A weekend without...

organizing, picture hanging, cleaning, purging, rearranging, shopping or ANYTHING ELSE move-in related. A month or so ago, I signed myself up for a Pampered Chef party, so the 4 days preceeding this momentous event were spent in a whirlwind of activity as I attempted to clear out the chaos and make my home look presentable. Needless to say, I have never been so happy to be at week's end. The party was a success, the food was great, my house is FINALLY almost done and I spent my weekend socializing, attending a winefest with the spousal unit, attending a birthday/welcome home party, sitting around a firepit with new friends AND best of all... sitting on my BUTT!!

The Mac Chicks just bustin' out of the egg!
The look on Eva's face as Charley nails her one to get ahead
pretty much sums up my life these days.


So, you ask, what is new with the clan mac? Where, oh where to begin. Amidst the chaos of settling in, many new adventures have come our way. Evie has settled in to her new school, wishing she could attend every day. Her teachers are amazing. They are so clearly enamored of these sweet children and their obvious joy in their work is inspiring. I've been inspired to look for new ways to make my home and our life more adventurous for my mini macs. I hope this only leads to tons of fun & lots of field trips for our clan.

Speaking of, we took one last week to my childhood home of Santa Ana. Just a short 35 minutes north of here lies the elementary school where I learned my ABC's, the church where I took my first communion, the home whose address I still remember. What a sweet adventure it turned out to be.

Me & My gals at my elementary school!

Eva in my childhood church

Eva's 1st trip to Chuck E. Cheese

I won mother of the year for that treat!

Evie is back into gymnastics & loving every minute. Last week, she also informed me she would like to take up tennis and disco dancing. Move over, John Travolta, Evie Mac is on her way! In the midst of these discussions regarding new interests, she also decided that a DISCO party is the way to ring in year #5. I am SO excited! You know I'm trying to figure out how to make a disco ball cake. Any ideas?
Every day, she is bursting with excitement to work on letters, numbers and aw, crap, worksheets.
Many of you know I feel like worksheets are the bane of american education, but my little sponge loves the accomplishment of completion & being right!! She discovered a packet from last school year and zipped through all 20 or so of the sheets in like a day. oy, i am in for it. It is so invigorating to see her so curious and ready to absorb everything around her. She is VERY interested in learning to read, so we are planning to focus more time on that goal very soon. Although, I'm not sure how I'll communicate with other adults if I can't spell stuff "over" her head.

Oh, and Charley. What can I say about Charley? That child is a trip. Half the time her hair is stuck to her face with her boogers. The other half, she looks like a little oompa loompa with her water spout hair, curls over her ears, teetering around the house on her fat little tree stump legs. Her newest form of communication is the point, yell and grunt.
Never mind that she knows like 50 gazillion signs and can actually say quite a few words, including bellybutton (sounds like beh bah.) I think she just likes to yell. And you should see her get really mad. I love it when she makes this super mad face in the mirror, yells at herself, then grinds her little face into the mirror while baring her teeth. I have got to get this on video. It is SO funny I can't even take her seriously when she does it. As a matter of fact, she is so crazy, I don't think I'll ever take her seriously. Guess she takes after me, huh?
Enjoy the pics!
Love to all!
Tiff & co.
p.s. yes, we were evacuated. it stunk. watching the hillside behind my house burn was a BIT nerve-wracking. I thank God every day since that we were blessed enough to be able to return home. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers!