Summer Activities...

I've been searching for activities to keep the kids busy and I haven't been to excited yet. Then I found this site. There are so many ideas.
If I didn't already say this. I'm going to try and make this a memorable summer. All of my summers were memorable because my Mom put a lot of effort into making them fun for us. That is my goal for this summer and every one after. Wish me luck!

Giveaway

Check this giveaway out. I love this book. It has some cool things you can make.

Slip n Slide Fun

Today after baseball the kids wanted to pull out the slip n slide. They've been dying to try it. Here are some pics.

8th Grade Dance

8th grade dance oh, my! Yes, Kenny just went to his first dance! They had a dinner and dance for the 8th graders. In preparation we had to find a shirt. He tells me it needs to be a certain color. I ask why and he tells me Tiffany wants him to match her.
"Who's Tiffany"?
"Just a girl"!
A GIRL IS NEVER JUST A GIRL!
In the last few weeks there's been 4 girls calling for my son.
It's the end of the year, they're getting a little crazy.
Thursday is his promotion ceremony, pics to follow!

Memorial Day

So Monday we decided to go on a family adventure. Boy, was it an adventure! First we talked about the beach. I thought it would be fun to spend the day at the beach. While we were looking at ideas for our anniversary we came across Muir Woods. I remember going there with my family. So I said lets do that.
Muir Woods here we come!
It takes about an hour to get to the area and then about 15 minutes of winding roads up the mountain. They have a very small parking lot. So we ended up parking down the road along the mountain. Ken was worried about walking on the street (even though everyone else was). He sees a trail and says, "let's follow it"!
I should've gone with my instinct. I knew it would take us out of our way. This trail went up and up. It seemed like it was never gonna end. I kept telling him, "I can't believe you made us take this trail". Now you know everyone had to go to the bathroom after the drive. Everyone was complaining. I finally said start using the bush. One by one we used the bush. Oh yeah, WE!
We finally made it to the ENTRANCE of Muir Woods. By then we were already tired and out of breath. When we entered the woods, Christina refused to walk. She had had enough! Hubby had to carry her the whole way! That's what you get!
We walked about an hour through the woods. It was gorgeous! We then took off to Muir Beach. Oh did I mention it was cool! Well the beach was cold. I tell ya, every time we try to go to the beach it's cold! Maybe we should move to So. Cal.
We tried to fly the kite but not much wind. The kids had a blast digging and playing in the water. It was a nice, relaxing, and MEMORABLE family day!
That is my goal this year, to make as many family memories as possible. When I see a open in our schedule, you can count on an adventure for this family!
I hope you enjoy the pics, there's a lot!

It's Our Anniversary!

It's our anniversary! We're celebrating 14 years. Yes, 14 years ago we got married and began our family! We were so young and we fought to be together. But only the best things come through hard work!
I told Hubby that our little girl is 3 now and I think we can sneak away. So I made plans. Got our hotel, set up a babysitter and made our itinerary. I was so excited to finally getaway without any kids!
Okay so I wish I could say I had pics of our San Francisco trip but I don't. Yes, I did take my camera and No, their not inappropriate. We had plans to go see Alcatraz and spend the day at the Pier.
Well when we woke up Saturday it was overcast! Man, was I hoping for a nice sunny weekend. I even bought a new outfit that would help get a tan while touring. No such luck! We immediately changed our plans and went to Japan town. Now of course we've seen everything in San Francisco plenty of times. We were just happy to do it without kids.
We spent 4-5 hours checking out every shop. It was so much fun! One of our last shops was a bookstore. You won't believe what I found there. I was so excited and told Hubby I had to have it!

A Japanese version of Twilight! Now of course I can't read it, but my Mother-in-law can. She said once she gets through her stack of books she'll call me.
Fine with me I just wanted it for a collection piece.
We came home in the early evening because the weather was not our friend.
I can't tell you how much Japanese food I ate this past weekend.
It was a great getaway!

