Kitchen Decisions!

There are so many cabinet styles: modern, contemporary, colonial, country, traditional, transitional... AUGH!!! We were back at the kitchen store this weekend picking out door styles.

My neighbor, Stephanie, just had her kitchen done this year, so she was so helpful! She suggested that we ask the showroom if we could bring the samples we like home. If they say no, we should take a camera so that we can take pictures of what we like. That was the GREATEST suggestion EVER!!! I brought home 6 cabinet doors, LOL!

I started wanting a plain door (no designs), then I moved to a plain door with a frame (no interior designs), NOW I think this is the door I've decided on... it's hard to see in the photo, but it has a raised center (with slanted sides like a pyramid) with a square slab on top.

I've decided on maple cabinets with an off white quartz countertop. I also fell in LOVE with this backsplash tile at first sight! I didn't even look at any other tiles! It is a mixture of tumbled rock and glass. (I'll probably change my mind later, lol!) Here is what it all looks like together:

... IN NATURAL MAPLE ...

... STAINED HONEY SPICE ...

... IN NATURAL CHERRY ...

We think the Natural Maple is too light. I think we are going with something a little darker than the Honey Spice, but not as orange as the Natural Cherry... if such a thing exists...

Now what is a post without a cute Jena picture. Here's our Jena-girl wearing the bandana that she got for free at the pet faire. She thinks she is so pretty with it on, hahaha!!!

Photo Share...

I just had to share this one of the XC Seniors from their end of year photo shoot at the beach.

This photo just makes me smile!

The Champions!

Last night was the puppy school graduation test, and guess who came home with a first place trophy? You guessed it! The champions of puppy school were Jim and Jena! FIRST PLACE! The test included heeling, sitting, standing for inspection, come, sit-stay, and down-stay. Jena did pretty well at heeling and sitting. She failed "standing for inspection" (jumping up on the instructor got her a BIG FAT ZERO). She lost some points in "come." She got another zero at the one minute long sit-stay (she didn't stay). I thought she was going to come in last place... BUT she was the only dog to pass the three minute long down-stay. That's 60 BIG POINTS!

It was as if Jena knew that she won. She was excited and uncontrollable for the rest of the evening... barking, jumping up, and just being the Jena-bug that she is... It's a good thing that the instructor didn't see that or he would have taken the trophy back. Hahaha...

So Jim, how do you and Jena feel about being puppy school champions?
"It was a lot of work, but it was worth it."

BAD DOG!

Don't give me those cute puppy dog eyes! Bad Dog, Jena!

Cheryl was home with Jena on Friday morning. She was deep in thought studying for her Chemistry challenge test (she needs it to test into Organic Chemistry without the correct prereqs). When she looked up, she saw the floor and said "Oh my Gosh!"... not exactly that, but something with a similar meaning.

Cheryl had to take time out from studying to clean up the floor and chase Jena around the backyard with the hose. At the moment, Cheryl and Jena are still not speaking to each other.

On the plus side, Cheryl passed her Chemistry challenge test, meaning that she can take organic chemistry next semester. AND that means she can put in for a transfer to a 4-year college next Fall!

So Long XC....

Chris ran his very last High School Cross Country race yesterday. The JV race was supposed to start at 1pm. It was hot, Hot, HOT!!! 99F! There were supposed to be 8 races: boys/girls - JV/Frosh/ Soph/Varsity. Just before the race was supposed to start, (Chris and the other JV boys were warmed up, had their numbers pinned on, and were headed to the start line) The officials decided to cancel the race. In fact, they canceled the first two races (JV and Frosh) because of the heat and planned to have the Frosh run with the Soph and JV run with the Varsity at 4pm...

Whoever made that decision was not from around here... everybody knows it would not be cooler at 4pm than it is at 1pm! Oh well, I went back to work and returned to the High School at 4pm and 100F heat! There was talk about canceling the entire meet. That would mean CIF qualifying would be decided on just one race (the race two weeks ago). The schools, who hadn't qualified, didn't go for that! The race officials waited an hour more. When it had cooled off to 95F, they decided to run two races all boys and all girls. I heard that one school refused to run, so there were 5 schools in the race. Lots of girls dropped out during the course. There were lots of turned ankles. I watched one boy from SJHHS collapse 4' in front of the finish line and crawl/roll across the line. Also, two Capo girls were taken to the hospital in ambulances.

Chris finished in good time, and Capo came in 2nd place; qualifying them for CIF prelims. After the race Jim went to look for Chris and found him sitting on the ground just past the finish line. He was completely burned out... he crossed the finish line, sat down, and couldn't get back up. Since there were awards and medals following the race, he didn't get home until after 8pm. He lay on the floor until I finished reheating his dinner. He ate dinner, took a shower, and went straight to bed.

Chris will be on the sidelines during CIF prelims, cheering the Varsity team on to victory... and hopefully qualifying for CIF Finals! Go Capo!

In the Dog house...

Not us... well maybe us... We've started the process of having our kitchen done, YAHOO! I said that we were going to do it this year! It won't be DONE this year, but at least it started this year! Maybe Jena will let us use the kitchen at her house in the meantime. hahaha!

Speaking of dog houses, I was telling my friend Mary about Jim's brother's dog house. Look at the size of it! Yes, that's Chris... wasn't he adorable?

There are two doors one for each of these guys (Fred and Eli)... it's so FUNNY because both doors open up into the same open space.

Back to the kitchen remodel... we decided to keep the same layout and get rid of the trash compactor. A kitchen designer came out to take pictures and measure the kitchen a couple days ago. Then we go in this weekend to see what he recommends!... and how much it will cost. It's moving fast now!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween! We went to a FABULOUS and FUN Halloween Bash at my brother's and SIL's house. Lots of food, kids (and adults) in costume, and of course tons of candy. This years movie was Toy Story 3. I hadn't seen that one yet... with all the big kids taking the little kids out trick or treating, I got to sit back and watch it. It was a fun movie!
There were a lot of great costumes this year... of course there were Lady Gaga and Charlie Brown.

And lots of pretty princesses:


And a Cheetah Girl...

Here's whole crew! Look out neighborhood! Here they come!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Mt. Sac XC Invite

Mt. Sac XC Invitational in Pomona is the largest XC invitational in the United States! High School teams show up from all over Southern California to compete in one weekend. All of Capo's JV runners are back to compete in this prestigious event. An XC team must have 5 runners to score, and Capo JV just has 5. Some teams had over 20 runners entered in this race! In order to score well, ALL of Capos runners would have to place high.

The Capo JV doesn't have any SUPER FAST runners, but they do have 5 FAST runners. They do what Chris calls, "pack tight." They all finish together, sometimes right behind each other, causing a block; pushing slower finishers from other teams to a lower place.

Capo's team strategy paid off, and Capo JV finished 2nd place in all of Southern California!!! YAHOO!!! GO CAPO JV!!!

I haven't posted any cute Jena photos for a while. Here's Chris relaxing with Jena after the meet... aren't they ADORABLE?

Long time no post...

It's been quite a week... or quite a couple of weeks...

Chris was sick, Jim was sick, Cheryl was sick, and I was sick.
The van broke down again. And we had to juggle cars/schedule to get everyone where they needed to be.
We have Jena... the puppy school menace.
Cross Country invitationals every weekend.
... And I have over 20,000 photos I'm trying to edit/sort for the end of year banquet.

I was sick most of the weekend, and was still feeling queasy enough to rationalize a sick day on Monday. Sick day... sanity day... cross country photo catchup day...

I had a nice relaxing, rainy, day with Jena and Cheryl. It stopped raining in the afternoon, and look who I found resting on the back mat...

Pretty cool, huh? Look at the stuff I miss when I'm at work!

Huntington Beach XCI

The boys have barely had a chance to recover from the meet on Thursday, and they are running in their second meet of the week on Saturday. The top-12 are running the State course in Fresno. That leaves Chris, Phil, and Ricky to carry the Capo team at the Huntington Beach Invitational. This is their first time running this meet, and the bus didn't arrive with enough time for them to checkout the course... so here's the boys consulting with Coach Airy on the map.

Here's the JV team warming up!

This course does a lot of turning back onto itself. It's great for spectators, because we got to see the start, the finish and saw the boys pass by three times. Chris doesn't like this type of course because he said it feels like they do a lot of running but don't go anywhere. This was also a very hilly course, which is another reason why it was so tough.

Times for this course were 40-60 seconds slower than most of the boys' PRs. Chris finished in 17:58 (behind Phil and in front of Ricky). It was 44 seconds slower than his PR, BUT he finished very high in the standings... 35th out of about 300 boys, which earned him (and Phil) a very cool medal.

Great job, boys! GO CAPO!
OC CHAMPS next weekend!

XC League Meet

It's the first SeaView League meet with Capo, Trabuco, Mission Viejo, Tesoro, San Juan Hills, and Laguna Hills. Poor Chris was sick. He still ran JV and got a 17:20; not a PR, but still a good time. He finished 4th for Capo. The Capo JV team finished in 2nd place overall! They have their eye on State Finals this year!

They turn around quickly and have another meet tomorrow in Huntington Beach. The top 12 runners are going to Fresno... that leaves Chris and Phil the top Capo runners running at Huntington Beach! Either one of them could come in 1st for the school! Phil is tricky... He lets Chris lead for the whole race and will try and pass him in the last 400 meters before the finish line. If Chris can hold him off, Chris will win... otherwise Phil will win. We shall see! It will be exciting!

http://www.fvhsxc.com/pdfs/CentralParkMap.pdf

Crafty Share...

Not my crafty share, but Chris's! California State Universities require one year of Fine Arts in High School. Since Graphics Design doesn't count as Fine Arts, Chris took Jewelry Making. This is Chris's first project. He designed the pendent, cut it out with a hand saw and polished it. We met Chris's Jewelry teacher at back to school night and she said he has an eye for detail... a real perfectionist... and I think his project is PERFECT! So did she, since she gave him a 40 out of 40!

Jena really LOVES her Chris! She can't wait for him to get up in the morning. This morning as soon as I opened Chris's bedroom door, Jena went running in and launched herself at the bed... too bad for Chris, he was still in the bed, lol!

Here is a puppy school update. Jim took pity on me and my feeble attempts to get Jena to walk on a leash. Jim is now Jena's puppy school partner! She went crazy again and tried to escape, but Jim was firm with her. After about 10 minutes she settled down and joined the class. They were GREAT even when walking behind the little cairn terrier who was causing so much trouble, barking and snapping at the other dogs. The instructor threatened to put a muzzle on the little guy.

The other problem dog, the golden retriever, was a problem again. He has the exact opposite problem than Jena. He keeps trying to run towards the other dogs to play! lol!

It was a rainy night, but puppy school goes on, rain or shine! Well, since it's night, I guess that would be rain or stars... They practice in a high school parking lot, it was muddy, greasy, oily, YUCK! Jena's legs, bottom and tail were black from the sitting practice. There are two little white dogs in the class: a poodle and a bichon frise. They were a total mess! I just stood on the sidelines last night under my umbrella.

Guess What?

Jena can SWIM!!!
... and guess what else?... Jena doesn't like to swim, lol!

She's saying, "Please, save me!!!"

A Card to Share...

This is the first item that I've crafted all summer! Of course, inspired by our little girl Jena!

I took Jena to her first night of puppy school. What a disaster! LOL! Out of the 18 dogs there, 15 were perfectly behaved. Out of the three who were not perfect:

1) A carin terrier puppy was yappy. The instructor took care of that by spraying his front paws with a water bottle.
2) A big golden retriever would jump every time the high school marching band started to play.
3) Jena!

Jena was trying to twist out of her collar and drag me across the parking lot. We had to line up with our dogs in two lines facing each other. Jena refused to stand between two other dogs. She was so terrified that the instructor put us on the end of the line... way on the end... And even there, she tried to take off again any time another dog moved. Everyone was taking turns walking the dogs up and down between the lines. Of course, Jena refused! And the marching band practice wasn't helping things. She'd jump every time they hit the drums. Jim was disappointed. He had been working so hard with Jena on our heeling homework that he was sure she'd be the STAR of the class... not that she would show anyone what a good walker she was!

The instructor says not to be discouraged. She just needs to get used to being around other dogs... We'll see... Next class on Monday.

Cross Country AGAIN!

It was blazing hot. I put our outdoor temperature sensor in the sun just to see how hot it was... and it was 137F!!! YIKES!!!

The Dana Hills Cross Country Invitational runs, rain, or shine, or HEAT! Thankfully, since they are closer to the ocean, it wasn't quite as hot there.

Chris reminded me... "Mom, you need to update my PR on your blog!" LOL! Yep, Chris has a new 3 mile PR! *** 17.14 *** That 8 seconds off his PR from last weekend!

There were only 4 races this weekend: Freshmen, Sophomore, Juniors, and Seniors. All the varsity runners ran with their own age groups. There are 4 varsity seniors, who all came in under 16.30. The first non-varsity senior came in just under 17.00, followed by Chris at 17.14. So, he got 6th place... non-scoring... but still a GREAT time!

In fact, the entire senior team finish under 17:30! They are going to have a GREAT JV team this year! The boys already have plans to take 1st-6th place overall in the league cluster meet next week!

YAHOO! GO CAPO!

EDIT: *** The Senior team took third place overall at the Dana Hills Invitational! The boys cross country team got a nice BIG trophy for the school trophy case!

High School Cross Country!

It's the night of the Woodbridge Invitational. There are five races this evening: Freshmen, Sophomore, Juniors, Seniors and Sweepstakes (Varsity). Chris's raced with the seniors. The second to the last race of the evening, starting around 8:15pm. He said the boys were so pumped up by then that the first mile of the race was really violent... lots of pushing, shoving, elbowing, hitting and words (not very nice words). The team captain told them to start fast in the first mile, pass other runners in the second mile, and hold their position in the third mile. Chris beat his one mile PR in the first mile, 5.09! AND beat his XC PR by 30 seconds!... FINISHING in 17:22 (2 seconds after the 3rd place runner on his team). He was the 4th senior across the line, so in a scoring position, and earned himself a medal!

In fact, ALL the seniors finished under 18 minutes! Just 30 second pace under the Varsity. We've been looking for how the Senior Team did relative to the other schools, but haven't found it... I bet they placed really well!

Everyone was so happy, and congratulating each other while walking to the bus... And the bus was GONE! It turns out that the girls cross country team took both buses back to Capo, and left the boys stranded. The coach called one of the bus drivers, and he had to come back to pickup the boys. Chris didn't get home last night until 12:15am!

Congrats Chris! Congrats Seniors!
Go Capo!

Meet...... Jena!

Look who's home! As soon as we saw her, we decided that she was a Jenny, but Cheryl didn't like the name Jenny... so Jena it is!

We got a call yesterday afternoon that we could come get her TODAY! I expected a dog who was out of it, and recovering from surgery... instead we have an over abundance of unrestrained puppy enthusiasm!
She's been looking around, being curious, checking things out. The neighbors have been over to say, "Hi" too. We are supposed to keep her quiet and calm for two weeks. FAT CHANCE of that! LOL!

She is so sweet! We can already tell she is going to be a GREAT DOG! Oh, and we can also tell that she's not house broken (oops... don't tell Cheryl).

We all love her dearly, and she's already part of the family!

Oh where, oh where, has my little dog gone?

Sorry about the lousy photo. It was taken with Chris's cell phone. Still no word from the animal shelter, so these are the only photos we have. They said it could take up to 10 days to have her spayed (notice I said spayed and not neutered... girls are spayed, boys are neutered... I have it straight now!)

But, I really didn't think it would take 10 days! Actually, it's only been 4 days so far. We are just so anxious to have her home!
We are ready with the basics! A BIG bag of Puppy Chow and a box of Milk Bones are now in stock at our house! We also got some newspapers from our next door neighbors, just in case she isn't house broken yet. Jim is talking about going out to get a dog bed, chew toys, and treats! LOL! It's like setting up a nursery for a new baby!

We FOUND this little house on the side of the street! WhooHoo! It's just her size! The doghouse we have in the backyard is for a much bigger dog (around 60-70 lbs). We are definitely hoping she doesn't get that big. She'll be nice an cozy in this little house the times that she has to hang out in the backyard.

Since we didn't get a call today, that means the soonest that she'll come home is on Saturday! A whole week of waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

Newest choices on her new name are: Mayzie, Gigi, Jemma, Angie, Tess. We need to wait until she gets home to see which name fits.

Meet our new Family member!!!

After weeks of going to 6 animal shelters (some more than once) and 5 adoption events, we almost came home with a 4 year old golden retriever yesterday. In fact we would have brought her home, if they would have let us! We saw her at the golden retriever rescue in Rancho Cucamonga. Before they will let anyone adopt their dogs, they require us to fill out a 6 page adoption application, go through an interview, and someone would have to visit our home to make sure it was dog friendly. It seemed like a lot of hassle to adopt a dog (and by the time we go through all that, the dog may be adopted by someone else)! Anyway, I took their website address and promised to start the application process.

Before I filled out the application, we decided to give the Orange County Animal Shelter one more try... and look who we found:

She was brought to the shelter by her owner because she was too wild around their new baby. She's just a baby herself, only 7 months old! We didn't plan on a puppy, but she looked at us through the bars of the cage and said, "Please take me home!" The shelter thinks she's a golden retriever/cocker spaniel mix. She has the body style and head of a golden, and the sad droopy eyes of the cocker.

The owner named her Mimi, but we all agreed that she needs a new name. We are still discussing it. The favorite so far is Zoey.

I'm so sad that we couldn't bring her home, but she has to stay and be neutered. The day after her operation, they'll call us and we'll bring her home.

More pictures coming soon!!!

August Vacation - Day 8

Do you know the name of the United State's newest National Park? It's Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Do you know where the entrance to Cuyahoga Valley National Park is? It's in Independence, Ohio... and we just happen to be staying in Independence, Ohio (just outside of Cleveland)! We can't pass up a chance like that, and Mary and Carley have never been to a National Park.

Today is our last day... we got up early and grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonald's. There is a train that runs the entire distance through the park... up and back in 3 hours! It seemed like a great way to see the park.



We talked, enjoyed the scenery, and talked some more! We took a walk through the train to, it was very rocky... Cheryl had trouble walking a straight line... that's my girl! LOL!





It was a very beautiful park. Everything was so green and wet! What a change from here, where everything is brown and dry...





After the train ride, it was time to say good-bye. It was very sad to think that it may be years before we see each other again :o(

I gave us three hours to get to turn in the car, ride the shuttle from the rental car complex to the airport, get our tickets, go through security, get lunch and find the gate. Well, all of that took about 20 minutes. We had lots of time to explore Cleveland Airport, lol!

We found a mini-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... and we discovered that Dunkin Donuts really does have great coffee!



What a long flight home! Jim and Chris picked us up at the airport! We had a GREAT time, but there is no place like home!