A rare rainy day in sunny California. The three year old and I finally got to wear our rainboots and spider umbrella. There's nothing like experiencing the weather through your senses rather than observing it through a window!

This week I've been gathering succulents and planting them in my front yard. It so much fun and now I'm totally addicted. I've also been gathering some rocks to add to the landscaping project. Not only is it fun, but it's a great workout too. I've only so much free time with a three year old, so I have to choose my projects. This week the inside of my house has been totally neglected. But the garden is starting to take shape!

Hayden "shaving" in the bath tub...

Out on a powerwalk and some fun in the park with Hayden. Love this weather, the air is so fresh and crisp after the rain.

Out on a light trail walk with Hayden. Just saw a coyote. Hayden missed it unfortunately. "Look, a coyote", I said. Hayden looked up, "what's a cabode"....too late! Gone in the bushes!

We have two birthdays coming up this weekend. My boys are turning 20 and 3 years old respectively. The older one on Friday the 1st, and the younger one on Saturday the 2nd. Man, am I going to be busy. The older one will be coming home from UCSB and I'm making a huge pastadinner on Friday night. It will be mostly family and family friends attending. On Saturday morning we will host the toddler's 3 year birthday bash in the park. I have about 18 kids and their parents who have rsvp'd "yes"....Good thing I didn't decide to have it at the house. 18 three year olds!!! I should have my head examined. So, this week I have to plan party favors, bake cupcakes, prepare appetizers for the adults, and plan the activities. And that's on top of finishing up my personal training exam certification this week. My life is crazy at times, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Just came from pilates. Great class today! And Hayden had a blast at the gym's kid club. He was running around chasing som girls when I came to get him : )

Love it when my almost three year old tells me "Good job mamma,you did it", as I climb up a ladder on the play equpment in the park!

In the park practicing our scootering skills. I walked and Hayden scootered from our house. So fun watching him improving his skills.

Just got out of the Ellen show,,,one word...amazing. Ben Afleck was there. We were in the front row. So, if you happen to watch Ellen we're on tomorrow's show at 4pm : )

Going to see Ellen de Generes today. Last time we only had standby tickets and didn't get in, but today we have guaranteed tickets...yeay!

At the mall to browse. Can't wait to come back during preschool hours ; )

I guess we have decided on our Halloween costume already...

I feel so broke. Haven't had an income for 10 months, and the bills and expenses are never ending. I know it was my choice to quit my job to stay home with Hayden, but there have been quite a few unexpected expenses. There has been car troubles, my trip to Sweden in April, and increases in tuition costs. And now I have to go to Sweden again. Probably in November. My dad is living on borrowed time, so hubby, Hayden and I will probably go in November. I have to start making money soon to help pay for all this. I sure hope my health certifications that I'm working on will pay off. But what if I don't get any clients? Times are rough for a lot of people. Will they prioritize their health and pay for personal training and nutrition counceling? Or do I have to go back to hospital nursing? I hope not! But, that's my biggest fear.

Just ran with Hayden in the jogging stroller for the first time in a long time. I was definetily breathing hard. I can blame it on the hot weather, but I think I'm a little rusty. Phew!

Living life uncluttered

I'm helping my lovely bonus daughter unclutter her life. First we took care of her finances, so that her credit scores won't go down the toilet. We linked our accounts, so that I can help her budget and monitor her spending. We paid off all her bills and store credit cards and cut them up, after closing the accounts. Then we breathed a deep sigh of relief before we went to tackle her room. That was the next thing on our clutter list. We took out three bags of trash and three bags of clothing to give to charity. Now we could actually see what her room looked like, and I think we can actually fit her clothes and shoes in the closet space and drawers provided. What an accomplishment! We all make mistakes, but hopefully we learn fom them and move on. My poor girl had been so stressed out that it affected her physically and mentally. Of course she waited until last minute to tell us her dilemma.I hope she can now sleep well at night!

Just woke up from a nap after the birthday party, and of course is full of energy and ready to go. Mamma, not so much, so she put out some paper and paint so he could just go to town.

Went to a kid's birthday party today. One of Hayden's little friends turned 3. He had a lot of fun until it was time to leave...then he turned into a nuclear meltdown. Not fun for the parents! I felt bad for my poor hubby carrying a kicking and screaming 43 lbs toddler. Hayden has a lot of friends and they're all turning three within the next couple of months which means we have a few more of these parties to attend. Not to mention Hayden's upcoming birthday in October...oh joy!

