The eurporia of being home and all we have missed the last few months has worn thin very fast. My personal California TO DO list ( lunch with friends, shopping with friends, getting a manicure and pedicure with friends...) is quickly becoming highly unrealistic. We are all jet lagged from hours of travel, and a 9 hour time change. Christmas is a week away and the task list is rapidly growing. At least I have a lot of household help.....NOT.
Within a couple of days of being home, I discover our housekeeper who has been working for us for 7 years, has been stealing from us. You name it, she took it from jewlery to tools, to towels, clothing, pool equiptment, DVD players, even my wedding dress and Faith's baby teeth.
Some of the recovered jewlery.
I feel terrible and traumatized. I feel bad that I have accumlated so much stuff, that regualr theivery was barely noticed. I have been betrayed by someone our family has loved and trusted. This is the first time I have had to call the Police in my life. I hope it is the last. The Police let her go, saying it was her word against ours.
My new spanish speaking skills came in handy in the investigation.
My tree has extra lights on it this year, after finding half our stash in housekeepers house.
SOUNDS OF DANCE
As soon as the girls got home they were at their dance studio catching up on what they have missed. Carrissa, their beloved teacher, agreed to let the girls dance in the Holiday performance and even allowed Cambrie and Faith to put on their own coreographed lyrical duet. With my emotions high, from the recent housekeeper drama, my tears flowed as I watched my sweet girls dance to my favorite Christmas Hymn, "Oh Holy Night".
"A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices..."
"Oh night when Christ was born..."
Oh night divine!
NOT MUSIC TO MY EARS.....
We drained our 20 year old troublesome pool before we left for Spain and wisely used the water to irrigate our farm in August. Our plan was to re-do the pool upon our return to California in the summer.
"I might as well get a jump start on demolishing the pool now," says Ricky. "You know how much money we will save doing this ourselves?" "So we are going to hear jack hammering all day, everyday?" I ask.
Ricky and Holden get to work....yipee.
BEFORE
AFTER
"Maybe it was a little impulsive of me...." Ricky says later.
TIME TO GET AWAY FROM THE NOISE
Ricky and Holden have been jack hammering away at the pool non stop and so when a friend calls one morning and asks if me and the girls want to go to Disneyland, I jump at the offer.
TIME TO GET AWAY FROM THE NOISE
Ricky and Holden have been jack hammering away at the pool non stop and so when a friend calls one morning and asks if me and the girls want to go to Disneyland, I jump at the offer.
Even the Tea Cups are better than the sound of a jack hammer.
MALIBU CHRISTMAS PARTY
Experincing culture from around the world has been really educating, but what about the culture of some of the over the top parties that exisit in the USA, especially Malibu?
Santa's reindeer pay a visit to Malibu.
The girls and their cousin make their own mini ice sculptures.
Ricky and Faith sled down a hill of snow brought in just for the party (it's 70 degrees today in Malibu)
"That wasn't the real Santa?" asks Faith.
"No," says Cambrie
"I think so," says Ricky nudging Cambrie.
BOY GAMESI still can not figure out what makes paintballing so fun? What is fun about getting shot with hard balls that give you bloody welts all over your body? Well my boys LOVE it, and so do their friends. They spend hours tinkering with their paintball guns and planning strategies. They they go out in our yard and come back an hour or two later moaning about the pain of the swollen welts.
Looks like Ricky is about to get a good shot....
MORE BOY GAMES
The boys and their friends decided that the Turtles in our pond needed some identification. They gave the Turtles names with non toxic paint and then put them in our pond (all while Ricky and I were sleeping). This morning my Mom sent me an email saying that a note was left on the front door of our house saying...
"We found a turtle in our yard with FAITH painted on it's back. Please call to pick it up."
It's been a whirlwind of activity, and I have forgotten totally how much work it is too keep it all together. One morning (in addition to the jack hammering), I heard a truck pull up to drop off a load of dirt, the gardener sawing a tree down, then the Fed Ex man arrived, next a parent dropped off her child to play, about the same time the dryer buzzed it's ready signal. Faith yelled she was hungry and then the phone started ringing, and the dogs began barking. I looked at my bed, wishing I could crawl back in and forget the demands of the day. I remind myself that one day I will miss all the action (or so I am told), I throw a clip in my ratty hair and try to enjoy our last few days in California.
Lots of activity just at the table. Feeding a baby, playing card, painting a tea set, and eating dinner. Our house on Christmas Eve. I better stop typing and start planning Holden's 18th birthday party next week.
ox Andrea
