A House Full of Girls

Life with a houseful of girls is always fun. I always joke around with Ken because not only did he choose all of us Ladies, but he started over having young children again. (Keep in mind that his youngest is 16 1/2.)

Ken is definitely a romantic and a wonderful man in [almost] every way.  Last night, he came home from his Quail Forever meeting with a bouquet of flowers and a Get Well card for me. He knows that this wrist/hand problem has made me miserable, and not being able to complete my work is frustrating me. He was even emotionally injured when I suggested that I thank Taylor for giving him the idea. Apparently, he had planned to get the flowers and card ALL day, thank you very much. He just let Taylor sign the card since they were out together. Oh! And I got a box of Junior Mints as well to help me smile!

So, this evening, Ken was walking by the table where I have happily placed the flowers.  Ken remarked about how I must have a wonderful husband because look at the really nice flowers that was brought home for me without having to be reminded or even told to do it.  He was throwing me that cute little smile of his and totally flirting with me.  However, each girl - upon hearing Ken talk about how much he loves me - started asking him, "What about me? Don't you love me??"

Ken remarked that he loves each of his beautiful daughters, two of whom are growing into very beautiful young ladies and then there's the one who is right behind the other two.

Jordan responded, "Yeah, but I know I'm your favorite because I'm not on my period yet and don't need bras, right Daddy?"

Oh.Dear.God!!  Ken and I both stopped what we were doing, looked at each other and then started laughing hysterically!!

Jordan is still waiting for confirmation that she is Ken's favorite. She's not letting this one go.....

First Week Back

Oh, holy hell!! The first week after a Break always seems to be the worst. I am already slammed with work, and my piles are already insane!! The California Department of Education's requirements are also making it almost impossible for me to get anything done. Thank GOD!! that I will soon be training a new Transition Specialist. She was hired over the Break and will start officially next week. 

As an example of my insane caseload, here is the stack that needs to be completed in the next two weeks:

And here is the rest of the month and the first part of February. Now, these are only the ones I know about. More are being scheduled daily. There is not enough coffee on the planet to help me with this!

The best part of "going back to school" was the new shoes the girls got. Each of them was SO very excited to get boots for school. Now they look "cute and stylish."

Ken spent the week in Las Vegas for the Big Rock Sports show and he returned home last night. He got the ammo that the Club Members wanted and raffle prizes for the banquet again. I hated not going with him, but I had too much work to do, and we really couldn't afford the sitter for overnights.

Rex, Matt, Fred and Rose all went with Ken to Vegas, so he had people to help him. I was amazed when Ken said that the Crossman guy remembered me from last year, and he is donating two more rifles again this year. Wow!! I knew I made an impression on people, but it's usually negative. HA!

It was great when he finally arrived home. Once again, I was finally able to breathe, and I was completely looking forward to actually getting some sleep - which sadly did not happen due to my brain refusing to shut off. Ugh!

This morning, however, the girls got a huge treat - the rain storm we had this morning turned into snow on their way to school. They were screaming and giggling with delight while I moaned and screamed "NO!" 

Living in the High Desert means that we have no snow plows. It doesn't normally snow here. We have a plethora of dirt plows which apparently cannot be used with snow. Therefore, the local school districts have a rule that if it gets to half and inch to an inch of snow - no school. I have far too much to get done to have the girls home all day.  

Sadly, I waited over 45 minutes, but it just kept snowing: Snowing in the Desert
Before Ken left for Vegas, he asked me if I could cross-stitch a quail for this Saturday's banquet for the High Desert Quail Forever. I wasn't sure I would be able to get it done in time, but I actually got it completed. Now, I'm going to stress that no one likes it. 

I managed to get everything done on the little quail. He is ready to go. Getting a frame for it is my plan for tomorrow - which may not happen if it's still snowing! Ugh!!

The Nutcracker

Ken and I had taken the girls to see a high school production of The Nutcracker a few years ago, but I really wanted them to see a good production of it. So, I did a search a few months ago and found that we have a local ballet company down in Claremont:

Inland Pacific Ballet

I purchased tickets for the family, and it was finally time to go see the play yesterday. The girls did not really remember the ballet they saw before so they weren't sure they were going to like it or not. Ken was quite the trooper and enjoyed the ballet with us even though it isn't really his style, however,  he really enjoyed himself once I purchased a program and he could read about what was going on in the ballet.

Taylor's most "favorite" memory of the ballet was the tights on the men. She felt that they were too tight and it was rather disgusting. HA!! Jordan, of course, now believes that she is a prima ballerina and is practicing her moves all the time. Mandy, sadly, wants to return to ballet lessons. I so wish we could afford to put her in ballet, but Ken and I just can't afford it with everything else we have to take care of. Even more sadly, is her father won't pay for them either (nasty statements coming.....yeah, and it's not like he sends any support ever......6 years and still waiting).

After the ballet, the girls picked one ornament for our Christmas tree so they will always have a reminder of their visit to the ballet for Christmas. I was told that I got one heck of a snowglobe from the girls and Ken is grateful that he doesn't have to take them shopping for me now.  HeeHee.

Jordan went around and got some autographs from the characters and she loved taking pictures with everyone. Mandy and Taylor were selective in their choices - they wanted pictures with Clara and The Nutcracker. Sadly, the Nutcracker was already gone by the time we were done in line for Clara. Jordan managed to get a picture with The Sugarplum Fairy even though she was supposed to be done as well.  Good for her!

We got home later than planned, but Taylor and Mandy were dropped off at home (they were both coughing too much) and off we went to Martin and Kathy's for their annual Christmas party. Martin kept giving me shit because we failed to show up last year after Sheryl refused to leave our house, and he said that since she's in Texas, we have no good excuse to miss it this year. 

The party was a ton of fun!! I enjoyed meeting Joey Lies and his wife, Maryann.  They both teach at Encore and were hired after my departure. Joey was Brian's teacher at one time, and he could not get over the difference between Ken and Brian. He kept joking around that he cannot see why Brian is as dull as he is with Ken as a father - "are all of your traits recessive?" HAHA!

Ken and I had a great time, and it was tough, but I made Ken leave the party early (after 10 pm) since he has been sick as well. Ken was still going on and on about how HE won the game for us by randomly screaming out Finding Nemo, but everyone knows it was all about me.  

Ken complained all the way home that he wasn't tired and didn't want to leave the party, but he was asleep the second his head hit the pillow. 

Winter is Here

Winter finally decided to join us. We weren't totally prepared for it like we should have been, but then, it is mid-December and we were still enjoying summer temperatures. We have had a couple really good rain storms, and I'm getting an ice warning from my car each morning. The girls were hoping for snow, and we did get close but it just didn't happen.  

On Friday, December 14th, I actually went to the range with Ken after getting my hair trimmed, but the weather was so bad that we didn't shoot very much. He spent most of his time at the indoor range because of the cold, but he wanted me to shoot his new AR as well. 

Ironically and sadly, at the same time we were at the Gun Club there was a shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut. The entire U.S. has gone insane again about gun control, and no one wants to look at the mental illness problem in this country or that blaming the pistol that was used is like blaming the car for the drunk driver. This shooting killed 27 people and 20 of those were small children. Now, we are being faced with new gun laws, political description of what "evil" looks like, etc. It's ridiculous to me that so many are happy to give up their rights and be subjected to government control, but hopefully, these new laws will not go into effect. I'm so sad for the families, and I cannot imagine the grief of losing my children. The entire Nation is mourning the loss of these people right now

The Hobbit opened in theaters last week, so we took the girls to see the movie for our Friday Night Family Night. They loved going to supper first and then to the show. It is obvious to them that they can't stay up late because towards the end of the movie, they were complaining about being tired. 

This is Amanda's face when she saw the sundaes. 

Ken was supposed to be gone all this week, but fate allowed me to keep him at home. It's not that I don't want him to go out and have fun, but I really hate not having him around. Plus, it allowed me some time with our eldest son as well which was really cool!

Ken was supposed to take off early Monday morning for an overnight hike with Sean and Justin. Unfortunately, the weather went totally winter, and there was no way that Ken wanted to be camping in 10* weather with rain forecasted. So, Sean decided to spend the couple of days at our house since he had them off work anyway. My favorite part was that Sean wanted me to actually go with him and Ken to lunch on Monday AND he wanted a picture with all three of us. I know, I'm a sap, but it's the little things that make a difference, right? After going through the phase with these boys about how I'm NOT their mother, and all that crap, it's a great feeling.

