Introducing "Losing 35"

Today, a handful of my best girlfriends and I began a group mission to lose weight, get healthy, and keep eachother accountable until we reach our weight loss goals. We weighed in, discussed our weight loss issues and backgrounds, and talked about how we could help eachother stay on track. I am thrilled to be getting started. In fact, I was so excited, I started another blog about my weight loss journey and my mission to lose 35 pounds. If you feel like following along, check it out! http://www.losing35.blogspot.com/

My Girls Sing Country

Danny started leaning to play guitar way back in 1989, when he had just returned home from college. Should I mention that at this same time, I was learning about the California Gold Rush in 5th grade? Our age difference is a source of constant humor around here, so it's all kind of fascinating and hilarious to me to look back at where we were in different periods of our lives. I mean, when Danny was a freshman in high school, I was a newborn. Anyway, moving on....

Danny learned guitar and has played pretty consistently for a whole lot of years. He loves playing, especially with family and close friends. It's usually bluegrass or gospel hymns, and when they get together, they do still call it a jam session. He has been waiting for years to have a family type "band" and had hoped all this time that at least one of his children would be musical. Well, the good Lord smiled down on Danny on the three days our children were born, because it seems all the kids are pretty musically blessed. E and Cubby can sing, E is more operatic (think Cinderella or Snow White), and Cubby is more pop (think Britney, Fergie). G has the most awesome dance rhythm of any 18 month old on the planet, and well, J.D. can bust out the running man any old time he feels the need.

So, the girls and Danny practiced almost every night the month before Cattle Call and performed at Cowboy Poetry. They sang "Home on the Range" and the crowd went nuts. It was absolutely adorable. One of their fans from the audience asked them to sing again tonight at the Grain Grower's Dinner. The girls practiced their little hearts out and sang two songs for the crowd. It was great. Check it out. (I hope this works!)

A Little Adult Conversation

I really look forward to girls' night out. I normally have to be the organizer for these social get togethers with my girlfriends, and I will seek out any and all reasons to gather. We meet to celebrate birthdays, discuss job promotions, encourage graduations, share fashion finds, and of course, gloat about our kids' latest amazing accomplisments. Want to know an immediate way to manuever into a mommy group? Just mention potty training. Potty training is a universal topic of all mom groups across the world. Have a success story? We're all ears.

So tonight, my wonderful husband watched all four kiddos so I could go out and have some girl time. My sister organized the dinner for 6:30 PM, and by 5:15 PM, I was wondering, why, oh why, didn't she set it for a wee bit earlier?! When I took off, the kids were scrubbed clean and outfitted in their jammies. As I attempted to sneak out the door, G cried pretty hard, and the girls muttered a weak, "No, mommy, don't go," and J.D. gave his dad a high five. Danny looked a bit haggard, but I comforted myself with the thought that all would be well once I left.

What a nice time we had. The food was nothing special, but the easy banter with friends, and laughter at no one's expense was priceless. I always end up leaving these outings by feeling more human somehow. It's like being inside all day caring for the little ones leaves me a bit numb, and I forget that I, too, have important things to say and opinions that matter to my peers. Sometimes just listening to friends mull over the newest Tori Burch sandal and discuss the always necessary topic of labor and delivery, bonds us all a little tighter to this thing called motherhood. We can be moms and love our kids and still have a little adult conversation to get us through.

When I arrived back home, Danny was reading Bible stories to the girls (yeah, Joseph and that cool dream coat!), and they looked beyond adorable in their little Cinderella nightgowns. Cubby jumped up and wanted a hug, E followed closely behind. Then they argued about who got to snuggle with mommy first. Meanwhile, Danny is still reading from the Bible. This is such a great analogy for who Danny is in all things: ever steady and reliable despite the chaos going on around him.

Snuggle time is precious, priceless time. Cubby fell asleep almost immediately. E, however, had some important things on her mind. She wanted to tell me all the secret stuff from school that day, like, who got their name on the board, who was absent, how at lunch time, nobody can talk. All the really important, juicy stuff. It's probably corny, but I love this time. She describes the simplest things from her day in the most urgent way, like she's been needing to tell me this all day, and now that all those other ruffians in the house are finally in bed, she can spill it. I loved listening to her sweet voice tell me these wonderful details. I realized, lying there, how lucky I am to have daughters, and not just one daughter, three!!! Three beautiful daughters who want to talk to me before they fall asleep at night. I am so blessed!

Rain!

