The Butler

Tonight Twerp #1 and I were at the park on a "date." On the way home, we had a very interesting conversation...actually, it was mostly him doing the talking. Here is our conversation:

Twerp #1: Mom, did you know that there is a yogurt company that is giving away $5,000? Why would they do that?

Me: I don't know. Maybe it's so they can get more people to buy their yogurt...

Twerp #1: Yeah, maybe. But they're also giving away a 3 night/4 day stay to New York City too. It even comes with a butler! Isn't that cool?

Me: Yeah, do you know what a butler is?

Twerp #1: No. What is a butler?

Me: A butler is a person that you can ask to do things for you...get you things...clean things for you.

Twerp #1: Oh, so they're a slave.

Me: (giggling). No, a slave doesn't get paid. You have to pay a butler to do things for you.

Twerp #1: Ohhhhh...that's why they're giving you $5,000...so you can pay a butler!

Me: (giggling more). Well, it probably comes as part of the prize. You can probably spend the $5,000 on other stuff...not the butler.

Twerp #1: OK. It sure would be nice if we could go and buy some yogurt, mom.

Me: Yeah, that'd be nice.

Can you believe that a 7 year old knows what a butler is, or not in this case...well, now he does. I don't think I knew what a butler was until I saw a bad episode of Matlock. My, how times change.

Hands Free Law!

We have a new law here in California. It's the Hands Free Law. That means that you can't talk on the cell phone while you're driving. You simply can't hold the phone up to your face. However, if you don't have a headset, you can just text someone the message. Can you believe that? How stupid! I can't believe that I can't call my friend to let her know that I'm late, but while driving down the 5 freeway I can text her to let her know. Dangerous? Yeah, I think so.


So a couple of weeks ago I went to AT&T Mobility to find something that would allow me to talk on the phone. I asked for one of those ear buds that has the microphone further down the wire and then plugs into your phone. I was told (by the punk behind the counter), "Mam, those are old technology. What you need is Bluetooth." First of all, Mam? Didn't like that one bit. Call my mother mam, but not me! Secondly, old technology? I don't think so. I said, "Typewriters are old technology. TV's without a remote are old technology. Cell phones with a wired headset...not so much. Can I see what you have?" Again, the punk behind the counter said, "Well, mam, we don't sell those old types of headsets. I have this Bluetooth to show you." I walked out.


That night we called Radioshack. Actually, I called 8 of them. None of the stores had the item I was looking for: "Mam, we have a Bluetooth..." Blah, blah, blah. The next day I looked at the Bluetooth things at Costco. It was cheaper than at AT&T Mobility...and since no one had the wired headsets...I forked over the money.


I hate Bluetooth. It needs to be charged. Ugh...something else to have fully charged before we get in the car. I have trouble just keeping my cell phone charged. Plus, with kids in the car, Bluetooth is hard to talk with. Let's say that I'm talking to my sister. We're having a nice chat, but then the kids start to argue about something. BB (before Bluetooth), I could have said, "hold on a second" and then put the phone face down on my leg before telling the kids to be quiet and stop fighting. But now, AB (after Bluetooth), I can only turn around and my sister gets to hear me yelling at my kids. Lovely. Just lovely.


AB (after Blutooth) I can barely talk on the phone because it's not always charged - the Bluetooth I mean. If it is charged, then my cell phone is not charged. If it is charged AND my cell is charged, then the people that I'm talking to get to hear my kids (and me getting after my kids) just as much as they get to hear me. Bluetoth sucks. I hate it. Thanks California for making me want to text rather than talk. But, I don't know how to text...yeah, old school. Sigh. I guess I'll just talk to my kids and husband in the car from now on.


BUT...a few days ago I got an email from my friend. It made me smile, people! Why didn't I think of this myself! I'm sure in my 80's box I have a wide headband somewhere! This guy is genius!!!

Engrish

With the Olympics starting in just a couple of weeks, China has started to remove all "English" signs since many times they aren't acurately translated. Here are some of my favorite pictures of labels that have been translated "not quite up to standard."

What in the world?!? I'm hoping this is a foot cream that removes tough skin on the bottom of the feet...
Holy Smokes! The rambling just goes on and on and on...where's the women's lip balm, by the way?
Handle with cake? That's something that I can totally do!

Why I am who I am...

