COMING BACK WITH A BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's my 100th post!!!!!!!!!! Who's gonna be the 1st five commenters :)

Life has been one giant whirlwind. I still have so much to update on and toss ya pictures for, but first I'll give you a few pictures of the madness I am currently living.
the herb garden/useless sink removed; new window
the painfully ugly & barely working old range hood circa 1969
the cupboard over the peninsula
the view of the kitchen with ceiling panel removed and above cupboards removed
view to the left of above photo; old micro. & tiny oven

More pics. to come since the new, beautiful cupboards are in. Now we're waiting on the granite & sink. Off to Costco for more paper plates...........

Another couple of photos to catch you up........
it only took us a month to finally have a little bday party to celebrate Maggie turning 9. Being 9, she wanted a rainbow party. She came up with most of the ideas herself and had an absolute ball. My masterpiece for my eldest:

And this is her local theatre debut. She was a lady-in-waiting in the chorus, but got cast as a nightingale too. She's on the right (sorry it's blurry):

A little LOVE Thursday, 24 minutes late, but this is still one of my most loved family times.........

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh my goodness....lots of pictures to share with you BUT my blogger friend, Mindy put this up on her blog and I HAD to share. I need to learn this b/c these days I could sing it LOUD & CLEAR.

So, last I left you my kids were buried in the sand. Well, I HAVE let them out but I'm not sure why. Summer just started for us and I'm almost ready to eat them (that won't help my diet so I'll let them live for now). Collin and I took them with us to finalize our cabinet stain color and to select our slab for the granite countertops; I couldn't find a sitter, THAT is the only reason we took them. It didn't even take that long, but DARN it wasn't pretty. WHY can't they just act like perfectly programmed robot children for ONCE???
Anyway...let me back up a little and post a couple of end-of-the-year pics. Maggie had a lead role in the 3rd grade play, Vacation to Mars:
She did a great job and received lots of compliments. We were very proud of her.

Sean has grown a TON this year. This picture shows a little sample of it

This week starts swim lessons; summer reading club; and dance recitals for the girls (along with the community play for Mag). It hasn't been boring at all; well, according to my view from the top.

(this photo is how you keep them from wandering around saying 'what are we going to do today')

Today is the 1st day of summer for us! Went to Denny's for breakfast to celebrate; Maggie completed her SIX MONTHS of vision therapy but will get assessments after a few months. She has maintenance exercises to do over the summer.

Next week starts swim lessons for A&I (2 wks.) along with dance recital(s). On 7/9, M&S will start swim lessons. Then we have VBS along with my kitchen remodel starting. Then we have family vacation in Newport Beach (all the OH family is coming to CA). We are planning to hit the beach with school friends on Wed. of each week and I'm planning to head to 29Palms and AZ at some point in Aug. for a little bit (while my kitchen is still wonky) but it will be tough b/c Sean starts football practice and DH is head coaching. It seems like we are really busy but the commitments are for small parts of the day (like an hr. for swim or 1/2 day for VBS).

We're going to do the summer reading club at the library so I can focus on improving overall reading skills (or at least not letting them crumble). We are doing the Summer Bridging Books also. How is it that I have 4gr., 2gr., Kindergartener, and a preschooler??????? Tues./Thurs. in the fall will be either really busy with errands or REALLY quiet here.

Haven't done a LOVE Thursday in a while; go post about LOVE on your blog today.


LOVE the feeling of flinging and tossing; clutter free closets & a more organized garage!

Ian's disappearing act last week was just the kick-off of a crazy busy week. A few highlights..............
1) To add to my adrenaline rush, Sean's kid pitch team WON the Pony level Championship!!!!!!!!!! A hard fought season and well-deserved 1st place

2) Maggie finished up her final year of Brownies with a bowling party; her 4th year scouting. She received her earned try-its and her wings to fly up to Juniors. She also debuted into the world of drama. After a long week of run-throughs she started in the show Once Upon a Mattress at a local theatre. More pics. later.

3) Amanda finished up her preschool years with a little drama herself. She got to be a Big, Bad Wolf in her class mini-play. Here's a pic. of her huffing & puffing; it was beyond precious (yes, the added bonus of the custom-made house compliments of her Dad) 4) OPEN HOUSE at school -- a couple of pictures from Maggie's room since she was at rehearsal (to prove that I DID visit her class):

Shirley Temple doll

And just to remind you of their incredible cuteness, I'll toss in a pic. of Ian inhaling a pb&j SANDwich and Fritz (post-neuter):


Enough fun for one week; we are all counting the days until summer.

Had the worst episode of parenting I've ever had; just 15 min. ago. Adrenaline is still flowing through my veins.

