All Moved In - sort of!

Well, I am happy to say that we have moved into our new house. Our stuff is there and the kids finally got to see their new house. They are excited about the back yard and all the space they have to run around in. They can now move freely around the house and make as much noise as they want. No more worrying about the downstairs neighbor because there isn't one! lol

The kids were wondering why, if it was a 5 bedroom house, did they not each get their own room? Well, one room is being used as an office for Keith and one is a guest room. The boys in one room and the girls in another. They are young enough to be sharing rooms still. Our master bedroom is the rear part of the second story and the kids' rooms are way on the opposite side of the house over the garage.

Where is my craft room you ask? Well, when you walk in the door, there it is. I am taking up the entire huge living room! The TV/family room is fairly large and in the rear of the house with the kitchen next to it. I get the living room which is next to the formal dining room. I had wanted that area also for stamp classes, but Keith nixed that idea. My new craft area is big enough he says.

Okay, so in reference to the title - the "sort of" part. Well, let's just say that we are renting a UHaul for tomorrow. We had so much stuff that the movers couldn't get all of our stuff into their truck! They took all the boxes and the furniture, but had to leave behind the bulky items like the kids' plastic drawers where they keep their toys, the bikes, some of the bigger toys, Kaela's dollhouse. Everything has been moved to the garage and once we get the UHaul, we'll fill it up and drive it to our new place. A pain in the butt, but apparently we have too much stuff for the average three bedroom home. I guess that's why we had to move up to five bedrooms!

Well, good night for now. I will update in a few days with my unpacking saga!

Moving in Soon!

Keith started working on Monday. We are staying at my Mom and Dad's house until we can move into our new place on Sunday. I have been driving back and forth from here to our old place everyday to pack. My parents and sister have been watching the kids and we are so thankful that they are so close and can help out. I was starting to worry yesterday about the progress I was making and took my dad up on his offer to help. He packed up the entire kitchen and saved me a whole day's work. Things aren't looking so bleak now! Well, I am off. I'll update more later when I have more to report!

We Have a New Place!

I am SO happy to report that we now have a place to live. We are frantically packing and trying to get things squared away. We found a place not too far (walking distance) from my parents house. The kids will be going to the same school I went to when we (my parents, sisters and I) moved to the area some 30 years ago.

It is a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house with a nice big back yard (well, nice and big for Southern California). We are moving in on the 15th. There is so much to do! Yikes!

So, when things settle down a bit, I will try to update you! In the meantime, here is a picture of Kevin. Please excuse the blurry picture and the messy hair! lol Kevin finally lost his two front teeth. They came out two days apart.

The Search Continues

Well, we are really busy. We are packing, and we are still looking for a place to live. We thought we had a place lined up, but it fell through. We ended up giving notice here as Keith starts his new job on the 9th. We have to find a place to live. Ack!

Michaela's Last Day of Preschool

Today was Micaela's last day of Preschool. It was sad in that she was with a lot of these kids for two years and with the same teacher. Many of them would be going to different elementary schools, but with us moving now it's hard to know that Michaela won't be able to see her friends anymore.










The end of the year picnic was fun though. They had yummy food and all the kids played in the park.


Later, her teacher presented each kid a book of some of their school work form this year and a bag of goodies. I got some very cute pictures of Michaela with her friends. There were so many cute ones. I think I might make Michaela a scrapbook of all her friends. I did want to post this picture of her though.

This last picture is a picture of Michaela with her "boyfriend" Ryley. Most of the school year, they played together and hung out with each other. Whenever they stood in line, they held hands. I think this picture is adorable!

Good News!

Just a few months ago, I was feeling really down that Keith and I just couldn't catch a break. It felt like these past four years or so there had been a lot of obstacles. Financial problems, a couple of car accidents, having to move (again and again), job worries, health issues (mine), etc. We did have some really nice times, but it seemed like when something was going good, something else would come along and complicate things.

Well, I am very thankful that things seem to be going very well for us right now. Some very wonderful things have been going on and the not so pleasant things are not around.

Anyway, Keith is going to be changing jobs. This will be his ideal job. His interview went very well, and the formal offer is being overnighted to him. We are moving back to San Diego. On top of all of that, Keith is getting a substantial pay increase. We found the perfect house for us in my parents' neighborhood. The house is within biking distance to Keith's new place of employment.

We are so excited! With this new house and me being in a more familiar area (to me), I am looking forward to stepping up both my Stampin' Up business and my Taste of Home Entertaining business. (I just had my Taste of Home Entertaining open house, and it went very well!) There is so much more I can gush about, but I think I should head to bed for now. Good night!

The Stars of the Show

Pre Ballet/Tap Combo Classes

Here is Michaela (2nd from the right) with some of her classmates. Michaela had her very first recital on the 9th and absolutely loved it. Oh, she was SO cute. It was a wonderful performance with about 130 students. Michaela was the youngest dancer in the entire show. Some of the teachers and alumni performed and of the students, the oldest were Seniors in high school.

Michaela was asked to dance with both her regular "younger" girls class as well as with the "older" girls class (aged 6-8). The older class was short and needed one more dancer. So the studio's owner asked if Michaela could do both classes' performances. She danced in a total of four numbers. She said that she loved being on stage and had so much fun.

She loves to dance and just can't seem to get enough of it. She is constantly asking if it's Saturday yet (the day of her lessons). Because she danced with the other class, she has been taking two hours straight of lessons for about three months now. But, even after her class, she still wants to stay to watch the teenagers dance. I think dance is going to be Michaela's "thing".

Always and Forever

Today is our 8th Anniversary. I surprised Keith by arranging for Ris to watch the kids. I picked Keith up from work and let him pick out a restaurant for us. We ended up going to the Rusty Pelican and had a table right by the water. We indulged in some very yummy Calamari and some garlic bread for an appetizer. We both got Crab Bisque and then both ended up ordering a Salmon dish. Keith's was crab stuffed and mine was broiled and was served with shrimp in a lobster cream sauce. Oh it was SO good. We got a yummy mudpie for dessert compliments of the restaurant.

After dinner, we went to Ikea and looked at all the fun furniture and things. We talked about all kinds of things and were we would put it. It was fun walking around and just looking and dreaming. We closed down Ikea and went to see if there was a movie we'd want to watch. We didn't find one, and so we went to the bookstore instead. We had coffee and browsed the books.

On our way home, our wedding song, "From This Moment", sung by Shania Twain and Bryan Adams, was playing on the radio.

We had a nice evening out. Not too exciting for most people, but it was just perfect for us. We look forward to the rest of our lives together.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Yesterday, we all took a day off from reality and went to Disneyland. It wasn't exactly a spur of the moment kind of thing, but up until the night before, we weren't 100% positive if we were going. We had been trying to go for about three weeks now.

We had a lot of fun. We spent the entire day there (around noon to midnight) and still did not get to do all we wanted. The weather was nice. Overcast and cool and in mid afternoon the sun came out. It never got too hot.

The crowds were not so bad either. We didn't go on any bigger kids' rides, so most of our wait times were 10-15 minutes. We did Fast Pass a few of the more popular rides and that sped us through the lines.

All the kids did really well. We took our time doing things and had fun going here and there. Kaela got to meet Aladdin. Kenna and Kaela met Tigger and Eeyore. The boys didn't want to meet any of them! They did get to enjoy a Star Wars Jedi Academy performance. We saw Darth Vader, some Jedi masters and Imperial Storm Troopers. We watched the parade and had lots of yummy food to eat. We had fun browsing the stores. We found a Disney Princess Store that we didn't know was there. An entire store filled with Disney Princess stuff. Very fun!

As for our favorites, I think Kevin liked Star Tours and Autopia the best. Keith seemed to enjoy the Astro Blasters ride inspired by Toy Story 2. Kaela liked the Tea Cups. She, Keith and Kyle were in one Tea Cup and Kevin, Kenna and I were in another. Kevin spun us around at his leisure. The other half of the family (the thrill seekers) were in their cup spinning as fast as they possibly could. My favorite part was It's A Small World. I would have to saw that Kenna and Kyle probably like that the best too. We closed down the park. Kenny started to fall asleep around 10pm. We woke her for the Teacups and after that we headed to the gift shops and then home.

I Belong In...

Check out this fun blog quiz. Here are my results...

You Belong in 1981

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

5 Things I Love About....

Keith

1. No matter what I look like, or how fat I feel, he always makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.
2. He always does whatever it takes to make to me happy.
3. He knows my deep dark secrets and still loves me.
4. I sometimes catch him looking at me with a silly grin on his face.
5. He enjoys playing with the kids and loves them to no end.

Kevin

1. He is a kind, sensitive soul, but is still all boy.
2. He watches over his sisters and brother. He is the big brother to a T.
3. He hugs me for no reason and will hold my hand when we walk together.
4. No matter where we are, he always sees something beautiful.
5. He is respectful of the Earth and does not disrespect it.

Michaela

1. She is strong willed and knows what she wants.
2. She is willing to try anything at least once.
3. She is a girlie girl, but is definitely a Michaela and not a Makayla.
4. She already understands that a woman has power over a man.
5. She is not one of the mean girls.

Kyle

1. He always has a smile on his face.
2. He brings a fun presence to our family. Everything is funny to him.
3. When he does something bad, all I have to do is look at his face and I'm not so angry.
4. He is a momma's boy.
5. He is only 3 and a half but has a wise presence about him, almost as if he's done it all before.

McKenna

1. She commands attention when she is in the room.
2. When she is around other 2 year olds at the park, she seems much more sophisticated socially and developmentally.
3. She thinks she is five.
4. She is a troublemaker (yes, I love that about her!).
5. She knows her smile can melt anyone's heart.

Oh I could go on and on for each of these lists. I never knew that I could love so much.

Pictures for You

Kevin and Michaela on a train tour at Calico Ghost Town. We went with Kevin's Cub Scout Pack. I forgot to mention that Kevin received his Tiger Rank! He is now on his way to becoming a Wolf. He loves cub scouts. He looks forward to every meeting and wants to be an Eagle scout someday. We had fun at this campout. Keith and I went as did Kevin and Michaela. We left the babies with my parents. This was the same weekend as my birthday (April 21). Happy birthday to me!




This picture cracks me up! This is Kyle in McKenna's Barbie Fairytopia costume. I dared him to put it on. Well, it wasn't much of a dare. He thought it was funny. He is such a joker and seems to find humor in everything. Michaela thought Kyle looked good in this. haha I think I gave Kyle an extra cookie for being a good sport and making us all laugh. ------------>







<----------- Here's my cute girl! This was on Easter (obviously). All the other cousins were waiting patiently by the side gate to come running into the back yard, but someone (Grandma Tessie) brought Kenny to the backyard. She was all over those eggs and her bucket was almost full before the other cousins even made it into the back yard! Not to worry though. There were 9 cousins and they each got at the least 20 eggs. They all had a great time at the Easter egg hunt.

Almost Two Months

SO yes, this is the longest I've gone without updating this blog. There is so much going on right now and we just seem to keep getting busier and busier. I will try (like I always say) to update more. I have so many projects right now. Let's give a brief recap...

So, our lease is up at the end of June. We have no idea where we are moving. We are in limbo. Me might stay here, we might move back to San Diego. We just are not sure.

We are not sure because Keith may be getting a new job in San Diego. Five minutes from my parents house. There hasn't been an offer yet and the deal is still getting worked over. I just wish we knew for sure what was going on. I want it all to fall into place before school starts. We are just on hold right now. There are so many things that will be effected by this. Kevin is supposed to start summer school in July. Kyle is signed up for a preschool here for the fall and Kaela is supposed to start Kindergarten in the fall. All this is on hold until we know. If we move, Kyle might not be going to preschool in the fall. The waiting lists are a mile long.

Kevin and summer school. Well, we've talked about it, and we've conferenced with his teacher. He is being held back and will not promote next year. Although his math is right in there and very strong, his reading skills are not quite where they should be. We figured that it would be better to hold him back for first grade as opposed to later. He is fine with it. He says, "There's nothing wrong with that. When I get to second grade, I'll be super smart!" He's so sweet.

Michaela and her recital. Michaela's first recital is coming up. She is in the 3-5 year old ballet/tap class. She had missed a few lessons and she was allowed to do make-ups with the 6-8 year old class. Well, the "older" girl class didn't have enough girls for the recital, so they asked Michaela to dance with the older girls too. So, she has been having two one hour classes every Saturday for about two months now. She has done really well keeping up with the girls, but she looses focus after about and hour and a half. She is dancing to "A Whole New World" from Aladdin with the younger girls (ballet) and doing "Beauty and the Beast" with the older girls (ballet). Both classes will be combined for the tap portion. They are doing "Singing in the Rain". The numbers are cute, but they are all over the place. That's fine though. They are young and for most of them, this will be their first recital.

Kyle is potty trained. He potty trained himself. He decided one day (about two weeks ago) that he was going to wear underwear. He's had one accident since. He does his business and I don't have to do anything. It is so nice. He has it down pat and even wakes up dry. He all of a sudden is a big boy! I don't have to dress him, put on his shoes or change his diaper. Three down one to go!

McKenna. Oh man. What can I say about my trouble maker. She is certainly my handful. She isn't wearing earrings right now because she decided that it was fun to stick her earring backs up her nose. The first time she did it, we couldn't find the earring. So, we took her to her doctor so they could explore up her nose. What led us to the doctor was that she said "Nose!" and I looked at her nose and saw the earring back. I used tweezers to get it out. I couldn't find the earring and she kept saying it was in her nose. The doc couldn't find it, so he had us go get x-rays. So, after it was all said and done, the earring is still missing. It wasn't up her nose, she didn't swallow it. So you'd think after all that poking and probing, she would never stick anything up her nose again. So wrong! The next day it was an unpopped popcorn kernel. I worked for 30 minutes to get that sucker out. So after *that* you'd think she'd learn her lesson. No, not our dear Kenny. A few days later up went another earring back. My daughter no longer wears earrings. I just poke the holes every few days so that they don't seal up.

Let's see. What's new with me? Still stamping and swapping. I have a new venture. I am now a consultant for Taste of Home Entertaining. I have a cool website, but I am not allowed to post the link on my personal website (or blog). But in case you are curious it's my first name, middle initial and last name (all one word) at tohe dot com. There is an online register in under my last name in which you can look at all the cool products. Better yet, send me an email (CreativeStamper@sbcglobal.net) and I will mail you a catalog.

So, that's us in yet another nutshell. I shall try to post more. Maybe the saga of our move...

We Remember

My April Fools

So yes, my oldest and my youngest were born on April 1. Kevin is now 7 and McKenna is now 2. We celebrated their birthday's much the same way we celebrated Michaela's. Kevin requested pizza which was so easy! We ordered from our local fav and got some salad to go with it. Here's us looking much the same as we did last week! We had the same guest. We had balloons. We had FUN!


Kevin got a scooter and he has been whizzing around the neighborhood on it. His best buds Eddie and Danny also have scooters and they cruise around. They have a lot of fun riding together.

As expected, Kevin also got a HUGE Lego set and some Bionicles. He got some cash, some clothes, a great marker set from Aunt Karensa and Uncle Paul. A gift card and a magazine subscription from Mom.

I think he had a fun birthday. He was excited about his dinner. Oh! I almost forgot! Keith took Kevin to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They had fun seeing that together. Afterwards, they went to Target and Kevin picked out t gift for Kenny. He is really proud to be able to share his birthday with her!


Kenna is so cute. When you ask her how old she is, she holds up both pointer fingers and says, "Tew".

Here she is with her cake. It is actually a Mocha roll, but Yummy all the same! She is intently staring at her cake. She was very eager to blow out her candles. We had to relight them twice because she blew them out before we finished singing to her!

Michaela is Five!

My girl is now five! Today was her birthday, but she "officially" turned five just about half an hour before I wrote this. It was a good day. It was filled with fun and special treats. I have some great pictures too!

The day started out with Keith making us a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs and O'Brien potatoes. Yum! After breakfast, Keith made the kids some hot chocolate. Then we straightened up a bit and Michaela opened a few presents from us.

She was so excited and wanted to open up all her presents, but we were having a family dinner for her that night and wanted her to be able to open more later.

Here are the kids posing for the camera before she opened some of her gifts.

After this, they got dressed and we cleaned up for our dinner guests. They played outside and then Keith took them all to the park later in the afternoon.

We had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Ris, all of us and my Aunt Faring. Michaela requested spaghetti and meatballs for her birthday dinner. We had that and salad, garlic bread and I even made Minestrone soup for scratch. I am quite surprised how yummy it came out! Of course we used Kaela's birthday plates. For her dinner plates she picked an Ariel design. The dessert plates were Belle and the napkins were Barbie 12 Dancing Princesses. We added the extra table so that we could all eat at the same table. It was tight, but it was so nice to be all together!

We were all stuffed, but still had cake to devour! Mom brought - per Kaela's request - a chocolate cake from Red Ribbon. This cake seems to be a tradition as far as birthday cakes goes with our family!

Here's Kaela after blowing out the candles. We all enjoyed our cake and ice cream. We even had fresh cut strawberries! After cake, the adults had strawberry Margaritas - Tequila compliments of Aunt Joyce and Uncle Orv!

After cake and Margaritas, Kaela finally got to open up the rest of her gifts. She had a nice round of gifts waiting to be opened. All week we received packages. She got gifts and cards from Aunt Julie, Grandma Fischer, Grandma Karen, Aunt Karensa and Uncle Paul, Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Mary and of course the gifts that her dinner guest brought. Oh, and a couple more from us.


She received some really nice gifts including an Easter dress from Grandma Tessie and Grandpa Manny, a pretty blanket from Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Mary and a really neat hand sewn sundress from Grandma Karen. Here she is modeling her new sundress. She, of course, wants to wear it to school tomorrow, but it looks like we might have to hold off a few days. It is supposed to rain!

Well, I'd say all in all Michaela's birthday was a good one! She had a great day and was showered with gifts from her loved ones. So, off until next weekend when I can report on Kevin's and McKenna's birthday days!

ETA: Okay, so I edited this on 3/26. As my good friend, Julie, pointed out, Michaela is not six (as the pre-edit stated). Michaela has turned five! She just seems like she's six!

Find the Cure for Pediatric Cancer!

I'm walking in May to support the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.

My family has been blessed to have met the Johnson Family. Their daugther Danielle and my son Kevin have been in the same classes for the last two years. Their youngest child, Thomas, was diagnosed with cancer when he was just three years old. Fighting the battle over the last two years has been very hard. Thomas has endured several painful and trying procedures and surgeries. The family has been through so much. But through it all, they stayed strong and really did all they could to keep their spirits up. Their family is the true definition of faith and hope! During his last round of testing, it has been determined that he is in remission!

To see what Thomas had to endure and what his family went through has inspired me to help any way I can. So, my son Kevin and I will be walking in the 9th Annual PCRF Reaching for the Cure Run/Walk.

If you are local to Orange County, CA and would like to join, "Team Thomas", contact me and I will get you the info needed. If you want to help and sponsor me in the walk, please click below. It'll give you the info you need to help.

Donate Here!

I Don't Know Why I Can't Find the Time

Well, looks like practically another month has come and gone and this poor blog has not gotten an update. I have been busy busy with life. But, when I'm asked what I've been up to, I don't have really anything to report. I am just going through life. Endless car rides here and there. TO the grocery store, Target, Walmart. Video store, post office. Ballet. Cub Scouts. Demo meetings, but no classes or workshops! People visiting - very fun! But, nothing worth blogging it seems. Or worth blogging but I don't have the time and by the time I do, it is well past "reporting" worthy. *sigh*

So, here is my big wow for today...it is 93 degrees today. Yes, that's right a HOT 93. I guess another "newsworthy" item. We are paying $3.10 a gallon for gas. Oh well, the price we pay for living in SoCal.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are the kids right before dropping Kevin and Michaela off at school. Kevin, Michaela and Kyle all made valentine's cards yesterday. Kevin's class exchanged Valentine's and had a read-a-thon. They got to bring their pillows and two favorite books to read. He also made a huge heart pocket which held all his Valentines. Michaela also had Valentine activities at school today. They had a party at school and exchanged Valentines. Kaela made a special Valentine for her "boyfriend" Ryley. The one she made him one that says, "Sweet Love" on it. After school she went to her friend's birthday party. It was Princess themed, so all the little girls wore their Princess dresses. Very cute!

Kyle, McKenna and I spent the morning running around doing errands for our Valentine dinner tonight. We bought flowers and balloons and Valentines party ware. As a special treat, I told Kyle that he could pick a restaurant to have lunch at. He picked Chuck E Cheese. We had fun there. We had pizza, but while we were eating Kyle said his tummy hurt. Well, you guessed it. He lost his lunch at Chuck E Cheese. He threw up all over his clothes. It was good timing though because had he thrown up just ten minutes later, we would have been late picking up Kaela from the party and Kevin from school.

Well, that's Valentine's day for now. We are having our dinner soon. I'll write more later.

11 Days into 2007

So, it is the 11th, well 12th as I post this in the early morning hours. I finally took down the outside Christmas decor on the 10th. All our other decorations (except our tree) are still up. The house is a mess. I just can't seem to find the motivation to clean. I don't have any new year's resolutions, maybe if I write some down, it'll kick start me into actually doing something.

I think what it is is that the kids didn't go back to school until the 8th. I am still recuperating from them being home. It threw my well oiled schedule off!

So let's see. Well, remember the car accident we had way back on the weekend after Thanksgiving? Well, our car is still NOT fixed. The shop had it for a month and two days and after we got it back, there was a noise and a jarring metal on metal thing going on. I'm sick of dealing with the shop and insurance. I just want my Expedition back. At least we are fortune enough to have my parents (relatively) close by and we can borrow their SUV. What would we have done without them?

Okay, enough negativity. Let's talk kids...

Kevin ran a marathon this past Sunday. He didn't run the whole 26 miles in one shot. He ran the last mile. Keith went with him and actually ran too! Kevin earned hi Bobcat Badge and he earned his Tiger Cub badge. Our little cub scout wants to be in the Scouts all the way up to Eagle. He's really into it. They have a campout coming up in a few weeks.

Michaela has started up ballet again. The studio was closed for the holidays. She is back in school and is really enjoying it, of course. She is one smarty pants. Kevin was trying to read to us tonight. As Kevin was sounding out words, she'd lean over and tell him what they were. I have to sometimes tell Kaela to leave the room when Kevin is reading. She's going to give him a complex! Kaela didn't go back to school right on the first day back. I had the pleasure of taking care of her, as well as Kevin and Kyle, with a stomach virus. The last couple of days have not been pretty here. At least McKenna never got it!

Kyle is doing his same old thing. Loves his cars, loves his books. He likes to watch PBS Kids Sprout (a channel for preschoolers) over any other channel. He is getting more and more mature each day. I think I may *gasp* start to potty train him soon (yes, finally, I know!).

Speaking of potty training, I just may try to train McKenna at the same time. She hates a dirty diaper and will even get me a diaper and wipes when she needs a change. If I don't respond quick enough, she sometimes tries to take her pants off herself! She is getting to act more like a three/four year old than a not quite two year old! She can escape from her crib and she can almost climb right back in. She tries to dress herself and put on her shoes. She has graduated from her high chair and now sits in Kyle's old blue chair. Kyle has graduated to an "adult" chair. She is talking. Drink! Shoes! Poo Poop! Mama! Dada! Hey! Noooooo! Thank you! Please! She definitely understand everything we say. She loves to watch TV and she sings. But of course, her MOST favorite thing to do is to bug the heck out of Kyle, Kaela & Kevin. Oh, and one more thing. She has lost another pair to an earring set. That's 6 sets! Kaela still has the same ones she's had since her ears were pierced almost 5 years ago.

Anyway, as for Keith and me. We are okay. Keith is on the look out for new prospects. I am doing lots of fun stamping/craft stuff. At the end of the month I am going to the Craft & Hobby Association Winter Trade Show. A HUGE event with over 3500 vendors. Then in February, as the kids' Christmas present to me, I am going to go to the scrapbook expo. I get to go two days in a row and I am taking some great classes. I can't wait. I am looking SO forward to both events.

Well, it's past 1am. I should go. Good night!