Old Skool!

I've been going through stuff and organizing the garage. I came across a bucket that had a bunch of old toys from when Patrick and I were kids. Carly and Malia were loving it and I was like "Ok, don't touch that one and don't touch that one...you can have this one" as I slowly handed a few of these to them:



I remember when Cabbage Patch kids came out. I remember standing in line with my Aunt Patty at Toys R Us for hours and hours. The anticipation killed me as I waited for the employees to open up the door to the back room where many crazy women fought over a huge stock of these dolls. I think I have acquired the majority of the dolls that were purchased that day and sadly, they are in a box in my garage...most of them well played with but some with original Cabbage Patch kid diapers on. One year for Christmas, I walked out to the living room and saw a box wrapped in festive Christmas wrap and knew exactly what it was because of the shape of the box. I couldn't wait until my parents woke up so I could open it up and see what MY Cabbage Patch doll looked like. Here she is...



Can you see all the love I gave her all over her face?

I also found this thing:



I wonder if I could get any money for him? He's pretty thrashed though.

I found this too:



I have to laugh as I watch my 13 year old obsess with One Direction because I was once like her. I did throw this away. It was pretty thrashed.

I found some of Patrick's toys from when he was a kid too:





This teddy looked well loved too.

I've been having fun going through all these keepsakes. It brings me back to a much more simpler time, a time when toys was all that mattered. Now a days I have a new Cabbage Patch doll I get to play with...her name is Ella:

Airshow

I LOVE the Airshow!!! There is something about it that gives me chills. We try to go every year and it makes it even easier when we get free tickets from my sister! We didn't have a lot of time to spend there this time, but we were able to see some pretty cool planes and of course, the Thunderbirds!


We actually left right before the Thunderbirds started so we could avoid traffic, but we pulled off the road and watched them. The kids were loving it!

Volleyball & Soccer

Raya is once again getting her sport on with Soccer and Volleyball. She loves both and they both happen to be at the same time which is a little tricky for us but we are making it happen. There's not too much to really say about it, so how about some pictures?

Oh, The Places We Sleep...

Apparently we don't have use for Carly's bed anymore because she can fall asleep just about anywhere...

With Raya:



In her toy box:



And tonight's place of comfort, the doorway:



She has made it to that wonderful age where no matter how droopy her eyes are and no matter how long her fingers are in her mouth with her "nanny" (blanket) in hand, She IS...NOT...TIRED!!!

Perhaps I need to change her schedule or simply tie her to her bed so she won't keep getting out of it demanding that she doesn't want to go to sleep...because apparently she does...she just doesn't know it. AND if I can keep her in her bed, maybe we won't have a ton of mornings like this:



I'm just sayin'...

Future Olympic Star?

Carly has been doing gymnastics off and on for about a year now. They recently had their Summer Olympics. I got to see her perform on the floor and she also received a medal and got to stand on the podium.



We've been to a few different gyms around town and have found one that fits our needs well. I like the fact that the teachers actually teach gymnastics and not just play and stretch for an hour on my dime. Her teacher is really good. She is a good balance of teacher and coach which is great.



I recently found out that a friend of mine put her daughter in gymnastics at the same gym and has the same teacher as Carly (not the same class though). I guess there was a conversation between my friend and the teacher about Carly in which the teacher said that Carly was really good. SCORE! She really has a natural talent for gymnastics and even though there are days when she says she doesn't like it, I catch her practicing all the time. Her teacher told me that she is almost ready to go into the HIT program (High Intensity Training) but that Carly will have to be 5 before she can enter it. This is the class that prepares the gymnast for competition. Since she isn't quite 5 yet, it will give me some time to start saving up as the HIT program only costs $144 a month...I guess I should plant a few more money trees out in the backyard.

Malia recently started gymnastics too. She seems to be enjoying it. I was trying to get her into the cheer class but we ultimately decided to do regular gymnastics to start out with. I am going to be signing Ethan up for ParCor or Urban gymnastics. It's basically flips and other "stunts" off of random outdoor things like play structures, fences, stairs, buildings...etc. I must be crazy! Time will tell if gymnastics is the right sport for these kids. If so, let's hope my pocketbook can keep up...

