It's hard to believe today she is SEVEN! There is something about Amanda that you can't quite put your finger on; people just love her to pieces. It's been that way for years. I remember my friend Sandee saying "I love all your kids, but Amanda just steals my heart." Yeah, mine too.


(pictured here in 2005) She still takes tap and now acro-jazz, but she is mostly a 'tom-boy' at heart. Can't you just see her guns.

She and Ian have always shared a special bond.
She has grown up so much in the last year. She took to the stage twice, improved greatly in swimming and is doing great in first grade (SO GLAD we did the bonus year)
She reminds me of my niece Ann --- beautiful, smart, funny, sporty, quirky, and independent! She even looks a lot like Ann; she's got Ann's silly face NAILED.
Happy Birthday Miss Amanda - we love you!

So let's talk TV shall we.......
with the help of the DVR, I'm watching House, the Biggest Loser, Survivor, Amazing Race, Desp. Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice. Well b/c of a programming snafu, I missed Private Practice - GAH! Really, really bummed.

Survivor --- not sure what to think this season, other than that Marcus is yummy (Charlie thinks so too, but "that's not how I roll" says Marcus, HA!). I'm not sure how Mr. I-Hate-the-World Randy is still around; he is masking his stupidity well. I'm hoping Bob sticks around b/c I'm thinking he could be a good MacGyver.

Amazing Race --- meh. A bit disappointed so far. I'm sad to see the bee keepers go; they could have made it a lot of fun. I can't say that I'm rooting for anyone at this point; although I laughed really hard at them trying to maneauver the little truck carts in Brazil. For the record, I would have likely fainted if I had to do that net thing......sweaty palms just thinking about it........I still think it would be an awesome thing to do.

Desp. Housewives -- good stuff! Just when I started to wonder about where "Bree's" baby was and then they toss in a twist. Awesome.

All hail the DVR!

I know I posted about this eons ago and I never got around to actually renting it. Well, guess what is recording on my DVR right now! WOOT!

I knew what it was by the music and ran into the living -- PEE WEE! Sean actually watched the first few minutes before I shuffled him off to bed. Seeing his reaction and his fits of laughter just sealed it for me. It's so much fun to share this with my 8yo especially. It's the perfect silly for him, but he did think Pee Wee's bike was really cool.

Of course, there's me tucking him in Pee-Wee style with "I don't make monkeys I just train 'em". He said he was going to say it at school and everyone would laugh without knowing where it came from. I told him he was probably right although his teachers WOULD and would likely crack up as well. I'm such a good influence sometimes.

I'm now trying to convince him to be PeeWee Herman for Halloween -- the character, no relation to the real human that is creepy.

At this exact moment, I AM NOT HAPPY...........it's 102*. It's freaking October 1st. If I wanted to live in this heat I would live in Arizona. Gumble, gumble, growl.

Here is where I complain about the cost of food. I've been stewing on this over the last few months and have finally decided 'enough is enough'. $3.49 for a loaf of Sarah Lee whole wheat bread; $6.79 for a gallon of organic milk; .79/lb. for bananas; even $1.99/lb. for apples seems crazy when just a couple of months ago they were $1.49 or cheaper/lb. (even CRAPPY school lunches are $3.25 this year, I'm not even kidding. Thus the reason my kids are only buying on 'pizza' days)

For years I've done the grocery game (and if you don't do it, you should be!). I've always clipped coupons but this just made using them more efficient. I also am not name-brand loyal so if Wishbone Ranch is on coupon & sale then that is what I get; sorry Hidden Valley, I've got kids to feed. They even know -- if ain't on sale AND I don't have a coupon, don't even ask.

