Father's day weekend

It was a fun weekend. The kids made some really cute things for father's day in school. Brenna made something with her footprints and a saying how she is trying to step into his footsteps. Awwwww, it made me tear up. And Sidney also did some artwork and wrote about daddy. Mackie and Mommy got Daddy a tent. Yes, he wanted a tent. So he can take off on the weekends and go camping with the girls. Mommy doesn't do well in a tent, since it doesn't have air conditioning. LOLOL.

Sidney went to a pool birthday party on Saturday and she had a great time. One of the boys gave the birthday girl flowers, it was too cute. :) Afterwards we were going out for dinner but we got too lazy so we just BBQ'd some steaks and had them with corn and salad. Sunday morning I made a big breakfast. Actually it's more like brunch since we don't eat til about 10:30. I try to do it every Sunday so we can have one breakfast together as a family at least. This time I made fried garlic potatoes, bacon, maple sausages, chorizo and eggs.

Did I mention lately that I hate LA? It's way too hot again, it was close to 100 degrees this weekend and I can't stand it. I don't know what we would do without the A/C.

Tuesday Ten: Ten things that have made you the unique and quirky person you are today

1. My parents, and unfortunately not in a good way for most of the things. Especially my mother. Her own insecurities got transferred onto me, and I'm the only child. You can figure out the rest.

2. My kids. In my twenties I didn't even know if I wanted kids. Now I have 3 girls. I also always was afraid of childbirth and dreaded pregnancy in my twenties. When I got pg for the first time I actually didn't mind it at all. Granted, I had 3 pretty good pregnancies and seeing your baby girl for the first time wipes anything else out.

3. My husband. In a good and bad way. We will be married ten years this year and I did figure out that you do have to compromise and that no marriage is perfect. While we do get into heated arguments since we both have a temper, I also know that I can always count on him no matter how much he complains. LOL. Especially in a crisis situation.

4. My move to America. This one is a biggie. I'm now speaking a different language than I did in my childhood. I spoke only german for 22 years. Now I think and dream in english.

5. Always working. From when I was 16 I always worked. Over here, I had my own apartment and supported myself way before marriage. While I would like to spent more time at home, I think it would be hard for me not to be working.

6. My grandparents. I have to say that they probably were the only people that loved me unconditionally. I really miss them and wish they could have met the girls.

7. Dealing with depression. Another biggie. It's hard to admit it, even harder to have to take medication every day. I think I finally came to terms with it eventhough I still haven't admitted it to my mom. She still believes that depressed people belong in a nut house. LOL.

8. Growing up an only child. I liked it for the most part, I always had lots of friends. But I hated having all the attention from my parents. LOLOL. I hate it to this day.

9. The computer. It's funny but true. It allows me to have friendship over the internet (which Paul still doesn't quite get.lol), and keep in touch with people in Germany. With some of the women here I have been emailing and talking for the past 8 years. That's a long time.

10. Not having any family around here. We basically adopted our sitters family. Her daughter and husband are the kids godparents and really love them like their own child. We have adjusted, but it's hard at times not to have anybody around. You get creative. LOL

Finally some pictures of the newly painted bedroom

The room is painted in 3 different colors. Darkest one behind the bed, then a little darker for the ceiling and then lighter for the other walls. I also did the curtains. We had vertical blinds before and I hated them. I'm much happier with the curtains.

Weight

ARghhhhh, I hate this topic. Seriously...until I was in my mid twenties I never even thought about my weight. When I got married at 30 I was a size 6 and thought I was too big. Yeah right....little did I know.

Got pregnant with Sidney and had her at 31 and still was able to bounce back pretty fast. No problem, then had Brenna at 33 and Mackie at 35. That's it. The end of a normal figure for me. My body was never the same, the two last ones were c-sections and it seems like I kept part of them in my midsection, there is a tummy I never had before. Where did that come from?

If I fit into a size 10 now I'm a happy camper, NOT FAIR. I want my body back, the one I had at 25. Ok, fine....so I am 40 now but still. My big problem is that I don't like to exercise. Taking the kids to soccer practice should count in my opinion. I really really need to start doing something before I won't be able to move anymore.