I know that I'm different. I know that I'm not your typical Southern California Beach Babe. I know that I have different things that make me "tick" than my other girlfriends. I think it's because of where my parents came from...the midwest. They raised me on a midwest mentality. You know...come home for dinner and eat as a family...clean for 2 hours on a Saturday morning before you can play with your friends...watch The Cosby Show every week as a family...attend Sunday School, church and Wednesday night...go for picnics at the beach...camping in the summer...road trips...


Yeah, it's a midwest mentality. It's because of who my parents are. It's because of where they come from and why they didn't get sucked into the California lifestyle. It's because of extended family and frequent trips back to Minnesota. My Dad has a cousin who lives on a farm near Hendricks, MN. 3 summers ago, Stephen and I took the 3 Twerps out there for a long weekend. We spent the greatest vacation with them playing on the farm, going on tractor rides, playing in the creek, watching the kids play hide and go seek behind the large headstones in the country cemetery up the road.


Beverly occasionally sends me emails and pictures. They're almost always an Ole and Lena joke, one of the "you're my friend" emails that goes around the internet, or pictures from home. This morning, I got a picture from home and I thought I'd share it with you so you can maybe see why I am who I am.

This is the message that went out with her picture: "This is Melvin's newest old tractor - Melvins, grandson, Dan Lewis on tractor, and Gail are pictured. It's a 1941 John Deere B, and I thought I'd include you in the list to whom I sent the picture. They hauled it about 100 miles from Sisseton, South Dakota, where the previous owner had just used it in their local town parade and got 4th place in the "slow tractor" race."

How great is that? I love Melvin and Beverly for letting a friend use their tractor 100 miles away for the "slow tractor race!" If I had a tractor and my friends wanted to borrow it, I'd let them too! I guess it's that midwestern menatlity!

Pool

So, I was on one of my favorite blogs - scribbit.blogspot.com - when I came across this pool table made from three pieces of felt, 10 marbles, one shooter, a couple of straws and a pencil. Super cool. We went out and got some felt and made a pool table. It was one of the best mornings we had. After the pool table was made, the kids went into our spare room and played pool for at least an hour. Do you know what an hour of quiet, non-trouble, worry free time means to a girl like me? It heavenly. Pure bliss. My girl even looks like she's a hustler with that scrap of straw hanging out of her mouth like a cigarette. Here's our finished pool table. Just imagine the hours of play time I've gotten out of it in the last week or so...Ahhhh...I get happy just thinking about it. "Hey kids, who wants to play a game of pool?" Ooohhh, they're all running to the spare room right now...

And...her cast is off!

Twerp #2 and I went to the doctor yesterday to get her cast off. It has been a long time since I've had a cast taken off and it was fun to see how they "do it." Here are some pictures of Twerp #2 in the process...

Here we are before we go into the doctor's office.

Then, they put on ear muffs and take a saw to the cast. It was really loud, but Twerp #2 wasn't scared because she hardly heard anything.

Here are the cuts that the doctor made on each side of her cast. It was then pried apart (no pictures, they were blurry)...

Then the doctor cut through the waterproof underlining and the blue steel tape...and took the cast right off!

She was a little unsure if she could straighten out her arm yet. The doctor wiped off the dust and took her to get her arm x-ray'd.

She got her arm re x-ray'd and it was all healed.

This is as far as she could straighten her arm that day. We have a little bit of "playing" to do to get her arm straight again. It was stiff...but should only take a few days of swimming and park and fighting with her brothers to get all the kinks worked out.

My tough girl...
She was so happy! The smile didn't leave her face for the entire day. We took her cast home and tried it on the boys. Twerp #3 loved having a "broken arm" for awhile. However, Twerp #1 was too big and it didn't fit on his arm...not even close.

OK...I was just about to end this post when Twerp #3 came in the office with his underwear down on one side of his hiney. He was complaining that Twerp #1 bit him on the cheek! I could see a faint red circle. When asked why he bit his brother on the bottom he said: "Well, he always pinches me on the bottom and I've asked him to stop! He won't stop pinching me...so I decided to bite him. That'll get him to stop, won't it Mom?" I guess so. Hopefully. It's a method I haven't tried before. We'll see if it works and if it does?!? Who knows what'll be happening in the Margala household.

What does a couple mean?

Tonight we were at dinner - literally 5 minutes ago. This is the conversation that we have...

Twerp #1: "Can I be done with dinner?"

Dad: "Eat a couple more bites."

Twerp #1: "How many is a couple?"

Dad: "15"

Mom: "Actually, a couple means two."

Cousin: "Yeah, a couple means two."

Dad: "When Mom says she'll be there in a couple of minutes, is she ever there in just two?"

