Getting Back to Normal

Slowly my body is returning to normal. I'm still tired quite a bit, but then I have an excuse to take a long nap. The kids haven't spent too much time at home this summer, so they claim to not be too bored. They are very good at letting me rest. They would much rather have me rest at home then a hospital bed.

This weekend Samantha took a Baking class held by the recreation department of our city. She had so much fun along with our neighbor girl. Alex is old enough to take the class, so I promised that next time I would let him go. Samantha wasn't too pleased by that.

I took Alex over to Micheal's while she was baking where they were holding a free craft event for back-to-school kids. Of course, he talked me into buying him some craft projects. I'm a sucker for his cute face and eyelashes.


School starts on Tues. for these two and I can't wait. What I can wait for is the shuffle to and from two schools everyday. Hopefully I can work something out with my neighbors.

The kids are growing up fast. Samantha lost all of her baby teeth and is in need of braces. Alex desperately wants to be older and have a camera and MP3 player. Why does growing up take so much more money to do it?

Alex's first kite flight

This is Neil on Kellie's blog. She felt it was better for me to write about Alex's kite flying adventure, since I was there. I'll warn you, I bit more lengthy than my lovely wife. Well...here it goes.
Alex got a Spiderman kite from our friends', Greg and Melissa, for his birthday. He had been hounding me about flying it every five minutes. I kept telling him, "Son, it has to be windy to fly a kite." The Central Valley bakes like an oven in the summer, usually with little to no wind. Tuesday, however, was beautiful. There was enough wind to make my flag flap. Kellie and Samantha were both gone, so I told Alex, "Get your shoes son. We're gonna go fly your kite."
Alex could barely contain himself on the way over. When we got to the park, which is a large grassy drainage basin, we found it nearly empty. The wind had picked up considerably, as if in answer to my son's prayers. I explained to Alex how you have to keep the string tight and to always hang on tight. I told him if the string went slack, the kite would fall. We went over the launch procedures. I knew he wanted to hold the kite, so I was dreading the "kite launching run" I would have to do at 95 degrees. I noticed the kite was getting a little temperamental in the wind. I held it above my head and it launched!! Not one strained step did I have to take!! I let the string out about 10 yards and handed it off to Alex.
He was beaming.
He watched it as it flew about with the glorious red plastic tail flapping in the wind. It would dip and turn and dance in the air.
After about 10 minutes (an eternity for a five-year-old), Alex tired of our location in the middle of the park. I let out the string all the way. The kite soared at 50 feet. I'm sure Alex was hoping that it would have a near miss with an airplane as high as it was.
We began to move forward to a small hill flanked by trees. We sat down in the shade and watched his kite. Alex was getting a little bored. I believe the magic of flying a kite had worn off and now he was just thinking about the playground behind us. Just then, the string went slack and the kite plummeted 10 feet. As I yanked the string tight, the red and blue Spiderman wedge lept high completing a full loop!! Alex wanted to see it do a loop again. As I reached for the string to pull it slightly, Alex let go of the handle. The wind pulled the kite away with the handle dragging on the ground. I said, "Go get it Al!" He ran with all his might. He caught up to the handle twice. But as young ones are, they can't run and grab at the same time. He would stop, then try to reach for the handle. The wind harrassed my son as each time the handle would jump away. They were now about 60 yards away from me and I slowly realized this kite was not going to fall to the ground without string tension. It was approaching a major 4 lane roadway and took chase. You have to understand, I've been a motorcop for a year and a half now. We generally don't get in foot pursuits, so I'm a little out of practice. But I gave it my all. I passed Alex and lunged for the handle. Now the wind had a more formidable opponent - me. Unfortunately Mother Nature was the better. A large gust of wind blew the kite up and away entangling the handle on a tree branch about 8 feet off the ground. I was looking and planning how I was going to get the kite down as I heard my son wailing behind me. His cheeks were wet with big fat tears as his lips quivered. "My kiiiiiiiiiite!" he screamed. I got down on a knee and hugged him. I told him we could get it back and that I could climb up just a little bit and get it back. Alex calmed down and I turned around to the tree. To my dismay, the lower branch released its hold on the kite. The kite flew higher and caught on a branch about 20 feet above us.
I shook the tree. I kicked the tree. I hung from a lower branch and pulled vigorously. Nothing. It was stuck. The kite was flying strong about 70 feet in the air for all the passing motorists to gawk at.
We walked home, hand in hand, with my son's head hanging low. I told him we could get another kite, but he wanted his kite. We were home for about a half an hour when I remembered I had a collapsible pole used for changing lightbulbs on our high ceilings. I said, "Get your shoes on son." We drove my truck to the scene. I had planned on trying to reach it with the pole. If it wasn't high enough, I was prepared to drive my truck into the park and stand on the roof to get my son's kite back. As we got closer, we saw his kite. Still flying high. However, when we got up to it, we discovered that it had untangled itself from the high branch and the handle was stuck in another tree - about six feet off the ground. I simply reached up and freed it. We brought Alex's kite down with him jumping and dancing about. My son was thrilled. How many lessons did a five-year-old learn that day? I'll probably never know.

