Long Overdue!



In my daughter's eyes
I am a hero I am strong and wise
And I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I want to be

In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes
Everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
Gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe

In my daughter's eyes



And when she wraps her hand around my finger
Oh, It puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about
It's hanging on when your heart has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light

It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes
I can see the future
A reflection of who I am
And what will be
And though she'll grow
And someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see
How happy she made me
For I'll be there

In my daughter's eyes

Happy 4th Birthday, Lauren Grace Fleming!

Fleming Swagger

urban Dictionary definition:
Swagger is to move with confidence, sophistication and to be cool.

Swagger is to conduct yourself in a way that would automatically earn respect.
To dress in a very stylish and quirky fashionable way would suggest one is swagger.

Let me tell you, if there was one boy who walked onto the school campus this morning with Swagger - it was Thomas Fleming!

You see, today was the first day of school for Thomas. He was so excited that he woke up early and got himself dressed (this included 3 wardrobe changes) and then he had the desire to put on deodorant! Isn't that what the big kids do? Seriously!

He got his hair combed, teeth brushed, and then he asked to leave an HOUR early so he could check out his classroom. The whole family took Thomas to school and this is what you would have seen if you joined us...

1st Grade excitement!

He has arrived in all of his swagger!

Fear the Fang or Fear the Fleming that thinks he is Mr. Cool.

Thrilled that we can all share this special day.

Mrs. Hoffman's class!

Thomas is ready to take on the day.

Now you know where he gets his SWAGGER!

We hope all the kids had a wonderful start to a new school year. What are your favorite school days memories???

Round 1 - Ding! Ding!

Fifteen years ago - back in 1995, I walked through the doors of 1036 W. Balboa Blvd, Apt. #1 in Newport Beach to watch the Tyson vs. McNeely fight with a friend, but what I was really there for is a whole different story...

     You see the start of the 4FLEMZ began this very day! A few months before this 'scheduled event' I found myself going on casual lunch dates and work related field trips with a person I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with - what I didn't know was if he felt the same way. So, when this special someone invited me to his bachelor pad to watch the fight with a few close friends I jumped at the opportunity to spend more time with him. What I didn't realize is that I would walk out that night as his girlfriend and we have never looked back and we have been together ever since!

     As I reminisce about the good old days I can still remember us going on many dates and getting to know each other even more. I think of how young we were and how we grew together. I remember the fun stories of the days where each of us drove between Buena Park and Newport Beach to see each other during every available opportunity, meeting each others families for the first time, the discussions of marriage and of course the dinner disaster before the official proposal. All of that seems so long ago, but yet I can remember as if it were just yesterday.
     As I see us today, we have conquered many obstacles together. We have been through losses and wins together, but we always remained each others biggest 'promoters' when we needed it the most and we have never 'thrown in the towel.'
     We now have two beautiful children and we seem to be enjoying the life we always imagined for ourselves. (Okay, minus winning the lottery! But, who needs the 'purse' when we have each other? WE DO, OF COURSE!)

Today marks a small milestone in what is yet to come!

     This mystery man is obviously my husband and I would like to thank him for sticking by my side and believing that the two of us make the whole! I have fallen more in love with him with everyday that we get to share together.  I believe we are ready to 'go the distance' and if there is one thing Mike Tyson did right, it was bringing the two of us together 15 years ago!

How did your family begin?

Fleming Friday Folly

Beauty School Drop Out?

Every few weeks, I take the kids to get their haircut. Lauren loves to get her hair trimmed regardless of the salon and Thomas only likes his haircut by (her name shall remain anonymous) at The Haircutters. After several salon visits based upon the latest coupon the 4FLEMZ receive in the mail I soon realized it was best to stick with (her name shall remain anonymous) at The Haircutters since the kids started asking for her when they were notified it was haircut time.

(Her name shall remain anonymous) is always excited when the kids come through the door at the salon. She is quick to mention how much they have changed since the last visit only a few weeks ago and let's them pick out a candy before they hop in her chair. She then engages the kids in a non-stop conversation regarding school, activities and movies. Now you know why the kids love her!

Alright, now I am going to cut to the chase. On our last visit, after Lauren was all trimmed up I thought I would ask her to teach me how to french braid since Lauren's hair is getting longer. She quickly replied, "I don't know how to french braid." I am sure I had a look on my face like WTH? Maybe I needed to clarify with her that I did not ask if she knew how to make french bread, but then I heard her shout out to another stylist in the salon, (her name shall remain anonymous too) - "Do you know how to french braid?" and then I heard the response, "NO!"

Seriously? Seriously! Isn't french braiding a requirement before you graduate beauty school? Maybe this is how Frenchie got her name from Grease?
Happy Friday!

