CALLIN' CALI HOME!

We have now lived in California for about 9 months. It sounds like a short time, but when I think of everything we've done, it feels like we've been here forever--and when I think of everything we HAVEN'T yet done, I realize we'll have to stay here forever in order to experience all Cali has to offer!
I think we can live with that :) We love it here!

We have done some fun things in the past few weeks and the other day on our way home from the beach, Mylee and Brooks started listing all the reasons they love California (they also have a list of "why they miss Utah", but it's really quite obvious--FRIENDS & FAMILY! Luckily most have already been here to visit and we hope the visits keep coming!!!)

Here are a few of the reasons we love Cali:

Mylee loves:
The BEACH
The POOLS and WATER PARKS
CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE
PLAYING OUTSIDE all the time

Brooks likes:
That we always go to DISNEYLAND
LEGOLAND with KELL
Riding his new QUAD to the PARK
BASEBALL GAMES with dad
Playing GAMES in the park
Flying his KITE & remote control BUG

Annika & Mia like:
GOING TO THE PARK!
Riding on the MERRY-GO-ROUND at the malls
SHOPPING with mom :)
When UNCLE MIKE visits!!

Dwight loves:
Work
leaving work to go to DISNEYLAND with the fam
GOLFING year round
BASEBALL GAMES with the boys
BIKING to work everyday

Mel likes:
THE WEATHER
The BEACH
SHOPPING
GIRLS' NIGHTS (AKA "WEEKLY ENRICHMENTS")
When FRIENDS & FAMILY VISIT!

We love it here and are excited to make this our new home!

LEGOLAND



DISNEYLAND & CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE



WHALE WATCHING

MINOR MISHAP







OFF TO THE PARK FOR GAMES WITH FRIENDS


THE BEACH


ANGELS GAME WITH DAD
AND THE RALLY MONKEY

MERRY-GO-ROUND WITH UNCLE MIKE

Groupie Alert!!

Ya'll may recall my "Girls' Weekend" with a few of my friends from Utah the first weekend of October. One of the highlights (besides sky diving, surfing and getting called rude names by Johny Depp's body guard...) was meeting the band
MATCHBOX TWENTY! (See the archive from October 2007 if you want to read about it.)

One of those friends, Tiffany, called a couple months ago to tell me that Matchbox 20 was coming to Salt Lake City in March. We had met the band at the Jimmy Kimmel show during his "Choose Your (pizza) Topping" segment during a trip to Hollywood on Girls' Weekend. I was planning a trip to Utah during the first week of March anyway, so with the concert coming up, Tiffany and I decided it was time for a Girls' Weekend REUNION!

A few weeks before the concert, Tiffany called again to get me to email Rob Thomas-- Matchbox 20's lead singer, of course--and remind him that we met on the Jimmy Kimmel show and see if he would hook us up with tickets. I just laughed, there's no way he would remember us . . . WOULD HE?



I flew to Utah and Tiffany, other Girls' Weekend attendees Lisa and Teresa, and new addition McKell picked me up at the airport and we were off for a night to remember!

We started our night off with dinner (nothing all that memorable about dinner, unfortunately), then headed to the concert. Alanis Morissette opened for MB20--she's good, but somewhat PSYCHO! Just before MB took the stage, we noticed some open seats below RIGHT NEXT TO THE STAGE. We decided to check it out--what's the worst that could happen???

We were almost to the seats when we were stopped by security. I played dumb (not hard for me) and asked, acting curious, "Wow, these are great seats! Who's are they?" The security guard's reply: "Last time I checked, they were YOURS." That's right baby, I've still got it (ha ha--right)! Nevertheless, we settle into "OUR" seats and the fun started!

We were literally right next to all the band's roadies (the dudes over lights, sound, etc.; they even have a guy that's a guitar tuner--did you know that after every song, the guitars are switched out and tuned?!)



Anyway, we started chatting with some of the guys and eventually we're given the names of Rob Thomas's personal body guard and stage manager. During the course of the night we eventually met both of them (see below), thus getting us closer to um, well, possibly MEETING (again) the band? (Yeah right--keep dreaming!)

Lisa and McKell had a brilliant idea halfway through the concert. They realized that we needed a sign to hold up to get Rob Thomas's attention and let him know that we were the girls (stalkers?) from the Jimmy Kimmel show (how could he forget us--right?).

