Day at the Santa Ana Zoo

Very fun day at the zoo for Finn's 2nd birthday.  We saw some monkeys and an elephant statue, some lemurs and as Sarah says, "the biggest Hamster we've ever seen."  The kids had fun playing on the play ground after the 100 kids from the field trip cleared out.  

Ruby riding the fake turtle

Finn is King of the tunnel

These kids have so much fun together.

We ate some lunch and made our way home, the kids fell asleep in the car they were so tuckered out. 

Instinctual Mommy?

So as much as I have tried to resist only buying Ruby girly items I caved and bought Ruby many gender appropriate items at Ross including a tea/kitchen food set and a little stroller to go with her cabbage patch baby my dad got her for Christmas.  The stroller was a hit, she immediately started pushing her baby around the house.  I was pretty happy to see she liked it, at least it bought me some time to make dinner.  While preparing hamburger fixings I noticed how eerily quiet things were in the living room.  So I went out there to find Ruby force feeding her baby a cracker.  I tried to tell her that baby was "all done" and did the baby sign language for "all done" with her babies hands.  She understood and shoved the cracker into her own mouth, still leaving crumbs all over the Cabbage Patch baby's mouth.  I thought that was a really nice gesture especially because she actually did want the cracker but was willing to share with the baby, I guess that is what makes being a mom so rad... Seeing the progression and growth.

Ps- if you are wondering what that huge white thing is next to Ruby... it is our temporary A/C unit.  We own three wall units and two of the three are broken from improper storage (outside was not a good choice.) so this will have do do when it is 95 degrees outside and 86 inside.  YUCK

My Saturday

Paddles Update

So I have had two offers since I have posted my paddles on Craigslist, one from a guy that needed it ASAP by 9am the next morning and I got the message at 9:30am.  So I still have 8 paddles.  Oh and my other offer was from Ruth, so whenever you would like to pick it up I will have them waiting... I can even customize it for you.

Extra Giant Super Gigante Marshmallows:

My Saturday began with an awesome trip to Stater Bros.  (the low price leader)  I had Ruby with me and needed to get Milk and eggs and some Lasagna fixings.... and then it happened.  I saw the biggest marshmallows I have ever seen.  They practically jumped into my cart.  So I brought them home and Colt and Ben had a chubby bunny contest- two was the max for both of them. Ruby could only fit one bite into her mouth.

The not so secret Garden

So here is our garden update.  I have planted Roma tomatoes, Herbs, green onions, carrots, cucumbers, sweet corn, squash, zucchini and sunflowers behind the pots.  The watering system has some issues.  The hose that runs throughout the garden has pours and is supposed to saturate the soil... not working out so well.  So until we figure something else out I'll just water it everyday.  Ben is going to plant watermelon and pumpkins and cantaloupe in another area. He really wants to grow those huge human size pumpkins.  

I have really high expectation for this garden, I checked on it three times today (Sunday) to see if there has been any progress.  I can't wait to see some green poke up out of the ground besides the all ready green tomatoes I planted

Hanging out on the Trampoline

Ruby loves to hang out on the trampoline it is her sanctuary to get away from Gus.  She was hanging out with Colt and Ben.

Any one Need a paddle

So I am not sure if I ever mentioned this to anyone besides my family and Ben, at one point in my life I was going to be a successful business woman.  And I would make my millions by selling Paddles.  

What are Paddles?

Paddles are a big deal in the greek world.  Not Greek Culture, but greek as in Fraternities and Sororities.  You exchange these paddles after they have been decorated to your big sister or little sister or big/lil brother.  I just knew that if I could get someone to cut these bad boys out I could make a very large profit margin.  Well my dad was my business partner and found an extended relative (his brother's wife's step father or something) who cut out some samples (8).  

Success?

Well I lost the passion in paddles sales around the same time I lost the passion of being in a sorority and kind of dropped the ball (2003).  We packed them up and had them in storage somewhere.  I completely forgot about them until a couple weeks ago my dad brought 3 huge boxes of my stuff that had been in storage including my penny collection, my doll collection, hilarious journals from the age of 6 on up, and these paddles that just won't stop haunting me for giving up on my dream.  So here you have it one of my failed businesses, there are plenty more where this came from... so if you would like to buy one I am advertising on craigslist... haha... for reals.

