Happy 5th Birthday Hank!

Oh Hank. You have survived 5 years. I know that during the hot summers you thought you might not make it to winter, even after we had misters installed...for YOU. Sad but true. Yet here you still are (miserable at the moment - it is hot outside)!!!


You are loved and adored and definitely don't get petted near enough. Hint to you my friend - stop the stinkin' slimy drool slingin'. I'd SO be all over petting you if you didn't have to get slime on me. It's gross, and frankly it freaks the kids out too.


Thank you so much for being an awesome dog to the kids (besides the slimy drool thing). For being patient with them when they pet pound you on the back or step on your tail. For sitting impatiently when it's feeding time and they drop your bowl of food outside of your boundaries and pick it up one by one. You are a good dog!


Thank you for sliming loving the UPS guy. He delivers many items to our home, we need to stay on his good side.


So, for all your awesome-ness...


You get to have a stray dog show up on a stormy night friend over!


Even have that nice doggy invade your space in the garage over night have a sleep over!


Plus, he was here the entire next day we'll even let him stay all day!


He even gave you fleas a present!

Hope it was a great birthday Hank!  Can't wait to do it again next year!

Things I just can't make up

There are days here in the crazy zone my life that I just look around and wonder if someone is actually filming me. I imagine that certainly someone has to be getting entertained at my expense. So, if you have missed the video cast of this, I will give you the written version just a small part of my Tuesday. 


You are very welcome. Glad I could help.


1. Mini P says to her twin brother as he has runny nose evidence approaching his lip "just use your tongue to lick it up (demonstrating her tongue licking upwards towards her nose) . That's what I do".  ME: How about if we get a tissue??? HER: No, licking it works fine.


Yuck. Who does she belong to anyway??? A family of orangutans? I need to keep a better eye on her when she has a cold.


2. In the middle of dinner, Mini P (see a theme here? apparently she is on a roll this week) says as she lifts her shirt up to her neck..."what are these?" (pointing to her upper girlie parts).  


**It would be remiss of me not to mention that we have already had this conversation with her multiple times. She is VERY aware of all her body parts as well as those of her brothers. 


So, I look around the table, wondering if I am supposed to answer the question, or if someone else might just grab it and go with it.


Nope. 


Not one person stepped up.


So, I said..."those are your..uh..ya know (because I felt that identifying exact body parts at dinner might just be crossing a line) some of your girl parts."


Agent P stands up from the table and says with gusto "Will they get like THIS (holding both hands about 8 inches from his own chest) when she is bigger???".


Oh, she can only hope. She can only hope.


Can we all sit down and just eat our food? Quietly?




I am sorry for not having a picture of a 3.5 year old boy with snot running down his face and a 3.5 year old girl with her shirt up to her neck. 


I'll just leave you a picture of my happy place....

Maui March 2009

ahhhh, I feel better already...

The day my camera got hijacked...

 I took 2 cameras on vacation. One that is mine all mine, and one I could take to the beach and be ok with it it getting sand etc. And as a side note, it did get sand and/or water in it because when you try to view photos, you can only view one. You can no longer scroll. Oops.


So, here you go, pictures that I did not take.


Mini P's version of Vacation 2011:

This is my brother's blankie. We call it "Stinky". You can probably imagine why.

This is my cousin, doesn't she have pretty eyes???

This is a picture of my toes

This is Grandpa and Monkey's very favorite doggie -Tromo. We lost him a lot.

This is my Leapster 2. I LOVE it. I play it a lot.

These are my crayons. I really love to color!!!

This is my Mama. She needed to be in at least ONE photo!

Agent P's version of Vacation 2011

My brother and sister

A very important piece of something

My big brother's flip flops

Grandpa's bad hair day

The motorcycle accident I witnessed.

My hand

Monkey's version of Vacation 2011

This is everyone eating breakfast-CHEESE!

This is my Grandma - CHEESE!

This is my Daddy-CHEESE!
 (Yes, his eyes are bloodshot, not from over indulging, but from a long day at the beach)

This is my Grandma again -CHEESE Grandma!

This is the couch.

This is my mom messing up my pictures and turning the camera the wrong way.  I was doing just fine!

This is the kitchen.

And there is my Grandma again :)

The End.

School and Unschool

So, because I'm frequently, usually, always behind on posting things when they actually happen, I should let you know that school started....over a month ago. Oh the life of modified year-round school and that quick as the speed of light 7 week summer!!


I know you are thinking "really Stac...you are just NOW telling us?" 


I know. 


I can feel the disappointment dripping thru the Internet from each of you. I apologize. It was short sighted of me and I should not have kept you all (three) waiting for the amazing update of SCHOOL! (BLECH!)


I mean, was I not just enjoying the much cooler weather in San Diego and the consistent schedule of eat, sleep, beach, repeat?


And now here I am, speaking of SCHOOL? Getting up early, asking about homework, getting up early, buying school supplies...did I mention getting up early?


Trust me, my summer flies by all too quickly!


A-Dog started his final year of Middle School (aka Junior High for those of us who went to school when it was called Junior High). 8th grade. He has a busy year ahead of him with school - which includes Geometry, NJHS and a new program called WEB (a mentoring program aimed at 6th graders).

And then next year off to High School? How on earth is that even possible?


and then Agent P.


Well, Agent P will be doing school at home this year. First grade.


Of course, it still warrants a photo...

As usual, it can't be a normal picture. He has to be doing something in the photo...not standing still.


We decided that this year Agent P would be home-schooled instead of going to school. Our curriculum is currently an online state supported school, but by next year it is likely that we will have a different one. 

We have gotten a lot of different reactions to our decision to home school. While we live in one of the state's best school systems, it just wasn't the right fit for Agent P. With so many other alternatives, this was the best solution for right now. 


I will openly admit that the first few days were tough. We did school a couple days a week prior to the official start date. It helped us work the kinks out so that when we had to start full time on Aug 3, we were ready and are slowing finding a nice rhythm. 


The most difficult part is Mini P.


Oh, bless her little over achieving heart!

She loves to sit and watch her brother do his school work! (and shout out answers)


And she constantly wants her own school work and worksheets. 


And then there is Monkey.

He's happy taking the magnets and loading them into his semi truck trailer.


Oh the joys and differences of twins. I love each and every day of it!


Agent P is doing very well as we hit the 2 week mark of school - and is flourishing at his own pace!  


The best part? He gets to play with his brother and sister everyday. 

Child labor

It is not easy to find good help these days. The economy is tight and people just don't have the money to throw around on things like "Dog Poop Picker-Uppers".  


I did notice that Petsm@rt has Doggie Daycamp - in case I had extra money to take my dog to Petsm@rt for a day of play with other dogs who will just teach him bad habits. But that (of course) has nothing to do with this at all. 


Out of 4 kids, you would think that ONE of them would take care of the bombs that Hank leaves in the yard. It's not all that difficult, since he does just use one general area for his business. Of course that doesn't meant that you will find ME out there. Ever. Just sayin. 


Luckily this weekend Mini P begged me to let her clean up Hanks mess. Of course I asked if she had been a good girl...She said "YES!", so I said "OK, you may go clean up the dog poop!". Like I am rewarding her or something. Don't judge me - I get to raise 'em up how I see fit :)


Then she convinced her brother to come out and help her.  She made it sound exciting and FUN - she even told him that HE could do the shovel today! (She nearly made me want to join, but then I remembered where she was going).


(photos taken from inside thru screens - hence very fuzzy pictures)

All scooped up and ready for transport

Monkey dumped it and Mini P had to start over raking

3rd time is a charm?...the load got dumped again...

I had to stop watching because I almost started to feel badly about how many times she raked it onto the shovel and he walked 6 inches and it all fell off the shovel. I'm pretty sure that there was a trail of Hank poop from the area he used all the way to the large pile by the fence.


When they came in, they were both proud of a job well done and Monkey was even happy that his sister let him do the shovel work. She's so smart, I've hardly had to train her in the fine art of getting other people to do the hard job and them thinking it was their idea :)

Bad Boy Bad Boy...whatcha gonna do?

whatcha gonna do when they come for you?  Or should I say, "whatcha gonna do when they don't stay in bed at nap", but that doesn't really rhyme. At all.


BUT, it does apply. 


Because this naughty boy pushes my nap time patience to the edge. He cycles from sleeping to not sleeping (where as his sister LOVES to sleep EVERY DAY). He kicks the walls, gets up and gets toys, gets up and bothers his sister, gets up and plays...

Gets up and builds a fort to sleep in...instead of actually SLEEPING during nap. (I have to say tho, I did find him asleep a few times in his "fort", but I can't say for how long since he woke up cranky.)

So tell me...why does he have a bed if he's happy sleeping on the floor?

Oh, of course, for Elmo, his pillow and his other blankets.


Good thing he is strikingly adorable :)

Love notes

All girls love to have little love notes given to them by their sweethearts. 


It's a fact. 


So, all you boy readers, take note! It's a simple way to get on the good side of your girl (or mom or dad), just leave a little note professing your true love! 

This boy already has it figured out :)

Why my insurance will be going up

For whatever reason, boys cost more for auto insurance. It is likely that we will not be the exception to the rule, nor will we be the reason that the insurance commission will look into lowering the rates any time soon. Plus since I have 3 boys, they will probably not drive until they are 30. Just sayin'. 


However, Monkey has started driving more around the property, ya know, gearing up for the day he'll drive the girls around.  In his green truck. Wearing his swim trunks. And bare feet.

I am grateful that his finally  mostly faces forward when driving.

And doesn't drive his sister into the tree...too often...

Or hit stuff...

But there is the issue of running into the pool fence.

Hopefully his dad can teach him how to drive :)