Walker World

Good Night Sweethearts!

2012-02-12T22:43:00.001-08:00

Today was not the easiest of days. Yesterday we managed without daddy pretty well . . . today was another story altogether. The kids & I couldn't get into any sort of groove and just seemed "off" for the entire day.

We did throw bikes in the car and went to check out the new park we found last week Griffith Manor. The kids rode for a couple of hours while I envisioned myself reading my magazines (but in reality just tried to keep both kids in sight amidst the birthday parties going on). That was a nice breath of fresh air for a bit in the middle of the day.

And then in the afternoon, Wendy called and asked if she & Jenna could come play & bring dinner . . . to which I replied, "heck ya!" So we had company for the last portion of the day . . . but Kenzie was a disaster. Wendy & I did manage to sneak in some visiting and whatnot, but Kenzie didn't want to play with Jenna at all (totally out of the ordinary) and just whined / cried for the entire duration of the visit. After we kicked the Wallaces out, I read the kids the entire collection of Valentine's books (in anticipation of tomorrow's Valentine's Day party) and tucked them into bed.

I was ready for them to go to bed even if they weren't. But just now I went in to tuck them in & kiss them goodnight. Normally Justin takes care of bath time, bedtime & bed checks . . . so it isn't often anymore that I see them asleep (unless Justin calls me in to see some cute pose they have struck). But as I tucked them in (especially Kenzie who is in her birthday suit again), I was struck just now by how much I love my little monsters.

They are my entire world. It is an insane world much of the time . . . but I love them so much it makes my heart melt to kiss them goodnight and tuck them in. Zach is so grown up all of a sudden. My little boy who is crazy and rough and smart and loves to throw me "I love you" signs when I get really mad at him. My beautiful princess who sings constantly and dances constantly and can't sign "I love you" to save her life. Whenever I sign "I love you" she puts her hand up in any finger combination besides "I love you".

I'm glad I got this weekend with them . . . and am really glad Justin will be home tomorrow. Crazy how much I miss Justin and he's only been gone for 48 hours.

Now off to bed with me . . . the littles will be up in 7 hours or so and I am still on duty. But tomorrow is a holiday from school (Lincoln's birthday) and we are hosting a little Valentine's Day get together . . . should be fun!

Play Day with Mommy

2012-02-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

Today was our 1st full day home without daddy . . . so we decided not to stay home at all!

We spent a lazy morning hanging out around the house. Uncle Tim was here for just a little bit, passing through on his way to an auction for work. Since daddy was MIA, Uncle Tim was the perfect stand in for video game assistant.

Then we got dressed and headed over to the park for soccer sign ups. Zachary is signed up for the U6 Division in the Fall. Both Kenzie & Zach are signed up for a Spring soccer class and 1 week of Summer soccer camp. We'll see how Kenzie does with those before we commit her to signing up in the U5s.

I wasn't going to sign the kids up for the Summer soccer camp . . . but Gavin is signed up and the group is 4 - 6 . . . so this is one of the few things that Gavin & Zach get to still do together (Gavin isn't in Zach's Nature Camp age bracket this year). So I thought it would be nice to let them have that. AND it means 2 weeks in a row with the kids in camp TOGETHER for 3 hours each morning (VBS & soccer camp)!!! What in the world will I do with myself?

After playing at the park for a bit at soccer sign ups, we headed out to check out a new hike in Hollywood. Diana & Sonia invited us to join them for a screening of Lady & the Tramp at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood at 2 . . . so we decided to find a new place to check out on the way.

Turns out that Bronson Canyon Park is the place that we took our family pictures last year . . . so we had technically been there before. But we didn't get very far on that visit, so the caves were still a new experience. We hiked to the back of the park and up the hill for 1/2 a mile or so and came to the Bronson Caves.

I was actually a little sad we had movie tickets for right after cause the kids were having such a great adventure playing. We'll have to find some friends and go back for another visit.

The movie was an adventure unto itself. Since we don't watch many movies or much tv, we haven't had many movie going experiences with the kids. I thought this would be a fun outing since we have seen Lady & the Tramp and it is in a super fun theater with live music, Mickey Mouse and with friends. The kids did have a good time . . . but they talked (in regular, outside voices) through the ENTIRE movie!

No matter how many times I told them to shush or whisper or to just watch the movie, they talked and talked and talked. They asked millions of questions and ran a constant stream of commentary for the patrons around us. Thankfully it was a kids movie in a kids theater so we weren't the only noisy ones . . . but I don't think we'll be trying movies out again for a while!

Then we headed home for a quiet afternoon hanging out. Uncle Tim came back to stay with us for another night . . . so Zach got some more video game playing in and we ordered pizzas to eat in our jammies. Now Tim is holing up to do homework for the evening and I am sitting down to watch the chick flick I rented after last night's nothing-to-do dilemma.

Some Autonomy Please

2012-02-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

So, Justin took off tonight for his (hopefully) annual boys weekend with his dad & brothers. They are heading up to the cabin for some boy time & (hopefully if there's any snow) skiing.

I am alone for evening 1 of 4 on my own . . . and I have nothing to do. I didn't plan very well and will have to rectify this situation tomorrow. I don't have a book, a movie, a project, a magazine, a show to watch, a friend to invite over . . . nada.

If Justin were home we would chat, tidy up the house and then either play a game, watch a tv show or climb into bed to talk. I NEVER have evenings home alone and therefore have not geared up for them! Even Justin has more evenings home alone than I do (my board meeting nights & occasional girls nights out).

But this begs the question, should I develop some hobbies of my own? I'm going to be a dork and start working on invitations to Kenzie's birthday party which is still 2 months away!

Cookie Decorating Extravaganza

2012-02-09T19:18:00.001-08:00

Today was the Moms Club Valentine's Day get together. We started by making Valentine's bags . . . but my kids made hand puppets out of theirs instead. Then we decorated heart cookies . . . having some of the older kids in the bunch, Zach & Kenzie were professionals.

Good times with good friends!

Sick & Tired

2012-02-07T17:20:00.001-08:00

So, the good news is that Zachary hit the tile rather than the carpet when he projectile vomited just now. Bummer that we've had a house FULL of people for the last 3 days . . .

Oops.

Now Zach's in the tubby and Kenzie is illustrating Zachary barfing.

We're crossing our fingers this stomach bug is short lived. Justin flies out Friday for his ski weekend with Chuck, Sean & Ryan . . . and me? I don't really want to clean up after too much more of this.

This is Kenzie's portrait of Zach barfing . . . the spots? That's the barf.

Happy Birthday Justin!!!

2012-02-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

Normally, as adults, we don't do too much to celebrate our birthdays anymore. But this year we went all out and had a birthday weekend extravaganza for Justin's 32nd.

We kicked off the weekend by going to dinner at Catch in Santa Monica. Jason Bowlin is the executive chef there and I've been wanting to take Justin to check it out. I've had the privilege of going a couple of times with Karen . . . but it isn't so easy to arrange big nights out to the West Side.

So, I found a Travelzoo coupon for a 5 course dinner at Catch and we cashed it in for Justin's birthday dinner. We got all dressed up and had the time of our lives. Jason came out to say hi and everyone gave us the red carpet treatment! Jason had our waiter pair each course up with the appropriate wine and brought extra dishes out for us to try (which was CrAzY since it was already a 5 course dinner).

After dinner we took a walk down the beach to the Santa Monica Pier and enjoyed the night lights in our old stomping grounds.

Sunday we threw the biggest & best superbowl party ever!

We had about 40 people come over & help us celebrate. Justin decorated his own birthday cake for me and we had a great time watching football with all of our friends. We had a bouncer (which turned out to be the coolest, most GIGANTIC bouncer of all time) and set up a football toss game and put TVs all over the house. We borrowed some TVs from Erica & Tim so that we could have TVs in the playroom, kitchen & outside in addition to the big one in the living room.

The TV outside turned out to be the biggest hit. Us moms were able to watch the game & feel included while watching the kids run around outside. And dads were able to wander in & out as well, watching the game wherever they went.

Overall I think the party was a huge success. We need to work on getting food straightened out next time (the appetizers didn't arrive till the end of the party . . . so we ended up putting dinner out early cause the kids were starving) . . . but there were plenty of drinks & food to go around.

Today (Monday) was Justin's actual birthday and it was fairly low key. We had our traditional birthday cinnamon rolls with candles for breakfast . . . and then Justin headed off to work for the day. After work we made a special dinner and gave Justin his birthday present (the kids & I had his Winnie the Pooh employee lithograph framed).

I am so incredibly blessed to be married to my very best friend. Justin is the best husband & father in the entire world and I'm glad we were able to do so many fun things this weekend to celebrate his birthday. He deserves to be celebrated for all he does to take care of us and we are looking forward to everything this next year has to offer!

Unbraided

2012-02-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

Kenzie wanted me to braid my hair today for church . . . and then she wanted me to braid HER hair for church. So this was my very 1st attempt ever at braiding someone's hair other than my own.

In college, I used to beg my roommate Brynne to braid my hair before band performances. She finally got ticked with me and taught me how to do it myself . . . so for a decade now I've been able to braid my own hair. But before today I had never tried to braid hair for somebody else.

Let's just say I need some work . . . and Kenzie's hair is still super fine which makes it extra challenging. But thankfully she is cute no matter what I do to her head!

Tiny Writer

2012-02-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

Zach has started sounding out words to write with his pictures. And he's doing an amazingly great job working out words.

Yesterday he drew a maze and wrote "strt" at the start.

And last weekend we went to a birthday party and he wrote (all by himself), "hapee brthday Gingr" for Happy Birthday Ginger.

I don't really feel qualified to help him continue on this path . . . but we'll keep reading books & working in his fun coloring workbooks and see how far we can get down the path toward reading!

Both Zach & Mackenzie can write "Zachary", "Mackenzie", "mommy" and "daddy". But Zach is taking the next step of adding more words. Today on his picture he wrote "help" and "roar" correctly all by himself and he's asking how to write words more & more often as well.

Go Climb a Mountain

2012-02-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

Zach & I went on the best hike this morning while Kenzie was at school! Sadly, I decided not to take the camera & I regretted it from the get go.

After dropping Kenzie off, we headed up to the Stough Canyon Nature Center (it's a great hike & it's close to school). Zach showed me around the nature center & we had a little snack before heading out.

Then we hiked up to the first switchback & park bench (100 yards?) . . . Zach wanted another snack. So we took our first break. About a minute after setting off again Zach asked for a snack. I replied, "you just had a cutie and a bag of snap peas." To which Zach replied, "it's been a whole minute . . . I need more energy!"

Oy vey! I can't keep that kid in food!

We did have 2 more snack breaks on the way up the mountain . . . but it is a steep hike. I was so proud of how well he did. We hiked up passed the old campground and on the far lookout (about 1.5 miles) and then we RAN the entire way back. It's about 3 miles round trip and Zach was a trooper!

Since I decided not to take the camera we had gorgeous blue skies as far as the eye could see AND came across a deer family not 10 feet from us AND a baby rattlesnake sunning on our path. The rattlesnake was a new baby with only 1 little rattle . . . and we got to get close enough to check it out. Zach found a rock that we could put next to him to hide under if he got scared.

I am finally getting into a rhythm and enjoying my mornings out with Zach. I'm glad we still have 4 full months of them before summer hits & I lose Zach to school forever!

Happy February!

2012-02-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

I couldn't believe it was the holidays, then they flew by. Couldn't believe it was 2012 already . . . and now January has up and flown away! Can't believe we are 1/12th of the way through this year already!!!

But here we are!

We had a really nice January . . . quiet after a crazy last couple of months last year. And February is always good to us. Justin & I each get to celebrate our birthdays sandwiched around Valentines Day. Throw in a couple of long weekends for good measure and what is there not to like?

We're hitting the ground running this February, same as usual. Saturday we have Noah's 3rd birthday party in the morning and then Justin & I have reservations at Catch to celebrate Justin's birthday. Sunday we are throwing a huge Super Bowl Party. Next weekend the kids are off of school for Lincoln's birthday, so we have a couple of fun things planned (a hike with the Wallaces, a Valentine's party, etc.) while Justin is up North enjoying his ski weekend with Chuck, Sean & Ryan. Over President's Day weekend we are going to hit Big Bear & hopefully play in the snow. And then the last weekend I am throwing a baby shower for my friend Erica followed by a Moms Club snow day.

