Category — fun

I recently found out about the Shecky’s Girls Night Out event that’s coming to San Diego and wanted to share it with you!  Check out the link to see what a great event this is going to be!  Not only am I going, but I get to share the fun with all of you!  I have 3 pairs of tickets that I’ll be giving away between now and the event, which is on May 14th at the Air and Space Museum, in Balboa park.  

Be sure to check back for details on how you can win a pair of tickets to this fun event!

Have a great day~

It’s been Go! Go! Go! at the Lang house for the last week.  All the kiddos were home so that we could celebrate Easter as a “whole” family (in Max’s words).  We had 5 days together before Kateri had to head back to school.  We are lucky enough to have JJ for a few more days.  The little kids really get a lot out of having the oldest kids home.  And I must say that Kateri and JJ do a great job of making sure to give the little kids extra attention, when they are home. Here are some pictures and descriptions of what’s kept the Lang Clan busy over the last week-

This pair of ducks showed up last week and the kids have been enjoying them, ever since.  They spend the day resting on our front lawn.  They wander the neighborhood for their daily exercise and then show up at our front door to let the kids know they’d like some more attention.  It’s been a lot of fun for the kids!

JJ loaded up the 4 youngest kiddos and took them on a bike ride to the store for kites.  Then he took them to an open area (not pictured) to fly them.  Here, one of them is being flown over our house.

Kateri and JJ helping the kite back into the air.

We attended an Easter party and egg hunt at a local park.

Luke-Xavier finding eggs

Gabi, on the run to find some eggs!

Max’s, Happy Egg Hunting face!

Clay with some of the kids and a friend, goofing around at the park.

The younger kids enjoyed coloring eggs to give to the Easter Bunny.  Kateri lent a hand and the ducks came to keep an eye on things.

Of course there was Easter, itself.  It’s a time of celebration and remembrance for us.  We attended Easter Sunday Liturgy and then went to one of our favorite places, The Island Club, for brunch.  It was a beautiful day!  We really could not have asked for better weather!

The kids woke to their filled baskets.

JJ and Tristan helped to serve Easter Liturgy

The whole Lang Clan on Easter Sunday.  It was a beautiful day and it was so nice to have everyone together!  With Clay’s upcoming deployment, this will have been the last time that the family was able to be together for a little more than a year.  So, we took the time to enjoy it!

As you can see, it’s been a flurry of activity at the Lang house.  I love it!

Have a great day~

Here is a picture blog of Lex’s special day at Disneyland

Luke-Xavier arriving at Disneyland for his 3rd bday

Hi!  Would you like an M&M?

Hi there!  I’m Luke-Xavier and it’s my birthday.  I’m at Disneyland!  Would either of you care for an M&M?

Look who’s over there!

Mickey, trying Lex’s ears

Let me help you

For your efforts, you deserve an M&M!

It’s good!  You deserve it!

After the picture would you like an M&M?

If I keep meeting new friends, I’m gonna be out of M&Ms!  Wonder how many are left?

Me and all my Disneyland friends LOVE M&Ms!

It’s really nice to meet you!

Nice to meet you too.  Aren’t you going to offer me an M&M?

This was a very happy birthday!  I LOVE Disneyland (and M&Ms)

Peace all!  I’m outta here!

When people ask me what my website and show are about, I always say that it’s the combination of being a Mommy of Many and a military spouse and how that combination works.  Well, no single event has put all of that into focus better than the Coronado Salutes the Military Ball, this past Saturday!  

So, it’s Saturday at the Lang house.  There are usually several things that happen on Saturday and they all involve running kiddos here and there.  This Saturday was no different.  I did several drop-offs and pick-ups in the morning and then got my head around scrubbing the house.  Clay was also in work-mode and was helping get everything out of one of the bedrooms so that it could be rearranged and cleaned out.  Big job!  I was standing on a step ladder at 4:30, when Clay’s phone rang.  I could hear him greet the person on the other end and knew it was an old friend who he had flown with and who had moved away.  He finished his conversation, hung up and approached me with this, “The Sandberg’s have extra tickets to the Ball.  Can we make it?  Cocktails start at 6 and we have to be seated by 7″.  My first thought was, “The Sandberg’s are back”.  Then I looked at the clock, said, “I don’t have a dress!” and ran to my closet.  Nope, no dress!  We made the decision that we could do it and that I would run to Macy’s and go straight to the Del (Hotel Del Coronado).  So, within 10 minutes, I was in my car with my make-up bag, a brush, hairspray, my good, black pumps and my evening clutch, ready to storm Macy’s for a dress.  I felt like an episode of Instant Beauty Pageant!  But I had less time and no free credit card!  I arrived at the mall and ran straight to Macy’s 3rd floor and to the check out desk (imagine what I looked like with a huge bag over my shoulder, pumps in my hand and a wild, “I need a dress!” look in my eye).  I quickly explained that I needed to be at a ball in about an hour and needed help finding a dress.  I showed them the shoes I’d be wearing and we got to work!  Seriously, the girl that helped me is getting a letter of thanks sent to her department because she was on it!  I told her my size, grabbed a couple of dresses and ran to a fitting room.  She continued bringing me dresses and within 1/2 hour, I had what I needed!  I left the dress on, got rung up, was pointed in the direction of the bathroom and ran to do hair and make-up.  Whew!  Seriously, where was the camera crew?!