So they went and found a used pizza box and one of the security guards gave us a Sharpie. On the box they wrote

"Rob,

We are the girls from
Jimmy Kimmel Live"

Then I added, "CHOOSE YOUR TOPPING!"



Since Rob was basically standing 5 feet from us during most of the show (and often walked right over to the edge of the stage right by us) it wouldn't be hard for him to read our sign--and it wasn't!

The first time he was on the side of the stage next to us, we held up our sign. By the look on his face, we knew he was reading it (right in the middle of singing a song). He looked at us and pointed assuring us that he did in fact remember us! SIGH!!!

We weren't the only ones that noticed. We looked around and everyone was watching us all of a sudden and wondering WHAT he was pointing at and what our makeshift pizza box sign said.

When I looked back at the stage, one of the crew members looked at me and asked me what it said. I showed him and he smiled and mouthed, "I remember you guys." Then he started texting someone.

From that point on, everyone figured we were die-hard MB20 fans. We all had a collection of guitar picks by the end of the night (though, I actually got Kyle Cook's (lead guitarist) pick that he used during the concert . . . you better believe that's getting put on a necklace to wear close to my heart)! (hee hee)

Rob Thomas's personal bodyguard, Jason, then came over to meet us (he's the person the crew member was texting after reading our sign).

After the show, the crew member that texted Jason introduced himself to us and we talked for a while. He was Donnie, the band's stage manager. He travels with the band to every tour stop and basically lives with them while on tour. He asked (now thinking we must be total groupies--never guessing that we were actually a bunch of MOMS who didn't even own any of the band's albums!) if we were coming to the L.A. show. Obviously, we weren't planning on it (I'm the only one from our entire group who lives anywhere close to L.A., and we weren't exactly groupies going from one tour stop to the next in a VW van), but Donnie took down my phone number and told me he'd call me when the band was in L.A. if he could get me tickets.

Two nights before the show in L.A. one of the Girls' Weekend girls called to ask if Donnie ever called me. NO CALL! When I got home that night, though, there was a message on my answering machine and it was from DONNIE calling to talk to me about the MB20 show in L.A.!

It was late, so I didn't call him back, but he called me the next night while Dwight and I were out to dinner with some friends. Donnie was really cool and invited all of us to meet him and some of the band members that night in L.A. for drinks, etc. Since we were already at dinner with our friends and I wasn't exactly sure if the whole "drink" thing would have been just a tad awkward, we decided to pass (what were we thinking?!).

Donnie ended up not being able to get me tickets to the show--but he did even BETTER than that. He told me to come to the Staples Center 3 hours before the show to get in (at the time I wasn't exactly sure why I needed to go so early).

There was a problem, though--no wait, TWO problems:

1) The L.A. concert was on a Sunday (everything down here is on Sundays, even kids' birthday parties--ARGHH!), so I wasn't going to go; and

2) I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning from dinner the night before (I knew we should have gone to L.A. for "drinks") and I didn't think I would have even made it through the concert had I gone!

Just the same, I couldn't let this opportunity pass! Someone had to take Donnie up on his offer! It so happened that it was my sister, Annie's, birthday that day. Annie lives in SoCal, so I called her up and asked if she and a friend wanted to go to the concert. She jumped at the chance (and Donnie seemed to be happy to have her come--she's single, after all) and didn't have to try that hard to convince her friend to come along on short notice.

Because they were over 2 hours from L.A., though, Annie and her friend were only able to make it in time for the show and not to meet the band. Apparently, they had a pretty sweet experience nonetheless and Donnie was really cool to them. At one point, she was standing right next to Alanis Morissette. They even got a few venue security guards in trouble for harassing them for not having "passes" to be where they were. Donnie took care of that--the security guards got reassigned to a not-so-perfect area on the floor next to the stage (hee hee), and spent the rest of the concert throwing Annie and her friend nasty looks!


A few days later Donnie texted me. He hoped that my sister and her friend had a good time and was sorry that they (and I) weren't able to meet and "hang" with the band, as were the plans before the show (hence the arrival time 3 hours before the concert started)!

The tour ended in Las Vegas two nights later. I can't believe I missed out! All in all, it was a fun experience and believe it or not (according to Donnie) Rob Thomas DID remember us at the Salt Lake City concert!

Whoever said moms aren't cool?

HAPPY EASTER

I'M TALKIN MAJOR LEAGUE HERE!