So, if we make it through alive, seems like lots of fun will have been had.

My Favorite Tiny Dancers

2012-01-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

For no particular reason, I had my camera at dance class a lot this month. These 2 little girls make me wish I were a better photographer. The cuteness factor & sheer perfection of their little girl-ness isn't even begun to be captured in the pictures I click.

This is Kenzie & Mia gossiping at the first class back after Christmas break. They are wearing matching leg warmers & bows that we picked up at the Moms Club Holiday Boutique back in December.

This is Kenzie all dolled up a couple of weeks ago just for the fun of it. Despite knowing how much of a girly girl she is, it still blows my mind how much she loves ballet class! She is such a goober. Silly & dancing crazy & having the time of her life!

This is a picture I snapped this week of the girls heading to class together. I love that they run to each other & hug every time they see each other (as if we haven't seen each other within days if not hours).

I love, love, love these little girls! They make me smile . . .

Random Notes from a Regular Tuesday

2012-01-31T14:26:00.000-08:00

Kenzie is ALL about layers these days! I came in the other day to find her wearing leggings, shorts & a skirt on bottom; tank top, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt & sweater on top. She sure does love to dress herself!
Kenzie is still ALL girl, all the time! She changes clothes 3 to 4 times per day and likes to mix & match accessories for her outfits. Last night she put a skirt on over her pajamas.
Kenzie is VERY particular about how socks feel . . . they have to be on just right with the seams lined up with her toes.
Zachary has mastered his bike! Since Christmas, we've been doing a 2 mile loop every day Kenzie is at preschool
Zach has discovered a new show called Dino Dan on Nick Jr. and he's in love. He's a treasure trove of random dino trivia now!
Dinner swap days always make me feel so productive. Today I made 4 batches of honey ginger glazed tilapia (and dinner is DONE for the rest of the week), did 5 loads of laundry, went for a 2 mile bike ride with Zach and am going to attend the Relay for Life open house with the littles (as soon as Kenzie wakes up).

Girls Night Out

2012-01-30T23:20:00.000-08:00

Wendy has been in Hawaii for the last 2 weeks . . . so we've been sorely in need of some catch up time. After a couple of nights home to pretend to get over the jet lag, we hit the green (or orange in this case) followed up by some very necessary & extremely enjoyable Menchies.

Observatory Outing

2012-01-28T19:50:00.001-08:00

Today was a fantastically easy day . . . almost entirely spent with friends.

First thing this morning, I headed up to Stough Canyon for a quick hike with Karen. It was a really nice way to kick off the weekend and get some mommy time in.

After that, we met up with the Knoells at the Griffith Observatory for a fun play date and fantastic lunch. The kids are so fun to go places like this with these days cause they actually get it. I was super excited to take Zach (and he was super excited to learn cool new things about space), but Kenzie is the one who amazed me. She was interested in hearing all sorts of cool things about the planets and was able to answer questions when I posed them to her.

She got the biggest kick out of realizing that everything in space is stationary (relatively) and it is the earth spinning that causes day / night, seasons, etc. Zachary especially liked seeing how much he would weigh on each of the different planets.

After all that we came home for a quiet afternoon. I finished up my payroll taxes, Justin mowed the lawn, the kids played some video games . . . now the kids are in bed and we are headed across the street to the Harkins to play some board games.

I don't think I could have planned a better day!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2012-01-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

The littles are building legos in the playroom with Justin right now while I do the dishes. I just overheard Kenzie say, "wow Daddy, I'm a really smart kid." And modest too . . .

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2012-01-24T07:55:00.000-08:00

As I was leaving for my run a little while ago, I overheard Kenzie ask Justin, "why was Valentine imprisoned for his religious beliefs?"

Good luck with that one sweetie! And Happy Valentine's Day!

When Daddy's in Charge

2012-01-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

Like most Saturday mornings, I sneak away for an hour or two to go grocery shopping WITHOUT my little helpers. Today I came home to this . . .

Just as an aside, we are having the warmest January EVER and it is 80 degrees outside . . .

100 Things to do before Kindergarten

2012-01-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

Here's our current progress on things to do before kindergarten too . . . Kenzie is way ahead of where Zach was at 3 1/2, but that is BECAUSE of Zach. Still some things to work on & fun to be had . . .

1. Go to the zoo
2. Visit a farm
3. Go on a hike
4. Play with kittens or puppies
5. Catch a frog
6. Make a gigantic mess
7. Help clean up a gigantic mess
8. Master the monkey-bars
9. Swing high up into the sky all by themselves
10. Try ice-skating
11. Go sledding
12. Make a snow-man
13. Blow bubbles
14. Plant seeds and watch them grow
15. Have a pillow fight
16. Jump on a big bed
17. Jump on a trampoline or in a bounce house
18. Hang out in a tent
19. Spend days at the beach
20. Build sandcastles
21. Go fishing
22. Go out on a boat
23. Play with blocks & puzzles
24. Read the classic picture books
25. Read a classic chapter book
26. Check out library books with their own library card
27. Get a passport
28. Carve a pumpkin
29. Hold a newborn baby (to see how much they've grown)
30. Love a special doll or stuffed animal
31. Bake cookies and cakes
32. Help plan their own birthday party
33. Go to the circus
34. Go to a museum on a quiet weekday
35. Play hide-and-seek
36. Play a board game
37. Do nothing whatsoever all day
38. Try a sport
39. Watch a sporting event
40. Learn to swim
41. Be tickled in hysterics
42. Paint and draw as much as desired
43. Have the use of scissors and glue
44. Display artworks and other creations around the house
45. Learn to use a camera (and keep an album of the results!)
46. Play with clay
47. Pick flowers
48. Climb a tree
49. Gaze at the moon and stars
50. Toast marshmallows
51. Learn to eat an ice-cream cone
52. Watch a sunset
53. Learn to write their own names
54. Learn their addresses and telephone numbers
55. Learn their parents' full names
56. Set the table
57. Clear the table
58. Help wash the dishes
59. Learn to say their pleases and thank yous and excuse mes
60. Watch fireworks
61. Go to the ballet or theater or a puppet show
62. Put on a ballet or play or puppet show at home
63. Face paint
64. Dress up in costumes at will
65. Learn rhymes and poems and songs by heart
66. Have a dance party
67. Enjoy friends at preschool and at the park
68. Invite friends over to play
69. Get to know grandparents
70. Play with cousins
71. Become attached to a wonderful teacher or babysitter
72. Learn the name of our president
73. Know the name of their town, state and country
74. Be familiar with a map of the world
75. Listen to music from many different ages and genres
76. Hear and learn words from a different language
77. Learn the difference between trash and recycling
78. Grow their own vegetables
79. Learn to ride a bike (or try!)
80. Take a road trip
81. Draw a self-portrait
82. Slurp alphabet soup
83. Learn to twirl spaghetti on a fork
84. Pick apples
85. Star in a home movie
86. Learn a magic trick
87. Try different hair-dos
88. Practice writing letters
89. Practice counting to 100
90. Make up stories
91. Send a letter
92. Receive a letter
93. Ride on a merry-go-round
94. Give away toys and books to less fortunate children
95. Learn the value of coins and bills
96. Keep a piggy bank
97. Try a musical instrument
98. Have a heartfelt wish granted
99. Have a heartfelt wish denied
100. Receive a million (make that a billion) heartfelt kisses and hugs from their parents!

100 Things to do in LA Before Kids Grow Up

2012-01-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

We found the list recently of 100 things to do with kids before Kindergarten (speaking of which, we should revisit that list before Fall). Anyway, this list got posted today and it's a great list for kids & adults alike. Justin & I did a couple of the activities pre-kids . . . but we need to redo them with the littles. And a couple of the activities we did with Zach pre-Kenzie . . . but he was little, so we should redo them anyway.

It's a fun list for SoCal anyway, so we'll keep it around & see if we can knock off any of the items over the next 15 years . . .

Go to the Rose Parade
Go to the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade
Have brunch and hit the beach at Paradise Cove
Sled the Venice sand berms
Visit Griffith Observatory
Pick your own veggies at Underwood Farms
Tour the STAR Eco Station
See an IMAX movie at the California Science Center
Visit Kidspace Children’s Museum
See a play at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga
Finagle a guest pass to kids brunch at the Magic Castle
See a movie at Disney's El Capitan
Ride the Santa Monica Pier ferris wheel at sunset
Ride the Orange County Great Park hot air balloon
Go to a Native American event at the Autry National Center
Camp in Malibu Creek State Park
Do an LA Conservancy Family Walking Tour
Go rollerblade along Venice Beach
Head south to swim with the belugas or dolphins at SeaWorld
Go to a Medieval Times dinner tournament
See EquestFest over winter break
Play at Noah’s Ark at the Skirball
Build a campfire and cook dinner at Dockweiller Beach
Do a Sunset Ranch Hollywood sign trail ride
Ride a Fillmore & Western train
Take a whale watching trip
Skydive on Universal Citywalk at iFly Hollywood
Try the Muscle Beach Travelling Rings
Ride the trains at LA Live Steamers in Griffith Park
Go on a Faery Hunt
Go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market
Hike to the Bat Cave at Griffith Park
Visit Olvera Street during a traditional Mexican festival
Register with Central Casting to be extras in a movie
Watch a taping of a live kids’ show
Take a surfing lesson
Rent (or bring) a bike to ride the beach bike path
Ice skate in short sleeves at one of the seasonal outdoor ice rinks
See a show at Bob Baker Marionette Theater
Go for a walk through the Venice Canals
Take a day out of school to go to Disneyland when it's not busy
See the buffalo on Catalina Island
Check out Watts Towers
Visit the Flower Mart downtown
See the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano
Ride Angels Flight
See the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade
Go watch some old TV shows at the Paley Center
Ski or sled at a local ski resort, then have dinner by the beach
Go to a Presidential Library - Reagan or Nixon
Buy a season pass to one of the big parks (Disneyland, Universal, Knotts) so that you can drop in any time, even if only for a couple of rides
Ride the high-wire bicycle at the California Science Center
Watch a horse show at the LA Equestrian Center
Wander The Huntington Gardens
Attend a hand print or a star laying ceremony on Hollywood Blvd.
Go to an open rehearsal at the Hollywood Bowl
Join LACMA Nexgen, and go to a Family Sunday
Attend an event at the Central Library (story hour, author event, etc..)
Do a sleepover at either the Tar Pits or Natural History Museum
Go to the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown
Do a beach clean-up
Wander the Camellia Festival at either Decanso or Huntington Gardens
Take part in a Dia de los Muertos Festival at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Drop in on Los Encinos Living History Day
Explore the Natural History Museum's seasonal Butterfly Pavilion
Explore the Natural History Museum's seasonal Spider Pavilion
Visit the Moorpark Teaching Zoo
Do a Kids Run the Bases day at Dodger Stadium
Go to a Family Festival at the Getty Center
Tour (or stay at) the Queen Mary
Spend a day at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire
Go to the Los Angeles County Fair
Attend the Hollywood Christmas Parade
Go to the LA Times Festival of Books
Ride the Marina del Rey Water Bus to a waterside concert
Bake cookies, bring them to your local fire station, and get a tour of the station and engines
Take a Beverly Hills Trolley Tour
Attend a Saturday Scene family show at the Geffen Playhouse
Go sea kayaking
Have dinner at the Santa Monica Food Trucks, with a table (and grown-up drinks) at The Victorian
Take a Family Fossil Trip to Red Rock Canyon
Celebrate Mardi Gras at the Farmers Market
Get in the Halloween spirit at Knotts Scary Farm
Sign up for a free Apple Camp at the Apple Store
Go on an Audubon Society family bird walk in Malibu Lagoon
Take a trapeze lesson
Volunteer to work on a Rose Parade float and/or view the floats up close after the parade
Check out the Heritage Square Museum
Catch a Sunday shark feeding at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium
Enjoy a Sunday morning concert at McCabe’s and try out all the guitars afterward
Make a book at Scribble Press
Create a recycled masterpiece at ReDiscover
Take a Warner Brothers Studio Tour
See the Avila Adobe – LA’s oldest house
Go for Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues
Catch some live music at Amoeba Records and show kids what records are
Walk the round Redondo Pier, get an ice cream, and fly a kite
Catch the Tall Ships Festival
Rent a family bicycle surrey at Lake Balboa
Go on a Grunion Run

14 down, 86 to go . . .

