Mom and Daughter Movie

Riley, feeling much better today, and myself went to the movies together. We saw Disneys new princess movie, The Princess and the Frog. It was so good. We both loved all the characters and the music. I'm sure we'll own this movie when it comes out on DVD.
This was the first time I took Riley to a movie w/o any other kids. We stopped by Target to pick up some medicine and a special treat for Liam. He stayed home with Dad because he's still sick, poor guy. He hasn't eaten for 2 days now..he's drinking liquids, but he's still thrown up today and had a fever earlier

Christmas Vacation

Christmas eve-eve everyone was fine and seemed healthy. I went to the church dinner with my kids, my nieces and nephews (minus 2) my Siblings and Mom.
William stayed home sleeping(he had to work). It was a twice as much potluck so we brought a pumpkin pie and made potatoes.
When we got home Riley complained about not feeling good. And when she woke up Christmas eve dayin the morning she had a fever and started throwing up.

We had plans to drive to Sacramento for our holiday with Williams parents. He called them and told them we'd have to change our plans to Saturday maybe...
Riley was sick all day. I had hoped it was just a 24 hour flu...
We decided to let each kid open a present christmas eve.
Riley opened a baby doll. I asked her if she liked it and she said "it seems that I dont like it because I'm sick.. but I like it"
We gave Liam a set of Bakugan. When he made his list this year..all he could talk about was these Bakugans. He was very happy with his present. He played for a while then put out the cookies for Santa and went to bed.
Christmas morning she woke up and still had a fever. After some childrens Motrin she felt better and enjoyed her presents.
Liam was really happy with his presents..William bought him an electric race car track set. Riley asked santa for an ice cream maker and an easy bake oven.. Liam got a scooter. Both of my kids are spoiled again - of course.
We were to get together with my family at my older Sisters house for lunch and a few more presents. William was still recovering from his sinus infection so he volunteered to stay home with Ri.
My family has stopped giving presents to everyone. It's too much with 10 kids in the family and more than 10 adults. We drew names and exchanged movies. We had asked for the new Harry Potter movie! Riley was really upset that she was missing this. We brought her present home for her to open but she was still upset.
By Christmas night her flu was mostly gone -- but it turned into a cold. She was congested. Saturday we woke up and she was still congested and we cancelled again with Williams parents. Liam spent all day playing his new ds game. We watched our new Harry Potter movie. Riley was seeming better by evening. Sunday her nose was still stuffy but she is up and playing and looking better. William and I went to a matinee, Shirlock Holmes, I enjoyed alot!
It was the best movie I've been to in a long time.
Sunday night... Liam says he's starting to not feel good.
Today: Monday.. He woke up and threw up... so now it's starting again.

Our Tree

This is the prettiest tree! It makes the house so Christmas-y.

I've also been crafting: I made a dozen(or so) tags. I found some patterns and used some colored cardstock and gluestick. ...this one is on Williams present from me:
It looks small in the picture but the present is the size of a DVD(it's an xbox game)

Family Cookie Exchange

Monday, December 21, 2009

We had our 3rd annual cookie exchange tonight. I had the day off -- so I made cookies with my little helpers. Liam helped with the pinwheel cookies...Riley helped with the gingersnaps. Both kids helped with the Santa Cookies. The chocolate cookies!!!are so good! They are extra chocolate-chocolate-y! I had William try one and agreed.. HE IS the chocolate judge.

I brought Riley with me this year..since it a 'ladies' party. I told Liam that he could come...but he declined. It turned out that 2 of my nephews came with their mom. And my other sister had her two girls there also.
We played scategories...in which MY mom answered "F#ck" for the question: Starts w/ 'f' , What don't you ever want to hear? We all(my sisters) died laughing..I looked at her paper and she actually wrote out the whole word. She was indignant about the whole thing...like, "hello, I have heard the word before"
-hilarious.
We also played apples-to-apples. We sampled everyones cookies before the exchange. Everyone made really yummy cookies. I extremely enjoyed the 7layer bars and the pumpkin roll-things. I took about 5 dozen. Which means I brought home about 5 dozen...