At Memphis airport awaiting our connecting flight to LA. It's an hour and a half delayed. Left Buffalo at 8 am this morning. It's been a long day for the little one. Hope they make a boarding call soon before he blows a gasket!

Feeding frenzy at the fish hatchery...

At the fish hatchery...

Visiting grandpa...and holding a kitten.

Just landed in Springfield Missouri...phew! It was a small plane. I dont like small planes.

In Memphis awaiting our connecting flight to Springfield Missouri...It's been a long night

Got hubby an I pad for his birthday. 32 gigs and 3G! Do you think he'll like it?

Trying to find a kids cd player in Toys r us and all they have are these flimsy walkman type players with headphones. I want Hayden to be able to play his music cds loud and dance around to them. I have all these great kids music cds and now they've become obsolete???

Packing for Missouri. Taking the red eye from LAX early, early Thursday morning...1:40 am flight..,yawn!

Hayden practicing his bicycle skills with his proud parents watching.

Glasses or Longer Arms

Just had my eyes checked. Definitely need reading glasses. And I had tried to get away with my ugly dollar store glasses. To heck with those. Since I now officially have hit middle age I got myself some nice Valentino frames! Because I'm so worth it!

Summer Fit Challenge

Did this three weeks summer fit challenge. Today was the last day. I signed on to it to support a friend who needed the encouragement and assistance in her weight loss journey. Must say we did pretty good until I fell off the wagon today...the last day. Good thing I did my measurements before my binge.

So the rules were to team up with someone else, record weight and measurements at the start and end of the program, then eat healthy and exercise 3 to 5 times a week. It wasn't so hard for me since this is what I do on a regular day, but I definetily cut my treats down to petty much nothing. I am huge red wine and chocolate fan and had basically none of that for the 3 weeks. I say basically because I did cheat once last Saturday. I had both red wine and cheese and crackers which I had completely eliminated for the whole time previously.

But today, the last day, I really thought I was going to be extra super good. That was until a friend called me and asked if we could do lunch at In and Out Burger. I didn't just eat a lot; I ate a crap load. Not only did I eat a huge cheeseburger and fries, but I also ate half of Hayden's burger, half of his and his sister's fries!!! Don't know what came over me. Oh well, who's to now right? Got my measurements taken before. So in spite of my pig out I had lost 3 pounds and an inch off my waist and hips...not bad. Not that I needed to or wanted to loose weight. I just wanted to support my friend and see if I could.

Meeting a tarantula on our walk today....cool, huh?

Picked this cucumber and cherry tomatoes from my garden tonight. Love home grown stuff!

Out to lunch in Santa Barbara with my boys. Aren't they cute together? Can't believe my boys are turning 3 and 20 in October. Where did the time go?

A sleeping gorilla...

...forgot the cardboard to slide down the hill.

Having fun at Santa Barbara zoo...

I love living in Southern California. When you're out and about you never know who or what you're going to bump into. Two weeks ago a mountain lion (puma or cougar are other names), and today a huge rattle snake!

We had a fun powerwalk and playdate today. Thought Hayden would go down for an early nap, but no. He is in the pool with one big sister while I'm picking up the other from summerschool.

It's been an interesting morning, and it's only 10 am. Started off with an early hike at 7:30 with my husband spotting a mountain lion! I'm walking in my own little world staring down at the trail as the sun is already relentlessly beating down on us. All of a sudden my husband exclaimed "That's a BIG bobcat!" I look up and it's gone. My husband starts describing it to me, "It was a large cat with a long tail that leapt across the trail as it spotted us 30 feet away". Problem is, bobcats don't have tails. It was a mountainlion...oops! My husband reported it! And now I'm sitting in my backyard watching the toddler and his best friend Viv splashing around in the kiddie pool. Well, life is an adventure. So bummed I didn't spot the lion. What a treat that would have been!

Look at my two super heroes in the mall. A couple of scarves and a little imagination goes a long way...!

Leaving Las Vegas...!

The little darling in our hotelroom...inpatiently waiting to go to dinner.

Eating a banana on our way to Vegas! Ceasar's Palace here we come!

On our way home from the beach with two exhausted little beachbums. Too much fun can be taxing! Did I mention I love my life as a stay at home mom?

Look at my boys! How cute are they? They insisted on these funny looking goggles.

Taking a break in the mall playground. Busy day today visiting Toys r us and then the mall. Hopefully we'll sleep good tonight!

Having fun in the park.

