Four Times The Fun

Let's Get Creative!

I know kids are really busy nowadays, and they need time to play and be kids, but sometimes I feel like my kids aren't busy enough! I mostly feel it when they are off track. And I REALLY feel it after a day like yesterday! 

Man! Yesterday was rough! Ask Jeramy how it started...

Anyhow! I decided that today was going to be different! We were going to do something fun! 

I first thought of taking them to Mill Valley.... it was really cold and foggy here and I thought it would be too cold for the baby.

Then I thought of the Jungle in Concord.... I wasn't up for it.

My next thought was the movies.... $7:50 for a matinee (however you spell it!)? That's a lot! And you throw in popcorn and a drink! I put that thought on the back burner.

I went on line to get some ideas. I wanted to do something with them, not just sit in a movie theater...

Then I remembered Bella Terra! 

Just a little bit more then a movie and WAY more fun!

This lady is the owner... she is a doll! She greeted everyone she know with a hug and a kiss and was just so warm and inviting!

We got to the shop at 11:30 just a half an hour after they were open. I felt bad the place was all set up and clean. We were the first customers of the day. I felt like I needed to apologize for what we were about to do to the place! She laughed and told me she has 4 too and everything was going to be fine.

I'm going to stop for a sec.

My kids are great. They really are. I'm not kidding. It's just when they are all together... they can be a bit much at times. They feed off each other and things can snowball very quickly. And somehow they are the loudest kids ever! They talk and talk and talk... I'm not sure where they got that gene from.

Well, after picking what they were going to paint they picked the colors and got a little lesson in how this show works.

The kids worked for nearly two hours. Two hours of quiet focused time. I wasn't going to paint because I really thought I was going to have to keep them in line, but they were doing great so I decided to paint something too! Yppie! I took a few pictures and grabbed a piece to paint!

Maggie helped a bit. :-)

We had such and fun time! Mary Rose even asked if they could earn trips to Bella Terra for good behavior! I just might try it out! 

I'll post more photos later... 

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to take the time to wish all my loyal blog readers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I had a minute this morning, I wanted to breathe in the moment. I wanted to take in the calm before the chaos. 

I was sitting at my computer listening to the rain and felt peace.

I wondered what was happening in other homes in the neighborhood...

I wondered how baby Ella was doing at home...

I wondered about those who feel alone today...

I have so much to be thankful. I have so much. 

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will

follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

Ps. 23:5-6

In the calm of the day I took a few pitures...

Merry Christmas!

I Feel Mean For Doing This...

Kinda...

So, have you all read Jeramy's blog yesterday? 

Wasn't that the sweetest? I love him so much.

Were you wanting to know what happened after he messed up our date? The BEST part of the date... the part that had me laughing... 

OH! I'm laughing all over again! It was so funny!!! 

Okay... we picked the kids up form Nat's and were driving home around 11:30pm.

There has been construction on a section of the road for a while now, and they have stop signals with flashing red lights. You know! The ones that you have to treat as a stop sign... the ones where you make a full and complete stop...

Do you see where I'm going here?

Just as Jeramy turns right I spotted a dark car just sitting there... one of Suisun City's finest. We drove by and he took off with lights flashing! And he took off fast! Jeramy said a word or two and I look behind us. I thought for sure it wasn't us because he was driving FAST! I was wrong. He pulled us over.

I told the kids everything was going to be fine and not to worry. Poppa was just gonna get a ticket and it wasn't anything to be scared of. Of course cracking up the whole time! 

Justice. Gotta love it.

Mary Rose's first words were,

"You aren't going to blog about this are you?"

To which Jeramy replied,

"NO!"

Love my iPhone! I HAD to get a picture! 

So, this BIG police officer shines his flashlight in the back window then the side windows and then right in Jeramy's face. He asks Jeramy if he saw the flashing red light and proceeded to tell Jeramy that he should have stopped. I'm holding in the giggles at this point. Officer asks for Jeramy's license and proof of registration and then the clincher....

Are you ready? 

Jane who is very choosey as to whom she speaks too, and almost rarely to a strange man... Let alone a strange man at night who just pulled her precious Poppa over! Well, she decides to flirt!

Yes, That's right! Jane! She reached her hand out and waved with a very coquettish "Hi!" 

I totally laughed and pointed out that our three year old was flirting with him. And he chuckled, "I see her." as he's waving at her.