So what do you associate with:

Bounce houses
Food booths
Games
Cotton Candy and Popcorn
Parades
Announcers
Balloons
Banners
Professional Pictures
Newspaper Articles

Carnivals?
Major Holidays?
Community Celebrations?

How about opening day of Ladera Ranch T-BALL!!!

Yep, these are just a few of the things they did for Brooks' opening day of T-BALL!

Besides all the fun games, food and festivities, they had all the teams line up and walk in a parade. When each of the boys got to the rainbow of balloons, they announced each of their names as if they were going onto the field of the world series.

Along with all of this, Brooks also has 3 coaches, 2 team moms, Practices and games on Saturdays AND Mondays, 2 pizza parties, 1 breakfast party, and 1 Angels day (which includes another parade, taking the field with the Angels team and sitting in the dugout during a game).

I can't wait to see what life after t-ball has to offer...

A very happy birthday to me--Thanks to all of you!

We've had a fun week and I even had a birthday in there somewhere which, thanks to all the wonderful & amazing people in my life, ended up being one of the funnest birthdays ever (I was on a cruise over my birthday last year, so that's pretty hard to top--but this was as close as it comes)!

So this is my shout out to all of you that made my birthday great this year.
For those of you that didn't--there's always next year! (ha ha)

Here are a few pics (because what's a post with out the pics right?)

We played a little laser tag for my "birthday party". It was a bunch of hot chicks (that's referring to us :) against an army of 12 year old boys (also there for a birthday party). These kids were freakin' amazing! I seriously can't tell you how many times I was ambushed by them. I just remember uttering the words "that's right little boys--run, run away!" Then quickly running away in the other direction to hide before they attacked me again.

This is the best! Coleen (on the right) is tiny (Megan-on the left, is also tiny so this pic doesn't give her justice)! At the end of the game one of the boys yelled out after looking at his stats "who's mamma cita, she KILLED ME!" Coleen told him it was her and after looking at her and realizing he just got taken by a 5ft. 100lb. mom, he just put his head down and sighed in embarrassment "NO WAY!"
You rock coleen!

After Laser tag we broke out the cake that my sister Annie got me (it was SOO GOOD). I believe it said something like: "You're 29 it's party time." I wonder if she came up with that all by herself? After all, if you eat a house, you are a house (he he, inside joke--this was one of her fav. jokes growing up--and probably still is!)

I have to throw in a few pics from our rock band night.

It's seriously so addicting!

This was just MEAN! This is a picture that was included in my gift from my friends in Utah. We used to go skiing together all the time (among other things), but I don't remember anyone EVER bringing a camera! This picture just doesn't look right--someone's definitely missing! I still love em anyway :(

Did I mention I didn't have to celebrate my birthday in doors to get away from the cold? This year we played at the beach :)

Mckell (my nanny, chauffeur, personal shopper, chef, baker, FRIEND!) was able to come down from Utah for the weekend. Thanks to her, I actually went out on my birthday instead of sitting home wishing Dwight was there. Thanks for the memories--the beach, Lego land, home shopping, COOKIE EATING, In-N-out burgers...good times!

The Best Valentine's Day EVER!

So, which would you prefer on Valentines Day?

1) Chocolate covered strawberries, bananas and marshmallows.
2) A very sweet note expressing his love for you (left for you on the pillow).
3) A warm bubble bath (with your little sweet buns in it of course).

Well, this year Dwight WASN'T home for Valentines Day, so he wasn't able to do any of these things for me :(
But believe it or not, I still got all 3 of these things.
But how you ask?

1) With a little help, he made me these:


2) A short time later, I found this on my pillow:

Then he insisted on his bubble bath.








What would I do without my little Casanova?





Mylee left me some cute valentines too.

I love my kids!

But seriously, this is only the beginning. Where do I begin?...

From the day we moved here, Mylee has made new friends and has a good friend that lives right next door. Brooks on the other hand has struggled. He's made a few friends thanks to preschool, but due to the proximity of our homes they just don't play together that often.

There are a few boys in our neighborhood that are always out skateboarding, playing football, getting into trouble--all things Brooks would LOVE to be a part of. The only problem is that he's about 3 years younger than all of them so when he asks to play they basically tell him to buzz off.

Now that you have a little background...

