New Look

My oldest got glasses this past week. She definitely likes them, as you can see. :)

Stay tuned for a new look on this blog soon.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Hawaii!! I am so excited! We finally told the girls on Sunday. We had been keeping it a secret from them for over a year and a half. All this time they thought we were going to Catalina. Part of the reason for that was because, in the recent years, every time we made plans for a vacation, something always happened and it never materialized.

We were supposed to go to Florida about 2 years ago, to see my great-uncle, but he got very ill and we didn't go. We were supposed to go up to Washington, but then my husband's ship decided not to pull into that port, so that got cancelled. We were supposed to go up to San Francisco a while back, but that's when I started having panic attacks, so that never materialized either.

This time, we've got the tickets, we've got the hotel, we've got the car rental, hubby has the time off, panic attacks have subsided, I think we're good to go! :)

............

This is my life this week.

The softball fields.

My house is a mess.

As much as I love helping out on the softball board, I'll be happy when this week is done.

So I can get back to my house and family.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I just realized that it's been forever since I posted on here!

I have been so incredibly busy these days!

We had a wonderful Christmas and it was the best seeing my sister again. Even though we only live about 2 1/2 hours away (on a good traffic day), because we both have busy lives (she's a 1st grade teacher), we can't always get together as often as we'd like.

When she asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I couldn't really think of anything at first. Then I told her jewelry and I told her I had wanted a necklace from my friend, Stacy. She designs her own necklaces and has a store: BellaWish. I was SO pleasantly surprised when I opened my present from her and found this beautiful necklace inside!

Her necklaces inspired me to start creating again and she urged me to open up an etsy store of my own. I am working on that right now and I will let you know when it's ready.

My oldest is playing soccer on the All-Star team and so we are busy with practices and tournaments for that. Here she is this past weekend during one of the games (She's the one in red):

So, along with that, softball is getting ready to start up again, and since I'm on the board, I'm busy right now with that too.

And you know, I think January should be declared "National Organization Month", because every magazine has articles on organization, all the stores are selling totes and everyone seems to be in that mode after the holidays.

I know I am. I have a list on my refrigerator of what I have to do around the house and in what order I'm getting it done to make it most effective. I'm over 1/2 way done with the list, thank goodness. I figure as long as I get it done by the end of thise month, I'm good. :)

I've also been looking at other blogs and my friend Michelle, posted about a giveaway she had found on her friend's site: The Secret is In The Sauce, who wanted to let people know about a giveaway. These camera straps are absolutely adorable!! If I don't win one, I'm for sure going to buy one, so I'll get one either way!!

*SHEY* {B} Camera Straps and Slip Covers

So that's about it so far.

My time is up for now, so I need to get moving on the next item on my list.....

Trying VERY Hard Here.....

4 years ago on December 19th, was probably the worst day in my life. That whole week was probably the worst week in my life.

When my mom died.

Christmas? Yea, not so much fun AT ALL.

But I vowed that I would not let her death ruin future Christmases for me, considering it IS my favorite holiday.

I LOVE decorating the house, both inside and out. I LOVE getting presents for people. I love MAKING presents for people. I love to see the look on their eyes, or hear it in their voice when I get them something that they wanted, or didn't expect or love.

I LOVE the whole month leading up to Christmas. I LOVE baking Christmas goodies. I love getting the Christmas cards out. I LOVE receiving Christmas cards and find out how loved ones are doing and what they did this year. I LOVE waking up Christmas morning and seeing the anticipation on my girls faces for when they can come out and see what Santa brought them.

I LOVE the ornament exchange that my email moms group does at this time and how we almost always end up having a crazy chat conversation on the computer and laughing.

I LOVE going to look at Christmas lights. I love how the house is so warm and toasty during this time (that is when it's not 85 degrees outside).

4 years ago, I couldn't wait for Christmas to be over. Instead of the excitement leading up to Christmas that last week, I was wishing it would be over as soon as possible. Oh, I tried my best to put up the best front I could that morning for my girls, trying to smile and be happy, but it just wasn't there. And it wasn't there for my sister. We were both faced with the wrapped presents that were under the tree for us from our mom. And the presents that were under there from us for our mom. We did get through it, with the help of hubby, who suggested we each other's presents that we had given to mom the night before, that way they wouldn't be sitting there Christmas morning.

This year circumstances are really testing my love for Christmas again.

Last week we had some heavy rains, and not that we haven't had heavier rains prior to this time, but this time we thought we had it all covered. A new roof, new rain gutters, we thought we were set.