It's the most wonderful time of the year

ding, dong, ding, dong...
it IS the most wonderful time of the year. We got our christmas tree up and decorated...it smells so good in the house! We had a whole day of cleaning, decorating...William put lights on the outside of the house.


Me, Mom and Ri spent a whole day making tiny angel ornaments to sell at the yearly church bazar. I spent another evening finishing them up. They are super cute. You can see how Riley made hers unique...instead of angel she wanted a ballerina with a heart. I also made some fabric origami ornaments...I'll have to see if I have a picture of one to show.


The kids bought little presents for everyone at the bazzar. The wrapped up their presents on their own..Riley didn't want me to see anything she bought. It's all a surprise!

I am so looking forward to this whole month. The best part...I'm on vacation Christmas week!!!!

Need Sleep!!!!

Salsa Blunder

ok...I made salsa again. It isn't good at all! I used a purple onion instead of a white onion. I won't do that again. I also roasted the veggies more this time - to get more char. It made everything too sweet..like it carmalized.

Girl Scout Slumber Party

Parent-Teacher-Conference Time

All I have to say... pheww...
I can report that both kids are doing ok.
We have opportunities with both. Riley's teacher wants us to work more on reading with her(which is what we already knew).
Letter grades start in fourth grade. First graders get numbers(1-4) on their report cards. One means emerging and four means proficient. Last year, Rileys report cards were mostly ones. This report card had twos and threes. She's more involved and able to pay attention this year.


Liam's teacher wants us to 'encourage' him to do more than the required. He's getting everything done that's required..he could put more into it though(especially with his writing). He's actually scoring high on tests and getting work done in class. He got one 'B'(in writing) and the rest A's.
He's a very smart kid.

World Without End

I'm such a picky reader. If something doesnt catch my attention with in a few pages..I'm bored and can't go on reading. I really love when I find a book that I really like..A book, to me, is having a story to be apart of for a while and I'm always sad when it's over. That's why I like super long books and series books.
Today on my lunch break I sat down and I finished reading the book World Without End by Ken Follett. You might remember I read book 1 (Pillars of the Earth)) last year. This is a book that I really enjoyed . It's so entertaining for me to read about another time and place - how hard it was to just survive and work and be. I like how Follett writes these women so strong, independent(as much as their time allows). I also love how long the book is - 1014 pages. I'm always sad when I finish a book that I enjoy...I read this one on my breaks and lunches-so It took a while to finish.

So now I've picked up Robinson Crusoe again (I read 2 chapters before and stopped--but I'm at an interesting part so I'm sure I'll read it through this time

Kiddie Land Service Project

Today I, along with fellow co-workers, volunteered a day of painting and 'beautifying' Merced's Kiddie Land. Some of our staff went over earlier in the week to do repairs to the roof. Today was for painting and planting flowers and adding mulch to the boarders. We also installed new lights and decorative lanterns.

Cake Decorating

I made more cake! I'm having fun being creative. My oldest and youngest sisters had their birthdays this week and Mom made a lovely dinner for everyone. I made the cake(s). It gave me the chance to try a new recipe for chocolate frosting...that Will says I must make for every one of his future cakes.
I made chocolate cake, french marange buttercream frosting, chocolate(ganache) frosting, fondant.
It was all so yummy! Rachel, Becky, Mom and myself are huge scrabble players so I did a scrabble cake and had enough batter left over for a 6" round pan. I decorated the 6" cake with chocolate frosting and a cute butterfly made of fondant.

Love this Lake

I took the girls to the Lake on Monday after school. They played in the water, collected shells and pretty rocks. I sat watching and made this heart. The wind picked up and we were alone on this beach. It was so peaceful.
Will and I had been here earlier on a bike ride while the kids were in school. We had a water/cliff bar break and I had decided to comeback with the kids. My son,Liam, decided not to come with..which was fine. It was me and my daughter and my two nieces. I feel so relaxed watching the water and birds...feeling the wind on my face. I wanted the kids to enjoy that feeling. I think we'd still be there if I hadn't said 'time to go'.

Salsa Contest

There was a Salsa Contest today at work. I made my first salsa! It tastes good and a bit spicy...Will likes it.
Will has made salsas...but I think maybe once, a long time ago I might have tried one or helped to make one. So I'm calling this the 'first salsa I've ever made'
There was a recipe online that sounded good. My favorite type of salsa is Chevys salsa or LaVictoria(I don't really like chunky salsa). So that's the type of recipe I was looking for.

9 tomatos, 1 large white onion, 2 garlic cloves, 3(or more) jalepenos.
Cut all the ingredients in to 1" pieces. Put in a pan and roast/broil until charred.
-I think next time I'll let them get more black..I took the pan out when there was back tips on all the veggies.
I let everything cool fo 10 min. then I put everything(squeezed the garlic out of the cloves) into a blender. I blendered it until combined and added 1 Tablespoon of salt ..and that's it

Alot of work friends said they enjoyed my Salsa :)
One of the judges (not knowing #8 was mine) said that she thought #8 might have been store bought. It was the only blended one...most of the other salsas were chunky.

Biking w/ my kids

We biked 4-5 miles on Wednesday. Both my kids had a flat tire on their bikes and hadn't been riding for the last couple weeks. I went to the store today and bought tubes so in the evening, after school and homework, we rode. We first stopped to pick up my niece, Little Rachel. She went with us. We rode the bike trail to McKee- to G and around. Then to Grandmas house. The kids had a great time..we decided to ride bikes to school Thursday AM.

happy Birthday Riley

I feel like I just came home from the hospital with her... but it's been 7 years!
How? My little girl is 7 today.
She is a bright shiny spot in this world. Her imagination has grown, this year, along with her body and her spirit. She is sweet at times..sassy at times. She asks the most profound questions and wants to know how and why for everything. She is sensitive to emotions and especially to others. She is very concerned with how other people are treated. She is so curious..and I know that kids are generally curious..but she is more than normally curious. She cut a worm into pieces(a month ago) because she wanted to see if it would still wiggle around. When I asked if it did...she said yes, for a little while.
We got out of the car one evening and she looked up at the moon and asked if there were lights on up there. She asked about where did the water from the rivers start...if the water wasnt there before. ...just everything she wonders about ..I love to see her brain thinging about these things. She is my joy! She is my happiness(along with my Son, of course). Last night after bedtime-story she rolled her body left to right(laying on her back) and listened to her water in her stomach. She said she wanted to see what it looked like inside her body-to see into her stomach. Maybe I'll find a good book or model...

Birthday party '09

It's Liams 11th and Rileys 7th birthday! We had a Star Wars theme party - with some fairys thrown in too. We had alot of kids and alot of adults- Everyone had a good time.

the Death Star pinata

September 1, 2009 - my boy is 11 today

He's off to school now. I made our traditional birthday pancakes. ...Anything to make today special. He said "I'm a tween now..that's what 11 & 12 year olds are called". He is in that inbetween stage. Sometimes he seems older. He says he doesnt 'play' anymore... then he seems so young and cuddles with his stuffed animals and wants to take one when we go out. He goes back and forth between wanting piano lessons --then not. I'm not the parent that will let my kid quit once he's commited to something. I gave him the choice and he said he wanted to go another year so we commited to another year.
I love my son more than I can say. I have so many hopes for him. I'm so amazed (all the time) with the things he figures out. He picks up on so much and he is so talented and smart. If I compared him to a character..I'd say he's like the Brain. He just knows things and knows how things will go..he thinks into the future..he plans things out and likes to know we'll be doing. He'll say out loud our itenirary and ask if that's right...to make sure he knows exactly what to expect. Sometimes he gets upset if we spring things on him. I don't know what he'll do--he has such potential for so many things. He is a good at anything he does.
I think about 11 years and 9 months ago..how excited I was..
11 years ago..I became a mom for the 1st time and I put everything into it. It has been(and still is) so rewarding. Being a mom is the most important job ever. We moms shape the future of the world. We're putting the next generation out there. I could be raising the next nobody.. or I could be raising the next greatest ?... who knows. Both my kids have potential to do and be great. When I put my time into them I feel like I'm doing good. I stayed at home for 5 years, which was a struggle financially. But even that short of a time was a huge benifit. I'm better because of my kids. I want to be a good parent and give them as much as I can, show them as much as I can, take them to as many places as I can... Love and hug them as much as I can.
I hope someday, way in the future(after college and marriage), my Son will have a child so that he will feel that "parent" love and he'll know how much I love him.

Rode 19 miles today with my wonderful husband, William. Now that the kids are back in school we have time together in the morning to go on rides together(if I'm not at work). Today he got home(worked the night shift) and we rode to the lake. Sat and watched the water .. it was calm and peacefull. We ate our cliff bars and talked about kayaks...

19miles, 1:39:51trip time, 12mph average speed, 22.08 max speed

I did it!

Since I've been riding, one of my goals has been to ride to Snelling. Today I did it! It wasn't as difficult as I thought. The biggest challenge was staying on the bike for that many hours. But my long rides have been in the 2 hour range(20-25 miles). I had wanted to get up to 30 mile rides before going to Snelling..but Will asked if I wanted to do a long ride and Snelling popped into my head. He was willing so we set off. Of course it was hot. It probably got to 100. I got a little sunburned on my upper arms. We ate oatmeal, bananas and coffee before we left. We packed our camelbacks with ice water and cliff bars. I made a water bottle with Heed(it's a Hammer electrolyte drink). Unfortunately not a mile out I hit a bump and lost my Heed bottle. It was one of my favorite water bottles(the orange one) We turned around for it but the top had cracked when It fell and so it had to be thrown away. Now I know I can go further.


35.59miles, 2:41:32trip time, 1554cal burned, 13.22mph avg, 30.92max speed

Hung out with the Thompson-Blackshear-Gomez families. We swam and had a nice afternoon..got to see the David, he's so big now...and baby Sammy is adorable

First Day of School

Ok...William being on graveyard right now has atleast one advantage. He went(for the first time) with me and the kids to take them to their 1st day of school...
Riley is in Mrs. Deals 1st grade class.
Liam has Ms Hamel (again) he had her for 4th grade and now it's a 4 - 5 combination class for his 5th grade year.

Great America

We took the kids to Great America for the first time...We all had so much fun today!!! We drove super early and got there before the park opened. William paid the extra 2 dollars to park in the closer lot - and since we were sooo early we actually got THE closest spot. It was right near the entry gate and had a grassy spot near by..so we left our lunches in the car and planned on eating there.

As soon as we were paid and went in (used the restroom and put on sunblock)we ran straight to the Demon....After we rode the Demon...we went out the exit and ran back around to the entrance and rode it again....

When I was a kid there was a ride called the Edge...now there's a similar ride called the Drop Zone. It's soo high! We went over to that one and Riley was excited...until we got there and saw that she was too short to ride it. Liam didn't care because he didn't want to(actually he was tall enough but when we put him up to the measuring post he shrunk himself down and declared himself too short). Riley was pissed! She put a sour look on her face that didnt come off for 1/2 hr.
William got in line to ride. I decided to go with him and left Riley and the camera with Liam. It was so freaking ????!!! I don't know what to say: exciting? scary? When you watch it from ground level it looks like a short, fast ride(few seconds). When the ride drops from the top and you feel the fall...it feels like it's forever. It was crazy!

So Miss Riley was still mad about not going on the Drop Zone while we were in line for our next ride. Then we just did ride after ride after ride...

We commented on how it didn't seem crouded. We expected it to be that way for the first hour because it was early...but it was all morning. We got on to the rides fast. We rode the carousel then went out for lunch.. we saw signs hanging that said 'Great Americas Muslim Unity Day' and thought maybe that was why, but when we came back in from lunch there were twice as many people and there were long lines now.






We went to the water part of the park and rode the Log ride and then the water slides and the kids played in the water for a long time. I played with Williams iphone and found an app 'restaurant finder'...and found a BJ's a few miles away. We rode this ride that starts with V it spins around and up and down...This is Riley doing her "roller coaster" face...

So before we left the park the kids wanted to ride the Deamon again. On the way over Liam wanted to "win" a stuffed animal. He did not want to buy one(would have been cheaper if he had). So we played until each kid won a stuffed animal. Unfortunately as we were getting in line for the Demon the stitching was already comming out of Rileys and so I went back while to exchange it and they got in line - that's how I got these photos:








We rode the carousel one last time before leaving and going for dinner...mmm yummy dinner...then drove home.
A happy happy happy day with eachother!