Note to self...

...be careful about snack time! Maybe think twice about graham crackers and peanut butter or chocolate pudding (though I did not give to Coop...he stole from his big bro). Oh well...the joys of childhood, getting messy....

5 weird things

(Aren't they tooo cute....)


Ok, Sally tagged me....
5 Weird Things About Yourself....

1. I have a lock phobia. I have to check, double check, and sometimes triple check that I locked the car door or house. When I went to Nashville last week, we left at 5:00 AM, and I was worried for hours that I left the house unlocked (and maybe the door not shut all the way...).

2. I set my alarm for times like 6:22, 6:37, 7:03...never times like 6:30 or 7:00.

3. I have to write everything on the calendar, hence, my calendar is always full...too full

4. I get headaches a lot. I have been to the doctor and the eye doctor, and they can't find anything wrong.

5. My eyes do not like glasses. I get my eyes checked, glasses ordered, and then within a few days, my prescription is wrong. Back to the doctor, new prescription, and still happens. I have been to 3 different doctors, and it still happens. I prefer my contacts anyway.

OK, I am tagging: Vicki and Brian....go!

SCrappers: Here's a cool tip from Heidi Swapp's blog: rub the sides of your pictures with sandpaper, and then you don't have to mat them. It's a cool technique. Check out her blog. I just went and tried it on a pic and it looks good.

I'm baaaack!

OK, I made it and I'm home...boy, did I miss my boys a lot. But I came back inspired to be a better mom! If you are mom of a child 5 and under, go find a MOPS group! It's such a great organization! I was amazed at how close many groups got and how much they did for one another.
PLus, seeing Nashville was cool, too. No, I didn't go to the Grand Ole Opry this time(even though we were staying right next door...here.) But I went out with the Fergusons to Franklin and downtown historic Franklin and saw their house. It's so different in Tennessee. So green and lush, with trees and bushes everywhere. I really enjoyed touring and was inspired to maybe move there myself. Maybe...it would be nice to get more for our money than what we get in CA and be a stay at home mom. Is that crazy?
Anyway, before we up and move, I did really enjoy our visit. BUT I was happy to be home with my boys. They missed me. I think Daddy missed me the most! He did a great job!
Hope all is well with you, my friends.
Sorry, no pics to post. I didn't bring my camera. Bought postcards. But go check out the link and see the awesome Opryland Hotel. It's gorgeous!

I'm off!

Leaving tomorrow at 5AM to fly out to Nashville!!!! I am going to the MOPS convention...so excited, but also not so excited. I don't want to leave my boys....they'll be fine, daddy loves to "batch" it with them (bachelor), so it'll be popcorn, McDonald's, movies and staying up late. Will they miss me?
Hope all is well with everyone! See you in a few days. :-)
I leave you with my babies on a wagon ride this week!

Fresno?

This came from an article on yahoo.com (It's only the ending):
"Britney Spears, 24, gave birth to the baby who could be Sutton Pierce early Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was admitted to the hospital after experiencing discomfort Monday, ultimately undergoing a Cesarian section four days earlier than scheduled.
According to various baby-name Websites, Sutton is a name of English origin used for both boys and girls, and meaning "the town to the South."
Spears hails from the Southern state of Louisiana. Federline, her 28-year-old husband, hails from Fresno, a California city south of Chowchilla."

Have you ever heard Fresno described that way???? Chowchilla is a tiny town(about 11,00-15,000) and Fresno is a big city! Actually, I think only "locals" will get this...
I just burst out laughing when I read this! HA!

Go Vote

Go here and vote for Under the Influence of Giants to be "who's next"!!!!

http://launch.yahoo.com/promotions/whosnext/

2 posts in 1 day!

This is for you, Auntie Emese...2 posts in 1 day...and your first day back at work...hope you are feeling OK. Miss you!


These are blasts from the past...the ones of Spence are from right around when he turned 2. The other is Aunt Meg with Coop when he was almost a month old.

Priceline dot com

Hey...check out www.priceline.com ...it rocks! Joe and I have used it many times over the years and gotten nsome great rooms. Basically, you enter in your location and a price you want to pay. We usually start with $50 and see what we can get. We've stayed in great places (Doubletrees, Marriotts, Hiltons, etc) in the bay area and San Diego and now Pasadena. We weren't getting anything with $50 last weekend, so I started looking up places on other sites and found we would probably be staying in a Quality 8 or something else. So we tried priceline one more time and entered the price we'd pay for a pretty cheap place, and we got the Sheraton! Yay! (However, jenny, in my opinion, I think the Marriott beds are better!) So next time you are going somewhere, try it. I promise you can stay at pretty decent places for pretty cheap!

This week is flying by...wheeeee....Coop had his 15 month appt and now is 29 inches! Go baby! The doctor had been a little worried b/c he had been very small at 9 months, but he's growing and growing...
Hopefully we'll finish painting the hall this weekend...maybe we start the family room?
Did you hear Britney Spears had her 2nd child, a boy? Congrats! :-)

