Over the Hills and Through the Rivers to Grandpa's House and Hollywood We Go

Jeff and I took the girls to his grandpa's house for Father's Day. His grandpa lives in Monterey Park (close to downtown L.A.). Grandpa moved to an elder care home, and so it was the last get together at his house. Patty (Jeff's mom) and all of her brothers and sisters grew up in the house, so it was especially meaningful to meet there one last time.
Afterwards, being in Los Angeles, Jeff and I decided we didn't want to head straight back to Murrieta. We decided to do the TOTALLY NERDY TOURISTY Hollywood visit. Armed with our camera, we headed for Hollywood Blvd., a place full of tourists and tourist attractions, but NO stars whatsoever.
We saw all of the weird people who hang out in front of Mann's Chinese Theater dressed in costumes. They charge you to take your picture with them as if THEY were the star. We saw Matt Damon and George Clooney's prints from June 6th (I guess they were promoting Oceans 13 and were just there!) Of course, I had to find Marilyn's hands and star. :) The girls, as always, were convinced that we'd run smack dab into Hannah Montana, but we had no such luck. We ate at the Disney Soda Fountain Shop on Hollywood Blvd. across from the Mann's Chinese Theater. It was fun to sit at the counter and watch everyone. The girls ate "Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti" and it was better than any plain old spaghetti, of course! They even gave Jeff a free rootbeer float for Father's Day, which cheered him up some (because Matt didn't call.) On the way back to our car (walking passed the club-goers, homeless people, and millions of t-shirt shops) I said to Emma and Grace, "Well, we didn't see any famous people, but it was fun, huh?" to which they replied, "Uh....Mamaaaa....we saw Tiggerrrrr!!!! Duh!!!" Of course the gals had their pictures taken with Tigger in front of Mann's, and to them, if Hannah Montana is available, a guy in a Tigger suit (desperate for cash) is the next best thing! After the girls fell asleep, Jeff and I drove through the Hollywood Hills and looked at all the gorgeous homes (and hedges AND security fences.) Yowzas, people have a lot of money! Next time, Grandma Toni is coming with us and we're buying a star map. :)

Sum, Sum, Summertime!

Swimmin' in the pool.

Bbq's with friends.

Summer

has arrived.

We're just getting started!

Pugs, Not Drugs

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from my niece Megan. "What time's the party?" she asked. "What party?" I was worried that maybe I'd forgotten someone.

"Sophie's birthday party!" Megan said. Apparently, Grace and Emma called Megan and Ian and told them that Sophie was turning three (true!) and was having a birthday party. Megan and Ian were all excited and ready to come.

All the kids ended up at my house, and they decorated the whole house with signs that read, "Happy 3rd Birthday, Sophie!" They made little fancy paper cone hats for each of the dogs, and we ate dinner and sang to Sophie. It was hilarious.

The party ended with Grandma Otti passed out on the couch. Too much partyin' for poor Grandma!

Introducing Miss Olivia

One can not help but fall in love with little Miss Olivia. We Smiths needed another pug dog as much as Nicole Ritchie needs a diet. Jeff and I even talked about it...say NO to pugs!

Then along came Olivia.

Two of my friends separately sent me a Craig's list photo of Olivia. The owners had a baby prematurely and they couldn't deal with that PLUS a new puppy. Poor Olivia was in her crate most of the day. (OK...time for the violins...I know, I know!!) I called them because I thought, "She's too cute...they'll find her a home." The man sounded desperate, but he wanted to get $$$ for her since he and his wife had just shelled out $700.00 and the baby coming early meant no work for both of them for a while. I told him I had THREE dogs already, that my husband would kill me, and that I just KNEW he'd find her a home. (Then I gave him my phone number and told him to call me if he didn't find her a home in the next few days.)

A week later I figured all was well...I hadn't heard from the man, and I breathed a sigh of relief, never mentioning it to Jeff. Then, the call. They HADN'T found her a home. They were willing to come down on the price. They were desperate. I told him I'd have to call Jeff and I'd call him back.

Poor, poor Jeff. He started out so certain that it was a bad idea, but all it took was a few "But Honey's" and he started to slowly cave. It ended with him muttering, in defeat, "I guess four pugs can't be that much different than three...."

I had to PROMISE that there will be no more pugs in our family until at least TWO pass away (which could be years and years.) I had to acknowledge that I can't single-handily save all the pugs, no matter how cute they are. Unless we buy a farm and turn it into a dog and pony rescue (instead of dog and pony show, which is what our house is like with all these pugs!) then I wasn't even to LOOK at the pound listings OR the classified "give away" adds. I must go cold (PUG) turkey. Doing this is going to be a piece of cake. Four pugs is a whole lot of pug (even if one is just a chug!)

Miss Olivia (Livvy) is by far the most mischievous pug to date. She's very vocal and will yip and bark at the other dogs if they have the bone she wants or they won't play with her. She is SUCH a snuggle pug too. Surprisingly, Sophie has been the most tolerant of her. (I think she's happy there's another GIRL animal around because the cat and the pony don't count.)

Oh- and why the name Olivia? After Olivia Newton John, of course! Grease....Xanadu....Let's Get Physical....I can't think of a better way to honor my childhood icon than to name my rambunctious pug puppy after her. :)

Growing and Changing

It's finally summer, and all of the people who are important to me are growing and changing in such different ways.

First, my wonderful AVID seniors have graduated. They were such a delightful group of students and I will miss them VERY MUCH. I first had them when they were sophomores, and then again this year as seniors. We had an amazing year. Every day with them was a blessing, and we learned a lot together. Tonight at their high school graduation, our principal announced that at our school, 31% of students are going on to a four-year college next year. 100% of my AVID seniors were accepted into four-year colleges, and all but two are going to attend a four-year university in the Fall. Some are staying close to home, while some are going to be as far away as Humboldt, Arizona, and even Boston! I'm proud of their accomplishments and I can't wait to hear about their college adventures. AVID is a rewarding program to teach and coordinate because these students are the first in their family to attend college. For some, they are the first in their family to graduate from high school. WOW!

The other people in my life who are growing and changing are my sweetie pies, Emma and Grace. Today was their last day of Kindergarten. Since it was share day, Emma brought our puppy Olivia (don't ask...that's a whole new blog!) to share. Emma shared all about her dog while Olivia sat stoically on Emma's lap with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. I think Olivia wishes she could be in Kindergarten too!

Three students in the class received awards for reading the most books on their reading logs this year, and two were Emma and Grace. (Hee hee... I wonder why!?!) Also, the entire class received awards at the end, and Emma got the "Condoleeza Rice Award for Academic Achievement" and Grace got the "Vincent Van Gogh Award for Thinking Outside the Box." Obviously their teacher has them pegged! Jeff got the "Fred Rogers Dad of the Year" award for being the most involved and consistent parent this year. :) I'm telling you, the man should have been a Kindergarten teacher. He loves nothing more than his days volunteering at the girls school, and since I'm in school too, I'm so grateful that one of us gets to do it!

So Kindergarten ended without much fanfare- just puppies and progress reports and a hug at the door. My little ladies, with their knobby knees, tennis shoes, braids, and Hello Kitty backpacks left their safe little Kindergarten room for the last time as Kindergarteners. Next year, they'll return to visit, as BIG first graders, ready to share their vast knowledge about the world outside the Kindergarten play yard. But right now, it's summer...time for reading, sleeping in, riding our pony, eating watermelon, building couch forts, and just being six.

More Spring Break Pics

Pictures:

Our sand mermaid

Grace in her camper bunk

Grace in her suit

Emma on the beach hunting for shells with Grace

The girls on the beach at night (they were playing "Pony" and Emma was the pony...hee hee!)

Spring Break

Our two-week spring break has been a mixture of fun and rest. We had a playdate with our pal Kylie; the girls were so excited to share pony gypsi time with her. The three "cowgirls" went to Subway with us for sandwiches, brought them to the ranch for a picnic, and rode the pony. Pony Gypsi was in heaven with three girls fawning on her!

At the end of the week, we took the trailer to the bay in San Diego to meet the Saylors. The girls had a blast swimming in the pool, riding their bikes, doing crafts at the picnic table, and watching the Sea World fireworks. We came home the next day, but first we dropped our trailer off at the harbor in Oceanside. We got an awesome, beach front spot. It was chilly, but we snuggled up, ate at Joe's Crab Shack and Ruby's on the pier, made a sand mermaid, got ice cream at the harbor shops, watched the seals, walked on the jetty, read books (me!), and got really sandy. On our second day in the afternoon the sun came out, and the girls and Jeff were in the water immediately, while I napped on a beach chair. (Heaven!)

Now, we're back in Murrieta. We're going swimming at Auntie Danielle's tomorrow, and Sunday my sister has planned a trip to the Temecula wineries for my birthday. (35! Yikes!) Of course, Pony Gypsi is on the itinerary every day. Grace is happy riding around the barn a couple of times, but Emma is having intense lessons, and both she and Gypsi are learning a lot together. It's adorable to watch!

Spring break is such a relief each year. It's a time to regroup, recharge, and refresh, and we're doing just that! We only have two months to go until summer vacation.....ahhhh....I can't wait!

Pony Gypsi

It's no secret that we here at the Smith household LOVE animals. The female Smiths love animals more than the outnumbered male Smith. (Poor Jeff...the only other males in the house are Ace and Marty, and they don't help his side a bit!)

Until recently, the girls were riding Boquet, the horse I grew up riding. Boquet was a fireball when I rode her...she dumped me in the street or took off running for the hills with me on more than one occasion. But the years were good to her; she mellowed out, lost a few teeth, and moved down here with my parents five years ago ready to walk slowly around the arena with Emma and Grace on her back.

My mom had been giving the girls lessons on Boquet since we moved here when they were two years old. It started with them holding the horn and sitting on her, and ended about two months ago with Emma and Grace navigating Boquet like a pro. (Ok...Emma navigates like a pro. Grace WANTS to like horses as much as Emma does, but gets easily distracted during a lesson. "Is that a butterfly over there? Can we go to SoupPlantation for dinner?)

Things were going smoothly until about two months ago...Boquet died. My mom and Megan went up to the ranch, and there she was, in the middle of the pasture, in horrible pain. They waited with her until the vet came...Megan braided her mane, and they talked to her and thanked her for all of her years of lessons. The vet came and put her down, and my mom and Megan both said they had never been so relieved. Poor old girl! Boquet was 36 years old...unheard of for a horse.

When my mom and Megan came home, we all knew it was time to tell the girls. The girls haven't had to deal with death in a big way. We told Grace first, and Grace just put her little forheard onto the counter in front of her and closed her eyes. Seconds later, she opened them, and said that at least Boquet was in Heaven. (Remember, she's my little spiritual gal!)

Later, when Emma came inside from playing, we told her. I have never seen her more upset. Her face turned a multitude of splotchy colors. She went into her room and cried until there was nothing left. My little Emma, who never misses a cuddle or a snug, didn't want to talk to anyone.

Two months later, life had gone on, but Emma was still having major horse-missing episodes. She would get very quiet, very sad, and tear up. Any horse reminded her of Boquet. We decided we should get her back on a horse.

My mom is the best horse-lesson-giver in the universe, but without a kid-friendly horse around, we had a teacher but no horse. I decided to look into lessons. Around the same time, Megan got a horse, which just made Emma more determined to ride. When I went to the ranch where Megan was keeping her horse and checked on lessons (some of the most affordable in the area) I found out that they were going to be around $30.00 a lesson. Multiplied by 2 (for twins), 60.00 a week. Multiply by 4 weeks in a month....Yikes! For both girls to ride once a week, it would cost 240.00.

I decided to look into buying a pony or a horse. I thought, "I'll just research it for now, and talk to Jeff about it." Jeff was surprisingly open-minded, and although he wasn't completely sold on the idea, he went with us on a Saturday to go visit Gypsi.

Any smart person knows that if you VISIT a litter of puppies, or if you VISIT the pound "just to look," it always ends badly. You never leave without a puppy/dog/cat/and in this instance, a PONY.

Gypsi is seven years old. She's tall enough for a small adult to ride, and gentle enough for the girls to ride. Her trot and canter have some "get up and go"....she's not one of those slow, boring ponies.

We are in love with her!

Now, after school, Megan, the girls, and I all go to the ranch and brush, lunge, and ride. Megan's horse is named Tex...he is tall and polite. If he were a human, he'd be a Southern gentleman!

When we are done, we all get into my truck and head home. We talk and laugh and drive through the creek that seperates Murrieta (city) from Murrieta (country). I'm having an absolute BLAST, and who knew? Six months ago, if you had told me I'd put on a pair of my mom's old boots and get dirty and horse hairy, I would have told you that you were crazy. But watching my girls fall in love with little Gypsi, and being outside, and looking into her big pony eyes when she sees us coming with our pockets full of carrots...it's the most fun I've had in a long time!

The coolest type of surprise is when you surprise yourself!

Movie Stars and Tea

Doll holder in the bathroom!

Los Angeles...a mere hour and a half away from my sleepy little suburban town, but a world of difference! For the girls' sixth birthday, we were off to the American Girls Store. There are only three American Girls Stores: one in Chicago, one in New York, and one in LA. LA it was, and I told my mom that I was convinced that we were going to see a movie star.

Now...I've lived in Southern California since 1993. You'd think I would be over the idea that it would be cool to run into someone famous. You'd think...

However, you can take the girl out of Bishop, but never Bishop out of the girl.

So...I had our entire carload (Megan, Mom, and the girls) diligently scoping out movie stars.

(Jeff lucked out, and his masculinity wasn't questioned since he had to work. The American Girl Store is like Disneyland for little girls; every poor dad and brother that we saw there looked like they were in a world of hurt!)

On our way to The Grove, where the American Girl Store is located, we saw the Hollywood sign. (Emma and Grace think it's called HollyWorld.) We say the high rise buildings, Nickelodeon, CBS, CNN...but no movie stars. Not a single one.

I remained hopeful. The last time I went to the LA area was when I took Grandma Otti to Huntington Gardens, and we saw Jennifer Garner filming a scene from Alias at the museum! Don't think I didn't FULLY take advantage of the fact that I had an elderly woman in a wheel chair in order to sneak digital photos AND get up close.

Another time, Jeff and I saw Jarod Leto at Citywalk near Universal Studios. This was in his My So-Called Life Years, and I was giddy with excitement. I stealthily trailed Jarod Leto (Jeff would say I chased him) until I drew a large crowd of freakishly loud girls, and then I backed off. After all, what do people actually SAY to someone famous once they "catch up" to them? That seems like it would be awkward.

Other than a quick Disneyland sighting of Mark Hoppus (one of the Blink-182 members), and a Melrose sighting of the cheesy Kid-n-Play (a rapper with crazy hair), my search celebrities has been fruitless.

Continueing on our quest to see movie stars, we thought we hit the jackpot when Grace shouted out, "I see Hannah Montana!" For those of you who don't live with a girl between the ages of 5 and 13, Hannah Montana is a show on Disney Channel starring Mylie Cyrus. That's right, Cyrus. As in Billy Ray's daughter. Billy Ray Cyrus plays her dad on the show. ANYWAY, Hannah Montana is a very big deal! Like the Beatles for elementary and preteen girls! We looked around in excitement...did Grace REALLY see Hannah?

No. No Hannah. It was merely a limousine. However, Grace was pretty sure that Hannah MUST be in that limo, because who else rides in a limo?

Overall, it was a disappointing day when it came to movie star sightings until we were going into the Cafe for tea at the American Girl store. I heard a voice behind me say, "Where do I know you from?" and another voice say, "Desperate Housewives."

I cautiously looked behind me. Was it Terry Hatcher? Eva Longoria? The dude who plays Carlos?

No...my "movie star" was one of the employees of the American Girl Store. She was on the show, but she played one of the angry mothers during Gabriela's stint as a beauty pageant advisor.

My mom and I were dieing laughing as I had her take a photo of me with my "movie star."

Maybe next time I'll meet Reese Witherspoon and her daughter as they sit sipping beverages at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

Awww, who am I kidding? My real movie stars are my shining almost-six year olds. Their autographs are more precious to me than meeting any movie star in the world!

Wrapping up 2006

Christmas 2006 may be my favorite one yet. This is probably because it seemed that this year we were able to get to the heart of what Christmas is all about.

The season started when, in late November, Grandma Otti turned 90! She amazes us with her witty comments and feisty ways. I can't imagine what the world will be like when I'm 90, but my prayer is that my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will gather around me (as Grandma Otti's did) to celebrate.

Before school got out in December, Emma and Grace's Kindergarten put on a production of The Nutcracker. Emma and Grace and the girls in their class were the sugar plum fairies, and I'm telling you, there is nothing cuter than a five-year-old in a tutu doing plie's to Nutcracker music. My mom, dad, Jeff, and I were laughing so hard. I adore the girls' Kindergarten, and their teacher, Mrs. Sehorn. She exemplifies what a Kindergarten teacher should be: not only is she patient, kind, loving, and sweet, but she knows a lot about how a five-year-old's brain develops (when they're ready to read, etc.). To top it off, she has this creative side, and she'll bring in her surfboard and tell stories about how it is made, or slide down the slide at recess. She also goes to our church, and when the girls see her there, you'd think they saw a celebrity.

Jeff and I made no traveling plans for our holiday. We just stayed home with the gals, and cooked a lot, caught up on movies, and worked a bit on our house. Jeff made me the most beautiful bookshelf I have ever seen (you can see it in the corner of one of the pictures). ALL my books fit on it, and also a lot of the children's books I've collected (some from when I was little and some from along the way.) Jeff is so good at building things. He has a lot of our friends asking him to build shelves or entertainment centers for them as well. I'm amazed at his talent.

Christmas Eve was at our house this year. It was the best! We had a hot chocolate bar for the kids, complete with different types of shaved chocolate, cinnamon sticks, candy canes, and marshmallows (plus some Bailey's for the adults). I also made Oprah's Pomegranate Martinis (they were a hit!) and my mom's Chicken Tortilla Casserole (a Christmas Eve tradition). The kids tracked Santa on the computer, and we just hung out and enjoyed each other.

On Christmas morning, we opened presents at our house (see pic of the girls coming around the corner to see the tree...bookshelf in background!) and then went up to my parent's house. This year Grace received the infamous "Santa". Santa is a hideously ugly toy Santa that my Grandma Irene (?) gave out one year (years and years ago). Every year, we wrap it up, and someone new gets it. The year I got it, I was terribly disappointed, it being my LAST gift! This year, however, when Grace got it, she got so excited! "I got the Santa! Yeah!" She held the ugly thing on her lap half the morning! Grace secretly plans to give it to Emma next year. :)

Our wonderful Christmas was coming to a close as we sat down for dinner without Miss Emma...our poor gal was tuckered out. She had passed out on my mom's Lazy Boy and slept through the dinner, waking up much later to eat her dinner while all of us had pie and played charades. Sometimes taking a cozy nap in a warm house full of people you love is the nicest way to wrap up a holiday.