids every day after school and stay really involved.
W1: But what about socialization? Aren't you worried about them being cooped up all day with kids their own ages, never getting the opportunity for natural relationships?
W2: Well, yes. But I work hard to balance that. They have some friends who're home schooled, and we visit their grandparents almost every month.
W1: Sounds like you're a very dedicated mom. But don't you worry about all the opportunities they're missing out on? I mean they're so isolated from real life -- how will they know what the world is like -- what people do to make a living -- how to get along with all different kinds of people?
W2: Oh, we discussed that at PTO, and we started a fund to bring real people into the classrooms. Last month, we had a policeman and a doctor come in to talk to every class. And next month, we're having a woman from Japan and a man from Kenya come to speak.
W1: Oh, we met a man from Japan in the grocery store the other week, and
he got to talking about his childhood in Tokyo. My kids were absolutely fascinated. We invited him to dinner and got to meet his wife and their three children.
W2: That's nice. Hmm. Maybe we should plan some Japanese food for the lunchroom on Multicultural Day.
W1: Maybe your Japanese guest could eat with the children.
W2: Oh, no. She's on a very tight schedule. She has two other schools to visit that day. It's a system-wide thing we're doing.
W1: Oh, I'm sorry. Well, maybe you'll meet someone interesting in the grocery store sometime and you'll end up having them over for dinner.
W2: I don't think so. I never talk to people in the store - certainly not people who might not even speak my language. What if that Japanese man hadn't spoken English?
W1: To tell you the truth, I never had time to think about it. Before I even saw him, my six-year- old had asked him what he was going to do with all the oranges he was buying.
W2: Your child talks to strangers?
W1: I was right there with him. He knows that as long as he's with me, he can talk to anyone he wishes.
W2: But you're developing dangerous habits in him. My children never talk to strangers.
W1: Not even when they're with you?
W2: They're never with me, except at home after school. So you see why it's so important for them to understand that talking to strangers is a big no-no.
W1: Yes, I do. But if they were with you, they could get to meet interesting people and still be safe. They'd get a taste of the real world, in real settings. They'd also get a real feel for how to tell when a situation is dangerous or suspicious.
W2: They'll get that in the third and fifth grades in their health courses.
W1: Well, I can tell you're a very caring mom. Let me give you my number
-- if you ever want to talk, give me call. It was good to meet you.
- - AUTHOR UNKNOWN - -
What About Socialization?
Two women meet at a playground, where their children are swinging and playing ball. The women are sitting on a bench watching. Eventually, they begin to talk.
W1: Hi. My name is Maggie. My kids are the three in red shirts -- helps me keep track of them.
W2: (Smiles) I'm Terri. Mine are in the pink and yellow shirts. Do you come here a lot?
W1: Usually two or three times a week, after we go to the library.
W2: Wow. Where do you find the time?
W1:: We home school, so we do it during the day most of the time.
W2: Some of my neighbors home school, but I send my kids to public school.
W1:: How do you do it?
W2: It's not easy. I go to all the PTO meetings and work with the kids every day after school and stay really involved.
W1: But what about socialization? Aren't you worried about them being cooped up all day with kids their own ages, never getting the opportunity for natural relationships?
W2: Well, yes. But I work hard to balance that. They have some friends who're home schooled, and we visit their grandparents almost every month.
W1: Sounds like you're a very dedicated mom. But don't you worry about all the opportunities they're missing out on? I mean they're so isolated from real life -- how will they know what the world is like -- what people do to make a living -- how to get along with all different kinds of people?
W2: Oh, we discussed that at PTO, and we started a fund to bring real people into the classrooms. Last month, we had a policeman and a doctor come in to talk to every class. And next month, we're having a woman from Japan and a man from Kenya come to speak.
W1: Oh, we met a man from Japan in the grocery store the other week, and
he got to talking about his childhood in Tokyo. My kids were absolutely fascinated. We invited him to dinner and got to meet his wife and their three children.
W2: That's nice. Hmm. Maybe we should plan some Japanese food for the lunchroom on Multicultural Day.
W1: Maybe your Japanese guest could eat with the children.
W2: Oh, no. She's on a very tight schedule. She has two other schools to visit that day. It's a system-wide thing we're doing.
W1: Oh, I'm sorry. Well, maybe you'll meet someone interesting in the grocery store sometime and you'll end up having them over for dinner.
W2: I don't think so. I never talk to people in the store - certainly not people who might not even speak my language. What if that Japanese man hadn't spoken English?
W1: To tell you the truth, I never had time to think about it. Before I even saw him, my six-year- old had asked him what he was going to do with all the oranges he was buying.
W2: Your child talks to strangers?
W1: I was right there with him. He knows that as long as he's with me, he can talk to anyone he wishes.
W2: But you're developing dangerous habits in him. My children never talk to strangers.
W1: Not even when they're with you?
W2: They're never with me, except at home after school. So you see why it's so important for them to understand that talking to strangers is a big no-no.
W1: Yes, I do. But if they were with you, they could get to meet interesting people and still be safe. They'd get a taste of the real world, in real settings. They'd also get a real feel for how to tell when a situation is dangerous or suspicious.
W2: They'll get that in the third and fifth grades in their health courses.
W1: Well, I can tell you're a very caring mom. Let me give you my number
-- if you ever want to talk, give me call. It was good to meet you.
- - AUTHOR UNKNOWN - -
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Photo Hunt "Childhood"
Yesterday was Field Day for Ashley. It was also Field Day at her old school in Leander. After most of the events were over here in Georgetown, I picked her up from school and we went to Leander's field day so Ash could surprise her friends.
This picture was taken at Pleasant Hill with her old buddies. To hear the girlish squeals when they saw Ashley walk up, was just priceless! I chose this photo for the theme "childhood" for a number of reasons. These girls are childhood friends and have grown up together through the prime of their childhood. In just over two weeks they will all finish their last year in elementary school and I know silly faces like these will still happen, but I also know that they will eventually become few and far between. The look of innocence on their faces just makes my tummy flutter.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Where's The Poop
Yesterday, Alex and I ate lunch with dad, made a trip to Ready, Set, Play
and afterwards headed over to half price books to play a game of checkers and read a few books. Alex picked out this book called "Where's The Poop" and just had to read it. The next 5 minutes were excruciating. Trying to read this book in a quiet book store was more than I could take. "Baby Penguin, you need to go poop." "Silly momma, I already went poop and I feel much better!"
The best part is folding up the flaps, because yes, this is a flap book, and finding the animals poop. VERY realistic looking poop. Each page had me laughing out loud like a silly little girl. And then we get to the very last page, which is just one big flap with a picture of a door. You open the door and there's the little boy's mom sitting on the toilet, saying "Please close the door, I need privacy while I'm going poop." This book was just too much. After barely making it through the entire book because my sides were hurting, Alex informed me that we just HAD to buy this book. I refused. This was for a little boy trying to learn to use the potty and we don't need it.
Well, here we are almost 24 hours later and I'm realizing that we HAVE to have this book. So I look it up on Amazon just to see how much it is, and if it's worth ordering or if I should just go back to half price books, and then I see the reviews. I read all 12 of the reviews and now feel like the most adolescent mother on the face of this earth. Each one talks about how appropriate this book is and how well written it is with the amazing pictures and great message etc. Not one of them mentioned sitting in the bookstore laughing out loud with their 5 year old son. Ut oh.
and afterwards headed over to half price books to play a game of checkers and read a few books. Alex picked out this book called "Where's The Poop" and just had to read it. The next 5 minutes were excruciating. Trying to read this book in a quiet book store was more than I could take. "Baby Penguin, you need to go poop." "Silly momma, I already went poop and I feel much better!"
