blowing out her candles in amsterdam

spring break 1998- the same week two silly teenage girls happen to meet a shy boy with striking green eyes.

she celebrated my 16th birthday with me, she introduced me to my soul mate, she cried with me when i lost my dad, she danced with me at my wedding, she held my hand when i delivered my first baby, so i am very sad that an ocean keeps me from being there for her tonight.

thank you my friend for enriching my life the way you do. a very happy birthday to christa, who shares the comfort and consistency that only a sister could.

hurry home you fabulous globe trotting costume designer, la capilla is waiting to celebrate!

picking up the eggshells

with children in tow even the most minuscule of tasks can quickly become an exercise in patience, strength, and endurance.

exhibit a) picking mia up from school today

when it came time to get mia from school i had already woken up to a storm of ants in the kitchen, survived levi's tantrumming at the university bookstore, and discovered that the a/c in my car no longer gets cool. at the school i unloaded the crew, repeatedly reminded katrice not to go inside the classroom, told miley to get her foot out of the drinking fountain and her finger out of her nose, retrieved mia, pried levi off the playground, and herded all the little sheep back into their car seats. with all the children safely stowed, we were on our way to katrices hair appointment. but wait, where is my phone? oh that's right, i left it sitting on the hood of my car. it was run over.

everyone in the car was tip-toeing around my frustration, choosing their words and actions more carefully than they should ever have to. mia, my sensitive soul, said "mom, i'm sorry you're having a bad day." followed by katrice saying "i am pologize" as she took hold of my hand. katrices over affection is usually so annoying, but today i simply enjoyed the feeling of her rough little hand in mine and let her gesture sweep the eggshells from the floor around me.

nothing that happened today was all that unusual or catastrophic. i just wish i could remember that when it's happening, instead of feeling like the world is coming to an end.

a friends gift

 

these family photos were a beautiful gift from my talented friend chelsea. she is also responsible for my rad blog banner and most of the other pictures lining the walls of my house.

 

i won't tell you what brian had just done to make me laugh, but it didn't smell good.

now, i will attempt to shut my mouth (not so easy for me) and let the moments chelsea captured speak for themselves...

 

 

 

 

 

sad, but true

before bed last night i told everyone in the house to pick a room and spend 10 minutes cleaning it. this enlightening exchange followed.

mia (excitedly): mom, who's coming over!?
me: no one honey.
mia (confused): oh.

sad, my kids think the only time i clean is when we're expecting company, but true.

some party

one of the drawbacks to living in the sunshine state, besides ridiculous property values, is that you don't get to experience the change of seasons. we get a few weeks of semi cold weather, but that's about it. so imagine our delight at arriving for the hammonds annual birthday party and being greeted by this...

 

22 thousand pounds of snow blown onto a massive wood ramp. the kids had a blast going down the snowy slope and as the margarita machine emptied, so did the adults. we were dancing to the dj, sledding, and having an all around amazing time when i realized it had been forever since i'd seen the old ball & chain.

 

ooooh, there he is. brian and his buddies having man time out in the gigantic trailer, drooling over the new dragster. it took my girls a little time to feel comfortable moving on the dance floor in front of people, but when 'baby got back' came on miley started shakin that booty. i was so proud!

 

happy birthday to our little skater boys. you two are so grown up!

one of the guys brian was talking with at the party couldn't believe that we were in no way related to the hammonds. you know what, i find that hard to believe myself.

welcome to the family

 

my sis-in-law gave birth to baby isabella early thursday morning. weighing in at just over 5 pounds, she's the tiniest miley baby ever. mom and baby are healthy and happy. the little family is now settling in and getting to know one another in the comfort of their own home. welcome to the family little one!

