Summertime Activites

Well these sure have been the lazy days of summer! I obviously haven't been doing many posts lately. I've been trying to visit your blogs when I can, but have been off the computer a lot. I've been trying to do some activities with the kids before they begin school. I have pictures, but I haven't uploaded any of them yet. Hopefully, I can do that soon because I want to post them.

We visited the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. It was a very interesting place and Ryan especially loved it. We learned about the animals that lived in that area eons ago and got to see the fossils. Most of them were trapped in the tar or asphalt. There are still fossils being discovered today and we got to see some people (I forget the name of them) working on them.


We also went to the beach. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. We had a blast. I pretty much stayed under the umbrella, but enjoyed watching the kids run from the waves.


Kathryn has finished her summer basketball season. Her team went undefeated and they won the championship for her team's division just yesterday! Yea!

Today, Kathryn and I had a consultation with an orthodontist. She needs to have braces, but we're not sure when we'll actually do it. Ryan is going to be referred by our dentist in a couple of months. Having two kids in braces is going to cost us a good chunk of money and I really think Ryan will need them more than Kathryn. So I don't know how we'll handle this right now. Lots of playing around with the budget. I wish I could find that lottery ticket that I misplaced :)

Well, school begins on Monday. All three will finally be in school. It's been fun having the kids home all summer and I think I will miss having them around. I hope I don't get too teary when I see little Emily in her uniform standing in the Kindergarten line! She's my baby and when I allow myself to think about her starting school...well, I don't want to stay there too long. AAAGH!! MY KIDS ARE GROWING TOO FAST!!!!!!!! I'm sure many of you can relate.

Well, it's late now and the bed is calling my name. I hope I can get a post in tomorrow with some pictures!

Thursday

Another week is flying by.

Monday, my friends came over to give me a hand in my kitchen. It's taken so long because I'm not working on it everyday. I try to do a little, but cooking, laundry, and other necessary cleaning throughout the house gets in the way, as well as errands I need to run. The update is, all the wallpaper as been stripped from the walls, peeling has been finished and primer has been placed on most of the walls and cabinets. I still need to sand some of the diamond window panes and then we can get going on that. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Ryan played his last baseball game of the season. They lost their playoff game. But that's not the end of sports! He will be practicing in the summer for Fall Ball in September. Emily is playing T-Ball and taking a general sports class through Sports and Recreation. She just has three more weeks of that. Oh, then I can't forget swimming. She's signed up for a two week class. Kathryn will be taking a basketball class.

I had to do some major cleaning in my pantry. Let me just say, moths-dried goods, yuck! I threw out old food packages, old containers, and sorted through canned goods checking the expiration dates and whatnot. I scrubbed the shelves and bought new containers to use for all the new rice, pasta and flour I had to purchase. I vowed that I will go through my pantry more often and do a better job with my rotation of goods.

This morning I worked on dinner food prep. We are having jumbo shells stuffed with taco meat. I cooked the shells already and I would have cooked the meat, but I don't have enough ground beef. I need to stop at the store and pick up more. My salad is prepared.

I'm off to the grocery store now. Have a good day everyone!

Super Bowl Sunday Ramblings

We are having a little informal party here for Super Bowl Sunday. I'm really not into football, but Steve and Ryan have a ball talking about the game. We have just finished our pizza and are awaiting the start of the game to begin indulging in our junk food snacks! So, I plan on eating, crocheting, and watching the commercials (that's about the only time I look forward to watching them)!

Yesterday, Kathryn had a basketball game and she got quite a bit of playing time. She hardly ever gets to play, so to see her out there hustling after the ball was fun. Her team lost but they did make a tremendous comeback after being behind by 20 or so points! I think they ended up losing by 9.

I also finally got around to cleaning out Ryan's closet. What a job that was! There were so many stuffed animals! Most of them were Emily's. I had to bag a lot of them and put them in the garage. If I had my druthers, I'd donate them to Goodwill or something. And that reminds me that I need to do that purging type cleaning when no one is home. All the kids want to know what I'm throwing in the trash, what's going in that bag, what am I doing with such and such.
Most of the stuff they don't play with anymore, but all of a sudden they see it and beg me to not get rid of it!

I don't want them to grow up being a pack rat. I've been like that and it's only within the last couple of years that I've learned to let go of so much. It is so easy for me to accumulate clutter. I used to save so much memorabilia type things, remembrances of this event or that one, but the thing is, it's just stuff that stays packed away. It's not like I have it sitting out to remember it. Just accumulated clutter. I have saved a few things, but I find it much more freeing to let go of a lot.

For me, letting go of clutter is like peeling an onion. I go through a lot of things, trash some, and save some. The next time I go through a box or something, I see the same item, then this time decide that it is something I can let go of. I try to also keep in mind that some things I think are worth saving will not be something my kids will want went I'm long gone. Maybe some things will have a memory associated with their past and they'll want to save, but most of it will be junk to them. I'll spare them the task of having to go through all my stuff.

I'm finally finishing up season two of The Waltons. I'm enjoying the episodes so much. The story lines are good and I just love watching Olivia and Grandma tending to their duties. And Olivia always shows such gracious hospitality. The family was in the midst of the Great Depression, yet they always welcomed the unexpected guest with an extra plate at the table or a place to stay for the night. They remind me of my mother. She's always tended to her duties without grumbling and showed gracious hospitality. They give me inspiration when I find myself grumbling and being a little lazy in my duties.

Before I start watching season three, I have to watch a few horror/suspense movies that are in my queue. I actually like these kind of movies, as long as they are not too bloody or violent. I like the psychological thrillers, especially any that have a telephone involved, like getting weird phone calls or something. No one else likes to watch these (meaning Steve since the kids can't watch), so I have to watch them at night - yikes- and Steve is not there to tell me what's happening while I have my eyes hidden behind my hands!

Enough ramblings for now. The party will be starting shortly!

Yea! The Tooth Came Out!

Ryan finally lost his other front tooth! He looks so cute! This one was a stubborn one, but he was persistent, and finally pulled it out.

And he also got a haircut! Due to our busy schedule, he was way overdue for one. Today was early dismissal, so I was able to take him today.

Tomorrow, more soccer and a baseball game. Emily will play her last game for the season and then have the team pizza party. She's looking forward to that. Kathryn has two games that will end her regular season. However, she has a tournament to get ready for, then playoffs. This feels like the season that will never end! Ryan will also have a game tomorrow. Then one more next weekend, then he's done too...yippee!

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Tuesday

Over the weekend, we spent lots of time at the soccer and baseball fields. Glad to say that all three of the kids won their games. Ryan came out of his batting slump and finally made contact with the ball each time he came up. As fun as the games are, I can't wait for the seasons to end. I need a little break from all the practices and hustling here and there. I will so enjoy getting to sit back a little and do some reading or crocheting/knitting. But I think it'll be just in time for the holidays.



I've been spending lots of time going through the kids closets. There are lots of clothes to go through. I've been making a list of clothing items that the kids need due to growth spurts. I've been bagging items to go to the thrift store. Old, broken toys are getting tossed and those that aren't used very often are going to the garage.

One of the things on my To-Do list is to go through my email folder and delete, delete, delete. I have so many newsletters from different groups that I fully intend to read but never get around to because of time limitations. For many of them, I think I'm just going to go in and unsubscribe. I also have a lot of those that come from Netflix that say, "We have received (insert name of DVD)". I tend to keep those, just in case they come back later and say, "We never received such and such DVD"! Well, of course, that hasn't happened, so I'm going to just delete all those. Then I have all the newsletters from Borders bookstore. I keep those because I want to read about all the latest books coming out. But honestly, my To Be Read list is long enough as it is. So, those will be deleted. I hope to have a clutter free inbox soon!

