At the beach

When Irelyn found this she came running over and said

"I found a chicken bone!"

Almost tricked

Is Mervyns trying to trick me? The Mervyn's by us is closing down so they have everything in the store 20-50%. The sign holders on the corner were doing a great job getting people to go into the store because it was packed! When we arrived, my friend and I grabbed a cart and headed off. At one point I had 7 clothing items and 2 pairs of shoes. I started to wonder what these clothes would have cost me last week. Usually when you walk into Mervyn's there are signs on the racks that say 50% off(just like at Kohls)...but last night they said 20% off. I didn't really see anything that was 50% off. People were buying stuff like crazy and I think they were all tricked! And you can't return anything after you purchase it. I ended up with 2 things- not too exciting. But the sale at Old Navy this weekend...now that's a different story. :)

Pixie Bows

I won!!! I am not lucky at all and barely win anything...this is so great. Check out their blog and see all the cuteness!!!

http://www.pixiebows.blogspot.com/

Saturday morning

I'm enjoying these few minutes I have before I officially have to start the day. George already left and won't be home until after 7:00- so my task today is to fill it. With what though? Cleaning? Swimming? Beach? Or the things I really should be doing? For the past few days I've been trying to prep my room, get bulletin boards up, rearrange it etc. I've taken Irelyn with me and she has been well behaved but still... I'm overthinking it also because I love to put up really cute boards and pictures but I just can't envision it yet. I better get going!

Who loves Netflix? We watched Definitely, Maybe last night- such a cute chick flick type (My favorite kind though and George is a good sport) We have seen so many movies that we never would have seen and I love watching them whenever I want.

Something has come over me also.... I love the smells and tastes of Fall. I've already made pumpkin bread and right now I am drinking Fall Harvest coffee. I'll admit- it tastes good however I think I'll wait a few more weeks before I do it again. Bye summertime!

Disneyland?

The plan was to go to the beach today...but things always change around here. Good friends, fun, rides and dancing- Disneyland! woo-hoo

Irelyns' favorite is still the Princess Faire and she spent the whole time doing this spin dance. It wasn't crowded so she had a lot of room to show her moves.

I love the days we spend at Disneyland. And with the Holidays approaching it becomes even more fun there!

Wednesday Wecipe

I was looking at books today trying to get ready for school and I came across a book about Wodney the Wat. His name is actually Rodney and he is a Rat but he can't say his "r's" Anyways, here is my Wednesday Wecipe-

From Trader Joe's recipe wall- (you can adapt it though)

Pork Tri-Tip

Season pork tri-tip with salt, pepper and garlic
Place in a 9X13 pan or corningware
Add 1 jar Peach Salsa and
1/2 jar water, white wine or broth
Bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours covered


That's it! It is so easy and makes great leftovers.

Dogs and Bagels

Irelyn loves dogs, but she is very hesitant when they get close to her. We've been thinking of getting a dog for a while...I guess we will know when the time is right. Anyways, we met Becky for breakfast at the Bagel Shack in El Toro. Oh my! You must go! Great bagels ( I mean really great), freakin hot coffee and a cute little ambiance. I will definitely go back..tomorrow :)

Becky brought Buster with her and Irelyn had so much fun. She walked him and petted him and fed him bagels. Irelyn just loves talking to Becky too- I really didn't need to be there.

As you can tell in this picture, Irelyn's hair is getting soooooo long. She will definitely be getting a haircut this week.

I'm getting ready for work, got my keys and stuff so I'm ready to start decorating my room and lesson planning. 4 other teachers and I spent 2 hours last night planning the month of September. And I missed The Hills! I still have more to do, but it's nice to be putting my brain to good use :)

Conversations

Between Irelyn and Kanaya
Kanaya- "You drink milk?"
Irelyn- "Yes I always have milk."
Kanaya- "Why do you have milk"
Irelyn- "I just do"
Kanaya- "Are you allergic to water!?"
Irelyn- "No, I have water sometimes."
Kanaya- "You do. Hmm"
Irelyn- "Yep and I even get juice too."

Silence and back to eating...

Between Irelyn and Papa
Irelyn- "What happened there? Where did your hair go?" (pointing to his head)
Papa- "Well, I went to the barber and said Can you cut my hair a little because I am going on a trip?"
Irelyn- nods "Oh, but I think that was gone before. Like for 20 days."
Papa is then reminded by Gaga that Trevor once asked him why his hair blew away.

