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Lots of pics are up! Don't forget to sign in to check them out. This will probably be my final post until we are in Texas so enjoy. Hubby takes off Saturday and the boys and I fly out on Monday. We'll probably have internet set up Tuesday or Wednesday. See you then!

In Honor of Allison

Her post reminded me of this story and instead of making a post on her comments I decided I'd post it here...

The best Halloween trick ever played on me was my son's godmother's son (got that :) ?) sitting out on a chair on his front porch with a friend of his sitting in front of him, both with super gaudy freaky masks on making them look like mannequins or puppets just laying there. While I knocked on the door, peeked in the windows, and looked around to the driveway to see if they were home they sat perfectly still. When I finally stood in front of the door for a bit pondering how to get a hold of them the 'mannequins' reached out towards me as his Dad stood behind the front door and set off the fog machine with its huge noise. My scream was heard around the neighborhood.



Happy Halloween!!!
The kids did these at SIG's house on Tuesday. She had a little pumpkin carving kit and we did lunch and then carved pumpkins all afternoon - her first time, and only my second. It was fun and such a wonderful memory. She also had little bags of candy for each of the kids, which are almost gone!!

Happy (Early) Anniversary

Hubby and I went on a date last night to the place where we had our first date six years ago. We had a babysitter for the kids and it was just a normal average night, albeit our last week in Caifornia, and he made it a surprise. Our fifth anniversary is coming up next month so it made it very special.

There are so many kid comments that have been made in this last week that I'm just going to list them in random order. I don't have the energy to embellish any more than that.

Big Guy says this last week, "If Daddy dies, I will die." When asked why, he says, "Because he's my Daddy." with a very sad look.

Upon being offered ice cream over going to Oma's (as Mommy and Daddy were very tired but had promised to go there that evening), Little Guy refused. If you haven't caught it, this is a BIG thing. Below Mommy and Daddy and apparently now Oma, NOTHING is better than ice cream. We ended up giving him the ice cream any way as that was too sweet to not.

Little Guy has been declaring the things he wants, needs, etc. with a "pronto!" at the end. Personally I prefer it to the otherwise ugly "RIGHT NOW!!!" (not used by him, but by other children in the past : ) .

Big Guy has been requesting to do things "one last time". He really realizes we are going to be away from all this very soon and it breaks my heart. On the other hand it heals it in the same beat because I know I am not going to have to deal with the realization of how far away we are once we get there. Little Guy, on the other hand, has no clue...

Fortunently Oma is planning to drive out with the Hubs and spend the first few days with us there. And my parents are coming out for Thanksgiving and LG's birthday.

That's it for now. I know there's more I just can't think of it. Favorites list for Santa Cruz coming soon...

ALSO spam is killing me!!! I had SEVENTY FIVE of them to moderate the other day. AND I get notified on every comment so that means a bajillion emails in my inbox that are just plain ANNOYING. If I can ever figure out how to only let registered users comment I'm going to. Or go private so I can just post pictures and be done with it. Any advice on how to do that is most appreciatively welcome.

Special Memories

The sore throat was a hoax and I'm hoping it stays that way. Well yes I did feel quite horrible for two days, but it didn't turn into anything worse and is only a slight tickle in the throat at this point. I am soooo glad because we ended up having a fabulous day on Saturday.

We went to San Francisco to see the Blue Angels fly! It took half an hour to get from the freeway to Pier 39 where everything was going on and half an hour more to find parking and miraculously we got free front row parking just a block away from the entrance to Pier 39. You have to understand that just does NOT happen in San Francisco on a day when half the world is there. It was such a blessing, especially with the kids. We walked to the end of the pier, enjoying the sights and sounds along the way, and looking for the crab bush. We came across the seahorse bush which I forgot to get the kids picture with only because I was still hoping to find the crab bush they so badly wanted to see.



We found out before we left that apparently they take the little guy down and put up a stage over his spot on days when a lot is going on. That day he had a band playing on his stage.

Any way we found our way to the end of the pier and made our way to Bubba Gump's for lunch. That little dancing shrimp? BG made sure to buy the biggest one they had available for $18 with his own money before we left. They seated us in the. perfect. viewing area for the Blue Angels show. We couldn't believe it! We told the waitress we'd be taking our sweet time (and made it well worth her while) and enjoyed appetizers, lunch, drinks, and dessert for a good two and a half hours all while watching the breathtaking show. The best part was the kids were occupied for the entire time because you can only take so much jet tricks at three and six. They had a blast though and we did too. Especially watching that poor crowd below us straining for the front spot at the fence along the edge of the pier. Hehe, okay that probably was not nice. Especially when a fire truck and ambulance with their lights going squeezed through to get by. That was the strangest thing.



Today we went up to Greyhound Rock and the boys prospected for gold and climbed huge rocks in the ocean with Daddy. Mommy stayed safely on dry ground. Then we check out the butterflies return to Natural Bridges State Park where they had Monarch Day going on. An eventful weekend and we got a lot done that we wanted to do before we go, or at least attempted to : ) and saw things we didn't even expect along the way!

PS My own images coming as soon as I get them uploaded.

