OUR LUCKY DAY?

The heat is on!

Other than the birth of my nephew and going to see "Truce", this is what we've been up to...

More more more park time!

Swimming lessons for both kids. Poor Juliana is exhausted so much these days, so sitting up for 30 minutes to watch her brother in the pool isn't really her cup o' tea.

This was taken yesterday at my dad's house. My step-brother graduated from Univ. CA Davis, so we had a party for him. Jason and my kids stayed home. I wish they could have made it. In the pic is my sister Stephanie, my nephew Trace, niece Taylore, quasi-niece Chandler, and her new baby sister Hunter.

More kiddos. In the pic are a couple more in the grandkids mix... Kelsey and Logan, with Trace and Kamryn smooshed in the pic too.

Logan is playing with his hopefully-soon-to-be little brother. Little "D" was just placed in hopes of adoption. He's a cutie pie! Also in the pic is the back of Karsyn's head. All of the kiddos, plus my two, equals 12 grandchildren for my dad and Dorene... 3 of them in just in the last 6 weeks.

Let me tell ya, yesterday was over 100 degrees in Sacramento. It was soooooooooooo hot! I was so happy to come home to the cool Pacific breeze.

Ohhhh, we also saw Toy Story 3. It was really cute! I am not in love with the new characters though, but the story line and the old characters were absolutely adorable!

Truce

Today was one of those days. I'll tell you more about my day another time, although I wanted to share with you a play that I saw. It is written by a family friend, Marilee Talkington. The show is called, "TRUCE" and is her experience with going blind. I have known Marliee for as long as I can remember, so for 30 years or so. She is a few years older than I am. Her parents threw my only bridal shower on the west coast, and her mother taught me how to drive (even though she's blind too). Yes, that is kind of a joke, but she did ride in the passenger seat many times when I only had my permit and she'd say, "Nobody knows I'm blind." She'd also say, "Is the light red? JUST GO THROUGH IT!" Haaaaa! I digress...

Marliee has performed her show in New York, San Francisco, and today was in our hometown of Woodland. The show is amazing, especially since most of it were memories I had of her family as well. If you EVER have the chance to see her show, please please do. Here is the link to her production company, http://www.vanguardianproductions.com/

You can google her name and see many fascinating articles and acclaim for her show. She is only one of a few professional legally blind actresses in the country. If I understand correctly, she is one of two in the country. She is fabulous!!!! There are also videos on youtube that you can watch. AMAZING!

Just the 3 of us

Loving their new baby cousin. I absolutely adore this picture!

Precious Boy

Cristian Richard

June 23, 2010

3:10pm

7 lbs, 1 oz, 19 3/4 in.

My brother and sis-in-law are absolutely elated with their baby boy! I was able to hold my nephew and enjoy watching my brother's first few moments with his son. Something we all look forward to in our lives. Pictures will come soon.

Cristian... the Spanish spelling of the traditional name.

Richard... tradition in our family for the first born son to take the father's father's name. Richard is my dad's name.

Waiting for baby

Soooo, yesterday WAS a huge changing day in my life for two reasons. One, well ummm, is really not something for a blog post, and the other is that I got a phone call from my brother that the baby is coming! He called about 8pm to tell me that Laura's water broke at home. I was up all night wondering if I'd get a text that the baby was born. Nope, not yet. The latest news is that Laura is feeling good, but not much is going on. The kids and I are going to spend the night at my mom's tonight hoping that he will be born while we are there. More news as I know what is going on...

A changing day

If you've ever seen the Dr. Phil Show, perhaps the opening statement during the oh-so fabulous entrance music will ring a bell...

"Today could be a changing day in your life." Maybe that is not an exact quote, but I'll pretend it is for now.

Dad's day n' more

Here's what we've been up to in the last few days...

A few times at the park. Releasing energy is my #1 priority these days, soooo the park is the best place to do it.

Bowling with 11 of our favorite people. Juliana hugging Jack, her buddy for the moment.

Shadow looking forward to his homemade cake. Happy 7th b'day Shadow! He's even lickin' his lips... haaaaaaaaaa!

The beach today. We went to Capitola for a fun Daddy's Day outing.

Daddy's "Babydoll" and "Goo".

After the beach visit, we went to a restaurant featured on the Tr@vel Ch@nnel's show, Man vs. Food. It was super yummy!!!! We're home now, we're de-sanded, and we're relaxing before hitting our pillows. Happy Daddy's Day!

WOOF!

We have a birthday boy in the house today... SHADOW IS 7 YEARS OLD TODAY! Happy birthday Shadow! Kev and I are off to the doggie store to get him a treat or two. Just because Shadow is our 4 legged child, doesn't mean he will not have a cake, presents, and even a party later tonight.... perhaps even a party with some of his closest friends.

This pic was taken in Sept. 2003 a few days after we got him. Check out Juliana... she was terrified of him. As soon as he stepped near her, she'd flip out! (Yikes, our house is a mess in that pic. Haaaa, oh well.)

Taken somewhere on the Pacific coast. He has turned into a real dog occasionally when he chases sticks. Normally during the day he will snore for hours on end, he's afraid of the ducks that live outside, he hates water... but he loves to sniff other doggies behinds. Haaaaa, perhaps he really is a dog.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHADOW aka Piggie, Donut, and "Stop it".

I'd love to know...

Summer, day 2ish

Sunday was a fantastic day! I took Kev to the area where my most of my family and my friends live. Juliana and Daddy stayed home for some one-on-one time. Daddy didn't feel so good, so that was a good idea anyhow. Sooooo, Kev and I met my mom at my brother and sis-in-law's house. We just chatted for a short time, then my mom and Kev left for their sleepover together. Haaaaaa! I stayed and chatted with my bro and sis-in-law for a couple hours. It was nice without kids. Their baby is due VERY soon, so this will be the last time before he is born.

From their house, I headed to my friend Kitty and Nikki's house. While I was there, I got to give plenty of kisses to their son Kaden. I'm pretty convinced that he has the sweetest giggle EVER! They are such fantastic mommies!!!!

As I said earlier, Kev and my mom had a sleepover at her house. I heard it was a blast... even mom's idea of sleeping outside under the stars. Yeah, that lasted about 2 hours, I think.

Sunday night was full of drama. Jason felt awful all weekend, and it really was bad sunday night. He drove himself to the ER. They gave him an IV of morphine for pain, doped him up, and sent him home. I had to get Juliana out of bed at 3am to pick him up, so we were exhausted yesterday. He ended up going to work. He's still feeling really crappy, but he has a doc appt later today. Poor guy.

So, Daddy went to work yesterday, while Juliana and I had a morning alone. We went shopping for bathing suits and a few other summer items. It was fun! We played a couple games together, and went to lunch together too. After lunch, we headed to meet my cousins visiting from Singapore. We met at my Granny's "home" and spent time with GG/Granny for about 30 minutes. Poor Granny did well with the visit, although seemed really confused with who everybody was. I hate to watch that. The visit was ok though.

From there, we finally met up with my mom and Kev. We ended up going swimming and hanging out for a couple more hours. My cousins had just flew in from Singapore at 9am, so they were exhausted from the 26 hours of total flying time. Ughhhh! We had a fabulous time with them!!!

Kev, Elle, and Cooper swimming together.

Juliana, Elle, Cooper, and Kevin... Aren't they adorable?!?!?!

This is what our summer mornings are going to look like. Art in the kitchen while sporting pajamas. If every moment in the summer could go this well. I can wish, right?! Pic taken about 10 minutes before beginning this post.

Bugz and a quick dip

((APPLAUSE)) I know I take stellar photos! Hold off on the praise, please. I'm blushing!

Juliana's class play, BUGZ! Juliana played a ladybug and an army ant. It was such an adorable play. Juliana is in the back with her arms near her face. I know you know that because of the stellar picture quality.

Much better pic, including the eyes closed n' all. Here are a few of Juliana's friends. L to R- Juliana, Sonia, Lyanna, and Tiffanie.

SWIMMING TODAY! It's 88 degrees here today. It doesn't normally get that hot, although we get a few of these days each year. Inland is near 100 or higher... ewwwww!

Last Day!

Today is the last day of 2nd grade for Juliana. It is a tough day since Juliana is such an emotional girl, but also for other reasons too. For two years in a row, the last day of school brought tears upon tears for us. The last day of Kindergarten was the day that Juliana's best friend Alissa moved to a new place. It's probably safe to say where she moved since they are currently packing up boxes and moving to a new location, but I won't. Then last year, the last day of first grade, Mrs. Braun moved back to her home state, which happens to be 3000 miles from us. We were super lucky to have met lifelong friends during the first months that we moved here. Martine (Alissa's mom), and Kerri AKA Mrs. Braun, are two of my most wonderful friends I will ever have. In the short time we actually were all together, we laughed, cried, drank, ate, repeat repeat repeat... Gosh, I miss you!!!!!!!!

Kev, Mrs. Braun, and Juliana a few days before she left.

Juliana and Alissa.

