Small Spaces

Me: Why, I ask, would you want to contort your body to fit into the smallest of spaces?

Alexis: Because I like to find places to hide that you would never think of. (If she would talk, I'm sure she would say this)

Imagine my surprise when I was walking by and noticed only a hand on the door of her little kitchen cupboard. Confused... I opened the door to find this:

I'm thinking yoga is in her future.

Schedule Day

Today was Katya's day to pick up her new school schedule and she has been waiting ever so impatiently all week to do it.

When we got to the school there was a new routine that we had to follow to even GET her schedule.
- Turn in new emergency contact form
- Pay fee for ASB card
- Pay for her yearbook
- Join the PTA & pay them
- Fill out paperwork for volleyball & pay that fee

We FINALLY got her schedule and immediatly about seven kids were surrounding her as they compared their schedule to hers. It was very cute to be on the outside looking in as I heard things like "Ooh good, we have the same science", "Bummer, I have first lunch and you have second", "Cool we are in the same French class", "How do you like Hahn for math?".... She is bummed that she has a bottom locker and will try to switch for a top locker on the first day of school.

After all the socializing was coming to an end we did a walk through of her day (a tradition), we popped in to her old teachers because she wanted to give them a hug, she verified that her yulky bottom locker combination works and she visited with all of her new teachers that she hadn't met yet.

I admire Katya so much for how self assured she is and what great social skills she is developing. She is becoming a very mature and confident young woman with a lot of friends. I am so proud of her.

I look forward to 8th grade and all of the surprises - both good and bad - that it will bring. After all, life is an adventure!

The New Fall Lineup

How exciting is this? My DVR is all programmed and ready to record my favorite shows - especially Grey's Anatomy.

I mean... there are so many questions to answer.
- What is happening with Meredith and Derek
- We know that Burke is gone forever, but who will show up as the new heart surgeon? I mean, every hospital needs one.
- We know that Addison will be moving to So. Cal to start her own show.
- Will George repeat his intern year?
- How will Callie's head resident status change things?
- What will the dynamics be like now that Meredith's half-sister will be there as an intern?? Talk about weird.
- What is up with George and Izzy?

So… in case you are unaware of the premier dates and times here my favorite shows (and maybe yours) for your scheduling pleasure.

ABC:
Boston Legal : Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 10pm
Private Practice : Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 9pm
Grey’s Anatomy : Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9pm
Men in Trees : Friday, Sept. 28 at 8pm
Extreme Makeover Home Edition (we’re saps) : Sunday, Sept. 30 at 8pm

CBS:
CSI Miami : Monday, Sept. 24 at 10pm
CSI : Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9pm
Ghost Whisperer : Friday, Sept. 28 at 8pm
NUMB3RS : Friday, Sept. 28 at 10pm

FOX:
Bones : Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 8pm
House : Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 9pm

Now, there are some shows that I don’t know much about yet like “Women’s Murder Club”, “Pushing Daisies”, and “Big Shots”. I’m sure that there are other shows that I am also ignorant of so please enlighten me! What are your choices? What will you be recording?

Crock Pot Recipe Tuesday

Ok, I am totally stealing this idea from Mandee (my uber cool sister in law). BUT, I am tweaking it a smidge by having only crock pot recipes that I have tried and my panel of judges have given an A to. I'll still participate in Mandee's Recipe Wednesday with non-crock pot recipes.

Many of you know how little I actually enjoy cooking. Which is a real shame, since I love to watch cooking shows. So, I have been on the hunt for the easiest, tastiest crock pot recipes around. Mandee gave me two that we love and use all the time. With school and sports starting, I decided to get a jump on things and find some recipes that I can use in my cooking arsenal for when things get really crazy again. I've been experimenting and I will only give you things that have been given a thumbs up by my picky eaters. If you have a killer crock pot recipe, please share it!

