Knock, Knock

This is what we saw yesterday when Sawyer opened the door.

Blech. A snail. I cannot stand snails, they are entirely gross. What's worse is that today when Sawyer and I were playing catch on the front porch today the snail was still on the door. And we could see the migratory path it had taken after we left it yesterday. Today, after I pried it from the door, we assessed that it was probably dead. Double blech.

I've been trying to capture some great images of this wonderful baby of ours before he turns 7 months. That way I can call them his *6 month photos* even though there are hundreds of them. He seemed to enjoy himself quite a bit - and I thought the results were okay. (I've still got a bit of work ahead of me, though.)

And you knew *this* would happen, right?

I certainly did.

same old

Last night was bunco. It was rip-roaring, but I suppose you'll have to take my word for it. The usual crowd was there, plus a couple of subs. (one of which is my dear friend Cara and another is Shelby - a fun and dynamic woman who has 9 children total, 5 birthed and 4 step children. I digress...)

It was the usual dice rolling, score keeping, wine drinking, chocolate eating and cheating group. Did I say cheating? Yup, I sure did. Last year, I played in 2 bunco groups (how *do* you spell bunco with a C or a K?) this one and another one. Both groups had a girl who cheated. It was fairly common knowledge - everyone knew/knows who it is and it annoys everyone.

Last night, I was dividing the cash prizes amongst the winners and guess what? We were $6 short in the can. $6 is the bunco entry fee. *someone* didn't pay. Gee, might it be THE SAME person who has done this before? Might this be THE SAME person that somehow always wins *something*?? (Last night she had the last bunco so she won the prize, which was a $25 Nordstrom gift card. A nice gift, but certainly not worth cheating for. But, I personally can't think of anything worth cheating for)

I'm not really going anywhere with this story. It's just annoying, she's annoying and I can't stand that there is this drama every.single.month. I don't even like bunco that much. I just go to see my friends.

Now, I must go cut some hearts for Sawyer's school. He tried to explain what they were for - some special thing I've never heard of. But, he'd like 15 hearts to take to school today, so I will oblige him. He's hard to say no to.

Can you believe that?

After a great weekend, we're settling back into normal life. Saturday and Sunday were spent maxing and relaxing. LOVE that. We watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on Saturday night (until the DVD player decided not to work - again!) while enjoying another pizza picnic. (This has quickly become a McG family favorite.)

Yesterday, we drove down to Ramona and dined at Ramona Lisa with Gini, Ricky and Christie. Then, we went to their house for dessert and play time. Good fun.

Today, while Andy was driving home, he did a tally. A tally of how many cars he's had possession of in his life time. As you probably don't know, Andy is buying another car as we speak. We already have a 2007 Camry Hybrid that Andy drives back and forth to work, I drive a 2008 Toyota Sienna and soon Andy will be the proud owner of a 2007 Toyota Prius. A garage cleaning is in order because it seems like we should be able to at least get two of our cars in our three car garage. We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, here is the ever expanding list of Andy's cars:

• 1978 Chevrolet Malibu Classic
• 1990 Pontiac Grand (Am)
• 1999 Toyota Tacoma
• 2000 Toyota Solara*
• 2001 (grey) Toyota Camry*
• 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee
• 2001 Toyota Tacoma
• 2002 (blue) Camry*
• 1996 Toyota 4Runner
• 2003 Toyota Matrix
• 1995 Mazda Protoge
• 2002 Toyota Sequoia*
• 2004 Toyota Corolla
• 1990 Jeep Wrangler
• 2005 Toyota Solara convertible
• 2007 (white) Camry Hybrid
• 2008 Toyota Sienna*
• the not yet purchased 2007 Toyota Prius

For those of you not keeping track, Andy is 32 years of age. He's been driving for 16 years. He drove the Grand Am for 5-6 years -- you do the math. (Disclaimer: I did primarily drive some of these vehicles and they have an asterisk after them. But, even if they were *my* car, Andy can still claim them, as he did still drive them probably 25% of the time - plus - they were/are in his name from work) Also, in case you were wondering, my first car was a 1988 Ford Escort and I drove that until 1996 when I got the 1995 Toyota Tercel that I drove until 1999 when I got the red Solara.