Ryan lost another tooth. His two front teeth were loose but were very stubborn about coming out. Luckily, a school friend of his was playing tag, and accidentally hit Ryan in the mouth. But only one tooth got knocked out. The other one is still hanging on. I keep reminding him to wiggle that tooth. I hope it's not there much longer. I can't seem to get myself to be the one to pull it out.

I made a menu plan for this week but I've already had to alter it. We will be going out to eat with Steve's visiting sister and brother-in-law tomorrow night so that will change the plan a little. I hope to post my interesting (hee hee) menu plan later.

Swimming, Swimming, and More Swimming!

Gosh, I hadn't realized how long it had been since I last posted!

I've been consumed with the swimming pool! Ryan and Emily started swim lessons last week and since they were a little scared of doing some stuff in the water, I've been taking them to the pool at the park to get them used to the water a little more. Back floats and dunking their heads in the water have been their weak spots. I take them around the pool on my back and have them practice their kicking. That gets me a little tired after awhile. I try to help them with their back floating, but that's a little trickier. They both don't like to have the back of their heads in the water. But we do what's comfortable for them so they don't freak out. That would defeat the purpose. I'm trying to make everything fun while trying to practice what they need to be learning. And, little by little, they're making progress. They're not as afraid any more, and they're just now starting to dunk their heads all the way down!

So, I'm a little tuckered out right now. Along with the swimming, we still have basketball practices and games to go to. Luckily, this is the last week of swimming lessons. I wish basketball was over, but both Kathryn and Ryan's teams have playoffs. I don't know how the playoffs will work as this is our first year of basketball. I secretly hope our teams lose so we can be finished! I know that sounds awful, but Kathryn and Ryan are tired of it already, too!

I don't know how all you soccer moms out there do it. I get tired of all the running around. I guess by now, you're probably wondering why I sign up the kids for all these sports. Well, aside from the swimming, which was my idea, Steve is the one that enjoys all these sporting things and he signs them up. He loves doing this stuff with the kids and they enjoy it, too (most of the time)! I enjoy it, too, but up to a point. Once it starts to get me frazzled with the running around from place to place, I'm ready to hang it all up. That's where I'm at right now.

I haven't had a chance to upload some pictures lately, but I hope to get to it soon. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Sorry if this post sounded a little whiny. I do love my life and wouldn't trade it for anything!

Random

The week so far has been spent doing lots of yard work, getting rid of overgrown plants and pulling weeds. Also, we're getting a new screen door for the front, so I cleaned the front porch area. I know entrances look nicer without one, but we love to have our front door open in the summer, especially in the evening time when the cool breezes come. But we don't want the mosquitoes and other bugs to come in with it!

I didn't get around to doing another menu plan this week because I'm still following the one from last week. The Chicken with Orzo came out great and so did the Pizza Noodle Bake. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of them because I didn't think of it. I'm not used to taking pictures of my meals. I guess because everyone knows what chicken nuggets, spaghetti, and tacos look like (frequent meals around here)! LOL!

Summer vacation is right around the corner - next Tuesday as a matter of fact. I'm looking forward to getting to sleep in a little bit longer - not too much longer, though, as I like to start my day with some quiet time while everyone is still sleeping. Ryan and Kathryn have both started basketball this summer. I'm not too thrilled, but I won't get into that!:)

I got some gas this morning for 4.35 a gallon. That was the best I could find and that was at Costco. The lines there are so long, at times, six or seven deep! It reminds me of the lines back in the 70's (I know, I'm dating myself)! The gas station closest to me was already at 4.59! I don't know how much more of an increase we can take! I wish I had a smaller car but we need the space that my minivan offers.

Well, I think I'll take out my knitting and have a go at it!