Kindergarten Readiness

2012-01-17T21:55:00.000-08:00

Tonight Justin & I attended a kindergarten information meeting to get Zach registered for school next Fall. Sofia will be heading off to school as well, so we met up with Lee & Franklin for dinner 1st before hitting the Jr. High for our 1st school meeting ever!

Zachary will be attending Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary (unless we win the lottery so he can attend St. Finbar's RIGHT across the street). We have to fill out all of the paperwork in the next week or two so that he doesn't get bumped out to another school . . . Stevenson currently has the best API scores in Burbank (although ALL Burbank schools have great API scores), so it is a popular school. It just happens to be our home school as well.

We got a list of suggestions on how to prepare our child for kindergarten . . . and we are feeling more than confident about Zach being ready.

Understand size - big, little, etc.
Match things according to size, color, shape, etc.
recognize colors, shapes, numbers, letters
say the alphabet & count to 20
say their full name, address, phone number & birthday date
understand opposites
identify the major parts of the body
run, jump, skip & hop
cut simple shapes
tie shoes, zip zippers, etc.
use crayons & pencils
write their name beginning with a capital letter followed by lowercase letters
separate from parents with ease
play nicely with other children & have ability to share
talk easily & communicate needs
sit attentively for 15 to 20 minutes

We need to work with Zach on his phone number & writing his name with upper & lower case letters. He also doesn't know how to tie his shoes yet. But otherwise he is good to go . . .

Happy Birthday Megan!

2012-01-16T21:31:00.001-08:00

Today was Megan Harkins' 6th birthday. Her birthday party is next weekend . . . but today being MLK day, we all had the day off from school & work. So the Harkins invited us to spend the day with them at Disneyland.

I have to admit I was apprehensive about hitting the Big D on a holiday (especially since we were just there last week). But it was perfect. It seemed like there were lots of people milling about the parks . . . but the lines were not long at all. So we got to go on everything on Megan's wish list and had a great time doing it!

Mackenzie was ecstatic to spend the day at the park with Megan & Amy. Zach had a slightly rougher time of it since Megan's wish list of rides did not include a single ride he wanted to do. We did manage to sneak in a quick jaunt on Thunder Mountain just for Zach (while the girls all did the Tea Cups) . . . but I think we're going to try and send Zach out for a special day with daddy soon where they can do nothing but roller coasters & bigger rides.

Anyway, we arrived just in time for the Disneyland Band to start a show in the entrance plaza. Mackenzie got to dance with Alice from Wonderland and help her lead the parade. Kenzie was in 7th heaven!

Once we headed over to California Adventures, Kenzie & I broke off from the rest of the group cause she was too short to do any of the rides on Megan's wish list. So, while the gang headed off to Goofy's Sky School & the Paradise Pier, Kenzie & I hit Flik's Fun Fair (running into some friends along the way).

After a bit, we reconnected at Ariel's Undersea Adventure and spent the rest of the day hanging out all together. We finished off the day with a cruise over California (love that ride) and a nice dinner out at Tortilla Joe's in Downtown Disney.

All in all, we had another wonderful Disney day. Now the kids are snuggled in bed and I'm on my way right behind them. Tomorrow we are back to real life.

Poor Baby!

2012-01-15T09:11:00.001-08:00

Poor baby Cera is 2 weeks old and she has caught a bronchial infection. She has been hospitalized for the last 2 days . . . but we are praying she is breathing well enough to go home today.

What do I Want (em-phas-sis on ME)?

2012-01-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

If you have met me, even peripherally, you probably know that I have guilt issues in life. And I don't just mean with BIG things . . . but with everything. Trivial, day-to-day decisions come with a boatload of guilt & over thinking.

Today the kids started back up at art class. 1 to 1:45 on Thursdays. Last session I started visiting Erica during this time. We would get a 30 minute gab session each week while Baby Gavin napped and my littles were crafting with their capable teachers.

Today, the same plan was scheduled . . . but then it turned out that Lee & Sam were both at the park as well (Liadan and Sofia are both in art class too this time around). Sam had no problems saying she had other plans for her 30 minutes alone . . . and off she went. But I wasted the first 10 minutes of precious alone time conflicted about whether to stay & visit with Lee (who is watching Franklin play at the park) or go to Erica's as scheduled.

I went to Erica's in the end because it was scheduled . . . but we only had 20 minutes to chat by the time I got there. And I felt bad leaving Lee behind . . . so it wasn't pleasant the way it should be because I wasted time & effort stressing over a decision that wasn't even important in the grand scheme of life.

I don't know why I do this to myself. But this is just one example of the way I beat myself up day in & day out over little things. Not sure how, but I need to knock it off.

I am a nice person. I do not make decisions with malice or hurtful intentions. I need to ask MYSELF what I want and start to stand up for that a little. I put EVERYONE before me on the priority list and I need to at least add myself TO the priority list. I probably won't get to be at the top for a long, long time. But I need to start asking myself what I want and simply making polite decisions based on that.

So, next week, lunch with Erica it is as regularly scheduled!

The Things Kids Say

2012-01-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

Today, while we were playing at the park with Erica & baby Gavin Kenzie announced, "I'm a big girl now and I know everything!"

Beautiful Matching Ballerinas

2012-01-09T22:01:00.000-08:00

Winter session for ballet at BFUMC started back up today. The girls seemed to miss each other over Christmas break and were right back in the thick of it with their new matching leg warmers & ballet hair bows.

Welcome Baby Cera!

2012-01-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

We rooted & rooted & rooted for baby Cera to be born before we left for Christmas up North . . . but alas, she did not listen. She was finally born on December 29th, 2011 at 4:52am. She was 9lbs. 1oz. and 22.5 inches long.

Today we FINALLY got to meet the cutie pie! Shilo looks fantastic and is up running around after everyone already. We brought lunch over and had a great time visiting with the Losino's (like usual).

We are so excited to welcome baby Cera to the gang! We are going to have so much fun watching her grow up!

Basketball Buddies

2012-01-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

We just experienced what can only be considered a miracle! Yesterday, Wendy happened upon last minute, super cheap, super great seats to the Clippers game, invited us and BOTH of us were able to find last minute babysitters! Justin & I got to enjoy our 1st double date of the new year . . . and it was a doozy. Probably won't top it any time soon!

The Clippers trampled all over Houston, so the crowd was happy & fun. We had a great time visiting . . . we DIDN'T crash (even though the car on the freeway in front of us stopped dead from 70 mph and it is only by the skin of our teeth that we didn't hit them) . . . and we are cementing a friendship with the Wallaces.

This has been a nice week back home. We don't have Christmas all put away and we aren't completely unpacked or settled after our marathon trip up North . . . but we are slowly getting back into our routine and getting life under control again. The kids are back at preschool and we've visited a couple of parks this week to enjoy the 80 degrees and clear, blue skies (we are out of the sunscreen habit and all got a bit pink yesterday)!

Here's to week 1 of 2012 staying mellow . . . what are the odds we can keep it up for 51 more?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

We are pretending that today is New Year's (although in actuality it is January 2nd already). We spent all of yesterday packing up from our 10 days away and driving back home to Southern California.

We drove into town to find 80 degree temps (and a forecast of 80+ degrees for the next week as well). We shucked our cold(er) weather gear from up North and spent the remainder of our holiday vacation unpacking, doing laundry, grocery shopping, playing with our new toys and mostly just taking some time to decompress. We got the cars washed & cleaned out and stopped by Ikea to pick up a table for Kenzie's new doll house.

My to do list for the 1st days of the year is pretty extensive . . . but it is mostly regular day-to-day stuff that needs to be done to get us back on track. Nothing of much significance graces the list. 2012 looks to be a quiet year for us. We have significant work to have done on the house . . . so that will take up most of the beginning of the year. Then we have Papa's 60th birthday to celebrate in April and lots of camping planned for summer. Zach will start kindergarten in the Fall and hopefully we will sneak in another family vacation at some point before then (another Disney cruise maybe?).

We are glad to be back home and settling in for the new year. It was nice to visit with family & friends . . . but crazy, like usual. I am already brainstorming ways to simplify the holidays next year. Back in early December, Zach started begging to spend Christmas at home. We convinced him that heading North was the way to go this time around . . . and we had a wonderful Christmas . . . but sitting around the cabin on New Year's Eve, he asked if we could spend next Christmas at home. So next year might turn out to be the very 1st Christmas Justin & I spend in our own home together.

Who knows? We have a lot of 2012 to live & enjoy before it is time to start planning Christmas! Cheers to a happy & healthy 2012 . . .

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

As I write, Justin is reading bedtime stories to our very tired, very content Christmas kids.

The kids crashed at 9:30 last night . . . and then slept in for the 1st time ever on Christmas! At 7:30 this morning, every adult in the house was awake and BOTH kids were still asleep. Mackenzie woke up 1st in an amazing mood. She was SO excited and SO cute. The Walker tradition is to check the nativity scene first thing to see if the Baby Jesus was born . . . so Kenzie said, "I won't look for baby Jesus . . . I'll just go see if Santa came!" Finally we went in and woke Zach up so that we could get the party started.

The 2nd part of the Walker tradition is to play The Oakridge Boys 'Jesus is born today' really loud. When the Walker boys were little, Chuck & Mary Ann would play it to wake the boys up. Since we were all up today when it got turned on, we came in and had a little dance party. Zach & Mackenzie were so cute dancing & singing along.

Then we finally got down to business. Zachary & daddy passed presents out for everyone and we went round & round & round taking turns. We started with stockings & nobody received coal. Everyone got the traditional candy cane, chocolate santa and cutie in addition to some other goodies. Kenzie had the most notable stocking stuffers cause she was so fun to shop for. She got glitter (toe) nail polish, ballet leg warmers & frilly clips and Christmas bracelets.

The littles did really well during present opening. Zachary got a little impatient taking turns with so many adults in the rotation. But we found a couple of toys for him to open & play with and then we were able to take our time going around & visiting. After presents we had a wonderful breakfast and the proceeded to enjoy a quiet day with family.

Zachary got his 1st big boy bike for Christmas, so in the afternoon we headed out for a walk with the kids on their scooters & bikes. We read new stories, played new games & enjoyed all of our new goodies for the rest of the day. Justin was wonderful and played with the kids so I could sneak in a little nap.

All in all it was a fairly perfect Christmas. We got from Kenzie the coveted "Santa knew exactly what I wanted for Christmas" whispered in big eyed wonder. And from Zachary the best, "Santa knew what I really wanted for Christmas" when he opened his new Mario Brothers Wii game. He told Santa he wanted legos . . . which he got. But in reality he wanted the Wii game and had been kicking himself for not telling Santa that.

We got to spend the day hanging around with Grammy & Papa, Uncle Ryan & Uncle Nonny. GG Janie came over for the afternoon & Christmas dinner. I love my kids so much . . . and watching them enjoy Christmas is truly the pinnacle of the year!

On the 24th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-24T22:39:00.000-08:00

Today was a VERY Merry Christmas Eve!

The kids are up their old shenanigans of not sleeping well while traveling. So we had another rough, sleepless night. But we got to have a lazy morning after our sleepless night, so that made up for it a little.

Then we packed up and headed out to Pleasanton for a lunchtime Tidwell Christmas party. Amazingly, everyone was in attendance. GG Janie had all 3 of her kids (Uncle Tom, Uncle Bill & Grammy Mary Ann), all of their spouses (Aunt Janine, Grauntie Cathy & Papa), all of their kids (Dustin, Jenna, Justin, Sean & Ryan), all of their spouses (Kristene & Kiersten), and all of the great grandkids (Mandy, Zach & Kenzie). We had a couple of extras to round things out . . . but mostly spent a couple of lovely hours visiting.

Mandy hit it off right away with Kenzie & Zach. I was actually bummed when it was time to go because they were having so much fun playing together. But after the Tidwell Christmas, we headed out to Tracy to try out a new sledding farm. Before the 1st run, Kenzie was really nervous about giving it a go. But once they went down with daddy & Uncle Ryan, they couldn't get enough. They would pop up at the bottom and run as fast as they could to get back in line.

I would love to check this place out again next year with more time. There was ice skating, bouncers, reindeer, firepits for making s'mores and lots of other fun things to check out.

