Behavioral Updates

Grace: So Mom...I have to tell you what happened to me yesterday. Well...I was a little out of control and didn't really hear the bell. So...I noticed that my whole class left without me and I had to go to the principal's office so that someone could take me to class.

Grace: Um Mom...I kind of got in trouble today.
Mom: Really??? What happened?
Grace: Well. I was touching Ms. Sousa's stuff and had to go to timeout. She said if I did it again she would send me to the principal's office.
Mom: You know...the whole time I went to school I never went to the principal's office. I was so afraid of getting in trouble. I didn't even want my name on the board.
Grace: Well good for you Mom. My school is much lazier. (?????)

(In the middle of a meltdown after being asked to go put on a tank top and take off the long sleeve shirt in 100 degree weather)

Mom: Emma, I asked you to go put your tank top on. Where is it?
Emma: I don't know. It ran away.

(Shopping for birthday supplies in October means that Emma sees more Halloween monsters than she needs to)

Mom: Just cover your eyes and say "I don't like you."
Emma: Just take me home so I can hide from the monsters.

Freaky Friday

As always I am wayyyyyyyyy behind on the blogging. My husband would attribute it to an inability to say "No" to extracurricular activities. I like to think of it as reaching out the community and doing my part. At any rate. Everyone (all 2) is in school and loving it. We are full day kindergarten which means 9-3:20 and let me tell ya...that is a LONNNGGGGGG day for 5 year old who wakes up before the sun. She is adjusting and is doing very well. I do have to admit though...and it absolutely pains me to do so....she has been a bit of a discipline problem. She has selective hearing disorder (can I call it a disorder?) which I blame on her dad (of course!) which means that she gets recess privileges about half the week. Hopefully she will learn quickly, but as for now she is learning the hard way.

Emma is loving preschool although I think she feels cheated that she only gets to go 2 days a week. Having Grace there last year she knows the ropes and feels like a seasoned vet after only 2 weeks. She did start ballet last week which I have to admit is the cutest thing I ever saw. Three year olds in tutus? Need I say more?

The Baseball Geek

You know you are married to the right person when for Mother's Day they surprise you with a trip to Cooperstown, NY (home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame). An even better confirmation is when your sweet husband understands and agrees to let you extend the trip so that you can see Yankee Stadium before it is demolished.

Last week, I took off for 6 days all by myself (how indulgent is that??) and embarked on my dream trip. I know some dream of seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall, but Cooperstown was my dream and I was going on Induction Weekend which meant Hall of Famers would be everywhere.

I arrived in Albany late Friday night and met up with some of the people that I was "touring" with. I use quotes simply because it meant that we were on the bus together. A majority of the time I was on my own and just needed to be back at the bus by a certain time. I found this to be the best way to travel. I didn't have to listen to a boring tour guide and I could explore as much or as little as I wanted to.

I had built the trip up in my mind so much that it couldn't possibly live up to my expectations. Fortunately it exceeded them. I could never do justice to how beautiful upstate New York is and even moreso how beautiful Cooperstown Village is. I won't get too philosophical here (I'll save it for my journal), but suffice it to say that I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. It could not have been a more perfect weekend. I even got a great surprise when I snuck out the side exit of the museum to find Cal Ripken Jr. doing a radio interview.

I was there for two days and got choked up leaving. I KNOW it isn't the last time I will be there. It a place that I have to go back to. There are some places that instantly feel like home and Cooperstown Village is that place for me.

Monday morning we got on the bus and drove to Boston. In someways Boston feels like a second home to me...especially Fenway Park. It is without a doubt the best ballpark in all of baseball. I can now say that with complete authority because while in Cooperstown they did a little question and answer session with several Hall of Famers and Fenway was the unanimous choice for all ball players.

Fenway was beautiful as always and I was able to do the behind-the-scenes tour and see all of the changes that have been made since 2004. It was a little funny because I think I might have known more than our tour guide. In fact, halfway through the tour people started asking me questions. The highlight for me was that a new bar had opened up in center field of Fenway on the previous Friday. It is called the Bleacher Bar and it literally is in center field of Fenway Park. To sit and eat lunch and look out over that beauty left me speechless.