The best part is folding up the flaps, because yes, this is a flap book, and finding the animals poop. VERY realistic looking poop. Each page had me laughing out loud like a silly little girl. And then we get to the very last page, which is just one big flap with a picture of a door. You open the door and there's the little boy's mom sitting on the toilet, saying "Please close the door, I need privacy while I'm going poop." This book was just too much. After barely making it through the entire book because my sides were hurting, Alex informed me that we just HAD to buy this book. I refused. This was for a little boy trying to learn to use the potty and we don't need it.
Well, here we are almost 24 hours later and I'm realizing that we HAVE to have this book. So I look it up on Amazon just to see how much it is, and if it's worth ordering or if I should just go back to half price books, and then I see the reviews. I read all 12 of the reviews and now feel like the most adolescent mother on the face of this earth. Each one talks about how appropriate this book is and how well written it is with the amazing pictures and great message etc. Not one of them mentioned sitting in the bookstore laughing out loud with their 5 year old son. Ut oh.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
A poem for today
I Took His Hand and Followed
Author Unknown
My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.
Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I...
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky
We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood...
My kitchen wasn't swept today
But life was gay and good.
We found a cool, sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest,
Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.
We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill...
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,
We plucked a daffodil.
That my house was neglected,
That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth
Will know, or even care.
But that I've helped my little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years, the whole wide world
May look and see and know.
Monday, April 30, 2007
The newest addition to the family
Just when I thought my heart couldn't possibly hold anymore love than I already have, an early birthday present from Dad and Ruthie arrives.
Here's my new baby the Nikon D40 DSLR:
I'm so happy I could just burst!
Here's my new baby the Nikon D40 DSLR:
I'm so happy I could just burst!
Ashley - 1 Mom and Dad - 0
Yesterday Ashley presented Mark and I with a Power Point presentation. She had us sit down while she stood next to her computer and literally gave us a full presentation. She had it memorized and was able to speak to us without looking at the screen. We were and still are in complete shock.
While I can't upload the actual PPT Presentation, I have created an album of the slides she made.
While I can't upload the actual PPT Presentation, I have created an album of the slides she made.
 |
| Ashley's Power Point |
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Lessons from the Obits
Sunday morning the paper comes. Only Sunday mornings. Mark Urben sits in his chair, his les pulled up as a sort of paper support as he creates his untidy pile of newspaper on the floor next to him. He usually starts with his favorite section, the glossy pages...where he weeds through dreams of sporting the latest electronic gizmos, forever searching for that non-existant sale on a flat screen plasma, which one day WILL appear. On that day when it shows up for next to nothing, I fully expect to see papers fly and skid marks appear on the floor marking his path from chair to driveway. After the glossy section, I'm not sure he reads much more, although, he does make every attempt at falsifying his interest in every other section of the paper. Some days I think his "paper reading" is his way of getting some much needed down time. Afterall, how could anyone sit and read the paper for FOUR hours straight?
At some point on Sunday I stroll by and scatter the mess even further in my atempt at finding the Metro and State section. You see, this is the only section I ever read. I know, I'm not fully up to date on the situation in our country, I don't know the latest news and politics of our city, but quite frankly, I just don't care right now. I'm too busy raising a family to get caught up in all that. Someday, when I've done my job at home, I will have more time to care, but for now, I will sit and read the obits. Yes, I WILL admit it. As morbid as it sounds, I love to read the obituaries. Why? I'm not exactly sure, I suppose it must have something to do with the stage of life that I'm in....this stage of trying to figure out what exactly this life is about, and what exactly I'm supposed to do with it. I'm learning. The obits are teaching. When I want to teach my children about "dairy" for instance, I do my best to expose them to as much information as I possibly can regarding "dairy".