Favorite Park Friend

Ruby likes to go to the park, however she loves to go with her friend Finn.  I try to make it to the park at least a couple times a week.  I do not have the energy to do all the climbing and crawling, and running, and throwing so it is nice for me too, when Finn is there to play.  She loves to go up and down any stairs she can find and go down the slides.  So when Finn is there she has a buddy to do these tasks with (did I mention Ruby is very task and project oriented).  They chase each other and squeal  (not my favorite) they swing and giggle at each other.  It is all fun and 

games until a big kid shows up, then Ruby gets the shaft.  finn loves a be a cool guy and play with the big kids, Ruby tries to keep up and pretends to know what is going on.  Like today Finn and two older kids (3 year old and 6 year old) were chasing a butterfly and Ruby just chased after them with her head down, no idea what the fuss was about.  

Park Pet Peeves

So I am sort of a seasoned park goer and I feel I get the hang of some unspoken normality's, so some things just really bug me.  One of which is pushy children paired with an unaware parent, this is a bad combination 

because it forces other parents to not only parent their own child but also this annoying child that wants your snacks and toys and drinks and to be pushed on the swing and to be helped down the slide... don't get me wrong I enjoy helping all children on the playground and sharing but I can't stand the pushy ones that are demanding and rude.  Another Pet Peeve are people that smoke on the play ground or swear like the homeless people that camp out by the playground every single day and they throw the f-bomb around and heckle people passing by, Oh man those people bug.  

Last pet peeve are awkward parents that like to chat but always seem to bring the mood down (Debbie Downer).  Making it to the park quite often I know some of the regulars and if any of these annoyances are there I turn around and head home or try another park... well all except the homeless people because they are sure to be there, to my displeasure.

This is Heather, my sister in law who pretty much Rules.

Why Heather Rules!

1. Cause it is her birthday tomorrow... April 24th

2. She provided these pictures to me
3.  She loves her Nieces and Nephews 

4.  Always willing to help out

5.  Super Stylish

6.  Pretty Dang Hot, am I right?

7.  Funny

8.  Very Considerate

The start of our Garden

Last spring I started a Garden.  The garden was in between my backyard and the guys house behind us in our easement.  Ben even put a sprinkler line back there that was on a timer and would would flow into an irrigation system.  I planted many crops including tomatoes, basil, lettuce, carrots, squash, etc.  It was a great idea, except I didn't realize how much work would go into it. With all the weeding, that I didn't do for a couple weeks and then got overwhelmed because there were so many weeds.  So my solution  was to shut off the water supply and not go back there any more.  It was pretty frustrating, kind of a sore subject.  But all is well because Ben and I decided to do a more mellow garden, in our backyard, with the same watering system (just rerouted), that I will weed everyday... Hopefully.

 

These pics are the beginning stages.  We weeded, tilled the soil, went to Home Depot, made the boxes, stained the boxes, and built a little fence to keep babies and Doggies out.  This was an all Saturday event.  Next Saturday we will plant and I will provide an updated picture

Old People Comments

You know the ones.  The comments that you chuckle at for the old person's sake but if it had been one of your peers you would have said, " ummm 1960 called they want their line back."  Well today without being able to prevent it I not only said but shouted... across the street an old folk quote at my neighbor who is 4 years younger than me.  He was running really fast with his dog up to his house and I wanted to say something witty, but not having the time to contemplate a good line I shouted,  "Hey Where's the Fire?!"  He smiled acknowledged me and kept on running probably thinking, "what a cheesy old folk line."  In fact I think I have heard that line on one or two westerns, " Where's the fire son?"

SUCCESS!

I stopped in at Trader Joes Today.  It sounds like I go there a lot but this is just a rare month for me... Or maybe I am driven there by my drive to succeed at driving home with a Trader Joes Balloon... Drive.  Anyways I did it and not without complications, without thinking I rolled down all the windows in the car to get a breeze and glanced in my rear view mirror just in time to see the balloon making a break for one of the windows, sneaky sneaky.

Everything I wished it would be and more.

The balloon entertained Ruby at AAA for 15 minutes and while driving all around town, she played with it at home for a couple minutes here and there and it was almost as glorious as I had pictures.  But lets be honest- balloons are kind of overrated really, oh well for free I am not complaining. p.s. notice the space invader~ Gus~ it was almost impossible to get a shot without him in it.

Germany Trip

Yah so I know it has been a month since I got back from Germany, but thought it would be fun to post some pictures. I went with my Mom and Dad to pick up my brother (3 years younger than me). We were gone 17 days, the longest I have ever been away from Ruby. I am so grateful to have amazing family to rely on to watch Ruby so that I could have this experience. Thank you family!

On the Ferry to see "The Lion King"

For some reason my mom thought it would be in English and for some other reason we believed her. The performance was amazing but I would have been more into it if
I Had been able to understand it. My poor dad he was the worst off of all of us because he has never even seen the movies, so he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Crazy European Soccer Games!

