Little girls need good-bye parties too! And the move hits us hard each in our own way.

Even Jane and Ruby have been lucky enough to have two of the sweetest friends any little girl could have. To help them all remember each other we took the girls to "Build a Bear" and had them all kiss each others bear hearts before sewing them in. I hope these girls will be able to resume where they leave off in two short years!

Hard to believe Jane and Ruby picked princess outfits for their bears, don't you think?! I'm kidding. Ruby's been telling me for WEEKS that her bear would be dresses up as Tinker Bell. I can't say that I mind really. Thanks Rachel and Avery for being our best little friends!

In other news...on Wednesday morning, Darin posted an add on Craig's list that he had a Camry for sale. About five hours later, his Camry was being driven away by it's new owner (an Iraqi war refugee, as an interesting side-story). At the end of the night, as we sat with only one car in the driveway I think we were both feeling a little shocked that it went so quickly. Darin spent the evening remembering all the amazing places that car had driven us. RIP maroon camry CE. We wish you much happiness in your new life with Jabal. It took Darin a day or two to move through the grieving process, but I think we have him convinced that something better will come along someday. (He told me he always thought Henry would learn to drive in that car. Some dreams die hard.)

Earnest Family Toyota Camry CE

May 1999-May 2008

Thanks for the many years of dedicated service.

Some days make you count your blessings.

Some days are just good days. One good thing about moving, is Darin is home a lot. He took care of the girls this morning so that I could go solo on George's field trip. That's the first time I was able to work that deal out all school year long. And it was cute how happy George was that I was there with him.

The field trip was to the Air Force academy to get a tour of the "Wings of Blue" program. It was very exciting to get to see so many cadets jumping out of airplanes. And while I was not tempted in the least bit to perform such a stunt, I was sure that George would be. So wasn't I surprised to hear that George was not actually enticed by the cadets falling out of the sky. It sort of seemed like his kind of activity. But walking into the air plane was fun for him.

Next part of counting my blessings had to do with how many important things we got checked off of Darin's list today. There are lots of important things that we should be doing everyday. It's hard to keep on top of it all. So it's wonderful to have a productive day.

But the biggest blessing I was reminded of today was the gift of friends. My girl friends here are life savers and have filled my life with laughter and love. I am so blessed. They kept George and the girls for me this afternoon so that Darin and I could go out together and run a bunch of errands. Then later on in the evening, all the dads stepped in to let all the moms have a night out on the town.

It is a blessing to have people with whom you can laugh so hard at the end of the day. Or cry really hard in the middle of the day. Or to just pass driving around in the mini van throughout the week. It's just a blessing. And I am so grateful. These ladies have made my three years here ones that will NEVER be forgotten.

And best of all, these ladies gave me an excuse to pull out my favorite ice cream cake recipe, and in the midst of an across the planet move, pause for a night, to just eat cake!

What a lot of blessing for just one day.

It's just, I think Darin missed his calling in life. I think he should have been born a salmon. Aren't they the fish that swim upstream at some point in their life? Swim against the current, that's the sort of thing Darin seems to enjoy doing, strive to go against the natural flow of a house full of little kids. This was the message the kids woke up to this morning in the playroom.

Darin stayed up VERY late last night organizing every last inch of the toy closet and associated areas. After such efforts his request was simple enough. He just wanted to enjoy one solid day of the fruits of his labor. A clean playroom. Too bad he picked a Saturday to make such a request. The children have been home all day long. But knowing their father as they do, the boys especially took his request to heart. They acted as room monitor all day long. Running upstairs to report anyone who was in violation of the signage. I have to say, I was a major skeptic when I saw the sign at 6:45am this morning. I honestly didn't believe that we would be able to come through for Darin. But have a look at the room now...

This is with minor parental intervention. I'm telling you, George took the matter to heart. Well, it was a fun day. We didn't take pictures of the fun stuff. But one thing Darin is outstanding at, masterminding an over seas move for a family of six. Nothing can stop him. He's unstoppable.

A little piece of Heaven.

Although Heaven will only be complete with all of our children surrounding us, this sure was a devine four days away. San Diego was the destination, and eating, relaxing, sleeping, and generally doing nothing was the agenda. We stayed at a beautiful water front resort. We had glorious sea level running paths (with a finally recovered foot!), In-n-Out for lunch nearly everyday, amazing restaurants on every street corner. And did I mention the kids stayed home?! It was peaceful and quiet and beautiful and essential.

Does anyone recognize my location? This was on Mother's Day. We drove up to La Canada for church on Sunday. What a treat to see so many old friends. EVERYONE wondered where mom and dad were and when they would be back! The Ballard's graciously invited us over for dinner after church. Although we didn't stay to eat, we did love visiting with all of them and feeling back "at home" again. After leaving the Ballard's, we went to Old Town to have a romantic Italian dinner, and then made the trek back down to San Diego. We even had time to stop in San Juan to say hello to Alyssa and Taylor Lark, and score another pair of free sunglasses, thanks Larks!

Monday was our last day in San Diego so we wanted to at least see a few sights. After a bit of time pool side we decided to be tourists. This is us standing in Balboa Park at a botanical garden. It was amazing!

Then on our way to Old Down San Diego we happened past the Mormon Batallion visitor center where we went in to watch the movie and dress up in the costumes to honor our heritage.

And thank goodness we got home when we did. Or else we might have missed George loosing his frist tooth, and more blood at the dinner table than we have ever seen! Our kids make us who we are, and make the last ten years together have more meaning than we could have created otherwise, but having a few days away is priceless!

Farewell friends!

Huh?

Mystery of the morning... What is this strange spill on the back porch?

When the girls went out to scare the squirrel out of the bird feeder they discovered this disaster. I asked everyone if they knew anything about it, but everyone denied involvement.

Finally George said, "maybe someone got really bored yesterday and did a science experiment or something."

Yeah, maybe someone did...

First, a couple things about today...

1. If there are GoGurts anywhere in the house, they will be eaten. No matter how much other food has been consumed. No matter how many times you say no.
   
2. I officially hate the game Kerplunk. And all the many tiny marbles and sticks that come with it. There is no photographic proof, but those marbles were the cause two slip and falls to the ground.
   
3. Annee-- what's up with the switches for the kitchen lights? Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't...
   

We spent Sunday morning at the park. I ran as many laps as I could around the grass before everyone got unbearably bored and needed activity ideas.
We made it to over half of church with the help of some marshmallows. Everyone was bathed, dressed and fed. There was lots of friendly faces and encouragement from fans of the Earnests! Dinner was on the table by 5:30 and, as a special blessing to me, everyone ate it! And lots of it! It made me surprisingly happy. After dinner, we worked on a special dessert, Dirty Mud Pies as George named them. I tried all weekend to find flower pots but never found them in stock so we had to use cups and you'll have to use your imagination... The highlight for George was stepping on the bag of Oreos to crush them up. I'm glad everyone had fun, despite the fact that finding a worm in the pudding was pretty distressing for Jane. (Before going to bed George reminded me three times to be sure to leave the recipe for his mom. He said I should put it on my website so everyone could have this delicious dessert. Haha, here it is - equal parts chocolate pudding, cool whip, oreos. He's cute.)




I've noticed it's unfortunately easy to let the boys slip to the back burner, since the girls require so much immediate and complete attention. I find myself with high expectations for Henry, forgetting that he's only 8 years old! So I've tried to be quite laid back with them after the girls go to bed. Lucky for Henry, I love playing Guitar Hero so that's one fun activity we can do together.
Now I'd better get to bed. You never know how early the next day will start!

We're all still smiling.

Saturday is donut day! After buying and eating delicious Dunkin Donuts, we had a lazy morning getting dressed and out the door. George played with a friend so Henry, Jane & Ruby and I went to McDonalds to play and pass some time. Watching them play together was precious.

George returned and we all headed to the mall for some fun! (It was just too cold for outdoor activities) The kids played Glow Golf for a while and in the end we walked away with 4 free passes! I guess if you get a hole in one on the last hole (or are very adorable) you get a free pass to return!

We next went in to see Street Racer, or tried to! I found the movie to be kinda boring but I think the boys liked it. The girls enjoyed the first 25 minutes before they were ready for a new activity. We "played" video games and visited the pet store and put on lots of dancing shows for the people outside KMart. Next, we found an empty theatre where the girls ran around the seats for a solid 40 minutes. Their energy is amazing!

Home, dinner, jammies, bed. Me included. I was out by 8:35pm.
--Rachel Z.

Did we have fun today?

Is it normal for a house to get this out of control by the end of the day or is this just a pretend mom thing...?? I just decided to stop fighting it today. Wow!

Don't worry, I promise I'm cleaning right now.

Day 1 - Success!

So this is a report on the happenings on Dancing Horse Dr. while mom and dad are away.

The morning got off to a bright and early start as George came in to wake Jane and me up at 6:45am, he was fully dressed, ready for games day. (How can I be related to this kid...) Breakfast(s) were made, kids dressed, sunscreen applied, lunches packed, and out to the bus stop they went!

