silhouettes

my three favorite people...plus the pacific ocean. plus the sun.

simple. unedited.♥

I Heart Face:Pink!

A few HOT Sundays ago we walked the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure...we walked for our friend Ginny that passed away 6 years ago and our fighting friend, Peggy. 

She is on her second round of breast cancer...this time it's in her lung and as of Tuesday in her bones...her doctor told her to "work on her bucket list."

Very sad. We love her very much.

♥Keep Fightin'♥

I HEART FACES * "Smirk"

...during a photo shoot...her big sister was barking "suggestions" off to the side...I'm pretty sure this is about the time she had enough and yelled at her "leave me alone!" with a smile/smirk though! 

It's so hard to be 4!

I need to get on this...

I really need to update...

Birthday Party

First Day of School

Girl Scout Camping Trip

Sometime this weekend I'll get on it...not that I'm so sure anyone reads it...it's still fun.

...a few things on my list...

        I decided to add a fun spin to my list of crap that I need to accomplish in the next two weeks. Adding a lovely Tiffany blue title might cause me to become more motivated or excited about completing these tasks...but I doubt it. It's 10am and I've done nothing but drink 2 cups of coffee and make two bowls of cereal (actually Juliet chose to have hers in a cup-really?).
       In two days my small child will be 5...yesterday the big one turned 9 and a half...family and friends all around us are having babies, this makes me thankful to be in our current stage...though as I'm trying to get two young ladies to brush their hair and teeth and become responsible individuals I reflect on the "easy days" of lugging around small people in an infant carrier....those are the days that parents actually have "control"...the days before talking back, homework, and being in the back of Costco with a cart full of stuff and someone needing to go potty. Great parts about now is a 9.5 year old that can see when I need some help, offers and is willing to help with everyday tasks. And a 5 year old that...well...keeps us all on our toes. I love being able to say "we are leaving in 15 minutes, get your crap you want to take" and it actually happens. Having only my stuff in my small purse. Not having people ask how my months my kid is or their name. Having kids that can get their own snacks and find their own clothes from drawers. Kids that can open their own juice boxes and replace the toilet paper on the roll. Being able to just yell over my shoulder, "are you guys buckled in?" Not having to stress about milestones and teeth breaking through. Still this stage comes with a whole new set of stresses...braces, drop off parties, sleepovers, a-holes kids at school, building self esteem, manners, icky boys, mean girls, re-learning log division, realizing I use the words "retarded" and "Jesus Christ" and "What the hell?" a little too much....and on and on...Enough babbling..onto the 12 things on my List..

1. check RSVP's for Juliet's party...79 people so far
2. buy more balloons, containers for candy for tables, piñata filling stuff, poster board for signs for party 
3. make goodie bags for 32 kids
4. wash ALL school uniforms
5. buy stuff of school lunches for next week
6. find clothes that still fit me for work next week
7. make a list for Girl Scout camping trip at the end of August
8. get my dad something for his birthday
9. get all the food for the party
10. figure out what we are doing on Thursday for Juliet's b-day
11. make list of stuff i need to bring to the park for the party
12. get people in bed by 8:30pm & up by 7am (uggg)

                                                          We'll see how this goes....

Shades (I heart faces)

No back story no editing...just some shades and her fabulous braces.

On A Mission:Surprise-(I heart faces)

My lovely 19 year old cousin Shannon, from Virgina, is on a mission.

A church mission in Australia for 6 months!

I was soooo excited when I learned she was having a 3 hour layover at LAX (we are in Orange County 25 minutes away). So my mom, my girls & I picked her up and took her for dinner and to see the Pacific Ocean. On the way she noticed all the palm trees (something we don't think twice about), she thought they were awesome! 

It was a chilly 66 degrees out with a thick marine layer.....here is her very first time touching the Pacific Ocean:

 

...Sunday Snapshot...And The Beginning of Birthday Month..

...here's Bradley picking us up from the Long Beach airport after our trip to Virginia & Washington DC...yes this was back in April, but since we never go anywhere big I'm going to just post these photo's for the next 20 years....it's all good!

Ü

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Oh, right...Miss Juliet's Birthday Month Is Upon Us...

...uuggg.....

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Other stuff already on the books for August:

*Day trip to San Diego to visit my Great Grandma, Aunt & Cousins

*I go to the dentist for the third time in 10 years...totally white trash, I know

(yes I DO take my children regularly & Brad goes too)

*Bon Fire with friends at the beach

*Juliet's Birthday & huge party

*Abigail starts 4th grade

*Juliet starts kinder

*I go back to work

*Girl Scout Camp Out

We'll see whatever else comes our way......

Twelve For Tuesday...

So...this morning I sent my 9 year old off to Girl Scout camp for five (hopefully) fun-filled days up in the mountains. I had Miss Juliet, of course, in tow...she had a mini silent meltdown when she suddenly realized we weren't getting on the bus with Abby...today is also her last day of preschool(more on that later).

This is not Abigail's first trip to this camp, she went back in November with my co-leader and 6 girls from her troop...but this is whole new ball game...she's no going with any friends she knows, plus she's responsible for herself this time and in "real" cabins...no heater/air conditioner & no bathroom inside the cabin...you gotta hoof it down a-ways to the bathroom. I don't think I could have lectured her more on being responsible for her own crap, and following directions..hopefully something sunk in. Hopefully she has an amazing time!