Catching Up

Last weekend was tournament weekend and we all had a great time. Kathryn's team didn't do so well (they lost all their games and didn't score one goal), but it was a good experience for her team. Most all the teams in the tournament were competetive teams meaning they practice almost everyday and just go around playing in tournaments. Kathryn's team is your basic recreational soccer team. And believe me, you can tell the difference. They were a little intimidated at first because all the other teams they played were so good. But by the third game, they were a little less shell shocked and just played the best they could. They even made the other team sweat a little bit! :) Kathryn's has a wonderful coach and she explained to them that she didn't put them in this tournament so they could get smeared by the opponents. She put them in so they could have some experience playing against better teams and raise their level of play and just to have some fun playing in a tournament. In spite of the outcome, they all had a super time and so did the parents. Last weekend was super hot, but playing by the beach was great. We had ocean breezes the whole time!

Kathryn in her uniform.

This picture is kind of hard to see but it's a shot of Kathryn standing next to a girl on the other team. This other girl is probably over six feet tall! And these are 10 year old girls! It was kind of hard to play defense against her!

Remember the story about my trees? Well, I had a visit from the supervisor of tree maintenance for my city. He looked around, checked the roots, checked the dirt, and said the trees were getting too much water! My trees are Holly Oaks and he said these trees don't need a lot of water. He suggested I change the schedule for my sprinkler system so that the trees don't get as much water. I can't believe that we are the only homeowners who are watering around the trees so much, but our trees are almost the only ones that look the way they do. The tree man said that over time, if the trees get too much water, they will start looking like ours. I find it a little odd that watering a tree too much will make it look like ours but I guess I'll start watering around the tree less. I'll have to adjust the sprinklers and make sure the water is not hitting the tree trunks and set the timer for a shorter amount of time. I'll have to find the right balance so that the grass doesn't suffer and turn all yellow, especially in the coming hot summer months.

I also had a visit from the plumber this week. We've had two leaks on the faucets outside of our house for the longest time, but we finally had to call when my kids tried to pull the backyard garden hose to the front yard, even though it wouldn't reach. I don't know why they didn't realize that we have a hose in the front. Well, they pulled and pulled until it popped out of the faucet, taking with it some ring part of the faucet! Kathryn came in the house saying something happened with the hose so when I went out to look, I saw the water gushing out of the faucet. It looked much worse than it actually was. But, the plumber needed to be called because now that the hose was no longer attached, I could see how much water was really leaking out. Enough to leave the ground in a puddle.

Luckily the plumber just had to put some new part. He did the same thing to our leak in the front yard and that was that. I was thinking since the leaks were there for a while that we would have some damage on some old pipes, but he said they didn't look too bad. So I think we made out pretty good.

Tomorrow we're off to the wild animal park for a day with the animals!

Tournament Weekend

Kathryn is playing in her first soccer tournament this weekend and we are all excited. It's going to be hot over here but where she's playing is real close to the beach so we should have nice cool breezes.

Kathryn will be playing two games today and in between I need to take Ryan for a haircut. I've delayed it so many times already that he really couldn't go much longer without him starting to look too unkempt.

This past week has been mostly spent doing some spring cleaning of our patio. The weather has been very warm so I've hosed down the patio, cleaned windows, dusted cobwebs, beat out some old mats and just did some sprucing up. While out there, I'm sure finding a lot of those black beetles I mentioned before. I think I'm kind of getting used to them now. I'm not so freaked out.

Well, I'm off to the tournament. I hope I can take some decent pictures to post later.
I'll leave with this link for a free Fruitista Freeze from Taco Bell if you like that type of food. It looks delicious, especially on a nice warm day!

Saturday

Today started out with Kathryn's soccer game. Her team won 4-0 so that was great. Right after that, we headed out to my great-niece's 2yr birthday party. We had a great time even though it was super hot! It was held at a park but thankfully, there was lots of shade. Later, all the kids got to go in the sprinkler they had going. I didn't know there would be one at this park so I didn't bring any change of clothes or towels or anything. But no one cared. It was so hot anyway, they all dried up with the heat pretty fast anyway. They had a blast so that's what counts.