The kids are feeling a little hoarse...

Isn't Reece beautiful?! Our children are in love.

I can't get him to brush his teeth, but he will brush his horse!

Lauren cleaning and picking Reece's hoof (frog)

Getting Reece's saddle ready

Getting Reece acclimated to the riding ring.

 

Tommy's first ride on Reece!

Lauren's first ride on Reece!

 I guess soccer mom is out and horse mom is in.

If Hay is for Horses, than Horses are for the 4Flemz!

Fleming Friday Folly

The trials and tribulations of summer camp...

Thomas went on an excursion to Wild Rivers this week, which left us a little nervous since he is not a great swimmer. The night before he was due to leave we spoke to him about following all the rules and staying with the his group leader. The next morning, he woke up with a pep in his step and was ready to conquer the unknown territory of the local water park. Later that afternoon when he returned home, we asked him how his field trip went. He notified us that he had a great time and that he did not go down the TOILET BOWL!

In my head I am thinking about 10 six year olds in the bathroom with little supervision and I quickly responded, "What happened in the restroom? Why would you try and go down the TOILET BOWL?"
Thomas then shared the look...the look that I will probably see more than once in our lives...the come on mom - get a life - don't you know look. The TOILET BOWL is a ride!

Pheeew. Happy Friday!

Back in the Saddle

Summer is upon us! Since school is officially out we have found plenty to keep the 4FLEMZ busy.
The kids are having a blast at summer camp at TLC and TutorTime, hanging out at the local watering hole (our association pool) and saddling up to ride off into the sunset...

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you!

Out two little rodeo clowns are learning horsemanship and eventually will be riding on the back of their new best friend, Reece!

Although we have heard some rumblings that we live in no man's land, there is a fond appreciation that the 4FLEMZ have for what surrounds us. We are very thankful that all of us get to enjoy the beauty of living close to the canyon. For all you city slickers you may want to mosey on over for the afternoon - if you can stomach the LONG drive! Get off your ass (I meant mule) and smell the fresh air and enjoy Arroyo Trabuco, O'Neill Regional Park and Starr Ranch Sanctuary. You may even get to see a replay of the showdown at the OK Corral if you step through our front door!

What type of summer activities or adventures are you headed out to do?

Cheers!

A special tribute to the Sedehi Family  -

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got

Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go - where everybody knows your name

and they're always glad you came

You wanna be where you can see - our troubles are all the same

You wanna be where everybody knows your name

You wanna go where people know people are all the same

You wanna go where everybody knows your name

We will not say goodbye, we will only say, "see ya real soon! "

There will always be a seat at the bar for you at the Fleming house! May you have great new adventures in Santa Barbara and keep the Gaucho spirit alive! We all love you! CHEERS!

Fleming Friday Folly

Kids say the darndest things...

My recollection of a conversation between Brian and I (while we are folding and putting away laundry) with Thomas in the room.

Brian: Lis - I will set up my bluetooth in the car so you can use it with your phone too.

Me: OK. My phone is in my purse downstairs.

Thomas: DAD, YOU HAVE A BLUE TOOTH! Can I see what it looks like in your mouth?

Gotta love that kid!
On a side note - you gotta love the guy who is willing to fold and put away laundry with you too!

Happy Friday!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

The 4FLEMZ have not abandoned you!

We have been extremely busy this past week and I finally have a little time to sit down and blog. The Flemings have been on the go in between a work trip, a dance recital, a school project, a visit to the Macare house, a sleepover, and an evening at the lake. All of this before Memorial day! So, instead of a written account of each event I have posted some photos for you to make up your own story of what may have happened during these last few days while we have been away...

How did you spend your week? Do you feel back in touch with the 4FLEMZ?

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service!

Today I picked up two of the 4FLEMZ from school and on our way home we had an interesting conversation. We were sitting at a stop light and two high school aged boys were running with their shirts off down the street. Thomas immediately noticed the boys and said, "Mom, is that really appropriate for them to be without shirts?" Yes, he used the word, 'appropriate.' I had to explain to him that they were local high school boys who were obviously on the cross country track team at RSMCHS and that it was OK for them to run with their shirts off. Of course the next question from Thomas was, "so girls can run like that too?" Ummmmm, my response to him was that it is not appropriate for girls to run with their shirts off. Tommy then gestures toward his chest and says, "is it because of these?" (You can now picture what he was gesturing)
By this time the light had turned green and we were headed in the direction of the local Jack in the Box. Upon approach, we see the boys that were running. They had stopped off at Jack in the Box and proceeded to put their shirts that were tucked in the back of their shorts on before entering the fine establishment. Now Thomas wants to know why they put their shirts on! Ahhhh.  A million questions from the inquisitive six year old. Oddly enough, I love it!
Would any of you like to explain to him why there is a policy of NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE?

