colleen's blog

Bailey's Winter Formal Dance

2010-02-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

This was after we did her hair. It was raining all day but then a rainbow came out so we ran out to the yard to take a pic! Good thing it didn't mess up the hair!

Because it was raining and it was held on a Friday night instead of Saturday like usual, we couldn't take any pictures outside. I really don't know how to take pictures in poor lighting but this is the best I could do.

This next picture is my FAVORITE. I love it, The lighting, composition, the faces. ..yes my favorite. I am making an 8x10 for each of the girls.Here are more..Here is the hair.(Sparking Apple Cider)

Chris remembered to get her a flower.

If you squint your eyes mixed with the bad lighting and Bailey looks a lot (a little)like Taylor Swift!Camera? what camera Oh is there a camera pointed at me??? They had a great time at the dance and afterwards went to Denny's.

2009-09-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

OK, OK so I said I would blog again today..but its late, so tomorrow it gonna have to be...

Back to the Blog

2009-09-25T15:04:00.001-07:00

With the kids all back to school, I decided it was time to get back to the blog. .....

I drove with Kayla back to Bozeman and then stayed there a few days before flying home. Here are a few (a lot) pictures from the trip...

This is where we stayed the first night...

Psyche! No way..this old place was next to a gas station in the middle of nowhere. It gave me the creeps just looking at it. We got gas and got away fast.

This was the scene along the way...18hours

When we did get to Bozeman, I stayed at the C'mon Inn. Dumb name but nice hotel.

The rooms are really nice but in the lobby there are stuffed animals all over the place. (and I don't mean teddy bears) Real bears, deer, moose mountain goats, etc...

OK, if I came in at nighttime or in the dark, I would have been creeped out, but in the light of day, they were entertaining...Kayla even got up the nerve to touch him...(or her- I didn't notice)And here is Kayla with the wall of bodiless deerLooking back at my pictures, maybe this place was a bit scary after all... this last one is of the raven on the roof that squawked when we went in...Tomorrow..more blogging :)

July Sometime

2009-08-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Way back on the fourth of July, we went to Solvang to see Joe and his band play.

Best darn fiddle player ever!

We ate lunch in a park.

Kids climbed trees.Then we went home.

A couple days later, I went with Bailey and Kayla to Somis to pick blueberries. Bailey got stung by a bee again. Great blueberries. They had a petting zoo there too....

Hey there handsome..

You talkin to me? Llamma Face!

Dylan's Grad Party Pics...

2009-07-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

For this picture, I hung a black sheet from the curtain rod in the family room. Good lighting. Handsome boy. Heee heee

We set up a table with Dylan and Chris' pictures from kindergarten through graduation.

I bought M&Ms and picked out all the yellow and green ones...

I baked sugar cookies with yellow and green sprinkles...Mr. Monkey..Everybody signed his framed picture...I froze the lemonade to make slush..I made the congratulations banner and the "ahem cough cough" pompoms (?) on the side of the playhouse.Some of Dylan's friends...Carne asada, pork and chicken tacos, rice and beans...Basketball...and cake...

Dylan's Graduation

2009-07-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, I almost forgot how to sign in. Here are some pictures of Dylan's graduation...

He walked with Kiku.She is so little. Dylan said he can rest his arm on her head without even lifting his arm.She is wearing four inch heels.

Aly was one of the Junior Ivy Chain. (3rd girl from the left)

Waiting...Yay! Congrats Dylan, we knew you could do it! We were packed in like sardines. Can you see our house? I can.Proud papa.Proud mamaDylan and KikuDylan and HannahMaybe we are not so proud? Ha ha They were all given empty certificate holders and had to pick up their certificates in the MPR afterward.Here is Kayla with Mr. Clark.Dylan and Aly. (did i mention that they are no longer going out? Yep it's true)Dylan and Travis.And his other mom, Darlene..Natalie and Dylan...Chase, Chris and D.Juliet and Dylan...And finally Kayla, Dylan and Bailey...Yes, 2 down and one to go..........

A little visit

2009-06-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

I am only a week behind now. The Phillips' came for a short visit on Saturday. They were on their way back to San Fransisco after a short vacation down south. I was so happy they came by and we got to meet Janet's girls, Jillian and Melanie.(sorry about the spelling if it is wrong)(which it probably is) I haven't seen Janet in sooo many years. The girls look just like their mom who is still beautiful. Guess it must be the Neuser in them, haha.

Aunt Betty and Uncle Bill still look the same and are still traveling a lot. It must be difficult having grand kids in 3 different states and all so far away. (Kayla, Dylan and Bailey...you are only ALLOWED to marry and stay in California!!! haha)

It's not so easy to get a clear shot of a two and three year old. : )I hope they come by again soon, maybe we'll see them at a Christmas in Michigan some year?

It's the middle of June

2009-06-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's been awhile. Things are busy at the Kirchberg house. (Or more accurately, I have been lazy haha). Here's the update:

Kayla got her haircut and looks adorable...

Wrinkes is still looking adorable too....

The Track Banquet was June 8th. Bailey talked her friend Kelly into wearing a dress for the first time in years. And Kayla straightened her hair. She borrowed a dress from Bailey and looked great. This is Kelly, Bailey and Shanie.

Kayla and Bailey...Wrinkles still looking cute...Potato bug on the patio, kindof looking cute in a ewww so ugly it's cute sortof way....I have more pictures from this weekend, but I will have to put them up later because

DYLAN GRADUATES TODAY!!!!

He got his cap and gown yesterday. I took his picture and printed 50 invitations to their graduation party so he could have them to pass out today. Party is the 27th and I've got lots to do before then. First, I'm going to go eat breakfast......

Mother's Day haha

2009-05-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

I bought mom some tulips and carnations and put them in the vase that Shawn got her last year.

The single rose was one I got when I took Bailey to get her hair cut on Saturday.

I hadn't realized that Kayla had never been to the Ronald Reagan Library in all the time we have lived here. How could this be? I've been there at least a dozen times. It seems like we went on field trips almost every single year.When Dylan was in kindergarten, he even got to actually go to Century City where Ronald Reagan had an office and meet with him and sing Christmas carols for him before he got too sick from Alzheimer's. We've gone several times when mom and dad have been here to visit and been able to see different exhibits over the years. We ended up going on Mother's day because we wanted Kayla to come and she had just gotten home from Montana on Saturday.

Look, they all match.

We got to go on Air Force One but could not take pictures inside. It was cool to see it. About a week later, me and Kayla were watching an episode of NCIS and someone was murdered on Air Force One. The TV show had everything just like how we had seen it. (except for the dead guy)

Kayla ran into the ghost of the president and said "hi"

We saw a model of the library.

...and Bailey's favorite, the jelly bean portrait. 4 feet by 4 feet and approximately 10,000 jelly belly beans. The artist first painted it in oil, then covered it in jellybeans and finished with a coat of polyurethane. It is funny that the president's favorite was jellybeans, but when Dylan met him, he gave the kids licorice instead of jellybeans. MAYBE, either he had already forgotten that they were his favorites or maybe because they WERE his favorites, maybe he just didn't want to share.hehe

We saw the Berlin wall...(part of it) (a pretty part of it)....and we saw the Magna Carta (dated 1215) on loan here from England. Not allowed to take pictures of that though.

While we were taking pictures, a swarm of killer bees attacked us. (swarmed over us) .I know that they were killer bees because they looked mean.

I have never, in almost 50 years been stung by a bee and would like to keep it that way. Bailey on the other hand, has been stung at least a dozen times and says it doesn't even hurt anymore.I blame her for their behavior.

I decided to stay away from her from now on because of her un-natural bee attraction thing she's got going.

Before bees..

Bees....Beees....Thousands of bees....

Thanks for those wonderful pictures Kayla.Happy Mother's Day mom!And here are the flower's Shawn sent her. It had yellow roses in in too but they looked funky so we took them out. Pretty.

2009-05-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

Catching Up

2009-05-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Way back on May 8th, before Kayla came home from school, Bailey and Dylan had a track meet at Moorpark. League Finals. They both ran the 2 mile. Bailey was first.

Bailey started out toooo fast. The announcer kept saying "and Bailey Kirchberg is in the lead",

Bailey Kirchberg is still in the lead" "That's a 100 second lap for Bailey Kirchberg".

She stayed in front for the first 4 1/2 laps and then couldn't keep up with the pace.

She had even written on her hand the times she needed to keep her pace at, but said she forgot to look at it. She ended up in 5th place. Out of 17 or 18. Still, pretty good.

Dylan finished up the year coming in last place in the 2mile. He had passed one guy in the 7th lap but got passed in the 8th to lose. This was the very first time he came in last place and he took it pretty well. Someone's gotta be last. At least he looks good.

Bailey's race was the first one of the meet at 3pm and Dylan's was the Last race about 7pm so we watched Bailey and left and ate dinner at the Elephant Bar and then came back for Dylan. It was too hot to stay and watch everybody else. It was in the high 80's at 3 but cooled off by 7 and was in the lower 70's. Hot Cold Hot Cold Why cant it just stay 75?

Dylan's last 800 and 1600

2009-05-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Track season is coming to a close. Dylan ran the 800 and the 1600m races on Tuesday.

It was hot again, about 85degrees. He's ending his high school career doing great. He ran the mile first and got a PR.

He was ninth in his heat so he didn't qualify to run today.
He also got a PR in the 800 and also didn't qualify for finals today.

Bailey didn't qualify for semi-finals Tuesday so she went as a cheerleader-of sorts. Very spirited, down to the gold eye shadow and green and gold polka dotted fingernails.Here she is with Marisa at attention for the Star Spangled Banner.Here are Grandma and Grandpa sweltering in the stands.Today they will both run the 2 mile races. Bailey runs first at 3pm and then Dylan wont run until about 8pm. It is supposed to be in the mid 90's so I think we will leave after Bailey runs. Eat some dinner and then go back for Dylan's race.

