Mini Soapbox

Last week we had our Earth Day assembly and we had the folks at 5 Gyres come talk to us about the problem of ocean pollution in the 5 Gyres of our Earth.  A gyre is a giant circular oceanic surface current, and our Earth has 5.  So what is happening is all the plastic that the earth consumes and tosses ends up getting caught up in these gyres and causing all kinds of problems because plastic is made to be everlasting and disposable.  They showed us that birds and fish end up eating a lot of these plastic items and it is really causing a problem.  Recycling isn't really a solution because recycling plastic takes a lot of effort and expense.  In other words it isn't really cost effective to do so.  In fact most of our plastic that we recycle gets sent in big bales over to China.  What do they do with it?  No one really knows...

Personally I think it gets recycled back to us in the form of annoying you-hate-but-child loves Happy Meal Toys that sit in your closet in a big bin, yet your child doesn't want to play with 5 days after they get them, but yet if you try to throw them away or sell them they turn into said child's most prize posession and you turn into the mean mother who tried to throw away your child's "whole life"...evil I tell you pollution evil.

There is no way to clean up the plastic that is already stuck in the gyres, so the only thing left to do is to reduce our use of plastic.

So...I decided that I wanted to do my part.  I already use a stainless steel water bottle and refuse to use or buy disposable plastic water bottles.  Our family use reusable lunch boxes and reusable containers.  The place I fall short is in the area of plastic baggies.  I  use them for everything.  Since that assembly I started to use our tupperware instead of baggies, but that just can be very bulky and hard to pack.  Plus the tupperware is so much bigger than necessary so I am having to wash dishes and run the diswasher more often.  I decided that I wanted to look into plastic bag alternatives.  Here are some that I found.

Fresh Snack Packs  These are reusable durable and washable wrap around baggies made out of EVA plastic and are phthalate, lead, BPA and PVC free. They come in a few different sizes. They are still made of plastic, but not disposable.

Lunch Skins  These are made of thick cotton fabric coated with a food safe polyurathane liner.  They are grease proof and moisture proof and they are diswasher safe.  They have many different sizes as well. 

Snack Taxis These are basically the same as the Lunck Skins but offer some larger options.  They reccomend hand washing and air drying to promote durability, but say they can be laundered as well.

Flip and Tumble Reusable Produce Bags  This is another big problem with me is those plastic produce bags that you use at the grocery store.  Here is an alternative to that.  They are polyester and can be machine washed. 

Reusablebags.com has many many more items to help you become a greener person.  I am going to do my part. 

What do you do to make your life a little greener?  Please share, all 6 1/2 of us want to know!!

More Later

- A Ro

The Comfortable Old Random Dozen

It is time for the Random Dozen.  Lidna over at 2nd Cup is our host and you should go over to her site and link up your own Random Dozen post.  She always makes me feel like I should have given the show "Lost" one more episode before I decided that it was a stupid show.  Now I just feel stupid for not watching it.

1. Have you ever been so lost that you were really afraid?
I panic very easily.  So I am sure that I have been lost and afraid.  However, it was probably being lost and having the potential of being late.  If I was lost and not late for anything I probably would be fine.

2. Have you ever been to an island?
Does the island of "poor me" count...no?? Then nope never been to an island.

3. Are you more of a thinker or feeler?

I react on gut instinct which doesn't always serve me so well, so I guess that makes me a feeler, but when I am feeling badly I usually can logically talk myself down.  That might make me a thinker.  Rich tells me that one of the things he loves about me is my ability to think logically through a problem and come up with a solution.  Obviously that is only after I have my mini meltdown. 

Looking back on my answer to this question it is now clear that I am a thinker...

4. Do you tend to see issues or situations in life as black and white or shades of gray?

One thing that I  have learned from being a teacher and a mother is that life is LOTS of shades of gray.  One size does not fit all.

5. If you were stuck on an island, what book would you hope to have with you (Let's pretend the Bible is already there, so you can't say that.)

DUH...

If that wasn't an answer that addresses the spirit of this question then I would like to have this book that I just read:


6. What are you most afraid of?
This reminds me of a Modern Family episode which had a theme of things you are afraid of and all the adults fears were, heights, spiders, etc..but when they asked one of the kids on the show what his fear was he said "I am afraid of dying alone"...

I am definitely not afraid of dying alone and I am thankful that I no longer have to worry about living my life alone.  I believe I am most afraid of something bad happening to my kids.  Not to the point that it hinders me from being a good parent, but the thought of losing one of them scares me to death.

7. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?
And I thought the fear question was a toughie.  Since the old memories include all of of the bad hair, angst, and leg warmers of middle school, I think I would say that I would rather lose all of my old memories.

8. Pretend I'm looking at a scrapbook page about you. There are three spaces for you to drop in individual pictures. What are those pictures of, and why did you select them?

Me and my one true love.

Me and the two people who have my heart.

My personal accomplishment...my first 10K.

9. If you were re-doing your wedding, what would you do differently? (If you're single, tell me one thing you would do if you were planning a wedding OR huge party.)
In my case just have his kids not marry him...(we are divorced)

But I am planning my second wedding and this time it is all about us and  the beginning of our lives together and not so much about the actual "event". 

10. Tell me one thing you know/believe about forgiveness.

It is more beneficial for you than for the person you are forgiving.

11. You're waiting in a doctor's office. What is your favorite way to pass that time?

Reading or doing my weekly LA Times Sunday crossword puzzle all while secretly people watching.

12. If there were a clone of you in a parallel universe what is one way you hope she/he would be the same as you and one way you hope she/he would be better?

I wish her the same amount of compassion for others especially young people.  I would take away from her the intese need for justice.

In Summary: I think too much, I don't forgive enough, and I love with my whole heart. (And I must not have been too keen on my middle school days)

More Later

- A Ro

Back in the Swing of Things...a List

Today was my first day back to "normal" after my busy production weeks and I noticed quite a few things that I would like to share with you.  If you hate lists, hate "normal", or came here because you were curious about what kind of blackmail would cause J-Lo to do "The Back Up Plan", but can't type, then I suggest you avert your eyes.

1. It is much easier to complain about lack of sleep and being too busy to exercise than to get a good nights sleep and get up to exercise, but I did it...thank you very much.
2. My desk does have a surface and I found two dollars at the bottom of the heap.
3. The leftover fish I brought to eat last week, but didn't have time, should have been taken home long ago, and if it wasn't in my good Pyrex dish would have gone in the garbage, Tupperware and all.
4. I enjoy Words with Friends a lot more now that I actually have time to think of words with more than four letters and that don't rhyme with bad...however I still don't think that CPQ's word aioli is an actual word.
5. I actually felt the need to talk about the show as much as possible today with as many people who would listen.  The barista at Starbucks was not having it.
6. I really like my family and think I need to spend as much time with them as I can.  However, I could farm out the job of trying to teach my daughter how to spell interrogate.

I was so happy to be a part of this production.

I was so happy to get to work with such talented kids.

I was so happy to get back to my normal life...which will not include shucking out $11.00 to see the Back Up Plan.

More later

- A Ro

Project 365...Week No Clue...(sorry)

Not even sure what day it is let alone what week we are in for our Project 365...hopefully next week I'll a) know what week it is b) get it done on time c) read some blogs d) write some blog posts and e) remember what the inside of my eyelids look like.

As some of you know our high school musical production went up this past weekend and the two weeks prior were filled with late night rehearsals, missing my kids and Rich, and lots of hitting the snooze button.  But I am back and ready to go!!

Here is my week in pictures, again sorry it's late:

Sunday:

Really??

Did I need something ELSE this week??  Thankfully we do a pretty good job of keeping our house clean in general so this wasn't such a big deal.  However, Rich did most of the last minute stuff on Saturday while I was at rehearsal ALL DAY!!  Thanks honey!!

Monday:

My Trouper

Isabella did most of her homework this week in this position.  She is such a flexible easy going gal.  I am so blessed to be her mom!!
Tuesday:

A Family Affair

Andrew got picked to be the only student cellist in the pit orchestra.  He did such a good job, and I was very proud of him.

Wednesday:

Poor Maggie

This was our comic relief this week. Our dog is very tolerant.  She allows Bella to play with her and she just goes with the flow.  Gotta love this dog!!
Thursday:

Spectacular Cast

Final dress rehearsal.  What an amazing cast.  I am so blessed to be able to teach these kids every day.  I am so proud of all of them.

Friday:

Special Gal

Opening night!!  I will have more pictures up, but I wanted to put this one up today.  First of all I look half way decent, and secondly Carly is a great gal.  She is talented, smart, funny, and is well liked.  She also has nice things to say about me, which these days are just what the doctor ordered!!

Saturday:

Soccer Takes No Time Outs

Thankfully we got a much needed relaxing break with Bella's last soccer game.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed watching a great game, unfortunatly, they lost.

In Summary:  It is obvious to me every day of my life just how lucky I am.

