June: Could it have been any better?!!

When June rolled around I knew it would be a busy month. June was LOADED. With three birthdays, Father's Day, the much-anticipated move north by the Stromberg Family and Charlie's 6-month 'birthday' - how much more 'happy days' could we squeeze into one little old 30-day month?!











So the cousins had an opportunity to get re-acquainted at the end of May when Ashley, Gracie and Emily came north for a visit. Jim has been up here working and sponging, er...visiting and staying with his California fam since April 24. Charlie seems very enamoured with his older, more worldly cousins, but just wait. Mr. C. is going to be giving these girls a real run for their money in another year or three.




I think Charlie has that "deer in the headlights" look - what do you think? :)

Charlie is going to enjoy knowing "TiTi" Ashley (or is it "TeeTee?") and his Uncle "Jimmy." Here's a good group photo where Charlie is saying hi to Auntie while Emily (Em-i-wee) wonders what happened to her spot on Mommy's lap...Daddy is apparently chopped liver at the moment. That's ok. Mimi can relate...and fortunately that feeling is short-lived.

Other monthly milestones... Charlie has discovered that rice cereal is extra yummy when it's made with Mommy's milk. What d'ya know...he already knows where the business end of the spoon goes......

Yep - good to the last molecule, right Charlie??!!!

And you just never know...if you store a little bit of cereal on the edge of your highchair tray, you can always come back for seconds. Or leftovers. Whatever.




Other milestones we celebrated this month...Alyssa's BIG 30th birthday where I rocked my Little Kid Party theme...we ate mac and cheese, hot dogs, jello salad and birthday cake on "Dora the Explorer" paper plates, napkins and the like. We blew the roof off (well, not REALLY) with noise makers that didn't make noise, silly, curvy straws for our pink lemonade and fun sunglasses. Pictures would be here except unfortunately they are on the home computer...so you'll just have to use your imagination. We capped the 30th celebration with a rousing game of "Pin the tail on the donkey" where the "pins" are history and you "Stick the tail..." instead. Oh, those safety police people! Rob and Ralph went at things with a scientific approach and were most accurate while Alyssa's tail was pretty much hanging out of the donkey's mouth. No prizes for the birthday girl!

Plus we had Ralph's birthday celebration at Rob and Alyssa's where we made the s'mores we didn't get around to making for Alyssa's party, and where Ralph purchased the first NEW vehicle of his entire lifetime, an awesome Ford 150 pick up with a neat-o backseat for his golfer buddies and Mr. P.

We traveled to Long Beach for the last visit by Mimi and Poppy to the Stromberg abode for Gracie's big 3rd birthday bash! Gracie was the hostess with the mostess at her Fancy Nancy party - and where a real live "Fancy Nancy Fairy" arrived and did fun games including painting a pretty butterfly on Gracie's sweet face.

And THEN we traveled back to Morgan Hill in time to celebrate Father's Day - and Rob's FIRST Father's Day - with the Wagners, Kathy and Michael and little Carla (and where Kathy and Michael announced that, yes, MORE little bundles are on the way), Lorraine (Michael's mom) and Rob grilled his great big heart out with a yummy dinner of steak, chicken, grilled veggies and Alyssa's famous chocolate cake. Yumm-o!!!!

Finally, the end of June drew near - and so did the Strombergs. Jim, Ashley, Gracie and Emily pulled into our driveway about 10:15 Saturday night...June 26. Tired and ready to call it a day, we welcomed the Stromberg's to Morgan Hill and put them to bed - and the next day they began the move into their cute little rental home on Via Corfino. The girls stayed with Mimi while the movers arrived at the rental, moved in the boxes and set up the furniture. Yesterday we visited Ashley and the girls to see their new casa - it's adorable in my book - ESPECIALLY because it's about 10 minutes from our house to their's. With ALL of our kids in Morgan Hill - at least for now - I couldn't be more happy.

So what a month! Whew...I think I need a vacation. Which is what I would love to do NEXT June. Rob and I are dedicating a few months to the prospect of getting back into shape. Rob has lots less "getting back into" than I do, which is why I thought next June would be a lovely time to take a Family Cruise - or whatever - if I can manage to keep both oars in the water and make some SIGNIFICANT progress on my weight loss journey. Rob is a great coach (I have nicknamed him Jillian after the infamous personal trainer on Biggest Loser). He has been kicking rear end and taking names. That's ok - if he can get some junk out of this trunk I can sure take it!

So...it has been a looooong time between postings, but reading over this entry - I now know why. Adieu for now :)

Um...I don't think so...

For quite awhile now I've been getting "Comments" that were most perplexing. They were "written," apparently, in Japanese. The few words of English that appeared here and there were innocent enough, but I didn't get it. I had no idea who was making these comments, and I was unable to find a "Delete" option for comments made on my blog.

My opinion is, if I can't read the comments, why leave it there cluttering up things, but since these strange "Comments" wasn't at the very tip top of my priority list, I just let it slide. It did slow me down a bit in my blogging enthusiasm, though, because as much as I love "Comments," I'd prefer they be in my native tongue and from people I might actually know. And I was starting to feel a little bit, you know, violated.

So...last night as we were eating dinner with Rob and Alyssa after Alyssa got home from work, Rob told me these Japanese characters were actually links to a Japanese porn site. HUH??? Well. The priority shifted quickly, and tonight I perused my "Dashboard" to again search for a way to delete comments. Still no luck. I did, however, find a way to "Hide" the comments portion so at least anyone that I know who is reading my blog won't be tempted (and you know you who are, haha) to view Japanese porn.

Sad to say the Internet can be one big sleasze-fest - but as long as there are ways around it, that's the more important part.

Tomorrow: (or Sunday) - some real blogging, photos etc. At least I will do my best!!!

Day ONE is DONE

Today was the first day of our New Adventures with Charlie! Three years ago (almost) I began taking care of Gracie Elizabeth in Long Beach. And now a new chapter.

Alyssa returned to work today (May 18) and I arrived about 8:20 at the Wagner abode. I was running a couple of minutes late due to being in a frenzy of "What to Take." You'd think I was packing for a week in the mountains...THREE - count 'em - THREE pairs of shoes...with my icky torn ligament I wanted to make sure I had comfy shoes, and what did I end up wearing the better part of the day? Socks. Yep. The shoes were history. Plus lunch, snacks, a book (in case Charlie slept - now THERE is a concept!) plus the usual bring-alongs - Advil and nasal spray for stupid allergies.

Rob and Buddy greeted me at the door and we did the official "hand-off" - Buddy had a short walk, a short booty-wash, and Rob headed upstairs to begin his day with a call. Charlie was a little champ - he was soon due for his morning nap so "Mimi" (that would be me) decided to go for broke and try putting Charlie in his "pak'n-play" crib for his nap. His mommy (like me) hasn't found the failsafe method of putting Charlie down for his naps in the crib and Charlie much prefers the "Lay-down-with-me-on-the-big-bed-if-you-don't-mind" type of daytime napping. But...Mimi's first attempt at putting Charlie in his bed...well...was a big fat flop. I have recorded Charlie's comments below:

"Umm...excuse me, Mimi? I am in my CRIB. I don't SLEEP in my CRIB. Please remove me from my crib right now or I will begin to wail...Mimi? I mean it, Mimi!"











Oh, yeah. THIS is more like it...zzzzzz.......

"Wow! I feel GREAT! I had a one hour and thirty-five minute nap! Yes!"

"What d'ya wanna do now, Mimi? Huh? Huh?

"Hahahaha...Look at Buddy's butt...I just slept next to Buddy's butt...is it time for MILK yet Mimi??"


Oh, ho-ho-ho, Mimi - I like my chair and playing with my toys. Is it time for Milk yet, Mimi? BTW, what do you think my MOM is doing????