Twerp #1: "No. I'll eat 15"

Oops. I guess I need to be more accurate when I tell my kids I'll be there in a couple of minutes. I'll also have to think of something that Stephen does and tease him mercilessly for a "couple" of weeks!

Thoughts from Twerp #3

I'm going to admit that this might not be entirely appropriate from the get go. I've been thinking about it all night (seriously I woke up thinking about Twerp #3's thought) and woke up tired in my brain! Basically I had decided that I wouldn't make a post about the following until Twerp #3 told me the same thing this morning. Then...I decided that the "wisdom" of a 4 year old just had to be shared with ya'll.

Last night, Stephen and I were sitting on the couch and Stephen told me about a discussion that he had with Twerp #3. It sounded eerily familiar to the conversation I had this morning. It went something like this:

Twerp #3: "Mom, did you know that boys are smarter than girls?"
Mom: "No, I didn't know that. I don't believe that's true."
Twerp #3: "Mom, boys are smarter than girls because girls have small brains and boys have big brains. Girls have smaller brains than the boys. Plus, boys have penises! And that's why boys are smarter than girls. Boys have a penis and girls don't have them...so boys are smarter...cause they have a penis."
Mom: "Ohhhhhhhhhhh"
Twerp #3: "Yep. I'm right. Cause I'm a boy and I'm smart."
Mom: (chirp, chirp, chirp) silence ensues.
Mom: "Maybe you'd better go and get dressed for the day. Then find something to play with your brother and sister."

At this point, Twerp #3 walks out of the room singing the "I'm smart" song to himself. I'm totally shocked. I guess I just thought that his conversation with Dad was partly exaggerated. I don't think that I really believed him that he'd really stated with full conviction exactly those thoughts. I even had to ask again to get it on video. Please don't watch if the topic offends!

By the way, did you know that when you upload a video, you have to state that it does not contain obscene material? I hope the video doesn't qualify! :)

Well, there's not much more I can say to you all...I do have a big job ahead of me to teach my kid where the brains are in the body. I just hope he doesn't take this way of thinking with him to preschool in the fall. Yep...I've got a big job ahead of me.

Lip Gloss

Well...I'm coming up on my 9th anniversary this month. It's flown by. Many things have changed, but there is one constant in our marriage. Lip Gloss.

Who would have thought that Lip Gloss would be the "X-factor" of us? Stephen is color blind. I knew that when I married him. I also realized early on that he couldn't tell if I was wearing makeup or not. In fact, one day before kids, I went upstairs to get ready to go out on a "date." I came downstairs wearing a dress and with makeup on half my face. Yep. Right down the middle. I went all out too. I had eyeshadow, mascara, lip and eye liner, blush, foundation, powder...anything that Cover Girl made, I had it on. I admit, I looked awful...just plain goofy. Well, Stephen took one look at me and told me I looked beautiful. I excused myself (said I forgot something upstairs) ran upstairs to wash my face and went back down.

It was easy for me. I didn't need to worry about makeup. After all, if my husband can't tell the difference, then why should I wear it? I mean, he's the one that I need to impress, right? So, for the last 9 years, makeup has been very easy for me. There is one thing...sometimes, I like a little lip gloss, chapstick...anything that makes the sandpaper on my lips go away.

It just so happens that immediately after applying the lip gloss, warning bells go off in the house. Stephen will come to give me a kiss goodbye and recoil from the sight of lip gloss. It's as if there is a physical barrier between the two of us...a shiny barrier. Now that I think about it, I should be thankful that he even kissed me at the altar on our wedding day. I was most definitely wearing lip gloss that morning.

So the other night, I probably didn't help my "cause" very much. I had put on a "plumping gloss" - one that makes your lips tingle a little bit. (I know this post really isn't for the boys here...) Stephen and I were out without kids and when he wasn't expecting it, I gave him a kiss. Just a little peck on the lips. No biggie. However, I forgot that it was the tingling kind of gloss. It took him a while to figure out why his lips were (in his words) burning. He thought it was the food. He thought it was the drink. He tried to think of anything that would cause that "horrible feeling" on his lips. And then he remembered. He remembered that little peck and he asks, "Are my lips burning because of the stuff on your lips?"

Hmmmm...how does a girl answer this? A nice wife would have apologized and swore not to do it again. Not me! Nope! I got the giggles and soon started to snort and tried to kiss him again. You see...not helping my cause.

