Proud Mommy Moments

I could use this time to brag on Emily for going to school so much better.  It's been rough for her.  But she has been doing it.

I could also brag on Ryan for trying his best to stay still but it's hard when your motor never stops.

However, I am using this time to brag on Kristin.  I felt so horrible for not bringing my phone to the variety show.  I am just thankful she was a willing participant when I asked her to record herself singing for the sole purpose of putting it here on my blog.  So here she is singing, "When Will My Life Begin?" from Disney's Tangled.



I am linking up with EmmyMom and Kmama today and their Proud Mommy Moments!

So Random it's Wednesday!

Three more days left of school.  I am over homework, getting up early, making lunches, dropping off and picking up. 

I now need to plan out ways to keep busy so that A) they won't eat me out of house and home.  B) they won't whine about being bored.  C) won't fight--as much.

I went and got sick.  I am currently trying to cough up a lung. And my sinuses are packed.  Nice.

I tackled laundry yesterday.  Now I need to put it away.  It never ends.

A lot of you commented on Kristin's make up from yesterday.

The make up was done by a student.  The play was spin on Pinocchio with a Tim Burton twist.  Kristin's character was actually male and very disturbed.  She played it well.  The whole cast worked very well together.

It's taxi time.  When I get home, it will be laundry time.  Maybe I can sneak in some blog time.  I sure miss reading them.  I miss my bloggy friends.

Ten Things To Smile About

It's Not Saturday, even though my mind is insisting it is.  Give me an extra day and I lose my mind completely.  And trust me, it is too small to be wandering off on its own.  It's actually Monday night, as I type this.  And the month is at its  close, which can only mean one thing.  It is time for Emmy's Ten Things To Smile About!  Don't know what that is?  Well check it out here for more info.

And without any further adieu....

1.  I shot Emmy (it's okay she shot me back)
2.  A Facebook poking war with a dear friend that includes pictures.  Epic.

3. Seeing Kristin in a student directed & written play that won!  Those kids rocked it.

4.  Going to Indio with Emmy and her family and having all kinds of fun!!!

 
Now if you want to know just HOW much fun... you will have to go here!  It's a two part story.  You must read BOTH parts!

5.  A variety show at Kristin's high school.  And her first solo!  

6.  Another thing that made me smile at this variety show was my Little Middle going gaga over the cowboy singer.  It tickles me.

7.  And here is another example of what tickles me.

these two are cute.

8.  Seeing this little cutie pie again...

He has four teeth now!!

9.  School is almost out!!!  Friday is the last day.  Yep...I'm happy.

10.  And I got to see my bestie again on Sunday!  Love that!  Love her!

What made you smile this month?  Link up with Emmy!

What Happens In Indio...

Summer has officially begun for my family- for CA Girl her kids are almost done but we decided to start the summer off early with a weekend getaway for our two families in Indio, CA.

As departure day grew closer the kids got more and more excited and then the fun began.

From here on out- Emmy's comments will be in blue- Lourie's in red


Emmy: I was very jealous you were already leaving and I was stuck in the pick-upline.

Lourie:  I was questioning my sanity at this point.  I picked up the kids early from school so that we could get there nice and early--like right at check in.  Thus leaving us with time to get settled, pick up dinner and have time to swim.  Of course in my haste, I didn't think to ask my teen if she had any assignments to catch up on or any tests that day!  D'oh! Not only that, but I missed packing an extra pair of capris for me.  Ooops.  We made excellent time just the same....

But soon we would find out your early departure wasn't so lucky after all.

Shortly after this traffic started moving and I texted again saying it was going- no sooner had I texted that then it slowed down again.   Moral of that story- is don't text Lourie about things going fast- as speed was not in her favor this weekend.

No, it most definitely was not.  Sitting in the car for an hour was not real fun.  But I did get a picture of a bunny!

This guy was not afraid as I was able to get pretty close.

See what I mean almost one hour later....