I walked back to my hotel and changed and then walked back to Fenway to watch a game between the Red Sox and the Angels. The Angels won (of course..and I expect them to all the way through October- they are my World Series pick) but I did get to see one of Manny Ramirez' last games as a Red Sox.

Tuesday morning we boarded the bus and drove back to New York to go see the House that Ruth Built and Steinbrenner remodeled. To be in Yankee Stadium was equally surreal. It seems tragic that it is being torn down. I am a baseball purist and absolutely hate to think about something as iconic as Yankee Stadium no longer existing. Of course, I hate the Yankees and George Steinbrenner, but I still don't think it should be torn down. I got there early which was great. A-Rod hit about 17 balls out of the park, but unfortunately I didn't snag one. Regardless, it was an amazing adventure and something that I will remember forever!

And finally...this was a day that took me by surprise

On Tuesday, July 15, 2oo8...my little girl smiled like this!


Considering that tooth came in at 4 months...I'd say it had a good life.

Grace's First Dodger Game

On July 12th Grace got the privilidge to see her crazy mom at a Dodger game. While it was all about her getting exposed to the joys of Dodger dogs and stadium junk food (she had a raging stomach ache before the end of the first inning.) I did get to teach her some great traditions. I taught her how to yell at an ump and how to do the wave. She also enjoyed the beach ball tradition and was devastated to see the ushers pop them when they were caught.



We went to the game with her very best friend Keaton. They have "known" each other since Grace was 3 weeks old and Keaton was 6 weeks old.



We thought we would be smart and leave after the 7th inning stretch (aka...Take Me Out To the Ballgame). BUT...as we started driving on the 110 we noticed a funny sound. Turns out we had a flat tire...in Downtown L.A. at 10:00pm on a Saturday night. And this my friends is where having a degree in Urban Ministry comes in handy because I know downtown L.A. like the back of my hand. The safest place to park on a Saturday night is in front of the World Famous Original Pantry. Once we got home the girls changed into their evening gear and took a photo.

4th of July

While the plan was for Uncle Sam to be in the picture...he kind of got mushed. We spent the 4th in Coronado and it was the first year either one of them saw fireworks. Grace is NOT a night owl so we had to bribe her to take a nap. Emma on the other hand can party with the best of them.

Final thoughts on fireworks:

Emma: Ohhhhhhhhh....that was a nice one.
Grace: Why are they so loud? (covering her ears the entire time)

Catching up...Emma has a crush!!

I know it is early but it is true. Emma TOTALLY has a crush on her swim teacher, Scott. And I think it is mutual. How sweet is it to see a high school boy turn to mush when an almost 3 yr. old with long blond hair flirts with him? She does that "look down, then up and says, "Hi Scott." And even on her grumpy days all I have to say is, "Do you wanna go see Scott?" and she screams, "Sissy, hurry up. I gotta go see Scott!" Let's just say she is motivated to learn to swim.

Playing Catch Up...Grace's Birthday

Soooooooo....the Tim Russert thing kind of threw me. I know...everyone can comment on what a freak I am. The sad thing is that it has been over a month and the topic came up at dinner last Thursday and I broke into an ugly cry at Outback. The mourning is far from over...but I digress.

On June 19th my sweet "big" girl turned 5!! Here are some pictures from her party and of her riding her brand new scooter at 6:15am.

She loves being 5. In our house 5 means you can have gum and that was huge. So huge in fact that the neighbor brought over a Chinese food box filled with every variety of gum you can imagine.

Accoutability

When we moved into our house in San Diego, our realtor and good friend gave us the book Wisdom of our Fathers. Prior to that I was always a Tim Russert fan, but all the more after reading the book. Any man who takes his faith and his role as a father so seriously is a hero in my eyes. He was the type of guy that seemed like a genuine man of integrity. He held himself accountable and those around him accountable and that always seemed to come through whether he was talking to a politician or talking about his own father or son.

