Jumping on Beds..........

The 4th

Happy birthday America!!

We had one of the best 4th's I have had in a long time.  Hope you all had fun with friends and family.  This year, I was able to relax more because the kids are at the age where they can just play on their own and enjoy themselves, without me having to hover over them.  I was in the kitchen at one point talking with Sheela and looking out the window watching all the kids running around laughing and playing and I thought to myself, "These are the moments the kids(and adults) will remember forever."  There is just nothing like being with good friends and family......although none of our family was around, these friends are like family.  I am so blessed to have met so many wonderful people here in California.  I was so happy yesterday.  Today I am exhausted and spent. 

We started the day at the Motta's bike parade. (Look at Charlie's half broken bike, poor guy had to ride 1/2 the parade with his training wheels off kilter)... Then home to cook, clean and prepare.  Mannie took Charlie and Cara over to a friends house to swim.  Cam napped and I spent my time getting everything ready for the "get together".  We had lots of fun and one of the best parts was that this year we actually went down the hill to see the fireworks and Mannie had saved us a spot with blankets in the perfect place.  He was up early and jogged down the hill to reserve our spot.  We cruised down at 8 or so and just plopped ourselves down on our blankie and watched.  Joann had brought glow sticks for the kids and fun treats which we all loved.  Completely perfect!

Last year we were melting in Vegas and watching the fireworks that were miles away from our hotel room window.  Much better scenario this year. (it is not a link, i did something funky by accident)

Here are some of my favorite pictures and one of me that i like.......unlike the horrible one on Joann's blog which I hope she removes promptly..........love the flab hanging over the counter edge..........Nice !  :)  I know she chose it for the overall spread, and I rarely like pictures of myself but yuck!.....Anyhow, moving along with my parade of pictures! Love the picture of Sheela entertaining the crowd!

Quicksand

 

When I was little, there was some show that mentioned quicksand quite a bit.  I can't remember if it was Land of the Lost or Scooby Doo but I remember being unrealistically afraid that I was going to encounter quicksand and get sucked into the unknown.  Anyhow, today, my fears finally came to life as Charlie's Croc was sucked off his foot in the pond of the nature center.  It literally swallowed the shoe.......but after poking, prodding and fishing for a while, thankfully we found the match to his new summer shoes!

Once again we had a blast!  This is definitely my new favorite place.  I have a tendency to latch onto to places and make them part of my routine and this place is going to be one of those spots.  It helps that it is right next door to where Mannie is working.....2 fun things at once. 

One of the employees was fishing out some of the "lobsters" so the kids got to get an upclose view of them.......so cute!

We had a picnic with Gia.

They do birthday parties btw!!!  Campouts for 6 and older.....I am definitely going to put this place down as a possible place!

Went to the Bee tonight! Echo has a Quick Kuts club that meets there once a month .....it was very crowded with lots of nice scrappers!!! 

Oh btw.......here is what "sod day" looks like for those inquiring minds! ;)  

Lots of Anniversaries

We went to the Aquarium the other day.......they are celebrating 10 years as well.

Cami and Cara pet sharks and rays.

Cara and Ryan were in a show.

Cara got to have a bird sit on her arm.

The ultimate highlight..........chasing pigeons at lunch.......go figure.

So, the science table is sharks and dolphins now.

Free movie yesterday.......playdate with Tricia after!

I am off to a really slow start today.........it's 9:30 and we are all still in our pj's .......I have a lot to do but I just want to sit and gather my thoughts and have a moment. 

I am taking the kids to get passports today.......remember Barcelona?  This year the team is going to Australia in late October.  This year we are all going........even Mannie's parents and aunt's and uncle's.  I am hoping it doesn't take too long to get passports(I mean today waiting in line with the 3).  We are going to the library to get them.

We are also visiting with Gia and stopping by Mannie's work.  It is "sod day" at Mannie's work.   Sod day is a big day because as you can imagine, that is when the grass gets put down on the field.  He wants some pictures to document so we will stop over to take a few.

That is about all......nothing much to ramble about today. Have a good one.

Our Anniversary

Thank goodness I went to Stephanie's doodle class yesterday at Tricia's!  That is where I made this card which is all I gave to Mannie for our 10 year anniversary.  I know that seems lame but honestly he doesn't want me to spend any money and I have made the man more scrapbook related projects over the years.....does he want anymore???  Well, that being said, I think I will make the 10 year album...but I just couldn't squeeze it in this weekend. 

Friday night we went out to dinner as a fam.......to Roma d'Italia........it was yummy.  I love gnocchi so that is what I got.......and homemade bread.  After we got some ice cream and called it a night. Mannie was absolutely exhausted.  He wakes up at 4 am for work and his job entails lots of physical labor so we had a family sleepover in our room and went to bed fairly early.  

Saturday we went to Webkinz Day at the Red Bee..........the cutest thing ever!!  The kids made an adorable scrapbook designed by Candice.  She is so talented.  Julie and Mia came too which was an extra treat.  I worked while Mannie followed the kids around.  The kids loved their scrapbooks, especially Charlie who carried it around with him for the rest of the day and then took it over to Gia and Gramps to show them.

After the Bee.......Cara and I headed over to Tricia's for a fun doodling class. Stephanie is so talented.  She makes everything look so cute and adorable.  I am hoping she will start a new magazine or have a t.v. show as suggested by Tena.  Stephanie is just amazing.

Then I ran home and got spruced up for our date night. We dropped the kids off at the grandparents and then headed out to Newport Coast for dinner.  We ate at the Pelican Grill, based on a recommendation.  It was really nice.........delicious food.  Although I don't recommend it as you can get a yummy steak dinner anywhere really.  But we had a great time chatting.  It is always nice to leave a restuarant and not have to clean up under the table when leaving or scan the table for toys.  We split a shrimp cocktail first.  They have yummy pretzel like bread too.  Then we each got steak and sides of asparagus and au gratin potatoes.  Everything was really good.  We talked about our favorite memories of the past 10 years and our worst memories.  Then we declined on dessert because we were stuffed but our waitress came out with this cute little chocolate cake with a candle since she knew it was our anniversary.  (That little cake probably would have cost $15 btw.)   We made a wish and blew out the candle......wishing that our kids are healthy and happy teenagers.......my current worry for their future.  

Today we saw Wall*E..........cute but now I feel like such a wasteful human.  I had flashbacks to watching Planet of the Apes imagining earth with no humans.  Wall*E makes me want to be better about what I throw away and not just keep buying new things........maybe buy used things instead.  We are very lucky to have such a wonderful planet to live on.  I hope it will all be here when our kids are older and our grandkids and their kids and so on.......you get the drift. 

That is about it..........I have to go to the grocery store and fill up for the week.........we also have plans to watch the sunset.......again thankful for what we have here on earth. 

Hope you had a good one.

10 years

10 years ago today...........we started our little family........just 2 of us back then....now 5.

I woke up to this surprise downstairs.  What a sweetie, very unexpected.  So we ate cookies for our first breakfast.  I love how he always includes the kids in our anniversaries.  I think an anniversary is about the anniversary of the family.  However, tomorrow it will be about us, as we are celebrating out alone and the kids will go over to their grandparents for a little sleepover.  But for today, the official day, we will celebrate as a fam..........most likely going to see Wall*E if it is not sold out.  That will be hoot if it is sold out........3 pissed off kids and us, the "reality" of a family I suppose!

So, I still have nothing to give him though.  He never expects anything because that is the kind of guy he is.  I feel like now that he put the thought into cookies, I need to put thought in and do something too.  I don't want to buy anything because what do you buy someone to express LOVE (besides a cute bouquet of flowers)?  I wish we lived in CT.........I would sign up for this class..........how perfect would that be??  I would love to make him a little scrapbook about each year, one photo and some highlights of the year.....can I squeeze that in today?  I am going to try.....but if anyone has an idea of something quicker and easier, throw it my way!!

Oh well........we had a nice breakfast with Sheela today at one of my fave places..........can you guess where?  We had a fun playdate with Tricia yesterday........she made me lunch.....those are the things I appreciate so much!!   Now we are off to a pool playdate and I am a little nervous because I have 2 non swimmers.........then home to make a scrapbook...........is it possible? We will see, I guess I should have planned better........I will  start working on {15} on Monday;)

BTW.........who is going to Webkinz day tomorrow, we are very excited over here!!!

Have a good one.

  Hello there!

We had a great day today.........we went and visited Mannie at work!! The kids love to visit Mannie because there are tractors and lots of dirt.  He is working at his alma mater in Newport which happens to be right next door to an amazing nature center.  Joann has told me about this place for a couple of years and I never made it over there until today.  OMG!!! Heaven....the perfect little spot for curious, nature loving  kids.  The actual nature center is brand spankin' new.......just opened last week.  It is cute. I like their cactus book shelf!  I do prefer the Back Bay nature center though (the classroom has more for kids to do)....but the outdoor area is a gem.  First of all............tall TREES!!! Imagine that in Orange County? A forest!(see blurry photo below)  But the best is the little creek, ponds and waterfalls.  It is like a magical fairy land.  The pond has "lobsters" in it.......I don't know what they are exactly but the kids were enthralled with them.  There is  a butterfly house too, which is o.k.....I have seen better.  But the outdoor atmosphere is why you should make the drive.......lots of shade and picnic benches(bring lunch).......and FREE!!!!!  Gotta love FREE!

Well, that is enough rambling about that!! Sorry, sometimes I get a little over excited. 

