"Eights" Tagged... by Stacy, who I am mad at...

Another dear friend is moving.... this time to Wisconsin. I am not kidding when I say that 95% of my friends have moved away. All of them out of state. It's not my favorite part of my life, and I am always slightly mad at them for a few good months... although I'm still mad at Bob & Booboo and it's been years now. Anyways, Stacy (pictured in the center) is the Momma of Gracie, who Mr. Boy has declared and professed his undying love for. He is adamant that they will marry, and when I showed him on a map where Gracie was moving to. He looked up at me with very sad eyes and bit his quivering lip. Then he looked at the map and said, "Mom, it's going to be okay. We are just going to have to drive there and visit them a lot. They have snowflakes and cheese (my map has cheese and snowflakes on the state of Wisconsin), and Mom, I like BOTH snowflakes and cheese." Stacy, I adore you, however we will opt to fly... I'm afraid I'm just not the roadtrip kind of gal. We will miss you, and I will miss your children who I love very very much. We will see you often especially at Mr. Boy and Gracie's wedding in 2031. Stacy tagged me to do Eights... and I'm doing it even though I'm just a little peeved. Although, it's her husbands job that's forcing the move, so I guess I should be mad at him. Phew, Stacy your off the hook.

8 Shows I Watch:

Desperate Housewives, Amazing Race, Private Practice, Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Battlestar Gallactica. Can we have a moment of Silence for: Eli Stone & Dirty Sexy Money?

8 restaurants I like to eat at:

Anything Indian, Zankou Chicken (Middle Eastern Food), Anything Mexican (the dive-ier, the better), In-n-Out, Cheesecake Factory (for their Ranch Dressing & Vanilla Bean Cheesecake), Rutabagorz, Tommy Burger, Opah

8 things I did today:

Helped poor Mr. Man who got violently ill in the wee hours of the morning from an overdose of Ice Cream & Junk Food consumed with Mr. Uncle... poor guy's a lightweight!, 2 loads of laundry, talked politely and assertively with my medical insurance company to get them to pay a bill... did not swear or hex them and am very proud of that, shopped alone at a boutique for some Christmas presents, some boring work.... which the details would only excite my nerdy accounting friends, checked my email, read some blogs... which led to this post.

8 things I am looking forward to:

Thanksgiving, Decorating for Christmas, Getting Doll'd up for the Holidays, 8 more days of Mr. Man being home, Seeing Bob and her kids, Disneyland decked out for the Holidays, Seeing a bunch of movies this week, and brushing up on my Guitar Hero Skills.

8 things on my wish list:

A stable economy, A move to New Zealand, or A lovely home in LA, Shoes (duh, of course), Abs of Steel, A live-in assistant, A Farm with Horses and cows (and because Mr. Boy suggested it, and it's brilliant "with a pool, on the beach, but close to the mountains"), A trip to Paris

8 People I am Tagging:

It would be fun if everyone did it, but no pressure. It's the holidays people, and I'm vowing to keep things simple... not getting bogged down in stuff I'm pressured to do, only the stuff I want to do!

Mr. Uncle bunks up at the Chateau

Mr. Uncle (Mr. Man's Brother) has arrived for the Thanksgiving Holiday. That means there is lots of this going on:and some of this... and then some of this.... (oh yes, you are so smart if you noticed that he is slyly flexing and showing off his biceps.... also psst... ladies.. he is single and in a rock band)

Along with having Mr. Boy in complete and utter heaven as he gets doted on by his favorite Mr. Uncle, there is lots of Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Tech chat, crude jokes, and consuming massive quantities of ice cream & soda with Mr. Man. It is one big Giant Boys Club at our house, and since I grew up with brothers... it feels like home.

Viva La Ya Ya

I love these ladies. They know my faults, my secrets, my personality and they love me anyway. They give me strength, they give great advice, and when you need a shoulder or someone to listen they are all there. It was our biannual weekend away, and I laughed heartily and loved every minute of it. Bob, Moi, Booboo (and Nettie sneaking her head in the back)

We watched helplessly as the wildfires started to burn, and sent good thoughts to all those affected. *see my afterthought at the bottom*

The smoke eventually drifted down to the beach, which made me edgey. I couldn't help but fret over Mr. Boys little lungs, even though he was in very capable hands. Tami, Nettie, Bob, Moi, & BooBoo

Stef had family obligations, so she was in and out. So here is a pic of her and I together from last summer. I adore her, and thankful she hasn't moved with the rest of the Ya Ya's. She will always give it to me straight and I love that. Mr. Boy asked me if I went to a Super Hero meeting with my friends.... because as he pointed out "You came back ENERGIZED."