Of course lovely husband is not a big help, every time I vow to eat better or just have a salad for dinner, something comes up. Last night he didn't want to cook (he is the cook in the family) and ordered Pizza. Now living at my house you would know that it is indeed a rare occasion that happens maybe twice a year. We usually eat pretty healthy and don't do a lot of junk food. Soooooooooo, I had 3 slices of pizza last night. Not exactly diet food.

It's just a neverending circle that seems to creep up on me. I need to get a handle on it somehow.

Tuesday Ten: 10 things I whine about

1. Money, money and money. Yes, it could be much worse, but it would be nice to NOT have to think about it EVER. To just be able to buy something without having to plan it.

2. My mother. Oh boy, this is a big one. I really really wish I had a normal mother.LOLOL

3. Whining......yes, this is a big one. " MOOOM, she is mean to me" "MOOM she got icecream and I didn't, it's not fair"

4. Siblings fighting. I'm so tired of living with 3 supposedly human girls who fight like animals.

5. My weight. Enough said.

6. Not having any free time. I'm usually never EVER alone in our house. Somebody is always there with me. Last Sunday DH took the girls on a walk and I had the house to myself for 2 hours. WEIRD!!

7. High gas prices. I love love love my Excursion, but I have to mortgage my house to fill up the tank.

8. Not winning the lottery. It would make my life so much easier.

9. DH...when I go to bed at night after work, dinner and homework and laundry, I'm tired and just want to read for half an hour. Me bending down is not considered foreplay and NO I don't want to have sex every day. REALLY.

10. Not having a second bathroom. With 3 girls, it's insane. We probably will add on, but at this point I'm seriously considering a chamber pot (is that the right name???LOLOL)

The weekend

I took the girls to see Shrek 3 and I have to say that I liked it. So did the girls, eventhough Mackie fell asleep the last 15 minutes. LOL. The part I liked the most? Seeing the Princesses kick some butt. Seriously..........I like it because they were not the poor little girls having to be rescued by the big strong male. LOLOL.

We also finally caught the possum that was eating all the cat food at night. Paul sat a trap and he caught it Saturday night and then went with the girls on Sunday to release it in the mountains so he/she can live happily ever after in the forest. Of course Friday night Fiona (one of the cats) got caught in the trap and we had to free her in the morning. Stupid cat. LOL.

Also watched about 3 episodes of "Deadliest Catch", I'm hooked on it.

Favorite toy

The favorite toy right now at my house? What would it be? The Gameboy? Or any other expensive crap? NOOOOOOO.....it's a plunger. Yes, you heard right, a bathroom plunger.

We just redid our bathroom and my kids have discovered the plunger. They fell in love with it I guess. They fight over who gets to play with it. I just don't get it. It's the most amazing thing. Who could have guessed?

Here they have a room full of TV and DVDs and Gameboy games and they play with a plunger. Whatever.......

When I was young

This is a picture from my elementary school days. Oh my god, I was so young. LOLOL. I'm in the bottom row, second from the right.

What is really sad is that I can't even recall everybodys name anymore. I still can come up with probably half of the names. Makes you wonder where everybody is at this point. What happened to our dreams and hopes???

Tuesday Ten: Ten Books I read lately that I liked

My long weekend

I will kill them, yes I really contemplated it, but don't want to spent the rest of my life in jail. Kidding aside, here is what happened. They broke Brenna's bed, and for once Brenna was not involved. Mackie was the one jumping up and down on it, and it finally broke. After we told them for the millionth time....NO JUMPING ON THE BED.

The beds were not the sturdiest anyway, but still. I warned them before, so now the 2 younger ones only have one bed in their room, so they can either sleep together in one bed or one sleeps on the floor. I don't care.....I will let them sweat it out for at least a month before I even think of buying a new bed.

I swear...boys could not be worse.

Banging my head against the wall

Brenna is really testing my patience. Ok, so I don't have any patience left. Sometimes I just don't know how to handle her anymore. She can be so stubborn. Like yesterday. I came home around 6:30, they were playing outside. Fine, asked them if they did their homework. Of course not....why would I expect that hubby actually would remind them? So Sidney sits down and does her homework. Brenna asks me to sit down with her and help her, which I don't mind. So we sit down and she has 3 pages to do for Kindergarten. One is basic subtraction. 3-1=? She tells me the right answer but then proceeds to just fool around on the paper, writes the number the wrong way, erases it, writes it again, erases it, so this goes on a few times. I remind her a couple of times " Brenna, you need to do it nicely, otherwise I will just take it away and you won't get credit for it."

