Need a good....

I need a good drink
a good cry
a good hug
a good nap
a good kiss
a good day
a good paycheck
a good.........

Perfect weather for baking!

I was so excited last week when we had the perfect weather for baking! I decided Friday would be a baking day! Called Alicia and had it all planned out. Mother nature decided to not play fair and change the weather up on us and Friday was back up in the 90's! I couldn't let mother nature win, we still decided to bake. We ended up baking a pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and a chocolate cake for Ken for our anniversary. I've been craving empanadas(sp?) so I attempted to make them but it was a no go. Both kids helped a lot, usually only Kaitlyn is interested but this time Kassel actually wanted to help. He did great! I think he made the best taco pocket and empanada's!


*Notice Kaitlyn in the background with a camera in her hand? Taking after Mama in yet one more way! :)

Beach Day!

It's been crazy lately and I haven't taken any time out for myself or the kids. So I decided to be spontaneous one day and pack up and head to the beach. The kids had no clue where we were going. they probably thought we were going to the grocery store of something but to their surprise we ended up at the beach! It was a beautiful day at the beach and the kids had an awesome time! I enjoyed being able to relax a little and just enjoy my kids having fun! I really need to make a point of doing more of this!

Beauty

It was a lot prettier in person but either way BEAUTIFUL!

Archeological Dig

We were learning about archeology the other day and the kids went on a dig... in the sandbox! The kids had a great time digging for treasures. Some of the treasures were pretty small and didn't really think they would find them in there, but they did! We started off carefully but that didn't last too long. All and all it was a great time!

I actually scrapped! A little.

A few weekends ago my old online scrapping friends (whom I have been neglecting due to my uber busy schedule) hosted an online crop. We used to do these all the time and it is always so much fun! I was able to participate a little bit. Here's what I accomplished: please keep in mind its been along time since I've scrapped so keep any critiquing to yourself! :)(positive comments ALWAYS welcome! )

He's SO big!

I can't believe how big my baby has gotten! He's going to be 4 soon! Where on earth did the time go? He has been doing so good at school! It's a huge adjustment for him and he's exhausted every day but he's learning so much! He can now write his name all on his own. If he goes a few days with writing it he kinda regresses but I'm still pretty impressed! I'm one proud Mama!

Long Beach Aquarium Field trip

Yep, another field trip!
We decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity of the the home school day at the Long Beach Aquarium. The kids were really looking forward to it and was a great field trip! I cant express how much I LOVE not being strapped down to a time schedule! It's so nice to be able to stay as long as WE want, not having to be back to school at a certain time!
Here's some great pictures of the kids at the aquarium:

Adventures in Antarctica

The kindergartners were scheduled to learn about Antarctica but since it was such a fun subject we decided to do it as a group with all the kids! One day we did all the book work then the next morning we brought a bunch of ice and poured it all around out airplane teeter-totter and we pretended to take a trip to Antarctica! Ohh can you feel the cold ice on your feet? Brrrr!! Gotta love homeschooling where we can make it fun for them! You gotta remember that we are in So Cal and its still basically summer here so the ice melted fast and the kids are in dresses and shorts, looks kinda funny but it was still a lot of fun!

After the photo shoot for each of the kids in the airplane, we pushed all the ice into the pool.

Girl Scout Camporee

About a month ago we had our Girl Scout Camporee. With all the changes in Girl Scouting lately our Service unit had to spend or hand over the money in our account so they decided to spend it on the girls on a really cool Camporee!

We went to the Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center. Oh my gosh was this place cool! I never knew this place existed! I've been to the Irvine park before but this is a whole separate place and its HUGE!! We had three girls from our troop. I really wished more of our girls were able to come as it was an AWESOME trip! We set up our tent and got our area all set up and then the girls were able to play with old friends and make new friends. We brought dinner with us so we didn't have to cook then we went on a L-O-N-G hike. We weren't really supposed to but we kinda got lost trying to find the auditorium where the campfire and songs were at at. Then we went back to camp and settled in for a restful night sleep- HA! Right! Kaitlyn was up and crazy, nothing really new there! After the girls crashed Michele and I stayed up chatting and Pricella and I were texting. Yes texting at a campout... even tho we were only like 4 tents away! It was pretty funny!
Next morning we had to get up early (YAWN!) and be dressed and fed and ready to go. The girls were excited about the day so they did great! Since our girls were little we did some crafts; we made recycled musical instruments, photo art with photo paper and seashells and even a solar box oven! I remember doing a box oven when I was a Brownie so that was pretty cool to show the girls how they actually work and you CAN cook a pizza with just a box, aluminum foil and saran wrap! They were very impressed that they made the box and then were able to cook in it, and they ate the yummy pizza's too! I just love being a leader! (well, sometimes!) I love the special memories I am building with Kaitlyn. I have so many fond memories of my mom in scouting. My mom is long passed but I have all these great Girl Scout memories with me and I get to relive those when alos having the experiences with my daughter and other really awesome girls!
And able to hang out great friends like Michelle.

After lunch our girls were able to do archery. I was so excited about this! What an experience for a 6 year old to do real archery! Real bow and arrows! The girls were excited but kinda nervous to try it Here they are showing off their arm guards. The girls all did great and had a lot of fun with it!


There were alot of other things going on around the park. The older girls were able to do alot of fun things that out younger girls were not able to do.

BUT... Michelle and I decided we HAD to do the ZIP-LINE!!! We just couldn't resist! So off we went to do the zip-line. The girls were great for waiting patiently for us and we literally jumped off a cliff! Once you get all strapped in they tell you to go. So you really do just run and jump off a cliff! OMG! It was SO much fun!! Kinda scary but really fun too!
Then we went back to break down camp. We finished breaking down camp and loaded up the cars. Michelle needed to leave and Kaitlyn and I went on to the pool. They had a really nice pool facility with a long water slide. That finished off out exciting weekend. We all had a great time!!