What Was I Thinking?

So the girls decided that they wanted to share a room again.....being that Hannah is always sleeping in Caley's bed everynight anyways. We planned bedding and colours and layout and had it all worked out. We got the bedding which was on sale this week (gotta love sales) Really cute (did I mention on sale.....yay!) and knew that we wanted a 'tan' colour.

Well, 'tan' colour is a little bit vague. Today the girls couldn't get me out of the house soon enough to go to Home Depot to get paint, rollers, tape etc...... I forgot how awful I am at picking colours. I mean, I thought I was on the right track. I remembered to atleast bring a swatch of the fabric. The paint chip matched the swatch in the store (in the horrible florescent warehouse lighting) We three agreed it looked just right!

Got home and the prep work took quite a while! I guess I should mention that naturally the girls were VeRY eager to participate in this redecorating of their room. (understandably) Well, then they decided to recruit 5year old Emma! Everything was going pretty smoothly in our rather close quarters. Besides the "why can't we just paint RIGHT now!?".....I was telling them that prep work is the hardest part of painting. Of coarse it took even longer with unexperienced minors 'trying' to help. I was determined to make the most of it though and should say we did have fun.

After a good few hours or emptying the room, dusting, sweeping, taping, priming and yes our first coat...............we realized that we didn't really care for the colour. This is the part of me that I wish was more mature, and could've just bought the quart sized can of paint, tested it out and then went from there. But NOoooooo, I had to be all excited and just had to buy the gallon size assuming it would work.

Somewhere in between checking on the other two kids I booted out and grabbing a snack, the older girls made quite......a mess would be an understatement......quite a disaster!!! They did have fun doing it, but lets just say there is STILL little painted footprints all down the hallway, and after an hour soaking in the tub, the girls also still have paint on them. I put a halt to our project and told the girls that we'd find a better colour choice tomorrow.

I think when I get a more suitable choice of paint tomorrow, I will be painting solo because the kids definately had their share of it already. Plus painting is already quite a challenge (much easier done without the kids 'help') and now I also have paint to scrub off of this and that. (We started off so well) All in all, fun times were had but I have a lot of work ahead of me. I do think a better shade of tan will make all the effort worth it though and more importantly the girls having a special, beautiful room they enjoy and smiles on their faces ;D

Things I like........

Besides family and friends which are already a given......DUH.....
Some of the things I most enjoy are...........(and in no particular order)
-birds (thanks to my Gram I have a great appreciation and awe for God when I see them)
-running
-exercising (though I should confess I haven't in months)
-coffee (YAY Starbucks)
-Ice Cream (what more can I say!) Lately it's been NY cream cheese Frozen yogurt topped w/ mixed berries
- the sunrise/set (especially by water, is like heaven on earth)
-singing (mostly when I'm alone so I can really let loose - my kids get a crack out of it too)
-spending one on one time with people
-cuddling
-seeing Larry or the kids faces light up about something ; D (LOVE that)
-photography (hope to take a class maybe this Fall)
-hairstyling
-cleaning with the music blasting
-dressing up fancy
-having jammy day
-going on trips/traveling
-making lists (not that I always 'do' what's on the list but......
-finding pictures in the clouds
-finding the face on the moon/watching the stars
-fondues.... (cheese and chocolate!)
-going to the spa (facials, massages, mani/pedis)
-reading a good book (with no interuptions)
I'm sure I could go on and on and probably left out some stuff I'll kick myself later for but it makes me thankful to think of and see these things because they're apart of my life pretty regularly. I know I am a blessed woman ; D

More summerfun : D

Just thought I'd throw in some recent photos of our fun summer so far.
Out in the pool making the best of it.....Emma was a grumpygrump and did NOT want her photo taken! I told her we'd use it as evidence of what a grump she truly was ......later.
Every Sunday after church the kids like to jam on the drums and piano, this time Lar let Chrish rock out on his guitar.
I actually got the kids (1/2 fish 1/2 human) to get out of the water and pose with me! Emma gave me a nice big hug!
Emma and I were cozying up at our beach bonfire which was a bit chilly but made for a good excuse to cuddle.....YAY!
Looking at the photos of the girls on my lap.....I didn't realize what good photographers they're becoming.....Caleybear (almost as big as me) ......and Hannah is trying to catch up to her.
Lil' man posing with mama's sunglasses on ;D
Emmabear running around the beach with her red dress (using it as a cape) being 'Supergirl!'

Licence to Play

Yesterday was the much anticipated day away with my friend Amber! Being that we both have four kids, it was a much needed escape from the tedious everyday demands that are both hard work and pleasurable at the same time. We wanted to make the absolute most out of our day away as we could possibly squeeze in so we started our adventure at 7am. It's probably already apparent where we went, but I'll just say it anyways, we went to get coffee first though our excitement was a buzz itself.

We then headed to the beach, and while our gabbing and catching up distracted us from our planned route, it turned out for the better because we ended up going to a wonderful restaurant called 'Plums' off of E.17th St. in Costa Mesa. We had both been taken there a couple years ago by another friend of ours and loved it! I just could never remember how to get back. We gladly stuffed our faces and savoured every bite. Definately a place to go again, and again, and again!

We then drove along the coast even stopped by to check out 'Crystal Cove' which is now State owned and is a really cute little beach village literally steps away from the beach with a restaurant and little store. After we checked that out we headed for our original destination, Laguna Beach. Found a rather peculiar parking garage......"leave our keys? yeah right!" it WASN'T even valet! After that was settled we walked around some of the shops and then set up at the beach, bringing only the essentials (being sunscreen, water, beach chair, towel, sunglasses and of coarse some trashy magazines to read - gotta keep up on all the celebs) and not the usual truck-load of stuff we normally bring. It was amazing! We could lay down! Even close our eyes, face a-w-a-y from the water, you don't even know how exciting this truly was! I, me, Cherie even took a nap! It was magical!!! Went to grab some lunch on a rooftop with a beautiful beach view, pigeons grabbing food by our toes, and enjoyed a delicious lunch at "C'est La Vie", went back to the beach for a while with none other than 'Starbucks' enjoying the crashing sound of the waves and a beautiful bridal party getting married on the beach.

We eventually decided to pack up and head to the Irvine Spectrum. At the Spectrum we just 'had' to grab some cheesecake, of course! Walked it off a little looking around at all the cute little shops, and then saw a late showing of "LIcence to Wed" which I thought was rather cute and the audience was laughing pretty much throughout the whole movie. I always get a kick out of other peoples laughs ; D

It really was a great day! I'm very thankful to have had the break and time to miss the family as I'm sure they did me.

So, Saturday was a a pretty mellow day around the Hampton house. Larry had to go to a 3 hour mandatory class to be an assistant coach on Christians soccer team (already starting in August) While he was out doing that I was hanging out with the kiddies enjoying 'not' having to be anywhere in the a.m. or do anything particular. Now as I'm writing I'm realizing that I may have already blogged about this day. So I may have also already mentioned that I went to breakfast with my girlfriends, and then later went shopping with Donna and our girls at Fashion Island which was a nice change from the regular quick trip to Target (which I love it's just that variety is nice too)
All of us were apparently sleepyheads on Sunday 'cause we all slept in! Luckily Larry didn't have to lead worship Sunday morning. We all had our 'one hour' clean up which feels more productive when everyone is helping clean up the house. Goes by faster too ; D
Larry decided to take us all out for lunch to our usual ' Pancake House' which is always a treat! Then we went to the beach to meet some family and friends for a beach bonfire at Balbo Pier. We got there around 4pm and left around 9ish. My sister in law brought this 'super-roaster' which is much like a metal tree that can roast somewhere between 20-30 marshmallows at a time......let's just say we only used that once. The kids of coarse 'had' to roast their own which thanks to my good friend Marianne who gave us these totally great marshmallow roasters (you can roast 4 at a time) everyone had something to roast on. We all had a great time and left pretty tired!
We then had a rough early morning. Lar and I were alarmed at about 5am when Chrish came in crying because he was sleepwalking and bumped his head so hard on his bookshelf that he got a narly goose egg! We brought him in bed with us and put an icepack on his head for over an hour.....swelling gone down a bit.....but still visible. Monday (today) was his first day of a one week baseball camp which he was really eager to go to. So, I told him we'd go and see how he felt. Well, he's quite the trooper because he had a super-long day basically being up since 5am and being at camp from 8:30am-3:30. He had a great time though. Got some home runs and struck people out.......that's my boy!
Tonight Larry's at band practice (he's got a gig tomorrow night) so the kids and I are having egg salad sandwiches for dinner and going to cuddle and have a mellow, relaxing night : D Thank God for cuddly kids.......YAY!

Catchin' Up!

This last week consisted of beach days on Monday and Thursday, the kids surprising us with a breakfast on the patio (scrambled eggs, oj, and some fruit) it was a great start to the day ; D , then another surprise of turning the garage into a 'restaurant'. The kids got all dressed up fancy, had centerpeices on the tables, music playing, a menu with food choices, Chrish played the piano for us, Emma and Chrish danced, massaged us and kept heaping lots of hugs and kisses on us. I guess Christian thought it would be a nice idea for mom and dad to have a date. Caley and Hannah were very professional in catering to us. A precious moment I will remember always! Yesterday being Friday Dara invited the kids and I to come over for a swim. We first walked to the Spectrum to grab some lunch (love those Big Macs) and then went for a refreshing swim. Came home for a bit, and then went to the beach for 'movie night' and saw 'Over the Hedge' which was quite funny. I loved being at the beach to enjoy the sunset, the smell of the bonfires, the cool crisp air, and the you could really see the stars pretty well too.
Today after lounging around the house this morning taking it easy, my sister in law Donna, my friend Marianne and I went out to a favourite restaurant of mine " Pancake House" which is always SO delicious ; D I then came home, took an actual nap...was interrupted (that's why I don't nap usually anyway.....interupted sleep makes me cranky) Then Caley, Hannah and I went with Donna and her two little ones to Fashion Island (an outdoor mall) for a few hours which was something different than our normal weekend activities.
Up on my calendar for tomorrow.......cleaning up the house in the a.m. and then planning on going to the beach in the afternoon and enjoying a bonfire and some yummy marshmallows. Looking forward to it - should be fun!

Summertime Fun....

I realize that it's been a bit since I last wrote......just a little bit busy around here. (and I thought things would slow down in the summer) Just a different kind of busy. We're enjoying our time though, having sleepovers, going to the beach, eating yummy watermelon and berries, going to blockparties, waterballoons, slip n' slides, pools.........on another note....cleaning out the garage (it HAD to be done), giving the kids extra chores so they can save for a ? , how many times can you wash a beach towel before it starts to wear out?, cleaning out the cooler ( I just did that ....again? and again?), paper plates....I use those a lot in the summer ( I call it having 'grace' on myself...and saving water and energy right?!)
Okay back to the more fun part about summer.....I SO enjoy the kids little toesies and little bum cheeks that are SO pinchable. My kiddos are like little fish that won't come out of the water much. They like to boogie board, find seashells, baby crabs, dig huge holes and make forts in the sand. We enjoy our yummy picnic lunches, and of coarse ice cream! That's a must! I pray that there is ice cream in heaven.
Since getting out of school June 14th, we took a weekend trip to Palm Springs, gone to the beach, had VBS (vacation bible school - the kids enjoyed that a lot), Hannah has started vocal classes and spends a lot of her time now practising with karaoke cd's....so sweet!, a few pool parties, many sleepovers, we saw a few movies......enjoyed Evan Almighty, Shrek 3. I celebrated my birthday (does age REALLY matter?) Just kidding, I'm 32 years young and proud of it! (most days) We had a fun time at our neighbourhood block party for July 4th. We stood in our street to see a great view of the fireworks show that we wanted to skip the ridiculous traffic for and were happy we did! Oh, how could I forget.....Christian (forcefully) took out his first tooth....what can I say, the kid really likes money! He does look really cute I must say. We've had lots of cuddle time and I'm planning on making the most of our 59 days left til' the first day of school.
I plan on having a few beach bonfire parties, lots of more beach days, LOTS of more ice cream ; P , lots of yummy smelling sunblock ( I keep those companies in business) a nice vacation with the family, and who knows what else there might be......Hope yours is a wonderfully happy, safe summer ; )