Blah, blah, blog!

Meanwhile....back at the ranch...

....P is in her glory!

We are on week #2 of our return to horseback lessons and my little equestrian couldn't be happier.  She is just one of those kids who has it bad for horses.

Eric's new lesson horse Sargent is a sweetie.  These photos were taken during Sergent's turn out time.  He blazed up and down the arena, stopping just short of the fence.  It is amazing how agile and playful this big guy is.  He ran the length of the arena at least 12 times at full speed.  Then he would nudge the saddle waiting for him on the rails, insisting it was time to ride.

Friday afternoons at the ranch is a nice way to end the week.

New spectacles!

J has been asking for glasses for a couple of years now.  I long dismissed his pleas to go to the eye doctor.  I seriously thought he just wanted glasses because he thought they were cool.

Yesterday J came home from school insisting he was seeing double. He tried to avoid baseball practice, worrying, "What if I can't see the ball coming at me?"  Mother-of-the-Year here told him to go get his cleats on and get in the car.

Today the school called me and said that J was complaining of blurred vision. I finally called an eye doctor and picked him up from school within the hour.  He was a champ through all of the vision tests, air puff, pupil-dialating drops (totally looked like a mini senior citizen in his big black wrap glasses all afternoon following the dialation). The doctor explained that he is working so hard to focus on the up close stuff, that his muscles cannot relax to focus for far away vision.  She mumbled something about 20/400 correcting to 20/60 and wearing the glasses at all times to help relax the "focus muscles".

The poor kid was telling the truth the whole time!

While waiting for his prescription to be filled, we went to Borders and picked up the Indiana Jones trilogy in a special hardcover edition (a gift from Fawna).  He couldn't wait to dig in and marveled at how much easier it is to keep his eyes focused on the words now.  Ahhhh, can you just feel that mommy guilt oozing out of my pores!

He can't wait to go to school tomorrow. He is quite proud of his handsome bespeckled self.  As he should be!

Getting ready for kindy

This is my third child.

The artist formerly known as  Sweetpielalapalooza.
Chunker Butt.

Tooter Booter.

The Silliest Goose I Know.
Baby D.

Last week, I registered her for kindergarten.  This child has spent so much time at our elementary school, she could walk to class if I told her which professor to follow. Tomorrow, I take her for her kindergarten physical and vaccines.  I am not looking forward to the shots.  Maybe we'll bring her iPod and spatula for a distraction:


I love this little love bug more than I can express.  When friends tease me about having one more baby I sometimes declare that Baby D is the "exclamation point on Enough!"  She sure is.  But what a finale!  Rock on Little D. 

Please be kind during your teen years...

Getting to play with Great-Grandparents

My kids got a double-dose of good fortune to have the opportunity to play with not one, but two of their great-grandparents this Easter weekend.

T's grandpa is on a west coast adventure with T's aunt and uncle. Grandpa B lives in Wisconsin and Anne and Denny live in Minnesota. Their adventure will take them through AZ, CA, WA, and Canada with as many stops to visit with as many family members and generations as possible. We spent Saturday near Encinitas at T's cousin's beautiful home, enjoying a visit.

Great-Grandpa Gene is 97 years old. He raised 8 children, has 22 grandchildren, and at least 14 great-grandchildren (Betty please correct my stats if I am wrong.)  And this man STILL managed to greet our children with hugs, laughs, and a shiny gold $1 coin for each of them.

Such a cool thing for them to be able to have some fun with their great-grandpa!  How about five generations putting on the green:





The next day, we spent Easter Sunday at the ranch with my parents, my grandma (she is only 93), her boyfriend, two family friends, my brother and Gina. 

While waiting for the grilled lamb, my brother instigated a pick up game of Hot Potato:

Grandma was a good sport



Her arm was getting a little tired of throwing spirals, so she handed the ball off to Ralph.



Here's wishing you the happiest of Easters! 

