This past week I took the kids out to get the first of many things they will need as the first day of school is coming upon us, by this time next month I will have a fifth grader and kindergartner… I can not believe that enough time has passed that I will have two kids in school. This year was the first year Poncho opted for a simple black backpack which goes to show that he is growing up, Maria picked a very pretty pink Hello Kitty one and she got herself a cute tin pencil box with polka dots. They both are very excited about school, this will be the first year that Poncho has a male teacher and Maria is getting the ultimate perfect teacher, a woman. Maria has had us mark the calendar so she knows when school begins and we are looking at getting both the kids back into the school mind frame over the next week. That means Poncho will start doing a workbook graded for him to help him review the year and Maria has been working on her reading and basics already. I don’t think Poncho is as thrilled about starting to go over school stuff as Maria but that is to be expected…after all he has been doing it longer than her. But I know that getting him geared now will help him as he transitions from summer to school.

Other things that has been going on around here is John and I finally got serious about potty training Alex. So far it has been the best results yet, he has yet to pee in the potty but he is pooping…which has me over the moon since I can deal with the pee better than the other. Alex has learned that anytime he goes he gets a treat so he willingly spends a lot of time sitting. The way things are going we may really be in underwear only any day now…currently we sitll are doing pullups for bed but all day he is in his big boy underwear and really likes it. Him asserting that he is a big boy also means that he has started wanting to undress and dress himself, we already knew he could take of his clothes but he is surprisingly very coordinated to put on a shirt without help. He is still slow at it but he can do it and that makes me one proud momma.

Since July had been such a busy month I am really looking forward to the wind down John and I have scheduled in August and really look forward to getting everyone back on schedule for the upcoming school year.

IF you have not caught on from my last post that John and I left and before that Poncho came home, then you must be wondering who watched the kids, well Grandma also came for a visit this past week, want to talk about a busy July. We got to have her here for the past week and what a wonderful visit it was. She has not been here since the previous winter and it was the very first summer she has ever been where we live. Though there is a good reason she comes in the winter over the summer, because in the summer our house gets these really ugly looking spiders called a hobo, it is a cousin to the brown recluse, just as poisonous and they come out in the summer because its there time to breed and they seem to be aggressive when out. So not a lot of fun and I even admit that I dread this time of year every year because they freak the you know what out of me. But anyways her luck they have not really been seen as of yet, it might help the fact that the kids have been flooding the downstairs with water by keeping wanting to make the window wells into pools… ya it has not been fun at all… my downstairs smells like fresh dirt. I guess that is better than mold and most of the flooding has been into rooms with no carpeting, but while gone Johns office went under water, thank god his computer did not get damaged but the rug may have, we are still in a wait and see with it.

While my mom was here every single day we got to listen to airplanes over the house practicing for the big air show that is going on right now this weekend. We got the amazing Blue Angels here for a show and they arrive Thursday, let me just say there is nothing noiser than a jet going over your house, but then add 4 more to that one and it is almost deafening, it is so loud, and we even get to have some cool shadows go over the house.

The visit with my mom went really well, we caught up, did some grocery shopping and grandma got taken over by three very energetic young children. I think she forgot how much energy children can have and also learned how whiney they can be at times…lol. But I am sure she did love every second, we were all sad to see her go and hope that it will be less than year before she can make another trek here.

Today was the first official day of the air show and I just wanted to share  a few photos taken from our driveway to give you an idea how close to the house the planes were.

Isn’t that the coolest… I think tomorrow we will be taking the kids to the edge of the subdivision so we can see more of the show and not have trees blocking some of the views.

Awww I know how mushy of me, but it’s true. One week ago exactly hubby and I were all alone in Seattle Washington. It was the first time since our honeymoon that it was just the two of us, no kids gone. It was not exactly a vacation, but then again whenever you get to leave the kiddies for 4 days it doesn’t matter what you are doing its a vacation..lol. Last Friday hubby and I got up 330AM MT time, packed up the car and started our adventure. We got to see the most beautiful sunrise that was so beautiful hubby was literally blinded on the road while going a nice and steady 75..lol. We got to cross in Montana a state we had never been in before and were just awe struck at the magnificence of the state. It truly is a beautiful place to see and I think everyone should go at least once in their life. The scenery was just amazing to look at.