On the way home we stopped in Danville to check out the most decorated house in the entire universe . . . and then headed home for a late dinner & attempted bedtime. We put out cookies & milk and read our final Advent Calendar countdown books (Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Christmas Story). Amazingly, the kids crashed around 9:30. A couple of hours past bedtime; but several hours before I thought they would give in & go down. We were able to get the house all ready for Santa in a timely fashion and are heading to bed ourselves.

On the 23rd Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-23T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today was our 1st full day in the Bay Area. Grammy had a full day scheduled with GG Janie . . . so Papa & Justin took the kids to Superfranks for the day while I enjoyed some quiet time at home making all of the desserts for Christmas. The kids LOVE Superfranks and had a wonderful time. I was hoping for a bit more down time . . . but that's not the lot for moms. At least I had some time on my own & got the last of our presents wrapped & under the tree.

In the afternoon, we headed down to Fremont for dinner with the Hazelwoods. I wanted to visit with all of the Hazelwoods (Sue, Daniel & Heather, and Jennifer & Dan) . . . and was very excited to find out they were able to all get together for a pizza dinner together. I was nervous about trying to fit in visits with each family . . . so it was really nice to have one big get together. Sue had a big announcement . . . she is engaged to a gentleman named Steve (whom we got to meet tonight). Their wedding is planned for August of this next year.

The kids got along brilliantly and we had a really nice visit. The kids had fun learning how to play pictionary on the Wii and exchanging presents. We might have had a bit too much fun . . . they are technically in bed but having trouble falling asleep.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve . . . so the excitement will only continue mounting!

On the 22nd Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

Today kicked off our 2011 Christmas Adventure.

Originally we were going to drive up North today after work . . . but Erica & Tim drove up a couple of days ago and said that the fog through the Central Valley has been horrendous; therefore suggested we drive up during the day rather than at night.

So, first thing this morning we dropped the kids off with Claudia & crew for a couple of hours so that we could finish packing & cleaning the house. We got everything loaded up & ready to go for our 10 days away. And then we picked the kids up and hit the road.

Leaving at noon put us at Grammy & Papa's house in Hayward around 6:30 . . . so we had a couple of hours to visit & settle in before bed. But that didn't help the kids settle down & go to bed. They finally fell asleep around 10:30 and we are following shortly after knowing full well that going to bed late does NOT translate to sleeping in late.

We have lots of fabulous Christmas & family fun planned for the next 10 days . . . so we'll need our beauty sleep!

On the 21st Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-21T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today we met up with most of our friends at the Denis' house for a cookie decorating extravaganza! We had to spend most of the day cleaning & packing & getting ready for our holiday adventure (since we leave tomorrow) . . . so it was really nice to sneak out for a couple of hours and play with friends.

On the 20th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today we made our annual holiday visit to the LA Zoo. Normally there is a whole Reindeer Roundup thing going on . . . but this year they forgot to decorate or something. We had fun anyway. It was a beautiful day out . . . probably 65 or 70 degrees & sunny. We were able to wander the zoo, play at the playground, have a picnic and ride the new Conservation Carousel.

On the 19th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

Today was a rough day . . . but we did manage to sneak off to the library for a bit to enjoy some holiday craft time.

2011-12-19T16:53:00.000-08:00

Not even 10 minutes after writing how discouraged I am and how out of control Zach is, Zach ran through the living room at full speed and batted a full cup of lemonade out of Kenzie's hands (for no reason other than to be crazy). We had built a fort on the couch with every blanket & pillow in the house . . . and now I have to wash every pillow case & blanket in the house. I swear there is more lemonade on the pillows & blankets than was possibly even in the cup.

For every 1 step forward, I feel like I get pushed 10 steps back . . .

Downer (holi) Days

2011-12-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of the holidays . . . haven't been for quite a number of years now. I try really, really hard these days because Christmas is Justin's favorite holiday and the kids obviously love it. But I just wish I could check out for the month of December.

We just got stinky news from the real estate attorney that there is nothing & nobody to pursue for the disaster that is our house. Everyone is covered by their disclaimers and I just feel taken advantage of. Everyone got to make lots of money off the sale of our defunct house . . . and we are simply stuck with it and all the repairs that go along with it.

It never ever rains in Southern California . . . except for this year. Rip all the siding off of our house and it turns into the wettest, windiest winter ever. One day this week when there was NO RAIN IN THE FORECAST, I found myself standing in the pouring rain trying to reattach plastic to the walls to no avail. The wind keeps ripping it down . . . but we have to keep replacing it for the 1 day of rain we've had every blasted week since Halloween.

I am discouraged about our house and am having trouble bonding with it at all. Rather than feeling like we're settling in as we approach the 1 year anniversary of buying, I hate our house and wish we weren't stuck here.

Zachary is going through a super rambunctious, super defiant phase that I don't have the energy to keep up with. He has always moved constantly . . . but now he moves constantly in an out of control way. I wish desperately we had put him in kindergarten this year because we have lost every single friend we spent the last 5 years making to school (or to moving away). So I have time alone with Zach 2 mornings a week . . . but not enough to go anywhere or do anything and no friends to spend it with. He hasn't connected with any of the kids in his preschool class and we get talked too on a weekly basis about his behavior in preschool.

Kenzie is going through the exact opposite. Not sure if she is growing or sick or what . . . but she is constantly tired. She gave up naps 18 months ago . . . but is cranky all the time these days and falling asleep more afternoons than not. Her waterworks go off even easier than they always have.

Nothing is particularly wrong . . . I feel guilty that I am so down & out. But I just feel out of sorts these days. I am at the heaviest I have ever been and can't seem to get a handle on it. I feel like a failure as a mother because my kids are unhappy & out of control all of the time. Just this morning we were asked to leave the library because Zachary was spinning crazy out of control around the lobby while I tried to check out. Just when I thought we were getting a handle on our finances, our house goes & breaks down so that we are back to a strict, no fun budget (immediately after finalizing the details to sell off my business).

Mostly I am tired & overwhelmed. I fail to keep up with life on a regular basis . . . then you throw in all of the pomp & circumstance of the holidays and I fall even further behind. It is gloomy & gray out today and I am feeling gloomy & gray.

On the 18th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-18T21:35:00.000-08:00

Today we joined a bunch of fellow Moms Club of Burbank families for a stroll down Christmas Tree Lane.

Last year we attempted the train ride to Santa at Travel Town . . . and we had a great time but it wasn't perfect. So this year we went hunting for another activity . . . and stumbled upon Christmas Tree Lane.

We had a really fun time despite the disappointing light display. Christmas Tree Lane is literally a street with 150 ponderosa pine trees that the city puts lights on. But none of the houses are decorated & there is nothing else to see. The kicker is that there are no sidewalks on the street either. So, we met at the library, bundled up and meandered down the middle of the street.

We enjoyed cookies & hot cocoa & great company . . . but we will be in search of yet another new activity next year!

On the 17th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated Christmas with the Losino's. Paul & Shilo are some of the very 1st & very best friends we have made down here in Southern California and each year we make sure to get in a celebration before we leave town for the holidays. This year was even more special because baby Cera is due in exactly 1 week!

So tonight the Losino's hosted "Christmas Eve". They had all of their family (+ us) over for dinner & to open presents. As far as Cheyanne knows it is actually Christmas Eve . . . so Santa is going to come & in the morning they are opening the rest of the loot.

Paul & Shilo wanted to make sure that Cheyanne got to celebrate Christmas right in advance in case they are in the hospital next weekend delivering baby #2!

On the 16th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Kenzie's preschool sing-a-long . . . today was Zachary's preschool sing-a-long.

It is amazing how differently the kids behave just a year or so older. Today's program was professional compared to yesterday's 3 year old classes. The older kids came in calmly, sat down & did their thing. Zachary seemed to have a really great time singing his songs & listening to the high school band play.

Today was the last day of preschool before Christmas break . . . now they are off till January 3rd. I am looking forward to having days to spend with them at home next week . . . but I need to come up with some things for us to do!!!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2011-12-16T15:41:00.001-08:00

Zach (yelling from the other room): Mom! The cat barfed on the floor again.
Me: Bummer. Where?
Zach: I wish we had a hissing cockroach.
Me: Why? Because it would clean up the cat barf for me?
Zach: No, cause it would be the coolest thing ever.

On the 15th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-15T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today was Kenzie's holiday sing along at preschool.

I'm fairly certain we have a little performer on our hands. Many of the other kids were nervous . . . but Kenzie climbed up on stage, sat exactly where she was suppose to & sang her little heart out.

Seeing all the littles sing their Christmas carols was as cute as you can possibly imagine it to be!

On the 14th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

Today we're back in the swing of regularly scheduled programming. Zach had preschool today, so Kenzie & I hit another holiday story time at the library. Then we had a picnic on the lawn at school after pick up before heading over for an afternoon play date at the Knoell's.

At 5, we picked daddy up from work and headed back to church for the 2011 holiday party. It was really fun to watch the kids interact with all their friends from class & school. Not really anyone from church there . . . but all of Kenzie's ballet class was there and several of Zach's preschool classmates from last year were there too. It's nice to put them in an environment where they can mingle without us having to worry about their whereabouts.

It was a really fun party. We started with a Christmas carol sing along . . . then had a kid friendly pasta dinner . . . followed by the Bob Baker Marionettes. Zach wasn't sure about the puppets at first . . . but the kids ended up LOVING it and having a great time.

After the puppet show, there was suppose to be a Merry Music Makers recital followed by a visit from the big guy himself . . . but we decided to sneak out and have an early bedtime back at home. Glad we went though . . . and will definitely put it on the calendar for next December as well!

On the 13th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Today we mostly tried to recover from the 12th day of Christmas! Mackenzie had preschool this morning, so Zach & I got in some one-on-one time hanging out at home. Then in the afternoon we played outside & watched the new Charlie Brown special "I want a dog for Christmas".

On the 12th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy, busy day. I had a dentist appointment 1st thing in Beverly Hills, so Justin started off the day on kid duty. He took Zach to school & Kenzie to her last ballet class of the session while I headed over the hill. Due to the rain, my adventure took a L O N G time! People in LA don't drive well under the best of circumstances . . . add a little rain & you have the recipe for a disaster!

When I finally made it home, I switched off with Justin so he could head into work and I could spend the afternoon getting for our big night out. Zachary & Kenzie got to go to the Moms Club activity day / dinner at Rockin' Kids while Justin & I headed down to Anaheim with Karen & Jason for the 2011 Employee Holiday Party.

Our evening at Disneyland was absolutely & magically perfect!

I spent the day nervous about our outing since it rained . . . and rained . . . and rained. I even unpacked our rain suits from the camping gear and was committed to wearing them rather than wander around in the cold & wet. But Disney paid extra for the perfect event. It rained all the way down to Anaheim (and it rained all the way home from Anaheim). But the 6 hours we were in the park from 6pm to midnight were clear & amazingly not too cold.

In addition to the reprieve from wet weather . . . I think the anticipation of wet weather kept everyone away. So we had the entire park to ourselves. The longest line of the entire evening was a 15 minute wait for Indiana Jones (and that was because the ride got stopped for a few minutes for maintenance).

Additionally, this was our very 1st double date with the Bowlins . . . but we had a fantastic time with them. We got to have a nice sit down dinner at our favorite Mexican food joint near Thunder Mountain Railroad. And we got to ride EVERYTHING we could have possibly wanted to ride. We also managed to get in some holiday shopping and sit down for a treat while listening to the Walt Disney Choir serenade us with carols.

In our 6 hour window we managed to ride:
Star Tours
Space Mountain
Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
The Matterhorn
Finding Nemo's Submarine Ride
Indiana Jones
The Jungle Cruise
Winnie the Pooh
It's a Small World
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Thunder Mountain
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Caribbean

We stayed out WAY past our bedtime (which I will most likely regret in the morning) . . . but this year's holiday party was amazing!

On the 11th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

Today we started off the day by going to church (we've had a hard time making it lately & wanted to make sure that we got in the last 2 weeks before we left for Christmas). The kids delivered cookie bags to their Sunday school teachers and we enjoyed a nice, peaceful morning.

In the afternoon, we headed over to the Wallace's house for a fun holiday bbq with friends.

After the party we were going to head over to the Metrolink station to meet up with the holiday train. But we realized that we needed to get new plastic sheeting up all around the house before the rain hits tomorrow (all of the plastic sheeting blew off in last week's crazy wind storm) . . . so we stayed home to do that instead. While we were replacing the plastic we found several roof tiles in the backyard . . . so Justin ended up climbing on the roof to replace those as well before it starts raining.

