Dad's On Vacation

What kind of fun do you think is going on in our backyard?

Well, today is Dad's first day of vacation and last night he bought a new high powered air rifle. I call it a bb gun! And they are all in the backyard doing target practice. The rifle is really for Dad because he wants to shoot rats when he sees them in the back yard. I told him he may want to be sure that he can kill it when he shoots it. Last time a trap didn't kill one completely, it was a twenty minute fiasco about how to kill it and who was going to do the killing. It was crazy!

I'm getting ready for his brothers to come and visit next week. It is the first time Ken has been here since we got married, so it should be an adventure. Also, his other brother Kirk is coming out later in the week with his two kids. That should be fun. We plan on having an "open house" on that Friday so that anyone that wants to come by and hang out with us can come any time. We are going to BBQ some burgers and dogs. 

 

Hopefully this week I can get upstairs with the paint and finish painting our bedroom! It has only been three or four months since I painted the walls. I would love to finish the ceiling and borders sometime before the color on the walls fades. HA! Painting is one of those things I just can't do with the kids hanging around by themselves. I can get started and then they are fighting or getting into something they shouldn't or they are hungry and want something to eat NOW! Kids. They always need something.

Anyway, I'm sure today will live on in infamy since the boys are having so much fun watch Dad shoot cans and avocados on the side of the house!

Some teachers! ...A Rant...

Nikki goes to public school because her mother wants her there. Every school year since she started Kindergarten, I keep everything the school sends home all year. I put it in my file cabinet and keep it until June. Then I sort through it all and keep the things I think express her at this age. I put it all in a book with her picture and signature and all that. I just got through doing this for her 6th grade year.

We always had a problem with her "core class" teacher. Otherwise known as home room. She is a real pain to us all. I tried emailing her to get specific instructions from her because I thought Nikki wasn't re-telling it right, or wasn't asking the right questions. And guess what? I can't figure out what it is that woman wants either! There was a time when she wouldn't grade her work because she hadn't brought in and used the right three-ring binder that was requested. We had already had a system of keeping work organized and neat and it was working perfectly, except that she couldn't get a good grade because she didn't have the binder. I know you are thinking that it is understandable. Maybe she had a special way of using these notebooks or something but that wasn't the case. I looked into it.

The other thing is that as I was going through the years work, all her papers from that teacher had either nothing at all on them or some nasty note like, "needs work!", "neater writing please!", or "use all the same color ink!". Never a "nice subject" or "creative idea" at all! You have to know Nikki's work to understand this. She may not be the cleanest writer, or the best at organizing or getting things in on time, but she IS brilliant. She is creative, intelligent, and mature in her writing. It is the one thing that I would say she excells in. Her essays and reports are researched and a lot of love and time has gone into them. They are interesting to read, too. Not your every day, "The battle of Gettysburg was in...." blah blah blah. Now I'm going to have to post some of her work here just so you understand what I am talking about.

I just don't think it is fair or a good thing, to have to suffer through a year of school and just "get through it" because a teacher has decided to ride their time out until they retire and bring down as many children as possible until they do!

Independence Day!

Our 4th of July begins with the annual lighting of snakes in the backyard.

They usually sacrifice one or two of their plastic army men that have been broken. Tan ones are bad guys, so if there are any of those around they get that first. Mind you, this is all directed and overseen by Dad, who is the only one with a lighter. One year we had a small tan army tank that was loaded up with snakes and lit. This was the same year that my small apple tree died. I say it was because they did it right underneath it and it was filled with smoke. He says the box say non-toxic, so it couldn't have been that. Anyway, moving on!

The stash of fireworks that Dad and the kids had bought earlier that afternoon. They were so excited to light them, they just couldn't stand it once the sun started to go down.

 

Tom still hates the sound of fireworks. Really, the idea that the next one might be loud bothers him, so he just keeps his hands over his ears just in case. 

 

He did take them off to get in on lighting a couple fireworks with Dad though.

Jake lights his first fireworks!

There was this one that looked pretty lame, like it was a dud, and then it exploded really loud. We all jumped. It was great!
 

This was the scene you would have seen if you drove by.

All in all, it was a great 4th. We didn't have anyone over this year. Dan and I spent the first half of the day cleaning the yard and garage. Then I went to the grocery store and bought provisions while the others went pyro shopping. When we all got home, we started the snakes and cap guns for awhile. We BBQ'd burgers and corn, of course. Then sat down to a great dinner. The kids got coke with their dinner! OOOh! And then we were off to light our fireworks. We have to travel to another city because they are illegal in ours. On the way there and back we got to see lots of the cool illegal ones from Mexico all over. I had long discussions with Tom about legal and illegal fireworks. He was very concerned that we were doing something wrong and that we would all be arrested. Not true, but it is hard for a 5 year old to understand laws are different for different cities. Then we came home and watched the 25 minute Disneyland display from our front yard while singing the National Anthem over and over again.

Just a quick run down of the day, for memories sake!

This morning, after doing a couple loads of laundry and cleaning up the kitchen, I made breakfast. Ann took Nikki to Boys and Girls Club by her mother's house. Nikki is with us Sunday morning until Wednesday morning. She is now at her mother's house. We headed to Target to shop. The boys love to sit in the cart and eat a bag of popcorn and an icee while I shop. Fun stuff! Next stop: Out to Great-Grandpa's house. We brought him a sleeping bag to use on his fishing trip this weekend. And we all went to McDonald's for lunch. We left there at 2pm so that we could be at the library by our house by 3pm for Teddy Bear Picnic Day. The boys had a great time playing games, picking books, and making a few crafts. The Anaheim Public Library does a magnificent job of entertaining the kids and getting them interested in reading. Lots of prizes and fun stuff to do. We came home at 5pm and had a snack. Dan got home and 6 all fired up about getting a air rifle from WalMart to shoot rats in our backyard. I'm married to a nut, seriously! So we were off and while we were out we had dinner at Chili's. At home at 8pm, baths and stories and all that bedtime stuff. They were asleep at 9:30 when the fireworks started. I continued to read a bit though because I'm reading the Chronicles of Narnia (the whole big huge book) and I love it!

A Peek Into Our Mornings

Good Morning, Everyone!

This is how our day begins. Three kids in their jammies watching each other play video games. This morning Jake was playing Indiana Jones. That kid really knows what he is doing! We have a cheat code that makes it so he can't die, but he knows how all the machines work, where to go and when. It is so crazy watching him. It looks, at first, like he is just running around aimlessly. But when you watch for awhile you will see that he is the master. Whenever anyone else is stuck they just ask Jake and he will tell you exactly what to do next.

Friday

On Friday's we go to my friend Kathy's house. 

 

When Jake was a baby I belonged to a playgroup called Busy Bee's. There was a "difference in opinion" about child rearing and a group of us split off and became OC Playgroup. After a few months, I became the owner of the group and we met at my house each week at my house for almost two years. Then we started meeting at Kathy's house weekly and she took over ownership of the group. We are now finishing up our third year together!

Today was especially fun. It is so much cooler at her house than mine since she lives closer to the coast. Also, she has a backyard filled with water toys and a shaded pool. The kids run around and swim. We all eat lunch. They play some more. And all us Mom's get to talk our heads off and fight over who's kid is the cutest. I think we are truly blessed because we have all become such great friends and we love having new members come into the group and become great new friends. The kids all get a chance at sharing, even the little only child ones. And the older ones, like mine, get to try their hand a patience with little ones. It is a wonderful day for all of us. Except Kathy, who gets to clean up the mess. But I think she likes it! I know I always did. 

Cabrillo Aquarium

Puzzles at the Aquarium!

What a blast we had today! It has been about 95 degrees here all week. Totally not like this area at all at this time of year. Yuck! And humid too! So I was searching for something cheap and indoors and cool to do today. I just couldn't take another afternoon of this heat. So I thought we would drive down to the beach. I've been wanting to visit this aquarium for a long time.
 

We got there at 12:30 and it was 72 degrees! God bless it! It was beautiful! $7 to park. $10 donation to get in. $10 worth of plastic sea animals for the boys. It was a deal! We were there 3 hours. They have all the sea animals, eels, jelly fish, sea bass, all of it. Close up in tanks where you can see them. Lots to read about. Tide pools. And a new hands on room where they can dress up like sea creatures, see what it is like inside a fish tank, how water run off effects the ocean, where they raise baby fishes. It was awesome.
 

And there is a beach across the parking lot with a playground. The boys ran wild for a bit, then we headed home. We went over the Vincent Thomas bridge in San Pedro. Saw all the cargo ships, containers, trains, and trucks. 

It was a very good day!