thirteen...

last saturday, i turned 35...a pretty substantial age in my book.

today, my first born, mikey turns 13...

another very substantial age in my book.

my first teenager.

i was not ready for this...it happened way too fast.

i remember very well turning 13. i started thinking for myself and discovering interests on my own and my relationships with my parents changed. i remember thinking that my parents were so old. i checked with mikey earlier to see if he thought of me as old and he said no. that eased my mind a little bit because i am pretty weird about that whole getting older gig. i don't mind it...i just am not sure how to handle it yet...what am i too old for and too young for...i'm right in the middle of that.

anyway...back to my birthday boy.

this kid is so great. he's smart...so smart. i have him do fast math for me in target all of the time. he computes really fast in his head...he did not get that from me. i still rely on my fingers to help me out sometimes. no joke there, sister.
this kid is also very analytical and logical...if something doesn't make sense to him...he works it out in his head until it does. his mind is not lazy by any means. i am grateful for that. that will be key in him being successful.

he is my first born. the one that i made most mistakes with as a first time mother. he is my trial and error kid in ways. he is a great older brother...and landon is convinced that mikey hung the moon.

he holds interst in the beach, creating his stop motion videos, constructing lego masterpieces, family, beef jerky, football, the patriots and the steelers, chocolate ice cream, nike kicks, fox racing sports hats and star wars.

this is seriously the coolest kid....that's exactly what my dad would say about mikey if he were still here with us.

he starts 8th grade in just 2 weeks. he only has 5 years left of schooling before he heads off to M I T to be a famous engineer....that's my plan for him anyway...we'll see what he thinks of it when it gets closer...

happy 13th birthday mikey.

i love you more than all the stars in the sky.

you are the coolest kid around.

love, mom

beachy...

so...our summer vacation came and went...

and now i feel like i can check the best part of summer off of the list,

and everything else just becomes a bonus.

our entire family looks forward to one thing all summer:

our beach trip to san diego

{that and my birthday!!}

this year was a little unique in that we had mr c's children for the entire month of july

so they were able to head with us to mission beach

i am still recovering from a month with 6 kids plus various friends/cousins and the like in and out of our home...

we stay at the same hotel every time we visit

the kids love the ducks that wonder freely and the talking parrots that repeat every word...even the bad ones

we have our favorite spots to eat at

and...
our favorite area of the beach to set up camp for the day
can you imagine how much gear the 9 of us toted around each day
did i mention that on top of mr c and i and our 6 kids, we also brought their cousin with us?

the photo above is mikey and mr c's little guy trevor waiting for the girls to get off of the roller coaster on our first night in town...



the photo below is morgan right after we unloaded from the 5 1/2 hour drive with her flawless hair...

unfortunately, we had issues with our hotel suite on the first day...lets just say that somebody who stayed there before us got sick and left their mark all over the living room floor...
we were grateful to be upgraded to the 11th floor in a bigger suite with views like the one below

mr c...i could stare at the view of his backside all day

this year was a very low key trip...

we didnt plan any excursions or trip to theme parks since there were so many of us.

we spent lots of time on the beach and at the bay

and i was able to spend my 35th birthday in my favorite place

i had morgan take the above photo to prove that i was actually there on vacation with my family...seems that the one who always snaps the photos doesn't make it into them much

landon is my beach boy

this kid is going to end up living on the beach

maybe as a surfer or life guard

he is totally at home in the sand

on our first night...we walked down to luigi's pizza for this:

the biggest pizza i have ever seen...and seriously so good.

the photo below might be one of my favorites from this trip...landon just got in trouble for trying to sneak back into the water while we were eating lunch...he has the best pouty face

see mikey below...he turns 13 tomorrow!

i have my first teenager...not sure i am ready for that

not sure if i can wait an entire year to go back...

i love the feeling of being in the salty air and throwing the schedule out the window.

my kids start back to school in 2 weeks...

i think summer has gone by too fast this time and i'm a little mad at that...

we are going to squeeze as much into these last 14 days as we can.

leggy...

this is how i spent yesterday...

...and exactly how i plan on spending tomorrow.

saw eclipse with morgan this morning.

i left team edward.

abandoned team jacob.

and...
i might have a small crush on dr cullen and jasper now.
did anyone out there see it?
what did you think?

spent...

i would like to thank my daughter, morgan, for taking this photo of me and chopping off my upper half...despite the rockin curls sitting atop my head...

