Catherine, Greg's sister, was such a beautiful bride. She and Mike were fun to watch the entire day. They were both sooo excited to finally become husband and wife. Married life really suits them well. I don't know that I've ever seen two people so in love. We were so fortunate to be a part of their BIG day. And my kids love having Mike be their official "Uncle Mike" now. He's a great addition to our family! We love you, Catherine and Mike!!!
At the end of the wedding ceremony, the guests in attendance set hundreds of butterflies off. Kyle was determined to catch one. Here you can see how thrilled he was to finally catch a butterfly! He made such a handsome ring bearer! Kyle did a great job throughout the entire ceremony, but as soon as it was over he was off and running to the golf course. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw him rolling down a steep hill in his tuxedo!
The first day of school - August 2008
Connor - 6th grade at TMS
Morgan - 5th grade with Mrs. Sosa
Carly - 2nd grade with Mrs. Hurley
Kyle - Pre-K (K: "It's Pre-K NOT preschool, mom! That's for babies!") with Ms. Michelle
(As you can tell, I'm still getting the hang of this collaging thing. I haven't figured out how to delete or move things around. But atleast I blogged.)
Carly is turning 7! Hooray!! She is so excited! She actually went to bed early tonight so that she would wake up with plenty of time in the morning to have breakfast in bed and enjoy opening some of her presents.
Of course I didn't have my camera (I left it in the car), but felt I had to mention this. Connor scored the first goal for his soccer team this season. I wish I had my camera because he executed it so perfectly. Way to go, Connor! Next time I promise to bring the camera.
After Connor's game we made sure to bring the camera for Carly's game. No goals (they got slaughtered), but she sure looks cute. So does Kyle as he practices soccer on the sidelines.
Check out the concentration! Such skill!
The evening was a memorable one. The main attraction being Kevin Yocum playing lead guitar on his knees for Hannah Montanas "I want to be a Rockstar" in front of about 50 screaming nine year old girls. Kevin was appropriately dressed in an old red print polyester shirt with a vest and a monster black fro whith dark sun glasses to complete the ensemble. He looked like a Saturday Night Live guest celebrity in a spoof of Charlton Hestons "The Omega Man" I believe he was making up for not wearing any costume to the mystery dinner. Kevin is now a permanent part of Abbey Reinke and Temecula history, as numerous parents immortalized his image with pictures that will need to be explained to friends and family alike for years.
The evening concluded at Richies. We walked into the restaurant and Kevin, (still fully attired) was immediately approached by the concerned owner who was quick to suggest the outside patio seating. We explained the evenings festivities and were then seated inside. The father and daughter(s) combinations were The Keatings, The Shreenan's, The Matt Down's, The Serge's, The Martinez's, The Hammond's, The Yocum's and the Farnbach's.
Carly and Morgan both had sodas then shakes. Needless to say Morgan was the first one to cry uncle with a bad stomach ache saying "I want to go home".
Another Daddy daughter night in the books. Great friends, Great kids....Life is good. :)
We had such an awesome Spring Break! I was going to do lots of spring cleaning and get organized, BUT noooooo. Instead, we started Spring Soccer, went on a family picnic (thanks, Autie), had a bonfire with friends, and went to Grandma and Grandpa Shreenan's house. That was the first week of vacation. The second week we went to Disneyland, went camping at San Clemente State beach, visited the San Luis Rey mission and spent conference at my mom and dad's with family.
Here's a picture of Carly at her first game. She played goalie and did a fantastic job! Way to go, Carly!!!
The kids had so much fun camping with their cousins, Porter & Carter.
Greg brought so much firewood on our camping trip that there was hardly enough room for all our camping gear. It was a good thing though because the weather was pretty overcast. Thank goodness for Greg, aka "The Fire God!"
Here is Greg with his little sis, Catherine, whom my children absolutely adore. She played baseball and badminton. We were so glad she came to visit us. No one wanted her to leave, but alas Mike was waiting at home for her, and I'm sure she much prefered sleeping in her own bed than in a tent with us. Although we had plenty of room.