Sk8tr Boy

This is a common scene most afternoons.  After school and homework, if we don't have gymnastics or football practice, J can be found on his skateboard. His uncle Steve gave him a Steve Caballero board for his birthday this year. I completed the build with trucks, risers and wheels. Now he has a hot ride. KILLS me when he leaves it out on the lawn after dark.  Do you ever drive by a home and guess what kind of people live there by the debris scattered about on their lawn?  Drive by my home and you'll likely see various sports balls and several modes of kinetic transportation: scooters, bikes, rollerblades and skateboards.  I often threaten to "throw them all away if you don't take care of things".  I never do.

I enjoy my son so much. He keeps me busy for sure. He wants to be involved in everything: plays, sports, lessons. We're not even done with football season and it is already time for baseball sign ups. He loves to cook with me, play board games, dance and put on lipsynching "shows" to songs like Crank Dat Soldja Boy and We Are the Champions Dinga Dang Dong version.  He is a friend to everyone and I notice he plays a lot of football with the older kids at school.  I overheard our nine year old neighbor tell him, "Hey J, that was tight when you schooled that fourth grader on that play."  Anyone have  dictionary of tween-speak I can borrow?

Evidence of my husband's brilliance

I've always said that I married the smartest man I know.  Its true.  When other elementary school dads are scratching their heads and complaining about math homework, T quietly explains the difference between the mean and the mode.  In stead of abicating responsibility of choosing the right insurance policy or retirement investment strategy to a broker, he orders big boring tomes from Amazon and reads until he understands the options.  He kicks ass at Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and can built or create just about anything.

Evidence:  Our newly wired patio cover complete with working lights, additional outlets and a ceiling fan:

Now before you say, "so what?", you have to understand that while strolling the aisles of Home Depot, T stumbled upon a book on wiring.  After many hours of standing in his patio, staring up at the cover, creating mental wiring plans, he put pen to paper and began to sketch:

I'm so impressed with this!  He chose perfect fixtures, laid them out just right to light up our yard and patio and gave us more outlets and flexibility!  I forgot my favorite part: outdoor speakers! We live outside in the summer months and T has created such a great living space for our family.

Thank you T....I love it! 

Sadness

I cannot even begin to imagine the pain the Coble family has endured.  I've mentioned that I don't watch daily local network news and last night was the first time I've taken the time to read about this tragedy.  Last week, this OC mom of three had her precious children saftely buckled up in the backseat of her mini van and was trying to exit the 5 onto Oso Parkway.  The exiting traffic was backed up down the off ramp and a semi driver plowed into the back of her minivan at 55-60 MPH, killing all three children while their mom and grandma were injured in the front seats.

Something has GOT to be done about our freeways in California.  Developers have the "If you build it they will come" attitude about their overpriced, undersized, overstuffed subdivisions, but the city and state planners consistently fail to plan a proper infrastructure to handle the growing population. 

This tragedy happened because too many vehicles needed the same freeway exit at the same time, causing a standstill in the exiting lane, backing up onto the freeway.  I have been in that situation sooooooo many times.

Our freeways are clogged to with two, sometimes three lanes of big rigs/semi trucks/tractor trailers for as far as you can see up the freeway ANY and ALL times of the day.  The truck drivers often go way too fast for safety and they cannot stop quickly like smaller cars.  The smaller cars are impatient too, often weaving in and out of traffic trying to beat the semis.  It is a frustrating, horrible dance and results in thousands of freeway collisions every year in southern California.

The Coble family didn't do anything wrong.  Their van wasn't driving too fast or weaving in and out of traffic.  They were simply waiting their turn on an exit ramp, trying to get home.

A website   has been set up with family photos and comments for those wishing to support the family.  More about their services can be found here.

My heart is broken for this family.

How his mind works

My son's, that is. 
For two days he has been babbling and bugging me about a mouse, and traps, and "can I borrow some cheese"?  I've been occupied with cleaning, clearning and organizing so I've largely brushed him off.  "No.  You may not have some cheese".  "Don't make a mess".  "What is this clutter all about?"  "Can you clean this up please".

