Another great daily thought

Here's a great one. And you should see the size of my knott!!

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
— Franklin D. Roosevelt

My big Crops2Remember weekend is this weekend. Seems like we have it all together, but then there are always those last minute things that pop up. So much to do here at home too. Baseball, homework, trying to figure out a nice summer vacation and get the kids signed up for fun summer camps!

Make today a great day!!

Real Simple Daily Thought

No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap
— Carrie Snow

See you later. I am off for my nap :)

Padres Won! 14 - 5

The game was on, then off, then up in the air, then finally on. Padres had a make up game Tuesday. It all depended on if both teams had enough players and if the teams who were already scheduled to play that night could start an hour earlier. Whew! We found out at 2 that the game was on.
They boys played an awesome game after being off for 2+ weeks. Greg hit a double, triple, and singles, played an awesome 3rd base and got the game ball!!! He has been waiting for the game ball all season. One play, he snagged the ball and chased the runner running to home, decided he wouldn't get him so threw the ball to first and the runner at first was out!!! Our infielders are working so good together now! Christian hit a home run! Our guys were hitting awesome. No stopping us now!!
This is the second half of the season so the scores count towards placement in the TOC (tournament of champions) at the end of the season.
Saturday we are scheduled to play the Rangers.
We may also have a make up game against the Cardinals one day this week.
Let's go Padres! Keep up the great work. You are on Fire!!!

THANK YOU

I would just like to say Thank You to everyone for the emails, calls, cards, presents and well wishes for my birthday. As I get older my birthday my birthday just comes and goes as another day. But it's still nice to celebrate and be remembered.

I had a nice dinner at my mom's on Friday night as it was her birthday. Had some pizza at Eric and Chrissy's on Saturday night. Sunday night had yumm-o ribs at Lucille's BBQ. It was nice to spend the weekend with my dad too and my brother and his family.

And I love the flowers from Tom and the kids. The tulips are opening up today and look beautiful.

Football it is

Greg made his decision and we got him all signed up for football. He will play for the Saddleback Valley Bears and will be on the Jr. Mighty Might team. His birthday falls just after the age cut off so even though he will be 9 when the season starts, he is considered 8 for the league. That actually works in his favor. We even met Greg's coach, real nice guy. Greg is trying to decide what position he wants to play.
Practice starts July 29, 5 days a week until the season starts September 1. We will be busy at the end of summer. I think we will also have one tired guy too. I told Greg he needs to start running with Evelyn and me. But for now we have been racing to the end of the street and back.
I can't leave out Evelyn. She will play soccer again and excited about it. Her friend Sara is also signing up and they hope to be on the same team. We won't know anything about soccer until late August.
The fun never ends around here! My car is always packed and ready to go for whatever sports season it is.
Have a great week everyone!!

Grandpa leaves tomorrow ;(

Grandpa has to go back home to Oregon tomorrow and we are all sad and will miss him terribly. We had such a good visit with him over the weekend. Bummer was that it rained and Greg's game Saturday was cancelled, practice Sunday was cancelled and tonight's game was cancelled. We have had so many beautiful weekends and this one it just had to rain! If I could have held a super huge umbrella over the ball field, I would have! Greg is so sad that Grandpa could not see his games. Me too.
But we did have a great weekend. Spent time with Eric, Chrissy, Jake and Nathan, had a super wonderful birthday celebration and yumm-o dinner at Lucille's in Lake Forest.
We got Greg signed up for Pop Warner football, he will be on the Saddleback Valley Bears, Jr. Mighty Might. His first year playing and Greg can hardly wait! This cuts our summer in half though as practice starts July 29 and is 5 days a week! I already have Greg running up and down the street and he got in a lot of catch and practice with Grandpa. But we still have to concentrate on baseball and actually did a lot of batting and playing catch with Grandpa this weekend. Greg thought it would be fun to hit a soccer ball and what do you know, bonked himself in the head with his bat. Ouch! Got ice on it right away and can hardly see the bump.
We also got Evelyn is also signed up for soccer again.She can't wait to play again. Evy and Tom had a lot of fun on their camping trip too. Said it was the coldest one they had been on yet. Funny that Evy came home in the clothes she was wearing Saturday morning when they left bright and early. She said she even slept in them as it was too cold.
But we do have some wonderful news! I was waiting to tell the kids until Grandpa was here... Grandpa is moving back to sunny (most of the time) CA!!! We can't wait to have him here all the time. Greg is already making huge plans for Grandpa when he moves back. He has been looking at some places on line, and I checked some out for him. But today we spent looking at places and think we found one in Ladera Ranch. Beautiful location right against the hills and a well kept Sr. apartment complex. There is so much going on there, trips, dinners, parties, you name it! So, hopefully things will all work out and he will be back in June to move on it! Can't tell you how nice it will be to have my dad living close again :)
So, Grandpa, thank you for all the time you spent with Greg and Evy and us and your stories, magic tricks, baseball and football tips. Sorry that the games were rained out but know you will be at soccer and football and baseball again next season! We can't wait to see you here again in June :)

