My secret dream

With Julia going into 1st grade next year, I have been really thinking of how much I will miss her and how fast she is growing up. (My inability to let go of her next year is a whole new post).
I also love to travel with my family and even long road trips are so fun and full of adventure. We have driven to South Dakota AND Missouri- it was actually fun!

So..... my dream is to someday take off a year and travel the country with our children- before Julia gets to Junior High. I saw an article about it a while back and it's been on my mind since. Talk about the ideal homeschool! Think of all the history lessons, lessons about state capitols, math equations (miles/per gallon sort of thing), etc. It would be wonderful to be unplugged from the TV, computer, yardwork, etc and just be a family.

I truly hope it can happen for our family someday. I know I would miss my little luxuries but it would be worth it. When I was little, my family drove to Canada and back over a month or two. It is one of my fondest memories. I still remember riding our bikes through the streets of Washington and stopping to pick wild berries. I read A LOT that summer and can still remember some of the books that I picked up along the way. It was a great summer- thanks Mom and Ron!

Finally!!

Bella is almost completely potty trained! Yes, she is 3 yrs and 4 months old (the exact same age as Julia was when she potty trained) but I am SO happy! With both my kids, they never showed any interest and then one day it clicked with them. It is so frustrating to sit back and wait but so worth it. We are off to buy her new undies today. And she is having an underwear party next weekend (new undies, cake, etc). It probably seems way over the top to some of you but we were desperate and offered her anything! The first thing she said was "So, when's my party?" Heck, its cheaper than diapers every month so a party it is!

My big girl Bella.


Well, enough of my rambling about something so simple. But for us, this is HUGE!

Have a great weekend!

~The ABC's of me~

I've been tagged by Suzanne!

A - Attached or Single: Attached
B - Best Friend: Chet and Suzanne (and many others!)
C - Cake or Pie: Cherry pie
D - Day of choice: Sunday- I don't have to work and get to have "family day" as Julia calls it. She is SO a "little me".
E - Essential Item: Burt's Bees chapstick. I have about 5 tubes- my dresser, my purse, the kitchen and in the girl's rooms.
F- Favorite Color: Pink. I was anti-pink and girly things until Julia and Bella were born. Sad fact- I can now do a weekly load of laundry with just pinks and purples! Yikes!
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Gummy bears
H - Hometown: Mesa, AZ
I - Indulgence(s): Diet cherry coke from Sonic. It has to have limes and marischino cherries. After reading about the scary facts about artificial sweetners, I am trying to switch to regular Coke.
J - January or July: July. I LOVE all the activities that we do over the summer and look forward to it.
K - Kids: 2 daughters
L - Life is incomplete without: my family
M - Marriage Date: November 7, 1998- almost 10 years!
N - Number of Siblings: 1
O - Oranges or Apples: Oranges I don't really like apples at all.
P - Phobias or Fears: My fear is losing one of my kids (forever, not just in the store)
Q - Quotes: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”
R - Reason to smile: I truly have a great life and have been learning how to brush off the small stuff.
S - Season: Spring
T - Tag a Friend: Lisa! My friend who started her blog the same week that I did.
U - Unknown fact about me: I'm a little type A. Ok, it's not really "unknown" is it??
V - Very favorite Store: For me- White House Black Market (more window shopping than anything), for the girls- Naartjie
W - Worst habit: I pick at my nails. This is a HUGE improvement over biting them for 25 years. They actually look decent now and I am happy with that.
X - X-ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasounds mean happy babies, x-rays mean broken bones.... (I stole this one from my sister)
Y - Your favorite food: lately, I am loving Carne Asada burritos. There is a great little Mexican restaurant near our house and the waiter now knows us!
Z - Zodiac: Gemini. Poor Chet, he has 2 of us in the house.

Don't read this if you are in Idaho!

(I spoke with my sister Suzanne this morning who lives in Sun Valley, Idaho where it is 30 degrees and snowing today.) Sorry Suzanne!

We had other plans today (the mall or the park) but first the girls wanted to play with the hose, then the sprinkler which turned into a day in the pool (just the girls and the dogs- Mom and Dad are wimps).

After a few hours, we had to drag them inside for a shower and a nap. I have never seen Bella fall asleep so quickly! They had such a great time outside. I can't wait to start swim lessons again. I would like Julia to be swimming without floaties by summer.

Our dogs also love to swim. This is probably normal for those of you who have Labs or similar dogs but we have an English Bulldog "Lucy" (bulldogs are not supposed to even be able to swim) and an almost 10 yr old Boston Terrier "Harley" who sometimes walks on 3 legs due to an immune issue. Definitely not the poster dogs for swimming but they beg to come into the pool area. Lucy will cannon ball into the pool after a ball and will swim around until she is close to drowning. The 4th picture is of her jumping into the pool from the rocks. She can barely handle a mile long walk but loves to swim. She is now passed out and will sleep for days!

The dogs are still my babies as well- can you tell? We've had Harley since the week after we got married.





*We couldn't find Bella's floaties from last year so she is wearing an old life jacket that we use at the lake. She is normally not this protected! :)








*Ignore the lack of sheets on Bella's bed- its laundry day.

Creature of comfort

Do any of your children have quirky (or OCD type) habits? Julia is the ultimate creature of comfort- especially with her nighttime rituals. She is a fairly easy child- she just knows what makes her feel secure and ALWAYS has to do it that way. Every night, she says the same thing to us AND in the same order. Chet says its a little OCD (which it might be which is fine) but it works for her and that is all that matters. For the record, she shows no other signs of OCD so no worries! :)

She has always been a great sleeper. She goes to sleep early (7:30pm) and on her own. Her one stipulation is that Harley (our 9 yr old Boston Terrier) sleep with her and that her door is open. This poses a problem since Harley could escape her room. Julia devised a "force field" as we like to call it. Look closely at the picture- you can see the "prisoner's" little black nose and white eyes. She really loves sleeping with Julia and can't wait until bedtime every night. I am sure she would prefer a choice though! :)



So fess up, what quirky habits or slight OCD do your kids have?