Clay had to go out to the squadron to get the proper uniform (I’m still not sure why it was there) and then rush to the exchange to grab a new pair of wings for his jacket.  

By 6:15 we were on the phone with each other agreeing to meet in the lobby.  By 6:30 I had valeted the car and was standing in the lobby, fully dressed, composed and ready for an evening of fun.  

We spotted our friends who had the tickets and followed them into the Grand Ballroom at the Hotel Del Coronado.  Beautiful!  

This was the 24th year of this event.  The Chamber of Commerce of Coronado puts this together to salute their military neighbors on the island.  Various businesses around the island host tables and various invites go out to the military community.  This is the second time we’ve been invited and it’s truly an amazing night!  This year we were at a table hosted by Business Products Express.  They hosted 5 tables and we were fortunate enough to be at the table with Matt Bartell and his wife, Jody who own the company.  They were so much fun!  The Marine Corps Band performed and the speakers were great.  We ran into several people we knew, had a wonderful dinner, danced a little and called it a night.  Wow!

While we pulled it off in only 2 hours, make no mistake that we did get some complaining phone calls from the kids.  They were caught in the whirlwind of watching us make the decision to go, shout some orders for dinner and run out the door.  When I walked through the door that night, I could see the result of  their unhappiness that we dashed off.  I decided that crushed cereal would be better off swept up in the morning.  Back to reality, Cinderella!  

Matt Bartell, standing on a chair to compensate for the tallness of the Sandbergs, the Sandbergs, me and Clay

Me and Clay with Matt Bartell, owner of Business Products Express and our host for the night.

Well, there you have it!  The crazy combination of being a Mommy of Many and a military spouse and how that combination works.  Sometimes I’m Doing the Dance of the Children and sometimes I just get to dance!

Thank you to Brian and Kris for thinking of us.  Thank you to the Coronado Chamber of Commerce for putting this together every year and thank you to Matt Bartell for hosting the tables that he did. 

Have a great day!

Yesterday, Max started brainstorming on how to build a leprechaun trap.  He was so excited when we were at the store and he saw this bag that was full of Easter eggs and had one gold egg in it!  He decided it was exactly what he needed.  So, we bought the bag and he left the gold egg inside and built a “ladder” on the side of the bag so that the leprechaun could get in to get the egg and would then be trapped!  A good plan!

Oh!  The golden egg worked!  It enticed a tricky leprechaun to come into the room.  But, he stole the egg and left this decoy in his place along with a trail of golden glitter!

This was obviously a sassy leprechaun!  He left this lil note.

Max and Tristan enjoyed following the trail of gold glitter to try to figure out where the tricky leprechaun could have gone.  Oh the brainstorming they did!

Max was happy to bring his trap to school to show the decoy and glitter and to tell the story of what happened in his room while he was sleeping.  He is already coming up with ideas for a better trap for next year!

The magic of childhood!

Have a happy St. Patrick’s Day~

Yesterday I was able to take the lil ones to watch Clay fly.  It was a beautiful day for it!  I hadn’t taken the kids to watch him fly in a long time.  There’s an outlook off the freeway where you can watch helicopters load ships.  What a great combination; blue skies, the ocean, and watching Daddy do his exciting job!

people watching the vertrep action from the outlook 

Clay’s helo and the ship that was being replenished

The helo gettting loaded

Gabi and Lex watching the action

All the fresh air and excitement wore them out!

Have a great day~

There are times in life when everything just seems to fall into place.  This trip to Washington is one of those.  My friend, Pilar, and I planned this trip a couple of months ago.  When I found out I would be having surgery next week, I thought I should probably cancel the trip.  After giving it a little more thought, I realized it was the PERFECT time to get away, have some fun and take some time out for thought and reflection.  Yesterday was our FUN time!  We went to Seattle and had THE BEST day!  It was full of laughter, good food and beautiful scenery.  I couldn’t have asked for a better day!  Here are a few pics to share-

we had a great lunch at Max’s at the Marketplace

We enjoyed the fish market

We were silly enough to have our picture taken on a big, brass pig

One of the things I really wanted to do in Seattle was to go to the original Starbucks.  Heck, I’m at my local Starbucks at least once a day and I felt like I’d be making a pilgrimage.

