Hello Summer

Sorry all you folks back East, or in Colorado,or anywhere else in the world where its SNOWING! Cuz here in good ol' So Cal we are having our ever so nice heat wave in the middle of January. And its been FAN-freakin-TASTIC. I was beginning to feel white and pastey. Yes ma'am its been 80-something degrees here for a whole week. Shorts and tank tops, even bathing suits. Loving every minute. Makes me crave summertime. Dont leave heatwave, not yet.

Chp Or Dale??

So Im lookin at pics on the computer and Wyatt comes to join me. He sees this, I giggle. Our convo went like this...Wyatt: "Mom whos that?"

Me: " Its jackson on Halloween when he was little."

Wyatt: " Oh what was he?"

Me: " Ummmmmm he was a chippendale dancer..."

Wyatt: "Oh, (pause)... which one was he? Chip or Dale?"

Seriously rolling on my floor right now laughing hysterically. Hahahha Wy you kill me.

Dont Judge

Call me crazy, insane, nuts... whatever u want. But this is for my sanity, and so my kids dont end up in Tijuana because there have been several times that the thought has crossed my mind. Yes I made these, with everything from scrapbook paper to cardstock, stickers to glue, velcro to magnetic strips- you name it. Yes, I know CRAZY. And much to my satisfaction it seems to be working, so far....

Exhibit A: Take Away Charts- full of their favorite things and ready to be taken away- muahahahahah!!!Exhibit B: Listening Jars- full of colored cotton balls for good behavior and chores competed, waiting to be filled up in order to get a treat.

Exhibit C, D and E: Chore Charts- obviously.
Wish them luck. Better yet, wish ME luck.

Sad Sad Day

We thought our Eagles would fly all the way to the Superbowl.... That Sunday came along, and the boys were pumped...However, it was a sad sad day for the Eagles fans here in Orange County. And even more disapointing, look what I got in the mail the day after-

Until next year Michael Vick :(

Fruit Galore

Erin came over with Bailey today and I took her on our fruit walk. Only half the fruit walk cuz I knew all these kids were not gonna make it. We were gone for a few hours and felt like we were doing something bad because we ended up filling the whole back end of my trailor up with fruit, oh and erins backpack. Grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, blood oranges, lemons, limes, it was Ah-MAZING. I stopped by Kristyns and dropped her off a big bag and Erin took home a huge backpack full, I filled up a grocery bag for Keiras mom and this is what I still had left. Hopefully you cant OD on Vitamin C! I will be back there next week for my next stock up!

Rebel Child

What kid doesnt want to participate in pajama day?!?! Yes Wyatt. He fought me for two days, and told Riley the day before that his stomach was gonna hurt the next day so he wouldnt be going to pajama day. Terd. This kid is so worried about what other people think it kills me. Took everything in me to convince this child if there was ever a day it wasnt cool to wear clothes to school this was it. Finally I won. And he went, Pjs and all. And his Eagles bear won the award for the best climber ( huh?!?!) and it turns our he actually liked wearing his pajamas to school. Why would you NOT?!?! Thought that was a given.

How We Get Ice Cream-

-FOR THE BOYS!!! This is how the boys are carted around ladera these days (or nights I guess). We have been back to our nightly walks but this week was too darn cold for these kids to ride their bikes, not to mention both their lips are about to fall off cuz theyre so damn chapped. So into the bike trailor they go, bundled up, playing their DS's, windshield down and snug as a bug in a rug. And hitting up Baskin Robbins on the way... while Luke and I push their fat butts around Ladera, no ice cream in hand :( Spoiled if you asked me ;) PS> Doesnt it look like Jack has a mustache hahahahahahahah

Happy Hikin

New Years day after I drug Lukes butt outta bed, we went for a hike in Ladera. Nicest day, especially for a 4 hour walk. Ladera has little fruit trees all over the place so we filled up my backpack with oranges, blood oranges and grapefruit (which I stupidly brought my backpack that I cut the straps off of which in turn didnt fit Luke meaning I had to carry it the WHOLE time, stupid stupid stupid!) The boys did great, til about the last 45 minutes when those little legs could barely move anymore, so Wy ended up on Lukes shoulders while I raced Jack home to keep him entertained. Needless to say I hurt the next day. And I am never bringing that backpack anywhere, EVER again. But my fruit was delish ;)

Happy 2011!!

Ok so here I am, starting the new year. I WILL get to the rest of 2010 (after I get my external hardrive cord from my parents house so i can upload my pics to this computer!) YES i got a new computer! Merry Xmas to me!!! Actually our old one ran outta memory, just in time for me to finish up Jacksons team Highlight video and team book- fabulous huh?! But I LOVE my new one and am really excited to have this HUGE sreen in front me as I type- so thank you Luke, I LOVE YOU! And thank you to the rest of you who totally understand where I have been for the last 2 months while I havent been blogging (as mentioned above!) :) On that note- its a new year. Full of new resolutions. Full of change Im sure. And FULL OF BLOGGING! I promise ;)

I have tons of resolutions this year- some I am sure will be lost within January but I might get an A for effort. And others that I am determined to succeed with because it will make my life, and in turn Luke and the boys lives, way easier!

