The future is bright

Sugar Nugget started talking about

what she wants to be when she grows up.

She even made a list.

Take a look.

artist

singer

massager

actor

cook
There is even a graphic of a little cake.

(we need to work on our spelling)


My Sweet Cheeks joined right in.

Here's her list.

I want my girls to keep dreaming and reaching for the stars.
For them to know that their future is bright...
but that they should also love and appreciate who they are today.
How do you teach to dream big without creating that
"grass is greener on the other side" person?

Looking back, I didn't have a passion that drove me

to be a certain someone or study for a certain profession....
and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

I am just me...and happy with that.

H1N1 Saga

Oh, Mama Mia!!
Do you ever worry about making the right decision?

I've been a little panicked that my kids haven't been vaccinated
for the regular flu shot, let alone the H1N1.

I had an appointment at our Pediatrician about 2 weeks ago
for the girls to get the regular flu shot.

So, I get a courtesy call the day before my appointment

to say that they were out of the flu regular shot and
wouldn't have any for a few weeks.
Call back in early November, the nurse said.

They didn't have the H1N1 in stock either.

I figured all was OK.

But...

Kids at school were getting sick with the H1N1.

Blogs that I read were commenting on a visit from the H1N1.
The media is all over H1N1.
The White House is talking about it.

I must do something.

T-Bone researched the H1N1 to determine if we wanted to
vaccinate our kids.

The answer:  Probably not.
We think we can teach them good habits by explaining
how bad this virus is.
They can wash their hands longer than they normally do.
Blow their noses 2x/day.
Keep their hands off their faces.
Possible gargle with warm salt water and swab the nostrils with the solution.
You've probably seen the email that describes these basics.

Well, we all know that kids are gross and just can't remember to
keep their germs to themselves and hands off their faces.
So, my dilema continues.

My friend, Laura, called me last night to say that she was
heading to a free clinic today to get her kids the H1N1.

I still wasn't sure what to do.
I started talking to people.
Important people.

My friend's Dad is a Doctor.  He said "absolutely, yes".

My Pediatrician said "yes".

The media says "yes".

My Mom said "no".

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

T-Bone and I changed our minds based on hearing about a 7 year old
girl who just died Monday from the H1N1 virus.  Michael heard
this horrific story while in Rhode Island visiting his Client.
A lady who works there took her daughter to
the Dr. on Friday.  Yep - she had the H1N1 bug.
The Dr. sent her home to rest, drink lots of liquids, dose with Tylenol, etc.
Saturday the girl was fine.
Sunday the girl seemed fine.
Monday....the girl had a spike in fever.
The Mom rushed her to the ER.
The girl wasn't at risk.
She was considered a healthy, normal child.
The girl died 2 hours later.
The Mom is home right now making funeral arrangements.

It's a go!
I'm so glad the decision has been made.
Now I just have to get them vaccinated.
Easy.

I began calling everywhere to see who has the vaccines.

Walgreens.  No.

CVS.  No.

Costco.  No.

Target. No.

Rite Aid.  No.
Our regular Doctor.  No.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E
IS OUT OF THE REGULAR
FLU VACCINE AND THE H1N1.

Well, guess what?

Off to the clinic with my friend.

Do I really have to wait in line for hours to be vaccinated?

That's exactly what I did.
I was about 150th in line with about 400 people behind me.

(I had pictures on my phone to share. I emailed them to myself but they never arrived.)

My girls were so brave.

It was a nasal spray.
No biggie.

Off to yogurt for a little treat.
Yummy!

Now we'll just have to wait and see if there are any

so-called side effects of the H1N1, like flu-like symptoms.

I can rest tonight.

The bill

Have you ever had to tell your husband that you forgot to pay a bill?

I got my turn today.

You see, our morning ritual includes a 20 minute show for the girls

while they wake up their sleepy heads.

Well, today the TV wasn't getting any channels so we

had to put in the movie Bolt.

I wondered why the channels weren't coming in and told T-Bone

that he may have to check out our DirecTV box later.

After the kids went to school, I called DirecTV to find out that Verizon

had advised them to stop service because our bill was past due.

WHAT?

WHAT?

WHAT?

We always pay our bills....and on time, I might add.  I explained this

to the DirecTV rep who advised me to call Verizon.  Before I called,

I went on line where we pay through Bill Pay and was

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo surprised

to see that I haven't paid Verizon in 2 months.

What happened?

Why not?

Where was the actual bill?

I looked in my file.

No recent bill.

I looked in my to-be-paid file.

No bill.

I called Verizon with my tail between my legs and told them

that I always wait for the paper bill to arrive in the mail.

I pay from that bill.

Well, I guess we didn't get one.

Or, the more likely choice is that I misplaced it?

Now, that's hard to believe.

You see I have a system and that system does not fail me.

Must solve problem.

So.....

I pay the bill with the credit card.

Our DirecTV service is restored.

All is well.

I'm still embarressed.

Fun, Busy Weekend

We packed in the fun this weekend!

Friday night:

Swimming and carving pumpkins.