"Yep, 'bout time for the old milk bottle, don't ya think, Mimi?"




"Ummm...ok, that bottle was mighty good, but when do you think my mom might be getting home with THE REAL THING???"

"Maybe I have time to do a little work out before Mommy gets home...did you know I can touch my feet, Mimi? I am REALLY limber!"

"OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH! MOMMY IS HOME!!!!!!! Thank you, Mimi, but I think you can go home now" :)

See ya Thursday, Charlie Bear. Love you...xoxoxoxo

The Joys of...taking your kids out to dinner!

Today Alyssa (see photo above!) e-mailed me to see if I could watch Charlie one evening in June so she and Rob can go to their supper club Charlie-less. Of course I said yes - how lucky when a family lives close enough to be able to do this because an occasional "date night" is a fun way for mommies and daddies to have a chance for a little get-away and it also provides an opportunity for some "Mimi-Baby" bonding.

This is so much nicer than when Ashley and Alyssa were little - both sets of their grandparents lived out of state - and when they finally DID move closer to us, health issues prevented them from watching the girls for us. So we adapted.

Early on I decided our family should have dinner out once a week both to give me a break from the kitchen and to "teach" the girls about manners when they were in a restaurant. Needless to say we went EARLY to dinner in order to avoid annoying the least amount of diners :)

Our very first experience was when Ashley was 2 weeks old or thereabouts. Her favorite activity for practically her whole first year was being fed. She tended to be a little fussy otherwise - tummy issues I'm sure. But my plan for the restaurant was to ask for a more secluded booth and if the situation warranted it, I would simply "hook her up" - I carried enough receiving blankets with me, plus with the looser clothing styles of the day, I knew we could be modest. Not to mention I could learn to eat one-handed.

On that fateful Saturday night, we entered our favorite restaurant - we lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains of all places when Ashley arrived. Our favorite restaurant was the one closest to us (a fortuitious choice) located on Highway 17, near Summit Road. It was a busy little restaurant/coffee shop - casual and just right for us.

So on our maiden voyage, I explained to the hostess that we'd like a booth in the back because of our baby, and she was very obliging. However, this meant walking all the way through the place and passing through almost a FULL house of people having dinner or waiting to be served.

You know the stir a brand new baby causes. Ashley was tiny - only 6-1/2 lbs. at birth so there we were making our way along with this teeny little bundle - that EVERYBODY wanted to see. We weren't as aware of germs, I guess, back in the day because I dutifully stopped and showed off my sweet baby girl to all who asked before finally settling into our booth.

And, right on cue, Ashley began to howl because there I was sitting and she wasn't being fed! But - no problem-o - we were in a secluded part of the restaurant. I opened my menu with one hand and nestled Ashley into position with the other. Soon she was happily nursing away.

And then. Wouldn't you just know it. One of the diners, a nice lady, "missed the baby" on our way in because she had been in the restroom and asked if she could please see "the baby," Well. I don't know what I was thinking (or more correctly, I WASN'T), but being the kind of person who aimed to please, I quickly pulled Ashley away from her dinner. AND if you've never experienced this extreme pleasure, let me just say it is NOT something I recommend doing. Ever.

Of course the pain of such a violent removal is, well...painful. Then there is the mighty suction sound as Baby abruptly leaves the Mother Ship. And finally there is the horrific howling that takes place as Extremely Unhappy Baby is prematurely removed from her "play station." So the face the nice lady saw as I turned Ashley around was definitely not the same pink, placid little baby face that all the other diners witnessed on our walk in.

To say we kept up our weekly outings would be to tell a big fat lie. We did go out - occasionally, and I can't say it was always a happy, fun, family bonding time. But when we moved to San Jose, we found another family-friendly place we visited now and then called Uncle John's. Just the name sounds friendly, right? And it was. So the night we had dinner there and the roof pretty much caved in on our dining-out-with-the-kids excursions, they were very understanding. Here's what happened.