I guess color blind husbands aren't gloss blind. I guess I should be thankful that I don't have to do my makeup every morning to make Stephen love me. I should be thankful that the clothes that he wears or that I wear don't have to be fancy labels. But...I know that Stephen will see if his clothes are glossy...that's for sure.

I'll keep on trying to sneak in those glossy kisses for now. It's something that makes him roll his eyes at me. And hey, if I can't make my husband roll his eyes over something as silly as lip gloss...then I have no business wearing it.

A Change of Plans...

So when exactly, are kids OK with a change in plans?!? When exactly do they stop reminding you of the "old" plans and get on with the "new" plans?!? After this last weekend, I'm thinking never is a good answer to those questions.

We took the kids to our favorite camping spot this last weekend. It's up half way between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear...Arrowbear. Clever, huh? Those mountain people really know how to pick a city name. Anyways, Stephen and I took the kids here two summers ago. It was beautiful. We had the perfect site. We had great weather. So...we went back.

It was just like we had imagined it. We set up our pop up and started a fire. It was, after all, marshmallow time. Twerp #1 got to light the fire with Dad. Twerp #2 was promised that on Saturday night, it would be her turn to light the fire. Things don't always turn out as planned.

We took the kids to a local arboretum for a short hike. It was just perfect...not too steep...not too long...just right (I feel like Goldilocks and the 3 bears is coming on). About half way through our mile hike, we heard something kinda weird. It sounded like a pitter pat...like there were animals running through the leaves. But then, the thunder and lightning came. We realized that the pitter pat was rain on the leaves high above us and we started to walk a little faster. Yeah, we ended up having a "Margala Wet T-Shirt Contest." Personally, I think I won, but whose to say...

We stopped under a large tree and I took this picture...

The boys and I were really enjoying our "shower" but Twerp #2 wasn't having any part of the coolness of a random thunderstorm. This is EXACTLY how she felt.

You could probably have landed a small plane on this lip. However, I made the mistake of telling her that if she sticks her lip out any farther, a bug would land on it. Oops. Big Mistake. Huge.

Twerp #3 was LOVING the rain. He loved how his hair went into spikies. He loved how his shirt had drops all over it. No lip for bugs to land on here...no way!

So we went back to camp, and spend the rest of the day in the trailer. Thank goodness for a pop-up. It was a great place to play Backgammon, eat hot dogs and play together. Real family time. That's what camping is all about. However, it's also where things went wrong. You see, you can't have a campfire in the rain. We would have looked LAME! Wet wood, wet chairs, wet food...it just doesn't add up. Anyways, Twerp #2 was terribly upset that she couldn't build the fire. She must have mentioned it 20 times! She ended up getting in trouble for not letting it go. She just couldn't handle the change in plans. I'm 100% sure that when we go on our big trip this August she'll FOR SURE remember that she's the one that gets to light the first fire. It just makes me want to shake my head and close my eyes thinking about it.

Before the storm, Twerp #1 built a trap. You see, when we woke up in the morning, we noticed footprints on our tablecloth. Strange. So, when we had to think up something creative for the kids to do, we suggested that they build a trap to catch the animal that was eating our trash. It took about 45 min. for him to lug these rocks here...dig a hole for the animal to fall into...what fun. The only problem is that in the midst of the rain storm, we forgot to put food in there for bait!

All 3 of my boys. Gosh...they're so cute. Stephen has his smile nailed. Twerp #3, he's always ready to smile. Twerp #1, he lost his smile around age 5 and is still trying to find it. I'm sure he'll find it soon...hopefully by age 8.

Twerp #2...she's accident prone. On our last trip, she broke her arm. This trip, she skinned a knee and an elbow (the good one) trying to beat her brother back to camp. She also got a big bump on her forehead when she tripped on a tree root and hit her head on the picnic bench. That darn bench...always in the way.

She's also a little "sensitive" when people don't do what she wants. Ahhhh...puberty starts young, people.

Here's a picture of Twerp #3 being quiet. We don't often get pictures like this...thought it'd be worth sharing...do you notice that his mouth is shut? WOW!

It was a great trip. It was short and if this campground had showers, I would stay there a week. Well, maybe. This time there were ants the size of my little toe. They were HUGE. I don't know if we went during "ant hatching week" or what, but if we weren't careful, they could have picked up Twerp #2 and just carried her off. They were really big, and I'm not much of an ant person.

