What A Kid!!!

Justin went to school today with a note for his new principal.  Not from me . . .  He started the school down the street from our house and although I know he is looking for new friends and ways to fit in at his new school - I don't think this letter to the principal was one of them.  It is just Justin's heart!
He proposed that the whole school begin collecting the pink Yoplait lids to send in for donations to Susan G. Komen Research!  He offered to pay for the flyers (of course we will do them in our office), to collect, count, and send in the lids, and lastly to give the class who collects the most lids an ice cream party - out of his own money!  He mentioned in his note that this would show how much the kids care about important causes and would also show what a great school and community it is!
I'll be anxious to hear the principal's response!
What a KID! And he's mine!

Settled

Well, I guess you know you are settled in when you can go on vacation without having to think about what needs to be done at the new house or for that matter at the old house. 

We all headed out to Palm Springs for a little R&R this past week.  James had to come back after three days for work and continuing education classes  - but we knew that!  The kids and I just drove home today after a week baking basking in the sun, dying  lounging by the pool in 115 degree heat!  Whew!

Actually each day the kids and I tried to think of indoor, air -conditioned activites to keep us busy.  These usually included a trip to the local mall or Target. This meant I was looking for the last few things we needed  to finish the house decor!  James is going to wish he had not left me alone with kids in Palm Springs when he gets the AMEX bill next month.  But truly . . . it was all on sale!!!  There was a trip to movie theater, the nail salon for Andrea's and my pedis, the dinosaur museum and lots of relaxing in our very nice Westin villa! All I can say is I am definitely thankful for air conditioning and I do appreciate the nice temperature at our house!

Back to the house . . . we are feeling more settled all the time.  I am actually remembering which drawer or cupboard I have put something in that I am looking for.  I finished off the living room with pillows and a throw (purchased in Palm Springs), found some guest towels that match two of the bathrooms and  some napkins and napkins rings that match the house perfectly!  Now on to the entertaining!  Tomorrow we are having good friends over for dinner and a swim, the daughter is staying overnight and then Sunday we are having more dinner guests from our old neighborhood!

Well, I better get myself in the kitchen - I've got company coming!

Moving!

The house actually closed on April 18th - the last day of tax season! (Somebody has a sense of humor!)  It originally was suppose to close on the April Fool's Day, then got moved to the usual last day of tax season -April 15th and finally we signed all the papers and got the key on April 18th, after James had worked about 12 hours  that day and 50 12 -16 hr days in a row!  He was brain dead - so he was kind of unenthralled with the whole process of signing his name a couple hundred times that evening. I, on the other hand was ecstatic.  The kids went along and declared it simply the most boring thing they had ever done!

We actually spent the night there the following Friday - just so we could say we had slept there before we went on our vacation to Colorado.  The kids swam in the pool and we ate pizza - you can't possibly think I wanted to mess up my brand new Viking Kitchen.  That will come later when I can get out my Giada cookbooks and do something really stunning and YUMMY!

Upon returning from our great vacation to Avon - visiting with dear friends, swimming in the pool and playing in the snow - we began the process of moving over the "little" things.  What a blessing to have the time to leisurely move the "stuff" we could - before the movers come on Tuesday!  They will move the "big" stuff!  I will post pictures of our  new digs and our move. 

Yikes -there is still a ton of little stuff - did I say I could do this leisurely????

3095 Sq Feet of Big News

Well for almost 14 years James and I have lived in a 1000 sq ft , 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom "beach cottage" with our 16 lb cat, Tigger.  Then two and a half years ago we added a 7 and 9 year old of the human variety, plus a bird, hamster and dog.  Although we have subsequently lost our precious cat, our parakeet, and  the hamster to animal heaven (or more realistically the Pet Cemetery between our garage and the fence) and our dog, Sophie to whoever must have wanted a cute dog for free - we have Molly now who is a bundle of energy poodle/bichon mix and seems like about five dogs!  So it was time . . .


It was a Sunday afternoon in early March and James went to the office to plow through some tax returns.  The kids and I are always looking for something inexpensive (read: cheap free) to do - so we decided to go out to lunch using one of our famous coupons and drive over to the park where Justin was signed up to play basketball.  It is a very nice park next to a very nice school - so we played a while and as we were leaving  we noticed an open house sign.  The kids learned early on that being an Open House "Looky Lou" is one of my favorite things to do - so we stopped. 

We got out.  We looked at it.  We loved it.  Andrea got it in her head we could call Dad and ask him to buy it for us.  I said absolutely not - Dad is stressed enough without you begging for a new house.  Andrea is very good at asking for things until she wears you down - however she just barely mentioned it that night for which I was eternally grateful!  I was afraid we could push him over the edge with this request!  The next morning I told him a bit about it - I did mention that it was the perfect house.

Little did I know that he had decided that morning that if the kids and I loved the house that much - we would get it!  What . . .I know tax season is doing something to his brain!  So I get into the office and he asks me to call the realtor and make an appontment - one look and his remark was "We'll take it!"  Thirteen years of marriage and I never knew that he was so easily persuaded during tax season - although come to think of it we did start adoption classes on April 5, 2008 - I just never put it together! 

To make our long story even longer - we put in an offer, it was accepted (why not - who doesn't accept their own asking price?) - but we decided to keep it from the kids , so they wouldn't be disappointed if something happened and it fell out.  Last Friday we got final approval on everything, had our walk-thru on Saturday and told the kids!  What a day!  They are ecstatic!!!

3095 SQUARE FEET of bliss!  A room for everything and 5 bathrooms (no the 5 is not a typo!) and a pool and a spa!  One of the bathrooms is only accessible from the outside!  Yahoo!  No wet bathing suits in the house and no pee in the pool!  We get the key this Friday, tax season ends, Justin is in two nights of the Pageant of the Arts, then we have a trip planned to Colorado until May 1 - we will move in early May!!!

Gotta go and run out to buy cleaning supplies - the rest of my life will be spent cleaning!

You can see the house if you google virtual tour of 5052 cornell ave.

I'm Back!

How can two months go by so quickly??  Of course at this time of the year (read: tax season) our whole family is in the trenches . . . not just James!  I have been drafted as the office administrator during this tax season and the kids are being real troopers about understanding that Dad is working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.  Naturally, this means that I am on 24/7 which some days sends me over the edge!!
                                                                                                                                             
Now for the family news . . .

Andrea celebrated her 10th birthday clear back in January - so she is officially in the double digits!  She is starting ice skating lessons and loves it! 

Justin is in both flag football and basketball.  He, too, is starting ice skating on Saturdays - future ice hockey player you say - well why not - but in So Cal not so likely!

We are planning a BIG trip to Colorado to see our good friends right after tax season - we are really looking forward to that nine day get-a-way!  We are going to let Dad "veg" while we swim, hike, play and visit!

We have some very big news coming your way in just a few days - no, not more kids  . . .yet!  Even the kids don't know so I can't tell until April 1.

Until then . . .any guesses????

Happy 20?

I keep hearing that it is now 2011 ~ but really?? How can that be??  As we get older the comment you always hear is that time is going faster - makes sense, huh.  Well, if when you are 10 one year is 1/10 of your life and when you are 30 a year is 1/30 of your life where does that leave me . . . maybe I'll just wish you all a very Happy 2012! - my 2011 is almost over. . . .