Happy New Year!!!

George and D *almost* made it!

Sorry we've been MIA. It's been a pretty crazy end of 2009! But we're getting ready to put that behind us and move positively into 2010!!

Happy New Year to all!!

George Porge

Yep, he's still avoiding pics at all cost.



He straightens up a lil when his girlfriend is around tho. *only a little




And the goofball won't give me a good pic of him with his braces off. One of these days when he wants to take pics of his kids, they are going to be little monsters and not let him take them. JUST WATCH!!!!

I fibbed, a little

I just went back in my memory bank...hahaha

Actually, I went back in the blog and found pics of the last trip to Apple Hill. We didn't go AFTER the season ended, we went before peak season. I posted pics last October 13. So now we know when to go! It was so packed with people. One place was parking people in the orchards, so our car was between 2 apple trees.

I am pretty impressed that all my pics from this year are different from the ones last year :) ENJOY!

Apple Hill

We got to Apple Hill during peak season this year instead of when everything was closed!

Notice in the pic below that there is a lady taking a pic of us! Too funny. I'm going to have someone photoshop George Porge into this picture! He was hungover from Halloween and slept all day instead of joining us. *YES, I'm kidding about the hangover.




But I think the rest of us may have gotten hangovers from all the apple products we had during the day! The next pic is of an apple peeler, corer and slicer. He-man bought himself one of those on a smaller scale, and you should see these kids tear through the apples!!!!!



These last few are of the cider press. I can't even imagine how sticky that job's gotta be!!

Fall in California

We missed the red hair!

Did you know Strawberry Shortcake

Was a princess?



She didn't like her hat!





Her big brother was nice enough to carry her to the haunted house!

Did he grow into....

His Fred Flintstone feet?

You betcha!

Paging Dr. Korndog!

Somebody wanted to play doctor!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Red Shirt Fridays!

Red Shirt - Red Friday

If the red shirt thing is new to you, read below how it went for a man...

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together..

After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.

No, he responded.
Heading out I asked?

No. I'm escorting a soldier home.

Going to pick him up?

No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq , I'm taking him home to his family.

The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier's family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days.

I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you, Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.

Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign."

Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant salut ing the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.

So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do.

Red Fridays.

Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority." We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or overbearing.

Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday ... and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that ... Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women a far, will wear something red..

By word of mouth, press, & TV let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, coworkers, friends, and family, it will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is. "We need your support and your prayers." Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something red every Friday.

IF YOU AGREE -- THEN SEND THIS ON.

Bribery

It was bribery on both ends! I wanted her to stay completely off her leg since Friday morning when she went to physical therapy. She wanted her hair darker. I kept telling her I would see how good she did about staying off her feet and having ice on her leg. Well, obviously she did good!

She was so proud of it when she woke up and saw it dry this morning. She now wants it permanent. I think it's a good bribery tool. So no go on the permanent :)

*no, her sweatshirt isn't weird like that. I blocked out her school name.

Isn't Lake Tahoe Beautiful?

Enjoy this only pic of it because I didn't exactly get out of the car to take pics!
It was a little on the chilly side!



As you can see!



Suzi wanted to know if this was a blizzard :)



I really enjoyed it from the inside of the car!



I mean, isn't this gorgeous!



How do you like THIS firepit?! I want that for my back yard!



The kids (Suzi and Studmuffin) had to make a snowman! She was quite proud of it!



I stayed VERY clear of their snowball fight though! You know, I had to protect the camera :)



The above pic is looking away from the lake, and below is looking towards at the southern most tip.

We want to live with Jules!

All of these cats told me so!



Especially Chester above. He asked that I please request that she have Cheetos when he gets there tho!



The lion didn't even want to TALK to me unless he could have the window perch.


When I told him he would have to share it with Lilly, he seemed to perk up a bit!

Great America Competition

Last week started our competition season, and we were in San Jose at Great America. Poor girls have to get up early and go compete and ride rides ALLLLL day. Don't you feel sorry for them?




I'm beginning to think that none of my children look like me. Except for maybe the elusive one...a little. But even he is looking more like dad!

This competition they won first place in cheer and first in dance! Congratulations, girls!

Happy Autumn!

I get a splash of fall color here and there :)




No, our lives didn't come to a screeching halt. They got busier than I ever imagined possible. I have lots of catching up to do here, and have lots of things to add. I'll try to catch up this week!

AGAIN???

9/23/09

The others just hatched a couple days ago!

It's a sad day.....

My little baby girl.....my 11 and 3/4 year old daughter....my last little baby....

has had a major growth spurt. The last 1/2 an inch has now put her as tall as her mommy. sniff sniff.

Sad isn't it? I knew I should have stopped feeding her!

More eggs 9/13/09

These guys are worse than rabbits!!!

Photographic evidence

HE DOES know how to do homework!

It's cheer season again!

They don't have their uniforms yet. They had to cheer at a jamboree last weekend. It was 400 degrees out there, I swear!




Poor thing, I felt so sorry for her. I would have been wringing with sweat had I been in the sun! As it turned out, I was under a tent for the 4 hours we were there. I STILL went home sunburned! I don't get it!

My Nemos are at it again!

I figure if I put it here, I will know how many days until hatching! It's been taking between 7 and 10 days. They are bright orange on the first day. I read that means that our clowns are very healthy. Then they turn dark, and a day or two before they hatch, their eyes get silvery colored. It's really very interesting to watch. I think my female got injured last time trying to get the big fish away from her eggs. The tangs have a nasty little spike that they can hit with near their tail. I think she got spiked.

She stayed still in the anemone for a few days. She's looking better and is doing her thing again today. Never a dull moment in my tank :)

I know I should probably take a picture

Or a video...

Because you'll probably never believe me.

I just went and felt He-man's forehead to make sure he's feeling okay.

He's actually.....doing....his...homework!

He's a college man. He may even beat my GPA! I hope he does it. I know he can!

OMG! 18!

Didn't M make such a pretty cake? It's a good thing someone takes care of him :) We were just going to do a store bought cheesecake! We still might.

She slaved over that for hours! *movie humor there!



It took 2 pyromaniacs to light all those candles!!




Not to worry! He's full of hot air!

Happy birthday to my little baby boy!

M shortened his name from He-man to fit it on the cake! haha

Which leads me to remember, she needs a nickname for on here!

Isn't this cool?

I didn't know what was taking half circles off the leaves of my roses. I found out about these little west coast guys!

Latest fish tank video

Everything is growing like crazy still!

Know what this means?

It means, school starts tomorrow! Woooo hoooooo

I am going to have some very sleepy, grumpy kids in the morning. One has to be to school by 7 and the other by 8. They're still not up right now and it's almost 9. It's all good tho. I will have at least 7 or 8 hours of quiet tomorrow. Besides that, I like routine! All the housework gets done at night before everybody goes to bed, especially if they have something they want to do!