beach. snowcones. sharks. yes, i said sharks!!!

yes.
there were sharks at the beach today. alex came home for the day and so we headed out for some time together. the state park at the water is as good a place as any to go. water. sand. trees and grass everywhere. trails. playground. bathrooms. little snack shop to eat burgers, or have a crazy flavored snow cone. yes. a great place to retreat as a family on a summery saturday.
as alex and the kids took off their shoes to walk in the water...i noticed something blackish or grey sticking up in the water. at first i didn't think anything of it, but it kept popping up. and then i got this funny scaredy-cat feeling inside and i told alex--there is something in the water. and i dont just mean, way out in the water...about 12 feet away from us...and as we are all looking to see it again, more and more of them pop up. good lordy...there are sharks in the water.
i'll have you know this mama got her babies out of that water something quick. and so we spent some time safely on the sand looking and hollering back and forth at each other...oh there's one...oh theres more oh look---what a commotion we were causing. alex finally decided we needed to leave.
the kids did warn the bunch of teenagers who showed up after us...and they began their own hollering etc...

good times.
good stories to hold on to.
xoxox

ps. if i can remember i will come back to add the photos i took of us at the beach...and a few of the water pictures that do not have sharks in them, even though i tried and tried...they were just too quick for me. but believe me--they were really there. my kids are still talking about it.

$3.50 dinner tonight

i am so proud of myself tonight. i just had to share. i fed the family (minus A-dog) for $3.50. seriously. now, it wasn't my best meal, and it wasn't packed full of vitamins etc. but it was quick and easy and cheap and they ate every single bite. a loaf of soft french bread from the deli for a buck, a box of ricearoni chicken flavored:under a buck, and an applesauce cup for each: a six or 8 pack I cant remember which, for like $1.26. it was most likely under $3.50 for the total meal, and I paid with it in change only. yup. it can be done. :) I only went in for an iced coffee that probably cost more then the meal, now that I'm thinking about it...but i wanted to see if i could feed them on what was left in change in my purse. and i did it.
there have been days where i spent a nice chunk of change and time on a decent meal, and either I A. burnt it, B. undercooked it. or C. the kids didn't like it. so today dinner was good and cheap and it took all of 15 mins to cook up. :)

for dessert they had bananas...so there's the nutritional part. high five to me.
xoxo

sum sum summertime

yup. the lazy days of summer. though not so very lazy around here. we are moved in. although we still have things to put away...once a home for those things shows up. my cousin kelly and her family just spent a week with us. SOOO wonderful to have my children spend time with her children. kelly is my one cousin who i spent time with growing up and she is beyond special to me. i love that the kids will have memories of their time together too. :)

its been just me and the kids for the most part. Alex is off doing whatever it is he does for the world. and pops in on us every so often.

we are working on projects for the kids rooms. posters, little decorating things like painting bullitin boards, frames etc to match. crafty fun stuff.

it seems like every second of each day i am busy doing something. the house is so much smaller and so if i dont keep up with things like laundry and cleaning...well everything goes to h double L. and i just cannot live like that anymore. i have enough chaos with my own mind, and the kids and the dogs. i need the house to run smooth.

so I hope to be back to posting soon, but ya never know with summer. keeping kids busy and everything is a lot of work, regardless of their age. :)

anyone still reading this thing?? say hello!!

xoxo

still moving in...

yup, that's about all we are doing these days. all day...swim team in the morning, moving the rest of the day. a little food thrown in to keep us going. passing out tired and bruised? at the end of another day.

i will never move our entire family again. well that's not true, but i will not do it unless the army moves us...which i know they will, and i'm fine with that as long as i don't have to. cause this SOOOO sucks. my new house is jam packed with everything --in every place it doesn't belong. and so the hard part begins: finding space for everything we own in a house too small for all of our current possessions. i think its time to simplify --and get rid of half of everything we own. yes- its time...or i need to get very creative with wall space and corners and storage bins...
back to work.

*edited. here is a pic of the front of the house. its a split level house...kinda strange for us cause we are not use to having a house like this. i keep calling the bottom rooms, the basement, even though it is NOT a basement as my kids so CLEARLY point out each time i say it. :)

oh, my birthday is tomorrow june 18th and i turn 35.

whats up with us?

i've lost track of the date completely. i wanna say its may 25 but i think i'm off somewhere. this usually happens to me. i need a watch. my last one fell in the toilet and was ruined. i need one that can tell me the time as well as the day. i usually just find my phone and check, but that could take days to do...and so here i am off a bit. :)

we had a nice memorial day weekend. spent with our best loved, most honored veteran. so happy to have him in our home, blessed to hear his stories of war, service and sacrifice...even if he tells it every day of his life. :)

the neighborhood had a mini kid bike parade and pool opening. logi & izzy did that, and alex helped control traffic. camille & i walked down to watch and take pics. it was super hot here. the parade kids got to go swimming, so that was nice. we hung out with our neighbors yesterday for a lil celebration. it was fun and nice to get to know everyone more.