Chops In A Crock

6 pork chops (you can brown them if you like, but I skipped this)
1 onion, chopped
3 tblsp, catsup
10.5 oz can of Cream of Chicken or Cream of Mushroom (I used the Healthy Request Cream of Chicken)
2 tsp Worchestershire sauce

Put everything into the crockpot and cook on low 5-7 hours.

Serve with rice, noodles or potatoes. The pork chops are tender and juicy.

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With the pork chops I made these potatoes - totally easy and yummy!

Roasted New Potatoes

1 1/2 lbs new potatoes, quartered
2 tblsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag; toss to coat. Pour into an ungreased 13-in cookie sheet or baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 450 degrees for 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Where to start?

I am sitting here looking at three weeks worth of mail, business receipts, business bills, our home bills, magazines, flyers, mailers...etc. I am a bit overwhelmed and am not really sure where to attack first.

Know that feeling? Too much to do and some projects just seem just so huge you want to go and sit on the couch and pretend they will shrink on their own? That is me right now.

Then as I look to my left I see two huge piles of laundry that are calling my name. To my right are even MORE papers and assorted stuff on the kitchen counter that need tending to. Then there is the cleaning that needs to get done.

I also am researching how to waterproof a walk out deck so I can attempt to do this on my own before winter hits. I have a beautiful little covered deck off of my living room that I haven't been able to use for a year and I'm going to try it myself. I'm sure I'll be able to get to this in all my spare time - yeah, right.

If I hope to get anything done, I better stop blogging and get to it.

We're Home!

Well, my last week of vacation didn't go exactly as planned. I, unfortunately, had to cancel some visits which I really wanted to keep. I'm sorry about that Aunt Ann!

These are some of our mishaps:
- My truck was back in the shop for a couple of days getting a new auxillary fan for the engine because it was still overheating
- Alexis got sick last Monday night with a full-blown flu bug by Tuesday. Her little nose was just running all over her face (still is actually), her eyes were watery, she was sneezy and she had a fever.
- Both kids were pulling on their ears so I took them both to urgent care only to find out there were no ear infections (thank goodness).
- Logan got sick on Wednesday.
- I got sick on Thursday so we abandoned our visit to Utah (I didn't think Mandee would love me too much if I passed this thing around her house) and headed back up to Bend that afternoon.

The drive back proved that the Durango was finally working like new! What a relief!! When your car is sick, you feel so helpless.

Also, the drive back along the I-5 corridor (for the upteenth time) really drives home (no pun intended) some musings regarding that particular stretch of road:

1. Pilot gas stations have the cheapest gas. At one point I saw it at $2.70.
2. Pilot gas stations and TA centers have really clean bathrooms.
3. Don't get gas in Dorris, CA. They were charging $3.79 a gallon for regular unleaded.
4. The Apricot Tree restaurant is really yummy
5. The Days Inn in Lost Hills, CA is cheap and has nice, clean rooms. It is also adjacent to a Dennys where Alexis and I spent some time in the wee hours of the morning when she couldn't fall asleep.
6. The Shell Station in Weed, CA is clean, well lit, has clean bathrooms and is run by a very nice lady.
7. From Lake Shasta on... it is a beautiful drive.
8. In Klamath Falls right now, be prepared for bugs so thick that it looks like it is sprinkling on your windshield. Yulk
9. Mollie's restaurant & gas station in Klamath Falls has the best food - ever! We only stopped for gas this time, but we have eaten there before.
10. Driving at night is mind-numbing dull. There is NO scenery to look at to make it remotely interesting at all.
11. The central valley is absofreakinlutely HOT.
12. There are a LOT of eighteen wheelers on that road and they like to play hopscotch on that two lane stretch of road.

