Memorial Anniversary

I celebrated 2 important things last weekend:  Memorial Day and my 11th wedding anniversary.  Both are a huge deal if you ask me.  

I'll start with the former!

Memorial Day was actually celebrated by us on Saturday the 28th.  We were invited to go to a "couples + kids" beach party.  My hubby had to work, so it was just me braving it alone with 3 kids.  Yikes!  When the reality that I would be there with all 3 kids and with zero spousal backup, really made me nervous.  Then I realized that I could imagine it being hard all I want, but I would never really know how hard it was until I actually attempted to take them to the beach alone.  So, I put on my Momma Bear boots, got up early, packed up the kids and headed to the beach.  Incase you didn't already know this, there are about a million beaches in California.  All of which seemed to be lined up right next to eachother.  You can literally drive right past the beach that you want to go to without even knowing it.  Knowing this made me drive very cautiously down the PCH, searching for the beach that I was supposed to meet everyone at.  Luckily, I found it no problem.  Phew!  When the kids and I got there, it was cold, extremely windy and the sun hadn't even thought about coming out from behind the clouds.  We waited it out for an hour or so and the sun finally decided to come out and play.  My #1 and #2 made friends instantly with some girls on the beach.  They played and played and played.  I barely saw them except for when they were hungry or thought that they had been stung by a jelly fish on the butt.  

While they were playing, I got to sit with the baby on my lap, and converse with a bunch of ladies that I had never met.  We all had one thing in common, and that was that we all had kids.  We just sat there and talked for hours about our babies/kids.  I really enjoyed it, although one of these days I'm going to have to learn to have conversations with women that don't involve my children.  For now, it's acceptable!  I think....  

When the late afternoon came around, I just knew that the traffic on the 91 would be horrendous, so I made the executive decision that it was time for us to head home.  I packed up all of our beach crap, loaded my exhausted kids up, hugged everyone goodbye, and headed for home.  The traffic on the 91 WAS horrendous.  On top of that, my baby didn't want to take a nap, but my #2 DID.  The baby wouldn't stop whining, cooing, or jibber jabbing, and that made my oldest daughter very very irritated.  She doesn't realize just yet that yelling at the baby is not going to make the baby be quiet.  Needless to say, the ride home was about as close to hell on Earth as I could imagine it to be.  

When we got home we were all ready to eat dinner and go to bed.  I hoped in the shower in an attempt to get the sand out of my hair.  As I stood there letting the water run through my nasty hair, I reflected on the fact that I did it.  I took all of the kids to the beach by myself, and it was...wait for it....FUN.  Then ut of no where, I felt my thighs stinging.  I actually thought that maybe I was stung by a jelly fish too.  Then I realized that I didn't even get into the water.  I looked down and saw that I had THE WORST sunburn on my thighs.  Ooooops!  Like a complete moron, I forgot to put sunscreen on my legs.  To think, I was actually proud of myself that I was wearing shorts to the beach that day.  My legs hadn't seen the light of day in about a year.  When I got out of the shower I saw that my legs closely resembled a lobster.  Then I looked up, and saw that the one spot on my forehead that I hadn't put sunscreen on was equally as lobstery.  Here I am, 4 days later, and my legs and forehead still hurt.  My forehead has decided to peel too, and boy does that make me feel attractive.  Not!  Thank you, Jesus, for aloe vera!

Now, on to the later!

Our 11th wedding anniversary was on Sunday the 29th.  My hubby planned everything out and was going to keep it a secret, until I was snoopy and figured it all out.  I don't know why I did that, because I love surprises.  My sweet sister-in-law helped us out and watched all of the kids for us.  We drove to Palm Springs and went on the Aerial Tramway up the mountain. It was so amazing!  This was way better than the coffee cup that I gave to him that morning with the lyrics to "our song" printed on it.  He said that he liked it, but come on!  How cheese is a coffee cup? Our Tramway basket thingy had a rotating floor so that everyone in the basket could get a complete 360 view of the mountains during the ride.  I wish that I had my camera with me, because the views were spectacular.  There were some dark clouds that were rolling in which made for a kind of awesome doomsday kind of feel at the top of the mountain.  

