One More to Go

Before we had kids, at one point, between CPA firms, I worked in an office with a man who was from a mix of Chinese and Hawaiian backgrounds. His name was Alan and he was my boss. So when Alan would stop by my 4x6 cubicle (gee, why do you suppose I quit?), Alan would talk about his family and, since he was my boss, I would sometimes listen.

Alan had three boys and they were the primary topic of conversation. Well, as Alan explained, the first birthday party is HUGE in his culture (not sure if it was Chinese or Hawaiian or both). He explained that it had something to do with getting through the year of highest infant mortality rate, but I came to later guess it had something to do with just surviving a year of the parents' sleep deprivation.

Anyway, they threw very large, extravagant parties for the first birthday of each boy. I liked this idea and for both of our kids I did the same thing. Each of these first birthday parties kind of carried over to their second, third and yes, fourth and fifth birthday parties as well. Whereas many people get a few kids together for cupcakes and PB&J, we have invited as many as 70 people and spent months planning and preparing for them. So it was with a little relief and also much regret that my eldest child (who will be starting school in the fall) and I had a talk about what we would be doing for her next party. My suggestion to her, in the hope that it would be more intimate, and knowing she would be making some new friends this year, was that she pick 5 friends and we will go do something with them. No fireworks, no bells or whistles, just start the tradition of a "normal" child's birthday party. She was receptive to the idea and we agreed that my littlest's 5th party next year will be the last sha-bang. Although I know I may regret it later (I really do look forward to all of our friends in one place together), perhaps it will save me a little bit of sanity in the long run. So mark your calendars folks, next July is the last in a series of ten shin-digs in the Mountains. I hope you all can make it!

My Little Soldier

Recently my youngest child turned four. Oh my goodness...[sigh] FOUR. Well, he has been requesting a soldier birthday for almost a year now so what could I do but oblige his request. We played "search and rescue" to find hidden soldiers, "sergeant says", ran the kids through a basic training obstacle course, painted our faces with camo face paint, wore our camouflage and dog tags, got tattoos, played target shooting on the range with the rubber band gun, ate some ribs and other barbecue, tried to land planes on an aircraft carrier, whacked at an enemy tank with a bat until it turned over all of it's candy and then finished the day off with a huge water balloon fight. There were about 40 people there throughout the day and it was beautiful weather for a barbecue. I was so busy that I didn't get many pictures of the festivities, but here's a shot of my little camo man and me trying to finish up making his tank birthday cake.

Touch a Truck

A big thanks go out to Uncle Chris and Aunt Lyss for letting us stay with them last weekend and for taking us and the kids to Touch a Truck. We all had such a good time. If you have never been then I highly recommend you try to make it next year. My little guy got to ride in a race car, a school bus, a dump truck, a tow truck, a garbage truck and many many more neat vehicles. He also got to dig with a backhoe, lift the back of a tow truck, catch a balloon out of the utility truck's bucket and wait for it - wait for it.....
SHOOT A FIRE HOSE!The event is put on by Conejo Valley Park & Recreation district and they do a stellar job. Great idea Uncle Chris. I think the event is geared toward big AND little boys (you looked PRETTY PUMPED about watching that helicopter land) . We are very grateful for you including us in the fun.

A Whole Lotta Moms

There are few certainties in life. You will owe taxes (whether you pay them or not), you will someday die (the big question being when and how) AND if you are a mom, you will have a very very VERY busy schedule. That is why it was a small miracle when, recently for a good friend's birthday, we got 22 (that's right, almost two dozen) moms together for a night out. I felt very lucky to get to join them since I just went out the weekend before with the girls up in Oregon. We all met for dinner at the local resort where we enjoyed reconnecting with those we hadn't seen in a while and meeting a few friends of friends. We certainly are all lucky ladies to have this network of awesome moms. Thanks ladies, and happy birthday Em~

