Just so that we remember...

I've had a few things I've been wanting to jot down so that we remember them.

Last night after dinner the girls were whining and tired and cranky and driving me crazy.  I had a return at The Children's Place I needed to take care of so I decided to get the heck out of the house and go do it.  Even though I was tired and still hadn't showered, and wore my workout clothes all day and never actually worked out, and all I really wanted was a hot shower and my pj's.  As soon as I got in my car and plugged my playlist in, Trace Adkin's song "Then They Do" came on.  And gosh darnit, here I was trying to escape the crazies, and one minute into that song and I had tears streaming down my face and was ready to go back home, hug both my little girls and tell them to stop growing this instant.  

Both of their birthdays are just around the corner and I can not believe they are going to be 6 and 4.  Can not believe it.  I'm thinking of planning a combo birthday party for them even though they have both been telling me their party plans for the last year now and they both have different ideas.  But, two girls, born ten days apart, with Christmas rolling around just five weeks later... a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do right? ;)

Last Friday at Hannah's Kinder trike-a-thon, the parents got to stay at drop off time and it was fun to see the kids routine.  

After the bell rings, they all line up with their backpacks on their front side, and they unzip and pull out whatever was due that day and place it into the teacher's drop box.  

I'll admit that I've been kind of shocked at how quickly these kindergartners are rushed right into a strict schedule, and homework, and all of the other responsibilities that they have straight off the bat.  On Mondays Hannah has to remember to return her library book, and Mondays she comes home with her new reading books for the week that she has to practice and read each book three times over and over to as many people that will listen and get them signed off.  Monday nights we have to go over her sight words lists because she is tested for those on Tuesdays, and Mondays she also comes home with her homework packet which we work on throughout the week and is due on Thursday.  On Wednesdays the Kinder communication folder comes home in her backpack with any info for the parents that we need to be aware of and papers that usually need to be signed and sent back.  And by Friday, I am usually hitting snooze once or twice and saying Thank God it's Friday to myself all day!

For the trike-a-thon, the kids had 8 minutes to complete as many laps as they could.  They all started out at different stations, and had their water at their stations for breaks as needed.  These kids were hustling and it was pretty fun to watch.

Hannah completed 10 laps and was so proud.  Such fun to get to be there for that!

It's becoming a tradition that on Thursdays after Claire is finished with speech, we have about 35 minutes before we have to pick up Hannah from Kinder, and we usually run into Trader Joe's and grab something quick for dinner.  Claire always heads straight for the cupcakes and asks if she can have them.  And how can I say no after she has worked so hard in speech therapy?  Well the cupcakes are in a 4 pack, and one day the girls had two and two were left in the container.  Hannah pointed out that there were two cupcakes left and she said to me, "Mom, you and Dad can have those together so it could be all romantical.  Like for a date you could have those."  Made me smile.  And made me aware that even now at the age of five, she is learning something about marriage and how things work from watching her mom and dad.  I only hope that we can set as great of an example for our girls as my parents did for me.  

Last weekend's soccer game was HOTTTT and so darn muggy.  But these kids are the biggest troopers and they don't complain.

This picture describes the heat quite well.  During a water break and she's got her sister on one side squirting her down and her cousin on the other side holding a fan to her face.  Love it.

One more tid bit about Hannah.  In school they were learning about the Statue of Liberty last week.  Yesterday I had on an old t shirt with the Statue of Liberty on it and Hannah noticed and said, "Hey Mom, is that the Statue of Liberty on your shirt? We learned all about her in school."  I told her that it is, and that her Dad and I visited the Statue of Liberty when I was pregnant with her.  She asked me where is New York, and I explained that as best I could to a five year old.  Then she adamantly announced, "I want to go to there! Take me to the Statue of Liberty!"  I laughed and told her that someday we will but it's very far away and she went on for a good five minutes whining about why, why can't we go now, why can't we go this weekend, why can't I take her there?  And did I know that people used to be able to go all the way to the top of her but now they can't.  And did I know that she is holding fire.  And why won't I take her to see it.  Oh my sweet Hannah.  Such a thirst for knowledge she has.