So here is my Twelve For Tuesday...12 fun pictures from this morning:

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Preschool is done....

For 8 years I have been driving up the hill to our local community college to take one of the girls to the childcare/preschool program they offer for students with kids.

We started there in 2002 when I decided to go back to school, Abigail was 18 months old. She graduated from preschool in August 2006, Juliet turned 1 that same month and started there 3 weeks later. 

It took me 10 years (not in a row mind you) to get my AA in Liberal Arts in 2008 (please feel free to laugh with/at me). I soon decided I was over school and wanted a new car...so I told Bradley I was going to get a job..."umm, ok." he responded.

I will deeply miss seeing the staff at the preschool and the parents I've meet....however I'm happy to spend the money I was paying them in other way and save gas!!

Miss Juliet will be starting kindergarten in a few weeks and Miss Abigail will be going into the fourth grade...where does the time go?

..Fun Photos For Friday...

A few Fun Photos For Friday.....

I NEED to win...or just be happy for someone else ;-)

This site has the coolest stuff...check it out! They are having a contest...everyone loves contests! YaY!
http://pamperingbeki.blogspot.com/2010/07/party-recipe-and-jewelry-giveaway.html

...700 Girl Scouts + 100 Degree Weather = Fun...?

...so can being surrounded by 700 girls and women outside in 100 degree weather actually be fun???

You betcha! 

We (myself & two other fabulous women) had 23 Junior Girl Scouts in our Unit...which means 23 nine & ten year old darling little girls (please feel the sarcasm). Most were great responsible kids...accept for the few "repeat offenders" that would leave items behind at every stop (yes, my Abigail is one of those!). It's hard being responsible for your water, bandanna, hat, bag, lunch, crafts...I get it...I have a bag full of crap that isn't mine and no one wanted step up to claim...Peanut Butter (yes, that's my camp name) can be mean. This is my third year doing day camp but the first time I was really involved in the planning and leading. It sucks the life out of you while you are doing it, but it's ALL GOOD!

The girls had a blast...

Archery was the biggest surprise hit of all.

A hike to the Nature Center was fun, possibly only because it was indoors with a/c for 20 minutes!

...sand art...

...they girls stenciled their bags...

Abigail & her corn husk doll...these came out really cute...

We took a walking trip to The Circle in Old Town Orange and visited an antique shop, the owners were so nice and patient to allow 23 girls to romp near their pricey items.

No, we did NOT wash our hands before we started making Indian Fry Bread...mmm germs!

Oh...the Horse Stables....hot, dusty, smelly....but the girls were into it!

They brushed the horses, cleaned stalls, learned how to put on a saddle and "face harness thing", and finally.....

got to ride!

...when it was time go I rinsed their hands with water, we boarded our buses and ate our lunch.....mmmmm....germs.

...so 7 hours a day outside for 5 days...barking orders to kids, picking up other kids crap, trying to stay on schedule, keeping 23 girls from becoming overheated and bored....we did it!

I survived...and thrived...and lived to say it was a LOT of fun....and I'll be back next year!

Just where was Miss Juliet during all this gallivanting around?....

in the Pixie Unit for all the little siblings!

...I should be cleaning...

....my desk....

...behind Miss Juliet you will notice the heap of crap that is...my desk.

Clearing off the kitchen table? Throw the stuff on the desk.

Cleaning off the entertainment center? Throw the stuff on the desk.

Kids using the laptop? Push stuff aside to use the computer on the desk.

Lunch time? Push stuff further to plop your plate on the desk.

Have a highly important paper? Add it to the desk.

Brad brings home his pay check? Throw it on the desk.

Can't find something? Go look on my desk.

I hate it and LOVE it...

Cable, Organic Veggies, VBS

It's been a week since you've been gone cable box....

I have to admit that it is strange to not turn on the TV and watch A&E...I'm missing Obsessed...and the baseball games...not missing commercials though. I made Bradley watch Anjelah Johnson and a few documentaries...Loose Change is disturbing! Refrigerator Mothers is sad and Food, Inc left me not wanting to eat anything ever again...for a few days anyhow.

                                                                         Produce....

Soooo...with the $50+ dollars I'm saving from NOT paying for cable I'm going to buy a box of organic fruits and veggies. This will be shipped to my door every four weeks for $31.50. A friend recommended it...our first box comes this Thursday...we'll see!

http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/index.php?cmd=homedelivery

Vacation Bible School for The Clueless

I have only been to church for weddings and a baptism in my thirty years here. Bradley has only been a handful of times as a youth....needless to say our kids have never been.

So when some friends invited us to VBS I was oddly intrigued...and surprised Brad was on board, sort of. 

The girls just went last week at St. Johns Lutheran. They had a blast.

I asked Juliet if she learned about Jesus, she said in a painfully excited voice "No, but about someone named God that made EVERYTHING, even you and me!" Abigail didn't really say much about it one way or the other, but said she has fun. 

Everyone was sooo painfully nice there, it makes you want to be a part of it...(like a cult perhaps?-just sayin')..I even recognized that I say "what the hell" and "Jesus Christ" a little too much....but why suppress that now? It's as close to faith as I get.