I do use Costco for some things ---example: I usually get ground meat there, but last week Ralph's had ground sirloin for $1.99 so that was even better. I always buy butter, milk, and eggs at Costco but I don't make a special trip just for those items; I also do Costco to stock-up on juice packs for lunches/ gatorade for sports/ cheese/ trash bags/ laundry detergent/ assorted meds.&vitamins. Things like toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo, and 'lady supplies' are grocery game items that Costco can't touch the price on. I DO buy organic milk and thank goodness we aren't using four gallons a week anymore. I'll hit Trader Joe's when I need to grab just a few items, but overall I shop at Ralph's.

I don't spend my time or precious gas money driving around town store hopping with the assorted ads. I DO save money ($87 this week specifically) but I'm curious about what else I could be doing. Feeding 6 people (Sean could almost be counted twice sometimes) is HARD when I'm trying to be creative, healthy, and thrifty. When I see whole wheat bread on sale, I grab two --one to use, one for the freezer. Same goes for bnls/skls. chicken breast, etc.

Here is my question -- HOW do you do it? What can I improve upon? Tonight dinner was white beans with rice/ cornbread&greens casserole thing (so good! and I didn't lie when they asked me if it was spinach - it wasn't) and fresh mango with raspberries. Example: I had gotten one HUGE mango and cut that for the kids and then the pack of raspberries got divided by six (poof-it's gone!). I have leftover casserole & beans that I will eat for lunch this week or as a quick catch-can dinner. Tomorrow is marinated london broil; homemade pasta salad; steamed green beans; whole wheat hawaiian rolls. [It looks like a lot but when you know that the meat is starting out at 1-1/4lbs. before grilling for six, that is a smallish portion of meat]

Come out of lurkdom and toss me some suggestions......sorry, with all due respect, vegetarian isn't an option.

Things that make me happy today:
my new favorite breakfast --- oatmeal made with skim milk and sprinkled with 1/2 banana; a few crumbled walnuts; and a tsp. of brown sugar.

the Amazing Race started last night!

I just purchased tickets for family fun at Christmas (not happy about the $$, but oh well)

AND it's currently raining outside. I don't know where it came from but we were awakened at 6:30am to the rumble of thunder and rain. We don't get much rain here so I really appreciate the little we get (and it will hopefully help a little bit to ward off the crazy wildfires we see in Oct.). I wouldn't mind one bit if our 'rainy' season started early.

A little taste of Fall is so refreshing.

I really, really wish you could see the dude play. He just loves it.

This weekend will be week four of our football season. We have yet to lose; and have only had one touchdown scored on us thus far. We have a great group of kids and a lot of talent.

I just hope it cools off a little. Yesterday it was 90*; still searching for fall here.

When I found out I was pregnant with Maggie WAY back in Aug./Sept. 1997, I was quick to grab What to Expect When You Are Expecting and received The Baby Book (Sears) as a gift quickly thereafter. Like many expectant Moms, I wanted to do the best for my baby and try to prepare for what was to come. I was gearing up for sleepness nights, teething, babywearing, sore boobs, and unending love for my growing baby.

Collin and I have been very blessed with four healthy children. Sure, each had their challenges when they were a baby: Maggie was our guinea pig and managed to survive us being 1st time parents; Sean was crawling at 4-1/2 mos. so he emerged quickly as a busy, busy baby; then came Miss Amanda, the 3rd child in 3-1/2 yrs. and HOLY GUACAMOLE did she have colic. I was toast. I can hardly remember how I got through my days when I look back on those days. Thanks goodness for scrapbooks to help me remember the good stuff. Then along came Ian....a shock and a blessing. I think my biggest challenge with him was just hoping he wouldn't have colic (he didn't, phew!) and to keep him alive despite his siblings wanting to "carry him & play with him." Over the years, the difficulties we've have had truly seemed minor when you look at the big picture.

I've always been told "Wow, you must have your hands full" and "Geez, four little must be so hard." I'm really learning quickly that they are actually easy when they are little. I know, I know --- parenting littles IS hard and challenging and exhausting, but lately I (we) are facing the reality of parenting four kids that all have activities/friends/homework/etc. The schedule we shuffle is basically insane. We don't HAVE to do these things, but we want the kids to be in activities. It's just that we have so many kids (lol!).