Mike is surprised that I am glued to the television, but I just can't believe that he is gone. I really admired him so much.

(Why are my last few posts only about death?)

Clarification

Just in case there is any gray area to my previous post I just want to say for the record that I don't want any harm to come to my children. I can't begin to comprehend that. I just meant that I know God is in control of everything including the number of days we have here and our children have here. And as long as I am here, I want to continue to grow in my faith which means there are going to be times of pain. I pray that pain doesn't include burying a child, but if it does God is still God and I know He will be faithful.

Deep Thoughts

As I went to update my Facebook page today I noticed that many of my friends were praying for Steven Curtis Chapman, a popular Christian musician. When I went to check it out I discovered that his 5 year old daughter was run over in their driveway last night and died. In addition it happened to be one of their teenage sons who was driving the car. To say I am affected is such an understatement. Not only do I have an almost 5 year old of my own, but Steven just released a song not too long ago entitled Cinderella that he wrote for his daughter. I made Mike a photo montage of the girls and used that song as the backdrop. Today his little Cinderella is dancing in Heaven...and while it is exciting and wonderful to think of her dancing with Jesus...I can't imagine the pain...and not just for one child, but for two. Their son has to be going through incredible pain...and as a parent how do you reconcile that? How are you not angry at your child who needs your grace more than ever? The Chapmans have two teenage boys so it is unclear who was driving the car, but regardless he will never be completely the same. And while I know that God can use this for good and that this was not out of God's plan or control it still causes me a bit of anxiety...because our growth and our stretching in our faith comes during the valleys and the storms. And God doesn't promise to calm the storm, but rather promises to be with us in the storm. I guess it isn't our place to ask why this happened, but to ask God to be glorified because this happened.

I can't begin to imagine what it is like to lose a child and I ask God quite often to not let that be part of my story...and yet if that is what it would take for my faith to grow and for people to understand God's love then that is what I want. I know that sounds crazy to a bunch of people and that it sounds like I "drank the Kool-Aid", but it is what I really believe. God is bigger than we are and He is in control. Not as an evil dictator, but rather as a loving parent who knows that as difficult as it is to watch His children in pain sometimes there is a bigger picture and a purpose that makes the pain necessary for a season.

10 on Wednesday...why not?

1. T-Ball is officially over. The last game was on Saturday and trophies were handed out last night. All in all it was a good experience. Had I not made a trip to the snack bar on Saturday I would not have be put in charge of ALL of T-Ball next year. Yikes!

2. I am obsessed with Facebook.

3. Actually I am obsessed with Scramble on Facebook. It is basically Boggle on Facebook, but I am amazed at how stupid I am when it comes to the English language. Halfway through every game I start making up words.

4. Grace decided on a Fancy Nancy birthday party yesterday. Now the only problem is that I'm not sure her friends know who Fancy Nancy is.

5. Mike and I leave for Catalina in 34 hours. I can't wait to be sitting on a beach.

6. I finished The Other Boleyn Girl. I highly recommend the book. Even though it is almost 700 pages, it goes quick.

7. I don't recommend seeing the movie if you read the book. Then again the movies are never as good as the books.

8. Grace is already on the count down to when she starts kindergarten. She wants me to tell her how many days, but I told her we won't start counting days until July.

9. Speaking of kindergarten...I have begun to freak out a bit. Already I feel like Grace comes home from school with more of an attitude than I dropped her off with. I finally talked with the teacher yesterday because I wanted to be able to blame it on one of the other girls. Come to find out this is what five year-old girls are like. The teacher told me to brace myself because it only gets more challenging from here...and then she recommend a fantastic book call Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp.

10. While I really hope to be reading People or InStyle this weekend something tells me I may be reading a parenting book on the side.

Plumbing

Usually I hold off on blogging until I have a fascinating picture to share or a cute little mommy moment that I think others might enjoy. HA! When I think back on the pictures I have taken lately - the inside of our downstairs bathroom toilet to send to my stepdad so he could tell me how to fix it - somehow that just does not cut it as blog worthy.

