Wienie Dog Races

We went to the Wienerschnitzel Wienie Races today at Los Alamitos Race Track. This is one of the best events I have spent my inheritance on....it only cost $3! The kids were free! Wow! What a deal! There were wienie dogs galore here. Long haired, short haired, red, black, black and white...that one looked like a cow! Anyhow, the dogs were set up to race all evening long about every 6 to 10 minutes. There were even a couple of horse races in between the dog races. The dogs were put into the chutes and the gates lifted.

You could feel the excitement in the air as the dogs zoomed out of the chutes. Okay, there were quite a few that were dazed and confused and just did not know what the heck they were doing and what was that smell? Is that horse poop? Why am I out here in dirt up to my arm pits? Don't they love me any more? For the most part half of each set would make it to the finish line. Some stayed back with their owners and others just wandered around sniffing. One poor little guy got going so fast that he did a nose-plant and almost flipped over. Ouch!

I suppose besides the fact that this was just so much fun to watch and probably partcipate in with the family dog there was a cool Winner's Package awaiting the "top dog". The package consisted of this super cool dog house with the Wienerschnitzel logo, a $1000 purse and the title "Fastest Dog in the West". Annette, the boys and I had a wonderful time and hope to be able to do this again in the future.

My Nemesis

One of my all time favorite cartoons is Phineas and Ferb by the Disney Channel. It's about two brothers that only have 104 days of summer vacation and want to utilize that time and make the most of it by creating crazy outlandish things like roller coasters, haunted houses, robotic tree houses, etc. It really reminds me of my childhood.




These brothers have a sister, named Candace, that is always trying to bust them and get their mom home in time to see what they have created and built. They also have a pet platypus, named Perry, that is a secret agent unbeknownst to the family. When the boys start getting creative, Perry always disappears causing the boys to ask, "Hey! Where's Perry?"

Well Perry always has some secret door that he disappears into to get to Headquarters where Major Monogram gives him the scoop of the day about the evil Dr. Doofenschmirtz. Agent P's assignments consist of checking out Doofenschmirtz's latest evil plan and foil it. As Perry and Doofenschmirtz battle it out, the boys continue in their construction of fun and excitement to Candace's dismay. As she tries to get her mom home, whatever gizmo that the evil Doofenschmirtz has built always obliterates the boy's creation of the day and they never get caught.

This is the evil Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz in the episode that he found out that he had a nemesis, Secret Agent P. He was so excited to have been found worthy of having a nemesis! This brings me to the point of this long drawn out story. I have just found out that I have a nemesis. I'm not too sure if I'm ecstatic about it like Doof was but it's flattering in a weird psycho way. My nemesis has found my blog and apparently liked it so much that he has plagiarized my writings and passed them off as his own! Wow! Who would have thought that my creative writing would be passed off by someone with a much higher education than myself. I guess I should be flattered but it is quite sad. Very sad actually. The best thing about Phineas and Ferb? Doof is always put to shame and his evil plans foiled.

Theater Day Camp

Maxwell wanted in on the fun so I decided to put him in Christian Arts & Theater Camp or CAT Camp. He is my little thespian in the making. This camp was geared for 5 to 7 year olds to introduce them to theater...acting, singing, dancing and doing crafts and water sports. Maxwell had a blast. Each day he was to dress up differently. One day he was to dress as his favorite book character. The suggestions were...Pollyanna, Huck Finn, etc. Well we aren't quite there with those types of books so we picked Darth Vader, which if you have a little boy you have read picture books on Star Wars. So off he went as a complete Darth Vader. When I went to pick him up...I was a little surprised to find him looking like this. My galactic warrior had transformed himself into a tiger! Wow! What a shock. I almost didn't recognize him.

On the last day of camp he was to dress up as his favorite cartoon or tv character. He chose to go as Ferb from Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb. So off we went to the halloween store to buy bright green hairspray. Thankfully we had the other items to pull this costume off. It would have been nice to know that all this last minute creativity was on the schedule. But then that would have made it less fun and less creative I guess.

Cub Scout Day Camp

This motley crew is Den 11 - the Firecrackers. Isaac (holding the flag)got the opportunity to attend Summer Day Camp with Alex's pack at Irvine Regional Park. The facility is really nice and is still being built. There are numerous building and lots of area to run and play. We were unable to attend Day Camp or Camp Wiley Resident Camp with our pack due to us scattering Jeff's ashes during the weeks that the camp were offered.

Thankfully Michelle volunteered John to shuttle the boys back and forth to camp daily and allowed Isaac to stay the week with them. John and the boys went up the following week to Camp Wiley so that they could have fun there as well. What a brother-in-law! I owe John big time for this! And to top it off...Pack 51 scholarshipped us for half of one camp and entirely for the other. We were truly blessed!Here Alex and Isaac are making bear masks. This was just one of the 2 dozen achievements that they accomplished at camp. Isaac brought home a catapult, a rain stick, and a tool box...all hand-made by him. Takes after his daddy and grandpas.

Licensed to Learn

This summer we decided it was time to get Maxwell a library card. Watch out world! He's now licensed to learn. We love going to the library! There are so many stories, games, and puzzles that you can get there. Maxwell was so proud that he was able to sign his name by himself on the card. We usually go and get the 25 book limit for the boys. I know that seems like a lot of books to some of you but believe me...we go through them in a week when we are in school and have to log them all for the homework packet. I never thought I'd be reading that many books in a week! I am seriously going to have to get a new rolling backpack to lug out all those books. They weigh a ton!





Here's the other reason we like going to the library. There are always fun things to see and play with. Max said that he was getting hungry after he saw this huge hamburger. Needless to say we went to Wienerschnitzel on the way home.

Happy 4th of July!

Today our day started off with walking in the annual City of Corona 4th of July Parade. We have participated in this parade for a couple years now. I was fortunate enough to be able to miss the long staging periods in past years because Jeff would do it with Isaac while Max and I would wait for them at the end of the route. This year I was not so lucky. I seriously think they need to pick a shadier street for the staging area. It was way too hot for 9 am.

Our pack has 3 soapbox cars for the scouts to ride in. Here's Isaac in the Eagle 1 with his friend, Tyler pushing...or rather making sure Isaac doesn't lose control and take out any spectators. Brakes are not included on these so accidents can happen. One of the dad's offered to provide a kit for us to make a car...all we have to do assemble it. That actually sounds like a lot of fun! Then we'll be able to give the scouts more turns at riding in the parade.

Charlotte and Max hopped in to walk the couple of blocks with us. Max was so happy about this...being part of the action is what he really likes. He looks up to Isaac so much and doesn't want to miss a thing. We were fortunate enough to have friends along the route spray us with super soakers. Never thought I'd be happy about that but it sure felt good! After the parade, Annette joined us in seeing the new Transformers movie. Loved it! The computer animations/graphics are amazing!

We finished off our day with a family gathering at Pinki's. I took a little siesta while the kids had an all out water war including climbing on the roof of the house with a hose! Okay, not my kids but the big teenage kids thankfully. It is amazing how well they all get along with each other seeing how the age gap is up to 16 years. We're blessed with such a wonderful family. Here's the boys hanging out with Aireylle and Bree.

Aunt Doni and Uncle Randy were able to make it as well. They had just finished up their fire watch duty at Mt. Wilson. It sounds like an interesting job just looking out at the wilderness keeping an eye out for fires. They always have such fun stories about people they meet out there hiking through.

All in all we had a great time and enjoyed not only our fireworks shown here but the neighbors as well. Lots of illegal ones shooting up in the sky but still pretty to look at.

Skate Park Play Date

After months of bugging me, I finally agreed to set aside a day for the boys to go to the skate park across from church. So off to buy helmets and send out the evites to all the mommies I know. I didn't want to be alone at the park if something went drastically wrong and I'd have to do a hospital run. Moral support was a must! My nephew, Alex, happened to call the other day to see if the boys were available to play. They weren't that day but told him I'd be happy to have him spend the night and go to the skate park with us today. I'm sure Michelle and John will love me for this now that he has had a taste of new fun and adventure.

