Happy Halloween!

I loved watching "The Great Pumpkin" every year.  We missed it this year though. Here's hoping you don't get a bag full of rocks.  Hope everyone has a fun day today and tonight!

Dog Tired

It felt like I had run a marathon.  My legs were feeling like jello but I kept pushing them forward.  My trusty companion just trotted along next to me, but even she was slowing down.  Good old Dodger is ten years old, and you know that's 70 in dog years. She just is up for any challenge.  We got back to the house and I looked at my pedometer, which I don't know how to set but I thought I would just try it out.  It said 3.5 miles.  I knew this could not be right.  I had ran that far with no problem and I knew this was my longest run I had ever done.  So I got in the car and retraced my steps, sort of.  I was running along a bike path so I couldn't retrace it perfectly.  Anyway, guess how many miles we ran yesterday?

Ok I'll tell you......9 miles!

The Pizza and Cake Diet

We've been so busy the past few days with parties that I have literally been eating pizza and cake at least once a day for the past four days.  I would not recommend this diet for anyone trying to lose weight!  Now, it works perfectly for anyone trying to gain weight though.  I just can't seem to resist the cake part.....even if I'm sick of it, if someone offers it to me I say, "Thanks!" and then eat it all up.  So no more parties for now, no more pizza, no more cake, just the big official Halloween night when the kids bring home all the candy for me to sneak into at night.  So much for smashing the fat!  On the plus side though, I have been running more (being in training and all) and so maybe that will equal out all the junk I have been consuming.  I'm sure that the cake and pizza diet is on every marathoner's list of what to eat!

Bake Me A Cake

For this month's cub scout pack meeting they had a father/son cake bake. Kevin, who loves to bake, had this elaborate picture in his mind of what he wanted to make on the cake. I, knowing that sometimes his elaborate plans sometimes/usually turn into frustration of not being able to turn the pictures in his mind into reality, simply showed him some pictures of cakes on the Internet. Luckily he liked one that he saw that looked fairly simple and I knew that he and Garrett could do it together. Turns out, I should have let Kevin just go on with his elaborate dreams because some of the other cakes were very fancy. Anyway, the process was fun, I think, for both Kevin and Garrett. Kevin was proud of his cake......and it tasted really yummy!

Some of the other entries:

Eeewwww, a kitty litter cake!

The winner, were they professional cake makers or what?

"Louder Than Words"

You may remember that I had a poll up on this blog about "How many of you know someone with Autism". I did this poll, not only because I was playing around with the options of what I could do with the blog, but because I have this fascination, interest, heart for Autism. As a speech therapist I have worked with quite a few kids that have autism. They are all different and affected in different ways and I find it so interesting to try and break into the worlds of these kids. There has been such an increase of kids being diagnosed. That's why I asked how many know someone, because I know for me growing up I didn't know one. Maybe because they weren't being mainstreamed into regular education classrooms then, but mostly because I know it wasn't as prevalent...and that wasn't very long ago.
So for my birthday I asked Garrett to get me the book, "Louder Than Words, A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism" by Jenny McCarthy. I was skeptical about the book because of the words "healing Autism". I know there are so many kids that are function in the "real world" because of the therapies they have had, but I haven't ever heard or seen one completely "healed". But it turned out I really like the book and read it quickly (I'm a slow reader). She talks about the things that worked for her son and was clear to mention that these things do not work for every child. She also talked about the hard work it was to get her son to the point he is at now.
It's such a mystery as to why things work for some and not other kids. I wish with all my heart that there was a way to "heal" all of these kids. I know that the parents go through so much to work with these kids and try and get them to function in our world. I cannot imagine doing that full time. My hours that I spend with the kids are sometimes exhausting, just to get a child to look at me. But that's also why it's rewarding because after hours and hours, when a child first starts using words or you see them coming out of "their world" it makes it all worth it. So don't be surprised if when I work my way up to running a marathon that I come to you asking to sponsor me in a run of some sort in raising money for Autism research!