About 2:40pm, my friend Nicole left here. Ian had been 'playing' in her car while she was loading; you know, being the typical monkey. She left; I watered the grass and the other kids came home/snacked/whatever. I figured Ian had come in and crashed on the couch. I came in through the garage. TV not on; front door still open; Ian not sleeping on the couch; Ian NO WHERE to be found. I did the panic "I can't find Ian; I'm not kidding; help me look" scream; grabbed my cell and ran outside toward Culver (major three lane street we can access through a open wall entrance 4 houses down). Called Nicole to see if he was hiding in the back of her van; NO, ok, bye. Called 911 while I sent the two bigs on their bikes down the sidewalk. Hollered for the 12yo neighbor to head back to toward his school (he ran and got his Mom too, bless him); I frantically was trying to remember what he was wearing. Standing in my driveway, I hear this faint little 'Mommy!' and I look up to see him at his bedroom window. ......BIG SIGH and halt to 911 call. HUH???????? I searched everywhere (under beds; toy box; dining table; pantry; end tables; behind fluffy chair; in dog crate; closets; my car). WHERE was he????

I headed upstairs to talk with him and COULDN'T FIND HIM. I sent all the kids to look for him b/c apparently his new spot is awesome. He was under Sean's bed; all the way in the shadows that I didn't see when I just quick glanced. After a little talk about hiding and that you can still hide for play but say "I'm right here!" if Mom yells for you.(I even roll-played b/c I wanted to make sure he understood). He ended the conversation with "and I don't have any cookies in my hands."

THUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The little fart tart was hiding while eating cookies that the kids had opened for after-school snack. THAT IS SOOOO TYPICAL OF HIM.

I just walked away b/c I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Longest 15 min. of my life.

BEFORE
AFTER (sans drapes)

It's the little things; well, not little expenses, but little things that make your home a more appealing place. We've had the nastiest, most inefficient windows on the planet. Why the builders even installed them is beyond me (I know it's b/c they were cheap, but humor me).
We had the front of the house done right after we moved in b/c the sun bakes that part of the house. We finally decided to replace the rest b/c you could feel the a/c funneling out and 1/2 the other windows had broken and/or missing screens. (Insert a bad redneck joke here --go ahead, you have my permission)

SO, now we have beautiful, efficient, AND safe windows. ALL done is about four hours!!! Two crews of guys and lots of chatter by Ian.

Up next: a new kitchen. Coming Summer 2007.

What do I do all day???? Just your typical Mom stuff I guess, BUT some days just make me shake my head more than others.................like last week, I created my sock graveyard. Really, how many weeks do I need to keep gathering this assortment up and hoping that 'I'll have a match for that in the next load.' Please note: NOT ONE OF THESE lonely buggers belongs to me.

And then yesterday -- long, story short ---- can you picture me fishing over 30 of those STUPID Magnetix silver balls out of the hallway sink drain? Picture me with tweezers holding the builder strands clinked together / slowly lowering it down, hearing the click, & hoping that each ball will stay magnetized w/o gravity pulling my strand apart & further down the drain. It worked like a charm; I thought I was sooooo clever. Ian observed (I'm sure formulating his own grand plan) as I muttered 'how many more could there be?' He replied with his sweet little cherub chirp: 'lots!'

(note to self: remember the story of when DH dropped matchbox cars down into his parents' gas tank. Weeeeeee, splash!)

Miss Maggie TURNS 9!!!!!!! How can it be?




This photo on the right is too funny! She opened it and immediately proclaimed "OOOOO, Heather-wear!" Yes, Heather S.; it's b/c of you :) Heather is the best dresser and always put together; I bought a cool top recently and said it was 'Heather-wear'. I didn't even now Maggie knew what I meant! Thanks for having good taste, Heather.


The IPOD Shuffle; I'm REALLY, REALLY tired of Radio Disney. So now Maggie can have her own tunes when we are in the car. I don't mind the occasional kid's CD even, but I'm OVER Radio Disney. Daddy got the best hug of THANKS; apparently she thinks he was the final decision maker in the deal. I'm OK with that; but she still isn't even close to getting a cell phone.

WAVING THE WHITE FLAG......................U.N.C.L.E........Mercy, I give.

This was our Tuesday evening schedule (on the calendar)....
Sean --4-7:15pm baseball(includes warm-up time & game, but it's commitment time to me)
6:30-7:30 religion class........scratch number one b/c of serious overlap and it's
one of the last classes
Maggie--play rehearsal from 6-8pm
ballet from 6-7 pm......scratch number two b/c she knows the recital dance & the play
is new; she can't miss initial rehearsals
Amanda -- baseball game 5:15pm warm-up to 6:45 game end.........scratch number three b/c I
can't be everywhere at once and no one can be left alone except Mag at
the play, gah! (psst, she didn't even know it was scheduled b/c she can't
read, I'm terrible)
Ian -- enjoy the car shuffle and a few minutes of Sean's game.

This is just pure insanity. I have the kids pick two things each; Maggie is the exception b/c right now she just started a play (and girl scouts is just about over). Ian isn't even IN anything yet. AND my dh does the shuffling to get Sean to baseball b/c even at 7yo Sean can't function w/o one of us there. He likes to be tough but he is extremely sensitive about that kind of stuff.

I'm going to chalk it up to bad timing for a bit; work out carpool for the play and then pray that it gets better.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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..............

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.

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.

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.

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!