The Pumpkin Patch

Ah, the best part of school...... substitute teachers and field trips! David's class went to Oma's Pumpkin Patch in Lakeside, CA 2 weeks ago. It was his first time on the big yellow school bus, and he loved it! Joey and I drove separately. We went last year with Rose's class too, and I was amazed when I saw how beautiful the drive out there is and area surrounding the farm. Makes me understand how people love country life. (But then I think about how far of a drive it would be to Wal-Mart, and think how lucky I am that I live right down the street.) You would really never know you are in San Diego if you were just dropped down to this place. The farm is great. They have TONS of games and fun for the kids, including a cotton seed hill the kids slide down on snow sleds. It was a beautiful day, maybe 65 degrees out. Last year when we went with Rose's class, we were in the middle of a heat wave and it was 102 degrees. Rose got jipped this time as she had school and didn't get to go......the downside of getting older! David picked out the first pumpkin he touched..... he doesn't waste time picking and choosing. We had a great time! As a side note, Rose had a sub for a few days last week. Her class is too young to actually to appreciate Ye Olde Substitute and play tricks. Well, I never actually did anything like that ever when I was in school, but on sitcoms, it's always HILARIOUS!

Top: (L-R) Ryan, Noelani, Thomas, Kai & Tommy

Front: Joey, Kendal, Kayla, Kai Leah, Lucas, David, Emily, Lana & Kyvia

Oldies but Goodies: These are from last year at the same pumpkin patch

A Stitch inTime Saves 9

David went from having a really great day to a pretty lousy one the next day. It all started the Saturday after he was Star Helper and we spent the perfect afternoon at the perfect park. My sister Karen and I took Rose and Madeline up to LA for a baby shower for my cousin Christine. Andy and the boys were going to meet us there after the shower so we could then go visit with our friends Mike, Iris, and their 1 1/2 year old daughter, Maya. We had been at the shower for about half an hour when Andy called to ask for some advice. "David bonked his head and is bleeding pretty bad...what would you do?" After going and back and forth for while, he decided to take David to Urgent Care to make sure he was alright. A few hours and 2 staples later, we canceled the trip to see Mike and Iris. Andy said the boys were exceptionally good at the office and David laughed when the doctor put the staples in, saying it tickled. He never once complained about the staples. They sent Andy home with a staple remover tool and told him to take the staples out in 10 days. I had the pleasure of doing that, and David never even flinched.

As a side note: Christine is prego with twins due in early December. Her sis, Shannon, and her Mom (Aunt Harriet) threw the shower for Christine. We had a good time seeing everyone and Christine looks great. Can't wait to meet those babies!

Girls Gone Wild Burbank: Shannon, Christine and Harriet

Karen & Madeline, Shannon, Chrsitine, Ann & Rose, Donna

(cousin from the other side of the family)

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star............

Over a week ago David was the Star Helper for the day in class. He got to share his "all about me" page (which is FASCINATING) with the class and be the line leader and teacher's helper during class. They made C headbands covered with pictures of carrots and cupcakes and a big letter C. He is a funny kid....loves to wear the hats he makes in class ALL day long. The other night I went to check on him in bed and he was wearing it, apparently VERY dedicated to the letter C. After class that day we met some classmates/friends, Joey Z. and Emily - plus families, at the world's most perfect playground. It's not far from where we live, but they don't want anyone who isn't a resident of the neighborhood to go there. (they even post signs to that effect) They have a water park... water cannons and showers and fountains that shoot up and buckets that dump when they reach capacity..... and on nice hot days, it's fabulous! There is also a GREAT play structure that is 3 levels high with great long/high slides, bridges to cross, ladders and different levels to climb.....things for all ages, there are swings and a official size basketball half court and a nice big grassy hill perfect for rolling down....and best of all, CLEAN bathrooms! It really is a perfect park. It was nice and sunny when we got there, then cloudy by the time we left. Just perfect! We had a great time there. Hopefully no one else will find out about this perfect park so I can continue to go there illegally without all sorts of riff-raff encroaching on my newly found nirvana. We played for a few hours then headed back home..... a really good day.

David and Emily

Joey Z. (Rosie's crush from last school year) He was running NON-STOP in the water from the moment he got there, I could barely get a picture.