More Later

- A Ro

Stacia's Birthday

Today is my sister-in-law Stacia's birthday.  I am a very lucky girl to have such an amazing sister-in-law in my life, and a great aunt for my kids...

Even though she went against the sage advice of the pimply sales clerk and bought my son Call of Duty for Christmas...the only thing he REALLY wanted for Christmas...geez.

 

I mean really...she has SO much going for her.  She is stunningly beautiful.

She has married into a great family and has a husband who adores her.

She has great friends who love to have fun...not to mention built in babysitters, with a mom and a mother in law who live really near by.

She has two beautiful children, who adore their Aunt Amy...(and their mama too)

Her brother and mother live near by and they are a very close knit family.

She is BFF's with Tim McGraw and when I say BFF's I mean she appreciates his fine acting and singing skills and secretly hates his flawless wife Faith.  Her sister-in-law is lucky to have an "in" with such a celebrity.

She has three fabulous sisters-in-laws on the Andrew side...

Please imagine my ever so tall and beautiful sister Kate in this picture. If I were more organized I would have found a picture of all of us.  However, since we all are the main photographers of the family that picture probably doesn't exist...we will have to fix that.  Anyway, in your mind please put her next to me so that she can tower over me like she usually does.

She has a beautiful family.


But most importantly she realizes the important things in life and is making sure my niece and nephew realize them too!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACIA!!!  I LOVE YOU!!!

More Later

- A Ro

25 Years Later and a Second Chance At Love

Linking up at Kelly's Korner for How you Met Your Husband, Show Us Your Life...

West Des Moines Iowa. 

July 1985.

Jon Davis' birthday party.

Washington Heights Apartment Complex swimming pool.

That is where I laid my eyes on hunky football player Rich for the first time.  It was the summer before my junior year and the summer before his senior year.  We hit it off and were inseparable for that entire year culminating in his Senior Prom.  Life took him to Mason City for school and ultimately to the Navy.  I went on to University of Iowa for undergrad school and University of Arizona for grad school.

Flash Forward

Simi Vally California.

October 2007.

Ordinary Day.

An answered e-mail.

Our brothers ran into each other in Iowa and started comparing notes.  They found out that we both lived in California.  Both going through divorces and both needing a friend.  We were there for each other and leaned on each other through very trying times.  In June of 2008 after he retired from the Navy, he moved to Iowa to be near his children.  It was rough, as I was very used to having him around and knew that I was going to miss him.  He needed to be near his children.  I knew that.  He went home and for 8 weeks lived with his brother and looked for a job.  8 weeks later with no luck of finding anything but managerial positions at grocery stores, a company in Simi Valley got his resume and offered him a job.  Wow!! A place that he could acutally use his air traffic control background.  It was a tough decision to leave Iowa but he was running out of money and needed a job, and I was here waiting.  We took it slow and ended up falling in love. 

West Des Moines Iowa.

December 2009.

Home for Christmas.

Washington Heights Apartment Swimming Pool.

A proposal of marriage, and finally our Happy Beginning.


More Later

-A Ro

People are Odd...duh.

Rich and I headed out on Saturday night for dinner and a movie.  We went to our favorite BBQ restaurant Reds, of course, then off to see Date Night.  We got to the movie theater about 25 minutes early. 

BTW I am so glad that Rich feels the same way that I do about arriving at the movies EARLY.  Some people rush in just in the nick of time.  I need time to get a seat that doesn't require back surgery afterwards, get my $12.00 box of Junior Mints, and I actually do like the previews.

So we get there and there is a line at the box office.  A LINE?!?! Don't panic...I am sure there will be plenty of Junior Mints left.  I leave Rich in line and go off to take a picture of the poster that represents our movie choice so that I can use it for my Project 365. 

I am such a good blogger!!

As I walk to the poster I notice that there are two machines with signs that say "Buy Your Ticket.  So I wander up to the machine touch the screen and start to purchase my tickets, thinking all along...well there must be some sort of "catch" with using these machines because OBVIOUSLY the 40 people in line wouldn't be standing in that line if these IN PLAIN SIGHT machines were working. 

It worked!!  I got our tickets (with no extra charge), by-passed the line, got my Junior Mints, sat in the middle of the theater, and caught all the previews.