As Mr. Big Officer walked back to his car I let a giggle out. I found this super funny. Jane was having fun. Jeramy was... I'm not sure. And the big kids were just making sure I wasn't going to blog about this.

Then he came back. Gave Jeramy his cards back, along with some badge stickers and told Jeramy to hand them to the kids. 

No ticket. Just a warning.

Jane flirted Jeramy's way out of a ticket.

I told her Poppa owed her a big present under the tree this year!

And by the way... Jeramy gave me permission to blog this. :-)

This Kills Me!

Heres how it went down:

Momma can I use your camera? I have a set up going and I need a shot of it.

Sure...

Leave it on manual.

Umm... alright.

He comes down after a bit.

So, I tried a few different things and I ended up having to use the flash. The lighting wasn't right. I might try a different time of day when the sun is better.

Umm... okay... aaah...

Brady interrupts

And can we put this in Photoshop? I have an idea and I want to write something on it to give to Sam.

(He said a whole bunch of detailed stuff here, but in went in one ear and out the other... I was still in shock.)

Sure... buddy...

The lesson here is; they are always watching and learning... even when you aren't looking. 

LOOK! (I Sure Hope I don't Offend Anyone)

Have you hear of Jesus on a tortilla?

Have you heard of the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese?

Well, brace yourself for the newest sighting of Jesus...

Jesus on my little bedroom window.

I promise I did NOTHING to this photo.

Are you dying right now???

I got out of the shower just a few minutes ago, turned out the light and turned to see this...

How much do you think I can get for it on ebay?

I'm sorry. Am I wrong? I'm sorry. Kinda.

And in my research in this I saw a MUSH HAVE item for Nat's mom. Here. 

Dude nat! We could freak her out with this one! Just think about the possibilities! 

What I See While I Blog

When Jane is sleeping, and Maggie has full use of the floor, where can you find Maggie? 

Under Momma's desk.

Or right smack dab on my feet.

Or crawling after my feet.

My kids love my feet.

Monterey Bay!

In the spring we got season passes the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I thought it would be fun to take the kids and in researching ticket prices, Jeramy found out that it would cost a bit more for season passes then for us to go just one day. So, we got them! And I'm so glad we did! The kids love the Aquarium! Most especially Jane! 

We actually had a Saturday free and we packed up the kids and went. It was a good diversion for me and a great surprise for the kids. 

Don't you love the silhouette of Brady's hat?

I could marvel at these creatures for forever! I'm always astounded at the things God created.

Maggie got you use her new word/sound/expression...

"Oooh Waa!"

Jane loves the sharks and has always been all about "hammer sharks" but this time she was really digging the "school fish"

The bigger ones were into reading about the animals and then finding them. And of course the gift shops...

For lunch we stopped to grab a picnic and take it to the beach. Is it really a picnic if you eat in the car? It's too cold on the beach in Dec. I'm not that much of a beach girl! 

Anyhow...

We went looking for a big wave surf spot to scope out. After finding out nothing much was happening and it cost $10 to get in... we drove till we found a spot. 

And it was a stunning spot.

The wind was blowing and the clouds were moving so fast I had to be on my toes when taking these pictures! One minute it was bright and sunny and the next it was dark and cloudy.

I just have a few more pictures... all right, I have tons more that I'll put in an album. But, just one more story... Jeramy doesn't like long blog posts and I always feel like mine can get too long.

While I went out to snap some pictures Jeramy stayed in the car with the kids. When I was done Jeramy went out with the big kids. Jane was a grump and it was WAY too cold for Maggie. 

As Jeramy got the kids bundled up I gave them the lecture about the tide pools. Don't touch. Stay off the rocks. Look with your eyes, those are living creatures... all that jazz. I told Mary Rose to be careful of the shells because they could very well have a living animal in them...

So, what does she bring back? A shell with a living animal.

To her defense she did try and she didn't pick it off a rock... 

I tell the kids to hang tight and I run back to return it to its home...

I wasn't supposed to be in this picture... can you see the pretty bracelet Jane bought me? Up on my shoulder? I put it up there so it wouldn't be in the picture...

But there is the little creature I'm about to "save". Jeramy happened to be on the beach to take a photo before I put it on a "rock"

I found a spot on a lovely rock! I put 'em near friends but, not too near so I could get a good shot of him for Mary Rose. I'm a nice mom like that.

I realized as I snapped the photo, that I didn't place him nicely on the rock... I placed him right in the mouth of a sea anemone. 

