Braces

I finally have BRACES!

I have been so excited for this day my entire life. I got my braces on the 18th of December. It took about two hours which isn't bad after waiting for over 20 years. Ok, the excitement is still there. I have showed them to everyone... the lady at Starbucks and the two ladies waiting behind me, the cashier at the grocery store, all the parents at Ryan's school and the kids there, the little kids in Dylan's class (bless the little girl who told me that they make me look beautiful) and to anyone else who looks at me.

Now, I am very excited about having braces, however, I have not been able to eat much. My mouth hurts so bad. Because my teeth are so horrible, imagine putting something on them that sticks out even further and think of how that is rubbing my cheeks, my lips and tongue. I have sores everywhere in my mouth. They might not have been so bad if I only can learn to keep my mouth shut and stop talking to everyone.

Regardless, I am so happy about the whole thing that I try to remember the pain is only temporary (is 30 months considered temporary?). I have to have 4 teeth pulled also so I will update the blog with a new pic when that happens.

Christmas Fun

This week was full of fun and lots of Christmas cheer.

Dylan's daycare held a Holiday Program on Thursday, December 20th. The pictures above were taken before the show started. The lovely ladies who teach his class had done all the kids' (boys and girls) hair. I showed up with Dylan's clothes and when I started to take off his shirt, he reached up and said, "my hair". Ok Dylan, I won't mess up your hair! The two year old class was going to dance to Jingle Bell Rock. It was show time and off trotted the little ones. As they stepped out in front of all the parents, every kid got shy or cried except for one adventerous boy. Even Dylan wouldn't dance. Finally, I got him to do the moves as I shook his body into the groove.

On Friday, December 21st, Ryan's class had so much fun. First they made Elf Books with their Fourth Grade special friends. The books were very cute and Ryan illustrated his by himself. He drew a great Elf. After lunch, I brought in sugar cookies for the kids to decorate and headboppers for the kids to make. They also got to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in class. Several other moms came in to help and we set up stations. The cookie station had circle and snowman cookies that the kids could decorate with chocolate or vanilla frosting and top with a huge variety of sprinkles, chocolate chips, pretzels (antlers), marshmellows and M&M's. Oh yea, you should have seen it. On the craft station, the kids were making headboppers (not headbands, mind you, that offends the boys). It was fun to watch each kid make their craft and see the excitement in their eyes.

So school is out for two weeks and Christmas is on its way. Happy Holidays to each and everyone.

Ryan the Reindeer??

Ryan is so silly sometimes! As we were leaving Gramma Chris's house one night, Ryan decided to hook himself up to the sleigh and join the reindeer. He even had the bells connected to him. He was wearing a reindeer hat that he had gotten when he went to see Santa this year. He could almost pass for a reindeer. I hope to remember to check his bed after Santa leaves our house on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas!

Fantasy Football

Click on the pic to see it bigger and the #1 ranked team.

I don't need to say it, do I? I beat the boys. Go girl, GO DIVAS!
I should have been 12-1 but I lost the last 3 weeks in a row due to injuries.

I decided that I wanted to learn to play Fantasy Football so Jack suggested we start our own league. We asked his dad and his BIL to join. I think we had a lot of fun and we learned quite a bit about Fantasy Football. We did an automated draft this year but we won't do that again. Eddie ended up with all the RB's and Jack Sr. had all the QB's. Towards the middle, all the teams began to even out and the games were actually fun.

In Fantasy Football, we only play 13 games and then the Fantasy Playoffs begin. I will let you know in 4 weeks who the Cabana Clan Superbowl Champion is... I hope it is me!

Fires in San Diego County

First, I want to say that we were never in any real harm's way and that we are safe. However, it was a freaky couple of days with not knowing where the wind would blow or how fast so I did pack bags for all of us just in case.

Second, my heart goes out to every family who lost their home in one of the many recent fires. I cannot even imagine the pain of their loss. I only wish that I was able to help in some way.

I am blogging today because it has been a strange week. The places that we visited this month have been placed in danger and were evacuated due to the fires. I am still trying to find out if they survived. It is a weird feeling because we were just there and then the fires broke out and have destroyed so much. It makes me very sad...for the residents of those particular areas and for the residents of all of San Diego County.