SCORE

Now my question is...Why didn't the people in line use these machines?  Did they enjoy the line?  Were they too scardy cat of the technology?  Was standing in a line something they felt they HAD to do because it is the way that we ALWAYS buy tickets?

hmmmm

This wasn't my only run in with an unecessary line.  I was at my doctors office and there was a line to check in.  Right next to the line was another one of these machines.  It had a huge sign that said "Automated Check In".  I stood in the line and kept looking at the machine, finally I walked over, touched the screen, and checked myself in.   I sat in the waiting room, secretly hoping that I did it right, and was pleasantly surprised when I was called by the nurse even before some of the people got through the line.

SCORE

It seems that we are just plain old creatures of habit.  We don't trust the thing that is different than what we are used to.  We are like my Grandma who got a microwave as a gift.  She wouldn't use it for the longest time and when she finally gave in she would put the food in, but my Grandpa had to come in and push the buttons and start it.  Now I am no technology guru and I am really not all that impatient, but I'll try anything in the name of efficency. 

Except backtracking...I have to draw the neurotic line somewhere.

More Later

- A Ro

Project 365 Week 16

It has been another busy week at my house.  One more week of the madness and then things settle down just a bit.  Here is a peek at my week.  Through this project I am constantly reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.  I am one blessed woman.  Go on over to Sara's blog and see all the abundance that abounds in other's lives.

Sunday:

The Great Rice Paper Adventure

These are the products of our journey all over the valley to try to find rice paper.  These summer rolls were very very good you can get the recipe here.  If you must you can read all about my craziness adventure here.

Monday:

My New Obsession Activity

I have started a new game on my i-touch.  It is an app called Words With Friends.  It is a scrabble like game that you can play with anyone who has that app.  You play a word at your own pace and then you send it off and your friend plays their word and sends it back to you.  It is so much fun and I can play with all my family far away.  There is also a chat component so you can chat while you play.  My name is diva1969 if anyone has an internet connection with your i-touch or an i-phone you can play with me.  I am not very good...but I have fun.

Tuesday:

Practice Makes Perfect

Here are my students listening very intently to the director during our rehearsal today.  They are such a talented bunch of kids and I enjoy working with them.  However, it was a very long week for all of us, but it will be a great show.

Wednesday:

 Comic Relief

Leave it to my Bella to make me smile.  She is just the breath of fresh air I always need.  She cracks me up.  Weather it be walking around with a pipe cleaner mustache or a sombrero, she is always thinking of ways to just be herself...gotta love that!!

Thursday:

Thankful for This Book

Finished this book today.  I really enjoyed it and it really has made me think quite a bit about my attitude.  I am going to really work at this wonderful concept.

Friday:

The Art of Stephen Sondheim

OK I must confess this picture was taken on Saturday morning, but it is so representative of my week and of Friday which was a very long day and afternoon rehearsal.  We are getting close now, one more week!!!

Saturday:

A Date Night

After my very long rehearsal today Rich and I had a date night.  We went to dinner and went to see this absolutely high-larious movie.  I would recommend it to anyone who needs a good laugh.  We loved it.

In Summary:  I am oh so very thankful for my summer rolls even though the process was a very long one.  They were worth it.  My new diversion that keeps me close to my family, makes me good at guessing letter combinations, and taught me that, yes Qi is a word and even though I have no idea what it means, it is worth a lot of points!!  My students and my kids fill my life with joy and having Rich in my life is an absolute God send.  I am a very lucky girl.

More Later

- A Ro

The Behind the Scenes of a Baseball Tournament

It is just one thing after another in my world.  Week one of spring break was spent organinzing, tossing, and cleaning my house.  Week two consisted of baseball tournament in Santa Ynez and garage sale.  These next two weeks are filled with getting ready for our High School spring production.  I, PROMISE, I'll be back to big-time blogging after the next two weeks.  But today I wanted to put up some pictures of our trip to Santa Ynez.  I put up some of the more unique ones and didn't put up a hundred of Andrew playing baseball...

Enjoy...or not...

Cute little Danish town of Solveng.

Bella's little drawing of the big bear at a local restaurant.

Catching Andrew at breakfast with his friends/teammates.  He wasn't supposed to catch me taking this picture, however, I got caught but the dirty look that followed was not captured.

Isabella sitting behind the dugout in the shade reading her book...I'm telling you she is a trooper, and I couldn't have been happier with the time I spent with her.

Isabella trying to take a nap behind the dugout...her M&M blanket and a cell phone her only comforts.

Isabella's small person bowl-a-rama.  At first I thought it was a pile of rocks to be bowled, but then I saw the small door and realized that it is a bowling alley ala Flinstones.  She is such a creative gal.

Is this Iowa?? No it is Santa Ynez.  They had a pig pen at one of the schools we played at.  Isabella named them Georgia and Josephine.  They were friendly pigs and Bella made two fast friends.

So that was the un-baseball side of our trip in a nutshell. 

It was a great relaxing time.

On a side note I had a question about my favorite snack Pirates Booty.  So I thought I'd post a picture of the bag.

It is a puffed corn snack and it is really good and not so bad calorie wise.  I can get it in the "health food" isle at my local grocery store but I also can get it at Trader Joes.

So there you go...

More Later (hopefully)

- A Ro

Random Dozen a.k.a. Really Random Dozen

You feeling Random today??  Well head on over to Lidna's and check out her questions, answer them, and then LINK UP!!  You'll feel more random, I promise!!

1. How do you feel about "Gladiator" sandals, also called "Roman" or "Jesus" sandals? A fashion yea or nay?
I like the simple ones...some of the ones that are out there are just "crazy" with all the buckles and bands.

2. What is your favorite pizza?
I love thin crust, with as many veggies as possible...and just for the record I could eat pizza everyday for every meal...just sayin'.


3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could?


[Ex: Hurley's "I Love my Shih tzu" shirt from LOST, the plantation home "Tara" from Gone With the Wind, or Tracy's tambourine from the Partridge Family.]
I want anything from the Vacation movies with Wally World on it.  Cracks me up every time I think about that movie.

4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for.
I would have to say Sushi being that I am from California, just don't try to make it yourself because obviously they keep all the key ingredients to themselves...as I sadly found out in what I would like to call the Great Rice Paper Hunt 2010.

5. What is your current favorite snack?
I like Pirate's Booty and Vanilla Wafers.  Not all that exciting I am realizing.

6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose "none.")

A. Dancing with the Stars


B. Biggest Loser


C. Survivor

Being that I am a musically inclined I would have to say Dancing with the Stars, however, I am not a star and I am no Kate Gosselin so I am not sure I would be a big draw.

7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior?
I like to keep my car neat and clean BUT I have two children and a busy schedule that may or may not mean that occasionally we eat in our car.  So I would have to say that it is probably a 6.

8. It doesn't feel like Spring until _________.
My morning runs are in a bit of daylight. 

9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ____.
I have two very funny kids, a spouse to be who is a hoot, and I work with Middle Schoolers, I crack up hard daily. 

10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward.
I am trying to be more thankful in my every day life.  I want an attitude of gratitude.  I have SOOO much to be thankful for, except I have been letting the hate and stress in my life pull me into a "poor me" attitude.  It feels so much better to be thankful than angry.  I just seem to have this sense of justice that drives me.  I want justice when I, or the people I love, are wronged.  That just isn't the way the world works.  I just need to focus on the good things. 

P.S. and I want to be healthy and more fit for a certain event that is coming up.
11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week.
Here is one I like keeping with the goal I stated above..."There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle" - Albert Einstein

But here is my all time favorite, and I am not sure who said it.  "Life is not the way it is supposed to be.  It's just the way it is.  The way you cope with it is what makes all the difference."

12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. If you're not a parent, feel free to substitute "friend" or nomenclature that works for you.
I asked Rich what he thought about this question and he said that pretty much just being myself makes my kids happy, and he is right.  They are both pretty naturally happy kids, but I thought I'd put a little more effort into this question than that.  So...
Bella - put a note in her lunch box, let her cuddle in my bed with me, tell her it is stay in your pajamas day...she is a very happy nine year old..
Andrew - tell him it is ice cream night...he is a harder to please teenager.

In Summary:  I just might need to find this shoe-a-holic some less gaudy gladiator sandals...Linda said so.  I shouldn't quit my day job to become a Sushi chef, and maybe just order out pizza everyday and make sure my stock of Pirates Booty and Vanilla Wafers is a plenty!!  I am thankful for my happy kids, my new found gratitude, and that I am not a contestent on Dancing With the Stars.  But most of all I need to find miracles every day...thanks Albert.

More Later

- A Ro

Yeah I Thought So

The moral of this story is that I should just listen to my own advice.

Thanks to CPQ over at Carpool Queen's Blog posted a recipe for Summer Rolls.  You can find the evil post here.  Now don't get all upset at me for calling her post evil, because it is evil in the oh-so-good way.  You know like the evil brownies sitting in the faculty room with a sign that says "Help Yourselves". 

Anyhoo...her summer rolls looked oh so good, only had a few ingredients, and she claimed they were quick and easy.  Well sister, sign me up. 

Except one little thing...

As I told her in her comment section I equate trying to make a food that is culturally unique, to someone who cannot sing attempting karaoke.  While it seems like fun and a good idea, it only turns out embarassing for all involved.

Well this Sunday I could not get her summer rolls out of my head.  I was in the mood for these rolls, so since it is my normal grocery day I decided to jot down the ingredients and check my cupboard.

Let's see...

Red bell pepper - check
Lettuce - check
Zucchini (I think she used cucumber)...I don't like cucumber but I love zucchini so - check.
Edamame - check
Rice paper - uhhh nope put it on the list

Now I live in the greater Los Angeles area, not Hoboken Montana, so I wasn't worried about finding rice paper.  I even figured that my local everyday grocery store might just have it...after all when I looked at the brand name of her rice paper I noticed that it was made in Los Angeles...right??

Wrong!!

My local grocery store...didn't have it...

Trader Joes...didn't have it...

A produce store that prides itself on its large ethnic selection...didn't have it....

OK...now I am obsessed determined...I must find rice paper and eat summer rolls for lunch.

Thankfully Rich was very encouraging and we went home and called the Whole Foods Market.  "Oh yes", they said..."psh...of course we have that"...(This was after the inital call was transfered to the meat department)

Whole Foods Market...didn't have it...

Ok now this is getting ridiculous challenging.

I wasn't wavering in my desire to have summer rolls for lunch even though it is kinda past lunch by this point, and Rich was not wavering in his support to help me have summer rolls for lunch.

One more stop.  I knew of this Asian Market "just a little bit farther up the road".  I am sure they will have them...Right??

Right!!! 

Phew...that was exhausting.

They were awfully yummy and really hit the spot. 

My advice to you is this...if you cannot sing don't attempt karaoke, but if you are not asian you can go ahead and try to make these summer rolls.

Just make sure you have rice paper near by....oh and don't assume that just because you live in a large metropolitan area, with very diverse cultures, including lots of people who regularly use rice paper, that you will easily find it.  Because you know what assume means.

Your welcome

More Later

- A Ro

Project 365 Week 15

It was a fun and busy week for us.  Here is a peek.  Then go off to Sara's blog and check out everyone elses week.
Sunday:

 Easter Hunt

I always do a big scavenger hunt for my kids Easter baskets.  This is where I hid Andrew's basket.  I love the fact that I got a picture of them both peering into the dryer.

Monday:

Solveng

Andrew had a baseball tournament in the Santa Ynez area.  There was this Danish town about 3 miles from our hotel.  Bella and I had fun shopping and eating.  Such a very cute town, and such a very cute girl.

Tuesday:

 Is That Derek Jeter??

Since it was a baseball tournament I had to post a picture of my boy at bat.  He is a freshman on the Varsity team and got to start in two of their four games.  It was so much fun watching him.

Wednesday:

Flintstone Bowlerama

Well Bella WAS dragged to four baseball games so what did I expect.  She made this cute rock building.  She was absolutely amazing.  She kept herself busy and I am so thankful that she is the kind of girl that she is.

Thursday:

 Reality

Back from vaca and working in the garage.  Dumpster delivered and quickly filled. 


Friday:

 

GARAGE SALE!!!

This was the result of all of my hard work...a filled garage with all of our junk.  Well, I hope that all of our hard work pays off this is over soon.

Saturday:

Nine Year Old Entrepreneur 

Bella had a bake sale with Cinnamon Rolls, Blueberry Muffins, Coffee, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Soda and Water.  Unfortunately, her biggest buyers were Rich and her Dad.  She had so much fun regardless, and it gave her something to do. (I know it looks like the shelves are about to tip over, but it was very sturdy)

In Summary:  It is very hard to go from being on vacation to putting on a garage sale to realizing that I have to start back to school tomorrow.  One thing I did realize by looking at all these pictures is that I am one lucky woman.  Picture 1 - My children still love the little things like scavenger hunts and they are so appreciative of all I do.  Picture 2 - Having an ex-husband that takes pictures of me and my little girl and works so well with me to make sure our kids are happy and loved.  Picture 3 - I have a son who is talented and works hard.  Picture 4 - I have a daughter who is resorceful and patient.  Picture 5 - Having a partner in life who wants the same things and working together to achieve them.  Rich is truly a partner and we get things done...together.  Picture 6 - The abundance of things we have in our life, and the knowledge that those things will now go to someone else either via sale or via donation.  Picture 7 - A daughter who makes me smile.  I am truly blessed.

More Later

- A Ro