I will be very happy to get the foundation fixed & siding replaced AND to have the roof taken care of. I am having a difficult time feeling good about our home purchase which makes me sad because we are fast approaching our 1 year anniversary here. Instead of being a celebratory event . . . I find myself discouraged & depressed.

Monsters Under the Bed

2011-12-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

So, my amazing husband took care of the kids all day yesterday and did TONS of things around the house . . . but apparently did not keep a very close eye on the kids while doing so.

I got home pretty late after babysitting and found this guy waiting for me on the sheets when I went to climb in bed . . .

Those are the same BRAND NEW sheets that got barfed on by Kenzie earlier in the week. Now they are colored on with ball point pen.

I had a really hard time keeping a straight face this morning when I attempted to address the issue with Mackenzie. It went down something like this:

Me (sternly): Mackenzie Nicole, what is this?
Kenzie (trying to cover up the sheet with the blankets): Nothing. I wasn't going to show you that.
Me: Mackenzie Nicole, is it okay to draw on mommy's bed?
Kenzie: I'm really sorry . . . and there were 2 of them . . .

At this point we spent a few minutes looking for the other drawing. When I realized it wasn't on the fitted sheet, I pulled up the flat sheet to take a look.

Kenzie (whispering): oh . . . 3.

As a side note, out of curiosity, when I was scrubbing the ink in the sink, I asked Kenzie what the dot between the eyes was. Her response, "his thinker."

On the 10th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-10T23:22:00.000-08:00

Today, Justin took the kids out to do some Christmas shopping . . . so I made plans with Wendy & Karen to hike Temescal Canyon and then enjoy a ladies lunch at Catch. Karen's husband Jason is the Executive Chef at Casa del Mar's restaurant in Santa Monica . . . and twice now he has spoiled us with fancy food & finer dining than I am used too!

It was amazing getting to enjoy a day out with the girls . . . and to top it all off, while I was out enjoying my 2nd day off IN A WEEK, my amazing husband did all sorts of things around the house (in addition to taking care of the littles). He fixed our garage door (which hasn't worked in weeks), he attached a garage door opener, he reattached the inside garage door button to the wall, rehung the gate that blew off in last weeks windstorm and cleaned the house.

I may just have to take days off more often!

The one tough part is that I was already scheduled to babysit for Jennifer & Mike tonight . . . and that seemed to be really hard on Mackenzie. 1st I was gone most of the day, then I took off before bedtime to babysit. She's not really fully recovered from her cold and she seems to be a bit disgruntled with me for not sticking closer to home.

On the 9th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

Today should have been a quiet day, but was not. Kenzie is still recovering from her cold . . . but decided to try and head out for a bit. Zach is still fine, so he went off to school and Kenzie & I went to holiday story time at the library.

Kenzie snuggled on my lap through all of story time . . . and didn't want to talk to Santa when he popped in for a visit. So we made our popsicle stick penguins, picked up Zach and headed home for a quiet afternoon.

For dinner we had a bunch of friends over to screen Justin's latest venture, Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice. I love entertaining . . . but sadly have come to the realization that our new house is not built for it and our kids seem to be at an age where having more than 1 friend over at a time is too crazy. So, I may be hanging up my party planning hat on the personal front for a while in addition to the professional planning.

But, we had a great time cheering Justin on and sharing some holiday cheer with good friends.

After the party, I actually took the Woolston kids back to their house to babysit them while their parents went to a show. Normally I'm not quite crazy enough to volunteer to babysit the same evening I threw a party . . . but their sitter had to cancel at the last minute and I didn't want them to miss out on their dinner theater tickets.

Now I am crawling into bed & crashing!

On the 8th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

Last night, while I was at my Moms Club board meeting, Justin called to tell me that Kenzie woke up screaming & wheezing. It came out of the blue this time without any cold symptoms, cough or fever. But all of a sudden, a couple of hours after going to bed, she woke up with her barking seal cough & sucking wheeze.

I hate when Kenzie gets this. I know we are blessed to have mostly healthy children & that she will be okay . . . but it breaks my heart to listen to her have so much trouble breathing. Justin gave her albuterol for the wheeze & tylenol for her fever and tried to put her back down to sleep. Let's just say, it was a L O N G night.

Today, Kenzie stayed home from school and we spent the day just hanging out. We watched LOTS of Christmas specials and mostly snuggled on the couch. Kenzie never napped, but she didn't move much either. At one point I asked her a couple of questions and couldn't even figure out her response because she would barely nod her head.

Thankfully her barking seal cough transitioned into a regular "cold" cough and the wheezing went away. We thought we were heading to the doctors today for sure . . . but her symptoms have all settled into regular cold symptoms. So for that we are grateful.

On the 7th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Today we tried to get back into the swing of things. Kenzie & I got to go on a playdate with Samantha & Liadan in the morning while Zach was at school. Then in the afternoon we headed over to the Knoell's for the 2nd annual holiday cookie decorating fest.

We were suppose to go over on Monday . . . but then Kenzie pulled her Typhoid Mackenzie routine and we rescheduled. The kids had a blast playing & decorating cookies (like usual).

On the 6th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today I got a rare & coveted treat . . . a day off!!!

An old camp friend of mine was flying back into the states from an extended trip to Australia and had an 8 hour layover at LAX. So Justin played stay-at-home dad to the littles and I spent the day wandering Santa Monica with a good friend. We had lunch, wandered down to the pier and did a little Christmas shopping.

I made it home just in time for dinner with the family & got a taste of what it would be like to come home from work each day. I have to admit it is a bit nice to have the kids so excited to see me AND at the same time not be at the end of my rope for dinner time. Have to remind myself there are trade offs for everything.

After dinner, for our holiday activity of the day, we watched Prep & Landing (in preparation for our Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice party on Friday) and enjoyed some peppermint ice cream (I heart December). Kenzie was asleep within seconds of hitting her pillow.

On the 5th Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

Today we had our 1st rough December day.

Last night, Justin & I had a date night scheduled with Paul & Shilo to celebrate baby Cera (since I missed the baby shower) and Paul's birthday (which always falls on Thanksgiving when we are out of town). We were all dressed up ready to go, the babysitting had rung the doorbell and Kenzie decides to get sick. Multiple times . . . all over our new bed set (whomever said parents don't get to have nice things meant it).

So, instead of having a fancy, grown up dinner with friends, we got to stay home and snuggle a barfing baby. She proceeded to wake up multiple times throughout the night not feeling well. It breaks my heart to hold my little princess in the middle of the night as she cries about her tummy hurting. And now today all of us (save Zach) are exhausted.

Today, Kenzie & I stayed home from ballet class to make sure she is really all better. We've spent the day just hanging out having a sick day. We watched the Dora Christmas special and made peppermint rice krispie treats. But then, in her boredom, Kenzie pulled our Christmas tree over and bunches of our ornaments broke.

I pulled out our holiday stamps and we're trying to regroup. Justin's holiday special Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice airs tonight and he gets to stay late at work for the wrap party & screening. This is Justin's 1st tv credit & I am very excited for him. I'm not excited for extending this trying day longer than normal. I am ready for it to be over but have hours & hours to go (stuck at home because of the whole sick business).

Today is more of a Bah Humbug type of day. I guess they happen . . .

On the 4th Day of Christmas

2011-12-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

Today we kicked off our not-so-lazy Sunday by meeting the Rendon's at Theresa's Restaurant for breakfast. We'd never been there before and had been wanting to try it. We had a crazy breakfast with 4 littles and then took them bowling! It's been quite a while since we've had the chance to hang out with the Rendon's and it was a very nice treat!

Then we headed home for a quick lunch before heading out to San Marino to try and meet Santa again at Huntington Gardens. The kids had a great time and we were finally successful! While I waited in line, the kids wandered through the children's garden, the children's science center and listened to Mrs. Claus read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Then they got to meet the big guy!

This year's Santa visit was perfect! The kids were so excited to see him! They ran up, jumped on his lap, smiled humongous smiles and told him what they wanted for Christmas (wait for it . . . wait for it . . . legos & a doll). Made for a very nice afternoon.

Now we're home relaxing for a bit. Wendy is going to come over to watch the kids tonight so that Justin & I can take Paul & Shilo out for dinner. We missed both Shilo's baby shower AND Paul's birthday dinner due to scheduling issues. So we're going to make up for it tonight by hanging out together one last time before baby Cera joins the gang (can you believe we're at the 20 day countdown?!?!).

On the 3rd Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

Today was suppose to be our visit with Santa Claus.

We had an early start this morning . . . I had to go help set up the Moms Club Holiday Boutique for charity and Justin went to play football with some co-workers. The kids went over to baby Gavin's house for a couple of hours while we were out & about. But then we regrouped at noon and drove out to Huntington Gardens for a special Santa visit . . . but discovered the Huntington is closed (still no power from the wind storms).

So, now we are back home hanging out. Kenzie fell asleep in the car. When she wakes up, we're going to make gingerbread houses instead (maybe we'll try again tomorrow if the Huntington manages to reopen).

This evening, the kids are going to go hang out with the Harkins so Justin & I can attend the Renaissance Feast at church. The chancel choir will be performing and hopefully we'll get to meet some of the other couples from church.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today was a pretty quiet day. It was pizza day at school . . . so Zachary got to stay for an extra hour. And so I lined up a play date (babysitting gig) for Kenzie with Sofia . . . and I had 3 hours all to myself to clean house before our crazy, busy weekend hits.

When the kids came home, we had a quiet afternoon hanging around the house. We made cookies for the Moms Club Holiday Boutique bake sale tomorrow . . . and we made snow flake decorations for the house (the short lived clean house now looks like it's covered in snow from all the white paper littering the floor).

We actually got the kids into bed early for the night (hallelujah!) and Justin & I are about to snuggle on the couch for a rare movie night.

On the 1st Day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

Today we kicked off December in style. It has been super windy all week (like trees blowing over and cities going without power for days), so we decided to meet some friends at Under the Sea for some indoor play time. We scheduled to meet Sonia & Sasha there . . . but lucked into running into Sofia & Franklin there as well. We spent a fantastic afternoon playing with friends and then headed downtown to meet up with the Knoell's and Marlene & Jocelyn at the Burbank Tree Lighting Ceremony.

We listened to the high school choir sing carols and waved to Santa & Mrs. Claus who arrived by fire truck. Then we wandered downtown to pick up some dinner & see all the holiday festivities. We saw lots of entertaining elves - jugglers, stilt walkers, musicians, etc. We rounded off the night with Pink Berry samples & headed home for bed.

December is going to be a fun month!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2011-11-28T18:00:00.001-08:00

Justin to Zach: Do you know what layers are?

Zach: Sure, like villain lairs. It's where the bad guys live.

Wildlife Learning Center

2011-11-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

A while back I picked up passes to this place on Groupon. We had never been before (I hadn't even heard of it before) and thought it would make for a fun afternoon. It was just a hop & a skip up 5 at 210 . . . so 20 minutes on the freeway after preschool and we were there.

It is a rescue facility for small, wild animals. They had quite the collection and it was a cute place to visit. If I ever win the lottery, I will have the mobile vans come do one of the kids birthday parties.

The Fennec Foxes were adorable. Zach thought they were siamese cats . . . and at lunch time, they each ate out of their very own labeled bowls.

There is a beautiful Bald Eagle in residence.

We caught Keeper Speakers at the beginning & end of our visit. At the beginning, we met a Gopher Snake that the kids got to hold . . . but we literally had just walked in the gate, so I didn't have my camera out. We just enjoyed the moment. At the end we got to meet Frankie the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. The kids had a ball holding him and asking questions . . . I got to feel back in my Wildlife Biology element when I answered a couple of guest's questions that the keeper didn't know the answer too.

This place is pretty little . . . we did everything there was to do & finished in under 2 hours. But it was a great facility with beautiful animals. Might be a place I volunteer when if the kids ever start school . . .

Trimming the Tree

2011-11-27T19:06:00.001-08:00

We came back from Thanksgiving with a day to settle in, do laundry, finish getting over the stomach bug we all caught and decorate for Christmas. Because everyone was not feeling 100%, we decided not to do the big Christmas Tree farm thing this year. We just headed over to Home Depot to pick out a suitable tree and a bunch of poinsettias.

Kenzie announced she wanted to dress like a rainbow for our tree shopping adventure. At first I thought she just meant the crazy lime green skirt with bright pink shirt . . . but she went all out. She wore different colored socks, different shoes and even asked for different colored hair bands.