So now I am trying to get better as this flu bug thingie is hanging on tight. I sat like a lump on my couch all day yesterday just holding Logan (he didn't complain) and downing cold medicine to try and stop my nose from glowing any more red than it already is. I think Santa will be stopping by to offer me a job soon. Luckily, my Zicam Severe Congestion is just a little miracle and it enables me to go longer stretches before I have to blow my nose. I highly recommend it. I have a wicked cough that is developing so I continue to try and avoid contact with my loved ones and put sanitizer on my hands all day.

My house is still a mess, my clothes are still in my suitcases and the kids haven't had a bath yet. I did manage to go to the grocery store and make dinner though (it's in the oven) so I am way ahead of yesterday. But I'm pooped and going to go back to the couch and veg some more.

But man - as much as I love and adore my family in San Diego - there is no place like home.

High School Musical

Ok, I must have been living in the dark ages. Evidently there has been a movie out called "High School Musical" and EVERYONE who is in the teen set has seen it.

Then this past weekend was "High School Musical 2" and again - EVERYONE who is in the teen set watched it. Katya had called my mother and walked her through the instructions on how to record it on her DVR since she was with her grandfather Trousset for that night and might miss some of it. Even some girls (daughters of my girlfriends) that I thought would find themselves much too cool and sophisticated to watch a Disney Channel movie saw it. I was pleasantly surprised.

Anyway, I have been getting a lesson in Zac Efron (I now understand Aimee's earlier blog about this guy) and the other guy that has a cool 'fro and some decent lungs. I tried sitting down with Katya last night and watching part of it with her, but it was so corny I couldn't keep a straight face. Katya said the first one was better.

So, for you parents out there who either watched HSM2 or just had your kids watch it - what was their reaction to it?

My New Inspiration

I've got some weight to lose.

Ok, I have basically been pregnant for two years. With both pregnancies I did really well in gaining less than 35 pounds each time. The only problem was that I was only NOT pregnant for 3 months in between. I got to my pre-Logan weight, but now I need to get to my pre-Alexis weight. We're talking a good twenty pounds.

Now, I have never really been chubba in my life. There have been times when I had a good 10 pounds that I most definately needed to lose - but nothing like what I have to lose now. I was blessed from an early age with being thin. For the most part I have been able to eat what I wanted when I wanted as long as I did consistant exercise.

It is that exercise part that I have a hard time doing enough of lately. It is hard working around the schedule of two little ones under two.

Now, I know that I am one of those unlucky ladies who do not lose all of their baby weight until they stop nursing. I found this out when I had Katya. But Logan is almost seven months old now and when he turns one he starts to get his milk from Ol' Betsy the organic cow instead of me.

So...I have been looking at ways to start losing the rest of this weight with both exercise (I hope Logan starts to sleep through the night soon so I have more energy for this part), cutting out sugar (I'm usually pretty good at home anyway), and looking at pharmaceutical aids like protein shakes and the like. Obviously walking the dog five days a week wasn't quite enough. All of this weight stuff can be depressing and every time you see a picture of yourself all chubba you want to throw it away. I know that everyone has their target weight (some being more realistic than others), but I just want to get back to a weight where I know I feel good. Besides, I have bins of clothes in my old size that are just waiting for me to fit into them again.

I have new inspiration to jump back on my fitness bandwagon when I get home to Bend. My mother announced at the Unbirthday party that my parents are going to pay for a Disney cruise for all of their children and grandchildren in two years. Now, I KNOW that these cruises are spendy so I am planning on having my parents move in with me at some point because they will be flat broke. (Don't tell my mother, she wants to be someplace with her girlfriends taking road trips to Las Vegas)

All that we have to do it pay for our airfare to get to the boat. No problem. We can do that.

Anyway, I was thinking that two years is more than reasonable for my fitness goal. YUP - my new goal is to be bikini worthy by the time I get myself on that ship. Now, let's be serious here. I have had three children, will be 39 by the time of this trip, will at no point be getting my meals shipped to my door or a personal trainer and I have more than a few little imperfections on my legs so a bikini I will NOT be wearing. BUT, I can be worthy of a bikini. I hope.