I very clearly remember my first fall quarter of college up at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It was the year of El Nino, so the amount of rain that fell seemed unreal to a desert rat like me. At first it was cool to hear the rain falling, fun to avoid the puddles, nice to feel warm and cozy in my tiny dorm room. Quickly that feeling changed to dread at the knowledge that the next day would only be one with more muddy puddles, damp socks, drab hair, and soaked through jeans.

Since moving back to the Valley, I have enjoyed every single quarter inch of rain that has fallen. Actually, though, being a farmer's wife, I have to gauge my reaction to the rain very carefully. First, I hear about the forecast from my weather-man/husband. Then I ask, very innocently, "Is there hay on the ground?" If the answer is no, I ask, "Were you planning on getting any tractor work done?" If the second answer is no, I can be openly happy about the rain. If he answers yes, I have to act grim and curse the rain for daring to show it's unwelcome face.

Rain is so rare here in the desert, that when the sky opens up with more than a light drizzle, people tend to act a little nutty. It's like we are all so thrilled by the change in weather, we can't help ourselves, we feel a bit giddy. We love pulling out our dusty umbrellas, and Ugg boots, which we pretend are galoshes, and brave it through the rainy streets and water-filled gutters. It's like we can all finally boast to our San Diego and Bay area friends, "See, we get weather too! Just look at my raincoat!" We are so excited, we go crazy! Does rain have this effect on all desert people? I don't know, but I conducted a study in my own household today, see for yourself.

This looks like a normal little kindergartner, enjoying the winter rain. She LOVED that mom required her to wear her hat outside. The mittens and scarf were just to add a little flair.

Now, what exactly is going on here? Nutty behavior, I'm telling you!

Actually, she's just thirsty, I'm tired of cleaning those sippy cups all the time!

She walked up and down our front walk, listening to the rain falling on her umbrella.

What is it called when you keep doing the same thing over and over again with the same result? Exactly.

Well, now, what about this little munchkin? All I can say is, the poor thing had to wear her cowboy boots outside in the rain and pretend they were rain boots since her mom didn't have the good sense to properly outfit her. Somewhere, an Auntie A is dismayed at this fashion blunder.

I guess it makes sense for kids to do silly things on rainy days, I mean, they're kids, right? So, let's look to the adults for some sensical behavior.

There are those who overprotect. I mean, can this guy see to drive?

By the way, this person shall remain nameless.

And there are those who underprotect. How about a hat? And what's so funny?

Ok, so the adults can't be relied upon for logic in the rain. How about the babies? Perhaps they will surprise us all with normal behavior. Think again. The babies were all about rocking out this evening. It was like a reverse Indian rain dance. Instead of dancing to bring the rain, they danced to celebrate the rain.

J.D. is all about the jazz hands.

He is stoked right now because he just mastered a Michael Jackson move. I know, I wish I could show you this on video....

Yeah, he'll be the youngest dancer ever to audition for River Dance next month. We're very proud.

Just bust a move.

While all this craziness was going on, E was completely serious, and performed an entire coreographed dance number. She's wearing my old Christmas dress from when I was the same age. I'm glad it's coming to use.

All right, the moment you've been waiting for. I did take a video of J.D. dancing with the girls. See what you think.

Crazy? Maybe. River Dance? Definitely.

Sick Boy

Well, poor little J.D. is still pretty sick. By the way, I've decided to refer to my only son as J.D. on this blog since the nickname didn't catch on in real life. I love that name, so I'll just live in my own little self-created fantasy world online. And in my fantasy world, I call my son J.D.

He really struggles with infections, and this time the ear infection must have been a strong one. He's been fighting a fever for days, he's super cranky, and he's been taking the longest naps!

The only thing that makes him truly happy is hanging out with his dad. Actually, it's not just hanging out with dad that's enough. He wants to be either in his dad's lap, carried in his arms, or right in the middle of what he's doing all the time. You can probably see how that can get pretty difficult for old dad. The funny thing is, he completely prefers dad over me. And I mean that 100% of the time. When he's hurt, angry, frustrated, tired, or sad, he wants dad. Believe it or not, I am almost always ok with that. Most of the time, I have three little girls who desperately want me, so it's nice to have one yearning for dad to relieve the load.

J.D. wakes up in the morning, and the first thing out of his mouth is a loud "Da Da?" It's as if he's saying, "Dad, are you there? If you are, get me OUT of this crib, and let's go do something fun outside, preferably away from all these girls!"

Anyway, the poor little guy felt pretty bad today.

You feel bad for him, don't you? Don't worry, he's all right. He's just crying because he thinks I'm going to take him away from Danny.

He's like, don't even think about it mom.

Since the dinner I served him was left virtually untouched, he enjoyed some of dad's dinner. Dad's lap is much more enjoyable than any stinking chair.

My two boys. Pretty darn cute.

Spoons are easy to use!

Danny's still trying to get in a few bites. He's like, lay off Dad, this quinoa's mine!

Shovel it in!

Yum.

Maybe spoons are overrated.

Oh and who's this?

G heard that someone was getting an after dinner snack and is wondering why she wasn't invited.

Let me in on this! Oh, quinoa, no thanks, maybe next time.

By the way, have you ever wondered where all those high falutin' fashion designers get all of their crazy ideas?

Babies! I mean, who else would think to combine yellow fleece footie pajamas with zebra print ballet flats?

G = fashion forward risk-taker.

Rain is in the forecast here in the desert. Our entire day was spent under a blanket of clouds.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. day!

Lazy Sunday

I love lazy Sundays.

Danny is home all day since it's Sunday and rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, so it's going to be a slow work week. J.D. is really sick. So sick, he's been sleeping since 9:45 AM and it's 2:30 PM now. The girls are still in their pj's.

We had pancakes and sausage for breakfast and then slowly read the paper, talked about all the great, productive things we could do today. In the end, we did none of those things.

I attempted a half-hearted effort at cleaning out our garage, which desperately needs to be attended. Maybe we should just set it on fire and start over. It's a dirty mess.

The Chargers are playing. The kids are happy. My handsome husband is home. Life is good.

The Desert

Danny loves the desert. If he could, he'd pedal his mountain bike, ride his motorcycle and/or hike his long legs all over the desert all day every day. He's an outdoorsy, adventurous, desert guy. I am not a desert person. But, I do love Danny. A lot. So I act excited about the adventure of it all, while trying to erase the image of attempting to remove sand from every inch of my kids' clothing later on.

So when we get invited to go out to the desert with friends, we try to go along. For some reason, people with four young kids don't really get invited to do much. Therefore, we've decided that since the twins are now mobile, we are going to make every effort to get our rears in gear and get out of this house and live a decidedly more exciting life.

This morning we loaded up the truck with all the necessities.

Look at that great big truck with the motorcycle in the back! A picture of masculinity right?

Not really.

The girls are really excited to get out to the dunes. G is pensive. She's considering the effects of sand in the diaper area.

J.D. is unfortunately too sick to attend (another ear infection) and Grandma D and Grandpa D have offered to entertain him for the morning.

We made it! Danny and G are equally thrilled.

Do you know how much G likes to ride in little vehicles? She loves the Cozy Coupe, little red wagon, big wheel, Daddy's airplane rides. She actually likes just about anything rideable. One day, Danny started up the motorcycle in the garage and G started screaming and crying . We thought it was the loud noise of the engine bothering her, but oh no, she had grabbed the bike helmet and was motioning to get on the motorcycle to go for a ride. Danny happily complied for a little ride around the yard. When they returned, I think I saw a tear of joy in Danny's eye.

Anyway, the desert was the perfect place for G to try out all the best ATV equipment.

Yeah, this is fun, but it's not moving.

Uh oh. How do I get out of here?

This looks promising.

Now we're talking!

Ok, now for the real deal. Our friends let us borrow their Polaris so we can fit the whole clan.

Babies use a special kind of seatbelt in desert vehicles. Human arms work best.

Just kidding, baby A was just hanging out for a minute.

The girls are smiling here, but this doesn't even compare to their incredible joy during the ride. They LOVED this! Fun Fun Fun.

Then Danny was like, ok, it's my turn.

All of a sudden this 40-ish farmer turned back into a teenager...

and he was gone.

So the girls and I kicked back for a bit. Wait a minute! That's my chair!

Then it was time to go. The girls don't know this yet. That explains the smiles. You know what though, when we did go, they simply said, "We don't want to go." And I said, I know, we'll be back soon. They were cool with it. In fact I was impressed with how the kids handled themselves during that whole adventure. Even with all the driving and packing, dust and dirt, there was not a single cry, tantrum, fit, complaint or whiney moment. Is the desert a magical place? Have all you desert people been holding out on me? Not cool. Not cool at all.

We're heading on home. The girls are so grimey and dirty, but you can't really tell from this distance. I don't want to gross anybody out.

This is what the desert does for hard-working, desert-loving dads.

This is what the desert does for babies.

Maybe I do love the desert!