Nice Story

Okay so I just found out that my brother has a blog. Dork, didn't even tell me! Typical! I really liked this story and knew some of you would too. Has to do with the military and Denzel, yes Denzel!
follow this link.

End of School

Last week Tina had her last day of school. This is her first official summer. I keep having to explain that she is on vacation from school. All she hears is "vacation". To her that means packing and traveling. Her class had a little party, here are a couple of photos.


We're also getting ready for Kenny's "promotion ceremony". He will be leaving the 8th grade and become a freshman! I can't believe my first born will be in high school. Scary!

Summer Is Around The Corner!

Now that the weather is nice we've (Tina and I) been spending more time outside. We might play on the swing set, go for a bike ride around the court, play baseball (of course) on the front lawn or explore our yard.
Yesterday we walked outside and this is what we found on the porch.

It scared me half to death. I know it's not that big but it sure is bigger than the normal garden lizard. I'm also not use to seeing them around here. Of course when I was a kid that was a different story.
We were also admiring the beautiful flowers!

Well I've been thinking about what we're going to do with the kids come summer. I looked at the calendar and they do have some camps that will keep them busy but I need to come up with something else.
So I think I'm going to make some sort of schedule. That will tell us if it is a crafty day, water play day, park day. I will be throwing in there a cleaning day (mostly for the mornings) and a friend day (invite friends to come play).
I also need to find some kits to keep them busy while I am having my personal time. Oh yeah, Mom is throwing that in there too! I will be taking a quilting class starting June 11th! I'm so excited about that!
Well if you have any ideas send them my way.

Projects, Projects!

I've been so busy with projects. There were so many babies born this last month and I wanted to come up with something fun! I found all my ideas on this site. I could spend hours on it!
It was so much fun making these cute baby outfits!

Tutu Time!

Christina has been waiting for me to make this tutu. All week she asked, "Can we make the tutu now"! Well I got together with a friend and we made the tutus. It was so easy and fast. It only took an hour. The best part there was no sewing!
Now all she needs is some pink ballerina shoes!

Pizza!

Okay so I thought it would be fun to make calzones. Oh my gosh! They were so much work! Mateo was a huge help though. He's my little helper in the kitchen. I like it that he's interested in learning how to cook.
First we made the dough. Then rolled it out into circles. Next you fill it with pizza yummies and bake!
Well those cute little calzones took forever to make.

I guess if you have a small family it would be okay. I have a very large family, so I opted to make regular pizza.

They were a hit! My secret is, to add a little more sugar to the dough!

I Want...

I want my memory back! Man, Christina has THE best memory. She doesn't forget a thing. You know how you tell a kid, "Sure, sure later or tomorrow". Well later she'll ask!
Now during my pregnancy with her my memory loss was crazy. I still can't remember a thing. The kids and hubby tell me something and I'll ask them 5 minutes later the same question.
I drive everyone crazy! Well Tina I want my memory back!

LA Trip

So last weekend we got away and went to visit family. My Grandma turned "77". We
haven't been to visit since before Tina was born. I thought it was time!
We were so worried about the trip. How were we going to keep that busy girl occupied? Well thank goodness for protable DVD players!
They watched movies and played games all the way. They didn't even sleep until the last 1-2 hours! Amazing! When I was there age I would sleep all the way!
It was funny though...and hour into the drive Mateo ask, "how close are we"!
Silly boy!
Friday night we got in late and just talked, then went straight to bed. Saturday we hit the swap meet (every time we go) and the mall. It was so humid there, but at least we weren't in the northern rain!
Dad got the bbq going and everyone started to arrive. And I mean everyone! You wouldn't believe how big our family is. Well when Grandma has 6 kids and my Dad had 6and each of us has an average of 2. WEll the #'s add up! I think the head count was 30.
We had a great get together catching up and celebrating Grandma's Birthday.
Here are some pics from the party and our trip home. I didn't take too many. I was too busy visiting!

Catch Up!

