When Amanda makes her mind up (whether for or against something) there is NO turning back. She knows what she wants; she always has......my wee colic baby. Recently she woke up on a Saturday and declared she wanted her ears pierced. I've never brought it up b/c I really didn't want it to be about 'me'; I don't know what spawned her decision. So after shuffling about with assorted errands, the two of us hit Claire's at the mall. She climbed into the seat; picked out what she wanted and DID.NOT.FLINCH. She was more uncomfortable with everyone stopping and watching than anything else.

Now we are just waiting to see if her two front bottom teeth will come out since she is currently a shark with her grown-up teeth already in.

TWO GOOD MEN

Today is just a sad, sad day.
Collin's Grandpa died on Tuesday. After a long 84 yrs. of hardwork, Grandpa Z. fought to the very end but his heart finally gave out. This last year has been a LONG ROAD for Grandma and my MIL. After assorted heart med. adjustments, a perforated ulcer [where he spent 4 weeks in the ICU post-op], rehab. center for recovery, and a broken neck after falling on the walker he was supposed to be using, he wasn't going to give up. All of the medical personnel don't even know how he survived the break much less attempted a recovery. His mind was sharp, but his body had had enough. His quality of life was gone and it was really difficult to see his body slipping to barely 130lbs. Grandpa was one of five siblings and he was the first to leave us. He did make it to his brother's 90th bday celebration before he got really sick last year. What an amazing event that must have been. Collin remembers his Grandpa as being the most hard-working family provider you could imagine......he was the ultimate farmer; a master at mechanics with a passion for rebuilding cars/tractors/etc.; a well-read man who loved to talk about his days on the road as a trucker. Need directions -- Grandpa can tell you how to get there. We're gonna miss him "ey-golly".

Collin rushed out of here to be with his Mom and Grandma. Grandpa's funeral was today. Sept. 26th will remain a hard day for everyone. It's also the day that his Dad died from cancer three years ago. I wouldn't have imagined that my MIL would have to say good-bye to two good men so close together. His Dad's ashes are scattered in Lake Lanier (their favorite camping spot) so there will always be a place in Collin's heart that makes GA home no matter where we live.

Shortly after the big kids started school, Ian joined the ranks. I've been at the preschool since Fall 2001 (right before Amanda was born, thud!) and we'll be there until Jun 2009. Yep; EIGHT years in a ROW; we'll hold the crown for consecutive years (I think they should name a classroom after us or something with all the tuition we've paid).



A bittersweet day. I love the SHORT break but I miss the Little Dude.

It all sounds surreal - "all of my kids are in school" "yes, I have a 4th, 2nd, and Kindergartener along with a preschooler" "no, I'm already volunteering in lots of areas"........it's true. I have four kids ALL in school (at least part-time) and I have actually told someone 'NO!' with regards to volunteering. As my dear friend Amy would say "flip me a fish!"
Of course, there remains no time for boredom. And who am I fooling, there is ALWAYS laundry beckoning.

(side note: I realize Ian isn't in the photo but it wasn't HIS 1st day of preschool yet and I don't have those pics. uploaded yet. I'm good but I'm not that good.)

Busy little bee, I am. I'll try to update this weekend but I wanted to take a minute and link to this video. It is simply touching and done well. Take a minute and watch; it will likely touch you as well.

For the Troops

What's not to LOVE about this little guy? Proof that pirates do wear tutus but must be commando underneath.

Wordless Wednesday

after practice one day


TODAY!
The team played well and Sean scored a TOUCHDOWN. We wound up losing 29-14, but the game was actually closer than the scored showed. GO CHARGERS!

A couple of weeks ago, I took a roadtrip to AZ to visit my dear friend Sandee and her two kids. Sean stayed back with Collin for football and some one-on-one Dad time of camping. AZ was HOT, but we had a blast. We hiked to the natural bridge in the Tonto National Forest. Over rocks & boulders/across the stream/at one point I had to slid down a rock with Amanda & Ian behind me b/c it was so steep. It was AWESOME and so worth the effort. We all were pooped, but would do it again.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

To everyone who views my blog... Tag you're it!
Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. JUST found out I was pregnant with Maggie
2. starting my 2nd year teaching kindergarten
3. living in a small apt with dh and one cat; moving toward our 2nd anniversary
4. volunteering with OCAEYC on various committees
5. taking a sign language class

5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1. You Fill Up My Senses by John Denver
2. Hit me with your Best Shot by Pat Benatar
3. Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf (should I admit this?)
4. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
5. anything from Grease

5 things I would buy if I was a Millionaire:
1. A new Suburban with ALL the bells and whistles
2. A luxery cabin in the mountains or Hawaii
3. A full-time housekeeper
4. some small plastic surgery (like the veins on my legs/ lasik/ etc.)
5. A boat for my husband

Five Things I Would Never Wear Again:
1. Maternity Clothes! - amen!
2. Stir-up pants (eeeek!)
3. a mini skirt (you know, the really short kind)
4. a tube top (ew!)
5. all-in-one snap-at-the-crotch tops (seriously, what on earth?)