I took Mylee and Brooks to the store to get some Valentines stuff yesterday and Brooks saw a bucket of roses (the toy kind that you can bend and shape). He said "oh mom, I bet Hannah and Jaycee would like these. Can we get them for them?"
"No Brooks, we already have valentines for them."
"But I really want to buy them for Hannah and Jaycee."
"Then buy them with your own money."
Whenever we go to the store, Mylee and Brooks (who are on an allowance system for all their "wants"), bring their wallets with them because they know I won't buy them anything (I'm such a mean mom).
He had his wallet, so he decided he would buy these roses for them.

He wanted to give them to the girls at the Valentines party they had today, but I told him we could take them their roses later so the other kids wouldn't feel bad.

After preschool ended I told him Hannah and Jaycee could come home with us and he could give them their roses.
They wanted to play in the play room, so I told them I would get some strawberries ready and they could help me dip them in chocolate. When I was ready I ran up to tell them to come help me, but stopped when I noticed they seemed to be having a pretty serious conversation. What I heard next brought tears to my eyes:

Brooks: Can I tell you something?
Jaycee: Sure, is everything okay?
Brooks: Well, I don't exactly like living in this neighborhood.
Hannah: How come Brooks?
Jaycee: Yeah, why Brooks?
Brooks: Well, nobody likes me. All the boys in the neighborhood HATE me!
Jaycee: Well, we don't hate you. Why do you think they hate you?
Brooks: Because, when I go to their house and knock on their door to play they always tell me to go away.
Hannah: Why?
Brooks: Because they don't like me.
Jaycee: Well I have an idea! What if you pretend that you're a baby and your mom takes you over in a blankie and knocks on the door to show you to them. Then they would like you because everybody likes babies.
Brooks: Well, they wouldn't recognize me.
Jaycee: What does recognize mean?
Brooks: It's like when someone wears a costume and you don't know who they are.
Hannah/Jaycee: Oh!
Jaycee: Well, we recognize you and we like you!
Hannah: Yeah, you give us roses and candy. We think you're nice!
Brooks: Hey, do you want to play with my cars?
Jaycee: Sure, I like playing with you!
Hannah: Well, I like to play with him more.
Jaycee: No I do.
Brooks: Guys, it's okay! You both can like me the same. Now which car do you want...

He's such a little heartbreaker! I can't even imagine what I'm going to have to deal with in 12-20 years.
Can't I just stay the love of his life???














And of course, this valentines post wouldn't be complete if I didn't end with a little dedication to the true love of my life (that's you D). I'm sad we didn't get to spend Valentines Day together, but we have many more ahead of us and I appreciate how hard you work for our family! You're a wonderful husband (and father) and I can't wait to see you again in March :)
I love you!

Compassion, Respect or Sympathy? You be the judge!

So, apparently when we moved here we had 10 days to get our car registered and a valid California Drivers license.

We actually went to the DMV a few months ago, but they told me that because I have a motorcycle license I had to re-take the written test. Dwight ended up getting his, but I decided to go back another time (okay, I took the test and FAILED! How was I supposed to know that if I'm in an accident and KILL someone, I or my "representative" need to notify the DMV--REALLY?!)

Anyway, It's been over 10 years since I took my motorcycle test so I figured rather than failing it twice in a row, I better actually read the study guide before I take the test again.

I don't have time to study! Who needs a California license anyway? I've NEVER had a ticket (however, I HAVE been pulled over many times :) and my Utah license is valid for another 3 years--I'm golden!

OR NOT!!!

Last week we all slept in and woke up just in time to get Brooks to preschool. I grabbed the twins and ran out the door--matted hair and all.
On the way home I stopped at a red light, then proceeded with a right hand turn. I have been making this turn for awhile now and had NO clue it was a "no turn on red" intersection.
I actually saw the cop, but didn't think anything of it--until his red lights started flashing! As he approached the vehicle I'm sure he sensed that something was not right here (I'm pretty sure I still had the lines on my face from my pillow and it was 10:00a.m.!).

Here's how the interrogation went:
Do you know there's a "no turn on red" there? Uhhh, yeah--just found that out. But I swear I've NEVER noticed the sign before.
Do you have your license? No, it's at home on the counter.
Do you live here? yes.
Why isn't your car registered?...
Do you know you have 10 days from the day you get here to register it? umm, Yeah. But again, just found that out.
What is your license number? well, it's actually a Utah license still and I don't know the number.
Why don't you have your California license yet?...
Are these your twins? Yes
Why aren't they BUCKLED? GASP! WHAT??? Well, my 5 year old buckles them and although he got their top buckles, he must have forgot to do the lower ones and I hadn't noticed.

Okay, so you made an illegal turn, you don't have your license with you or know it's number or have a valid California license yet, your car isn't registered and your kids aren't buckled correctly...I'll be right back.

My heart sunk! There's NO WAY out of this! There are just too many violations against me. Not only am I going to get my first ticket, but I'll probably have my car impounded and kids taken away!

I jumped out of the car and correctly buckled the twins (I'm pretty sure Brooks missed the lower buckles because they were wearing nightgowns that covered them and made it difficult to get to--no excuse though, I know).

Before I could get back into the car he'd returned and asked me, after looking at the logo on the license plate, Who's the firefighter? Me (cringe).
Volunteer or paid? Paid--I'm a real firefighter.
Really? Yes!
Hmm, so what have you learned here? Umm, don't turn right on red at this intersection, get my car licensed, get my California Driver license AND carry it with me and double check that my kids are buckled correctly before leaving.

Alright, have a nice day.
Uhh, thanks--you too!

WHAT? Did he seriously just let me off? I think I was in shock!

Some might say that it is the "mutual respect" between firefighters and police officers.

Or perhaps the fact that if he sights me for one violation, he'll have to sight me for ALL the violations and that would just take way to much time and effort (trying to find my license number, waiting for the car to be towed, contacting social services, etc.)

Or maybe he understood that I was just a mom, "trying" to care of my kids--so worn out that I can't even wake up to get my kid to preschool on time or even have the time or energy to put shoes on my babies or even put on a bra!

What ever his reason (and I wasn't about to ask) I don't need to be told twice!

I now wait at that light (even if the line of cars behind me insist on honking at me), my car is registered, I now carry a valid CALIFORNIA drivers license with me at ALL times and NEVER put my car in drive without double checking that my precious children are buckled.

I think you can say I learned my lesson!

So, thank you to a police officer with compassion, respect or who just really, really felt sorry for me!


By the way, I didn't cover up my info so you can't see how much I weigh--I didn't want any crazies knowing where I live (or my weight for that matter :)!

We had a very exciting December! Here are a few highlights:



*Annika and Mia turned TWO! We celebrated at build a bear (only they actually got bunnies--not bears). Happy birthday girlie's :)


*Mylee sings in a children's choir and they had a few performances for Christmas. One of the performances was at our town square where Santa rode in on a fire truck to light the Christmas tree.

He also brought a few of his reindeer for the kids to to pet!



*I've made some great friends here. We had a gift exchange with each other and ate TONS of yummy food!

*We visited friends and family in Utah for Christmas. We had a great time and ate WAY too much food (well, at least I did)! I was able to get my snow skiing fix in with some friends (and sister, but she's included in my "friends"). We all came close to getting frost bite on our toes and hands! I think I need to take up surfing! Christmas in Cali next year anyone???

*Home prices continue to drop in California, so we are still renting, watching & waiting for that PERFECT home at the PERFECT price--We'll see what 2008 brings...

*I am probably the last person on earth that still makes new years resolutions. I have my list of things written down somewhere--if only I could remember where I put it!

*We took the kids to Disneyland last week for family night. I think it's official--our favorite rides are 1)Splash Mountain 2)Space Mountain 3)the Matterhorn. Hmmm, do you sense a theme? And people tell us there are no "mountains" here!

*We wish everyone best wished in 2008!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We want to wish all our family and friends (and anyone else who happens to stumble on to this site) a MERRY CHRISTMAS & BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR!

We've had a wonderful and memorable year. We'll remember 2007 as a year full of adventure, change, and lots of crazy experiences that go along with raising four kids who have a mixture of Melanie's and Dwight's genes. We've had good health as a family in 2007, and for that we feel truly blessed! We're looking forward to spending a relaxing Christmas season with family and friends. We hope you can do the same. We love all of you!!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Dwight, Melanie, Mylee, Brooks, Annika & Mia

NEW CHILDCARE SOLUTION--OR HOW TO HANDLE MY HORDING ADDICTED SON?

So everyone LOVED Brooks' new hobby (see previous post), but I am just beside myself. I just don't know what to do...well, DIDN'T know what to do! I found this great new concept for day care. I think it might help with Brooks' hording too? What do you think, should I give it a shot???


Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas