Her First Concert

Last night my friend and I took our girls to see the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert.

It was both of our girls' first time at a concert. And what a concert for them to see for their first time. I don't think anyone ever forgets their first concert they went to. It's such an exhilirating experience!

This is the view we had. Not the best, but not the worst by far. And I had to remind my eldest that she was VERY, VERY lucky that we even got tickets for this concert and didn't have to pay an arm and a leg.

The Jonas Brothers were the opening act and you should have heard all the shrieks and screams coming from the arena. I'm sure glad I brought my ear plugs! Not that I didn't want to hear the concert, of course I did, I just didn't want to have ringing in my ears for the next few days!

And I could hear the concert quite well! I suggested to my eldest that she wear them, but she declined. And normally I would make her wear them, but this was her first concert and I wanted her to actually have that feeling of the ringing in her ears to know why I wore them, and how she would think twice the next time about wearing them. I think she might wear them next time.

Then Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus came on stage...

I had a decent camera to zoom in to get decent shots for her.

I was quite content to sit in my seat and listen to the concert. I loved watching my eldest's expressions and movements during the concert. It was such a joy to me that I was able to provide that for her. :)

It also brought me back to my first concert. It was 1983 and it was the night before the first day of school. My best friend and I went to see Def Leppard. My mom had gotten the tickets from someone she worked with and my friend and I were so thrilled to go! Her parents took us there and we got to go into the concert all by ourselves. It was so cool for us. We had such a blast. It didn't matter that we were tired the next day, the first day of 10th grade, the first day of high school. We enjoyed it VERY much.

Oh, and I did make my eldest go to school the next day. She didn't mind though, she got to show off her concert t-shirt.

I didn't go into work today though. I took it off. One of the benefits of my job and being an adult. I can take the day off from work if I want to.

The Downside of Junior High

Junior High.

I have a feeling I will be writing a lot about this in the next couple of years. Oh yea, and then about high school.

It's amazing how, they are still at the same school (they go to a K-8 school), but yet, now that they are in junior high, it's different.

When I see my eldest going through the things she's going through, I almost feel like I'm looking in a mirror from when I was that age.

So insecure. So wanting just to fit in with everyone. Wanting to have the "right" clothes. Trying to be calm and cool so people don't make fun of me or talk about me in a negative way.

I see all of that in my eldest.

I see her going through the same stuff I went through.

But at least she knows she can talk to me about it. I just wish I could give her some good "magic" advice, you know?

My eldest is an intelligent girl. She's a straight A student. She's the one who, when other people ask what she got, her answer is almost always an A. And then the kids make snide remarks like, "of course she got an A. She always gets an A". I told her to say to them, "then why even ask me?" or say "it's not important" when they ask her what she got. I mean, come on, she's smart. You know she's smart, why do you have to try and make her feel bad because she's smart? She can't help that. She's already learned some really great study habits that help her to get the A's. When I told a friend of mine about her grades, she said to me, "Just like her mom. Always getting good grades" When she said that I was proud of my daughter, but then it also made me realize that they thought of me as the person who always got good grades. But they were also always my friends back then and still are now, which made me feel really good to have friends like that.

I am so grateful for the friends I have. The ones I made recently and especially the ones I've had since high school. They help me to remember more of how it was back then, so I can hopefully help my girls go through the rough times of junior high and high school.

I talked to my sister this evening too about junior high and how it was for her. I always think of her as the confident person. She's almost always confident about herself and who she is. She told me that she likes to emit a positive personality and she's always been that way. When we were younger (and still to this day) we went on a trip to visit family in another state and she ended up running into someone she knew! She has such a cheerful disposition and people naturally like her. And like I said, she's confident in herself. She's not conceited in any way, just confident and that is such an endearing quality that I've always loved about her. And now she's a teacher and she can show that quality to her students as well.

I always tell my eldest to be like my sister. To try and be confident in yourself, and be a happy person. Try and find the positive in the situation. I try and do that myself so I can show that quality to my girls as well.

Are there people out there that just want to be mean? Oh, of course there are. But I also know that there are people out there that don't mean to be mean, and that is probably about 95% of the pre-teen and teenage girls out there. They just want to fit in and go along with the rest of the crowd. The hormones are raging throughout them and it's like being on a bad PMS trip most of the time.

Junior high can be fun, but it can also be tough as nails too. For the kids and the parents too!

Like a Momma Bear, I would LOVE, LOVE to go up to any girl or guy that teased my daughter and tell them where to shove it. Unfortunately, I can't really do that. I have to allow my daughter to go through things in life that won't always be pleasant, but I can be there as a sounding board and to offer advice on how to deal with situations. Day by day, year by year, she's growing up and one day she will leave home and she needs to be ready to face that world out there, and I just hope that I can provide her with the tools she needs and the confidence and knowledge to face it and succeed.

Under The Lights

Tonight my youngest got to play soccer at night, "under the lights", as they called it.

Because of carnivals that are going on at the elementary schools, they had this division make up their game by playing at night. Because the fields are so small for this division, they had six games going on at one time, making it possible to play at this particular field that had lights. It was a neat thing tonight.

My youngest gets out there and she loves to run with the "bumblebee pack". That's pretty much what the girls do at this age, there are no set positions and they all cluster around the ball together. You can always count on her to have a great big smile on her face as she's running down the field with the rest of the girls. She could care less if she had the ball or not.

And her coach is SOOOOOOOOO great! She has each girl take a turn kicking the ball when it's their turn for the kick off. So they all get a chance to do it.

Well, tonight, my youngest had the ball and she got it down the field and into the goal (they don't keep score at this age and they don't have goalies).

Something clicked tonight. I don't know if it was because they were playing "under the lights" or what, but somehow my youngest figured it out to get the ball and dribble it down the field and into the net.

The first time she did it she had this huge smile on her face and her coach hugged her too!

Then, BAM!! She was on fire.

Then came goal #2.

Then goal #3.

Then goal #4.

After she made goal #5, she looked at me and put up five fingers. I was laughing so hard at her out of joy, seeing how happy she was out there and how much fun she was having.

I thought she was going to be a total ball hog out there, but I did see her kick it back to one of her teammates who had been kicking it before. I thought that was VERY good of her to kick it back to her so she could have a chance.

And last but not least, she scored goal #6.

What a night.

I'm so glad she had fun, I know I sure did, watching HER have fun and be nice out there at the same time.

Happy Halloween!

This is my girls' "little brother, Eric".

I don't know why my eldest started calling him that many years ago.

In 1996, we lived in Tennessee, and I saw this deocration on someone's porch on Halloween. At first glance I totally thought it was a real little kid. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was just a decoration.

I researched how to make this and the next year when we were back in California, my hubby and I put our heads together and made this decoration for Halloween. It is always my favorite one. And periodically, through the years, the girls "pose" with their little brother "Eric" on Halloween. He never gets to go outside though until the night of Halloween, as he is too precious to leave just outside all the time.

Here he is through the years with my girls:

In 1998:

In 2001:
In 2003:
And in 2005:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!!!

The Women Before Me

As the fires are now not a threat or even close to where we are, I have been slowly putting things back in their place. One of the things I put back in the safe was this necklace: Here is a closeup of the cameo:
This is the only picture of I have of my great-great-great grandmother, Anna:

She came over from Switzerland with her husband Caspar in the early to mid 1800's. That is about the only information I have of her. I know that she and Caspar had their children here in America, and that this picture was probably taken here in America. I don't know if she was the original owner of the necklace or not, but I do know that my great-great grandma Lydia had it, as you can see she is wearing it in this picture:

This picture was probably taken circa 1900 or so. I do know it was passed on to her daughter, Lillian, however she was not the "eldest" daughter, so I don't know why it was given to her (not that being the eldest daughter automatically means you get it or anything like that, at least not back then, I'm just curious as to why she possessed it).

Here is my great-grandmother, Lillian:





This picture was probably taken circa 1920. I know I have a picture of her somewhere where she is wearing the necklace as well. My Grandma Lillian died far too early in her life. Throughout many years the family thought that she had died some mysterious "woman" disease. It wasn't until a family reunion in 2000 where we found out that she had died from an abortion gone wrong. This was in 1934. And it was in South Dakota, which makes me even more upset about South Dakota trying to pass a law against abortion. I have no idea why she had an abortion back then, but I can only guess that maybe it was because it was during the Depression era, and possibly they barely had enough food for her, her husband, and 3 children. Maybe it was a medical reason why she had to have one. We'll never know. I do know that the necklace was passed down to my grandma, who was the eldest daughter:



My grandma never had a picture taken of her with the necklace. I do remember getting to look at it now and then when I would visit her. My grandma didn't have the easiest life either. She was 12 when her mom died and her and her sister had to go live with an aunt and uncle (because back then it wasn't proper for a father to raise girls by himself) and thus she was separated from her brother and her father. She got to see them during the summers however. Then her aunt and uncle were in the military and were being stationed in Puerto Rico and another aunt, Aunt Edie, thought it was far too improper to have children being raised in Puerto Rico, so she took over care of my grandma and my aunt. While I'm sure Aunt Edie loved them, she was much more strict on my grandma and my grandma ended up eloping with my grandpa John when she was 19 because she knew Aunt Edie would have forbidden the marriage. After my grandma passed away in 1993, the ownership of the necklace went to my mom, the eldest daughter:

This picture was taken during the mid 1960's. My mother also never had a picture taken with her wearing the necklace. When my mom passed away in 2004, the necklace then came into my possession, the eldest daughter.

I knew far, far in advance that the necklace would one day be mine. My mom always told me that. Even though my mom's death was sudden, she did state her intentions with certain family items, and the cameo necklace was one of them.

So now it is in my possession, stored securly in the safe. My great aunt Joan (my grandma's sister) told me that I should wear black when wearing the necklace, it highlights the necklace more. So one day soon, I will take a picture with me wearing the necklace.

And one day I would like to take it to get it appraised to see if they can even determine where the necklace had originated from, when it was possibly made. The value of the necklace is priceless to me.

Firestorm 2007

Here we go again.

This is a repeat of the Cedar Fire we had in 2003. It's worse in some situations, but better in others.

The fires are MUCH MUCH bigger than the Cedar Fire, however people are getting SO much better advanced warning this time. People are being told to evacuate hours ahead of time this time.

The schools are closed all week long, as well as the courts and some businesses.

So far, where we are, we are okay. We have not been asked to evacuate. We have two evacuation centers within a mile or two of us, so that's a good thing. As long as those two evacuation centers stay open, I'm okay.

We do have our stuff packed and ready to go though, should we get a call. And honestly, I don't have as much stuff packed as I would really like to. Like say, our whole house. THE most important things to me besides my family and my animals are photographs and home movies. Those can never be replaced either. I have inherited a ton of heritage photos, and while I probably could get some copies from my great aunt, there are a lot that cannot be replaced. And heritage jewelry as well.

So I'm ready, should we need to evacuate. Hubby keeps telling me that we won't evacuate, and he's probably right. We probably won't. But you can never tell what the winds will do and should they decide to pick up and send the fire our way, I want to be able to get out with my girls, animals and pictures.

There are SOOOOOOOOOO many people who have been evacuated due to this fire, over 500,000 people! And I'm hoping that most of them will be able to return to their homes.

The air, where we are is not as bad as it was during the Cedar Fire, but it's still smoky. I don't think there is a clear bit of air at all in this county.

It's so awful and so incredibly scary.

My anxiety levels are so high at times, especially when I hear of an area that is within 5-10 miles of us being evacuated. I worry that it's getting closer to us. I try not to leave the house too often, in case we do get a reverse 911 call. If I do have to leave, I make sure a friend of mine who lives close by is at home that way we can call each other to let the other one know, should it occur.

But so far so good.

It would be nice if God could bring some rain to douse these fires. The winds have died down though, so that's something.

So many people are going to need so much because of these fires. My daughter has already put a jar together to start a fund for the people who will be in need from these fires.

So everybody please pray for everyone here and pray that the firefighters can stay safe and get a hold on these fires and get it under control as soon as possible.

The Curse Of The Monkey Bars

Every day after school, my youngest always asks to go play on the playground for a little bit. Mind you she gets to do it during recess and lunch recess every day, but I guess she just can't get enough.

So today she asks (after a long talk last night about listening to Mommy and not crying when she doesn't get her way, considering she had a fit when I told her yesterday she couldn't) to go and I say yes. Well, not more than 2 or 3 minutes later, she comes back to me saying she doesn't want to go because she has blisters on her hands.

From the monkey bars.

Yes. The Curse.

I think every little girl gets those blisters from being on the monkey bars when they are little. All their little friends are playing on the monkey bars and so they want to as well, and want to get all the way across.

So we had to come home and bandage up her hands. Because really, those regular bandaids just don't stick well at all on the palm of your hands. At least little ones hands. So I got out the gauze bandages and used that white first-aid tape and taped it to her hands. It made her feel better. And this girl is the QUEEN of bandaids too. I really should buy some stock in it, I buy enough of them!

And then I remembered that my oldest got blisters on the monkey bars too when she was this age. Except hers were much bigger. Blech!

Part of the reason I probably remembered this was because earlier in the day, my friend, Stacie was asking me a question about pregnancy and I honestly couldn't remember so I had to go back into the journal I kept when I was pregnant with my oldest. It's a good thing I did write all of this stuff down, because as they get older, my recollection of these things gets very hazy. I wrote everything down with my eldest.

I just wish I had time to do it when I was pregnant with my youngest. I did write some stuff down though.

{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Hugs are the best.

Even cyber-hugs rock.

I've always been a "hugger".

I love to hug, and I love to be hugged.

Having my hubby home to hug me every day, there's just nothing like it.

Not even the hugs I get from my girls.

The hugs I get from my girls are wonderful, don't get me wrong, but the hugs I get from hubby make me feel safe and secure and loved.

The hugs I get from my girls definitely make me feel loved.

And hugs from friends?

They rock too.

The hugs from friends are the ones that you know care and are right there for you too.

Hugs from hubby still rock though.

Have I mentioned how happy I am to have him home?

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Hugs to you all!!!!}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Nice.

This evening my youngest was taking a shower. She saw the bottle of conditioner that comes with the hair dye kits in the shower.

"Mommy, is that your bottle for dying your hair?"

Me: "Yes, dear, but don't touch that, okay?"

"Oh, I won't Mommy, I don't dye my hair. When I get old like you I will dye my hair and then I will need to use it"

Homecoming

Hubby is home!

We are all very happy that he's back home with us.

And his homecoming was, as always, wonderful.

The girls and I got to the Navy base at around 7:30 a.m. and found a parking spot. We took the shuttle to the pier where his ship was going to be pulling in, where we met up with his parents, who were also there to see him come home.

So many people were there to see their loved ones come home, after being gone for six long months. Many had signs welcoming them back. The military had MANY booths there for the families and friends to visit, get a drink, buy t-shirts, and make signs to welcome them back.

My girls wanted to make signs to welcome back Daddy. The eldest made her sign, and I helped the youngest with her sign. All I had to do with her sign though, was to tell her how things were spelled. She knew exactly what she wanted to put on there and she just needed to know how to spell "Welcome Home". She already knew how to spell Daddy.

At around 9:30, we saw the top of the ship's mast moving behind the other ship that was already docked at the pier. The crowd was cheering immensely! At last, he was coming home.

Hubby and I had already decided via e-mail that he would call me on my cell phone as soon as he was able to when the ship was pulling into port. I checked my cell phone to see the time and I saw that I had a message from him. He must have called while the crowd was cheering and I didn't hear it. He said that they were pulling alongside the other ship and were coming around the corner.

Then we saw the bow of the ship, and all the sailors lined up around the top of the ship. If you have never seen that, it is an amazing sight. It makes you so proud to be an American and so proud that you have a loved one on that ship and they are coming home to you. Once I saw that sight, I had a flood of emotions overcome me. So proud, so happy and so relieved that he was home again.

He was on that ship. He was coming home to me and his daughters.

The ship slowly pulled forward and lined up parallel to the pier. Then the tugboats slowly pushed the ship toward the pier (it's such a large ship, it's not like they can just parallel park, you know).

