Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Pizza

My favorite thing right now...grilled pizza's.

Can't decide which one is best though...prosciutto/arugula/parmesan, tomato/fresh mozzarella/basil or grilled veggie.

YUM.

My other newest food obsession...parmesan and fig jam.

Pause.

Parmesan and fig jam.

Sigh.
As for my house, I am confused.

Confused because every night I start the dishwasher, climb into bed and every morning I awake to this:
...and a cleaned out refrigerator.

Gotta love boys.

(gotta love boys who load the dishwasher, which they now do after the loving headlock I put them in, even more.)

=0)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Everyone Is Home

He did it, too.

He grew up when I wasn't looking.

As for my houseful of boys:
  1. Alex had his staples removed today. Rehab begins as soon as I call to set up the appointments. Silicone injections into his knee beginning in 2 weeks. Pain is at a zero. God is good.
  2. Brian started music summer school this morning...he'll go every morning for 4 weeks from 8:30am to 11:30am. I'm thankful for the fact that I am doing afternoon pick up and only every other week at that. That boy LOVES his trumpet!
  3. Matthew arrived home at 3:42am, dropped his stuff and plopped himself into bed. He's home for the night tonight...then it's back to daily 9am - 9pm rehearsals until tour.
I'm making the big boys favorite meal tonight in celebration of them all being home...beef stroganoff made with roasted short ribs. The perfect wintery meal on this rather chilly (thankfully!) summer day. After, we'll keep watching the show '24'...our newest addiction and we're only halfway thru Season 1!

=0)

Saturday, June 26, 2010

24 Hours


In the last 24 hours:

My oldest packed up (after being home for an entire 6 hours) and left on tour. He'll be back again Monday (for a few hours) before heading out again.

Thus is the life in a drum and bugle corps.

My middle had surgery on his knee.

Not fun. Not fun at all.

The highlights: a DVD (which that guy that I like so much watched) of the surgery and the fact that things looked better in there than what they originally thought. God is good.

The lows: 8 hours of non stop vomitting. Too much info? Sorry, but it was ROUGH. Poor kid has been thru so much, but he FINALLY fell asleep and slept all night long. God is good.

(and this morning, he is being wickedly hilarious about it. Man, I love my boys.)

=0)

My youngest, who slept at a friends because his oldest brother is on tour and his middle brother had surgery, got picked up and had a little mom time involving a bucket of frozen yogurt topped with even more sugar.

=0)

(and fyi...he only ate a few bites. it looked better than it tasted...lol!)
Just had to share this clock that was in the hospital.

Priceless.
And did you know that if you are allergic to tetanus, you can't have botox? And how many people are allergic to tetanus anyway?





Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Baby


Somehow, when I wasn't looking, my baby...

...grew up.

He's now a 7th grader!
And at least he had some hair for graduation.

=0)

See, while we were in Italy Grandma and Grandpa moved right on into our little house on our little street and spoiled our children rotten. I'm still hearing about it...'MOMMMM...Grandma makes the BEST sandwiches!' and 'MOMMMM...Grandma folds all of our laundry AND puts it away!' and blah, blah, blah.

I just tune them all out.

But while I was gone, the school secretary sent me an email saying that she was shocked when she saw Brian after his haircut. And she attached THIS PICTURE:

My baby was bald.

BALD.

I immediately text Matthew who had just moved home the day before we left and was still keeping college dorm hours.

me: please tell me my baby is not bald.

him: oh yeah he is.

me: like, how bald?

him: think franklin the turtle.

me: I am firing your grandparents.

him: please don't. grandma takes great care of us.

As it turns out, Brian told his Grandpa he wanted to shave his head and his Grandpa said OK. Turns out once you have grandchildren, saying yes to things like baldness is kinda fun.

I especially love how they ran for the hills once we left Europe.

Scaredy cats.

=0)


Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Here We Go


Summer vacation is about to begin.

Sort of.

Brian graduates 6th grade this morning.

Tomorrow, we'll play for 1 whole day together and I've heard (via text message) that my oldest is going to pop home for a few hours before he leaves on tour later that night.

Friday, Alex is having surgery on his knee. They've told us it will take 5 - 6 hours, depending on what they find. There's a lot going on in there..broken kneecap and bone fragments and MCL stuff, the ACL damage is the iffy part.

It'll be a long day and an even longer recovery of 6-9 months, but we're just trusting God to walk us thru this. Thinking about it makes me cry, so I am choosing to not think about it.

In the meantime, my girlfriends and I celebrated our last kid free day and went to lunch and to the antique stores a few towns over. I found lots but didn't buy anything because I am feeling like we have too much stuff already, which is how I feel everytime I come home from Europe.

And then I came home after eating delicious homemade mac n cheese and ate cake pops...red velvet and carrot cake.

Yum.

Stress eating at it's best.
The newest (soon to be added) to the shop...these bracelets.

I like them!

=0)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Romance is in the Air

Yesterday we celebrated our wedding anniversary...24 years!

I'm finishing up last minute crossing guard visits, plus I worked Brian's greek olympics at school...but I did throw together a little lunch for that guy that I like so much.

He's worth it.

=0)

And then after working some more, we met up on Balboa Island for dinner at Amelia's...a little Italian place that used to be a little house.

We then strolled the tiny island, staring into the windows of all the cute little cottages while that guy that I like so much tried to talk me out of getting rid of our yellow walls.

I listened intently.

And the sun set.
And the boats bobbed.

Sigh.
Not wanting to go home quite yet, we headed over to the Lido...an old time movie theater. The kind with the box office out front and a balcony inside and a guy who stands up front and introduces the movies before they start.

It's cool.
We donned 3D glasses and laughed thru Toy Story and then stopped at the donut shop to pick up donuts for breakfast for the boys.

And then we came home and gave the cat her antibiotics and then cleaned up the floor after she barfed everywhere.

Glad I shared?

=0)

Monday, June 21, 2010

I Think I Can

It's the last week of school as well as the last week of my job before summer vacation.

And there have been moments that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it.

(still having a few of those...sigh.)

But just when I start to feel so overwhelmed that I don't know what to do, that guy that I like so much does something incredible, like grill up huge trays of veggies so that we can have fast and easy meals....cuz nothin' says I love you more than a grilled veggie and goat cheese panini.

Just trust me on this.

=0)

OK...so maybe a grilled pizza says I love you more.

Not sure...it's pretty much a toss up.
In a moment of calm....a very small moment of calm, I hammered out a few things for an upcoming party. Six upcoming parties. Whew.
If you are my friend on facebook, then you already know that I filled 1,000 water balloons on Friday for the 6th grade lagoon party.

Yes.

1,000.

I did have help...and he still likes me.

I think.

=0)
I have been a little jealous of that guy that I like so much...he came home from Italy and has been in total vacation mode.

The backyard has been trimmed and replanted, he's been grilling everything in sight and playing just a little wii.

Cuz for an early Father's Day present we gave him the new Super Mario Galaxy 2 game.

He's been playing it enough that it gave him some advice:
Hmmm....think he's playing too much?

=0)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father's Day

Dear guy that I like so much,

It's Father's Day.

And lookey lookey at these three (somewhat hooligan lookin') guys that God has given you:

I had to threaten the ultimate threat to get this beautiful picture of your son's together...lack of sugar cereal in the pantry for the whole summer.

Yep. I did. Cuz I would do anything for you.

(except for sushi. me no likey sushi. oh, and port. me no drinky port.)

Happy Father's Day to you. We all love you very, very much.

Love,
That Girl who Makes you Laugh and the Boys who Bring you Joy.


Friday, June 18, 2010

Shoes

When we bought our little house on our little street almost 15 years ago, it was filled with cream colored carpet.

Light cream.

Light. Cream.

Now while I think there is a place for cream colored carpet, I do know that it doesn't belong in a small house filled with the males species.

Actually, when you walked in the front door you were greeted with 3 different floors...wood in the dining room, tile in the kitchen and cream carpet in the family room and leading down the hallway to the bedrooms.

We were even blessed with cream colored carpet in the boys (we only had 2 at the time) bathroom.

Blessed.

=0)

When we moved in, I didn't care all that much. Didn't like the house. Didn't like the neighborhood. Didn't like Southern California.

It was kinda sorta a lose, lose situation.

It took a year and a lot of prayer and a really, really good friend to 'readjust' my way of thinking.

To remember that life is too short to not live.

And while I was reminded of what a home truly was, I still wasn't thrilled with the three floor deal. Or the cream colored carpet.

=0)

We had this rule that when you walked in our door, you kicked off your shoes.

Cream carpet, after all.

Boys (and neighborhood girls) would run in our front door, kick off their shoes, run down the hall to the bathroom, run back down the hall to the front door, put their shoes on and head back outside.

Shoes on.

Shoes off.

Shoes on again.

Finally, finally, finally we had saved up enough to rip out the old floors/carpet and put in wood.

One floor.

The funny part is that after 4 or 5 years, everyone who enters still kicks off their shoes, even though there is no more cream carpet.

Makes me laugh.

And cry, too...because there is ALWAYS a pile of shoes (right next to the basket of shoes) by the front door.

=0)



Thursday, June 17, 2010

Pretty Kitty

A few years ago, I gave that guy that I like so much a gift.

Gifts.

Cute, furry, lovable gifts that we named Maggie and Mollie.

