Goodbye Tension, Hello Pension….

From before I can remember my dad has worked swing shifts for Arco / BP.  There were weeks I barely saw my dad as he would switch back and forth from working days, then nights, trying to squeeze in some sleep in between!!  Well, 38 years later he is saying goodbye to this stage of life and entering a new one of regular sleep patterns and maybe even less stress.

Brian and I were more than happy to offer our home to do a little celebration!!  It was a fabulous night and was made more special by a surprise visit by his sisters and brother in law!!

We were even fortunate to have Colleen, an amazing Chef, come and cater it for us.  Great friends, great food and a great night to celebrate my dad!!

Of course the food!!

Was such a fun party…. here’s the after party!!

Think it’s a little appropriate that it’s blurry… we were tired from all the fun!!

Couldn’t have thrown a party big enough to show all the gratitude we have for my dad for providing more than enough for our family and allowing my mom to stay at home and raise us.  Thanks Dad!!  We are grateful for all you have done and are excited we now get to spend all / most holidays with you!!  LOVE YOU DAD!!!

Still trying to Hold Onto Water

Time just keeps slipping through my fingers and as much as I try to hold onto memories or moments they are fleeting.  This pregnancy is no exception.  It’s number 4 but it might as well be my first.  The weird aches, heart burn, waddling, weight gain, all these symptoms are just as annoying!!  But I’ll forget all those parts and yearn again for the kicks, punches, and wiggles from within.  The times when my hand meets my baby’s hands only separated by a few layers of flesh can’t be minimized.  Each time it makes me fall deeper in love with a person I’ve never met but I’m closer too than any other person on this planet.

Even though this is our last pregnancy it is still hard for me to answer this is our final baby when people ask.  I usually reply, ‘most likely’ when I know Brian will be sitting on a bag of ice in 6 months or so.  4 kids is great, nice even number, I’m still young and by the time I’m 50 all my kids will be at least 18 but deep down I know I will never feel done having kids.  Why would I ever want to stop experiencing life within me??  The miracle of knowing God is knitting a life in my womb.  I want to continue to hold my baby shortly after birth and feel a multiplying of love that can only be Divine.  Again and again and again, it would never get old.

But this is it…. fourth and final.  I’m sad 7+ months are already over but so excited to meet our new son or daughter.  God has been so good and I at least know that God is more than capable to overcome any birth control if it’s His will to continue to multiply our family.

 

A day with Sheila

So excited that Sheila was able to come to HB to see us while she was in CA for a few days.  Always know we will have a good time and that it will not be long enough!

Took the kids to the beach for an hour and it was so fabulous… forget that I can go for a few minutes and don’t have to pack up the entire house for a long day.  Need to take our Disneyland attitude when it comes to the beach too… 15 minutes or 5 hours, as long as we had fun it is a success!!

We can always count on Sheila to bring us a treasure.  This time it came from her mom who found a picture in a craft magazine from 1986 that has a picture of a child model that oddly looks like Paige.  It’s a little creepy to glance at it and see Paige but if you look closer you can tell it’s not her.

My Paige

Paige from 1986

Miss Sheila so much and think about her often.  Will treasure each time she visits and always keep an eye open for any editing jobs here in Southern California!

Soccer continues….

So Soccer has been new for our family this year and we are so lucky to be on a wonderful team of parents and kids.  We are especially fortunate to have Brian coaching the girls for their first year and a wonderful assistant coach who makes sure all practices and games are well documented with pictures!!

Our games haven’t been the best as scoring goes, our girls aren’t very aggressive, but they are having a great time.  Even when we lose Layla will ask if we tied and we just encourage her that having fun and learning about the game is what is important.

Layla seems to like the practices more than the games for some reason!!  Who knows???

We are also fortunate that the neighbor girls play in our league and watching their games and possibly our future with Layla and Paige has been so much fun!!

Hoping that our scoring ability goes up but just mostly that the girls continue to have a good time and learn some new skills!!

The school year begins!!

This year there had been a lot of changes.  Paige is spending her last year at Pierside Preschool but Layla has moved up to Newland elementary as a big Kindergartener!!  Despite some hesitation about whether to do private, public or home we decided to give our neighborhood school a chance.  She took to it like a fish to water and has met new friends daily!!

Was a little hard to see my little girl walk herself to school calm and confident!!  I am truly enjoying that we can walk to school!!

Paige did great and loved meeting her new teacher.  She has friends in her class and tells me all the friends she gets to play with on the playground.  Pierside has been such a great school and really enforces our family values.

Seeing the growth in the girls and seeing their maturity has really thrown my priorities off  in a good way and even more than before  I am feeling their youth slip thru my fingers like water.  Reminding me to relax a little more and stress a little less when things don’t go just as planned.  Days are passing fast and even the little things that annoy me now I know I will want back it in 10 short years.  Glad for this little dose of perspective.

Pink Lightning….

For the first time both girls joined AYSO soccer and we couldn’t have been placed on a better team.  Great kids, wonderful parents, and  a very handsome coach (Brian).  Many more pictures to come when games start next week!!

You have to admit our banner is pretty awesome!!

 

Carlsbad was so good!!

Think our most successfully relaxing vacation had to be our trip to Carlsbad this summer.  Tried something new and bid on a timeshare to rent for a week and having a friend that works at the Four Seasons Aviara Residence Club I went for that!  It was such an easy process and of course The Four Seasons did not disappoint.

We arrived a little later than planned on Friday but when we were brought to our room there was so much waiting for us.  The kids each had a large plate of brownies, covered with gummy bears and sprinkles and a note that said chilled milk was waiting for them in the fridge.  For Brian and I there was a chilled bottle of wine and a plate of fresh fruit.  The amenities just went on and on.   The child size robes were also a big hit.

For the next week we swam, cooked in our kitchen, relaxed and relaxed some more.

We were super excited when the Ireland family was able to come for the day and partake in the fun.

Hoping if we do this again next year they will join us for more than a day.

We also had Gramma and Boppa bring Gracie and Livy down for an afternoon and evening which just added to fun of the week. Wish Belinda and Aaron could have joined us too!

In addition to the guests, the hotel had a magic show, smores, a day camp of games and activities along with many pools some with pop jets, jacuzzi’s and toys.  Not to mention that every afternoon the pool staff would bring out snacks for everyone.  If I have any say in the matter, which I do, we will be vacationing there every year.  An easy 45 minute drive to a place we felt a million miles away.  In fact we only left the hotel to get groceries and the last night treat ourselves to a little Golden Spoon.  Maybe next year we’ll even take a day to go the Legoland but the heated pool and pool side service will be hard to leave.