Rayna's Place

Christina has the funniest saying lately..."Don't leave me"!
She says it all the time.
When we shut the car off..."Don't leave me"!
When we get up to answer the phone..."Don't leave me"!
When we take her to the bathroom (potty time)...Don't leave me"!
She especially likes to tell her Dad..."Don't leave me, Dad"!

The funny thing is, she has never been left behind. So I'm still trying to figure out why she says this. Sometimes, she even has that worried look on her face, like we're really gonna leave her.
This little phrase has been a fun and interesting one. And if you know my husband sense of humor, you'd know he's had way too much fun with this!

So every 3-6 months we (the kids) like to get measured on the door.
The famous door of past family measuring.

When the kids were younger it was fun to measure how big our little guys were getting. Now I just know that one's past me up and the other is pretty close!

Kenny just loves to see his growth each time. Sometimes he has me measure him too soon and he's disappointed with the results!


Mateo is still going through little spurts. I think he doesn't care too much about checking. Especially since he realized he can't ever catch up to Kenny.


I'm just glad these kids are growing!

Sidenote: We did measure Tina but she hasn't grown any
since last time. :(

Well tonight we had boring hamburgers BUT last night I tried another new dish. It was amazing! So I thought I'd share.

Heavenly Rice Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
2 c cooked chicken
1 13 oz can drained pineapple tidbits
1 1/2 c cooked cooled rice
1/2 c celery
2 c grapes
1/2 c chopped cashews (optional)
1 tbsp reserved pineapple juice
(sauce):
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 c mayo
Directions:
Mix sauce together and add to everything else. Refrigerate. Serve with pita or favorite bread.

Awhile back we had an email swap going around for recipes. So I believe this recipe came from Shaina. She has some amazing recipes, you should check them out.

Well my friend Jen is having a vinyl giveaway. You've gotta check it out. You'll love her site, too!

Yesterday I decided to make a new dinner. It was time for a new recipe. I went hunting through my favorite websites, books and saved recipes. This was the winner!

Bowtie Pasta Salad by Jen
16 ounces uncooked bow ties, rotini, ziti or other shaped pasta
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen mixed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots
1 cup Italian, creamy Italian or favorite dressing
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup pitted ripe olives, halved

Cook pasta and vegetables according to package directions; drain. Combine pasta and vegetables with remaining ingredients in large bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
For variety, add sliced salami, cheese cubes, cooked chicken, turkey or cooked seafood to the salad.

I only used broccoli, cherry tomatoes, salami and cubed cheese (of course dressing). It was a big hit! Thank you Jen! This dish was so easy to throw together and that's a plus in my house.
Mateo loves fried eggplant. I decided since he's had a rough couple of days at school, mostly with the bus system. I would make him some for dinner. I really liked how it complimented the pasta.

So yesterday was Christina's turn to return to school. She was so excited! Everyday this week she was asking me, "Today, teacher?". They moved her program over to a school in our neighborhood, yeah! So she was excited to see her new school.
Tuesday I asked her what she was going to wear to school. She went and picked out an outfit and we had a little photo shoot.



Of course she end up wearing a different outfit. It's a girl's prerogative to change her mind, right! When I asked her if she wanted to take a pic in her new outfit she said, "Um, no"! I begged and begged but she wouldn't give. And she was wearing such a cute dress. Well next time she wears it I'll get a picture.
After school we went home and had lunch and then made some cookies. Man, those have become a regular around here! Here's some of our mess!

Christina loves to help cook! It makes it all the more fun!

Yesterday was the first day of school for Kenny and Mateo. It was a very eventful day to say the least. I already knew, before the day started, that everyone would be very tired at the end of the day. so I thought that I should start them off with a yummy breakfast.

I found this recipe a while back on this site. Now I'm not one for making breakfast in the mornings. I'm usually in bed while the kids get ready! But I knew this was a day of first, so why not?

Okay so let me tell you how the day started.
Kenny was up at 5:15 AM getting ready for seminary. To my surprise he was up and dressed before me. Luckily, for now I have arranged a ride for him in the mornings. That is too early for me to be coherent and driving! He returned home at 6:30 and got ready for school. The high school is just blocks away so we said he could walk. He returned home around 3:00.
He said the day went by fast.
He has none of his friends in his classes.
He got lost at one point.
He didn't eat lunch, due to trying to find some friends.

Yep, sounds like high school!

Now onto Mateo's first day. Let's just start with the bus being 30 minutes late to pick up the kids. When he got to the school he said he had to do a lot of running around. He had to pick up a new schedule and they kept sending him to different rooms to retrieve it.
Then at the end of the day his bus never showed. I was over at the drop off waiting and found out from another parent that the kids were still waiting at the school. I took off so fast! It only took me 15 minutes and I was there chewing out any available adult. Now I know I probably over-reacted but after your child has been sitting at the school for almost 2 hours, I think you'd be a little annoyed also.
He was so happy to see me pull up! It was a long day to say the least for Mateo.
When I asked him how school was he said, "Boring"!
I hope it only gets better from here (for him)!