Monday Morning

Just finished a great cup of chai tea...mmmm...so yummie. Had a great day yesteday at Venice beach and on Third Street. It seems like when it's just the family we don't do too much on the weekends, but now with family visiting from Sweden, we're having a pretty busy schedule. I'm quit enjoying it.

Venice beach was packed, and the weather was perfect. Having two little boys with us, Hayden and his cousin Morgan, we couldn't run into too many stores, but it was okay. I still managed to buy a pretty black dress and some t shirts for my boys.

After Venice we headed up to third street promenade and it was pretty busy there as well. Had an early dinner at an expensive Italian restaurants because all the cheaper places were packed. Had planned to spend $50 on dinner, and ended up spending $132...ouch! After dinner we strolled around third street and soaked up the fun atmosphere. I always say this, but we should do this more often!

Post Concert Thoughts

The ABBA tribute at the Hollywood Bowl last night was amazing. We all sang along and felt nostalgic. I remember being in my teens and not thinking ABBA was so hot, but now I realize how huge they were. The Bowl was packed and everyone there were dancing and singing along. What a great feeling. Some people were dressed in retro ABBA style, and there were a couple of gay guys dressed in silvery mini dresses, and silver plattform shoes and huge blond wigs. Did I mention they were already big guys, and with the plattforms they were huge. So funny watching them making their way around the audience soaking up the attention they got. Hilarious!

Today we're heading to Santa Monica with my family from Sweden. A little 3rd Street, a little Venic Beach and maybe a little mall shopping. I'm so looking foward to it. It's been awhile since I've been there.

At the Hollywood bowl watching a "Tribute to ABBA" like a true Swede...What are you all doing tonight?

Spend the time and money to have my nails done, and three days later one nail broke off. Haven't done my nails since I got married seven years ago. Should have realize that doing housework with acrylics is not a good idea! It's hard enough using my touch tone phone with these babies. Definitely not for me!

Little boys and cars...

Two little cousins at play!

I'm at the airport waiting for my brother and family to arrive. I have thirty minutes to kill before they land, and there are no newstands or coffee shops at this terminal. Everytime I'm at LAX to pick someone up I'm either way late or way early. What's up with that? It's not that I leave my house way too early or late. It's the goddamn traffic on the 405 that's so hard to predict. Twenty years ago it took me 45 minutes to get here, and now it's usually an hour and a half. Last week I came to pick my mother in law up, and I left the house an hour and a half before scheduled arrival. Guess what? I was one hour late due to a bad accident. Today I gave myself the same amount of time, and I'm 30 minutes early. Could really use a cup of coffee. Yawn...!

Sitting at the car wash waiting for my car to get spic and span. I'm picking up my brother and his family tonight from LAX, so the car needs to be presentable. And trust me, it was not! Washing my car never ends up high on my priority list, but it should. I feel so much better driving a nice clean car with a fresh scent of yasmin...yes that's my favorite airfreshener. At least at this place!

Post Graduation Thoughts

Woke up at 5 am to say goodbye to my mother in law who was flying back to Missourri after spending a few days with us celebrating the middle daughter's high school graduation. The other set of grandparents left on Friday. So, now it's just us for a day before we get an invasion of Swedes. Jokes aside, I do look forward to my brother and his family's visit. It's just that it's been so hectic here that we haven't had much time to breath. I got back from Sweden 3 weeks ago. The renovations from the waterdamages were just completed days before gaduation guests arrived.
We've spent a lot of time and money to pull everything together, and I still have a bunch of loose ends to tie, but oh well, we'll get there too I suppose.

So the middle daughter just gaduated. She will enter community college in the fall and hopefully transfer to UCLA in two years. That's her plan, she says. Well, her boyfriend just moved out of his parents' and into his own appartment. So, how long do you think before she leaves the nest and joins him? She turns 18 in July. I can just pray that she keeps a good head on her shoulders and realize that wanting adult priviliges entails adult responsibilities. Yes, I can see how exciting it may sound to have your own place, but paying bills and dealing with other adult responsibilites may side track her from her educational path. And that would be a shame!

Spending an afternoon in the park after a hectic week of graduations and all that it entails. We've had a house full of guests, and now we have a moment's rest before the next set of guests arrive. So, we're enjoying the moment.

Hayden finally let me cut hos hair...not perfect, but definetily an improvement!

Hayden finally let me cut his hair...with the promise of ice cream afterwards!

Having fun at the park...

...an ant eater! What a strange animal. It's usually always been sleeping when we've been here before.

Spending the day at SB Zoo with my boys...!