Guess what....yep, I ended up taking it away and she went to school without homework today, which doesn't seem to bother her that much. She was upset last night, but man...........I just lost it, I'm pulling my hair out. Was I ever that stubborn? At that age? Not one of my prouder mommy moments I have to admit. Why can't I just be serene and calm and talk quietly to her? Yeah right.........................

Tuesday Ten: Ten Things I would never own

Kind of late, but here it goes.

1. A Mini Cooper, yes the car, it's way too small. I would feel like I'm sitting in a tin can. LOL.

2. Long haired dog. I love dogs, but can't deal with the long hair everywhere, there is already enough dirt in my house, I don't need to add to it.

3. A Mini-Van. Sorry guys, I know a lot of people drive them and like them. I don't.

4. Designer Jeans, I can't see myself spending $500 on a pair of Jeans. One of our attorneys does that, of course she is not married and has no kids. LOL

5. A fur coat.

6. A corvette. For some reason I hate that car.

7. A really expensive cell phone. I just don't get it, I like my simple phone, I don't need all the extra gadgets.

8. A motorcycle. I'm deathly afraid of them. My husband likes them, but I won't even go on one, no thank you very much.

9. Fishnet stockings. Sorry, they just don't look good unless you want to achieve the stripper look.lolol

10. A movie by Tom Cruise. I hate that guy.

Confession time

I have a confession to make. I like to watch scary movies. Yes, the horror flicks. The gorier (is that a word?), the better. Call me a psycho or sicko.LOL. I will cry at Steel Magnolias or any normal movie where an animal dies, but give me a good horror flick and I don't mind having 20 people chopped into bits and pieces. Thankfully my lovely husband likes them too, so I don't have to be a closet watcher, and OH MY GOD, so does my oldest daughter and she is only 8. Yes, I let her watch certain movies. But I did draw the line at the SAW series. She didn't get to watch those.

Her favorite channel is SciFi, loves the show Ghost Hunters ( so do I by the way), and likes every movie where a huge animal eats humans. That's my girl.....lolol.

My fav. scary movies? They have to be with a good story line too. One that still freaks me out is "The Exorcist," then of course the SAW series, very sick.....I love it.

One movie that freaked me out was "The Ring, " maybe because it was about a little girl, and I have 3 girls. I usually don't get affected by scary movies at all, but that one did it to me. Oh and of course the old "Halloween" movies with Jamie Lee Curtis. Anybody remember that music. EERY.

So there.........my secret addiction is out.

Parents????

Some things I really just don't get. Maybe I'm to old fashioned. LOL. This morning I dropped the kids off at school and here comes a boy, who is in Kindergarten, with a Mohawk hairdo, shaved sides, and the Mohawk is blue. And totally spiked up in the air. WHAT??????????

Is it just me? Now come on, you can not tell me that a 6 year old boy goes up to his parents and asks for that. It has to come from the parent. And then I'm thinking about all the work that goes into this hairdo every morning. I think he spends more time on his hair than I do, or actually his mom does. I'm surprised they even let him be in school like that, and that they don't make him go home and come back with a more normal hairdo.

I get the whole "Freedom of expression" thing, but really..................for a six year old?
So maybe I am old fashioned. I don't buy short shorts for my girls, or mini skirts, Brenna does wear a lot of skirts, but most of them are actually skorts. I also don't see the point of exposing your navel at 6 or 8 years old, so no little tops here either. Sorry, but it has to cover your tummy. LOL.

Bitchy

Yes, I am in a bitchy mood today. I have a cold and can't breathe through my nose AND I'm at work. Why oh why can't they invent some wonder drug for the fricking common cold?

All I want to do is go home, curl up in bed and watch trash TV. I never thought I would actually like the series "Charmed". My girls like to watch it, and now I'm hooked. Go figure, 3 witches who kill demons. Well, I got 3 little witches at my house that can turn into demons very quickly.

