Day 140: May 31, 2009

Laundry, here I come! Ugh! This is the downside of a week long trip for 6 people.

Day 139: May 30, 2009

The time finally came to say goodbye to Oma and Grandpa. It was a nice vacation but we're all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds tonight.

Day 138: May 29, 2009

On our drive back from Carlsbad to Mesquite, we stopped at a 50's diner in the happening town of Yermo which I think only exists because of the Marine base. I also think that my dad has made this trip so many times he knows every 50's type diner along the way.

Day 137: May 28, 2009

You can't really see the penguins but Gabriella just loved them. As you can see she's trying her best to go swimming with them.

Day 136: May 27, 2009

My parents were kind enough to watch the kids so Trevor and I could have some time alone. We drove past my old house which brought back a thousand memories.

Day 135: May 26, 2009

The kids' first roller coaster ride at Legoland. Michelle and I are in the front - which was a first for me.

Day 134: May 25, 2009

Our first family trip to the beach. At first Gabriella screamed if any part of her body touched the sand, but as you can see she soon couldn't be pried away from her digging.

Day 133: May 24, 2009

Since it was Sunday but it was our first full day in California we needed to find something to do that was free. We headed down to La Jolla to see the seals with my brother and his son. On our way back to the condo we stopped at the San Diego temple.

Day 132: May 23, 2009

Last night we drove from our house to Mesquite, Nevada. This morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to our final destination of Carlsbad, California.

Day 131: May 22, 2009

Gabriella is a great sport. Here she is wearing Caleb's hand-me-down pajamas, complete with tractors.

I also need to point out the cute bracelet my mom had made for Gabriella for her blessing day. Even then it was too small for her tiny wrist but this week we found that it fits Dottie's ankle just fine.

Day 130: May 21, 2009

I heard on the radio that the pork industry is having a rough time since people are wrongfully thinking that they can catch Swine Flu by eating pork products. I'm just taking advantage of the great prices on porkchops - can't beat 89 cents a pound!

Day 129: May 20, 2009

This post is a little late but I wanted to show everyone how thoughtful my husband is. For Mother's Day he got me a visor to wear while running. I'd specifically asked him for the visor but was pleasantly surprised when he gave me this gymbag too. It's got side pockets that hold running shoes, side pockets for water bottles, and inside it has multiple small pockets for my watch and mp3 player, etc. It's going to be perfect for the 4 races I have out of town this season - especially the overnight relay race. He remembered me complaining after last year's relay race that I had to shuffle through 2 bags to find all my running gear - which is not easy to do in the back seat of a moving car during the middle of the night. He's terrific!

Day 128: May 19, 2009

I don't know where Megan picked it up but today she kept referring to her dad as Handsome. She was also upset that he married me and not her; nevertheless, she asked him to dance with her at the party. She has some imagination.

Day 127: May 18, 2009

The latest bulbs to bloom in our front yard. Either my mom or my mother-in-law planted all of the bulbs in our yard so I don't even know what these are called, but they're pretty.

Day 126: May 17, 2009

Megan was not happy at all that I made her pose by the seeds she helped me plant a few days ago. She's afraid there might be bugs in the grass - and there probably are, oh well.

Day 125: May 16, 2009

Caleb did a great job mopping the floor.

Day 124: May 15, 2009

Yard work has been haunting me. Since we took up running 2 summers ago, our yard has paid a heavy price. Yesterday I was pounding in fertilizer stakes around various tress and bushes in our yard. When I came to the side of our house we rarely go I saw that our oak tree is actually flourishing (unlike our other oak which is still the exact same size as when we planted it 7 years ago). Then I saw that this ugly cottonless cottonwood tree (which we planted only because we desperately needed shade on our patio) was hogging the sun so that our beautiful oak was only growing branches on one side. I quickly solved the problem.

When I'd used the clippers as much as I could, I then found a handsaw. It wasn't until I'd sawed halfway through a large branch that I realized I was standing on a stepstool right below the heavy branch. Suddenly everything that I'd ever heard, read or watched on a tv show came flying through my mind. I re-directed the angle at which I was sawing in hopes the branch would fall a slightly different direction. But it was probably the quick silent prayer that actually made the branch fall just to the side of my shoulder. Last night when I re-told Trevor the story he was not very pleased with my risky my life for a silly old branch.

By the way the branch is still partway attached to the tree, hence the reason I was able to take this shot this morning.

Day 123: May 14, 2009

The night before last we found Caleb sleeping on the floor next to his bed. Then last night we found him on the floor again, but this time Michelle had joined in on the fun. (I would have liked a picture of them actually sleeping there, but Megan had "borrowed" my camera and I couldn't find it until after the kids left for school).

Maybe we should just removed their beds then we'd have one less place to have to clean under.

Day 122: May 13, 2009

A few blogs ago I wrote that we have the "luck of a dead duck", maybe I should change that to Trevor and I have bad luck. Caleb has great luck! His was the very last name chosen in a lottery that gained him (and therefore all our other kids) into a great charter school. And this morning he actually found a cash card in a box of cereal. In all our years of eating cold cereal Trevor and I have never been one of the lucky few that actually receive a great prize from a cereal box unless the prize was put into every box.

But Caleb won a $5 gift card. What a great lucky charm we have.

Day 121: May 12, 2009

At lunch today, Megan prepared a delicious picnic for Trevor and I.

Day 120: May 11, 2009

Our poor 3 month old car! While parked at Trevor's office someone crashed into the back of it. We have the luck of a dead duck!

Day 119: May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day! I was always told I looked more like my dad than my mom. How can so many people be so wrong.

Day 118: May 9, 2009

That's my dad-always finding ways to make things run more efficiently. This morning was Michelle and Caleb's first track meet. The only events were the 50 meter dash and the standing long jump. I couldn't take any action shots since my camera can't handle speed.

Day 117: May 8, 2009

My brother came over for a visit and since I'm running out of photo subjects he kindly obliged to be my photo of the day.

Day 116: May 7, 2009

Two of my favorite flowers. It also represents my heritage (Dutch) and my childhood (the Columbine is Colorado's state flower).

Day 115: May 6, 2009

Hope of America pageant that both Michelle and Caleb participated in. They're not in the flag, but neither one of the pictures I took of their individual dances turned out very well. That's what happens when you try and take a picture with one hand while videotaping with the other hand.

Day 114: May 5, 2009

Caleb has turned into quite a good goalie.

Day 113: May 4, 2009

Only a few weeks left until the daily ritual of school pick-up is over (at least a 2 1/2 month break).

Day 112: May 3, 2009

Thank heaven for DVD players in minivans!

Day 111: May 2, 2009

Caleb's lego helicopter creation. He used pieces from every set he's ever been given to make this. He is going to have a blast at Legoland!

Day 110: May 1, 2009

I kept finding un-bent paper clips laying around the kitchen floor, then I discovered why: Michelle's new hobby is cleaning the rocks out of our shoes. Anything to postpone homework, right?