The End of the Year

It's the end of the year, and that can only mean one thing: we are fat, dumb, and happy. OK, and tired. Oh, and sore. And so, so ready for 2008. . .

The boys pose for their Christmas Eve picture in front of the tree.

Jacob asked Santa Claus to do another scavenger hunt for them on Christmas morning, and to "make it harder". Here they are solving it together before they got their clues to the location of their big gift. It required a calendar, a calculator, a world map, and a dictionary. Hard enough for you, Jacob?

Sammy and Tracy during the cousin gift exchange in the afternoon. The white elephant exchange was rousing good fun, too.

On the 27th we trekked up to Azusa. Kevin was jazzed because he is finally old enough to decorate floats this year. He and his friend Thomas thought climbing on the scaffolding and getting glue on them was totally cool. Until night time when the temperatures dropped...

The detail area is for those of us who want to stay a little closer to the ground (and closer to the heater). A tedious job that only those over the age of 20 actually ask to do. This ball will be on the China Airlines float - it's only halfway done in this picture, and I don't mean the front half.

Judy, Andrea, me, and Cindy. Cindy and I are smiling cause we get to leave prior to midnight, the other two are smiling cause they're only in hour 10 of their 48+ hour shift.

Tonight we bang pans outside, and will listen to the fireworks from Knotts. Tomorrow we root for USC, and pig out on junk food one last time before heading to Curves. Right, Cindy??

Getting Ready for Christmas

Lots of stuff happening the week before Christmas. Even though RJ and I spent four out of five days at home this week with different kids being home sick on different days, it was still pretty busy.

Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts both had their Christmas party on Monday night. Too bad that two of my three kids in scouts were sick and couldn't attend.

Kevin had his concert on Tuesday - lots of brand-newbies playing Good King Wenchelas and Merrily We Roll Along. (You gotta start somewhere with 2 classes of students who just picked out their instruments in September.) Kevin's in the back row, second one in, playing trumpet. I wonder if the girl in front of him in a short skirt and sandals got sick this week since it was pouring rain and freezing cold outside.


I went to my work holiday party on Thursday from 4-6pm, then had Sammy's concert at 7pm. Would have worked out fine if we had started our white elephant gift exchange prior to 6:45 and it wasn't raining on the drive home. Fortunately, Sam's group wasn't first up. They played some really killer hard music; "Sleigh Ride" earning the adjective of "evil" from the kids as they thought it was hard to play. I thought the other stuff was harder. The concert was held at Kennedy High's new $8m auditorium - I think more was spent on that one building than every other school project in the district. I don't care, at least we weren't crowded, and I didn't have a trombone playing over my shoulder like last year.

And the final sign that Christmas is around the corner - the annual Santa visit in the neighborhood handing out candy canes courtesy of the local real estate agent. Kevin wasn't in the picture as he was snow camping, I mean freezing, at San Gorgonio with the Scouts.

Only 3 shopping days left!!

Week of Dec 3

Went to Disneyland one night last week for the annual Family Christmas party - took the traditional picture in front of the gigantor tree on Main St. I looked at last year's picture, and the jacket with the reflective tape was on Jacob. Hopefully next year we won't be so blinded cause it will be too small for any of the boys to wear.

They hung these really cool icicle lights on the castle, and after fooling around with my camera's settings, got this picture:

And this one of Small World:

On Thursday night we went to see Matthew perform the 2nd grade Christmas program at school. He's one of the presents waaaaay up there on stage. See him? You don't? Cause he's RIGHT THERE -}

Next week is Kevin and Sammy's concerts, so I guess I'll have to do my shopping now while I can...

Nov 23

Those who can't sit in the press box to judge. . . .
Resort to producing the event . . .

Saturday, Nov 17 was the Savanna Field Tournament, and since I am the sucker who misses my days in Special Events, this was my second year as Tournament Chair. After many hours of coordinating rentals, helping organize volunteers, taking inventory, shopping for everything under the sun, writing programs, making and taking countless phone calls, and overseeing all the details of a 14+ hour event that had over 7,000 folks attend, my son hands me this note attached to a flower. I might make it a third year. . .

