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.

Teddy Bear Tea

I felt like I reached a personal rite of passage this weekend. I took the girls to their first Tea at the Westgate Hotel. It was specifically geared toward little girls, but they still used china (ahhhhhhhhhh!...nothing got broken) and had fancy finger sandwiches and the whole formal tea thing. Here are the girls getting ready.

They had a great time and enjoyed being "Fancy Nancies". They stuck their pinkies out and Grace said, "Dahling" a lot. They served the little ones hot chocolate and then a few courses of yummy stuff. First they had finger sandwiches (grilled cheese, egg, PB & J, and Strawberry and Banana). Then they had chocolate chip scones hot from the oven. Next, they had berries and cream with four little pastries. As for Nana and I, we had the typical tea fare. Don't get me wrong...it was delicious, but would you rather have a chocolate chip scone or a raisin scone? I rest my case.

After the tea we moved into the lobby to be entertained by a clown. All the girls took off their shoes and sat on pillows and listened to stories until Santa arrived with....TEDDY BEARS!

I'm not sure if it will become a yearly tradition or not, but it was well worth the effort and it was adorable to see all the girls and boys in their Christmas finest.

If You Can't Beat 'Em...Join 'Em

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1205892324

Coming Out of Hiding

Not that I have been in hiding per se, but it feels like we have been buried since coming home. Of course coming home right before the holidays doesn't necessarily help, but what better motivation to get our home - literally and figuratively- in order?

Lest I lead you astray, I have hardly been home bound the last couple weeks. Immediately - as in the day after we checked out of the hotel - Mike and I boarded a plane to London. We had plans to visit his Dad's flat for months and it just so happened that the trip was planned for right when we came home. Actually that is not entirely true. I was calling the insurance company for a few days before we left telling them we needed to be out of the hotel and back in our house before we left. I don't know how many friends I made that week, but I doubt we are exchanging Christmas cards. :)




So London was great. We ate well and went to see a couple of shows. Mike's dad and his wife were with us so it was fun to spend some time with them. I went to have tea at The Ritz which was fantastic as well. It was just enough time to forget about the mayhem, but we also knew that the house was not going to organize itself. Besides...we wanted to host Thanksgiving! Yes, we got home and had three days to pull off Thanksgiving. We had much to be thankful for and wanted to spend our first Thanksgiving in a house IN our house.

I couldn't include the picture of the turkey because my turkeys don't come out pretty. I cook them upside so they taste juicy. They taste good...just don't look good.

And along the lines on first holidays in the house, the weekend after Thanksgiving was a mad rush to Home Depot to buy Christmas lights for the house. I don't have pictures of that just yet, but suffice it say that my sweet hubby and I had quite the debate over all white lights vs. retro 1972 big bulb colored lights. And in the spirit of Christmas we came to a compromise. White lights inside the house and retro outside. I can't help but laugh hysterically every time I drive up to the house. I feel like I'm 7 when I see those huge bulbs hanging from the rain gutters.

OK...I'm to recreate the Christmas labels. Did I tell everyone that our hard drive crashed as soon as we plugged our computer back in? It did. I was not happy. Not at all. But I did get an early Christmas present out of the deal. Helllllllllooooooooooooo laptop!