You're all probably slumped over asleep in your chair, completely bored from our reminiscing. Count yourself lucky though, because if I had all of the pictures on this computer I would post all of those!

Anyway, that is all for today. I was not able to volunteer in class today because Sawyer was feeling under the weather. But, we did go to his last tee ball practice and I will attend bunko tonight. Can't wait to see my friends but I can wait to toss the dice...

baby in a tea cup, boop boop

A little of this, a little of that

First, a follow up of sorts to yesterday. The weather only continued to get worse. At Cam's open house there was some severe weather (SUPER unusual for this area) and a torrential downpour. Unfortunately, we were all drenched -- the roof at the school was leaking in many places and the place was mass chaos. We decided to brave the rain and run out to Cam's classroom (as it's in a portable building) and it was hailing. HAIL!

Anyway, apparently nearby to here in two different areas there were tornadoes! Now, when everyone tells me that they'd take earthquakes over tornadoes anyday, I'll have to remind them that we have both here! Here are some photos (not great ones) of the tornadoes taken by a teacher at Campbell's school.

http://www.haldermanhome.com/luiseno/weather/PictureOfTheDay.htm

Sawyer also had an open house as well and it was, fortunately, much less eventful. We saw some of Sawyer's work, his friends and teachers, plus heard a couple of songs. All I have to say is that Ms. Susann is a saint dealing with the little boys in that class!

Sawyer looks so thrilled, right? And, next to him on the right is Jake. He's spirited.

Enough about the weather and school! (Apparently two of my most common subjects) Shall we discuss my most favorite subject? The baby!

There are two hot topics surrounding the baby. Sitting and spitting. I have a love/hate with the sitting and the spitting both, really. I want him to sit - it opens all kinds of opportunities. He can play with toys, I can put him down places, I don't have to worry about him rolling all over creation and chewing on power cords (oh wait! he might still do that anyway!), and we can have some great photo opportunities. But, if he's sitting, then he's not a wee little baby anymore. :(

And, the spitting. Argh! It's adorable for the baby -- he is so cute and has so much enthusiasm for it. Thing 1 and Thing 2 LOVE to emulate this all.day.long and that gets very annoying. (Notice all the drool on his orange outfit from the spitting!)

This is a cute picture of Harrison loving the spinner with the little balls in it on the exersaucer. He *hearts* the exersaucer!

One of those days

Today was one of those days where you think that Voldemort is real and that he has a hand in what is going on. From huge earthquakes in (what seems like everywhere!) China, Cyclones in Myanmar, tornadoes in Colorado and thunder/snow/lightning in Seven California on May 22 you know the Dark Lord must be behind all of this.

Obviously, we had some rain today -- Sawyer and I listened to the pouring rain and thunder with amazement, it was really quite something.

Anyway, tonight is busy. PTA meeting and In 'N Out burger at Luiseno at 530. Then, Cam's Open House from 6-7 pm. Then Sawyer's open house is up in Corona from 730-800. Busy night!

Is this better?

original:

The lightened version. At least you can see their faces!

Out of time

I have exactly 12 minutes until I have to leave to pick up Campbell at school. Harrison is sleeping and I'm sitting amongst the largest pile of laundry I've ever seen. And, here I am.

I was waiting to blog until I edited a few photos to share. Then, I decided that I was probably not going to get to those photos until I was at least 33, so I should share underexposed photos and photos that need to be cropped. What will you see? Photos that need to be lightened, tweaked, and cropped. Eyes that need to be popped, color that needs to be saturated and images that need to be sharpened. Ah well...another day, okay?

In the mean time... Sunday we took 3 boys to see Speed Racer in the theater. Harrison was perfect, as usual. He sat quietly, ate and slept in his carseat. The 3 biggest boys and I were totally enthralled by the movie and the overall story line. I *LOVE* stories where good prevails over evil. LOVE it.

Monday was yet another HOT (100*+ degrees!) day and we had a little evening swim. When we arrived at the pool we were delighted to find Sawyer's friend from school, Grace there. The two boys had a delightful time playing with Grace while Andy, Harrison and I watched. Good times.

Cutie at the pool

How fun is that?

Same photo, different focus. So, the bokeh is in different spots. In the first photo I'm focused on Campbell and Harrison is out of focus. In the second, I'm focused on Harrison and Campbell is out of focus. I think it tells the same story but maybe with a bit of a different language.

Sawyer is paying homage to his Papa Tom, who loves to wave in photos. (This is one of those pictures where I would lighten it up, some!)

The cutest baby in the world. 'Nough said.

The best things in the world include a sleeping baby.

Time's up! gotta run.

brothers

Now we have pictures of both little brothers eating Cam's face. Cute, huh?

big and fun

Today was a pretty big day and I'm not talking about the temperatures. (The high today here in the Temescal Valley was 100.6*) Sawyer and Campbell both had a baseball game today -- only one more left! (May 31!!)

We sat through Sawyer's game and then after the game Andy wanted to drive by/through a couple of car shows that he'd read about in the newspaper. One was at the Glen Eden Sun Club. So, into the nudist colony we went. Okay, I'm joking about that last part. We didn't actually go in. BUT, that was where one of the car shows was.

Campbell's game was later this afternoon and it was still blazing and we were still sweating. He still played really well and had a lot of fun. Sawyer still enjoyed his friends on the sidelines and still enjoyed being bat boy. (There were several spray bottles involved and I think that might have kept Sawyer cooler than us)

We had big plans for tonight. With the new Indiana Jones movie coming out next weekend we decided to get the first three movies from Netflix. So, the first one came yesterday and we planned to watch the movie tonight after dinner and that the boys could have their favorite movie snack with it. (Popcorn and M&M's) So, we had a pizza picnic on the floor in front of the TV and started the movie. (I'd never seen any of them either! How exciting for me, as well) Sadly, we only made it through 45 minutes of the movie before we realized the DVD was damaged. How sad.

That is the big and the small and all of the news that is fit to print.

You're going to have to take my word for it

I had some cute photos that I wanted to share. I even had a story to tell with them. Unfortunately, you're going to have to take my word for it - as blogger is NOT cooperating with my plans. (My plans included uploading some pictures) Come to think of it, photoshop is not cooperating either and I'm not able to open any photos to edit. Perhaps it's a sign. Maybe, but a sign of what? Let's ponder that.

It's a hot one here today and Thing 1 and Thing 2 are topless playing Wii Sports. My air conditioner is also running on high as it's 100*. It's supposed to be 100* again tomorrow and let me tell you, I don't want to sit and watch baseball games in that kind of weather. Really, that should come as NO surprise.

Anyway, it's day 8 of cloth diapering and let me express my excitement about it. Order number two of diapers came and I'm waiting for the next batch tomorrow. That should be it for a while -- and hopefully will get me through 3 days before I have to wash diapers again. (While it's not a big deal, washing daily is for the birds!) I should also express my disappointment that I didn't start cloth diapering sooner. It's EASY and quite addicting. I know that washing the diapers takes resources (water and energy) but I feel good not contributing 6-7 diapers per day to the landfill. Now, I do 7 a week (night time) versus the 42-49 we did before. Small steps to being more green and reducing our footprint. Good things.

Good times

Last week (or was it the beginning of this week? It's neither here nor there, really) Campbell received a letter from his cousin *K*. *K* is 7 years old and is also in first grade. We were all very excited to open the letter and read what it had to say. It contained a family picture of *K* her brother *F*, her mom, and her dad, (Her dad is my darling husband's brother) a picture of her and her brother and the card.

Here is what the card says:

Dear Camel, (a little joke of sorts)

Are you excited for school to get out? I am. Only 17 more by the time you get this it will be even less. Love, *K*

I absolutely loved the letter. So, Aunt Kara, if you're reading -- please tell *K* a very big thank you - it's wonderful that she was thinking of Campbell!

**All of the pictures from today are straight out of the camera, not at all edited, Although they really need to be!!**

Today was a fun day for us. It started with Harrison receiving his DTaP immunization. The nurse gave him the shot he paused for a minute and then smiled at her. He didn't cry, didn't flinch - nothing. The nurse, however, made sure that her position was known that she's against breaking up the shots. Too bad I didn't ask for her opinion.