That is all for today.......hope you are having a fun day.

If you want a poster, come to the Bee tonight:) 

Scrappy Stuff

Made some stuff.........having lots of fun.

I printed a HUGE picture of Charlie (13x19).......and then sort of scrapped the frame. 

If you would like to make a poster too.........check the Freckle Friends message board for where I will be in SoCal this summer!

We went to the free movie today.......saw Clifford's Big Movie with Tricia and her kids at the Spectrum.  Then we played in the fountain and hit Target for lunch.  It was great to visit with Tricia.

That is about it.......not much to say, don't know why.  Hope you are having fun.

Back in the Groove

 I feel as though today is the first official day of Summer for me......was the yesterday the summer solstice?  I believe so.

The kids class went really well.......it lasted 3 hours which is what I predicted.  That is a long time for little kids to hang in there and scrap.  I think the kids did great considering the time and the fact that I had a very sugary spread out for all to munch on.  Reflecting on that.....probably should have had a few more healthy items.........but I always equate scrapping and junk food.....special occasions, indulgence......all that fun stuff.   

I will try to put the photos I took in a side folder .

Cara came with me.......such a sweetie........my helper.  Beth was my helper too.  So glad the girls got to hang out.  It was great to see the mom's/aunt's having fun with the kids in their life.  I like teaching kids classes because I feel like we(adults) should share the good things in life with our kids.

As I drove away from the Oasis I felt like I could breathe again.  I was so busy with the memory books, teacher appreciation week, end of the year carnival, kitting for the class, working and taking care of the kids........this was the last thing to check off my list!!  Now, it is just regular summer stuff!!

So, today we dove right in with a fun treasure hunt.  I made the kids passports on the Canon PixmaMP970 printer today.  I scanned a real passport and it printed out beautifully.  I just took the printer out of the box today.  It is one of the printers I will bring around the OC to play with.  Anyway, it is really cool.  You can print from negatives and slides and scan as well.  We haven't had a scanner in a while so it was fun to try this one out. 

After I made their passports we went outside for a "tour of the world" stopping at each continent for a stamp in the passport and a "souvenir".  It was hot out there but nice in the shade. 

 

Now we are inside in the a/c (thank goodness that is fixed) and it is rest time.  After, we are off to Mannie's game and then dinner with the Motta gang.

That is about it.......hope the heat lets up a bit!

Oh, one more thing.......I have 2 kits left over......if you would like to purchase one, you can email me at Adams627@cox.net !

Mommy Dearest is Tired

I am tired.

I am grumpy.

I know, turn away now. Run! Don't walk!!!

I have been super busy for a couple of weeks and it is starting to catch up to me.

Tonight, after being on the road for 1/2 the day, I finally get home with a bunch of groceries and the ants (aka my children) start attacking the bags.  That is fine but then Cara gets into the lemonade and decides to open it on the kitchen island which is currently kitting central for the kids class.

Long story short..........she spilled on some of the papers and the ribbon that I got at Joann's which is in Foothill Ranch.....a good 15 min. drive, not what I was up for.  Then she lied and said she didn't do it.  Hence, Mommy Dearest........it got worse because Mannie decides to console Cara who feels terrible, of course, she is such a sweetie, but she lied......I can't have that, especially when I am Joan Crawfordlike.  Instead of screaming, "No more wire hangers!!".......think, "No more pink lemonade!!"  I am exaggerating (a little)  So, I headed out to Joann's to get new ribbon and here I am still unwinding from a crazy day.

On a positive note.........I am VERY excited for class....I have been busy planning fun snacks for class and got some cute kid prizes.  There are only 7 spots left so if you haven't signed up.........call the store tomorrow.  And a reminder for those taking the class..........we will be printing 8 mini (approximately 2x2) photos on the Canon ES2 so remember to take 8 nature shots and bring your cameras and memory cards to class. 

Here are the first and last day pictures of Cara.......I saw a few of my favorite bloggers sharing their first and last photos.  I like that she is in basically the same spot.  I am going to do this same shot in this spot each year to see the growth.  She didn't grow in length much but I think she looks so much more relaxed in the picture from the end of the year, more confident.

Well, off to snuggle with my little ants before bed.....I am excited for the Kathy Griffin show tonight, she cracks me up. 

We are looking forward to seeing Walle*E next week......our anniversary as a matter of fact.  The next night (the 28th) we have a date night while the kiddos sleep over at Gia and Gramps.  10 years!!  I still have a week to sell a kids book.......then we can head to Vermont to renew our vows ;)

Well, I feel better.......time to go hug my kids. 

Check this out!

This is how I will be celebrating my 38th birthday!!

I am not sure if my kids will cry or love it..........but they LOVE dinosaurs (especially Cam) ......I thought it would be really cool!

 

School is officially OUT!!