What's Goin' On

Here are some of the recent pictures. The pictures in costume were from the Halloween party that we went to the first day the fires broke out. I encouraged Zach to be the fireman because he wasn't wanting to be Superman so I told him he needed to put out all the fires around us. Somehow he went for that. I tell you, these boys are going to be costumed out before it's even Halloween. They have three more parties over the next few days....
The others are from our trip to Disneyland on Monday. We were heading out of town to escape the smoke but it turned out there was more smoke there than at home. Oh well, probably more fun there than sitting at home all day. School is back in tomorrow and I am back to work tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if I get some cancellations or no shows.

California Adventure, "Candy Corn Acres".

The sun was too bright for the boys.

Zach takes a snooze in the stroller.

Inside Mickey Mouse's House.

Being Prepared

As I sit with the news on all day I keep hearing the news say the importance of being prepared for an event, such as a fire. I am finding some things out about myself that I didn't necessarily think was true. The biggest thing I am learning is, as much as I would like to think of myself as organized, I really am not. I have piles of papers thrown together in my closet that are kind of related. I think I could find important papers if I had time to look for them. But now I know I have a new mission....to get my important papers more organized so that I could grab them and go if I ever had to. The news also says that we should have a record of all the things that we own so that if we needed to we could record them all in a list in order to get the insurance to cover the cost of losing anything. I think Garrett took pictures of things when we lived in Ventura. I guess it's time to update, seeing as he likes to have the newest of new electronics.
The fires are still burning and new ones seems to be popping up throughout the day. It's a little unnerving to sit here listening to the helicopters going over our house to drop water on fires just miles away. But as I said before, it is very unlikely that our house would be in danger. I just called a friend of mine telling her she is welcome to come over if she is feeling threatened at all. I guess there is nothing else to do....just sit and wait, maybe go orgnaize my papers!

Happy Birthday Graham!

It's my big brother's birthday today. With all this fire excitement, I almost forgot to mention it..... Hope you have a great day Graham. This was the only picture I could find of him this morning, with Zach about 2 years ago. Unfortunately I don't get to see Graham and his family nearly as often as I would like.

More Breaking News

Boy, Santa Clarita has been making the news a lot these days. There are now fires burning all around the Santa Clarita Valley. We are not threatened at all because of where we live, but we do have some friends that live in Canyon Country and have been evacuated. Fire is a scary thing because it can change so quickly. Last night I took the boys to a Halloween party and the scene was all the kids playing in the back rooms and the parents watching the news to see where the fires were going next. I have some cute pictures from the party though that I will add later. For now, I think we are going to escape the smoke today, since Kevin's school has been cancelled, by heading down to Disneyland......again.
Here's the smoke around our house, take yesterday

Taste In Music

I don't have a certain type of music that I listen to. If something is playing and I can sing along with it then it is usually ok with me. Garrett, on the other hand, has very specific likes and dislikes in music and he likes to have his music on in the house all the time. So I found it very funny yesterday when Kevin's friend came over from across the street with his new eletric guitar and wanted to start a band. They asked me to put in some music that they could play along with so I asked them what they wanted to hear. Kevin offered in, "We have The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Police..." Kevin's friends responded with, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Then I asked him what he usually listens to and he responded quickly with, "High School Musical." along with a look that said, "DUH!"

Check Out This Site!

Go check out Garrett's new site!

In Training

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and since I just had my birthday I thought it would be a great time to go for it.  I've decided that by this time next year I will be able to run the Santa Clarita Marathon.  They have it every November.  So, starting today, I am officially in training for 2008.  I know that giving myself a year is plenty of time to prepare, but it's also plenty of time to decide to just forget about it.  That's where you all come in....you are my accountability partners.  I want you to check in with me to see how I am doing.  I am not planning on being fast, my short legs just don't take me very fast, but just finishing will be a great accomplishment for me.  A friend of mine has run 3 marathons and I am planning on getting training tips from her and hopefully once I have worked my way up a little I can start running with her.   For now, I just will stick with our trusty dog, Dodger.  So don't forget to check in every so often and see how it's going.

