Homecoming Fashion

Last Saturday was the big High School Homecoming dance. My two boys actually ended up dressing alike, not on purpose. Elijah's date bought leopard shoes w/ a red bow. My goal was to find a skinny, retro 80's style leopard print tie.

I thought it would look so cool, match his date & stand out from the crowd. But I couldn't find one anywhere, so we had to go w/ a red tie just like Adam's (thus the twin look) They didn't go together so no one knew until I posted these pictures!

Anthony doing his model pose...

and...mine!LOL!

Adam left with friends & we headed over to the house where the bus was going to pick the kids up to take pictures. So here's a little bit of how it all went down...Homecoming Fashion in Orange County, CA.

Elijah is an inch taller than his date, until she wore these shoes!

maneuvering the wrist corsage




the girls fell over & the guys were cracking up
(the lil' guy pushed them)

bet ya couldn't tell the girl in front is a model?

can you believe they are 14, 15 & 16 year olds?


my hubby watchin' the action away from the crowds

best buds since they were 5 yrs. old





finally on the bus & ready to go...

these girls were so adorable...
watching everyone board the bus & excitedly giggling!

off they went into the moonlight...

Bonfire Signals the End of Summer

Thought i'd let you visit our beach BBQ/Bonfire that almost didn't happen because we didn't secure a pit by 6:00 A.M.! (summertime is crazy crowded here in Orange County, Ca)

But thank goodness for friends...we were able to share theirs. We stayed until 10:00 p.m. when the beach closes. We had hamburgers, hot dogs & of course S'mores. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's an American favorite, you HAVE to try it~ (marshmallows, Hershey's chocolate & graham crackers)

Directions:

Marshmallows (put 1 or 2 on a long coat hanger & cook over an open fire till golden brown)
Hershey's Chocolate Bars (break in half) Graham Crackers (take a cracker & break in half then stick the chocolate on top of 1 of them. Next take the cooked, melting marshmallow set it on the chocolate & take the other cracker, put on top & slide the marshmallow off the coat hanger)

So as summer winds down & school starts on September 1st, this will probably be our last bonfire. I'm always sad for the freedom to end but fall signals football season...my all time favorite sport.












The sun going down on my summer...~sigh~

He's Home!

Awe, the good ol' days when they were all with me!

I just got back from picking Jullien up from the airport. After 7 LONG months of missing him, I could hardly wait to hang out, talk, joke around & just enjoy his company. Well that lasted all of 20 minutes!

His friends also knew he was getting home tonight & they stopped by & took him away! So much for an 18 year old wanting to hang out with his mommy.

Good thing I planned a vacation while he's home. We're going on a surfing/camping trip to northern California, just us & all our boys (Tasha's getting married on Friday & will be on her honeymoon...don't think they would want to share an R.V. with all of us!LOL!)

I'm going to get almost an entire week of hanging out with them without the friends around to take them away.

I'm trapping them out in the middle of no where and making them enjoy our company!hahahha!

I always come up with great plans to have everything work out exactly the way I want them...lots of years of practice!

I'm just soooo happy to finally have him home.

Facebook-I Found Her

Can you tell they are from Utah? I was freezing & they're in bathing suits & sundresses!

I sometimes think of Facebook as my own detective service. I have found so many long lost, but not forgotten friends on there.

I lived in Utah in the 90's for 2 years and worked at a bank with an awesome lady! She was my manager & we just hit it off right away. We became fast friends and when I moved back to California, we vowed to stay in touch. But as the years, my divorce, moves & re-marriage happened, we lost touch.

A few weeks ago I decided to look her up on Facebook. There she was...looking exactly the same! It was too easy!

We "talked" exchanged numbers & she called me this weekend while visiting CA with her daughter & granddaughter who was performing at Disneyland.

We met for dinner on Friday, talked about the old days, laughed & hung out. It was like no time had passed at all since our last conversation, 15 years ago! It's weird how certain friendships can just pick up right where they left off. This was definitely one of them.

Saturday, my husband & I rode our bikes down to the beach and met up with them again before they had to head back to UT.

Vicki & her family are AWESOME people! So glad we were able to meet up. Thanks Facebook!

Stacey (daughter) & Vicki~Can you believe she's a grandma?

Memorial Weekend at the Beach

Living in sunny Orange County, CA., right by the beach makes me feel as though I'm on a constant vacation.

That is...until that annoying little thing called work gets in the way!

So whenever holidays arrive, I just have to grab my bike, and head down to the beach.


These busy weekends can be a bit of a problem for us locals. The traffic & crowd gets ridiculous, not to mention the bathroom lines!

MAIN STREET & PCH-by the pier...SEE!

I usually try to stay away from Main St., but this morning, I had my Zumba class and had to fight the crowds...even the class was jam packed.

There was the cutest little guy in there. He was probably about 70 or older. Jumping around, flapping his arms to the music yelling, "YEAH...ZUMBA....YEAH!" Then the whole class would scream out...he kept motivating us. If a 70 year old can hang through the whole class & be so happy, I can too! I love seeing happy older people like that, it just makes me smile.

I wanted to go to the back of the class, grab my phone & sneak a picture of him...I was too chicken though.

So this Memorial weekend will be spent having friends over for a BBQ, bike riding & maybe taking pics of my family surfing and enjoying our amazing sunsets.

I love holidays!

Creative vs. Sewing

Last night I had to be really creative. My son had a World's Fair project, he had to come up with a traditional Nigerian outfit. We had no problem finding pictures, but...there was a slight issue....I don't know how to sew!

Years ago, (7th grade) was my last attempt to use a sewing machine. That experience ended with me pitching a fit & throwing my wrap around skirt on the ground, only to have my older sister finish it for me-I received an A.

Not one to focus too much on my weaknesses...what I lack as a seamstress, I more than make up for in the creativity dept. I can always come up with something and "surprise" it's usually pretty good.

I headed to JoAnn's Fabric Store after work, roamed around looking for some Nigerian looking fabric...on sale, of course (I'm also the bargain shopping queen). I found the right colors, had them cut 2 yds. (not knowing if it was enough, but I always wing it, so I figured I would have to make it work).

My next problem was coming up with the traditional hat made out of the same material. I wandered around picking up a few items, sticking it on my head to see if I could somehow make a hat out of it. Finally I found a plastic bowl in exactly the right shape. I grabbed some fabric glue (an absolute must have item for people who don't sew).

AND WALLLLLLAAAAHHHHH

A Traditional Nigerian Outfit

I cut slits for the arms, tied the skirt & glued the material (like a present) to the bowl/hat. We had the shirt (I know you thought I fabric glued it all together, right...LOL).

The judges thought the whole thing had been sewed.

Here are the rest of the pictures from the fair.

My son Elijah is on the right

The girls made all of these outfits....

Inside their booth

They were all happy to be able to pick their own group this time (much more fun to be w/friends).

Announcing the winners

I'd have to say that being creative is far more important than being able to sew.