Oh the THINKS you can THINK......lately the kids have been venturing through Who-ville, the Jungle of Nool, and Solla Sollew in the musical Seussical. What a fun show with outrageous costumes and a fantastic set. Maggie is on junior dance team and one of the 'Middle' Sour Kangaroos (thus, the attitude in the photo); Amanda is one of the Mindy Lu's and other assorted characters; and Ian is one of the 'Max the dog's & a jungle creature. Everyone in the cast is super and has made this wild ride a ton of fun.

It seems that we have all survived this first week of school. My children were ON TIME everyday and had a nice homemade lunch everyday. (you are kidding me if I'm paying $3.75 for lunch or .75/milk daily!)

I am learning to appreciate the little things when it comes to picking them up though: a new school means very little shade and lots of fresh black asphalt- oh, how I miss our cozy shade trees at our old school; a new school means new traffic patterns that no one seems to understand; a new school means a time of adjustment for everyone. So from here on out I will appreciate the fact that although our facility has little shade it does have A/C (and I bring ice water at pick-up); I will deal with the traffic b/c at least we don't share parking with the middle school anymore; and I will be grateful that we have a principal who is open to listening to the parents and taking our suggestions into action.

And speaking of adjustments......this week I have started exercising. And I didn't die. I started a 2.5mile loop on Monday, done in 36 minutes. After my third day, I was down to 32 minutes. Add a few sit-ups and stretches and I'm hoping that my body will adjust and be less sore. Pass the Advil........

For our family, September has brought the start of school, football and Seussical (theatre). So that means pictures in front of the doorknob to show how tall they are.

The little dudes -- well, I guess they aren't so little anymore. Sean started 4th grade and Ian started kindergarten. It boggles my mind that I was pregnant with him when Maggie was in kindergarten. It also boggles my mind that THEY chose matching outfits for the first day.

And the girls -- Maggie started 6th grade and Amanda started 2nd grade.


It's my only year with them ALL IN ONE PLACE! Even though I have three pick-up times I am grateful.

It's hot here. "It's Africa hot; I don't think I'm gonna be able to stay here if it's this hot." (10 points to the person who knows where this quote is from) And I don't want to hear 'but it's a dry heat' either. IT'S HOT!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT last week I was happy to battle the temps and headed to Angels stadium...
found the Halo-cane stand (Hurricane to you regular folks) and proceeded to burn my butt and legs on the 500* seats.
Celebrating Hunter's home-run in the 1st!

WORD!
they think they are so tough!


What's a game without NACHOS.......

Icing on the cake, we won!

As our summer comes to a close we'll finish up shopping for school supplies, get the girls haircuts, get the kids eye checks.....ya know, all the usual stuff. All glamour, all the time.

However, we'll spend a bit more time at the beach just to close out the summer in CA style. Splashing in the white water.....
learning to surf
and wrestling the seaweed.

There is no doubt that raising children is challenging (especially when you have a million; wait, sometimes it feels like a million, it's really only four!). It's like a constant rollercoaster of emotions and I don't get to get off. Unlike my niece when she was 3 on the kid's coaster.....the operator stops it after one time to see if anyone wanted off.........she promptly replied 'just one time b/c I'm just a little girl.' I know that sometimes I wish I could get off this coaster.

BUT, in the meantime, there is much to learn from my children. Sean shows me daily what it means to be brave as he goes up against kids 25 pounds heavier in football; and he pummels them. Just this morning, Amanda taught me a lesson.....in how to be calm and patient. Two things I'm STILL learning. She gets nose bleeds every once in a while mostly associated with dry weather, but sometimes out of the blue. I think her last one was while we were on the ski-lift in the mountains; that was a panic point for me yet she remained calm taking it all in stride. This morning, she got a doozy of a nosebleed........it was bad.....changing the tissue every 15 seconds/all over her cheeks & little hands/dripping on her clothes. I was starting to get mildly freaked out b/c it wasn't stopping after a few minutes and it was flowing!! How did she react? She just sat there asking for help with switching tissues quickly while I held ice on her face. I was trying to wipe her face and saying 'I'm sorry if it's all over; we'll get you cleaned up when it stops. I know it's uncomfortable.' She just chimes in with "it's OK, I'm used to it remember." Wow, she's so amazing. Every child is different and I can promise you Maggie wouldn't have this reaction, lol!

Little Miss Amanda ---my independent, smart, funny, stubborn, beautiful, petite, tom-girl. I love that kid!

The age old question -- what's for dinner? It's a thorn in my side really. I try to serve a variety of things and on nights when I'm attempting to serve something new I always include a side dish I know the kids like so they will at least eat something. I actually would enjoy cooking if I didn't have to listen to the 'blah,blah,blah - whine/whine/whine' about what I'm making. I've tried letting each child pick a night and create the meal; most times he/she doesn't even eat what he/she had even suggested!

