LOST

The new season finally starts tomorrow night!!!!

I can't wait! I so dig this show!!

Dorm Life?

We ordered a new couch but it won't be delivered for a week and a half. With hubby leaving, I needed him to get the old couch out of the house for Salvation Army to come pick up. So we are left with a few moon chairs for our living room decor until our new furniture arrives. We usually only bring these out when we are playing video games.


Minus the black couch I used to have with my roommate Sue, I feel like I'm back in our old apartment. Of course we had black butterfly chairs then.

A Juggling Act

I've got so many things going on right now.

It's good and it's bad.

It's good because it keeps me busy so I don't think too much about hubby going out to sea again.

It's bad because I don't want to overwhelm myself.

It's good because I'm working on myself and making sure that even with all I've got going on, I'm remembering to remember myself.

It's also bad because I do worry about myself.

It's good because just about everything I do have got going on, is something I am passionate about.

It's bad because sometimes I don't feel I have enough hours in the day.

It's good because I'm helping to celebrate one of my oldest and dearest friends bring a new life into the world. One she has been wanting for a long time, and has taken such a long journey to get to.

It's also good because I'm helping to make a softball season a good one for my girls and the rest of the girls.

It's good because I'm also creating a book of memories for a school.

It's bad though because not that many parents seem willing to want to participate in it, thus having me make a decision that this will be my last year doing it.

Now that is also a good thing because it will free up my time to spend more with my girls, sharing gardening with them, and sewing and crocheting.

And I just have to remember.

To take it one day at a time.

To write down my lists so I don't get that overwhelmed feeling.

To remember to check in with myself.

And when the juggling act is all over with, hubby will be home.

And that is DEFINITELY a good thing.

My New Best Friends

These are my new best friends.

These are my girls' alarm clocks.

I have always in the past woken up my girls for school. I would try and wake them up nice and cutsie and all, by rubbing their backs, lightly tickling them, kissing them all over their face, etc. You get the idea.

Until this year.

Now when I try and wake them up (yes, even the little one, although I know where she got it from, her big sister!!) they are all grumpy and snap at me and even try to hold onto the bed so I can't drag them out of bed when I've had enough.

So now they wake up to alarm clocks that are NOT next to their beds. They have to get up out of bed to turn it off. I've caught the eldest climbing back in bed though, so that needs to stop.

I don't mind waking up my children, if they'll wake up and not be grumpy little shits.

But that doesn't seem to be happening and I'm tired of having to deal with their crabbiness. So out came the alarm clocks.

The youngest one loves it because it makes her feel like a big girl like her sister.

Now, if the eldest continues to try and crawl back into bed, I may have to invest in this:

This will actually roll off the table and they HAVE to get up to find it.

I like this.........

Last Day of Winter Vacation.....

....last day during the week to sleep in.

Guitar Hero Mania

Guitar Hero is one of the most wanted games this year it seems.

And at our house, it's no different.

Hubby and the eldest put it on their Christmas Wish Lists, and so this year I decided to surprise the family and I was able to get it for them for Christmas.

We all have been having a blast with the game, including me. Of course I suck the worst at it out of all of them, but it's fun and with practice I'm getting better.

Hubby just loves this game and loves doing it.

So then the eldest comes out and tries it and pretty much blows hubby away with it.

She's good.

And she loves it.
The youngest likes to try it too, but to her, it's more of just a play thing and wanting to try it because of the rest of us doing it too. Her fingers aren't long enough to really be able to do it. She does get a few notes correct though.

I think she would just rather "rock out" with the guitar. Here is a couple of pictures of her rocking out with it.

Another Thing Checked Off

I am done with my Christmas shopping.

No more last minute things to get.

Now I just need to wrap.

And bake.

I'm doing a bit of that right now.

Most of the Christmas cards have been sent out.

Except for the ones that I needed to put school pictures in.

Got the pictures today.

So the rest will go out tomorrow.

We are going to drive around and look at lights tomorrow night.

One of our yearly traditions.

My youngest and I went for a sneak peek last night while the older one was at basketball.

Sunday I get to see one of my sisters again.

I love visiting with her.

I just wish my family lived closer, like in the same town or even within 20 miles or so from us.