It is such a wonderful experience to be there, seeing your loved one come home, but it does definitely take a while. Once the ship is docked, then they have to put the ramps and stairs up to the ship so they can depart the ship. From the time they pulled in, to the time they got off the boat, it's easily a 1/2 hour or longer.

When they lowered the bays, hubby called me and I told him where I was on the pier. He told me where he was on the ship. We were able to see each other and wave madly to each other.

The first ones that get to get off the ship are the new daddies. The ones whose wives' had babies while they were out to sea. We have been very lucky in which hubby has been able to be home for both of his daughter's births.

The next ones off are the officers and senior enlisted. Then the junior sailors. I have been on both ends of that spectrum. On our first deployment apart, he was one of the junior sailors so it definitely took a while for him to get off. Now he's a senior enlisted sailor so he gets to get off sooner.

Hubby called me to tell me he was about 5 minutes away from getting off the ship. Then when he was off the ship, he called again so we were on the lookout for him throughout the crowd.

I spotted him and I told my girls that I saw him and pointed to where he was walking towards us. The eldest saw him and took off for him and the youngest followed.

They found their daddy and they hugged each other so tight. This was the eldest's fourth time being away from Daddy, but really the 2nd time she remembers it. As for the youngest, this was her 2nd time, but she was just a baby the first time. She went running up to Daddy too and they hugged each other too.

I sat back and watched happily, tears in my eyes. My girls had their Daddy back. My mother-in-law stood behind me and put her arms around my shoulders and we watched together. She said, "You need to go up there too", but I declined. This was their moment with their daddy and they needed to have that time for their special reunion. I could wait a few seconds longer.

Then they walked over to where we were and hubby and I hugged and kissed each other (not too passionate though, the in-laws were watching.....) and hugged and kissed and held hands.

I just love the youngest's expression in this picture. :)

I have my hubby home again.

Daddy's Coming Home Tomorrow!

This is what my youngest is saying over and over today.

Oh, and she's been watching her "United Through Reading" DVD's over and over. (United Through Reading came out to the ship in April and the Daddies (and Mommmies, too, I'm sure) read books to their children via the camera and they mailed them back home so the kids could have their parents read to them. Isn't that neat??!!!)

What a long trip this has been.

Correction...

....we have one dog, one cat, and now we are down to one fish.

Less Than A Week Left!

Until hubby is back home with us!

I got to talk with him this past weekend. It will be so good to have him back home!

So much has happened in six months!

My eldest started junior high and my youngest started kindergarten.

My youngest started playing soccer.

The hamster died.

Most of our fish died.

Our dog had ear surgery.

Our cat is about to have surgery.

I started having anxiety again.

I'm now getting that under control again.

My friend had a baby.

I found out that my BIL and SIL are having a baby.

My sister got a teaching job.

Our 15th wedding anniversary was in July.

My aunt got married to a really great guy!

My cousin had twins (a boy and a girl).

I joined a softball board as uniform coordinator.

I'm no longer allowed near my eldest while in school. (It's not "cool", you know....).

But at least she still talks to me!

Still counting down the days until we see him this weekend.

Single Digits

NINE...................................MORE......................................DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hubby will be home in NINE MORE DAYS!

We are in single digits now! I love it when we get into single digits. It makes it that much more exciting!

We went from 180 days to 9 days left.

Some people say "boy that sure went fast".

But not for us.

I'm just happy to be in the single digits "zone"

I'm also happy that he'll be pulling into a port where he can use his cell phone to call me too.

Then he'll be home.

And we'll be complete again.

Junior High..........

Today was the Student of the Month/Honor Roll Assembly for my eldest, who is now in Junior High.

After they had the awards (of which she received one for being on Principal's Honor Roll, which means straight A's) they had Spirit Day Activities. All the junior high"ers" are divided up into different groups and each group had a certain color t-shirt, which the kids wear, and they play these games that the ASB kids make up and do.

How freaking fun is that?!!!

I remember in Junior High that we had certain activities similar to that, but I also remember the only certain people played them all the time.

Here in her school, all the kids will get a chance to play the games. The teachers of their groups have cards and they go through them and draw names so everyone will get a chance to play.

Normally, the parents do not get to watch these, as it is after the assemblies and the parents have gone for the day, but I was hanging around because I had to help in my youngest's classroom shortly thereafter and it would have been silly to leave and come back in 15 minutes.

So I sat and watched.

All the kids looked like they had fun and they all were into it.

Of course when mine saw me watching from afar, she was trying to get my attention to get me to leave.

Yea, that's what junior high is like.

Parents Not Welcome By Kids.

It's not "cool" to be seen with your parents like that.

Ahhh......it's just the beginning, I tell you!

Oh, and it's not like I do stand around her all the time and invade her "space at school". I let her go off and hang with her friends.

I mean, come on, I probably wouldn't even be there, except for the fact that I have another daughter who goes there and is in KINDERGARTEN, so I need to be there with her.

I was telling my eldest that she spends less time learning now, than she did before. They have 4 classes and then lunch, and then their elective and P.E.

She was like, "Oh yea! That's cool!"

I remember just before she started junior high this year that she was SO nervous about it and didn't want to go. Now she says "It's fun MOM!" (Oh, but don't worry, she still has the "I hate all this homework I have!" "This teacher is mean", etc.)

I'm just glad she's enjoying herself as well.

Ahoy Mateys!

Aye, today, September 19th is "Talk Like A Pirate" day, Aye!

So don on yee pirate hats and go forth Mateys! Argh!

Me children thinks me Scuffy and may be wanting me to walk the plank, argh!