Well Facebook has been keeping me busy chatting with friends, I've totally ignored my blog. So much has happened that I haven't written about. I'll just back track as best I can.
First I wanted to share what I had for dinner last night. I found this recipe, Chicken Bruschetta on this site. You should really try it. It was yummy and easy! Especially since I had leftover chicken it only took a total of 20 minutes!

This Is How You Make...

This is how you make a volcano. My niece had it for a project. Pretty young if you ask me, for a 1st grader. Mateo just did his project in the 6th grade. Steve's girlfriend was a great help. Enjoy the pics!

Recipe Time

Okay so I thought it's been awhile since I posted a recipe. So here ya go!
Tonight I made my Mexican Lasagna. This is a big hit at my house.
Everyone goes for 3rds.
I don't have the original recipe on hand anymore. I've been making it so long I just do it from memory.

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients
shredded chicken (most times I use can of chicken)
can of black beans
shredded cheese
sour cream
1 jar of salsa
1 package of tortillas
1-2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp cumin powder

Directions
First pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Then I mix chicken, beans, salsa(all but 1/4cup) and spices together


Then I put a 1/4 cup of salsa at the bottom of a baking dish. You then layer tortillas, sour cream, meat mixture and cheese till you reach the top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbly. I like to garnish with tomatoes and lettuce. I usually serve with mexican rice.

Yum! Let me know if you try it!

We're Officially...

We're officially in the WHY stage! That's all I hear all day long.
Why this?
And why that?
I try to give her a real answer but it still doesn't satisfy her. So finally I say, "BECAUSE" or "quite asking me WHY"!
And I get another why!
I remember when I was visiting my Aunt one summer and my cousin was 4 or 5. We were on our way to the mall and he was in the back seat, saying, "Why"! I thought that was funny, but this(my own child) is not!
This is what I'm going to do to her if she doesn't stop! LOL

Spring Break

Okay there is so much to tell. I'll try to keep it short. Prepare for many photos. I took over 100 photos.
Well we had this great weekend planned and then Ken's work said he had to work. Bummer! I went back and forth if I should go ahead with plans. I decided that the kids have been waiting for this so we went. We were heading out to the Redding area to visit my Mom's best friend Kathy. I have never been out to her place before and I knew it was going to be a long ride.
So we packed up the van Friday morning and headed off. We first made a stop at my friend Valaun's house. I usually get to see her once or twice a year. Her kids were so big and so cute! We took the kids to the park and hung out for a couple of hours. It was so great to see her! She is one of those great friends that sadly had to move away!
Then we were off to Kathy's and the adventure of finding her hidden ranch. During the drive we kept feeling lost. We were out in no where land. Really, it was like a desert out there. I kept calling her to see if I was going the right way.
Yep, she said just keep driving. I was getting a little worried because it looked so dead out there.
Once we got to her place it was a site! There was so much land to see and play on. We were first greeted by Kathy's huge dog, Duke! He's the guard dog to the property and the goats. Daisy, the chiuaha came following behind him. Daisy was Tina's favorite dog. It was late Friday so we just hung out round the house. Had some dinner, played games and retired early because we were pooped!
The next day we began our adventure. We started by feeding the animals. Kathy has goats, chickens, a rooster and some newborn chicks. We then walked across the street to the neighbors to visit the minature pony ranch. There were hunddreds! They just keep reproducing! What a site! There's a creek going through everyones land so we walked along the creek and it was gorgeous!
We then went back to Kathy's and made lunch and took it out the their private lake. We had the whole lake to ourselves. We used the paddle boat, fished and watched Duke jump in the water! Lani then joined us and he his such a crack up! He was in a big truck trying to play hide n seek with the dogs! Crazy, Guy!
Lani then bbq a great dinner and got the ATV running for us. The boys and I had a blast on it. We took turns riding it all over the property. We then hooked up a wagon and took the little kids for a ride.
Sadly the weekend came to an end, but not before Tina woke up with a fever and laid in bed all morning. We began our packing of the van and took off for home.
We had such a blast up at the ranch! I think we found our new campsite! I can't wait to take Ken back! Enjoy the pics!

Easter 2009

Here are some pics from Easter, enjoy!