As to the worst mother award of the year...yesterday was Brenna's field trip, and I had no clue 1) where she was going, 2) what it was. LOLOL. Lovely husband knew, so I figured that would be enough and they could call him if she got lost.

Tuesday Ten: Things in my shopping cart

1. Diet Coke, I'm addicted, but at least I switched to the caffeine free one.

2. Carrots and Cucumbers: They make a great snack for the kids at school or at home.

3. Wine: For THOSE hard to take moments

4. Lettuce: We usually always have a salad with dinner.

5. Cereal and milk: A must have in my house.

6. Bread: It's usually wheat bread for the lunches.

7. Eggs: They make a quick dinner

8. Frozen brussel sprouts: Sidney's favorite vegetable.

9. Little water bottles and big water bottles.

10. Canned soups: Make a quick snack or dinner eventhough I don't like to do it too often because of the high sodium.

Experiment going on in the bathroom

We will see for how long this will go on. Somebody left an empty small water bottle on the sink. It's been sitting there for 5 days. I refuse to throw it out. Actually this weekend I cleaned around it and it doesn't seem to bother anybody else. Any guesses on how long it'll be there?

Tuesday Ten:Ten Things I Think About While I'm Driving

1. What did I forget to do? Inevitably I will think of some things that I forgot to take care of.

2. Why do these maniacs (that would be my girls) always have to start fighting and yelling while I'm talking on the phone?

3. Why do I have to sit in this grueling L.A. traffic every fricking day?

4. What would I do if I win the lottery? Dreaming about not sitting in traffic and having a huge piece of land somewhere on the coast with a beautiful house............

5. The gas prices went up again????????? It's killing me. Right now I pay $3.43.

6. Thinking about what to do first when I get home.

7. In the morning: Thank god they got to school on time without major fights or scars. LOL

8. Daydreaming, it's the only time I have by myself.

9. How different my life would have turned out if I had stayed in Germany.

10. What to do for vacation this year.

A good day

Yesterday I got a phone call from the school that Sidney was accepted in the Magnet program. Basically it's a Gifted/High Ability Program that takes place at the same school. They have one class set up for just that. Sidney is really excited too and we are very proud.

But.........

then she telling me last night that she hopes she can make it, how much harder it's going to be, how much more she has to work etc.

So I guess in the next couple of month we just need to concentrate on letting her know that she is smart, and that it will also be a lot of fun, since they get to do more. I really hope we can alleviate her fears and get her to enjoy it.

Tuesday Top Ten: Ten Things I Love About

1. Sidney: She is a mini me and it amazes me everyday. She is very responsible for her age, I love her dark brown eyes and she is a drama queen.LOL

2. Brenna: Mini Paul, but he doesn't want to see it.LOL. If there is trouble, Brenna is usually in it, but she has the biggest heart and has the cutest angelic little face. Very stubborn.

3. Mackie: Mini adult. She talked in full sentences very early and has an amazing vocabulary for her age. She has the cutest mischievous grin, but she is also Miss Attitude.LOL

4. Internet: It enables me to actually have or keep up with friendships I couldn't otherwise. The mommy boards are a great help and outlet for mommy tantrums. LOLOL

5. My car: It's big, it's comfortable, and I feel very safe in it with the kids. (Yes I hate the gas prices though)

6. Our pets: They provide humor and joy every day and teach the kids a lot of things. We actually had Fred longer than Sidney. LOLOLOL

7. Our house: I'm very grateful to own our house, eventhough it's small, but we have a decent backyard which counts for a lot here in California.

8. My sitter: She is absolutely amazing and I have no idea what I would have done without her the last 8 years. She has a huge impact in raising our girls. And she is the one that will take all three of them gladly if we want to go away for a weekend.

9. My cell: Yes, it's horrible, but I don't know what I would do without it. LOLOL. It's my lifeline a lot of times, especially with scheduling the kids.

10. My husband: Yes, he has a temper and so do I and so do the kids. LOLOL, it makes for a loud household. But I love that he cooks very well, and I hardly ever have to cook. And we are not talking about canned stuff here. He makes roasts, stuffed peppers, marinated chicken, grape leaves and bakes from scratch. I hardly cook anymore.