Go forth and pillage and plunder and have some grog for me!!

If ye need some help on thee pirate "lingo", below is a list of some of me favorite words.......argh.....yohoho!!!!

************************************

Ahoy: Hey!

Avast: Stop!

Aye: Yes

Black spot: to be 'placin' the black spot' be markin' someone for death.

Booty: treasure

Buccanneer: a pirate who be answerin' to no man or blasted government.

By the Powers!: an exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!

Cat o' nine tails: whip for floggin' mutineers

Corsair: a pirate who be makin' his berth in the Med-...Medi-...that sea 'tween Spain and Africa, aye!

Davy Jones' Locker: the bottom o' the sea, where the souls of dead men lie

Doubloons: pieces of gold...

Fiddlers Green: the private heaven where pirates be goin' when they die.

Furner: a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an' plunder.

Gentlemen o' fortune: a slightly more positive term fer pirates!

Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise

Grog: A pirate's favorite drink.

Jack: a flag or a sailor

Jolly Roger: the skull and crossbones, the pirate flag!

Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin' this.

Landlubber: "Land-lover," someone not used to life onboard a ship.

Lass: A woman.

Lily-livered: faint o' heart

Loaded to the Gunwales (pron. gunnels): drunk

Matey: A shipmate or a friend.

Me hearty: a friend or shipmate.

Me: My.

Pieces o' eight: pieces o' silver which can be cut into eights to be givin' small change.

Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power

Scallywag: A bad person. A scoundrel.

Scurvy dog!: a fine insult!

Shiver me timbers!: an exclamation of surprise, to be shouted most loud.

Son of a Biscuit Eater: a derogatory term indicating a bastard son of a sailor

Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits

Squadron: a group of ten or less warships

Squiffy: a buffoon

Swaggy: a scurvy cur's ship what ye be intendin' to loot!

Swashbucklin': fightin' and carousin' on the high seas!

Sweet trade: the career of piracy

Thar: The opposite of "here."

Walk the plank: this one be bloody obvious.

Wench: a lady, although ye gents not be wantin' to use this around a lady who be stronger than ye.

Wi' a wannion: wi' a curse, or wi' a vengeance. Boldly, loudly!

Yo-ho-ho: Pirate laughter

Kindergarten Is Going Well

She likes it so much, she lined up her stuffed animals so she can "teach" them as well.

Do you remember doing that when you were young?? Oh, I so did. Although it wasn't my stuffed animals, I would "teach" my little sisters with the chalkboard that was on the back of our bedroom door.

All Your Saturdays are Out

That's what AYSO should stand for, according to parents, not American Youth Soccer Organization, the official name of it.

Soccer season has started!!

My seasoned veteran.......

She didn't get the number she wanted, #11, like her Aunt Heidi though....

This is her 7th year playing in AYSO, and she did very well, from what I hear. I didn't get to see much of her game because.......

.....we've decided to make our Saturdays even more busy by adding another player to the mix....

I had to take this one to her soccer game, which was around the same time as her sister's game.

Now, for this division, there are no goalies. There is no keeping score. It's basically just watching them take turns going down the field kicking the ball to the little net that's down there. It is totally cute though!! About 1/2 through her game though I had to quit cheering for her out loud because everytime she heard her name she would look at me and not focus on where she was going. She was quite happy to be running with all the other girls and not trying to get the ball. By the end of the game though she was starting to get the hang of it and focusing on the ball, not all the girls running. It was QUITE cute!! I seriously need to take the video camera next time so I can capture this.

As for my seasoned veteran's game? Sadly they lost. :( Her team has some players who are just enjoying the scenery around them, for the most part and not trying on the field. Sadly for her team that they are probably not going to be high on winning games, but good for my daughter, because she's going to stand out even more as one of the better players. Yes, I am being conceited. My daughter is good. She could be AWESOMELY good, if she loved the game more and wanted to play it all the time, however she doesn't want to and that's why she's not on a club team, and doesn't want to be on a club team.

I'm just glad that next week their games don't overlap too close in times, that I can see most of my eldest's game. I'll just have to miss the last 15 minutes or so. But thank goodness I have a friend who will stay there and bring her to my youngest's game when they are done.

So stay tuned for the results of next week's Saturday......

My Lopsided Unicorn

About two weeks ago we noticed that our dog, Burbank, had a floppy ear. He's a German Shepherd and they don't normally have those.

So we took him to the vet and found out he has a Hematoma on his left ear.

Which means surgery.

Which means money.

So on Tuesday we took him back and he had his surgery.

He originally came home with a cone.

Can you imagine a cone on a big ass dog like this?

Yea, it was torture for him too.

He kept bumping into things.

Poor guy!

He wouldn't eat or drink.

The next morning I woke up and saw the cone on the floor.

Sans the dog.

Uh-oh.

So since I have never put a cone on a dog, we had to go back to the vet so they could show me how.

I also had them look at his ear.

They decided to take him back in and wrap his ear.

Picked him up after a few hours and this is how he looked.

Sans the cone.

Happy for him AND for me!

I'd much rather have him look like a unicorn, than a depressed dog with a big ass cone around his neck.

Plus they showed me how to give him his meds if he wouldn't take them with other food.

Okay, I tried.

I tried to put it down his throat, but it's a little intimidating to me to put my hand down his throat.

Needless to say it didn't work well.

So we got "Pill Pockets".

They are very squishy treats you "hide" the pills in.

That worked most of the time. But I still had to entice him to take them.

Then my friend told me to put it in Velveeta.