Thankfully we had dice with friends to keep us entertained- and me sticking gum in my husband's hair. Oh but I think she wanted to! She also said she did not want to go to Disneyland with me, as I have such bad luck with lines.  *sniff*

We finally made it ate some fried chicken- eating is essential to my husband's happiness-

Hey food is essential to my happiness too.  Especially that pie!  Yum.

And we were even greeted by the welcoming committee!  

The sign was obviously ignored as these were very brave and friendly ducks- but they delighted the kids all weekend long.  Those ducks were so fun!

Then it was swimming time!  The first night of swimming was fun, until I realized I forgot our towels!  D'oh!  Seriously, who took my brain!?

We spent most of the weekend in the pool- when it's 100 degrees outside you do that.

I was worried Ryder was going to spend the entire time like this

but thankfully he warmed up to the idea soon and loved jumping in- while I caught him of course. 

When swimming in public places the pool can't help but teach you a few lessons

1- Don't borrow you friends bathing suits- especially ones that are too small  Saw that more times than I would like to count.
2- Consuming alcoholic beverages and swimming really might not be the best idea  It is also not allowed, but apparently the rules do not apply to them.
3- Adding a cowboy hat does not distract people from the rest of the business you are showing Neither do tramp stamps.
4- Smoking at the edge of the pool not only is against the rules but does not add to your attractiveness See number two. 

And the most important rule.. well we will let Lourie tell you about that one.

Well this could take a while...so I will do my best to make it short.  I love words.  The next morning after breakfast, the kids were raring to go...swimming that is.  And since it was already almost 90 by 10 it was fine by me.  So off we went.  We went ahead of Emmy and her family.  Kristin and her friend picked a table and quickly dumped towels, shoes etc and jumped in.  As I was setting my things down, this mean, grumpy old man comes up to me and asks where the umbrella to the table was, and proceeds to accuse me of taking HIS autographed book that was there. I was stunned to say the least.  "There was nothing at this table when we got here." I told him.  My daughter came up, and verified this.  He started in on her.  Back off old man.  I will knock you down.  He questioned the people next to me!  He went to all the people at the pool and kept pointing at ME!  Like I did something!  Then he left.  Good!  Poof be gone!  Or so I thought.  

About five minutes later, Grumpy mean old man was back with two security guys and they were coming for me!  My heart was racing.  But what on earth for?  I hadn't done anything wrong.  This old man was truly off his rocker.  Shame on him for leaving his stupid book out.  And maybe the umbrella broke and management had not replaced it yet!  

"Excuse me, Ma'am" one big security said, "You'll have to come with us." Mr. Grumpy was suddenly looking like Mr. Smug.  I wanted to punch him in the neck.  But what else could I do?  So I decided to cooperate...

To see what happened next you will have to go over to Emmy's Blog

Blackouts, DWTS, and Variety...Oh My!

The last three weeks I have had the worst luck with my recaps for DWTS.  Last week it was Verizon's fault for messing with time travel!  This week it was a power failure.  There is never a good time for these things, but when it is 90 degrees outside it makes for cranky people.  Luckily, I have a gas stove and I could light the pilots to cook my dinner.  It was also the same night as Kristin's Variety show at school.  Thank goodness the power had not failed at the high school!

These kids put their hearts and souls into their talents and it showed.  All moms should be and probably were very proud of their kids that night.  Indulge me, as I recap the Variety Show instead of DWTS!  I give you MMHS Variety Show 2012!  I will be brief.

First up The Advanced Women Ensemble singing Wanna Be (The Spice Girls)  Most of these girls chose to dress up...hmmm...questionably.  I will leave it at that.  The performance itself was great.  But I just kept wondering where was their mother?  And others, the mirror?

Next a soloist.  HE sang Trace Aktins' "Ladies Love Country Boys" and he was decked out from head to foot.  Cute kid, good singer.  And my Little Middle was absolutely smitten.  She was locked on him.  And for the rest of the night, anytime he was on stage she was lost on him.  *Swoon city*

Has anyone heard of this new band called "One Direction" it was news to me.  If you have a teenager in your home, you probably have.  Well 4 girls dressed up like boys and did a lip sync.  It was cute.