I do admit to counting the hours down till I could safely call home (we planned on 10AM) so I could check up on the kids and specifically ask how Alex was doing. The older two kids understood what we were doing but Alex is 3 and explaining to a 3 year old what your are doing does not always completely compute, so I know some may disagree with this but we told him we were going to work for a few days and that is something he can understand. However he usually likes to come in and greet us in the morning and I was worried how he would feel about going to mommy and daddy’s bed to find it empty. So we stopped at a really pretty rest stop and called the kids. Once I had that conversation I actually relaxed about them for the rest of the trip.

Hubby and I found out on our journey through Montana and Idaho to get to Washington that we still really can get along and talk. We only had music halfway through Montana when the CD player would no longer play for us.. so the car was a very quiet place, but we were able to take the time to talk and laugh and reminisce… it is amazing at how in depth a conversation can go when you don’t have little ears interrupting you all the time. Another thing we found out was driving into Washington from Idaho it is a pretty ugly state. I always thought that Washington would be lush and foresty..nope not the way we came in, it was very dessert and farmland and hot and boring. We also found out that when we arrived in Seattle that we both felt like we were back in the bay area… it didn’t look any different to us than the style we already were accustomed to when living in California. The other thing we had apparently forgot that even after 6 pushing 7 on a Friday in any big metro you still get stuck in traffic. I just do not miss that at all, I always hated traffic and city loving dwellers can keep it.

Hubby and I arrived at our hotel though that was a pretty cool little place set back behind the airport. We were told we would forget we were in the city, but seriously I could hear planes all day and night, I guess when you move to a place that is actually quiet and you can hear the trains miles and miles away from your home at night then anywhere in a metro will become noisy. But this is the view I got from our room.

The hotel we stayed at was a pretty sweet deal too, they included all meals which were listed as buffet, but nothing buffet at all about the meals we got, they were freshly prepared right before serving and at breakfast we ate raw smoke salmon with a bagel and had our choice of juices, coffees, teas, cereal, eggs, and the list went on. For lunch we had choices of cod with fingerlings, roasted pork and asparagus, all the salads and fruits provided were completely organic, it was amazing to see the spreads. The hotel also had Starbucks stations everywhere so you could have your fill on and in every room. They also had a common area in each building where there was a complimentary candy station, all the Hagen dazs you could eat, yogurt, cheese sticks, there were sealed fresh bags of ice (not a machine) and all the bottle watered you could fill up on, it was a pretty amazing place.

The funnest thing we got to do on our trip was attend our very first cocktail party, John and I have never got to attend one before and so it was so fun to play dress up…this is what I wore

We went to a very quaint cool place in downtown where all the streets look like San Francisco and had some of the most amazing food. John and I loved the food, we had oysters, raw yellowtail (fish), sea bass, lamb, heirloom salad, a nice flavored onion/cabbage salad, soft boiled eggs, cold corn soup, beets with gorgonzola cheese, and just a host of other food I can’t even remember it was so good. It was all done hors d’ oeuvre style so we enjoyed a bit of everything. I will say one thing for Seattle everywhere we went the food was amazing and hands down best sushi ever.

After our night of fun we got ready the next day and started our trip home. What we accomplished in one very long drive coming into Seattle we split into a leisure two day drive home. We enjoyed not feeling rushed home, really getting to check stuff out and getting an opportunity to stay a night in Montana. When we did get home our kids had big loving arms ready for us and we were so happy to be back where we love to be. I will say while the food was good we both overall hated Seattle, and yes you read that right we hated it. John and I both felt that if we wanted to live or visit a city like that then it was pointless to move out of California, we both have done city dweller life, we both left four years ago for something better for our family. We now live out of a metro, we don’t live completely in the country, we do live in a subdivision but its completely surrounded by farms and we love it, its quiet and a great place to raise a family and no fighting traffic to go anywhere. So while John and I had so much fun alone, we hope to not have to go back to a metro anytime soon.

I know its been 10 days, not really sure what I could have written about. We spent the last few days enjoying just having the two little kids by watching movies at night and just spending time.

John and I have been having some fun Friday and Saturday nights just the two of us after the kids go to bed and really have had a great time. We would have some great food, fun drinks and great movies. We also would have some great conversations and enjoyed getting to enjoy the rain and lightening a few times. He really is my favorite person and I love that we can just sit and enjoy each others company having a conversation about whatever and really enjoying the time we get together.

Tonight our oldest son Poncho is on his way home after not seeing him for a month and my mom is also coming to visit. My house is going to go from a quiet place to a very busy place. I look forward to the company because we have not had my mom visit us yet during the summer so we all look forward to this next weeks adventure.

This past weekend was 4^th  of July weekend. For the first time since we moved here, we opted to stay home. I cleaned up all of our upstairs because it needed it and the kids played indoors. On Saturday our town was doing all the big 4^th fireworks and parades, instead we had BBQ ribs, potato salad and fruit. The kids were very happy with the dinner and to make it even better we watched Planet 51. After we were done we took the kids outside to see some of the fireworks going on all around. This is how they looked

We let them do a pajama party and until they were ready the spent time together late into the night. John and I watched Hot Tub Time Machine and had a good time ourselves laughing and enjoying each other company.

The next day was very windy so we spent a good part of it indoors. It really felt like a typical Sunday with the kids, except John was gone doing a job that needed to be finished. When he came home he brought subway and we watched Old Dogs with the kids. Once it was finally dark enough we took them outside and let them play sparklers.

Once they exhausted the sparklers we gave them a little fireworks show courtesy of dad picking up some. They both were just totally enthralled with the entire night. After we were done it was time for bed for all and winding down after two nights of watching all the festivities.

I really enjoyed that it was a low key night.

From what I can gather with Poncho he got to go to Joe’s crab shack and got to enjoy eating crab legs, go ice cream and watched fireworks. He looked like he had so much fun.

Today John and I decided to have a fun summer day with the kids, today was the first day that it really felt like summer and we took advantage. This morning we enjoyed hanging a bit out then went to HD to get some stuff for our sprinklers.

Once we were done there we headed to Walmart because we thought we were going to get a pool, when we pulled up there was fire trucks and fireman doing a donation drive and giving away free ice cream. We took the kids to see the trucks and talk to the fireman.. they really enjoyed getting to shake their hands and visit for a second. I did not get pictures because my camera was here at home, I know I usually have it but not this time. The kids had a lot of fun.

When we were done with the fireman we took the kids in the store and started looking for a pool for them, I researched it online and found a perfect pool for a great price for our family and confirmed it was an in store rollback price because the regular price was more than I was willing to spend. Well we ended up not getting a pool from them. First of all they are by far not my favorite store, I try to avoid them like the plague… but a good deal is a good deal right? Apparently even though I found the price for the store as currently one price it was advertised differently in the store, I went all the way to customer service because finding an employee on the floor is next to nil and asked them if the pricing was correct on the item because it was almost 30 dollars more than the advertised price. The very snotty crappy sales rep wouldn’t even check to see if the price of the pool was correct and would ring up differently then what a little sticker said, all I was told was the price is the price regardless of what the advertisement stated… say what?! So just a heads up if you get your ads online for your store and it says something is on rollback and then you go in and it isn’t marked, even though that is false advertising, get ready to have the most unsupportive CS Reps who won’t even lift a finger to confirm the advertised sales price. Again this reminds me WHY I HATE shopping there never ever help anyone and could give to rats asses if they do false advertising.

Maria had a melt down about us putting a pool in the cart then putting it  back and leaving because we decided to go to Target and see what they had. That ended up being the best decision of the day. Walked in and went to the outdoor section and found the EXACT pool I seen on the sales for Wal-Mart and was even 10 dollars less than the supposed “rollback” price. So I got an even better deal than I had planned on spending. While in Target I also started looking for a tarp because I didn’t want to put the pool on the lawn, a brand new floor rep at Target on his first day asked me what I was looking for and knew the aisle to where the tarps were and even confirmed that what was there was all that was available, now that is service! And that is why I know better than to cheat on Target and go to their competitors, I have always had a great experience at Target and will continue to make that my Big Box Store of choice.

The kids were happy to be at Target because we got the pool and dad surprised them with lunch and icees at the little dine area. They loved getting to be somewhere cool and get a cool treat. Both were in heaven.

When we got home we just kinda lounged because today was a warm day, dad and I got the backyard ready and started to set up the pool. We had the water running for a few hours and the pool is not full yet, so tomorrow I will finish filling it.

Tonight for dinner we did something we haven’t done in over a year and took the kids to Taco Bell. They really enjoyed getting to eat quesdillas and eat somewhere they never eaten before. The food was good but it reminded me why we don’t eat there often, my guts don’t like the beans…lol. But it was a fun experience. We right now are still winding down the night with letting the kids play in the back till it is dark and now they are playing in the bathtub. Time to get them out. This was a perfect Summer Saturday with the kids.

As we are spending the beginning of the summer with one less child, let me just say that the house is so strange with one child gone. I really did not think it would have made such a big difference but it has, instead of the dishwasher needing to run twice a day it has only ran once every other day. The toys strewn in the house has even lost volume. So weird. I still have not been able to make meals for only four people and consistently have extra food for the fifth member, I joke that by the time Poncho comes home I will just get the hang of preparing meals for four…lol. Other things that are strange is how clean my fridge is, I gave it a good washing and this is the longest that there is no spills or messes in the fridge. How is it that one less person, a child, can make such a difference?

Ironically about the only thing that has increased in the house is the level of fighting and I mean that literally. Alex and Maria have been going toe to toe recently and at the rate it is going I may just go and get them some boxing gloves so they can get whatever is bothering them out of their system. One day we had Maria punching (literally) Alex in the face, knocking him back on the couch… as she went in for her “kill” shot, Alex booted her in the face with his shoe on! John lucky split them before it got worse. The next day Maria again hit Alex and as she was throwing an angry tantrum, Alex took a magic Princess wand and chucked it at her head.. hitting her square, John said the thing chimed which I actually find funny… so again he had to separate them, then later that day she punched Alex again but this time in the stomach. She has to get her aggression under control because I don’t think school will tolerate her punching kids in the face…lol. So our task for the summer is to get Maria’s temper in check and teach her alternatives of how to deal with a conflict. Right now I am on the hunt for a conflict wheel that the elementary school likes to use with students and get her used to having to use the wheel to deal with conflicts. If that doesn’t work lord help us…lol. I have been the blame of her knowing how to use her fists more than once…lol… how is that she never sees fights but is a natural with her fists… I am getting a consensus that that is from me…lol. So funny.

So those have been the adventures on the home front while the oldest child is off having fun for the summer…lol.

Poncho is still in California and still having fun. My best friend in the last week has made sure that he has gotten a lot of water hours logged and I can tell he has had a blast. She has made sure to post pictures of him on his adventures and it makes me so happy to see the fun childhood memories that are being created for him. This trip is sure to be memorable. While I still miss him, I think this was the best opportunity presented to him and can see that he is for sure not having a boring summer.

Here is a few pictures of Poncho, he is going to look so much more like a young man by the time he comes home.

Doesn’t my son look so handsome! For this weekend he will be getting to spend time with his grandma, uncle and aunt. I hope that they take some pictures and share with me. I know he will enjoy his time with them.

Recently it was pointed out to me that I haven’t blogged in almost a month. Well there was good reason for such the long break, first of all it was end of school and it was nothing eventful, except that Poncho finished and right when he was done we had to start getting ready. We purposely did not tell Poncho the plan of me taking him to California for part of his summer till the night before we left. In fact I didn’t tell anyone that I was going because I had made plans with my BFF and didn’t want to be too pressed for time.

Thursday morning at 4AM I got the Poncho and Maria upped and packed and before 5 hit the road on our way to California. The kids overall were really good on the trip, except for when they argued, that was very distracting. After an all day drive we arrived right at 5PM to meet end of work traffic in Roseville..lol. It was so great to finally get out of the car and arrive at my best friend Vicky’s house.

I spent Friday with her, we mostly just hung out because she has kids she watches but it was great after the long drive the day before to be able to spend time together and relax. That evening we even got to take in a little shopping which was so much fun, I haven’t gotten to shop with a girlfriend in so long it was great to be able to do it.

