California - Disneyland

Here are some pictures we took while we were at Disneyland. We were very lucky to have Charlotte (and Florence if she hadn't gotten sick) offer to keep Lacy for the day so we could take the two older kids to Disneyland. They had a GREAT time!

When we first entered the park we saw Mickey Mouse, so we got a family picture (minus Lacy of course) with himAnd we got one of Jono with his kidsThen we were off! We rode the Dumbo ride. Don't worry I got in there with Hailey after I took the picture. =)We drove the carsRode in The Tea Cups

We rode in the pink monkey cage on the trainTook a boat rideThen we split up and Joe took the boys to Toon Town and Jono and I took the girls to see the princesses. We stood in a horrible, hot, long, slow, ridiculous line FOREVER to see them. When we finally got to see them Hailey would NOT go over to get her picture taken. So, I'm going to post the beautiful pictures Ava took with them instead.

First, we met Snow WhiteThen, we met MulanThe third princess was Cinderella who is one of Ava's favoritesBelle also came out to take Cinderella's spot, but we were not allowed to go backwards and get a picture with her too. Now if you ask Hailey what she did at Disneyland all she'll talk about is the princesses! Go figure, she wouldn't get near them, but they were definitely her favorite part. Also, the couple in front of us in that disgustingly slow line only had one child...a four month old baby! I was shocked that they stood in that awful line for so long for a baby the same age as we left home! I couldn't believe it, I was wondering if the line was even worth it for Hailey and they were in it for a baby! Jono and I were both shocked and amazed. But, when they got to the princesses they all got in the picture and it was just as great for them as it was for Ava.

After we left the princesses, we went to meet Joe and the boys back at Toon Town. While we were killing time waiting for them... ...we saw Minnie Mouse. Hailey's favorite! She was so excited, but she still wouldn't go over there by herself, so here is a picture of both of us with Minnie Then, after we rode another ride with the kids, we headed back to watch Princess Jasmine have story time with the kids. I didn't get a picture of her, but after it was over Talon went down to get a crown (not a tiara) from a maiden. He was in line down there and when I looked over she was squatting down talking to him for a long time. They were talking forever and he gave her a hug when they were done. So, here's Talon's girlfriend he met at Disneyland:And here is the Gavinator:

After that we went and watched the parade before heading back over to ride Buzz Lightyear one more time before going home. And that was our day at Disneyland

California - House in Carlsbad

Here are some shots of the family hanging out together at the house we rented in Carlsbad. Jono brought his Rock Band and it was a huge hit with everyone.

Here is Christopher, Jonothan and Giovanni playing

Gavin on the guitar

Another GREAT shot of Jono

Florence and Hailey watched

Lacy didn't mind, she just covered her eyes and kept sleeping through it all

Florence's stepdaughter Jessica

These three were always together at the house until Lauren had to go home

The boys actually stood still long enough to get a picture of them!!

Florence and Jessica share a birthday, so Charlotte made them a cake and we celebrated with them on Friday before they had to catch their plane home Saturday morning

Talon's favorite part...even better than EATING the cake!! Charlotte and Dennis took Talon to Sea World with Ava, so we took Hailey and Lacy to a park in the neighborhood. I told Hailey to go stand by the pretty flowers and she picked the flowers and did this pose all by herself...what a natural!
Lacy smiling at the park Here are all the kids (and Jill because Hailey wouldn't go over there by herself) at the park for a BarbequeAva and Hailey playing strip poker...I mean painting...topless

California - Beach

I finally went through all of our pictures from California last night, and it took me nearly THREE hours! I still have too many. So, I decided to split them up into a few different posts to make it a little bit easier....for me. :-)
Here is the first group of pictures:

Our family at the beach in Oceanside

Front row in the sand:Ava, Payton, Gavin, Jonothan, Giovanni and Christopher In the water in the background: Carina and Charles

Lacy at the beach.

Talon in the COLD water with his dad.

Talon got buried up to his neck and he like it so much that he said he wanted to stay there "until we go home" So, we put a shade over his head and let him stay there. He stayed there for so long, by the time he got out his feet hurt.

This is a great picture I got of Jono falling after attempting to skin board. It was so great, I couldn't help but post it. It was great to have Florence, her husband Mike and their three kids; Jessica, Giovanni and Jonothan on the trip with us!
Here is Grandpa Dairman with Talon and Ava running from the waves
The whole gang! We had a man next to us take this one...I can't beleive we got one of EVERYONE in it!
Everyone is in this one except for Jill (who is taking the picture) and her daughter Lauren

Finally home

Well, we are finally home from our week-long vacation in California with the Dairman's. We had a great time and there is much to write about, but we don't have the time now. There is a LOT of unpacking to do. =) Once I get our pictures downloaded, hopefully within the next couple of days, I'll write all about all of our fun times.

California!!!

Today we took the kids to the beach, and forgot our camera, so we're stealing some pictures from Jill's camera. :)  Florence and Mike offered to take Lacy to church with them so that we could take the older kids to the beach.