(cute photo courtesy of aunt tiff and her mad picture taking skills)

don't just listen, follow

 

last we heard of miley she was starting her first day of school. we all loved mia's pre-school, miley not being able to attend there was one of the few things that saddened me about our recent move. when miley became of school age we confidently enrolled her in a sister program to the one mia had attended.

after tearing myself away from miley that first day, i looked at brian, for reasons i couldn't explain, and told him that i wasn't sure that this was going to work out. to make a long story short, it didn't.

i continued taking her to class that week. i had argued with myself, called the reluctance to let her go silly, and attempted to rationalize it all away. after leaving her on the third day of class that little feeling of uneasiness i had in my gut had accelerated into what felt like physical illness. every fiber in my being was screaming out for my middle child. i had no idea what was going on. all i knew was that i had to go get her.

i arrived 45 minutes before class was to be let out to find my little 3 year old girl walking around outside by herself. not behind a gate, not on a playground, and not under a teachers supervision. totally alone. i had a complete meltdown. the director of the program has since given me her word that locks have been put on gates, the teacher has been taken care of, and other safety policies have been put in place to ensure that this will never happen to another child.

i have been beside myself. how could i have let this happen? i knew it the first day,the first time we walked in the classroom, and i was too weak to do anything about it. the good that has come out of this is that i, and now you, will always listen and follow your instincts.

as for miley she's happy to be spending her days at home in her swimsuit, playing horsey with her big sister, and under the oh so watchful eye of her mom.

those are some lucky 7th graders

the students of springville are returning to school today, and the lucky ones will find themselves sitting in one of the perfectly aligned rows of tiff's classroom. tiffanie is an amazing teacher- students, faculty, and parents love her alike. she has a gift for motivating even the most incorrigible students. she is the reason i am going into teaching. i'm hoping the talent is hidden somewhere in the genes.

in addition to her full schedule of english classes, tiff will be mentoring a handful of new teachers and interns, heading her department, leading multiple school committees, and tackling her newest task- journalism. oh, i almost forgot, she also rescues children from burning buildings.

so good luck to my big sis as she starts her tenth year teaching, even though i don't think luck has anything to do with it.

drum roll please

 

if you remember,this weekends goals were as follows-
1.  finish baseboards in the toy room.    [check]
2.  build the island half wall in the kitchen.   [check]
3.  mount the island cabinets to the half wall.   [check]
4.  lay the flooring in the dinning room.   [check]
5.  don't completely neglect the children.    [okay, about #5, there was a small incident involving levi, some antacids he thought were candy, & a quick call to poison control, otherwise,it was fine]

 

 
brian had this awesome idea, to make a sort of time capsule on the inside of the wall before he enclosed it.  the kids got to write their names, draw a picture, and pick a little toy that they were okay parting with.  we thought they understood they weren't going to get the toy back, but mia keeps tearing up saying that she misses her pony.  my goodness that child is emotional.  where does she get that from?

and what of my dear katrice while all this is going on?  she went about her business happily going from one of her favorite activities to the next:  playing solitary UNO, typing on the computer, doing her word search, coloring, & watching movies.  to make myself feel better i promised her that monday would bring a trip to the library and some dr. pepper.  

i don't want to post the after pictures until the kitchen is complete, about another 6 weeks.  and the beat goes on...

what did baby hitler have for dessert?

why, a dollarstore blue marker of course. lets hope it wasn't toxic.

this weekends goals
1. finish baseboards in the toy room
2. build the island half wall in the kitchen
3. mount the island cabinets to the half wall
4. lay the flooring in the dinning room
5. don't completely neglect the children

hee hee, i'll let you know how it goes...

happy birthday tish

here's a silly, yet heartfelt happy birthday wish about our beloved 'grandma' tish:

she walks for cancer,
she walks for love,
she's even sang in the choir for god above.

she supports her hubby at every race,
and when it comes to being grandma she takes first place.

she cares for her goats back in the pin,
and shows her family their importance over and over again.

she's supportive, she's generous, she's one of a kind,
my goodness she can even keep jim in line!

p.s.to find out more about tish and her participation in the avon walk for breast cancer, or to make a much needed donation in her name, please click here.

i got no checks on my bear!