Bieber Fever

Our 'babies' have Bieber Fever! It's the latest epidemic to hit young children around the world!

Be very cautious, it's contagious too!

We hope help is on the way soon, but until then, check out the current symptoms that have taken over one of the 4FLEMZ ...

http://qik.com/video/CA97D9F5B2B74DCDABB0EF860BB9407F

Does your 'BABY' have Bieber Fever?

Taco Tuesday - No bueno!

Last night the kids had tacos for dinner, I guess that means Taco Tuesday is OUT!

So, what do we have for dinner tonight? We feel that we are constantly trying to figure out new or different things to try for dinner. The 4FLEMZ consider ourselves pretty adventurous when it comes to food. We have taken the 4FLEMZ to Sushi (the kids enjoyed the rice and edamame, but they were not sold on the raw fish), we make our own pizza's thanks to Trader Joe, we do a lot of grilling - steaks, chicken, fish (you name it, we probably have grilled it.) We have used the almighty crock pot when we are being really proactive cookers, but for the most part we find ourselves scratching our heads and saying,

"What's for dinner?"

So, we are turning to you - our favorite audience to answer this question for us...

What's for dinner in your house? Do you have any recipes you would like to share that are your family favorites? The 4FLEMZ will work 4 food.

Side note: My Grandma Graham used to have a parrot that would say,  "Hey Good loookin' whatcha got cooking?"- still cracks me up. :)

A Note to Mom

By far this is no Hallmark card, but I would like to use this platform to write a note to my mom for Mother's Day. So here goes...


Lynda GRACE Simpson,

OK, stop the press!!! I know right now you have that look on your face (the motherly scowl) and in your mind you are thinking, did she just call me Lynda? No, let me set the record straight, I called you Lynda GRACE Simpson aka Mom.

On this day, I would like you to know the very reason why I emphasize GRACE.

When I hear the word or the name GRACE, I immediately think of you. I have come to define the name GRACE as the love given freely by God to me. To expand on that even more, I feel, GRACE is earned through faith, hope, and charity.

I know for a fact, that in my lifetime I have seen you exemplify perfect GRACE! Your faith in God is powerful, your hope that you have in me and our family is endless, and your charity toward others has set an admirable example.
Growing up I may not have been able to express myself the way I would have liked in order for you to know how honored and blessed I am to have you as a mother. However, I always new that if I ever had a little girl, I would be honored to have her share the name GRACE with such a fabulous woman. As I have grown older and wiser, your example has taught me how to earn some GRACE of my own. I don't come anywhere close to perfect GRACE, but I do my best to help guide all 4FLEMZ toward our faith, and I hope everyday that we challenge and inspire each other through new adventures and give back to our community and anyone in need.

I truly believe that you are amongst one of the many fabulous gifts God has put on this earth to show people how amazing GRACE truly is. So, today I would just like to say thanks for being you!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Lynda GRACE Simpson!

Love your daughter,
Lisa

You can't make this $#!+ up

Yesterday, (Cinco de Mayo) had an interesting ending. Brian called me around 3:30 pm to let me know that his car had just broken down as he was leaving work. To top it off, he was leaving early so he could get Thomas to his baseball game that evening. At this point, we had to call in the troops. Brian enlisted the help of his mother to go pick up the kids (who had to break the news to Thomas that he could not go to his game) and I had to high tail it out of work to go pick him up in BREA!
So, I had to mentally prepare to be stuck in traffic for 45+ minutes. As most of you know, I rarely have to be in traffic, my commute consists of me taking the toll road to and from work. No freeways = no stress :)
As I embark on my trip to Brea I get on the 5 freeway which is easy sailing until I reach the Tustin area. At this time, my A/C starts to pump out hot air and not more than two minutes later my 'check tire pressure' light goes on. Seriously?Seriously! Now I am cautiously continuing on my journey to Brea with my fingers crossed that my car does not break down too. By this time, I have reached the 57 freeway. I pass Angel stadium and then nothing but bumper to bumper traffic.
While I am sitting in traffic I get a slight glimpse of a shinny object out of the corner of my right eye. What is glaring that bright? I look over and see a middle aged woman in a lifted Ford F-150 with her window rolled all the way down. Hmmm. She suddenly proceeds to lift one hand off her steering wheel and I notice she is holding a round mirror (the shinny object that caught my eye) and then she lifts her other hand holding tweezers. Hmmm. Then it begins...

SHE IS TWEEZING HER STRAY CHIN HAIRS AS WE ARE SITTING IN TRAFFIC!

Seriously, you can't make this $#!+ up.

