Thursday, May 29, 2008

The first "kid" graduated from college

Class of 2008



Being "pinned" by the Nursing faculty.

Where's the Beef?

It's on the barbeque!!! That's the first tri-tip on the new grill. There is still some detail work to be done but it works great. Just in time for Summer.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Time Certainly Flies

Edit:added picttures.



When I met her she loved Vanilla Ice, Exclamation cologne, Axel Rose, Married with Children and The Simpsons. Now she loves Jeff.
She covered her pretty face with too much make up, wore her tops too short and her pants too tight. Now she'll be wearing a nurses uniform and hopefully maternity clothes some time soon. She can whip up a mean Margarita and grill asparagus on a fire ring while camping.
She was going to live near the beach with a friend right after high school and survive on Top Ramen. Now she lives in the burbs with a man and a dog. With laundry and bills and gardening and taking out the trash.

Today is their engagement party. In two days she graduates from nursing school. She'll be a wife by Halloween.

It was touch and go in the beginning. The oldest child against the new step-mom. Things are very different now. She's all grown up and I really, really like the woman she's become. I am very, very proud of her.
Congratulations Suzanne!!!



The Man.

The Dog.


The proud parents.


Monday, May 19, 2008

More "Here Comes The Sun".......

Summer is rearing it's sweaty head again. We were the cool spot in the county at about 90 degrees. The pool got up to 81 degrees with no help from the heater.


Quads? Why can't wet dog smell like fresh flowers instead of moldy sponge?









When we were little, my sister and I spent hours in our grandfather's pool diving for decorative black stones. Granted, we do have some of the same type of stones covering the dirt in our potted plants, but stones and my kids.....NOT a good idea. So, I pulled something new out of my Mommy's Bag 'O Tricks. Diving for fruit snacks. And the crowd (of three) goes wild. They loved it.











Kieran scores!! And yes, they ate them.






Kendra can't dive yet so I had to hand deliver her fruit snacks to her. Can we say Diva?








I spent some time trying to get a little more of the tropical feel I want for the backyard by adding reed fencing. I think it looks pretty cool. Only about 10 more section to go.










The "baby" is tired from his diving adventure.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Mommy Thoughts

The kids and I had to spend some time on Mother's Day at Costco. It was a zoo. Of course every sample had to be tasted, every piece of furniture needed to be sat on, and every thing had to be poked and prodded. I apologize to whomever got the package of chocolate muffins with the finger print in it.

At least Kyle was having a good time. He was happily singing to himself. Up and down the aisles I could hear him going back and forth between two songs.
And then I really listened. He has a favorite artist right now. MooNiE the Magnif'Cent.
The songs:

"How far down your butt does your tattoo go?
How far down your butt does your tattoo go?
How far down your butt does your tattoo go?
I don't want to see it, I just want to know"

And the ever popular:

"Whatever you eat comes out your butt.
Whatever you eat comes out your butt.
Whatever you eat comes out your butt, unless you throw up."

My quandary; am I a good Mother because my child has enough confidence and self esteem to sing in public or am I a bad mother because of his chosen songs which are totally my fault. At least he doesn't know all the words to "Sweaty Man Panties". Maybe I can blame their Auntie. Hmmm.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day
to all my Mommy friends.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

They really are from Mars

Ya know those "wild hairs" men get about things that seem completely irresponsible? Well, Paul has had one for the last few weeks. It started out sounding like a good idea. A decent tax return=buying some investment property=college money for the wee three. My mind goes to something like a little mountain cabin that we can use ourselves and use as a vacation rental. Of course, there is that well known fact-Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Venus has four walls, plumbing, a nice little garden and maybe a porch with a couple of rocking chairs. Aahhh. Fa La La La La. Song birds singing.









Mars has other ideas. Desert property. Quad runners, guns and ammo. All with a healthy mix of 8 year old triplets. Venus has concerns are you out of your f%$#ing mind? Venus also had other ideas for the tax return money. Like upgrades to the house we actually live in. Socking some of it away for a big vacation. A little reversal of gravity on the old chassis.

Once Mars gets an idea it's like stopping a runaway train in a bad 70's disaster movie. He learned to "google" just to search for properties. In places I'd never heard of-Jucumba, Jamul, Jamacha, Tierra del Sol (hey wait isn't that another country? Didn't Indiana Jones visit Tierra del Sol?), Manzanita and the enchanting Boulevard.









We Paul have chosen a 10 acre lot in Boulevard. It will be a nice property, zoned for ranches, after a little complete overhaul work. It has a working well, generator, and an airplane hangar with a partially completed landing strip. The previous owner was going to land his plane here. He is also leaving us his 5th wheel trailer because he has a new motor home. How nice you say. Someplace to stay on the property while we do some work. Have you ever watched those Animal Planet animal rescue shows? You know the ones that have a hoarder living with 63 cats and no litter boxes. Well imagine the same scenario inside a trailer with a gazillion rats. At some point, a vent cover or something came off and the locals moved in. I was too shocked to take a picture even though I had the camera in my hands. Can you say Hanta Virus?

The view goes all the way to Mexico, San Diego and far to the East.




Bridge from an old railway line-Campo I think.





Our runway.






Would you like to meet my little friend? Southern Pacific Rattlesnake. This is the baby rattlesnake that Paul didn't notice slithering around his feet.

Edit: just want to let everyone know that the shovel was only used to gently move the little snake to a more snake friendly area.





California Horny Toad

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Hail and Well Met!



Yesterday, my sister and I took the kids to the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire. We've been going since our Aunt took us in the 1970's. This was the kid's first trip to this faire. They've been to a much smaller version. I had to make them all new costumes because they hadn't been to a faire since they were about 4 years old. They looked really cute (if I do say so myself) and got lots of compliments.



We have two favorite shows- Broon !



Kieran was picked to be Broon's helper.




And MooNIE the Magnif'Cent. The underwear goes with a lively little diddy called "Sweaty Man Panties".

At the joust Kendra presented her favor to the Knight she was cheering for.




Alas, Sir William perished.



The kids shot crossbows, lobbed tomatoes at a man in stocks, cheered at the joust, ate, drank and were generally merry.










And the faire has wonderful child care when the grown ups need to go and grab a quiet moment and a Guinness.