Took the kids to Huntington Beach yesterday with a friend of mine and her kiddos. We had a great time! Grant LOVED the water and cried the entire way back to the car. Katie made sand angels! It was a good 80 degrees out and the beach was pretty much deserted on a Tuesday winter’s afternoon. Great for us!

Katie turned three this weekend!  We had some friends and family over on Saturday and had a ‘Build Your Own Sundae’ party for her, complete with an Ice Cream Cone pinata!    Sunday, we went to an old friend’s house to celebrate his daughter’s second birthday.  Katie made some new friends and had a lot of fun at both parties.

My little Grant is 6 months already.  That boy loves to eat his toes, roll over and giggle with Mommy.  He is so content and happy.  If I didn’t go check on him during his nap, he would just lay(lie?) there eating his toes until he realized that he is hungry for real food.   We introduced him to baby food last month and he is loving it (though not the green beans so much!)  He sticks his thumb in his mouth between bites. 

He’s not really cross-eyed… just in this picture! LOL

When I was in 4th and 5th grade, I was a member of a children’s choir called ‘The Treble Makers’ at my elementary school.  We had an awesome teacher who taught us so many wonderful things.  I loved to sing!  Our group did a lot of performances for the schools, and I seem to recall performing at City Hall and a bowling alley once!  We had these funny little red & white outfits (see below).

Like my bangs?  Honi… I love your knee highs!

There I am… #2 on the totem pole with the blue eyeshadow!

See the blue pompom? I’m right behind it holding the ‘W’.

We had so much fun singing our little hearts out.  The only BAD memory I have is forgetting the lines to my solo in ‘This Land is Your Land’ and I just stood there at the microphone.  When my part was over, I just backed into line.  How sad.

I was in my Junior High choir and drama class and played the flute for about 4 years, but I pretty much only sing with my daughter now or when I’m alone in the car.

What kind of groups were you in growing up? Are you still involved with that sport/music/art etc? 
 

I’ve known Lisa since I was a year old!  We used to play Atari and Nintendo together (diddo-dido), have fun sleepovers (twy to fly) where I would ALWAYS fall asleep first, and make fun of the neighbors (King Caller, Flubba, CONCEPTION! and Coco-Crotch).  Whenever I would ask her ‘Guess what?’ she would answer ‘You got your period?’.  When I finally did, she didn’t even guess right!

Today is her 34th birthday and she is STILL older than me!  Happy Birthday Lisa… Here is a walk down our memory lane!

I’m still pissed she got to be the princess when I had to be the clown.  I really was crying in this picture!

At the bus stop… I think she’s getting a headache because I won’t stop talking.  What a surprise.

Oh my.  Way too close up.

I was Elvira and she was a hockey player.

Before my graduation party.

Flaring my nostrils at the camera.  She knows I’m weird and still loves me after all these years!

Posing at Olan Mills.  I used to work there and got free pix when the photographers were bored.

Newport Beach Hard Rock – early 90’s.  I think she finally got rid of the bangs in 2000. 

Pregnant with Grant, doing our prom pose.

At her wedding last month.

I love you girl!  Twy to fly!

My childhood friend Lisa got married this weekend!  As much as I love weddings, I was happy to NOT be involved in this one.  This is her second marriage, and I was co-Maid of Honor at the first one.  This time, it was a smaller wedding, and she & hubby opted to have only one person stand up for each of them, so I dodged the bullet her sister had the honor this time.

Anyway, it was beautiful… outside at a hotel overlooking the beach.  Who knew it would be almost 100 degrees outside!  Both hubby and I are sunburnt!

I had a cousin of mine take Katie for most of the day (they went to the beach and the mall), and drop her off during the reception.  That way she didn’t have to sit through the ceremony/lunch, and just arrived for the dancing – her favorite part anyway!

Congrats Lisa & Matt!  Now hurry up and have some kids!

Last year, Katie and I picked up my friend Jenn, and we made the trek up to Vegas to visit Shannon and her family.  We decided this year to go to Jenn’s and have another slumber party, this time with ALL of the kids.  Well, last minute, Shannon couldn’t come due to a sick kid, so it was just me, Katie and baby that headed out to Palm Springs. 

We only stayed over one night, but we had a blast.  The kids played, we ate and had a chance to talk, and just had a great time.  One of her boys is about 2 1/2 years older than Katie, while another one of her boys is just 2 months younger.  Of course we joke about hooking our kids up with eachother someday, so just in case, we’ve got a couple of good pix for the Engagement Photo.

When I was a mere 1 year old, my parents bought a home in a brand new housing track.  Only a few families had moved in by the time we did, and the C family lived right next door.  They had a daughter who was a month older than me.  Up the street, the H family had 2 boys – one older than me and one the same age.  Soon thereafter, there were 6 kids in the C family and 3 in my family.  Some years later, a few of the other families on the block moved out, and the M family moved in next door on our other side and the S family moved in across the street.

We would play ball in the street and yell “CAR” to clear the way for everyone else.  We’d play hide and seek, Atari, and make our own clubs. 

Our moms were moms to everyone.  C Mom taught me how to cook Italian food, amongst other things.  I loved being in her kitchen. 

Through the years, we all have stayed friends.  Though the C family moved out of state when I was 17, we all have remained close and half of the kids have since moved back to California.  We’re more than just friends, we’re our own family.  We’ve seen eachother through our childhood, school years, parents divorces, our own relationships, and even having our own kids.  We’ve travelled back and forth collecting many mileage points to see eachother.  We have been in too many weddings to count. 

My brother’s was the latest and we got a great group shot.

I love these guys!  They’ve all ended up with great spouses and have turned out to be beautiful people.

I hope that one day when we get settled in, that my own kids will be lucky enough to find and keep such wonderful friends as I did.  This group knows more about eachother than we care too, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything.