All the Small Things...

Summer Days 2011 #4...

So Dan and the "Bigs" have been gone in Arizona for a couple of days, but they return today and I am SO excited!  I've missed them tons, but Keiran has missed them beyond belief.  Today he was walking down the hallway, with a sad stoop in his walk, talking to himself saying, "I'm not having any fun today.  Same ol' basket (looking at a laundry basket).  Same ol' walls..."    lolololol!!! He's 3!  Same ol' basket, same ol' walls!?!??!?!!!?!  The kid kills me!

 

Now onto the FUN part of our day!

My friend, Julie, and I threw a Daddy/Daughter

Father's Day Picnic and Kickball Game

This was SO MUCH FUN and a great way to spend an evening with just the Activity Day girls and their dads (and a few Greding kids thrown into the mix!)

 

Now for food.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my mom's potato salad.  BEST potato salad I've ever tasted.  LOVE it.  Problem is-- she doesn't really have a recipe for it.  She just starts adding all these ingredients together and--- MAGIC!  It turns out incredible for her every time, but when I try to make it-- not so much.

SOOOOOOO- I now have MY potato salad recipe that I die for.  I didn't make it up or anything (let's not go crazy!), but it is now my go to potato salad recipe and it is AMAZING!  I made it for this picnic and was SO happy there was enough to bring home, so I could continue the eating fest into the wee small hours of the night.  

 

I also made a Greek Couscous Salad and it was a little piece of heaven too!  I have never even made couscous before and I have been missing out!  It's my new fav food!  LOVE IT!  Where have I been!?!?!  It's sooooooo easy and so much more flavorful than rice.  Again-- I love it!

 

MLB Opening Day...

 

So I'm watching the news this afternoon and I see that it's MLB's Opening Day today and the Dodgers are playing.  Now I'm not a huge baseball fan, BUT I am a HUGE family fan and I know how much my boys love their sports.  So what did I do???

Grabbed the phone, called Dan and told him to hit the grocery store on the way home for our Dodger game favs... Dodger Dogs, peanuts, Cracker Jacks and It's Its!!!

If we can't attend the game, we can at least eat like we're there!

I must say... I LOVE an impromptu party!!!

I LOVE making my boys happy.

 Oh, and the Dodgers won... bonus.

HOP...

So, I've mentioned a million times about our besties, The Daurios... 

We *HEART* them.  They are funny, smart, uber talented, good looking and beyond fun to hang out with.  Come to think about it... we should probably hate them and be beyond jealous.  I may need to rethink our friendship.  ;)

Anyway, Ken, is a screenwriter and a director and his latest movie you'd know him for is Despicable Me-- Golden Globe Nominated-- Despicable Me. :)))

Well, it is always SO fun to hear about all the fab movie events they go to and Michelle always texts me during them telling me who's there and what they are doing.  Well, this time, we got to attend too!!!  Serious!!!

So, this movie is HOP.  It's about the Easter Bunny whose voice is Russell Brand!!!

 I LOVE Russell Brand.  He is weird and kinda creepy, BUT I think he is about as charming as they come.  I could watch him being interviewed all day long.  LOVE him!!!

So before the movie we went to the big party with the Daurios and Lagunas.  We ate and the kids played carnival games and we ate and the kids hunted for eggs and we ate.  We also star watched!  Soooo fun!  We saw Russell Brand, David Hasselhoff, Kaley Cuoco, James Marsden, Hank Azaria and tons more I'm forgetting!  

The we went into the amphitheater and saw the movie and it was SOOOOOOO good!  Seriously, I laughed out loud a lot.  Now, I am always the loudest one laughing in a theatre (and unfortunately in real life), BUT... everyone was laughing.  It was so funny and REALLY REALLY adorable.  There is a baby asprin line that I'm still laughing at...

Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul- the writers

After the movie we then got to go and play in Universal Studios-- again, SOOOO much fun!!!

It was just a fantastic day spent with fantastic friends and one my family and I will NEVER forget.

The Daurios (and Russell)... thank you!!!

Introducing Wednesday Jones...

October 1st Festivities...

So, although I have 6 weeks left until our baby girl arrives and I'm slowing down-- WAY DOWN-- I couldn't let October 1st go by without having our traditional fun!  It's not as grand as I've done in the past, but I tried...

Patrick is out the door every school day by 5:40 am, so I got up with him (Dan did too- if you consider sleeping on the couch "up with him") and danced to Monster Mash and Ghostbusters while he stared at me like a was a mad woman!  He did enjoy warm cinnamon rolls though, so he put up with me!

Now although it was 6:30 am, these 2 were definitely more festive than Patrick.  They ate cereal and traded Halloween Silly Bandz and even enjoyed a verse or two of The Monster Mash!!!

Now heaven knows how much Dan and I detest making lunches, but I must admit I LOVE a theme lunch, so I prepared these the night before and had a blast decorating the food with fun Halloween stickers!

 

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but Jack Skellington visits our house ever September 30th, goes down our chimney and leaves our kids with fun Halloween goodies to open the next day!  We are VERY fortunate!

Oh what a fun and tiring and festive day!!!  We ended the night watching Westlake High School beat Oaks Christian in their first ever football game.  While it would have been fun to be at the actual game, it was even more fun watching at home on TV in our jammies! 

Summer Day #15

 

 

Okay, I must confess posting this after the US lost in the World Cup is not so fun.  :(  waa waa

BUT-- I still have really great memories of MOST of the game and our crazy US fan-base!

Our whole family gathered around the TV to watch the US play Ghana and before long Dan walked in from outside marching back in forth in front of the TV with our flag.  Well, then the pandemonium began!  KK had a turn at it and then, Scarlet, who can't be left out of anything had a go!  

We were a little down when Ghana scored the first goal, but knowing that the US is a 2nd half team, we still held out hope.

Then the gorgeous Landon Donovan scored his penalty kick and the house went MAD!  Patrick picked up the flag and took off running up and down our street screaming, "GGGGOOOOAAAALLL!" at the top of his lungs while we all stood in the front yard screaming "GOAL" as loud as we could.  It was about the funniest thing I've ever seen and I'm sure the neighbors think we're even more ridiculous than before.  

Let's just pretend now that that was the end of the game, shall we?!!?!?

No?  Well, the US lost and shattered our World Cup dreams and we were a sad house with a great memory of our crazy eldest son.  Worth it?  YES!!!!

Summer Day #6

 

Today we began our summer reading program.  Now I must admit, unlike me, my kids are NOT a fan of reading.  It KILLS me.  What did I do?  Where did I go wrong?  When I was their age, I was a reading fool.  I was the kid who took a flashlight to bed to sneak in more reading time.  When my Granny died I distinctly remember hearing the news and then frantically running to find my book so I didn't have to deal with the pain- so I could escape.  I just don't get not loving to read.

So this summer I have decided to do something different.  Instead of telling the kids to "GO READ!!!", I have decided to establish a family reading hour and we started today. As soon as I put Keiran down for his afternoon nap, I called the kids to go get their books and the two middles and I sat in my nice cool, calm bedroom with no kid distractions and we all read together for an hour.  It was heaven.  I didn't hear one complaint- not one argument from either of them.  Then when the hour was up I asked them how it was and if it was something they could commit to doing with me everyday and they didn't even bat an eye at the idea.  

I must admit I am writing this a few days after we started our program and it is still going great!  I look forward to this quiet time everyday with my kids and I think they are actually enjoying it too. 

What are we reading?  

Me- The Secret of the Chimneys 

Chandler- Harry Potter 

Scarlet- Firefighter Dog

Summer Day #2

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So I've written before about our Sunday Park days and how much I love them- and it's true- I do.  I love watching the kids ride their scooters and bikes and just hanging out with each other.  I love how no one fights.  I love watching the big kids help the little kids.  I love talking to my friends for hours.  I love snacking on all the goodies we bring.  I love laughing.

This Sunday it was the Gredings, Brethertons, Snyders and Muirs.  Super fun- super relaxing- super friends!!! 

Here's to many more Park Sundays, friends!!!

Summer Day #1

So it's the first full day of summer and where else would you find the Greding 6 1/2  than at a soccer field?

Patrick had a tournament in Camarillo (Yeah!  A hometown tourney!!!).  The weather was perfect, the games were exciting and Patrick played great!  They ended up with a loss (own goal- yikes!), a tie and a win.  Not our best tournament results, but still super fun and a great day in our awesome California weather!!!  A fun way to start off our summer!

We then headed home and watched the US tie England in the World Cup!!!  HOORAY FOR THE USA!!!   It was a very soccer day for us.

  

To complete the first day of Summer, Michelle, Megan, Jennifer and I headed to Muvico for a little dinner at Bogarts and then Sex and the City 2!  I LOVE spending time with my friends!!!

 

 

  

Summer 2010 Kick Off!!!

We were BEYOND ready for summer this year!!!  Sick of homework, seminary, early mornings, carpools, and did I mention homework?!?!??!  

We are ready for late mornings, too much TV, family movie nights, backyard S'mores, late night dinners on the patio, slip and slides, swimsuits (not me- the kids!) and spontaneous date nights with Dan!!!!

So--- like last last year, we started off the summer with a fun banner run!!!  This time, KK got to run through it too!!!

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After our  banner run, we headed for the coast.  What better place to start off our summer than our favorite seafood shack- Neptune's Net ?!??!?!? 

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After our delish clam chowder bread bowls and fried shrimp, we snapped some pics and headed to the Malibu Pier for a stroll and dessert at Ruby's Diner .  Turtle and strawberry shakes and brownie sundaes- a perfect ending to a fantastic family night.  

Here we come, Summer!!!!!!!!