Ahhh...the changes of plans. This weekend, staying in the camper for a lot of it...not what was on our plans for the week. However, we had a great time. We bonded as a family and made memories that will last a really long time. They are good memories. Especially since we didn't get carried away by huge ants...but then again, neither did Indiana Jones.

Who is Wonder Woman?

Who is Wonder Woman anyways? I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now...and it always takes me back to childhood. Why is it that I cringe when I think about her? Tights and Briefs. A huge belt. Two wrist cuffs and a really large tiara. Is that what Wonder Woman is all about? I don't think so.

I live in Orange County, CA. "The OC." (Ugh...I hated that show.) To be even more accurate, we live in South OC. In case you don't know, South Orange County is home to big cars and big homes. It's home to new cars and new homes. It's home to women who stand in line all night to get their kids into the "best" preschool. It's home to women who have their kids involved in so many activities that they don't see their home during daylight hours. It's home to sports clubs. It's home to the Natadores Swim Club (where you just can't get swimming lessons...you get trained for the Olympics). It's home to tan people (and I SOOO don't fit in that category) who workout with their trainers on a tri-weekly basis. It's home to really "cool" people.

Let's face it. I just don't fit in with the women in OC. I'm a stay-at-home mom. I have a "cool" minivan (if you can call a minivan cool) and it's 5 years old. It's also the car that I'll have for the next 5 years or longer! I have a 4 bedroom home. It's not big. It's on the smaller side, but I love it. It's where we live, love and grow as a family. My kids aren't in many activities. Not only are they super expensive, but I feel a need for us to have dinner as a family each night. Only too soon will we be involved in too many activities that take us away from each other every night. I don't want to start that now. We belong to the YMCA. I don't have a trainer...but I do get a chance to work out while my kids enjoy playing with other kids in the Kids Center. There's a pool, but I lather myself with so much lotion, that my white body probably won't ever be called "tan." I'm more of a "mid-west" girl at heart. I'm not one of those "cool OC mom's."

The pressure to be like the other women around is intense. "When are you getting a new car?" In 5 years, if I'm lucky. "Where is your husband taking you for your anniversary?" I'd be happy just going out for dinner. I don't need a trip to Mexico... "What did you get for Mother's Day?" A really cool towel and water bottle for our camping trips this summer. "Is that it?" Yep...just you wait...when you see my water bottle, you're gonna be jealous.

I'm not high maintenance. I don't need anything....except a few hours alone every once in a while. I love my life, but the Wonder Women around me have such a different lifestyle than I do. But is "Wonder Woman" even something to be attained? I don't think so. Most of the time, when I look at my friends, they're so busy. I don't want that. I'm content to be the "mid-western" kinda girl at home in OC. I keep on looking for friends that are like-minded. I have found many friends that are like "Wonder Woman". They have hearts of gold. They love me for who I am. And even though we're very different, I have learned so much from my "Wonder Women" friends.

I guess that we're all Wonder Woman in one way or another. We help our children with homework. We get the laundry done and put away. We read stories over, and over, and over and over. We teach our kids manners (hopefully) and how to respect their parents. We learn from our friends and we grow as women, mothers and wives. I don’t think of myself as Wonder Woman…but in some ways, I guess I am.

Here’s one of my friends…and she’s actually Wonder Woman! Can you imagine the guts that this took for Halloween last year? She’s got the legs! And the hair! And the super cute family to go with it. I know Wonder Woman, and I love her!

One of my favorite blogs to read is scribbit.blogspot.com. She's having a contest for any posts you might have written about "Wonder Woman." You can go to her page and enter yourself to win an amazing prize...that is, if it's really good...like if you're Wonder Woman, or something.

http://scribbit.blogspot.com/2008/07/julys-write-away-contest.html

Watercolor Painting

So last night, I went to the Sawdust Festival for a watercolor class. The Sawdust festival is held in Laguna Beach every year. I didn't know until this year that at 7:00 on Sundays through Thursdays, the artists hold a free class. How cool! So, I decided to drop the kids off with Stephen at his work and high tail it down for a class.

The lady has a beautiful pot of flowers on the table. I thought to myself, "Wow, artists even like to dress up the table for a simple class." I never thought in a million years that that was the subject we were going to be painting. I was dead wrong.

So...I started to make a sketch of the flowers. I started to paint. It wasn't pretty. After awhile, the artist goes to get a "sample" of the flowers that she painted just last week. I almost fell out of my chair. First of all, her painting actually looked like the sample flowers in the pot. Secondly, her painting looked eerily familiar.

