Something for the over 30's

Shane set this to me via e-mail and I thought I'd share it.

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking
twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways... yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it

and how easy they've got it! But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet . If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter .with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and

put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders ' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there was no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little BRATS!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire .. imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

So inspiring!!!

As we watched Obama's acceptance speech last night I was in awe of this man who will change our country. I, like so many others, have become so inspired by him. Although I started off this long process supporting another candidate Obama was always my second choice but I have to admit I think that, for America, the right choice for a Democratic candidate has been made. Also the reports are coming in now that the Republican VP nominee will be a female! What a change America has made in terms of being progressive. I can only hope that the all white all male tickets are a thing of the past and that we can look forward to a new America where ANYONE can become President!

The day is set!!!

The day for the big "V" has been set! Sept. 9th Shane goes in a fertile man and will come out about 1/2 hour later fixed. This is something he has chosen to do and I couldn't be more happy. I love my girls immensely but I am so through with the pregnancy phase of life. I spoke with a friend of mine whose husband most likely will go through the same thing one day and she was telling me how she isn't too worried about getting pg because she isn't super fertile and I was instantly jealous.lol I didn't think I was either until we got pg with Kennedy. With Ava we weren't really trying or preventing but we had long periods of that before and never got pg so when we planned to have Kennedy I thought it was going to be a real test and trial and it happened quickly. After her I was on bc for about a year and when I missed my apt (a few times) we found out we were going to have another. Sadly we miscarried that baby and even though people kept "reassuring" me we could have another it wasn't what we planned. Again we weren't planning or preventing but never thought that 3 months after we would be pg again. Luckily for us we were blessed with Nova but we FINALLY learned our lesson and decided that Shane was going to "take care of business". Now it's going to happen! I did have to inform him that he will have to prep himself which (not to be too graphic) involves a razor and a careful hand. While the receptionist discussed the procedure with me I held it in but when I called Shane to tell him I couldn't get the words out without laughing. I mean it cracked me up! I also watched a video which made me squeamish but I know it didn't hurt and is nothing like childbirth but still it's isn't a fun day at the park. I think the shaving is going to be the worst part. Therefore as long as he keeps the apt and our luck holds out Nova will really be our last beautiful baby and NO I WILL NOT BE TRYING FOR A SON!!!

An amazing time in History

I am so excited for this week to finally be here. Last night I watched Michelle Obama's speech and was won over by her grace and her story. I wish had been home to watch Ted Kennedy give his speech but I had to leave and get Shane. I made sure Ava got to watch a little of her speech before she finished her reading and took her shower. I wanted her to realize that the fact that a black man is being nominated as a Presidential Candidate is a historic moment and although she might not fully understand the importance now she will eventually and have the memory of watching it happen! I keep thinking this is only a beginning of new firsts! The first women candidate and maybe president, the first Latino, and so forth. Thank goodness for having the PVR to record the next few days!

Alot going on

It's been a busy week. Ava completed her second week of second grade and brought home a great progress report to show for it. Her teacher complimented her math skills and her desire to start an all school Olympic Club.lol Ava also finished an American Girls "Samantha learns a Lesson" chapter book last night which was a big deal to her because she finished it in a day and a half. I can't tell you how thrilled I am that she loves to read! I am so excited for her with each book she reads and am looking forward to her reading all the books I loved at her age.

Kennedy also has made headlines for our family. For the past few days she had made the choice to become potty trained! I won't go into specifics but she had done great. We are looking forward to only have on child in diapers! Kennedy also is looking forward to getting her ears pierced which is the bribe I made to to get her trained. Now I just have to get around Shane on that one:(

Nova is on her way to walking. Pulling herself up to a standing position is an easy task for her now. She had crawling down pat although I have to laugh at the way she does, she looks so funny. She is so sweet and in a way I just wish I had this year to do over, I'm going to miss my baby when she is a big girl.

Shane and I both had an off weekend. I caught the stomach bug that Ava's schools had passed around. I thought I would be better today but I was wrong. I look forward to feeling better tomorrow. Shane hasn't gotten sick yet and knock on that he won't. Work has been stressful for him and the rest of the team but hopefully it will be better soon.

I have to share this story of what happened yesterday. I was at the desk which is by our front widow which is opened so that we can get the air in. I heard our upstairs neighbors walking to their home when someone asked them to use the phone. They said they didn't and I knew we where going to get a knock on the door. I had this feeling that we should say no. (I don't know why I had that feeling) but Shane answered the door before I could say anything, plus I was on the way to the bathroom as I was sick again. He lets them in and they use the phone. All I heard was some bad language and then they left. I came out and they were gone and I forgot all about it and went on with the day. Late last night around 11:30 Shane was working on the computer and I was watching FRIENDS when a knock came again. Shane answer it and it's the same couple. They again ask to use the phone but then the boy (this cracked me up) ask Shane to heat up his burrito! So Shane gets the phone for the girl, (he didn't bother to pull out his IPHONE he gave them the cheap land line one that is attached to the cord) and goes to the microwave to heat this guys food. I hear the girl calling "Angel" to come and pick her up since her dad is being an a-hole. Then the boy yell in to tell her that they will walk to central. She hangs up and goes outside and they wait for Shane to bring the burrito. Once it's done he takes it outside where they are waiting. I am trying not to laugh out loud at Shane heating up the food but it's pretty hard and also they are outside. Shane gets back on the compt. and I to the tv when they knock on the door again. Shane looks at me like "What the heck now?" and answer the door. This time she is asking for water. He goes to the kitchen and gets her a glass, not one of our good glasses. He takes it to her and she asked for one she can take with her. I get up and go to the pantry to see if we have anymore big plastic cups but we only have the small Dora ones. He takes her another glass that was a jar and they finally leave.lol But I open the door today and they left chips, the cup, and a bottle of Gatorade in the walkway. I figure next time we are going to say the phone got disconnected and let another neighbor help them out. Still it was hilarious to see Shane run around for them.lol

Nova almost 10 months old

Yup she's almost 10 months old! It seems like yesterday that I was complaining about the last few months of pregnancy and how I couldn't take it anymore! It has been a wonderful and bittersweet year. Wonderful of course because my girls are growing beautifully and Shane and I get to be their parents but a little bittersweet because with every milestone Nova has it's also a last milestone for us as parents. I went through her clothes for winter and she's has moved into Kennedy's 18mths outfits. She is pretty much back on the charts with her weight gain and now that she is crawling, standing, and pulling herself up I know she is going begin to drop off in her baby weight and we won't have our chubby Nova. Lately she had taken to saying "Mommommom" a lot. She used to say it only when she was upset and crying. Of course Dadadada gets his saying too. Today she was in the hall way between the bedrooms and while I was cleaning my room and the girls were "cleaning" theirs she traveled in between the two. She had gotten a piece of plastic from a toy the girls had and when I bent down to take it from her she tried to hide it from me.lol That was a first and it took me by surprise. Later she found another piece, (the PTA Party had a boat theme and the girls got Hawaiian Laius') and I used the vacuum hose to take it from her arm. It freaked her out but she didn't cry and didn't try to take it again. At least she isn't afraid like Kennedy was of the vaccum. I think she is going to be an early walker. It's hard to watch her crawl because she tries really hard to push herself up off the floor like a stinkbug so that she can walk. I am sure she wants to be with her sisters.lol If she isn't walking by a year I'll be shocked. At this rate maybe I can get her potty trained with Kennedy. Just thinking that maybe I can have her potty trained by this time next year and not have that chore to do anymore bring a happy smile. :)

PTA

Last night the girls and I attended the PTA's welcome back get together. After meeting up with Katherine (you might remember her from Ava's birthday party), we hit the booths to sign up for various PTA functions. The first one I volunteered for was the Enchanted Forrest. Several years ago some parents designed it as an alternative to the Haunted House during the fall carnival. For kids who hate scarry things, (all of my girls) they can tour the EF. I have to say that this is my fav. part of the carnival. It's located from at bottom of a stairwell up to a school hall and then out the opposite stairwell. It's a "forrest" decorated with the 4 seaons. The kids who help out and the volunteers dress as mermaids, fairies, and other "magical' creatures you would find in an EF. It's really a cool thing to see. I am excited to help out with it. I also did Shane the favor of voulunteering him to help with the Haunted House. He let me know how happy I did that!LOL
Aside from that I offered my help with a lot of things but they are a blur to me right now.lol I think there might have been 3 or 4 more. Anyway what a great way to get to know other families and kids. Plus I am hoping to be able to eventually be able to sub or "with hope" be a teacher with Bandalier. Oh yeah I also "won" a t-shirt last night. I say "won" because I am pretty sure they just gave them away to everyone who turned in their stamped passport. (going to table to table you get a stamp) Katherine and I each won one and then realized so did everyone else.lol Ava wore it for a nightgown last night! I'll be attending the PTA's first official meeting in Sept. and then I'll post how it went. I am hoping it's not like the Harper Valley PTA.lol

Also a shout out to Misty to told me my blog needed to be changed! I got Shane to fix the fonts last night on this template but he is in the process of working on a custom made one for me as a Birthday present. I am insisting that is the only thing I want so I hope he finishes it soon, so far I love it!!!

Shane and Nova

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How did I get screwed out of date night?

Thursday Dusty called to ask me if I would watch Hope on Friday so he and Sandy could have a date. I agree on the condition that he watch my kids on Sat. Eventually he agreed and I tried to decide what we would do for our date night. I didn't want to go to a movie or eat I just wanted to spend some quiet time with Shane. I was thinking we would check out a museum. Anyway Friday rolls around and next thing I know we are full of stress. I am trying to get my duck in a row so I can do some substitute teaching and Shane had a lot of stuff do at work. We talked a few times and what was suppose to be a 4:00 pick up from work turned into a 5 or 6 or 6:30 pick up. Meanwhile I had my own running around to do including getting a haircut and a quick trip to Hallmark. (I love getting the ornament wish book!) Then I had to get Ava from school and then back to the mall to turn in her free book form. (She read her 8 books so she got a free one from Barnes and Noble. Then we ran up to the APS office for the forms I needed, back to the car to head to the grocery store and then home. Then it was cleaning and Nova time. I decided at the point that there was not way I was going to take one another kid since the ones I had were driving me crazy!:) Oh yeah Ava's bike also got stolen! It's a long story and I just don't feel like going in to it. So anyway Dusty was hurt so I told him I would watch her tonight which he told me they had to much to do on Sat. (today) so they would just take Hope with them. Then he asked if we had plans for dinner. I had a great plan to thaw out a chicken and make enchiladas but you have to actually take the chicken out of the freezer to do that so no we at that moment didn't have plans that didn't involve opening cans of soup. I agreed to meet them after we got Shane and we all went to eat at Kelly's. After dinner I wanted to walk around the shops so we took a good walk and at the end they asked me if I would still watch Hope. I said ok and asked them what their plans were. Turn out they wanted to watch Mirrors and take Fred with them. (Some date night!) I said ok and told them to have fun watching their evil movie and I would see them tonight. This morning I got up before everyone else and enjoyed my coffee while looking at the ornament book. I had a lovely time and decided that I wanted to get another walk in before the weather got to hot. Once the girls woke up and ate some breakfast we headed out. Shane had his work project to do so he was stuck at home. We originally thought we would go to a park but the weather was just so great that I wanted to keep walking and I bribed Ava with the promise of HSM sunglasses. (It is a school "requirement" like a hat is) We made our way down to Family Dollar on Yale. For those who know it behind the ghetto Smiths. It had a lot of fun on our walk. After a quick trip to Smiths to find the glasses (Family Dollar was out of them) we began to walk home. By then we had been gone for a while and since I forgot to charge my cell I figured I better find a payphone to call Shane. I had this vision of him freaking out since I told him I would only be gone 40 mins. We made our way to Garfield and Princeton where we found a payphone and I called him to let him know we were safe. He was surprised that we went so far and offered to pick us up. I had planned to walk home but I felt bad for Ava since she had been walking with me. (Nova and Kennedy were kicking back in the stroller so they were fine.) Shane came and got us and I set the trip button so see how far we walked. We walk about 2 miles this morning which was a good little walk for us. Seeing as how it was mostly down hill or flat it went by fast. Once home more cleaning. Then I reminded Shane about watching hope so they could watch Mirrors and Shane "asks" me if I mind if he goes. I said ok since I figured that would be less stress on me to keep the girls down to a dull roar. Now I am stuck alone with these girls and I realize that Shane is now on a double date with Dusty and Sandy with Fred being his date!lol So how did I get screwed out of a date???

That's ok! Shane must have felt bad because he started to work on making me a personalized blogger template. It's going to be really neat once it's done! (If he can stop dating Fred that it!!!)

Updated picture

Got a fresh haircut today and am pretty happy with the result. The back is a little shorter and clipped better so it has more volume. I couldn't go another day with the shaggy mess that was my hair. I had a nightmare last night about having it cut which is weird because I usually am the first to get a short hairdo? So I wonder why I had the dream. You can't really tell in this pic but I had gotten a sunburn from our walking. It's has tanned pretty well but my chest is still a little red. I forget to use sunscreen on myself even though I smother it on the girls. I need to get better at that. I had planned on taking a pic with the girls but they are all in a mood and refuse to cooperate so I kicked them to the couch and took my own one.lol I hate the nights that Shane is late:(

What a great morning!

