old stuff

I think I've mentioned that my mom is getting ready to sell her house. It's the house she grew up in. My grandparents bought it in the early 50's a few years after they got married. It is an old house with tons and tons of memories made by four generations. Sunday, I helped my mom go through the garage. My brother took 4 or 5 loads of crap to the Goodwill. I went through about 100 picture frame collages and removed the pictures in order to toss the frames. It was tedious but I loved looking at old photos of my family. My grandma loved pictures. She kept frames and books of all of her loved ones all over the house. Here are a few of my favorites.

1st grade Amie. I've never been good at faking a smile. I must have been irritated with the camera person. But I'm loving the 80's bangs and that dress. Oh man. 

This is me and my nephew. This is what happens when you grow up a well behaved christian girl. You go off to college and dye your hair black and get a couple of piercings because you can. It could have been worse I suppose. Still not smiling on command. Now I know where my kids get it.

Mom and Dad. So very 1980.They split up when I was little but I've always loved this picture. Looking good guys.

And Grandpa. His name was LaVelle but he went by Bob. Handsome devil wasn't he.

And here he is a few years later, dancing with me at my grandparents' 50th Wedding anniversary party. I have some awesome photos of grandma I will post some other time. I have to look for them. She was a dish.

And here's Samantha the first. There was a second Samantha that they had when I was a kid. We called her Sammy. I never thought it was weird that my grandparents kept a framed picture of their dead dog... a triple framed picture. Now, I am thinking that it was very weird.. Maybe it was a generation thing? Did people take professional photos of their dogs back then? 

We got A LOT done Sunday. Mom worked super hard going through box after box. I mostly just helped her get rid of things she didn't need. I'm not too sentimental and it helped that none of it was mine. My brother hauled it away before she could change her mind.

Mom is a devout Seventh Day Adventist. To SDA's, pork is pretty much the worst thing you can put in your body. Mom knows her bible well and believes that most of it still applies today. So, the passage about how you should throw out your pottery if it touches pork also applies to frying pans and spatulas I guess. Dan cooked some pork sausage in this poor little pan. This was early on in our marriage. He now understands how mom feels about the evil meat. I didn't know she actually threw it out. Well I guess she saved it in the garage in case Dan wanted to cook some more pork in her house? 

We put it in the donation box and left it in the labeled bag in case there were any SDA's or Jewish people wanting to know what had been cooked in it.

The other day, Angus came in the family room crying about a dump truck. I assumed Addie took his toy or something. Turns out he was watching a very disturbing Bubble Guppies episode where one of the guppies loses their toy dump truck in a giant hole in the dirt. I assured him that the episode would probably end well. Thank goodness it did. The guppies were able to rescue the toy and Angus was super relieved. He's so sensitive. And he also loves construction toys.

When I start cooking dinner, (and I use the term cooking dinner very loosely) Angus sits at the table and waits until it's ready. I always tell him it's going to be a while. Sometimes he pulls up a chair to watch and sometimes he just sits at the table until I bring him a plate of food. 

Happy Wednesday! GO DODGERS!!!!

appreciation and pancakes

To all the good people of the world, you don't get enough recognition. So, I wanted to take the time to personally thank you.

Thanks for putting your shopping carts away in the designated spots instead of blocking a parking spot.
Thank you for being a courteous driver, and thanks for slowing down while driving through a residential street or near a school.
Thank you for picking up that plastic baggy on the floor by the trash can and throwing it away.
Thank you for making it a point to show up on time.
Thank you for showing kindness to the mom with the annoying toddler.
Thank you for being patient and not complaining while waiting in a long line.
Thanks for taking pride in your work and doing a good job.
Thanks for re-parking your car when you notice that you're over the line.
Thanks for letting that person with two items go in front of you at the grocery store when you have a basket full.
Thanks for showing respect and kindness to everyone, regardless of their age, gender, race or political stance.
Thank you for treating others like you want to be treated. I appreciate you.

I feel like my tendency is to focus on the annoying things and not so much the good stuff; hence the thank you's above. Feel free to redirect your thoughts this week as well.

On to Wag stuff...

I picked Addie up from school one day and she was not happy. As we walked to the car she yelled, "My friend was talking to me and she SPIT on my leg!" I laughed and asked her to show me where. She angrily told me she already wiped it off. She refused to talk during the car ride, or greet her dad when we got home. She just sat down and faced the wall. This poor little girl just probably has a lot of saliva in her mouth. Hopefully Addie will forgive her or forget all about it. She is her friend after all. 

