Good things DO last

I had such a fantastic time visiting with my parents.  They are so awesome to have flown out here all the way from Texas to see us.  When they are here, things just seem right, ya know?  

They have a nice calming effect on my life.  I don't know why.  I've been married and out from underneath their roof since I was 19.  This "calming effect" should have transferred over by now, dontcha think?  It hasn't.  I think that it might have something to do with being attached at the hip, or something of that nature.  

This give me certain super happy spurts throughout the year when I do get to spend time with them.  Either here in California, or at their home in Texas.  To be honest, I would rather spend time with them in Texas, but I have 3 punk-a-roos now, and traveling there more than once a year is a little out of our price range if ya know what I mean, Jean.  

During their most recent visit, I put a hold on blogging, of course, and spent some much needed time with them. Soaking up all their super cool vibes.  We went to the park, shopping, eating out, visiting the CA Science Center and the Natural History Museum, the hubs and kiddos took my Dad to Disneyland for the first time in his life, 

Yes, that's my hubby flashing the horns 

and they did lots of cuddling.  Them with my kids, not me with them. 

 Although, I have not outgrown the occasional hug attack on my Mom.  She likes it, I know that she does   :-)  I also got some relief from la bambina numero tres.  My Mom stepped in anytime that she needed to be fed, changed or put to sleep.  Mom was there with open arms as if it was the last time that she was ever going to hold my baby.  The best part for me, though, was seeing my Dad play with her.  

He is so funny, because he has never, nor will he ever, stop making baby sounds to infants.  It is the cutest and funniest thing.  He has funny little nicknames for each one of his Grandpunks.  Something along the lines of:  Scoob, Bubbs, Booger, Snot......you get the picture.

All in all, it was an amazing visit with them.  Someone I know posed the question, "Do you ever go a day without missing someone?"  I would have to say no.  I sure don't.  I miss my Texas family every single day, and I think about them multiple times a day.  I don't know why, but God found favor in me before I was even conceived, and gave me the most wonderful family.  My family is full of love, acceptance, generosity, and is drama-less.  When I hear others talk about how messed up their families are, I can't help but thank God in that moment for the family that he has blessed me with.  On that note, "Thank you, Big Guy, for my family and the love that You surround me with when I am in their presence."

Natalie's Sweet Iced Tea

So many people throughout the years have had the pleasure of drinking my sweet iced tea.  Tea is not hard to make, but it is easy to screw up.  Here is how I make my sweet iced tea.  Enjoy!

Natalie's Sweet Iced Tea

Need:

5 regular sized, black tea bags 

10 cup coffee maker yes I said a coffee maker

1 cup of good ol sugar

1 gallon pitcher

Step 1:  Fill up the coffee pot to the 7 cup mark with water and pour it into your  coffee maker

Step 2:  Take the 5 tea bags out of their wrappers, and put them in the coffee filter section of your coffee maker.  Make sure that strings and papers to your tea bags are hanging out of the coffee filter section.  

Step 3:  Turn that coffee pot on, gosh darn it.

Step 4:  Once the tea is finished brewing through the coffee pot, let the tea steep in the coffee pot for 

15-20 minutes.  

Don't jump the gun here and get antsy.  Let it sit for a while and marinate.  It makes a difference...trust me

Step 5:  Pour the 1 cup of sugar into the gallon pitcher.

Step 6:  Pour the tea on top of that sweet sweet sugar and stir it around until the sugar is dissolved.  

Step 7:  Fill the rest of the pitcher up with water.

Step 8:  Drink that yummy goodness on ice!  

Your welcome, people!  Love you!

PS:  Day old sweet tea is the BEST!  So if you want to make this a day ahead of drinking it, then go right ahead and do that.  No one is stopping you.  

They're coming!!!!

If you look real close, you can see that my Mom has her eyes closed.  Muahahaha.  Don't hate me Mom!  I love you!

My parents are coming to visit on Thursday, and I can't wait.  Well, my kids can't wait either, but who cares about that.  The most important thing is that they are coming.  

They are flying alll the way from Texas to see us.  I had the pleasure of seeing my Mom when I had my #3, but she left all too soon because she had to get back to work.  My Dad, bless his heart, just couldn't take not getting to see la bambina.  Not that I can blame him, I mean, my #3 IS pretty yummy.  

Just look at those cheeks!  How could anyone resist, I ask you?  You can't...it's impossible!  

Okay!  Lets get back on track here, folks!

When they get here there are a few things that will definitely happen.  

#1 Tons of hugs and kisses..and then more hugs...and then more kisses

#2 Eating out, because that's just what we do

#3 Going to the California Science Museum

#4 Watching a lot of TV

#5 Walking to the park

#6 My parents will sleep in my bed, and we will bunk up with my kids

#7 My kids will get toys out the whazooo.  At least that's what they think will happen.

All in all, we will have a grand ol time.  Unfortunately, they will have to leave eventually.  Now if only I could cram myself into their suitcase, and fly back with them.  Hmmmm.  Is that possible?

