DMAA

Yesterday was spent doing paperwork and picking up the new car. It's very nice but I need to have them look at the tires and balance then align them. It shakes when you brake and I can not have that. It's just not acceptable.

We spent most of today at the Woodstock Fair. DMAA did a demo...which I will add pictures to this later. Chase joined the children's class and it was nice..he seemed to pick up right where he left off.

We went and rented some movies, so we are heading upstairs to relax and watch those. Also, my friend Jenna is getting her house cleaned up and the last of her stuff moved into it. So I offered to take Jonah with us to the beach tomorrow. I did a little online research and there are two places we can go to. Either a beach, or a swimming hole. I will ask the boys which one they want to go to tomorrow. Personally, as long as I can kick back and relax..I don't care which one we go to.

OK, I'm taking the boys upstairs now.

Ginormous Stretch!

So you don't realize how attached to something you are until you start cleaning it out. I'm talking about the Cavalier. Chase and I cleaned it out today, scraped off stickers and took all our personal stuff out of it. Poor little thing looks naked. And I'm going to miss it. But tomorrow we are thinking that we get to pick up the Avenger.

I am going to let Chase ride the bus to school in the morning. This is a HUGE stretch for myself. I am over protective, I can admit that. I am fearful of losing my son as well. It's nerve wracking. But I will make it through this. I took a bunch of baby clothes to the school today and gave them to another mother who is going to have a boy. It feels good to help someone else out. I just hope she *pays it forward* as well.

It is going to be a busy weekend for us. Chase and I are going to visit with Jenna at the Woodstock fair. Both the boys will be participating in an DMAA Demo there. Two times, 11 am and 5 pm. So it will be a very long day for all of us. Thank goodness Sebastian travels well. I am thinking also that Sunday or Monday the boys and I will take a drive to the Beach. We don't know where, but we will find a beach. If I have too, I will ask my Mother in Law. She seems to know all the cool little spots.

OK, I'm going to not even worry about dishes tonight. I'm going to go crawl into bed and fall asleep.

Retirement of Memories.

Today was the start of a new moment in time for my family. I went through the processes and bought my husband a new car. For three years this man has done everything in his power to make sure the boys and I are taken care of. Now he is in this awful sand trap and is completely miserable because he can not be with his family. He has bought me diamonds. He has bought me a new car. I have nice clothes, camera's, all kinds of gadgets. So this one sacrifice I made for him. Well, aside from giving birth. But that was no big deal. LOL

I retired the Cavalier today and traded it in for Jim's new car. A beautiful shiny red Dodge Avenger. I added some pictures below, and as soon as the paperwork is finished it will come home with us. I will be driving it when I need to, but this is Jim's Welcome Home *We Missed You* gift. The only thing in this car that sucks in my opinion is that it is automatic. But we have the PT Cruiser if he has stick issues. LOL

Driven to Distraction.

Sometimes things happen in your life just to make you wake up. I got a phone call this afternoon that really shook up my world. Don't worry, Jim is OK. It had nothing to do with him. I will share more about this phone call once my world is squared away again.

I decided not to take our road trip because of this phone call. I want to try and make sure my stuff is all together just in case. So Ive been working on the house with chores. Laundry is almost done. I'm going to get Chase into bed soon so I can do the floors downstairs. His first day of second grade is tomorrow. And that is another thing driving me nuts. My baby is in second grade. I was just changing his diapers not long ago.

He has been having some issues the last few days with bed wetting. I was angry but then I pulled up some pages and learned quite a bit. For instance, bed wetting is a heredity thing. I think I may have wet my bed once in awhile, but I will be quiet and pin this one on my ex spouse.

Just a couple of little excerpts from what I read:

The most important thing to remember is that no one wets the bed on purpose. It doesn't mean that you're lazy or a slob. It's something you can't help doing. For some reason, kids who wet the bed are not able to feel that their bladders are full and don't wake up to pee in the toilet. Sometimes a kid who wets the bed will have a realistic dream that he or she is in the bathroom peeing - only to wake up later and discover he or she is all wet.