Pumpkin Picking

On October 14, 2000, Jack and I were married. On October 14, 2007 we celebrated this day with our family.

We drove up to Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center, CA with Jack's parents and the boys' cousin Sophia. Supposedly this place has pumpkins growing and you get to walk around the fields and pick your own pumpkin. Ok, misconception. All of the pumpkins were off the vine and just laying around in this massive field. Looked great from a distance - all the orange colors among corn stalks. Once you walk into the field, well, that is another story. It smelled and there was smashed and moldy pumpkins everywhere. Poor Sophia slipped on one and landed on her butt in slimy pumpkin guts. We walked around the field for about 15 minutes, took a couple of pictures and got out of there.

The rest of the farm was nice. There was a whole seperate area full of smaller pumpkins in groups. Ideal for the kids to walk thru and pick out there own pumpkin. There were hay rides and horse carriage rides. Jack took the boys and Sophia on the carriage ride. There was also a straw maze but we didn't have time for that. The Chargers were playing at 1PM so we were on a tight schedule. We did stop for the best kettle corn I have ever tasted. Fresh, hot, sweet and salty! YUMMY! All in all, it was a nice day. It was gorgeous weather and the kids were good. This will be a place we go to next year.

Happy Anniversary, Jack. I love you!

Apple Picking

"My Pple" said Dylan over and over today while we were apple picking. Yup, that's right! We drove up to Julian, CA (about 65 miles east of us and up in the mountains) today with Jack's parents and Sophia, the boys' cousin. It was a beautiful crisp October day of about 65 degrees and lots of sun. We drove up there intending on attending the Apple Days Festival but at the same winery there was a U-pick orchard. It was so much fun walking among the apple trees that were in long, long rows one after another. Ryan got to be the "tree picker" and we all had to keep an eye on where that stick was pointing. There were 4 or 5 types of apples at this orchard. Jonathan apples, Gradins and Goldens, Empires and Pippins (which are used for baking). We got 3 bags of apples and definitely some of each type. This worked out so well because Ryan is sharing in school this week about apples. So he is going to take apples to all the kids and share with them a homemade apple pie (they say Julian has the best apple pies anywhere).

Dylan had more fun than anyone, I think. He wanted to eat the apples so we let him (and those were some delicious tasting apples). He had a great eye/perspective for finding apples. I guess when you are two feet tall, you see what everyone else passes. He was absolutely adorable running around saying "my pple" to each apple he had. He would hand us apples thru the trees and who couldn't in be awe of those big blue eyes looking at you thru a lush green apple tree.

After we finished picking apples, we drove into the town of Julian. We stopped for dinner and headed back home with FOUR apple pies. Of course, they were not all for our house, only two and one of those is for Ryan to take to school. Not bad for 7 hours on a lovely fall day.

Is this the face of an Angel?

This is Dylan... expressing himself!

Dylan gets mommy time everyday once Ryan heads off to school. This time varies from 1 - 2 hours depending on how slowly we are moving. Dylan and I spend the time coloring, learning shapes, colors, numbers, ABC's and words of things around the house. We also spend alot of quality time together with Dylan just sitting in my lap and me holding my arms around him, kissing his soft wispy hair. I never had "mommy" or "quality" time with Dylan before. I was always working hard to bring home the bacon. I never realized that I was hurting him and myself in the process. Two months ago, Dylan didn't give hugs or kisses or let anyone hold him if he was hurt. Now, he hugs me about every 5 minutes, especially if he did something he shouldn't have. He also wants me to hold him all the time by coming over to me, looking up at me with those big blue eyes, holding his arms up and saying, "High". High is his word for up. I try to never turn down that request, especially since I love to hold him and whisper to him how much I love him.

I love you Dylan, even when you fake cry because you have to leave mommy.

Ryan and Mommy

I love this picture! How often do I see a picture of me with one of my kids? Just about never.