Between Irelyn and Dad
Irelyn- "Dad stop singing!"
Dad- "But I like this song." (continues to sing and dance)
Irelyn- "Ugghh I don't like when you do that."
Dad- "Ok"
Irelyn five minutes later- "Dad why aren't you singing?!"
George then laughingly mumbles to me that she is a "flipper" (his term for people that change their minds all the time- mostly me)

Photo Friday

This week flew by and I feel that it was a weird week. We had some fun, played a lot and Irelyn spent most of the week being a cat. Though she did revert to being Tyrone also. We just keep wondering if we have an actor on our hands since she says she is only Irelyn at school and on her birthday. We'll see...

We are taking my parents to the airport Monday for their European Vacation(jealous? me too)- they'll be gone 3 weeks. Since Irelyn sees them so often she will for sure miss them a lot. Irelyn has had 2 soccer practices and got her uniform yesterday. They are yellow and black and they named themselves the BUMBLEBEES! The uniforms are huge on everyone, but so cute.

GO BUMBLEBEES!

The completed bowl from the Sawdust Festival

Irelyn is really into writing lately- Balloon and she drew a pic

Love you cuz

Slowing down a bit

For the past week, we have definitely been slowing down our routine. Slower to get up and ready, later getting out of the house, not much planned...it has been nice. We've had a busy summer and we are enjoying the down time a bit. I need to remember to do this more often.

Saturday

I spent most of the day completing my CPR and First Aid training- which actually wasn't too bad. The First Aid grosses me out and makes me feel a little queasy though. During CPR today, we were talking about experiences in which EMT's were involved. So, I retold my story about 15 paramedics and firemen coming into our house when Irelyn was 4 months old and had an allergic reaction. I started to tear up a little just talking about it... Fortunately they didn't think I was too crazy since there were a lot of parents in the room. But it is so amazing- the love we have for our kids and the emotion that goes with it.



On another note- here are some pictures from the Obama and McCain event at Saddleback Church today. Protestors and Supporters....

Check out this link

http://simplemom.net/how-to-be-disorganized-unproductive-hate-your-job/

What a day!!!

First soccer practice! Oh my gosh- it was great!!! 11 little girls, 3 coaches, chaos, fun, high fives, kids picking grass, falling, crying, ...everything you would expect to see at a U5 soccer practice. Irelyn was no exception, but she did say she had fun and that soccer was her favorite sport. She also said she needs a water bottle like Taylor. Apparently Taylor has a water bottle like Dora- I'm on it! Irelyn was the first to start the kick off and while no one else paid attention... she dribbled most of the field... only to have the ball swallowed up by the pack of 6 girls. She started to cry, but soon forgot about it. On the drive home she informed me that she didn't cry because they took the ball, she cried because I told her 10 minutes of practice and it was 11 minutes. Are you serious?!?!?

Me? Play?

I've been toying with the idea of starting to play soccer again with the OCWSL. I've been invited to play for a few teams and just haven't made the trip up to check out the practices and meet the teams. Games are on Sundays which is hard since George is already gone so he can't watch Irelyn. It has been so long, my cleats are thrashed, I don't even know how fast I would be anymore, but it would be great to kick some ass again. LOL! Hmmm- anyone want to do it with me?

Hmmm

As I'm preparing to go back to work, so many things have been going through my head. One thing is something that was said to me at my last job by a co-worker. She said "out of her ass" of course that you can't be a good teacher if you don't have kids. It wasn't directly said to me, but it was in a room full of teachers and I was the only childless one. I became pregnant with Irelyn about 2 months into the school year so it was probably during this time. I just remember hearing it and thinking "What a stupid thing to say. What is she talking about?" I didn't say anything to her because that is just not what I do, or ever have done. If people say things like that, the problem is them not me. I don't need to try to convince them they said something stupid because you can't change people like that. Anyways, as I think about this, I don't feel that I will be a different teacher now that I am a Mom. If you have the love of teaching kids- then it is a gift, not something you gain by becoming a Mom. So off to work I go (well in 3 weeks), until then I'll be at the beach!

Great quote

We have this posted in our office and I read it almost every day. Enjoy!

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about those who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If is changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it."

Irelyn playing soccer

Yum!!!

Thanks to Deanna, I was able to make 3 loaves of banana bread! She gave me 7 really ripe bananas and Irelyn and I did lots of baking today. However, all 3 loaves are pretty much gone-given away and eaten. They were soooooo good though. I'll make more again soon and share... also please pass along your bananas if you are just going to throw them away.

My favorite Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe! (notice Irelyn's chunk taken out, haha)It almost always falls apart, but it tastes amazing.

It's starting...

A few days ago we got a call from Irelyn's soccer coach. Oh my gosh.... It's starting- the sports stuff, the school stuff.....she's growing up. Anyways, she gets to meet her team on Thursday and get her uniform. There are 10 other 4 year old girls on her team. It is going to be the cutest thing ever. I'm so excited for her to meet so many little girls her age and probably lots of girls she will go to elementary school with. For George and I- we're curious to see the different types of parents.
There are 3 different categories that a sports parent can fall into...
1.Crazy, thinks their child is the best, never stops talking, shouts obnoxious stuff during the games
2.totally naive about the game, just happy to be there, sweet as can be
3.middle of the road, happy to be there also, but understands what is going on and how their child contributes

I'll let you know if my 3 categories change. There could be a 4th. George has already said "Do not tell him I coach." There are extremely competitive people out there and we don't want to be a part of that. If she loves it- Great. If it's not her thing- Great too. We are going to just be parents and support her. People think that since we love soccer we are going to be crushed if Irelyn doesn't. That is so silly and I have seen the effects of people doing this to their kids. Irelyn already enjoys soccer, but we hope that this season helps her understand the sport a little better and that she meets some great friends :)

A nice Saturday

Happy Birthday Mom (Gaga)!!!

There is nothing like seeing the happiness of your child. Today has been one of those days that Irelyn is full of love, sweet words, hugs, kisses and happiness. When all 3 of us are able to spend the day together, she just lights up. It is so hard with George's schedule to get a day to spend together since we don't get the usual Saturday and Sunday off. We had a trip to San Diego and Sea World planned for this weekend but decided to save that for another time. We went to Carlsbad for my mom's birthday today and spent the day with family. Anyways back to happiness- I just sat on our staircase for 10 minutes listening to Irelyn sing a Backyardigans song in her bed. It was the sweetest thing ever! For those of you that don't know..Irelyn is completely obsessed with Backyardigans. She says she wants to be Tyrone for Halloween (Tyrone is an orange moose). I'm just so glad that Irelyn is full of love and kindness and is always up for cuddling and hugging. She even asked George tonight "How did you get so cute?"

Photo Friday

Here are some pictures of what we have been doing lately. Where is the summer going??

Tanaka Farms

We had so much fun at Tanaka Farms today- and Daddy came too! This is the first time we have been for the Watermelon tours and it is definitely worth checking out. We tasted soooooo many fruits and vegetables...Irelyn loved them all but said the tomato was sour. After the tour, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. What a day!

stuff...

While I was at Costco today, I ran into a little boy (and his mom) that was in my preschool class the year I was pregnant with Irelyn. He was huge compared to the last time I saw him! He is now 8 which is so strange, he was Irelyn's age when I taught him. Time flies! I loved that class, and the school. My class threw me a surprise baby shower during lunch one day. The kids were so excited to be a part of it and drew me tons of pictures and gave Irelyn darling presents. :) About 4 weeks before school was going to start, I had to go in and tell my boss I wasn't coming back. Irelyn was only 9 weeks old and there was no way I was ready to go back. It was definitely the best choice!

Also, I can't stand fruit flies. They are so gross! I'm trying a cider vinegar trick so I'll let you know if it works.

Kids say the darndest...

I mean husbands do the darndest. Did you ever see that show Kids say the Darndest! Irelyn is definitely at that stage. She wouldn't talk to my dad yesterday until he changed his shirt. He was wearing a shirt with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner on it- Irelyn was not happy with the coyotes face, but instead of saying anything she just wouldn't look at or talk to my dad. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out what her problem was. My dad ended up changing his shirt and while he was gone my mom said "It's ok Irelyn. The coyote is sort of funny." Irelyn looked at my mom and said "Well, I don't think he is funny AT ALL."
Then she was pulling George's shirt today (which she is not allowed to do to anyone!) and I told her to stop and reminded her of the rule. She said to me "What do you mean. You didn't see that." She is already trying to out-smart me.

And husbands- well George managed to take the basket and filter thing out of the coffee maker, wash it, and then leave it in the sink while he made coffee anyways. Hmmm needless to say it didn't work out too well. Coffee started coming out the sides and bottom of the coffee maker and he stood there wondering what was going on. I guess he really needed that coffee...

Gotta love summer!

The garden fresh produce (home grown)

The fields at sunrise

The hot air balloon rides

The love! :)