Nov 13

So it's been a whole month, maybe more like six weeks now, and LOTS of things have been going on beside the usual school and homework routine.

Sammy has had his share of football games and performances:

Also went out to dinner with Kathleen and Cris, spending a few hours at TGI Fridays hogging a table and catching up. After figuring that two of the last three times we saw each other was at funerals, we actually made and kept a dinner date. Only took us 8 weeks to coordinate and fit it into our schedules!

Matthew's cub scout troop came over last week to the house and we decorated cookies for Halloween. It's not any one of the activities for a badge or a trail, or whatever they call them in Wolves, but we did it just for fun. There were six kids and four adults all crowded around the table getting frosting and sprinkles everywhere.

Matthew also has Flat Stanley's cousin Flat Matt visiting Karen in WA. He helped Michael with the backhoe and planting two Christmas trees for Grandma Elta and Grandpa John. He has been sending emails to Matt on his adventures, which Matt loves to read.

Jacob got some new pets - Bob, Steve, and Spikey the goldfish - who swim around two of the shells from mom's bathroom. Snoopy is shown here welcoming them to the house. She sleeps with them every night, making sure they aren't lonely.

Lastly, the four guys got dressed up to go out for Halloween. We walked over a couple blocks where there are a few haunted/spooky houses and hundreds of kids trick-or-treating. We had our own spooky ghost, a ninja, Darth Vader and my own favorite "Green Burrito".

Yeah, I could be the starring role in either of today's comics ...

Fun at In-N-Out

In the day and age when $75 gameboys are so last week, we have .019 cent ketchup cups to keep the kids entertained...

And no, Matt has NOT eaten his hamburger yet - have yet to figure out what greasy thing he played with at school!!

Sept. 26

Tried doing a post a few weeks ago, and blogger had some funky-weird posting box. I gave up and never came back to it!

In the last month school has started, we've been to a football game, back to school nights, board meetings, parent meetings, done two fundraisers, gone to boy scouts, doctor appointments, to Disneyland one evening, worked a car wash, and celebrated a birthday, and spent a few days wandering through mom's house packing things and tossing the random bath rug and empty box in the trash.

I have boxes of papers and photo albums here in the office, some that have successfully made the round trip from Buena Park to mom's house, back to Buena Park. I'm sure they missed being here and all, but man, there is sooo much. Just in going through them I have found such gems as a "Welcome to the World of Jim Nabors" cassette tape; a coupon for a free roll of film at Fotomat; a .25 coupon for Friskies cat food; an article from an 'educational magazine' on how to stay young...like President Reagan; a 1960 Marine Corp memo asking if anyone is interested in attending a motion picture projection training class; and mom's elementary, jr. high, and high school homework assignments. And that is just in the top 2" of ONE box.

Other boxes include photo albums of wedding pictures; baby books; newspaper clippings of nothing that I can figure out; a video tape of Grandpa Murdock riding Looking Glass; Scattered Pearls; Scattered Thoughts (I found my copy - woo hoo!!); geneaology papers that I am pretty sure mom and I input into the computer over the years, but the last folder I know we left off at I haven't run across yet. I am seriously needing to re-do the design of this room so that we can stop tripping over the stuff. It's also no help that I have not been able to concentrate on any one thing lately, either.

Kevin has started playing flag football after school with his good friend Thomas. He's also playing trumpet in the band... he's still trying them both out, which is good. Sammy is busy with band stuff, they've actually had a quiet month performance-wise, they will kick off non-stop schedule this Friday nite. Jacob and Matt are enjoying their teachers Mr Foster and Mrs Hansen, and have started in with a Flat Stanley project and multiplication tables.

I took a sigh of relief earlier this week - I had a spot biopsied on my arm, turns out it wasn't cancerous, but has sun damage on it. Tomorrow I get the joy of freezing it off my arm...yea. The doctor wanted to keep an eye on it for another month, but I said with my mother's history of melanoma, and my 80 or so sunburns in my life, I wasn't going to take any chances with waiting for anything. So, I have dodged the first bullet at age 41.