So, I've given up. I plan out a monthly meal calendar based on our insane schedule from football to theatre to meetings, etc. I might ask for suggestions or I might not. BUT 1) to have a plan makes my day a lot easier and 2) to have a plan prevents us from eating fast-food 500 times a week. It has nothing to do with whether or not the kids will eat. It's my job to provide you with healthy food; it's your job to eat it!

Now, often times this is what dinner looks like.......

in case you can't read the post-it, it says:
pork chops (oven)
stuffing (stove)
green breans (micro)
applesauce (fridge)
And that answers the question ---'How do you do it?' It's not pretty but it works. I am in love with my delay start on my oven. It's like magic. Porkchops were ready within minutes of arriving home from practice; stuffing was made and just needed to be re-heated; green beans warmed up; pour out applesauce. Ding, ding --- DINNER!

(I love my crock-pot too, but the delay start ROCKS!)

Soon after I posted about the start of football, my world came to a crashing halt. Well, my cyber world that is. My DSL modem got fried in a short power outage last week so I have been without service for a bit. I did pop in to the library to look for urgent emails and trash junk mail, but overall I wasn't online. No blog to post on or others to read. No Facebook. Nothing. But I did organize pictures so it wasn't too bad, I survived.

I thought I would post some ridiculous photos from the Music Man. I'm one of the main Pick-a-Little ladies so I get to do the hilarious 'grecian urn' stuff (if you know the show)...........these should make you laugh.



What a great group of ladies and an amazing show!

FOOTBALL

IS HERE!

So, it's August....where has the summer gone? The kids got out of school in late June. Right away, we had camping and dance recitals and the 4th in Ohio and VBS and more camping and NOW we have football. five. days. a. week. ALL football, ALL the time. (it's all good b/c I love football) Well, and then there's Music Man shows with Seussical rehearsals thrown in for good measure. Now you know where I've been. Therefore I am declaring that our August days will be more relaxing with minimal commitments and a little bit of school work tossed in. We need to be lazy because before I know it we'll be back on a school schedule with no time to be lazy.

If you want to be touched, read this book. If you want to see the innocence of a child, read this book.
It was a quick read for me (two days on vacation); not many books are a quick read for my slow self. But this one was.

Now I want to see the movie at some point. But I have to be ready to watch it.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!
We're back from a camping adventure to Bass Lake (near Yosemite). Really dirty. Tired. but life goes on......
The boys are off and running to the first day of football (who needs a shower anyway?)and the rest of us are off to the theatre for their first night of Seussical. I'm working on coffee and adrenaline at this point, but I will pride myself on starting laundry and taking a shower before we head off for the evening.
We had a really great weekend despite the fact that we had a few mishaps; I believe that is to be expected with eight kids and four adults (and I was the lone female/Mom figure). I took pictures until my camera battery died, so I will share those soon. There are no pictures to prove it but I will shout it from the rooftops --- I GOT UP ON WATER SKIS. Yes, Yes, I did!!!!!!!!! Not for longer than 10 seconds, but that is an improvement over last year.
Now, for the dirty, rotten pigs who stole one of our ice chests from the camp last night (the ranger said they were probably looking for beer), I hope you choke on the stupid hamburger buns, graham crackers and Doritoes that you found. Wait -- that wasn't nice; I hope enjoyed every bite and needed the food. Maybe you were hungry and/or your Momma didn't teach you right from wrong. Karma is all I can say. Beware of the critters out there because you are a filthy critter yourself!
There, I'm done. I'm looking forward to my shower and my bed later on.

On a Friday in March of 2004, I was having my 4th child. My last baby. Our family caboose. We didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl; we had names ready. Ian James Hall was born on his Great-Great Grandfather James Pearson's birthday. I spent Saturday lovin' on my newborn while Collin was busy at home teaching the kids to ride bikes w/o training wheels. That was a big weekend for us!

What an amazing little guy Ian has been. We are truly trying to enjoy everything that he brings (even though he can sometimes BRING a lot of craziness) and celebrate the little bittersweet things as they come. First it came in the form of weaning from breastfeeding; then taking down the crib; no more diapers (phew!); being rid of the high chair; and then, before we knew it, it was time to take off the training wheels for him.

Here he is in November 2008. So proud! Santa brought him a bigger bike that he loves just as much. Another bittersweet moment.

And then, just today, he mastered tying his shoes.
You know -- I didn't cry when the older three went to kindergarten, but lately I'm thinking a pound of bittersweet chocolate won't be enough to keep me from crying in September.