All 4FLEMZ made it home safely (thanks Joanne!), the cars are getting fixed and life goes on.  Now we have a great story to tell.
What's the craziest thing you have seen sitting in traffic?

Fruits of Fleming Labor

The 4FLEMZ had an extremely busy Sunday.

First thing in the morning we headed off to Thomas' baseball skills competition. His team took 1st place and they all did a great job! The UCLA Bruins rookie team has SKILLZ!

Then we headed out for some lunch. We enjoyed a quick bite at the local food court with the intention of fueling our bodies for the long afternoon.

Finally, we made a quick stop at Lowe's for some lumber and some garden items and ...

 

 

VOILA!

We can't wait to see the Fruits of Fleming Labor.

What types of fruits and vegetables do you have growing in your garden?

Fleming Friday Folly

I am in love with the most under appreciated household object - THE PAPER TOWEL
For all of my green friends, I am your worst nightmare! I can only imagine how many paper towels the 4FLEMZ use on an annual basis.

For all of my peeps in the the paper towel gang - this one's for you!


So, for all you peeps who leave the last paper towel on the stand for someone else to change, be kind and replace a roll for us paper towel lovers. <3
Have you ever been right in the middle of something and went to reach for a paper towel or toilet tissue and realized you were left with nothing on the roll? Happy Friday!

The Sandlot

We are in full swing of baseball season. This week the 4FLEMZ will be tasked with trying to juggle schedules and make three, yes I said three, baseball games and one skills competition all before the end of the week. On top of it all, our team mom is trying to organize a Friday Night Under the Lights game in May so our team can experience how the major league teams play. One of her requests was to ask each player some personal information so the announcer for the evening could share a little something about each boy. So, this morning I had to pose each question to Tommy that was on the list and capture his response. The conversation went something like this...

Me: Tommy. Tommy! (Now I finally have his attention) What would you like your nickname to be?
Tommy: Sponge Bob.
Me: Are you sure you want the announcer to introduce you as Thomas 'Sponge Bob' Fleming?
Tommy: OK, how about 'Squidward' instead.
Brian: How about 'T.D?' (Of course!)
Me: What about 'Shorty?'
Tommy: Fine, 'T.D.' is fine.
Me: What's your favorite color?
Tommy: Yellow
Me: What's your favorite food?
Tommy: Chicken
Me: (mental thought - isn't he sick of eating chicken?) What do you want to be when you grow up?
Tommy: A baseball player
Me: What's your favorite song?
Tommy: Tick Tock

So, I head into work and shoot off an email to our team mom indicating Tommy's responses. At this point, I have to disclose that his favorite song choice, Tick Tock by Kesha, is all because his mom listens to Top 40 hits in the morning and now realizes that her son is actually paying attention!
Gotta love him! Put him in coach, he's ready to play! 

Tommy would like to know what your favorite baseball movie is?

Spring Cleaning

As most of you know, I am a reality show junkie. I fill the DVR to the max with all kinds of reality drama and it drives one of the 4FLEMZ crazy. :-P
Today, I was reminded of a show called 'Hoarders.' If you have never seen the show it is aired on A&E on Monday's and it's a fascinating look into peoples lives who have the inability to part with their belongings. Well, all 4FLEMZ should have been cast for their own episode of 'Hoarders' today.
We decided to take on some spring cleaning in the kids' play room. How's that for some Saturday fun?! I knew we should have called in the professionals for this organizing event. You could only imagine what we found during the process. The list of items included:

• a dried up orange peel behind a doll house (eewww)
• a used band-aid (double eewwww)
• a vending machine tattoo of a sailor chick on an anchor (I think both males got a kick out of it)
• and countless toys from one end of the room to the other

We spent 1/2 of our day going through everything and parting ways with a lot of items. For the kids, it is out of sight out of mind. For me, I start recalling the memories associated to the items. (I AM A TOTAL HOARDER...I wonder where I get that from?) For the man of the house, it is all about getting down to business... it's on the list, let's get it done!

In the end, I will say we were able to control our hoarding tendencies to a minimum and I believe we all have the strength to recover and move onto the next room - the garage!!!
I respectfully did not post any photos of today's events just in case we get a call from A&E for the inside scoop. Do you enjoy spring cleaning? Have you ever stumbled across something unique during your cleaning process? Tune in next week for the newest reality show...Keeping up with the Flemings.

Fleming Friday Folly

So what happens when you put safety scissors (a total oxymoron) and a 3 year old in a room together...

A nice new HAIRCUT!

One of the 4FLEMZ thought it was a good idea to be frugal and pass on a visit to the local salon for her own version of a bang trim. One less errand we have to run this weekend. Any wagers on how long this may take to grow out? Have you had any safety scissor incidents in your home?  Happy Friday!