No Wii? No Cable? Boring life? Oh please!

Yesterday someone asked what did we do for fun since we didn't own the latest in video game consoles or subscribed to cable.
I simply said, "We go outside".

Let me explain.

We are a busy family.
During the day as I send my husband and oldest daughter to work and school I am home with my youngest.  Our school day starts at about 8am until 3ish.  We get ready and head out to our local YMCA where my daughters are taking a variety of dance classes, an art class or an acting class.  We are there for a good 2 hours a day.


My husband picks us up on the way home.  Sometimes we go to the library first and pick up books and videos.  We read A LOT.  You will always find a book in our bags.  Depending on our schedule for the weekend, we go food shopping.
Once we are home, we start our evening routine which consists of dinner, shower, grading, math tutoring and homework.
After all is done, we do watch an hour or two of TV.  It might be in a form of a video from the library (we watched Cars 2 last week) or a show on TV.
Once the weekend comes around we are not home much.
Our Saturdays are filled with the teen interning and the tween going to girl scouts and acting/theatre class.
Sometimes they have a gig which is usually an all day event.  They love their job.  Sundays is our day of rest.  If they don't have a gig you will find us at home watching movies (again the library has tons of free movies.  My husband and I watched In the Land of Blood and Honey last week) and resting.  Sometimes my husband wants a day of fun because of a stressful week and we go to Disneyland.


You see?

Why have the latest in gaming or shell out all that money for cable if we can enjoy what is all around us?  The library lends us so many wonderful books (and if you have an e-reader you can borrow from there) and videos.  Why do I want to shell out hundreds of dollars a year to let it go to waste?  We enjoy doing things as a family.  Yes, Disneyland is starting to get expensive because of ticket prices but where else can a family hang out and go on rides, dance, and just enjoy your surroundings with the added security measures they put into place?
Maybe they idea of sitting around all day long is something I sometimes long for but the truth of the matter is
I LOVE BEING OUT AND ABOUT WITH MY FAMILY!

(I wanted to post more pics but my DSL/WIFI is extremely slow at the moment)

It's About To Get Crazy Up in Here!

Ready to fire up your crock pot/slow cooker?  
Starting next week the Glendale YMCA Performing Arts Academy opens!  
I am very excited for this new program.  
Mondays & Wednesdays kids will be dancing Latin Fusion with the awesome Ani Hovhannisyan from 4:30pm to 5:30pm and then learn to Jazz Funk from 5:30pm to 6:30pm.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays your children will learn and understand the art of Acting and Improvisation with the very cool Jonaton Wynne from 4:00pm to 5:00pm.
Also on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the world renowned Solid Gold dancer, Darcel Wynne-Leonard will be teaching Dance and Motion. 5:30pm to 6:30pm.
Fridays the talented Karl Melero will be guiding the children through Creative and Expressive Art from 4:30pm to 5:30pm.
We are so excited to be a part of this program!
So, because of our packed days, (not only the above mentioned activities but also gymnastics, AWANA, homework, schoolwork, auditions, callbacks, and filming) I will be dusting off my crock pot (I haven't used it for about 2 weeks to cook da beans) and experimenting with new and not so new vegetarian/vegan recipes.  Take advantage of  the fall fruits and vegetables from your local farmer's market and in your local supermarket chose your produce that are grown locally!
My teen (former home schooler) really likes school.  I think she enjoys competing with other students to get that A and she is such a social butterfly.   So far all A's in her class!
Her drama class are doing a fundraiser selling chocolates bars for $1.  I will have them with me starting this weekend.  The goal, to start off, will be 50 bars.  Maybe we will try for 100 if it goes well. So, if you would like to help out Celina and her fellow drama queens and kings buy one.  Sorry I can't ship out.  That defeats the purpose of raising funds for the drama class. 
Money goes towards field trips.