Glorious

Glorious. That is how I would describe our weather recently. For all of you dealing with record snowfalls and coldblasts let me just describe for you what Southern California has been like. Over the weekend our highs averaged 70F. Yep, you read that right. Even in the High Desert. I got not a thing done because we were all too busy outside playing, riding bikes, taking walks, checking out the remnants of my garden, pulling weeds (that's not work to me in this weather) going to the park and basically getting all the vitamin D we could handle. It was, well, glorious. Now that we've gotten a taste of the end of our winter hibernation we must retreat. More rain is coming. Temps are expected to be back to normal, highs in the low 50s. We did enjoy our spring teaser, though.

Another blessing (but shh, Hubby doesn't agree) is that our downstairs TV has quit working! It's even a newer TV but it's on the fritz. Do we Americans have any idea how much we can get done without television????!!! I'm beginning to have an inkling... Hubby came home from work and wanted to go on a walk. We did. It was 5:30, still light out and about 64F. Then we came home, had dinner and Hubby found a movie to watch on the computer, our (mine and his as a couple) favorite... Parenthood with Steve Martin and Mary Steenbergen. We just love this movie for all of the craziness in this one, extended family. Before we had our girls we would watch it and say to each other, "someday we will have great, crazy lives filled with kids and noise!" Now that we're there we are still thrilled to watch this great movie. There's a part that always gets me crying. The grandmother tells a story to Steve and Mary about 'Grandpa' taking her on a roller coaster at a park. She liked the ups and downs, the speed, the twists and turns. Some people didn't like it. They went on the carousel. That just went around in circles. But she liked the roller coaster, "you get more out of it". By the end of her story I am always bawling. Yep, you do get more from the roller coaster. It's great to be reminded of this joy when I've got a toddler hanging off my legs, cooking dinner, helping with homework and laundry going too.

The end of the movie is perfect, too. No, I won't spoil it for you but it's also a tearjerker. The song that plays at the end (credits rolling) is my favorite too. It's 'I Love to See You Smile' and I'm not sure who sings it. Some of the words are, ' I was born to make you happy, I think you're just my style, everywhere I go, out of everyone I know, I love to see you smile'. There are so many wonderful life lessons in this gem... go, run, rent it now!

What? Doesn't Everyone Vacuum Naked?

We have something very exciting happening at our house right now. It's got me all in a twitter! I just love it when I see such progress being made! We are heading (much sooner than I thought for that matter) to the land of "no babies here, no diaper bag needed". Just Mom and Dad with our big girls! We are potty training!!!!! Last week, out of the blue, Bethany said, "potty, Mama" and pointed to her diaper. Well, I'm not one to miss an opportunity to head into "big-girl land" so we ran to the bathroom, all the while me thinking, "yea, right, potty training at 20 months" and expecting nothing to occur in the bathroom. Boy, was I wrong, wrong, wrong! She went, hopped up, let me pull up her pants and put a new diaper on. She just tottled off like she'd been doing this her entire life. Meanwhile, I sat there stunned.

Off we ran to Target for "big-girl panties" (Pull-Ups) and M&Ms (reward). She has had a few 'misses' but mostly 'hits'! She is so ready to do this! I wasn't even going to broach the subject with her till she was two but my incredibly smart, mature, ahead-of-pack daughter had other ideas! No, I'm not partial.

So, we've been spending a lot of time inside, naked (it's the only way to do this) and Bethany is getting it all down pat. She heads off into the bathroom pulling her Pull-Up down without even telling me! She has a cute potty-training potty but only wants to use the toilet! I've said all along that she'd be the child who will be doing everything fast. I will have to hold her back from growing up too soon! But for now, I'm just looking forward to getting rid of my diaper bag and carrying my stylish purses again!

We've had Savannah's BFF here this weekend along with Uncle Bradley. The weather was gorgeous... 65F! All the girls were outside at 10am playing (Bethany in her jammies still!) with Daddy and Uncle. We're about to head to the park. It's also Valentine's Day! I got an elliptical exercise machine!!!! I'm so excited to get started! I made Hubby a big card with poster board and candy bars as substitutes for some of the words (You are my Lifesaver, our marriage is Bliss, I'm gonna kiss you Now and Later, I was a Smartie to marry you). He loved it and I loved making it. I also got him a few other things...

Weird

I have decided we are a weird family. We do weird things. We find weird things funny. We take pictures of our weird family. We take weird pictures of our weird family.

We have a weird way of playing

We have weird fashion sense

We shop for weird things

We have weird fascinations

These Pics go with "Get Me Outta' This House"!

if by "happy" you mean trapped with no means of escape...

... then yes, I'm happy!

(I'm fine, now, got out of the house yesterday for a bit and am doing better now!)

...and I obviously don't know how to turn this picture around... sorry. I can see you all turning your heads to the right to try to see this. You all look really silly.

Get Me Outta this House!

Hello, hello, hello. It's Super Bowl Sunday. I'm not much of a sports fan and, praise God, Hubby will watch occasionally, but he isn't either. But his baby brother Bradley is here and they are looking forward to seeing the big game. I will tell you this, I would like the New Orlean's Saints to win just because it would be so uplifting to the Big Easy after everything they've been through with hurricanne Katrina and all.

I'm actually, secretly for now, hoping to put Bethany down for her nap after church and maybe run off to my favorite thrift store, the kid's consignment shop and maybe to the Christian book store next door for a cup of tea. I think Hubby will be too involved in the game to even miss me! I could sure use some quiet time to myself! Hubby always calls me from work and tells me about his day... the drive to work in the quiet car, lunch with his buddies from work, the drive home in some traffic in the, once again, quiet car. It makes me drool. I would love to sit for an hour every day in a quiet car, have lunch with girls I work with (no, not necessarily my girls) and then drive home again in a quiet car, even if I have to work in between and sit in some traffic! Oh, yep, I think I need some quiet time today... I think I'm desperate.