Nobody is leaving us this year, although this year is tough in its own way. Juliana adores her teacher, and Juliana will also finally be moving on with a new classroom and new classmates. She has had the same classroom and classmates for 2 years. This summer will have a lot of challenges and new beginnings for Juliana. Cheers to summer vacation.....

(Almost) Wordless

Thanks for the reminder sweetie, sometimes you have to stop to smell the... poppies.

When life...

... gives you lemons, make lemonade. Ohhh, I'd like to add a whole lotta sugar to my lemonade please.

Half way there!

Call us silly, but we celebrate the little things in life... today, we're celebrating Juliana's half birthday. Yup, she's 8 1/2 today! She keeps reminding me that when she is 9, she will be half way to being an adult. Amazing how her little mind thinks, and amazing that time goes by incredibly fast.

GOSH, I love her!!!!! I had to muster this smile out of her on the beach. She was covered up with a towel because the beach was noisy and she was tired. Little does she know that she was contributing to that noise pollution on the beach about 2 minutes beforehand. Haaaaa!

Also, today is Kevin's first day of summer vacation. Ohhhhhh boy! I made him a schedule for this week, read him one day of it, and then he said to me, "I can read it mommy", and HE DID! There were a couple words that were tough, like "computer" and "hospital", but other than that, he got it, and the times too. I'm not ready for these two to be grown up.

Act of Kindness

On KELLY'S KORNER, she has a theme of the week, and this week is, "Random Acts of Kindness". I thought I'd participate this week.

The picture below was taken the day after Christmas 2009, Dec. 26, at an intersection near a major freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. Juliana decided that morning that she had enough presents and she wanted to make somebody else happy. We made 2 lunches that day and dropped them off with 2 VERY happy homeless men. (The story is a bit more complicated than that, but that is the gist of it.) We could have made 100 more and not scratched the surface of feeding everyone.

In the picture, one of the men is walking away with his Christmas bag FULL of yummy food. Hopefully an 8 year old little girl made him very happy that day. I'd like to think so.

Mr. Personality

Kev is officially a PRESCHOOL GRADUATE! Go little man!

He had two graduations, one for his MWF class, and one for his T/Th class. I feel really good about him going into Kindergarten. Many parents came up to me after each graduation and said their children love Kevin and do not want to lose contact with us. They think he is Mr. Personality and one of the friendliest children in town. NICE! He is a pretty darn good kid, and I am so proud of him for overcoming so many obstacles, and is continuing to do so in many areas at home. Its tough to explain via the blog, but let me assure you, he is a wonderful child with a lot on his plate.

Speaking of overcoming obstacles, one of the biggest things he is overcoming is his eating issues. Today at his occupational therapy appointment, his therapist was super proud of him and SO AM I! This week he had 2 bites of an eggplant sandwich, a couple itty bites of pork, and chicken, and today he mastered raisins!!!! He finished the whole box! (For those of you that do not know his eating issues, he did eat other foods, but the eggplant, meats, and raisins are new foods for him. It isn't as if those were the only things he ate in a weeks time.) Next week, the therapist was very specific and wants me to bring a tomato, green beans, and jicima. It ought to be interesting.

This is super funny... one of the parents told me that she is willing to bet that Kevin will be the one at his high school graduation that streaks on the stage. Haaaaaaa! After the two days of preschool graduation, I have to totally agree with her. I can't explain his personality each time they called his name, but he totally got up, waved to the crowd, bowed, and sported the biggest smile. It was hilarious! He was definitely a crowd pleaser! I am glad Daddy was there today to witness it too.

CHOOSE YOUR WORDS...

CAREFULLY!

I am ready to jump out of my skin with words and phrases people use on a day-to-day basis. Just today I heard from Mario Cantone (one of my favorite comedians) on The View that BP (the oil company) stood for "bipolar" because it can't get anything straight. Ok ok, that is not the quote, but I got so bent out of shape about it, that I can't remember the correct words. Whatever it was, it was uncalled for.

On the same note, today at the park after Kev's preschool graduation, I was talking to someone who was referencing their ex-husband's new wife. She said, "She's a real bitch! She's gotta be bipolar!" WHAT???

Yesterday, I hear an adult saying, "That's so gay! How retarded!" in reference to something they didn't like. I am so so so so tired of words being slung around like they don't mean anything. Although I am not bipolar, gay, or retarded, those words are highly offensive to me when used as something to hurt another person. Actually, I'd venture to say that 99 percent of the time, the words are never meant to hurt anyone, it is just that people have lost their vocabulary and choose lazy labels to identify people or situations. Often people think they are being funny by saying these phrases. NO YOU'RE NOT! Choose your words carefully... WORDS HAVE POWER!