Well, apparently the rain gutter guy didn't install the downspout in the proper positioning, because with as much water that came through the one downspout, it has seeped into the oldest's bedroom and totally ruined her carpet.

So the bonus I got for being Employee of the Year? Now has to pay for a new carpet. We have contacted the contractor who installed it and he, so far has said that he is not responsible for it.

He has yet to talk to me though.

I will be calling him in the next couple of days and try to get him to understand that he is responsible and should do the right thing and pay for it, to avoid going to small claims court.

So in the meantime, hubby has pulled up the carpet to get ready for the new carpet. The oldest did a fabulous job emptying her room for that. It's amazing the nooks and crannies I can find in this house to store her "room".

So he pulls up the carpet and what does he find? Linoleum. Linoleum??!! In a bedroom??!!! WTF?! But then we're thinking okay, maybe that's not such a bad thing. It probably protected the slab.

So hubby goes in there (after putting fans and heaters in there to dry it out) and finds the linoleum loose. So he starts pulling up a few of the tiles.

Yes, water under there!

So now he has to pull up the whole floor (carpet tacks around the edges and everything) so we can dry out the slab. Which pushes back the installation of the carpet by quite a few days.

Because you don't want to put new carpet on a damp slab or an seemingly dry slab, you've got to wait until a few days after that.

When did all of this start you ask?

December 18th & 19th.

The same time my mom had her stroke and died, 4 years ago.

So of course it's bringing back all the feelings of dread and doom and despair I had 4 years ago.

I'm fighting like hell to try and keep my spirits up and push forward to have a wonderful Christmas.

I told hubby last night that I don't want to know all the details anymore. Just let me know when the room will be ready for the carpet.

I want to be in denial on this one.

Legoland

This past Tuesday, Veteran's Day, the girls had off from school. Since hubby was able to get the day off as well, we decided to go to Legoland. We had never been before, and the oldest was on the cusp of really being too old to enjoy it. It really is a park for little kids.


There was this one ride near the beginning of the park that the youngest REALLY wanted to go on. But here's the thing, you might get wet. Hubby and I were NOT in the mood to get wet that day, so the youngest and the oldest were able to go on this ride together. They had a blast with it!

And yet, here's another ride for them to go on, just the two of them. Hmmmm......wow, this might not be a bad thing. Hubby and I get to sit and watch the girls stand in line to go on a ride?? That was nice! Now, don't get me wrong, hubby and I LOVE to go on the rides. We love Disneyland, we love roller coasters, etc. It's just the waiting in line and having to deal with rude people that's the pits. Plus these lines here at Legoland were NOT long at all.

Oh, and yet ANOTHER ride that we got to watch them.....

Oh, and at Legoland, they have a parking area that is a "Reserved" parking area, and Volvo sponsors it. So they have this little display right next to it and so, of course, the girls had to pose with it. Yes, the woman and baby are made out of Legos!

There were Lego displays all over the park (hence the "Legoland" name...) that were just so cute!

Then there was this car ride that the girls got to go on where the cars are NOT on a track and they can drive them all by themselves! There were stop signs and stoplights as well! (I worry about my oldest when she DOES start driving because she paid no attention to the stop signs, yikes!!) Oh, and don't worry, I think the cars go MAYBE 5 mph at the most? Hubby said that the oldest looked like she was riding in a rollerskate because she was so big for it. LOL!!

This was a ride that only the youngest could go on. The horse just rides around a little track and goes slow around it. It was VERY cute!

Now, there were a few roller coasters there too that we all could go on and that was fun. The youngest, at first did not want to go on them, but then after she was on them, she was like, "That was fun!!" Ahhhhhh....we love it!!

Now, back to the Lego displays they had there......

Elvis, baby, uh-huh! (We took this one for grandma, she loves Elvis)

And hubby had to get his picture taken with "Darth Vadar"

Now, the oldest likes to take goofy pictures with displays........

SpongeBob!!!!!

Another goofy pic with the oldest.....

Mount Rushmore.......

San Francisco.......

Oh, no!!! It's attack of the Killer Birds!!!!! (yes that is a real bird invading the display)

Window Washers in NYC....

Vegas Baby!!

We had a good time there, definitely a park you can do it one day, but I don't really see us going back there again. I would HIGHLY recommend it if you lived nearby and had little ones though!! If you do, get a season pass and go there all the time, the kids would LOVE it!!!