Well, I didn't have Velveeta, but I did have sliced cheese!

Yea, the cheese works like a CHARM!

We go back in a week to check his ear and bandages, and then a week after that he gets his stitches out.

Then no more unicorn dog.

But at least he'll have two good looking ears again!

First Day Of School!!!

Today was my girls' first day of school.
The oldest started junior high today, with her snazzy new shoes.

And her new outfit.

The youngest had HER new Dora Shoes.

And her new outfit.
She started Kindergarten.

And they both had to have new backpacks as well.

As I left the school this morning, I was thinking, "Oh my goodness, BOTH of my girls are now in school!" No more preschool, this is actually it!!! My youngest's Kindergarten teacher had all parents stop at the door. At least for the first week. Which I think is a fabulous thing. Get it over and done with, quick and easy. No drawing it out, giving the kids a chance to worry about what it's going to be like without mom and dad, etc. My youngest did great. I could tell that she was a little hesitant while we were waiting, but she got in line with the rest of them, and when it was time to go in, she went in with the rest. Now, this is only the first day, so let's hope the rest of the days will continue like this. I'm not going to say one way or the other, because honestly, I have no idea.

The eldest? Yes, Junior High. Their school is a K-8, so when they get to 7th & 8th grade, they go off to a different section of the school and have different classrooms and periods throughout the day. They don't offer many electives either. She said it was a decent day, but then again, she wasn't looking forward to junior high. Ahhh, once she gets the hang of it, she'll be fine and so used to it, she'll forget what it was like to be in one classroom the entire day. P.E., gym clothes, it all brings back so many memories for me!!!

So now both of my girls are in the same school, for two years. Yippee!!!!!! And another bonus??!!! Not having to pay for preschool anymore!!!!

What did I do all day, you ask? (Because I don't work on Mondays, just Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Fridays). Well, I went to Michaels, Target and then I had my therapy appointment. But after that I went to my friend's scrapbook store for a while before I had to pick the youngest up. The only thing, she gets out an hour and a half before the eldest! And I live about 10-15 minutes away from the school. So by the time I get home, I have to turn around a 1/2 hour later! So sometimes I will go home, others I will go do errands and then other times I will have my friend bring her home. Back to the carpool thing next week!

Back From The Land of "Where is she?"

My girls and I have had a fairly busy last two weeks.

The girls and I went up north two weeks ago to 1. : celebrate my friend's 40th birthday (and by the way, she does NOT even look close to 30!) and so 2: my youngest could go spend a couple of days with her aunt, aka my sister.

The eldest got to go to Magic Mountain and have the wonderful tradition of having her aunt take her on The Revolution. (My aunt took me on there the first time, along with each of my sisters as well, meaning she dragged us kicking and screaming, but we did end up loving it). Then my sister and her came back down for a few days and we all went to the beach on one of those days. She also took the eldest shopping and spoiled her with stuff.

After my sister left, we went back to the beach the next day, as my eldest's best friend came out here from Colorado and so we got to see them. Her friend also spent the night, which was a real treat for my eldest, and us of course. The youngest LOVED it as well. When her friend came in the house she said, "Ah, my 2nd home" AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! That made me feel so good, but so sad too, as we wil only get to see her in the summer when her and her family come out to visit their family.

Then the next day my wonderful Mother-In-Law came out for about a week. Part of the reason she came down was because for her Mother's Day present, we took her to sea the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. My eldest loved it as well! Then MIL took the eldest shopping over the next two days and spoiled her with stuff even more and they both went and got manicures and pedicures together. Too cute!!!!

Now, it is the weekend and other than going shopping for school clothes, we aren't doing anything spectacular. Ahh....................... nice and relaxing.............................maybe I can get over this cold that I picked up when I went and saw the Dead Sea Scrolls..............................

Happy Birthday To My Baby!

My baby is 5 today!

She started out early in this world, coming 6 weeks early. She's been on the go ever since!

She definitely has a mind of her own. She can be such the chatterbox when she is around her family or friends that she has known for years. Get her around others? Forget about it.

She has such an active imagination, I love to sit and watch her do things.

She is that girl though that will ask you a TON of questions and just when you think you've answered them all, she'll ask you one and throw you completely off guard and then you have to come back with "I have no idea" or if she continuously asks you why, you eventually have to say, "Because I said so" because you have literally run out of reasons that will suit her.

When we walk somewhere together, she automatically finds my hand to hold, and if I can't hold her hand for a minute, she'll hold onto my pants.

She is a very emotional little girl too.

She's someone you definitely have to pick your battles with.

She comes up with the goofiest sayings though and do so many things to make you laugh. But don't laugh AT her, because she doesn't like that. If she says or does something that she doesn't think is funny or amusing and you laugh, she doesn't like that and gets very embarrassed. She loves to be the center of attention when she wants to be, but doesn't like to be when she doesn't want to.

She has a love affair with band-aids. I should seriously buy stock in them, we go through them so fast. If there's a booboo, or it hurts, a band-aid must be put on it.

She used to be so afraid of our cat, she would wear rain boots in the house so the cat couldn't attack her feet. She doesn't do that anymore.

She loves our dog and loves to boss him around at times. Hell, she loves to boss EVERYONE around if we'd let her!

She is a clumsy one though. I have a feeling she will be using cups with lids on them for a LONG time. And at this point, you can't get mad at her. It's just the way she is. So cups with lids on them are here to stay for the time being. She's also a slob too. I really need to work on that.

She wears her heart on her sleeve. She's definitely not one to hide emotions.