After the meet, we came home and found Wrinkles after binging on Yoplait Whips, passed out in a drunken yogurt stupor sleeping on her squeaky squirrel. No wonder she cant catch the rabbits anymore.

Granny Annie And Grampa Jim

2009-05-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa are here having a nice visit. Grandpa runs everymorning at 8am.

Here is Grandpa deciding whether or not he should push Grandma in the pool.Here is grandma wandering in the backyard, being stalked by the great hunter Wrinkles.

Bailey asked me what Grandma was doing and I told her she is senile and she probably wont remember what she is doing anyway and Bailey told her what I said. Good thing they are at my house and I am not at theirs. She can't kick me out. haha

Arent they cute here?

Hopefully, Dylan will get to run with Grandpa before they leave. League Finals are today. We will get to see Dylan run. But it is hot. About 85 degrees..not happy about that. Hope we dont burn.

Dylan's Senior Prom

2009-05-03T17:48:00.001-07:00

Lots and lots of pictures here....

We did not wait until Friday to go to shop for Dylan's vest and tie. He wasn't supposed to run in the track meet but then he found out he was running the 800m. 3 Day suit Broker was only open till 8pm. I did not drive to Moorpark after he ran and take him back to Simi, go to Alli's to pick up the dress, buy the vest and tie, drive back to Moorpark. I did not do that- Kayla!!!

Ali's dress was yellow and of course they didn't have yellow vests. We got green cause it is Royal's school colors. Well really because it looked ok with her dress. We took pictures before Ali came over...

Wrinkles was not cooperating. LOOK THIS WAY PLEASE.

Pictures in the gazebo...After Winter Formal, pinning on his flower took only a minute or so.Ali looked so prettyAren't they adorableThey had to sign a contract saying they would behave in the limo.Dylan looks tall except for the 6ft5" guy on the left.I don't like pictures with me in them, but I hope this will motivate me to lose 5 lbs.Bailey was my photographer's helper.Dylan had a lot of fun. The dance was at the Skirball Center. They got home around 2:45am!(earlier than the 6am time Kayla came home from her prom!)

Thanks for commenting.

2009-05-02T16:06:00.001-07:00

hee hee.
Hey, I'll bet you didn't know that the bottom end of the knives at Souplantation are magnetic and you can lift spoons and forks with them. Cool. Just thought you should know.

Dylan's Senior Prom is today so I am off to take pictures. See ya.

This and That

2009-04-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

I finished up painting the kitchen walls. The color is called Dipped Chocolate from Dutch Boy. What better color for a kitchen than Dipped Chocolate? ha

I got these little curtains from Wal-Mart too. I think it looks pretty good.

I will start painting the bedroom next....

We finished eating all the Easter candy so i might have to make some cookies first.

Here is Bailey standing on the table to get an egg out of the chandelier. Just in the nick of time too because the plastic egg melted onto the light bulb and was close to starting on fire.

Big Oops there!

Dylan was riding his skateboard in the house. I guess I didn't learn anything from Bailey's rollerblading/hole in the wall episode.

And since Bailey has gotten her haircut, people keep telling her how much they like it. (she has even been asked out on a date..but I told her she cant date till she is 16...I will have to come up with another reason when she turns 16)Here she is showing off her weird talent. (Grossing people out.)And yes she can lick her elbow. Go ahead and try it..I'll bet you can't. If you look it up..it is physically impossible to do. Haha but not for Bailey.

Bailey's new bangs

2009-04-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Bailey went with Hunter to get their hair cut. They had been planning this for awhile. The plan was to get bangs but they were going to wait till school was out for summer to go. I guess they were worried that if they didn't like them, they would have more time for them to grow out before going back to school. Then Hunter's mom won two free haircuts at a horse show that she was at. How very convenient! I don't think they needed to be worried that they would look bad...

We had a little photo shoot in the back yard...
People got the two of them confused before and now it's going to be worse. A couple weeks ago, a boy on the track team came up to Bailey and said "oh when did you get off your crutches?" and Bailey told him that it was Hunter that was on crutches and the poor boy was embarrassed and ran off.

I do see a little resemblance. hahaI had to take a couple shots of Wrinkly too... her face is getting whiter and whiter.

Guess who is 18?

2009-04-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Adorable

Messy Always had that look of "why are you taking my picture?"Always good natured even when I made him wear ridiculous clothes that I made for him.Loved his cowboy boots- not just for Halloween.

And always a good sport.

That's right... Dylan is 18 years old. Happy Birthday D!

We got him a long board to get around on when he leaves for college in the fall. Yep-No car.

Me and Bailey went to IG Skate shop to buy this. I am sure when we walked in there, all these skater guys were thinking "what are these uncool people doing in here?" They have a half pipe in the store and I was afraid I was gonna get run over. hahaWe got him some shades from there too..cause his future is looking bright!I baked some cupcakes and a little cake. His favorite yellow with choc. frosting.He had some friends over to watch movies and ate In n out for dinner.Happy Birthday Dylan! Thanks for 18 great years.

Lilly says Happy Birthday too.

And the Easter Bunny IS alive although he looked terribly afraid of the squirrel that was

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Just checking in to wish everyone a very Happy Easter.
We are on our way to Mary Ellen's for dinner and when

we get back I will update with pics of Dylan's birthday.

Guess who I ran into today

2009-04-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

or guess who wont be getting an Easter basket this year?

Easter Bunnies?

2009-04-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

Royal vs Calabassas and Newbury Park

2009-04-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

I know I have not put up pictures of a couple of the meets - like some League Meets and the Santa Barbara Relays last weekend. But I am going to skip forward to the League Meet against Newbury Park and Calabassas on Thursday. (Maybe -if I have time- I will put up pics of Santa Barbara later)

The meet started at 3pm at Royal and Bailey was scheduled to run the 800meter. They always run the 100 meter races first so I figured I'd get there about 3:15 to see her. Then at 5 min before 3, I got a text message from Dylan requesting a Subway. Hello My Good Friend Stress.

Rush Rush Rush. I did get there just in time to see her run.
I took pictures but really none were very flattering. She should really work on her race face a bit more. Ha ha. Here is a picture after.

She ran a 2 min 55 sec. 800 meters and a 6:31 1600 meters.

Dylan ran the 1600 meters and the 3200m. The 2 mile is one of the last races so we were there till 6:30 or 7pm and it got really cold. 50 something is real cold when it is windy and you are just sitting there. I did go and take pictures of the other events to turn in for the year end video.

Here is Dylan at the beginning of the mile race. It looks like they are all going to fall over.

Here he is after the race pretending to blow his nose in his jersey. Ha ha ha dylan you are so funny. :-/So funny.Here he is doing 2 minutes and 45 seconds of community service.Here are Coach Sramek (Bailey's Coach) and Coach Ream (Track Coach)And here is ChrisDylan -Before the 2 mile..Passing Collin...Dylan ran a 4:45.97 1600meters and 10:19.5 3200meters. Royal won the meet. There next meet is Tuesday.

April Fools Day (I got nothin')

2009-04-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yay. Dylan got his hair cut. I know this isn't the best picture, I paparazzi ed him as he was going out the door to go to school. It does look much better though. It was getting so long that I thought he might be growing it to donate to Locks of Love like Bailey did. OK so they didn't cut off 10 inches but they did cut at least 2 or 3.

When Bailey was ready for school, she was much more agreeable to getting her picture taken.

And here are a few things I picked up while out doing errands yesterday.

Easter is coming on fast and I HATE standing in that line at See's Candy so I picked these up early. (the littlest ones are Dove chocolate from Target but they wanted to be in the picture too)

And I needed to go to Trader Joe's to pick up some Milk Thistle. A supplement that the vet said that Wrinkles needs to start taking cause she is getting old. ? Hmm I wonder if I should take some too? Anyway, they had these daffodils on sale for 10 for only $1.25. I bought 20. Very pretty and only $2.50. Nice.And here she is. The old girl. Come here and take your Milk Thistle!If I think of an April Fools joke to play on you, I'll be back later but I doubt it.

Poof Gone

2009-03-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I am just slipping- no falling falling falling further into the abyss that is BEHIND. Further and further and further behind. Kayla was here 2 weeks ago. Came and went. Poof Gone. Poof 2 weeks gone. So much to do.

I miss her. But time is flying and she will be back in May. :-)

And I even miss him. This is Kayla's good friend Jon that came here for spring break. It was fun having a full house again. A perfect guest, he even likes pancakes. He is welcome here anytime now. Rebbecca stopped by to say goodbye again.And we had lunch with Darlene before they started on the 17 hour trip back.Am counting the days till May. 38? 39? Well I guess I am not really counting down yet but it is approximately 40 days?

Dawn McVey's Color Challenge 1

2009-03-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Last month I came across a blog that was hosting a contest for a stamp giveaway for Papertrey Stamp Co. I had never heard of Papertrey, but all you had to do to win was leave a comment.

I do know how to comment and shockingly I won $100.00 worth of great stuff from them!

I now check out their designers blogs because they are just fun to look at and inspiring.

One of those designers, Dawn McVey, (dawnmcveytypepad.com) posted a color challenge a couple days ago and I decided to try it. I have never done a color challenge before but it was fun making a card with these colors.

Here is the first one. ( I made two)
This is for Kayla (so don't look at this Kayla!)

I used some of the supplies Papertrey sent me. The brown card stock, Beyond Borders stamps, and the other card stock and bird stamp is from Michael's and so are the little jewels on the tree and his eye. I used the scallop cutting edge on my Cutterpede cutter and the punches are Papershapers.

This card is for Bailey's friend Marissa WHOs birthday it is today.

Again, the card stock is Papertrey and Michael's, stamps are from Michael's. I used my Crop-o-dile to punch the holes in the scalloped circle and used pop-dots to raise the sentiment and hat.

That was fun.

What a bunch of crap!

2009-03-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

MSN Homepage...

Well I was surprised the other day when I went online and saw the headline on MSN's homepage.

Dylan's toilet causes stink.

But then I wasn't really all that surprised because I have lived with the boy for almost 18 years and believe me it can be bad. I just didn't think it would make national news.

