Ho Hum...

This week is just more of the same as last week. I've been doing lots of errands and helping John get ready for Cub Scout camp this weekend. I've got lots of meetings to go to at the school, and doctors appointments for the girls. Lots of stuff to do, but nothing to really show for it.

The one exciting thing I'm going to do this week is pick my MIL up from the airport with Geri. We're going out to lunch together and have some girl time together. John will pick the kids up from school and take care of them. It's wonderful to have such a great husband and father for my kids!

Sophie is still a wonderful addition to our family. While I'm doing my ho-hum errands I can marvel at how great it is to have a new car. Well, I'm off to the races now. I have to get kids ready for their day at school!

Open House Day at Daddy's Work

Today was the annual Safety Day at John's work. They bring in a rock wall, a bunch of bouncy houses, the Reptile Man, the Fire Department, the Police Department, Costco, and many other businesses in the area to throw a huge party for Kimberly-Clark employees and their families. They give away free product, conduct tours through the mill, and feed everyone a wonderful meal. They also had an antique car show and John got to bring Speedy (the Blazer) to show him off. The kids look forward to this day all year long and it was sunny and gorgeous outside!

I'll post pics later of our day. Right now I'm going to rest and catch up with my family. This is the first weekend we've had to relax since July:)

Back to school blues...

The kids started school yesterday. I put them on the bus, then raced them back to the school. I couldn't actually get into the parking lot though because of all those other crazy moms following their kids:) I parked two blocks away and sprinted over to the school just in time for the last bell to ring. I hugged and kissed both girls (Nicole was embarassed, but Amanda loved it!), then went over to see Nate and he wouldn't even look at me! He's growing up so fast!

They all LOVE their teachers and the school did a really good job of placing them in the best classes for them. Nate has a really nice 4th grade Summit teacher who really wants to help him be the best student he can possibly be. I had requested a different 4th grade teacher who now teaches a 4th/5th split. I'm glad he's not in that class. There are only 4 kids from the old class in that one and he would have felt very isolated.

Amanda has all of her old friends and even some of Nicole's in class with her. She has a really nice soft hearted teacher who will really give her the attention she craves. Nicole has the neighbor girl, her little bus friend, and several kids she's always wanted to get to know better. She has the two teacher team and they really push the kids hard. She's excited about her class and is open to the teachers' challenge.

You might ask what Mommy is doing? I'm enjoying driving Sophie all over town getting errands done that should have been done months ago! I even unpacked from the camping trip. I've worked my way down the piles in the house to the California mess and I'm working on that now. I went to breakfast with Geri yesterday, ate breakfast at the doughnut shop this morning (just this once I promise!), and I'm going to go to lunch with a friend next week. I'm really loving the complete and utter silence in the van. No kids, no radio, no TV, just me and Sophie. After months of constant mayhem, PEACE...

Meet the newest member of our family...

Sophie! The kids actually call her "Silver Sophie".

She is a brand new 2008 Honda Odyssey with dual power slider doors, 6 disc cd changer, triple zone electronic climate control, 8 passenger seating, stow and go seating, and lots of extras. We got the Silver Pearl color with stone interior. It's such a great van! We kept the old van for John to use and we've sold the Ford Crown Victoria. It's been a busy week!

I've been busy this week shopping for a new van, school supplies, school clothes, and getting unpacked from our wonderful trip. We leave tomorrow for a camping trip with Grandpa and my next task is to pack for it (and no, Sophie is NOT invited, she'll get too dirty!).

I've really enjoyed having the kids at home for the summer, but I'm looking forward to having a little break next week when they are back in school. I've still got lots to get done while they're there but I'll at least get lots of quiet time!

Ahhh, how great it is...

to sleep in our own beds! We're back home again after driving for 22 hours straight. The kids slept through the night while John and I took turns driving. We must have stopped 10 times before 8pm last night, and then only twice through the long night. The kids are ready to have fun and we're dog tired. If John and I can make it through a few more hours we can put them to bed and crash.

We had a great vacation, but it's wonderful to be home!

Another Two Theme Park Day...

We started out at Disneyland again today. We went on the Nemo ride, since the only time you can get on it is first thing in the morning. The kids loved it! We were at California Adventure when it opened too. This time we wanted to ride Toy Story Mania. The lines are over 2 hours long during the day. We were among the first in line and thought the ride was really worth a long wait! We rode California Screamin a couple of times, the Orange Stinger, the Jumping Jellyfish, and a few other rides we had skipped over on previous visits. We ate dinner at our favorite restaurant and headed back to Disney for the parade, the Fantasmic Celebration, and fireworks. We didn't get back to the hotel until after 10pm and the kids were already asleep. Our vacation ended in a blast of fireworks! What a great ending...

We're on the road tomorrow and won't be able to access the Internet until Sunday night. Wish us luck!

Another Wonderful Day...

Today we got the kids up and traveled to Universal Studios. It's an hour long drive from Anaheim in extremely heavy traffic, but we still made it right after they opened. We rode the Revenge of the Mummy ride, Jurassic Park, the Simpsons ride, Backdraft the Movie, Special Effects Tour, Universal Studios Tour, and watched the Animal Actors show. This picture was taken at the Backdraft exhibit and it shows the kids' reaction to a room that was ablaze. It looks kind of like hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil (Nicole was just removing her hands from over her eyes). This is pretty much how the kids looked after each of the rides too:) We're such mean parents to make them ride the scary rides!!We also let the kids play at the Curious George waterpark within Universal Studios. Nate was excited to learn so much about how his favorite shows are filmed and about special effects. The girls got to see Dora, Diego, Curious George, and Shrek and give them hugs so they were really excited. They all picked out pins (even Amanda settled on a pin!) and brought them home to add to their collection. We had yet another great day! Tomorrow it's back to Disneyland and California Adventure and then we leave for home on Saturday morning.