IHOT!?!?

Here's a post I created some time ago. Seeing as we are experincing heat in the 90's (and the a/c at school was broken today- grrrr...) i thought I would post it.

We went to IHOP for dinner the other night, Rick, the girls and me. We told the girls as we were leaving that we were going to IHOP for dinner. The following discussion happened on the way:

E: I love IHOT

M: No- not IHOT, IHOP

E: don't tell me that Maddie, its IHOT

A: be nice Maddie, its IHOC

M:ok, it's not IHOT, its ICOC (Mommy and daddy chuckle and smirk)

E:No its IHOT

A: I think its IHOP

Daddy:It's IHOP, like hop like a bunny

M: hop, hop, hop

E: I like IHOC

A: No- IHOT

Thank goodness IHOP is close to home! Once we were leaving IHOP i did a potty run with Emily and Ashley- it was the 2nd visit for Em, Ashley said she had to go, then had performance anxiety and decided to wait until we got home. Rick and Maddie were waiting by the register for us. Em and Ashley went running across the restaurant yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!" then Ashley said- "I tried to pee-but i didn't". And Emily said, "I peed Ipeed!" for the whole restaurant to hear. The girls have their happy reunion and we head out the door to the van. And I'm sure the restaurant busted with laughter once we left!

Some pictures just for fun :)

Decorating MommyAshley was pretending to be a princess (naturally) and this was her "coach" (her words) and Emily was pulling her around the yard

Madeline took this picture of Emily and Emily did not want her picture taken...My Maddie girl giving me some love...

FFF #5- Spring has Sprung!

Spring has been in SoCal for some time now- thank goodness! We've had record highs lately, but mild weather in between. I thought I saw signs of sprinkles yesterday- but no way! I took 2 days off of work this week and took advantage of this to take the girls to Disneyland today- just the 4 of us. I got a sunburn- yep- Spring is here! We had a great time- I had them wear their big floppy strawberry hats and dressed them a like to make it easier for me to identify them in a crowd. We get more attention this way- but it eases my mind to not have to think what everyone is wearing.

We drew a lot of attention on Main Street while having an ice cream break before heading home. Can you believe I let Maddie choose CHOCOLATE ice cream? Only reason- she always finishes hers and I don't have to :)


Spring also brought about a chance to do a new adventure! We took the girls to fly kites for the first time 2 weeks ago. They were given kites for their birthday (thank you Morgan family!) and couldn't wait to get out and fly them. Of course we picked the weekend with record breaking highs to do it, so our plans to do it on the beach were squashed- we drove by at 2:30 and it was mobbed. So off to a local park we went and it was deserted (they were all at the beach). We got out and noticed almost immediately a lot of red in the grass. And the red was moving. LADYBUGS, everywhere! It was fascinating! I've never seen so many in one place (besides the time my mom bought a box of them to sprinkle around the yard- she dropped the box at one point and it was like a ladybug party popper went off! LOL)- the girls loved it- were a bit squeemish at first- but got right into it- so much for flying kites! The adults ended up doing the running for the most part with the kites and but the girls each had a go at flying their kites- pausing now and then to pick up ladybugs. No one wanted to leave-but i'm sure the ladybugs were happy to see us go!
Ashely bonded with all her ladybugs and spoke gentle words to them

Emily actually has a ladybug on the tip of her finger above.

Maddie was more into flying the kites with Daddy (who by the way is clean shaven again!) she did pause now and then to check out the butterflies- but her main drive was flying kites!

Shout out to Aunt Sara and Uncle Rich!

My nearest and dearest know how much I love me some Paul Frank Julius gear. My sweet sister sara and her new hubby got the girls the PF Julius sweatshirts picture above 2 years ago for their birthday (?? details are still fuzzy around that time) and we have worn them for as long as possible- one has a zipper broken and the other 2 are- well- too small, especially on maddie- they aren't even 3/4 sleeves at this point. So I mentioned this to my sis right before the girls birthday... being the awesome aunt that she is- she went ahead and ordered new ones for them- they are here and we LOVE them! The girls we SOOOO excited to see their new monkey sweatshirts!