I tried to pull him free, but I couldn't... the sea anemone had him and was making slurping sounds and was moving... I was grossed out. 

Sorry. I had to share. I needed to confess. I tried to save him.

And FYI I didn't tell Mary Rose... shhh.

A Trip Down Memory Lane.

Take a short trip with me... Back to April 30th 2006

They were so little! 7,5 and 10 months. Such baby faces!

I remember Jane having more hair then this... 

And she really does seem to be a darker version of Maggie!

I hate how I forget the older ones baby faces, till I see an old picture...

My goodness I have some stunning children.

That's all.

I do have more to blog so stay tuned!

They're Back!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I'm Still a Bit Sad...

Many of you may not know, and may find it hard to believe, but I was in the band. It's true. I'd run up to the band box after cheerleading and play my little clarinet. And I wasn't half bad at it. Music was something that I was told I wouldn't be good at, so I really went for it. I loved band. I loved that I was challenged and that the more I worked at it the better I became. And I loved Mr. Clay and he loved me.

Mr. Clay passed away on Dec.4th and my heart misses him deeply. 

As a teen I felt like I was only good at a few things; horseback ridding, flirting and cheerleading. Because of my bad knee, and the closing down of my stables, (not to mention having my horse sold out from under me...) that left flirting and cheerleading. I didn't have many people in my life really pushing me to strive for much more then that... a peppy flirty cheerleader. I actually had a "guidance counselor" Mr.K., tell me that I need not worry about college, and I should just concern myself with getting out of high school. Yeah... really. I was not only hurt by him, but also at home. They agreed. 

I did well in band my freshman year. I memorized the songs, chitchatted with friends, flirted with the sax and the trumpet players... all the stuff a cute cheerleader in band does. Our band teacher didn't require much. It was fun. Easy. I did well, and I wasn't even trying! OH! I remember telling Mr. S. that we needed more practice and he's let us go in the practice rooms and we'd just goof off. Some kids would just leave class! I'd never leave! I just flirted.

Then along came Omar Clay. He was one tough cat. I remember he asked us to play and somehow he knew most of us had the music memorized! MAN! I remember it felt like WEEKS before he finally let us play our instruments! We clapped out rhythms and had written tests! Written test in band! I was about to quit! One morning I ran up to the band box early and told him that I couldn't read music and told him how I couldn't learn and that I was thinking about quitting. I explained to him that no one in my family played music, and that Mr. K didn't think band would be a good fit for me, and my grandmother agreed. He stared at me. I nearly cried. Actually, I did cry.  He stared. At the time I wasn't sure why I cried... looking back, I know why. 

I'm going to take a second...

It's hard to look back at these times in my life. It makes me cry for myself. It still hurts. 

Back to Mr. Clay.

I didn't know what to make of his staring at me... I wasn't sure what he was thinking. He asked if I liked the clarinet and told me I could be really good if I stuck out the tough stuff. No fluff. He handed me a tissue and told me to go get my reed ready. 

WOW! I really didn't know what to make of him. But, sure enough when we did finally get to play I was way better! I was thrilled that I could read music and was good at it! I thought he was the coolest!

We did have our up and downs thru the years. He did make me cry. He pushed me. He wouldn't let me skate by. Not even with flashing him a big grin, and batting big puppy dog eyes at him. If I didn't come to class and meet his high standards he let me know. And if I did do well... well, he pushed harder. 

It was in the continual pushing that I felt his love. 

At first I didn't know how to deal with the disapproving looks... by senior year I'd come to love them. Holly and I would mess with him and each play every other measure. We'd have fun! He pretended to be annoyed with us, but he loved it!

I'd completely annoy him by wearing lipstick and getting my reeds all nasty. 

He never liked that I cheered at the football games and didn't play with the band. Some games he had me hopping back and forth between cheerleading and playing in the band.

He also had a problem when he saw my grandma at a football game to watch me cheer, but he hadn't seen her at a band concert yet. After me telling her about him asking about her she attended one of my concerts and was super proud of me. She also met Mr. Clay and was completely taken with him. He was a very handsome guy and charming too!

She never missed a concert after that! And she wanted me to bring my clarinet to every family function and play for everyone. I loved it.

If you are still reading this... WOW! You must love me!

It's time to get the kids... I feel a bit better having gotten some of this out. 

Mr. Clay is someone that impacted my life in a way I will never forget... 

My pretty little clarinet Clementine.