Saturday was a little more busy with having plans of visiting people from my family. First person on my list was to see my grandma, she is really getting up in age and having some issues… so I wanted to be able to see her since I don’t know when I will ever be going back to Cali, I wanted to make sure to see her. While I was there two of my aunts were there so we visited a little and they made sure to get pictures of me and the two kids with Grandma.

After we went there we headed all the way up to Folsom to see my mom, I have never been to house she is at so it was so great to see her and visit her, I think it has been over a year since her last face to face visit, so it was great to be able to spend some time with her and catch up a little. While there we went over the plan for dates for Poncho to be able to visit her while he is there visiting in California.

Once we were done with my mom we went and seen my sister who I have not seen since the day before I moved out of state. She looked the same but older. She also just had a baby the week before so I got to see my newest neice and hold a newborn. I really did enjoy that. I wish I had more time with my sister but there was plans for the evening so it had to be cut short. But I am really happy I seen her.

That night we took the kids to a birthday party where they had the big bouncy slide thing and while Poncho LOVED it, Maria was not so much a fan, she ended up melting down while at the party. It made for a long few hours. Once she was feeling better with some food and talking to her dad she finally went off and played with some kids and I got a chance to visit with people.

Sunday I went back to my Grandma’s because one of my other aunts was there and I wanted to see her, I spent a few hours there visiting with her and catching up, which was great… I really missed her. Then my friend picked me up and we went off to get supplies for the next day.

Monday was spent completely at the beach, we went to Pacifica/Half Moon bay to celebrate her birthday and it was so much fun. The kids played in the sand and the ocean and had a blast. I mostly stayed on the blanket and shadowed Maria when she went into the water, which was a good thing because she fell in once and I was able to quickly grab her, that pretty much ended her water experience. The drive back to Sacramento was beautiful and got home just in time for me to pack the car to go home. That night as the kids came to bed they both cried a little about being seperated. But I talked to Poncho that it was important for him to experience something new and by getting to see everyone I know he would be less bored than what he was at home. Maria on the other hand wanted even more to break my heart by telling me we can’t be a family with four because there is FIVE of us and we have to be together. Very hard moment to not cry, but I was very good at telling her he will still be part of our family just not at home for a few days and when we got home we could mark her calendar.

Tuesday this time only me and Maria got up to travel back home. I tried like 4 times to wake up Poncho but he is like me and sleeps heavy so we both hugged and kissed him bye while he was asleep then we got on the road. The trip was HOT almost the whole way till we got to Idaho then we went into thunderstorms. Maria was not a fan of watching lightening strike the ground around the highway so she talked to her dad on the phone through that fun while I tried to see through the rain with my windshield wipers on full blast. But we got home just in time to have an early dinner. John was a sweetheart and made us tacos and times them to where they would be fresh when we walked into the door. When we walked in my little Alex had the biggest smile and ran up into my arms and just wanted me to hold him. I spent a good part of the night with him hanging off me, I think he missed his momma just a little bit. After dinner I emptied out the car, put away any of the food that had not been consumed and even did all the laundry from our trip.

I admit that these last few days have been very strange without Poncho and I miss him terribly. But I know for a fact he is having a blast, he calls at night and tells us the adventure of the day and he really is having fun. It makes me happy to know he is off having a great summer. My house is strangely a little more quiet without him, and cooking portions have had to change a bit which is different.. I think right when I get used to it he will be home again…lol.

Now just a few pictures of my trip to California…

The countdown begins… Poncho has officially 7 days left of school. PACE concluded last week and this will be his last week of homework. I can not believe we are already at this point again where we wrap up another school year. Next year will even be more fun because I will have two kids in school. Maria keeps asking when she gets to start but I keep telling her to enjoy this summer because these are the last months where she is always home.

I can not believe how the time flies. I am getting really excited about the summer planned for the kids and I really do hope they enjoy it.

Poncho has not yet been informed of his big trip that is coming up soon, because we want to make sure we have the most positive outcome before he leaves but I know he is going to love what is coming for him.

I am actually for the first time nervous but it might be the prospect of being away for so long from one of the kids. I really know I will enjoy the time apart and so will he, but it is I think always a little scary when you start letting them slowly spread their wings. Poncho is only getting older and I want him to have some great memories of fun things he did growing up over his break and I know this will be a great adventure for him.