This picture was taken at Nicole's (Jack's youngest sister) wedding earlier this month. Ryan was the ringbearer. He wore a tuxedo and didn't even complain until the end of the day. The wedding was on a boat that cruised around the San Diego harbor for 3 hours on one of the hottest days of the year. Ryan had fun running around the boat with his cousin, Sophia, and a family friend, Charlie (who was a flower girl in my wedding). Dylan was at the wedding also but as usual, no photos were caught of him that weren't blurry from him dashing from one spot to the next. We all love his energy!

Ryan looks so handsome in this picture. I am proud to be his mom. Even though we have many challenging days with him I love him very much. Ryan - you are so special!

He's a 1st Grader

Ryan started First Grade on September 4, 2007.

I am not sure if he was really excited or not. Jack and me took Ryan to his class. His teacher is Mrs. Goodwin. She seems like a nice teacher and several parents said that they heard good things about her. Ryan was happy that he knew some of the kids from his class - there are the triplets that he loves but I run from the mother plus there are several other kids he remembered from the afternoon kindergarten class. He was not in the same class is the boy who lives on our strees several houses down. Each child had a desk with their name on it already. The best part was when I picked him later that day (at 1:25 because they had a minimum day) and he walked out of the classroom looking zoned. He was so tired. I tried to tell him that he had to stay even longer (until 2:55) the next day but he was out of it and didn't pay any attention. We wish Ryan a great year in the 1st Grade.

Kasey - my little girl

This is Kasey... my 9 month old Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier.

Here she is all dirty and wet from playing with the boys in the water. I think she had just as much fun as they did. The only difference was that the boys were able to come in the house afterwards and Kasey didn't. No wet dogs in my house!

Hot Summer Days

Summer Days! What fun. With the weather so hot and the kids home with me in the afternoons, we needed some time to cool down. Ryan and Dylan had so much fun playing in this pool. They both love to go swimming at Gramma's so I never considered buying a small pool before but as you can see from the smiles on their faces, they loved it! Good choice, Mom (pat, pat on the back). We have used the little pool quite a bit the last few days and each time, it has been a pleasure to watch these two be silly in the water.

Tigers Tigers Everywhere!

This is what happens when you let the animals go to the Circus! Gramma and Grampa (Chris and Jack Sr. Cabana) took Ryan and Sophia to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey BELLOBRATION circus at the San Diego Sports Arena on Saturday, August 11, 2007. Ryan and Sophia had a blast, especially getting their faces painted. Ryan was a Orange Tiger and Sophia was a White Tiger. They would have blended right in with the tiger act - there were over 12 tigers in the cage - and the tigers listened better. Still, it was a fun day with elephants and clowns, balancing acts and all the excitement of a circus within the contraints of a sports arena.

Ozzy Fest 2007

Ok, who do you think did this? Jack and my first thought upon seeing Dylan looking like Marilyn Manson or attending an Ozzy Fest was that this was a total spin on the email of where the older sibling colors the baby sibling with black marker. Well, uh...Dylan did this himself. Ryan and Dylan were playing video games in Ryan's room (ok, Ryan was playing and Dylan was pretending since Ryan won't actually let him play and just gives him a controller that is NOT plugged in) so Jack and I were doing things around the house. Five minutes later, Jack calls me to look in Ryan's room and this is what we found. Dylan had gotten into Ryan's dresser drawer and found the last remaining temporary tattoo ink pad - black, of course! He rubbed it all over his lips and stamped it up and down his arms, legs, belly and chest. We were laughing so hard and could hardly be mad at all. From the time it took me to get the ink pad away from him and for Jack to take pictures, I had almost as much ink on my arms and hands as Dylan did.

Memorial Day Blues!

Today is Memorial Day. Jack played golf at the crack of dawn so the boys and me slept in. Dylan was a grumpy little boy this morning and wanted nothing to do with anyone. Little did we know that he had a tummy virus, until we smelled it later on (if you know what I mean). Poor little guy! Dylan usually has a ferocious appetite but he wanted no food. He only wanted his gink and gank (binkie and blankie for those not into Dylan-language). Later in the day, Jack and I were cleaning out the miraculously empty garage (thanks to a super yard sale on Saturday) when the tummy virus hit Jack. Down he went...to bed that is. That left Ryan and me to finish the garage. We did and then we played air hockey. He always wins.