Some kids who wet the bed do it every single night. Others wet some nights and are dry on others. A lot of kids say that they seem to be drier when they sleep at a friend's or a relatives house. That's because kids who are anxious about wetting the bed may not sleep much or only very lightly. So the brain may be thinking, "Hey, you! Don't wet someone else's bed!" This can help you stay dry even if you're not aware of it.

So I was happy to know I was on the right track when I made Chase change his own sheets each time. But that's a lot of laundry. Oh wait. I like cleaning. Never mind.

OK, I'm going to take my over stressed mind and go tuck in my big boy.

Still there...

I still have a headache so I took some tylenol and am heading to bed. I will be up early in the morning to write this blog about San Francisco!

Santa Cruz

Nothing fancy tonight...just some pictures of our trip to Santa Cruz. My head is killing me and we have to get up early tomorrow morning to get Carter in for shots. It was a nice, quiet weekend..no drama. Got a couple of good phone conversations in with my husband. Messed with the GPS unit a bit. Started figuring out how and what to pack for our trip to Virginia. I'm excited yet a little scared at the same time. It is a long drive...but I will be able to mark more states off of my calendar and get some more shot glasses. The picture above was the view of the shoreline at Santa Cruz. We just stayed on the boardwalk as we were ill prepared to take the kids out into the sand.

Does anyone recognize that bridge? It was used to film one of the best almost cult classic movies ever! The Lost Boys. Remember the scene when he falls into the fog down below? And how far it seemed like he was falling? Yeah...you could stand a 6 foot person on my head and that is how far the ground really is from the bottom of the bridge.

That picture of the roller coaster could soooo be a post card, couldn't it?This is the water ride that I managed to somehow get the kids on...And the end result was this fantastic picture...My friend Andrea said this ride probably took about 5 years off her life...

By the time the kids got off this ride...a giant pirate ship that rocks back and forth...Chy had sunk clear down in the seat and was almost under the bar...I think she was scared...

The air ride that took you from one end of the Boardwalk to the other.

The kids playing on some of the arcade games along the walk way.

The world's greatest Grandma walking with her youngest and last Grandchild!

San Pablo...here we are!

San Pablo...Home to many of my family members. Just a few are listed below for all to enjoy. Last time I saw this part of my family I was still pregnant with Chase. So almost 8 years have passed. Amazing how time flies.

That is Great Grandma Oletha Marston holding Sebastian. Her last Great Grandchild. She was thrilled, yet saddened at the same time.
My Mother's youngest brother David is above with his daughter Courtney. Last time I had seen her she was almost 2. Now she is heading into private school. A beautiful young lady with a good heart. Uncle David and Courtney just couldn't get enough of Sebastian. It has been a very long while since they have had a baby in their midst. Sebastian slept really well that night.

The two pictures above are of my Uncle Don. His nickname my entire life growing up was *Indian*. Harley should have been his name. He and Uncle Odell are Harley collectors and have some beautiful cruisers in their little garage. God help the person who messes with their bikes.

The man above who seems to be napping is not Willie Nelson. Sorry to disappoint. It is actually my Uncle Tracy who lives a few blocks away from Grandma Leta. I absolutely love how that black and white picture turned out. Below are some random pictures I stopped and took along HWY 101 from Monterey on through to San Francisco.

Just a small note on the opposite end of the world here...Jim told me to go out and buy a GPS system as an early birthday present since some of you know I am taking a road trip next weekend. We are going to help a friend of mine Tonia celebrate True Love with her marriage to a wonderful man named Robb. It wont be a big ceremony, and there will probably be more kids than adults. But that will not matter in the slightest. She found what she wanted, and he got a wonderful woman with three beautiful children. As I was saying, I bought a Garmon Nuvi...Chase and I were messing with it this afternoon and it rocks! Did I mention how cool this little gadget is?