Our family

 Talon had a blast playing in the water.

 Hailey liked playing in the sand the most.

Here are Hailey and Lauren sitting in the shade

After we got home the girls took a bath in the HUGE master bathroom

Hailey wanted her towel, "like mommy do"

We're having a great time here and the house that Dennis and Charlotte picked out for the family is perfect.  It has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, a HUGE kitchen, living room, family room and a community pool within walking distance that has even has a kiddie pool.  I don't think our kids have had this much fun...EVER!  And we haven't even gone to Disneyland yet. :-) 

Sooo close to home...

When I saw the heading of this article it made my heart skip a beat. I feel so bad for the family of this little girl and appreciate every time Joe didn't let me do it when I wanted to take the kids out of swim lessons. This happened today less than a mile from our home...

Girl, 2, drowns in backyard pool in east Mesa
by Gary Nelson and Ali Pfauser - Jul. 25, 2008 02:50 PM

A 2-year-old Mesa girl drowned in a backyard swimming pool near Power and McKellips roads Friday. Mesa Fire officials said the child was underwater for up to five minutes and was not breathing when pulled from the pool by her mother about 12:40 p.m.
Both parents were at home at the time and it was unknown how the child wandered into the fenced pool area, police said. She was transported to Bannner Baywood Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Jeff Stieber, a fire department spokesman, said emergency responders arrived in the 6900 block of East Ivyglen St. at 12:45 p.m., about three minutes after receiving a 911 call. They found the girl's parents doing CPR on the child, who was not breathing.
Stieber said the parents reported there was about five minutes of "unaccounted time" before they found the child in the pool. The pool was protected by a fence, but Stieber said, "A fence is only as good as the locking mechanism on the gate."
Officials did not immediately release names.
This is the ninth child drowning in the Valley since April.

Atkins Diet

Have any of you ever tried the Atkins (Low-Carb) diet? Jono, Joe's brother, was dieting and working out for a month and a half and lost 10 pounds, then he started Atkins and lost 15 pounds in a week. (Maybe I have those weights backwards??) Anyway, I was sold! So, Friday night I started it. Let me tell you...I felt like I was STARVING all weekend, even though I think I was eating constantly. At one point I told Joe, "I'm starving...I want to eat a whole loaf of bread!" He just laughed at me and told me that maybe this wasn't the best diet for me. When I was at the Dairman's for Sunday dinner I said something to Charlotte, Joe's mom, about being so hungry and she told me that Jono has felt hungry the whole time too. That stinker!! He didn't tell me that when I asked him about it!!!
So, the good news is that I have lost 7 pounds since Friday. The bad news is that it costs a lot more money to eat this way. I was at Walgreen's for a Rx the other day and found some Atkins bars...they were 3 for $7, but I was STARVING so I bought 3. Holy crap!! They were soooo gross, disgusting, BAD!!! Every time I thought about it I would taste that crap again, for the rest of the day! Do you know how much food I could get at Taco Bell for $7??!!!
Obviously, I'm not a very good dieter...it affects my mood too much...have you ever seen a post with so many !!!'s? Plus, I ran out of eggs at home, so I had some cheese for breakfast, and that sucked!! But, at 7 lbs/4 days I guess I could do this for a few more weeks. AAARGH!!

Softball Tournament & Florence

We lost our 7:00 game at Rose Mofford, had a two hour break, then played at 10:00 and won that game. Then, we headed to Victory Lane (43rd Ave & Pinnacle Peak) to play at 11:30. We lost that game, so that's when our night ended. After the looooong drive home, on the 101 at 55 mph most of the way, I was home a little before 2am and was completely exhausted! I am pretty sore today, and I'm sure I won't feel much better tomorrow, but I had a great time and it was nice to get off my butt and back into the game!
Florence is here! Joe's sister Florence came into town on Saturday afternoon to spend a week with the family before we go to California next week (unless you're a burglar, then we're ALWAYS going to be home!) Dennis, Charlotte and Florence came Saturday and had lunch with us and the kids, then we went to dinner at the Dairman's last night. It was really nice to see some of her friends that we don't get to see anymore since she has moved away. Dennis and Charlotte always do such a great job of welcoming everyone and cooking so much great food (and packing it all up to take home afterwards). I am so lucky to have such great in-laws!

Oriental Trading

I have ordered from Oriental Trading Company many times, and not really had any problems, until this last order. My kids have recently gotten into painting, and rather than continuing to buy the 4 oz bottles at Target I decided to try to save some money.
The 6 gallon size paint jars that I ordered did not come with the first shipment, and instead I got a box FULL of flowers (the colorful, flat kind that you have to glue on to stuff). I called them, and they told me that I should donate the flowers to a preschool or something (anyone interested?), but the paints were on back-order, so I was told to keep checking online and call back when they become available. After a couple of days I decided not to wait anymore and got back on their website and wrote down each order number to order the paints individually, and called them back. After they told me the paints couldn't be ordered that way, and I gave them the item numbers, and they said my paints were on the way. A few weeks later here is what I got. Needless to say, I wasn't too pleased...