today the kids are back to school and alex is back to work. i am sitting here with my many lists trying to figure out which to start on. the doggies are currently asleep, though i'm expecting them up any minute.

i think there are about 10 days of school left, give or take a day or 2. and about just as many til we close on the house we bought.

so i really have so much to do. we are moving a few streets away in the neighborhood, but still means a move. it still means a ton of work.

i am not even close to being ready. its hard when you have day to day stuff to take care of, on top of big things that come along.

so if anyone is wondering what is up with us...that's it. super busy, all the end of the school year activities and a big family move to boot us in overdrive.

chat soon.

xoxo

is april almost over??

well. another month gone by. time feels so much quicker lately. i can't get a handle on it at all. too many things to do, and the day ends before half feels done.
i am progressing on keeping the house clean. boring as that really is, it must be done. its a very thankless job. honestly i don't think anyone in the house comes home and says to me how wonderful anything looks cause its clean or picked up. they don't really care. of course all hell breaks loose if they are in need of something to be cleaned that isn't. oh--that's quick to draw some attention. I'm not complaining, just taking note for future reference. i will say that i take no pride in cleaning. i get no satisfaction during the job itself. i can hardly stay on task, i come up with a million and one excuses...but once its done, i do remember to tell myself how great it is that i did it. of course seeing the toothpaste smeared in the bathroom sink on a daily basis, after Ive done this cleaning, is kinda a low point. if things could just stay cleaned up a tad bit longer once Ive done them, well then, i wouldn't care if no one appreciates it. Id be happy and that would be enough. but it doesn't work that way. nope.
i have been successfully doing my chores each day. and I've discovered ants come in the spring time no matter what...inside the kitchen, or laundry room if there is the tiniest crumb on the counter and they trail in for days on end searching for that crumb...so as annoying as that makes me each time, it has also become my motivator for cleaning the kitchen all day....that's sorta a good thing.

other than all the cleaning i'm trying to keep up with. i'm just busy doing my thing. kids have practice during the week for sports and school activities, so i am rushing out the door to pick up and drop off once homework and snacks are finished. i slide back in to make some kind of dinner and rush the bedtime routine...to spend some time with big A if he's around, or to settle into my my current book.

in creative news, i am working on the craft fair for the kids school. i have decided to have a table of my little paper things. i went through a whole week of motivational speaking (to myself) and saying that if an opportunity came up--i would take it. and then i got the email about the craft show at school and i just did it. i am happy about it, it just takes more time than i thought to get stuff done, esp when i have a deadline. but i am working and it will be here next Friday and i am happy to be a part of it. i really hope people like my stuff and want to purchase some. (at least enough to cover the cost of being a part of it. :)

well i have more to do before days end. no picture today nothing new uploaded yet.
xoxo

not a very long break...a few words

my izzys back. isabelle went to san diego for spring break. she had a great time. she came home and has been sassing me ever since. reminds me of the summer camille went and came home acting like a lame teenager...minus the teen age. i think she was 9? maybe 10? but it lasted a few weeks. hopefully not so long with izzy.

well, im glad to have her back regardless. she had a super time with meema and cant wait to go again.

i seem to be having a personal rough patch to get through lately. all my talk or i should say, pep talk about finally figuring things out. well, maybe it wasn't so long lived. feeling down the past few days. so tonight i am going to put the kids to bed early and the dogs, hopefully that works. take a nice warm bath and read my book. right now I'm reading something by nora roberts. i never remember the titles of her books. they are all kinda similar in some way or another, but it keeps my restless mind busy. and ive read everything else i have here. reading helps me fall asleep. after a few days of rain--heavy pouring rain-- i am looking forward to this day ending and maybe some real sunshine tomorrow. lets pray for that shall we? i could sure use it.

i have been working on some super cute bookmarks and if the sun comes out tomorrow i can take some decent photos of them. just using bits of this and that from my paper scraps. love how they are turning out. but still don't feel motivated enough to work on anything bigger than a 2 1/2" x 7" book mark. they are easy to make and the kids love them. we go through them like water...forgetting to pull them from the last book we read...

maybe ill start leaving pretty book marks in the library books i check out...a little gift for the next reader. cute idea!! camille found a grocery list in her last book, not as fun...although it reminded us we needed bread too! :)

off to an early night.

xoxo