Another Highlight of our Trip was witnessing the excitement and adrenaline rush of a stadium full of loyal drunk shouting fans. My mom got us tickets to see one of the most extreme teams. St. Pauli. Not extreme because of the players but because of the fans. Take a raiders fan and times it by five. The opposing team had to be caged in so no fights would break out and some sections were standing only and the whole time they would sway together or jump up and down and chant- The whole time! We were with Florian- my parents foreign exchange kid and his sister. They kept us out of harms way.

Unsafe Playground Toys

I never realized just how safe our playground toys are until this trip. Cody and I had so much fun on the crazy spinning ones, We would spin each other really fast and then hop off and try to run in one direction, probably not the best idea, but sure was fun.

Clean Germany

In Hamburg there were several things I noticed: 1. The people are extremely helpful~ my brother says that if you ask a German for directions it is their weakness, they love to give directions. 2. They are recycle fanatics, I mean they separate metal from glass and glass from paper, and this is not just in the households this is at the public trash cans too... you separate at the bus stop trash can. 3. Very clean this movies is of my dad trying to use this public toilet that is self cleaning after you are done using it, we had no idea why we couldn't get in, until Cody read the instructions and it said it cleans itself and then proceeds to dry itself.  I am so happy my mom didn't get the first five minutes of me and my dad trying to pry the doors open.  Stupid Americans.

 

Return Home at Last

This trip was so amazing, we really got a taste for the culture by staying with a few families and eating with many families. All the stereotypes I believed prior to this trip are completely gone. Germans are not Cold and Hard people. They are loving, very hospitable, and helpful. The food was really good and I don't blame cody for going on a month long meat fast (SO MUCH MEAT) great hot dogs though.

I was so happy to see my man (German for Husband) and baby. Ruby was kind of confused to see me, She was very clingy and nervous about me leaving her sight for a week, but thankfully she is back to her old self.

Round Two Balloon 2 Me 0

Another Trip to Trader Joes gave me one more opportunity to full fill my plan of all day balloon entertainment for Ruby. We walk out of Trader Joes with a fun Red balloon tied around Ruby's wrist and I pull out of Trader Joes and literally Pull right into the Home Depot parking lot. I got Ruby out of the car and left the balloon in the car, explaining to Ruby, "Say Bye Bye to Balloon we will see it when we get back, bye bye" So we would not loose it... I push it to the furthest point away from her, by the passenger seat. So anyway we picked up 8 ten foot pvc pipe for mutual activity tonight, which was human foose ball, and while I was loading these massive pipes into my car, I open the passenger door and start finagling with the pipes, then put Ruby in and ask her, "You want your balloon?" NOPE to bad! Momma just let it fly out the side door. ARRRGH I was so pissed. One of these days I will get the balloon all the way home and it WILL be amazing.

To have a Dog or not to have a Dog- It's not really a Question

I finally get the frustration of lazy blogging friends~ because that was once me. I have since repented and changed my ways. I vow to blog more often and try to be creative, and understanding of my fellow lazy bloggers that have not seen the light.



I pretty much just took this picture so that I could post something. It is of Ruby holding a flower that we bought at Trader Joes. I would have had her holding the balloon the checker gave to her... but It flew out the sun roof pulling into our street and of course my neighbor saw it happened and was waving at me, trying to let me know, but I just thought, " Wow some times I really like my neighbors, they are so friendly" DANG I was going to use that balloon the whole day to entertain Ruby. So you are stuck with a flower pic.



This is Gus my Dog, that I secretly resent. I don't like the poop in the yard that Ruby gets curious about. I don't like the slobber, how he barks at parents walking by with their small children, I don't like how intrusive he is ( He is such a space invader), and I don't like how stinky he gets. Gus also causes me a lot of guilt. Guilt that I resent him, guilt that I never walk him, and guilt that I wish we didn't have him. He has come in handy several times this year. When Ruby gets super entertained by him it is worth it, and one time when I came home late and the front door was cracked open, so I sent Gus in first to flush out any intruders. This is my Gus confession

French Braids

So I found the successful formula for Ruby's French Braid Formula, it involves Yo Gabba Gabba, preparation (tie ribbon on rubber band first, have water squirt bottle and comb handy) and lastly provide snack.

Getting in to the Blogging swing of things

I have not figured out how to post pictures but when I do I will add one, this is a trial to my IQ, if I succeed I will know that I did earn my college degree, how ever if I fail, which is a possibility- since spell check has corrected half of these words- I will never mention college degree again... for two months.