I did think Kayla's crap would make the news before Dylan's. :-p

Twilight Invitational

2009-03-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the Royal Twilight Invitational Track Meet. (No vampires)

It was odd that with that name the events started at 8am.

Bailey was first to run at 10am.

She ran the 800meter frosh/soph. in 2:56:84 and came in 29th out of 57.

It was perfect weather for running. In the sixties and overcast.

This is a picture of Alyssa(on the right) and Nicole running together. Alyssa is blind. A lot of the girls help her so she can run. Nicole runs at Alyssa's pace and they are tied together with the belt. There have been news organizations coming to school to report about her. The Today show interviewed her a couple weeks ago. She runs the mile race. It is pretty amazing and awesome.

Dylan ran the Varsity 800meters next.

He ran a 2:13:12 and came in 22nd out of 51.

Here's Bailey before the 1600 race. She ran a 6:24:18 mile and came in 38th out of 65.

Lexi didn't run (shin splints) but cheered on Bailey.Then at about 3pm, Dylan ran the mile. He ran 4:46:67 and came in 18th out of 65.

I like this picture.

Christian took Hunter's blanket. Bailey was pulling Christian's hair and he was pulling her hair. I think there must be a rule against such behavior at a school event ?Then at 7:30pm, Dylan ran the 4X400 with Chris, Roger and James. There time was 3:48:44.Dylan and AlyKayla got to school at 9pm just as everyone was leaving.

2009-03-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

Yay, Kayla is on her way home for Spring Break!

Meet Daisy

2009-03-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

We went to Royal again Saturday to videotape Chris. But he only played two innings. We didn't stay long after because it kills me a little bitty bit watching baseball without Dylan playing.

I did get to meet Daisy.

Meet Daisy.....

"you know you love me"

Say "Hi" Daisy

Hi.

Bailey ........."please no more paparazzi"

Hey Kayla guess what we had for dinner last night.

MASHED POTATOES

Dontchawantsome? Guess you'll have to come home soon and get some.

We also had strawberries on steroids. You cant tell by the picture but this one was at least 3 inches across. mmmmm don'tchawant some?

Still Painting

2009-03-07T08:22:00.001-08:00

Still not done painting. Almost but not done yet. I get distracted and a two day project becomes a week long project. (or yearlong in the case of my 2 color bedroom. heehee)

I have an active imagination coupled with a little boredom and this is what you get.

The walls have eyes. I could write a screenplay but I don't have time. I am busy painting you know.

That was also a little glimpse of our new chandelier.

When I got done painting that wall, I whipped up this one.

Hahaha. jkjk. I fooled you. I didn't paint that. I got it off the Internet. It IS painted by an artist named James Way. I first saw a painting of his on HGTVs Vern Yip's Deserving Design show and googled him. He paints cool clouds too.

Changing subjects, we came home last Saturday night to find these girl scout cookies on our front porch. After checking them for ants, brought them in and have been trying not to eat them all too quickly. They lasted one week. 8 boxes. They are all gone except for a couple thin mints and half a box of the kind with coconut. (who ordered coconut cookies anyway??)

They would probably be all gone, but Bailey had a movie night last night and Taylor requested my chocolate chip cookies so I baked a batch. I cant refuse requests for cookies.

And here is Wrinkles. Sophie was calling her Freckles. Get it right Sophie. W.r.i.n.k.l.e.s. :)

Cute

2009-03-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

After we got home from the track meet, I baked chocolate chip cookies and then went to the Rodriguez'.

They had a birthday party for Andrew and a going away party for Little. He goes back to training camp on Thursday.

I took 10 pictures before Mia smiled. Bailey had to tickle her because she wasn't cooperating.

They grow up fast. So cute.

Track Meet

2009-03-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a pretty busy day. Went to Royal to videotape Chris G. playing baseball so he can send it to a college. Got there at 9am.

(then found out the game didn't start till 10am grrr)

Then we went to see Dylan run at a track meet at Cal State Northridge. We got there too late to see him run the 800meters. We couldn't find the track or a place to park. When we got there he had just finished. We stayed to watch him run the 1600.

Lacing up his legit spikes. (that is what he calls them)

He jumps high....

I was debating whether I would even put these pictures up here. Those....shorts....are.....soooo......(For lack of a better word) GAY. I am sorry. And I know that most gay people would even refuse to wear these. Dylan came home from a meet with 3 pair of these shorts and was proud that they were only 3 for $20. They are so short and his white legs.... and practically see-thru. I told him he probably shouldn't wear them in public. But here he is. (and Sean has the same pair haha)

They might mysteriously get lost in the laundry.I should try to focus...forget the gay shorts forget the shorts forget theOK I'm better. Sorry for the outburstsDylan ran really well. In the 800m he ran 2minutes and 11 seconds.

And he ran a 4:49 mile. (A full mile Uncle Shawn :)

Coach was happy. And he felt strong finishing so this was a good start to the track season. I just gotta get rid of those shorts. : )

Oh and this guy won the race. He ran a 4:18 mile and didn't even break a sweat.

Oh and Chris got a $35.00 parking ticket.

Painting

2009-03-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

And what have I been up to lately? .........Painting the living room. Dunn Edwards Oak Harbor.

It is close to the color that it was. A little bit darker. Hunter laughed and said it was the same color but it's not. Here you can see the difference....

This is what happens when you get bored painting normal....

And this is me on the top step of the ladder hoping I don't fall and break.I am about half done. Then I might paint the bedroom again so it is not half purple and half blue. But maybe I wont finish it again and it could end up 3 colors. We'll see.

On the 8th day she blogged again

2009-03-01T16:34:00.001-08:00

The last of the tree cuttings are finally gone. Here is Mr Buff showing off by carrying 3 at a time.

Here is our little hunter searching the land for tasty lizards.

On the attack....

She did get one, but I think some might find those kind of pictures slightly disturbing so I decided not to post.

And sorry Kayla - that it has been 8 days since blogging. I thought you were too busy with midterms to notice.

2009-02-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

That was a fast week. It was a pretty gloomy start, but is ending much better.

I was sick with a cold and it was cold and rainy. Not a good combination. My nose hurt so much, I almost was tempted to buy the kleenex with lotion in it. EWWW no way. The thought of blowing your nose in a keenex with lotion just grosses me out. That's just me.

I know how much Bailey loves the rain but enough already. On Tuesday there were a couple of pretty rainbows.

And on Wednesday you could see snow from our house.

Here it is with my zoom lens.

So close and yet so far. Seeing snow like that and the pictures of Bailey playing in it makes me kind of miss snow. Snowmen. Snowballs. Snow Angels. Slush in your boots. No wait. I don't miss it after all. Today its 70 degrees and sunny and things are looking bright again. I am thinking of repainting the living room.

Here is little miss sunshine ready for school this morning. Look how big that backpack is!

I am going to go be productive.

Ugly Crows

2009-02-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

I hate these birds. They are huge. They are loud. They SQUAWK. They remind me of Alfred Hitchcock. And they crap a lot. Yes, I hate them.

Big Bear

2009-02-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

We let Bailey miss school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, last week to go to Big Bear with Hunter and her family. They were going to drive on Monday after school but there it was snowing and the roads were closed.
They got their homework from their teachers before they left and promised to run (for track)

in the snow.
Hunter ran in shorts and some little kids that were all bundled up waiting for the school bus were calling them crazy. Hunter's dad ran with them the first day but then decided to drive in the car while they ran the second day. After they ran, they went in the cabin and put on boots and then had a snow fight.

Bailey appreciated Hunter inviting her so much that she had to heave a huge chunk of snow at her head. Way to go Bailey!

The icicles were ginormous.
Notice Hunter running away in the background.

They went inner tubing. Here is Bailey, Hunter, her dad and little sister Dakota.Here Bailey wipes out. Pretty.The girls decided to climb a tree?(and waited half an hour in it till Hunter's mom took their picture)Here are the goofs back at Hunter's house with her dog Bri.

Happy Valentine's Day (one day late)

2009-02-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

I didn't care much for Valentines Day this year. I got a bad cold and took Nyquil and spent most of they day sleeping. I am still tired and my head hurts today but am not going to take any more Nyquil. I am quite sure Bailey is not happy because I know how much she looks forward to getting presents especially candy. She is going to church now, so we will celebrate when she comes home.

Here are some cookies that I made for Kayla.

Here is the card I sent. (And it got there ON TIME) Here are some cookies I made for Bailey to take to school and Chris took some to work.My favorite...with a pig nose...This one is just creepy. It's my Friday the 13th Valentine...

Wrinkles

2009-02-13T18:35:00.001-08:00

This is the look that she gives me everyday. Everyday I eat a yogurt (Whips).

I do admit they are GOOD. I get the strawberry or the lime ones. From the

moment that I put the spoon in the container this is the look that she gives me.I think she is saying.... DONT EAT IT ALL...DONT EAT IT ALL..

SAVE ME SOME..HURRY UP YOU PIG...CAN I HAVE IT?

IIIII'MMMM WWWAAAIIITTTINNGGG

Is this what you want?

YYYEEESSSSS YOU PIG....DONT EAT IT ALL!!!!

Then for the next five minutes, she licks the container to the point that I think it is actually thinner than when she started.

She LOVEs this stuff.

Here she is the other day getting pelted by hail in the backyard. It hailed for about 5 minutes.

It didnt seem to bother her. She is tough. Or dumb. I guess in the picture you cant see the hail very well but they were pellet size.

When she came in, I dried her off and cleaned the mud off her feet.

She seemed cold so we covered her so she could be toasty warm sleeping. Nighty-night Wrinkles.

Winter Formal - Part 2

2009-02-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

Bailey was so excited to go to her first Winter Formal. She talked about it for months.

We bought the shoes 3 months ago. Since she didn't have a date, we decided she should wear one of Kayla's old dresses.

Lexi came over to get ready together. She ended up wearing one of Bailey's dresses and a pair of Kayla's shoes. I straightened Bailey's hair and Lexi put the poof in it.

Tobi didn't have a date. He goes back to Germany this week so they took this picture with all the girls.

Here are some pictures of the girls...

Here is Bailey telling Tanner how short he is. He is not in the picture. That is Shannon."Don't I look adorable?"Dylan and Bailey were having such a good time that they even agreed to having a picture together.And here is Bailey and Aly.Bailey had fun, danced a lot and had a boy step on her toe and crack the nail in half. She had to go to the bathroom to clean the blood off her shoe. Good times. Good times.

Dylan and Ally - Winter Formal

2009-02-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

Royal's Winter Formal was Saturday. We bought Dylan a tux and some new shoes and he was all set. Buying a tux was cheaper than renting twice and prom is coming up soon. Dylan took Ally and they had a lot of fun together.

This was at Ally's house.Then everyone met at Taylor's house to wait for the limo. There were 34 kids in the limo.

Here are some of the guys...

Pinning on his flower was harder than it looks. Too much pressure..too many pictures...

Five minutes later...Her corsage was easy...

Success.... and lookin' good.Into the limo....

And off they went. Bailey went too. I will put her pictures up later.

Super Baseball Sunday

2009-02-02T17:31:00.000-08:00

Dylan played for the Eaters Sunday.

It was a perfect day to watch a baseball game. About 75ish and sunny.

A hit up the middle.

Get back.

Getting picked off 1st. (yes that is a girl coaching 1st base)

But the next batter got a hit and needed a runner so the coach put him back on base. (to redeem himself?)

Here he is scoring.

Here is his second hit.He bunted for an RBI, struck out, and got 2 hits. Played second base 5innings and centerfield 4...(I think)...Had 3 putouts and made a double play. And got cleated during the double play. The Eaters beat the Valencia Tigers (a highschool varsity team) 10-4. (I think)

The Estes' came to see us and watch the game. It was great seeing them all again!

Checking out the damage...

Sticking his smelly feet in Jake's face.Hello, we are leaving..Quiznos had foot long sandwiches for 5$ because it was Superbowl Sunday, so we went there with the Graves and Estes'.Then we drove home (hour & a quarter drive) and did not watch the Superbowl. Because I do not watch football.

Weeds

2009-02-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Chris told the kids they had to go outside and pull weeds out of the rock area.

I guess that is part of being a parent because I remember as kids we all had and area that we had to weed regularly. My spot was by the house. I had to weed the tomatoes. I remember also that I hated it.

Bailey and Dylan started pulling weeds so I went out to help and was surprised at how easily the came up. The whole area was like a swamp. Great for weeding. Not so great for our water bill.

After investigating, Chris found a pipe on the hill was leaking. He and Dylan dug and dug until it was dark. He had to turn off the water to the house until Sunday morning.

No water stinks. Literally. No shower. Only one flush for each toilet. Then I remembered to use bottled water to pour in the back of the toilet. I thought it was fixed because they turned the water back yesterday. Today, Marco came over to work in the yard, and while I was in the shower...yes the water turned off again. GRRRRRRR. I still had conditioner in my hair so I had to go get a gallon of bottled water and pour it over my head. You would think room temperature water would not be so cold but it was Shocking COLD! BRRRR. It is fixed now though. I think.

And Kayla, this is a garden gnome. (and see the flooded weeds?) This is NOT a garden gnome. Stay away. Far away, especially if it is speaking to you!

Random

2009-02-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

First week of February. Lets see... How many New Years Resolutions did I make?

Exercise more......broke toe...so I broke that one

Eat healthy.....was bored so I baked cookies...a lot of cookies....broke that one

Don't have a defeatist attitude....broke other resolutions so I'm a loser...broke that one

I think I was going to get organized.......hahahaha

I guess I just don't like being told what to do....even if it is by me.

Whatever. It's February. Let's just get on with the year. OK

And by the way....

the duck.....is....

dead.

(thanks Mary for your comments, and to the rest of you......shame)

I asked Bailey to get out the stuff to make choc. chip cookies. This is how she did...

Nice balancing skills. Notice the stick of margarine on top. That is skill. (I am still mad that I have to write margarine instead of Parkay, since no stores here sell Parkay anymore after 20 years of perfecting my cookies...to just stop selling key ingredient...unforgivable....sob....sob)

Here is cute Wrinkles looking all puppyish for me and waiting for a piece of Panda Express' Orange Chicken. Now that Kayla is back at school, there are leftovers to give Wrinkles. When Kayla is home there are NO leftovers.

I made a card for Bailey to give to Lexi for her birthday...Inside....Now I am going to go make cookies. Then will come back..I have pictures from yesterday..Dylan played baseball again.

2009-01-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

The Last Rose

2009-01-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

If you thought it funny seeing Dylan sound asleep in the car last week, then you will like this one......

The other day I came into the kitchen and saw Dylan laying on the table.

"get off the table Dylan. People eat on it. Dylan get off. Dylan. DYLAN." ah but he didn't hear me.

Sound asleep. I guess he was studying for Calculus....and ......got................tired.

Bailey was excited to hear that the weather forecast called for rain. She loves the rain. Loves to run in the rain. She was happy to be able to wear a scarf to school. And was dissapointed when it did not rain during running practice. Although the next day it did rain and she was happy to run in it and I was not so happy to clean the muddy clothes. She is hoping for more rain this week.

Yesterday, Chris was pruning the rosebushes and brought this lovely flower in to me.

It is the last one for a while cause he cut them all way back. Beautiful December Rose.

Groceries and Wrinkles and Dylan

2009-01-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

I went grocery shopping Wednesday at Von's. When I got home and put it all on the counter, it just didn't seem like it should be $162.87 worth. ($213.26 really, but I used my Von's card and saved $50.39) So I decided to stack it up and take a picture. I know I am getting weirder and weirder everyday.

Here is Wrinkles waiting for her Boy to come home from school.

Alert Alert I can smell him! (he does run cross country after school so he does smell)

He is spotted. "no wrinkles, stay." I say. She looks at me like "are you crazy?" and darts out the front door. Pretty fast for an old girl. True Love. A dog and her boy."Why are you taking my picture?"

Dilbert

2009-01-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

Monday 1.19.09

2009-01-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

We got this picture in the mail on Saturday. (no mail today cause of Martin Luther King holiday)

I scanned it so I could put it on here. Kirchberg Family Reunion. Chicago 8.08.08

I am with Chris in the back row. Bailey and Kayla are on the lower right and Dylan is wearing his brown baseball hat mid-left toward the top.

Today Bailey and Dylan got up and ran their Monday run and Bailey gave me this flower when she got home. OK not really. She had it in her hair and then threw it on the floor when she was going to go shower. I picked it up and put it in the cup. And pretend that she picked it for me.

I made more cookies today. But that's it. I'm done. Without running, I will become a cow if I keep this up and then I will have to listen to Shawn call me Cow. So this is the last of the cookies for a while. These are the pie crust/cinnamon/walnuts/honey/sugar/lemon and chocolate ones.

Got a little somethin on your teeth there Bailey.

Dylan got his haircut today and when I wanted to take a picture, I got a bunch of nothing shots.

Typical goofy faces....until I reminded him that he will be needing a tux for the Winter Formal and money to go and............and then I got a smile. A nervous smile, but still a smile. I am getting better.

I still think he needs another haircut.

1.18.09

2009-01-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

I've been letting Dylan take the car to school since Kayla went back to school. When he drives, I am stuck at home all day, but since I broke my toe, I haven't really wanted to go out much anyway. But it does get boring sitting around the house all day trying to keep my foot up. So much for running everyday. As I was saying...I get bored so when they came home in the afternoon, I hobbled to the door to take their picture. Dylan is pretty quick to hide.

Bailey is always nice enough to bring in the mail.

And because I have been a little down (with Kaylabeinggoneitis...thanks for diagnosing that Mary :) ) and uglybrokentoe hurting...I decided to pretend that it's my birthday and baked cupcakes with cheery sprinkles.

That brought me out of my slump if only for the chocolate 15 minute sugar rush.
I only made 12 because that's all that fits in the oven, so I made a little cake too.
Chris wanted that "cupcake".

I had this one... (OK . nobody believes me any way, I confess..I had 3)

Saturday, Hunter came over after running in the morning. I guess they brought souvenirs from the run??? I told Bailey she could NOT keep them in her room.

Dylan and Chris worked on cutting down the monster tree and are almost done. Dylan got something in his eye so he had to stop and rinse it out. Luckily, it was OK.

It was hot..that is his shirt on his head.

Dylan then spent a lengthy amount of time designing this car on x-box so that he could drive it in the game and smash it to bits.

Very Gangsta.

OK, I just checked and it is actually absenceofkaylaitis that I am suffering from...all those big medical terms..just got confused. Oh and Mary...that was not a very nice thing to say about my salads!!! : )

Is today Monday? cause I don't like Mondays

2009-01-15T13:34:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning feeling a little bit sick. Sore throat, a little acheyness (spellcheck says this is not a word). Bailey has been sick and I was thinking that I might not be as lucky as I have been lately avoiding catching sicknesses. I got the kids off to school and decided to run anyway. I'm tough right?

I got dressed and went to get my shoes and kicked something. What did I kick? I have no idea.

I think maybe the corner of the bed. I just know by the time I put my shoe on my toe hurt.

But I'm tough. I will just walk a little. At this point I decided it was broken and I should just go back to bed. Which I did. Too bad the throbbing shooting pain in my toe kept me from getting to actually sleep.

I am trying to eat healthy to maybe fight off getting the full blown sickyness(also not a real word) that Bailey has so I had a V8 for breakfast and this beautiful salad for lunch. (and I think I will go have a banana after I finish this post).

It is a "spring mix" of lettuces, cheese, red onions, croutons, red kidney beans, sweet pickle relish, sunflower seeds, and ranch dressing. I know...your thinking how odd, but it is very good and I think very healthy mixture for me. I used to get salads like this at Souplantation but they are expensive and stopped carrying the kidney beans and sweet pickles (which are crucial to have) so I decided to buy all the stuff and make it myself. Delish.