I've been TAGGED!

My blogging friend Jennifer has tagged me! So I've been instructed to share 7 things about ME that you might not know... could get interesting! Here we go (or as one of my students likes to say... "let's do this thing")

1. I can't throw away boxes! Drives my friend Michelle crazy, but I probably have EVERY major and minor appliance box in my garage and then some (I love to save the boxes from my decorative stuff too)! You just never know if you will ever need a box! I'm currently cleaning out the garage- here are some boxes I am "letting go" (sniff!). Have I mentioned that I have boxes IN boxes????

2. I can't stand to get my face wet! Yes I wash my face- but I don't stick it in the water of the running shower to do it- i hate when even a drip of water hits my face- call it a water phobia if you will- I really panic when i have to go under water- whether in the shower or when swimming.

3. I love PEEPS! Yep- those fluffy sugar covered marshmallows you get at Easter (and now Halloween and Christmas!) Could eat a box of them myself! By the looks of this picture- Emily is realizing she loves peeps too!

4. My close family knows about this next little "quirk"- if you stick your hand out to me like you are passing something- I will always stick my hand out to take it- no matter what it is. My family delights in testing this out often.

5. I LOVE chocolate but can't stand chocolate ice cream- chocolate milkshakes MUST be made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup!

6. I played flute for 9 years. Ok- so some of you know this- but my internet/blogging friends probably don't! yep- I was a band geek! But a cool band geek! Yes- I went to band camp... NO i never went "there" with my flute (but i sure laughed hard when i saw that movie!)! I got to travel a lot with band and I also met some of my closest friends to this day from being in band. I've known Glena since 6th grade (over 20 years) and Julie since 9th (close to 20 years)- we get together about once a month still for dinner or a get together of sorts. Our nickname for ourselves in high school was "the three witches"- you can guess what the uncensored version of that was!

Above: High School Grads 1991 ; Below: Sept. 2007

7. I've gone through FIVE cameras in 4 years. Yep- I'm hard on my cameras. I really want to go to the next level and get an SLR camera- but I just can't make that leap just yet- maybe once the girls are in school/sports/etc. I've taken THOUSDANDS of pictures and have them all backed up on disks that are EVERYWHERE- hmm... maybe i have a box that will fit them all? :)

So now I'm supposed to "tag" my friends to do what I just did- so here goes!

Tanya M.

Tanya S. (this is the Farmhouse Kids mom- I tagged her blog instead of the kids blog since this is about HER! LOL)

Judy

Sheri (private blog)

Pam

FFF #4 SIBLINGS!

7:45 am-PRESS RELEASE #2: We interrupt this FFF to bring you the news that ALL THREE girls slept in panties last night and kept them dry! WOOO HOOOO! Nothing like a little "SIBLING" rivalry to get the ball rolling!! :) Go Emily! Go Ashley! And go Maddie (day 3 of dry panties!)

First- let me say- Jennifer I am working on my "tag"- its been harder than I thought but it is in the works and a lot of fun- stay tuned! :)

This weels FFF from Sarah is about Siblings. The word means so much to me! First- I think of my sister- Sara. She is 5 years younger than me, but one of my closest friends!

Of course there are my girls- siblings themselves- they love to yell "SISTER POWER" lately and put their hands on their hips like super heroes! How special that they will always have each other and that special bond- not only as sisters, but triplets.

I think of my mom and her siblings- how whenever the 4 get together they cherish the time they have together and tell wonderful family stories. I could listen to them talk for hours!

And of course I've posted this before- but I just love the picture of our 3 generations of siblings/sisters. How blessed we are to have each other!

PRESS RELEASE!!

I am very happy to announce to you all that MADELINE slept in panties last night and kept them dry! This is HUGE for us! Maddie was the last to potty train (we really buckled down with her only about 3 weeks ago) and the first to wear panties at night! I took her for a Foster's Freeze treat this afternoon! I'm so proud!

