Neglect

I have seriously neglected this blog. Sometimes life just gets a little too busy. Well, the last few days I have really been trying to catch up on my blog reading. I will try to post some more blog posts soon!

Things to look forward to:
Life as an Allergy Mom
-and-
My New Cooking Adventure

See you soon!

Hiking and Geocaching

On Monday, we had the day off. So, we decided to go hiking and geocaching. If you don't know what geocaching is, it is what I like to call "hide and seek for big kids." You have to have a GPS unit to do it. You go online, find coordinates for different "caches" to find, and then use your GPS unit to find them. Sometimes they are hidden around cities in very obvious places, but you wouldn't know they were there unless you were looking for them. They often are like little treasure boxes with prizes for the kids to trade out in them. You take something to leave in the box, and then you get to pick something out of it and sign the log book in the cache that you found it. Kaylee is really good at finding the caches. It is fun and we have done it all around the country. We did several caches on our trip last summer. Anyway, Nathan had heard of a cache that was not too far from us on a trail owned by the Army Corp of Engineers. It is called Sam Bass lookout. It is up high on a hill where the bank robber Sam Bass used to hide out because you could see so much of the area. It was about a 3 mile hike round trip, but the kids enjoyed seeing all of the fun things. It is also a free family outing! We packed a picnic and ate our lunch at the top of the hiking trail before heading back down. It was a nice little workout and a fun family outing!!

Nathan and Kaylee at the beginning of the hike.

Here we go! Nolan alternated between walking and being held. He kept getting distracted and wanted to play with the sticks and dirt (such a boy!), so we would have to pick him up and carry him for awhile. I really want to invest in a backpack carrier for these little outings. I think he would like that. He is only 23 pounds and most of them work for children up to 50 pounds. I think we could still get a lot of use out of a used one!

Nolan stopped to throw some dirt. Kaylee had to check out something, too!

Big sister was good at dragging him along at times.

Family picnic at the top of the hill.

Yummy! Almond butter sandwiches, carrots, grape tomatoes, trail mix, and water! And, Nolan had his trail mix, carrots, and allergen free granola bar.

We found it!
After eating, Kaylee and Daddy searched for the cache. We were actually sitting about 10 feet from it! It was hidden under a big rock ledge. Of course, Daddy had to poke around it with a stick first before sticking his under there to make sure there were no snakes or creepy crawlies!

Kaylee took a little yellow plastic dolphin and Nolan took a Hot Wheels car (go figure)! What a fun day!!

American Girl Boutique and Bistro

I was waiting for my mom to make her blog post first, but, since I have today off, I decided I better do this post while I have time.  Make sure to check out her blog soon.  She might have some different pics!

Nikki's hair was such a mess.  I was really afraid that they would not be able to fix it.

Kaylee was watching the hairdresser's every move.

I couldn't believe how good Nikki's hair was looking!

Then, it was off to lunch at the Bistro!  Kaylee was so excited that Nikki had her own menu and that we got to keep the star cookie cutter napkin rings!

Kaylee in front of the Bistro

My lunch.  Yummy.  A salad and a grilled veggie panini.

Kaylee and I at lunch.

Kaylee doing some "shopping" after lunch.  Granna told her she could pick out one outfit and that is a hard choice!

More shopping and admiring.

So, Kaylee picked a little out of season outfit for Nikki.  She picked Julie's swimsuit, sunglasses, towel, and athletic outfit.  It is cute, though!

p.s.  Please ignore the random underlining to make a link on some of the words above.  Sometimes blogger and I just do not see eye to eye!!

Tagged: 8 Things

My friend Jennifer tagged my before Christmas and I am finally getting around to posting!

8 things I did today: 

1. Cleaned the ink off of Nikki, Kaylee's American Girl doll's face.  Nolan gave her a few "tatttoos," and after trying alcohol, hairspray, baking soda and water, nail polish remover, and Magic Eraser, I was about to give up.  I surfed the web and found a solution.  Clearasil!  You put Clearasil on the ink, put it in sunlight for a day, wipe-off the dried Clearasil, and then it has vanished!!  

2. Had 6 cups of coffee (It was a Monday, after all!)

3. Read a cool article about the Vlingo app for Blackberry.

4. Ate my oatmeal for breakfast and took my Vemma!

5. Listened to Steve Novielo on Mix 102.9 on the way to work talk about organizing your finances.

6. Yelled at my class.

7. Checked my email/Facebook

8. Worked on this post!!

8 favorite restaurants:

1. Olive Garden

2. Cristina's

3. Pappas Bros. Steakhouse

4. Taco Bueno (Nathan won't eat it.  It is my guilty pleasure!)

5.  Perini's Steakhouse

6. La Madeline

7. Vince's 

8. Chick-fil-A

8 shows I watch:

1. Greys Anatomy

2. Desperate Housewives

3. Days of our Lives

4. Oprah

5. CSI (all 3)

6. The Biggest Loser

7. Big Brother (when it is on)

8. The Hills

8 Things I wish for:

1. Nolan to gain weight

2. Nolan to outgrow his food allergies

3. Healthy kids

4. My children to grow up successful and marry Christians

5. To get an AP job next year

6. Enough $ to pay off student loans and debt

7. Run a 5K without walking

8. To someday earn a doctorate degree (I know, I know . . .  I think I could be a lifelong student.)

8 Things I look forward to:

1. Christmas this year in Alaska

2. Summer break!!

3. Alone time

4. Not having to buy Alimentum for Nolan anymore

5. Working out

6. Church Ladies' Retreat

7. Lake Nacimiento this summer

8. Kaylee's dance recital

I tag anyone who is reading this and has not done this post yet!  And, I know who my four readers are!  Haha!