Friday, the day before it rained all day, it was nice and sunny out so I suggested a car wash. Mostly because an older grandpa looking gentleman at the school commented on all the dirty minivans in the pickup line; mine being the dirtiest. I was super offended. No need to be rude dude. Everyone was probably just waiting until after it rained to go to the car wash. Or they are just like me and cleaning their car is at the very bottom of their to do list, until their hubby politely asks if they can wash the car.... He wasn't home Friday but I'm sure he noticed the dirty van in the driveway for the last couple weeks or so. Well, now it's clean-ish, with lots of spots from the rain. The wind storm that followed Monday morning didn't help matters. But it was clean Friday evening. I'm okay with that.

I have recently discovered I am horrible at making pancakes. I purchased a costco size box of pancake mix, unfortunately. So I have to make lots of pancakes before it expires. It has been months since I bought this mix so basically I need to make 100 pancakes in the near future so it doesn't go to waste. Mya just informed me last week that she actually hates pancakes. What in the world? Why would anyone hate pancakes? Maybe it's just mine. There is actual skill involved that I did not know about. I am determined to master this skill. 

fall confusion

Fall in SoCal is basically what I feel an ideal summer should be. There's usually a high of 80 degrees and it cools down at night and you can open up the windows in the morning and evening. I just feel confused as to what I'm supposed to wear. I'm not complaining. We still have the best weather in the country all year 'round hands down.

Growing up with a very fashion aware sister, I feel like I'm not allowed to wear open toed shoes or shorts in the fall, even when it is 85 degrees out. And because I know the rules of fashion, I really should follow them as a nod to my sister and all the times she spent yelling at me about not wearing black in the spring or boots in the summer. So, lately, I wear close toed shoes, jeans with holes in them to air out my legs and sleeveless shirts because I think that's allowed all year around. Skirts are also a good way to obey the rules of fall I think... Most people in SoCal wear whatever they want because they can. They don't have an inner Wendy reminding them that uggs and sundresses should not ever be worn together. Ever.

Oh but one thing I would like to share is that jean jackets go with everything. Well, they don't really go with jeans but jeans go with everything so there you go. If you have a jean jacket, your dilemma of which sweater/jacket to wear will be pretty much nonexistent. The possibilities are endless. Jean jackets go great with skirts, dresses, pants and they even go over long sleeves if you want to layer. And they are available at most thrift stores for a fraction of the price. Got me one last year and I cannot believe the joy it has brought me.

On to highlights of the week.

By far the cutest age group on the soccer field are the 4's and 5's. They are so entertaining. They rarely know which direction to kick the ball and they usually travel in a pack. 

In the middle of the last game, the coach squatted down to tie the shoelaces of one of the little boys. Addie looked over and saw her opportunity and quickly ran over there and sat down on that squatting coaches leg, which made the coach fall over of course. Welcome to my world coach. 

Addie has a whole fan club over there. As soon as she walks onto the property, several older girls and boys are calling her name. Addie! Addie! Addie! Over here! It's like she's famous or something. Mya gets so irritated. "Ugh, why does everyone love Addie so much?" she says. 

This pic is from last week but it clearly illustrates my words. 

Saturday morning, after we arrived at soccer, Winter decided that she regretted her decision not to play soccer with her sisters. I told her it was too late to join now. All the jerseys had already been ordered and the last day to register was weeks ago. She begged me just to ask and see. I told her she could talk to the soccer leaders and it was totally up to them. And they would probably say no. So she did. Turns out they had an extra orange uniform just her size and were totally fine with her joining Mya's team. She wore heeled boots to the field so we borrowed some cleats and shin guards from a friend who played at 9:00. Her game was at 10:00. I gave her my water bottle and she was good to go. She actually played better than I've ever seen her play. 

We have to pay for one more kid to join which does not help our budgeting goals but I'm glad she decided to play. Kids can learn tons of lessons from team sports. I'm a fan. haha 

Mya welcomed her little sis to the team happily. She's nice like that.

(photo credit - Stacy Thompson)

Mom took Mya up to Wendy's in Bako for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. Her actual birthday was in August but we waited for the first long weekend available so she could spend a few days up there doing all of her favorite things. Baking, painting, thrift store shopping and apparently dress up? Not sure why she's is wearing this or why she brought it to Wendy's... She had a blast though!

The girls are in a harder gymnastics class now. I love to see their personalities come out in the way they face challenges. Mya is so strong. I've never seen any other kid climb up the rope with such ease. And she's a perfectionist in all the different areas and is usually hard on herself. She will often practice at home to get it right the next time.

Winter doesn't have as much upper body strength but she hikes up her leotard to expose her thighs and uses her thigh friction to help her get up to the top. She's usually not hard on herself. You will often find her laughing hysterically at the way she totally messed up her running cartwheel.

Angus is now riding his bike with no training wheels! I guess that balance bike was the way to go. Dan and I realized after Angus started riding with no training wheels that his big sis, Addie, still needs her training wheels... wups, we skipped a child. It's cool, she's not really a fan of riding her bike anyway. And she is smaller than Angus so we are going in order if you're going by weight...

Another first this week, Angus got his teeth cleaned for the first time. He did great. He rarely lets me brush his teeth for more than a few seconds before he bites down on the toothbrush so I didn't have high hopes for the dentist. BUT, the hygienist did sing Wheels On The Bus as she cleaned his teeth so he let her. I don't know if I'm willing to sing while I brush his teeth. But I'm glad the visit went well. She kept calling him Spider Man (because of his shirt) or papa (because that is what people call little boys now) and every time he would correct her. "My name is ANUS!"

touch disease

My iPhone 5s finally died. The technician said the cause of death was the terminal "touch disease." He didn't smile when he said that. I laughed at him for giving me the name of an actual disease for an iphone. I guess it's pretty serious because it couldn't be fixed. But I got a new phone! An iphone 6s. My 5s lasted four and a half years before it got the touch disease so we'll see if we can make this one last forever too. I give all the credit to the lifeproof case. It still looks new. And it has been dropped hundreds, maybe thousands of times with that case on it. I highly recommend it.

Dan and I had the finance talk recently. We have it about once or twice a year when it becomes clear that we are not living within our means. I've been bugging Dan for years to let me meal plan. He's not into it. He doesn't want to commit to a dinner until the day of that dinner and see how he feels. I get it. But it's more expensive to live that way and lots of food tends to go to waste, so he finally agreed to let me plan our meals a week in advance and only grocery shop for those meals. I'm even making the big girls plan their breakfast and lunch for the week so I don't go out and buy a bunch of food they may or may not eat. I'm convinced that we will save hundreds each month doing this. I'll report back with the result in a couple of months.

Buying a new phone didn't exactly save us money this month BUT I did buy one of the cheapest, oldest options so bonus points there. And I tried to save us money by canceling the girls' gymnastics class. They have been ready to move up into a more advanced class for months now but the coach said there were no available spots in the class. So I told her we were going to take a break until something opened up, thinking we would have a few months off of gymnastics payments. But to my surprise, she bumped them up to the next level right then, and I walked out of there paying an extra $30 a month, wups. So far the saving money idea was pretty poor timing with the phone disease and the extra money for gymnastics but I have high hopes for the meal planning.

Sorry this is so boring so far. My life is pretty boring when I don't talk about the kids.

So these two started soccer Thursday! Winter pretty much has always hated soccer and only joined last year because she didn't want to miss out on the snacks at the end of the game. Mya told me Saturday that my snacks were lame and embarrassing last year and I need to step up my snack game this year. I'll take her suggestions into consideration. But gummy snacks are just candy disguised as a snack in my opinion. Angus would totally be playing if he was old enough. He has to wait one more year.

Winter went to a birthday party that was pretty much her dream. The mom hired cosmetology students to paint nails and do hair for all girls who came to the party, Then they had a fashion show for the parents. She was in heaven.

We got haircuts yesterday before gymnastics. This is Winter's gymnastics outfit. Colorful leopard print bathing suit with shorts that "match."

It was good timing having the haircuts before gymnastics. They french braided Winter's hair, something I could never do. 

They were giving out breast cancer awareness pins. Of course Mya took one because it was pink.

Mya was ecstatic to go to gym with fancy braided hair.

And Addie.

Thrift store score of the month. Green dinosaur shoes for Addie. She loves green and she loves dinosaurs. They could be alligators or crocodiles but I told her they were definitely dinosaurs.

She totally loves them. She just doesn't like pictures.