My hubby had made reservations for us at the restaurant up there called The Peaks.  The couple who we sat next to were also there on there anniversary.  We toasted to our long lasting relationships and wished each other good luck.  The food was not good at all.  Joe said that he had better ravioli from the frozen section at the grocery store, and my salmon tasted like it was from the Ikea cafeteria.  So to make up for our over priced yucky food, we went to PF Chang's for their Great Wall of Chocolate dessert.  About 10 minutes past, and our food server came back and told us that they were all out of the Great Wall of Chocolate.  She then followed it up by saying that they NEVER run out of THAT dessert.  Just our luck, I guess.  To make up for it, our sweet server had the manager comp which ever dessert we wanted.  

All in all, our anniversary was memorable.  We did something that neither of us had ever done and we experienced it together, which is most important.  Here's to many more years of marital bliss!

Seeing My Kids More Clearly

Sometimes I feel like I'm loosing my mind.  Now that I have 3 kids, I am starting to see things a little more clearly when it comes to my older kids.  

Example #1:  I am seeing that my #2 is slightly spoiled.  Before having a baby, I never noticed it.  She is constantly asking for things, and lately when she gets them, she then proceeds to destroy them with a vengeance.  

Case in point:  Her Build A Bear Workshop lamb that I spent entirely too much money on about 2 weeks ago.  I found it on her bedroom floor the other day with a ton of the batting pulled out of it.  I remember about 2 1/2 weeks ago when she begged me for it almost to tears.  I thought, "Gee!  I think that I will surprise her with a "girl date" and go to Build A Bear and get her it.  She would just love that!"  Now I'm regretting the whole thing.  Yikes!

Another case:  She has been begging her Daddy to blow up her pool in the back yard so that she could swim in it.  He has been so busy, so I busted out the air compressor and did it myself.  I spend almost 3 hours blowing it up, spraying it down with the hose, cleaning and scrubbing it with soap, spraying it out again, and then filling it up with water.  She was elated when she saw it all set up for her when she got home from school.  She played in it for a few hours and when I walked out there to check on her for the zillionth time, I discover that she had dumped a TON of dirt into the pool.  When I asked her why, she couldn't tell me why.  She had no idea why she put dirt in her nice clean pool that I spent 3 hour prepping for her.  

In all honesty, I think that she's acting out in a way.  Ever since her baby sister arrived, I've noticed my #2 whining more, asking me questions constantly (who am I kidding, she's always been a jabber jaw), climbing on me more, and purposely doing thing that she knows that she's not supposed to do.  

She has been on this path of destruction for a month or so now.  It's almost as if she hates her toys.  How could you hate Barbie?

She's 5 (almost 6) for crying out loud.  She knows how to follow the rules.  Oy vey!  I am hoping that by praising her more and making more of an effort to spend alone time with her will help her snap out of it.  She IS such a sweet and funny little girl.  She lights up my life! 

Example #2:  I am also seeing that my boy...my #1...is completely dependable.  Horray!  I barely have to do anything for him now.  He makes his own breakfast, can take his own showers, do his own hair, pick out his own clothes, make a PB&J sandwich, take his sister to the park, and even...wait for it...stay at home by himself.  Shocker, I know!  I wasn't sure how old he should be when I let him stay at home by himself for a few hours.  Then I thought about my childhood, and remembered that when I was in elementary school I did the same thing.  I would walk home from school by myself, and be at home alone for about an hour or so until my parents got home from work.  I just followed a very simple rule:  Pretend like you're not home.  Which means, don't answer the door, don't look out the window, and don't go outside until Mom or Dad get home.  So, for now, I let him stay at home when I go to the grocery store. He has to follow my one simple rule too. He basically just watches TV the entire time.  Last time that I did it, he called me twice because he missed me.  I was only gone for 45 minutes.  I love it!

Now if only I could get him to feed is baby sister more often.....

10 Things: My #2 Edition

10 Things

This is my #2.  This is what she looks like now. My beautiful California girl!

This is what she looked like a long time ago.  My little nose miner!

Those days are just a memory along with her baby mullet hair-do.

1. She loves Polly Pockets like no body's business.  Forget about Barbies, she wants things miniaturized.   

2. She HATES anything made of potatoes except for french fries.  Who's kid is she?  Right?  I mean come on!

3. She is obsessed with the ice cream truck, and will chase that darn truck for a few blocks if I'd let her.

4.  She occassionally whacks her big brother so hard on the back that it will make him cry.  Girl's got strength!

5. She loves to help me cook, and at times it's a bit trying.  I'm just afraid that she'll burn her little arms trying to maneuver around the stove.  I've even caught her trying to cut open a huge watermelon with a knife, and she exclaimed "Mommy, I GOT it!".  Scary!

