the mandel 5

I've been tagged by Jennifer Wilson , fellow photographer and friend. I am supposed to list 8 fascinating things about myself and then tag 8 people. While I have more than 8 friends who would love to be tagged, I don't have 8 friends with blogs who would love to be tagged. So, it looks like 6 of you will receive the challenge. 8 Interesting Things About Me: 1. I hate birds. I am terrified of them. All birds. 2. I can't wear socks. They make me feel like I am suffocating. 3. I can't handle blood or vomit. I recently cut my finger on a can and couldn't even change the bandage each day on my own - Rob and then sadly, Megan had to do it. In general, I'm a pretty lousy patient. 4. I love to laugh. Every day my goal is to make Rob laugh because he's a pretty serious dude. 5. I used to own a goat named Raisin and a horse named Lucky. 6. I love Diet Coke. 7. I have to have the air conditioner on in the car always. Even when it's cold. I can...

Logan played hookie from preschool today so we could go with Colleen and Alex on our annual Legoland adventure. We were on our way, happily chatting in the car and before we even got on the freeway, we saw a sheriff's car without a front license plate . It gets me all irritated again about my ticket. I show the envelope to Colleen and since she A) is smarter than I am and B) used to process traffic tickets for the city or something like that and C) is not emotionally tied up in my tickets, she saw that next to the $78 fine for no plate, there is a 3-letter code. On the back of the ticket, it says that if you fix the problem on a ticket with the code and have a police officer sign off on it, the fine is reduced to $10. So it IS a fix-it ticket. You just have to know the code. And then what really gets me fuming is that I have now spoken to three separate officers in that Port Hueneme Police station and told them that the other plate is in my husband's classroom and none o...

So....it was time for a new couch. The old one used to be my parents' and even though it was cool to have two twin beds inside of it, the cushion covers were gross. There were no other ways to flip them or wash them. So we picked out a new couch on Sunday. Hopefully, it will hold up because it takes a lot of abuse between our three monkeys and all my little friends who come for photos. I was worried about getting rid of the old couch. Those hide-a-beds make it REALLY heavy and it's extra long. My dad suggested Mina, our housekeeper. She knows a lot of people and could maybe find it a home. Mina's family is the best. I used to tutor her boys in math (they are DOLLS) and her girls have been cleaning our house for seven years now. I called her this morning and by 7:00, a family was here, ready to haul the couch away. They tried to pay us but of course, they were saving us money by taking it. BUT....here is the dirty little secret part. . . . . . . . LOOK UNDERNEAT...

Hey Guys, I need unbiased votes again over on my studio blog. This time you are voting for your favorite photo display! Click here: photo contest Thank you!

Some snaps from Kylie's 4th birthday party yesterday. Swimming, a jumpie, and the very same Jasmine from Meg's party (Kylie loves her).

soooo.....I had beach sessions this morning and the machine that prints the parking permits in the lot where I park wouldn't take my money. I tried and tried. It wouldn't take my money. And there was a red light on it flashing. So I figured it was broken and went on my merry way. After shooting, I came back to the car and saw a ticket envelope on my windshield. Must be my lucky day because not only did I get a parking ticket for not having a permit, but I also got a second ticket for not having a front license plate. So, I went to the police station where I was told that it has always been illegal to not have a front plate on your car in California. We haven't had a front plate on our car for almost 10 years. Because the other one is hanging in Rob's classroom. On the way home, I started noticing lots of cars without a front plate so around Fillmore, I began counting. In 20 miles, I passed 67 cars with no front plate. I swear. Back to the parking ticket.......

So I mentioned that I took the boys to get haircuts on Wednesday. I took them to Supercuts. Yes, we have the clippers here and have cut their hair before but it takes more time and more tears to do it ourselves. And their hair was SO long that I couldn't risk Rob doing it one day while I was out - he'd shave them bald. The lady asked me how I'd like their hair cut and I started to say, "Well, I like a little boy cut for Logan and I love Nathan's curls...." and Logan shouted, "NO! I want it short like Daddy's!" Yeah, daddy has no hair. The lady says, "You want a buzz cut?" "Yes." So she starts buzzing that little head and halfway through he panics and yells, "I changed my mind! I don't want it short!" Too late little buddy. When his hair was done, the lady spun him around to see himself in the mirror and he said, "But Buzz Lightyear's hair is purple ." Apparently he thought a buzz cut wa...

