YOU get covid! and YOU get covid! and YOU get covid!

It finally happened. Last week, the Wags got Covid. Well, the little wags did anyway. Dan and I have managed to stay healthy for some reason. When you have a litter of kids, you get used to getting all the things. Stomach flu, lice, hand foot and mouth, and all other contagious diseases going around. Kids are good at spreading that stuff. I'm surprised it has taken this long, honestly.

 Like dominoes, Winter, then Mya, then Angus and then finally Addie tested positive. But before all of that happened, I have nice pics to share...

Mya went away on her first camp away from home. So far away. It was in Arizona. Dan and I worried the whole time but she had a blast. 

Here's the traditional prayer circle by the flagpole. I love that they always do this before going anywhere.

The sweetest girls.

And while Mya was away and the little two were at VBS, I took Winter to an all-you-can-eat sushi place for lunch. She's new to the whole idea of restaurants challenging you to eat as much as you can. She didn't believe they were actually letting her do that. Winter is a special 10-year-old. She can out eat most men. So, yeah, we got our money's worth. 

It was Dan's birthday on the 17th so we visited him at work and played around with the hoses and stuff.

A couple of mom friends and their boys hung out for dinner and Winter was in heaven. She has loved boys since she was 2 years old and that hasn't changed at all since.

And then everyone got Covid. Winter was the first to get it and the first to recover. I set up the pool out back since we'd be staying away from the neighborhood pool for at least 10 days.

Angus: Mom, do you think there's a ball in these headphones... or not?

Me: I think there's definitely a ball in there.

Angus: HOW'D YOU KNOW???

There were lots of Covid naps...

And a fire to boot. 

For recommendations this week, I love these little earbuds. They were super cheap on Amazon and cute which totally matters. I've been using them daily on my walks and I love them.

This isn't really a recommendation. It's just a brag. Dan makes the best fish tacos, beans and rice. He makes a mango salsa, a creamy sauce and he's got the beans and rice down to a science. That's all.

Angus is allergic to milk products. He can have eggs and meat. Just no milk, cheese or anything made with milk. He's been begging me for quiche. I used to buy one from Trader Joe's that he loved more than life itself. So, I tried my hand at vegan quiche. I bought some vegan cheese, vegan cream and I even made a pie crust from scratch. He said he liked it at first but never ate another bite again. He's sweet like that. "Yeah it's really good mom!" I had some today and it's pretty much the worst thing I've ever tasted. Sorry, buddy. Anywho, my recommendation is this. Do not try to make ANYTHING with vegan cheese. It's the worst. Oh, I also made pizza with that stuff. Still not good. Fake cheese. Booooo.

My last recommendation is actually a good recommendation. Have you heard of the app, Libby? It's an ebook and audiobook app that's free. You can enter your library card info and get access to your local library and all of the audiobooks offered which is quite a lot. So, if you're into audiobooks, or you're tired of your podcasts, check it out if you haven't already. It's completely free and easy to use. I've been listening to audiobooks on my morning walks. 

The app looks like this:

Well, happy Tuesday friends! 

july 4th, beach day & i'll never take the kids to a restaurant again

I love the 4th of July. Cheeseburgers are one of my top 3 favorite foods and fireworks are one of my top 3 things to see. Dan worked this year. He works most years on the 4th. Although Addie wasn't excited about the idea of loud booming fireworks, she was willing to give it a try. She said it was pretty terrifying and plugged her ears the whole time but admitted that they were really pretty.

Since Dan is the one who usually makes hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill with extra love and sauteed onions and mushrooms, my attempt at both did not impress the kids. I made them on the stovetop. Mya only ate half of her burger and said, "I think Dad has spoiled us." I agreed.

Waiting for the fireworks to start...

We house-sat for a couple days at a friend's house near the beach and loved every minute of it.

Of the four kids, Addie loves the beach the most. She needs nothing to have a good time there. She talks and laughs with the ocean, jumps over waves and dances like no one is watching. It's one of my favorite things to watch.

Angus equally enjoyed the trampoline.

Can you find the cat?

This actually looks really comfortable. He slept like this for 2 hours.

My friend Karla came to visit and I was feeling adventurous and thought it would be a great idea to go out for breakfast. Not sure why. I think I forgot that nobody wins when we go out. Not the kids, not me, not the waitress, and definitely not the people who have to clean up after us. 

I called ahead so we'd only have to wait a few minutes instead of an hour which was the best idea I've had in a long time. I thought to myself, The kids are older now. This will be nice. But we haven't been out to eat in a while. Maybe they forgot how to do that. And I think my patience lately has dwindled down to pretty much zero. 

There was a war over the positioning of the table, lots of complaints including "It's SO cold in here!" mean stares between siblings, threats of grounding (by me) and Angus cried because people who litter the streets of Azusa make him SO angry and also sometimes people are mean to him (not that day, just sometimes). He also said that it was way too noisy in the restaurant and plugged his ears most of the time. I let him cry on my shoulder for a while. Mya retrieved all the sweatshirts from my trunk which helped a little bit. Sweatshirts have been the #1 most used thing in my trunk out of all 50 things I keep there just in case. I also keep bottled water in there because there's nothing worse than a tired thirsty kid.