Zachary picked out a 10 foot tree and was terribly disappointed when we explained that it wouldn't fit in our house.

We came right home and decorated the tree (and the house). Turns out we still don't have very many spots for putting decorations . . . but that's okay cause we still don't have very many holiday decorations. I will continue dreaming for a big house with lots of picture & decoration surfaces (and walls) . . . and hopefully by then we'll be able to afford all the fun decorations to fill those spaces.

I'm fairly certain that every single ornament hit the floor on the way to the tree.

And my littlest angel got to put the star on top this year.

Kenzie found the holiday jammies in one of the boxes of decorations and therefore put them on (mind you, it is still only the middle of the afternoon).

And she commandeered the new tree skirt Grandma Jody made for us and turned it into a cape for Super Christmas Girl. According to Kenzie she saves super heroes and Christmas.

Now our house is all decorated and we are ready to start celebrating! We have lots of fun holiday things activities lined up . . . I just have to get on the ball and finish (well start and then finish) my gift shopping! Happy Holidays!

The Things Kids Say

2011-11-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

Today, as we were walking back to the car after picking Zach up from school, this is the conversation we had:

M (sitting down in the walkway, pouting & refusing to walk): I want to have a picnic
Me: But we didn't bring a picnic today.
M: But I want to have a picnic.
Me: How about tomorrow? We can pack a picnic & sit on the grass after you get out of class.
M: No! I want a picnic today.
Me: How about an imaginary picnic? Here is an imaginary sandwich.
M: Can I have imaginary grapes & imaginary cookies too?
Me: Sure, here you go.

At this point, Zachary stomps off, gets in his seat & buckles up, also pouting.
Me: What's the matter Zach? Do you want a pretend sandwich?
Z: No, I don't like turkey.
Me: Okay, here is a pretend peanut butter sandwich just for you.
Z: Nuh uh. You packed imaginary turkey sandwiches and I don't like turkey.

I pretty much can't win . . .

This too shall pass (maybe?)

2011-11-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

Last week I prayed all week for the week to just end . . . it was downright awful. Between our house issues & grandma getting sick, I went non-stop (and stressed non-stop) for the entire week. This week is proving to be just as bad.

This week is less stressful in the immediate (in that no more horrific news is getting dumped on our plate) . . . but is just ongoing trauma. I haven't slept in a week, I have constant headaches, I've eaten several cartons of ice cream (and gained several pounds) . . . and now the fates are just laughing at me . . . "you think that was bad? let me show you how it can get even better . . . bwa ha ha!"

On Monday, I rubbed a car in the parking lot at preschool. I was distracted & tired & made a stupid mistake. Then, what should have been a simple paint transfer clean up turns out to be an actual scraped bumper on a brand new car (didn't even have plates yet). I was hoping for a couple of hundred dollars in paint at most . . . looks like it's going to be $1500 instead. We should just withdraw the remainder of our savings account and start handing it out on the street corner.

Now, Zach & Kenzie have the stomach flu. Zachary was up throwing up all night Tuesday. We had to change & wash sheets on 2 of the bunk bed beds at midnight (cause he managed to hit everything on the way to the bathroom). So I didn't sleep at all Tuesday (in addition to not sleeping for the last week) . . . then I had both kids home all day Wednesday . . . and now, Thursday, Kenzie projectile vomited all over her car seat. So I'm having to scrub down the car seat & all of the surrounding carpet / windows / door / floor mat in addition to taking care of my sick baby girl.

Please let life ease up on us soon!

Soccer Shot

2011-11-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

Healthy Handsome

2011-11-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

I am a little behind the 8 ball this month on just about everything. So we finally managed to get in to Kaiser today for Zachary's 5 year old physical and family flu shots. So, we are all flu shotted up finally . . . and Zachary has been deemed healthy for another year.

Zachary was 43 lbs. AND 43 inches tall. That put him in the 65th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for height. They checked his hearing & eyesight for the 1st time and both cleared perfectly (so far). And they had Zachary draw "a person" . . . and they did a quick check to see how detailed it was, etc. The doc called it a rudimentary intelligence test and said that Zachary checked out around 5 1/2 years old (which is obviously right on track for 5 & change).

The next appointment for Zachary will be his kindergarten check. At that one we'll have to do a TB test, blood test & urine analysis (don't want any kindergartners with a steroid advantage?). But for now we are all clear.

Little Fashionistas

2011-11-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

We went over to the Losino's tonight for a quiet dinner & hang out session. The girls always play dress up when we get together . . . but today they announced that they were being fashionistas.

Mr. 50

2011-11-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

Today was the last day of U5 AYSO soccer. It got postponed last week due to rain and I'm really glad it didn't get postponed again (despite the rain).

It sprinkled off & on throughout the practice . . . and the kids were really funny about not wanting to get wet. Zach even asked if he could play with his umbrella.

But overall it was a good last day & Zachary was awarded his 1st trophy ever!

Kenzie tried to give Zachary bunny ears for the picture, but she's a little too short to be very effective!

11/11/11

2011-11-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

Today is 11/11/11 . . . and Veteran's Day. So far this month I have had a difficult time with being thankful. But without hesitation I can say that I am beyond grateful for the freedoms I enjoy that have been fought & defended by America's vets.

One quote I saw today summed it up perfectly . . . "Land of the free, because of the brave."

In honor of Veteran's Day, the kids had the day off of school. Back in April for Kenzie's birthday, GG Janie gave us a 6 month membership to Kidspace . . . and today was the very last day our pass was valid. So we decided to spend our day off together enjoying Kidspace one last time.

There was a bee skit that of course my 2 shy children volunteered to participate in (they were 2 of 6 volunteers out of a packed audience).

Zachary was able to do the monkey bars all by himself again. It helped that these ones were close to the ground. He is able to cross by himself . . . he just gets nervous being up so high.

Poor Kenzie has had a rough week. Being short on sleep & playing hard make for one tired girl.

War of the Roses

2011-11-09T17:57:00.000-08:00

Among the scariest sounds ever . . . a big crash followed closely by a screaming child.

I was in the kitchen this afternoon when Kenzie decided to fall through a screened window into the front yard. She went head first and landed in a rosebush.

I was so afraid we were looking at broken bones, stitches or a concussion . . . but it appears we got off lightly with only a myriad of scratches. One leg, her back and the back of her head & neck all look just like this. She also shredded the palm of her right hand . . . not deep enough for stitches, but that's the area I'm most worried about.

I am amazed (and eternally grateful) that she missed her eyes and that it wasn't worse!!!

Hop on Pop

2011-11-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

Zachary is just starting to sound out words (and has a handful of sight words). Tonight Justin (who is infinitely more patient than I am) sat with Zach while he sounded out half of Hop on Pop. (it's a really, really long book . . . what can I say?).

Fly By from Grandma Jody

2011-11-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

Grandma Petersen is in the hospital this week . . . so my mom stopped by on her way down to visit & scope out the situation. The kids had a blast visiting with Grandma Jody, even for a super short (surprise) while.

Ian's 5th "Fireman Training" Birthday

2011-11-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

Rebecca is an amazing mom and one of the best party planners I know! For Ian's 5th birthday, she put together the most amazing Fireman Training Academy.

The decorations were adorable! There was a fire truck bounce house . . .

and a REAL Burbank Fire Truck! Somebody knows somebody who knows somebody who was able to schedule a rig to come to Ian's party.

The kids all got a huge kick out of the fire truck! They got to talk to the firemen & climb through the truck & squirt the fire hose. They got Burbank fire helmets & goody bags too.

After blowing out the 5 candles on the fire truck cake . . .

It was time for games! The kids did a couple of different fireman training activities . . . but the culmination was the obstacle course. The kids had to walk the plank, shimmy under a board, climb a ladder to save the kitty and then pop a balloon on the target in order to earn their fire training medal. Rebecca really does think of everything!

We had an amazing day hanging out with Rebecca & Ian & Noah and their friends celebrating Noah's big day. It was an extremely emotional event for me (as, I'm sure, it was for Rebecca & the rest of the family) because Ian's 4th birthday was the last event Brian attended before entering the hospital last year and eventually passing away. I spent most of the day remembering Brian at Zach & Ian's 4th birthday parties and brokenhearted that he wasn't there to celebrate this one.

We've been having a really, really rough week (and for once I'm not just complaining about the kids) and I'm trying hard (failing miserably, but trying hard) to maintain some perspective. Justin & I have made it a point to hold hands more and remind ourselves frequently this week that our family is strong and that no matter what happens, we will be okay.

The last couple of Novembers I have participated in an exercise of Thanksgiving where I write down 1 thing I am thankful for everyday. This year I am having a very difficult time getting into the spirit of Thanksgiving . . . but I need to remember that we are very blessed. I have an amazing husband and 2 beautiful, healthy kids. Life is fragile and can change at any moment (as I am learning this week). So I am thankful for the reminders of my many blessings.

Family Ties

2011-11-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Uncle Sean & Elise wanted to come down & check out the Big D with Fall decorations (which they totally missed . . . those came down Halloween night & Christmas is already on its way to being up). So they stopped by for a quick weekend visit.

The kids got to snuggle, play Angry Birds and visit lots. Having them here for part of the weekend was a really nice respite from the crap we have been dealing with all week.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

We came home from Grammy & Papa's house yesterday just so that we could be home for our 1st Halloween in our new house. Never before have we felt strongly about where we celebrated, but we wanted to give our new neighborhood a whirl.

Zach had "orange" day at preschool in the morning . . . and Kenzie & I went to dance class as usual. Then after school, we met up with daddy for the annual Halloween party at the Disney lot. We wandered around & played games, watched the costume contest, checked out the newly renovated studio store and had a picnic lunch.

Then in the afternoon, the Knoell's came over to play along with a new Mom's Club friend (my Moms Club Little Sister), Samantha and her family. Samantha's husband Andrew is actually an animator at Justin's work . . . and their daughter Liadan is right between Zach & Mackenzie age wise.

We enjoyed a yummy dinner all together and then costumed up for trick-or-treating.

Liadan (Jessie) & Gavin (Scooby Doo) are the obvious ones to me. Zachary is a Bionicle, Kenzie is Princess Peach and Mia is Pinkalicious.

Baby Daniela is the world's cutest black kitten.

Jenna stopped by for a quick visit and turned into our very 1st trick-or-treater ever at the new house.

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating. I had a tough time facilitating all by myself (with Justin home passing out candy). The little one was a dawdler and the big one a speed racer. I felt like I was on repeat all night, "Zachary, slow down. Zachary, wait up. Zachary, don't walk on lawns. Zachary, just one. You only need to ring the doorbell once. Don't walk into people's houses. Zachary, please say thank you."

Oy vey! But the kids had a blast and that's what matters, right?

Last Minute Pumpkins

2011-10-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch TWICE this year, but barely managed to squeeze in carving the pumpkins before the big day! We drove home from Grammy & Papa's house and pulled in around dinner time . . . just in time to carve pumpkins before tubby time & bedtime.

I thought the kids would carve their own pumpkins this time around . . . but they still wanted to make "requests" and have us carve them. They did cut the tops off & help scoop out the guts. And Zachary helped me clean off a cookie sheet's worth of seeds for toasting.

Thanks to Uncle Ryan & Emo Christine who showed Zachary their Angry Birds Jack-o-Lantern, Zachary wanted his own Angry Birds pumpkin. And Kenzie, in true Kenzie fashion, requested a princess. It took quite a while for Kenzie to pick out which princess she wanted.

Normally, Justin is our pumpkin carver . . . but now that we have 2 kids & 2 pumpkins to carve (and an extreme shortage on time), I got roped in on the action. Justin carved Zachary's Angry Bird pumpkin & I carved Kenzie's Ariel pumpkin.

I think my pumpkin turned out pretty well for my 1st pumpkin carving attempt! Justin's turned out great, like usual.

Happy Halloween!

0 to 100 in 5 hours!

2011-10-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

On the drive home from Hayward today, Zachary counted to 150 all by himself!

Maybe he's had this ability for years & we simply didn't know. But we've never put Zach's counting to the test. Kenzie counted right along with him . . . but I'll have to get her on her own to see if she can do it by herself too.

Michelle & Scott Tie the Knot

2011-10-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

We ditched the kids with Grammy & Papa and headed out for the day to see Michelle & Scott get hitched. In our exuberance to escape kid free, we forgot the camera. So I have virtually no pics of the big day.