I limped outside and took a picture of our view because it is so clear today.

Now for that banana...

01.14.09

2009-01-14T19:39:00.001-08:00

Well, Kayla is back in Montana after a nice Christmas Vacation. She left here yesterday at 4:30 in the morning. It is hard to get used to her not being here and I think about her all the time.

4:30 am.......Instead if going shopping or out to lunch, yesterday, I cleaned the house. (got to use my nifty spiffy new Dyson : ) I think I will vacuum everyday now cause it is fun - I guess cause it actually works. Did a ton of laundry (not so fun) and today I took Bailey to the dentist. 4 cavities. Lucky Bailey got white fillings. Lucky me only had to pay for silver. Woo Hoo.(she said sarcastically)

We had Jamba Juice for lunch.
It is just not the same.

I miss this...

Thankfully, she left behind her "The Office" DVDs and I will cheer myself up by watching these 2 goofballs.

I also have Wrinkles to follow me around all day.It was 85 degrees today. Just sayin.

Wrinkles misses you too.

That's all I got for today. Oh and Dylan went to baseball practice again today with Chris Graves.

: ) AAAANNNNDDDD...I learned how to Cut and Paste! yay me

The Best Day of the year

2009-01-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Got up at 6:00am. Left house at 7. Drove a bit over an hour. Arrived at Garr High School at 8:15am. Could only see soccer players. Made a phone call. Dylan got the time wrong. An hour early. Sat in the car for an hour watching soccer players. But I was HAPPY. Dylan played baseball for the first time in 6 months.

Chris Graves is still playing for Royal H.S., but coaches don't play him much. So he joined this other team where he plays on weekends. He's asked D. several times to play but this is the first time he agreed. So here are some pics.....

He walked. Then Chris hit a home run. Here he is scoring.

He pitched one inning and did surprisingly well. (for not picking up a ball -6 mos.)

They made 3 errors! while Dylan was pitching. (one inning!) He threw to first and got the runner caught in a pickle but the second baseman didn't tag him. That happened twice. He struck out this guy. And didn't walk any.He walked twice and struck out once. There was no umpire and the catcher made the calls.Don't even know the score. Don't really care. We didn't win. Just was happy to be in the stands watching Dylan playing baseball again on a beautiful day.And look...it looks like he was having fun. : )Then we drove home and got stuck in traffic. And it was our 20th anniversary. We also went to lunch with Chris, Cheryl and Harold. Just like old times. It was great and Cheryl was looking healthy and felt good and her hair is starting to grow back. So it was a great day.

Ummmm More Cookies?

2009-01-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

Made more "new year's cookies. I made the peanutbutter/chocolate kiss ones when a bunch of kids were here the other night, then realized Christian is allergic to peanut butter so I made the marshmallow wreaths for him. They were good. But they are kinda ruining that ol' eating healthy thing.

I finally made mom's birthday card and actually mailed it. : ) (she should have gotten it by the time she sees this). Happy Birthday to the best mom ever! yea yea it's late, but I inherited that trait from her!

Dylan went running in the morning and when I realized he hadn't come home after an extra hour or so, Bailey said "oh, he's in the car in the driveway".

Sound asleep!
Look I took a picture of Dylan and he didn't give "the angry look" or "the dorky look"

New Year's Cookies

2009-01-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2009. wow.

I've made a couple resolutions, but will most likely not stick to them. I try. I try. I try.

The first one is to not have such a defeatist attitude. Must stay positive. haha No, that ll never happen.!

I have been exercising. Both days. That's a start.

I need to exercise because I am just getting around to making all those Christmas or New Year cookies. : )

These were soooo good.

Bailey was my helper. She decorated a lot of them but kept saying hers weren't as "good" as mine. Please Bailey, this was my try at an angel. Looks more like a Halloween cookie to me.

In between frostings, she had to check her My Space to make sure she wasn't missing anything.The best part was eating them.

OK, I guess I should probably try to eat healthier too.

Backtracking

2008-12-29T20:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas came and went. Time goes by so fast in the weeks before Christmas.

So much to not get done. Well, now that it is over, I can share a few things that happened in the week before.

This is what our house looks like. Every single year we put up lights and every single year, they work for a couple days and then a portion goes dark. Weird, I know. Just a few feet of lights. Dark. Every single year.
The gazebo looked pretty under the full moon.

And it got cold. I know it doesn't compare to Michigan or Montana's 20 below, but it did get in the thirties and we are just not used to that. We cant see Russia from our house but we could see SNOW. I think it was pretty.There was frost on the ground and Bailey got all excited and was calling it snow. She had to run outside to touch it. I don't think Kayla was very impressed after being in Montana. haha. We do live in California. I thought it was funny that on the TV all day they had WINTER STORM WATCH running across the bottom of the screen. You know it WAS 40 degrees and drizzling. We are spoiled I guess.The weird thing about California (well one of many weird things) is the trees turn FALL colors late. Now they are bright red and yellows. These were taken last week. The leaves are thinning from the winds but still look pretty. I made pumpkin bread 3 days in a row. I wont be making any again until next fall. I made some for the cross country banquet. It was good.Bailey and Dylan both got awards this year. Dylan got the Coaches Award. And Bailey got the Frosh/Soph Most Improved award. And they both allowed me to take their picture. And they both smiled. Life is good.Yes, it doesn't take much to make me happy. Smiling for my pictures, happy happy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-12-27T11:56:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T11:13:00.000-08:00

Look who I ran into preparing for Christmas. Mrs. Claws. Hee hee. She was out shopping for some last minute salami.

She looks a little mad in this picture. Christmas can be stressful.Merry Christmas Eve!

Kayla's weekend

2008-12-21T18:15:00.001-08:00

Kayla got to the airport early Friday in Bozeman for her 5 o'clock flight. Jon brought her there and when it was close to the flight time he left and she went through security. It was close to 8pm when she realized she was not leaving Bozeman on Friday. She moved out of the dorms and turned in the key so she was basically homeless. Luckily, Jon picked her up and she spent the night at his mom's house. (thanks)

She was told to come back Sat. for a noon flight and got there again a couple hours early. They told her she was lucky to have a boarding pass for the flight and only got it because she was there Friday. Well, that flight was cancelled, the next one was delayed and she finally got on a plane and left Bozeman at about 8pm. When she arrived in Salt Lake City, the connecting flight to Burbank had already left. There were no other flights into Burbank, L.A. or anywhere else.

The lady at the counter said the hotels that they had vouchers for were full and that she was on her own. When Kayla asked her what she should do, she told her "you are welcome to stay here". Thanks. Kayla found a hotel, took the shuttle bus and needed to be back at the airport at 6am today. Luckily she got on the flight and arrived safely here today.

Delta was quite unsympathetic, unavailable or just rude through the entire process. It wasn't only because of the weather too, as one of the flights was cancelled because of mechanical problems. They did give her a voucher for food about 30 hours into the ordeal. It was for 7 dollars.

Oh, but the guy at security in the Bozeman airport was nice and drew a duck on her boarding pass??? It says quack.

My Brain Update

2008-12-21T15:50:00.001-08:00

Why is it that every Christmas my brain turns to mush? Yesterday, I went to the mall with Bailey, parked a mile away, went into Macy's and then realized that I left my wallet at home.

Good thing Macy's didn't have what I was looking for anyway. So I drove home got my wallet and phone and drove to the Macy's in the valley. Traffic was backed up for over a mile going into the parking lot and it took about 20 more minutes to park about a mile away. Good thing I was with a cross country runner who wouldn't dream of complaining about the distance. Macy's did have what I was looking for though so it was a little Christmas miracle : ).

Today I went shopping with Kayla and drove to KOHL'S (just because I had an extra 30% off coupon) and parked about a mile away, got in the store, shopped, then realized I didn't have the coupon. We were gonna buy the stuff anyway until we saw the line wrapped around the store and back to the shoe department. So, mom and dad, a couple gifts will be late as usual this year. I am going to try to shop Monday and hope some of those people will go to work or somewhere else.
I drove by this house again and thought it funny that the people next door are trying to sell their house. I wonder why? Last week when it rained their were tarps all over. hahaha Good luck with that! They do this for Halloween and Easter too. Wouldn't everyone want to live next door to that? Poor neighbor.

YAY KAYLA MADE IT HOME

2008-12-21T11:24:00.001-08:00

Finally! She is taking a shower after being in the airport 3 days. DELTA stinks!!!!!
I'll explain later.

No More Monkeys Skating in the House

2008-12-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I took these pictures of Bailey and Hunter rollerblading together. Literally together. Since there were only one pair of skates available, they shared by each wearing one skate and tying their legs together in the middle. They had a LOT of fun as you can see by their faces in the pictures.

Since Bailey got her skates in August she has skated mostly in the house. She said she doesn't know exactly how to stop so she doesn't want to go outside.

But then a couple days later I heard a shriek from the living room. I yelled "are you OK?".Bailey was, but the wall was not. She fell and kicked a hole in the wall.

She came to me near tears and promised to never skate in the house again. I told her it was OK and I was glad she didn't hurt herself. But she had to tell Chris.

We were both surprised when he told her to take back her promise. It was just an accident. He liked seeing her have fun. That is what houses are for, living in and having fun in.
So the monkeys CAN still skate in the house.

The damage.....(now we can teach her how to patch holes)

But it will have to wait till after Christmas. Our "Mr. Shawn the Monkey Man"* has a new place to stand and a new job hiding the hole until we get to Home Depot for supplies.
(that's really his name Shawn)

I did make make a new rule though. If you are skating in the house, you MUST wear your helmet!

Sweaters Part 2

2008-12-17T08:36:00.000-08:00

Computer is fine. (today) So here's the back.

Bailey wore the sweater to school today. I hope she doesn't get beat up. : )

This is what Dylan wore. I don't believe he will be sporting this baby at school or anywhere else anytime soon. Though I think that if anyone could pull off this look it would be Dylan.