6. She wants to be a chef when she grows up because, and I quote, she "Wants to cook for her Mommy all the time".  I've got noooo problem with that!

7.  She prayed for a little sister when I was pregnant.  Now that she has a little sister, she prays for her every night before bed.  It's the sweetest most endearing thing EVER.

8.  She likes to be tickled.  Not just a little bit, but a LOT.  She doesn't want you to stop tickling her.  Even if she yells, "STOP IT!", she really does not want you to stop.  When you do stop tickling her you can expect a little bit of whining to ensue.  

9.  She knows how to work the internet, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone and iPod like a pro.  It's pathetic that she's so tech savvy already at age 5.   However, it was inevitable because her Daddy my hubs is a Mac FREAK!

10.  She says things like: "Mommy are you struhstraited?", "When are we going to move, because our house is old?", "This is boring boring boring!", and "Jesus came into my heart when I was in the bath tub.  I Baptized myself!"

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Okay folks.  Below is my oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.  It is sooo yummy!  Soooo tender!  Soooo perfect!  My Mom might be mad at me for sharing this recipe who are we kidding...I run that risk with every recipe that I share with you :-P.  If you don't like raisins, like my punk-a-roos, then you can omit them if you'd like.  Enjoy!  

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup of Crisco shortening (Yes, Crisco shortening.  NOT butter!)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 tsp. Vanilla

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. Cinnamon

½ tsp salt

3 cups Quaker Oats (Old-fashioned or quick oats.  Which ever you have.)

1-cup raisins

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Beat together Crisco and sugars in a mixer until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla; blend well

Combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl; stir together.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture a little at a time.  Mix until everything in combined.

Stir in oats and raisins; mix until everything is combined.

Drop by rounded tbsps onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-9 minutes or until slightly brown.  It is important that you don't over bake these cookies.  If you do then they will be grody!

Remove cookie sheet from oven, let sit on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, and then transport them from the cookie sheet to a wire rack to finish the cooling process (about 20 minutes).

Store in an air tight container with a piece of bread to keep them from getting hard.  

Lesson learned!

This last week has been cray-zay!  From the looks of it, this coming week doesn't look much better either.  Oh dear, Lord!  Let me explain.

My sweet sister-in-law asked me last Monday if I could watch her kiddos so that her and her husband could get some work done around their house.  I willingly offered my services and suggested that my niece and nephew stay the night on Friday.  Let me preface this by saying that I love my niece and nephew and they are very cute and sweet kids.  Normally when I watch them, things are fine and all the kids love each other.  Which is why I was so confident that I could handle it..no prob.

My hubby was home all day on Friday, so he was around to help me with the baby. Which was fantastic, and it gave me a chance to make cupcakes with my daughter and my niece.  They made chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Little did I know, that my daughter hates cream cheese frosting.  What in the heck!  Who's kid is she?  The kids got along fine and they went to bed without any problems.

However, when Saturday morning rolled around, my hubby had to ski-daddle off to work.  Which left me with 5 kids.  In the trenches with 5 kids, apparently.  5 crazy, loud kids.  5 kids, that for some reason chose NOT to get along.  5 kids who are quite lovely, normally, who seemed to hate each other all weekend.  I thought that I could handle it.  I have been able to handle 4 of them, but when the baby is added into the mix, things get a little hairy around here.  

My own daughter seemed to be the biggest problem this weekend.  She refused to share anything with my niece her own stinkin cousin...her best friend too.  I had to discipline her about what felt like a million zillion times.  I felt so bad for her.  I couldn't get to the bottom of what was bothering her so much.  This is when all of those parenting books would have come in handy.....if only I had read them..hmmm.  

On top of my #2 being a huge booger, my littlest was so grumpy.  She couldn't take good naps because all of the other kids were so loud.  They didn't mean to be loud.  I told them to be quiet, and they really did try, but when you add unintentional door slamming and laughter, it makes it hard for a 3 1/2 month old to snooze.  Needless to say, the baby was on my hip all day long....fussing, all day long.  