I waited for awhile before pouncing on her with questions. I asked her if she had a studio down by the beach. She said that she used to. I told her that for my wedding my parents gave us a watercolor of our wedding flowers. I told her that her style looked very much like the painting we have in our living room. Sure enough, it was the same lady. She even remembered the exact painting that she had painted for us. She remembered my mom...the lady who had a son and daughter married one month apart and the three paintings she painted for Aaron, Maren and I.

After class, she "suggested" that we get a mat for our "painting" and frame it. She said that you'll be surprised at how great they look once they're framed. I may do that, but I sure won't be putting it on the wall next to her painting. I'll just tell people that one of my kids did it. They won't question that in the least!

This is my painting...like I needed to spell that out for you. It could be any kind of flower you want. I was not made to be an artist!

This is the painting that she did of my bridal bouquet. So beautiful...and I'm so thankful that it wasn't a "paint your own bouquet class."

Lines...I hate 'em

So during the summer, the movie theaters have Free Movie Tuesdays and Free Movie Wednesdays. They show two movies and G and a PG. They're both old and movies that we've seen before (at least the G movies), but it gets us out of the heat. We bring popcorn from home and a few bottles of water and meet friends for the morning. Last Tuesday was the first movie of the summer for us. Last summer, we went to the theater in Rancho Santa Margarita. We knew it. We knew that if we were in line by 9:30, we'd get in. Not a long line either. This summer it's different.


You see, the theater in RSM closed for the free movies this summer. So...now everyone that went to that theater is now going to another theater. The lines at the new theater are horrendous. I drove up with Twerp # 2 and #3 to see Surf's Up (a very funny movie by the way). The lines were already wrapped around the building and out by the parking lot. Ugh. I wanted to turn around and go home. Immediately!

What do you do when you've told your kids that you'll take them somewhere and it turns out not like you expect? We did park, and we did get in line, and we did see the movie. They had to open up three theaters to fit us all in...and I think even then people had to miss the movie. It was good, but I think from now on we'll go for a "drive" and look to see how long the lines are. 'Cause there is nothing worse than standing in a line with three wiggly kiddos for a movie we could have rented...nothing.

95% of the time

Stephen, he's a cute one. Very smart too. You see, we had another couple over for dinner one night. They started to bicker about something dumb. We all do that, right? You know, where one of us says, "That's a nice black shirt you have on." Then the other says, "Black? This is navy blue!" And then it starts. Black. Navy Blue. It's dumb, right? I mean, who really cares if the shirt is black or navy. We all care. You can't not admit it that deep in your heart, you want to be the one who is right.

So my husband looks at the guy we had over for dinner and says, "You know, your wife is probably right. You just gotta give in." And then he pulls out his wallet. And he fishes around in there for a little piece of paper. It's all ripped up around the edges. It's faded and it is about to rip down the middle where it's been folded. Well, he opens it up and shows it to the guy. He says, "Ever since Michal and I got married I've been keeping track of the times that she's been right and the number of times that I've been right. Turns out, she's right 95% of the time."

I almost fell off my chair! We'd been married for 8 years! He's been keeping track of little, dumb arguments for the last 8 years! Holy smokes! And...I've been right 95% of the time! YAHOO! The guy we had over for dinner looks at Stephen and says, "Man, I wouldn't have admitted that if I were you."

You see, that's my husband. Smart. A little anal about the details, but he's not afraid. Nope. Not afraid of the consequences that followed. You see, now every time we have a argument about something dumb I'll usually say, "You know, I'm right 95% of the time." At this point he'll either say, "Yeah, you're right" and give up or he'll push it to see if this will be one of the 5% for him. Then...when I'm right in the end, he'll always say, "You were right, Michal."

It makes me smile. It makes me love him that much more. He's no scaredy cat.

Camping last May...

This summer, we are camping a lot. Let's face it. Stephen loves it. The kids LOVE it too. I love seeing my kids and Stephen really happy. I like to camp...I love watching my family when we're camping.

To be honest, a couple of years ago was the first time we went camping with all 3 kids. We bought a tent, loaded up the van and off to the mountains we went. It could have been because I had just had my gallbladder out two weeks before. It could have been because my children don't understand that they need to wipe their feet before entering the tent. There could have been a lot of reasons, but I decided that I wasn't a camping fan. But, like any good marriage, Stephen and I talked it out and there were really only two things that really bugged me.