The girls and I cleaned up and got dressed. This is no small feat. Actually doing anything with these girls takes about 4 times longer than it otherwise would. At least they're completely pleasant while they're lagging so it's not very annoying (not yet anyway!). We were all ready to go when I realized the clothes they were wearing were very small and tight and showed off a lot of belly. Apparently I had dressed them from the 18-24month "For June" pile. One more costume change, finally to the car.

Off to the gym! I love the fancy treadmills at the Briargate YMCA, and I think the nursery cam is neat, but I don't love that to hear the audio of Rachael Ray's interview with McDreamy Patrick Dempsey I needed to bring an FM radio. Who even has one of those anymore?

About 30 minutes into my run, a grumpy nursery lady came to find me and escort me off the premises. Apparently it's against serious rules (and laws?) to have me drop Jane and Ruby off at the kids club instead of Annee. Cross that activity off the list for Saturday and Monday... At least I got 3 miles of intervals done before I had to go!

Next stop - Barnes and Noble to buy a Kids Sudoku book and a Spain travel book. We managed to get out of there with all kids alive, despite some parking lot scares and a little old lady who said "well it's very brave of you to come out in public with them!" Huh?


Next on the list - Target. This was fun activity. I let the girls lead the way after I gathered the items I needed. They added brushes, accessories, watering cans, shovels, glitter to the cart saying after each addition, "This will make mom so so happy to see."

After checking out, the girls got to have popcorn and a strawberry/cherry drink. Things were going well until we had to leave the store and Ruby realized I didn't actually purchase all the things she added to the cart. At which point her break down began. And lasted 2.5 hours.

Back at home, Ruby went to sleep and Jane played happily with the neighbor while I retrieved Henry and George from Games Day. George was happy to report he got 1st place in the 3-legged race! We came home and I began feeding everyone, because I know from personal experience that guys don't handle life well when they're hungry. Unfortunately, the feeding never really stopped so when it was time to sit down for pizza dinner, no one was hungry. In total, 1.5 slices were eaten by the children. Oops!

Somehow I fell asleep for 30 minutes on the couch after dinner while everyone played. I awoke to find Jane and Ruby having a burping war(?). Did you know Jane can burp on command? It's actually kinda funny! And once she starts, she doesn't stop, as though she had the hiccups. So silly.

With the girls tucked away, I finally taught George how to play Sudoku - he caught on quick! He'll be ready for more lessons from Grandma Z at Beach Week. We played some Monopoly before they finally went to bed.

Phew! We made it! The real test will be tomorrow - a full day with no scheduled activities. Wish me luck!

--Rachel Z.

We snuck away.

My sister Rachel showed up and we got to fly off into the sunset!! After achieving such a milestone as ten years of wedded bliss, we agreed that it was worthy of an occasion. I hope Rachel will act as guest blogger while we are away. She is sure to have amazing adventures as well as misadventures in the company of her four nieces and nephews! I hope they all come away friends still in the end. Thank you, thank you, Rachel!!

Last night and today.

Last night at the last minute Darin let me go off and get a hair cut. Thank you Darin. It was a lovely hour spent relaxing and feeling pampered.

When I came home, we were fast approaching bedtime. The kids were miraculously playing together very happily with the spy toys from their Wacky Packs. I went down stairs to say hi to everyone, and then went back upstairs. After a little while I realized I had not seen Ruby yet. The boys had told me that their two bedroom doors were locked, so they couldn't get in their room again. We've had this happen before and it ended in a nasty twisty ankle. So I started putting the pieces together and figured that Ruby had to be in that room. But there was NO sound! So George started banging on the doors so loud the neighbors probably heard. I had gone outside to look in their window to see if she had fallen asleep on their beds?

When all of the sudden I saw the cabinet door swing open and a sleepy looking Ruby walk over and unlock the door. She came walking upstairs looking all confused, and said to me, "Mommy, I'm so tired, I was sleeping." It's still unclear to me how she climbed into that cupboard, shut it and fell asleep, but that seems to be what happened. As mentioned in a previous post, bathrooms in our house do seem to be the only place one can go for a minute of refuge. But sleeping there, that's taking it to a whole new level! I'm just glad she woke up!



P.S. Darin, the birds seem very excited about the pile of leftover seed on the railing. It even seems to have attracted a new variety this afternoon. Maybe it's the variety that doesn't like to stand in trees while eating, but prefer a patio setting? Do you think they mention that in the bird book? I'll look it up.