And the schedule isn't even the hardest part. They are four individual children with completely seperate needs (and it is always fluctuating). Maggie's latest is that she is in tutoring to help her struggle less in school. She is a challenge anyway (at 10-1/2) but I don't want her to fall behind any more. Sean is starting to have some incredible anxiety issues that we are desperately trying to deal with. We have been amazingly patient and met with the school today to figure out how to help him get through his day. It is just gut-wrenching to know that I just can't completely help him so we are going to seek some outside counseling for him. Amanda is mostly on an even keel right now, but she remains incredibly stubborn and independent which doesn't always match well. And then Ian, well he keeps me sane most days by making me laugh except when he digs his 4yo heels in and won't get out of the car.


I love them with all my heart, but .....sigh.....who took the parenting manual? (What kind of rubber room with I need when I have the ages of 17, 15, 14, and 11? that was a RETORICAL question!)

Found in my camera. Along with video instructions of 'how to brush your teeth [don't forget the toothpaste]' and 'how to brush your hair'.


Apple doesn't fall far from the tree and all that.

School is off to a great start. I think we are on our 10th day and my kids have been on time everyday so far, so I'm patting myself on the back. Here are the some assorted pictures from August.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ian starts our last year at the preschool tomorrow. We've been there since Fall 2001 consecutively. He has one of my all-time favorite teachers so I couldn't be happier. He can't wait.

It's the end of an era. Since the 'big' kids are in school for a while, Ian and I have time to spare. He is such an easy going little guy that he will happily play beside me if I'm doing something like cleaning out a closet. Yesterday I worked on finishing the boys' room. The beloved Tupperware shape-sorter is moving on; it is in the donation bag for the preschool along with the peg-style puzzles for toddlers. I have given away all of our little people stuff except for the garage b/c it's the only one left that Ian still loves. ....sigh... And some of the board books. Although I kept Goodnight Moon/The Big Red Barn/and Barnyard Dance b/c I can't part with them. Ian is more into 50pc. puzzles/trains/legos/and picture books now.


He just made a bed on the floor out of my bed pillows. And he is content and asleep right where he lay when he stopping talking for more than one second. We are enjoying our one-on-one moments before he gets lost in the land of school-aged kids.

The Dude! Sean is loving football as much as I love watching him. He is handling the transition to tackle well. They had their first game on Sat.; they won 34-0. Sean played middle linebacker for a bit and some quarterback.
here he is recovering his own fumble and then he advanced the ball 10yds.

GO #20!

I'm currently sitting here laughing so hard that I have tears streaming down my face. It's because of Ian; and Maggie's Ipod. The boy loves music and is taking the opportunity to jam to Maggie's Ipod while she is at school (muhahahaha!)

I'm guessing he is listening to Push It to the Limit from Disney's High School Musical. It goes like this.........."uh, oh, eeeeeeehhhhh, ah, eh, to the limit, limit, oh yeah." (some garbled mumbling that I can't even type) "work it now, eh, uh, uh, uuuuuuh, push it" complete with dance moves.

a SCREAM I tell ya.

And the best part, he just says loudly to me WITH the earplugs in "What is so funny, Mom?"

Man, I wish I knew how to video for YouTube.

aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh........can you hear the angels singing? The heavens parted and school started yesterday! Maggie is in 5th grade; Sean is in 3rd grade; and Amanda is in 1st grade.

WOOT! Ian doesn't start his T/Th. Pre-K routine until next week, but I am loving the quiet of my home. Ian is happy to do playdough/puzzles/watch TV and help with stuff like cleaning his closet. There isn't a constant hum of children bickering or wanting something to do. Just the hum of my fingers on the keyboard at the moment.

More photos to come of our end-of-the-summer chaos and pics. of the 1st day of school, but I'm currently having trouble uploading. Stay tuned.