Swimmin' in October

We love having a pool and spend almost every day in it in the summer.  We don't heat it though, so as soon as the weather changes to a little cooler (like 85 instead of 105) we stop using it because the water quickly becomes too cold to be comfortable...at least for me.  Zach has been asking me almost daily, "When can we go swimming?", since the beginning of September I think.  I always respond, "The pools too cold now.  We'll go in again next summer."  He just doesn't give up though, so this past Sunday he was asking me again and I gave in and told him and Kevin that they could go in, but I would just be watching.  So in they went, they didn't even take time to get their trunks on!  I put my toe in and that was enough to tell me, "No way I'm going in, it's freezing!"  Kevin stayed in for about 15 minutes, maybe, but Zach was in for about 45 minutes.  It reminded me of my brother and I in the pool.  My lips would be turning blue and I would get out to warm up, but my brother would stay in for hours.  Anyway, maybe this has satisfied Zach's swimming needs, but more than likely I will hear him asking again soon.

Birthday Update

Thank you all for your calls and e-mails.  I had a great day and got almost everything on my list done!  I didn't get a haircut, but I did get a pedicure instead.  I had a gift certificate from two years ago, that's how often I go get a pedicure, but I thought it would be appropriate to finally use it.  It's hard for me to sit and relax though when they are tickling my feet.  We went Miniature Golfing, which started out rough, with tears and tantrums from not getting the ball in the hole.  No, that wasn't me throwing the tantrum. But I did have my own outburst that my afternoon wasn't shaping up the way I wanted.  I had originally wanted to go after seeing a post from my friend Maile.  We had never taken the boys because I didn't think they were old enough.  But after seeing Maile's little cuties doing their thing on the golf course I thought it would be fun to give it a try.  But after our little outbursts we all calmed down and had a good rest of the afternoon.  My dinner was yummy and the cake too.  I was completely stuffed and fell asleep during story time with the boys before it was even 8:00!  I'd say that was a good end to a good birthday!

You're How Old?

Today is my birthday!  That's me in the picture above when I was almost 1 year, with my mom, dad, and brother.  Sorry about the quality of it, I took a picture of a picture because I don't know how to use our scanner.  

I have a simple day planned:

1. Take the boys to school

2. Take Dodger on a walk OR go to the gym

3. See if I can get my hair cut (a real one, not supercuts)

4. Pick the boys up from school.

5. Maybe go play miniature golf or something fun with the boys.

6. Go to dinner with Garrett and the boys.

7. HAVE SOME CAKE OR SOMETHING YUMMY!

That's about it.  I am 33 today, by the way.  I still feel young, except for the gray hairs that keep popping up.  I often find myself wondering when I am truly going to feel like a grown up.  I know I am; a wife, a mother, a professional, a homeowner....all of these things sound grown up, but in my mind I still sometimes feel like a kid.  So today I ask you, when did you start feeling like a grown up?

1-800-Got-Junk

Yesterday we had a garage sale for the MOMS club.  Every year we try and raise money for a local charity that helps other children.  So this year we chose the Single Mother's Outreach.  This means that whatever money we raise will go to help support this organization.  The past few years we've had garage sales and they have turned out pretty well.  Everyone brings their things they want to sell and we have a pretty big turnout.  This year I offered to have it at our house.  

Well this year we are having trouble getting our members to stay involved.  Our club is shrinking quickly but I still had high hopes for the sale.  I mean, I thought everyone would want to get rid of their junk, right?  I know I did.  But we only had a few people bring things over and it was mostly clothes from their little ones, which don't always sell well.  I on the other had several bigger things I was really wanting to sell so I encouraged everyone to bring their stuff and we would go on with the sale.

Friday night around 9 it started raining so I thought for sure that we would have to cancel.  The boys and I thought we would get a head start so we had even hung some signs around the night before so I wasn't thrilled that it was raining on our signs either.  I woke up Saturday morning around 5:30 and it wasn't raining, the ground was semi-dry so I decided to forge on ahead.  I drove around and hung up some more signs.  I set up all of the stuff in our driveway and around 6:45 we had our first customers.  Another mom came to join me around 7:00 and together we manage to sell some of the stuff.  I actually did pretty well getting rid of my stuff, the changing table, the rocking chair, a dresser.  The boys are getting so big I was ready to get rid of everything babyish.

