Ditzy Mom Part 1

Last week I received a phone call from a mother of one of Gracie's preschool friends, asking for our address so she could mail a birthday invitation to us. Diana, the mother, explained with her very thick Spanish accent, that Carolina has been missing Gracie very much and would love for us to come. After trying to communicate with each other for 10 minutes, it was finally agreed she would mail us an invitation and we would see her at the birthday party!

So, indeed, we received the invitation 3 days later, and pinned it up on the fridge. I had it in my head all week that I needed to plan ahead and shop for a birthday present so I wouldn't be rushed at the last minute (which is usually the case). I made sure to communicate with Mike about the party, so he knew what our plans were for the day. As a family, we left the house at 9:45 this morning to do some errands, came home and rested, then Gracie and I did our hair, makeup, and changed our clothes, to go to the party. We looked up directions to the house on MapQuest, loaded up the gift, and left the boys at home. Carolina's house is on the complete opposite side of town, which took about 15 minutes to drive. As I turned the last corner onto the street where her house was, I noticed there were no other cars. What the heck? My first thought was that I felt sorry for Carolina - how come nobody showed up? Gracie and I were 25 minutes "fashionably late", so there should have been a lot of people here already, at least family?! I parked the car in front of the house, checked the invitation to make sure we had the right house, and started to get out. I poked my head back into the car to take one more look at the invitation....right time?....yes, 3:00pm. Okay! "Gracie, get out of the car and grab the gift please." I walked around to the other side of the car to help Gracie out and grabb my purse, ready to walk up to the house. Um, one more time, I stuck my head in the passenger's side and looked at the invitation...Saturday or Sunday?...Yes, Saturday. Hmmmmm. Still wondering why on earth no one is here? Gracie asks me which house it is, which I confirm to her, and starts walking toward the gate on the porch. I open the car door to check the invitation ONCE more. YEP!!! There it was....the party is actually NEXT SATURDAY! ! August 29, NOT the 22. "GRACIE!!" I yelled! "Hurry up and jump in the car before anybody sees us!! NOW!!" Of course, Gracie is looking at me like my head had caught on fire, and just stood there with this polka-dot birthday bag that's as big as she is, with pink tissue exploding out of it. "What?! Why Mom? What are you doing?" I tried to keep my voice in check, but also convey the urgency, "PLEASE just GET in the CAR!"

After putting the car in Drive and pulling away from the house, I looked back to double-check nobody saw us! How embarrassing would that have been if we had really walked up to the house, knocked, and said, "We're here!! Happy Birthday! Where IS everyone?"

I can't help but laugh at myself - how much stupider can a mom get? Gracie isn't as amused, sitting in the passenger's side with her arms crossed, glaring at me like I just accidentally put her favorite stuffed animal, Goldy, in the garbage disposal. She can't contain her irritation (and disappointment) anymore and exclaims "You're a GOOFBALL, MOM!!!" Which, of course, she got in trouble for - but she's not half wrong. I had to make it up to her by treating her to Starbucks.

At least I'm well prepared for NEXT Saturday! I've already got the gift, AND I already know how to get there!

Summer Update

I know I haven't updated this crazy blog in FOR-EVER! It's been a busy summer, but I still don't have much of an exciting life to blog as often as I'd like! We went on our annual week-long camping vacation to Morro Bay in July. My best friend, Melissa, her husband, and two boys came along for two nights - which was a blast! We enjoyed the cool weather and lots of time on the beach!

We've taken the travel trailer to the mountains a couple of times to escape the valley heat and filthy air. Jacob and Gracie are right at home in the mountains - where baths and schedules are non-existent! Not much rest was included in these mini-vacations for Mike and I, as we were chasing the kids and trying to keep up with them, but at least they got getting fresh air and experienced the great outdoors like Mike and I did as kids - making memories!

Let's see, what else? Lots of playing on the Slip-n-slide, swimming in Nana's pool, and getting tan (for the kids, at least).

Last week our little neighborhood enjoyed National Night Out, which is a Neighborhood Watch program. All our neighbors meet at our house and we share food and fellowship! The kids really enjoy this because the police and fire department make appearances and let the kids crawl in and out of their cars and fire trucks! Jacob was in awe of the yellow fire truck! They role in the neighborhood with lights and sirens - I wish I had a videotape of Jake's eyes when they turned the corner...and then stopped right in front of us! He loved it! He enjoyed trying on their helmets and sitting in the "captains" seat!

Gracie has been eagerly anticipating starting Kindergarten this school year. Her first day was today! She is so excited to be able to ride the bus home from school - I don't think she's been this excited since we went to Disneyland last December.

I'm going to try and post a slide show of photos of the things we did this summer - I've never done it before, so it might take some time!