Trying to squeeze in one last post for August --
whether you pray or just want to think good, positive thoughts, please take a moment to think of my Mom, brother & his family, and all of my extended family along with numerous friends who live in the New Orleans area. Hurrican Gustav is looming large and I hope that the area gets minimal damage; they truly can't handle it. The city is really just getting rolling again, but many people were still living in FEMA trailers. 14mos. post-Katrina there was still so much emptiness and work to be done.

You can never be fully prepared whether it's packing and evacuation or coming home with fingers crossed to see what kind of damage was done.

I hate hurricane season.

One of the best movie quotes -- Matthew Broderick from Biloxi Blues "it's hot; it's Africa hot; I don't think I'm going to be able to stay here if it's this hot"

That about sums up how THIS family of SoCal a/c spoiled folks feels.

Our a/c pooped out yesterday so we are on our 2nd night of open window suffocation. During the day it's over 80* in my house. Blech.

Downstairs is bearable in the evening; upstairs is just gross until about 3am when it finally cools off.

As I was 'tucking' Sean in bed, I had to toss out "I'm sure people in India or Africa don't have a/c and they sleep" b/c his whining was just incessant. I'm sure I won some Mom points with that.

Shhhhh, don't tell anyone - I'm thinking about sleeping on the cold tile floor.

I am grumpy today.

I am doing procrastinated girl scout paperwork. I am working on bid sheets/organizing/prepping the football silent auction that my husband is in charge of. I have had a neck ache for two day since I slept on the couch listening for the dog in case he needed to be let out in an emergency while he was sick. (how's that for a run-on sentence?)

Other than their commitments of football and/or dance and/or tutoring, my children haven't been anywhere in three days. I KNOW -- poor deprived souls. I fear that their brains are melting though b/c if they aren't in front of the TV or the computer, they are arguing about something stupid. (like who get's to be Spongebob/Patrick/or whoever b/c they act out the show while it is on b/c they have seen it so many damn times) How many times can they watch High School Musical 2? GAH!

I AM taking them to the beach on Friday. I WILL take them to the Science Center at some point next week.

But for now, I'm going to take a shower since it is 11:30am.

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.

It seems a bit cliche, but the saying 'good friends know your faults, but are still your friends in the end' really is TRUE. Friends come and go but true friends see you through it all.

My life-long friend is Patricia. We were neighbors growing up; three years apart in age but that didn't stand in the way. I remember the day she got her dog, Chi; Chi is long gone now. I remember talking endlessly especially while each of us hung on our backyard fences until the moment our Moms called us in for dinner. I remember one day playing 'Little House on the Prairie' and how we could never recreate that day. I remember Skate Country 1-4 on Sunday afternoons. I remember the insane car accident my freshman year of high school; to this day, I can see the 'spider webs' on the windshield from our heads & faces and can feel the glass in my mouth. I remember how intimidated we were by each other's fathers (may they rest in peace). I remember her LONG insane labor and the birth of my godchild, Jennifer. That is only a sample of the fabulous memories.

We haven't lived near each other since 1990. It's almost 1/2 my life that we've been apart. But we've stayed connected. Patricia and Jennifer were able to come for a visit recently. I hadn't seen them since March of 2002, Amanda's baptism. They came from their quiet mid-western home to my crazy CA home with four little kids.
Me and my beautiful godchild, Jennifer. She was a wee 6yo girlie in my wedding; look at her now - a college girl.
The girls -- Amanda, Jennifer & Patricia (Amanda is Patricia's godchild)
Laguna Beach, a reminder of one of the benefits of living here

Too short of a visit.
I'm pretty sure I saw them pulling ear plugs out of their ears as I dropped them off at the airport.

So, along with the rest of humanity, I've been watching the Olympics. Or should I say staying up WAY TOO LATE watching the Olympics. Or should I say falling asleep on the couch b/c the Olympics are fun but really long.