I'm learning about life. I'm reading about life. Lives that hopefully have come full circle. I don't read them and weep (well sometimes I do), I read them and absorb what made up their lives. What interests did they have, how did they impact their little world? How were they special? And then I put the paper down, and go about my day with a greater appreciation for this day and a bit more enthusiasm for making it the best I possibly can. I smile at the sun shining and the noisy children. I slow down a little and absorb more than I would had I not taken the time to read about that strange face. I go out in to the world and maybe for just that day, I will see more unfamiliar faces and will be able to appreciate that they too are people just trying to get through this beautiful, yet sometimes rough life as best they can just like me. I don't know.
At some point on Sunday I stroll by and scatter the mess even further in my atempt at finding the Metro and State section. You see, this is the only section I ever read. I know, I'm not fully up to date on the situation in our country, I don't know the latest news and politics of our city, but quite frankly, I just don't care right now. I'm too busy raising a family to get caught up in all that. Someday, when I've done my job at home, I will have more time to care, but for now, I will sit and read the obits. Yes, I WILL admit it. As morbid as it sounds, I love to read the obituaries. Why? I'm not exactly sure, I suppose it must have something to do with the stage of life that I'm in....this stage of trying to figure out what exactly this life is about, and what exactly I'm supposed to do with it. I'm learning. The obits are teaching. When I want to teach my children about "dairy" for instance, I do my best to expose them to as much information as I possibly can regarding "dairy".
I'm learning about life. I'm reading about life. Lives that hopefully have come full circle. I don't read them and weep (well sometimes I do), I read them and absorb what made up their lives. What interests did they have, how did they impact their little world? How were they special? And then I put the paper down, and go about my day with a greater appreciation for this day and a bit more enthusiasm for making it the best I possibly can. I smile at the sun shining and the noisy children. I slow down a little and absorb more than I would had I not taken the time to read about that strange face. I go out in to the world and maybe for just that day, I will see more unfamiliar faces and will be able to appreciate that they too are people just trying to get through this beautiful, yet sometimes rough life as best they can just like me. I don't know.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Pass The Torch Tuesday...Earthy Kids
Sunday was Earth Day. Ashley had Savannah and Kel over, so it was a full house. We did an earth day craft, talked about saving resources, not littering, etc. We actually spent a good portion of the day focussing on Earth Day topics, and much to my surprise the kids were telling ME about what they could do to conserve and be less wasteful. I was impressed. The kiddos did their part by picking up trash at the city park where we found some interesting trash items. We had a contest, who could come up with the biggest, smallest and strangest piece of trash. I think Savannah won for strangest, biggest and smallest. She found a rusted out paint can, a piece of confetti...a LOT of confetti and several beer bottles. I was surprised at the amount of twist ties I found. I figure it was probably from loafs of bread that were taken to the park to feed the ducks. Strange. It was a good day, and the kiddos and I had some wonderful time together at the park. Check out the pictures from our day:
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| Earth Day |
Monday, April 23, 2007
Photo Hunt "Steps"
My three favorite sets of girl feet. Oh the fun these feet have had together. So fresh and young and full of life. I wonder what the future holds for these favorite feet of mine.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Yeah, I'm slackin
My latest excuses for not Blogging:
1. It's SPRING! I'm outside every chance I get. The yard is looking better and better all the time. I've planted all kinds of new stuff and I have plans for even more. Last weekend Mark trimmed the trees, which look 100% better, I'm so proud of him!
2. It's SPRING! (did I mention that??) I've been taking Alex to the park a lot more lately and just today we made a trip to his favorite park. After we played a little baseball, we walked down to the waterfall where we found a big metal tub filled with water and about a dozen or so minnows. After I convinced him that the minnows weren't going to hurt him (yes, I had to show him how it was done), Alex was all about catching the minnows with his hands. That was probably the most fun that boy has had since Schlitterbahn last year. He just could NOT stop catching them. He'd get so giddy when he realized that he'd caught one. And at first they'd squirm in his hand a little, and he'd let out a little yelp and a jump, it was priceless. After a while he became a professional minnow hunter and was catching two at a time. After just putting them back in the water got boring he started dropping them like little bombs (with sound effects of course) back in to the tub and then he'd just laugh and laugh. Who'da thought it could be THAT easy to entertain this boy! He didn't need a playdate with 10 other kids running around, in fact I think he had more fun on his own just wandering wherever his little feet took him.
