Pinewood Derby #3

My Good Looking Scouts!

The Pinewood Derby was tonight and the boys had such a great time! They worked on their cars every Saturday for 5 weeks. Their cars were great and fast! Damon did a great job as Cubmaster organizing the races. We had a lot of fun, but we are all really glad it is over. Adam and Noah came in 3rd and 4th. We are very proud of them!

It's never minor when Mom is out of commission

When the Dr. called and said that there was an abnormal growth that needed to be removed nothing really crossed my mind. I didn't think my life was ending. I didn't even think it would be that big of deal. When he said, "You have to pretend that you are a very old person during recovery" is when my questions started flying. So what do you mean a really old person? Can I not workout? Can I not stretch? All along those lines. His words, "Well if the stitches tear there really won't be anything to sew back up." Lovely.

So here I sit on the eve's eve of what the Dr. called "minor surgery", but what I like to call a procedure because the kids freak out with the word surgery wondering what my life will be like while my back heals. I'm not one of those people who can sit still without thinking of a million things I need to be getting done. I've got a stack of books and dvds to pass the time.

Poor Damon. Nothing stresses him out more than his wife seeming mortal. I'm really never down for the count. Hopefully he will hold down the fort for 12 days.

As for us stay at home moms there is never anything minor about being out of commission.

The last 2 weeks of Break

The last two weeks of break have flown by. Since school is starting tomorrow, I'm happy and sad about that, I figured it was about time to stop being lazy and update the blog.

The third week of break was quite uneventful. I didn't have a car for a couple of days and then after we got it back the kids just wanted to play at home. I'm not going to argue with that. They have had a lot of fun terrorizing the neighborhood with the other kids on the block. It's been rather fun to watch them. The boys have been working hard on their Pinewood Derby cars.
The last week of break we had some fun.

Tuesday we went to Balboa Park. We hit the Natural History Museum. The have a new exhibit about rocks and gems. It was fascinating. We also watched a movie about the ocean South of Baja, California.
Wednesday Lily got to spend the whole day with her friend Addie. That was nice. Sometimes I think it is a little weird how much time my kids spend together. I certainly didn't spend that much time with my siblings when we were growing up. The boys got to go ice skating. Some of Noah's classmates were meeting at the rink to skate and that's what the boys wanted to do.

Thursday we went to Disneyland. It's my favorite time to go. It was a warm, beautiful, uncrowded day. We even ended up with ice cream it got that warm. Lily got to go on the Tea cups for the first time and loved them. I certainly went on a lot of spinny rides that day. Blah. I discovered that my new favorite treat is a Coke Float with soft serve ice cream. YUM! Lily also went on Tower of Terror for the first time and absolutely loved it. She also kept her arms up in the air the whole time on Space Mountain. She's a bit scary sometimes. The boys had lots of fun too. We can't wait to go back. Here is Lily going on the Tower of Terror for the first time smiling and having a jolly time. At least Adam has someone to ride all the rides with now.

Friday Damon and I went on a last minute date to the Coronado Cays. We went on a romantic gondola ride. Our Gondolier even sang Italian songs. We went at night so it was nice and peaceful. A great end to a loud week.

Saturday Damon, who has been working nonstop, took us out to brunch in La Jolla to a place called Jerry's. It's a cute little place that has been there since 1960. They only serve breakfast and lunch. The weather was absolutely amazing we went down to the Cove, but everyone else must have thought it was amazing weather to because there was no parking to be found.

We love 9am church. We have the whole rest of the day to relax and spend time with each other.

Monday was a holiday for all of us and we spent the days playing outside and doing small projects. I got sunburned.

It's a bittersweet end since this is Noah's last long winter break. Next year he goes to normal schedule. And now since it is the middle of January I can start getting excited about Valentine's Day, or as we call it in this house Love Day! And now I must go pack the dreaded lunches.

A blast from the past

When I was in the 3rd grade my choir teacher at school wanted me to audition for an all girl choir. I did with a couple of my other friends and we all made it. We made it to the training choir. We were in it for a year. After that I auditioned for the Concert choir and I made it in there as well. For the next few years I practiced twice a week, had concerts, tours and choir camps with mostly the same girls and the same choir director. This same director, Sue, also directed the Phoenix Girls Chorus when my little sister was in it years later.

Last weekend they had a concert to celebrate Sue. I didn't find out about it in time to get over to Phoenix, but it has sent a rekindling of friendships and memories on facebook. It has been so fun to see everyone's old pictures from concerts, camps and tours.

Girls Choir was such a big part of my life. It's been fun to relive it. Even with the puffy hair, teased bangs and braces.

A New Year!

Wow! 2011. It seems like it was just 1999. Damon and I have spent so many New Year's Eve's together, I can barely remember not spending it with him. We had a Rockin' New Year's Eve at Mortensen Manor. We had all night celebrating with good food and games with the kids. We did a language/country matching game. The kids learned how to say "Happy New Year" in 16 different languages. It was pretty fun. Then at 9pm we brought in the New Year with the East Coast with noise makers, poppers and the ball drop. The kids went to bed right afterwards.

The adults brought in the New Year at Midnight and filled in the rest of the time with more games, more food and lots more fun.

We started off 2011 with the traditional French Pancakes and the Rose Parade, which was fabulous. We walked, we cooked, we ate and partied some more. It's been a great start to the new year.

Here's to 2011. I am feeling optimistic for 2011 and have high hopes for this year.

Family Reunion Fun

We all got together for the holidays this year. All my siblings and all the cousins have been hanging out this week all over Southern California. The weather has been a bit frustrating, but we still managed to have some fun.
We were all at Mortensen Manor by Sunday night and were able to take a family picture with everyone in it. It's been a long time since that happened.

On Monday everyone in Redlands went to the movies. We weren't there so we did not go.

On Tuesday everyone came down here and we went to the Mormon Battalion Museum down in Old Town. After the museum tour we had a picnic lunch in the square of Old Town. The kids loved running around and playing games.

Tuesday night my sister took all my kids back to her house for a slumber party. It was wonderful, but weird having my house so quiet. I spent that quiet time putting away the rest of the Christmas decor.

Wednesday we drove back up to Redlands to join the rest of the family in fun. Everyone else went to the San Bernadino Natural History Museum. That night all the adults were able to go to the Temple and all the kids stayed home. It's amazing that the grand kids are old enough to do that now.

Thursday we said goodbye to some family, but the party continued. We played lots of games inside and out and that night we had a murder mystery dinner. It was set up in Napa Valley at a Wine Vineyard. We had grape juice in wine glasses and lots of cheeses and crackers. We had a light Italian dinner while the game continued. It was a lot of fun. Damon ended up being the murderer. There were lots of laughs and even more fake accents. I didn't take any pictures of that and I am still kicking myself.

We celebrated New Year's Eve, a separate post, on Friday.

Saturday morning everyone went to the church for games and the great trash can races. Saturday evening we had a fun talent show. The talents ranged from standing on one's head to playing the violin, but we all seem to have AMAZING talents.

It was a great family gathering. Thanks to Mortensen Manor for hosting and to Pookie for planning. It was nice not being involved at all with the organizing I might add.

Another Christmas Done!

Twas a few days after Christmas and all through the house everyone was stirring except for a mouse (thank heavens for that because if there were a mouse it would really do me in right now). The presents were opened and wrappings were thrown all over the place and it made us all groan. We dashed to Riverside for some Christmas Cheer (Samoan style) and then headed to Redlands for some fun that was sheer.


We played games and sang songs that made us all merry you would think that we had all drinked some sherri. (i know that is horrible English, but it rhymed)

The celebrating continues even though we are tired, You think that some of us would expire. So onward and upward we go to the end and wish you a Happy New Year, our dear friend! (hey check me out, I should be a poet.)

Some of our Christmas fun. Following Santa on NORAD, leaving out reindeer food, making sugar cookies, seeing Temple lights, the Christmas Eve program, our special dinner, Mexican this year, and relaxing and having fun.