Good-bye 2013!

2013 has been quite the whirlwind for us overall. I thought I would take some time and make a video montage of our year. I am happy to report that I accomplished TWO of my New Year's resolutions from January.....I did take a photo a day (sometimes capturing the mundane things like dirty dishes but I did it) AND I managed to blog more than I have in almost four years. I will admit to shedding a few tears while I created, edited, rearranged, and added pics to this year in review. Tears of joy shed that remind me how blessed we are with great friends and family whether near or far. Tears of happiness for fond memories traveling many, many miles (and blocking out the random meltdowns after many, many hours of road-tripping).
Our Year in Review (via One True Media)

Looking forward to more travel and memory making in 2014.....hoping to add Mardi Gras and Virginia to our lists along with visiting family in Georgia and an extended CA visit (maybe) in the summer. My new camera is ready for lots of use; I hope to share more our craziness with you in 2014.

Time is flying....

How is it that I haven't posted in over a month? But even more mind boggling is the fact that we have been in Texas for 6-1/2months!!! (and some of our Irvine friends have moved to Austin too!) The last month has been a blur but I did have a few random notes to blog about so here is a sample of life:
1) Fall is HERE.....regular rain, cool temps, and changing leaves. The geese have arrived on the pond. It is so nice to actually have a change of season. And weird dry Santana winds aren't involved.
3) The clear blue sky here is simply beautiful, yet sometimes blinding. My body had forgotten what a sky looked like after being hidden in a layer of smog for 20 years.
2) Scrapbooking is good for my soul. I am happy to say that Sean's school album is completely up to date. He is officially in 8th grade. Ian, on the other hand, is still in preschool. Small victories, right?
3) Sick pets SUCK. No polite way to put it. Fritz had a terrible bout of pancreatinitis and many $$$ later he has recovered thankfully. But, I can't imagine if he gets sick again. Our finances can't handle it.
4) School projects are bad enough but the overachieving parents need to just STOP IT already! Stop doing your kids work for them please; you aren't helping them become successful. Let them earn their own grades. Unless you plan do their work projects when they become adults, teach them now how to plan and meet deadlines. Thanks :)
5) Pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins make my family very happy; maybe as happy as a pumpkin spice latte for me.
6) I have started Christmas shopping. The reality that it is less than two months away is crazy. I get confused because as far as retail goes I think they started with Christmas decorations in July.
7) Why is there such hysteria over the 'What Does the Fox Say?' I still think I have been punked and these guys are making money over this insanity. What happened to real music? And why does this song get stuck in my head?
8) However, the dog teaser video that went viral on YouTube is beyond funny. Here it is if you haven't seen it....our family now uses this reaction for everything..blahhhhh! Much better than real whining.
and last but not least
9) Enjoy this bit of great performing. Band has really been a great (albeit exhausting) experience for Maggie. They are busy with football games and competition season. Here is there show performance. They won the Classic on the Lake but yesterday they didn't qualify to go to state to represent our area. I think they are awesome and should be really proud of their hardwork: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFmKNJoXg0g;

Thursday thoughts

Just some random thinking for a Thursday:
1) Band season is in full swing. We experienced our first Friday Night Lights late week when we attended the Homecoming game. Band was great; football was awful. Hoping it was just a bad week for the team.

2) Sean made the 'A' team for 8th grade football. He is pretty excited about it. We are proud of him and all his hardwork. Rolling out of bed at 6am for early morning practice is gnarly but at least it isn't in the blazing TX heat. His first game is Monday and we can't wait!

3) Yesterday was 9/11.....I really need to stop watching all the dedications and such. I had no idea 12 years ago how sad the entire history making episode would still be. I have never been to NY; didn't know anyone in the towers; cannot even grasp the enormity of it all (still!). And it still makes me cry. We will never forget.

4) And as 9/11 passes, it means Amanda's birthday is approaching. I remember being a month away from my due date. How is she almost 12?

5) And that means Christmas shopping is upon us. (It's been Christmas season at Costco and Hobby Lobby for a month!) I will admit I have one small gift and three stocking stuffers so far. But that hardly makes a dent in reality. Sean is easy - he just wants Beats headphones and a pool table, um what????

6) On Sunday, Fritz was SICK. Poor little thing could hardly walk and barfed projectile vomited on the carpet. He didn't move for hours and could barely lift his head to his bowl for water. Then after about 6 hours he started emerging back to life. So weird; wonder if he ate one of the baby (one-inch long) lizards we keep finding in the house. Side note: vinegar and water works wonder on carpet!