We had an beautiful morning. We walked Ava to school which is a mile away. The walked killed me on Tuesday because the Sun was really harsh and it was humid. We have several steep inclines to get to her school and I was not looking forward to it this morning but it really was great. We had a nice walk to school and made it in about 25 minutes. After we dropped Ava off we headed to Roosevelt Park (a great name for a great man) and hung out with the hummingbirds. I spread out a little blanket for Nova and Kennedy ran around trying to catch the birds.lol Then she came over to us and I taught her to lie on her back and look at the clouds. We used that time to learn colors which we are continually working on. Then we got back in the double stroller and headed home. We got a good breeze and hit the shade and it was really fun. It reminded me of how great I had it in Foster City. For all the reason I wanted to leave that was a huge reason why I wanted to stay. I LOVED walking there. If you ever have a chance check it out on google maps. It really was beautiful. Have you ever been to a city where the powerlines are all underground? It makes sucha difference. Anyway here is hoping (Knock on wood) that our afternoon walk to get Ava is as smooth!

First day of 2nd Grade!!!

This is how all the girls looked on Ava's first day of second grade! Kennedy has taken her "homeschooling" pretty serious and is showing us her playdough hands. Ava was tired after school and this was her relaxing. Nova has no idea of what school is.lol

Girl's room

The last 4 days have been a blur. I started a project that I have been wanting to do for over a year but being pg with Nova prevented it and then her birth and sleepless nights continued to keep me from doing it. Lately I had been thinking about it but finally after cleaning the girls room again I decided that I had to do it. I had to switch their room or our master bedroom and move Shane and I into their tiny room. This way all three kids would be able to share space and still have room to play and keep organized. Now I am not saying this was a fun looking forward to it task because it was not. In fact it sucked big time. You just never know how much crap you have until you have to physically move it. Then I had to put a lot more stuff in storage which I am pretty sure has filled our space. I couldn't have done this without Fred so a shout out to him. This is a video of the girls in their room today. I still have the tops of the closet to switch but I would say I am 95% done. I am exhausted but happy because they love their room. Shane and I will survive the small room, but I know that when the time comes and we move to another place (so not looking forward to that move at all!) we will be thankful for the larger space. Meanwhile at least now I seems to sleep a little better now that Nova is with the girls.

Three's Company!!!

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Family Game Night

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Bathing Beauty

After a long day of playing with her sisters and causing a ruckus or two Nova chills out in a bath. She smells so good after her bath that we all fight over holding her! She is a sweetie!

Our special time of day

Like most families we look forward to the time of day when we can all be together. Like her sisters Nova demands Shane's attention the minute he gets into the room. It's not too often that her sisters give up their dad and so Nova usually has to wait until their baths before she gets some one on one time. However, today she and Shane got to relax together. In many ways Nova has gotten a bum deal seeing as how Shane got to be home for a little while with the older girls but in Nova's case that has not been possible. Nova also has to compete with two older and more mobile girls and that has been hard on their father-daughter bonding time. So when they get that time together it means a lot. I had hoped Nova would do a little more crawling in this video but I think she was too excited to see her DA DA and she wanted to get to him the fastest way possible!

The Big Move

"Mom I am not as popular as Victoria!" she says

"Victoria has a lot boys who like her!" she exclaims

"That's going to get Victoria into a lot of trouble when she is older" I remind her for the 1ooth time not looking forward to having this conversation again

"And one day she even told a boy that she liked him" she informs me to which I think some thoughts about fresh girls who I hope move away

"We call that the BIG MOVE!" and so ends the conversation because I begin to laugh hysterically

When did she become a pre-teen? Is she a pre-teen? Why did I think could raise girls?

The fourth and final part of Kennedy turns 3

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A conversation shared...

"I'm doing good!" she states as she rides her new bike

"Yeah! You're doing great!" he exclaims with pride

"I'm not doing great" she says firmly "I'm doing GOOD" she corrects him.


"Where did these three years go by? When did our baby become a big girl?" she wonders

Kennedy turns 3 pt. 3

I wish I could show you a picture or two of Kennedy's party but right now I can't. My camera came to a sudden end at her party and Shane's card reader has stopped working so until we get a new card reader I can't share any pictures. But I will as soon as I can. Her party was great. So many of our friends showed up and helped us celebrate her birthday. She had a small accident when her nose met a Frisbee and they did not do well together. After some blood,(hers) sweat,(mine), and tears,(hers) she was better. She got a little bit of a sunburned nose as well:( A lot of work went into her party mainly from me doing all the cooking and I began to wonder why I did it and then I stopped to think about it and I came to the realization that when they are adults I want to hear about the "great" birthdays they used to have. I hope that happens and that these things we do for them will live on. At any rate it was a fun time and I look forward to having Ava's and Nova's shared birthday party this fall. Did I mention that it will be held somewhere where they do the cooking?