And the Mother of the Year Award Goes To.........

So I believe I am in the running for the Mother of the Year Award this year. Thursday afternoon, Maelen came home from school and we were chatting when the phone rang. It was a friend of Jared's wanting to talk to him. When Maelen hung up, she had an odd look on her face and said, "Why wouldn't Jared's friend be in school too?" I looked at the clock and was horrified to realize that today, just like EVERY Thursday, was short day. Kendall had been out of school for a half hour! For most kids that wouldn't be a big deal, but Kendall is extremely shy (in public) and VERY clingy (in public). We jumped in the car and I had Maelen call the office while we drove since I didn't have the wherewithall to deal with a headset at that point. The lady in the office said she was just about to call and Kendall was right there in her arms crying. Way to make me feel better. We ran in and got her, only to have her break into uncontrollable sobs in the back seat of the car. I tried to make her feel better by letting her know we forgot Jared too. That got a little laugh. So then it was off to Dwyer to get Jared, who also has abandonment issues. Before we could get there, I was getting a call from an unknown number, which I knew had to be him. A friend of mine took pity and drove him home when she saw he had been left behind. What would Laura Bush say?

I wish I could say it ended there. Kendall was thrilled that she finally had a tooth come out AT SCHOOL. This means she was able to go to the office and get a special treasure box, her choice of color, to keep her tooth safe until it made it home. She was thrilled at the prospect of the tooth fairy coming last night. However, it was not to be. We have had no snow, the rain has passed, yet something kept that darn tooth fairy from making it to Kendall's room last night. She is hoping for better luck tonight. In the meantime, I am off to the store to buy some ginkgo biloba - if I can remember.

Lakers

Last Friday we had the awesome opportunity to sit five rows behind the bench at the Laker game!! The only bad part is when we got to Staples Center, I took out my camera to take a picture of Rick Fox, who was being interviewed outside, and found out my camera was no longer working!!! Ugh! Anyway, it was incredible to sit that close to all of the action. Also, we had several celebrity sitings - Diane Cannon, Penny Marshall, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lucas Haas, Melanie Griffith, Antonio Banderas and Tom Arnold. Best of all, they beat the Kings - no love lost between us and our former short term home in Sacramento. We hope we have that opportunity again sometime.

Tickling the Ivories

Jared had his first piano recital this week. He played three different pieces including a jazzy version of Jingle Bells. I was amazed he could play so well without being nervous and with no mistakes!! Maelen and I noticed that he makes the same face Matt does when he is concentrating. Jared has informed me that next recital he needs gloves to keep his hands warm prior to his recital. Might this be getting out of hand???

Sweet Sixteen

Today is this cute girlie's birthday. I am a lucky Mom because she consented to go with me for a mani/pedi today. After months and months of those piggies stuffed into cleats, she needed some TLC. We had a good laugh because she was pretty sure the women working on her were talking about her disgusting feet in Vietnamese. Afterwards we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a yummy lunch.

Yesterday was our family party for Maelen, so tonight we had to give her friends a turn. They kidnapped her and took her to Cheesecake Factory and a movie. They also gave her a darling purse (which I am a little envious of).

I may not be thrilled that she is moving on to dating and driving, but I am so glad Maelen was born to our family. She brings so much happiness and laughter into our home!!

Come on Barbie Let's Go Party!

This morning I went out to get the newspaper and I found this great picture on my doorstep. It is actually an ad for a dishwasher. My sister, Vicki, brought Halloween treats for the kids but this was my treat. I think I may have to frame the picture because it makes me laugh. It reminds me of when I was little and we would get the Barbies, their family and friends together for a family photo. We never thought of them having a hot tub party - however, our Barbie's had bathing suits, so it would have been a little more modest. I especially love the one Barbie holding up her glass in a toast. Three cheers for Barbie!

Prop 8 Update

So Friday night I was just getting home with Maelen when it was getting dark. We were in the garage and a truck pulled up right in front of our Prop 8 sign. Someone was about to get out, but when they saw us, jumped back in the truck and took off. They turned around and waited on the other side of the street. Our whole family waited outside to see what they would do next. They evenutally left. Their little illegal operation had been thwarted for one night. Jared waited for quite a while on the balcony hoping to catch them in the act. Apparently they came back Saturday night because Sunday morning, our sign was gone. It's very sad they feel they have to resort to vandalism and crime to win. We have even heard of a church who is paying kids per sign they bring back.

