FINALLY!!!!

Mix the following ingredients:

-One bachelor's degree in accounting

-4 LONG exams on various accounting subjects

-2,000 hours of supervised labor

-One torturous ethics exam

-One dedicated man

Mix well for 5 years and out will pop

ONE CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT

Congratulations Michael Adams, CPA

The real question is how long will it take the state of CA to process the paperwork and send him his license number.

Today is a great day for the whole family. Good job Honey!!!! I'm so proud of all the hard work, the hours and hours and hours of studying, and the diligence towards meeting this goal.

One last beach day before school

We decided to go to the beach one last time before school started. The kids had a blast as always. I can't believe how tan Blake's body is and how white his hair has gotten from all of the sun exposure. Every time I see him get dressed I have to laugh at his tan lines. Blake loves nothing more than spending time with his BFF Lucas. Julia had a ball playing in the sand and dipping her feet in the water and then running away. Cole enjoys trying to get sand into every crevice of his entire body. This time I thought I would see if leaving him fully clothed helped. Nope.

The best part of the day was the GIANT dead jellyfish that washed up on shore. IT was huge and so beautiful. I spotted it just a few feet away from us when Cole and I were wading in the water. We also saw the lifeguards spring into action to rescue some kids that got caught way out in the ocean and couldn't get back.

Exciting day.

First Day of Kindergarten

Today one big boy went to kindergarten, excited and happy to start a new chapter in his life. Today one Mommy cried (behind her sunglasses so the big boy wouldn't see) as she sent her child off to begin the day.
I didn't think I would be very emotional about today but I was wrong. I certainly think he is more than ready for this new adventure. I knew this day was coming for a long time. I have been counting down the days. :) But there was something about sending my firstborn child to the big scary world that just made me cry this morning. All the way there I was questioning whether I have done enough to teach him correct principles. Have I taught him how to protect himself, stand up for himself, be kind and do the right thing regardless of the situation????? I guess we'll find out soon enough. I've got to end this post because it's pick up time now.

He's come a long way.

Outsmarted by a 3 year old

Every day I wake up and wonder what Julia will do to outsmart me. Let's give a brief rundown of some of her antics from the last 2-3 weeks. Lipstick all over the wall

Lipstick all over the face

Paint all over the hands and legs and floor

(no pictures for the following)

Nail polish all over the closet door

Nail polish on her toe nails, belly button and chest

Sharpie marker drawn all over several pages of the English/Portuguese Dictionary

Attempted murder of Cole by pushing/shoving him into the hot tub while Mommy was in the pool.

Mascara all over the bathroom mirror

Petals off the majority of flowers in the front yard

Crayon drawn all over the carpet. (we have a low pill carpet that shows everything)

Ballpoint pen all over my Bible

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

"Relocation" of various earrings and sewing supplies. New location of many of these items still to be determined.

It's a good thing she is so cute!!! I don't remember Blake being this "clever" at 3. And here she is asleep after another day of "work".

Cousin Mania

Last Saturday we went to Legoland. We traded Cole for Jonathon and brought Jeffrey down with us because we knew he would have fun with Jonathon. Then we traded Lucy for Blake. It was rather comical to me that our minivan was full of kids that weren't mine. Here I am with 3 nieces and nephews from 3 different siblings and one child of my own. It is really important for me to have a good relationship with all of my siblings' children so it has been especially fun having Andy and Amy in town this summer and having the opportunity to get to know their kids better. Digging for bones. The "cool" cousin boys who pretended that they weren't having fun at such a kiddy place.

The cousins who exclaimed 50 million times how much fun they were having. Blake loves Ethan.

Julia driving. Please note how awesome her mullet is getting.

The train

Bob the Builder and Blake.

It's a good thing Carol's friend is a plastic surgeon

No that's not a caterpillar crawling on his head.

This weekend we went down to San Diego to visit my sister Carol and her family and to go to Legoland. Cole was going to stay home with Carol while the rest of us enjoyed Legoland. Literally 5 minutes before we walked out the door, Cole tripped and fell right on the marble step leading from her family room to her kitchen. Carol took one look at the gash in his head and realized that he was going to need stitches. 20 minutes later Cole was laying on the kitchen table of a very kind plastic surgeon getting all fixed up. In no time at all Cole was back at the house again and we were off to Legoland. It could have been a horrible 8 hour wait in the ER which would have ruined the whole day but instead it took just a few minutes. Thanks Carol for knowing a great plastic surgeon.

Just call him Scarface. The girls will love it!!!!!

Angry

A little gem from the judge who today overruled the voice of the people in my state.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker. "Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals."

Really? Seriously? Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage????

Here's a thought. Why don't we all just become genderless? Since marriage forms the bedrock of society and apparently gender no longer fits in this equation then gender should also not fit into the equation of society as a whole. So let's just chop off all differing body parts and become one great big genderless people who all dress, think, talk, and look the same. We can all be genderless drones.

And that's all I have to say about that.