Aliens from another planet.

There are moments when I look at my children and think that they must have been kidnapped by aliens because the being before me acts nothing like the children I know I am raising. Tonight for instance we were eating dinner and Zachary got up to refill his water. He came back to the table and after a few minutes this conversation ensued:
Zachary: Oh, by the way mom I just wanted to let you know that I spilled some water on the floor.
Me: AND?
Zachary: Well, I am just letting you know
Me: So are you assuming that I am going to jump up and clean it up?
Zachary: (after pausing for a moment to think) Ummm, no.
Me: So how is the water going to get cleaned off the floor?
Zachary: Ummm, I am going to clean it up after dinner (perking up like he got the right answer).
Me: Ummmm, no! You are going to go clean the water up now before someone goes in the kitchen and slips on it.

Really, what would posess a thirteen year old to spill water on the floor, leave it there and just go back and resume eating his dinner? I guess when you are a growing boy you don't let anything get between you and your food. LOL!

Construction.... finally!

The picture may not look like much, but having walls really makes a difference. It's so nice to have all the studs and ugly pipes covered back up. Now we are just waiting for the walls to dry so we can paint. Hopefully next weekend the painting will get done and then all we will need is the flooring and baseboards. It's taking some time, but just having the walls up seems like a huge deal.

Oh and one step forward two steps back. Yesterday morning I noticed water under the sink (H20 is not my friend) and our garbage disposal was leaking. Thankfully I noticed it right away and it was just a small amount of water. For now we have a bucket under the sink because we just cannot pay another plumbing bill until we receive the insurance check. We seem to go through garbage disposals almost as often as we go through vacuum cleaners. We have owned this house for 15 years and this is our third garbage disposal.

Happy Valentines day!

Today for Valentines day we made cake balls. I found this recipe a while back and have been looking for ANY excuse to make them. So today was as good as any. Dipping the cake balls in the chocolate was tricky and took me a few tries to get them to look nice, but after that we had a nice assembly line going. I would dip them and Riley would decorate them. They did not turn out half bad and they are SO YUMMY! I guess I will be making extra trips to the gym this week because I can't stay away from these.

As requested here is the recipe.

You can mix and match cake and icing flavors as well as the chocolate coatings. If you want, cake balls can be rolled in nuts, sprinkles, coconut, etc. or double dipped in white and dark chocolates.

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate
cake mix
1 (16 ounce) container prepared
chocolate frosting
1 (3 ounce) bar chocolate flavored
confectioners coating
Directions:
1.
Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, let cool at least 30 minutes, crumble into a large bowl (I just put it all in my kitchenaid and let the mixer do the work) and stir in the frosting until well blended. Place the cake/frosting mixture in the fridge for at least three hours or overnight.
2.
Melt chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3.
Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls of the chocolate cake mixture. Place cake balls on wax paper and put in the freezer for about one hour.

4.Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set.

I learned to only take 4 or 5 cake balls out of the freezer at a time because they soften quickly and then fall off the toothpick. As I mentioned it took a few tries to get the hang of it, but even the ugly ones tasted great. Everyone who has tried them loves them. Even Scott who is not big on sweets said they are "awesome".

Bee family

I guess we are a bee family. In December Zachary participated in his school's geography bee and on Wednesday Riley was in her school's spelling bee. The top two spellers from the class spelling bees got to particpate in the school spelling bee. Riley and another boy, Owen, represented her class. Her level included 3rd and 4th graders.
I did not get to see the bee since I had mandatory fire extinguisher training at work that day, but Scott and my mom were able to go and cheer her on. Riley did quite well and lasted nine rounds. Scott said he was very impressed that she got four words in a row that she had missed when they practiced that morning. He also said that Riley was not a bit nervous and skipped up to the microphone every time it was her turn and then skipped back with a big smile when she got her word right.
She was knocked out and the word usually because she forgot the second U...usally.

Construction or Destruction?

We had a water leak in the house today. Actually last night when I went into Zachary's room and it felt like a sauna I knew we were in trouble. It turns out that we had a water leak in the slab under his room and the water from the water heater was leaking out into his room for a while. It was hidden under his bed so we had no idea.
I called the plumber and insurance company first thing this morning. They had to pull up the carpet and jackhammer into the concrete slab to get to the leak. Ironically the leak was smaller than the width of a ball point pen, but it managed to cause plenty of damage. After four hours of plumbers and water damage specialists this is what his room looked like.



I was still coming to grips with the fact that they were going to rip out the carpet, drywall and those lovely baseboards that I installed two years ago this month when it was all gone. I hardly had time to process it and four men were in there ripping stuff out left and right. Then they brought in industrial fans and de humidifiers to clear out all the moisture. We get to enjoy the hum of those for the next four days.
It's hard to believe that I spent three solid days spackling, painting, sawing and nailing only to have it was destroyed in less than an hour.
Oh and this is what his room looked like before all the mayhem.