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is my mom's birthday. I just want to say Happy Birthday Mom!!
It is so nice to have you home again. You have helped me out in so many ways. I can't begin to thank you enough. I wish you a wonderful day and many many more to come.

I got this quote from my friend Judy's blog:
On your birthday, try something you'd do if your age were your shoe size - Life's Little Instruction Calendar Volume XI
So, if you can, go out and do something you would do when you were 10. Evelyn can help out with that one!!

I always enjoyed our shared dinner birthday's and look forward to dinner tonight.
Happy Birthday and I love you! We all love you !

Still counting......

Greg is still counting the days. He has stopped counting hours, at least for now.
This morning he did announce that it is supposed to rain Friday. But Saturday weather forecast is clear. That's good! It has been too long with out a baseball game. And since grandpa is here to see ball games, it just can't rain!!

We are heading to the batting cages right after school today. Greg got a baseball game for Easter. You hook it to the tv and bat with this electronic bat. We quickly figured out that you have to swing as soon as the ball is leaving the pitchers hand. oops, that doesn't work in real life. Greg has had a hard time hitting. He swings as soon as the ball comes out of the pitching machine. No good! He is one of the hitters on the team. So, today is batting cages. Friday there should be a lot of batting during practice. We have to get that swing back!

Today is really going well so far. :) I did wake up late but still took the dog for a jog. Got laundry done, house is all clean and work is going smoothly (so far).
Lunch time.

Make today a great day!!!

Countdown update

Well, Greg did it today after school "Four days to Saturday. How many hours is that?" I did some quick calculations from 3:30 and figured it's about 67 hours. Next question, "how many minutes?" (calculator needed) ~ 4,020. "how many seconds?" ~ 241,200."how many half hours?" 134 (no calculator needed)

So, there you have it, about 67 hours until Grandpa is here ( a little less now actually).

But, it's only 1 hour now until practice. So finish up homework and change into practice clothes. "I am. But how many hours now?" And actually it's really about 3 days, counting today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Grandpa gets in Saturday morning and today is almost over.

Real Simple Daily Thoughts

I'm way behind here. So, here's quite a few of my favorite daily thoughs. Enjoy :)

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.
— Anais Nin
Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.
— James Thurber
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.
— Anne Lamott
Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.
— Ruth Ann Schabacker
An apology is a good way to have the last word.
— Anonymous
Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
— George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life Real Simple
lie has speed, but truth has endurance.
— Edgar J. Mohn
The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.
— John Powell
Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven.
— Yiddish Proverb
It is in his pleasure that a man really lives; it is from his leisure that he constructs the true fabric of self.
— Agnes Repplier

Count down to the weekend

This morning Greg announced "4 more days to Saturday" Greg's my great time keeper, score keeper, announcer of what is coming up. I think it's only a matter to time until he asks how many hours! His thinker never stops thinking.
We are all looking forward to Grandpa's visit :)