Thanks for posing Dylan. Ha haI think I will make a Christmas Pillow out of it. Put that on my to do list, right near the bottom.

Santa

2008-12-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

A local realtor sent out a newsletter to everyone in the area. It said Santa would be at the gazebo on Placid Court on Saturday. Last week, when I read it, I thought "hmmm I didnt know there was another court with a gazebo, hmmm". Then I tossed the paper.

Carly, Hunter and Ally came over to make the Senior gifts for the banquet this Thursday, and when Hunter came in she said someone was setting up a table by the gazebo. It was the realtor so I went out and told her that her paper said Placid, not Peaceful. She had to drive to Placid and put up a note saying to go to Peaceful Ct. (there is no gazebo on Placid)

The girls refused to sit on Santa's lap but were happy to pose for pictures.

Notice the sweaters Bailey and Hunter are wearing. I Christmased them up a bit. They are going to a party at Hanna's and needed "holiday sweaters".
Here is the front of the sweater. I bought it at WalMart for 9$. I bought another shirt that had a reindeer with a light-up nose, but was size 2xx, so I cut it out and ironed it on this one. Went to Michaels and Joannes for the fur, trims, bells, and felt snowflake stickers.OK, I was gonna show you the back, but as I was uploading the picture, my laptop computer crashed and now only has a black screen. Wish me luck in getting it going again.

O Tannenbaum

2008-12-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

O Tannenbaum O Tannenbaum how lovely are your branches.

Very lovely, thank you. We finished putting up the tree. I tried keeping track of how many ornaments. I counted 268, but we didn't put Kayla's ornaments on yet. All the Dodger ornaments will have to wait for her to get home.

And here are my top 3 ornaments of the day....
I just like this one because he is so happy and snowy and he is torturing the dog. No just kidding.I like this one but I don't remember it's origin. I think Shawn sent her to me a few years back. Or I bought 2 and maybe sent one to Shawn. Or I bought this for Shawn and decided to keep it myself. All seem reasonable. Shawn, have you ever seen this angel before?

And this one I love. Dylan made this in First Grade. Kayla made one too but it is not on the tree yet. Soon. Soon.

Dignity Sold

2008-12-13T11:35:00.000-08:00

I bought this AWDORABLE hat n beard set at Target this morning.

I don't know - the devil made me do it? (When you mix up the letters in Santa you do get Satan)

So I put it on Wrinkles and SURPRISE! ....she doesn't like it? WHAT why not?

I'll need dog treats. So I get her little biscuits that she likes and walk outside.

COME HERE GIRL

She looks at me. She looks at the camera. She looks at the treats. She RUNS back in the house.

Hmmm. What can I do to get you to change your mind?

She reluctantly sat between feedings.

Look at that look.

Are you kidding me?

This is humiliating.Are you almost done?

It was steak. Lots and lots of steak. Dignity sold for cold leftover Carne Asada.

My brain

2008-12-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is my brain.......>
This is my brain on Christmas........>

(picture taken in Simi Valley. I think Father Christmas threw up on their front lawn. )

Too much, Too much.

WARNING WARNING WARNING

2008-12-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

warning. Dylan added a music feature to my blog. So if you dont want to hear it,
( I am thinking Mom and Dad : )
turn down the volume on your computer or scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog and turn it off. Thank you and try not to let it bother you too much! (the Techno)

Bailey in L.A.

2008-12-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

While we were waiting for Dylan and James to run along, I took advantage of some of the Los Angeles city backgrounds for these shots of Bailey.
This is on a bridge that crosses over the freeway....

This is along the L.A. river. (Mile 6)

And these were taken when we were walking to the Mile 10 spot. There was a lot of graffiti everywhere we went.

Dylan's First Half Marathon

2008-12-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

Dylan competed in his first half marathon yesterday. Or should I say ran his first 1/2 marathon, because he really was not his usual competitive self. The race started at 7:30am at the L.A. Zoo and the finish was downtown L.A.

We dropped him off at the start and drove to the 6 mile mark. And waited, and waited.

All kinds of people were going by and we thought we might have missed him.

Then we saw Dylan and James they were talking and started yelling to us that they started 20 minutes late and something about the workers couldnt find James' bib.

Mile 6.........>

Then they were gone.

We drove to about the 10mile point and saw them run along a little lake there. There was a mariochi band playing. We saw them. Yelled something. Then they were gone.

Mile 10........>

We drove to the finish and couldnt get close enough because of street closings and no parking everwhere so by the time we got there they finished.

L.A.........>

The end.......>

Anyway, I don't know what their times were but I think they will be posted online today sometime. Oh and they stopped along the way to go to the bathroom.

Dylan was sore when he was done and again this morning. Probably because he didn't train properly, but he did have fun and I think he is looking forward to doing a full marathon in the future.

On the way home with medal hanging from car.....

The Fog Monster

2008-12-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

The FOG MONSTER ate the city. Ha ha, that's what we used to tell the kids when they were little. They would look out the window on foggy days like today and ask "Where's the city?". I would always tell them the FOG MONSTER ate it. Sometimes, it was a convieneint excuse as to why the tooth fairy failed to show up. "Oh, she couldnt find our house 'cause it was foggy last night, but I'm pretty sure she'll come tonight"Ha ha.

This is our view this morning.

It is VERY foggy still and it is about 10 am. Usually it clears by now.
You can barely see the neighbors houses. Somewhere some toothless kid is asking why didnt the tooth fairy come last night. Well kid, the FOG MONSTER ate her. hahaha

Yesterday was Christian's birthday. Happy Birthday. Dylan brought home a piece of the cake that Brianna made for him. It tasted so good. Look it is a In N Out Burger cake. She is so talented. I have to go and get my hair done. It looks like crap now. I am hoping it wont in a couple hours. I will let you know.

I blinked and she's gone again!

2008-11-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

There are teardrops on the keyboard. Sob Sob. Wail and more sobbing. Kayla was here and now she is back in Montana in the blink of a tear soaked eye. It was fun while it lasted. Her visit seamed much shorter now but I can console myself knowing she will come back in only 2 more weeks for Christmas. I can also console myself with a few chocolate chip cookies.
I got up this morning and was baking at 6am so she could have some fresh cookies to take home along with her pumpkin bread that I baked a couple days ago. They are yummy. I am consoled now. :-D
I am a little annoyed with myself because I didnt take many pictures while Kayla was here and vow to take bunches in 2 weeks. I did manage to get these as she was leaving.....>

So pretty.
I miss you already. Countdown begin.

P.S. (Hi Mary! Happy Thanksgiving to you all too! I made the cupcakes too. They were easy but you can see in the picture that I put the tailfeathers on one upside down! I saw them in the newspaper. You can get the recipe at bakelifesweeter.com and they have Christmas snowman cupcakes and cookies that I'd like to try to make with Bailey. )

Thankful

2008-11-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

I am thankful...

KAYLA'S HOME.

FOR MY FAMILY both near and far.

That Paul is such a good cook and the deep fat fried turkey was awesome.

oh and that I didnt have to clean the house .

(and lots more stuff but dont want to write it all)

Kayla came home Tuesday night. It is sooo good to see her after soooo long. We (Bailey, Kayla and I) went to the mall Wed. but nothing was on sale. My favorite pizza place there was closed so we ate at California Pizza Kitchen instead. (which I like but is too expensive)

Then we went back to the mall to eat at Souplantation to celebrate Chris' birthday.

Then we came home and ate these little babies....>

Thats what you get when your birthday is so close to Thanksgiving.

Make a wish and blow out your turkey candles. Notice Dylan in the background. He is an odd one.

Happy 53rd Birthday!Something's missing in this picture. O yes it is ME. oh well. At least Kayla's in it : )

Dylan made this face in every picture I took of him. Odd.And here is Bailey rollerblading in the house again.

Blast from the past

2008-11-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

HHHEEELLLPPPP.

Hi mom. Can you please tell me approximately what year or decade these are from?

I will number them so I know which ones you are talking about.

Number 1 ....>

Number 2.......>

Number 3....>

And my favorite number 4......>

CIF Finals

2008-11-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we got up at 5:30am and 20minutes later Katie, Hunter, Thomas and Branden were here knockin at the door. I actually woke up at 4:00am and couldn't get back to sleep, because Dylan had to be at school at 5:15am.

Bailey had fun, in the car, they put makeup on Thomas.

He is a good sport but I didn't want to push my luck by taking a picture.

We drove to Mt. SAC for CIF Finals. The boys were running at 7:30am. They came in 3rd place so they qualified to go to State next Saturday. We stayed to watch Thousand Oaks who qualified also and the Simi High girls team (who didn't qualify).

Dylan seems to have fun even though he is only an alternate.The Garzas came to support the team. Dylan hangs out with Christian most of the time.

Then we all went to breakfast at the House of Pancakes. I haven't eaten a full breakfast like that since Dylan played baseball! Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, french toast and orange juice...and I ate it all!

When we got home, we had to hurry Bailey over to get her hair cut at 1:30. She has been wanting layers for months, but with cheer she couldn't get them. But now that she's not going to cheer anymore this year, she is so happy now with her hair.

I know its not a good picture, but I took it last night and the light was pretty bad. I am still tired from yesterday. My eye has been twitching all day. Bailey says it is because I am tired and that I need my beauty sleep. I don't know how Kayla gets by on so little sleep. I need my 10 hours heehee. Goodnight!

For Kayla

2008-11-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

I made this card for Kayla. Too bad I didnt mail it in time for her to get it before she comes home for Thanksgiving. Typical me. I guess it is the thought that counts? So here Kayla. I miss you and cant wait to see ya Tuesday!!!

(it says that on the inside)

Dylan Passed the Driving Test

2008-11-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

Dylan passed the test with flying colors and is now in possession of his California Drivers License.

These pictures were before the test. I was asking bunches of questions like " where's the parking brake and do you know how to move the mirrors?". He knew everything of course and even showed me how to turn on the back window defroster. (which I didnt know)

He looks a little annoyed but he was just having fun.

His friends said to hope he got the guy tester instead of the lady because she is harder.