When the hubs came home last night, he found a very frazzled wife.  Someone who was a far cry from the lovely woman that he had woken up next to that very morning.  He thoughtfully rescued me from myself.  He grabbed the baby, and told me to take a chill pill.  If only those pills really existed.  They might exist, but only in a red liquid form that is served in a wine glass :-)  

This then forced me to recall that I had not had any time to myself in a long time.  Not the kind of "time to myself" that is the equivalent to locking myself in the bathroom for 15 minutes while my kids pound on the door in an effort to get to me.  I mean the kind of "time to myself" that requires me getting in my car ALONE and going somewhere ALONE.  Be it Starbucks, the movie theatre, Target....whatever tickles my fancy.  Had I realized this sooner, I might have had a good chance at not loosing my mind this weekend.  

Lesson learned!  I need some time to myself ASAP, and I can not handle 5 kids.  At least 4 kids plus a baby.  Next time, I will just have to plan it better for when my hubs is home and he can help with the bambina.  Then everything should be fine.  No problem...right?

I may or may not have looked like this last night when my husband came home.  You decide!

Meet the new member of our family

Her name is Lizard Tongue Sidoti.  She has graced us with her presence several times a day for the past 13 weeks.  We adore her, and the undeniable fact that she's a super cutie pie.  Plus, she makes us laugh uncontrollably sometimes.  I would like for her to stick around for the remainder of her life.  However,  I fear, that she'll leave me soon after turning 18.  18 years is far too short of a time for me to spend with ol Lizard Tongue.  I think that I just might love her....

This week in retrospect...already

I know that it's Monday, but I feel like so much has happened already this week that has/will put me on an emotional roller coaster.

First, the Royal Wedding.  I cried like a baby because Catherine Middleton looked so beautiful, and her and Prince William are so in love.  Swoon!  True love makes me so happy.

Second, Osama Bin Laden.....enough said.  I feel so conflicted about this right now.  I want to be happy like so many other Americans, but I'm not.  I almost feel saddened by the whole thing.  I understand that what he did and the orders that were carried out by his direction caused the US great loss and tragedy.  We would not be at war right now had he not done what he did.  I feel sad because of all our soldiers who have and did risked their lives for us.  And of course for all of those who were stripped of their lives on 9/11/01.  However, I can't help but think about Osama's salvation.  I know for a fact that he is in Hell right now.  That all of the things that he believed in and taught other people about are completely false and it is blindingly obvious to him right now.  Justice is finally being served because Osama has stood before the Savior and he had been judged.  

I just wonder what if.  What if he knew Jesus?  He had such great influence on so many people world wide.  What if he used that influence to show people about God's love?  Can you imagine how amazing that would have been?  In my opinion, this is another leader gone to waste.  This is what makes me so terribly sad.  

There!  I've said my peace on this subject.

Thirdly, tomorrow is the celebration service for my hubby's Godmother who passed away 2 weeks ago.  She was an amazing Godly woman who was suffering from cervical cancer for I don't know how long.  She is with the Lord now and pain free.  No more sorrow.  No more suffering.  Just unimaginable happiness.  Knowing this makes me happy.  However, knowing that her husband, who was madly madly in love with her, is alone now makes me sad.  I can't possible imagine what it is like to loose a spouse.  Especially one that I've been with for 30 some odd years in complete marital bliss.  My heart goes out to her husband.  He loves the Lord too and will be with his one day.

Fourthly, we are going to get away this weekend.  We are driving up north, past San Fran, to visit some very dear friends of ours.  They moved away before Christmas, and we miss hanging out with them so much that we are willing to drive 7 hours with all 3 kids in the car, mind you to see them.  I can't wait.  I've needed a little get away for a while now.  I am the type of person who loves to try new things, and simply visiting a town that I've never been too fills that void in my life for at least 6 months.  I can't wait!

Fifthly, I found out this morning that I am officially 10 pounds lighter.  Not in the theoretical sense, but in the literal "10 pounds of useless fat is no longer on my body"sense.  All of my whining and complaining about only loosing 5 pounds is long gone.  Somewhere on this diet program that I'm on, it says to not exercise.  WHATEVER!  I've been walking 2 miles almost every morning for the past 2 weeks, and it had caused my body to shift into gear a little bit.  Well, maybe only 3rd gear, but you get the picture.  This makes me so happy, that I did a little happy dance just now.  I can't wait to be back to my pre-baby weight.  Plus I want to loose a little more than that, but if I can get there, then I will be most elated.  

That's it!  It's only Monday and I feel like I've had enough highs and lows to jump start menopause.  So much has happened and much more is to come.  The important thing is that I remember that God is with me through all of my ups and downs.  My goal for this year is to learn to just go with the flow of life.  To just relax and know that He is in control of it all, and that there is nothing that I can do about it.  

Peace Out!