All by Myself

Will was told a couple of weeks ago that he had one week to prepare to pass the CSET in Physics, or he would have to teach physical science next year, which he hates. So, my incredibly brilliant hubby spent that week cramming for this exam. This meant that not only was he focused only on this, but he was at home doing it. Bad idea. I love my husband, but having him home ALL day and NOT available physically or mentally drives me insane. We both end up cranky by the end of each day.

The good news is that his test was in San Diego which forced us to have to go to the beach. So sad. I dropped Will off in the late morning and was on my own with the kids for the rest of the day. I am the worlds worst when it comes to directions, so before we left I printed out every possible direction I might need to get to where I was going and back. This included Will's test site to Ikea and back, from Ikea to the beach and visa versa, and from Will's test site to the beach and back. Will thought it wasn't necessary since we have a navigation in our van, but I knew that if for some reason it broke, I would be in BIG trouble.
You guessed it; my navigation lost the satellite signal in the middle of my travels. I was so grateful that I was prepared. It paid off. I didn't get lost ONCE! I was so proud of myself. I went to La Jolla and then to Ikea and didn't even get stressed out! I thought for sure this day would be tough all by myself out of town, but I had a blast I must say. The beach was wonderful. The kids swam and played. I took pictures and enjoyed all the comments of the fellow beach bums of how athletic my kids were body surfing like crazy.

I can't explain how I felt at the end of the day when I knew that my kids had a blast, I was in a good mood, and nothing bad happened the whole time! I guess sometimes I just don't give myself enough credit. I know this may be such a little thing to most people, but for me, this was a big event. It was almost a milestone. "The day Andrea didn't get lost."

Liz's Baby Shower

My little sister, Liz, asked me about a month ago to host her baby shower for her second child due to arrive on August 26th-Jaydon Robert Isotalo. Here's who was at the shower:

My mom, Virginia:

My oldest sister, Meredith:

My sister-in-law, Tami (who just had a
baby one week before!)

My niece, Lori (Meredith's oldest):

Liz's friend, Arly:

Liz's friend, Jamie:

and lastly, Liz with her husband, Shaw, and daughter: Kyleigh

I had a blast coming up with ideas on games for her shower. To me, there's nothing worse than doing the same old games shower after shower. So, here's what I came up with. After popping balloons by sitting on them that contained a slip of paper with the name of a game on it, each team was required to complete that game before continuing on to pop the next balloon, which would then tell them the next game to complete. There were three games in all

The first one was called "Don't explode." One person on a team had to stuff their shirt with four balloons and walk from the garage door, to the end of the driveway, then back up without loosing any balloons or holding onto their tummy's. It was hillarious.

In the second game, "Don't break your water," one person on the team was required to hold a water balloon between their knees and walk from the garage door, down the driveway, and up again without dropping or breaking the balloon without touching it. If it dropped, broke, or was touched, they had to start over again.

At the beginnin of the shower I gave each person a bar of soap and a dull knife. They had to try carve a baby out of it by the end of the shower and the best baby, chosen by a bystandard, would win a prize. Liz's husband scoffed at the idea saying he wasn't going to participate in girly things. (Guess who won the prize at the end of the day?

Jamie's baby:

Tami's baby:

Viriginia's baby from the front:

Virginia's baby from the back:

Yep, you guessed it, Shaw's baby from the front:

Shaw's baby from the back:

Shaw "not caring about this stupid game":

Shaw's inspiration:

The last of the three games was a mad lib that turned out to be pretty funny. Here's Meredith and Virginia working on it:

Finally, at the end of the shower, I was able to get a great picture of my two nieces, Kyleigh and baby Katie:

ABC Tag

A- Attached or Single: Married 8 years

B- Best Friend; Will

C- Cake or Pie: Boston Creme Pie (which is really a cake in my opinion!) with a really thick layer of chocolate on top

D- Day: Friday it's date night (I agree with Taryn!)

E- Essential Item: cell phone

F- Favorite color: Any color that's not used too much...I love "splashes" of color

G- Gummy Bear or Worms: neither...give me a reeses cup and I'm happy

H- Home town: ready for this one...believe it or not....Roswell, NM (no, I've never seen any aliens)

I- Indulgence: surfing the web for hours

J- January of July: July in Hawaii, and January in the desert (I could never live in cold weather for very long)

K- Kids 3 girls, and one boy

L- Life is incomplete without: desserts

M- Marriage Date: 2/17/2000

N- Number of siblings: 2 sisters, 1 brother, and three adopted brothers (It's hard
to call them brothers since I never really grew up with them...they're the same age as my kids)

0- Orange or apples: both, plus strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, mangoes,pineapples, peaches, cranberries, and any other fruit not mentioned...I can't pick just one especially if they're in a smoothie!)

P- Phobias of Fears: creepy-crawly things like snakes (which my husband told my daughter she could have if she reads enough books about them to learn how to take care of one....someone PLEASE knock some sense into my husband!)

Q- Quote: "No God, no peace. Know God, Know peace."

R- Reason to smile: Ani is finally walking around!

S- Season: I love summer in places where there are big rain storms

T- Tag Three: Lizzie, Lillie, Monica

U- Unknown fact about me: When I was sixteen I said that I wasn't going to get married till I was about 24 (finished with college) and I wouldn't have kids till I was around 27, if ever....and if I did, I would only have one or two. The only goal I am sad about not doing is finishing college, but really only for the glory.

V- Vegetarian or not: Anyone who knows me even a little should know that I go on the Atkins diet frequently and thus eat a lot of meat. Sorry to all the vegetarians out there and those who actually follow the word of wisdom and eat meat sparingly. I am going to have to work on that.

W- Worst Habit: sleeping way too much

x- x-rays or ultrasounds: ultrasounds

y- your favorite food: Toss up between bean and cheese burritos and chocolate covered strawberries (notice neither of these fall in the category of something I can eat on the Atkins diet....that really stinks!

Z- Zodiac sign: Scorpio (But who really cares)

Independence Day 2008

This July 4th, as we have done for the past seven years, we went to La Jolla for fun in the sand. The kids scootered around, snorkeled, ate good food, and made wonderful memories. Again, we had the privilege of being able to have the company of the Lowells. What a wonderful thing it is to have other great kids for your own kids to hang out with. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have so many good friends around that help to raise my children. It truly does take a village to raise a child, and I'm so glad I live in this one.

Camping

My husband, our seven year old, Ariel, and our four year old, Daniel, set out on a camping/hiking adventure with the Lowells this past week. They were set up with full gear including: hydration packs, food, sleeping bag, etc. Each one carried their own things. Daniel weighs 40 pound and carried a 17 pound pack. Ariel weighs 70 pounds and carried a 22 pound pack. Will weighs 211 and carried a 45 pound pack. People were AMAZED seeing these kids, especially Daniel, hiking miles and miles with thier OWN packs. In fact, people were so shocked that several stopped to take a picture of him. I am so glad my kids were able to see what it is really like having to "rough it." They had their fair share of highs and lows on the trip and came back more mature and more grateful for the comforts they have at home. I am so proud of them!