And I can't forget these few things about our Crazy Claire...

Claire is so interested in music and songs.  Hannah has always loved to dance to the music, but Claire memorizes every song she hears.  When we are in the car, every song that plays she will ask me, "Who's this Mom?  Who sings this?"  So I will tell her, and then she will say, "And what song is this Mom? What's this song called?"

I recently made a playlist on my phone (yay me for figuring that out!) and now Claire will say "Oh I know this one Mom, I know, it's Carrie Underwood.", and then the next song will come on and she says, "Oh I know, this one is Sugarland." And then she sings most every word to every song.  

Her favorite song is "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen.  And she could listen to it over and over and over and over and over.
Hannah likes it too, but mostly Hannah talks about Carly Rae Jepsen's hair because the girls saw her perform on Ellen and Hannah wants her bangs like Carly's now.  

 Claire has been a trooper at the soccer games.  During Hannah's game she usually hangs with her cuz and chills in the shade.

Lots of little stuff that I just don't want to forget.

We've got soccer in the am tomorrow, and then my girls are having a sleep over at their Gamma and Geeps' house and Mr. H and I have some exciting plans for the weeknd!! Can't wait to tell ya all about it.

Happy Friday.

TGIF.

Peace Out.

A Whole Lot of Random Coming at Ya...

Hello there.

 How you doin'?
I can't believe another week has flown by.
I know I keep saying it, but man life is busy right now.
Here's a glimpse of some random stuff from the Hass House this last week...

Got this cute plaid fall shirt in the mail...

 and these cute fall slippers shipped straight from my happy place...

Now if only FALL would arrive I could enjoy the season peacefully.  Until then I will continue to sweat buckets and dread the days I have to blow dry my hair.  Fall please hurry.  I want to drink a pumpkin spice latte while it's hot.  Please...

 I finally replaced the battery to my white MK watch, and I heard baking soda and warm water will clean the grime off watches and guess what... it does! Those babies look good as new!

This is the table that we used to have in our dining area...

 but we sold it on Craigslist and bought this one...

 It is much better suited for that space.  I just ordered a new rug to go under it from Target and it should be here soon.  So we moved the rug that was in that room into the family room and it looks so much better than what we had in there!

 Let's see, what else is new...
this day the girls looked especially cute in their purple and stripes after school...

 Oh, and the girls got tattoos...

 and Mr. Hass burned his hand while bbq'ing...

He wound up going to Urgent Care because it hurt pretty bad.  Burns are not fun.  Happy to say he is better and it is healing well.

One night I threw some stuff in the crockpot and hoped that it was going to taste alright...

1/2 chopped onion, halved baby potatoes, organic chicken seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin, dumped a jar of Trader Joe's salsa verde on it, added a little water, and cooked on high for 6 hours.  5 hours would have done the trick.

We served it on top of some spinach and also had fresh juicy pears  and sliced grapes.  Oh yeah and we topped the spinach with Trader Joe's Tuscan Italian dressing.  A favorite.  It was pretty good and super easy.  Love my crockpot.  Speaking of crockpots...

My friend Sandra posted this on Instagram this week.  It's a copy of the thank you cards we sent out after our wedding 10 years ago!  The picture just worked for the quote, and do you know we really did get 7 crockpots for our wedding.  And back then I used to consider cooking was toasting a bagel.  Lucky for Mr. Hass I've come a long way in that department.  :) 

My friend also posted this picture on IG...

Can you spot me in there???

I'm the second from the right.

And second from the left is Sandra.

And the girl to my right in the picture is my old friend Jenn who I went to cosmetology school with.  

This table might look familiar to some of you.  Picture was taken in my mom's kitchen and from the looks of things, I'm guessing we were enjoying an off campus lunch that day.  

Fun times.

Those were the days.

 One more cool pic from instagram this week...
My cousin Tim posted this...

The United sign was put up by Donco & Sons Inc.  Donco is the company that my mom's dad started and now several of the men in my family work there.  My cousin Joe put that sign up last Saturday, and the space shuttle Endeavor was there yesterday.  

Rad huh?

In other news, my girl Hannah completed her first trike-a-thon on Friday to raise money for the Kinder program.

 Claire and I got to stay and cheer her on.  So fun to watch.  I took some cute pics, and hope to get those posted soon.

 Last night Mr. Hass and I went to an Angel game with some girls from work and their husbands.  

It was a good game and a really fun time.  And we got to enjoy the Friday night fireworks.  They do a pretty good show!

Today was 103.

And mugggggyyyy.

And we spent the whole afternoon on the soccer field.

First Hannah played and then we watched Noah's game.

I don't know how, but despite the heat those kids still seem to have a great time.

I was exhausted after we got home today.

And as it turned out, I wasn't the only one...

That's all the random I got for ya.
I'm off to chow down my taco salad from Miguel's for dinner.
Tomorrow Mr. H and I are going to test drive a NEW car!
Peace out my friends.


PS- A BIG shout out to my friend the iphone today! Thanks for the ability to capture life's moments without having to run and grab my slr and set the settings for the perfect picture.  Thanks for taking decent enough pictures that I don't have to edit if I don't want to.  And to Siri, thanks for waking me up every morning, and thanks for reminding me of all the million random things I tell you to remind me about everyday!

Ok, now peace out.

Day 3 ... A Trip to Sea World

 A little peek at where the Hass fam slept on vacay.  It was tight but we were thankful to have a room and a bed! And we have learned to always bring a fan when we travel for white noise in the room.  Sure helps the kids fall asleep and helps us sleep and not be awoken by every snore or cough happening in the room.  ;)

 Of course while staying in San Diego we had to make a trip to Sea World.  Everyone had been before except for my sister in law Karen.  

Grandma Preston, Tania, and Nick (Mick)

 I do not love that above picture of me, but it was cute of everybody else, so I am taking one for the team.  

 Here I am before the Shamu show began creating our next plan of action and filling everyone in on our itinerary.  Did you know my Dad calls me "Cap'n (captain Genny"? He says because I always step up and create a plan.  Really I just hate wasting time and appreciate good organization and time management.  But maybe some would just call me bossy?  I'm not sure.  ;)

 I really loved this picture of Grandma Preston watching the whales with such wonder and joy on her face.  

After the Shamu show we saw this fun little game.  The object was to climb up the rope ladder and touch the top without falling.  Sounds easy enough right? The prize was one of those ridiculously giant stuffed animals.  The girls wanted one, and I told em I would get them one.

 $10 bought ya two tries.  So we stood for a while watching people climb... and fall... and climb... and fall...  And then the employees would hop up there to show ya how it's done and breeze right to the top like it was nothin'.  So I figured, if they could do it... then I could do it!

Right?

 Wrong!  
I really thought we had a good strategy worked out.
But it was tougher than it looks.
Next time I go to Sea World, I'm gonna master than darn rope ladder!

 Tania, Diane, Dusty, and Mr. Hass.  Oh, and of course Crazy Claire.

 And Crazy Claire with her tongue out.  Lovely.

 The crew waiting for the Pet Show to begin.

 It was a fun and busy day and we managed to pack a lot in.

 After we left we were starving, and what better way to end the day than with a little In-N-Out?

We got back to the beach house, showered up, and ran out to catch the sunset along the boardwalk.

 Sunsets on the beach never get old.

 I love the spot on the water where the last of the sun's rays are shining down.

 I was loving that last shot that I took, and then this lone surfer came along, and made my next shot even better.  
Man I love the beach.

This next pic I put on instagram and we all had such a good laugh about it.
After the kids went to bed, we all settled on the couch enjoying different beverages and watching The Olympics, and catching up on our social networks and such.  I was on my phone sitting on the couch, and I looked up and had to laugh because every single one of us had our noses in our iphones and ipads.

Quality family time right?

Even funnier is most of us were playing each other on Words with Friends, or texting each other pics from the day, and liking each others instagram shots.

Funny stuff. 

Sorry if you are getting sick of the beach pics! I'm halfway done. :)

Peace out peeps.