Always a crowd pleaser.

This was a big year because Sugar Nugget carved her entire pumpkin solo.

Used that little special pumpkin cutting knife and did a great job!

Sweet Cheeks just loves the messy, mushy inside of the pumpkin.

It was ooey and gooey and she played with the goo for quite a while.

We had this scrumptious dessert that the kids spotted when we entered Costco.

It was a chocolate and caramel covered granny smith apple.

Need I say more?

Saturday:

AM for Dad and girls:

The girls and Dad hung out at home.

1st time piano lessons.

I wasn't home so no pictures were taken.

Oh, you can bet there will be pictures taken next time.

AM for me:

I cruised to Burbank to enroll my kids in an entertainment group

that uses kids as extras in movies and in commercials.

Here are the pics that I took of each of them.

Had to be basic with white background.

Noon:

Out to lunch and to the Pumpkin Patch for a few blow-up rides.

Evening/Nightime:

To our friends house for a fun-filled Halloween party.  It was

a Scooby Doo themed party and Fred made this cool Mystery

Machine for photo ops.

Brilliant!

Velma created an awesome game for the kids to locate the

missing Scooby Doo cake.  The kids loved chasing down

the clues and locating the cake.

YUMMY!

I was thrilled that we were invited to this Halloween party.

My man and I are missing out on Halloween with our girls for

the first time because of an out of town family wedding.

We all dressed up.

We took our Halloween pictures

We had a blast!

I know you needed a close up of that nose.

Ah, the reggae hat with dreadlocks that my Man
has been wearing for 10+ years now.
He knows how to save money on costumes.

And, the last day of the weekend...

Sunday...
All day was spent at Disneyland.

Great family weekend!

Boo to You

Halloween is the time of year to Boo people.

We got Boo'd early in October and the girls

absolutely loved getting the goodies.

We decided to wait until later this month to Boo our friends.

I bought simple themed bags.

The girls filled them with a variety of goodies.

We printed up the Boo stuff and we're ready to go.

Sugar Nugget escapes silently to her room and comes back

with her black spy-wear so she "can blend in with the night",

she said.

Sweet Cheeks follows suit.  We're good to go.

I love when something so simple is

so stinkin' enjoyable to my girls.

Ode to Kahlua

Kahlua was such a great dog!

She was the dog who chased and retrieved a tennis ball,

loved to track and chase the flashlight,

loved to watch TV and

freaked out when the July 4th neighborhood poppers went off.

She had a great life.

Sadly, she left us in March to go to doggie Heaven.

We miss her.

Kahlua

We got her to be a companion for our other dog, Bailey,

who was getting into too much trouble as a puppy.

We figured 2 dogs would make for good companionship.

What we found out was that 2 dogs meant double the trouble.

There were many times when I was ready to get rid of both dogs because

they were into everything and making my life miserable.

But, I'm a dog lover and stuck with it.

This was the last group picture with Kahlua.

(L to R)

Bailey, Max, Kahlua

(Sweet Cheeks in back)

Bailey is still kickin' it at age 12.

Max is the coolest Chihuahua ever.

We adopted him from our good friends who moved out of the Country.

.

Now, most people with any brains would say "2 dogs is plenty".

No, not me.

Sweet Cheeks and Sugar Nugget both wanted a puppy.

They had never experienced a puppy.

I wanted a puppy.....so we got a puppy.

3 dogs - 1 dog + 1 dog = 3 dogs

Drum roll, please.....

Our newest addition, Carly, who is a rascal.

Bailey and Max did not take an initial liking to Carly because

she was so tiny when she came home with us at 8 weeks old.

My dog logic told me that Bailey and Max thought Carly

was a rodent of some sort.

She fit right on top of this sofa pillow.

Too cute!

She has grown and grown and is now a healthy 12 lbs.

Having dogs is the coolest thing.

I just love them!

They will always be part of our family.

Chacklitmilkulitallbithot....say what?

Sugar Nugget wrote this down on paper about 2 years ago when she was in Kindergarten.

She said "whew" after she wrote it because it was a super, long word for her. I laughed hard...really hard.  To the point where it became the ugly, face-distorting laugh.

It was worth it.  This was funny!

Side note:   Uuuuurgh....

I could not get this photo to download horizontally and just gave up.

It showed horizontally in my pictures file and in picnik but only

uploaded this way.  Turn your head and read, please.

Chacklitmilkulitallbithot - let's break it down:

Chacklit  - chocolate

milk - nothing to decode

u - a

litall - little

bit - bit

hot - hot

So, it's actually chocolate milk a little bit hot.  This is part of our morning and evening rituals.
Doesn't everyone like a warm beverage first thing in the morning and as your last beverage before bedtime?
Well, I know I do.  So my kiddies are following suit.

This beverage of choice probably began about 5 years ago when the girls were 2 and 4.

I don't know how it happened, exactly.  Thinking back on it, I believe that I was the culprit who started it.
I was always that mother who warmed the kid's bottles before serving it to my baby girls. 
I don't like freezing cold beverages in the AM,

so why would they?

