wishes

we had an interesting weekend.  nothing went quite how we expected but we always expect that.  bobby and i referred to this weekend as "that weekend".  it seemed like anyone that was planning an event picked "that weekend" to do it.  so we ended up with many places to go.  the thing is . . .i wanted to do it all i just wish there was enough time to do it all.

saturday morning was sofia's first soccer "game".  it's not really a soccer game.  the girls under 5 team shows up at 8am! they do some drills and then at 8:30 they set up mini soccer fields and play 3 on 3.  well sofia who has been talking about being on a soccer team since she was 2 refused to get out on the field, refused to put on her soccer uniform, refused to play with the other girls.  so she kicked the ball around with bobby and the boys.  it reminded me of taking jordan to the pool for the first time and struggling with that.  but next week we will try again.  i wish playing sports with my kids was easier.


straight afterwards b and i went to orange county for uncle larry's memorial service.  we debated it for a long time about taking the kids with us.  but in the end decided not to bring them, too many questions and anxieties to deal with.  it was great to see all of the family gathered together.  and the service was hopeful and comforting.  i was in awe of tara who got up to speak about her father.  she had such peace and spoke so beautifully about dealing with death and fear.  i wish i had her strength at a time like this.

and i wish i had taken a better picture of the family.


the following morning we had our friends from sacramento visit us for breakfast.  they were around for the weekend but this was the only time we could get together.  so it was bagels and coffee and a status report.  i love that we get to see them every once in a while.  i just wish we could have had more time together.


at 11 we headed to the pool for jordan first swim meet.  what a difference it is after 4 years of doing this.  he is confident and knows what to do. (for some reason i'm the one with the jitters.)  and he is awesome!  he medaled in backstroke and the free relay.  and he has gotten so fast.  he took 7 seconds off his freestyle race but unfortunately that meant that he was moved up to the higher bracket of swimmers and finished 22.  it was a great day, but i wish it hadn't been 108 degrees because that was miserable.


bobby took andrew to baseball practice also in the middle of the day.  this boy is something special when it comes to baseball.  the coach was helping him with his throwing and after the practice came up to bobby and told him that andrew picked it up fast and was really good.  i wish i could have seen bobby's proud face.

after all of that we went to my parent's house to celebrate my sister's birthday with my brothers, sister-in-laws and kids.  it feels like a long time since we've all gotten together.  but this birthday marks the first of 8 birthdays that we will celebrate over the next three months.  and i wish all of them the happiest birthdays ever.


and now this is a more quiet week for us.  still swim practice but a little less stress and more of a normal week.  hopefully making time to get some fun things going.  at least that's what i am wishing for.

currents

listening: to my printer making a weird noise.
eating: sea salt and vinegar pop chips.
drinking: key lime sparkling water.
wearing: jeans, grey top and flip flops.
feeling: stressed about the staff luncheon tomorrow.
weather: unpredictable - after two cold days I finally send the kids to school with jackets and it's warm.
wanting: to finish watching "Glee"
needing: to get sofia cleats and shin guards for soccer.
thinking: about this coming weekend.  it will be a mix of emotions.
enjoying: the power to delegate.
wondering: if the kids will remember their jackets.


the past two weeks have been a little stressful and emotional for all of us.  b and I both lost uncles last week.  bobby's uncle larry passed away last week after a very long illness.  the services will be held on saturday with his family.  my uncle daniel unexpectedly passed away last week after complications from gall bladder surgery.  the services were in texas over the weekend.  we both are feeling for their siblings and children during this time.


and school is in full force, pto meetings, halloween carnival, luncheons, homework, book reports and tests.  and top that off with the fact that for the first time we have all 3 kids in sports.  jordan is continuing his swimming, andrew is playing fall baseball and sofia starts soccer on saturday.  so it's a busy time.  but i thought i would check in, in case you were wondering what we were up to.

andrew says

"sometimes your smallest mistake can be your biggest problem."  

he said this after he told me that he forgot to put the "d" in his name at school and he feared he would now be known as "anrew."

wise words.

five on friday

trying to get into a regular routine of blogging to keep my writing skills fresh.  so here are the five things going on this friday.

1.  b starts the fall season of softball tonight.  the game is at 6:45 pm. please pray for no injuries.  i can't imagine what else he could fracture or split open but i think he's taken enough for the team.

2.  today was the first day that all 3 kids were in school.  it was nice.  i did a target run and made a stop at staples for a new calendar.  then home for lunch and a few chores.  and that was it.  the time goes by so fast.

3. pop chips.  i mean seriously.  these things are a-mazing.  we love the bbq ones.  i love the sea salt and vinegar and today we ate the original ones with trader joe's hummus.  umm, the entire bag and the entire carton.  me and the kids mind you.  we give them a big thumbs up.




4.  finishing up the painting this weekend.  i have to be honest that i am not in love with the color.  i wanted a neutral cream but the color ended up being a bit more yellow.  it's fine and we will keep it (we bought five gallons and have already done sofia's room).  but i'm just not crazy about it.  ah well, it's just paint, right?

5.  i made ricotta gnocchis last night for dinner and they were delicious.  it didn't take me 15 minutes, but it was quick, easy and oh so good.  and i loved the sauce that i made too.  just simple crushed tomatoes, onions and basil.  i will have to add this to our usual rotation.

the first of the last

today she started her last year of preschool.  i'm not sure if i already posted about this (and i am too lazy to go back through my posts to double check) but we decided to hold her back for one more year.  she was assessed by the boys' school back in march and although she is ahead in many areas, they suggested that we keep her in preschool one more year.  it would give her time to grow, physically and socially.  they also pointed out that many parents are holding their children back which means that if we put her in kindergarten this year there would be kids in her class that are almost a year and a half older than her.  but what really sealed the deal was when bobby said that if she started kindergarten now she would graduate from high school at 17.  umm, college at 17?  no thanks.

so another year at preschool it is.  and i'm happy.  and i think she's happy.  and i hope she doesn't get bored.  we are spending some time working on reading, she has picked it up fast, and writing.  she loves doing "homework" with the boys. and she is spending some time just having fun.  we are so excited that she will be in teacher leah's class.  we have been at this preschool for 9 years! and we have never had teacher leah. although this preschool is not focused on academics, we have heard that leah challenges kids who can do more and i think sofia will like that.  so it does make it new in some way.

off she goes.  and she spent the morning playing with these dress up dolls and making a new friend.

she was super excited that the boys got to take her to school and get to pick her up.  they have the day off of school today.  so we will pick her up at noon and then go to panda express for lunch.  tomorrow will be the first day that all three of them will be in school at the same time.  so that leaves me with a few hours to get stuff done.

and one of the things on the list is to capture some photos of fall.  i can't believe how quickly the weather has changed.  i am not totally counting out the warm weather but i also am not ready for this cool weather.  i don't have pants for the boys' yet.  i figured they would be wearing shorts until at least november.

the other thing on my list is planning her 5th birthday.  yesterday we went shopping for an outfit for school and then we went to the disney store to "check out" birthday gifts.  so i have a good list going.  i am so looking forward to october.

currents

listening: Sara Bareilles Radio on Pandora
eating: nothing.  i just got hungry and had some crackers.
drinking: coffee with warm milk.
wearing: jeans, tank and a hoodie.
feeling: like curling up under the covers and taking a nap.
weather:  chilly - no swim practice today. 
wanting: a piece of coffee cake.
needing: to get the braces thing done and off my list.
thinking: about decorating Sofia's newly painted room
enjoying:  the fresh paint on the walls.
wondering: how long they will stay clean.


part 2 of our house project is underway.  now that we are all living in new rooms it was time to give the walls a fresh coat of paint.  sofia's room was blue and worn.  the living room had some cracks showing.  so we painted them a nice cream color.  now i have to get sofia's room put back together.  and then it's time to get her a bedspread and decorative elements.  she is very excited.  i'm hoping to get it put together and surprise her when she comes home from school on friday.


that's what we did over our 3 day weekend.  thanks to some help from tom and sue we got the taping and primer done on sunday and were able to make it to a pool party in the afternoon.  but that was our only break.


part 3 of the house project will be getting our room cleaned out and organized and hopefully finding a little craft area for me.  and jordan needs a desk, so their room will need some rearranging.


part 4 will be the exterior. paint and landscaping.  


other than that is just about as normal as can be here.  feels good.  here are some pictures from the first spirit assembly at the boys' school.  their theme this year is "ancient worlds."  so the school colors are purple, not sure you can tell that in the picture.

Jordan and his friend

i let sofia have the camera for a while and i ended up with 20 of these.

and some photos from our anniversary dinner.

the most amazing butterfish.

b and his lava cake

and our dessert. yes, we had 3 lava cakes.  they didn't tell us we were getting mini ones as part of the anniversary celebration so we ordered one.  it was hard but we finished them off and were very happy.

after dinner we saw "going the distance."  we were pretty disappointed with it.  but it had a few laughs.  we even took some pictures in a photo booth.  i can't pass those things up.  it was a great anniversary.


hope everyone is well.

one year ago

we were celebrating our anniversary in italy, just the two of us.
we were eating french bread, pesto and an egg for breakfast.
we were having a cappuccino after every meal.
we were discovering ancient cities.
we were driving around in a little stick shift car.
we were saying "grazie", "scusi" and "per favore".
we were listening to a guitar player on the ponte vecchio.
we were loving the pizza, pasta and gelato.
we were missing the first day of school.
we were falling in love all over again.
we were sleeping in and staying up late.
we were drinking vino and lemoncello.
we were celebrating 15 years of marriage.

today bobby and i are celebrating 16 years of marriage.
we are not going away.
we are going to dinner and a movie.
and then we are painting the house, romantic huh?

our relationship has grown over the last 365 days.
we are a better team.
we have laughed more.
we understand each other more.
we are settled.
we have plans.
we are very happy in the now.

i love him more today than i did a year ago
he inspires me.
he makes me think.
he calms me.
he protects me.
he makes me feel loved.
he makes me laugh.
he gives me strength.
he holds my hand.

even though we are not in italy.
even though the kids will pull us in 20 different directions.
even though we will only have a few hours alone together.
even if there will be a little girl in our bed in the morning.
even if we are going to see a "chick flik"
today will be just as special because we will be together.

happy anniversary to the love of my life.

ETA:  Check out The Simple Dish to read about the food we ate on our vacation.