Later in the evening Kenny and Christina took a nap. They were pooped! I bet if Mateo had enough time he might have joined them!
I hope as the week goes on it will only get easier!

Well tomorrow is the day! My boys will be starting the new school year. They both will be starting at new schools. I'm so nervous for them!
Nervous is an understatement!
Kenny will be going to the high school as a newly freshman.

I'm gonna keep saying it for awhile, "I can't believe my baby is going to high school"! These next four years are just going to go too fast. I think that's what scares me more, knowing that he'll be a senior soon.
This year Kenny will also be starting Seminary. It's an early morning church class for high school students. His class will begin at 5:40 AM! He then will head off to school for 0 period at 7AM! Busy boy!

Mateo is going into 7th grade at a new middle school.

We're on a new schedule this year. They're starting an hour later then the high school. It's gonna be a lot of driving! I think Mateo is very excited about this new school. Mateo and Kenny will be trying out for Jazz band. Gotta love music!

Well here's to the new school year!
Wednesday Tina starts so look forward to more pics!

Remember Christina's new pony? She has been taking her everywhere. It came with a bunch of little stuff; hair clips, lil' blow dryer. So I decided to make her a bag to carry it all in. This would be my second purse/bag. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pull it off but it went pretty well. I'm so proud of myself! I've never been good with instructions. I would always wait for someone else to read them and then tell me what to do. This time there was no one but me!
It was pretty easy to figure out. The bottom was a bit tricky! All in All I think it turned out pretty good!

It looks like a purse/bag.
It carries like a purse/bag.
So I guess it qualifies for a purse/bag.

Now on to my next project. A purse/bag for me! The last 2 purses/bags I've made ended up for Tina!

I've been thinking about this summer and what we did. So I went to our summer calendar that I made at the beginning of summer. I don't think I posted a pic of it because I was embarrassed. I had planned for a cute homemade calendar but time was pressing. So I opted for a fast and simple one. I just pulled out some butcher paper and began our calendar.

After it was finished I called the kids together for a meeting. I had them tell me some things they wanted to do during summer. I also had them come up with some personal/family goals. We then filled in the calendar with ideas to keep us busy during the week.
Today we will be taking down the calendar. I thought it would be a good idea to jot everything down before we do. You know, for our memories!

GOALS
*family bike rides- didn't' happen because of Kenny's injury. :(
*FHE (family home evening)(on a regular basis)- we tried as best we could!
*practice baseball- again with Kenny's injury.
*have friends over- not as much as I had planned. We were pretty busy.
*potty train Tina- Oh yeah, this one happened!!
*read 1 book per month- well there was a lot of reading, just not too many novels.
*make a quilt- this was my goal. The top is finished, not bad!

Places To Go
*park- we made it at least twice a month.
*museum- does the train museum count? We also visited the fire station?
*zoo- Oops, forgot about that one!
*Kathy and Lani's- yep, made it to the ranch!
*movies- thanks to the summer movie program and Harry Potter.
*baseball game- we could never find an open day or game we wanted to see.

Here's a list of the days that kept us busy.
We had;
Library Day
Park Day
Water/Chalk Day
Friend Day
Craft Day
Movie Day/Late Night Movie
Super Clean Day
Free Day
Outside Fun Day
Bake Day
Journal Day

Here's the list of crafts;
pasta fun
journal covers
potato painting
bean pictures
paints
puppets
lanyard fun
pipe cleaner fun
slime

This summer was definitely the summer to remember! I'm pretty proud of how I was organized with our time and what we did. Next year I will start earlier on the planning. I sure am going to miss the kids once they're in school. I guess my lesson learned this summer is that time is very valuable!

Well I can't believe that this is the last week of summer. It just flew by. I feel like we didn't get much done. I guess it doesn't help that we spent most of July sick! I feel like I have so much to do this last week, too!

To Do List (for this week)
*register Mateo at new school
*pick up schedules for Mateo and Kenny
*finish school shopping
*have some last minute fun before school starts!

So we finally got the call for Mateo. We were waiting to find out what school he would go to. Since they closed the middle school that Kenny and Mateo were going to. The school district divided the school by areas and told us of our new school. I wasn't too happy with the new school because they have had low test scores. I filled out some paperwork to have him enrolled in another school. It finally came through. When they called they gave me a list of paperwork to get together; birth certificate, shot records and last report card.
At first I wanted to scream, "why, do they need all of these?" Then I remembered that, I'm just happy that he will be at a very good school.
So no complaining, except, these items were not in my possession! AGH!
I have been hunting for them all weekend. Then I remembered that the shot records are in storage, the little league never gave back the birth certificate and his report card is still by the printer where I left it.
Now if you remember in one of my earlier post about getting organized...it just hasn't happened yet!
Well he is all registered and Wednesday we pick up his schedule and then head over to the high school for Kenny's schedule. Yes, I said HIGH SCHOOL! Kenny will be a freshman this year. I'm trying not to think about it. I've been preparing him as best I can.

Me: "Kenny, just remember that girls are trouble"!
Kenny: :)

Today we finished up school shopping, whoo! I think they actually enjoyed it! Well for what I payed, they better have! Kenny has been into the skinny jeans. He was trying to talk Mateo into them, pretty funny! The thing that drives me crazy...in 3 months I'll have to go winter shopping.
While taking the boys shopping I realized, they sure do get to go on a lot of shopping sprees! Man, I don't know when the last time I spent that kind of money on myself. No fair! I guess I'll just have to treat myself real soon!

Now for some last minute summer fun. I was planning a trip to the beach, but I'm not sure anymore. Lately the freeways have been ridiculous! So I'm kinda talking myself out of it. So you'll just have to wait and see what I do!

This past spring I should have planted some flowers but I just wasn't in the mood. Every year I would help my Mom plant her garden. Recently, she would sit by as I planted. It was still a fun time because she would keep me company.
I just didn't know if I could work in the garden and not have her there. Then the other day my Dad mentioned the garden. It was also the week of Mom's birthday. So it got me thinking...it would be nice to see flowers again.
Well wouldn't you know it Ken happened to have the day off, so I got him to help. We took off to Home Depot and picked up some flowers.
Christina was more than eager to help. Here she is helping Dad rake the dirt.

Mateo ended up being the photographer, he didn't feel like getting dirty!

Here we are half way through. I don't have a finished picture because I ended up taking some flowers back. I decided I had too many of the same color. Tomorrow it should be finished. Then I'll have pics.

One thing is for sure, it sure looks nice with flowers again!
*Wait till you see my next project. I want to put a vegetable garden in the backyard!

We finally found time to take Christina to the store. Of course there was plenty of time for me to take her but we had to wait for Dad. Dad just wouldn't have been happy if he wasn't present for buying his little girl a doll. We've been talking about buying her a "big dolly" because she did so well potty training.
When we went to the store (no toys r us here, mind you) there wasn't much to choose from. At first she picked a Mulan doll (barbie size). Next she saw a Tinkerbell doll (still barbie size). Now I knew if we went home with a "barbie size" doll I would hear, "no, big dolly", from Tina. So I kept her looking. We then saw this.

This qualifies as a big dolly to me. Christina thought the same thing.
It is bigger than the average barbie doll and bigger than the average my little pony. So we took it home!

She's been having a blast with Pinkie Pie.

Kenny left this morning for a week at scout camp. He really didn't want to go. He just doesn't like camping much. I think it's the dirt and mosquito bites. He kept trying to get out of it. I told him he had to go and have fun! I know he's gonna have fun and so does he.
I would've taken a pic but he left at 5:30am. That is too early for me! When I woke up today I knew it was gonna be different. Already I could see that; Mateo was pretty bored, Tina kept asking for him and I was feeling pretty sad my self. So we made Monster Cookies. They are so good! I use the altered version. The original is too sweet.
Well hope they will fill the hole. :( I doubt it. I have a few plans this week to keep us busy; tomorrow we're going to the movies, Wednesday the library, Thursday the park. I'm hoping it will get hot so we can waste some time in the pool. Sometime this week I'm also suppose to start a new project. Well Saturday just isn't gonna come fast enough.
One thing is for sure I won't hear Kenny and Mateo going back and forth. The minute he gets back it will start and all will be right! :)

Okay so yesterday we had the whole family over for dinner. We always have a "big" family dinner for birthdays. "Who's birthday, this time?", you ask. Well Wednesday would be my Mom's 56th birthday. So my Dad called everyone together. He picked some of her favorites; ribs, tri-tip, potato salad, asparagus and oysters. It was a great and yummy dinner.
This week I'm trying to stay as busy as possible because of my Mom's birthday and next month will be a year. It's really un-real that time can fly so fast when your missing a loved one.

Now, the title of this post, Mom....are you there?
Yesterday I was straightening up the dining room and living room. Christina was in the family room. Here's our conversation:
Tina: Mom?
Me: Yes?
*2 minutes pass*
Tina: Mom?
Me: Yes?
*2 minutes pass*
Tina: Mom?
Me: (Thinking) okay so now I'm wondering what's going on. I go to see where she's at. I find her lounging on the couch watching tv. She just wanted to make sure I was in reach and available. If I didn't answer she would have gotten up and gone hunting for me.
What a nut! It made me laugh!

Quick Disclaimer: this post is picture heavy.
Yesterday we took a trip out to our local Railroad Museum. I thought it would make for an adventurous day. I called ahead to see what to expect. They said that we could take a ride on a train and then have lunch out on the lawn. Sounds like fun!
It wasn't a very long ride, 20 minutes, Tina kept saying she was tired. That girl is always "tired" if she's not on the move. When we got out of the car it was SO windy. Good thing we brought jackets.


We had to buy tickets to ride the train and be on the grounds. How much fun for a little child to hold their train ticket.


Half way through the ride the train stopped and we got out. We rode an electric
train so they had to set it up to return back to the station. Here are some pics from the stop.




After the ride we went to have lunch out on the lawn. It was pretty and windy! Christina's big brothers were trying to keep her warm so she could eat.



Summers almost over and I think this was a great way to end it!