*Afterthought* I started this post right after the weekend, and got sidetracked. I'm glad I'm waited, because last night I was out to dinner with the kids and we watched 8 fire trucks roll by the window. The kids were ecstatic and the engines were from all over California. I'm guessing they were all just released from their duties fighting the fires. The fireman all looked tired and worn, but still had the energy to wave to my children who were ecstatic to see them. People on the street were stopping and applauding them. I am so grateful for the firefighters who risk their lives, and work until the job is done. I know there were firefighters who worked for days on the fires with very little sleep. I also know, that they don't exactly make a fortune firefighting. Many of these guys have second jobs. I am grateful for the people who risk so much to protect us. So thank you fireman everywhere!!

Madamoiselle, it's the school....

On Friday, while in the homestretch of prepping for my Ya Ya Retreat... I get a phone call from the school. "Madamoiselle, it's the school. It's regarding Mr. Boy. He swallowed a rock." *sigh* The joys of motherhood. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to assess the situation with the doc. It took a lot of detective work to figure out the size and shape of the ingested Rock. The rock was STOLEN from his teacher's desk, so there was some trepidation in admitting the truth. Then trying to figure out if the wheezing was a trapped rock or an asthmatic episode.

This morning, when we went to school and were able to see where he got the rock, I grabbed another one to put in his scrapbook as his "First ingested object". Hopefully, it will be his last. We were relieved to find the size was about half of what we had thought. Phew. I have enjoyed hearing from nurses, friends, and family all the stories of "This one time my (kid, brother, sister, cousin) swallowed a ______." The stories have made me laugh. Let the record show, that this story and all of it's embarrassing details that I won't post here, will be used for blackmail or humiliation purposes when Mr. Boy is older.

Sometimes, it's knowing that "One day I will look back and laugh hysterically at this...." is the only thing that gets you through those sticky motherhood moments.

It feels like Christmas Eve...

Tommorrow, I will be hanging with Nettie, Steph, Booboo, and Bob (aka The Ya Ya's) at the beach. We met 10 years ago, give or take a month, and have done girls weekends for at least 8 of those years. Shhhhhh... They don't know yet, but I'm not letting Bob, Booboo, Steph and Nettie go home.... I'm totally going to steal them and hold them hostage until we can agree to some kind of terms where they move back here and we live in one big happy compound.

Sports

One of the joys of having a child with athletic genes (thank goodness for adoption!) is watching their natural abilities grow and blossom. The kids attend a Sports Class to help them work on Soccer & Basketball. We love the coach and the class. We even enrolled AK into the class, which she still trying to grasp the concept of kicking the ball. My soccer pro friends will have to correct me, but isn't this the equivalent of "traveling". Also, don't you love that she's trying to play in Pretty-Princess-Glitter Shoes? Mr. Boy awaits his turn while he cheers on AK. I love to watch him cheer her on! And here Mr. Boy is "it" (hence the giant tiger on his back) as the kids try to get him

And AK, she loves the class for about 30 minutes.... then she is done. So she joins her pal on the bench.

Also, is there nothing funnier than watching 3, 4, 5 year olds run around? Each kid has it's own trademark run, I love it.

Mii

If you haven't discovered the joys of owning a Wii, you really must get one. One of our favorites is that you get to make "Mii's" They are video game versions of yourself. I love it, and the family all has their own Mii's. Mr. Boy loves making and tweaking his Mii, he also loves tweaking other people's Mii's like making my Mii Fat. It cracks us up, that this is what Mr. Boy thinks he looks like. No need to adjust the color on your monitor, his Mii is very dark skinned with Silver hair and sunglasses. Apparently, no one has told him that he is Irish and German..Also, just because it's adorable and shows Mr. Boy's true character. Skoopi is going to the vet tommorrow for the whole day. When I told Mr. Boy, he was worried that Skoopi will miss us and does not want her to go. He insisted on petting her and sitting by her for the entire evening. Eventually they both fell asleep on the couch together completely content comforting each other.
** Update: We dropped Skoopi off this morning and the kids gave Oscar-worthy performances. Mr. Boy and AK were in tears, there was weeping and there was wailing. For goodness sakes, she is going in for a checkup and shots, no big deal. Mr. Boy is so worried that Skoopi will miss us. In reality, Skoopi on the other hand gets to met other dogs, look at cats, and get rubbed down by several different vet techs. She is stoked!

You are all Invited....

Who: AK's Wild Party....

Where: AK & Mr. Boy's Room

When: 4AM

I heard footsteps, then giggling, lots of thumps and thunking. At first I thought we were being robbed and cursed the dogs for being useless. Then I heard music... that was when I knew the kids were up to no good. A quick glance at the clock to see that it was 4AM. I walked in to see AK making "a big nest with all our toys". Mr. Boy was awake but curled up in a blanket on the floor. AK was dancing around ready to start her day. There are NO PARTIES at 4am in this house! I tucked them both back in bed and turned out the lights for a few more hours of zzzz's. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the aftermath once the sun finally rose. AK has such a zest for life. When she wakes up in the morning, she gets out of bed and takes off running. You always know when she is awake, because you hear her running around the house at top speed. Mr. Boy, Mr. Man, The Dogs, and myself like to lay in bed and chill for a bit while we work up the courage to face a new day and leave our peaceful slumber behind.

