Sleepy Summer

Here is my sleeping beauty... not sure if you can see her eyes are open when she sleeps, it is freaky and she gets it from her Aunt Cami. She looks dead, but I did check and she is breathing. She loves to have her blanket over her head, and typically has her thumb in her mouth (another discussion), she has always had her blanket over her head, even as a small baby and it would drive me crazy and I would take it off and then she would put it right back.

Isabella loves to sleep and she is good at it, just like her dad. The kids have been going to bed late in the summer and this week are extra tired because of VBS which ends at 8:30pm. Isabella loves the days I work from home because she can sleep like this until 10am, when I go into the office they are up at 7:00am and we are out the door. Soren got up already, probably because they slept together in a twin bed, with 1 dog so he probably ran out of room. He is like sleeping with a kick boxer/gymnasit/cirque de soliel star.... he is all over the place and if you sleep with him you could find a toe in your eye or mouth at any given time. Mike will not sleep with him. When we are camping I practically have to swaddle him up so he won't kick us.

I will let "sleeping beauty" sleep a bit longer and then they need to be up and do some chores before going to Cami's...to swim and play and have more fun.

I'm working from home again today (weds) and I am so buried at work it is crazy! Oh well good job security, and I have a meeting at the kids school (las brisas) and hopefully can make my final decision soon.

Update on that issue - the public or as Soren says it "pewblic" does not offer extended care, so I called the boys and girls club and to bus the kids there is will be $625.00 per month, which is only $200 less then sending them to Las Brisas. Then I find out the boys and girls club might not go to Donald Graham this fall - and there is no extended care...SO do they become "latch key kids" - I don't think so... Mike doesn't really want them at the boys and girls club, so we are still trying to work it out. I know the Lord wants us at Las Brisas.

Have a great day! xxox Caroline

Isabella

4th of July - Family Tradition

We participate in my Grandma Lende's parade at the Groves in Irvine again this year. This has become a family tradition, although this year it was just the Wales and Oursler kids. We feel it is important to be there for my grandma and she can show off her great grandchildren a bit. The kids decorated their bikes and Charlie and Elizabeth rode in the Golf cart. Charlie was yelling "Happy 4th of July" the entire time.

They had a great time and thought it was very cool to be in a parade, no matter how small it was. I think my Grandma enjoyed having us there, this is a big party at the Groves and I'm sur it makes her miss my grandpa even more. Brian (my brother) and my Dad came to watch too.

We then went home and the family took a nap, and I prepared all the food and cooler to go to Cami's for a pool party. I didn't bring my camera in.... oops! It was just 4 families but very fun. We all swam and the kids did water balloon toss and bubble gum blowing contest - with prizes!!

We also made homemade ice cream -YUM. You had to crank it or as Cami said "no turny, no treaty". The kids thought it was so awesome that you can pour a milk mixture into the container and add ice, rock salt, and put some muscle into it - out comes ice cream. It is a great science experiment for the kids.

Dinner was delicious and I think I gained 10 pounds. I made strawberry vodka and then mixed with lemonade - I just could not drink beer all afternoon...but Mike did! I drove us home around 10pm and the Esterholt's spent the night but they got up at 6:30am to drive home. My kids were sad they were gone when they woke up.

It was a great day- thanks Cami and Chris for hosting it!

xxox

caroline

Going Green - update

So our quest to go GREEN continues and now I have incorporated it into saving money (so the kids can go to Las Brisas). I am now officially saving cans and bottles and hope to pay for 1/2 of one of the tuition's, and then figure out how to cut costs to make up the other 1/2. And let me tell you I am not prideful one single bit, if you invite me over and serve me a drink in a can or glass bottle, I WILL take it home with me.
There is a man in Wildomar that walks around all day collecting cans and I would be willing to bet that he has more in savings then most of us. I'm sure that it helps he lives in a tent and doesn't have 3 dogs, 2 kids, a boat, motorcycles, trailer and a diesel truck.
Okay back on topic...
Our water bill is crazy in the summer because Mike likes to have a very green yard - I am trying to get him to skip a day of water - so far not working. So my other ways to save water will have to work.
1. Kids are taking showers and not baths - my kids LOVE baths and they could take 3 a day if I let them. Also if the swim at Cami's...well that is their shower for the day (see no pride).
2. We are using the 60's motto "If it is yellow be mellow, if it is brown flush it down" - took the kids a minute to think what could possible be "brown" - they were so funny when they figured it out, and then we had to play they "what if it is green or blue or RED" We told them "flush if green or blue and come get us if it is RED". So if you come visit and there is a bit of pee in the toilet, please don't be alarmed and just know that the Oursler's are saving water for our planet and saving money on our bill. Soren was explaining it to the boys there other day and I had to tell him guests don't have to participate.
3. Swimming at neighbors pool to cool down - inviting myself over to swim, both my neighbors always say it is okay to come swim anytime and sometimes I feel weird about it - Well no longer... Besides they know I will bring good food.
4. Cold water laundry only - okay so I am "green" at being green - Mike tells me yesterday, cold water is saving us money on our gas bill not our water - duh!!

I am addicted to blogs these days and it is a great stress reliever - one of my favorites is (okay going to see if I can link it)http://walkslowlylivewildly.com/. It has alot of links to other great blogs and filled good information about being green, being spiritual, eating raw etc...

I still have a long way to go - my next goals are:
1. Vegetable garden
2. composting
3. no papertowels - cloth only. I don't think I will ever get the family to use cloth wipes in the bathroom (read that blog above and you will see lots of people do that)
4. Diva Cup - Google it and you will see what it is....remember no pride
5. Vegetarian - this one is the toughest of all but everything I read, people are losing weight like crazy by not eating meat.