Soaking up the Summer Sun with Swimming, Snacks, and Swedish fish

A bit of illeration in the style of a fellow blogger, MckMama. She takes amazing photos; I'm no where near her level, but here's a bit of our fun.
The kids were shocked and amazed when I stopped at CVS and said pick whatever you want to drink and a few snacks to share. I could barely walk down the aisle they were hugging me so tightly. LOL!
Volleyball in the pool; it's nice to be the tallest one for once. I have a mean pool volleyball spike.

So, HAPPY 4th of July....a little late. We ventured to Ohio for a week of family mayhem. Seven kids. Lots of fun that was topped off with practically perfect weather. As mentioned in my post while I was away, there was loads of go-cart riding, swimming, and outside time. When the kids weren't on the tire swing they were painting (sorry about the table, Grandma), playing with water balloons, fishing, catching fireflies and doing whatever kept them busy. My nieces and I finished two puzzles; I finished Recovering Charles by Jason Wright and almost finished another book too. There was plenty of relaxing to be had topped off with battling a few ticks (eeeeewwww!) that freaked me out. AND I walked two miles with my sister-in-law every day.



We finished the trip with an adventure to Cedar Point. All of the kids have stepped up their bravery and will ride things that I won't. I can't do spinning stuff but they sure can. Maggie even did the Power Tower (no, thanks) and Sean rode some wicked thing called Skyhawk with his cousin Sarah. They did a few roller coasters too. I was shocked and stunned; I'll probably be the resident roller-coaster 'chicken' soon. Poor Ian is braver than most but not tall enough just yet. In a couple of years he will be unstoppable. I see the Dragster in his future. This video of it 'not making it over'/a roll-back and having to get launched again just makes my skin crawl; 120 mph and 420ft., makes my hands sweat just typing it.

Enjoy the pictures that are long overdue..........

Question of the Day:
Where do Mr. Clean Magic Erasers disappear to as you use them?
Perhaps they go into the Land of Dryer Socks and make them sparkling white.

All about vacation...........
staying up late, sleeping in, reading, working on puzzles with nieces, go-cart rides, kids in freezing pool, daily walks, blackberry picking, homemade blackberry desserts, fireflies, LOTS of pictures.
Happy 4th of July!

I'm here, but I'm snarky, snippy and pissy so I figured it best that I avoid blogging. We are back from a nice weekend camping. Dance recitals are officially done. Footloose finishes this weekend for Maggie. We leave for vacation with family next week. So, for today, I am cleaning this pit and hauling more stuff down to the neighborhood association dumpster that we have for a short bit. Already tossed - some old patio chairs, the old Weber grill(rest in peace), one shower door (the other shattered in my hands, niiiiiiccccce), an old play kitchen, the Little Tykes table, and the old ironing board.

I do have a plan for dinner so I'll call it a successful day and move along.

Let me preface this post in my best Arnold Sch. voice from Kindergarten Cop, I'M NOT PREGNANT. BUT you would think I am with the major nesting going on these last couple of weeks.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I decided to conquer the boys closet and that began the Great Clothes Shuffle 2009.


I moved on to the kitchen and family room area last week. Tossing junk piles o' nothingness, cleaning windows inside & out, dusting light fixtures, clearing the countertops (haven't seen that granite in a while). It sorta feels like I've lost ten pounds, don't I wish!

So, this weekend I jumped into Amanda's room. The clothes shuffle was the trigger b/c she had stuff to hang but no hangers available. More tossing of clothes involved along with emptying major toys like the Dora Kitchen and the makeup thing. There is a God! I can be rid of these chunky eye sores. We gutted everything down to the bedside drawer......dress-up clothes, books, doll stuff, moved furniture, vacuumed corner dust bunnies.

I started a list of stuff that needs to be done in hopes that when Collin gets a free minute (ha!ha!) he can just do things like repaint her door. Got another list going of things to make life better like a shoe cubby for her closet and a new lampshade.

As of now I feel like I've lost 20 pounds with all the donation stuff and trash going out the door. Why are those pounds still on my behind?

So I realize that it seems I've disappeared, I haven't. I have loads of blog posts swirling in my brain and no time to just get to it. We've had school projects to finish, our school's closing party, Field Day, Music Man rehearsals, Ian's bittersweet last day of preschool, and many, many hours of volunteering to help pack the school library (we are closing and moving locations). Enjoy these assorted photos that I've promised for months.

Sean as Thomas Jefferson for Famous Americans

Mr. BBQ tailgating at our Angels team night



Maggie turned 11


Ian and Amanda chillin' during movie night in the living room and is joined by our insanely goofy dog Fritz. This is how he lays ALL the time; funniest dog ever.
And last, but not least, my beloved Mother's Day gift. I am in love with this appliance. My kids love it too b/c I am always making something with it. I couldn't have been happier.

Learning to appreciate the little things like perfectly mixed icing from scratch and lots of homemade banana bread with added flax meal (shhhhh, don't tell my kids).