Vacation

I'm beginning to think we're not meant to go on them. I'll get to that later. Anyway, we spent 5 days at Disneyland/California adventures. We needed all of them. It was crowded! Kids did pretty good considering. We all had our moments, but that's to be expected. My mom came instead of Matt, which was great. Not sure if she had a good time, but she was a trooper and got to see some new places. The parade at Disneyland was stupid. No princesses like the good ole classic parade. The pixar parade was good though at California Adventures. Kids liked it. We got to do the character dinner and Savannah got to meet her Princesses. She is so shy though, and din't even smile...until after they had left out table! It was still cute though. While we were there, we apparently experienced out first (and hopefully last) earthquake. we didn't know it until the hostess as Ariel's Grotto told us. Oh well, nothing big happened, and we went over to Disneyland for the fireworks. The show was awesome this year! And Payton slept through the whole thing! Oh well, we tried to take pictures, and got a few good ones of it, so he has fun looking at them. After that we headed down to San Diego and did a day of Legoland. I love it there, it's so kid friendly, and much less crowded than Disneyland. There were lines this time, but not too bad. Memorial weekend...Didn't think of that one back when we were planning! Their new aquarium is pretty cool too. After a day of fun, we stopped at a you pick strawberry patch across the street pretty much from the park and picked strawberries. I'm not a fan of the fruit by any means, but I have to admit, these ones were pretty good. Even if they weren't, it was well worth it for the experience. It was fun! New family tradition. =] Spent a day at the San Diego Zoo. I think we can do without that one for a while now. Nothing really great aside from the pandas and polar bears. Seaworld....well, that day started out ok. The park was fun, the shows were great. Unfortunately, that's where the fun ended for the day. As we walked up to our car, Tony noticed the kids floaties scattered on the ground behind our car. Can we say flashbacks of Vegas?? That sinking feeling in my stomach was back as I noticed the back window wasn't shut. It was when we left the car in the parking lot. Much to my dismay, the kids' bags, all 3 off them, where gone, as well as one of Tony's. Seriously, what is wrong with people?? To steal a little girls princess bag, with HER NAME on it, and little boys' lightening Mcqueen bags, WITH THEIR NAMES on them?? Not to mention their life jackets. Oh well. All material things that can be replaced, little by little seeing how it was hundreds of dollars in clothes and bags, and Tony's razor. We still have our pictures this time, and all our personal information (aside from the kids first names of course) so oh well. To top the day off, we had reservations at the US Grant for the night. When we got there, unloaded our things and tipped the bellhop guy, we were informed that they had over booked and we were going to be staying at the Sheraton 3 or 4 miles away. Right by the airport. Throw in a sick Payton and crowds of people that took a simple drive 45 minutes! Then the outrageous parking price to park our car in the dirt! Oh yes, then the elevator the guy at check in told us to use, wouldn't go to our floor! Oh and it gets a little bit better. The next morning the firealarm goes off, and they don't know why. Not sure what is was from, and I don't care. I wouldn't recommend either one of those hotels. The Hyatt however, was great the night before. We had parked in their garage and some pigeons had crapped on our window basically. The guy at the garage gate thing was all concerned and had the head guy I guess come over and look at it. He refunded our night of parking charges, and gave us $20 to wash our car....we hadn't said a thing about the poop! Service, people. Awesome. And seriously, it was pretty much all on our window, a little bit got on our paint. Main dude seemed like he was going to have a heart attack over it. lol. Wow. All over a little pigeon poo we didn't even say a word about. I like them =] lol. Stay at the Hyatt on the 5th floor parking garage lol. Anyway, Sunday Tony and I went to the Dodgers vs Angels game. Sunday, I know. Sorry. They lost if it makes you feel any better. The temperature was nice, but man, that sun is brutal! Came home Monday to a stinky house. I thought one of our cats had died or something, but after finding them both alive and well (except for the fact that they looked scared to death hiding in corners until they figured out it was me in their house) I explored further. Upon opening the fridge, I found the source of our death smell. Apparently the fridge dies sometime in the past 9 days, and everything in there is obviously, warm rotten and moldy. GROSS. What more can go wrong?? Do i dare ask out loud? Oh yeah, I forgot to throw in my birthday, which was the 18th. I hate it. Something always goes wrong. Never fails. Well last year was a good quiet one, but this year made up for that. We were on our way back to the hotel from Huntington beach, when our check engine light and something else goes off. We've had this car for a month! Then the rpm's start going all the way to 4 or so and not shifting. Not good. Pulled into Costco so Tony could get dinner, which he also picked a cheesecake birthday cake for me. One alarm went off by the time he got back, and the next day or 2 the check engine light went off too. It's running fine now. Go figure. Anyway, after reading the manual on the car in the car, I got car sick (I always do when I read in the car) and it just didn't go away. I ended up throwing my birthday dinner and cake up that night. How sad. Great birthday. And those stupid people who broke inot our car stole my only birthday present too! Tony got me some frames that I like. Now they're gone =[ So there ya have it. Our wonderful vacation. It's all slightly funny now, although parts of it still make me mad and probably always will. That's just our luck I guess...

