Family Day

I had all of last weekend off so we took advantage of it and made a spontaneous road trip on Saturday. First, we drove down to Thousand Oaks and met a friend from Southern California at PF Changs for lunch. Steve was picking up a bike from him so he can start biking to work a few days a week and save us even more money every month. After a nice lunch, we headed back up this way, stopping at Kohl's for some clearance rack shopping and at a convenience store for grape ring pops. Last stop was the Santa Barbara Zoo.

Crazy Hair

Halloween 2009

Steve was Diego, I was a punk rocker, Bella was Belle and Matea was a hula girl by day (it was so freakin hot!) and Michael Jackson by night.

It was so fun to trick or treat in a "real" neighborhood last night. A few neighbors had mini haunted houses/Disneyland style decorated car ports so Steve has decided we need to out-do them next year. We spent all morning hitting all of the stores for clearance spooky decorations.

Cheesy Weenie

That's what one of Bella's classmates kept repeating today and now I can't get it out of my head. It makes me want to barf a little.

Halloween festivities began yesterday with Matea dressing up for preschool. After months of preparation to be Michael Jackson, she chickened out and was a unicorn instead.

This is her with the infamous "School Bella". Too sweet.

Bella dressed up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast today and sported a costume made by mom. This was my first time making a costume for one of the girls and I was pretty pleased with the result. Apparently, so was Junior at school because according to Bella, he told her exactly six times that she looked so pretty today.

Why?

Why did Bella have to pick the biggest turd in her whole class to be the object of her affection? Seriously, he's a five year old juvenile delinquent. And he's obviously in love with Bella.

I started volunteering in her classroom this week and you can totally tell that this kid is smitten. He stares at her and can't stop bugging her. And unfortunately, she thinks he's the greatest thing ever. I've gently (and not so gently) pointed out to Bella that he had to be removed from the class and sit alone during a recent assembly. And that he seems to be unable to "clip up to blue" and get a good behavior reward. I guess these aren't important qualities to her.

Two days ago, he asked Bella to come home with him after school to eat fish. His mom laughed and said, "He loves fish." I said, "I think he loves Bella more." Then he tried to get in our car and come home with us. No thank you. Two kids are enough for me and if I was going to pick up another, it would certainly be less turd-like (and would probably be another girl, not a boy).

New Morning Routine

Somehow, moving to our new house brought on a new morning routine for the ladies of the house. While the girls eat their breakfast, I sit with them and drink my coffee and we watch music videos on you tube. I'm not sure how it started but I'm sure it had something to do with Matea's Michael Jackson addiction.

Sometimes I take requests and sometimes it's "Mama's choice". The other day, I played Pink's "So What" and the girls were singing "Na, na, na, na, na, na we're gonna start a fight!" all afternoon. Very nice.

This morning, Matea requested Darius Rucker's "Alright". That's Hootie...as in, "The Blowfish". Anyhow, I love that song and really wish I had never seen the video. He looks a lot thinner than the Hootie I remember and somehow, he's actually aged since I first heard of him when I was in high school. How dare he!

Matea is a total music buff. She remembers voices fairly well and knew that the same lady (Cyndi Lauper) sang "Time After Time" and "Beautiful Colors" (I keep telling her it's "True Colors" but she won't have it). Maybe she'll grow up and be a band geek. Yay!

Pics

Posted a few pics of finished rooms in the new house on my Crafty Mama blog...
www.craftymamacreations.blogspot.com

New House - Before

Before new carpet, new kitchen flooring, and all of our colorful stuff. Hopefully, we can share "after" pics next week.'


Outside
Funky Bathroom with Step Down Shower and Laundry
Drive-through Window in Dining/Play Room
Tiny Kitchen (but tons of storage!)
Livingroom with Nasty Renter's Carpet

Pink Party Girls

The girls were invited to a Fancy Nancy party over the weekend and even though we were in the middle of our move, we made time to go celebrate. The birthday girl's mom is super fun and energetic so I expected the party to be fabulous and she didn't disappoint. There was a Fancy Nancy "store", make up session, dancing, and a fashion show. Now Bella wants the exact same party for her birthday and I don't know if I can live up to it. Damn you Nanette for setting the bar so high!

Just Because She's Cute

Award Winning

Bella's getting an award at school on Friday! The school is having a student recognition assembly for grades k-3rd and 9 students are receiving awards. Bella is getting an award for reading and we couldn't be prouder. She works really hard on her reading and writing and is learning and improving really quickly.

One night, when I came home from work, Steve told me Bella had written a note all on her own that she wanted me to read. It said, "I see the cat." and then the next morning she added a few more sentences. I can't wait to see her receive her award on Friday.

We're Here!

In the new house, that is. Steve moved all of our stuff over the last week with some help from Ronnie and Devin on Saturday. We started living here on Saturday night and so far, so good. It's definitely a busier street than we realized but it seems to quiet down at night and we're all sleeping well here.
Once we started moving our stuff in, we realized the house isn't really as small as we originally thought, just less open than our old house. With the exception of a few small pieces of non-essential furniture, we've been able to fit everything in. Now, we're just working on unpacking the last 20 or so boxes which are filled with miscellaneous crap that's hard to find a home for. And hanging things up on the wall is going to be a challenge since the house is really old and doesn't have drywall - I guess it's plaster?
We know renting is going to be a transition for us but so far, our property manager has gone above and beyond. After getting new carpet last week, they surprised us yesterday by putting new flooring in the kitchen too! There are a few small things that need "fixin'", but overall, the house is in good shape and already feels like home. There are a few small things we've had to buy like a microwave and dish drying rack (no dish washer here !) and we're thinking about trying to save up for a sectional couch but really, it's been a very smooth and easy move for us. We close escrow today and get to pick up our tiny proceeds check. I try not to think about how much money we lost and instead focus on how much we're saving each month (about $500).
The girls seem to really like the new house and love being close to school - it means they get to watch a few more minutes of Clifford in the morning!
I'll be back later to post some pics of the new place.

Sweet Jesus, It's Already Starting

I'm in the office packing for our move and totally out of the blue, Bella just walked in and said the following:

"I think Kevin and Alejandro are the two boys that love me at school. Well, I know Kevin does because he told me loves me but I just think Alejandro does because he gave me a flower today."

"Whaaaaat?!"

"Well, I really think all the boys love me but especially Kevin. He told me he does."

"Ummmmm, do you love them? And what about Junior? Isn't he the one that always smiles and yells your name when I pick you up?"

"Yes! I told you! I think all of the boys love me. But especially Kevin."


She is pretty cute and fun so I can see how she'd be popular with the boys. And she likes to wear dresses. Maybe I should warn all of these young men that she's fairly high maintenance. I think first, I'll start with pointing out to Bella that Alejandro has yet to earn even one good behavior sticker so maybe he's not the best choice for a love interest.