Then, Sawyer and I washed our van in the driveway. Now the van is reasonably clean and we had some fun. Sawyer was, of course, drenched after the affair and he blames that all on me. Couldn't have been that he was already soaked through before I got my hands on the hose!

After we picked Campbell up from school we headed to the new pool for a quick swim. It was a very hot day so it was quite a treat for the boys. Harrsion was decked out in pool gear but he didn't get in, he was quite content in the stroller. (Even though bigger and bigger bigger brother really wanted him to get in!)

For cousin *K*, a picture of Campbell without blue hair so she can recognize him! I hope she likes it better!

All in all, good times had by all! Looking forward to another good one tomorrow.

Video

Just wanted to share a quick video from Cam's Mother Goose performance a couple of weeks ago. Sawyer and I just watched it and I had forgotten how cute it is. ENJOY!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday Sawyer looked at Harrison while he was blowing raspberries and said "Aren't we so lucky to have Harrison?" I agreed because we are so very lucky to have him. He's just wonderful and we all are crazy about him.

Today, Sawyer woke up and wanted to make cookies to take for snack to share with his friends. So, in between loads of laundry on laundry day - we made our new favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Sawyer did almost all of the dumping of ingredients and he licked the beater. YUM! (Added bonus, they only contain 1/4 cup white sugar!)

Adding the eggs:

The oats go in!

The best part!

Checking out the final dough:

Aren't we so lucky to have Sawyer? YES! he loves his brothers, he loves to hug, kiss and cuddle. He's a wonderful little man - we are SO lucky. Now, I have to go pick him up from school! (Only 8 more school days until he's a kindergardner!)

Here are a couple of photos of Thing 1. It seems like there are few pictures of him unless he has his baseball uniform (or whatever sport he's currently participating in) on. And, I do have a few of those that are interesting, but I digress. He likes to occasionally wear his hair spiked up with blue gel.

Playing catcher on Monday night against the Braves:

This concludes todays photo montage of our day/week. Hopefully you've enjoyed it - I did! (It's only taken me 8 hours to actually finish this -- and now I must switch load number 9 of laundry)

Luckiest mom around

After a good mothers day - i have come to the conclusion that I'm the luckiest mom there is. I've got a fabulous husband, and three healthy and happy kids. Harrison is sweet, growing like a weed and HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY. Sawyer is smart, fun and really really funny! Cam is beyond smart, always challenging and just a nut! (Yesterday, that 6.5 year old boy read 100 + pages in the car while driving to and from Anaheim! This is, of course, normal for him -- but how proud am I??) What else could I ask for? I thank my lucky stars every day.

Yesterday we had a fantastic brunch at El Torito and then headed over to Disneyland. We rode a few rides (Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Mr. Toad's, and PETER PAN!!!!) walked around and just had a fun low key day. We had lovely weather in Seven California (the descriptor of Seven is courtesy of Sawyer, of course!) that added to our wonderful afternoon.

No day for me would be complete without something being off. After Disneyland I took us on a wild goose chase looking for Whole Foods. (I love Whole Foods -- they have fantastic baby wipes, the frozen baby food cubes that Harry J. loves and a huge selection of California Baby products AND local produce -- very important!) I go there very rarely, however, because it's not quite responsible for me to drive all that way. But, since we were alledgedly (according to GPS!) only a few miles from there, it seemed like a good idea. The route goddess was way off and we never got there. (Never mind that I've totally been there before!) OH well...

And that was our day. Hopefully all of my favorite mommies had a good one too -- or at least not a bad one.

Update

Harrison had his 6 month check up today. He is 20 pounds and 27.5 inches. Around 75 ish percentile for both. I know this is how much Cam and Sawyer weighed at 6 months, but I'll have to check the height.

I deferred any immunizations, again. The doctor in the office wasn't upset but wanted to let me know it was all on my head if my baby caught polio. I'll take the risk, thanks. Actually, I was all prepared to give the DTaP, but he's still got a cold and I'd rather not add to his misery. (HA HA, this baby miserable - never! ) so, I scheduled a nurses visit for next Thursday. Anyone putting any money on if I take him in? I'm not a wagering type of gal so I'll sit that one out. But, it's really anyones guess.