Thanks to Kris for sending me the link to this eBay auction. Hilarious. Click below: auction

These were taken at Valencia Pet. Those people let you hold anything that can survive in a kid's hands (which isn't much for my kids because if they are afraid, they drop the animal). It's a pretty exotic little store - no puppies or kittens. Lots of fish and reptiles. Out of all the critters there, the only thing I could get talked into owning is a frog. But NEVER tell my children I said that. Here is a little (tiny - like a quarter) blue tree frog. and a green one And the salt water tanks...if I were rich and could hire someone to do all the work, I would have a huge salt water aquarium. In fact, if I ever win the lottery that I don't play, it will be my first purchase. We found Nemo! And Dory! And this crazy guy. He had the run of the store. The boys wouldn't touch him. Oh, but we all LOVED the baby turtles. I could get talked into owning one of these if they didn't grow to be 4 feet across! Those are Nathan's hands. =)

On Wednesdays, Megan has a short day. Every Wednesday. And Rob will start teaching a night class on Wednesdays soon. Tonight he had a meeting for it. So I better find something fun to do each Wednesday with all that extra mom and me time I will have with the kids. Today, I picked Nathan up at the ridiculous 11:37 dismissal time, then picked up Logan early from pre -school. We had lunch together and then got haircuts. After that, we picked up Megan and headed to the water park. We had so much fun there and it wasn't crowded at all! Look at my happy, well-behaved babies. They really were good so we stayed till they closed. The highlight today was the big red slide. Megan has refused to go on it all summer long. She is the only one who is tall enough and she had to pass a swimming test first. Today she finally got the nerve to take the test and go on the big slide. There she is! Look at my big girl! And since this is Embarrassing Photos of Mitzi Week here on the blog, thi...

come back to this post. And click the image to enlarge it. I have actually been debating whether or not to share this image. Because come ON guys, look at me there on the far left. The photographer said "jump" so I jumped. I've mentioned before that other than Kris, who is a dancer, all those girls are gymnasts . See how feminine their jumps are? How daintily and modestly they have bent their legs? And then there is me. It looks like my dress has transformed into an umbrella and I am about to fly away like Mary Poppins. ::hanging my head::

Last night we took the boys to a Jethawks game. We had a ticket for Megan but she refused to go. Baseball is boring and it was hot and blah blah blah...She stayed with Casey and Kris. The boys had fun. There are jumpies and kid-friendly food and games. Lots of empty seats but it was hot and a Sunday night before the first day of school. Daddy and the boys Nathan always has to snuggle with his daddy. Always. He's our loviest kid and a daddy's boy for sure! ***************************************** And this morning was THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Wow, two kids at the same school. This is a first for me. Nathan started Kindergarten and Megan is starting second grade. I always have a hard time handing Nathan over to someone else. I was very brave. No tears. And Nathan was super-brave. No tears. He walked right into his room without even looking over at me for one last wave. He probably knew I couldn't handle it. He knows a few kids in his class from soccer and te...

Rob's mom had a dinner at her house tonight. Lots of fun people and good food. We called for a group shot and this is who showed up for it - Papa Bob, my 3 kids, Bob's friend Chip who is visiting, and Rob's sister Verna. Missing are: Rayanne and Bryan, Mary, Grandma Verna, Rob's cousin Jennifer, me and Rob. Oh, here are a few more people - I called for all wine drinkers and that got a better turn out than the group shot did! Here's what the kids did. Thanks to Dawn for telling me about this rocket launcher thing at Costco - it's all foamy nerf stuff so it's totally safe. I finally bought one. You just step on (or as Logan is doing - SIT on) the pump and it launches the rocket! Gotta get some air for a powerful jump so the rocket can soar through the trees!