{decorate your soul}

Don't Tell Grammy...

but there may just be such a thing as Minnie Mouse overkill.

SOMEone's a fan!

On the realization that I'm the nerdy mom that dresses her kids alike.

Shoot. But they are so cute, right? Or are you gagging?

I waited until Thursday to go get the girls some patriotic flair, but the stores had slashed prices on the cuter outfits, and I had a coupon. So what's a mom to do? Sarah completely surprised me by being excited for the red, white and blue garb, too!

We enjoyed a a couple of barbecues with neighbors and friends yesterday. The highlight for the girls 

was definitely running around in the yard with sparklers in the dark. Andy even handed the two-year-old one- he must be crazy! I didn't bring my camera because I was sure we were going to be rained out, but as it turned out, it just drizzled all night long, and the local fireworks display was a pretty awesome.

Here's the dessert we contributed last night- a Fourth of July Trifle- Super easy to make, even Lolo got to help make this one (when she wasn't holding twelve things in her hands):

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day!

Random

• I really don't like the edges of pop-tarts, they are just not that tasty. Why don't they put the frosting all the way to the corners? I bet more people would eat the corners then, myself included. 
• Our F-150 just got a new set of brakes this week, just to get snippy with us and stop working at a local parking lot the VERY next day. Looks like it needs a new starter.
• My knee has been doing some weird things for me- like painful things. One week I turn 32, the next week, I'm all achy, hobbling and need to ice the joints. What gives? 
• Our neighborhood is crazy- they totally set of illegal firework displays  (illegal in CA- questionable legality here)... but I shouldn't say it too loud since we were recipients of free entertainment with the kids last night. I caught this before I stepped in to drop the camera off:

 

• OOh the bullet points don't like letting me have room in between thoughts. Sheesh, cranky. 
• Sarah enjoyed her Day Camp this week and has six weeks of swim lessons to look forward to this summer. Busy! 
• Our California Adventures pictures can be views in the album to the right------>. 
• Got to enjoy authentic s'mores last night with our neighbor friends. I tried to make cookie s'mores the other night- you should just know, it isn't the same. Not even close.   

  

Cookie sheet S'mores:

Happy Fourth of July weekend- be safe out there. Especially if you live in crazy free zones like Montana or Ohio ;)

 

Witty

While coercing my girls to get through the double doors, stay in line, and stop lingering at the rec center this morning, an elderly gentleman was exiting with a smile and didn't waste anytime to help with the second door. As he held open the door and took in the scene before him,I thought he just might say it (Wow! You have your hands full!), but God bless that man. He had a new one and it's had me snickering all day:

He said to me, "Do you have a permit for that parade there?"

He's a witty one, I tell ya.

Right nOw.

A little something going around the blogosphere- I saw this on J.J's blog a couple of days ago and on Jill's blog tonight. I'm in.

Outside my window... ominous clouds lingering. I believe they are deciding if they should open and pour out the rain or be still and hover. I am thinking... about buying new jars for our flour, sugar and brown sugar. Ours have recently lost their tight seal creating stale goods inside. I am thankful... to have finally found a friend I lost touch with in college. We went to elementary school and junior high together and stayed in good contact until, well, 11 years ago. Every once in awhile I would just search her name and hallelujah! Last night, it popped up. What a cool deal. From the kitchen... a fresh pot of coffee brewing for a late night here. I am wearing... mens comfy white cotton socks, silky powder blue pajama shorts (GAP body!) and my Yellowstone sweatshirt. I'm quite a sight. I am creating... a crafty storage place for the girls to have some freedom this summer. I am going... to stop procrastinating and edit some more photos. Soon! I am reading...  At the Scent of Water even though I should be reading my book club book. blah. I am hoping... we can get to know our new neighbors quickly- both houses are full, but it's still very quiet in our realm. I am hearing... the clapping sounds of skateboards hitting the pavement and pre-Fourth of July fireworks celebrating summertime in the street. Around the house... I have two little girls whispering & singing in their beds. And making excuses to get out of their beds. Andy is playing Warcrack while I'm still procrastinating. A few plans... Light room and Photoshop & a cup of joe await me. Good night. One Photo to share:

California Adventures

Our trip to California was certainly not short on adventures and our visit began with my little brother, Tyler, graduating high school. Of course, he's not so little anymore, I'm thinking it's about time I adopt "younger" in front of brother when I refer to him.

He's looking forward to going into the firefighter program this summer, and taking classes at a local JC this fall- he's clearly already on his way to success! Good job, T!