But we had a great day (as I'm sure Scott & Michelle did too). The wedding was gorgeous! The ceremony was held in the Mission Chapel at Santa Clara University where the two met. Then the reception was held at the country club just South of San Francisco.

I thought we would get to see more of Rach . . . but alas, she had lots of sisterly wedding duties for the week and we just got to visit briefly on the day of the wedding. But we got to spend lots of time with Dynelle & Tim and meet baby Michael for the 1st time!

Underwood Farms Take 2

2011-10-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

So, I tried to mentally prepare myself for this year all summer long. I knew intellectually that with Zachary going to preschool MWF and Kenzie going TTh we would have no days off. But it didn't really hit me till school actually started how much I would detest not having any days off.

Up until now, the world (and our schedule) was my oyster. We have spent the last 5 years going on adventures and playing with friends. But alas, this year, I feel as though our fun has come to an end.

Anyway, today, Zachary had the day off from preschool for a teacher inservice day. So we had a rare weekday together to do whatever we wanted ALL DAY LONG! I made plans to hit the beach . . . and set my heart on going to the beach. All week long was 100 degrees (and then the entire week after turned out to be in the 90s) . . . but our 1 day off dawned foggy and cold. If the forecast was for the 60s, I would still have hit the beach. We would have put on sweatshirts & flown kites. But the forecast was for the 50s . . . boo.

So we scrapped our plans to hit the sand and instead crashed Wendy & Eric's trip to the pumpkin patch with Jenna. It meant that the kids visited Underwood Family Farms twice in one week . . . but it is so fun there that they didn't care!

The kids & I didn't buy anything this time around . . . and we simply used up our leftover tickets from the weekend on a couple of rides. But we had a blast hanging out with the Wallaces & goofing off at the pumpkin patch. This time around we did the corn maze (which took forever as anticipated) and spent a lot more time just looking around since it was less crowded. We fed the animals and played for a long time in the play yard.

Note to self, go back to Underwood often, just for fun!

Kenzie Hearts Mommy

2011-10-18T12:57:00.001-07:00

Mackenzie has been working really hard at writing lately . . .

She currently is up to "Macke" on her own and can write her whole name when prompted for the rest. She is always asking how to spell words so that she can practice writing them. But today, on the back of Kenzie's artwork from preschool, she wrote "Macke" like usual AND "MOMMY".

Her teacher says she did it all on her own without any help or prompting.

Welcome Daniela!

2011-10-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Daniela Elise Knoell was born bright & early today - 3:02am! She was 7lbs. 13oz. and 20 inches long. She is beautiful and has a full head of black hair.

I was suppose to watch the kids when Claudia & Shaughn went to the hospital. But neither Justin nor I heard our phones ring in the middle of the night (I still feel awful). So Gavin & Mia got to go to the hospital and be there when their baby sister was born. Claudia says (probably to make me feel better) that they had an amazing family moment at 3am introducing Daniela to the kids mere moments after she was born. The kids even got to watch the nurses give baby Daniela her first bath.

Tonight I got to go over to Kaiser Sunset and meet the little princess. She didn't bother to wake up at all for the 2 hours I visited with Claudia . . . but she is absolutely adorable. It's amazing to watch a 12 hour old baby and marvel at the wonders of the universe.

One Step at a Time

2011-10-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Kenzie's ballet class is upstairs at the preschool. Amazingly, we don't get much exposure to stairs (especially now that we don't have stairs at our house). But today, heading up (and then back down) from ballet, I noticed that Kenzie took the steps like a big girl, alternating feet rather than putting both feet down on each step.

I have no idea when it happened . . . she may have been doing this for a while. But this was the first time I noticed. It makes me realize how fast she is growing up.

Many Thanks

2011-10-16T21:28:00.001-07:00

This has been a wild & crazy week! Vegas for our anniversary, Zachary's actual birthday, Zachary's birthday party, visiting the pumpkin patch . . . Grammy & Papa in town.

Tonight, Justin & I took the evening to just hang out. He's been playing with recently found legos from his childhood & I've been blogging / posting pictures from our crazy week.

After posting pictures from this week's festivities . . . I went back to look at the pictures from last year's Dino Dig. Just wanted a quick reminder of how far we've come in the last year and how much my littles have grown. Flipping through the pictures I got a huge punch in the gut when I came to the picture of Rebecca, Brian, Ian & Noah.

Zach's 4th birthday (followed closely by Ian's 4th birthday) were the last 2 events that Brian was alive & healthy to enjoy. I can only imagine how Rebecca is feeling about the impending holidays. Brian was sick through Thanksgiving and passed away shortly before Christmas.

I am humbled by how blessed I am this week. I have an amazing mother-in-law who came down to watch the kids so that Justin & I could celebrate our 7th anniversary with a weekend away. I have 2 beautiful, healthy children that I love to pieces and bring our family such happiness. And I have the most amazing husband in the world.

Not sure how I won the luck lottery in life . . . but I'll take it for as long as I can. Thank you to everyone who celebrated our milestones with us this week (in person & in spirit). We are so blessed.

Pumpkin Patch Kids

2011-10-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today we made our annual trek out to Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark.

We met up with Erica, Tim & Baby Gavin . . . although Kenzie says he is getting to be too big to call him Baby Gavin anymore.

We started off our day with a picnic in the play area . . . and then hit all the regulars. We fed the animals, took a hayride, went down the combine slide, navigated the corn maze, ran through the tractor tire tunnels & played on the wooden train. In addition to all that, the kids each got to pick 3 special activities.

Zachary picked the pumpkin toss & Kenzie picked the bean box to start. Zachary actually got a pumpkin through the hole & earned some licorice! When I agreed to the bean box, I thought the kids were digging for treasure. But it really is just a sandbox filled with beans instead of sand. Kenzie played in it for over half an hour!

Next, both kids picked the bouncer (which gave Justin & me the chance to sit down for a bit while they bounced . . . and bounced . . . and bounced). And finally, both kids picked the tomato sling shot! They got a kick out of slinging the tomatoes & watching them splat!

We took a quick break with some popcicles and water before heading out to the field to pick pumpkins. It always makes me laugh to realize what a different "fall" experience we have here in Southern California. To go to the pumpkin patch, we slather on the sunblock and wear tank tops because it is 90 degrees outside!

We finished off our day by picking out giant pumpkins AND baby pumpkins and stopping by the farmers market for some winter squash. We got butternut squash & acorn squash to make soup and some sugar pumpkins for making some pumpkin pies from scratch.

Zachary is 5!

2011-10-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

I signed up to take snacks for tomorrow so that we could make a cute treat in honor of Zach's 5th birthday! This is what we came up with. They are chocolate dipped pretzels . . . and the wrappers say "Zachary is 5!"

Mr. 5

2011-10-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today we got to celebrate Zach's 5th birthday!

His Lego party is Saturday with all of his friends . . . but we still wanted to make today fun. We kicked off the day with a special breakfast and a cinnamon roll cake (of course). Since Justin is making his fancy cake for Saturday, we wanted to have a candle for Zach to blow out on his his actual birthday.

The middle of the day was mostly normal. Kenzie had preschool . . . so Zach & Grammy spent the morning together. They went to story time and then present shopping at Toys R Us! Zachary picked out a Lego Pirate Game and a mini trampoline!

Then I picked Kenzie up from preschool and we met Grammy & Zach at the park for a birthday picnic. After that, Kenzie & Zach went to art class like normal. Then we hit the Moms Club Halloween party for a little bit. Wanted to guarantee the kids had WAY too many treats all in a 12 hour period!

Finally, after the party, we met up with the Knoell's at Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner. When we asked Zachary what kind of party he wanted for his 5th birthday, he actually requested CEC. But we compromised by having dinner ON his birthday there and throwing a Lego party at home on the weekend.

We had a great time playing games, putting tickets in the ticket muncher machine and picking out prizes. I think Zachary had a fantastic 5th birthday day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANDSOME!!!

2011-10-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

My little man is 5 years old today!

The saying "The days are long but the years are short" takes on even stronger meaning at big milestones such as this one!

I can't believe that Justin & I have been married for 7 years and that for 5 of those years we've had the privilege of being parents to this remarkable kid.

Zach has had a strong presence ever since birth. He is the smartest, kindest, most handsome kid I know. He is an amazing big brother and an awesome son. He is my little negotiator. He loves to read and build legos. He is patient when it comes to things like video games, working puzzles & building legos. But has no patience when it come to waiting for things he wants or being told no.

Zachary just recently came around to roller coasters . . . but now wants to ride every single one he is allowed on. He is still very sensitive when it comes to tv shows & movies. Just this week we were watching a Halloween special on tv about a square pumpkin (similar to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer), but he threw in the towel when the scarecrow caught on fire.

Zachary loves to be outside and could run forever. We play frisbee & soccer every day. At soccer on Saturday's, he runs circles around the other kids on the field (literally, while they are playing games, he runs & runs & runs in circles for the entire time).

At 5, Zach's favorite color is yellow. His favorite food is orange chicken. Zach's favorite thing in the entire world is to play video games (Super Mario Galaxy specifically) . . . and his current shows of choice are Little Bear or Max & Ruby. Zachary has boundless enthusiasm & energy every day, all day. I wish I could borrow some of his energy and light.

Zachary still comes home with countless art projects . . . which amazes me still because he was the kid I thought would never get into art. He is starting to sound out words and still loves reading books. He will stop whatever he is doing (and I mean anything), if you sit down to read a book with him. He loves board games and finally is starting to play them by the rules.

I love my little man and can't wait to see what this next year brings!

Zach's 5th Birthday Interview

2011-10-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

1. What is your favorite color? Yellow
2. What is your favorite toy? Legos
3. What is your favorite fruit? Pineapple
4. What is your favorite t.v. show? Max & Ruby
5. What is your favorite food? Orange Chicken
6. What is your least favorite food? Pickles
7. What is your favorite game? Super Mario Brothers Wii
8. What is your favorite snack? Frozen Go-Gurts
9. What is your favorite animal? Zebra
10. What is your favorite song? Jingle Bells
11. What is your favorite book? Lego Sticker Book
12. Who is your best friend? Gavin Knoell
13. What is your favorite cereal? Mommy Cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride Bikes
15. What is your favorite drink? Milk & Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Tamarack
18. What is your favorite season? Spring
19. What is your favorite subject at school? Art
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Construction Worker
21. What is your favorite sport? Soccer
22. If you had one wish, what would it be? Lots of things
23. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Hawaii
24. What is your best memory? drawing pictures
25. What do you want to do for your birthday? Go to Chuck E Cheese

My Little Pony

2011-10-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

My Kenzie has the prettiest blonde hair in the world . . . but not much of it. Despite her 3 1/2 years of hair growth, it is still pretty short! But today we managed her very 1st single ponytail ever!
Kenzie's hair barely reached the rubberband . . . and it only lasted about 5 minutes. But we managed to get all of it into a single ponytail and she loved it (which is all that matters)!

Pretty in Pink

2011-10-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

While Justin & I were out of town, Grammy broke a nail. So when we got back, she wanted to swing in and get it fixed. Kenzie asked if she could go along . . . so Grammy took her to the nail salon for her very 1st visit ever.

Of course she picked bright PINK!

She sat up tall like a big girl so the lady could paint her toesies pink.

** 10/16 Kenzie has told everyone this week about her pink toes. Today at the pumpkin patch, she had to take her shoes off to play in the bean box. She pulled off her socks & ran up to the teenage attendant and said, "look at my beautiful toes."

Viva Los Angeles

2011-10-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

In just a couple of hours, Justin & I will be boarding a plane for our return trip to reality.

Our time away has been an absolute dream! It was perfect spending our anniversary together & simply enjoying each others company . . . and sleeping in was heavenly!

Saturday dragged on FOREVER in slow motion as we waited for our trip to finally arrive. Normally packing & prepping takes until after our departure time (especially when the littles are involved). But this time I had everything ready to go 1st thing in the morning. Justin took Zach to soccer while Kenzie & I hung out around the house. Then the boys came back with Grammy!

The kids were beside themselves having Grammy here. So for the remainder of the L O N G afternoon, they ignored us & played with Grammy. I found myself reading on my bed and wandering aimlessly around the house. Finally a couple of hours before we needed to go the airport, we had the gang drop us off early.