Tomorrow, we are off to the Youth Expo. There will be lots of exhibits from the youth of our county (I think). Kathryn's mission will be on display as well as those of her classmates. Her class had a field trip there yesterday, so she got a sneak preview. She says her mission got first place, but I think actually they all got blue ribbons.



I made a discovery today. I think this summer, we (meaning our area) are going to have an abundance of black beetles. I saw two of them this morning in our garage. Yuck! Then I saw a couple at Kathryn's soccer game. Then I saw one at the party today! I'm not sure if they are stag beetles, but they're big and black. Maybe they're ground beetles? I just hope they don't find a way into the house.

Now, I'm off to watch Gone With the Wind. I've never seen it before and I thought I'd give it a try. Sometimes, nothing beats watching an old classic movie!

The Fall sports season is over finally. Ryan had his last baseball game today along with the usual end of season Pizza party. He has a lot of fun playing and it's great to see him improve, little by little. He will start again next spring. Kathryn ended her soccer season last weekend and her team barely missed going to the playoffs. She has improved so much since she started playing ( 2 seasons ago) that her coach nominated her to tryout for the All-Stars! But, after talking it over with her, we made the decision to not tryout this time. It would entail a huge time commitment with many long practices per week. Right now, she's still getting used to the homework routine at her new school and it's a lot of work. I would hate for her schoolwork to suffer. She's doing so well. Hopefully, she can play good enough next season that her coach would nominate her again. We'll see what happens.

Last week we had Parent/Teacher conferences at school. Both kids are doing excellent work and their teachers are very pleased with them. Needless to say, we are proud of how both of them are doing in school.

Tomorrow is dentist day for me :( I had my cleaning last week and the dentist found some more work that he could do. Not quite cavities but what could be the start of them. He's very much into preventive work. I guess that's why I'm there a lot!

That's what's going on in my household at this moment. I wish that I could say that I'll be posting my menu tomorrow. I haven't done that in awhile, but I don't think I'll get to do that this week, again. Maybe I can do a shortened version, keeping in mind Thanksgiving and all.

Farm Day

Today I took Kathryn & Ryan to an educational farm. We had lots of fun seeing the farm animals and the vegetable plants. Emily didn't go as she seems to be afraid of the animal noises. I attempted to take her yesterday, but she wouldn't budge after hearing the cow "moo."

Here is a picture of one of the goats. He attempted to eat my jacket but I was alert and moved away before he succeeded.

Here is the biggest pig I've ever seen. I'm a city girl so this creature was BIG! In this picture she is waiting for her food. The farmer (for lack of a better name for the worker) was making his rounds and feeding all the animals. Miss Piggy is quite anxious!

Anyway, we all had a good time. Later in the afternoon, Ryan had a game. He is a good player. He hasn't use the T all season.

Tomorrow, we are planning on going to a nature center at a local regional park. The weather might be cool and windy so I'm not sure yet if we'll be venturing out. Ryan is getting over another ear infection and Emily is in the midst of a real snotty cold. We shall see.

PS. I'm still attempting to upload pictures so that they appear where I want them so pardon the not so polished look.

Sports Season

Kathryn started her soccer season (at least with her first practice) today. She had lots of fun although she started out nervous, having to meet all the new girls. She will have practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was so,so cold today! We just finished with a good rain today so we were left with clouds and cold wind. The girls were all huffing and puffing so they didn't hardly feel it.

Tomorrow is Ryan's baseball practice as well as Kathryn's REP (religious education) at church.

So, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are all taken up with some activity. I don't know how I'll like that. I'll need to adjust my menus because there's not much time to do any dinner cooking after practices. I'll have to plan for some easy things like spaghetti, pizza, fish sticks, quesadillas, Crock Pot recipes, or hot dogs.

Well, I'm off to look through some cookbooks!