Family Ties

If you haven't talked to or visited a certain family member in a while, stop reading this and go do it. It's so important to keep in touch with family!
I got to see some family this weekend that I hardly ever see. The main problem is that we are far away (Florida and Virgin Islands), but still...I miss them and love them so much. We got together for my Grandma's service ay her church. I think Grandma would have approved of the service. I know she is in a better place now, in heaven with her beloved husband . She had strong faith. We also had a nice time visiting with the family and telling family stories.
I am posting some pics of my cousin Amy, and Jen and me with Aunt Emese.
(And as a bonus, a cute pic of my Coop with his favorite toy, the remote! :))

busy busy bees

We have been so busy lately...Spencer is enjoying pre-school! I am busy with my 4th graders, I enjoy that age group a lot. Coop is busy getting into everything and climbing like a madman! :-) Just like his daddy, Grammy says! Joe is busy with work and life....he works at the pre-school every week! Lucky him! He loves it, too. Tomorrow our MOPS @ Nite group begins. I am very excited. If you are in the MOPS age bracket (pregnant to a age 5 children), join a group. I really feel like I have learned a lot about being the best mom I can be. Michelle and I are going with some of our MOPS leadership group to Nashville in 2 weeks....yippee!
We're also headed to LA this weekend to my grandma's service. Joe says we should just move back to LA, we have been there so often lately. Yes! :-) (Can't wait to see you, Jenny!)
Sorry I have been MIA lately, so busy...I know many of you are, too! Kim is busy with baby Amanda, who is a very good baby acoording to mom. Lucky!!! Robin just moved into a new house in the Seattle area...can't wait to hear all about it! Sally is back to teaching...how's it going this year???? Who else is reading my blog? What's new with YOU???? :-)

I leave you with a pic of Coop and Daddy playing on the computer.

SD pix for auntie Jen

OK, Jeanya, here are some of the pics...can't wait to see you next weekend...saving ALL my pics to discs thanks to Vicki's passionate plea to all of her friends (she lost many great pics on her computer). Thanks, Vicki (mama to be to a girl!!!! I'm thinking Coop's future wife?hee-hee)!

I miss you, Grandma

Grandma, you will be missed. I am so glad I saw you just a few weeks ago.

Precious Morgan

Here's one of the cutest little girls in the world...Baby Morgan at her Naming Ceremony! (Yay, Robin, I got it on!!!!)

Ohhh...my pics worked....here's Tegan!!!!! :-) From a week ago...Spencer's first best friend!

My baby is grown up

Feeling a little mopey...my baby Spence started pre-school today. How in the world did that happen???? My babies aren't babies anymore....he loved school, by the way. He looked so cute! His favorite part was playing with the trains in the yellow room. :-)
I am also a little mopey about school..liking my new partner, but other stuff are kinda bumming me out...oh well...anyway have a LOT of money to give us so I can stay home????

stuff I hate continued

Ah, Sally, you reminded me...
10. I hate doing report cards! I love teaching, but I do not like all the grading and paperwork! I get behind and then have to make a mad rush to catch up. I like to do daily assessments to know where my kids are.

I also hate crowded places, especially when I am with my 2 small boys. Waiting in line with them is hard. Especially my very mobile-on the move- can't stand still Cooper. His grammy says he is just like his daddy! We postponed our Disneyland trip for later this fall...hopefully less crowded than summer! :-)

Oh, and being stuck in traffic with 2 boys who may or may not be happy or hot or thirsty or hot...

OK, gotta go mop the floors...and help Joe paint...my favorites! Yippeeeee.....

10 Things You Hate Doing

Ok, 10 on Tuesday's newest tag is 10 Things you hate doing...here's mine...

1. Cleaning the toilets
2. Scrubbing the shower (anything bathroom related)
3. Painting the top part of the wall
4. Mopping (Can you tell cleaning is not my thing...)
5. Taking my car in to get fixed
6. Writing big checks
7. Putting away baby clothes because they won't fit my babies anymore...
8. hate being late and I am late a lot now....ugh...
9. losing my keys (starting to stretch...I guess maybe cleaning is my hated thing...)
10. hmmmm....

Ok, that was harder than I thought. Ok, I am tagging Sally, Vicki, and Brian....

Weekend Fun

So we ventured down south again to visit friends and go to Morgan's naming ceremony (Robin and Peter's beautiful baby girl). We had a blast! First we stayed with Tegan and family. Tegan was Spencer's first best friend. We love his family. Spencer had a great time playing with Tegan (and seeing Evan, his cute baby brother). He is the most well behaved 3 year old ever! Joe and I were amazed at him...he certainly seems much older than 3 and 2 months...Charity and Shane are some amazing parents!! Our boys weren't in the best form, though I know 2 long trips and a week without mommy all day didn't help. No more car trips for awhile...
We also visited with the Hayes family and their new addition, Summer. So cute! Diane, one of my dearest friends and Spencer's godmother, came over and chatted with us for a while at Charity's house. Diane is also mother to Aaron, lead singer of Under the Influence of Giants, a hot new band. They have been in People the last 2 weeks, on Jimmy Kimmel, and have a video on rotation on MTV. If you love dance music, you'll love them. Check it out on itunes!!! Awesome!!!
On Sunday we attended the naming ceremony. It was so good to see Robin. I miss her a lot. She is such a fun friend and we always have a good time together. Isn't her daughter just precious???? She slept through the whole party!
On the way home, we ran into a brush fire on the 5 and sat on the Grapevine for 2 hours!!! Augh! It was closed and we wern't sure what to do. Go back to LA? Just wait? Luckily (I guess...) they opened it before we had to be diverted onto an alternate route that would have taken us off and around the Grapevine, a delay of ??? hours! So we made it home, and I went straight to bed as today was my FIRST day of school! Already! But I survived and Maya, my new teaching partner, and I enjoyed our day. Tomorrow I'm off at 11:50, so I am looking forward to my shorter days!
UGH>>>>My pics won't link....Robin, I'll keep trying...I'm not sure what is going on....ugh...

Amanda's here!

Kim and Mike welcomed baby Amanda Joy yesterday! Congrats! Can't wait to see pictures! So excited for these guys!

pics that didn't post

my pics won't post...waaah...not my day!