Baby Genes

I have been going through boxes and boxes of old stuff trying to organize and get rid of items I don't need or want. Some of these boxes are filled with keepsakes and other various items that should be saved for posterity. As I was going through what seemed like an endless pit of memory lane makers, I came upon this:



I'm surprised that I actually had this. I think I snaked it from my aunt who gave me a box of pictures to scan when my grandma died a while ago. Anyway, this is my birth announcement. With 5 kids to keep track of, my mother could never tell me my birth weight. She always gave me a round about number but no exact weight. I was a tiny little thing...

I thought it would be fun to take pictures of the kids from the hospital when they were born and do a comparison with mine. I do have to say that Malia's picture was actually taken at 5 days old and not in the hospital. Apparently they don't or didn't do hospital pictures on Sundays when she was born...totally not fair!

So here are the pictures:

Raya:



Malia:



Ethan:



Carly:



I see a few similarities but nothing really dead on. If I were to choose which one is the closest, I think it would have to be Raya and that is probably because the pose of the hands are pretty much exact. I think the real comparison here should be the fact that back when I was born, the pictures were way better quality than they are now. I guess that film over digital wins out on this one.

Usually people outside of the family can see things that inside the family can't, so I am curious as to what you think? Am I missing something here? Do one of these aliens babies look like me or no?

Wardrobe Malfunction

I was listening to the radio this morning on my way back from dropping kids off at three different schools, I caught the end of a segment that two women were doing about wardrobe malfunctions. I was quickly reminded of a time where I had a major malfunction at probably the worst time of an adolescent life. I was in 8th grade...



The 8th graders took an end of the year field trip to Waterworld USA (now called Raging Waters). The water park had just recently opened its most awesome water ride ever. It was called the Cliffhanger. It was a 6 story straight drop that ended with so much water force up ones rear end that the people getting off the ride were pulling out what looked to be hurtful wedgies as they exited the ride. I.WAS.NERVOUS! I sat and watched person after person fall down this slide and tried to muster up the courage to take the plunge myself. As I climbed the stairs and waited in the line of a ride that would cause certain death, I kept thinking about the wedgie that was inevidably in my future and even worse - the wedgie that be so embarrassing with all my classmates around.

My turn came. I sat on the edge of this death slide and shook with fear. The countdown began, and before I knew it, I was pretty much being pushed down the slide. As I fell to my certain death, my stomach was still hanging out with the cute lifeguard at the top of the slide. The ride lasted mere seconds but seemed like a lifetime. And then...the wedgie...it happened. I never knew that spandex could hurt so much. Little did I know, that the wedgie would be the least of my problems.

As I sat at the bottom of the slide, I wiped the water from my eyes and then immediately grabbed the big chunk of swimsuit from my lower region and began to yank it out of what seemed like a never ending crevice. Finally, the swimsuit was free and there was only throbbing pain left. I got up and proudly walked off the slide. I had just experienced the Cliffhanger, I survived, and it was AWESOME.

I walked around looking for my friends. I was in 8th grade...I needed my friends. As I looked for them, I kept seeing faces staring at me. With all the staring, I just knew they thought I was amazing for I had just dropped 6 stories to my death and survived. The stares continued...I began to get self conscience. Finally, I couldn't take the staring anymore and looked down to see if there was something wrong. It was like a movie...slow motion and all. My eyes looked down and to my utter horror, I see my 8th grader breast just hanging out for the entire world, or rather, my entire 8th grade class to see, which at that time of my life, was basically the same thing. Again, in slow motion, my hand came down to cover the scene of the crime. And believe me, it was defintely a crime. I fumbled as fast as I could to find where the swimsuit had malfunctioned and after what seemed like a full length movie, I was able to put everything back in place. I did not look up to see faces laughing, I did not look up to see where my friends were, I did.not.look.up...

What just happened? What just happened? Oh my gosh! I finally found my friends and with complete embarrassment, I proceeded to tell them of my horrific experience. There was no consoling. There were no hugs or words of sympathy. There was just laughter coming from both their mouths and eventually, mine as well...

I will never forget that day...the day I survived the Cliffhanger, the day I flashed my schoolmates...and the day I knew that being a stripper was not in the cards for me.