Lunch was sushi for the men and Chicken teriaki for me along with a lot of laughing and talking. It's the time together that makes it the most fun for me.

Jordan had her Christmas performance at school on Tuesday. Ken and I were thrilled that it was our only school event to deal with. I don't mind celebrating my children, but I do hate fighting with the other parents to do it.  What a difference there has been in Jordan though!! She is behaving in school which is such a relief! I hated visiting her principal so much, and you could tell that she has been finding her centre during this performance. She was not acting out, but she was full of her acting and drama during the performance. Jordan was the only child who used acting for each and every song. You could tell that Jordan was "in to" her performance.

 Mandy loved hanging out with Samara before the show.

There just aren't words to describe Justin's face!

 I loved watching Jordan perform and then getting a picture of the kids all together!

For my last official day of work, I chose to have a "Team Building" meeting with my counterpart, Jen Hubbard. We met at Victoria Gardens, got pedicures and then lunch. She had some Christmas shopping to do, so I tagged along with her while she finished it up.  Sadly, I'm a complete dork and failed to take ANY pictures of us together. 

We had a great time catching up with each other's lives and we did talk about work a little bit so we could justify the work time. Ha!! After she had to get going, I ran the errands that needed to be done in a more civilized location - they have stores we just don't including Trader Joe's. God, I would LOVE to get a Trader Joe's by us!! 

As I was waiting out the traffic and the nasty weather, I got a text message from Gary Stiles (Old Costa friend) who was actually thinking he could meet with me. Ken was cool with it, so I hung around a little longer and met Gary for a drink. 

Yesterday, I enjoyed doing the last of the work stuff that HAD to be done before the Break and then shutting down my computer. Oh what a relief that is!! My boss was able to convince the higher-ups that we needed another full time Transition Specialist and we got one!! It's going to be crazy when we return with all of the staff changes and incoming students and then I'll have training a newbie on top of it, but I'm hoping that it will all work out well. I'm also looking forward to taking some of the load from Jen's and my shoulders and actually breathing during this next semester.

Last night, we watched a movie since it was the girls' last day of school for the year as well. I purchased the new Tinkerbell movie, and they loved it! Jordan's reaction was typical after the movie - she sang and danced with the ending song which always entertains us. This time, I managed to be ready with the camera because Addie got involved.

Now, it's time to seriously prepare for Christmas!! I've also got to mentally prepare myself for Ken's youngest who actually wants to join us for the two week break but left here hating me. Oh the fun!!

Busy, Hopping, Sedulous...

Take your pick of which word from the title to use as the word to best describe my/our life at this point. I try so hard to take the time to blog (journal) our life, but then I realize it's been a few days or even weeks.  This past week was no exception. Once I again, I found myself traveling for work. Yeah, me and my silly ideas that cost me time, but it was worth it to meet with my Nor Cal team.

Most of the people I work with in the Northern California location (everywhere north of the Highway 58 line) have not actually met me let alone gotten to know me. There are a few that I am trying desperately to get them to understand that I'm not only part of their "Team" but that I actually know what the hell I'm doing.  Flying is not my favorite activity - I seriously hate it, but I made the decision to fly to Oakland rather than driving not only to save the gas money and wear and tear on my little car, but also to save some significant time. Unfortunately, all of the brain trauma kills me in an airplane not to mention that I'm a stress case about not being in control. Ha! 

But, I arrived safe and sound in Oakland, California on Wednesday afternoon, and I was totally lucky in that two of my co-workers decided to join me that night: Kym Riner and Kimberly Odom.  We had a blast in San Francisco just hanging out and enjoying a meal together. Sadly, I was a complete dolt and forgot to take a picture of the three of us having a great time. I did manage to their gifts done in time to give them rather than having to ship them.!! Yay. All four of the charms look so cute together!!

I did remember to take a picture of myself before I met up with Kym and Kimberly though. I love my new sparkly top.

Thursday morning, I enjoyed being totally lazy in getting up. Sleeping in, no kids screaming - it was nice.  The meeting went well.  I didn't win over one of my hold-outs, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. The information I needed to get out was well received, and I'm hoping it really makes a difference with everyone soon - I would LOVE to have my job go more smoothly.

