Check out my new Flickr page!

Go here to see more pictures from our adventures to the California Academy of Sciences-if you want to. I don't want to boss you around. Oh and if you look to the right,  under "Family Love," I added a link, so you can view my flickr updates.

California Academy of Sciences

Baseball officially starts next weekend, so we figured today would be our last Saturday to do something for awhile, that didn't involve baseball. We took in the sights at the newly refurbished California Academy of Sciences.

They opened at 9:30 am. We arrived about 9:15 am to a really, really long line. We bought a membership so we could go through the much shorter, membership line. This place is more crowded than Disneyland! The crowd does not flow very well either. Lots of people stopping in dumb places and lots of strollers. I personally think they should not allow the strollers, at least not  on Saturdays. The planetarium shows were all sold out until 4:30 pm (and that was at about 11:30 am). It is a pretty cool place though. The African animals area needs some help, but the rainforest dome is very cool. 

How cute is this little guy? He's very cute, but watch out, he's very poisonous. You can find him in the rainforest dome, along with lots of butterflies and birds and fish.

These are Giant Sea Pens. Aren't they cool? I have never seen anything like this.

The boys outside the planetarium dome. It is surrounded by water on one side, with sting rays in the water.

La la la la. This looks like where Teletubbies would be filmed! It's the living roof. Very cool-literally and figuratively. All in all, the Academy of Sciences is pretty cool. Since we bought a membership, I can take the boys this summer, in the middle of the week. Hopefully it won't be nearly as crowded. If you plan on going, go early. If you could avoid the weekend, even better. There were long lines to enter even as we were leaving for home. 

Word for the day: Tired. We were up and out early today. When we got home this afternoon, both Kevin and I slept.

Hey Hey It's Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! Tonight was the Blue and Gold dinner for scouting. I was unable to attend, but I did do my jobs. I made a fruit salad, and a display board, and cupcakes were made by Riley and Kevin. A good time was had by all.

Here is my Tiger Cub display board. I am happy with it. Sorry I can't zoom in, but I don't have permission to post other people's children on my blog. The boys are cute though!

While the boys all went to the Blue and Gold, I went to a Dream Dinners party! That is my freezer drawer full of my meals. I think I made 11 meals.

Here's what we'll have tomorrow night, it's chicken and white bean chili with corn fritters. Yum. It was so easy. You go from station to station and prepare your meals, bag them, take them home and freeze them. We are all set! Thanks Michelle for the invite. LOVED it!

Word for the day: Over. Oh my it was a dramatic day at school today. I came unglued when two of my students gave themselves tattoo sleeves, compliments of their markers! Ugh. I so hate that. Can you hear the conversation at home? "What is all over your arms?" "Marker. I drew on myself." "When did you do that?" "At school." "What was your teacher doing?" Do you catch my drift? I will have you know that I have eyes all around my head. I see everything they do in the classroom. I would notice them coloring themselves and I would put an end to it. I go blind at recess (when I don't have duty). This is when they drew on themselves, but not what they would have said to their families. Ugh.

New Fabric Thursday

My fabric order came from Down Shadow Lane today! Yay!

Hey, who is that cute dog? Oh hey, it's the Target dog! My grade level applied for a Target Grant this year, to go on a field trip. We got the grant, AND Target even sent us a care package! What a great company! My grade level partners let me have this cute Target dog-they knew I would love him. I do. I love my grade level partners too. They are the best! I also got a really cool little backpack! It was my lucky day!

Another fabric shot. Look at that Tina Givens fabric-yummy cupcakes and birds and chandeliers. 

Word for the day: Happy. Riley came home from Adventure Time, happy.

Wednesday Night

Lots to do the rest of this week. There's a big scout event Friday night. Salads to be made, pictures to be placed on a display board, cupcakes to be made and decorated to match the "Americana" theme. 

Here's what is not getting done...room cleaning. This one is Quinn's right now.

This room is Riley's. Messy messy. Oh, by the way, mine doesn't look that much better-just finished unpacking from Disneyland. Did I mention that I hate to unpack? I do. Very much. Not as much fun as packing.

Riley and Dad making chocolate cupcakes, while Quinn and I read.

My dinner. 3 very fine Trader Joe's potato latkes. Isn't my plate cute though? TARGET! What would I do without Target?

Word for the day: Results. I played hard ball today, and the results were good. I don't think that crazy ass bully is going to bother either of my kids anymore. 

Look What Time It Is!

It's cookie time! Picture me dancing like MC Hammer.