Crazy Week

It's been a crazy week and it's only Tuesday night! Three more days to go till the weekend. Ahhh. I am looking forward to the weekend.
I made myself a list this afternoon and wanted to get it all done. I think I got most of it done as I can't find the list. Think I left it in the car along with my purse and cell phone.
I got the soccer registration done for Saturday. Researched Pop Warner Football in our area. Greg has to decide this week as registration is Sunday. It's a big commitment! Spent hours on line tyring to make reservations for vacation and striking out everywhere. Tomorrow I will try the phone and Tom is going to check out a few places on line. I also put back most of the house. The carpet took a long time to dry. I finished up the invitations for Greg's First Communion and will get those postal tomorrow. I checked on line for Greg's gift and it is on back order. :( I will order anyways and give it to him later. I thought it was such a great idea. I guess everyone else did too.
We had our second Dinner Time Made Easy meal tonight. Beef and broccoli. It was yumm-o! Tomorrow is baseball practice so it will be something easy. May even do Taco Bell. I hope Evelyn is up for a jog/walk around the lake with the dog tomorrow. I didn't go today but K got in her play time with Zuko this afternoon. Greg's practice is at Del Lago park so it's nice and convenient to go around the lake while he is practicing.
Well, that 's it. Just wanted to share. I am on a blog roll this week. ;).
Hope everyone has a good week. I am trying to stay focused!

We are having a visitor this weekend

Yes, we are having a visitor this weekend! My dad, Grandpa from Oregon, is coming to visit. He wanted to see some of Greg's baseball games. This works out perfect as Greg has a game Saturday afternoon and Monday evening.
Greg is counting down the days. He asks me about 5 times a day how many more days. The kids are both insisting Grandpa sleep in their rooms. Grandpa slept in Greg's room last time and both the kids slept in Evy's room. They like to pull out the tundle and sleep in the big bed. Greg's concern last time was "Grandpa, do you slobber when you sleep? I do, but the sheets are clean." Well, it's more like drool, but I guess if you are 8, slobber is more exciting than drool. Greg also announded the other day that when he is thirsty and there isn't water handy to drink, he drinks his slobber. yuck, but not if you are 8 I guess.
The kids like to look in the Local section of the paper every morning to see what the weather is supposed to be. Greg counted the days to Saturday and saw that is is supposed to be cloudy. A good day for an afternoon ball game! And now he knows exactly how many days left - it's 5. But I bet you a quarter, he will ask me many more times each day until Saturday.
Evelyn and Tom will be on an Adventure Princess camping trip. So, Greg and I will pick up Grandpa at the airport before Greg's game Saturday. His team has a pizza party after the game. And that day is someones birthday too. hmmm wonder who. Some of you know already :)

Did we get new carpet?

Whrrrrr,shwrrrrrr. Hear that? That's the sound of the carpets being cleaned. Well, at least me trying to imitate the sound of the carpet being cleaned. Let me tell you, they are way overdue for a good cleaning. The kids and dog running in and out, spills, and who knows what on the carpet. When I was moving things up off the floor, I also got up close and personal with the baseboards. Gave them a good scrubbing too.

Who do we use for our carpets? I found them in the yellow pages about 3 or 4 years ago. Very nice people. Beacon Carpet Cleaning (949) 496-6079, in Laguna Niguel.

As soon as I get kicked out of the office, I am heading out back to put some stickies on the block wall so my vine can spread out. All the flowers are starting to bloom. It's Spring!

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by :)

Squeak, Squeak.... Splat

Squeak, squeak. Hear that? That's the sound of the squeegees going over my windows and making them sparkly clean again. Oh, and the blinds, the screens and most importantly the window tracts. Gotta keep those tracts clean to keep the weep screeds clean so water will drain out and not into the house. ( a little job experience comes into play here). OH NO! What was that. SPLAT! That darn bird hit the window again. No, just kidding. But the dog has run into the window on occasion. And that is also why our screen is broken. She has run into it more than a few times and one time ran through it. But the new screen is here waiting patiently to be put up.
But, ohhh, I love my clean windows. I know it will only be a matter of time before there are hand prints on the sliders and water spots on the window by the sink. But for now I can enjoy them. I can see clearly now......

Here's my referral. I found them in the Penny Saver last year: Squeegee Pro, (949) 250-1340. This is the 2nd time I have used them.

BONK, OH NO, Kaydee, the window is closed. No, just kidding. She is actually fast asleep. As soon as the window guys left, K and I went for our run. And it's time for me to get back to work.

See you soon :)

Football or Soccer.....any suggestions???????

Greg has always asked to play football. I kept telling him to wait until he is 8. Well, last summer he was 8. So, he had the option. He chose hockey. No, football or soccer. Hockey. Football or soccer. Ok, soccer. Soccer it was and he had a great year~ great coaches, great team mates, great parents.
Now it is time to register for soccer, April 22. And time to register for football, April 21. Hmmmm. What are we to do??
So if any of you have kids that have played or do play football, please tell me what you think. I know it 's a big commitment with practice and games.
Thanks for your suggestions :) I will give you front row seats at the first game :)

Srping Break

Well, Spring Break has come and gone and the kids are back at school today. I miss not having them home. We didn't go anywhere this Spring Break. We are planning a trip this summer and wanted to use the vacation time then.
The kids hung out at home, with my mom for 1/2 a day, with cousin Sam and neighbors. But we also did a few things too. The kids and I saw Fire House Dog (Great movie!!) and went to Dinner Time Made Easy and made 7 meals! They had a Spring Break special for kids so off we went. I had been wanting to do one of these for a while and let me tell you, it is so worth it!
We made 7 dinner entrees in less than an hour. Got our 3 side dishes and dessert, had our meals packaged up and put in our car and were on the road again in an hour! The people who work there are so friendly. We had our first meal last night and it was great!! I know we will be there again.
Now when I wonder, hmmmm, whats for dinner, I can open my packed freezer and put something in the fridge to thaw out for the next night. So, check them out at http://www.dinnertimemadeeasy.com/
Ok, so back to Spring Break. Well, I guess that's about it. Nothing too exciting. But it was nice to have a chance to sleep in and not have to worry about homework and school. (only work for me)
Saturday we went to Jake's birthday party at Jumpin Jammin. What a great place!! Later that day we headed over to Eric and Chrissy's for dinner too. Hard to believe Baby Jake is now 4. Can't call him Baby Jake any more. Nathan is 16 months old now. He had a fun time playing with Evelyn.
Now it's time for Spring cleaning. Yep, I do that every Spring. Today I am having the windows washed, tomorrow the carpets cleaned. I've been scrubbing cupboards, baseboards, etc... when I get a chance. I try to keep the fly lady routine, 15 minutes on a task, load of laundry a day, and hit a hot spot every day. Seems to be working. Thanks, Fly Lady :) (http://www.flylady.net/)
Back to baseball this week and a game on Saturday.
Today looks kind of gloomy and it's cold. But that's fine.
Have a great week everyone!

Easter

The kids always look forward to Easter. They love having Easter at our house, but this year it was at Teri and Roger hosted Easter at their house. It was nice to only have to worry about bringing a fruit salad, and the eggs for the egg hunt.

Saturday morning I got the Easter box out of the garage and the kids and I filled the plastic eggs. I started cutting up fruit for the fruit salad and the kids kept eating the fruit. Miles took Greg to see TMNT - can't tell you how excited Greg was to go to the movie with his big cousin! Evy and I did a little shopping and of course, bought more fruit.

Sunday morning Greg was up about 7, Evy about 7:30. The kids loved their Easter basket goodies. They both got book lights, new pj's and Evy got a crochet, knitting, weaving kit and Greg got a baseball game that hooks up to the TV. Says its his favorite thing in the world! Evy is already weaving a purse.

After church we headed to Teri and Rogers. We had a delicious brunch and mimosas.

Then there was the egg hunt. Evy, Greg, Jake and Nathan are the youngest cousins so now the older cousins like to hide the eggs for the younger cousins. When all the eggs were hidden, the kids bolted out the door for the egg frenzy! Don't know who got the most, but do know that Greg shoved the most candy in his mouth.

We had a great day with our family. We even had an Eagles sing along in the back yard ~ reminiscing of the old days! Thank you Teri and Roger for the great day!

Now for tons of pictures!