Katia Z.

Skinny Loverboy

Oh Dear.... a Sign of Things to Come?

I was reading a book to Joey just now....no really, I was! (I had a slight lapse in crappiness at being a Mom) Anyway, I was looking at Joey's profile and saw a blonde hair about 3/8ths of an inch long right above his mouth. I went to pick it off....a good monkey, I mean Mom, always grooms her young, and found that it was attached....growing in his mustache area! Now, it would be a decent size hair for MY mustache....but I keep it groomed, so you would never know. So I assumed he had just picked up a random stray hair somewhere. Now, many of you have seen Andy with his shirt off, and after throwing up in your mouth a little :O, thought, wow....what a hairy guy! I just PRAY Joey isn't going to take after Andy in the body hair department. At least he will have a nice full head of hair when he's an old man.....you get your hair on your head through your Mom's father. My Dad has a nice head of hair. Rose's boys will be angry! Hope they like hats. Oh....and I was saving this picture of a guy I saw at the beach for an entry about finding someone hairier than Andy. I just hope this isn't a look into Joe's future!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow..............

Who says we don't have weather in San Diego? Yesterday it got downright chilly, dipping down into the mid 70's. It was beautiful out, and the kids were all out in the the front being young artists with sidewalk chalk. The sky was beautiful.....with actual clouds. I was gabbing with my friend Lisa when she looked up and noticed a rainbow. My kids have never seen one, so I was quite excited for them to see it. I'm sure it was more exciting for me to watch them see it. What a "mom" thing to say. I wonder when I became a dork.

I'll get you my pretty....and your little brother Joey too!" (This happens to be the same wind spinner we got my Mom for her birthday last week.)

Our version of the Ruby Slippers

It doesn't take much to get me excited about weather....I love beautiful clouds!

It's So Noisy at the Fair, But All Your Friends are There..............

Last Friday was Midland Elementary's Country Fair at school. This is a fund raiser for the PTA and school. Boy, they start pumping you for money early. School has been in session for little over a month and they have already had the gift wrap sale fund raiser and now the country fair. A good mother would fill her children up with a nutritious meal before heading to the event. I let my kids show up starving, knowing there would be plenty of crap I could fill them up with, thus, alleviating the need to feed them dinner later. It was a nice HOT day, leading up to a HOT evening. They had the fair out on the black top at the back of the school, which was still in the full sun for a good 2 more hours. I'm not a genius, but perhaps they should think about moving it 50 feet over to the grass, which would make it at least 10 degrees cooler. Perhaps I should join the planning committee? Black top it is! It was wretched hot.... but how is it that kids don't really notice or care? Anyway, a good time was had by all......my kids and niece & nephew won the cake walk, they played tug of war, sack raced, hula hooped, danced, they got their fill of snow cones, cotton candy, candy, popcorn..... and other good crap-ola! I got my fill of the free chili at the chili cook off, so there was dinner! What more could I ask for? Now.... the kids didn't fall asleep until.....well, I was asleep before them , so the sugar high was really Andy's problem, now wasn't it? Bring on the Spring Carnival!!

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain When She Comes.....

The weather has been pretty hot this past week with temps around 100 most of the days. When it's this hot, we pretty much stay in the house all day. You go stir crazy after a while..... the boys try to kill each other a bazillion times an hour. I can't take them to the park, they would burn their appendages on the screaming hot playground equipment. It's probably like places where it rains all the time and you are stuck inside. Thursday, I thought I would take the boys on an adventure. Rose is in school full day now, so we have time to do things. It was a beautiful, clear day as we've been having Santa Ana winds. It's hot, dry and uncomfortable on these days, but it sure makes for BEAUTIFUL views. We got in the car and headed out for some fun. We drove and drove and ended up at Palomar Mountain, to the top where the observatory is. The observatory is probably best known for its 200 inch Hale Telescope. There are more telescopes there too, a total of 7, but the most impressive has to be the big one. I think you probably have to be a little older to appreciate what an interesting thing the huge telescope is. The boys did think the pictures of the stars in the museum were pretty cool. They humored me while tried to talk up how amazing seeing the telescope was....but I think the highlight for them was watching the movie Kung Fu Panda on the ride there with all its awesome kung fu fights. "I'm Kung Foo Panda! No, I'M Kung Foo Panda!...no, I'M Kung Fu Panda.... no, you are BOTH Kungo Fu Panda!" It's a beautiful drive as you head up the mountain.....but very twisty and turny towards the top. At one point I looked back at Joey when we were almost there. He looked back with a stupor sort of stare in a delightful shade of gray. I knew I was in trouble when I noticed even his little lips were gray. My kids have never been car sick, so I was pretty surprised he looked so bad. He held on for a few more minutes and we made it to the observatory. We got out of the car, it was a FABULOUS 81 degrees, and he was fine.

On the drive back down, we stopped at a cute little restaurant we passed on the way up for lunch. I was sure this would be a great meal.....little hole in the wall places always seem to have the best food. I forgot to bring glasses in with me, but I was able to make out a club sandwich on the menu. I was pretty sure they would have french fries.....a staple in every kid's diet. Turns out they didn't......so we had to make due with tortilla chips. We were the only ones in the place, which didn't really surprise me. There were barely any people at the observatory either. Nice and empty....just the way I like it. We headed out back to some tables in a nicely wooded area. It really is pretty up on the mountain. It always amazes me what a diverse area we live in.....mountains, desert, beach, all within less than an hour or 2 drive. Our lunch came and my sandwich looked amazing. When I ordered, the gal told me they were out of sprouts, and would shredded lettuce be alright? (Sure! I didn't even know it was supposed to have sprouts!) Wow, this looks good, avocado, tomato, artisan bread....how interesting.... this has some interesting looking red crumbly things on it. It KNOW this is going to be GREAT! I took a bite and realized my awesome sandwich wasn't the standard bacon, turkey club...... this was made with genuine, from a jar bacon-bits! I ate the whole thing, so obviously I am not such a food snob that I won't eat Bac-os, but I don't think this sandwich even had any turkey. Had I had glasses with me, I would have read the fine print on the menu to find out what it was supposed to have on it. Perhaps it was a veggie club sandwich? I don't know.... but I recommend you get something other than the club sandwich if and when you eat at Mother's Kitchen Restaurant. No offense Mother!

There are still a LOT of burned trees on the mountain from a few years back when wildfires tore through here. I don't know how a forest recovers from that sort if thing. I guess it will take MANY years before it's green and lush like it was. I saw a firetruck up at the observatory. They have them spread throughout the county right now as it's just the start of wildfire season here. I don't ever remember major fires around here when I was a kid like there have been as of the last 6 or 7 years. Maybe my parents just never told me about them? Or perhaps it's all this global warming? Let's get Al Gore on it...........

Happy Birthday to my Supergreat Mom!!

Today is a very important date....my Mom's birthday. If not for her, there would be no Supergreat Me! Today Barbara Jean Edwards Heffernan turns 76. She is really a remarkable person. She travels more than anyone I know. Whenever anyone asks me about her, one of the first things they ask is where is going next? She has been to more countries than I can count. When I was just starting college (the first time around) she went on a safari..... Tanzania and some other countries, I think. This was a hardcore-carry a backpack and tent-it trip. She has the greatest picture that she took of the rear end of a lion taking a crap right near her tent. That picture hung in her house for the longest time amongst others from that trip. Her latest love is the cruise. She has been on MANY and is going on another in a few weeks. She watches my kids when not travelling so I can be a participating parent for preschool. I will start doing this for kindergarten soon too....we just need to work it out.

The boys and I took lunch to her yesterday as she had a doc appointment today. I feel a little bad that Rose didn't get to come and celebrate her birthday too, but it was a good time to go, so we took advantage of it. The boys picked out an adorable Halloween Wicked Witch on a bike wind spinner. I forgot to take the camera with us, so I don't have a picture to show.... but it's great. She really is amazing and I love her very much. Thanks for being my Mom, Mom.....and not stopping after 3 boys! Happy Birthday!! (The picture above was from her 72nd birthday celebration)

Mom with her brother-in-law, Carl. He and my Aunt LuAnn share the same anniversary as Andy and myself. LuAnn is my Mom's youngest sister....and Mom is the oldest. Can you tell she's my Mom? Bottle of Sierra Nevada in front of her? At-a girl, Babs!