Why is it that all the household stuff seems to go to pot - no pun intended - as soon as the hubby leaves town? Then again even if the hubby was sitting in the next room right now, I still think I would have had to send the picture to my stepdad.

10 on Tuesday

1. I really have the blahs today. I can't quite put my finger on it. I really have no reason. I really want to drive to the beach, but I think I will make dinner instead.

2. We are getting out house painted...on Mercury Insurance's dime. Woo-hoo! I have been dying to change the color since we moved here and thanks to the fires it is happening.

3. We had a drawing at Stroller Strides yesterday in which our vendor of the month, Civil Disobedience, donated a free pair of jeans. Our instructor asked Grace to pull the winning name and...SHE PICKED ME!

4. I went to get a new pair of jeans today! :)

5. Tomorrow is MOPS. No matter how much I think I don't want to go, I always leave adoring my girls and wanting to eat them up. Clearly MOPS is money well spent.

6. I think I saw a girl I went to high school with on Dr. Phil yesterday. It was kind of funny and sad at the same time. The funny thing was that I wasn't surprised to see her on Dr. Phil and the sad thing is that after 17 years she wasn't that different.

7. I started reading The Other Boleyn Girl...finally. I was worried that I was really going to hate it since I don't do historical fiction. Turns out it is very engaging. Now we'll see if I can get through all 700 pages. I've never read a book that long before.

8. On Friday night I had a hard time falling asleep so I decided I would start reading Mistaken Identity...OK..so I read the whole thing. I love when I am able to sit down and read a book from start to finish.

9. Not so shameless plug...this is an AMAZING book. I highly recommend it. It is about the two girls from Taylor University who were in a fatal car crash and had their identities switched for five weeks unbeknown st to their families.

10. After reading Mistaken Identity I held my girls a lot tighter on Saturday so clearly that we money well spent also.

Spring Is In The Air

She is growing up so fast and was so excited to be at church for Easter Sunday. When people said "Jesus has risen.", she was quick to respond, "He has risen INDEED!"

She couldn't leave Baby out of the picture because Baby would feel sad.

Mom was very excited to find shoes that matched the Easter dresses.

It is getting more and more challenging to capture family photos. There is a lot to be said for bribery!

10 on Tuesday

1. Tomorrow is Mike's birthday. I can't believe I will married to a 35 year old. It feels a little bit sleazy. (Sorry Babe!)

2. We are at the tail end of Birthday Week and that means I get to update my sweetie's wardrobe so that he doesn't look like a 35 year old.

3. We are feeling like we have just come through a battle with a sweet angel faced 2 year old. All of a sudden she started waking in the middle of the night and wanting someone with her. Then it started at naptimes. For anyone that knows me sleep is a BIG deal to me. If a book was written on it I have read it. Needless to say, I whipped out my Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and started some tough love.

4. I started Tough Love yesterday and we were back on track IMMEDIATELY. For all the angst I had of saving for therapy she learned really quick that she wasn't going to win.

5. Why didn't I start this two weeks ago?

6. I pondered signing Grace up for Pop-Warner cheerleading. Dad shut that down REALLY FAST!

7. In honor of the aforementioned birthday...we are going snowboarding tomorrow! Mike's dad is spending the night and Mike and I are spending the day together.

8. Does anyone else feel like everything is getting rushed this year? Daylight savings the second Sunday of March and Easter next Sunday. What is there to be excited about in April?

9. Beth Moore! I just remembered she is coming to San Diego. Yea!!!

10. OK...now that I went to write that on the calendar I realize that there is a lot to look forward to over the next three months. Actually...there is TOO much.

Mike's Full Circle Moment

This is a video from before ski school even started. She still is not so good at stopping, but look at her go on the skis! We still aren't sure if she is laughing or crying at the end, but we detect a smile so it must be OK.

For Those That Know Me Well

This was one of the best scenes of my life. Talk about a full-circle moment. I don't expect her to love softball. I would love for her to love softball, but that may not be her thing. Regardless, I can't believe that I have a little girl who is playing T-Ball!