(which, btw, I have some advice. IF you have a loved one who is anti-pet, only give them a pet (or pets) if you are very secure in your relationship. That is all.)

=0)

Anyway, a few years ago we brought our little kitties into our lives (and hearts) forever.

(No matter what that guy that I like so much says....)

Our kitties are indoor/outdoor cats. Yes, we have coyotes where we live. Yes, it is probably safer for them to stay indoors with us. BUT, and this is a big BUT, we live in a 1200 sq ft teeny tiny little house with a bunch of people who are always going in and out and a back door that is always wide open.

So the cats go in and out too.

(but they sleep inside, right at the feet of that guy that I like so much. he loves that.)

(ok. maybe he doesn't. but they still do it.)

Last week, Mollie came home with an owie on her paw. I held a neighborhood consult (it's what we do round these parts) and it was decided that peroxide should be applied and a wait and see attitude adopted.

Check.

But then it didn't seem to be getting better. 'Nother neighborhood consult and the vet was called.

Cat is shoved into a crate and covered with a towel. She is then loaded into the back of a car and proceeds to make sounds no human should ever have to listen to while we drive the 3 miles to the vet.

Twasn't pretty.

That guy that I like so much borrowed my camera.

Whatever.
I love that they put her name on the prescription bottle. Like I told that guy that I like so much...she's a real member of our household because they put her name on the bottle.

(he wasn't impressed.)

=0)
Yowza.

No steak for daddy this Father's Day.

(that went over well, too.)
They had to shave her leg and she is so embarrassed. Poor kitty. OH...and she was bit by another cat. Not nice. Not nice at all.
We expect a full recovery.

Whew.

Any tips on how to give a cat antibiotics? The vet said she would love the stuff and lick it right up.

The vet was wrong...and we've got the marks to prove it.

Help.


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Busy Bees

The goings on our around our 'it's not quite yet summer vacation' household:
  • Six school days left. Still making school lunches.
  • Drum and bugle corps season has begun in full force, with daily 9-9 rehearsals an hour from home...which basically means my oldest packed up his stuff and is sleeping wherever/whenever up there and I don't know when he'll be home again.
  • I don't like that. I miss him. He's home for such a short amount of time anyway...sigh.
  • I did feed 20 drum corps guys supper who ate more (and I am NOT exaggerating!!) food than what I cook for 50 choir kids. For reals.
  • Our cat Mollie has an owie on her leg which is going to involve a vet visit today. I am borrowing a neighbors crate which smells like their cat and causes my cat to growl when she walks near it. It's gonna be a fun morning. I'll be the chick in 80 degree weather wearing a parka and gloves (for protection!) while carrying the hissing cat.
  • I have yet another mechanic story coming soon, but let's just say that we gave him a 2nd chance. Yep. Yep. Yep.
  • We are the benefactors of a Starbuck's employee. Simply...my freezer is PACKED with goodies that we've been given and my boys are thrilled.
  • For my cousin Cheryl, I have yet to watch the finale of GLEE. Soon. Promise.
  • It's nice watching my husband bbq on his new bbq, though I will say it was more enjoyable watching him on the old bbq....just something about the rather large flames and the bucket of water he kept nearby.
  • World Cup. It's on 24/7 round these parts. My ears are buzzing from that horn thingy. Brian wants one. Not happening.
  • In the next 6 days, Brian has a band concert, pool party, greek olympics, lagoon party and graduation followed by a bowling party. Yikes.
  • The last MRI...not good. Alex is having surgery next Friday. Just typing it makes me nauseous. More details soon..but could you please pray for him?

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sneak Preview

Last night was the annual sneak preview of the upcoming drum and bugle corps season.

Exciting for a number of reasons:
  1. it was in our town. like 10 minutes away. no driving over an hour to get there this year!!!
  2. my son has a HUGE solo. like, HUGE.
  3. that guy that I like so much is all wiggly with anticipation over late nights in the backyard spent reading score sheets.
  4. my boy is HAPPY and in his element.
Introducing...Pacific Crest, 2010.

And for the record...this boy below is NOT my son.
This one's not either.

(but if he's yours...he's very handsome and I have like 112 pictures of him. from 50 yards away and thru a view finder, he looks just like mine!)

=0)
THIS one below IS mine.

Whew.

At least I got ONE picture of him!

=0)


Saturday, June 12, 2010

The New Girl

My boyfriend has a new girlfriend.

And she's "hot".

=0)

He had to borrow a truck to bring her home with him.

Then he drove around the neighborhood with the youngest shrub hanging on the back and I (the permanent girlfriend) got calls from the neighbors.

Here she is.

The hot new girlfriend.

She promises not to catch fire and/or threaten to burn down our house like the old one did.

=0)
Supper tonight...burgers. And corn. And potatoes. And s'mores.

=0)

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