Today has been a relaxing day with time built in for thought and reflection.  I need a little time to make sure I have thought out all the things I wanted to question before I go in for this surgery.  I feel very fortunate to have people in my life to make that possible!  A thank you to Clay for keeping the kiddos while I got away and a thank you to Pilar for offering me her “sanctuary” as a place to unwind and be a little bit pampered.  I’m not so sure how I feel about her making me leave my phone downstairs, though.  She was serious when she said I was to relax and reflect!

Tomorrow, I will wrap up my vacation and head home.

Thank you for all the words of encouragement and the kind thoughts and prayers!  They are all so appreciated!

Have a great day~

I am so behind!

Here we are, 10 days from Santa’s big show and I am NOT READY! This next week is going to consist of lists, lists, lists and much shopping. The remaining stack of Christmas cards need to get addressed and mailed and some gifts had better be bought!

Clay is heading out for our tree today which will make for an evening of decorating and arranging. We’ve never been ones to get a tree early in the month. We leave it up until the celebration of Theophany or the Epiphany, on January 6th. It’s the celebration of the Magi finding the infant Jesus and paying him homage. That’s when we take everything down, so imagine if we got the tree early, it would be up forever!!! Last year was the first time that I really let go of trying to dictate the decorating of the tree and I let the older kids take over. They did a fabulous job! So, this year, I’m going to step back from the beginning and let them make it theirs.

I love the feel around Christmas! I wish there were a way to just capture the feeling and not have to worry so much about all the things that keep us busy at this time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have parties to attend and people to visit with, but it does take away from the magic that happens around the simpler things. I’m hoping that with the close of this weekend and the last party having been attended, that the cookie baking, carol singing and movie watching can begin.

I’m dreaming! I still have all the shopping to do! Snap back to reality! The kids can bake, sing and watch movies but I’ve got to shop, wrap and hide! ~sigh~ But even with all the hustle and bustle, there’s a magic that happens on Christmas Eve when they come into the house and see what Santa has left. I guess that’s what I will look forward to.

This afternoon all the kiddos will head to a friends’ house to make gingerbread houses. They’ve gone for a couple of years now and it’s always a lot of fun. Our friends bakes all the houses and assembles them and the kids get to spend the time making them beautiful. I’m sure there will be some great pictures to share!

Have a great day~

What a week!!!!! From Tuesday to Friday we packed in Knotts Berry Farm, Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping and a Tesla show (we are loving their new album! Check it out!). You’d think I’d be tired, but I’m still running off of the energy from each of those events. The crash is not going to be pretty!

We’ve visited Knotts Berry Farm during their annual military promotion, several times. It’s one of the annual events the kids count on. It’s always a lot of fun and each year the kids like to see who’s gotten big enough for which rides. One of my favorite things is to take in the show at Mystery Lodge. We always take the kids out of school on a Tuesday or Wednesday and head up for the day. Going during the week has made all the difference in the lines! We’ve kind of spoiled ourselves!

The Whole Lang Clan, ready for a day of fun at Knotts!

Tristan, Max, Gabi and Luke-Xavier with Snoopy

One of my sisters joined us for the adventure. We both got to ride with the little ones in Camp Snoopy.

Max and Gabi had SO MUCH FUN!

Several of us enjoyed the merry-go-round! Luke-Xavier insisted on 3 rides in a row.

And onto Thanksgiving! We’ve been going out for Thanksgiving since Gabriella was born. After trying it once, we knew it was the best way to go. We get a beautiful view, no mess and no clean up. We have been fortunate to have beautiful days each year and this year was no different.

The entire Clan dressed for Thanksgiving dinner.

The 4 youngest kiddos, finished with dinner and heading out to the beach

Now Kateri and JJ are back at school and my sister is back home. We enjoyed having everyone with us, so much! I can’t wait for the next few weeks to pass so that I can have them back again! It’s time for me to focus on Christmas and to decide not to stress that it’s so close. Lists, lists, lists!

Have a great day~

He buys you gifts that Mom and Dad might not get you……

like a fancy, princess chair that plays royal music every time you sit down…..

or a hobby-horse that makes giddy-up noises (such a happy face!!!!!)……

or even a plethora of foam weapons to battle each other with!

JJ came home and went to Toys R Us to make up for some birthdays that he’s missed while he was at school. He made a houseful of happy kiddos!