I think I ordered cookies from  3 Girl Scouts. Here's the first batch. Oh well, they freeze well. Right now, those Thin Mints are calling my name from their new home in my freezer.

Word of the Day: Play Ball! (Ok, that's two). I'm about to play my own version of hard ball. Me vs. anybody who has connections to the bully. Who will win? Stay tuned.

The Best Action Figure EVER!

Cue the presidential music...May I present to you the President of the United States of America! (Hahhhhhh-crowd goes wild). Seriously, look what Amazon sent me today...

"An action figure we can believe in!" Isn't he cute? He's the best action figure EVER! I just had to have him. I wonder how Obama feels about him? This doll is made by jailbreaktoys. I think you can get a McCain or a Palin, but why would you? Barack is the best one!

Also, here's some Giant Nerd love. This picture is from Michelle-I got her addicted to them as well. I'm still out of them. Didn't make it to Target today. 

Word of the day: Yoga. Not YODA, yoGA! I took my first yoga class tonight. I liked it. Let's see how my body feels tomorrow. I worked muscles I didn't even know I had! I'm going for a Madonna body-lmao, I'm on the floor, I just crack myself up...ahhh, good laugh.

Lazy Oscar Sunday

It rained all day, and we were inside all day. I did get out to walk the lake with my mom though. While watching several things today, I got a little jewelry making in. 

Here are some of my latest pieces. I am going to put them into my etsy shop.

I'm going to put some of these little frames in my shop too. I used plastic and enamel flowers to embellish the frames. I need to find some more little frames so I can use all of those loose flowers.

This one will be in my shop, hopefully this week.

Word for the day: Oscars. We have been watching the preshows all day, and now, the real show. We are big fans in this house. Unfortunately, we haven't seen many of the movies. 

Flowers on a Dark, Rainy Day

It hasn't rained yet, but it's going to. The doorbell rang this morning, a little after 10 am. I was up, but not dressed. It was for me. On my front porch stands Riley's friend, we'll call him "E", his mom and a bunch of flowers. You are probably asking "Why?" It's really sweet. Here's the short version of a long story...

Aren't these pretty?

Anyway, there's a boy at Riley and Quinn's school. He's in Riley's class, and he goes to Adventure Time (extended care) after school. For the past several weeks, this kid has been tormenting Riley-verbally only. We have been advising him on what to do, say, etc. Things happen at school and then things happen at AT. I've gone round and round with the AT staff to do something. They are intimidated by the crazy mother of this crazy child. I had not wanted to fight Riley's battle. He has to learn to stand on his own two feet, and stand up for himself. For whatever reason, he can't or won't. It all came to a head the Thursday morning before we left for Disneyland. Something took place which brought Riley to tears. E got mad. He stood up to the bully, and in the process called the bully a not so nice name. When E's mom called just to give us a heads up, it seemed like E would be getting into trouble. This did not sit well with me. At this point I decide that I have to talk to the teacher as she has no idea what has been going on for the last several weeks, and I wanted her help in helping Riley to confront this kid if future situations arise. I could not let one child be punished for standing up to the bully, who if not told on, would continue to harass people. Anyway, long story short (too late), I spoke with Riley's very awesome teacher, and she saw the situation clearly-turns out the bully and his friend were not being truthful, and had made some stuff up. So the flowers this morning were sort of an apology for me having to get involved (although I didn't see it that way-I wanted justice).  I thanked him for being a good friend, and accepted the flowers. 

Word for the day: Refreshing. It's so refreshing to see parents having their children do things because "it's the right thing to do,"  and taking on responsibility for their actions. I think E's mom truly felt guilty that I had to get involved, but really I had no choice in the matter. This kid was not going to stop until somebody did something. All I did was tattle, but hey if that little creep stays away from my kid, then I can handle being the tattletale.  You might also like to know that the bully's friend wrote Riley a note of apology-he has awesome parents too. Did we get anything from the bully himself? Ha. No.

Hey, Did You Feel That?

I'm sitting here, minding my own business, and the earth starts to shake. One quick jolt, but I heard it before I felt it. Check out the USGS site. I have no pictures-you wouldn't want to see my shocked face as I raced to save my children!

No word for the day yet, this is just a bonus post. Lucky you!

Just Stuff

We are just starting baseball. Quinn had practice today. Did I mention his team is called the Lugnuts? Yep.

Look at how pretty the sky was as practice was coming to an end. It was very pretty outside, but quite chilly.

Check this out! I was at Target yesterday (where else would I be?) and I picked up this 2-slice sandwich maker. The regular price was $9.99, but it was on sale for $7.99! I was thinking I would love something to make grilled cheese-I hate to chase the bread and unmelted cheese around the frying pan.

I can't promote these enough! Giant Chewy Nerds! Got them yesterday at Target. The Easter stuff was not out yet. I found these in the regular candy section. I found out tonight (when I got Michelle and her family addicted) that my Lucky store-practically in my backyard-has them!! Oh Natalie, by the way, one of these boxes will be on its way to you on Monday. It's your lucky day!

Word of the day: S...l...o...w. It seemed like the traffic gods were against me today. It did not matter where I drove today. The person in front of me was always slow. Like the old man driving 15 mph down a really long 25 mph street, turned exactly where I needed to turn and continued his 15 mph, but this time on a 45 mph street! Slow people on the freeway, slow people on the street, slow people passing, slow people parking. I see slow people. They are everywhere.

Watch Out!

Kevin took this picture of Owen tonight.

He looks so freaky mean! Really though, he's yawning. Maybe we should post this on our front door, to keep people away.

Word for the day: Busy. My student teacher doesn't come to school on Thursdays or Fridays-yet. Poor me, I had to do it all by myself!

Disney Toys

I love to shop. You know that already. I did some shopping at Disneyland-my mom did too!

My mom got this guy for Riley. Do you know who he is? Give up? It's...are you ready...wait for it...It's Yam Solo! Ha Ha Ha! Too funny. There was also Darth Tater (actually, I think we already own him), Luke Frywalker, Spud Trooper, Princess Tater, Spuda Fett, and Darth Mash.

He has been chosen! My mom got this cute guy for Quinn. He talks and dances/jiggles. He's really quite cute.

My "toy," a new zip up sweatshirt. This is the back. Cute huh? I LOVE it! Mickey is so darn hip!

Here's the front and one of the sleeves. My mom got the same one. We are twins.

Word for the day: Lazy. I sat on my butt most of the day as my student teacher taught. Of course, I didn't just sit, I organized an independent study for a student who leaves Friday for India (and whose dad is driving me nuts wanting the work early so they don't have to take it with them), I corrected the mountains of work that I have been behind on, I straightened some things, I located the Independent Study Contract, I organized some writing assignments, I monitored some students ("are you working hard or hardly working?") and I did all of this from the comfort of my desk! Did I tell you that my student teacher is awesome? She is so capable, and so awesome, that I don't have to step in-ever! She's very unlike my last one, who slept at the back of the room and never learned our classroom routine or bonded with the kids. I'm one lucky teacher! She solos in two weeks so she's trying to get in all of the practice needed before then. I am happy to let her do her thing. She's a natural.

My Valentine's Day Gift

Since we were in Disneyland for Valentine's Day, Kevin and I decided that we wouldn't exchange gifts. Disneyland would be our gift to each other and to the boys. On the Friday night, the boys went with my parents to the RV park and spent the night with them. Kevin and I went to a shopping place called "The Block," before going back into the parks for the evening. We had Starbuck's and found this movie memorabilia shop-the name escapes me. I found somethings I liked there-remember, I'm a shopper. I can ALWAYS find something I like. Look what I got for Valentine's Day at that shop...

It's Coraline! In her pj's. Look at that cute face!

Coraline in rain gear, looking perplexed-she must have been talking to Wybie.

Street clothed Coraline. Annoyed that her parents had no time for her-and they only had 1 child, not 14! How do you give 14 kids the attention they need? Sorry. I digress.

Oh look! It's actually 3 dolls! Yes, Kevin bought me the 3 Coraline dolls. Aren't they cute? I love them so. They are bendy too and I love their hair! Also, Carl's Jr. has Coraline toys right now in their kids meals. Just so you know.

Word for the day: Wet. I know we need it, but I'm tired of the rain. It would be really handy if it rained in the early evening and overnight, but I think it should stop by time school starts and ends. If you want total freakiness, just add rain!

Another Double Wide Post! Lucky You!

We always go into Disneyland as soon as they open. We believe in arriving first thing, before everyone else decides to get out of bed. It's the best time to get on rides! They opened at 8 am everyday we were there. We were in line by 7:30 am most days. We always have a plan on which rides we go to first. You can get a lot done before it starts to get crowded. 

Look! Hardly and visible strangers in our Walt, Mickey and Castle picture! 

What's missing? Oh! The people!! See what I mean? Go early, it's so worth it. We went here, to Frontierland, to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It took longer than necessary as they had only one train going, until we finally got lined up to ride, and then they started another train! 

How sweet! Those lions are protecting a sleeping zebra on the World Famous Jungle Cruise.

Aboard the boat. This trip on the Jungle Cruise was the best ever! The guide, his name was Kevin, was excellent! He had many jokes that we had never heard! 

Word for the day: Home. We didn't get to go into the parks this morning like we wanted, because the weather sucked big time! It poured as we left LA. We were nervous that we would get stuck, so we came on home instead of visiting the parks one last time. We had to take another route as the one we usually take, was closed due to snow. 

More Disney Stuff!

Day 3 Disneyland 2009. We were in and out of both parks many times today. Here are some of the highlights from DCA.

Disney's California Adventure. We love these letters. Apparently, they will be gone soon. The park is undergoing many renovations, and the removal of the "California" outside the park, is one. Bummer. They have candy corn letters at Halloween too! We take pictures of Riley by the "R", and Quinn, by the "O"-making a "Q". Kevin made himself into a "K" out of an "I", and I was working on a "J" out of one of the "I's". Tons of fun. Isn't it nice of Disney to accommodate our family letters. There's also a "C" for our last name!

This big picture spot is set up outside of the Monsters Inc. ride. It's such a cute ride.

Wall-E and the boys. He's so cute! Those boys are pretty cute too, if I do say so myself!

Quinn is a big fan of this pose for pictures. If you look at some of the other posts, you'll see this pose. Oh look, he's even gotten Riley (the serious one) to do it as well!

Word for the day: Reminder. Thanks Dana, for reminding me about my forgotten word for this post.

Disneyland 2009 Day 1

We are at Disneyland! Today was Day 1 of Disney 2009. Oh what a day! Please excuse my double wide post today. I didn't blog yesterday, so I am making up for it. I could say I didn't blog because I am superstitious-it was Friday the 13th, but really, I was just too lazy to get off of the bed and fetch the computer from the other side of the room. I walked 24,792 steps yesterday, burning 678 calories! My feet hurt, and I was tired. I'm sorry if you tuned in and I was unprepared. 

Quinn, my mom, and Riley riding a stationary teacup. 

We rode the newly renovated "It's a Small World." Go ahead, sing along. Now that song is stuck in your head isn't it? It's stuck in mine too. After the ride, we noticed the gardeners out, grooming the bushes. It's a good thing this is not a real elephant-that girl is in a bad spot.

Toontown fun. Riley blew the place up!

We got to meet Mickey!!! He's my favorite. I just love him! I only buy shirts/sweatshirts (for myself) that have Mickey on them. He's the best! Doesn't he look cute? Pictured here are my dad (Bob), my mom (Bonnie), Quinn, Riley, Kevin and the raspberry? That's me! I got a new coat. Like it? It's for Alaska in June. Just breaking it in on this trip. It was cold and rainy.

The Matterhorn. I usually ride this one, but I forfeited this year so my dad could go. My mom and I stayed out. I think it's too bumpy.

Word for the day: Happy. Disneyland is, after all, the Happiest Place on Earth. Seriously.

Disneyland 2009 Day 2

Day 2 of Disney 2009. We spent the morning at Disneyland, riding Fantasyland rides, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion. At about 9:30 am, we ventured over to DCA (Disney's California Adventure), so we could ride Toy Story Mania. We got all the way over there (it's at the opposite end of the park, through much renovation work), only to have the ride down. We hung around for awhile and then left because they said it would not be up again for quite awhile. We carried on. Kevin got Quinn on Mulholland Madness, and then we rode the Golden Zephyr (which, by the way, is silver). While on the Zephyr, we noticed that Toy Story was up. We went back over, and after some drama involving the lining up of people, we got to ride it. It was worth the 30 minutes we waited. So much fun!

Kevin and Quinn after their Mulholland Madness. Quinn loved it. That one freaks me out-the ride, not the boy, but Quinn absolutely loved it!

DCA is under major renovations. They have tons of projects in the works. Here you see they have drained the lake. They are putting in a colorful fountain show, and making changes to the Sun Wheel.

It's going to take a long time to complete the renovations, if only this one guy is doing it! It's scheduled to be finished in Spring 2009-he better work fast!

Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. Looking for yummy caterpillar snacks!

Quinn and Kevin doing the Ladybug Boogy with Francis.

Word for the day: Sore. My feet hurt. I have walked a jillion steps!