 

mia: mama, mama, i got no checks on my bear!
me: oh, good? you didn't get any checks on your bear.

she has been enthusiastically talking all week about this bear business. it wasn't clear what it all meant until she came home from school friday with this report card (click to enlarge the image) and a paper bear safety-pinned to her dress. as i examined this obviously important paperwork, she explained this seemingly complicated kindergarten reward system. something naughty gets you so many checks on your bear, which then equal certain consequences. no checks gets you a trip to the treasure box, and from her backpack she produced a new box of crayons with a lollipop tapped to it.

 

congrats miss mia for giving your mommy another reason to smile and getting no checks on your bear!

buried, but very much alive

help! i'm buried under the laundry that has consumed my house. i promise, i will be back soon with project pictures to share.

you want me to help you do what!?

 

unlike his lovely wife, brian has been on a productivity kick this week. i was packing up to go get auntie tweece from the airport when-

b: come help me move the dining room table.
m: why?
b: so i can put the stepladder on it and change the light bulbs in the (14ft) ceiling.
m: so you could do what!?

there were two problems with this scenario. a) the table in question has cracked, wobbly legs. it is the same table that we have given the children strict instruction not to hide under in case of an earthquake. b) the stepladder in question is the one brian bandidoed from the shop. the whatchamacallit that is designed to keep the ladder locked in the open position is missing. if you don't stand perfectly in the center of the step, without moving, it will collapse.

add to this train wreak brian's horrible sense of balance and i'm a widow, and he couldn't understand why i didn't think this was a good idea. love you babe!

just add water

 

it has been hot in the so-cal desert this week, so we headed down the hill for a little cooling off at the community water park.

 

excuse me! the little nudist kept trying to take off his swimsuit.

 

here's the proof. proof that they aren't always fighting. the no-fail recipe for happy kids- just add water.

 

bye! bye! here's wishing y'all a wonderful summer weekend.

livingroom before & after

before

during

the resident handyman installing baseboards with his new favorite toy (courtesy of grandpa- thank you!). nothing says brian quite like a loud air powered machine that shoots nails.

after

this room, like the rest of the house, has been a community effort. the pretty picture was a house warming gift from my friend kim, thank you. brian re-tiled the fireplace & installed new baseboards, love you! tiff spent her summer break moving boxes, unpacking boxes, assembling ikea furniture, hanging curtain rods, painting, and keeping her little sister sane, thank you. jim drove up after putting in his twelve hours on the job and laid flooring with brian, thank you.

goodbye ear infections, hello trouble

 

mr. levi has completely recovered from getting his tubes put in last week. he is ear infection free and back to driving his mother crazy!

happy birthday to our grandma c

a happy, regretfully belated, birthday to our grandma carolyn. ones birthday is a great time to reflect on them and the things that make them special. below are a few of the many things that make carolyn special and some reasons we should all strive to be more like her.1. she loves her dog and the beautiful girl holding it (and how could you not?)
2. she really listens
3. she has a great sense of humor, this former nun is not above laughing at a dirty joke. 4. she loves disneyland
5. she is constant
6. she is true to herself no matter what the cost
7. she is passionate8. she can handle watching my three crazy kids, and she actually enjoys it!?
9. she takes a game of scrabble very seriously (as do i)
10. she is a wonderful force in my life and has been since i was 4 months old. i am so grateful for the generosity, kindness, and love she shows me, my husband, and my children. we love you grandma c!

so do i

on my way to get miley from school i saw a van with the greatest bumper sticker in the back window, "i love someone with down syndrome".

so do i my friend, so do i.

miley's first day of school

 

today was miss miley's first day of school

 

i was so worried that she was going to have a hard time. she didn't. as soon as we walked in the door she was off playing with the other children and all the wonderful toys. my little independent spirit.

 

i have got to confess that i have been looking forward to having both my girls in school, but when it came time for us to go, i couldn't tear myself away. i wanted so badly to stay and watch her every move. i wanted to stand over her shoulder reminding her to use her manners and share the toys with her new friends. i cried after we left. brian laughed at me.

to my beautiful miley, i am so exited for you to flourish and grow all on your own, even if its hard for your silly mommy to let you go.