Well, I didn't get my spring cleaning done, but Greg managed to clean our garage. We needed some place to park our car. Oh, did I mention, I got a new car? I traded my squeaky-wheeled, intermittent air conditioning, transmission dying, electrical lights flashing nightmare of a mini van for a sporty, red SUV wagon crossover. Yeah, ME! It's fun to drive again.My family loves Easter! I try to emphasize the spiritual side of the holiday, but let's get real! They are into it for the fun and festivities. My kids love to see what the Easter bunny brings them and to look for Easter eggs. Connor was a bit disappointed to find that he got clothes (a new bathing suit) in his Easter basket. The girls loved it however! They also loved all the candy!
Did I tell you that I am a woman of few words? That is why it has taken me sooo long to write another entry. I read everyone else's blogs and they are so witty and clever. It is very discouraging to me. My life is filled with kids, piano lessons, my husband, our dog (who is in the dog house right now because she had an accident on my rug and no one told me and I vaccuumed right over it! YUCK!) I know Kelly is very sentimental with her dog, but I'm not feeling the love. Oh, and my calling at church. That seems to consume my spare time. That and cleaning and cooking. By the time 10 pm rolls around I am ready for bed!!!
I did get a new haircut. That has been the biggest change in my life this past week. I was in need of a change! I like it, but I am still figuring out how to style it. I was afraid Greg wouldn't like it because it is a bit shorter, but he says it's SASSY! Just what I was going for. Cari says it makes me look younger, so with 2 compliments like that -- I'm HAPPY! You can't beat that. Now I just need to bring on a new, younger and sassier attitude to go with it!!!
Lastly, I thought it would be fun to share with you some important life lessons I've learned this past month. Here goes...
The “Do’s and Don’ts” Life Lessons of Charla for February 2008
1. Do make a budget with your husband
2. Don’t make a budget hours before you go to the temple with your husband
3. Do go to the temple even when you don’t feel like it after arguing over the budget with your husband.
4. Do listen to that little voice that tells you to put up the cold medicine bottle so that your 4 year old doesn’t get into it
5. Don’t completely freak out when you have to call poison control because your 4 year old son who is 37 pounds drank a 4 ounce bottle of children’s cold medicine. It would take quite a bit more to do real harm to your child. Besides your child will sleep really well that night.
6. Don’t use Children’s Cold Medicine to get your child to go to sleep as he will have a nasty bout of diarrhea for the next 12 to 24 hours.
7. Don’t make a brand new pasta sauce recipe for a dinner party for 30 people if you have never made it before the main event.
8. Do have a jar(s) of your favorite pasta sauce handy if you make a new recipe and it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to.
9. Do take a good book to read when you have to serve at jury duty.
10. Don’t take a book to read in which you can barely keep yourself from crying (The Kite Runner) in front of complete strangers during jury duty. This will make you feel really stupid when ladies come up to you trying to console you because they think you are completely distraught at the thought of having to serve on a jury.
11. Do get a transfer to the Murrieta courthouse rather than going to Riverside courthouse if you live in Temecula. Otherwise plan at least 2 hours each way in case YOU get caught in traffic from a motorcycle accident and road construction. YUCK!
12. Do surround yourself with amazing friends who make you feel good about yourself! Especially if you need a pick me up after a haircut where the first response you receive is: “Why did you cut your hair sooo short?” or you need a great idea for a thank you gift. (You know who you are. Thank you very much!)
13. Don’t take your girls to the mall if you are on a tight budget and you only want to spend money on baby shower gifts.
14. Do say no to your girls if they are dying to spend their money on fake nails from Limited Too. It’s totally not worth it.
15. Do recognize your blessings (i.e. a husband who demanded that I not do anything but lay around and do whatever I wanted on a Saturday. He did ALL of the laundry and made all of the meals just so I could have a break). My blessings are too many too count -- but it's fun to try.
16. Do know that God is in the "storms of life." Remember it's the storms of life that push us across the seas to our Promised Land. (Thanks Melanie for an incredible talk on Sunday!)
I guess I'm not a woman of as few words as I thought.
O.K. Here goes nothing...and I mean nothing! Because I really don't have anything to say. Well, maybe a little something. Cari is making me do this. Bless her heart, she spent so much time setting up my blog (I am a little computer challenged to put it nicely). All righty then. That's all I've got.
One of the highlights of our year so far is Disneyland passes. I forgot how much
I L-O-V-E Disneyland! We went on a Saturday during Christmas break and felt like we had the park to ourselves (miracles never cease). We walked on most of the rides and even had time to visit California Adventure. It was a blast! Here is a picture from that trip. I will post more as soon as I figure out how to do it! I have a lot to learn.