Wish me luck! I think I will paste Mickey ears in my closet to remind me of my goal.

Seasonal Fashion Genie

Well, I have again been inspired by my oh-so-cool sister in law, Mandee. She put her three fashion wishes for the Seasonal Fashion Genie to grant and invited others to do the same. So I am.

Now, I am obviously NOT the fashionista that Mandee is but she is inspiring me.

The rules are that we had to select the following for our three wishes:

1. A pair of shoes
2. A piece of outerwear
3. A smashing accessory

And all of them must be fall fashions.

Here are my three wishes:

Trotters Chill Boot from Nordstrom

Autunno Hooded Lamb Shearling Pantcoat

Seattle Suede Bucket Hat

Truck Woes

My poor Durango has had a rough past few months. It is hard to admit when your car is getting older.

About two months or so ago I pulled into my driveway just as all my truck's coolent decided to unload in my driveway (thank goodness I wasn't someplace else with all three kids). I had to get a new intake manifold.

A few weeks later, a hose in my radiator decided to burst.

Before I came down here I had to get a new water pump. And as you know from my earlier blog, I had to have that redone at my Dad's dealership.

While my truck was again in the loving hands of my Dad's service department they noticed that my rack and pignion (I think I spelled that right) was going out. That was replaced on Monday and it made the steering so much more stiff. I love it! I thought my truck was just moving a lot from having my cargo storage thingie on the roof and the wind pushing against it.

When they had my truck on Monday my Dad had them try and figure out why it was heating up when he was sitting in traffic. After all, we thought the water pump was responsible for it overheating. Nope, turns out it needs a new radiator.

Sooooooooooooooooooo, my truck is again in for service getting a new radiator. I wanted a few days to drive it to make sure that nothing else decides to break before we drive to Utah. Can you imagine? Stranded on the I-15 with three kids in the car? No thanks.

Luckily, I had been my usual pessimistic self and purchased a seven year extended warranty when I bought my truck and all this is covered. I'd end up having to buy a new car if this stuff wasn't covered. Can you imagine how much all of this would cost?

I am hoping that my beautiful garnet baby will last for another 8 years. We can't afford to buy a new car right now and I really just don't like anything else on the market. Looking at new cars and their price tags make me sweat. Especially when I am not working.

However, if I could have my dream car I think it would be:
- a Toyota (reliability)
- hybrid (environmentally friendly)
- mid size SUV (hauling dogs, yard stuff and stuff)
- seven seater (kids & friends)
- all wheel drive (I do live in snow country)
- heated seats all around (nice in the winter)
- dark tinted windows (comfort in the summer)
- airbags everywhere (safety)
- all the great bells and whistles that new cars have like an IPod jack, DVD player and a hot & cool spot for my drink (luxury)
- in bright metalic tangerine orange (fun)

If anyone hears of that car coming out - let me know!

Grandpa's 89th B-Day Party

My grandpa is 89 years old. Man...you blink twice and - what - twenty five years have gone by? I still remember sitting on his lap eating ice cream out of his half gallon (he never bothered with a bowl) with an iced tea spoon and talking his ear off while he was trying to watch a football game on his little black and white tv.

My grandpa is one amazing guy. He is walking on his treadmill, grows the most amazing orchids, still drives (that is a scary thought) and keeps busy with the house and with church. I want to age like him.

There was a little birthday celebration for him last weekend and I wanted to share a few pictures.

Chopsticks

Katya, my friend Desiree, Logan, Alexis and myself all went to my most favorite Chinese food place ever - China Fun.

I have never eaten at any other restaurant that could equal the wonderful food that they make. Their Sesame Chicken is divine and I love their Veggie Lo Mein too.