BUT it's the Micheal Phelps show - that's a good reason right.
Thank goodness I have a DVR b/c I'm missing the last hr. every single night. It's not as fun b/c I usually hear the results before I watch but at least I can watch the magic over-and-over if I choose.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE!

The top picture is the 'play clothes/curtain' costume and the 2nd one is the Kaltzberg festival costume. There are seven "families" of kids; this is the girls' in their group. Such a nice group of talented kids for my girls to look up to.

We are having so much fun.

Saturday, August 2 was a big day in our house. It was the day Sean got his first helmet and shoulder pads. He thinks it is the coolest thing. I have to admit it is pretty cute.

although getting his helmet off is a learning process and his ears are sore.

Last week they only made contact with pads and blocking dummies. Today they start full contact. I'm sure I'll have a tick by the end of the week.

So another week of summer has come and gone. We've since gone to the county fair; had my best childhood friend and my god-daughter out for a visit; visited the SJCap. Mission; hit the beach; and done more football and theatre stuff.

I thought I would share a few pics. from the fair.
Amanda checking out the huge sand castle that was structured around the theme of 'Say Cheese'. It was unbelievable.

What's a trip to the fair without a visit to the piggies? The little white one was so content.
They also had deep-fried cupcakes and oreos. For the record, I stuck to my favorite potatoes.
now THAT is some good eatin' (Australian fried potatoes)
this photo is especially funny if you know the love/hate relationship Maggie & her buddy Justin have

It took my crew about 35 seconds to inhale a monster funnel cake. I think I got a bite.

MY GIRL
Miss Maggie is off to Girl Scout camp tomorrow AM. Real camp. Overnight. Without her troop and/or leader. It's at a location that she has gone to previously with her troop. It's about two hours from here; she will take a bus. She doesn't come back until Sat.

It's really good timing b/c honestly she is making me crazy right now. She is just difficult and I'm having a hard time with it all. She will argue about ANYTHING and is just not nice a lot of the time. I had a talk with her tonight while I was helping her pack. I hope she will take this time to enjoy being on her own and making some of her own decisions. I hope that she will come back appreciating how much her Momma does for her. (ya know, little things like laundry and cutting the crust off her sandwiches.)

More than anything else, I hope that she has a great time and that she knows her Momma loves her no matter what. I WILL MISS her, but the timing couldn't be better. (and I hope that she at least changes her underwear and combs her hair)

Miss Mannie ready to strut her stuff
Maggie post tap dance
my darling littlest girlfriend, Grace


ONE WITH THE WAVES
That's what I was today. We hit the beach with some friends and the waves were unbelievable AND the water wasn't unbearably cold. So that meant I was up for boogie-boarding. I haven't laughed so much in ages. Even my friend's son said "you are going in?" Ha -- I showed 'em. Well, I showed 'em what a Mom of four looks like boogie-boarding during her once-a-year attempt.

Anyway, I was trying to post 'a month in review' of photos but blogger is being picky about uploading so for now I give you my three of my favorite girlies. So, more pictures soon.

Random thoughts for Monday..........

1) The OLYMPICS are coming; the OLYMPICS are coming! I have loved the Olympics as far back as I can remember. Swimming, track & field, gymnastics - love it all. I'll even try to watch some men's Water Polo b/c I saw them at the local pool two weeks ago. Easy on the eyes, they are.

2) Still watching So You Think You Can Dance --- incredibly disappointed that Will is gone. He is an amazing talent and will go places so I can't really complain. My top three ---- Joshua, Twitch, and Katee. Anyone else think they made Katee look like Amy Winehouse for that wicked-cool door dance last week?

3) It's the end of July and that means FOOTBALL starts today. WOOT! And that means we are one step closer to the NFL season as well. I loves me some football.

4) Now that we are into our lazy days of summer, I have been getting little procrastinated chores completed. Two bags of old papers/mail/junk-to-sort, done! Sorting the multiple kid bookshelves, done! Cleaning off my dresser....well, almost done!