At 10 o'clock we took over the skate park and the teens that were there decided it was a good time for them to run home and get something to eat. Thankfully they did...the little ones were dangerous moving obstacles in the skate pit. We had roller blades, scooters, skateboards and kids just climbing around. It was close to chaos! Max actually was able to stay on his scooter in this shot. I thought he was going to fall off.

I never really knew how deep a skate pit was until I saw it today. As you can see...it looks pretty much impossible to get out of without a lot of speed and talent. I have now opened up a whole new world to the boys. They want to go back soon...like NOW! Wonderful. I told them they have to wait until their MediCal cards come in so I don't have to hassle proving insurance.

What Happens In Vegas...

really does stay in Vegas...especially the money you bring. Nothing like a short super hot road trip to Vegas. I'm not sure if we could have picked a hotter day to go. As usual we try to guess the temperature in Baker. Isaac was the winner at 109. I've been there when its been hotter but anything over 100 all feels the same to me. Anyhow, we decided to stop at the Alien Fresh Jerky store and saw these guys. I might have hitched a ride with them but they already had baby aliens in the back seat. At least they were buckled up for safety in car seats! Isaac and Max thought this was the greatest. Nothing like something weird to put a smile on your face. Annette decided to buy some of the jerky. I wasn't too sure about it....was it mutilated cows? or was it alien? or was it human? Kind of iffy if you ask me. She said it was the best she ever had. I have to agree with her now...on the way back I bought some Sweet and Spicy. Yum! If you're ever in Baker stop in and buy some.

Well we had talked about going to Vegas in August...yes, that's when it's usually hotter...but Annette wanted to get away for the weekend to celebrate the settling of our mom's estate, being able to pay off our debt and close a chapter in our lives. Nothing like losing money to get my life back into perspective! We stopped at Buffalo Bill's to have lunch and to take the kids on the log ride. I actally liked the ride until we had ice cold water shot at us by a rattlesnake! Max was not too happy about that. He's lucky...I got squirted by the black bear as well.

Max drew Auntie Nette a picture while we were there. I'm not too sure exactly what its suppose to be about but it sure looks like her reaction to Charlotte winning a lot of money on the machine that Annette just got up from! Too funny!

My friend, Janee and her daughter, Hope, joined us for the trip. They were able to go to Hoover Dam to sightsee and then to drive The Strip. Hope had never been there so she was excited to see it. The three kids were night owls....they stayed up til 2 or 3 am watching tv. Nothing like summer vacation to break all the rules.

Tent Camping 101

Let's just start with I haven't tent camped in over 6 years. Man! I forgot how much stuff you actually have to pack when you tent camp. My little Pathfinder was packed to the gills and even some on top! My friend, Janee, and her two kids joined us for a fun weekend. We decided to go to Table Mountain up in Wrightwood by Mountain High Ski Resort. It's a nice campground with some really nice spots that overlook the Palmdale lights at night. We went there for the annual yard sales on Memorial Day weekend. Lots of really good bargains. Unfortunately with all the gear packed into my car I couldn't buy too many big items. Bummer. Looking back I should have bought the storage platform that attaches to the hitch on my car. Now that would have given me more space for hauling yard sales finds or allow me to tie a misbehaving kid on to.

This little guy next to our tent is our infamous camping gnome. He keeps a watchful eye on things while we leave camp. Watch out! He'll get you if you mess with our site! Jeff bought us a new tent and air mattress last year when he went on the First Annual Mathmen Campout. Wow! It sleeps 7 and is easy to put up. The mattress rolls up into its own little pouch. Yay! Life is good.

Trailer camping is a lot easier but tent camping has its own charm. Well another new thing for me is actually cooking. I never really realized all that Jeff did for us. I do now! I was pooped out just from all the food prep, cooking and dishes we had to do.

I decided to buy a dutch oven and had to buy a Dutch Oven for Dummies book to learn how to prep these cornish game hens and get them cooked. I later made a peach cobbler that was to die for! My kids and I don't really eat chicken but Maxwell ended up eating a whole one! Wow! He said they were fantastic. Thanks Max! After dealing with all the cooking and taking over the whole picnic table I went shopping online at Cabela's and bought us a deluxe camp kitchen. I cannot wait to use it! I feel like Tim Allen in Home Improvement with the Binford model. Hoo hoo hoo!