Saturday afternoon we spent an hour and a half out on PCH with Yes on 8 signs. It was very interesting. What's most interesting is to hear the way people talk to us when they are calling us hateful. I guess they don't hear it in their own voices and foul language. There were Stakes from Long Beach down to San Clemente lined up at every intersection down PCH to do the same thing. We had some guys in our ward with motorcycles make flags out of Prop 8 signs and drive up and down PCH. It was a real bonding experience for our ward. Our Bishop's wife decided that instead of being offended by their hand signals she would take pride in that they think we are #1!!

Protect our Families

Day 3 of our Prop 8 sign and it's still there! Many have been stolen, but we are hoping for the best. Our street is a thoroughfare for many of the neighborhoods around us, so it will be seen - I hope it makes people think too.

I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

Last night we were eating dinner and I happened to see something moving in the backyard out of the corner of my eye. Up on the planter box, there was skunk scurrying along his way!! He was not quite as cute as the picture above. Yuck!! Luckily he hurried under the fence into the neighbors yard, but within a few minutes, there he was again going the other way and went into the other neighbor's yard. I think I won't be taking trash out any time soon - - at least not at night. Last year we had one in our backyard, but it was at night. He kept running back and forth trying to figure how to get out. Needless to say, as much as we wanted him out, we were in no hurry to go help him. The weirdest thing that has happened so far though is one night when Matt heard an odd noise and turned on the light to see two opossums chasing each other around our pool. I didn't know they could make noise, however, that noise is engrained in my mind forever. Creepy!!

Happy Birthday to Kendall

Kendall's birthday was September 11th. Yep. That's right. THE September 11th. Hard to believe it was 7 years ago. We have always thought she was such a wonderful blessing on such an otherwise horrible day.

This year Maelen's first field hockey game was on Kendall's birthday. I have to go to most of the games now (not that I didn't before) because I have become field hockey booster secretary. Not only that, but it was their Baja Fresh fundraiser, so to support the team, we bought dinner at Baja Fresh. (The team received 20% of all sales.) Kendall is not big on Mexican food, so we bought her pizza at the restaurant next door since it was her birthday. We got home late and had to hurry so Matt could rush off to his OCMCO practice. Here are the kids singing happy birthday with a candle in the birthday brownie?? Trust me, it is what Kendall likes. Oh - another highlight - we received text birthday wishes and Kendall was thrilled to be able to text back to her Aunt Vicki and cousin Brent.


Sunday was the family party with a Hannah Montana theme for Kendall and Matt. (Don't judge.) Mom remembered how much Kendall liked a jar of shells and seastars in her classroom last year and so she made her one of her own. Mom always knows how to buy for the heart.


I could even be a rock star in these glasses - a little Hannah Montana humor. If you don't get the joke, be proud that you don't.


Kendall and Grandma being rock stars. The glasses were fun, but the echo microphones made a big hit. After everyone left, Matt and Maelen continued to speak to each other only using the microphones. Annoying? Yes. My husband communicating with his teenage daughter? Priceless.


If you are wondering what was so interesting to everyone in this room........



Hole in the Wall - where contestants have to contort to fit in shapes that come their way. It is oddly compelling.

Arrow of Light

Jared FINALLY received his Arrow of Light at the end of August!! He had earned it some time ago, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, there wasn't a time to award it until the end of August. This was one Mom had to rush him through since our ward was lacking in scout leadership for a while. Now things are back on track and the scout program is moving forward. They have some amazing leaders working with all the boys now.


Mom and Dad, our ever faithful supporters, came and entertained Kendall as well as being there for Jared. They have been known to take Jared to den meetings when we cannot be there. We are very lucky.

Slip Slidin' Away

One day coming home from errands, we saw my good friend Sharon Klecker in her yard and stopped to talk to her. She invited the kids to come swim. This may seem like it wouldn't be a big deal since we have a pool ourselves, however, Sharon has a SLIDE!! Not only that, but she has cool pool toys, like these boats that the kids could float around and shoot each other with water guns on either side of their boat. Sharon and I got enjoy a nice chat in her beautiful yard while the kids "watered" her garden.

My Mosaic

Here is a fun game with a mosaic as the outcome. Here is my mosaic. Follow the directions below for your mosaic.



So here is how you do it:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search. 2. Using only the first page, pick an image. 3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into big huge lab's mosaic maker.
http://www.flickr.com/search/
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php (choose four columns and three rows, also choose individual URL's)

Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your nickname.

Have fun!!

I've Been Tagged!