*cough*

I'm not feeling well and sick of directing my kiddos. I don't want to move from my comfy spot on my laptop with my laptop propped up on my knees but my voice is hoarse with corralling kids, keeping them from beating each other up - even if only in play, or putting too huge of nicks in the wall, or systematically trimming every single plant in the backyard (a neighbor took care of that one for me, ha!). Besides being asked to play a million times including when my oldest set up the three person party outside complete with a half castle turret and a deck of cards for each person, I finally sent them to their room which oddly enough they have not been in all. day. long. And they're not in it now, fifteen minutes later.

*sigh* My throat is sore, my voice is tired, and the organic mint Trader Joe's tea I brewed seems to have only made it warmer and fuzzier. My body is wracked, not aching, thank God, but just TIRED. It's not that bad yet but I'm hoping it doesn't turn into anything worse. And I'm taking my herbs like a good girl. Colloidal silver, noni, echinecea, gargling hydrogen peroxide. Sore throats are my worst enemy, especially when they turn into STREP!! Heard that is going around in Texas and praying sincerely none of us will get it, here OR there or in between just for good measure.

My six year old just changed the light bulb in a lamp including finding the light bulbs in the box in the garage completely by himself, "Here's why that light wouldn't work. Oh and I saw a box that started with l and thought light starts with l and it does!". Maybe I should just hand over all the motherly duties to him. Wash? Sure he could do it. Pick up? Well after some reminders. Folding? I'll stick to that I can do it on my bed. Taking care of the little brother? He's been all day. Thank God for blessings in small doses.

Now my youngest is "Captain" the dog, and they are getting him some bread for his food after asking for meat first, of course.

The Wish of the Wash

Why is it that when you're getting ready to move and have a ton of things on your plate that it is so hard to get together with all those friends you so desperately want to say good-bye to one last time?

Ha. I just answered my own question.

Ton of things on my plate and they're still living their lives equals not a whole lot of flexibility.

Sigh. I wish I could be more flexible or not have so much on my own plate but that's just not reality. I'll only end up stressing myself and my family out. And right now the most important thing for us is to stay calm : ) . So here's sending out my prayer that I will be able to get together with those that mean the most to me and stay in touch with them.

It's strange because I REALLY made an effort to stay in touch with those back in Texas because one, they mean a lot to me, and two, I knew I was moving back and didn't want to lose contact or my level of closeness with them. I don't know how it's going to work staying in touch with those I have met here. I know I'm not going to be back for a long time, if at all except for vacations, and those are usually short and jam-packed.

What is the best way you've found to stay in touch with those long distance friends you know you may never live near again? An occasional phone call, an email? Usually I find email separates even further. It's just too easy not to email. And the phone is so much more personal. But maybe it's worked for some? Also I'm not too public about my blog, I just don't want famiy reading my personal ins and outs for various reasons, but has anybody found that sharing your blog (and maybe discovering they have one as well) is a good way to stay in touch?

Google Rocks (Still)

Has anybody checked out the new Google personalized page? Oh.my.gosh. I love it.

You can have ANYthing you want on it, drag and drop to however you want it arranged.

I've got the first nine most recent emails on there; the weather for Santa Cruz, Cedar Park, and Austin; links to my favorite web-sites (including blogs!); word of the day (todays word is: effulgence, the state of being bright and radiant. I love it!); and my five most recent Google searches, all with the best simple search engine right on top at my fingertips.

Ads? Most definently not. Simple? Most definently yes. I'm not sure if it's only available to those who have a gmail account, which I do, so if anybody finds out let me know. If you do I still have a ton of invites left so feel free to ask. So if you haven't come across it already GO CHECK IT OUT. It's the best thing, since, well, since a lot of things.

Breathe

The sobbing has stopped. For now. I spoke with my sister in Texas and she's always super encouraging. She just confirmed how hard it is when going through a change like this, and how even though you know it's what you need to do when it comes down to it and you really realize it's happening it's still really. hard.

We are enjoying our last few days here and getting in as many events as we can. The homeschooling support group that I've hooked BG up with has had some really neat events and field trips and I am trying to get him to as many of those as possible before we get to Texas and might not have those options. We went to the California International Airshow last night and saw the Showcopters, Robo the car eating robot, and the Wall of Fire. The boys loved it.

I have had to put my foot down as far as filling up my schedule too much and have been telling friends and family that I'd love to visit with one or two last times that I just need to be home and I am more than happy to have them come and visit, or even go to a nearby park. But going elsewhere just takes up too much of the day.

I've already packed quite a bit and am pretty much down to only the things we use. Now I just have to prioritize what we can do without for the next month and pack that.

Somehow I've managed to create a group for the homeschoolers in the town I'll be in and there's already 25 members. One of the ladies in there is really interested in doing a co-op and has already spawned off a second group specifically for that purpose, which is great. I just hope we can take it slow and not burn out. She has LOTS of information to give, all good, but still lots, and I hope it can be absorbed in time to make a solid foundation for the whole group. Already it has brought ladies together that have not had this kind of opportunity and I'm excited that I will be able to be a part of it once I get out there.

So things are coming along swimmingly, especially if you include the tears in that swimmingly : ) , but I think those are over for now. At least let's hope so.