Am I Married?

So FFF has been put off a week as Sarah (kiss the frog for me) is on vacation (lucky gal!) Since starting my blog I have been drafting various entries to share one day with you. Today seems like a great day to share one! (And hey- I finally figured out how to link things!)

We had an interesting conversation with the girls the night of my birthday. Ashley was looking at the pictures at my moms house and came across a picture of my sister and her husband on their wedding day. So we asked her who was in the picture- "Aunt Sara and Uncle Rich" she responded- here's the rest of the converstation:

C (me): what are aunt sara and uncle rich doing in the picture?

A: They are getting married. (silly as she says it)

C: Don't they look nice?

A: Yes!

C: and are aunt sara and uncle rich married now?

A: NOOOOOOO! (laughter around the room ensues- it was a large crowd)

C: really? What about mommy and daddy? Are we married?

A and E(who has since joined since this was apparently where the fun was): NOOOOOOOO! Mommy and daddy aren't married! That's silly!

C: really? well- what about grammie and grandpa then?

A&E: NOOOOOO WAY!

C: and Aunt Chelle and Uncle Mike?

A&E: NO!

It all had us in stitches and we couldn't quite figure it all out until about a week later when the girls were playing dress up. Ashley told me, "Mommy, I need to wear this dress because I'm getting married tonight. Can you help me?" , "Of course dear" I respond (she's my dress up gal). So I asked as any mother should, whom are you marrying dear? The response, "Prince Charming". Lovely! "Who is Prince Charming?", Ashley responds, "Maddie!" Awwww (I think- LOL). So later that day I ask Ashley, "so are you married now?" The response- "No mommy, I took my dress off!" CLICK! Apparently you are NOT married unless you are wearing your wedding dress! Hmmmm... that would be a sight wouldn't it?

Ocean Beach Bird Poop anyone?

Since we're talking beaches- I dug up this post that I have had ready to go for a couple weeks now- a little beach humor :)

My aunt and uncle (my mom's brother and sister) came for a visit from Connecticut. We always look forward to their visits and the news that they bring of life in CT. "Grandma Jean" was so excited to give us our present she brought us that she got it out the first night she was here after travelling all day... what on earth could she be so excited to give us?

bird poop...

ashley was less than impressed...

"poop? I don't want poop."

"It's bird poop you eat love"

"I'm not eating bird poop- yuck, that's disgusting" (see the post on Ashley's mad face to see the look I got)

Its not just any bird poop either- its huckleberry Ocean Beach bird poop!

"watch, mommy will eat the bird poop, its yummy"

so ashley gives it a go... "hey mommy, I like bird poop!"

So now the treat of choice for going potty is poop! "Mommy I pee'd- that means i can have a bird poop!"

Thank you Grandma Jean! :)

FFF- Beach Memories!

I took this picture (also in my banner) last October when Southern California was going through some terrible fires. The devastation was horrible, but the sunsets were beautiful!

The girls ask me every day, "Is it summer yet?" They know it is coming because we have started to accumulate items for summer fun- inflatables, swim suits,... they KNOW. All 3 want to know if we are going to the "gagoon" (Seaside Lagoon) but I sadly have to answer- "I don't know". Every year we wait to see if they will reopen for the summer (they are talking about closing it to remodel, to demolish and rebuild/upgrade, or to demolish period and let something else take its place). i would be very sad to lose it for good. I spent many summers there myself as a child/teen. We are so fortunate to live 10 minutes from the beach, we should go there more often :) Come on SUMMER!

Some pictures from last 2 summers at the "gagoon" and also summer 2006 bonfire night.

This is a view of the whole lagoon- we had it to ourselves for about 1/2 an hour after it opened one morning- its a saltwater pool right next to the beach- lifeguards, no riptide/waves and fun for all ages (though it could be heated) :)

Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro for a bonfire