Alex under water

Alex loves to swim in our pool and has taught himself to do all kinds of things. He'll put on this diving mask and put his face under water. I got in the pool the other day and let him take his floaties off so he could swim free and clear.
He has no fear, so I had to watch him very closely. He can only touch the bottom by the ladder because the pool is a little uneven by the filter side.
But he's doing great for teaching himself. I've never had Samantha or Alex do swimming lessons because I thought it would be a waste of money when they have a pool of their own and can practice everyday.

Weeks Happenings

More and more I find I have less and less time to post on here. So I'll combine the week.

- My youngest sister Geena moved to Turlock last week and is renting a room in a house with a bunch of Christian girls. She'll be attending CSU in the fall and she plans on being here for about 4 years. We've been hanging out, going on walks at night with the kids on their bikes. We also both share a love of bargain shopping so we hit the Goodwill one day. She found a dress that she loved but it didn't fit. We took it home along with another dressed and I altered the sides for her and made it her size. She took it with her on her trip to Spain were she will be for the next 3 weeks.

- Samantha left for camp and I miss her greatly. It's quite and lonely here, even when Lyndee is in the house. I've noticed there is no fights or yelling! I'll go to Hume Lake to pick her up on Saturday. Can't wait!

- I registered for 2 classes for the fall. Yes, I'm doing it again. I can't give up even though I wanted to after my last online course. I'll take these two on campus this time. Both are Child Develpment and I've decided to work towards a cert. in preschool education. A small goal to accomplish first, then I'll think about the big picture of earning a degree.

Love Gelato

There is a place in town that our family frequents at least once a week. It's called the Frozen Cow (located on Crowel, across from the University). The owners is Cindy and she and her family are from Wisconsin, so she brought her love of "ice cream" to California in the form of gelato and custard. I found out yesterday that gelato actually has less fat than ice cream - about half the amount - but taste so much creamier and richer. The custard on the other hand is just as fattening, if not more. Her shop is decorated with a surf/cow theme and she always has new flavors to try. My favorites are rum, almond joy, and butter pecan. Samantha loves rootbeer and birthday batter, and Alex loves all things fruit flavored - he goes for a new flavor every time.

New Car for Kellie

(Old car..not mine, just a picture of one similar)
We traded in my 2003 Mitsubishi Montero for this economic beauty


It's a 2008 Hyundai Sonata. I had the Montero for 5 years and because of the cost of gas and repairs, Neil and I decided this is the perfect time for a new car. Actually, Neil has been looking at cars for the past year on the internet and I have just been saying, "No, NO, NO, I don't want a car payment." But with Alex finishing up preschool, we won't have that payment anymore and it works out to be about the same amount of money for the car payment. Plus, we will pay less in gas and insurance. We got a great deal thanks to my husband's detailed prepardness (he printed up everything and brought it with him to the dealership) My new car will save us a ton of money this summer because we will be driving to Minnesota and Wisconsin to see Neil's family. Neil is getting the car ready for travel and bought a GPS system on Ebay for $150 and a dual headrest DVD player for the kids in the back. Looks like we are all set...Oh, yeah, need the Dramamine for Alex!

Samantha's embarassing story and she would DIE if she knew I blogged it!!

So pool season has officially started at our house. That means lots of time outside, lots of extra kids at the house and lots of quiet for me!! Last week Samantha came running into the house to use the bathroom. I was in the garage with the laundry and when I came in I saw little wet footprint on the floor and Sam moaning and groaning in the bathroom, "Mom, I need you". I thought she might need a roll of toilet paper so I opened the door and in her most desperately ill voice said, "I have diarrhea." Are you sick I asked. Then the story unfolded like this: I was swimming in the pool and the jet was on and I was pushing off and letting the jet give me a boost and the water shot up my butt!!! (This story was told while she was sitting on the toilet) I told her she gave herself an enema. And then the look of devastation crept on her face because she has a deeply embedded memory of Neil and I giving her an enema when she was 4 on our bathroom floor the the horror she experienced. I told her the diarrhea would go away and she could go back into the pool. Oh yeah! This is one good story we can use against her for the rest of her life.


(Something like this!! (I don't know this kid, just liked the pic)

Summer Time (is almost here)

We started using our pool this year towards the end of March. It being rather on the frigid side, I haven't been swimming yet. The kids have used it about 3 days a week on average so far, but as Thurs. and Fri. we are supposed to see 100 degree weather. Neil says it's the best investment we've ever made. I agree, because it gives me plenty of quite time in the house while they are all out back. Alex is in LOVE with snorkel masks and borrows Sam and Lyndee's any chance he gets.

This is my vegetable "garden" this year. Every year I attempt to plant tomatoes, they become over grown and infested with aphids and Neil is the one that has to clean it up when it's all over. So this year, I decided to do three plants, a lemon cucumber, a yellow zuchinni, and a cherry tomato. Have you seen the Topsee Turbee on T.V. selling for $19.95? I made my own using plastic grocery bags I've collected. I used 3-4 each bags each, cut a tiny hole, pushed the plant through, added soil, then duct taped the bottom to help the plant stay put. I water every couple of days and now I have green tomotoes on the vine and flowers on the squash and cucumber. I plan on my garden fresh produce coming from Lyndee's grandpa's garden. He put in almost 30 plants. Anyone have a good salsa and pasta sauce recipe for canning?