Am I making my kids high-maintenance?

Would they drink it without being warmed?

Should I stop the madness?

Answers:  hope not, maybe but they prefer it warm, and no

So the pouring began...

As I mix what seems like the millionth one,
I wonder how many times I have poured, stirred, microwaved
and served this yummy drink!

So, I do the math...

What?  It's not in the millions yet!

Look at those happy faces!

iCarly and Spongebob pajamas, chocolate milk a little bit hot and remote in hand.

What a great end to a wonderful day!

Nightime = bath, chocolate milk a little bit hot and even a

20 minute TV show if they're lucky!

Last night they were lucky!

Three-vents! Most events comes in 3's

It's wierd how unexpected events usually come in 3's.

The most recent three-vent (my way of attempting to make the words creative) included...

Three-vent #1:

Driving through a huge, wet, fresh mound of white paint on the road.

This didn't look like a gallon of paint but a 5 or 10 gallon size.

The splatter went all over!

Off to the car wash for a $150 detail and paint-picking extravaganza

(yes, the detailers had to pick off some of the paint).

Luckily, it all came off, but the ever-so-delightful

white color still gleams on my rubber tires.

A daily reminder of my stupid mistake!

Three-vent #2:

The refridgerator went on the blink.

I'm not just talking the refridgerator....it was the freezer, too.

And, it had to completely die the day after I did $300 worth of damage

at the grocery store.

Ahhhh, this fridge has been quite a pain since we bought it new in 2002.

Yes, it's a Maytag which is known to be one of the best brands for appliances.

Well, not in this case.  We've encountered many problems, including broken

ice maker (2x), freezer door replacement, water/ice dispenser replacement,

leaky water hose for the water dispenser...

and the most recent three-vent where the whole thing just gave out.

Luckily, we bought an extra 5 year service plan which I renewed for another 3 years.

Ahhhhh, electronics!

I know you're probably expecting another not-so-fun three-vent,

but I've got some good news...

Three-vent #3....

F - O - U - N - D!

Beautiful diamond pendant (almost 2 carats - but whose counting?)

that was lost almost a year ago.

This gorgeous diamond, which does not photograph well, was left for me

when my Dad passed away almost 9 years ago.

I had it placed into this pendant and just love it!

Rewind to almost a year ago at Christmastime when we go visit my family in Arizona.

I packed all my things, including my jewelry individually in zipper bags.

While unpacking in Arizona, I couldn't find the necklace and thought I left it at home.

Two weeks later upon returning home....still missing.

I searched high and low.  T-Bone searched high and low.

I asked Sweet Cheeks and Nugget if they

had been playing in my jewelry....they said "no, Mama".

So, I chalked it up to a loss.  Bummed, yes!

Crying and freaking out...no.

It's an object, not a human life, right?

So, I count my blessings and move on.

The unexpected moment came while I was clearing out my closet to

fit my new boots, shoes and handbag.

I began searching through a plastic bag that had many little zipper bags inside;

like toiletries, etc.

And, just lookey what I found!  My beautiful pendant!

A few joyful tears came with the excitement!

T-Bone wondered how I could have this emotion when finding the necklace

and had none when I thought it was lost.

Let's hope that many months pass before another three-vent invades my life.

The First Post

So, this is my first post.  I wonder what to write?  I've been motivated to do this by my good friends and have to thank them for encouraging me to "scrapbook" my life on this blog.

I'll start by introducing my beautiful family.  My handsome husband of 12 years (lovingly nicknamed T-Bone) and 2 adorable daughters (nicknamed Sweet Cheeks and Sugar Nugget).  We also have 3 dogs; Bailey, Max and Carly.  I feel so blessed to have a healthy, happy family.  I thank God for them everyday.

This family picture was taken 2 years ago when T-Bone and I renewed our wedding vows.  When we were on our honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, we talked about renewing our vows every 10 years and we've accomplished the first 10.  The celebration was fantastic! We had a simple ceremony in our backyard with family, friends and our Pastor to officiate.

My Crew!

Waiting to walk down the backyard aisle.

Sugar Nugget keeping herself busy during the ceremony.  Too many words for her.

Sweet Cheeks giggling to her 2 best friends.

Wine, martinis, appetizers and a delicious dinner was served.

In typical fashion, I ordered a cake that served 100+ when all

we needed to feed was about 40.  We ate cake for days and days.

And I loved it!

My beautiful Mom and Grandpa who is 96 and doing well!

What's really strange is that I was more nervous that day than on our original wedding day.  I had to speak from the heart about my feelings for T-Bone.  Staring into his hazel eyes, feeling his warm hands hold mine, and seeing the gazing eyes of our family and friends made my heart pound.  I truly was too nervous for words and just started rambling.  T-Bone's sweet grin and patient eyes helped me through the moment.  I made sure he knew how much I love him and that was enough.

I look forward to our next vow renewal in the year 2017.

I love T-Bone.

I love Sweet Cheeks.

I love Sugar Nugget.

And, I love our doggies.

Life is good!