Baskets are ready
Greg ripping into something
Evelyn shows off her weaving kit
Batter up!
Ready to roll
Jake, Evelyn, Greg waiting for the egg hunt
Mallory, Matt and Nicole
Are the eggs ready yet!?!?!?!
David, Michelle and Aiden (6 months)
And the hunt begins

Jake not so sure of all the people watching him
Say jelly bean!
Nathan and Eric (Nathan being silly for the camera)

Happy Easter!

I want to wish you and your families all a Happy Easter. :) May you all enjoy your day with your families and friends.

The kids don't like to dye eggs anymore, boring, so they say. But we did fill plastic eggs for the egg hunt tomorrow. Now that is more fun. Here are our pretty eggs.



But I also thought I would try some eggs like Julie, oops, Martha did. Well, mine didn't turn out like Julie's (thankfully!) or Martha's (figures). Here they are, but I wouldn't eat them! The brownish ones were boiled in coffee and then I let them sit for awhile to get darker. The kinda reddish ones, with the flakes on them, were boiled in chili flakes. I am not the cook like Julie and Martha, so tried the next best thing I had, chili flakes rather than chili powder. Didn't work very well. Lastly, the pink ones were boiled in water mixed with a powdered energy drink. Thought it might turn out pink since that is the color when mixed with water. Nope. But I put in some red food coloring and let the eggs soak.
So, my take on all this, by the Paas egg coloring kit, or better yet, the colored eggs from the store, or even better, fill the brightly colored plastic eggs with jelly beans and other yummy candy.
Once again ~ Wishing you a wonderful Easter from the Murphy's.

I am tired today

That's all. Just tired. Just wanted to share.Didn't sleep well last night. So what else is new. Kids are out at 12:30 today. No school tomorrow. Greg's buddy is coming over after school. Evy is going to her friends house.
Don't know if I will be able to make it through Survivor and CSI tonight. When is ER going to be on again??
Enjoy your day..........

Did you ever have one of those days..........

.....those bang your head on the bike hanging in the garage kind of days, those DAH, what was I thinking or doing kind of days? Well, my friends, you are not alone. I have them all the time. Well, not every day kind of time, but plenty of them.

The other morning I turned on the sprinklers and was wondering why the grass out back was not doing so well. I had re-seeded the lawns about 1 1/2 months ago. Front looks great, back so-so. Some big brown spots. I had adjuster the sprinkler timers........oh the timers. DAH!! The back come on first, front second. So, dah, have to adjust the first timer control thingy to the right time first. I had them backwards. So, after extra watering out back for the last 2 days, things are starting to look a little greener. Hopefully after a week, we will be seeing a lot of green again.

Ok dead of winter, heater not working. brrrr (for So. Cal). Checked the pilot light - on. Checked the circuit breaker - on. Was going to call Eric for Petes number (he installed our new AC a few summers ago). My dad said, why don't you make sure the switch is on. I chekced for a switch, no switch, made sure things looked connected. But then, DAH, the plug. DAH. The heater is plugged into this industrial type of plug that is then plugged into the wall plug. It was loose. Pushed it in, turned on heater. Ahh, warm again.

Ok, please stay with me, I am almost done here. About a year or so ago, I was boiling some eggs. Just a few. Well, I went back to work in the office (I work at home). Maybe an hour or so later was smelling something. Not that smell you smell when your curling iron has been plugged in for about an hour and you forget. DAH! the eggs! I forgot about the eggs. Well, the water had boiled away and the eggs exploded. Yep, exploded. I had scrambled egg pieces all over the kitchen; the ceiling, floor, stove. Yuck. But it didn't take that long to clean up. And at least my stove didn't look like this........

My dear friend, who will remain nameless, sent out this email and picture today. She wanted to dye some eggs like her good buddy, Martha Stewart. So she writes:
I followed the directions exactly! I set up 2 pots of water, and filled one with water and turmeric (a bright orange spice that looks like curry powder) and the other with chili powder. And I put eggs in the pots and set them on to boil, just like the directions said I should.

Of course, the directions SHOULD have said, "If you have 4 children, you really should not attempt this project. Because what will happen, you see, is that you will wander off to clean up barf or change a diaper or some other task, and you will FORGET that you have left these concoctions on the stove, and suddenly you will notice a bizarre, eggy, spicy smell throughout your house, and you will panic and think OH MY GOD THE EGGS.