I was unsure about what Alexis would eat so I put a plate in front of her and gave her a little bit of everything we had ordered: Sesame Chicken, white rice, Veggie Lo Mein, some eggroll and some veggies in some kind of yummy sauce that Desiree ordered. While I was trying to get her a spoon, she reached over without my noticing, grabbed my chopsticks and proceeded to eat. Wouldn't you know it - she actually got some noodles on those things and ate her lunch that way.

I must get some chopsticks for her at home.

Sharing a Bag of Cookies

One thing about being a grandma is that you get to get away with things that are usually poo poo'd by the mother.

An example of this is giving your 18 month old grand-daughter a bag of frosted animal cookies and letting her eat as many as she possibly can. The only thing is that you have to be prepared to eat as many as she can put in your mouth too.

Alexis & Zack

It is funny what kids find facinating. When you combine kids and pets together, the outcome is usually pretty funny.

Zack is my parents bichon. He started out a couple of years ago as a rather high maintenance pooch. He barked constantly, had some house breaking problems and was a bit on the hyper side. Now he is just a love of a dog. He still can be a bit barky and hyper - but all in all he is a great kid dog. He lets the kids pull at him and poke at him and he just tolerates it. He has never once sniped at one of the kids. This is not to say that he won't take their food out of their hand if it happens to be at his level - but usually it is being offered. One thing about toddlers is that they like to share with dogs.

However, Zack has a little problem when it comes to pacifiers. Every time we visit, he loves to take those little things and run around the house with them in his mouth. I am thinking that we are out about 8 pacifiers since we arrived this trip. He started out so well with leaving them alone, but seeing both kids with them stuck in their mouths must have just been too much temptation.

Although Zack has his little pacifier problem, we have discovered that Alexis has a little dog food problem. She was eating his kibble every chance she got and was getting a bit of a tummy problem because of it. We now have the dog food out of her reach and it was just this morning that we caught her trying to eat some more of it. I don't know why she eats the stuff! Not only must it taste putrid, it gives her the worst breath!!

Alexis has also discovered that one of the best places in the whole house to hang out in is Zack's crate. It seems to distress Zack a little to have Alexis crawling in and out of his special place and closing him out. He sits in front of the crate and watches her. She thinks it is lots of fun and does it almost every morning when we go in to hang with Grandma and watch Sesame Street on her bed.

The two of them are getting along pretty well. Zack knocks her down when he gets over zealous sometimes, but all in all they are little buddies. It will be very entertaining to watch Zack next year when Logan is running around too.

The Unbirthday Party

"Statistics prove, prove that you've one birthday,

one birthday ev'ry year.

But there are three hundred and sixty four unbirthdays.

That is why we're gathered here to cheer.

A very merry unbirthday to you, to you.

A very merry unbirthday to you,

It's great to drink to someone and I guess that you will do.

A very merry unbirthday to you"



Those are the lyrics to the "Alice in Wonderland" movie segment of the unbirthday party. One of these days we all need to memorize them because every year my mother hosts her famous Unbirthday Party and we never know the words to sing when it is time to blow out the candles!

The Unbirthday Party is my parent's party to celebrate all of their children and grandchildren's birthdays. It is kind of like having Christmas, only all the presents are from one couple and they are in birthday paper. My dad runs the BBQ and my mom handles everything else.

This year we had everyone! All 14 grandchildren could attend and all four children with their spouses were their transportation. It was chaos, it was loud, there were children everywhere! It was so much FUN! I love my family. I love every single person that was at my mother's house, even if I may not get to see them often enough. It is times like this party when you sit back and are so thankful for family.

Friends may come and go - but family is forever.

The Trip Down

We're Here!

Finally after a long two day adventure, we rolled into San Diego. I was sincerely hoping for a nice and uneventful trip down and it almost was.

Diana came over to the house after she got off of work on Wednesday night. Bob and I packed up the truck with what would fit (we were bringing a lot of stuff to S.D.) and we left the city limits of Bend at 8pm.