7) Currently we are going through about three loaves of bread a week. GAH! That's 25 sandwiches for lunches (Sean has two) + any I might eat and random toast for breakfast. Good heavens.

8) I added on another merchandising job. So currently I'm up to sunglasses for two stores and jewelry at one, all Targets. With other small projects added on here and there I am making about 65% of what I did in CA; not bad on 15hrs. or less a week. I worked about 28/week in Irvine.

9) Ian got his cast off yesterday. Woot! He is in a boot for a short bit though. Based on what was under his cast (leaves, grass, etc.), the doc thought we should give him a reminder that he is nursing an injury and that he can't go crazy again just yet.

10) And one final note, it's not hump day, but the commercial still makes me laugh everyone single time!

Hoping your Thursday is filled with something that makes you laugh too!

On the road again......

How is it possible that I haven't blogged yet in July? Well, I've been busy. Busier than usual. You know, summer busy that involves juggling kid schedules/ working your part-time job/ and keeping them from getting too booooorrrreeeed. We had friends visit near the end of June and then shortly thereafter we hit the road to New Orleans. We spent the 4th of July weekend with tons of friends (and some family visiting too). If someone had told me last 4th of July that I would be spending 2013's celebration in a campground in Covington, LA with my best friend and her family I would have told you that the notion was impossible. I'm learning nothing is impossible. We shared lots of laughter; enjoyed plenty of food; cooled off in the waters of a Bouga Falaya tributary; and loved every minute. Golf cart ride anyone?

Now that Maggie is finishing off her summer testing, we are heading toward family in Mansfield, Ohio. Yep, another road trip. Just me, four kids and the dog.....oil change, check; tire pressure, check; wash and detail, check; full gas tank, check. There is more laughter to share; food to enjoy; and cool waters of Grandma's pool -- along with cousins to hang with; a pond to fish in; and go-cart rides. So while affording a trip to Hawaii or the like is impossible at this point (much to the kids dismay), vacations and memory-making are possible.

Praying for safe travels as we add three more states to the ones we have navigated --- adding Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. First Stop - Jackson, TN here we come

TX Camping -the New Braunfels edition

Or maybe I should call it 'the camping trip that almost wasn't.'

 Last Friday, we packed up the trusty Suburban and headed south five hours to New Braunfels. First stop Mountain Breeze Campground....."um, no -we don't have a reservation; the guy on the phone told us "first come, first served." And you don't take dogs???? There is a dog on your LOGO!" Oh crap. Things got tense as we discovered that dogs aren't allowed as a general rule. (GAH.....we have no problem boarding him or getting a dog sitter had we known.) So we decided that we would check every single area as we drove back toward town with a hotel stay as a last resort.

Rocky Beach had a spot! (time noted: 6pm) They made it clear that about 1000 people would be loading into the river steps from our spot but we were low on options so we simply said yes. Employees strolled by and saw the dog and the first thing we unloaded and tied up was Fritz. We didn't hide him. We unloaded everything in the HOT buggy camping spot and started assembling tents. THEN, the lady comes over and says "oh, you have a dog? we don't allow dogs. You have to leave; we will give you a refund." Did you feel the earth stop spinning????????? Collin had to turn around and decompress before he went postal; I stood there frozen with the tent poles; the kids were SILENT; somewhere an explosion happened because somehow we handled it calmly and simply started tossing things back in the Suburban as Collin started tying gear back onto the luggage rack. What a blessing in disguise.

Two miles down we stopped at a Mom&Pop campground that had a dog sitting out on the grass. So we were hopeful. Collin went in to ask about sites available and quickly came out to converse with a guy on the porch. I could read the man's lips...."let me see him." He wanted to meet Fritz. Before he even got to pet him, the guy saw Fritz's sweet face and how anxious Fritz was to give him some luvin' and he said "come on in." We set up camp 50yds. from the general store, Koozies bar with bands each night, beach volleyball, and horseshoes. We were able to rent our toobs (spelled correctly) from them and they shuttled us up to the drop off. The friendly couple had just bought it a year ago; re-did the camp sites and upgraded the grounds. They were the nicest people and the staff was super friendly too. So, by 8:30pm, we were set to chill. At a site that was a lot cooler and LESS buggy than Rocky Beach. With fireflies = awesome.