They played hard and slept peacefully………horse in tow.
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Kateri got in, late last night and this morning we are loading up with the whole Lang Clan, a few friends and an auntie to spend the day at Knotts Berry Farm. This is an annual tradition for our family. We’ve been going since Arianna, who is now 13 , was a baby in a backpack. It’s always a ton of fun! Picture blog soon!

Have a great day~

It’s beginning to feel like fall, even in San Diego! The last couple of days have been crisp and beautiful and have made us want to think about Halloween and Thanksgiving. We decided it was time for a trip to our favorite pumpkin patch. We loaded up the kids and headed out to Oma’a Pumpkin Patch at the Van Ommering Dairy Farm. We’ve taken the kids out there for several years and have always enjoyed the fact that it’s not only a pumpkin patch, but a working dairy farm. If you’re in the San Diego area, check it out!

Lang Kiddos and a friend at Oma’s Pumpkin Patch

Clay and Luke-Xavier in the petting area

Max and Tristan petting a calf

The Lang Clan and a friend on the hay ride, ready to tour the dairy

Twins had been born just before our tour. They were still trying to stand when we went by. Very cool for the kids to see!

Tristan really enjoyed the cotton-seed slide! It’s one of the kids favorite parts of our annual trip!

A couple of cute pics of the kids enjoying their day!

Have a great day~

P.S. Thank you for all the wonderful “Welcome Home” messages and comments that have been left! They are greatly appreciated!

Alright, I’m fighting the urge to write about being frustrated that I STILL have a broken washing machine or a few other frustrating topics. So, I am going to focus on something that was a lot of fun and a high point in our summer. I told you about our photo shoot and what a great experience we had with the photographer. Well, here’s the finished product! Mariah (though she’s not quick to admit it) really enjoyed sharing the magazine with friends and family and her interview was insightful and heartfelt. Unfortunately I can not post her interview here, but, JJ was also interviewed and photographed and his interview is online. Click here to see his picture and read what he had to say about growing up as a Military Brat.

Thanks, once again to Deb for the great job she did!

Ok, there! I successfully kept from pouring out my frustration. Say a lil prayer that the repairman shows up or you’ll have to shoo the children away from the computer lest they be scarred by my scathing and biting words, tomorrow.

Have a great day~

We found out about a free Scuba class that was offered in our area from some family friends and decided it would be a great way to spend a Saturday. So, I loaded up the van with family and friends and off we went! The big plan was to get the older kiddos set up with the class and then take the younger ones to find some fun activity that they would enjoy.

We discovered that an adult would have to remain on site through the whole process, so we split up and my friend, Pilar, took the kids that wouldn’t be taking the class and headed to a fun, train store while I stayed for the class.

Tristan was allowed to ring the purchases up and earned a poster from the shop keeper for his hard work.

Meanwhile……I sat in class with the older kids and listened to a video that described all the great things you could learn and experience through scuba.

Our instructor, Marc, did a great job of trying to keep the kids engaged during the class.

Finally, it was time to go to the pool!

Some of the kids were really excited and some were nervous, but they all headed to the pool to gear-up. After the wait of the classroom and the time it takes to gear-up and receive instructions in the pool, we were more than ready to see everyone try it out!

It was worth the wait!

Look! Luke-Xavier had to be pried away!

Thanks to our local Sport Chalet for offering this fun, opportunity! And thanks to Marc from the PADI Program for being great with the kids and for sparking our interest in scuba! We would love to check out the entire program.

Have a great day~

I can’t believe how fast the summer has gone and that 5 months of this deployment are under our belts. We’ve made it through with only a few speed bumps. I want to thank all the people in our life who have made our summer so much fun and who have taken the time to think of us and include us in many fun activities. It’s no small task to invite the Lang Clan to share time with you and we have been fortunate enough to have many invites. Thank you!

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So…..if you’ve been following the blog, you might have gotten the idea that I’m a Rod Stewart fan and that I just might be looking forward to going to his concert. Yep (giggling)! I guess I’m so excited because I just never get to do this kind of thing.

My sister, Maggie, has been staying with me since late May and it’s been a chance to connect with her and to a part of myself that I never was able to before. I am the oldest sister and she and her twin are the youngest sisters and there are 6 sisters in between. They were still little when I had Kateri and left the house. This has been our first, real, chance to get to know each other and it’s been GREAT! But-big sigh-she has to leave, next week and go back to her “real” life and I will refocus all of this silly energy that I’ve had, back into my daily routine and getting things ready for Clay to come home and the kids to go back to school.

So, this concert is not only an amazing chance to hear and see a singer whose music I’ve loved for, for, well, forever, but the end of a wonderful visit with my sister. So, I am SUPER EXCITED! Today I’m Doing the Dance, but it’s a whole different one that usual!

May Good Fortune Be With You, May You’re Guiding Light Be Strong~