Girl Day

On occasion my daughter and I will have what we lovingly call a "girl day".  These are times where we are able to get away from the nose picking boys that we live with, and have a little alone time.  I surprise her with our girl days because, lets face it, there are very few surprises in life these days.  I took her to Disneyland.  The last time that we went to Disneyland together was over 2 years ago.  We have annual passes, but I was pregnant way back when and couldn't go on any of the rides.  Bummer, I know.  

I picked her up from school, and pretended to be running errands with her.  She was excited to run errands with me, but when she realized that we passed Target, the grocery store, and any other places that I run errands to, she got a little anxious.  I then had to tell her where we were going just to shut her up.  Needless to say, she flipped her lid.  

The day was perfect, aside from the crowd.  I mean, I felt like we were playing human bumper cars, it was so packed with people and strollers.  On top of that, there were a lot of sections of Disneyland that were under construction for what ever reason.  So we, meaning the crowd, were being herded like friggin cattle into narrow sections of the walkways.  It was a little annoying, but we did not let that deter us from our objective:  TO HAVE SOME ROCKIN GIRL TIME.  

We rode the following rides during the 6 hours that we were there:  the Monorail in and out of Disneyland, Toon Town's Gadget roller coaster, Columbia ship, Thunder Mountain, Snow White, and the Carousel.  We also watched the Star Wars Jedi Training thingy over there in Tomorrow Land.  On our way out, we waited in line for 45 minutes at the Gibson Girl Ice Cream shop for some awesome waffle cone action.  It WAS amazing!  Granted we didn't ride much given the amount of time that we were there, but all the lines were over 45 minutes of waiting time.  We decided to duck out early and not wait around for the fireworks which we've seen a million times before.  She did, however, get a toy.  We have never gotten our kids toys from Disneyland before because they are so stinkin over priced.  

Here she is with her gosh darn toy that she wouldn't stop bugging me about:

Today has taught me something.  If you have multiple kids, then it is imperative to spend some alone time with each one of them.  This makes them feel special and it reminds them of how important they are to you.  Some kids can start to feel lost when there are a lot of siblings around.  Especially when a new baby is added to the family.  I am constantly holding, feeding, changing, or trying to get my littlest one to sleep.  My poor daughter is told to wait a minute or do it herself multiple times a day.  

When we left Disneyland today she told me twice that she loved me and that she had so much fun with me.  This warms my heart so much, and it makes me want to already plan our next Girl Day.  

10 Things: Duchess Edition

My Dog!

10 Things About Duchess:

1. I got her for free from a family that had 4 lap dogs, and her owner lady decided that she didn't like "big" dogs.  Her loss!
2. She was extremely over weight.  We're talking 20 or so lbs. here, people
3. She's 7 years old which makes her 49 years old in human years
4. She scared off the gophers that tried to live in our backyard by sticking her large melon down their gopher holes.  Thank you very mucho!
5. I constantly trip over her because she follows me around the house.  Even when she's asleep, if she hears me get up and go to the bathroom, she will then proceed to follow me to the bathroom.
6. She gets scared when the electricity goes off in our house.  So scared that she will try, by any means necessary, to get out of the house. For instance, she tried to claw her way of one of our windows and ruined my aluminum blinds.
7. She doesn't jump up on people, or on the furniture.  Score!
8. She will climb out of the upstairs windows when we leave the house, and jump off of our roof.  She's done it thrice.  Thank goodness for the veterinarian who lives across the street who assessed her potential injuries for freeeee.
9. She sleeps in my son's bed and gets her nasty hair EVERYWHERE. 
10. When she goes all day without being fed, she will eat the trash in my bathroom and get toilet paper and other "special" things all over my bedroom floor.

Despite her retardedness, I still love her.  She's mine, and I would never give her away in the Penny Saver like her previous idiot owner did.

Yessss!

I've got a helper!  Horray!  Victory!  

When my #2 found out that my #3 was going to be a girl, she freaked out.  

We purposely brought her along for the ultrasound, and when the technician announced that #3 WAS a girl there was a sigh of relief in the room.  #2 insisted that I have another girl from the get go.  If my #3 was to turn out to be a boy, then my #2 was going to run away from home.  Not really, but she would have at least threatened it.  

Ever since #3 was born, my daughter has been nothing but a big helper.  She wants to help with the diapers, feeding, and the holding all the time.  I  can even count on her to sit next to the baby when she is fussy and give her her pacifier whenever she spits it out.  Love it!  She is so in love with her little sister, and it is the sweetest thing.  So far, having 2 girls has been such a blessing.  We will see how I feel about that when my #3 is older and they are arguing over clothes and other petty sisterly things.  

Where I find myself....

I love Target!

I do.  I would go there every day if I could.  I love their purses, shoes, women's clothing, children's clothing, and their Up and UP brand for everything under the Sun.  I go there first for everything.  I'm not trying to get them to sponsor me however, if they did then that would be awesome.  I am telling you that if you don't shop there then either you live very far away from a Target or that something must be missing from your life.  

I especially love it when there is a Starbucks inside of the Target.  OMG!  That might be my little slice of Heaven right here on Earth.  There is nothing sweeter well okay there might be sweeter things than walking around Target by myself whilst sipping an Iced Venti Soy Chai.  Sigh!  Just the thought makes me want to cry.