We closed up shop though around 10:30 because we just had little stuff left, mostly those clothes that were in a big mess of a pile by now.  We only made around $120, so it's not much to give to our charity, but I guess it's better than nothing.  It didn't help that we were practically giving things away.  It also didn't help that I think some people got away with some of the bigger items without paying.  I was half awake and couldn't remember if this lady paid me or not.  She said she did, so who was I to argue over stuff I really didn't want to keep anyway!  I know, I am not great at sales.

But I do still have the rest of the stuff now sitting in the garage.  Now we just have to get it over to Goodwill or something.  We also have this, which I brought out halfway through the sale just hoping someone would take it.......

Can you believe no one wanted it!!!  It was left here by the previous owners, along with some other stuff they so thoughtfully left for us to enjoy.  So I am officially ready to make the call to have all this junk taken away from our house.

Breaking News

If you have been checking the news this morning there has been breaking news about a pile up of 12 big rigs that have crashed inside a tunnel in L.A. County.  This has happened literally about 5 miles from our house.  Garrett saw the beginnings of it on his way home from the Genesis Concert last night.  They have shut down the 5 freeway both directions, which means we are stuck here for the rest of today, maybe tomorrow.  Well, we could drive up north I guess.  Anyway, this means we have to miss Grandma Dee's sock hop tonight :(  It may also mean we have to cancel our birthday party that we were planning for tomorrow if the freeway is still shut down.  Let's just pray that men and women working on putting out the fire all stay safe and they get it under control as quickly as they can.

Pics From Here and There

We really have been going here, there, and everywhere lately, so I haven't had a lot of time to write.  I do have some good pictures from the different activities that I wanted to share though.  I thought I would get it done now because tomorrow it's back to work.  It's been nice having a change in routine this week though, working on Monday instead of Wednesday.  But now it's almost Friday again.  These weeks fly by faster than I could ever imagine!

We had a good time celebrating Garrett's birthday on Monday.

The boys got their Halloween costumes. 

Red Power Ranger is Kevin and Superman is Zach.

Zach got to go pick out a pumpkin.

Kevin on his 1st grade field trip to Lombardi Ranch.

The cub scouts took a tour of the fire station.

Zach and I got to climb in the engine.

What a fun week!!

The Gym

I love going to the gym.  I'm not kidding.  BUT, I only love going if I can go to a class.  I don't like going and doing the machines because that seems to take forever.  A class will go by in no time and most of the time it's fun because it's like dancing.  This morning I went to the Kickboxing class.  "Kickboxing, sport of the future.  Ever heard of it.  I can see by your face, no".  Anyway, it was the instructor's birthday and so her friend brought in those little birthday hats for everyone to wear throughout the class.  Thoroughly uncomfortable, but being the shy girl that I am I just kept it on as did most of the people in the class.  Little things like this can make it more enjoyable than just walking on a treadmill and staring at a t.v., trying to read the screen because I don't bring headphones so I can actually hear it.  All this to say, I wish I could bring myself to the gym more often.  Since I really do love it, why is it so hard to get there?  Maybe because I am too busy doing all these fun things with the boys......

Busy Bees

Things are buzzing around here, but I wanted to get these pictures that Garrett's mom took at Disneyland on Sunday posted.  She's better than me at getting all the right shots in.....

And we can't forget Evil Dick.

Birthdays Galore!!!

October is a big month for birthdays here.  My brother and I both just happened to marry people with the same birthday.  So today, I am wishing a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister-in-law, Tina, and to my husband, Garrett.  Unfortunately I switched my schedule around this week to go on the field trip, so I have to work today.  But we are planning on having a nice birthday dinner for Garrett/Daddy tonight.

Happy Birthday Garrett. (From our trip to Disneyland sometime...I've lost count)

Happy Birthday Tina! (From our trip to Disneyland with

Tina and Lauren last June)

P.S. We went to Disneyland, surprise, surprise, yesterday with Jeff, Paula, and Mike. I will post pictures later, but I did have to tell you who we saw and Garrett got a picture with. For those of you (VICKI) who watched the show Big Brother this summer, we saw Evil Dick, the winner of the show.

Happy Birthday Grandma Dee

With love from all of us. Hope you have a great day!