Bunkbed Mania

Well, we finally moved Ben and Payton up in the world, literally. Oh Savannah too. We got them all bunk beds. Yes, Savannah has her own room, but we figured in case she ever has friends...over....it would be a good thing. Plus it was so darn cute. We've had that one up for a few weeks now. Ben and Payton's FINALLY came more than a month after ordering it. Seriously, did they go cut the tree down and make it after we ordered it? Whatever, it's here, and it's up, and boy are they excited. So far tonight Ben has only "jumped" off the top bunk once. No, it's not his bed up there, but there's no stopping an almost 2 year old boy with no fear. So learn the hard way he will...and did (at least I HOPE he learned). Tony and I each have blisters from the screwdriver but oh well. Hopefully all will be alive and intact in the morning...

Countdown...

We're on the countdown for VACATION!! Yay! We're giving the whole California thing another try, with hopefully better results than last year. I anticipate a much better drive to and from, thanks to the wonderful dvd entertainment package in our new car. Which, if I might add, makes my drive into work soooo much nicer as well. No more whining or crying! Anyway, we leave the 16th...only 9 more days! We'll be doing 4 days at Disneyland/California Adventure, a day at Seaworld, Legoland (and they're new aquarium next door) and then going through the Sequoia National Forrest. We would go to the Redwoods, but that's just too far for this trip. Someday though. Savannah is so excited to see her Princesses again, and Ben jumps up and down going "yay" when we ask him if he wants to go to Disneyland. Does he know what that means? I highly doubt it, but he does whatever his big brother and sister do, so cheer we will. Payton says he is excited, but lacks the enthusiasm the others have. I hope he's not a party pooper. And since I am too chicken to try and tag team 3 small kids with just Tony and I, we're bringing my little brother Matt along since my mom can't come. Maybe next year I'll be brave enough and they'll be old enough to do it on our own.

I'm crazy

Yes, that's right, I am crazy. No need to pint it out, I'm already quite aware of it. We like having a little dog so much, we got a little 12 week old daschund puppy to join our family too. It's nice having little dogs the kids can actually play with and can't really jump up on me or knock them down. Yes, we still have our shepherds, and our cats, and our birds. BUT, one of the cats will probably be leaving since she seems to think it's funny peeing on our floor, and hopefully the birds will find themselves in better homes soon too. They are too messy and too loud for me anymore, they need homes where they get all the attention they could ask for. Anyway, I'm addicted to taking pictures of my kids, and occasionally I get a good one. I would love to take a class, and figure out how to use my cool camera to it's entire potential. I must say though, I LOVE my new lense Tony got me for our anniversary, it's awesome! If anyone has a cannon rebel and you have any tips on the manual setting or anything like that, let me know! Or if you know a good place to for classes, that would be awesome too!

Greetings from us

Just a quick update on the little Kosta clan. Tony and I are doing well, and the kids just keep growing. Savannah keeps talking more and more everyday, and saying some pretty funny stuff. Ben is a happy boy as long as he has a hat or a ball...or a car. Payton is loving scripture study every night, and he and Savannah enjoy saying the prayer. Easter was pretty uneventful here. I had worked a lovely 72 hour week and had Sunday off, so I pretty much slept all day. Bought eggs and dye, but never got around to putting the 2 together. Oh well. In other news, we added to our family, again. My friend from work moved and couldn't take her dog with her, so we said we'd take him. He's a little min pin named Gunner. It's quite different for us to have a teeny weenie little thing, seeing how we're used to our 2 german shepherds, but he's a good little dog. We also upgraded our vehicle. With 142k miles on our last yukon, we decided it was time to say goodbye, before it was too late. So now we have a 2007 GMC Yukon Denali. Same thing we traded in, just newer and totally loaded. Love it! Second row captain seats too, which is great for cutting back on how much the kids annoy each other, and me. That's about it for now I guess.

Where do I start?

Geesh, where do I start? For starters, I'm proud to announce that Savannah had FINALLY decided she wants to potty train. She hasn't had any accidents in her panties the past couple of days so yay! We've also begun something we should've started long ago in our family. Scripture study! I got the kids the books I remember having growing up, a summary of the big stories, with pictures. We also started up with the Living Scriptures series. I loved them growing up and Payton at least really like the one we watched last night. Worked out well since it was on the Journey to the promised land, which we just read about the night before. Anyway, onto other news. Tony got me a new camera for Valentines Day, I love it! It's the Canon Rebel. Awesome. I need to figure out how to re size the pictures though because I can only send one at a time via email. =[ Blah blah blah. Other developments....Tony and I have reached a point in our marriage where we really don't know if it will survive. We both want it to, but I'm not so sure I can get past some hard feelings, and lack of feelings that should really be there. Relationships have been severed and honestly, even if we work things out, I highly doubt other relationships will ever mend. I have been incredibly hurt after my integrity of being a mother and a wife have been questioned and challenged. I loved my husband, and I love my kids. I have done everything for them that I could possibly humanly do. I am not perfect. I cannot stay home all day and night everyday, I have to work. It's part of life. MY LIFE. My children are happy, healthy, and loved. I sacrifice my own wellbeing so I can stay up with them as long as I can during the day. I pretty much only sleep when they take their naps for a couple of hours. Yes my house is messy at times. Sorry. I am not Wonderwoman. Anyway, as for the rest of the family, I love them all dearly. Enough of my ranting and raving, I really shouldn't have to explain or defend myself to anyone, but there ya go.

Not such a great year afterall

This will be fairly short as I'm posting it via my wii. We went to Las Vegas for a few days last week to celerbrate my new job and hopefully a better year. Our car was broken into and our laptop was stolen. Thousands of pictures of our kids are now gone forever. Not to mention every piece of personal information since Tony had pretty much done our taxes on there. Yay. There's just been more and more negatives coming our way since then too. Awesome. Can it be 2010 yet?