We did away with cell phones and time. Who knew what time it was? We enjoyed hot dogs, smores, eggs, sausage, toast, burgers, and more smores. ('the evolution of the toasting marshmallows' post coming soon). We went through a jar of peanut butter in less than 24hrs. And it was all good. Warm, but good. As rustic as I get - insert porta-potties and no showers. Immaculate porta-potties with sanitizer so it wasn't terrible. And at least we had the river for tubing; it's sorta like a shower, right? Brushing your teeth using a cup of water, no problem.

Tubing was fine. The water was cold yet refreshing and I managed to carry my camera double-bagged in a Ziploc and grocery bag so I was able to get some nice pictures. The scenery was beautiful. I got stuck on rocks a bunch and the crowd was younger than we had hoped (smoking, bad language, ridiculous music) but we took it in stride and had fun.

Amanda's quote of the weekend was "I need band-aids, aloe, and OFF." And that about sums it up. Camping in Texas does involve wearing OFF but I won't complain because anytime I wake myself up snoring in a hammock it is a good day!

Ol' River Hideaway will see us again :)

(.....will post pics soon......having issues with uploading from the camera/ desktop is in the shop)

Sure, why not?

For several years, we joined a large group of friends and headed to Santa Barbara to El Capitan Canyon for Father's Day camping. I called it 'Beverly Hills' camping because you could choose between a cabin (with a kitchenette and private bathroom) or a safari tent. Both came with maid service. Not kidding. If you left and went to the beach or out hiking, they would come while you were out and make your bed, sweep the floor, and tidy up. They also had spa services; they would even come to your tent/cabin for the message. It was a great introduction to camping as a family because the area is beautiful and being with a large group the kids were easily entertained. We haven't done that since 2009.

We have done real tent camping up in Bass Lake, CA and we did an RV trek to the Kern River a couple of years ago. So, Collin expressed some interest in camping/tubing this weekend. It sounded good but we never made any plans one way or another. Until last night at 8:30pm; as in, 12 hours ago. The kids are baffled. Really? Camping? Tubing? On a river? TOMORROW?

Tomorrow is now today and the mad dash is on. I've got the lists rolling and am heading out to the grocery store in a few to get the essentials (ya know, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate!) and to gas up the trusty Suburban. We hope to hit the road before noon with Fritz in tow because he is always up for an adventure that involves chasing the kids and water.

We plan to go tubing on the Guadalupe River

and have some chill time.

 

Armed with sunscreen, OFF, and Citronella candles we'll see what camping in South Texas is all about. Sometimes you just have to say 'sure, why not?'.

 

Sharing a day; it's all good (mostly)

Happy Birthday to the girl who made me a Mom 15 years ago......

My Maggie.....with beautiful blonde hair and striking blue eyes (and cute clothes from H&M, not A&F), she came into this world with a strong voice that she still uses to this day. I'm proud of her talents in singing, dance, drama, and band. She is a performing arts 'nerd' (her words) and pretty much a mini-me (she's way better than I ever was). She loves learning to cook too.

She is my guinea pig at this Mom gig. Poor soul. She challenges me a lot (especially when she challenged me to this piggy back shot)

but overall she is a great kid who makes friends easily, is trustworthy, and knows what modesty means. She is most happy when listening to show tunes and eating carbs (my kind o' gal). I love her to pieces even when she thinks I don't. (If you are reading this Mag, get off your phone and clean your room for 15 min. :))

 

This Mother's Day reminds me of the blessings I do have in my children:

Amanda is fiercely independent, nurturing, and a hard worker. She has a soft heart for babies and animals. (now if she had such a soft heart with her siblings) She said she wants to be a nurse or physical therapist for kids in rehab "like she had." She makes me proud.

and these two turkeys boys bring me such joy and anxiety all wrapped into one. For those interested, yes - Sean is really that much taller than me now and Ian is doing his best to keep up (note the on-the-toes pose). Someone once told me that 'boys adore their Daddy, but hold their Mom's heart' (or something like that). It is absolutely true. I love my girls but these boys melt my heart like no other. And geez, can they smell like no other.

And this little guy, I love him too. He and Ian happily greeted me with coffee in bed so I can't complain.

These flowers are sprucing up my kitchen nicely. So I'm not gonna complain about those either.

 

But, you will hear me complaining loudly if I have to clean up the dinner dishes like I did the breakfast ones. (give me credit, I lasted five hours and when they didn't get touched I got a tad witchy.) 

 

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms I know....you make a difference everyday even if it doesn't seem like it! I hope everyone has time to reflect on the blessing(s) in their lives and has a few moments of peace. Because, let's be real, the laundry that isn't getting done today will still be staring at us tomorrow.

 

Monday musing (minus the morning part)

Yes, it's Monday but not even close to morning. I'll count the Monday part good and move along with some musings.
--I was so tired for free coffee at Dunkin so I went back to bed and then made my own later. Two nights of crappy sleep will do that to a person.
--Amanda doesn't have strep, thank goodness. She has science state testing on Wed. so we really need this virus to be gone.
--We love the pond.....it is so peaceful and has just enough wildlife to have us take notice. Had a random weird crane there this weekend along with some geese passing through. I'm sure Fritz thinks he has moved to the Great Frontier. Amanda did catch the first fish so that was a sweet surprise for her.
--The kitchen is 'almost' together. I think I have two boxes left. I hate thinking I might want to move some stuff around so for now I'm going to see how functional it really is. Still wondering where the flatware organizer is, guess I should get to those last two boxes.
--Ian is signed up for football. (Sean will play through middle school.) Navigating a new system is a very strange feeling.
--I'm trying Flylady again. I know the basics (shine your sink, etc.) in my head but keeping tasks small and manageable is a good reminder. I tend to do 'if you give a mouse a cookie' style cleaning and then I become a frustrated beast. Two big bonuses - laundry is under control and I LOVE having my bed made and looking purdy.
--Back to cooking again :) Pork loin in the oven slow roasting with orange marmalade across the top, pine nut couscous, and cantaloupe for dinner today.
--Deadliest Catch started last week. I really love those guys. Miss my favorite Capt. Phil.
--We are supposed to be heading to NOLA this weekend for Collin's fraternity formal (50th Anniversary).....excited at the possibility of hometown crawfish and seeing some friends we haven't seen in a long time.
--I bought my children their FIRST loaf of Sunbeam bread, ever! They like Texas even more now. And they are wondering what happened to 'wheat bread Mom'.


Many things remain on the list of things to do (exercise! [I did get out once last week, lol], DMV trip, camera repair).....and several have been added (paperwork for Mag's ortho consult & 15yr. well check, mail assorted things like the old Direct TV receiver, find out about Lone Star Storyteller contest for Mag & Amanda).

For now, I'm off to put out a HotSpot for 5-minutes as Flylady has reminded me. I think I can get one of those boxes done if I work fast.

Relocation ramblings, episode 1

A quick post, just as a sort of journal, of our journey:

• the last 15% of your move is the biggest pain in the butt AND seems to take forever. It will be those boxes that annoy me.....you know, the ones that contain the most random things and are completely irritating to unload. Everyone has one or two or three - alarm clock, leftover random towel, ziploc size bag of travel lotions, ponytail holders, bathroom cup, pair of flip-flops, and the entire drawer that you just found and forgot to pack!
• we have 14,000 pounds of house packed in three large containers not to mention the assorted random things overflowing the two vehicles
• cleaning a house that isn't your own REALLY sucks
• anything that goes through Ian's brain comes out of his mouth no matter if it is a word, a sound, or a song
• he knows the words to a lot of songs!
• spending a relaxing evening with great friends is an awesome way to end a long day
• 375 miles isn't that far but it IS a nice start to a long trek
• having your engine light come on 345 miles into that trek isn't a great feeling especially when you just paid close to $2K in repairs AND tomorrow is a holiday

Happy Easter ......may you be blessed with a beautiful day and lots of chocolate. Onward toward Las Cruces or El Paso - at least lets hope so.

Chaos reigns....

Moving across the country is stressful enough. Add four kids. And a dog. And an absent husband because he is working his new job. And my 27-hr. a week job. And you have the chaos of the moving countdown.

Meals still need to get planned.....especially to empty the pantry
Packing happens slowly......yet we have to live here for a few more weeks
School work needs to get done......b/c "your grades come with you!"
Appts. on the calendar remain.....hair, check - kids eye exam, check

Yet, I am trying to find the calm in the chaos because my van needs to be repaired to the tune of $2,000!!!!!!! (yes, it requires that many exclamation points when we are trying to buy a house) and I had to leave work early because a neighbor called to say he saw Fritz out but couldn't find him when he went to look for him.

Calm.......deep breath.....thank you God for the dog being home safely when I rushed home (he was paling around with the neighbor's house painter) and, an even bigger blessing, we were NOT on the road in the middle of no-where when my van decided to die.

I would like a basket to crawl into as well, but for now it's big girl pants and one foot in front of the other.

It's Superbowl Sunday!

The Superbowl is on this afternoon; and who cares. I am a huge football fan but this year I'm looking forward to friends visiting, great food, and funny commercials. Oh, and Madonna. I'm hoping she knocks it out of the park and shows Lady Ga-Ga who the original risque diva is. It must be the 80's girl in me. What are you going for the game?

And I have more pictures of 2012 Life in Pictures....

Jan.26th - I might have been on the losing side of the Game On challenge but I still won. I helped in serving the winning team an Italian dinner. This is my Caprese. It tasted so yummy along with the lasagna, salad, garlic bread and other NONE diet foods :)

27th....a boy and his dog.....if only the dog would SLEEP with him, Sean's life would be complete
28th.......Sound of Music picture day; they are so sweet together, love Family #3!

29th.....Amanda's mission project! the one that her notes got left at school over the weekend so it had to be turned in late. Can you say grumpy mom?

30th....welcome to the world of adolescence; it means more homework AFTER rehearsal. Gah!

31st.....and speaking of rehearsal -- it's ME, off to slappy dancer rehearsal (I was a nun the night before, bahahaha)

and then it was February! Already....always a good time to take a picture of my goofy dog. We love Fritz.

Feb. 2nd -- homemade goodness. Nothing better than walking in after a busy day to dinner 80% finished :)

Feb. 3rd .....the day I flaked. No picture :( I simply forgot but don't give up on me.

Feb. 4th....a rockin' Saturday night for Maggie. Laundry!
And now, let's 'start at the very beginning; a very good place to start'.....Maggie made us a cake for Superbowl.

Working towards being The Next Great Baker. (she used orange b/c it's all she had and we don't care about blue and red teams; it's ALL about Black and Gold!)

I'm finding that sometimes a photo a day can be tough. Some days are just not that exciting. Nevertheless, it's a challenge and will be fun (at least for me) to look back and see what I was up to and how the kids grow and change constantly. Speaking of change......Fritz looks like a mini-schneauzer again thanks to a haircut :)

And growing.....all of the kidlets are growing like crazy. So now you can see how I spent my Saturday......doing the clothing shuffle in the girls' room.

Photo 7

I ended up with a bag of hand-me-downs for a friend; 1/2 a bin in a Rubbermaid tub saving for Amanda; and a large bag for Goodwill. Now I wait for sales and coupons to shop for a few pairs of shoes/sandals for them and a couple of spring clothing items and they are SET. Hopefully for at least a few months.
And with all this growing, it means GROCERIES GALORE. I think I had one of my best trips ever :) See Photo 8..... 40% in savings!!!! Yes! Ian was with me and asked 'are you one of those crazy coupon ladies?' I replied: 'I love coupons and I pay attention but I don't think I'm crazy.' He promptly responded: 'Well you are crazy; everyone knows that.'

Hmmmmmm, I'm not crazy. What's CRAZY is that my 11yr. old son wears a size 10 men's shoe!?!

Poor Fritz Pup --- had his first trip to the advanced critical care last night. He appears to have colitis. Not fun for any of us. He's been a bit droopy and not eating for a couple of days and I was going to take him in today, but after detecting bloody stools (icky, sorry) I had to take him in.

I thought he might have eaten a stuffed animal eyeball or one of the green army men. His x-rays were clear and his bloodwork was good so they think it is a random illness. Let's hope.

Mini-schnauz. are prone to pancreatinitis so we have to be careful. He does get weird and won't eat much along with accidents when I go to AZ and such, but I'm hoping that is just stress and not something bigger.

He is our spoiled baby dog so he is digging this extra pampering.

One pooped pup!

We are still enjoying our walks and so does Fritz, but he is so funny when we get home. After a quick drink, he crashes on the cool tile floor, might as well put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on him b/c he is d.o.n.e.

Baseball is still going well. Sean's team is currently in first place, GO RED SOX! I signed him up for football today too; we are excited about that. He'll play flag football instead of tackle; I'm really happy about that. I'm not quite ready to watch my dude get smushed.

Amanda remains the queen of her tee-ball team. She does really well and LOVES sliding into home plate. Everyone thinks she is hilarious and precious with her bright yellow hair bow - GO PIRATES!

Maggie auditioned for 'Once Upon a Mattress'; she completed her call back so we are anxiously awaiting the cast posting tomorrow afternoon. She, Sean, and I went to see the theatre's production of Peter Pan tonight -- fun and done well.

Last, but not least, Mr. Ian. He's doing great but the biggest candy thief you've ever seen. He will scam it off of anyone and if that doesn't work he goes into stealth mode to get some on his own. The little turd. BUT his smile and charm do melt my heart.

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.