Friday, November 9, 2007

Mommy Goes to a Halloween Party



Halloween seemed extra special this year. I guess it was all the parties. It lasted longer.

I was invited to a "Black Hat Society" party. What a fun girls night out! K and I had a great time. I even got a tatoo! Lasted for one whole week. My OB/GYN loved it.

Another Visit with Aunt D and Nordie





We went to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival with Aunt D and her boyfriend. Daddy was able to join us, which was a special treat. After the festival we stopped at the pumpkin patch on the way to visit Nordie. It was great to see C and D together. I HAD to get a picture. Going to see Nordie is always a fun treat, especially the girls. Aunt D is teaching them so much about horses.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Girls Movie Night

The girls and I have movie night almost every Friday (since Daddy works). This weekend it was Saturday, since we were out on Friday. We watched a classic "girl movie".....My Fair Lady. Well, half of it anyway. CK fell asleep after about an hour or so. It had been much too late of a bedtime the night before, but she loved the movie. O did not want to go to bed, she wanted to finish the movie (but she had a nap). She loved the movie. She couldn't stop watching it.

When Intermission came up I thought it was a good time to put my sleeping girl into bed and convinced O to join her. We'll finish the movie tonight. I'll rewind so CK can see what she missed. O has been singing "I could have danced all night" ever since. It's just "loverly!"

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

O Finally Gets her Turn





O has been waiting two long years for this day! She cried on CK's first day of Pre-K two years ago, but NOT today. She was ALL smiles.

She was so excited to go to school today. She went right into her classroom gave Miss M and Miss L great big hugs! (It's nice she has the same teachers as CK did!) She knew exactly what to do....run over to a table and play a game, play with Play-Doh or do a lacing card. She didn't care if we were still there or not. CK, being the good big-sister that she is, tried to help O, but O didn't seem to need any help. She was in HER classroom, with HER teachers and was ready to learn and make new friends!

Mommy and Daddy did great too. I took lots of pictures....helps me not to cry. It worked. I was a little teary eyed walking to the car, but didn't cry. CK cried for me. Poor thing. She was fine, until we were in the car on the way to bring her to school and she started to get sad. I asked her what was wrong, she said "I wanted to stay with O." and started crying. My two sensitive girls. O cried for CK's first day of school, now CK cried for O's. Daddy just smiled and thought, great, I live with three sensitive, emotional girls!

NOW WE WERE FREE.....what to do with three hours! All to ourselves......hmmmmm, what to do. Well, I sat and had a cup of coffee with a danish, C had brought home for me the other night and I watched the Today Show. Haven't been able to do that in five years. C was on the computer for a little while, then went shooting. After five minutes of TV I paid bills....OH BOY.....it was very nice actually. I was able to get my things done without being disturbed every five minutes and not at 10pm (half asleep). It was great! This is going to be great. I hope to get my office cleaned out, catch up on paperwork.....so many things on my "to do" list!

When I picked up O from school she told me all about her day. She made new friends, road the tricylce at recess, did a worksheet and listened to stories. Her favorite thing she did on her first day of school was art! That's our girl.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Our Big First Grader!



I can't believe CK started First Grade today! Wow. She was so excited. I can't wait to hear about her day. Daddy, O and I all brought her to school. O did very well! No crying....just "I miss Kiki." Mommy and Daddy also did well. I can't wait to hear all about her first day.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

End of Summer in Tahoe - day 2






Today Auntie A, Uncle, M, & N joined Nonna, the girls and I down at the lake. The kids had a great time walking in the water (still pretty darn cold) collecting rocks to make their sand castle. Nonna, Auntie, A, Uncle M and I sat on the beach at watched. I did go and put my feet in, but couldn't get up enough nerve to actually swim. (Sorry C) Papa had to drive into town for an errand.

Uncle M rescued a hat that had fallen in the lake. He didn't have his swim trunks on just walked in...about up to his thighs and handed the hat to the people on the pier. "Horay!" everyone cheared. M safed the day.

Uncle M helped CK and N build their sand castle and then we walked back up to the house for lunch. The kids played all afternoon. During and after dinner we sat around the table telling family stories. My favorite thing to do. CK sat wide eyed listening to every word. These are the memories I love.

We've been keeping up on the status of a fire that started in Sunnyside, which is North of us and just South of Tahoe City. 89 was closed Southbound for a while (at Tahoe City), but apparently is open now. We'll check the status in the morning. Tomorrow we go home. The fire was headed North, so it shouldn't affect us here. We'll pray the firefighters are able to contain it soon.

We've had a great weekend getaway in Tahoe. It will be good to get home tomorrow evening and get ready for school on Tuesday. Goodness. I can't believe summer is already over. (sniff) We had a busy and packed summer. So many wonderful memories.

Friday, August 17, 2007

End of Summer in Tahoe - day 1





The girls and I are spending our last summer weekend, before school starts, in Tahoe. Daddy has to work. We miss him!!!!

Nonna and Papa are here too. Uncle M, Auntie A and N will be here tonight. It will be fun to hang out with them tomorrow.

This morning we went down to the lake to hang out for a little bit. The girls ran into the water. It's beautiful weather. Nonna came with us to the lake while Papa took a bike ride.

Here are a few pics from the lake this morning.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Friends, Fish, & Fun....A Day in Monterey





Friends, Fish, & Fun....A Day in Monterey







On Monday we went to Monterey for the day with our friend M and her son CM (3 yrs). CM loves the girls. The three of them are so cute together. CK was so great with CM. She holds his hand, making sure he stays with us. It was too cute!

First we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Always a fun place. Even more fun with friends. M and I had gone with the kids about 2 years ago, but none of them remembered. They loved it. I like the Jellies the best. They are so relaxing. I could just sit in there for hours watching them. The kids loved it all. C was very tired....just getting home from work at 7:30am that morning, but he had a good time.

After stopping for lunch on Canery Row we found the best little beach. Full of shells, sand dollars washing up on shore and sea creatures in the water. What a fun place to explore. Too bad we left the swim suits and towels in the car. (Ooops) The girls didn't care, they just took their pants off. To be 4 and 5 years old again.....ahh....the life.

As always, O was in heaven on the beach running in the cold ocean water. CK was busy collecting sea shells and sand dollars. Mommy joined in. We found some great treasures. (when we got home we cleaned them up and preserved them) CM...well, it took him the entire time to get up enough nerve to go near the water. By the time he started going near the water it was just about time to head for home. Next time we'll go just to the beach. He didn't seem to mind leaving.

We had a nice walk back to the car and O fell asleep on the way home. (no big surprize there) It was a great day. Maybe we can sneak in one more beach day (in Monterey) before the weather turns cold. hmmm

Friday, August 10, 2007

So. Cal. Vacation - Temecula




After a great 3 days in San Diego we had a great 4 days in Temecula. We went to visit my best girl friend CC and her family. It was great for O to see her God-Parents. She hadn't seen them in about 3 years.

A bonus, for us, was to see V play flag football. Great game! They won, of course. B and CK are the same age. B, CK and O played together - 4 days solid. They had the best time. It was great for me to see me and my best friends children playing together. C went into work with R one morning. The girls and I went and picked him up at lunch. What a treat for C.

After a great visit in Temecula we stopped in LA to visit a friend of C's. He hadn't seen this guy for about 8 or 10 years. We had a great lunch visit with him. Saw his absolutly beautiful home and then headed to Santa Barbara and home.

This was a much needed vacation. We had a great time, but it's good to be home. Poor Genie (the cat), she really missed us this trip. Hasn't stopped meowing yet.

Next week the girls and I will go to Tahoe for one last horah before school starts. Look for those postings starting on the 17th.

So. Cal. Vacation - SeaWorld - Part 2






After SeaWorld we had a great Sushi dinner with J and our friend B. He happen to be in town that weekend. What a great surprize! It was a great San Diego visit. Next stop....Temecula.

So. Cal. Vacation - SeaWorld - Part 1






We went to SeaWorld on our last day in San Diego. Our friend J joined us at lunch. (Thanks for picking up lunch J!) After having a nice picnic outside the exit we went back in to see all the amazing animals. We saw everything; Penguins, Manatees, Beluga Whales, Polar Bears, Sharks, Dolphins, Killer Whales, Sea Lions, Star Fish - even the "Cirque de la Mer" acrobatic/water show. What a fantastic day. Even better because J joined us.

CK's favorite animal was Shamu, O's favorite were the Penguins. I think my favorite were the Dolphins, as was C's. I think J's favorite were the Penguins. Everyone had a great time. It was the hottest day in San Diego (of the three days we were there) so we went to see the peguins a few times (nice and cool in there).

There are just too many images to choose from. I have to do two posts for SeaWorld.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Little Black Dress



We've had a fantastic vacation. I still need to write part 2 and 3 of our vacation. I haven't had time. As of this writing we are in our hotel room in Santa Barbara on our last day of vacation (sigh). I just have to tell you the story of the beautiful black dress in a downtown Santa Barbara store window.

My story starts on our first day of vacation, a week ago, when we were in Santa Barbara. We were walking downtown in the evening and C noticed this beautiful black dress in a store window. Just below the knee, sleeveless with a low v neck. Just beautiful.

C tells me, "You should get it." I say, "It's beautiful, but it's probably too much and I shouldn't spend too much money now." So we leave it at that and continue on our wonderful vacation.

Last night we stay in Santa Barbara again on our way home. First thing C say's, "I want to get you that black dress." Are you kidding?! We just spent a lot of money (for us right now) on hotel rooms and you want to buy me a black dress. I love it! It's a beautiful dress. Of course, I would LOVE to have it, but it's gonna be too expensive, but he's insistent we look at it so, who am I to say no?

We go to the store, Blue Bee Luxury (there is a series of Blue Bee stores in SB). We walk in and find the dress. It's beautiful, but walking into this store, I could tell (without looking at ANY prices) that there was not going to be anything in this place lower than $100! I hold up the dress (the girls are with us-very well behaved). I ask the sales lady if this is the dress in the window. She says, with a big smile, "Yes, IT is." C's face, lights up. He wants me to try it on, I can tell, but he doesn't say anything. I look at the front and back of the dress. The perfect little black dress. I could wear it for everything! I, very smoothly, look for the price tag (the sales lady is still standing right there). I'm not sure I read the price correctly, I look the dress over again and look at the price tag again. Yep, I read it right. OH - MY - GOSH!!!!!! I start to put the dress back and thank the sales lady, take the girls hands and walk out the store.

C at this point can't figure out what happened. I didn't try the dress on. He wanted me to try the dress on and gives me the sad puppy eyes. Once we are outside the store I say, "Do you know how much that dress cost?!" "No, how much?", he says. $935.00!!!!!!!!! His eyes just about POPPED out of his head. "Are you KIDDING?!" "NO"

I told him I didn't want to try it on, have it fit perfect, fall in love with it and then not be able to buy it. There is just NO way we could afford that dress. I told him if it was $150 even $200, I would, at least, try it on. But $935....NO WAY! So, the beautiful little black dress stayed in the window at Blue Bee Luxury. It might be there a very long time.

We continued walking downtown to find a place for dinner. CK asks "Mommy, when we get home can we count all my money in both my piggy banks?" I tell her, "Sure, why?" My sweet, sweet girl tells me, "Because I want to see if I have enough money to buy you that dress." This has been the best vacation ever!

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Our So. Cal. Vacation....part 1






On Monday we packed up the Suburban and headed for Southern California. Our trip will last 10 days and we will have several stops.

We start by just driving to Santa Barbara. We normally stop here for lunch when we go to So. Cal., but this time we thought we would spend the night. We arrived in Santa Barbara about 4pm. After checking into our hotel, we headed downtown to walk around and have dinner. We love this town. Someday we'll have to spend more time here.

The next day we headed for sunny San Diego. Another favorite city!!!! C has history here with UCSD and we still have a very good friend who lives here. We arrived at about 3pm and then met J for dinner. Wednesday, we promised the girls we would spend the day at the beach. Their absolute FAVORITE place in the world to be! We had a great breakfast at Brockton Villa Inn. Now this is the life! You sit outside at this tiny place. I guess they have seating inside. I have NO idea--never been inside. You sit overlooking the ocean in La Jolla!!! After our wonderful breakfast (Coast Toast!!) we drove down a few blocks and went to La Jolla Shores and spent the day on the beach....just like we promised. The girls were in heaven. They played in the sand, ran in the water, even jumped waves with daddy. J joined us at the beach until lunch then she had to get to work.

Today we went to Sea World. What a fun place! J joined us. We had a great time. Saw the Dolphins, Killer Whales, Penguins, Sea Lions, Polar Bears, Beluga Whales.....and much more. I'll write more about our Sea World visit next entry--once I download those pics. Just too tired to do that all now.

Tonight we had dinner with J and another friend who happened to be in town this weekend. It's been a very long day. O tells me during dinner, "Mommy, I'm sorry, I can't do it anymore." Meaning, she couldn't stay awake any longer. I had her sit on my lap and within 2 minutes she was sound asleep. Poor thing. Both girls were SO good today. O got cranky at Sea World, but who could blame her. It was so hot and she was so tired. We have had a great time in San Diego. Tomorrow we'll go to Temecula. We can't wait!

I'll try and add Sea World pics tomorrow. Can't promise anything. So many pictures.....so little time. I'll send out pics, for sure, when I get back. Here are a few from our first few days. C helped me choose them. I think I would have chosen other pics of me, but he liked this one.