Ashley was a picky eater. But she did like soup. By now she was probably 3 or 4 years old - I believe it was shortly before Alyssa arrived, but I am not positive about that. You know, some things you just tend to block out. So on the night in question, our dinners had just arrived and Ashley was scooching up closer to the table and to her little bowl of soup. She was sitting on the inside near the wall and I was at her side.

Suddenly, in slow motion, I saw the soup bowl tipping over toward my little girl - and I was unable to stop it in time. So there, with the entire contents of an entire bowl of hot soup smack in the middle of her lap, sat my Ashley with the kind of look on her face that you just never want to see on the face of your child.

Immediately, without even thinking, I grabbed my full glass of ice water and hurled it onto her lap. And even though I think it prevented the soup from burning her worse than it did, it's just not the kind of restaurant behavior that Emily Post would write about. So we cleaned up the mess, with the help of our understanding waitress, and headed home.

In the picture below, you'll see that Ashley survived this traumatic experience just fine. I selected this photo because Ashley's hanging out with her baby sister, Alyssa, who (in this photo) is about the same age as Alyssa and Rob's little cutie, Charlie. (And check out that TV-as-Furniture unit behind the girls. Awesome.)

And - were there other dinners out with these two young beauties, you might be asking? Yeah. Probably. But I honestly don't want to remember...

A few of my favorite things...

I am SO behind on my poor blog...from approximately June of last year I have had such good intentions (and you know which road is paved with THOSE) of posting my favorite pictures and accompanying stories here. I'm happy that Alyssa is a blogging trooper and keeping things going with their little family and Charlie as he gets bigger and cuter every day and that Ashley has now started a blog so we can watch Gracie and Emily grow...But still!

With being "Mimi" to these three sweet babies, I need to get it into gear. Therefore, here are a couple of my favorite things - thanks to Alyssa's posting of this picture. Rob must have taken this one - good job there, Rob!

So, above is our little man, Charlie, age 3-1/2 months with his pretty mommy, Alyssa.

Is he a Keeper or what??!!!

Columns: A "Two-fer"

My friend Linda sent me an e-mail today that made me laugh out loud. She'd just read my column about my torn ligament that appeared in today's paper ('Das Boot') and said, "Like other great writers, you have taken your pain and turned it into literature. But there's gotta be easier ways to get column material..."

Now, everybody needs great friends like Linda (because she said "great writers" in a sentence that involved me, and if I pretend hard enough, who knows - I might just believe it). Not only that...I had just this week mentioned to my physical therapist that I have to stop becoming fodder for my own columns...so her words hit close to home.

Therefore, if you're so inclined, you can check out "The Column" link above for the account of my latest mishap. The scary part? Every word of it is TRUE!

And, since my prior column arrived on driveways shortly before "Tax Day" what else was a girl to do other than - yep! do the annual tax column. Since I am in my 5th year of writing for the South Valley newspapers, you'd think I'd run out of stuff about taxes, right? Well, you'd think. But if you can handle one more thought-provoking (not) missive about everybody's favorite date, simply click on 'The Column' and read for yourself that there is something about those tax deductions.....

Happy First Birthday, Emily Mae!

Emily had a lot of fun collecting Easter eggs on Sunday - 4 days before her first birthday. We enjoyed watching her run - yes RUN - in her backyard - chasing her big sister Gracie and looking for more eggs. And when the eggs had all been found it was time to scatter them all over the lawn and begin yet another new hunt!

I think there were about four Easter egg hunts in all on Sunday...a new game for the Sensational Stromberg Sisters :)

Emily shares a moment with her mommy.

Emily is still mastering going DOWN the steps to her backyard, but she can go up the stairs just fine! Here she gets a hand from Grampy as she navigates going down the steps.

Emily had lots of fun - as she does most every day - playing outside in the warm California sun!

And today she is ONE!!! Happy Birthday, Emily Mae. We love you tons! xoxoxoxo from Mimi...