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Downtime at Grammy and Peeps- chalking it up and hitting some balls- the girls love to wear out the grandparents (and aunt and uncle). Word has it, we left on Saturday morning and everyone remaining in the house slept until Monday:

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Downtime at Grandma Sincock's house looked a little something like this: loving on Grandma and clobbering Uncle Patrick. Hey, what are uncles for?

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One of my highlights was visiting with some of my girlfriends from my high school color guard daysl- I'm not sure how much sixteen years has changed us accept to double our age. Facebook is a gem and I'm happy that a place on the web could help the connections continue.

 

(top: Mandy, Holly, bottom: me, Lynzee)

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We hit Veteran's Park in Redondo Beach with my good friend Shannon. She was the first person we met at our old church in L.A. some five and a half years ago. This is just a silly picture Sarah caught- one of just a handful of pictures I have with her:

The girls played and then they took in the view of the Pacific Ocean. Love this shot with the colors and their windblown hair:

I have a few more photos of visiting California friends, but I'll save them for the album (it's on a TBC status: to be created) so it won't become too thin.

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In 2009, Disneyland is CELEBRATING big time and if you head on over there on your birthday, you receive free admission. That was one of the reasons I stayed put in California with the girls while Andy came back to Ohio for classes after one week. My dad caught this shot of Tyler, Ashleigh, Sarah and I on the tea cups- one of my favorite rides:

I could do an entire post about our day at Disneyland, but I'll spare you right now, but this next one has to be shared. My dad and I took the girls to the beach the day before D-land day and we were doing some jumps off the rocks. Sarah began doing some letter formations with her body and then my dad and I joined in with lightning strike jumps. Then, we did the unthinkable- we practiced them at Disneyland for a small group of people (mostly our family):

Of course, it took like 12 times to get this shot, so needless to say, D-land staff was on the verge of hiring us for entertainment.

kidding.

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~SS

It's Easier to Drive 1,200 Miles Away

Directions to LAX from my folks' house (60 miles away):

Take the 60 FWY
to the 57 FWY South
to the 91 FWY West
to the 405 North
to the 105 East
exit Sepulveda

(that's the carpool directions)

Directions to (former home in) Montana:
Take the 15 North
exit 10th Ave. S.

Sometimes freeways complicate things.

Ten on Tuesday- er, Wednesday.

1. Don't bother with the title- it's really Thursday.

2. Which means we really have 2 days left visiting here in California. And then the flight back to OH.  Sigh.

3. I apologize for lack of posts this month, but I can't post any photos from my camera until I get home so I've been holding off on everything (right, what's a post without a picture?)

4. We've traveled all over Suuthern California in the past two weeks- from San Diego to Santa Barbara to Beaumont to Orange County. I hope the car rental company doesn't charge by the mile.

5. Isn't catching up with old friends the best? I love the easy friendships where we can pick up where we left off and then it feels like no time has passed (pictures to come). So many faces I've been blessed to visit with in 15 days.

6. Perhaps even better is when I can see my girls reconnect with their little friends from our former home. What a blessing to see so many during this visit (pictures to come).

7. I can't get over that the residential streets are SO MUCH wider here (Andy, stop rolling your eyes).

8. I realized that I do not one little bit miss the Southern California traffic. ugh.

9. But I do miss my bed. If I can remember right, that thing is the MOST comfortable spot to sleep on ever. EVER (my apologies to the twin bed I'm currently slumbering upon).

10. This is a toss up, so just pick one:

A. I've been getting by butt kicked at Scrabble by my sister's boyfriend

B. Lauren caught a cold and has been a tired little toddler the past few days

C. I'm not ready to say I'm 32 when I just feel MAYbe, 25. Blech.

D. Disneyland, here we come!

My Temporary Ride

While vacationing in California, Andy and I rented a car to get from all our appointments (we've had a lot of appointments!) for a couple of weeks. He told me he requested a large family sedan, but imagine my surprise when he pulled around in a Mercury Grand Marquis. Oh dear.

Let me freshen your memory if you have forgotten what they look like:
 
I swiped this shot off a website, so you should know three things about the version that I'm low riding in for another week:

1. It's sky blue and doesn't have pimped out wheels or tinted windows like the nice looking vehicle above.

2. I can confirm that this vehicle really is as large as a boat... have you tried parallel parking a small boat? Exaaactly. It stinks.

3. Did you know that a great percentage of drivers that own a vehicle carrying this title are in the 55+ category? As if I wasn't already almost feeling old... the rental company is trying to get me to the senior citizen column a little quicker than my little brother and sister are.

But wheels are wheels and so far, so good. And it handles traffic in So. CA very nicely.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. I love how Lauren says butterfly. It really sounds like this: barbie-dye. It makes me want to hear it again and again.

2. Severe thunderstorm warnings at 5AM are not welcome. I think Andy is going to toss my glitter machine out the window one of these days.

3. The glitter machine is code for weather radio: the thing that cause paranoia whenever their is a slight chance of tornadoes or severe weather.

4. I finally bought a new battery for my dying cell phone battery. I'm looking forward to being to talk on it again for more than three minutes at a time.

5. We finally visited a local area to go hiking this past weekend. My littlest hiking buddy really likes to RUN through the woods... Seriously, that was the fastest hike I've ever gone on.

6. Today is Sarah's last day of kindergarten. She's sporting school colors for Field Day, too. So much school spirit. But orange as the new black is a little Halloween-ish, too, no?

7. Have you discovered the magic and ease of paperbackswap.com yet? My friend Cathy told her blog readers about it ages ago and I finally jumped on. I have sent four books out and I have foud books on the way. How cool is that?

8. Andy is on a role with some Netflix movies lately- we've watched Australia and Rescue Dawn in the past week- both very good, both very long. I just put Confessions of a Shopaholic on my queue. I'm so excited-- and equally lame!

9. My new favorite picture of Ashleigh:

10. I'll be reporting from CA soon :) I better get my act together so I can make it there. 

Ciao, baby. 

Familiar

On Saturday, Ashleigh was reunited with a familiar face from her infancy- Baby Alla. Of course, looking at these two, there isn't much of "baby" or "infancy" in the face any longer. These girls were quick buddies on Saturday.

My other girls took a quick liking to her, too.

Long time readers know what's coming, now, right?

Of course. 

A jump from the mama's after we enjoyed some yummy slaw and shortcake. Catie was an amazing hostess and J.J. is a good sport for obliging me! Thank you for the fun and laughter ladies :)

Someday, I'm going to compile all the jumping pictures into a book. How fun would that be??

Dana... I think your time is comin'!

Farewell Bumblebees

Today was Ashleigh's final day with her Bumblebee Class. Her class had a special end-of-the-year performance for the parents and families- and since she doesn't usually go on Fridays, we had to squeeze it into our morning schedule. When we walked in after picking up Sarah from school, the preschoolers were already performing. So we quick scooted the Ash up onto stage where she proceeded to stand and cry.

And cry.

And then cry some more.

After a very long two minutes, I waved for her to come back to where I was standing. So, this is her class performing. Note Ashleigh's absence.

Because she was sitting underneath me looking like this:

She finally went up at the very end of the ceremony (can I call it that?) to get her preschool diploma (I suppose she'll get a second one next year?) (at least a second chance at performing!) and posed with her teachers, Miss Heather and Miss Judy:

She was all sunshine and smiles when it was time to give her teachers some flowers and cards:

And really into the memory book they had put together for her:

(insert guilt feeling Mama that hasn't scrapbooked since November. I think I need to keep their books up, they really really enjoy looking through them!)

There was a cookout (that's Midwest for BBQ) & playground time afterwards and while we were in line for the jump house, Lauren got stung by a Yellow Jacket, so we wound up in the kitchen with ice:

How do I know it was a Yellow Jacket? He attached himself to my clothing and I freaked out while waiting inside for Lauren. No really, a mini-freak out. I'm so immature.

After about 25 minutes, she was back to sunshine and smiles, too. Here she is playing in the mirror in the bathroom.

(By the way, honey, I still want a stand along mirror in my dream house)

So that's our farewell to the Bumblebee Class. I'm looking forward to less trivial graduations in the very near future, right Ty?

May 31st: Signs of Summer

The sun isn't going down until 9:30 at night.

The warmer days are making way for playing outside all. day. long.

The temperatures are rising along with the humidity.

The school year is winding down.

And, perhaps the biggest sign yet:

Boxes of popsicles are calling from the freezer.

We're excited for summer adventures!

May 30th: Roller Derby Birthday

Sarah celebrated her sixth birthday today with her besties at Skate World. Here she is when the DJ had everyone sing Happy Birthday to her. She has shed the little from her title so gracefully this past year, and is quickly blooming into a full on school aged kid these days...

On occasion, she will sit on my lap and snuggle bug, so there must be some little still left in her.

I'll take what I can get!

Isn't she a cutie roller derby girl? 

May 28th: Her First Recital

After the recital, I asked Ashleigh if she had fun and she got that silly this-is-a-no-brainer-mom look on her face that pretty much said, Of course! 

So I said, "What was your favorite part?"

And she promptly replied, "DANCING! On the big stage!"

And that made my heart so ridiculously happy.

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f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 4000