Rochelle Hooks, Mark Hotlebeck, Kimberly Odom (cheering), Danielle Hodge (giving the rabbit ears), Louise Cranstron, Kym Riner, and Kylee Luchetti.  Katy Alvarez was missing from the pic since she had to leave early.

I so looked forward to the weekend. I wanted to relax and stitch as well as wrap gifts and get the tree finished. Well, those plans changed quickly. Two of the girls' friends decided to come over and hang out most of Saturday. Oddly enough, I suddenly found a Science Project going in my kitchen and it wasn't even for my kids. So much for quiet and relaxing. I guess I'll have to settle for knowing that my house is the "cool" house.

Just as I was starting to relax after the extra screaming and giggling girls left, Ken asks me what time we wanted Cynthia and Grant over for supper. I was glad to find out that we hadn't actually made these plans in advance, but apparently, the men were talking about it. So, we had our friends over for supper Saturday night. As always, we all had a great time - there's nothing better than sharing good food, drink and laughs with friends!!

The weather is chilly at night, but it's still pretty mild for our winter season here. The heater that Ken put on our patio helps a lot.

This morning, I was able to sleep in, get the rest of the presents wrapped and under the tree, and then I made crepes for breakfast. I even spoiled everyone with some bubbly with our Brunch (cider for the girls and some Wiens Celler's Amour De L'Orange for Ken and me!). As always, my Brunch is a hit - so much so that Jordan was licking her food!!

Mandy and her "hat" from the champagne bottle

Then, just as I was going to (finally) shower, the doorbell rang and I had an extra little girl in my house.  I keep forgetting that Kaitlyn lives down the street, so we're within easy walking distance. I decided to take charge of the situation, and had the girls pick a movie to watch to contain the noise. LOL

Ken picked up Justin this afternoon, and they put up the outside Christmas Lights while I worked on the Christmas Tree lights. Yay!  So, while the men worked on the outside, I worked on the inside and the girls played with their friends in the driveway. Some of our icicle lights have completely gone kaputt, so Ken wasn't able to get the archway over the garage completed, but he did make great strides AND our new additions of the reindeer is really cute despite the fact they're hanging out in dirt rather than snow and greenery.

I completed the Christmas Tree all except for the bells that represent the first four years after Ken's brother, Timmy, died.  I love going through all of the "firsts" ornaments and reliving the experience attached to each of them. The girls loved putting their ornaments on the tree, and then I finished with the bottom of the tree with the glass balls. 

Unfortunately, Ken putting the bells on the tree always makes him cry, and then I cry with him, and I'll spend most of tonight feeling bad for Ken. He so misses his brother at Christmas-time, and I know it's the main reason he struggles to enjoy this holiday. I would love to be able to heal Ken's heart from the loss of his brother, but I'm so very powerless to do anything. What a wonderfully loving man he is! 

The Best Daily Routine!

The absolute best daily routine in this house is by Her Majesty, Addie. Well, it's not exactly an everyday routine, but it is every school day for the girls.

Every school day, Ken and I wake up together. Sadly, I'm always the first one out of bed and I go make coffee. On my way to the kitchen to make the coffee, I proceed to have to yell at Jordan and Mandy to get out of bed and get ready for school. Taylor, thankfully, is usually up and already dressed.

After I make coffee, I go back to the girls' room and proceed to stay on top of Jordan who enjoys stretching for 20+ minutes before even attempting to get dressed. Once they are out the door for the school bus, the fun part of the routine starts with the dog.

Again, let me just remind you that this is EVERY, single school day without fail! Addie will sit at the entryway and watch the girls go out the front door. She then will let out a little whine and run to the front window. If the blinds are closed, she nudges them aside so she can watch the girls walk away. When Addie cannot see the girls anymore, she runs to the back door and barks and scratches until she's let out. Addie will then run to the side of the house and whine until (I assume) that she cannot detect the girls anymore.

Once Addie has done her little spinners and freaked out about the girls being gone, she will scratch at the back door to come back inside. As soon as she is back in the house, she goes to Daddy for some love and then she walks into my office, sits down and begs for a treat. 

After she has her treat, she will go back into the living room, curl up and go to sleep. All day long, she a very calm dog. Once the girls come home, however, she will go insane - steal their stuffed animals, run around the house to knock them down to play, etc. 

Apparently, Addie just needs her "sisters" with her and doesn't know what to do with herself when they're gone.