The plan was to drive all night and end up at our friend's house, Marc and Terrie (parents of the lovely, Maxine). I started the first shift of driving since I was freshly caffeinated and had a good sugar buzz going too. We made it as far as two hours out of Bend when Mr. Logan decided that he was hungry. I have no idea where I pulled over at, the sign said something about a sno park, but it seemed a safe enough spot to nurse for fifteen minutes. When I pulled off the road I noticed another car sitting amongst the trees and I assumed they were camping. I left the car running and the lights on while I topped Logan off. As Diana was buckling him back into his car seat I was blinded by the colorful lights of a police car. In the total darkness all I could see was lights and I heard a disimbodied voice telling me to get out of my car and to stand next to the police cruiser. As I am standing next to the cruiser the police man comes over and asks me if I am the one that called the rangers office and said that someone was trying to kill me. What! Uh, no sir. I was just feeding the baby and I thought this was a safe spot to do it. I told him about the car that was there when we pulled in, which was now missing, and got back on the road as quickly as possible.

We drove on for hours while I sipped my Diet Coke and listened to some music quietly so that Bob and Diana could catch a few winks for their turn at the wheel. When we got into Redding at 2am I was ready to hand the wheel over to Bob and catch a few winks of sleep. We gased the car up and then headed to the 24 hr Walgreens to get some water. It was there that Bob noticed the temp gauge on the car creeping towards hot. He shut down the engine and looked under the car. Sure enough, there was coolent leaking all over the ground. The dealer in Bend which replaced our water pump did a bad job of reattaching the hose and it wasn't keeping a tight seal. So, Bob found a 24hr WalMart and he went in to get the tools he needed to do a patch job (have I mentioned how Bob makes McGuiver look like an amateur?) and he eventually got the car patched up. It took some time, some burns on Bob's arms and Diana's trusty flashlight - but we were on the road after a few hour layover with Bob at the wheel.

At around 4:30am Bob lost his momentum and I took the wheel again. With Diana's assistance as navigator, we pulled into Marc & Terrie's house after a long and windy tour through Napa Valley (we took the long way by mistake) at 8am. Marc was so excited to have Bob there and take him to his dirt bike course. So, after a quick breakfast Bob donned his riding gear and took off to ride dirt bikes all day. Diana took the air mattress which they had set up for us in their office and had a nice snooze. Alexis & Logan had the best time wandering around their house and playing with Maxine's toys. Maxine wasn't too thrilled with this, but she did an excellent job of playing. It was so nice to finally get to meet Maxine and do some catching up with Terrie. We even went blackberry picking and found that Alexis can eat an entire bowl of them!

When the kids took their naps, I crashed with them. I was seriously beat. After dinner, we all loaded the Durango back up and we headed out at 8pm again. Let me just say this again - thank you so much Marc and Terrie for taking the day off of work and hanging out with us while we blew through town.

The next leg of our drive was brutal! We were all still tired from the first leg. Bob took the first shift and drove until 1am. I drove until 3am. Diana got to drive the Grapevine (lucky her) and she took the wheel until 5:30am. When we hit Pasadena I took the wheel and we got to Vista at 8am to drop Diana off. We hung out for a little bit so that Logan and Alexis could say hello as well as stretch our legs. We pulled up to my Mom's house at 9:30am.

When we drive to Utah, I am thinking that I would prefer to drive during the day. This overnight stuff is a killer!

Packing

I am busily packing for our month long adventure vacation in San Diego and Utah!

It is amazing how much stuff you need for two babies and yourself for a month. Yikes! I hope it all fits in the car.

Bob is driving us down so he can be there for the Unbirthday Party on Saturday (yeah!) and then he flies back to Bend on Sunday. Diana is also hitching a ride with us so she can finally meet the beautiful Layla. The car is going to be packed to the gills!

I can't wait to see everyone. Call me when I'm there!!! I'll update my blog while I'm at my mother's house. She can babysit while I blog.