The boy has got an addictive personality. When he latches onto something that he loves; he runs with it. Skateboarding, football, baseball, and now FISHING. He is down right obsessed with everything fishing. It started with a couple of small fishing adventures. And then he saw Collin check the local fishing report so he would know what kind of fish were hitting.

Now, Sean checks the fish report daily. Sometimes several times b/c he knows that they have morning, 1/2 day, and afternoon charters. I have even gotten him a journal to record the fish count b/c he was using every post-it note we owned to record it. And I have to listen to his journal notations daily. He sort of sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher to me but I've got the 'uh-huh', 'cool' responses down.

And with the beauty that the internet is he has discovered fishing videos on YouTube. It is quite hilarious. When he isn't outside running around like a maniac or playing sports, he is begging me to watch fishing videos. Huh? He is certainly channeling his red-neck roots if he is watching this, right?

On the bright side, he is learning a ton about fish/bait/technique and his penmanship is getting a little daily practice.

He has always loved the ocean and loved reading all non-fiction stuff on it. If he doesn't grow up to have a career in marine biology or oceanography I will be shocked. Gotta run -I have to go and watch a video on Flounder gigging now.

WHAT TIME IS IT?

And the answer is.......FOOTBALL!
This week Sean is doing a mini football camp of drills and skills to prepare him for the start of football practice (next week). What a blast he is having. And so are we. The coaches started with the chant 'Football - IS HERE'; 'Football - IS HERE' and that just roped me in. I really enjoy watching the boys learn; hustle; and sometimes trip over their own feet.

Some of the coaches are ex-NFL players and a few are current college players. Today they had three of the USC starters there to help. They had a short autograph session at the end of session. Sean was beaming with his Joe McKnight signature on his brand new shiny Nike cleats. He got another signature on the back of his shirt, #56 Alex Parsons; he's HUGE and intimidating, and a local boy who used to play in our league.

Such a cool experience. A casual, low-key camp that is helping foster his love of the game. He really loves the game. Help me remember this when my lean, 66-lb. boy is being squished by the 90-lb. little dudes.

For the record, we caught him trying to sleep in his cleats when we tucked him in bed.

Took me a while to put this together but the kids think it is cool and I hope you do too.....

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For the record--- I tried to waterski, but that was a no go; we didn't catch any fish except for the one sick one we happened upon while it was trying to beach itself; we all slept in one tent (including the dog) and used the small one for changing, clothes and food storage; in the picture of Sean by the tree, he isn't going to the bathroom - he is collecting one of his 328 pine cones.

There are loads of things that are disposable these days. It's all about cleanliness and recycling and convenience.

I'm here to say that I used both cloth and disposable diapers over the years and while cloth was great on the baby's skin and saved some money; disposable is certainly easier (especially when you are out and about --- carrying wet/soiled cloth diapers around just isn't fun). Now that our family is beyond the diapering stage, I have one wish for something disposable. DISPOSABLE clothing!!!!! And I'm not talking about this or this.

My friend, Amy, has been telling me about this for years. Most of her children are older than mine and while I knew I always had tons of laundry, I had little kids and that meant little clothes. They are still relatively little, but FERPETESAKE --WHY do they wear so many clothes? in a day? a week? Seriously, I folded 12 pairs of underwear in one load of Amanda's clothes (and I often will pull clothes from random hampers to make a full load so her clothes are done maybe more than once a week.) I'm glad she is changing her underwear and all, but cut me some slack Peanut.

So, you can probably guess what spawned this post. It's the never-ending clothes shuffle......who's outgrowing what/school sales are starting/pull a box of saved stuff from the garage/organize/blah, blah, blah. ACK! It makes my head explode. We have been blessed with amazing hand-me-downs from friends and family over the years so that has helped keep the cost down, but I really think disposable would be easier.

It would save me lots of water and duct tape for my head.

So my AWESOME friend, Nicole, decided that she would have my kids over to swim while I hit Costco.....ALONE! Did you read that; I said ALONE. :)

I got a cart and enjoyed my hotdog and Mocha Freeze in peace. Grabbed some new pjs; glue sticks for school; new beach towel; and then I conquered the list. Holy guacamole. I had ONE cart completely maxed out without one square inch available. It was piled high and I carried the Oxi-Clean at the end b/c there was no room and the cart was too heavy anyway. I knew it was bad; people were staring. And they weren't staring b/c my kids were behaving badly b/c I was ALONE, remember.

The cashier even said 'I hope you have a black membership card b/c if you don't you are losing money.' I was quite smug when I handed her my card, coupons, and rebate check. I exited with two carts b/c the packing folks aren't as efficient as I am. AND I lucked out by running into a friend with her kids in tow; she sent her 8th grade son with me to load my car. Sweet.

I have decided on two things: 1) next trip I will get the barge instead of the cart and 2) a bunch of flowers; milk; and gatorade are the best trade off for shopping sans kids!

EXHALE..........
we've been out of school for about a month now and just today I finally feel like I can take a deep breathe and exhale. We literally have been on GO! since the day after school let out. The camping trip to Bass Lake was awesome (slideshow to come, I promise) and now that dance recital is done/baseball is done/VBS is done/swimming ends tomorrow/and Sound of Music rehearsals are done the rest of summer seems exceptionally slow-paced and mellow. So what if we have football starting soon, I don't have to go if I don't want to. So what if we have SofMusic shows to do, it's not every show nor every weekend. Tutoring sessions drop-off & pick-up...Meh, no biggie.

I declare the rest of the summer to be filled with beach days; visits with friends; and lots of relaxation. Which definitely includes watching So You Think You Can Dance.

And, ice cream, preferrably Breyer's Chocolate Crackle!

Egads! (isn't that a great cartoon expression?) Well, I sorta feel like I'm living at a cartoon/zany/fast-paced speed. Let's see in the last three weeks --- we've had two dance recitals; out of town guests (waving to the Poynots; we MISS you!); numerous baseball games; several play rehearsals; tutoring for Mag; swim lessons; 4th of July; more swim lessons; Vacation Bible School; and WAY TOO MUCH food on-the-go. I'll admit I love fast food (mostly) but the thought of eating drive-thru or in my car makes me want to gag. I honestly would rather starve.

Of course, I have tons of pictures. But no time to upload them and share the joy so you'll have to use your imagination until I can get back to you. Here's a picture from our camping trip to Bass Lake; it will have to hold you over......

SUMMER IS.............
swim lessons and
lots of time at the pool
THE BEACH
several bottle of sunscreen
Vacation Bible School
summer book club at the library
long days of playing outside until you can't see the ball anymore
awesome fresh fruit and endless watermelon



Angels baseball games
Smores
the Circus
Ice Cream! and Popsicles!
never-ending beach towel laundry
sand overflowing the lint-catch in the dryer
What does summer mean to you?

SLEEP -- it's something I've always been fond of. I would love to nap daily if I could. I love to sleep in. I just love sleep. My sleep patterns have changed over the years and adjusted to whatever life has brought.....newborn non-schedules; sick children; staying up late to catch up with the DVR.

Every since I became a Mom, I have been pretty strict about napping and bedtimes. As you can imagine, with each additional child the nap schedule changed a bit but overall bedtime was maintained and rituals were a reality. I really, really wanted my kids to be good sleepers. Sleep trained so to speak. We still have the occasional middle-of-the-night stealth child who decides to make his/her way to our bed but for the most part we are beyond co-sleeping.

Sean has had night-terrors since he was little. If you have never experienced one, it is so hard to explain. For him, being overtired/exhausted seemed to be the trigger -- I could almost count it down to the minute of him being put down to sleep. One hour later, we would hear unusual crying; take off running to his bedside; find him sitting up in bed screaming with his eyes open. The lights are on but no body is home, literally. Thank goodness his episodes were short in duration and he could (& still can) be calmed down with monotone repetition of "you are safe; you are in your bed; go back to sleep; you are all right". Beyond that, he is a good sleeper. So are Maggie and Ian.