Sawyer's funnies, part 2

Yesterday I took Harrison and Sawyer to Disneyland for a few hours. I was getting Harrison out of the stroller to go on Pirates of the Caribbean and Sawyer says to me "Mom, guess what song I'm singing in my head". So, I guess "It's a Small World" - seems like a logical choice and we'd heard it a few moments before. He says "No, I'm singing 'Workout Plan'!" Crazy kid singing Kanye West in his head at Disneyland!

We were in a store and on top of a gum ball machine there was a beaver on it. (Like this was the company symbol or whatever) I said "Look, there is a beaver!" Sawyer responds "Yeah! Just like Beaver!" He was quite jubilant about it, too. Is it normal that we call my cousin, Anthea, Beaver as her name? Our goal is that Harrison doesn't even know her real name - we think it's be quite amusing that he only knows her as Beaver!

Day 3 of cloth diapers! It's going well so far.

before I forget

Sawyer has been really funny lately. Actually, Sawyer is always really funny - but lately he's added some really funny things to our collection of stories to retell.

The other night Andy and I were sitting on the couch talking about a coworker of his and Crossroads Christian School. (His coworker has 2 daughters that attend elementary school there and it's also where Sawyer goes to Pre-K) Near the end of the end of the conversation Andy says "the old Crossroads" and makes air quotes when he says that. So Sawyer, while jumping on the couch, says "Crossroads is fun" and makes air quotes around fun. We laughed for quite some time.

Then, last night in the car we were talking about how Sawyer had school today. (He didn't have school on Monday!) He gets very exasperated and says "I just can't handle this Crossroads thing!" (For the record, he LOVES school, but sometimes he feels like there is too much work when he's been away for a few days. Once he's on his regular schedule he LOVES it!)

He was also going on and on about how sweet it would be to have a RV while we were taking a walk (after the "Crossroads is fun" conversation) and animatedly talking about how he could watch TV in the RV. Wow. Too bad he watches TV in nearly every room of our house and in the van, occasionally!

He's a fun boy, to be sure!

Dreaming of simpler days

This weekend was slammed full of events. Friday night, we had a baseball game. Saturday at 8 am we had a baseball game. Saturday afternoon we had a baseball game. Saturday evening we had a baseball team party. Sunday, Sawyer had an ice skating birthday party. We had to remind ourselves to breathe.

As a very busy adult and parent to three young kids I find myself remembering back to those boring, slow moving Sundays. Particularly the ones I remember as a kid where there was no one around besides my mother and there was NOTHING on TV. (Not that I would have chosen what we watched, anyway) There was no where to go because nothing was open and I would wish the day away, waiting for the next school day.

While I enjoy keeping us busy, I do wish for quiet days every now and again. Days where there are no parties or games, no prior engagements or errands to run. Seems like there are always haircuts to be had, groceries to buy or dry cleaning to pick up.

You know what? I wouldn't change any of it. However, I will still look forward to the boring weekends that will come about when the boys are grown. I will not wish away these crazy days because they will be over far too soon.

Caesar (Not salad)

During the different sports seasons we get to know the families of the boys on Cam and Sawyer's teams. We spend lots of time together at practices and games. This year, Cam is on a baseball team with a few boys that are in his class at school. Two of the boys have brothers that are in kindergarten and they both are boys that Sawyer loves to play with.

At a game a couple of weeks ago, Andy asked me if I knew what Anthony calls Sawyer. I did not, so I asked him to let me in on it. the answer was, of course, Caesar. A few moments later Sawyer came over to my chair on the first base line and asked me where the "red shirt boy" was. Translation, where is anthony? so, this relationship is on a special level - one where they call each other caesar and red shirt boy. like all good things, this had to come to an end. they now both know each others name. it was good while it lasted.

for your viewing pleasure - a few photos of the boy that is 5.5 months. On Tuesday, he will have reached that age - one that is a huge milestone - 6 months old.

Busy busy

Harrison is a busy boy! He's layed off the new tricks until today. Today, he decided to roll from his belly to his back! Woohoo, he's almost mobile. Wait, that means he's growing. I hate it when he grows. Yet, somehow, I'm going to have to embrace the growing and rejoice - I'll work on that.