Then you will sprint back to your kitchen and through the blinding, eye-stinging fog of burnt spices you will find a toxic sludge has exploded all over the counter. It will look something like this: (see above egg picture)

Chiseling the orange and red sludge off the stove, the counter, and the floor will take most of the day. You may have to throw your pans away. Getting the smell out of your house will take the rest of your life. The eggs, by the way, will be a dull greyish color remarkably similar to your baby's diaper.

In other words, YOU AIN'T MARTHA, GIRLFRIEND. So get to the grocery store, buy a box of Paas egg dye, send the kids out to the patio to color the eggs however the hell they want, and be done with it."

Yes, this is true. None of the stories are made up. So, when you think you are having one of those days, just remember, eggs, spices, Martha, don't mix well. I myself, like the pre-died eggs from Trader Joes. Kids now say coloring eggs is boring.

Thank you ______ for letting me share your story and your picture. Hope your eggs turned out in the end.

Make sure to read below for the Padres update :)

Padres 13, Red Sox 3

Whoo Hoo Padres did it again. We are on a roll again. Started out scoring 7 in the first inning. Wow these boys are really hitting. Ian and Justin both hit doubles. Greg hit a triple in the 2nd inning. Christian was hitting left handed again. Greg had an awesome catch playing 3rd base. Gavin had great plays at pitcher. And our first base players were always busy. Outfielders hustling to the ball. Nothing got past us tonight. Way to go guys!!
Alison wanted to learn how to score, so I showed her and she did a great job for 4 innings. Thank you :) Now we have a scorekeeper for the 2 games I won't be at. Michelle is next. Thanks ladies :)
We have a long break over Easter. Our next game is Saturday, April 21. A wonderful day!! Hmmmm wonder why, but I won't tell, you have to guess.

What a great day.....

Today was a super day. Perfect weather. Still is at 7:00 as I write this. We were up early as Evelyn had a part in the Passion reading at the Children's Liturgy at church. We had to be at church at 7:45 for practice. Made it.
After church we put up the hit-a-way for Greg, and Evelyn, to practice hitting. Put it on the basket ball pole. We played with Peyton for awhile. Kids cleaned up their rooms. Then Marissa came over and Tom and Greg went to batting practice. Evelyn and Marissa played with their American Girl dolls for 4 hours. They put out blankets in the garage and didn't have a peep from them at all.I was able to get so much done inside. Greg headed to Harrison's for awhile after he got home from practice.
When Greg was back and Marissa gone, Greg went on a lizard and frog hunt. Yep, its that time of the year again. After dinner Evy and I took Kaydee running. We went about 1 1/2 miles and Evelyn ran almost the entire way. Yea for her, she is turning into a runner. Wonder where she gets that from (wink wink). She sure has the long legs for it. Think its time for new running shoes.
Tom and Greg are playing catch. Evelyn is practicing hitting. K is out back chillin. Me, going to take my shower, pack lunches for tomorrow and make sure things are ready for school. I do believe they are. Oh, and I have to unpack the lunch Greg packed for himself the other day. Not really a lunch, more like a snack fest!! Interesting what he packs.
Tonight is the Amazing Race. Wonder who will not make it this time................. Gotta check in with my dad, he is the AR expert.
Hope you all had a great weekend. Have a wonderful week.

Padres do it Again!

What a beautiful day for a ball game! Miles and Grandma Shirley came to the game. Padres beat the Dodgers 23 - 18. It was a very tight game. Padres got 8 runs one inning and were able to hold the Dodgers back and that put us in a good solid lead. Whew! And how awesome that one of the Dodgers hit not one, but 2 balls over the fence at the same at bat. The first one was foul, but the second one was fair. Hit the ground right before the fence and bounced right over!
Next game is Wednesday against the A's. Then it's a long break for Spring Break and we are back April 21.
Check the blog for the rest of the schedule.

Evelyn has her friend Marissa over and they are playing with their American Girl dolls. Greg and Tom are at batting practice. Me, well, you know where I am, updating the blog and catching up on some must do things. But also enjoying another beautiful day.