The Bribe

I don't know how many of you parents have experienced this phenomenon when you have a child who loves and article of clothing and it it is worn no matter what.

Natalie has been wearing these brown boots since I think Kindergarten (apparently, my kids have my feet that don't grow very fast). She wears them with pants, skirts and (my personal favorite) shorts. She wears them when it's cold and when it's hot. She wears them for hiking, running and you name it. With the exception of church, she wears these things everywhere. I have grown quite tired of these boots. She has an entire basket of shoes (if you know me, you will find this entirely plausible) that she never wears.

Well, they were beginning to look pretty ratty and I have been searching for an acceptable replacement. I have no problem letting her wear boots in the summer, but they need to be presentable. Unfortunately, now is not the time to be looking for boots, unless you want rubber ones for the rain.

So despite my requests, Natalie has continued to wear these horrible boots ...until today!! When we were shopping for new shoes for Easter a couple of weeks ago, she happened upon these cute red sneakers that she really wanted. I told her no at the time because I was focused on the task at hand. However, yesterday I had the brilliant idea of bribing her. I would buy her those red shoes, but in exchange, she would have to give me the boots. I wasn't sure that she would go for it, but sure enough, she loved the idea. I thought about ceremoniously burning them, but I'll just be happy to huck them in the trash.

Here are the new shoes (she loved posing for the pciture). Don't you think every girl should have at least one pair of red shoes? :)

Easter and More

It's been over a month since I've posted to this thing. Honestly, I have been so busy that I hadn't realized how much time had gone by. The last few days have been a bit relaxed for a change, so I apologize for the lengthy post, but for me it's now or never with my blogging.

Last weekend we went to the annual Easter event at the Reagan Library. We've been taking the girls every year for the past several and it's one of our favorite traditions. There are lots of games and crafts for the kids and they had a good time. However, I noticed that they weren't as into it this year as the have been in the past. Sadly, I think they may be growing up, but they still were happy to go.

Thursday, my sister-in-law came down and brought my cute nieces to spend Easter with us. That evening we had a girls night and went to see Mamma Mia. Since my best friend Tarja's birthday is later this month, I decided to surprise her with and early b-day gift. We had a great dinner at Miceli's in Hollywood. It's a great old Italian restaurant with live piano music and the waiters get up and sing. It was fun being serenaded while we laughed, dined and had a great time. Then it was up to the street to see the play. Of course the play (at my favorite theater) was awesome. Who wouldn't love the fun music of ABBA? (Especially when Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan were NOT singing)!

The next day I was off to the desert to spend Easter with my family. Saturday, we went to a small children's museum in Redlands. Cara and Natie seem to be the perfect age for this type of thing. They have both been learning about different animals in school, so the stuffed (and live) animals were fascinating to them.

Later that evening, they colored Easter eggs with their cousins.

Easter Sunday was a great day. Of course the Easter bunny stopped by. I think the twirling ribbons he left were a big hit--and I've only been snapped in the eye a couple of times :0)

They hunted the eggs they had colored and later in the afternoon, they went on an egg hunt in Grandma & Grandpa Moody's yard. It involved baskets full of plastic candy filled eggs all over 5 acres of desert so you can imagine the amount of candy they hauled away from this. Since Jeff has a new job, he doesn't have any time off yet, so it was back home for him on Sunday evening, but not before spending some quality time with our families.

Monday was more relaxed as we just found small things to do with the kids here by Grandma's.




It has been so nice to just get away for a few days to get away from the stress about all the things I need to get done at home. Tomorrow will be back to work for me, but I have really enjoyed the break and I'm ready to go back to the real world. Hopefully it won't be quite so windy there!

Treasure Hunting

So far I've had an ideal weekend. Friday night I went out with a couple of girlfriends. We had a great time, though Jeff is still baffled as to how it's possible to spend 4 hours talking...silly man.

Saturday morning I actually slept in, then went for a nice run while Natie was at her riding lesson. I barely remembered that I had a baby shower to attend, but I finally made it after racing to Babies R Us to grab a gift. After having more girlfriend time at the shower, I came home and we took the Cara and Natie on a Treasure hunt.