First of all, I don't like sleeping on the ground. I wake up achy and stiff and not the happiest of mommy's. Second of all, I really don't like dirt in my bed. With three kids running in and out of the tent, it was impossible to keep my bed clean and warm. What to do? We decided to buy a used pop-up tent trailer. We could tow it with the van and could keep all our stuff inside. All we would have to pack would be clothes and food...and off we would go. Last summer, we bought the pop-up right before Father's Day and camped up near Big Bear. We went beach camping a couple of times and had a great summer camping. This summer was supposed to be just as great.

In May, we went to the Mojave Narrows out in Victorville. Yeah, the desert. It's not supposed to be too hot in May...I checked the weather. I'm not one of those "crazy campers" that will camp anywhere at any time. No, it needs to be comfortable. That means flush toilets are a must. Showers are highly preferred, but not necessary at every campsite. There should be a water spicket close and no bears to deal with. That said...I looked up the Mojave Narrows online and it looked good. There were horses, fields of grazing horses, boats, a lake to fish in, and a park complete with a water park attached. It was going to be fun.

The week before we were set to go camping, a heat wave struck. Yep, 110 degree heat out in Victorville. I just knew I was gonna die. The kids were so darn excited that I couldn't tell them that "mom's a wuss and we're scrapping the camping for the weekend." No, we went anyways and brought a misting bottle and tons of water.

The camp looked just as nice as we drove in. It was grassy. There were 50+ horses and 3 camels! The playground looked so much fun and the water park looked like a blast for the kids. So...even in the heat, I thought we'd have a good time. When we pulled up to our campsite, there were ants. Not the few ants that most campsites have, but hundreds of huge red ants. There were 4-5 ant hills that housed those hundreds of thousands of red ants. They were everywhere. Boys love exploring. They loved exploring ant hills. I'm sure they didn't enjoy me yelling, "Don't go near those ant hills. They can bite you." The campsite was all full. There was nowhere else for us to go. Ahhh. It was shaping up to be a good weekend...

The next morning we lathered up in sunscreen and went to the park. People, there were three trees. Only three! We sat under a tree with another guy who brought 4 little boys to play at the park. Our kids ran off to play and we sat with our water getting ready to read our book. Before long, the guy next to us (about 28ish) started to cuss rather loudly at the boys he brought. Obviously he wasn't their dad...he was speaking horribly about their mama. He used words that we don't ever use. EVER! My eyes grew wide, my mouth dropped open and I just looked at Stephen. What were we supposed to do? There was no other shade at the park! I'm still not over the shock of that morning.

To sum it up, we had lunch, Twerp #1 and 3 went with Daddy in a peddle boat and Twerp #2 came with me. Genetics being what they are...Twerp #2 and I both got heat exhaustion and all red in the face. We went to the mall to cool off where I witnessed a man getting arrested at a cell phone kiosk in the middle of the mall. Yeah, this was a great place to choose to camp.

The thing that threw me over the wall was the train tracks that ran North and South about 200 yards from our campsite. The trains didn't just run until 10:00 or so...no, they ran all night long. Do you understand what I just said? ALL NIGHT LONG! Freight trains...trains with 100 or more cars (or caboodles as my kids call them) on them. We woke up every 25 minutes, all night long. (I think that if I say that enough, you'll understand that it really was all night long...) The website didn't say anything about trains. The park wouldn't get many visitors if they did though...

I was up like a banshee on Sunday morning. Hurry up and pack! We gotta get outta here before the ants wake up and the sun comes out! Hurry up, grab the chairs and crank down the pop-up. We'll eat on the road...no time to eat now. Yeah, we were home by 10:45 on Sunday morning. Not bad for a girl on the go.

See, it doesn't look so bad, right? I mean, this is a nice place when you first drive in the gates...

Here's a picture of Stephen...what a cutie, huh? Even with that awful hat.

Stephen with the kids just before we went on our Peddle Boat ride.

Twerp #1 playing at the water park. Hope we get a base tan soon...

Twerp #3 saying he's wet and cold from the water park. How can someone be cold in 110 degree heat?

Here is Twerp #2 just before we started out on our peddle boat ride. She's so excited and having fun. We rented our boats for a 1/2 hour tour...

15 minuted into our 1/2 hour tour, this is what I had to deal with. A leaky boat, a non-peddler and a red face. I knew it was over and back to shore we go. Ahhh...can't wait to get home.

Mom Of The Year Award

Well, I definitely missed out on the Mom of the Year Award this time around. I actually don't know if I'll ever get it. It seems like I'm missing out on something - like there's some clue that I haven't found yet. Let me tell you what happened...