So my darling cousin Maggie tagged me and asked me to share my quirks. If she wasn't so darn cute, I would just ignore it, but anyway, here goes:

1. I sleep with my feet out of the covers. I can't stand to have hot feet. Matt finds it odd, however, since I shared this quirk with others, I have found a sisterhood! The majority of the ladies in the Irvine Stake YW Presidency when I was there had the same issue. People would have had a good laugh if they came into our cabin at girl's camp. I had great camping tips, like sleep on top of your sleeping bag with a sheet on you so your feet can still stick out.

2. When I have to set my alarm, I check it at least twice before I am able to go to sleep. I am not sure if this is a quirk or more of an OCD issue. I blame faulty alarm clocks. I guess I just have trust issues when it comes to counting on a device that lasts at most 10 years.

3. So Maggie, I may not have your "PA" issues, however, I go out of my way to NOT use public restrooms. I don't care how clean they are, it is just an issue with me. I have been known to go home with a full bladder on many occasions. Matt doesn't get this one either - however, how could a man understand public restroom issues? They have it a bit easier - I think we can all agree to that.

4. Is this one a quirk or a pet peeve?? Or are they the same?? I hate people snapping gum and chewing with their mouth open. Nothing sends me screaming into the night like those noises. I can't even explain how on edge I get when I hear that.

I am sure I have many, many more but I am afraid to ask for fear of finding out what people think I do that is quirky!! Poor me.

My turn to tag.....I tag Kristen, Jaime and Shonda. Shonda - you can e-mail yours if you want because I know you use your blog for higher purposes. XOXOXO!!!

Do you know the way to Monterey....

Alright, so the song is actually San Jose and not Monterey, but I am lacking any creative juices at the moment. Last week Matt had to be at a parole hearing in Soledad, so we tagged along and stayed in Monterey.

The aquarium was amazing. We spent most of the day there just in awe. Unfortunately, we had very few sea otter sitings, which was a bit disapointing, but a great time was had by all.


We had a lot of fun exploring beaches and tide pools on the 17 mile drive and Point Lobos.


This is the Lonely Cypress. It is an amazing sight, however, Kendall was more interested in the squirrels.


This looks like an ordinary surfing picture. What you can't see is the shore which is very rocky and dangerous. I'm not sure how they get back on shore when they are done. Also, it was in the low 60's out so I can only imagine the water was unbelievably cold, not to mention they were wearing hoods with their wetsuits.


These are sea elephants hanging out on random beach. They are huge and smelly, but fun to see.


Matt surprised us with tickets to Hearst Castle. It is amazing how money doesn't necessarily buy taste. This was very gawdy and ornate with all kinds of mixed styles, but very fun to see.


The outdoor pool at Hearst castle:

Lockharts in the house....

Matt's brother Brett and his family were in town for a wedding and it was fun to have them stay with us (even though we were out of town for part of the time). We love these cuties:


Here is Logan, warming up to us.
Here is Kendall with Taylor, who is just a few months older.


Sammy didn't really want her picture taken, but I can't resist her cute little face. We had a fun story time together on Saturday night.

Alexa and Maelen posing for the camera.


Maelen once again - this time posing with Parker.

All I Want for Christmas.....

OK - so it's not her two front teeth, but Kendall did lose her first tooth. Well, actually not so much lost as pulled out by her dad. Matt turns into his dad, the dentist, when he sees a very loose tooth and must pull it. Kendall was thrilled to have FINALLY lost a tooth. This blog has been pretty much Kendall-centric lately, but that is because she is generally the only one home. Maelen has been gone all summer between Girl's Camp, Field Hockey Camp, EFY and Youth Conference. And Jared would probably file emancipation paperwork if I took pictures at his baseball camp. He was perfectly happy to be dropped off. So instead, I will put a picture of him doing what he loves best. Unfortunately I was never camera ready when he was actually up on the board, so this will have to do:

I Love the 80's...

OK - so this may be my last blog entry because Mike may kill me for posting this. Could we be any more 80's? This was taken at a family reunion at a cabin in Lake Arrowhead. I love the Varnays with the neck strap and if I am not mistaken, Mike is wearing some sort of ska type pin with his ABC style shirt. And what is with me wearing pearls with a polo shirt? I LOVE IT!!

Here's a new one....

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 64 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Kendall is all girl and has been wanting a haircut for some time. Between swimming lessons and spending every spare minute in our pool, her hair has been less than fun to brush out every night, so we decided to get it cut. Here is the before and after.

Swimming Lessons

Kendall started swimming lessons last week. She is loving having an activity of her own to do.

Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary.........

These two cute people are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year! We had a party for them last Saturday night even though their anniversary isn't until August 29th. We wanted to accomodate the BYU grandchildren so we could have them in our family picture. It was so much fun to see our extended family and my parents friends. Best of all - we had the taco man (actually woman). Yum! By the way - the title comes from the Flintstone's anniversary song. It is our favorite. Part of the fun was seeing these cute faces:


Here's little Porter making faces for me. He is a crack-up.

Kendall and Ali really hit it off. They had a great time together. I was taking a picture of them and Porter ran in to be part of the action.



I didn't get any pictures of Ashton so I will have to steal some of the cute little guy from someone else. He is such a cute, happy baby, and I love to hear his darling laugh! It was great to see everyone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JARED

We celebrated Jared's 11th birthday last Sunday, the day after his birthday. We had a "beach monkey" theme - don't ask - it's what Oriental Trading Company had available, however, he does like the beach and monkeys. Jared got his first surfboard and was thrilled. Jared requested chinese food so we had Teriyaki chicken, orange chicken, sweet and sour pork, egg rolls, fried wontons etc. I even tried a recipe for chow mein. Since Kiffy's birthday is the day before, we celebrated his birthday as well. It was fun to have everyone all together.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Here are the kiddos with their Daddy. Jared was a little irritated I wouldn't let him make eggs for Matt that morning, but Matt is not really a breakfast eater. We gave Matt some shirts, a DS game and a Dodger blanket. Best of all, he was able to take a Sunday nap! What could be better? We went to the Locken's for dinner and I had a chance to celebrate MY Dad! I am grateful for such a great Dad who is supportive of all our crazy activities and helps me with home repair problems - and sometimes the kids math problems!! What would we do without our Dads??

Watch Out San Salvador...

My cute nephew Todd received his mission call last Saturday to the El Salvador, San Salvador mission. It was fun to be there for the ceremonial "opening of the envelope" along with 100's of other close friends. Jared will miss his guitar lessons with his cousin, but he is really proud of him for serving a mission. Yea for Todd!! We are all proud of you.

AR Stars

Kendall was one of the top three readers for accelerated reading in her class. The top three readers from each class were able to go to the park today for a couple of hours. They ate lunch, played at the park and fed the ducks. Kendall, being a shy girl, was worried about not having a girl from her class to play with, but found out that the two boys that went from her class were a lot of fun.

The Circus Is In Town

This is what we have been up to this week. We were being crowded out by all our termite roommates. Another plus is that we temporarily got rid of our garage crickets, but I have a feeling they love us too much to stay away too long! We stayed at my parents house Monday and Tuesday and we had so much fun! The kids mostly played Wii, but did some of their other usual activities they have to do when they visit Grandpa and Grandma. We were spoiled with the wonderful food and great hospitality. I would love to stay at their "hotel" again. We were able to return Tuesday night, but the gas was turned off until Wednesday afternoon, so no hot water until then. Unbagging the food went way quicker than I thought and now we are all settled back in.

Family Portrait

When I went into Kendall's room today to change her sheets, this is what I found. This is proof to me that she was watching us from heaven and came to our family for a reason. Sounds odd, I know, but when I was little, Vicki and Bonnie would organize family pictures with all our Barbies, Kens, Skippers, Midge, Tutti, Francie, PJ, et. al. I remember one time after a "family picture", Vicki and I grabbed as many barbies in our arms as we could and went running downstairs only to find my mom in a meeting with a lady in our stake. I was little, so I thought nothing of it. Vicki, however, was a little older and probably a little embarrassed even though I am sure the ladies were thinking she was just being a good big sister to entertain her little sis. Ahh, memories. It's nice to see Kendall carry on the family tradition.

Mother's Day

This is what I woke up to on Sunday morning. My cute kids got up early and fixed breakfast. Maelen made cinnamon french toast and Jared made his own creation of eggs. It was so delicious and so sweet of them. Kendall made me THREE very cute cards and was telling me all week how excited she was to give them to me.

Another good thing today - we had no meetings other than our block. YIPPEE!! We went home and watched "The Singles Second Ward" which was one of my fun Mother's Day gifts.

In the evening, we got to together with Dad, Mom and the Lockens and had a fantastic dinner. Vicki made an awesome artichoke chicken dish and grilled veggies among other things. Yum! The best part of Mother's Day is being able to celebrate my mom and all the wonderful things she has done for us and has taught us. Yea for Moms!!!