I'm about to become an aunt again though, as my SIL is about ready to have her first baby.

Hubby is home for the holidays, yea!

The kids will be off for two weeks next week for the winter vacation.

I wish I could take off for two weeks too!

As much as I love our Christmas decorations, I can't wait to take them down next week.

After I take them down, our house always feels so much larger.

One of my goals next year is to continue to de-clutter my small house.

I've made good progress this past year.

We are also talking about getting a new kitty after the holidays too.

One that's nice and not mean, like my cat.

Let's just hope the two get along!

Toes

Sleeping in after everyone else was awake.

That's my youngest. She's either the first one awake, or the last one awake.

The Decorations Are Coming Out.....

It's getting closer to Christmas.

The girls and I got out our indoor decorations on Sunday. I have always loved decorating for Christmas. Now that my eldest is getting older, she likes to decorate too and so I let her organize a lot of the way the decorations go.

A friend of mine shared her collection of snow globes with our group of moms and I got to thinking that was a neat way to display them. I don't have that many snow globes (only 3 to be precise), but they all play music. I also have two music box decorations too. And that is, in part because I love music boxes. Other than the Christmas decorations, I have a music box that was my grandma's that came from Switzerland, one that my eldest gave me one year for Christmas and one that hubby gave me for our anniversary once. So I don't necessarily collect them per se, but I do love them. Here is my Christmas collection of snow globes and music boxes:

And they all play different tunes.

I also have friends who have their Christmas villages displayed at Christmas and some of them have shared pictures of them. That got me started on thinking of creating a Christmas village of my own. I finally have an area in my house where I could display them. The table is small, so that will be nice in the fact that I won't be able to get too carried away with it. Today we got a couiple more things for it and when my eldest was putting it on the area, she dropped one and it broke. Well, my creative child decided to use it in the scene, rather than have Daddy try and glue it back together. So in this scene, the woman it literally knocked off her feet by the two people helping them push her car out of the snow..........

Kids. Gotta love them.

We've Been Elfed!

Teehee!

Just some fun humor for Christmas! :) Enjoy our silliness! (Thanks Sue!! :D )

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1131857607

24 more days until Christmas!!

All-Star

My eldest made the All-Star team for her soccer division.

Yea Baby!!!

This is the first time she has ever made All-Stars. She has wanted to be on an All-Star team for so long!

She plays soccer and softball. She is much better at soccer than softball. But then again, she has been playing soccer for 7 years now, and softball for 3.

She is not the natural athelete though.

She has to work at the sport and after time, she becomes good at it. This year she played indoor soccer on soccer's "off season", which greatly increased her skill level. She definitely has the ability to play on a club team, however she doesn't like practices and it's not something she breathes, night and day. She enjoys softball too and wants to be able to do that as well.

I am so incredibly proud of her!!!!!!!!!! She worked hard to be on this team and she definitely deserves it.

Sugar and Spice?

My friend, Schmoopy just found out that she is having a girl.

I am so incredibly happy for her!!

Ahhhh, little girls. They are so precious!

That is until they turn into preteens.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my girls. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world! They are THE most precious things in my life. I love to talk about them, I love to brag about them. I love to tell my birth stories about both of them, because they both had different births.

One put me in labor for 16 hours, 3 hours of pushing and I ended up having a c-section because she was 10 pounds, 6 ounces. Yea. OUCH is damn right!

The other one decided to come early and was 5 pounds, 15 ounces and I got to have her vaginally. I was so happy that I got to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). Between the two, I definitely liked the vaginal birth better. MUCH easier recovery. Now obviously there are reason why women have to have a c-section, so I am in NO way putting those down AT ALL.

And talk about two different girls!

The eldest? Very much a "sugar" girl. (Well, that is until she hit the preteens and now she is just a heavy dose of Cayenne Pepper.)

The youngest? Very much a "spice" girl. She is definitely a feisty one! She keeps me on my toes, that's for sure. Who knows, maybe she'll turn into "sugar" when she gets older. I doubt it, but I can hope, can't I?

You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me....

Santas in Australia have been told not to use "hohoho" because it offends women.

Here is the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_asia_afp/lifestyleaustraliachristmasoffbeat

Yea, because all women are "Hos"??!!!!

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.