3. It's SPRING! (oh yeah, I already mentioned that) Spring = Almost Summer = I have to wear a swim suit soon. Whooptey Doo. So yeah, I finally joined a gym. I've been using the excuse that we "just" moved here and I need to find a gym, for seven months now, I figured I either needed to come up with a new excuse, or get to crackin on this oversize body of mine. Which, by the way is as big as it's ever been without a bun in the oven. Yeah, that's whole other subject that I will just pretend I didn't bring up. So yeah, my point was that I'm at the gym at least 3 days each week.
Ok, that's all I've got. I'll try harder. :(
1. It's SPRING! I'm outside every chance I get. The yard is looking better and better all the time. I've planted all kinds of new stuff and I have plans for even more. Last weekend Mark trimmed the trees, which look 100% better, I'm so proud of him!
2. It's SPRING! (did I mention that??) I've been taking Alex to the park a lot more lately and just today we made a trip to his favorite park. After we played a little baseball, we walked down to the waterfall where we found a big metal tub filled with water and about a dozen or so minnows. After I convinced him that the minnows weren't going to hurt him (yes, I had to show him how it was done), Alex was all about catching the minnows with his hands. That was probably the most fun that boy has had since Schlitterbahn last year. He just could NOT stop catching them. He'd get so giddy when he realized that he'd caught one. And at first they'd squirm in his hand a little, and he'd let out a little yelp and a jump, it was priceless. After a while he became a professional minnow hunter and was catching two at a time. After just putting them back in the water got boring he started dropping them like little bombs (with sound effects of course) back in to the tub and then he'd just laugh and laugh. Who'da thought it could be THAT easy to entertain this boy! He didn't need a playdate with 10 other kids running around, in fact I think he had more fun on his own just wandering wherever his little feet took him.
3. It's SPRING! (oh yeah, I already mentioned that) Spring = Almost Summer = I have to wear a swim suit soon. Whooptey Doo. So yeah, I finally joined a gym. I've been using the excuse that we "just" moved here and I need to find a gym, for seven months now, I figured I either needed to come up with a new excuse, or get to crackin on this oversize body of mine. Which, by the way is as big as it's ever been without a bun in the oven. Yeah, that's whole other subject that I will just pretend I didn't bring up. So yeah, my point was that I'm at the gym at least 3 days each week.
Ok, that's all I've got. I'll try harder. :(
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity...
That's what Mark said when I whined at the hefty $45 price tag attached to an invitation from a friend for a trip to Cameron Park Zoo. Later I found out that the hefty price tag was for more than what I expected. Our little zoologist, pet loving, animal hugging daughter is going to spend the night at the zoo tomorrow! I'm so, so excited for her!! When she gets back I'm going to have her write about her experience and see if I can share it on my blog.
That's what Mark said when I whined at the hefty $45 price tag attached to an invitation from a friend for a trip to Cameron Park Zoo. Later I found out that the hefty price tag was for more than what I expected. Our little zoologist, pet loving, animal hugging daughter is going to spend the night at the zoo tomorrow! I'm so, so excited for her!! When she gets back I'm going to have her write about her experience and see if I can share it on my blog.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Pass The Torch Tuesday
I'm late...imagine that.
On our trip to Nana and Big Daddy's this weekend Ashley rattled our cage quite a bit when she asked us what car we were planning on getting her when she turned 16. I was speechless. Mark was not. This is something that I had not yet contemplated, considering our sweet little precious girl is only 10 years old. Mark, on the other hand had obviously mulled this one over, "I don't know sweetie, whatever you can afford."
And there in the van on our Easter trip, 10 year old Ashley began her plan for her first job. Three days later our little entrepeneur has a business plan and well thought out flyer to post...which I will HAVE to share when I get permission.
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