Who throws bottles of paint in a box that is too big with no packaging to hold them from banging into each other?? Anyway, I called them back and told them what happened, and my paints are on the way...again. I did, however, put on some grubby's and clean those bottles off. Although a few of the colors leaked BEFORE the white bottle busted I managed to get them cleaned (and taped) and I think we'll be able to use them. =)

...and the moral of the story is...paint does not ship well, buy them at Michael's where you can get the same size for about the same price (which I found out over the weekend in their store).

Update: OK...crazy! I'm at work and I get a phone call from OT and the lady says that she saw my blog and wanted to apologize for what happened. She said that they have talked to the ppl in shipping and talked to the person who didn't know she could order them individually. She said that paints are fairly new to them, so they have had some problems, and she is going to send me a $20 gift certificate for my next order. You might be saying what I said, "Um...how did you see my blog?" Well, they have some automatic thing where anytime anyone write's their name they get a notification. At least they really do care...I'll definately use that $20!

Lacy went swimming

We finally took Lacy swimming, but she wasn't that happy about it. Joe took her in first and she cried. I guess our pool is not as warm as bath water yet, although it feels like it to us sometimes. When I got in a few minutes later she had calmed down a little bit, but still wasn't enjoying herself.Finally, Joe took her out, dried her off and put her where she loves it most, and she went right to sleep. I guess swimming was a lot of work for her. =)

I do not type as fast as I used to

I type 63WPM with 98% accuracy or 66WPM with 97% accuracy. I used to be much faster than that, but I think I have gotten quite a bit faster with the 10 key over the past few years. Here is a cool site to see how fast you can type: http://www.typingtest.com/

I actually do have a few things to post about today, but I haven't downloaded any pictures, so I'll wait until I have the pictures to go with the posts.

Also, I'm going to jump right back into softball head on. I haven't played since I was pregnant with Lacy (a little over a year ago), but I am playing in a Women's tournament that starts at 7pm Saturday night. We are guarunteed 3 games, but could be playing all night. I would say that I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet, but I AM sure that I'm NOT ready!! Wish me luck, and have a great weekend!!

Update: I just did 70WPM with 98% accuracy! Maybe that was a fluke??

I'm bored

I'm bored, but at work, so I don't have many options. I found this while blogsurfing, so I thought I would do it.
One Word
Answer the following with only one word.
1. Where is your cell phone? ...................purse
2. Your significant other?........................work
3. Your hair?...........................................streaky
4. Your mother? .....................................generous
5. Your father?........................................trustworthy
6. Your favorite thing?............................family
7. Your dream last night?.......................dog attack
8. Your favorite drink.............................iced tea
9. Your dream/goal?..............................debt-free
10. The room you're in?..........................cold
11. Your children?..................................fight
12. Your fear?.........................................spiders
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years....home
14. Where were you last night?.................home
15. What you're not?.................................busy
16. Muffins.............................................chocolate
17. One of your wish list items?................steamer
18. Where you grew up?...........................mesa
19. What you read last..............................this
20. What are you wearing?.......................dress
21. Your TV?...........................................Joe's
22. Your pets?.........................................Sandy
23. Your computer? ................................works
24. Your life?............................................good
25. Your mood?........................................bored
26. Missing someone?...............................kids
27. Your car?...........................................covered
28. Something you're not wearing?............panty hose
29. Favorite Store?...................................Costco
30. Your summer?....................................hot
31. Like someone?.....(I'm like them, or I like them?)...Adelina I guess
32. Your favorite color?.........................purple
33. Last time you laughed........................today
34. Last time you cried?..........................a month ago

Boring Post

This is going to be a pretty boring post, because I don't have any pictures to go with it, but I'll write about our day yesterday anyway. =) We went to our usual Tuesday night dinner with Donna and Brandon last night, except this time we were joined by Jono (Joe's brother), his kids Ava and Gavin, Christopher (Joe's sister Fran's stepson), Dave (my brother) and his son Tyler. We went to Applebee's, and it's a good thing because we weren't a very quiet group. The plan was to get some dinner before we went to the loop 202 celebration, but dinner took so long we barely had any time to spend on the freeway. We got a great parking spot though! We put Lacy and Hailey in the stroller, and gave Talon his scooter. We went down the off ramp, and then back up. That was the perfect amount of time for our little ones. Hailey would get out of the stroller every once in a while to ride her scooter and then start carrying it. She's so goofy. I told her every time that she didn't have to carry it, she could get back in the stroller and she said, "o-tay". Oh, I forgot to mention that Joe's shoes were broken too! As we were getting in the car at Applebee's Talon stepped on the back of his flip flop and the strap broke. He rigged it with an eyeglass repair kit I found in the diaper bag (maybe that was yours mom???), but it didn't hold very long.