Friends Forever

In 1975 when I was 5 years old, my parents bought a house in San Juan Capistrano. The house was brand new and had never been lived in. I think I can honestly say those were the happiest years I ever had growing up. My room had yellow and green decor with built-in's along the wall to put all my books, toys, and what ever other things a girl of five years collects. I loved that room. I remember laying on my floor listening to my Donny and Marie album and dreaming of being in love with Sean Cassidy. We had to actually turn the knob on the TV...oh yes, TV's had knobs back then and we only had 13 channels to choose from. Oh, wait, I'm getting distracted....

As much as I loved my room, the absolute best thing about that house was the neighboors. Just within a few houses were six families with daughters just my age. Quickly we became friends and had a blast riding our big wheels up and down the street, taking turns spending the night at eachothers houses, and marching in the Swallows Day Parade with our Blue Bird troop. We had no idea we were beginning friendships that have lasted 34 years and most likely will continue until there are none of us left. I have memories with each of them. There's Tara, best friend grades 1-3, who to this day is always laughing and excited; Kim, my first best friend in kindergarten; Dani, the shy smart one; Terese, who had the first microwave of any of us and learned about life before any of us was ready; Sheila, the fun one who you never knew what to expect from; and Tiffany, the youngest of us all who had the Barbie doll looks we all loved and admired. We've grown together though grammer school, junior high, and high school. After that we all drifted in and out of circulation with eachother and some live far away now. Terese is in Bend, OR and Sheila is in Virginia. No one knows where Tiffany is, and I can't forget Nicole who didn't live on our street but was part of our group none the less. Kim, Tara, Dani and I now we have kids of our own and we are enjoying this stage of life with each other having play dates and celebrating birthdays. Tara, Kim, Nicole and I try to meet once a month at El Torito in the harbor for Taco Tuesday. Someday I hope we'll be enjoying eachother's company while telling stories of our grand children together.

I'm lucky to have them in my life. It's rare to have a friend who has known you as long as you can remember but even rarer to have as many as I do.

Disneyland

We took the kids to Disneyland yesterday and had a wonderful time! I have always loved Disneyland ever since I was a kid. It's gotten so expensive it's not often we get to go but lucky for us we have a connection who works there and we are lucky to be able to get in for free. Thank goodness for good friends because at $70 per person it's a huge expense to go.
I remember as a kid being picked up from school early by my parents and heading to Disneyland. We would play a fun game on the ride up which only took about half an hour. I would get so excited I could hardly sleep the night before. It always felt like Christmas Eve to me knowing the next day I'd be having the time of my life. So, that was our plan. We picked Michael up from school early and got there in the middle of the day. Michael was so excited at school all morning in anticipation. He's been several times but he was young and didn't really remember much. Hayden had only been once when he was two months old so it was a completely new experience for him, and Allie, well she wont remember but she had a blast!


Now, I like amusement parks in general... fast rides, junk food, games... the whole bit. But, NOTHING can compare to Disneyland. It really is a magical kingdom and I personally believe if you can't go to Disneyland and have a great time then you have lost all sense of imagination and I feel sad for you. Young and old can find something there to enjoy. I hope even when I'm old and can hardly walk that my grand children will take me there... they can feel free to park me on a bench in the shade so I can watch the people and enjoy the view of the boats near Pirates of the Caribbean or they can use me to their advantage and cut in line with me in the wheelchair... either way I'll always love that park.



I took Michael on Space Mountain for the first time. He was so funny. I think it kind of scared him and he looked pretty green when the ride ended. He declared he didn't want to do that again! I think I'll have to wait for Hayden to get older to ride those kind of rides with meNow that I'm grown with kids of my own I love Disneyland just as much as ever and it's actually gotten better now that I get to watch the excitement and awe on my kids faces. That in itself is worth the price of admission.

Springtime

This morning when Mike left to spend the day with his Dad I was feeling a bit disgruntled and irritated. After a night with little sleep... Alana's teething... I was awoken at the crack of dawn by my offspring. The last of the Diet Coke had been consumed the day before which no doubt would eventually turn into a headache from lack of my daily dose of caffeine and without Mike I was going to have to entertain all three of my babes without back-up. Throw in some hormones and well, I'm sure you get the drift; it was not looking like it was going to be a promising day.

Eventually we were all fed and dressed and I packed everyone up and headed to the park. What better way to blow off some energy and keep the boys entertained. At first Michael was not happy about my park of choice because there were not many kids, but I made the executive decision to stay. I'm glad I did. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and the boys quickly found friends to play with. One thing about my boys, they have excellent social skills. They are both easy to get along with and just happy to play and talk with anyone who is interested. I love that about them.

After a couple of hours of running around, climbing the monkey bars, and riding their bikes and scooters we grabbed the camera and decided to take a couple of pictures. I even handed the camera to them and asked them to take a few shots of nature. So enjoy the picture of grass taken by Hayden and the flowers taken by Michael.


Now, Michael, who as I'm writing this just gave me a hug and an "I love you Mommy", is enjoying some quiet down-time. Hayden and Allie are napping and there is a nice breeze is blowing in through my window. I can honestly say this has been a great day so far. When Mike gets home we'll BBQ some burgers, eat outside, and we will finish the day as a family. What more can I ask for? It's day's like this that make me realize I have it all. Well, I'm signing off... Michael wants to color with me.

He's a Big Boy Now!!!

The first time Hayden peed on the toilet he was about 16 months old. I thought I was the luckiest woman in the world! My son was going to be potty trained by the time he was two! A potty prodigy! A barely two year old boy potty trained?? It's unheard of for sure but honestly I thought the karmic gods would be on my side since I'd gotten a bit more than I bargained for with all his climbing and mischief.... well, here we are more than a year later and finally the chore of potty training is almost complete. I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch so I'll only count my eggs but he has made great strides towards freeing us from the financial burden of at least a portion of our diaper fund.

For anyone reading this who might find themselves training a toddler boy I will give you this advice. Use "special treats"... it's amazing what a little bit of ice cream or M&M's can do to boost the appeal of the toilet. Even if you have to give them ice cream three times a day for two weeks in the end they'll be trained and the sugar high will eventually wear off.

So, for the last two weeks we've had a naked boy running around our home beaming with a huge smile each time he mounts the porcelain throne to drop the kids off the pool. Never mind however, the money spent on replacing one toilet due to the toilet paper spindle being flushed and Mike's plans for Saturday is to remove the upstairs toilet to search for the "pouf" which Hayden flushed just days ago. So, it wasn't painless but at least it's almost done.

I guess it's time to kiss the "baby" good-bye and welcome my newest "big boy" to our family.

Good Job Hayden!!!

Brownies

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Girl Baby Update

I can't believe Allie is almost 6 months old! It seems like just a few weeks ago she was born. How much faster time seems to be flying by now that there are three kids to chase around. My days are so full now.

It has been amazing having my baby girl. She is the sweetest baby I've ever known. She rarely cries and is just happy to be. Easily entertained, just a look and a "high girl baby!" is enough to make her smile and squeal with delight. Even on my worst day a smile like that could make me feel warm and fuzzy. So, I am delighted to be her Mommy. It's funny really. In the beginning of my pregnancy with her I was so scared and unsure how I was going to deal with having three children. My boys are a lot of work, God love them. Throwing a third one in the mix was terrifying to say the least. Honestly there were days I was dreading having another one. And then when I held her that feeling just faded away instantly. Now here I am six months later and I cannot believe I ever felt that way. I also cannot imagine a life with out my three kidlets. They are all beautiful and happy. Sometimes they make me crazy but I guess that's what it's all about. In the end all I can say is they are the reason I exsist. My true loves.
Back to Allie. She is growing so fast! She's really working her fingers and loves to play with anything she can grasp. Every thing goes in her mouth. If there is nothing to grab onto she is just as happy with her fingers and fist. She drools so much she single-handedly could probably solve California's' drought situation. She has zero interest in rolling over but is sitting up really well. I think it's only a matter of days until she is able to really sit alone without assistance. She's eating baby food now and just tonight seemed to get the hang of it. She is messy but getting it down. She LOVES her big brothers. Every time they come into the room she smiles and pays close attention to their each and every move. I can already see the wheels turning... mind you, Hayden has given me plenty of practice recognizing "that look"... so when she starts walking I may indeed be in for it.

Her hair is slowly growing... She is kind of sporting a Sinead O'Connor look. It's definitely going to be brown but the jury is still out on whether she'll have curly locks like mommy or straight hair like her daddy and big brother Michael. Curly or straight, I cannot wait to put bows in it.

Her name is Alana. We call her Allie. I call her Girl Baby. I'm so lucky.