1) Quit losing my mind daily. Its not that everyday is totally outta control crazy, I think it just carries on from the day before, or week before in some cases. This one has lots of A B and C's to go along with it though- let me explain.

a. Stick to my routine. Daily, weekly, whatever. Boring, maybe. But all and all, way easier to keep up with homework, chores, meals, sports, etc.

b. Stick to the kids chore charts, take away charts and behavior jars. In other words, nip their bad habits in the butt so we are all happier, mostly for my sake so I dont want to take them to Tijuana and make a buck.

c. Make more time to get out of the house and go for a walk or to the park so we dont all go stir crazy. Otherwise those bad habits I referred to above keep creeping up on them/me and we are back to the beginning and probably one step closer to that trip to Tijuana.

d. Quit taking on everything just because someone asks me. I have enough shit to do people- and enough kids to take care of. Im all for helping people out but I seriously have NO clue how to say NO!

2) Make more dinners at home, and lunches as well. Quit using baseball, softball, football and every other excuse in the book to not make dinner. Or we are all gonna weigh 350lbs soon, except Jackson, he will never weigh more than 44- im convinced. The kid has a tapeworm or something.

3) More "family game nights" as my kids like to refer to it as. I love when they ask for this and I love the few months a year that we actually have time to do it. We need to make more time during the crazy months to keep this going. Really because Im competitive and love to win, which I usually do, even with Wyatt on my team. Thats me being modest ;) We did kill them at Battleship the other night. It was bad.

4) Keep up our workouts. I dont need to hardcore work out (well I need to but lets be real, its not gonna happen) but as long as we do our weekend hikes, nightly walks/runs, or an occassional trip to the gym a few nights a week Im good with that.

5) REALLY start our saving jars. We keep saying this and never do. Two of them- one for the kids sports and extra curricular activities, cuz lets face it, the price to play anything these days is like a freakin paycheck. As i type this Im thinking about the fact that in another month or two we will have to sign up BOTH boys for football, one in tackle which is more than twice as much as flag, and its seriously making me want to vomit. And one jar for a vacation, a real vacation. On a beach, with a fruity drink in hand, and a week to just not think about the reality of life in general. Wow its been way too long. If anyone has earned it its Luke, and lucky him, he gets ME too accompany him, we wouldnt want him to travel alone, what fun is that?!?! So a few bucks, or a twenty, every now and then would help. (Still gagging thinking about football sign ups. Sick)

6) Put away my laundry. I suck at this. I put away everyone elses. But for some reason hanging up my shirts is the biggest chore of them all. I could seriously justify hiring someone to do this for me because no matter how bad I want to I physically cant, or wont, which ever way you want to look at it. Luke thinks its hilarious. However hes not so good at hanging up anything either. Ill give you proof if you want.

7) Be more patient with stupid people. I know this sounds so bad but seriously, I am not one to bite my tongue. I will give you a piece of my mind or an opinion even when its not wanted if I think you are totally lame. It may come out as a smart ass remark (thats the Erwin blood in me) or I could be totally serious. But Im sure most people dont appreciate it. But lets be honest, I probably dont really appreciate them or whatever they did to deserve my sarcasm/honesty. Practice what you preach people. ( I think Ive been watching Chelsea Handler way too much!)

8) Read more. I know this sounds lame, but its one thing that allows me to just relax for awhile and escape the madness. Usually it happens after the kids have gone to bed and Luke is watching some lame history channel show, or very rarely at naptime when I have nothign else to do. My sister in law gave me a bunch of books at xmas and Im so excited to get started (right after I finish Are you there Vodka, its Me Chelsea and the Kendra Wilkinson book- pathetic I know!).

9) Get more organized. This is weird for me because I feel like I can be freakishly organized sometimes. (You should see the kids playroom baskets or Jacksons school folder). But by organized I mean I want all my pics on the computer organized into REALLy organized folders, photo books/scrapbooks done, home video onto organized DVDs, the kids preschool work into scrapbooks, my blog updated daily, etc etc etc. These are all things that have been staring me in the face for years and I cant seem to get it done. Myabe a little time every week set aside to do it?? Otherwise I have a feeling that one day Im gonna go on a rampage and just throw everything way. That would totally suck.

10) Take a little more time every day to appreciate what Ive got and a little less time every day concentrating on what I dont. Not everything is perfect all the time, and I have a hard time accepting that sometimes and tend to dwell on it. Ive got it good, real good, alot better than alot of people I know. Even though there are always lowpoints and there will always be lowpoints, I do have alot more highpoints. And that makes me excited for 2011 and all the crazy things that we get to endure, like two kids playing football this year (yes Im still thinking about that registration check and Ive made two trips to the toilet already thinking I was going to hurl!) So to all my friends- Happy 2011- may it be more crazy, more busy, more happy and more RELAXING than 2010!!! And may you see lots more pictures of these smiley little faces!!