Next stop....Disneyland in a week and a half......

Blast From The Past

Living in Southern California often means that you make a trip down to Tijuana at least once in your life. (Some a LOT more than others).

In 1993 friends of ours came down and we went down to TJ to party. This was my one and only time I ever went there. And for some reason you have to take these group shots while you're down there.
Yes, I had an absolute blast down there, but that was 15 years ago. I have no desire to go back now...

And apparently going down to TJ is something my family does, because here is a picture of my grandma and my grandpa John down there in 1946.......



My grandma went back down there again in 1959, to marry her 2nd husband.

Then my mom went down there to marry my father in 1967.

At least hubby and I stayed up here to get married.............

Our "California Adventure"

Our original trip was NOT to California Adventure. We were originally going to go up to Los Osos, Morro Bay area, to help celebrate my hubby's grandma's 80th birthday. Well, plans got changed and it was no longer going to be up there, it was going to be down in the L.A. area. So once again, our plans to go somewhere got cancelled. I felt so bad for my oldest, because it always seems that plans to go somewhere keep getting cancelled. So we decided to take the girls to California Adventure on Friday, stay the night and then go up to the birthday party on Saturday.

The girls were so excited and happy to go there! Plus they were going to get to go on Toy Story Mania, which has had advertisements for it all over the place.

We got into the park around 11:00 a.m. And our first ride was the Grizzly River Run.
(Never mind the guy in the photo, we don't know him.......)

Okay, BIG mistake!! We should have NEVER gone on this ride FIRST.

Yes, it's a water ride, like going down the rapids.

Yes, we got wet.

But not only did we get wet, hubby and I got SOAKED! I mean wet to the bone! It was like someone poured a 20 gallon bucket of water over me. I felt like I had a pool of water in my pants while I was sitting there. So of course it got in our shoes (well only one, but really, what's the difference) soaking our socks, etc.

So imagine what kind of store is right next to the ride. Yes, it involves clothes. So we spent way too much money on socks and then AFTER we bought the socks, I mentioned flip flops, so he went back in and bought himself a pair of flip flops. Well, I guess that was our "souvenir" for the day.

After that, we had some lunch (of course eating outside to try and help "dry" off, which really didn't happen until midway through the day and I think my underwear was still wet by the end of the day) and then made our way through the park, hitting the rides as we wandered our way over to Toy Story Mania.

Okay, this ride is SOOOOOOO cool!!! You get your 3D glasses, but it's actually a 4D ride! You get in the car and as you make your way through the ride, you stop at various places and target shoot at the screen. And when you pop a balloon you actually feel the "whoosh" of the air from the balloon! It's soo cool!!! The oldest said she got a little wet on her leg from hitting one of the targets! And then the ride has a screen where it keeps score with your partner in the car. It was definitely one of the funnest rides we have been on!

The girls then had to go on the Carousal ride. I'm not a big fan of things that go around and around. You won't get me on the teacups at Disneyland, and even the Dumbo ride sometimes gets to me. It's the whole motion of going around and around and around. Okay, I need to stop talking about it, just thinking about it is getting me dizzy....

However!! I do like roller coasters. So after this, we made our way over to California Screamin'. The last time we came to California Adventure, I chickened out on this ride. But I really wanted to go on it this time. So hubby took the little one over to the HUGE ferris wheel (again, not a big fan of things that go around and around), while the oldest and I went to the roller coaster.

Wow.....

I absolutely LOVED it!!! It's not like a regular roller coaster where you chug along going up to the top and then speed down. You actually get shot UP the roller coaster. That was my FAVORITE part! I looked over at my eldest though and she has a PETRIFIED look on her face and is crying! Oh, my poor baby!!! I'm trying to hold her and and reassure her it's going to be alright, while I'm THOROUGHLY enjoying the ride. They have a point in the ride where they take your picture and I tried to get a good picture of it with my cell phone (hubby had the camera at that point) but I couldn't, but it was a hoot. I was sitting there, grinning from ear to ear and you could see the fear in my oldest's face. And the thing is, she's been on this ride before! I guess she's just not a big fan of certain roller coasters. She's gone on a lot of them at Magic Mountain (up in Valencia), but even there she did not like the Colossus.

After we were done we went over to the Sun Wheel and saw the hubby and the youngest on there.

My youngest loves ferris wheels. Well, as long as hubby's there to take her on it.

Then we made our way through the boardwalk, stopping to take pictures.....

