Organic

One thing that happened while we were in Cali that I feel deserves it's own post was when we went to Old Spaghetti Factory for a big family dinner. It has become tradition since Lee's father passed away three years ago to continue to celebrate his birthday by everyone going out to dinner together. So that is what we were doing. All of my lovely children decided they needed to use the restroom at the same time so I took them. While the kids were washing their hands I noticed another mom staring at them. She asked me if they were all mine. I said Yes. She got a shocked look on her face. She then said,

"Wow! They all look so healthy...so organic!"

I immediately thanked her, assuming it was a compliment. But the more I thought about it the more I wondered if it really was a compliment or not.

Help me! What did she mean? We've never been called organic before. Was she saying that my kids looked like hippie kids...like plain Janes? Lee thinks she may have meant they were natural beauties. I am not convinced that's what she meant.

Is being called organic a good thing?

Cali Fall 09

For UEA Weekend we decided to pack up and head on down to our old stomping grounds. We had a blast and didn't want it to end. Here are a few highlights of our trip:

We got to visit Lee's 85 year old uncle, Leon. He has been battling skin cancer for quite some time. In fact, his doctors told him over two years ago that he had 6 months to live. Turns out his once black, death like arm is looking better and even starting to regrow hair. Leon believes it never was cancer and is confident he is on the road to recovery. It's pretty crazy to think that the doctor's originally wanted to amputate his arm.

Surf City USA aka Huntington Beach, California is where I was born and raised. Lee was raised in just the next city over, Fountain Valley. Although it was a little chilly we couldn't NOT go to the beach. Here are some pics...

Our nephew, Scott was our 5th child for the trip. We absolutley loved spending time with him.



We also spent some time with Eric and Julie and kids. We watched a little conference, swam a little and Julie made the best, yummiest dinner we've had in a long time.

Another thing we did was go to Togos for lunch. This is where Lee worked as a teenager.

As a teenager Lee worked with this guy, Greg. Now Greg owns the place and he let Lee make all of our sandwiches.

Lee said it was just like riding a bike. The kids thought is was SO funny that Daddy got to make their sandwiches.



We also went to Disneyland:

We didn't have to wait super long for the rides which was nice and it was so fun because for the first time everyone was tall enough to go on all the rides. Ella even went on Space Mountain, although I don't think she will go on it again for a long time. Disneyland really is a magical place...an expensive magical place. I could dedicate a whole post to my thoughts on how expensive Disneyland has gotten. It makes me mad. I remember when Disneyland was $24 for one person. Now it is over $70!!!! I am glad the kids had a good time because it may be the last time we are able to go with those prices. Thank goodness for Nani who helped us with the outrageous fee. We couldn't have gone without her.


The girls loved meeting Tinkerbell and her friend, Iridessa...

While us girls were meeting the fairies, the boys were over at the Jedi training. Afterwards Ben and Scott made their own lightsabers...

It is really fun going during this time of year when all the Halloween decorations are out. This was part of a big Dia de los Muertos display they had...

The Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island...

Ella taking a quick break...

It's not every day you can see these guys at Disneyland so I had to get a picture. Sally and Jack are also one of Ben's all time favorite charcters so I am glad he was able to see them.

We also spent lots of time with Lee's family and got to meet our new adorable nephew, Cashton. We had so much fun. This little vacation was a much needed trip away from our reality which is a little stressful at the moment. Thank you so much, Nani and everyone else for making our stay amazing. It was exactly what our family needed.

Sick

I am sick.

Fevers.

Raw nose.

Voice...gone.

Cough...definately not gone.

It's no fun being sick.

While we were driving back from Cali I could feel it coming on. The next day it reared it's ugly head and has been wreaking havoc on me ever since.

It's been four days since we have been home and I haven't unpacked.

I haven't even done the dishes. Ben told me this morning the dishes smell really bad. Sorry bud.

Lee has been trying so hard to pick up my slack. I love him for it. It's times like these when I realize just how lucky I am to have him, even if he doesn't want to sleep in the same bed as me. He is my Prince Charming.

But we all know the family doesn't run nearly as smooth when Dad's in charge.

I realized just how sick I was when I had to run to the store. I hadn't put on a stitch of makeup, I hadn't run a brush through my hair, I wasn't even wearing a bra. I know one day I will be mortified thinking back to that, but right now I could care less.

Yesterday, Ella played Polly Pockets for two hours by herself next to my bed while I slept. I feel like a real winner for that one. I have the most patient, understanding children. I love them.

Thank you T and C for the yummy dinners. You saved the day.

I am hoping that the worst is in the past and soon enough I will be back to my old self. But as for now, I need to go lay down...

Drat Those Gnats

NOT!!

This morning Eva asked me if you swallowed a gnat would it make you choke. I told her no, that they were small enough that you wouldn't choke. I then took the kids to school and went on my morning run. During my run I discovered that you can, in fact, choke on a gnat. I will have to correct myself when she gets home.

Yuck!

5th Grade Volcano Day

Emma had her Volcano Day this morning. I am choosing to blog about it instead of clean my horribly disgusting house.
She did such a good job with it. I shot some footage of it but of course, a mom stepped right in front of my shot at the last minute. She was just trying to help her son so I can't be mad. But here it is anyway...

Way to go Emma! Your volcano was a definate success!!

We All Scream For Emma!!

Do you have memories of the Ice Cream Man when you were younger? The Ice Cream Man could always make my day a little brighter with his assorted yummies.

My favorite were the candy cigarettes.

My mom hated it when I bought those.

To my kids: Don't ever buy candy cigarettes just to make me mad. You will pay.

I even remember "borrowing" money from my dad's wallet when he wasn't around when I heard the jingle getting closer and closer. I think I can even track the beginning of my forbidden love affair with sweets back to the Ice Cream Man from my youth.

As I got older and started having children, I began to realize just how creepy the Ice Cream Man actually was. An aging, and often time balding older man (this is nothing against bald, old men), luring pure and innocent little children with fun music and yummy treats. Evil, I tell ya. I vowed I would never let my kids get even remotely close to an Ice Cream Man or his creepy van.

Fast forward to last week. I caved. My kids got so excited when they heard the little jingle getting louder and louder. They ran into the house asking for money for the Ice Cream Man. I never saw them more hungry for anything in my life. I actually was a little scared at what they would do to me if I said no. For the next few minutes I tried my darndest to scrape up enough loose change for my kids all the while cursing the Ice Cream Man under my breath. Regretably, I found enough change and gave them the money, and out the door they went.

Sadly, or happily depending on how you look at it, my kids came back defeated. Apparently I had taken too long finding money. The Ice Cream Man had come and gone. I walked with them to the corner to see if maybe we could catch him but he was nowhere in sight...and neither was Emma. This girl has such a love of candy. She can sniff out any candy I may be hiding in the house. I figured she must have tried to catch him. Me and the rest of the kids walked home and I tried consoling them by playing with them in the front.

Wouldn't you know it, not ten minutes later we heard the creepy little jingle once again. In fact it got louder and louder. We turned to see if the Ice Cream Man was in fact coming back. Hearts were broken once again when we discovered it was only Emma on her scooter rounding the corner. Wait!! It wasn't only Emma! The Ice Cream Man was following closley behind her!

Emma had found the Ice Cream Man and brought him back to us!!

Since that moment, the three younger siblings have looked at Emma a little differently...with a little more respect.

And I have realized that Rafael (I don't know if that is his name, he just looked like a Rafael) is just trying to make a living like the rest of us. Will I always think the Ice Cream Man concept is a little creepy? Yes. But Rafael seems harmless enough. Maybe next time I will buy something for myself.

HAPPY

This too shall pass.

We all know those words but why is it so hard to believe sometimes?

Times have never been tougher for us, financially. Lee made the decision to take a job offer at a small company a while back. It could be a really great thing for our family...or it could not be. We haven't exactly seen the fruits of his labors just yet. It is really hard to stay positive every second of the day, but I try. I think I am doing a pretty good job. Truthfully, it's hard to be negative when so many other good things are happening. Here are just a few of the many things that are making me happy nowadays...

I crave family time almost as much as I crave chocolate. There is nothing that makes me happier than having good quality family time. We don't get enough of it, so when we do have it it's as sweet as fudge.

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After two weeks of having to wait her turn to start school, my little gal finally got to go. I am so happy for her. She loves it like nothing else in the world.

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Emma skinned her knee last weekend and has been walking like Frankenstein ever since. I am SO happy to report that she no longer feels like she has to walk like a cripple. She finally believes there is life after a scrape on the knee after all.

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After managing to kill just about everything in our garden this year and realizing my failure as a gardener, I noticed my cosmos flowers that I planted from seed decided to bloom. Everytime I look at them they make me happy.

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After a summer long hiatus from running I started up again. It was a pretty humbling experience to have lost all the momentum I had. My lungs were burning and I even had to walk some and I only went three miles. Nevertheless, I am happy just to be out running again.

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Both Ben and Ella played in their first soccer games of the season on Saturday. It made me so happy to see them both make a goal. What a way to start off!

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Eva is a sleepwalker/talker. I love it when she puts on a show for us. The other night she came down the stairs in a drunken stuper. She plopped right down next to me on the couch and started talking to me about these people that wrote super fast. I could tell she had been crying. It was very upsetting to her that these people were writing so fast!!! She went on to tell me that they were writing so fast that they began to scribble. She then started crying because she didn't like them scribbling. I asked Eva if she had had a bad dream about people who scribbled. She said yes. I asked her if she would like to go back to bed and she said yes. She then got up and clumsily went back up to her room and that was that. The next morning I asked Eva if she remembered any of it. Of course she said no. We all had a good laugh about it, including Eva. Laughing with my kids makes me happy.

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Ben has discovered the world of reading. I get so happy inside when I see him pick up a book and read it because he wants to, not because he has to.

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I helped Ella clean her room the other day. It was really messy, messier than I have ever seen it. After quite a while of cleaning we finally finished. We were both so happy. Ella turned to me and said "Did you know that Jesus is here?" I asked her how she knew that. She replied, "I feel Him in my heart".

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I have been really trying to notice all that I do have instead of all that I don't...and I have been a lot happier because of it.

Wasps...

...Why?!?!

MoZo No Mo

Sadly, Monte and Zoe are no longer an item. In fact, they never were an item. Monte wants so badly to be "more than friends" with Zoe but Zobaby wants nothing to do with Monte. I have tried everything I can possibly imagine to get these two kitties to bond but it just isn't happening. I am afraid we must find a new home for Zoe. She really is the best cat. She is a very petite 5 years old and we want to avoid having to take her to a shelter if we can help it. If you know anybody that wants a sweet and snugly kitty (free of charge) please let me know.

Quiet

It is way too quiet around this house. Now that the oldest three are in school I just don't know what to do with myself. For the last few months a quiet house usually meant kids were up to no good. Now I have to get used to the idea of quiet being a good thing again.



I miss my kids. I know they are in great hands...but I still miss them. I have a long list of things I could be doing, but none of it provides the fun that my kids provide. How am I going to survive the school year? I will need to rely completely on Ella to provide my entertainment. So far she has not disappointed.



This girl is non stop entertainment. She has sang to me, danced for me, colored me pictures, weeded with me in her own unique way...and man, does this girl talk! Maybe this school year won't be so boring for me after all.