Our evenings were spent around the campfire and one of the desserts we made were banana boats. Yum! Just cut a banana up the belly and stuff it with mini marshmellows and chocolate chips. Wrap in foil and heat over the coals. Isaac doesn't partcularly like bananas but he does love chocolate! He ate two boats that night.

All in all the trip was great and we're looking forward to doing more this year with other friends and family.

Scout-O-Rama 2009

Oh the joy of scouting! I wished our council did this fantastic event. We joined up with Michelle, John, and Alex for Orange County's Scout-O-Rama. It was at a much better location this year...Irvine Lake. Lots of shade and less chance of heat stroke! Our day started off with a little canoeing. Alex and Isaac hopped on in for a quick little paddle around the small man-made lake. This was Isaac's first attempt at paddling. Thankfully there were experienced Boy Scouts to navigate and control the canoe. They probably would have ended up in the middle of the lake and never get back to the dock. The Orange County Register had one of their photographers there and actually posted photos of Alex and Isaac in the online paper. Pretty cool!

Here's Isaac climbing to the top of the rock climbing wall. He made it to the top to ring the bell! Way to go Isaac! We made our way through half of the exhibits and even earned a beltloop on Weather for Isaac. All three boys were able to make rubber band guns....so watch out! They're pretty sneaky!

The best news for us that came out of going to Scout-O-Rama is that Alex's pack has given Isaac a full scholarship to attend Camp Wiley! Praise God! We aren't able to make it to either one of ours due to our vacation to scatter Jeff's ashes conflict with both camp weeks. I'm so happy that John has volunteered to take Isaac with him and Alex to overnight camp in the mountains. We'll have to wait and see if he'll volunteer again in the future.

Life is a Runway

Crossroads' Womens Ministry decided to put on a Runway Event where any woman could be the star of the show. I thought it would be fun to go as Carmen Miranda. Just the thought of wearing a basket of fruit on my head made it fun. Well that was before I found out that my Mom2Mom group and would have a bigger role in the whole event. No worries...what's the big deal.

So off to my neice's apartment in L.A. I went to have her magically alter my thrift store bought clothes into flamboyant calypso style. Within an hour while I made my necklace and earrings, Anna transformed my sleeves, ruffled me up and even made little ruffled wristlets. Wow! Way to go Anna! I swear she's the next Vera Wang. I had already made the hat with tons of hot glue and styrofoam fruit. Took me a couple of weeks to find bananas. I could not go without bananas....that would have been completely pointless.

Well remember the bigger role I mentioned my Mom2Mom group had? I ended up having to do a costume change in order to walk down the runway a second time with my partner in crime, Hollis. We coordinated the Friday Mom2Mom group last year. You can't see my feet but I added little boa pieces to my heels. They looked like those "naughty" slippers they sell at Fredericks. Oh my! I'm not sure if it was the heels or the basket of fruit on my head but I am now under chiropractic care. Yikes! How did Carmen do it?!?

Here's to most of the Coordinators of Mom2Mom 2008-2009. We pulled off one heck of a good show for 300 plus women and had fun while doing it all. Funny to see us all dressed up....usually we run around looking like crazy moms with our kids in tow. Funny thing now is when I meet new women and invite them to join Mom2Mom or Ignite at church they end up saying "Oh! You're the one who wore that outfit!" You'd think that the news reporters actually covered our event. Well Mom didn't raise a wall flower, did she?

Sleep Study

Well after going in to hear the results of Charlotte's sleep test...I lost it. Sleep apnea has about 25 to 30 symptoms such as headaches, snoring, teeth grinding, hypertension, acid reflux, weight gain, sweating, irregular heartbeat, any kind of sleep disturbance (talking, walking, sitting, standing) and getting up to pee at night. After Dr. DeSilva realized that Charlotte and I were related (I don't know how he missed that one) he took a look at me and told me to get our whole family checked out. So I was blessed to get tested for free due to lack of medical insurance. They allowed the boys to come sleep over as well so they would know where I was and feel comfortable with what I was going through. Here they are watching me get wired up. They basically just laughed at me when I was done.