Here's a kinda spooky picture taken of the Castle at Disneyland:And here we have a cat-pee stained Christmas tree skirt up for auction - any bidders!?!?

Aug 31

Well, Labor Day Weekend is here - the unofficial end of summer, and that means several things have happened in the last couple weeks - school registrations, band camp, school clothes shopping, school supply shopping, a few last dips at the pool, play dates with friends, trips to the beach being planned, oh - and it will be Randy's birthday this weekend!

After a few weeks of intensive daughter-ness, I am trying to turn my attention back into wearing the mother hat more. (Amy Grant has a great song called "Hats", and it is very appropriate this month.) First off, let me say thank you to everyone who was and is a support to our family - even though I was raised to be a strong, independent person, losing mom knocked me down a bit and made me grateful for everyone I do have around me in this life. Each person has offered their support in their own way and I do appreciate it.

Kevin is starting jr. high 7th grade next week, he says he is not scared and is looking forward to it. Good for him! We registered him earlier this week, he knows where the bike rack is and how to get to the gym on his first day. Stupid mom, why did you think you had to point that out to me?? He is well on his way to being super-independent.

Sammy has completed his two weeks of band camp, and was very happy to sleep in this morning. We went to see their fall preview last night, and the first third of the show sounds really good. A couple days ago, though, he was riding his bike to school and got bumped by a car that was turning in an intersection. He was shaken, but the urgent care said he was all OK. He starts school next Thursday, the latest of the four. His registration packet had a website for juniors that is a college planning tool. It is linked to the counselors at the school, and allows them to see when colleges will be on campus, save specific information on their "resume", and has scholarship and grant information. A great tool for this time for him.

Jacob and Matt start school on Wednesday, they actually don't want to go.... they know once they go back to school that the Playstation, Gameboys, PSP's, and videos all go bye-bye and only come out on the weekends. It is an adjustment for them to switch over to homework! Jacob and Kevin finished their reading programs and actually did show some improvement, that was a good investment of time and money this summer.

Painted the kitchen today - it's been too long, and it really needed it. Kevin wanted to paint, I told him I would let him help me and Cindy when we get painting at mom's house. Lord knows, there are plenty of rooms to paint and for him to learn on!!

Elta Murdock 1934 - 2007

August 8

Lots going on again in the family... although we're really not trying, we are getting to be professional hospital visitors around here. Cindy and I took mom to the hospital Monday night to get her checked out after she fell down over the weekend. Turns out she was dehydrated and when they looked at her lungs, they think she may have pneumonia. Between the gallons of fluids, tests and more tests, she is feeling alternately better, then worse, then better. It will take a few days of this before they will officially declare her "better", though.

We are glad she is there and being taken care of, but it took a 16 hour stint in the ER before she was put in a room. I eventually had had enough, and in order to get any attention from the staff, I started to hack into their computer to find the internal phone extension of the complaint department. They didn't like that.... three different nurses told me to get off, and I finally stopped when the security guard walked in (aaahhh - shades of Michael). Thirteen hours sitting on plastic chairs, one hour of sleep and no communication about the MIA admission doctor don't make me (or Cindy) a very pretty person to deal with. Fortunately the nurses upstairs didn't hear about this incident until we told them about it! She is in good hands with them.

In the meantime, we are gearing up with back to school stuff - Kevin and I picked up his Jr High registration packet today, and Sam gets his tomorrow. Jacob and Kevin are still taking reading classes, and they actually seem to like them. I am gathering up steam for the upcoming band stuff for the fall, and Sammy is getting ready for band camp coming up. Matt's biggest concern these days is whether he will play on the playstation, on the computer, or watch a movie. What's a seven-year old to do with all these choices?? Kevin goes to Pt Mugu this weekend with boy scouts, so you know that will free up some extra game time for Matt too.

July 23

Wow, only three kids in the house, what a difference. Kevin went off to BSA camp for the week and the dynamics have changed. Doesn't matter which kid leaves or for how long, things are always different.