Disney Day!

Today my niece and I decided to bail out on the whole Superbowl thing and head to Disneyland. Apparently we were not the only ones who had this idea because the park was very crowded so we decided to go over to Disney's California Adventure instead. Since we were with Erica, Luke and Presley we went on more of the little kid rides.

Luckily, Riley was ok with this since she never gets to spend much time in the kiddie parts. Zachary would rather not set foot in those areas now. It was a nice day with the little ones and Luke just adores Riley. He was her riding buddy on most of the rides and only wanted to hold her hand.

I got my baby fix in by hanging out with Presley Jane. Nothing compares to seeing her face light up on the Winnie the Pooh ride with her little feet kicking and her bouncing up and down. Those times go by so quickly.

We did make it over to Disneyland for a couple of rides (now that Riley and I got our annual passports we can park hop). After just two rides in Disneyland we were ready to head out for dinner. As soon as the temp. dropped below 75 my little CA girl became an eskimo. I have to say she looks like she has had a long day in this photo. Considering she was out about two minutes after her head hit the pillow she must have been pooped!

Puppy fund

Riley has been asking for a puppy for a couple of years now. Although, we already have our yellow lab, Maggie, she wants a puppy of her own. We told her that when she was responsible enough we would let her get a puppy. She "researched" dogs to find one that fit our criteria. She had to be 1) medium size 2) get along well with other dogs 3) be a family friendly dog. The winner is a Beagle.
Initially I started looking into the Beagle rescues in our area, but younger beagles seemed to be adopted quickly and she does not want an older dog. So Riley is saving her "puppy fund" to help pay for a beagle puppy and she even decorated her envelope to put her puppy fund in.
Oh and her puppy has a name already..... Indy Anna Bones or Indy for short!

Omnivore or herbivore????

Riley decided that she wanted to "try" being a vegetarian. So this Sunday she declared herself a vegetarian for a week. Sunday went smoothly, through breakfast that is and then we went for a late lunch after leaving the Huntington. She had a hamburger for lunch and then about 1/2 an hour later in the car she suddenly started crying. She said, "I forgot that I'm a vegetarian and ate a hamburger". It took a bit of talking to calm her down and convince her it was ok and she could just start over. Then at dinner we had black bean and corn quesadillas and Riley was picking out the black beans. I told her she was going to have to eat beans for protein if she wanted to be a vegetarian. She was not liking the idea one bit.
Day two: We decided to pick up Chili's to go for dinner. Riley whines and whines about how much she loves their ribs and she wants to order ribs, blah blah blah. Finally she orders the grilled cheese and drools over her dad and brother's ribs the whole time.
Day three: We go to Pick up Stix where they have Riley's favorite, crispy honey chicken, she spends five minutes contemplating the menu and then asks, "do vegetarians occasionaly eat chicken?". At which point I finally convinced her that she was not cut out for the vegetarian life and she ordered the chicken.
So she officially made it one day without meat. LOL!

Huntington Museum and Gardens

Yesterday we spent the day at the Huntington Museum and Gardens. Scott and I used to go here all the time when we were dating and when Zachary was just a baby. That was back when admission was free. We had not been in a long time. Zachary had an extra credit assignment for his social studies class to visit the Huntington so it was a great excuse to go.

Everyone's favorite part by far was the japanese gardens. Riley loved the ponds and waterfalls with tons of koi and ducks. While Zachary enjoyed the bonsai garden and the bamboo forest.

There was so much to see that we hardly even made it to half of the gardens. We did get to visit the Japanese gardens, Chinese gardens and the Conservatory which housed the rain forest, cloud gardens and a bog.

We also toured Henry and Arabella Huntington's home and library. The home is amazing, in fact the kids tired out before we saw every room. They got to see the Gutenburg bible among other things in the library. We will have to go back again soon, maybe in the spring, and see more of the gardens and the library.

All good things must come to an end.

After an undefeated season the Mean Machines were eliminated in the semi-final round today. They had a great game this morning in the quarter finals and won 6-0. Then this afternoon they advanced to the semi finals and met their match. They played a really tough team and lost 3-0. Poor Riley was in tears after the game. I guess she got used to winning and the loss was a tough one. We just reminded her that she had a great season and took her out for ice cream, because who can be sad with a double scoop ice cream in their hands?