My friend Susan (who moved to Arizona, remember her? I told you about her in a post a while back...) and I would seem to feel like this on the same days and it always made us like magnets toward each other! We would call in the morning and go, "I need to get outta this house, how 'bout you?" And she'd say, "girl, you read my mind, I'll meet you at Starbucks and we'll take it from there". We'd go get into some kind of fun trouble. Shopping, eating, something! But it never involved a movie because we liked to talk way too much to behave in a theater. She is a Christian as well and we would talk about the Lord and pray together but sometimes (ok, a lot) we would just get silly. Laughing was our choice of medicine. One day would do it and I could go back to normal life. Hubby was understanding about this crazy need in me! He still is! Anyway, Susan gave me this great calendar for my purse and it is sarcastic and silly with these ladies from the '50s all dressed up for housework and being proper but who secretly long for gettin' silly. Here are some of the photos! I miss my silly, crazy friend!

The Los Angeles Zoo

Last Saturday we did our usual, pancakes and fruit in the morning after we all climb into our big bed together (and I do mean all, mommy, daddy, Sissy, Bethany and two doggies) to snuggle and wake up daddy. Then we did a few things around the house (it really never ends) and then we went to the LA Zoo! We just love this zoo because it's small and you don't have to spend an entire day there. I think we were there all of 2-3 hours and hit all the 'highlights'. We love the flamingos, the giraffes, the apes, the chimps, the alligators, the meercats, and the koalas! The zoo is in the process of re-building the elephant exhibit, so they're on hiatus. We went to Mimi's Cafe afterwards. Now, I'm a country girl at heart (you remember, I've told you all about that) I mean, my hometown has, like 9000 people in it! So, when I get to LA (or even surrounding it) I am a fish out of water! I try to think of what great things to do/shops to see to cram into our time there! We don't have a Mimi's Cafe where we live so we enjoyed getting to eat there. All except the part where Bethany wants to run around, say 'hi' to everyone and scream if she doesn't get what she wants. That part makes eating out not so much fun. But we did have a great time at the zoo! Bethany is understanding so much more these days and we could really see her enjoying all the animals this time! Photos: top to bottom:

Daddy and his girls enjoying the day! Bethany on Daddy's shoulders waving to the giraffes.

My 'flamingos' looking at the flamingos! The LA Zoo sign.

It's Looking At Me!

We were living in Twentynine Palms, CA on the Marine Corps base. We loved living on base. We had a cute 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo that was, maybe, 5 years old. Hubby was with the sniper unit in his company. I worked full-time at the physical therapy place just 3 miles out of the base gate. I worked with children who needed physical therapy and who had disabilities, all different types. We both worked all week and then come the weekends had all the time to ourselves (no babies, yet). Hubby's sniper unit (12 Marines) were all single except for him. Our house was the only place for them to come have a home cooked meal, a place to wash their cars, and just relax in front of the TV without being at the barracks. They weren't always at our place, just maybe a few times a week. I didn't mind. They were always grateful and well behaved!

I had come home from work one day in the summer (yep, it was hot... most likely at least 100 still at 5pm!) and walked into the kitchen to put my lunch bag away. Something in the corner of the kitchen ceiling by the sliding glass door caught my eye but I continued what I was doing. Pull out meat to defrost for dinner. Get a glass of water out of the fridge (no one drinks the base water... ick). Turn the air conditioner up, it's hot! Head upstairs to change out of my scrubs into shorts. Get back into kitchen to begin dinner, when, oh my land... what on God's green earth is in the corner of my kitchen???? It's black, it's the size of my fist, it's kinda hairy and, oh, dear, it's looking at me!!!!!!! Gulp... must get to the phone... must call Hubby right away!!! Is it watching me?? It's still looking at me! Does it jump????? Ugh... it's moving!!!! Oh, dial the phone quickly (fingers flying) someone had better be at their shop (what the platoon's work area was called) pick up, pick up, pick up! Hello? Get White!! We have something in our kitchen looking at me, tell him to hurry!!! Ten minutes later, the entire platoon shows up to help me with my very large desert tarantula!!!! In my kitchen!!!! Ugh!!!! (I wasn't the only one freaked out, it did take the entire platoon to get him out!) The thought still gives me heebie jeebies!!!

Fast forward to 1999 we were living in the same town we're in now but in a different area. Hubby was in law enforcement, working the night shift. He was upstairs asleep and I had just gotten home from work at the urgent care. I went to put my scrubs into the laundry. I opened the door to the laundry room and saw it! There was a medium-sized snake stretched out in my laundry room!!!!! OK, gross out, stay calm, put a towel from the bathroom under the door after it's shut so it can't escape! Now, scream for Hubby! I don't think his feet touched one step as he ran downstairs. He's asking me, what kind was it? Me: uh, I don't know. Him: well, did it have a triangular head? Me: I don't know, I didn't stick around long enough to examine his head! So, the fire department had to come and get my new laundry buddy from behind the dryer. He must have been hungry for mismatched socks.

I hope I never have another "critter-in-my-house story to tell you" but it is me and if something is going to happen, it will happen to me! Ugh. The above picture is the 'tarantula house' like, 17 years later! We got to go see it recently when we were in the area. When we lived there we had to rake the dirt and keep the yard looking pretty! We loved that house! We loved that time in our lives!