Her eyes are so intense you instantly fall in love.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful baby, my Sweet Baby J.

Pumping Iron?

Apparently I must be, because I don't know my own strength anymore.

Either that or we just have some crappy-ass made cabinets.

Which do YOU think?? LOL!!

Swimming, Day 1

Today was my youngest's first day of swimming lessons. She was so extremely nervous and a bit scared. The good thing about it was that there were other kids there so she got to see them do things first. You could tell she was so nervous about it (my poor baby!!!), but she did everything that the teacher wanted her to do. So that's a good thing. I've got her in lessons for 4 weeks total, as of right now. I know she's scared about it, but she has got to learn. And I know once she gets over the fear of it and relaxes and figured it out, she'll be loving it. I'm looking forward to the day I can take more of these pictures and she's smiling in them.

Happy Anniversary

Today is mine and my husband's 15th wedding anniversary. That's right, 15 years. Wow.

It's a bummer though that we are not together on this day. He is still out to sea. He did call me this morning though and that was a WONDERFUL treat for me. :)

Fifteen years ago we got married in a little church that barely held 75 people. Afterwards we had the reception in my grandma's backyard. Nothing fancy at all. We just wanted everyone to have a good time.

On the way to my grandma's from the church, my mom asked us to stop by the nursing home so that my grandma could see us. She was unable to make it to the wedding, as she was still recovering from a stroke. So as much as I didn't want to go, I did. And I'm so glad I did. It was not only a treat for my grandma, but everyone in the nursing home, because they got to see us all dressed up. When I walked into my grandma's room, she immediately started crying. Which caused me to cry too. I wanted her there so much for the wedding, but at least we did get to see each other on my wedding day. That was a very special moment in my life for me and lucky me, it was on my wedding day.

Five years ago, on our 10th wedding anniversary, I was almost 8 months pregnant with my youngest. We went out to dinner to a fancy steak house that promoted the best steak around here. Sadly, neither hubby nor I thought that way. But we had a nice time anyway. It's not that often that we do get to go out on our own, so we do enjoy it when we get the opportunity, and we make time to make that opportunity on our anniversary. So we'll just have to celebrate it a few months late when he comes home.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

I've got it.

I waited for the mailman yesterday to deliver it.

I let out a squeal of delight when I saw him deliver it.

I've read it.

I've finished it.

Finished it about midnight Saturday night.

There was no way I was going to wait to read it.

Last time I waited, I overheard someone telling their friend what happened in the book.

I wasn't going to let it happen again.

I LOVED the book.

She did a fabulous job!

My heart was definitely racing throughout the book!

I love the fact that an author like this comes around and peaks the interest in not only children, but adults.

I've even gone back and reread parts of the book today.

It's THAT good.

Dance, Dance, Revolution

Nothing's better than beating your daughter at Dance, Dance Revolution on the Playstation 2. :)

Hubby and I got the girls a PS2 for Christmas, the year before last. One of the games I made sure to get with it was Dance, Dance, Revolution. I figured if the girls were going to have a video game system, I wanted them to have an interactive one as well. (Of course now there is the Wii, which I TOTALLY want too. Oh well, maybe another year or so). And yes, I admit it, I wanted it for me too.

Growing up in high school and a little beyond that, my friends and I went to dance clubs EVERY weekend. There was Marilyns, Network (the original and the second one), 321, Magic Mountain (they used to have dancing there during the summer), Florentine Gardens, and others that I can't remember. Of course we went there to find guys as well. But damn, we were all very thin back then, and a lot of it I know had to do with dancing (yes, we did dance when we were there too)

So this Dance, Dance Revolution was as much for me as it was for them.

So today we get it out and play with it. Of course my eldest, who wasn't playing at first, comes on and gets an "A" on her playing level her first time today, whereas I'm trying to get at least a C in some of the songs.

BUT, BUT, we put on "Play That Funky Music White Boy" and I did it and I got an A with a star! I did every move and touched every arrow correctly on the mat! Ha-Ha! They may not have all been perfect, but they were either perfect or great. The eldest couldn't do it. Ha....Ha......Ha.....

We did have loads of fun playing it today though.

And it is great exercise for me too. :)

Over 1/2 Way There!

This is what's left of a chain hubby and our two girls made before he left to go out to sea.

It had 3 more colors, representing the months on it.

Even though the red looks long, there's only a little over half of the colors left.

And it's fitting that the chain is centered around hubby's "shelf", which includes a picture of him and his great-uncle in their uniforms together when hubby made chief (great-uncle wasn't in the Navy anymore, but still had his uniform and so they posed together), a picture of hubby holding a fish to our oldest (in which she has an "icky" expression - I'll have to showcase that picture later), a ship that hubby made, and a fishing reel that was my grandpa's that hubby wanted.

I'll be SO happy when we are on the last color, Pink, and especially on the last day because that means I get my husband back and the girls get their dad back.

Another "Feet" picture

I have always loved my feet.

Some people have called them "Flinstone Feet".

I don't care.

I love my feet.

Except for the time when I was 5-9 months pregnant with my first child, then they swelled up beyond belief.

I have my mom's feet.

And since my mom had my grandma's feet, I also have her feet as well.

One of my sisters has our feet.

The other ones doesn't.

My eldest doesn't have my feet.

I'm sad about that.

I think my youngest might.

I just checked and they look very similar to mine.

Left foot. Right foot. Feet, Feet, Feet.

Oh how many feet you meet.

Just had to throw in some Dr. Seuss in there.