The restaurant was out of apple juice which nearly caused a riot, followed by more whining and the waitress repeating the list of drinks offered 5 times but we managed to place our drink order. 

Then we ordered the food which is always pretty difficult. The kids want what they want and it never matches with what is on the menu. It's usually so complicated that I let them all talk to the waitress and see what she can do. 

 All 4 kids were asking where the food was 2 minutes after placing our order. Everybody was "SOOOOO hungry" even though they all ate breakfast #1 2 hours prior. BUT then I spotted a balloon guy. A smart dude who makes balloon animals for fussy children as they wait for their food. It was magic. They were silent as they watched him carefully craft their requested balloon. And after they got them, the kids were kind, happy, polite and all-around pleasant little people. If you're wondering where this was, it was at The Broken Yolk Cafe in Glendora. Not sure when the balloon guy is there but we went on a Sunday morning. 

This pic below was before the balloon guy entered the picture, hence Addie's face and Angus pouting behind Mya, refusing to be in the pic. Winter took the pic it so forgive the blurriness.

Lightning McQueen balloon

A unicorn.

Winter asked for a jaguar but settled for a tiger.

Addie's first choice was a fox. Then a hyena. Those were a bit advanced for the balloon guy so he made a shark.

That's all I have this week. Happy Tuesday! 

911, a rattlesnake and a pushy old dude from Nevada

So, this is a bit of a novel. I have a lot to say. If you aren't in the mood for a bunch of words, feel free to scroll to the pics. 

As we get back into life before the pandemic, hanging out with other families, playdates, etc., I'm reminded that I actually have people. I have friends. At times since March of 2020, it has felt lonely. It was just me and my kids a lot of the time. And now that Dan and I have been vaccinated (along with half of the population), it feels safer to hang out with people. 

But I wanted to take a minute to say to those of you who still feel lonely and are ready to start socializing again, go for it. Just start reaching out. I would say 80% of the time I'm hanging out with people, I've invited them. I'm usually the one to reach out. Just because people don't ask you to hang out doesn't mean they don't want to.  Some people just aren't good at planning, thinking ahead or even putting themselves out there for fear of rejection. And a lot of the time, the answer isn't yes. I don't take it personal. And if you're still wearing a mask and stearing clear of everyone, set up a social distance picnic meet up at a park or something. Just tell a few people you're going to be there and see what happens. I'll go with you if you want. I just hate to think that anyone I know is lonely and craving human connection and feeling bad about themselves. So please reach out anytime. I mean it.

Anywho, we entered back into the world of the living and the world of the crazy. I feel like the last week has been pretty interesting, to say the least.

First, Angus nearly drowned. Next, a motorcyclist passed out on the sidewalk in my normal walking route. I had a strange stranger encounter at Costco and then we found a baby rattlesnake in our backyard.

Angus didn't really nearly drown. BUT I did have to jump in the pool with my clothes on to rescue him from drowning. A floaty full of kids fell on top of him. I looked to see if Mya or Winter were close enough to rescue him but they were not. So, with my non-waterproof phone in hand, I jumped in, grabbed him with one hand while holding my phone up in the air with the other. He was mildly traumatized but got back in the next day, so I guess that means he's over it.

The next day, going for a walk down the busy street of Siera Madre, I came upon a young man lying in the middle of the sidewalk with his motorcycle helmet next to him and his new scratched-up bike parked a few feet away. There was a lady on the phone with 911 explaining where to send an ambulance. She had a baby in a stroller and a dog in tow so I stayed with her until the ambulance arrived in case she needed to leave. I guess what happened was that this man crashed his bike up in the canyon, got back on his bike (through pure adrenaline) and rode down to the closest major street and proceeded to pass out on the sidewalk. He was in and out of consciousness until the ambulance arrived. I'd like to think he was okay once he received medical care.

That same day, I went to Costco and an older gentleman got in line behind me and asked if he could go ahead of me since I had two carts worth of groceries packed into one cart and he only had about 10 items in his. I looked around at all the other lines with people in them including the self-checkout and apologized but I couldn't let him go ahead of me. I was already running late for an appointment. It was Friday afternoon at Costco. Probably the worst time to shop in a hurry. Normally I'm the person that asks people if they'd like to go ahead of me. He proceeded to ask lots of personal questions including the nature of the appointment I was late for, how many kids I had, the occupation of my husband, the gender of my kids and whether or not I was a good mom. He was appalled that I don't really cook, being a mom of 4, told me he hoped my son didn't grow up to be a sissy having 3 older sisters, then confessed that he got in line behind me so that he could talk to me. He told me all about his siblings, most of whom sadly passed away, and how he now lives alone in Laughlin, Nevada and drives all the way to San Dimas Costco because they have the good vitamin water. 

I don't mean to brag but this is not the first time I've been hit on by a man in his 70s. It has happened more than you'd think. Probably because I do most of my shopping during the weekday mornings, the same time as the retired crowd. But this guy was pushier than the usual older dude. After loading all my groceries on the counter, I walked to the register, hoping there would be too much distance to continue the conversation... but he followed and continued to talk. Then after I paid, I walked around the corner of the counter and waited by my cart, hoping again that there would be too much distance but he followed again. I told him to have a nice day and turned my back to him and answered a text message. He kept talking to me. I was literally trapped. I know that some of you more aggressive ladies would have told him to back up mind his business but I couldn't. He was harmless. The Costco employees gave me looks of sympathy and after a minute or two more of politely smiling at this poor lonely older dude, I waved and pushed my cart quickly toward the exit and then toward my car. I loaded up my groceries, looking over my shoulder, half expecting the guy to be parked close by. He wasn't. I escaped and returned home barely in time to unload the groceries and make my appointment.

Speaking of males trying to get my attention, I came across this guy on my walk last Saturday. Did you know that the male peacocks are the pretty ones? The females don't have those pretty feathers. But they can fly. Males can't. So when they have an encounter similar to my Costco one, they can just fly away. 

Sunday, we had some extra kids over. So, we went to the pool (the best place to take a bunch of kids). When we returned home, one of the kids walked out into the backyard to hang her towel up to dry and saw a snake a few feet from her. She jumped back in the house, closed the door and said, "There's a snake out there!" Figuring it was a little garter snake, I casually opened the slider and peered over where she had said it was. To my surprise, a baby rattler shook his little tail at me as I gasped and quickly closed the door.

I called Dan at work and asked him what I should do. There were 7 kids in the house and I'd never encountered this type of emergency before. He called the local fire department and they came over and took care of it. And by that I mean they chopped its head off with a shovel and took it away in a plastic bag. All of the kids got a front-row seat to the action through the sliding glass door. I thanked them and they were on their way. For the record, the black bumblebee in my car was still way more terrifying. 

R.I.P. little guy...

God was watching out for us as usual. I rarely keep Otter inside when I leave the house because she has been known to leave me presents upon my return. But on this day, I kept her inside on a whim, probably because it was a bit warm out. Had she gone outside at all, she would have been bitten for sure. The snake was hiding out right next to her water bowl. (pic above) And Angus has been playing with his trucks daily right next to the place where the snake was. But today we went to church and the pool so he didn't have a chance to play outside. 

I pray all the time for the kids' protection and I never know what that means until I see exactly how He answers my prayers. That includes me seeing the second Angus needed me in the pool too. I can't physically keep my eye on them every second they are in there but I always seem to catch the seconds that count and I know that's my Heavenly Father.

Last Thursday, Dan and I spent the day in our favorite spot, Newport Beach, eating our favorite foods. We tried to get in some paddle-boarding and bike-riding so we didn't feel too guilty gorging ourselves on amazing food and drinks. We have a favorite Sushi spot called San Shi Go that I think is the best sushi on the planet. I haven't traveled much so who knows how true that is. But I've been to probably 30 sushi establishments and this place blows everything out of the water by a mile.

Angus's favorite thing about summer is getting to be home when the trashtruck comes on Monday mornings. Before school got out, Angus insisted I take a video each Monday for him to watch when I picked him up from school. I felt very creepy hiding behind the blinds upstairs in my bedroom with my phone, because it would be way too awkward to stand on the sidewalk and take a video. The trash truck is really loud so I would have had to yell out that I was taking a video for my son. Though they'd understand, it would be too weird. So I recorded them from my bedroom. That's how much Angus loves trash day and that's how much I love Angus.

I've enjoyed summer so far. Our pool is open and summer camps are under way. This is Winter's favorite camp, Idrafoje, at church. Mya is too old to go and Addie is too young so it was just her this year.

Just a random shot of Dan attack-kissing Addie. He does this a few times a day. She's so tiny and cute.

Angus made scrambled eggs all by himself. All I did was turn on the burner.

Did I mention our pool is open for the first time since March 2020? We're pretty happy. And I've taken up swimming. I got myself some goggles and now I'm doing laps when the kids swim. Tring to work off that Covid gut.

VBS 2021

Our Higerds came to visit us and swim.

💙

So. For my recommendations, if you don't like tuna or fake cheese then have a great long weekend!

If you do like tuna, this is a weird healthy spin I've been putting on it lately and loving it. Instead of mayo, I've been mixing tuna with avocado. I also throw in a handful of chopped tomatoes and a couple teaspoons of mustard. It's awesome and full of protein. And I love love love tuna and any fish for that matter. So take this recommendation with a grain of salt. Oh speaking of salt, I add salt and pepper too.

I bought this vegan pizza for Angus since he doesn't do well with dairy. I tried it and I actually liked it. So did Angus. Not bad. You can find it at regular grocery stores like Vons, maybe even Target.

Happy July Friends!