Another Day on the Job

A mom and dad's job is never done. Especially a working mom and dad. You have to love those phone calls from your husband that goes something like this...You're not going to believe what happened...my mom is taking the kids home early from swim practice...apparently Cameron hit his head on the wall at the pool and has an abrasion on his nose and it hurts really bad...he can't wear his glasses because it hurts his nose when he wears them.

I get home from work and find out the real story. Cameron was swimming, obviously, and lost his fin. Apparently his goggles filled up with water while he was trying to put the fin back on his foot, only to not see how close he was to the wall and sure enough, he finds the wall with his face. And tomorrow is picture day at school. Maybe the glasses will cover up the abrasion on his face and we will get a good picture out of him.

Welcome Fall

Fall has not quite made it to California yet. We spent the opening fall weekend at a family birthday party on Saturday. It was much warmer than what I am wanting fall to be. I have been commenting that we are going to be wearing shorts until Halloween if the weather doesn't get any cooler.

The kids had a blast, while at the birthday party, playing on their awesome tree house that their "Blue Grandpa" built for them. It is definitely the kind of tree house that just about every kid dreams about. It's not 100% complete, but it's getting there.

I have started up my Sunday Cookie Bake again. Forgot how much fun it is to get the kids involved with some baking. I also have a ton of new and easy recipes that any kid could make. Today was an old recipe I have made before. And there will be lots of cookies for the kids to take to school for the week. Yay, for yummy treats.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I had every intention of posting about my day and events...and didn't do it. Oh well, that's life and I can't stress over it. Have to just keep going.

This little munchkin earned a life skill award yesterday for responsibility. I have a responsible kid, only because her mom is responsible. I feel this is more of an award for her dad and I than her. She loves to procrastinate everything. And always finds better activities to fill her time, than what she is actually supposed to be doing. Her bedroom clean up has been going on now for 3 weeks. And I think the only toys that have been picked up are her Barbie's, and she didn't even put the box away. It's in the middle of her messy room. Thank goodness kids have parents for the first 18 years of their lives. This one is going to need us for awhile and thank goodness. Life would not be the same without her.

Rock Bottom Can Bring Out the Best

Sometimes it takes falling to rock bottom to realize it only brings out the best. It also makes you realize that all that really matters sometimes is the love of your family.

I had to have a little reminder of that today. The past few weeks have been difficult for me. Personal and money issues have made me a not so easy person to live with. Today I was reminded how much I am loved by those pictured above. No matter how crazy I get, no matter how ridiculous I get, no matter how hard I try to do it all without asking for help and fail, I am still loved by the most absolutely wonderful individuals. And every morning I get to start all over again, and watch them head out the door with smiles on their faces and a hug and a kiss good-bye to make rock bottom feel like the top of the world.

My goal for this week is to appreciate the love that is freely given to me and not squander it. I am truly blessed even with the trials that I currently have to face.

It's Just Another Post

Just another post from this girl. I have been lacking in my posting lately. I just haven't had the drive lately to want to take care of our family blog. Or take care of anything for that matter. You have missed the posts of the kids swim meets. The post about our family camping trip with our good friends, the Jackson's. No pictures of Paul's first triathlon. There are no updates of our trip to Monterey before the kids started school. No first day of school picture. It's not a depression thing. It's not a lazy thing, because I continually get on the computer and check the blog and just don't do anything about it. I am just tired and just trying to take it one day at a time. I wish that I could pinpoint what made me start slacking, just don't know. I've hit a bog and just can't get myself out of it. I do just enough to make me feel like I accomplished something during the day...and that usually is just a single load of laundry. I am hoping that just writing about my current state of mind and body, will get me out of my funk and get me more enthusiastic about getting up, starting my day, and working a little harder at the little things that add up to big things if not taken care of. Here's to hoping that just another post will work into a more productive and easier day for me tomorrow. Hopefully a post about better times tomorrow...and maybe I will find my camera if I am more productive.

Updates

I figured that while I am on hold for the advice nurse to tell me what to do for my sick little Madeline, I would update everyone on our adventures. There haven't been any. That's right we are boring, for now. The kids are busy with swim team practice. I am busy being mommy, employee, and swim team volunteer extrordinaire (don't know if I spelled that right, and spell checker doesn't know either). We had to get a new car, due to mine being totaled in a 6 car pile up on the freeway, and we didn't hit a single vehicle in the accident. Figure that one out. We are healing just fine, and thank goodness the kids didn't get hurt. This accident was a family affair. Scary moment, but we were all kept safe.

New Truck Got a truck instead of an exact replacement for my Pacifica, because Paul is going to start doing triathlons and we need the truck to haul all of his gear to his events. Makes hauling gear to all of the kids swim meets easier for me this year, because I will be without my better half for much of the season. Sacrifices. Blessings later. Had a fun time as a family at our local Stockton Thunder Hockey Game. The kids are finally getting to the age where they will actually sit and watch for a majority of the time, instead of needing to be up and running around. That makes me happy, because then I get to enjoy the game.

Our Cameron Man had to get glasses. He is the most adorable little guy with those things on. And he loves that he gets to wear glasses now. That poor kid had terrible vision. I think he loves them because he can actually see everything now. Now if he could only find his shoes in the morning before school. Easter came and went. The bunny visited and left some pretty cool toys and candy in the baskets and outside in the backyard. Almost as cool as Santa Claus.

The swim season has started. The weather is getting warmer. The family is doing well and are for the most part happy and healthy, which means I am a happy mom. Many more updates to follow as our kids grow up and we do many more fun things coming this summer.

Lagging Big Time

I have been lagging big time on the blog lately. Realized I was so far behind when I was helping my sister-in-law get started with one for their family. There are a lot of post below, so sorry that your are going to have to catch up all at once. I am hoping to get on the ball and keep this updated at a more regular basis. I am going to have to or you will be watching a whole bunch of swimming videos all at once, once the swim season starts in a month.

The Mystery Spot and Santa Cruz, CA

The day after Valentines we decided to make a run for the coast considering that the kids were out of school for a week for their mid-winter break. We headed out to the mystery spot where there is a weird gravitational anomaly or something else going on there. Had so much fun with the kids, especially in the little cabin where the kids could not stand up strait. Headed to the boardwalk after for some yummy fish and chips and then off to the beach for Madeline's very first taste of walking barefoot on a beach and into the ocean. The water was freezing by the way, but it was so much fun to watch the sheer delight on her face.

The Christmas Church Outfits

It took a bit of time to finally get their pictures taken in front of the house like I always try to do, but I did get them. It was just a few weeks later after Christmas due to our trip to Disneyland and holidays and illness and family functions and etc.

My Cub Scout

Cameron's first pack meeting for cub scouts. I am sure he will hate this picture when he gets older, but the memories are great.

Visits with Grandpa Pat

The kids love to go see Grandpa Pat on the horse ranch. We got lucky right after Christmas for some great weather to go see Grandpa Pat, his dog Betty, and climb trees, see the horses and hang out by the river and skip rocks. Couldn't ask for better times.

Christmas Fun in the Sun

That's right. We had some fun in the sun. Santa surprised our family with a 4 day trip to Anaheim to enjoy Mickey Mouse and crew at Disneyland. He even made us go on a scavenger hunt to find all the clues that would lead us to the car with our bags all packed and ready to go. We had tons of fun and made lots of holiday memories. Planning another trip next year at a not so peak time of the year to make even more memories.









Best drummers I have ever heard.



She was such a trooper waiting in that long line to meet the princesses

They found the treasure
Thought this picture was a great one considering the guy who took it said it looked great and only took one photo of us by the front gate. It wasn't a great one, but it will have to do. Only one we had of the whole crew.