Deja vu

This week I booked my flight to Boston, AGAIN. I reserved my rental car, AGAIN. We have hotel reservations confirmed, AGAIN and this time I might actually get TO Boston. Cross your fingers and say a little prayer that there are no natural disasters, personal tragedies, etc. to cancel this trip. I'm still bitter over Hurricane Ike blowing into Houston and ruining the last trip. As Scott and I were discussing my trip he casually said, "hmmm, what kind of natural disaster could happen in the spring? Maybe the Big One (for those of you not from CA we are talking earthquakes) will hit". I just about clobbered him on the head. He should know better than to even say that out loud.
So come May 11th it is BOSTON OR BUST!!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

2009

Big hit of Christmas

Well, the ipods appear to be the big hit of this Christmas. Riley got a purple shuffle and Zachary got a silver nano. I was really not sure how they would react to the gifts, but they are the faves so far. Zachary has spent most of his itunes cards downloading TV shows and watching them on his ipod. He thinks it's the greatest thing and I have to admit I am a bit jealous. Although my ipod has much more memory it is five year old and only has a black and white screen. I would love to be able to watch some movies or tv shows on mine.
Meanwhile, Riley is loving her shuffle. She does not seem to mind that it does not have a fancy color screen like Zachary's. She just wears it all over the house belting out tunes at the top of her lungs. She is currently in her room going to sleep while listening to her shufffle. Her favorite song is Steven Curtis Chapman's Cinderella which I had added to her ipod from my itunes list. It's a great song and I knew she would love it. She told me when it ends she hits the back button so she can listen to it over and over.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It has been a whirlwhind day, but I think the kids had a great Christmas. You can see that Riley was very pleased that Santa did indeed bring her Julie. Zachary got a video game and plenty of stocking stuffers from the jolly old guy. After opening gifts we headed off to Erica's house for brunch and celebrating with the whole family. Now that we are back home I have to make some sense of all this mess. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Only five more days till Christmas

We have had a quiet Saturday before Christmas by avoiding any and all retail establishments. This morning we woke to a beautiful view of the mountains so Riley took advantage of her new digital photography hobby and got some nice shots. Then we were off to the library for some reading and quiet. If you have not tried this, remember next year, there is nobody in the library on the weekend before Christmas. It's a nice quiet place to sit and read some magazines or books. Riley got her first library card today. I'm ashamed to say that it took this long. Zachary got his first when he was three and somehow we just got into the habit of Riley using my card all these years. She asked for one today though so we took the time and signed her up.
When we got home I kept Riley occupied building her gingerbread Christmas tree while I got a few things done around the house. You may wonder where Zachary is in all of this? Well, he has been in his room diligently working on his Lego Death Star. He has gotten quite far after many hours of work. I think it's still going to be a while before he finishes it up. Hopefully it will last him through the Christmas break.

National Geographic Bee

Zachary participated in his school's National Geographic Bee today. His teacher talked him into participating and we refused to let him drop out when he wanted to because he had not participated in the extra study sessions available to him. We told him he could not quit, he just had to do his best. As he advanced along in the rounds his smile just got bigger and bigger

until finally he was in the final round. He was beaten by an 8th grader on an Aztec question. Sad thing is that Zachary originally wrote Aztec and then panicked, erased it and wrote Mayan. He did a great job and we are so proud of him. He was interviewed for our local paper and had his picture taken. The reporter said it should be in the paper tomorrow so I can hardly wait to get the paper. He also won a $50 savings bond. GO ZACHARY!

I think Santa has moved south

I had to go out for a bit this morning and when I returned this is what I found.

Riley had put this up next to her door. The door was closed tight and she was inside wrapping gifts. She bought gifts for everyone in the family at her school's holiday faire and yesterday my sister taught her how to make beaded bracelets. She came home with bracelets for all of her cousins, some friends at school and even her teacher. She did a great job on the bracelets and told me how she picked the colors for each person's bracelet based on their personalities and likes/dislikes. I can't wait to see her wrapped packages. She just came out for more paper, tape and bows. This has become quite a project for her.

And the streak continues!

The Mean Machines played their second play off game today and it was another shutout (6-0). They will now move on to the semi finals in January. We were the last game of the day and it was 50 degrees out, cold winds and ominous clouds with the occasional raindrop threatening a downpour. Don't let the blue skies behind Riley fool you because that is the south and the clouds were all to the north along the mountains. Luckily the rain stayed away until the game was over. I think all the girls earned a large hot chocolate today!

Out of the mouths of babes....

Tonight I told Scott to poke my stomach. I've been working hard at the gym and have really hard abs and really what's the point of working so hard if I don't make my husband notice it? So I told him to poke my stomach which he did and then he started poking my arms, legs, etc. I shrieked (totally ticklish) "what are you doing?" and he told me he was looking for a squishy part to poke. Riley was witnessing all this and yelled, "whatever you do Daddy, don't poke her private parts". ROFLOL! I can't wait to use that one on him later... "Whatever you do don't poke my private parts".

Happy 13th Birthday Zachary!

We sent Zachary on a scavenger hunt to find his birthday present. It turned out to be a hit and the kids had fun running around the house following the clues. He was VERY pleased with his birthday present and I predict he will be spending weeks putting it together. I've never seen so many lego parts in one box in my life

I think he had had enough of pictures by the time the cake was ready. Note the look on his face. LOL!

All in all I think he had a good birthday. Now it's time to focus on the countdown to Christmas.