But now we are having sleep issues with Amanda. It all started around Nov./Dec. 2007. Her waking episodes were much like Sean's night terrors except that she would be up and walking around her room. She could be resettled with the monotone banter relatively quickly. I thought it was stress/anxiety related because she was excited but anxious about being in her first play. The play came and went. Now, months later, she has progressed to sleep walking. She will look like she is completely awake; she will come downstairs if I am still up watching TV (or updating my blog). She has a certain 'look' to her and she doesn't communicate even though she will get a blanket out of the basket and get comfortable downstairs. If I catch her at the top of the stairs, I can send her back to her room softly and she will turn around and go back to bed. She looks wide awake but has no recollection of any of this in the morning.

I'm getting a little concerned. This past weekend while camping she literally started unzipping the tent to get out while sleepwalking. Collin stopped her twice. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. I wonder if she is sleepwalking more than I know about. Would she try to leave the house?

Good sleep is a good thing. I appreciate sleep and I want her sleep to be restful. What is causing this? Can I do anything about it?

LOVE is the 1st day of summer.............

THREE.........

How many days are left in school?
How many roles the girls & I are vying for in a local theater production of Sound of Music?
The current baseball tournament Sean is playing in, in as many weeks.
The age that I despise and am thrilled that I don't have children to get through.
How many times will it take for the restoration company to finally get my kitchen nightmare cleaned (not there fault it it is taking mulitple trips) and ready to be remedied?
How many chapter books I want Maggie and Sean each to read over the summer (at a minimum)?
How many nights are we going to camp (or should I say attempt to camp) in a tent with the dog?

Over the last few months, I've been following the amazing story of Tricia and Nate. (the link to Nate's site is over on the right as well) It's truly a story of faith, miracles, and love. Today on his site, Nate linked to a fellow CF patient and her dad's bike ride to raise money for CF. I urge you to go over to Nate's blog and watch the video that Eva made to promote awareness for CF; grab some tissues and watch her amazing story.

Also, say a prayer today for Tricia since has to have a surgical biopsy today.

Today, I feel very blessed to have four healthy children.

A good day....

I went to Catalina with the girl scouts today. They selected this as their 'cookie money' trip. I had never been. Catalina is AMAZING; I'm trying to figure out when Collin and I can get over there sans kids. The weather was perfect and it was like paradise. I'll try to post some pics soon.

Sean's all-star team won again today; 19-2 in the 4th so they mercy-ed them. (just like yesterday 13-0) Tomorrow they have two games so it will be a Sunday at the ball field for us. The tournament is in a nearby beach community so the weather should be just perfect.

I think I'll top this awesome day with a latte and call it good.

How is it possible that my kids have EIGHT days of school left and then we'll be moving on to 5th, 3rd, 1st, and pre-K. EEeeeeekkk! The last couple of weeks have been full of busy-ness and insanity. A little update -----youngest to oldest......

I think he's growing again . He is crashing in the late afternoon no matter where he is and he still goes to bed on time. How can he grow when his diet is mostly cookies that he sneaks out of the pantry?
I went with the kindergarteners to the local zoo. The kids are just so cute and excited by the little things. Just being away from school was a treat, but add a few monkeys and feeding the goats and it's a party. All I can say is that my ears were ringing when I stepped off the bus. Bus drivers are a special breed.
Sean's all-star baseball team won the Memorial Day tournament for his level. The normally have six inning games and they won in the bottom of the 9th! It was the most amazing youth game I have yet to see. They start another tournament this weekend.
This girlie is just getting too big too fast. This is her and a friend. I took them out to lunch & shopping. Matching outfits; sunglasses; and 'best/friends' necklaces. Pure fun.


And lastly, the biggest kid got a new toy.