I was secretly hoping that Southwest would put us on an earlier flight . . . but alas, they did not feel so inclined. So Justin & I headed over to the Daily Grill at the Marriott to have dinner. We had never eaten at any of the restaurants over by the airport, despite the fact that they are right here in Burbank. The pot pie was muy delicioso. We may head back at happy hour again just to have them again (and for super cheap)!

Finally it was time to head back to the airport and catch our 45 minute flight to Sin City! We checked into the Aria and Justin spent a good amount of time playing with all of the fancy features. Everything in the room is electronic . . . so you can control the lights, curtains, air conditioning, music, tv, etc. with the touch of an ipod like remote. Then it was time to get dressed up for our 1st night out on the town.

The first night we had tickets to see O by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio. If I'm being honest, the theme was slightly odd. It reminded me a lot of Phantom of the Opera in look . . . there were a lot of dead brides & a ring master very reminiscent of the phantom. But the show was spectacular!!!! I have no idea whether to call the performers synchronized swimmers, divers, acrobats, gymnasts or dancers. They moved between mediums effortlessly on the most amazing stage I have ever seen.

They would be dancing on solid ground one minute . . . and then the stage would disappear into the water as they moved seamlessly into swimming. And at one point, they dove into the pool from 300 feet in the air! So obviously the pool / stage is deep enough to accommodate high diving too! It was beautiful!

Each night we had show tickets for the 10pm show (which is already passed our bedtime). So we headed back to our hotel for bedtime right after. Sunday morning we didn't do very well sleeping in. Definitely longer than at home . . . but we were still up by 8 (which was only 8 hours after climbing into bed). But we still enjoyed a leisurely morning without cats or kids climbing all over us.

When we finally finished lazing about for the morning, we headed down to the sports bar for an early lunch and to watch the Raiders game. Justin won $60 betting on his Raiders to win!!! But sadly, it turned out to be our only winnings for the weekend. It was a nice victory coming the day after owner Al Davis passed away. And I have to admit it made for a nice day having Justin enjoy watching his team win (the only game this season he has been able to sit back and watch completely - between blacked out games & kids interrupting).

After the game we headed upstairs to get Justin's forgotten phone, and ended up staying for a nap! I felt silly napping mere hours after getting up for the day . . . but it was heavenly! We both napped for a bit . . . and then Justin watched the 49er game while I continued to snooze the afternoon away. But finally, after that, we managed to leave the hotel and walk down to the Venetian and back along The Strip.

After acquiring a couple of blisters despite the comfy shoes I was wearing, we headed back to the hotel for a rest and to change for our evening out. Our 2nd night we went to see Blue Man Group at The Venetian. As we learned in the afternoon, The Venetian was quite the walk . . . so we decided to take the tram, but it still took us a little over an hour to get there (after the show we crossed the Strip to the Mirage and caught a cab back).

The Blue Man Group was a really cool show . . . on our way home we were trying to compare shows. But basically they were all so different you can't compare. O was so dramatic . . . Blue Man Group was impressive and just fun.

Monday was our actual anniversary. I surprised Justin with our plans for the day. 1st, we started off by catching a cab to downtown where we had a spa day at the Golden Nugget. I found a great deal online where we got 2 treatments each (I had a massage & a facial and Justin got a massage & foot scrub) plus access to the spa & pool area all day. So we spent the ENTIRE day hanging out.

Really we started the day by sleeping in . . . so much that I freaked out about missing our spa day. But we made it right on time to get changed and even hang out in the sauna for a bit before our treatments. Then afterward we wandered up & down Fremont street and grabbed lunch. After lunch we headed back to lounge by the pool for the afternoon. The Golden Nugget has a brand new pool area called "The Tank". The swimming pool wraps around a shark tank that actually has a 3 story waterslide run right through the middle. It made for a really fun & relaxing afternoon. Then we got to head back into the spa and take showers, read our books & feel pampered by the luxurious surroundings.

Late in the afternoon we caught a cab back to the hotel where we got dressed up for our final evening out. The 7th anniversary is traditionally celebrated by a gift of copper . . . and Justin is a big magic fan . . . and conveniently David Copperfield is headlining in Vegas for a limited time. So for my anniversary gift to Justin, I surprised him with 2 tickets to the show for our last night.

This last show was a mixed bag for me. The intro made Copperfield out to seem uber cocky. So much so that by 10 minutes in, I was ready to leave. But I will say that over the course of the show, he won me over. He really is an amazing magician and probably has the right to act cocky (even though it really isn't necessary). He made a car appear . . . and then made 15 people disappear! It was pretty darn impressive.

We had a great anniversary, from start to finish. We went to a super fancy dinner at the Venetian before the last show . . . and while we were waiting for our reservation, Justin & I wandered through the shops and bought Justin a fedora. It was a complete whim . . . and was lots of fun.

Tuesday, our last day in town, we slept in the most of our entire trip. We had to check out at 11 and totally pushed our luck getting up & out the door on time. We checked our bags with the bellhop and headed out to the Aria pool for a last morning of reading & relaxation. We ordered lunch at the pool and just lounged around for the last couple of hours in town.

This picture of Justin in his fedora on that last morning is the ONLY picture I managed to take the entire time we were in Vegas. Guess we were having too much fun to think about the camera!

Viva Las Vegas

2011-10-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

I am beyond excited about going on vacation today with Justin!!!

Grammy Mary Ann is coming to stay with the littles & we are celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas for 3 days ALL BY OURSELVES!!!

The last trip we took without the kids was our amazing 5 days in Hawaii when we were pregnant with Mackenzie . . . so just about 4 years ago. This time we are going to sleep in, lounge by the pool & read and see a couple of shows! We have tickets to O (at the Bellagio) and to The Blue Man Group (at the Venetian). I'm sure we will splurge and eat at some fancy restaurants along the way as well.

It has taken FOREVER to get to today. Now it is going to take FOREVER to get to 5:30 this evening when we head to the airport. Then it will be a blink of an eye before our trip is behind us and we are back home again.

But for now I am going to revel in my excitement!

Out of Business

2011-10-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

I have officially quit my (part time) day job. All of my clients & entertainers have been informed that Walker Event Entertainment is closing up shop. December 31st is our last official day in business.

I will be very sad to see this chapter close . . . but I am looking forward to less stress & more weekends & evenings with the family!

Crazy Lady in the Kitchen!

2011-10-03T18:11:00.001-07:00

So, today was already a dinner swap day . . . so I was in the process of making ribs & potato salad (roasted the ribs for a couple of hours on low last night, threw them on the grill to finish up today). And then I volunteered to make dinner for a friend . . . and since I was making chili & cornbread, I decided to make a double batch to freeze some for when Grammy is here with the kids next week.

And then, since I was thinking about making food for the weekend while Grammy is here with the kids and Justin & I run off to Vegas . . . I decided to add a couple of other items to the menu.

So all in all, over the course of today I made:
3 racks of ribs
2 batches of Potato Salad
2 batches of Chili
Cornbread Muffins
2 Chicken Tetrazzini Casseroles
and a Meatloaf

Sadly, now I have to do the dishes . . .

Our Movie Maker

2011-10-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

Justin's 5th credit for Winnie the Pooh just got added to IMDb! Go check it out . . . or see the movie & wait for Justin's name in the credits!

Onesies . . . Twosies . . . Threesies!

2011-10-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today I got to throw a baby shower for Claudia (baby #3). I went with a onesie theme & I think it turned out really cute. We had eleven ladies over to enjoy a couple hours of kid free mommy visiting! It was heavenly!

Claudia's mom & sister came down from Fairfield for the event. We painted onesies for the new baby & opened presents & ate yummy food. Justin outdid himself with yet another adorable cake!

Justin was fantastic . . . he made the cake for me last night, mowed the lawn & helped clean up this morning, and then took the kids out for most of the day. I think I may volunteer to throw baby showers just for the fun of getting an afternoon to hang with my mommy friends!!!

But really I had a great time planning & putting everything together. I am not the craftiest person around . . . so it was fun to put together the diaper cake & diaper wreath & diaper baby carriage. And all the food turned out yummy (if I do say so myself)!

I Heart Art

2011-10-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Me: Mackenzie, that's a great picture. What did you draw?
Kenzie: It's a Space Alien Rock Star

Rain Dance

2011-09-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

It never rains in Southern California . . .

and for the most part that actually holds true. Tonight we had a storm pass overhead and we had a full 10 minutes of sheeting rain. And then it passed!

The kids stood at the door & didn't seem to know what to make of it. I suggested we go outside (it was right before tubby time & wouldn't even be a hassle to get changed after). The kids were aghast at such a notion.

I said, no really . . . let's go outside. So Kenzie put on her raincoat & her galoshes. Zachary put on his bathing suit & took off his shoes.

And we went for a walk . . .

A Little Privacy Please

2011-09-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Monkeys at the Zoo

2011-09-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

For once, we had a relatively quiet weekend planned. Soccer & errands on Saturday . . . the zoo with the Knoell's on Sunday.

Okay, I take that back. We were suppose to go to family camp with church . . . but after the last several rough weeks (and weekends) we've had, we decided to skip family camp and just take it easy. Hence the wide open weekend with not much going.

But we had a great time at the zoo with the Knoell's! In light of Claudia being 3 weeks shy of baby #3, we took the tram all the way to the back of the zoo & meandered our way back. We had a picnic at the play area (with millions of bees . . . thankfully only Justin got stung) and enjoyed the perfect not-too-hot weather for a day out & about.

Time to Regroup

2011-09-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

So, the kids & I have been having a rough couple of weeks.

School started 3 weeks ago and we are NOT settling into our Fall routine very smoothly. So far I am regretting not starting Zach in kindergarten . . . but I'm hoping that changes as we make new friends and get a better groove going schedule wise. Our new routine leaves us without any days to take adventures (like we have done for the last 4 years) and feeling very lonely. Our routine doesn't seem to mesh with any of our friends' routines. So we are spending much of our time alone & at loose ends . . . and it has been in the 90's weather wise, so that doesn't allow for just playing at the park in the afternoons.

Mackenzie seems to LOVE preschool . . . but is exhausted. Our home growth chart shows she has grown an inch in the last 3 weeks . . . between that & school, she is exhausted constantly. Which translates to her being cranky constantly. If I let her nap, she stays up until after our bed time . . . but if I don't let her nap, she starts crying right around lunch time and continues until bedtime.

Let's just say mommy is ready for a break. That might be the worst part . . . I had 2 different weekends lined up to get out of dodge and take the break that I am desperate for . . . but they both got canceled. So I've been feeling disappointed, desperate, lonely and discouraged for a while now. I do get to go away for 3 heavenly days in October for our 7th wedding anniversary (thanks Grammy Mary Ann) . . . but that can't get here soon enough!

But that isn't doing me any good. Nothing in my life is actually wrong . . . and none of the factors currently annoying me are going to change in the foreseeable future. So, as Shilo is always saying (to the kids, not to me), I need to "suck it up, cupcake".

I need a new plan. I have been thinking for the last week about the things that are bothering me . . . and they are the same exact things that were on my resolution list January 2010 AND January 2011. Like everyone else, I do really well staying on track for a short time . . . and then life gets in the way and derails the motivation train.

I need to lose weight
I need to limit my computer time each day
I need to do a better job at house keeping
I need to increase the time I actively play with and pay attention to Zachary & Mackenzie (hopefully that might decrease the tantrums & problems we've been having lately)
I need to communicate with family & friends more often . . . and along with this, work on developing a couple of close friendships for the family
Finally, I need to work on being more positive & more patient

I think that is enough to keep me busy until the end of time. Basically, I need to work on being happy. I need to leave the pity party I've been hosting lately and figure out how to be happy. I keep waiting for somebody else to put me at the top of their priority list . . . but finally had the realization that nobody is ever going too. I need to focus on ME and get MY act together.

Not sure how to go about doing any of this, but I guess this is the first step to figuring it out . . .

ABCs & 123s

2011-09-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

Poor Mackenzie was given the world's longest name! As she learns to write her letters, she is only slowly putting them together to sign her name. For a couple of months now, she has been writing "MAC" on each of her pieces of artwork.

All week long she has been practicing writing the letter 'K' (which has been her hang up for a while). So she proudly presented me with her art from preschool this week where she signed "MACKE E".

She told me she is still having trouble with the 'N' . . . so she skipped the rest of the letters in between.

On to 'N' for us next . . .