Okay that is enough for now, I'm off to start my work day. My job is filled with stress but I need to work harder then ever so I can keep those kiddos at Las Brisas.

Oh and keep praying for me, any kind of prayer will work.

Have a great Wednesday - Caroline

Bird update (sad news) and getting Healthier...

We have sad news, our bird did not make it.... We had prepared the kids that this could happen, so there weren't too sad. I was more upset because he was doing so good when I left for work on Tuesday and then when Chris went over to feed him he called me and said he didn't think he was doing too good.

And I feel even worse because I think we over fed him. He would squawk alot and I just assumed he was hungry...ugh I feel horrible. But at least he died with a full stomach, the way I would want to go.

That is the story of my life, is something "squawks" just feed it more, and I wonder why Mike and I need to lose a few pounds.

Which leads me to my next topic - Getting Healthier. We eat well in our house, my kids will eat anything and they love vegetables (they even order broccoli as a side at Chili's). For the month of June I decided we would be vegetarians....and even try to eat "Raw", I have been looking at alot Green blogs and raw eating is always mentioned. I have made a few recipes and they were excellent but I have to admit the "no meat" thing is stuff for the Oursler's - we didn't succeed, Father's Day we had big old burgers. We have been doing good, but we love to eat red meat and I swear my grocery cart would pull straight to the Tri Tip and Filets. So I am going to be realistic and realize this is a marathon and not a sprint, it is going to take time. Both Mike and I need to get some weight off, but more importantly we want to be healthy and teach our kids to eat healthy.
Soo - I am going to try again and change it up a bit. Starting in July we are going to do NO fast food, nothing at all, which includes Starbucks - this will save us money as well. My Starbucks used to only cost me a few bucks but now that my kids love it, it is a $10 -$12 event every time we go. We are going to only eat red meat 1 time a week, and pile on the veggies and fruits. Also going to convince Mike to join WW with me ( I have done it a million times and know it is the one diet that works...because you can save points for wine or a beer).

Okay I'm off to my email from work, I had yesterday off to work at my grandma's, so today I will be busy.

Have a great Friday!

Summer Update - Week 2

Week 2 starts today - Kids are very excited about "Camp Glue" formerly known as Camp Wales - they changed the name since it isn't just the Wales' kids. They picked the name Camp Glue because they "stick together". The motto is "one for all and all for one". They made the cutest tiedye t shirts and if I was a good blogger I would show you a picture now...but I'm not...
I am so blessed that Cami can watch our kids in the summer - I have said it before but just want to say it over and over.

Still having aniexty about school - it goes in waves. One minute I am convinced it will be okay at public and then the next I think - "no we will make it work". I am going to continue to pray about it and then sit down with Mike and see how he feels about it. I know he knows the benefits of Las Brisas but I know he gets stressed we don't put alot of money away per month. And I don't want to not send them to private school just so we can buy more "stuff" or he can go on more hunting trips... UGH!

Plus it doesn't help that I am in a funk - just can't seem to get it together and instead of tackling an issue I just push it aside and then it festers bigger and bigger. So today I will make a list and actually cross things off of it - I have heard that helps, instead of just making a list and then losing it.

Trying to think of fun things the kids can do this week that aren't too expensive... I don't want to hear how they are bored, and they have watched enough TV already to last them a week. We did all watch Camprock on Thursday night and it was cute. Renting some movies from REDBOX - those of you who know me well, know that renting movies is not my thing, or should I say returning them is not my thing. I can't tell you how many VHS tapes I have in the case from the rental place - not good! But recently someone told me about REDBOX, they are in Albertsons - they are $1.00 per day...so far I have watched Juno, 27 Dresses, Catch and Release, and Oceans 13 (which is now on everyday on HBO). Mike enjoyed Juno as well. It is easy to do and cheap and easy for me to remember since I am often at the grocery store (another blog story).

We did rescue a baby bird that Mike found on a machine he was moving last week - little guy is still surviving, he sure likes to eat alot. It is in Mike's lunch box with the nest (and it stinks), feeding it cat food mixed with apple sauce and worms squished up. Hopefully he can fly soon so we can release him. Since we have trained "bird dogs", we have to make sure they stay away. Kids are enjoying watching him grow.

That is about it in the Oursler house update. Thank goodness for friends and family with a pool, that has been a treat in this horrible hot weather.

Have a good Monday..
xxox- Caroline

Fix Your Mind

Isabella and Soren with their webkins (before Soren's haircut) and obviously I need to take a photography class...

So I wake up this am and instantly start thinking of the school situation and almost start to cry. I am overly emotional right now, I'm sure that I still have this cold (since Easter) does not help. Got my 3rd round of drugs yesterday....

I read my email from "Joel Osteen" and it says "Whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is kind, if there is any virture, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things" ( Philippians 4:8) . In a nutshell what you think about determines the quality and direction of your life. I read this over and over in every self help book I have (which is alot), and my mom always taught us to play the "glad game", just like Pollyanna, concentrate on what you are glad about in your life and not what you don't. It goes on to say some transations say "fix your mind". So I am really going to work to "fix my mind" especially on this school situation and let God do the work in our lives.

Last night Isabella said to me "did you tell daddy about the school" and I said "yes but we have not made up our minds yet" and she replied "it is god's plan" ...ugh - I know it is his plan and I need to just continue to trust him and not second guess it, and then feel guilty that I did something wrong.

Las Brisas has been a huge safety net for me and I just don't feel like jumping out of it yet.

The whole church thing isn't even coming into to play at this point, if I pull the kids from school then I will most likely stay at church for now, so the kids have some comfort there. I know my church family will love me no matter what school my kids go to.

Okay 2 posts in 2 days... can you believe it?

Have a great Wednesday! I'm sure hoping this cold is gone soon.