We've been busy . . . but it is slowing down now!

Things have been very busy around here.  We are now on a 2 week break from school and I can feel much of the stress being lifted off of my shoulders.  Here is a little bit of what we have been up to.  In no particular order . . .

In November, Nathan's parents came for Thanksgiving.  It was interesting considering my oven had gone out and we had no oven for Thanksgiving.  I managed to make a ham in a roaster oven, dressing in the crockpot (thanks to the crockpot lady!), buy some pies, and everything else was done on the stovetop.  We did get a new oven the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, though.   

Here is a picture of Kaylee and her Nana baking Nana's famous chocolate chip cookies.  They are huge! 

The first weekend in December, Santa made is annual visit on the fire truck.  Nolan was more excited that there was a fire truck in front of our house than the fact that Santa was here.  Santa brought him a candy cane, and here is the aftermath . . .

(Yuck . . . I can't stand being sticky.  Just looking at the pictures makes my skin crawl.)

Santa and the kids

Santa talking to Nolan

Kaylee likes to "read" before bed after we read to her.  I went downstairs to finish up the laundry and when I came back upstairs, this is how she was sleeping.  She fell asleep while reading the book.  She was out.  We were able to safely remove the book without her waking up.

And finally, December 12 I finished my graduate degree and received my M.Ed. in Leadership of Learning.  After two and a half years, and and a really patient husband, I am thrilled to be done.  

Here is a picture of the majority of the Leadership of Learning students.  There were 36 of the 39 of us at graduation.  Nathan was trying to take a picture over the crowd.  I feel like I know these people all very well, even though we live in all different parts of the state.  One of our graduates actually finished her degree in Germany.  

And, the big moment . . .

(Mom has some better pictures of me getting hooded.  Nathan was trying to wrangle kids at the time.  I will have to share those later.)

Thanks for stopping by to share some of our memories!

It's the Most Magical Time of the Year

It is that time of year again.  One of my favorite things about this time of year is getting out my Christmas Village.  My mom gets me a piece from the Dept. 56 Snow Village every year.  This year, I had so many things that I had to get Nathan cut me out a large piece of wood to put it all on.  Nolan is obsessed with it.  He wants us to hold him up all the time so that he can look at it.  He really likes the carousel and watching the horses go around.  It also plays Christmas music.

Village with the lights on

Close up of some of the village

The village with the living room lights off

We went with Nathan's parents to the Ice exhibit at a local upscale hotel.  It is really  fascinating.  Everything is made out of ice and they keep it at 9 degrees.  Some of the ice is colored.  They give everyone a blue parka as you go through the winter wonderland.  

The family.  We really wanted the picture-taking to go fast because it was so cold.

We were looking through the windows of a gingerbread house made of ice.

At the entrance.

7 Random Things About Me

My friend, Laura, tagged me and I am just now getting around to doing this.  So, here I go . . .

 

1.  I am TERRIFIED of snakes.  This is not just a little fear, but a debilitating fear.  My husband thinks I need counseling for this.  I cannot even watch snakes on TV.  The thought of a snake makes my heart race.  I do not go into the reptile house at zoos.  At the San Diego Zoo, I waited patiently outside in the heat as Nathan and Kaylee strolled through the air conditioned reptile house.  We have found snakes in our pool, so I make Nathan do a complete walk around of the pool and clean out the skimmers before I will get in. 

 

2.  I secretly want to be a great runner.  I guess that is not so much a secret now!  I am not an athletic person.  I never have been.  However, in May 2007, I was introduced to coolrunning.com and their Couch to 5K running program.  This program is designed to take even a couch potato and teach them to run a 5K in 9 weeks.  Now, I am still not running the full 5K.  I have to walk some.  But, I am doing much better than I ever thought I could.  I need some assistance, though.  There is beginning runners class starting again in January and I think I will ask for that for Christmas.  It is only $90 and you do group runs, they teach you the basics, and you train for a 5K.  Then, when you finish that class, you can move onto training for longer distances. 

 

3.  In December, I will complete one of my life goals.  I will be graduating with my Master’s Degree in Administration with a 4.0.  I am really excited about the possibility of becoming an assistant principal.  However, I know I must be patient because there are limited job opportunities for these positions. 

 

4.  I can hear tones that most human beings cannot hear.  I can hear dog whistles.  Seriously.  I used to think everyone could.  I can also hear the little machines people plug in to keep mice and rodents away that emit the high-pitched sound.  And, the mosquito cell phone ring that people over 30 are not supposed to hear.  Yep, my students can’t pull that one on me.  It drives me crazy.  I caught someone with it this week.  The great thing is, it makes my students think that I am under 30.  They can think that all they want. 

 

5.  I played the flute in middle school and I really enjoyed it.  I didn’t want to be a “band nerd” in high school, so I gave it up.  I REALLY wish I had a flute and could still play.  It is relaxing to me. 

 

6.  I really want a third child, but fear I will have twins.  Twins run in both of our families.  My friend, Pam, had twins the third time around.  I am not sure I could handle four kiddos!

 

7.  I am also scared of birds.  I have been “deposited” on several times by birds.  Even at the San Diego Zoo.  I have also been attacked by a few birds.  Too many stories, but they tend to go crazy around me. 

 

I tag Mom, Kellie, and Mandy.