So I went in that night to be tested. Wow! Nothing like being wired for everything and expect to sleep with all those wires! I felt like I was under the care of Dr. Frankenstein. The wires do a 100 point sleep test. They test eye movement, leg movement, heart rate, dream patterns, oxygenation, snoring, teeth grinding, talking, etc. After I got into bed I was afraid to move thinking I'd pull an electrode off somewhere. I was amazed that I got a good night's sleep. Thankfully I didn't have to get up to pee in the night. That would have been a problem!

The next morning I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I went home and slept another 4 hours. Kind of weird seeing how I "thought" I got a good night's sleep.

So back to the clinic I went for the second night of testing...with a very lovely mask! Don't you just wish you had one? Actually its not as bad as it looks and it is quite comfortable. I felt that I slept worse but according to the test results I actually slept better. So weird how the brain works. My apnea is during my dream cycles and its slight to moderate. Charlotte on the other hand has severe-severe apnea. She stopped breathing every 30 seconds...that's 120 times in an hour! I'm glad that I forced her to be tested. I cannot afford to have another death in our home with the boys. I don't think I could handle that again or have them deal with that again either. So now after a few week of sleeping with the mask I'm starting to feel better. Dr. DeSilva said that once you're on the mask for about 6 weeks your body actually becomes addicted to it and you can't sleep without it. I don't think I would even consider sleeping without it now that I know I have apnea. That would be irresponsible on my part as a single parent. I encourage all of you who have any of the above mentioned symptoms...please sacrifice a weekend of sleep and get tested. Your life depends on it.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Jeff's grandfather, Daddy Boy, just celebrated his 97th birthday on May 8th. This man is amazing! If I knew how he stayed looking so young I'd bottle it up and make millions.

The first time I heard Jeff mention him I thought "Who would have such a crazy name as Daddy Boy?" Well now its just so second nature to call him that that I forget what his real name is....Wilton Fairless Hale.

Daddy Boy is like a walking encyclopedia and newspaper all wrapped up. He has probably read thousands of books (wonder where Jeff got that trait from?) and just knows about anything past and current.

Back when he found out we were expecting Isaac he started researching names for us and came up with Samb...yeah, I can see that now...Samb Lamb. Isaac is so grateful for his name!

Here's to many more birthdays Daddy Boy!

Pi Day 2009 - The One to Remember

We celebrated Pi Day 2009 at Jeff's school, Murrieta Valley High on March 13. The school did this in memory of Jeff. The students set up booths of fun things to do like Pie Throwing, Musical Chairs, Pi Memorization, etc. The obvious favorite hands-down was the Pie Throwing, where $3 bought you a paper plate filled with whipped cream and you could pick which teacher or administrator you'd like to tag. The "lamb" artwork for the stage was taken from a candy jar that Jeff's mom, Pinki, painted for us. I would always send candy to Jeff's students after all the holidays. Lord knows we didn't need to eat it! And they loved it!

Here is Isaac patiently waiting for Dean Nielsen to show up so he could get him with some whipped cream.

I was able to toss a few dozen keychains to the general population of students while they waited for their turn at throwing pies. These keychains I had made specifically for Jeff's students and colleages as a keepsake. They seemed to be well received.

Isaac finally got his turn at Dean, who by the way, never signed up to do this part of the event. Thanks Dean for making my son's day! You're a great sport!

The school surprised us with not only a wonderful gift of a wheelbarrow full of plants, potting soil, shovel, gloves, and a shade tree but with the proceeds of the event! They covered our mortgage for the following month. Thank you all for all your hard work and support. You guys rock!

Happy Easter!

Look what we found in an Easter basket this year! It's Dexter! Cody and Dexter were able to join us for Easter this year as well as Mike and Shannon Stowe, Janee and her kids, and Peggy. We had a blast. Nothing like trying to take on a new role of cook when you really don't know how to pull it off. The secret? Just fake it and pretend you know what you are doing! It seemed to work pretty well. No one starved or complained about the food. Yay!


This year we did our egg hunt Mondello-style...that is adults as well as kids hunt for eggs. Everyone got 2 eggs with their names on them and then had to find 12 more eggs. We also added 3 golden eggs to the mix. The lucky winners of the golden eggs were Maxwell ($5), Hope ($10), and Cody ($20). It was a little challenging hiding the eggs seeing how we had to use the front yard. Not too many bushes but lots of pots, bricks, the Pack Rat, and trailer to hide them around. Peggy did a great job of hiding all 176 eggs!

The best part about doing this was that Mike and Shannon hadn't egg hunted in about 40 years! Mike's orange carrot was under the corner of the Pack Rat storage container between him and Alex in this photo. Shannon had to ask Charlotte for help in finding her eggs. She was actually standing over one when she asked. Hee hee!

Alex got an additional "egg" of sorts. He decided to climb out my patio door (a 4 foot drop because the patio decking was being replaced), tripped, and hit his forehead on a brick. I had to call and let Michelle know that he might look a little battered. Nothing like an goose egg to make photos look great!

The Ugly Toe Saga

Okay, let's start off by saying that I am probably one of the most oblivious mothers out there. Ever since Maxwell could put his toe in his mouth there it was. He never needed a pacifier, he had his toe. He has been chewing on this particular toe since he was about 1 or so and developed a callous on it. The nail never grew quite right because he never let it. So after a while we decided to call it "the ugly toe". One day last summer I was having a pedicure and he was sitting there chewing on his ugly toe as he does and I made a comment about it to the nail girl. She takes one look at it and tells me that it is not a callous, as Jeff and I thought, but it was a wart. I about died! Here I am thinking it was a callous for 3 years now and it never dawned on me that it was a wart. Can we say "Eeewww!?!"

So in August we head off to the dermatologist. She looks and it and confirms that (1) I'm a complete moron, (2) it is definitely one of the biggest toe warts she has seen on a child and (3) she is very surprised that Max did not have warts in his mouth from chewing on it. Yuck!!!! So treatment begins. First we tried the simple stuff...some ointment twice a day. Nothing. Then we try something stronger...super strength Compound W stuff. Nothing. Next we try trimming off the top layer of wart. Nothing except a little blood. Now she takes off her kid gloves and brings out the big freeze ray gun. Nothing. Well that is except Maxwell screaming his head off. Poor guy! And the best (or worst) part from freezing it? It spread! Now we have three little warts and one humongous ugly toe wart with a valley in it. Each side of it could do battle now!

We at least had some comic relief in the office while waiting. I think the ointments made Maxwell's head grow or the freeze ray gun did. Either way I laugh hysterically whenever I see this photo. Reminds me of The Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man". This magnifying glass made going to the dermatologist bearable.

So after Jeff passed and so did our insurance, I decided to save money and try a home remedy. Duct tape. Let me tell you...this stuff fixes everything! Besides the fact that you can make wallets, push-up bras, prom dresses and tuxedos out of this wonderful product...it also removes warts! Yes! It's true! After a week of suffocating the wart and it's little friends that decided to pop up on other toes and fingers, the wart is gone! Yay! The ugly toe is now called "Mr. Clean". Thankfully the wart did not spread to Maxwell's mouth. That could have been fatal.

February 8, 2009

Today we lost Jeff unexpectedly to Jesus. We will greatly miss him, his humor, his laugh, his quietness, his wisdom and most of all his love.

He was our life. I am forever indebted to his friend and mentor, Mike Stowe, for witnessing to Jeff the love of Christ and hope of heaven. I only found out the day before his service that he had accepted Christ. Knowing this has made everything bearable and I feel that I can now carry on knowing I will see him again.

Reflecting on the past 20 years with him has been both joyful and tearful. I have now been given the responsibility to continue his legacy, his dreams for the boys and his memory. I only hope and pray that God will give me the strength and ability to do that.

We miss you so much and can't wait to meet up with you again!