Then we went over to Flik's Fun Fair, where it is all kiddy rides. The 3 of them went on Flik's Flyers (again, it goes around and around, not for me)
Then we went over to the Hollywood Studios Backlot section of the park to go on Mike & Sulley To The Rescue Ride. It's a cute little ride for the kiddies. It's nice and cool inside there, you get to sit while your car "wanders" through Monsters Inc. Very cute ride.
Again, another "photo op" after the ride.
Then we went over to Tower Of Terror. I really wanted to go on it and so did hubby, but there was no way the oldest was going to go on it. So hubby went over to it while we ran into Goofy and the girls got to have their picture taken with him. The photographer asked if I wanted to get in the picture, but with having had a shitload of water dumped on me earlier in the day via the Grizzly River Run, I was not up to having my picture taken (the above picture of me was taken so far away, it was okay...LOL!!).
By the time hubby got off Tower of Terror, the line had gotten pretty long and we were all ready to go. The girls were getting very grumpy. But it was a good day there, it wasn't too hot, it wasn't too crowded, the longest we had to wait for a ride was about a half hour or so with Toy Story Mania, all in all it was a good family day.

And that's all that matters.

A Day In L.A.

Instead of a birthday party, my youngest decided she wanted to go to the American Girl store and get an American Girl doll. It was actually going to be cheaper for me to do this, rather than have a birthday party, because the place she wanted to have her birthday party had a $200 MINIMUM there.

So we started out day at about 7:30 a.m. to get there by the time the store opened. The American Girl store was located at The Grove in Los Angeles.

My youngest was SO excited to get to the store!

We went through each "Era" of the dolls so we could see all the displays and so she could get a feel for which doll she wanted.

She had originally wanted to get a doll that looked like her. When we got to this "Era" of 1974, she immediately wanted the doll, Ivy, that she is touching here.
My oldest desperately tried to talk her out of this doll, mostly because of the clothes. Which I admit weren't the greatest looking clothes. But I told my oldest that it is the youngest's birthday and whatever doll SHE wanted, she got to get. And I told my youngest that that is why they have so many different dolls because all girls have different tastes.

In the end, she got the doll she wanted, Ivy.

But we still perused through the store looking at the displays.
These dolls behind her are the "Dolls of The Year". Each year American Girl comes out with a doll that is only available for one year. My oldest has the 2nd doll from the left.
Afterwards we walked around The Grove for a little while, going into the 3 story Abercrombie & Fitch store where there are 2 gorgeous guys at the front door welcoming you in.

There is also a pond in which the water shoots up to the beat of music that is played.

We also got another outfit for "Ivy", and once the oldest changed Ivy into this outfit, she did finally admit that she was wrong and that Ivy was a very cute doll.

We couldn't stay at The Grove for very long because my sister had a surprise for my oldest at 12:30, and my oldest had no idea what was going on, and thank goodness my youngest doesn't like to peruse the shops for very long. She got what she wanted. She was happy.

So we made our way through Hollywood to get to the surprise.

Ahhh.....Sunset Blvd. Home of the famous Whisky-A-Go-Go, The Roxy and others. I spent many a weekend watching bands here before marriage and kids.

The famous Hollywood Blvd.
Okay. So we get to the surprise. It's actually a hair salon, called Krimson. My sister is friends with the owner. We pulled up to this place and get out and my oldest is asking why we are here and I tell her that her aunt is here and we are meeting her here. She thinks NOTHING of it. We get inside and my sister gives her a hug and then tells her, "Surprise!!! You are getting your hair done!" My oldest was in SHOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved it!! I loved that I was able to pull it off and she had NO idea what was happening. She was going to get a REAL haircut and highlights in her hair. So here is her "before" shot. (Yes, I admit it, we've been doing the Supercuts thing)

And here is her "after" shot. A BIG improvement, don't you think?? This was her birthday present from my sister. Have I told you all how much I love my sister??!!!!! She is THE BEST!!!!


And don't worry, I'm never taking her to Supercuts again. Now I just need to find a good hairdresser for her down here.

Beach Fun

Since my oldest finally got her cast off, we decided we needed to take a trip to the beach. We go to the military beach most of the time, because it is so NOT crowded there and I can feel safe letting my girls play and not be constantly looking for them. Hubby took the day off and came with us too, so that was VERY nice.

My youngest had a BLAST in the water and playing with the boogie boards.

Enjoy your summer, we are finally starting to enjoy ours.