They had their first geo caching experience last weekend with their Uncles, Grandpa and Aunt. If you are unfamiliar with this, geo caching is where you have a GPS and you plug in coordinates (you find these online) and you are led to a small box or tube that is hidden. They are apparently all over the place and inside these boxes, are little trinkets that other people have left. So you can choose from the treasure box and you leave a small something in place of what you remove.

Since last weekend, the girls have been really excited to go again, so off we went. It was actually a perfect day for it. The hills are green from all the recent rain and it was clear and beautiful. We found one of the three we went looking for. Next time, our navigator should remember to print out the hints, or at least read them :) But it was a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon-a real treasure hunt with a good hike included.

On our way

hunting in the bushes..

What's inside? Natalie's treasure

...and mine :)

Then it was home to get ready for a much needed date night with Jeff. We had a yummy dinner and he sat through the biggest chick flick, Twilight.

Though I didn't pick anything out of the box, this whole weekend has been a treasure for me. It was perfectly busy in a good way. Now it's time for my Sunday nap.

Gainfully Employed

I just thought since my last post was so pathetic, I should update with the good news. Jeff spent the last few weeks going to several interviews.

He actually had two great offers to choose from, as well as a few other places where he was in the process of interviewing that wanted to continue with him. But on Tuesday he accepted an offer with a company in Valencia. They write software for attorneys. He thinks he will be happy there and I do as well. They have very low turnover, offer great benefits, and from what Jeff can tell, they have a nice working environment. He will start either this Monday or next, depending on how quickly they can complete his background check--gee, I hope he passes :)

So we're relieved that he won't be unemployed at all. The way things have turned out, he will have his last day with El Camino on Friday and start his new job on Monday. It's all better than we could even ask for and we're so grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers for us :)

The only tiniest down side of all this is that I no longer get to dress Jeff for the interviews. He never bothers with what I want him to wear, so I've had a bit of fun picking out nice things these past couple of weeks. The new job, he can wear whatever he wants, so I suspect I'll get even less of my way :( Oh well, it's a small price, and I'll gladly pay it. Congratulations Jeff !

What is Wrong With Them?

I love mornings when the girls come in our bed and snuggle before they start bugging us for something to eat. This morning was no different and the question inevitably came, "What's for breakfast?" I like to make Valentine's Day special for the kids, so I usually make them something fun like heart shaped muffins or something to start the day off right.

Since V-day is what the girls refer to as a "candy holiday," I thought what the heck. I told them that we were having pie. Yup, I told my kids they could have pie for breakfast (mother of the year, I know). I had every intention of letting them have some of of the Chocolate Satin pie in the fridge. Why not? I never let them eat stuff like that in the morning...But all three of them made the same shocking comment, "Gross!"

What the crap?!!!?? None of them wanted pie for breakfast? I was beyond shocked. I could understand Jeff not wanting pie, but what kind of kid turns down pie for breakfast? Crazy...

When it Rains..

This isn't a pity party post, just an observation. Have you ever noticed that things all go to crap at the same time?

Sparing all the details, the company that Jeff has been employed by for the last 14 years is shutting down. We got the news last week, though we have no idea how long it will take to get everything squared away, we're thinking within the month though. I'm fine (now), past freaking out, and feel fine that he's going to find a job soon (he's at his third interview this week, and who wouldn't want to hire such a smart geek).

But on Tuesday I came home and my garage door won't open. Fine. It's annoying, but not that old so I'm sure it's under warranty. Then yesterday, I'm deciding what to fix for dinner. I walk out to the freezer in the garage. When I open the door I am greeted by a wind of warm air that stinks beyond gross. I quickly close the door and figure out that sometime (recently I can assume) the freezer decided to break. Again, not that old, but clearly broken. This latest is not the end of the world either but I'm irritated that the meat I had stored is all rancid.

Add these little annoyances with my broken camera, which, by the way, Jeff had ordered a new LCD for it and when it arrived it was broken. What is going on here? I thought things happened in three's. Well we've met our quota and I'm ready for stuff to stop breaking.

Not good!

I love my camera. It's small enough to carry in my purse. I use it all the time for work so it comes in handy to just keep it with me.

So Friday night we were enjoying a "Family Fun Night" and I had taken a couple of pictures. I put the camera back in my purse and later went to retrieve it. This is what I saw when I turned on the camera:

Crap! So amidst the fun, it looks like my camera took a blow and this is the result. Kind of artistic isn't it though?