He got the lady. Ha ha.

15 minutes and 4 1/2 miles later he came back, smiled, and said he passed.

You could get up to 15 wrong and still pass but he didnt get any wrong. I wasnt suprised because I always thought he was a good driver. The lady at the desk was suprised though and said she never sees that lady give zero wrong and that Dylan must have been a REALLY good driver.

He went to a pasta party at Travis' house.

Right now he is driving.

By himself.

In the dark.

But I am ok with that.

I think.

CIF Prelims

2008-11-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

It is still windy and a lot of fires are burning all around us but the air is not too bad here like it has been before. I guess the winds are blowing the smoke in other directions. It is supposed to be windy and hot till Tuesday. It is blowing the water right out of the pool.
Yesterday we drove to Mt. SAC for CIF Prelims. Dylan was picked as an alternate for the varsity team. He drove with the team. We drove with Bailey, Ally and Jessica. They came over a little early to make posters and paint their faces to show their support. (or just to have fun?)

Traffic was HORRIBLE because a lot of the freeways are shut down because of all of the fires.

We did get there barely in time to see the varsity girls run.

Dylan only had to run a couple miles warmup and another mile (for a workout). The firemarshals made them change the race from 3miles to only 2miles . It was about 90 degrees and because of all the fires in the state, they wouldnt have crews available to pick up passed out runners like at the last race. The air seemed to be pretty good there too though the planes kept going over our heads on the way to water drop.

Dylan hung out with Christian. He broke his foot and wasnt running and cant run for 10 weeks, which must have been very hard on him especially since Royal's boys came in FIRST place.

The girls team came in 6th place so they dont get to move on. They were dissapointed but I think they did really well just winning League and with having 2 of their top runners out with injuries. Next year will be even better.

Here is a picture of the sun. It looks pretty because of the fire and smoke always makes the sky red.

After the races we went out to eat and then brought the girls home. While waiting for Dylan to call I thought they went in the bathroom to wash OFF the facepaint, but NO. This is what I found.......

Wrinkles was not impressed.

Fall

2008-11-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

I brought my camera when I picked up Dylan from school yesterday. I wanted to take pictures on First Street because the trees look so pretty. The trees dont usually change to the fall colors until Mid November here. I know in Michigan it is a lot earlier. End of Sept. or beginning of Oct.

The car was moving too fast but you get the fall feel...Here's Dylan in the driver's seat. He can get his license any day. I think his appointment is next Friday.And here is the view from the back left of the backyard. I thought you could see colorful trees better but it doesnt really show much.And here is Wrinkles. The cactus doesnt change much that I know of. Not that I check them seasonally or anything.It is 10pm here Friday night and I just picked up Dylan, Bailey and Brittany up from the Royal-Simi Football game. It was VERY crowded as usual. Royal beat Simi 24-0. Yay I guess.

But anyway, it is 83 degrees outstide. AT 10 OCLOCK! And very windy. There is a big fire in Santa Barbara that destroyed over 100 homes and part of a college (that Dylan played in a tournament at). Did I mention that I HATE the wind? Oh so it says on my computer that in Bozeman, it is 27 degrees. I hope you are inside and warm Kayla.

Tomorrow, we go to Mt. SAC again for State PreLims. It should be about 100. Fun. (not) Well now I am going to try to get some sleep if it is possible with everything outside blowing and banging around. Did I mention I hate the wind? I do. Goodnight.

x-c pictures

2008-11-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

That is X-C (cross country) pictures in case some perverts googled rated x pictures. If that is you then move along now and get some professional help please.

Now for the rest of you.. Bailey brought her pictures to me when she got in the car after school.
I brought her home then when Dylan called, I picked him up and brought him home.
I remembered the pictures and asked him where his were. "In the locker room"
You mean in your locker? "No, in front of my locker"
Grrrr. Back to school again.
Luckily they were still there and it was still opened.
So here they are. Bailey...
Buddy shot with Bri....And Dylan.....Worth the drive, I think. : )

I mailed Kayla's card : )

2008-11-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

The kids have been making me cards for my birthdays so I thought I would make Kayla one.

Since Kayla's birthday has passed, I would like to show mom the card that I made for her. I made it when I was in San Diego for Bailey's 9hr cheer practice. It didnt take 9hrs though.
I didnt take a picture of the inside but it was really cute too.

Not bad huh!
And here is the card that I bought for Shawn but never mailed.

On the inside it says Happy Birthday ROCK ON!

By the way, I am down to 16,000 pictures.

Obsessive

2008-11-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Kayla reminded me today that I have been slacking in the blogging department. I have been busy. Very busy.

I tried to put about 500 more pictures onto my computer last week. (one of the cross country moms gave me a device with all her pictures she took of the team to look at before we turned them in to the guy that is making the year end video).

My computer got angry and said NO MORE.

Or something like "not enough disk space"

So I checked to see how many pictures that I have accumulated since I got this scrawny weak poor excuse for a computer in late 2004.

17,843. Yes Seventeen Thousand pictures.

I have been trying to delete them ever since.

There were several baseball pictures of everyone on the teams, several cheer pictures of everyone on the teams and several running pictures of everyone on the teams. I am in the process of deleting all those other kids first then all the blurry, dumb ones of our kids.

(as you've seen in previous posts, Dylan takes a lot of dumb pictures: like picking his nose ones and making faces)

But I have taken breaks to take more pictures. (maybe it is a disease)

Here are a few showing Dylan's excessive compulsive side.

His medals all hung in a row on his closet rod.His sunglasses all in a row.

His uniform folded neatly underneath his numbers from races.And here is his painting of Steve Prefontaine that he painted in the beginning painting class he took at Moorpark College this summer.Yes I think he is obsessed with running. He watches you-tube of Olympic races over and over and over. I think I should take more pictures. heehee

Happy Birthday Kayla

2008-11-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday !

Happy Birthday to Kayla!!!

I cant believe my baby is 19 years old today. It stinks that she is in Montana and not here so we could celebrate with her. I would bake her a cake and we would eat her favorite dinner. We would sing really loud and awful. And we would smile when she opened her very cool birthday presents. Well I am thankful for telephones at least and am looking forward to Thanksgiving when we will be able to give her that Birthday Hug. In the meantime, in celebration of her birthday here are a few photos that make me smile.

19 years ago.
18 years ago.

A true blue Dodger fan from the very beginning.

Kindergarten.True Beauty.

Happy Birthday Baby. I love you!

County Finals

2008-11-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

County Finals at Lake Casitas

How many pictures are too much? Well I have a lot. Tell me if its too many!

Halloween Day, 80 degrees.

Dylan ran JV first at 12:30.

Dylan came in 7th place out of 173 guys. His time was 17.05.73. He got a medal. Here is proof for uncle Shawn the doubter.Here he is showing Bailey his medal.Chatting with the team afterwards.Here are Bailey and Hunter. Hunter was wearing freaky eye contacts for Halloween. There were a lot of kids in costume like Burger King.Bailey warming up.Ready.Bailey came in 35th out of over 100 something. It took several shots to get those fingers right. Several.Proof.And lastly Dylan picking his nose and otherwise acting gooflike with Billy and Toby. Toby is an exchange student from Germany. Dylan is teaching him all the American weirdness he can.Yea. Weird.

Wet Hair to New Color Hair

2008-11-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

I wasnt going to put this picture up here but Kayla has been anxiously awaiting veiwing Bailey in her Halloween princess costume. So here it is wet hair and all.
Weak I know. Sorry Bailey.
Here is Dylan and Christian as Jabawockees.

Dylan showing how thrilled he is that I am taking his picture.And here is my picture at the race on Friday...note the new color of the hair. I did it myself. Coach walked by, gave me a fist pound and said "new hair, cool". He was the only one to notice. Or maybe everyone else thinks it looks like crap and didnt want to say so??

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

Bailey went to school like this. She didnt wear her costume because they have County Championships in Ventura today. She said she didnt want to wear it because the bus comes during second period and she would have to take it off and "throw it in a wad under the bus".

So I am glad she didnt wear it. But then she doesnt get home till 7pm. Then she will shower and go to Hunter's house to Trick or Treat. Yes she will wear her costume for 1 hour.

She is wearing her glitter red lipstick from Cheer for Halloween.

Dylan went to school as a Jabawockee. (a hip hop dance group) If you go to youtube and type in Jabawockee you can see them in action.

I asked him if he has been practicing his dance moves and he said "No".

When I turned around to go in the house, I saw this.

See the rainbow? And it wasnt even raining! A Halloween rainbow. And the flowers still look pretty.....

And lastly here is the pumpkin that Chris carved. I think it looks like Eddy Munster.

It's starting to look like Halloween

2008-10-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Well it is getting close to Halloween which means it is time to stress/work my butt off/ruin/fix Bailey's impossible to get done in time costume. I am not sure how this tradition started, but every single year I say "next year we will BUY a costume". But then the next year comes and Bailey picks an impossible pattern and here we go again.

I work non-stop for about a week and then she wears it on Halloween for about 3 hours. ????

I am taking a break to write this but I've only started cutting out the fabric so I cant be too long.

Here are some of our decorations this year.....

Our new wreath that I got from Sam's Club last week..... >

And these horrors were at Home Goods this year and last year ....>

Aren't they scary. ooooooooh
Bailey and Lexi went to the pumpkin patch Sunday and then came here to carve them. They downloaded patterns from the internet.Here's how they turned out. Cute. The ghosts in the windows' Baileys and the cat with the pumpkin was done by Lexi.I must get back to the costume from hell.

Pasta Party

2008-10-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

We survived another Cross Country Carb Loading Team Bonding Fun Time Pasta Party.

I made the invites the size of business cards and ended up with 2 versions. I didn't think Dylan would like the pink one, but after I printed them, he said it was his favorite.

The cartoon says:

Having discovered she's out of pasta and with crosscountry runners arriving in 20 minutes, Colleen is forced to use the kid's macaroni necklaces.

65 -70 HighSchool kids showed up along with a few that werent on the teams. It was nice to see Veronica. Brianna only came in when she picked up Christian but it was nice to see her too.

Coach came with his little boy. Wrinkles growled at Cayden when he kindof invaded her space a little. (Cayden was trying to sit on her and she moved then he got right in her face and grabbed her ears. Wrinkles didnt like that at all. But it scared me I thought she bit him. She didnt.)

We went through 7 x-large trays of pasta, meat sauce, marinara sauce, 14 loaves of bread, a masive amount of grapes, and salad, a couple gallons of apple cider and three cases of water. And I baked 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies for the kids to sneak when the coaches were not looking.

They all kept busy eating, playing basketball, jumping on the trampoline, hitting the punching bag, sitting, talking and having fun. Bailey said Clinton was gonna fight Tanner at one point but I walked outside at just the right moment so he didnt.

The only thing that could have made it better, was if Kayla was there. Although she must have read my mind and called during the party :-) It was fun but I am glad it only happens once a year. And I was too busy to take pictures.

Woof it's Bailey

2008-10-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

It is so funny, I keep finding dogs, horses, even an orangutan named Bailey.

Bailey's friend Kelly had 2 cats named Beavis and Butthead and a dog named Bailey.

Her cross country coach has a dog named Bailey.

I found this picture in a Rachel Ray magazine and showed it to my Bailey. It was priceless to see her look at it and think Oh cute Dog and then she said it looked like half dog and half chicken. Then when she reads the fine print..... the look of horror..... then anger.... then the evil glare at me. Hahaha it was soo funny.

Luckily she has a good sense of humor. haha

It says in the fine print...good dog. Bailey a 3yr old pomaranian waits for the ok to eat.

She said she knows more animals with her name than humans. She does like that there is Bailey's Irish Cream though. Hmm

Smoothies

2008-10-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I found these smoothie mixes from Yoplait at Sam's Club. All that is in them is frozen fruit (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries) and frozen yogurt pieces. You just add nonfat milk and you have a delicious healthy drink. yum

Frames are How Much???!!!

2008-10-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

So I don't even remember who did it, but someone knocked a picture off the wall. Now that we have tile in the hallway, of course the glass broke along with the frame.

So yesterday, I drove to Michaels to replace it. I took the picture to the back of the store and laid it on the counter in front of the worker. "I'd like to get a simple black frame for this". She pulled out a measuring tape, held it out and said that it is a custom size and that it would be 200 something dollars.

TWO HUNDRED WHAT???

Well if you use the coupon in the Sunday newspaper it will ONLY be $130.00.

I smiled and explained that I had only paid $29.99 for the thing including the mat last year. And that I really like the picture but I really couldnt pay that much. And left.

So I thought I should go to where I bought it and see if they had anything similar. So I drove to Aaron Brothers. I asked if they had any 2008 frames in stock and he checked and of course he did not. Then he measured the picture and said he could get the price down to $110.00 (and that without a coupon). I could not justify spending that much. (I know me..who loves to spend money heehee) SO I looked up and down the isles and found this frame. It is a bit bigger so I was gonna buy a black mat to back the picture, but instead I just took the black back off the frame and flipped it over. It cost me $27.99. Soooo.........Happy Face :-)

2008-10-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Now lets see Bailey's pics. (from x-c meet on thursday)
Who are who are who are we? Hey Hey We are we are we are thee Here we go, H I G H L A N D E R S Thats us Royal Highlanders The Best!

Discussing strategy like" Run Faster than Them" or "Win"The Start line.......>She got off to a bad start. Her own teammates (freshmen) box her in. according to Bailey and Chris.Notice who is in front here......>Here is Dylan on his warmup......>Run Bailey Run!This is Bailey getting smoked by Westlake girl.But wait. Here comes Bailey........Closing the gap......>And Bailey beat her at the finish. Her time was 22:30. ( she came in 8th) Everybody was screaming at the end. (again)

And here are a pile of kids.

Nice, Dylan

2008-10-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

Nice Dylan. Whenever I try to take his picture this is what I get.

But I still keep on keeping on taking the pictures. Hee Hee.

I am thankful for digital.

Christian trying not to laugh.

Dorks.

More X-C

2008-10-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

Bailey and Dylan ran at Newbury Park and competed against them and Westlake.

This was the last league meet of the season. All thats left is the Mt. Sac Invitational next Sat. and League Finals.

Here is Dylan at the starting line. Instead of starting with a gun, they used a siren. Loud and Screechy.

Here he's doing that twisted mouth thing again.

He really wanted to beat Scott. But Scott is just faster. Scott came in first place. Dylan was behind Westlake at the end of the race but right when he got to the cones he poured it on and people were screaming....

GO DYLAN GOOOOOOOO (that is not goo like g-ew but a really long go)

I didnt get a picture of it because I was screaming too.

Dylan beat him. He came in second place with a time of 16:37. And Royal team won the race.

I HATE the WIND

2008-10-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

I really really really hate the wind.

REALLY

It it killing my flowers.

Our new little trees probably wont make it.

It broke our gate. It blew over flower pots. It blew over our umbrellas. And now the fire is messing up the air. Stupid wind.

The fire is about 8 miles from here. The freeway is closed. Somebody died in a car accident on the freeway earlier because of all the smoke. Its burned several homes and the winds are going to get worse tonight. These pictures were taken earlier today. There is much more smoke now. My eyes are burning and I am in the house. Outside stinks. Bailey didnt have to run cross country practice after school today but the varsity teams and Dylan went in cars somewhere to run. I dont know where. He hasnt called yet so they must have gone far. Cheerforce closed the gym today so Bailey doesnt have practice tonight. She is hoping for school to be closed tomorrow. When we were little we hoped school was cancelled for snow days. Now she is hoping for a fire day. I am hoping it gets put out SOON and nobody else gets hurt.

Here is a picture of Wrinkles today.And here is Bailey in her new shirt from SanDiego. We drove 3 hours there yesterday for her 5 hour cheer practice, then drove home 3 hours. We left a little after 9am and got home a little after 8pm. Fun.Now I need to go watch the Dodger game. Go Dodgers!

2008-10-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, Royal competed against Thousand Oaks and Calabassas at Challenger Park.

Dylan ran J.V. .

Here he is competing against the Canadian Wherewolf on the T.O. team.

I think he let him go ahead so the guy wouldn't bite him.
It was another hot day. I dont know how they do it.
Here he's doing that twisted mouth thing he always does when he races. (I think he gets it from his Grandpa Jim?)Dylan came in 5th place, he was the 2nd from Royal. His time was 18:11.

Here is Bailey warming up.

Last year, when they put Bailey on Frosh-Soph, her main goal was to not finish last.This day, she really opened up her stride and looked like she was actually running. : )

The downhill.......

Bailey didnt win the race, BUT she was the FIRST Royal runner to finish. Yay Bailey. Her time was 23:37. She's come a long way from hoping to not be last.

Oh yes, the wherewolf did beat Dylan.

Progress

2008-10-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

Its getting there. Here are the insides of the cupboards...Lots of polkadots....

And I even painted inside the drawers.....Aint they perty.

I have a couple more insides to do and then I will finish the doors.

Progress.

Dylan in 5 pictures

2008-10-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, Ok. so Shawn was probably right and I will NEVER get done with the stupid cabinets. Whatever. I am still working on them. ( I took a little break..Thursday was the kids x-c meet, Friday was I dont remember, Saturday I went on th Srapbook Bus Tour, Sunday I slept, and Monday I just didnt feel like painting. ) Just kidding, I did other stuff like laundry, driving kids, making dinners, cleaning...ect....

I painted 2 more this morning. The kids dont have school Thursday so the x-c meet is tonight.

Thursday is another Jewish Holiday. Dylan said "I really love the Jews" when he found out about the no school thing.

I had to get 5 pictures of Dylan to turn in to the guy that makes the End of Year Cross Country Video. They have a little section to say goodby to the Seniors.

Its hard to believe but this next picture was taken of him in High School!

I dont think I will use this one. I think I will ask him to get dressed up Thursday and will just take a picture of him myself. And yes I do know that was 6 pictures and they only asked for 5. But Dylan was cute and I would have had more if I thought I could get away with it.

And Mary, Kayla does not like canned vegetables. Sarcasm is one of her better qualities.

The Mess

2008-10-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Kayla made the comment "I cant wait to see the cupboards". I wasn't going to show these pictures until I was a little further along. They look pretty bad. Yes I know.

I have been wanting to refinish the kitchen cupboards for 2 years now.

They used to be dark brown. I painted them "bone" 2 years ago. Then Joan said "you gotta put a finish on them" So we started to put it on, and it turned them yellow. "It will dry clear" she said. It didn't. Not pretty yellow, I just smoked 1000 packs of ciggarettes in your kitchen without opening a window yellow.

So now, 2 years later, I have to sand the finish off and redo them. Sanding made a bigger mess than I thought. At least that parts done.

Wrinkles resting....................................>

Funny.................>Funnier.........................................>

I am also painting the inside of the drawers white and putting in shelf paper.

It took a whole day just to dust everything. But yay for me that part is done. It is coming along nicely. I will show you tomorrow. Goodnight! : )

The Great Brown Hunter

2008-09-29T10:41:00.001-07:00

Wrinkles used to be quite the hunter. She would regularly bring me dead rabbits and dead birds. She even brought a roadrunner once :.-(
She's fought coyotes, snakes, a great dane (and lost) in the past. But lately she seems to be content hunting lizards in the backyard. She's getting on in years and tires easily.(like me haha)

Whenever I go out to water the flowers she comes out with me and goes right into hunting mode. Then, when I am done (about 10 minutes) she is exhausted and comes into the airconditioned house and naps for about 5 hours!!

Most of the time, I dont even think there are lizards there!Resting after Not Finding any Lizards

She seems to be happy though.

Maybe she will find one later.

Time for a nap.

Oh and Hi Mary! Welcome to my blog. Haha Sounds weird. But, Yay I like comments. Now there is you AND Kayla!