Halloween - In Depth Recap & Analysis Part 2

So here is the crew on Halloween as we make our way to one of the neighborhood parties, notice Mr. Man is still in "costume" and Mr. Boy has made another wardrobe change. Oh my goodness, I'm actually in a picture! I love our street and our neighborhood... the big trees and the friendly neighbors. After dinner at the neighbors, we came home for a costume change for Mr. Boy.... AK has been living in her two sizes to small butterfly costume for weeks now.
Then we headed over to our friends house for trick or treating. These guys were a riot together and as adults we had a blast walking around with them.

In the past, we've Trick or Treated to our neighbors where we walk in say hello, and stay for a while. Apparently, we weren't teaching them proper trick or treating manners. On Halloween a lovely mature lady opened the door, and AK runs in and jumps in her arms giving her a big hug, nearly knocking her over! That is just classic AK, she will spread her love to anyone who will take it. Also, she held onto Peter Pan's mom hand almost the entire night. At one home, our kids pushed open the door and helped themselves to the bowl by the door, before the gentleman of the house arrived at the door. Manners are very important to me, and trick or treating helped me figure out where we have some weaknesses. I love how Mr. Man's head is covered in Pink Tulle, but he doesn't mind. He loves being Daddy to a girl, and I adore their sweet relationship. She knows she has him so completely wrapped around her finger.

Remember when you were a kid, and there was that one house that gave out the full size candy bars? There was a house that we Trick or Treated at that gave out King SIZE, the Holy Grail of Trick or Treating. However, Mr. Boy didn't care, because he got a Lollipop at the previous house. The kid is a sucker for lollipops! (Roll your eyes people, I just used a pun!) When we got back to our friends, we poured out his candy, and Mr. Boy enjoyed his Lollipop. AK is addicted to Smarties... and that leaves mom and dad free to pilfer from the chocolate.

It was a super fun evening and a big thanks to Brooke for hosting us!!

Halloween - In Depth Recap & Analysis Part 1

It started with our annual pumpkin carving. Mr. Boy sketched out a six eyed pumpkin wearing Devil Horns. We played a game called "Hide the Pumpkins" 2,000 times in the past week. Those little pumpkins are hidden all over the living room by one person, then someone else has to find them. Mr. Boy made it up, and it was fun and festive. It was still festive, however not very fun when the kids woke us up at dawn to "go seek" the pumpkins that they had hidden. We went to our church's Halloween Party, which was EXTREMELY well done. The kids had a blast playing all the games, well.. Mr. Boy mostly. AK just rolled around in the confetti. When the Confetti Canons went off, Mr. Boy totally hit the deck, it was hilarious. He's a bit jumpy. AK wanted a cupcake, and was very impatient of the idea of having to win one at the cake walk. However, her persistance paid off.

And her prize was thoroughly enjoyed... These are our pals who we love and adore. Mr. Boy proclaimed that he was their Knight in Shining Armor and they both just giggled and asked to be rescued at one time or other during the night.

Then onto Halloween.... I love this picture, because really this could be any given day at our house that I'm driving a Superhero around town. I love this phase... it's magical. And yep, he's having Skittles for Breakfast on Halloween. Mr. Boy let this serve as evidence that I am a VERY COOL MOM.
Here is Mr. Boy's Kindegarten class. This is such a fun group of kids, and Mr. Boy has the best time with them. Also, I cannot say enough good things about his teacher, we LOVE her.

Are you sitting down? I was shocked, absolutely shocked to learn that Mr. Man dressed up for Halloween. I think he has dressed up once since I have known him. Here he is.....

Any ideas on who he is? Actually, it's not that great of a pic of him, and I'm not sure what he is doing, but I found this pic and was enjoying a peek into his office. And uh.. hello Mr. Man can you please bring home that giant Jack Sparrow that's in the corner, it gets awfully lonely when you are gone. This next pic should help you with Mr. Man's costume.

Mr. Man dressed up as this guy at work. Apparently, people found it so funny they were falling over with laughter in the hallway and paramedics had to be called in. Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating, but it was very clever, and everyone enjoyed it, including the guy he dressed up as. This is a glimpse into Mr. Fun-at-work-Man... now if only I could convince Mr. Man to wear green tights and go as Peter Pan to fullfill my dream of going as Wendy from Peter Pan. Maybe next year.