Friends

The other night my girls and I went over to a friend's house to get together with some of my friends to say goodbye to one of them.

She came out from back east to visit with all of us and so we wanted to see her one last time before she left.

I had such a WONDERFUL time on this night! We sat around the firepit talking and laughing our asses off. My eldest was sitting next to me, while my youngest was inside playing and watching video games with a couple of the other kids.

Having my eldest next to me reminded me of me when I was her age. I loved to be out with the adults listening to them talk.

I love these friends SO much. I am completely me with them. Faults and everything and we can talk about it and never have to worry.

We have to have more of these get togethers more often.

Go Figure

My eldest daughter is spending the night at her friend's house tonight because tomorrow they are getting up early so they can be at the American Girl store when it opens. My eldest has always had some issues about spending the night over friend's houses. She would just much rather be here at home. I used to worry about it, but after talking to one of my older sisters (on my dad's side, like I said, a story for another day) she told me that her youngest daughter didn't spend the night over people's houses until she was well in high school She just didn't like doing it. And my niece is a very confident young woman too.

So today my eldest was talking about how she was talking about how she was a little nervous about going (but she did end up going) and in comes my youngest, who isn't even in Kindergarten yet and she says, "I want to go! I want to spend the night!"

Total opposites.

I'll be lucky if I am able to keep her here on weekends when she gets older.......

I See Me In Her

My eldest.

One of her softball coaches took this picture of her while we were all watching an All-Star softball game this year. I love this picture.

No, she's not smiling and the camera and you can see she's got something she's chewing on in her mouth, but it's such a candid shot.

Hubby was talking (or rather emailing me) the other day about how by watching his girls grow up, he can somehow get a glimpse as to what I was like back then.

This was me at around her age:We both have blue eyes. I had/have freckles, but she got hers from her dad. The red hair? She got every bit of Irish from both sides of our family all wrapped up in her.

She's a straight A student and doesn't have to work that hard at it. I was like that too, that is until high school came around and while I was still an A and B student, I could have gotten straight A's if I had tried a little bit more. But having fun with my friends and partying were a bit more fun.

She does love to read, but not nearly as much as I did. I remember the year this was taken, my friend and I, who went camping with us, sat around the campsite and campfire reading "The Amityville Horror". I would walk home while reading a book as well. I read Gone With the Wind in 7th grade. In the summer, I would stay up until 2 a.m. reading a Steven King novel (in high school).

She doesn't care for the really LOOOONG books (she only made it through the 4th Harry Potter book, started the 5th and lost interest), while I love them (having just finished Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince and is eagerly waiting the 2 weeks until the last one comes out).

She has her friends and there's one that she's the closest too. I had my one really close friend back then too. And I'm very happy to say that 29 years later, we are still friends.

She's the oldest, and so am I (at least on my mom's side, but that's a story for another day).

My mom relied on me to help and I do rely on her to help out as well.

In comparison to relationships between mothers and daughters, I think I have a closer one with my eldest at the age she is now, versus the one I had with my mom at this age. But in all fairness, my mom was a single mom raising two other children besides me and had to work full time as well.

I talk with to her about everything (well, almost).

She had "Family Life" classes this past year and she made a comment to her friends that "Oh, my mom already told me about this" and they were like, "Your MOM told you about this?" and she said "Yes" like it was no big deal. I love it.

She's actually listening to me!

My Baby

My youngest, my baby.

Her entrance in this world was definitely not one of normalcy or calmness.

She decided to come into this world 6 weeks early, but even at 6 weeks early, she was 5 lbs, 15 oz, which is pretty good. Imagine what she would have weighed if she waited 6 more weeks. She probably would have been like my oldest, who was 10 lbs, 6 oz!

So she came into this world 6 weeks early and she had premature lungs.

She had to be in NICU for about a week, which really isn't THAT long compared to a lot of babies and the fact that she had a collapsed lung. Here is a picture of her in NICU at the hospital. The blue lights are because she was also VERY jaundiced as well.

That was one of the worst and longest weeks of my life, worrying about her.

But she's a fighter. And she came through it just fine.

She's now a rambunctious preschooler, however the girl has got issues.

She's hesitant (to put it lightly) to try new things.

Like clothes, or shoes.

I've been trying to get her to wear sandals with a strap on the back for school, but she doesn't like them because they don't "feel right".

Or she won't wear a dress because it doesn't "feel right", even though she's worn it plenty of times in the past.

This morning she was literally crying in the car on the way to school because the dress all of the sudden felt "different".

Well, she got through the day and she was just fine.

And today we bought new sandals with a strap on the back to wear to school. And now she doesn't want to go to school tomorrow because she'll have to wear the sandals.

Sometimes she frustrates me so much with all of this and we've literally tried on at least a dozen pairs of shoes. She'll run in them, skip in them, walk in them while we're in the store, but if I ask her if she wants them, she'll say, "No".

UGH!

And then I just want to hug her and keep reassuring her that it's okay. It's not going to be bad. The shoes will be fine. And the dress will be fine.

Maybe it's because she knows she's going to be going to Kindergarten next month and she's worried about that.

Like I said, she can have issues.

She's definitely one of those people who likes to know what's going on in advance.

Days in advance.

All children are NOT the same.

I can definitely attest to that.

Sometimes you have to change your parenting styles with each child, because the same thing doesn't always work with other ones.

She certainly keeps me on my toes though!

My baby.

She may drive me crazy at times (yea, and I'm going through the pre-teen years with the eldest, no fun either), but I love them both so much and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.