Next a very beautiful duet and piano accompaniment.  Man these kids just blow my mind!

Now the Womens Ensemble (this is the choir Kristin is in) sang Toxic by Brittany Spears.  Oh my talk about some hoochie girls.  Not all.  Certainly not mine.  But yeah.  A good job on performance.

Mens Ensemble and Cowboy kid is back--though changed into different clothes.  They sang "Stand By Me."  WOW!  Ooops almost fell off the risers!  Emily found him!  Yep, stars in her eyes.

And the moment of truth...

Kristin's first solo... AND  ME WITHOUT MY PHONE!!!  Quite possibly the worst mom moment EVER!  Her friend played guitar.  She sang, "Roulette" by System of a Down.  Before she even came on stage people were screaming for her.  When she was done, it was even louder.  I was in fact  so proud.  I may have screamed louder than the teens.  Which at times seemed an impossibility.  But that was my girl up there.  And she nailed it.  What's even better, she knows now she can do it now.

A fun highlight was a girl dressed as a chipmunk singing "My Sharona" in a chipmunk voice!

And the closing act was The Womens Ensemble singing "It's Raining Men" and they had tons of fun with that one.

All in all it was a great night.  The kids did a great job.  And hey it's cheap entertainment.  Maybe next time I will remember my phone!!!

I am linking up with Emmy and Kmama for Proud Mommy Moments!

Pass the Chocolate

I didn't write anything yesterday cause I was still mentally on vacation here...

My family went there with Emmymom and her family.  She and I will be duel blogging all about our grand adventures this Friday!!  You have to read BOTH blogs.

I actually had a post thought out in my head.  I just never took the time to write it.  I was doing laundry.  Ick.  Dishes.  Bleah.  And editing pictures from the trip.  Now that part was fun.  But it literally took me all day.  Because every time I sat down to do it, I got interrupted or had to go pick somebody up.

From my FB yesterday:  If I am laying on my horn as you are pulling out of your driveway, that should be your signal to STOP.  Brilliance right?  Less than an hour later I was out again to pick up my teen from a rehearsal and another idiot driver tried to change lanes right into me!

 Do you know anyone who this suits?  I do.  And the really stupid thing about those stupid and bad decisions is they are repeated, and then complained about by the person who is making them.  Sigh.

I hate it when Blogger randomly signs me out in the middle of writing of a post!

I should go and clean my living room.  I can always pile everyone else's things on their beds.  If it ends up on their already messy bedroom floors it won't affect me.

I really would like some chocolate now.  Anybody got some?

Verizon Ruined My Recap!

I hate Verizon!  Can I just say that?  Can I also say that they suck???  Do you know that there is a FB page just for Verizon hating?  I need to go there and like it.  So what is my gripe?

Well as you noticed, I missed my recap this for DWTS.  I recorded it so I could watch it on Tuesday and get it all put together Tuesday night.  I went to watch it.  The DVR said:  May 14th.  Why then, was it last week's show???  Seriously.  Last week with the current week's date.  It makes my head hurt (more) to think about that.  So don't blame me.  Blame Verizon!

I do know that Maria and Derek went home.  What the French Toast!?

Everyone danced two dances on Monday.  I saw one of theirs.  This was their Tango.  He came down the stairs with her legs wrapped around him.  They got two sets of perfect scores and they got sent home.  They should have been in the finals.  Not fair.  I was not happy with that outcome.  But she was gracious and so humble.  She just smiled and said how much she learned and couldn't believe she got as far as she did. 

In the finals are:  William and Cheryl, Katherine and Mark, and Donald and Peta.

I am determined to recap the finals!  Despite stupid Verizon!  And don't even get me started on their wireless policies!  We could be here all day!!!