Miss Paige at Champs

All good things must come to an end.  Christmas day, vacation, my cup of medicine  Starbucks. And swim team. 

Last Saturday was Spirit Day. After a final practice and breakfast party, the kiddos had their hair 'did.' (Some by their own clueless moms). 

Nails were painted in team colors. Posters were made. Dolphin (mascot) tattoos were applied. Then it was off to home to shop/pack for camping rest up for the 'big day.'

We were greeted (at 6 a.m.) the next morning by a little gift from the team dolphin fairy. Armed with towels, food, and chairs, etc., we made the 40 minute trip to the meet. Whew! We made it in plenty of time for the 7:20 a.m. warm-up in chilly San Mateo.

We were so proud of our girl. She is still very much at a beginner level, but has made so much progress, receiving at least one personal best at each meet. She showed some nice confidence at Champs and beat her own record in breast stroke.

We were excited to capture her name on the big scoreboard a few times. Until next year... 

Another good news/bad news...

Since this is occasionally a food blog, I thought it apropos to share this milestone: Tonight, Saturday - mind you, I found cooking at home more appealing than going out to dinner (a favorite pastime of mine.) After swim team spirit day, boarding Mr. Cooper (sob), and camping prep, I couldn't wait to get home and play at creating my chopped salad. (It was ga-ood).

Maybe it has something to do with this book, which I've been reading and mentioning over and over.  Stories of the seasons of life and parenting, all mixed in with awesome recipes and strategies totally does it for me.

Oh, the bad news? After dinner I did some major stress-induced M&M snacking. Like, I ate a lot of them. Oh, well. One indulgence won't kill me, right? : )

Irish Supper Club Birthday time...

 Last night I had my first surprise party! Our Irish supper club celebrated me with a 'Hawaiian style' feast.  Even Cooper was invited.

Kids swam, and kids plus cooper scootered, biked and ran around the back yard.  As much as I enjoy 'grown up' outings, I also love the chaos and entertainment of the little ones around.  In the grown up genre of the evening though, I did try out Skinny Girl's White Peach Margarita. Yum!

Best of all I got such a thoughtful gift. An album of 40 great fabulous things about me.  Don't worry, I won't recount them all here.  Just a few of my favorites. They were compiled by friends, ranging in age from 4 to 46, + Ed and Paige.

 

Now we are on to swim team festivities and camping!

Mom Cave update

Good news and bad news. 

I personally always like the bad news first. 

The bad news is that my Mom cave was put on hold earlier this summer.  I've dubbed this the summer that everything broke. Our computer broke (fixed), our pipes are making noises (occasionally; ignoring for now), our water softener is on the fritz as well (Ed trying to fix), I did something to my back (dr. visit, blah, blah, blah) and finally the air conditioner in my car just died (during the first week that temps hit in the 90's). Lovely.

What an uplifting blog, right? Aren't you so glad you are reading? Oh yes, the good news.  (I've got to switch over to gratitude mode quick before the universe sends more bad news, yes?) : ) : )

I've been casually looking for a new desk for the mom cave (even though the big things aren't happening) and found the one below.

Due to some scratches which I can take care of, I got it for $100, with a little negotiation. Not bad, huh?

I've dabbled with how to do the rest of the room once I can get around to it. I'd been considering a yellow and grey color scheme. Then I saw these pillows and though, wouldn't an Americana color scheme be fun too??  All I have in the room that is worth saving (and worth saving is a s-tre-tch)is a white couch, so it is a blank slate. What do you think?

All from Cost Plus, if you can believe it, by the way!

New Brighton Camping and R & R

My friend A at Here I am is planning an international move and her blog is all about how she's juggling a ton of stuff in preparation, yet still finding time for lots and lots of fun.  One of her themes is (loosely), 'when you are happy and motivated you can pack an enormous amount of activity into a day.'  I'm trying to take that advice. I have a bunch of projects I want to get done this summer, but I keep getting bogged down by the 'every day' stuff. 

For example: the other night I got together with the girls for a planning meeting re: our New Brighton Camping Trip.  Ahh, planning meetings. I had flashbacks to our Las Madres days where we had dialouges about which parks to select for our next quarter meeting dates, debating proximity of bathrooms, amount of shade, and popularity of play structure.  For our camping trips it's all about exactly how many eggs we'll need, and where we can get the best deal on hot dog buns.

(Ken hop refers to Ken cooking pancakes). Of course, in between making grocery lists, we had a lot of laughter. It was girlfriend time, after all.

We have tomorrow to wrap up several camping trip details, including taking Mr. Cooper to a daycare and doggie boarding eval. (After much consideration, he won't be coming with us this time.)  Hopefully he will be 'checking in' to his pooch hotel Saturday. Saturday and Sunday are all about Miss Paige's out of town Champs' swim meet, and we leave bright and early for camping on Monday!

I'm hoping to do a fair amount of the activity above while we are there!

July days

Summer is speeding by and full of fun. We haven't had a minute to be bored, and are no two days are alike.  Here are a few things we've been enjoying... 
 

Swim team! Here is Ed giving Miss P a congratulatory hug after an event. He so digs his big hat. P is not Olympic-bound, but is improving and has achieved at least one personal best at each meet. I am kept busy fielding many team emails, getting to all the events, and trying to remember everyone's names.   

For some downtime in the evenings, we've been enjoying our new favorite family show, Good Luck Charlie. It is on Disney Channel, and is part of an effort to move past the tween/teen market and appeal more to the whole family (parents too!) Check it out! (BTW, no kickback from Disney, but if they'd like to send us to their park in exchange for promotion, I'm all over it!) : )

Side note for all of you fashionistas, Miss Paige was excited to see that Target (in their D-Signed line) even has some clothes inspired by one of the Good Luck Charlie characters, Teddy Duncan.  The other day we were shopping for some fun things and made this discovery. We didn't get anything from that line, but found a different cute top and some things for friends' birthdays. Paige was so happy, she said she was 'in heaven.' Mother/daughter shopping. Yes, it is heaven!  I got to enjoy pedicures and manicures with my mom as part of a big birthday celebration weekend she planned for me. Maybe turning 40 isn't too bad....


We've been walking Mr. Cooper faithfully and he has worked himself up to quite a hike.  I've been creating some dog toys for him to use (he doesn't seem to get the Kong) and have been teaching him how to use them.  It's working!  He has made his first trip now to the famed Santana Row, and I think my 'mom cave' might become a 'Cooper cave,' so that I have one place to stash all of his stuff neatly. Being home a lot has made me very house-anal. 

One of my favorite things about summer is pigtails, tank tops and flip flops (class act, I know). Today I rocked all three of these, and we had some friends over for an impromptu feast, to finish off the food from my family birthday dinner. I love being able to have friends over on a Sunday night, enjoy the sun, and not worry about getting up early and work the next day.  Pigtails, little/no make-up and sporty clothes just kind of adds to the carefree-ity of it all. : )

We played a fun game that I lifted from 3 Peanuts. In the game, you place a random sentence under each person's dinner plate. They then have the task of working that sentence into the conversation without being detected.  I even had a prize I'd been setting aside for the winner.  Some examples:

"I like the big ones that are made of plastic."
"I think that happened once in an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati."
"I actually love fanny packs."

You get the drift. It was a fun way to get the creative juices flowing and for everyone to listen carefully to each other. I can't believe that for me, summer is half over.  I'm going to try and continue to join every minute!

Heroes

 

Awhile ago, in this post I talk a little about my fab girlfriends and how they inspire me. 

I've had a chance to be inspired again. 

A couple of amazing moms I know have recently experiened trajedies -- one huge, and the others small. These women have kept it together, with unbelivable grit and jaw dropping grace and positive attitudes.  It has really given me pause, when I think of things lately that are weighing on me, that I would typically stress/complain about. How does this really measure up?

On kind of a related note, Peas and Thank You recently did a post about VBS week at her church and their theme of Superheroes. The context was kind of 'everyone can be a hero,' by demonstrating caring and gratitude toward others.  Here are some of the ideas we can do (that she shared):

•Pack resalable plastic bags with toothbrush/paste, soap, socks, granola bars, etc. and drop them off at shelters or with the homeless.

•Let someone go ahead of you at the bank or the grocery store.


•Leave a kind, supportive comment on a blog or website (not necessarily this one).


•Donate gently used grown-up books to your local retirement homes and care facilities and used children’s books to libraries, churches and shelters.


•Leave an Operation Beautiful note.
•Push your neighbor’s empty garbage cans from the curb to the side of their house.


•Write a thank you note to someone who you appreciate (your mailman, garbage man, the local fire or police department, that extra nice grocery clerk).


•Give a stranger, a friend, a child, a spouse (or all four) a sincere compliment.


•Take a picture of yourself wearing a superhero shirt or logo (or any shirt + a huge smile) and send it to “Superman Sam,” a Wisconsin six year-old battling Leukemia.
I am really excited to try these ideas, and am posting a list on my fridge. 
 
I feel so lucky to be in the company of so many inspiring women.  I don't know about you, but I'm always wondering how I can be my best self (OK, Oprah) best contribute to my world. I have some good ideas!