My Quick Trip

I got the rare treat of flying North last weekend to see my good friend Laura get married on the Sunday before Memorial Day. On Saturday, some of us girlies got together and had a night out. As I sit here trying to explain to you, my unnamed reader, what happened that night, I find it hard to put into words. There were dice games, some hot tubbing, some drinks, smoked salmon, an incident with peanut M&Ms, someone threw up (not me), LOTS of dancing, jello, funny bar jokes, I got all caught up on the town gossip, and I'm not sure, but I think I have a new friend who thinks my name is Andretti. I know it sounds cliche' but all I can say is "You had to be there to understand." I'm not trying to make it an inside joke, it's just a bit of a fuzzy whirlwind. It CAN say that it was all fun and reminds me how much I miss these girls.

Thank You

To all veterans, current servicemen, and those families that sacrifice to let their loved ones defend our freedom, 1/365th of our lives to honor your sacrifice just doesn't seem sufficient. You are appreciated and Thank you for letting us live that life that you have worked so hard to defend.

Roughin' It

We joined about 8 other families last weekend for a weekend trip to our local campground. It was so fun for my kiddos to have so many other kids their own ages to run around with, play in the dirt with, chase in many games of tag, and ride their scooters and bikes with. I was worried about the weather, but it was tank top and shorts weather and sunny all weekend. Thanks to all my girlfriends for convincing me to go and for also dragging all their families out of all of our busy lives and focus on the best part of our lives, each other.PS~Sorry you had to cancel, Sunshyne, we missed you.

Sunshine and Summertime

We spent last weekend out at the river, relaxing and enjoying time with no telephones, no televisions, no tele...anything! The weather was perfect and you couldn't ask for better company.

We Meet Again

My daughter recently had her first track meet of the year up on our mountain. She is so psyched about her team this year, the "Fireflies" and their awesome coaches, Julia and Brooke. Her team is all Kindergarten so most are about a year or so older than she is but what she lacks in age, she makes up for in spunk. We finally got her to jump a couple of the hurdles rather than step over them, she's big enough to land on the high jump mat now (instead of climb onto it), and she ran anchor for the relay. We need to do a little work on the throwing events, but some of the implements weigh about a quarter of what she weighs, so we're going to cut her some slack on those for a while. Hey, how far could YOU throw a 35lb shot put? Her favorite event is the long jump but in my opinion, her best event is the 100m dash. She has really been working on her form and this year she is really competing with the other kids. Being the proud mom, I want to brag that she got second (I thought it was first but Daddy corrected me and he was closer) in her heat, but I won't :)

Stagecoach Part Deux

I have LOADS of pictures from Stagecoach. You can tell the time of day in each picture based on how sunburned we look and how wide our smiles are. We camped with seven other friends and had a very fun time. We got to see Chris Young, Josh Turner, Easton Corbin, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, and Carrie Underwood...did I mention Carrie Underwood?

Yeah, she was a big BIG hit. Yes, the weekend was a success. Such a success that I think of all of the sunburned, big smile pictures that we took, none of them will really do the weekend justice.
I can only summarize it with this photo:Okay, fine, and maybe this video. Dave W - YOU. ARE. THE. MAN!

Thank You

I'm not sure who to thank first. My brother-in-law for gifting my hubby the shirt, or Jill for the cammo beer can fanny pack. I think I'll hold off on the thank yous until I can decide...{sigh}

Snapshots in My Brain

I am trying to capture ievery little thing about these moments. The feeling of them gripping my finger to "hold hands", the sound of their giggles and belly laughs, the smell of their hair, the feel of their butterfly kisses, the way their noses wrinkle when they smile, all of those little everyday things that make them so extraordinary. I know it is all so fleeting (everyone tells me this, especially random strangers on the street).
After an evening church service recently, I was carrying my sleepy daughter after passing off her already asleep brother to his daddy. An older gentleman came up and set his hand on my shoulder. The man told me that he remembered holding his daughter the same way, sighed and confessed that she is now a grandmother herself. It brought tears to his and my eyes at the time (and even now thinking how lucky I am to get to experience these beautiful children). I am so very truly blessed.