I started noticing intricate maps and plans he had drawn.  Then a hanging sign that reads, "The Best Mouse Trap Ever, by J and P"

When I complained that Bella would smell the cheese and eat it and make a mess, he promptly found a bottle of Princess perfume and sprayed as to mask the scent.

When I complained that I don't want to see the mess, he built a retaining wall around the contraption with printer paper.

I finally stopped my robotic cleaning mode and paid attention to what this was all about.  J got a DS (handheld game) for Christmas and one of the cartridges was for the classic games: My Simon, Operation and Mousetrap.  After playing the digital version of the game Mousetrap, J set out to create his own.  Every piece plays a part in his design.  Note: the cheese is inside that mini white metal lunch pail.  It is propped up with a plastic dome.  What you can't see is the sign, hanging above, with a "rope" made out of kleenex tissue and scotch tape holding a magnifying glass dangling above.  When J cut the rope, the magnifying glass fell, causing the trap to fall.  Genius, no?

I have to share the BEST GAME EVER for creative minds:  We got J this Electronic Snap Circuits game for Christmas and he has been buidling projects like crazy.  This level builds over 300 different projects.  So far, J has built an alarm, a doorbell, a light, a propeller that lifts off and more.  Love this.

My kids have been camping:

Santa brought three Expedition Sets, including small tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and accessories.  We set up all three in our family room and they have each packed in their Barbies, games, books, headlamps and other treasures like mini homes.  See that little pink tent peeking out from inside the blue tent?  That is a doll tent, intended for Baby D's babydoll, but Bella Boo has taken over and sleeps inside right next to P.  Tent City is packed up today, but will relocate to the front lawn so mama can finally clean.

Wild Horsefeathers

My oldest child loves horses.  Not in the My Little Pony sense, but in the "My first car will have to be a truck to haul my horse trailer" sense.  Yikes.

I've offered up dance, cheerleading, piano, guitar, gymnastics, soccer, singing, Spanish, Chinese and more dance classes.  "Nope", she says, "I do horseback."

She has been working with an awesome trainer who trains her in the natural horsemanship method.  Her trainer has her close her eyes and use hand signals to indicate which foot the horse is leading.  She rides with her arms out in a T and her eyes closed.  She trots with no saddle or reins.  Her trainer wants her to develop her intuitive riding skills and perfect her balance.  I'm amazed at her confidence and balance and grace.

P first sat on a horse when she was, I don't know, maybe two?  Her Papa rides mules and ropes and cuts cattle.  I remember taking her to ride with him when she was about four and her demanding that he "back off" because she wanted control of the reins.  That's my girl.

Chinese speaking gymnast and aspiring thespian who earns merit badges in his spare time

...that is, if I let him participate in everything that piqued his interest.

My dashing son wants to be on stage.  A school-wide production of Miracle on 34th Street held casting calls after school on Tuesday and Wednesday.  He was one of only two first graders who auditioned.  This kid was handed a script and he got up on stage and read his lines into the microphone.  And he did well!  Stole the show, actually.  Well, I didn't actually see his audition, I was running back and forth between school and home making dinner, policing homework and bringing J snacks, but I hear he was magnificent! 

My exchange with the drama teacher:
Me: "My son read for the part of Fred.  Is he free to go home now?"
Teacher: "Is that the little guy in the Brazil tee shirt?"
Me: "Yes, the redhead"
Teacher: "Oh, I'd like to keep him."
Me: "Well, should I come back at 5:30 then".
Teacher: "No, I mean, I REALLY want to keep him.  Like forever!"
Me: Grin
Teacher: "Can you let him stay?  I'd like to have him try a few things".

After a looooonnnng week of late days at school on Tuesday and Wednesday, Cub Scouts on Tuesday night and gymnastics tonight, my little guy is exhausted.  Crabby, whiney and all-around hard to deal with.  But then again, so am I.

Our school offers Spanish classes after school on Mondays and Chinese classes after school on Fridays.  J would love to take either.  I vowed that my children would only participate in ONE extra curricular activity at a time.  I see now how hard that may be.  I think we'll wait for second grade to start those Chinese classes.