We went camping at McGrath State Beach (near Ventura, CA for those of you who aren't familiar with the area) last weekend. It was cold and windy for the first little bit of the morning. We were eating an early lunch before we went down to the water when Twerp #2 turned to tell us something and took a little tumble off the picnic bench. No, she wasn't sitting on top of the table...just the bench part eating lunch. It was only about 2 feet off the ground, people. Do you understand...just a little tumble. Unfortunately, she grabbed for a box of kitchen stuff and that proceeded to fall on her also. But that part hit her in the head. I thought she'd have a bad headache for a little while, but that was all.

When we got her up - from underneath the box - she said her arm hurt. She was holding it in a 90 degree position and crying a lot. You've gotta understand...Twerp #2 is a little dramatic. I was eating my lunch and thought to myself: "suck it up girl. We're going to the beach in a little bit...take a deep breath and finish you lunch so we can go." Luckily the "nice parent" was helping her out and Daddy was a little more gentle with his words.

So Twerp #2 and I laid down in the pop-up for an hour or so while the pain went away. Then, we put on our suits, walked down to the beach and played in the sand for a couple of hours. Yeah, she'd whimper and cry if people bumped her arm, but other than that she just kept it bent and was brave. We talked about taking her to the doctor, but decided that it would get better on it's own.

Well, after 4 days, she wasn't complaining anymore about her arm unless someone bumped it. She still didn't extend her arm completely and a couple of girlfriends "suggested" that I take her to the doctor. Yeah, maybe it was time. But we were already in line for the free Tuesday movie and we didn't really want to miss Surf's Up. Priorities, right? So we went to the movie first and then I made an appointment to see the doctor. Turns out, she broke her arm. Nice, huh? The whole, "suck it up and be a big girl" speech wasn't really the right one to be thinking, right? I mean, what kind of a mom waits for 4 days to see if her kids arm is broken?!? The Pediatrician understood why I waited for so long. The bone guy...not so much. He made it very clear that I waited too long and gave me the "bad mom speech." Ugh. Next time I'll know. I hope. I bet that Mother of the Year Award went to the two mom's who told me to take her to the doctor. I bet they have several of them hanging on their walls. Maybe someday I'll get one too. On the other hand, maybe not...

Here's a short video that I took at the beach where she broke her arm. Huh, who would have thought that a girl with a broken arm could dance like this just an hour later.

My Twerps...

First of all, Alagram Family? Yeah, Margala Family was taken. Who would have thought? Some of Stephen's family has used the name Alagram (Margala spelled backwards for those of you who haven't figured that out) in their emails. I thought there was NO WAY that alagramfamily would be taken. I was right. So, Alagram Family it is. A little quirky, but that's how our family is most of the time.

It seems like ever since I can remember my Grandma called me a twerp...or a vasicup...either one probably suited me and my siblings just fine! Personally, I think that a twerp is a silly kid. You know, someone who is goofy and silly and fun to be around. Yeah, I have three of them. Twerp #1 is 7 and going into 2nd grade in the fall. Twerp #2 is 5 and starting Kindergarten in the fall. Twerp #3 is 4 and (since he's finally potty trained), he'll be going to his first and only year of preschool. 3 days a week! Do you know what that means? I'll be "childless" for 2 hours a day, three days a week. That's 6 hours of uninterrupted grocery shopping, cleaning, errand running, YMCA going, date lunches with Stephen and dare I say that occasional nap? I haven't had 6 hours a week to myself in 7 years, people! Holy smokes. I'm excited for September to roll around.

Not that I just want to skip summer altogether. Nope. Wouldn't want that. We're doing tons of fun things this summer. This year, it finally feels like everything is falling into place. We've got three potty trained kids who don't have accidents. None. We've got kids that can help out - a lot of helping out. So, we can go camping and not have to do all the "camping" by ourselves. We're doing a lot of camping this summer. We're going on a "up-country" trip too. Not a "cross-country" trip, because that would mean that we're going from CA somewhere East. No, we're going from CA to WA. Fun, I think...

Here's my favorite picture of the kids from this year. No one is crying, not looking, picking into holes on their face, pulling hair or generally being "not kind" to their siblings. Nope, everyone is cute, clean and happy. We don't get too many pictures like this. We get a lot of cute, dirty and happy pictures (when we're camping) or smiley, happy, not looking into the camera pictures...but not a lot of "mommy took this picture and we love her so much we're smiling great" pictures. Enjoy...