Easter in the Desert

Grandma Tanyon is a seasoned professional when it comes to hosting Easter at her house in the desert. Here's some Grandma T tips if you are planning a candy hunt in the desert:
1) Milk chocolate melts in the sun. Grandma Tanyon uses only hard candies.
2) Don't bother with plastic eggs. They just take up space and make finding the candy easier.3) Keep control of the dogs because they like to eat candy in low places.4) Buy lots of candy because the adults will take part in the candy hunt too.5) Have everyone count their candy at the end for prizes, it's a great counting exercise kids.
Thanks Grandma, for another great Easter. We love you a bushel~

Aiming for a good time

When you think of Easter you may think of cute little bunnies, egg hunts and baskets, but when we go down to Grandma Tanyon's house, another fun activity comes to mind. Often times, when the extended family gets together out by the desert, we pack up the guns, ammo and targets to go shooting. This Easter was no exception. I got to shoot my new 220 bolt action rifle. Fun times.What? This isn't what EVERYONE uses the back of their "soccer mom" minivan for? Well, my kids don't play soccer, so there.

Easter Egg Playdate

We had such a fun time visiting with friends at Aiden & Ethan's house this week. The kids played on the trampoline, played in the sand box, played on the teeter totter, played in the yard, had treats, and oh yeah, decorated Easter eggs too. It was great to see lots of friends get together and spend time in the sunshine. Thank you to our hosts and all the friends who came to play.

A 5-Year Old's Cupcakes

One of my favorite parts of my daughter's fifth birthday was getting to watch my sweet little fairy princess decorate cupcakes. She may have overdone it with the edible confetti and sprinkles on the top of her flower cupcakes, but was so proud of herself for doing it by herself. She loves to help cook and I am so proud of the big girl she is becoming.

My Little Tinkerbell

Happy Birthday to the cutest little 5 year old Tinkerbell ever.PS~ Thanks Aunti, for the adorable Tinkerbell skirt for her party. She looked so cute!

It's All Greek To Me

Back in early March (I know, it's been a long time since I posted), we went to a Greek festival in Palm Springs. They had all sorts of neat crafts and exhibits to look at. It brought back some great memories of our trip to Greece when we were first married. We had two favorite features of the day in Palm Springs though. The first was the amazing food. We had flame broiled cheese with pita bread, some gyros, domatas, Greek salad, Greek skewers, a few Greek pastries and BAKLAVA! The other favorite part was getting to see the Greek dancers in full costumes. Once they were done, the band played some Greek music and folks jumped in try do a little "ethnic" dancing (much like belly dancing, but with more wrist turning). Surprisingly, my little ballerina had some stage fright and would not get out on the dance floor. After a little coaxing (and, okay, yes, a mom guilt trip), she got out there with me to try out our moves. While we weren't the best at it, we had a lot of fun and I am glad for two things: 1) I showed her that I didn't care what everyone thought of us, but just wanted to have fun and 2) That in the end, we DID have fun dancing and were able to tell everyone how fun it was instead of regretting that we didn't do it. I love having kids. I may have never danced on my own :)

Camping in February?!?!

Yep, you read that right. My crazy hubby and crazy daughter went camping here a couple weeks ago. They loaded up the ATV and drove down to the river to tent camp. Yes - TENT camp. My much more rational son and I went to a friend's house to play arts & crafts and not freeze our butts off. Turns out that the other two had a great time and bragged about what a fun experience we missed. Uh, hmmm, I'll wait till summer to camp thank you very much. I'm glad they had a good time though. It was a good chance for some father-daughter bonding.

Lesson Learned

When we went to Mexico last January (2010), Uncle Chris got caught on camera doing the can opener (a dance move) to "All the Single Ladies". Well, my little man learned his lesson from Uncle Chris and was NOT going to let daddy get blackmail of him too.