Jacob and Matt got new-to-them skateboards this past week, and have been begging to be taken the skate park. I finally had to tell them that Grayson and Conner don't do that every day, just on their vacations. Plus, they had to prove to me that they really want to do this, and that would be by skating every night around the neighborhood and actually TAKING CARE OF their stuff. Being my kids, we'll see how long this fad lasts. Jacob keeps falling each night and complaining that he "broke his butt" (so maybe sooner than later!)

Before Kevin left for camp, he went to a 2-hr reading class at Golden West College. We signed him and Jacob up for the program, which is to strengthen their reading rate and comprehension skills. Jacob goes Friday morning for his first session.. hopefully the "bad twin" (the one that gets upset and crys at these things) will be on a break.

Sammy is partway through his second session of summer school. He passed the first session, and now has to hold on for this round. He's decided that six weeks of English for 5 1/2 hours a day, and only having 2 weeks of actual summer vacation, isn't the funnest thing on the planet. Maybe he'll remember that come this next school year - I'm all for it being as painful as it can be. If he gets a C or better this session, he can be back in band. Meanwhile, he's missing three practices. . .

I added a couple new tidbits to the sidebar of the blog, but ya gotta scroll down to see them. Till next time!

Sat, July 14

Randy, Cheryl, and the gang came to spend "four fabulous nights and four glorious days" with us this past week. It actually wasn't too bad with a house full of 8 kids... (don't worry, none of us are planning to make it 9. ) We let them hang out at the house on Wednesday while we went to work for the mouse, let them play at DL on Thursday, and we all went to the beach on Friday. In between, they sampled real Mexican food, 3 different skateboard parks, went shopping at the Block like every other O.C. teenager, and spent time with their cousins. Today before they flew home we had a sendoff dinner at Cindy and Gary's ~

The gang o'cousins, only a few short -

Cindy and Danielle -
Mom and Randy -
The half-assed sisters and sister-in-laws -
The grown-ups (in name only) -

The Big Day

OK, finally got some time and some "day of" pictures to upload here for you all. The day was great, not too hot, and bunches of friends and family came to celebrate the day. Thanks to everyone who gave their support, Karen and Michael really appreciate it. When they return from the honeymoon, more tidbits are due to appear on the other blog.

The blushing bride ~

Michael and Karen ~ In the limo, waiting to leave ~
Curtis and Mom ~

The Big Day (Before)

Well, Karen finally got hitched this weekend... the biggest wedding weekend in history, some folks are saying. Below are some pics from the day before, since I walked out of the hotel Saturday afternoon and LEFT MY CAMERA!!! I took some during the ceremony with Karen's camera, but since she needs it for like, the honeymoon, it might be a bit before I can upload some of those here. Maybe I can wrangle some off of mom's camera and upload those in the meantime.

Randy & Cheryl came into town Thursday afternoon, so we decided to take long overdue family portraits Friday morning before the weekend got too hairy. Here is a shot of us all sitting outside the photo place, in the 10 minutes it took them to put our pics on their computer for us to review.

Karen and Randy walking down the aisle at the rehearsal
Karen, Michael, and Dr. Thorp, with David in the background
Cheryl and Gary on the patio swing

Soak City

Ronnie, Brenda, Andre and Austin came out for a visit - the first group of family visiting this next three weeks. We spent RJ's last day of his unintentional time off at Soak City, soaking up lots of rays and chlorine along the way.

Ronnie, RJ, and Kevin taking a shade break. Kevin had a bit of the stomach bug, hence the grimace.

Jacob, Andre, and Austin - goofing off

Jacob still goofing off

Pretty boy Matt, also mugging for the camera

Two Down, Two to Go

Kevin was "promoted" from the sixth grade this week - two done with elementary school, two to go. In September we will be back to dealing with the paperwork, teachers, and back to school nights for three different schools again - elementary, jr. high, and high school.

(On a separate note, we got notice in the mail that Sammy passed his CAHSEE the first time he took it. Now he just has to get the GPA and the credits to actually graduate.)

While we were sitting waiting for the ceremony to begin, we figured out that in 2009 we will have three graduations to attend - Sammy from 12th; Kevin from 8th; and Jacob from 6th grade. If they are all on the same schedules, I will be in the market for a mommy clone that June.

Some pictures: