Monday, April 30, 2007



Last week was NO TV week; we survived. (Of course, I hailed Tivo once the kidlets were in bed!) We took the time to exercise the dog and get some family time outside. These are taken from the trail behind our house. We are very lucky to be able to pop out the back gate and OFF we go. And do I mean, OFF. Fritz LOVES the trail (lots of things to sniff, running up&down the ditch, loads of strangers to adore him). Sean is our resident Survivorman, constantly gathering firewood and pleading with us to let him sleep out there "with no tent or nothing".
I'm just hoping that walking in the evenings has the added bonus of taking some pounds off my butt. For the record, I actually jogged for a decent stretch last week.

Thursday, April 26, 2007


Aren't they a hoot!
No, they didn't get glasses too. They just love playing with Dad's glasses :)
I caught the two goofballs 'reading' together the other morning. Amanda's got that pre-reading /tell a story from memory skill DOWN. They are such pals; it's going to be a HUGE shock to Ian when he doesn't have Amanda as a full-time playmate next fall.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007




The girl's got bling!
Maggie got glasses for doing boardwork and far away stuff like overheads. OF COURSE, she choose the frames with extra bling (sunglasses clip-on included). There was no convincing her otherwise. Honestly, I shouldn't suggest anything at all b/c my choices are completely and utterly ridiculous according to her. She is almost 9, don't I know better????
They came in a darling faux snakeskin mini-purse and she hasn't managed to break them or forget them yet. She says they really help, so I'm hoping that in combination with the vision therapy, she will be on her way to more school success.

Monday, April 23, 2007


GO RED SOX!!

Sean is coming into his own playing Kid Pitch this season. His batting is improving and his fielding remains error free. Recently we played a team from one city over and Sean (along with four other boys) got the opportunity to pitch an inning. (in an effort to keep the game with a reasonable score). Sean did a great job and struck out three kids! Fun for all the boys who never touch the mound.


Fritz is enjoying going to baseball games with the family. We are still adjusting to having a dog. He's really cute and very sweet, but potty learning is not exciting when all of your children are done and you thought you were done handling others' poop. We have him sectioned off in the family room/breakfast nook/kitchen so he can't mess up the house; tile is easy enough to clean (and he doesn't have to stay crated while I'm out for extended periods of time). He is quite a snuggler and quite often sleeps on his back nuzzled against us on the couch. He was crashed out on the floor the other day and Collin snuck up on him. He simply woke up and crept over; ended up like this.

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Fritz is the subject of Maggie's 'Measuring Project'. This should be interesting..............

Sunday, April 15, 2007











It's the end of a whirlwind Spring Break. Let's see -- Monday, the kids all had dental appts. NO CAVITIES, yeah! I don't know how that happened, but I'm just happy. We headed to AZ on Tuesday AM. The final tally: 4 days, 800 miles, 4 kids + 1 dog, a trip to the Wildlife World Zoo, a relaxing afternoon in the park, a FANTASTIC dinner at Pappadeaux's Seafood kitchen (side note: Maggie is the only anti-crawfish person in the family!) and another awesome breakfast at my beloved Waffle House. Yesterday was baseball (more details later) and today is church & grocery shopping.

I don't know how the teachers manage to educate anyone beyond spring break b/c I'm ready for the beach and the kids aren't incredibly excited about 2 more months of school.

Monday, April 09, 2007







We got a dog. Yes, a dog. Shasta (now 12) is NOT thrilled. But how can you NOT love a face like this.




Meet Fritz; 10wk. old Mini-Schnauzer.


Ian says: "He's my favorite doggie. He's mine. I asked Daddy for him."
So far, so good.





Friday, April 06, 2007





Our little sparkling Shirley Temple; Mag did a GREAT job presenting her clues on stage. Isn't her hair just darling and hilarious. It's still curly a day later. She got an A+ on her Famous Americans poster. I have to get a picture of her doll, too.

Lots of great costumes and presenters. Funny moment, one little guy was PERFECT in costume and great clues. Collin raised his hand and was picked responding 'are you Cassius Clay?' VERY QUICK and right on the mark the 3rd grader says 'No, I am not Cassius Clay.' The entire audience burst into laughter b/c he WAS correct he was Muhammad Ali. He jogged off the stage with his red boxing gloves held high.

Monday, April 02, 2007













Aaaaahhhhhh, spring is here! I'm not sure what's gotten into me but I'm progressing along nicely in this gardening thing. I, yes, I even cut the grass last Friday. Who cares if our grass is the size of a postage stamp. I think my neighbors were peeking out their windows wondering WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER; HIRE A GARDENER. They must have been really frightened b/c they didn't even come and offer a referral for their own gardener.


My quest to conquer the backyard has started. We've been here 2-1/2 years and barely done anything to the backyard beyond pruning. It's not like we have a HUGE backyard either (snort, I live in the land of stucco & cement aka Orange County). But seriously, it had become a completely embarrasing eye-sore. I'm clearing out all the weeds, junk, mess and putting in some simple flowers for color and I planted two tomato plants in the full sun spot. This is going to take a while b/c I really need a green waste dumpster not a green waste trash bin.
NOW, that is what the Real Housewives of Orange County DO!