3:34 am is when i awoke today

i did not fall back to sleep despite the effort and 2 hours that i invested without return

i am exhausted, to say the least

i feel spent already and it is just 9:03 am

i promised the kids the pool today...

and they are already in bathing gear

damn! don't think i'm getting out of that one

i hope i don't fall asleep in the sun because there is an 'ozone warning' today...

we get those a lot in phoenix...

and i don't want to burn my skin... that is no bueno and my mother lectured me on the effects of skin damage yesterday...

i felt like i was 12

i have 2 days until 3 of mr c's children come to stay with us for a month

that's 6 kids for me while he is away at work

i'm tired just thinking about it

but...

we will have fun

{and i will have 2 built in babysitters!!!}

while unable to sleep this morning,

my thoughts wandered from my dad, to my mom, to my grocery list, to mr c, to our beach trip, to seeing eclipse with morgan tomorrow, to donuts, and then to my coffee...sometimes i feel like my mind never stops...just thoughts all of the time...

then i got up...readied myself...drove to dunkin donuts on mckellips and power and then to my starbucks...

off to the pool now...then home for a nap.

catching up...

finally some time to play catch up on my blog

right now the children are being somewhat quiet and have been banned from my bedroom

where the computer is...

they are not at all happy about this, but sometimes a girl needs some space.

summer has been swinging in full gear and the triple digit temps are here to prove it...

i think it topped out at 113 yesterday

while it was scorching hot outside...we took the kids inside to do some of this...

a little family bowling day

i not only brought my own shoes...but i brought a pretty decent bowling game with me...

i left quite proud of my 138 score

those are my blue bowling shoes below...mr c hates them and thinks that they categorize me into some sort of nerd club for having my own shoes...but i am not sticking my feet into shoes that who knows how many people have worn...socks or not!

lets see...what else have we been up to:

we spend many days in the week at the pool...

this pool has been our saving grace...i don't know how i managed to buy one of the only homes in phoenix without one...

sister and i meet here and let the kids run free while we sit poolside sunning our bodies and sipping on homemade strawberry lemonades...

the days are just exhausting i tell you...

just exhausting

this is the reason why all of the ladies were sucking in their tummies the other day at the pool...me included.
hello mr sunbather




i feel like summer is going by too fast so the kids and i sat down and made a big list of everything we wanted to do before they go back to school in august.
some of the ideas are fun and easy like water fights and family flag football and then some are a little heavier...like a trip to the beach and a weekend stay at a local resort
{those might have actually been my ideas and not the kids}
in any case...i'm not ready for summer to move on so fast

we have also been to 5 movies

taken the kids out for chinese and to a sushi bar

we have shopped

we have had play dates with friends and sleepovers with family

i have somehow gotten hooked on all of this twilight business after i protested it for so long

{team edward}

i have organized 2 pantrys and kitchen drawers

cleaned out my closet

had 2 really great dates with mr c

celebrated my nephews 10th birthday

we have watched mr c play softball every sunday night

we have bbq'ed and eaten corn on the cob from local farms

the tooth fairy has visited our home twice already

it really has been so nice so far...

looking forward to next month when i turn 35 and we head to the beach...

i love celebrating my birthday...

and were doing it at the beach again this year.

we will also have mr c kids here with us for the month...

if i could just teach my kids the value of sleeping in during summer and not fighting every other minute then we might be very close to perfect around here.

my heart is somewhere on the beach...

.....and it's probably somewhere right between these two.

Right about this time during the summer is typically when I start to crave the beach. I mean...I literally crave the beach. I need for my toes to dig deep into the sand while my body faces skyward taking in the sounds and the smells of the ocean. I love to hear the children fight over the roars of the waves. I crave to feel warm and cool at the same time. I need to be at the beach in San Diego.

We hit 109 degrees the other day. That's just too hot. It's hard to be comfortable in that kind of dry heat so we are either in the pool or in the house. And bad news...it's only going to get hotter. Does anyone want to visit Arizona? I will trade you homes for the summer...or for maybe just a month...a week...anyone?

I already began my campaign to get this summer's beach trip scheduled and on the books. Am still waiting for Mr C to give the okay as to when we can trade this desert for ocean. I also told him that if I did not get a timely reply...I would be heading over there without him. He did not like that text so much so I had to follow it with something sexy. I will not tell you what that one included...but it was sexy. Yes it was.

I have even began my 'beach diet' because that whole look good in a bikini thing is really catching on. I even cut my white mocha intake to just two a day now...calories, calories. My summer tan is already in full swing...my legs look like cinnamon sticks...who says the sun isn't good for you? I am under the belief that everyone looks better when tan.

So...while I wait for Mr C to approve this summer's trip...I'm going to go look through photos from last year. I'm even going to print a few of me in my bikini and put them in places for him to find...like under his pillow and on the seat of his car...maybe one in the shower...just as a reminder for how much fun the beach is. Maybe that'll get me to the beach a little sooner.

wink, wink

hello summer...

...i'm so glad you're here

{peonies arrangement from dinner with friends}

summer is here and i am so in love with it

i love that my schedule has been officially thrown out of the window...

it's gone...

it's been busy so far:

saturday was spent poolside and i came home with the sunburn to prove it

sunday night we hosted dinner with friends and a few of them stayed until 1 am

i have not had friends over that late in a long time

last night... sister came over for grilled shrimp tacos and scrabble

i have slept in two mornings in a row...unitl 9:30...

and then today...i snuck out of the quiet house early and headed to starbucks...

when i came back home...i jumped back into bed to canoodle and watch movies with mr c

after mr c headed off to work...the kids and i sat and watched alice in wonderland for the first

time...i loved it...every minute of it, and will probably watch it again tonight...

and now...i am ignoring the arguing going on in the family room...and the laundry piled high in

the laundry room...

kick your shoes off summer and stay awhile...would ya'?

♥