And to answer the question that many have asked....No, I am not the coach and I won't be. I want to give her a shot at loving softball. I have a hard enough time standing behind the fence and watching seven little girls go running after a ground ball.

Some Pictures From FoHo

Ahhhh...

So...once again we are at the one month mark and I am updating just so that I can say it hasn't been over a month. January proved to be fairly uneventful. The best part of the month was Mike and I getting a weekend away at Forest Home for a Couples Retreat. Going to Forest Home always feels like going home. I have been going there for close to fifteen years and then to be there with my hubby made it all the sweeter. It wasn't our first time going up there for a Couples Retreat, but it never ceases to amaze me that after all my years of praying for the wrong boy up at Forest Home that I am able to go back with the right boy.

One of the most humorous parts of the weekend was on Friday night when the hosts did a little ice-breaker to see who could stay standing up the longest. If the statement they said was true we had to sit down. One of the first statements was, "If you have thrown a snowball at your spouse sit down." AND WE WERE THE ONLY ONES TO SIT DOWN! Unfortunately my sweet hubby didn't play by the rules and he nailed me in the face (see picture at top o' blog) but don't worry....I had plenty of chances to get him back. In all seriousness it was a beautiful weekend to be in the mountains and it was a refreshing time for the both of us and gave us a great opportunity to have a "State of Union".




Other than the glorious weekend we are in throws of an overscheduled 4 year old. We are having fun, but I promise you that once the school year is over we are going to aim for an unscheduled day.

Ten on Tuesday

1. An entire month has not gone by since I blogged. Almost, but I made it just in time to absolve myself on total and complete blog-guilt.

2. We still have not gotten our clothes back from the fires. Mike insisted that he missed nothing and that this was a great lesson in how little we need. To say that I miss my Ugg boots is the understatement of the century! Fortunately my sweet hubby got to eat his words when he was packing for his business trip on Sunday night. He asked me to help him pick out ties and I got to laugh and tell him he didn't have any. Not nice I know, but after all the grief he has given me over the last few weeks he kinda sorta deserved it.

3. Within the last week we have received notices informing us that we owe a whole lot of money for traffic tickets. We've been referring to them as our little mistakes. We can no longer call them little. I had no idea what a "California stop" (feel free to ask if you need a definition) would cost me. Neither one us realized that a ticket we paid for a year ago never made it to the court so if I don't pay the ticket (issued to Mike) by the 20th, I will officially be married to a "man on the run". They have asked for his license and will issue a warrant. So Dangerous!! :)

4. Sunday night was the first time since the fires that Mike has had to travel. He won't be home until tomorrow and I think I have gotten about six hours of sleep. I totally have PTSD!

5. I can't believe I have a child who will go to kindergarten this year. I feel so old!

6. I have started Weight Watchers again. I did it after I had Emma and was very successful. I kind of fell off the wagon last year. I'm OK with exercising, but not so OK with my eating. I fortunately have my "go-to" foods that I like to keep in the house. That being said, we've moved so I've had track down my all-time fave Clifford Crunch. Closest location? Santee Target. That would be an exact marathon from our house. 26.2 miles. Yes, I drove there today and cleaned them out of Clifford Crunch. And bought diapers. And some soup. Gotta love Target, no matter where it is located it always has something you need.

7. Does anyone else feel like their house looks bare without Christmas decorations? Just a question.

8. I'm not super excited about the prospect of potty-training. The truth is I'm just too lazy to be that on top of it. It is a little sad when your four year-old is the one asking the two year-old if they need to go potty and then taking them.

9. Have I ever mentioned that there is a little drive thru coffee place here that sells a Snicker Bar Latte. They actually have a sugar-free version that is 2 Die 4....hmmmmmmm....maybe I need to pack up the girls and take a little drive.

10. Grace and I have decided that it is time for her to stop sucking her fingers. It is completely subconscious and when she is nervous, stressed, bored, etc. She comes by it honestly in that I was a chronic nail-biter and still slip into old habits when I'm stressed or scared. I was referred by a friend to a VERY cool product that I just ordered. I will have to let you know how it goes.