Five Things I Would Like to Do:
1. be caught up on my scrapbooking
2. Travel w/o kids more often
3. Do a triathlon (the swim simply petrifies me)
4. Lose my final 13 lbs!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!
5. Be a fun and nice mom!

Five Favorite Toys:
1. my computer
2. my camera
3. my scrapbook tools
4. board games
5. baby dolls (I just loved them and had tons--My Baby Beth was my favorite)

I am trying to post more. I promise, I am. But life just keeps getting in the way. This is our last hoo-rah weekend before school and all of the extra-curr. activities that begin to equal chaos. I'm still cleaning/purging like a banshee. I just am going room-by-room and gutting; if it takes me two days to finish a room then so be it, but I'm tired of the toys-being-put-thrown-the-shelf/laundry stacks in the corner/does this puzzle have all its pieces?/random chaos. It's not dirty, just needs some organizing and purging. Putting the kitchen back together spawned this insanity; I'm hope to finish before this weird productive urge fades.

Here's a pic. of our annual grown-up night. Dh and I have been going to the Pageant of the Masters for at least 10yrs. It's our one night a year where we have a fantastic frou-frou/cost-way-too-much dinner and go out someplace that isn't the movies.



How many more days until school starts?

About a month ago, we ventured to the circus. It was one of the best circus performances I have ever seen. We've been to B&B several times and this one was done quite well. And much to our surprise, the guest master of ceremonies was none other than Gene Simmons, lol! Apparently he has a good sense of humor......
wearing the Bello clown wig


man, those packederms can poop; just ask Ian!




what a bunch of clowns
for the record, that's ONE shared hat/cotton candy; since one costs as much as a KISS concert ticket in the 70s.

FOUR WEEKS......it's a turning pt. for many things.....it's the point at which some women start to figure out they are pregnant -- BUT that is NOT why four weeks is so important to me. And four weeks is not the number of weeks until my kids go back to school (that's even better --TWO weeks) It's significant to me BECAUSE that is how long it took for my kitchen to go from demolished to polished; YES, you read that right. 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks! Now we still have to put up the peninsula lights; get the tile backsplash picked out & installed; and get the ceiling re-drywalled (don't ask, grrrr!) and figure out why our new micro. keeps blowing the breaker. Little details that mean nothing b/c I can WASH DISHES again in a real sink and I can make dinner w/o attempting to grill (keyword: attempt).

Lookie: this is waiting for granite, oven, & cooktop



granite is Verde Peacock

cooktop & oven sans pull-out pantry


This is the LOVE part of my Thursday post. I LOVE my new programmable coffee pot.

A little taste of our summer vacation (minus the stress of an overflowed toilet; my Suburban getting towed; NO fish being caught on the overnight fishing adventure)

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

Still trying to catch up on assorted pics. Happy 4th of July! (a wee bit late)....we spend a great afternoon at a friend's house where the kids ate endless amounts of fruit and swam, swam, swam. Topped off with homemade snow-cones. Aaaaaaah, summer!

What would summer be without baseball? Good old' ANGELS baseball. We made a family trek to the game vs. the Pirates (honoring Amanda who was our t-ball Pirate); she was torn but couldn't bring herself to wear her Pirate shirt to an Angels game.

Halo-cane perfect for keeping cool!



Ian didn't even make it out of the parking lot; We'd be set if we had a pro-football team!

Thursday (7/19); and ready for mass destruction (smooch: see ya, ye' old kitchen)
what I returned home to on Friday 7/20
where the old oven was/ new fridge going here.


what it looked like when I came home from vacation.........doing the happy dance!

Now that the dance recital has come and gone, I had to put away the make-up and hair nets. Maggie had a ballet and hip-hop dance; Amanda had a pre-lyrical one. They both did really well and this year Maggie is trying tap & acro-jazz; Amanda is doing ballet & a tap-jazz combo.

Amanda and her best buddy, Marin

Time to put away my inner pageant Mom.....

I LOVE that the beach has this effect on Ian..........