There has been much going on in our household.  This summer has been so busy….and fun.  Kiley is off in Florida with Grandma Kathi and Grandpa Herb.  This is a very big girl trip for her.  We miss her terribly and I’ve had to control myself from calling her 100 times a day.  She had a little melt down today but sounded like Grandma was able to pick her up by taking her for a ride on the golf cart!

The boys miss her too…they ask about her and wonder what she is doing.  Dinner time is especially quiet without her.  Just 6 more days until she’s back!!!!

We have been moving along each day with summer camps, work and daily chores…but the days seem to fly by.

I just started a new workout video about 10 days ago and so far it’s great.  Now for those of you that know me, you know that exercise hasn’t been much of a priority but I figured I better start doing something.  So I started and so far in 10 days I have lost 1 inch on my waist and 1/2 inch on my hips.  It’s quite shocking!!! I feel better and more energetic!  Here is the workout system if anyone is interested…www.beachbody.com  the slim in 6 dvd  (stands for: Slim in 6 weeks).  Tom is going to start the px90 video from this company.  Our old friend Al recommended it and said it was the best.  So we’ll see….I would post before and after photos but I don’t want to scare anyone off.

Tom and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary yesterday.  The years have flown by and we are still happy together!  These days 7 years sounds like an eternity, doesn’t it.  Tom and I have been together for 10 years officially married for 7.  We haven’t really explained this to Kiley who is at an age where she is starting to ask questions.  She notices herself in our wedding pictures.  So as parents, we are stuck.  We don’t necessarily want to tell her that it’s okay to have a baby before she’s married but at the same time, is it really a bad thing?  These days many women have babies and not get married.  We’re still trying to figure out the best and most positive way to explain to her what we did and the pros and cons.  

Anyway, we just wanted to share our Happy Anniversary news with you.

We can’t believe how fast the summer is flying by.  It’s already the middle of July.   The kids are loving their summer camps.  Actually, Kiley and Ethan are loving their summer camps.  Harrison on the other hand could probably take it or leave it when it comes to his camps.

We have had a busy couple of weeks as always, our friends from Sacramento came and visited us for a couple of weekends in July.  We were a bunch of tourists and hung out in Monterey most of the time.  

There is a new hotel there called “The Clement” which is part of the intercontinental hotels chain.  It is really nice and a great addition to Monterey.  You actually feel like walking around there now instead of feeling like you might be mugged.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a block away so it is really great for families with kids.  In two days, we went to the aquarium three times our friends went another 2 times without us…good thing we bought the season pass.  If you have never been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium it is a definite must see…the kids absolutely love it!

The fires are still going on here in Carmel Valley and Big Sur.  The air is pretty bad with ash and smoke.  We’re just dealing with it as best we can, keeping windows shut and staying indoors as much as possible.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.  Come and visit us!

Hi Everyone. We are finally back from our vacation…we didn’t actually go anywhere but we did have a great time.  We were very busy over the last two weeks.  Our vacation started with Tom and I going to SF for the weekend while my lovely mother in law and father in law babysat the kids.  It was a much needed mommy and daddy vacation….we went with our fun friends Vern and Katie and had a blast….

Then it was all about the kids…we went to the River Inn in Big Sur, Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy, the movies, Bonfante for a second time and just putzed around Carmel.  It was not very relaxing but great to see friends and get back to just having fun with the kids.

Yesterday, the last day before I went back to work we went to Bonfante Gardens…which is a perfect little amusement park for the kids.  Then we went to Palo Alto to go to RED MANGO… What is Red Mango (www.redmangousa.com) you ask well it’s frozen yogurt with toppings….so why would we make this special trip out to Palo Alto for frozen yogurt you ask….Because it is DELICIOUS!!!  It’s like pinkberry frozen yogurt  www.pinkberry.com. The kids asked the same thing…but they loved it.  In fact we had it twice before driving back home, YUMMY.

Back to work today and it was hard.  hard. hard.

The kids are ready to start their summer camps…they start Monday.  Yeah!

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

First with our E. 6th Birthday Party!  He had so much fun.  All his friends from school came and the weather was perfect for a pool party!  

Then…a preschool and practice kindergarten graduation BBQ… for E and H

So far the summer is off to a great start.  The kids are missing school a little mostly for their friends.  We have a stay at home vacay planned for two weeks at the end of June that we are looking forward to.  We’re planning on hanging out here in and doing the touristy things that tourists do when they vacation here.  

We have had a pretty few days here just with the kids getting out of school and working.   But not too much has happened.  

Happy Summer.

I’ve been reading blogs for about 2 years now, it all started when T and I were researching different parts of California and Oregon when we were trying to find the “perfect” place to raise our family.  It’s interesting this blog world, you get a glimpse into peoples worlds that you don’t know.  Some of the blogs I read I feel like I have known the author for years and strangely I have never even emailed them before.    One of the blogs that I have read off and on are off this woman.

I found her through another blog that I read and when I learned that Julia passed away last week, somehow I felt that I had lost a friend.  I have never spoken or written to her but “lurked” on her blog for several months.

I love reading mommy and parenting blogs, I feel connected to the writers especially in the similar experiences we seem to be having.   Here are some of my usual reads:

www.citymama.com

www.mamanabi@wordpress.com

www.dooce.com

www.charlieandnina.com

www.metrodad.com

www.kimchimamas.com

Enjoy!

first K got it then E then myself.  So far T and baby H have been passed up by the nasty stomach bug.  luckily it was just a 2 day bug and we are pretty much back to normal.   It’s the worst watching your kids hurl.  Not fun.

Our little E is turning 6 this Saturday and he is so excited for his pool party!  I’ve been using this party as ammo to get him to behave and so far it’s working pretty well.  Not sure what I’m going to do after his bday.  It’s amazing that he is already 6, I can still remember the day he was born.  He was born 2 months early, spent 30 days at the Stanford NICU.  Today is a happy, healthy, rascally young man!   We are so lucky to be his parents, this mama is very proud.

This is our favorite chili.  It doesn’t taste exactly like it does at the Zippy’s but it is close.  The Secret is the Mayo at the end.  It’s great with a couple pieces of Fried Chicken and Mac Salad on the side.  Yummy! Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground beef 1/4 lb Bacon or 1 Portugese sausage 1 large Onion 1/2 C Celery, chopped 1/2 C Bell pepper, chopped 1 large can Kidney beans 1 large can Chili beans 1 large can Tomato sauce 1 Tbsp Tomato catsup 2 tsp Red wine	1 Bay leaf 1 tsp Chili powder 1 tsp Chicken boullion powder 1 tsp MSG 1/2 tsp Sugar 1/4 tsp Oregano 1/4 tsp Paprika 1/4 tsp Cumin seed 1/4 tsp Ginger dash Worcestshire sauce
Cooking Instructions:
Brown ground beef, drain and set aside. Saute sausage/bacon, add onions and other ingredients. Simmer for a few minutes. Then add ground beef back to the pot, simmer for another 30 mins.  Optional: Just before serving, stir in 1 Tbsp mayonaise (best foods mayo)

On Monday’s, I take the day off and keep our two boys at home with me.  It’s a day for us to hang out, run errands and just take it easy.  For some reason though, Mondays feel like the hardest day of the week.  The boys are usually extra tired coming off the weekend and I feel overwhelmed with errands and chores.  Yikes!

Today, we had lunch at a local cafe and then off to Target we went.  When we lived in Roseville we could get to about 3 different Targets in a matter of minutes, now it takes me about 40 minutes each way!  My Target spending has dropped way down due to the inconvenience of the trip-that’s a good thing.  Anyway, the boys are always excited to go to Target…but today they lost it in the store.  In the midst of a super tantrum, a random mama like me offered to watch the boys in the aisle for a few seconds while I regrouped.  The responsible mama in me declined her gracious offer just in case she was some crazy kidnapper…but boy did I want to take her up on the offer.  At the end, a couple of bouncy balls made them happy and got me through the rest of my list… i know, i know i shouldn’t bribe them to behave but desperate times call for desperate measures.

K had one of her friends over after school today.  It’s a “friend” that used to be the “enemy” for most of the year and all of a sudden the last few weeks they are “best friends”  They had a great time together!  I asked her about it and she said that this is the way “eight year olds behaved”  We just go with the flow!

Have a great week!

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend!  Today as H and I stayed home while T took K and E to hit some golf balls, H and I watched a little Dr. Phil.  On the show  was bratty little kid saying, “I hate you mom”.  Okay, at this point I should have turned off the TV as this is not appropriate for a three year old. But I figured he was consumed by his coloring and cutting paper.  He certainly looked consumed and didn’t look like he was paying any attention to the tv.  But he was.  So this kid says this horrible thing to his mother and H immediately turns to me and says, ” I don’t hate you mommy, I love you!” then gives me a big hug and kiss. What a sweetie!  Then I had to do the mommy thing and talk to him about how we should not say the word hate and that the boy on tv was wrong to say that about his mommy.  My smart little three year old responded by saying, “yes, mommy hate is bad”

T has been taking K out to play golf for the past 8 months or so and she has been taking lessons with the “First Tee Junior Golf Association” and boy she is getting really good.  As a mommy, it is hard not to imagine her playing on the LPGA.  Now I know that is getting ahead of myself, but we all have to dream right… although K doesn’t know that we even think about this…don’t want to pressure her!   Our E is also really enjoying it except he doesn’t have quite the patience for it yet, so maybe next year when he’s 6 we’ll really get him into it if he wants.