The patrol that never ends...

Does anyone remember this song?

Well, I made up some new lyrics to it. Here is my debut as a song-writer:

This is the patrol that never ends.
It just goes on and on, my friends!
The Coast Guard sent them on patrol not knowing what it was.
It seems like they'll be underway forever just because...
(Repeat...over and over until you want to bash your head against the wall to end the misery.)

I know, I know...I should keep my day job, right? :) I'm kidding about the bashing of the head, but I'm not kidding about how S-L-O-W this patrol is going. Is it November yet? What? It's not even October yet?? AAAAHHHHHHGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

This picture makes me smile.

Last week, I actually got 5 kids between the ages of 3 and 8 to sit down together for an enjoyable meal! Where, you ask, on Mars? No, right here in my dining room in Kodiak, AK (a.k.a. Jupiter, not Mars, silly!)! My neighbors left the boys with me while they ran into town to do some errands, and we all had dinner together. It was nothing fancy: noodles with marinara sauce and a salad out of a bag, but they all helped me set the table (paper plates) and ate, used their polite manners, the big ones helped the little ones, and helped me clean up afterwards! I could totally have 5 kids - yeah, on Mars!! :)

Manny Bunny fell into a mud puddle

So, Manny Bunny and Nate are bestest buddies. Manny Bunny goes everywhere Nate goes. Manny Bunny = Nate. Today, Manny Bunny went with us to take Joanna to school (as he usually does), and while Nate was getting out of the car, Manny Bunny fell into a mud puddle. It happened in slow motion....NOOOOOOOO....I dove for Manny Bunny, but I was too slow (typical) and couldn't save him. Nate was devastated, naturally. After we got home, I took Manny Bunny directly to the laundry room for a bath. I washed all 3 blankies and Bear and Camper, too, while I was at it. Nate refused to leave Manny Bunny while he was in the washer. He insisted on sitting in front of it; watched Manny Bunny get his bath, and gave me a play-by-play of what was going on. "Mommy! I saw his tail! Mommy! I see his belly! Mommy! I saw his ear and foot!" It was so cute, I had to take pictures.


Thankfully, Manny Bunny survived his bath and is now fresh and clean and Nate and his best pal are reunited once again. Nate + Manny Bunny = BFF. :)

Reason #539 that my neighbors are so great

I love my neighbors. Have I told y'all lately how super fantastic they are? They got my kid to sit for a haircut!!!! Not only that, but a SHORT haircut!!! A short haircut that is going to last for like 6 months at least! My child. Sat. For a haircut. He has short hair. If I weren't using both of my hands to type right now I'd pinch myself. Wait. Okay, I pinched myself. Ow. Now, what was I saying?? I need to show some physical proof that I am not lying right now.

Magic touch

Ta-da! I haven't had hair this short since I was 1!
I am seriously over the moon about this. Those of you who know Nate, know that we have struggled with haircuts for a while now. I'm not just talking "Aw, mom, I don't wanna get a haircut". I'm talking "DON'T CUT ME MOMMY!" call-911-there's-something-horrible-happening-to-the-child-in-that-apartment haircuts. It's awful. Or it WAS awful. Until my neighbors moved in. :) THANKS, JENN AND DALE!!!!

My mosaic

My neighbor, Jenn, made one of these for her blog, and was kind enough to include instructions on how to make one of my own! I thought hers was so cool (as is she), so I had to try it! I'll include the instructions with mine, too, so we can just spread the personalized mosaic love throughout the blogosphere!

Here's what mine is all about:

1. First name: Emily. This was a picture of "Emily's Embroidery", which I thought was just so me.
2. Favorite food: Mashed potatoes and gravy. Mmmmm...good any day, any time.
3. Where I went to High School: Eureka, CA. This picture of the Carson Mansion popped up, which really has nothing to do with high school, but it's so Eureka. So there.
4. Favorite color: Brick red.
5. My celebrity crush: Okay, I'm a dork. Seriously, my only crush is on my husband. This picture came up and seemed to fit the bill. (I'm telling you. I am totally aware of how cheesy I am.)
6. Favorite drink: A big, tall, ice cold glass of freshly brewed iced tea. With lemon and artificial sweetener, thank you very much.
7. Dream vacation: Vegas, baby. 5-star all the way.
8. Favorite dessert: A fat slice of coconut cream pie. I'm drooling right at this very moment...
9. What I want to be when I grow up: Well, quite frankly, I still want to finish court reporting school someday.
10. What I love most in life: My family. Can I get an "Awwwwww" up in here???
11. One word to describe me: Eccentric. This picture sums up how I feel sometimes. I'm the lone green colored pencil in a sea of pink ones...what that means, I haven't a clue.
12. My favorite animal or my "flickr" name: Well, I don't have a favorite animal or a "flickr" account, but if I did have a "flickr" account name, it would be "ecamagna" as are all of my screen/account names. I searched for just "camagna", because clearly "ecamagna" would most likely not net me any results, and a bunch of pictures from Italy came up, specifically ones from the region my family comes from, which is Piemonte. So I picked one. Yay.

So, if you want to make one of these for yourself (it was loads of fun and insightful), simply go to http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php and choose 3 columns by 4 rows. In another window, open up http://www.flickr.com/ and start searching for the word that answers all of the above questions for yourself. Try to pick a picture from the first page, then click on it. Cut and paste the web address for that picture into the mosaic page, and voila! Your own personalized mosaic to share with the world. Or not. But you should. Because we like you. :)

The tooth fell out!!

Joanna lost her first tooth last night! She was eating some cereal for dinner (um, yeah...my husband is out on a ship for 4 months. My kids eat cereal for dinner...every other day, okay?) and it popped right out! No pliers, loops of dental floss tied to a door knob or shots of beer, thank you very much. Just some plain ol' patience...and the fact that I was grossed out and couldn't look at it. :) Anyway, the very generous Kodiak tooth ferry (ahem - Gig Harbor tooth fairy...) left Joanna a whopping $5, which, coincidentally just happens to be the exact amount of money I had in my wallet last night....hmmm...how about that, now. I guess the Kodiak tooth fairy doesn't know how to make change. Let's look at the cuteness that ensued, shall we?


This morning, I took my camera into her bedroom to capture her reaction to the fortune under her pillow...

And there you have it! My first child lost her first tooth. Don't count on the Kodiak tooth fairy to be so generous next time, kid. (Note to self: get some change.)

She made it!!

Well, the official cast list isn't out yet, but the director told me today that Joanna will definitely play the part of an orphan in "Annie"!! I think this will be so fun, and I can't believe I even thought of not letting her try out. Here is a picture that I took and I have a video, too, but the internet connection here is kind of lame and I don't know if I'll be able to post that...but I'll do my darndest. Anyway, congrats to Joanna, and I look forward to delving into the world of local theater and stagemommie-ness! :)

Callbacks!!

Leaving in about 10 minutes to take Joanna to another "Annie" tryout - she got a callback!! I'll update when we get home. I'm taking my camera this time, too, so y'all can see in the flesh how cute/awesome/great she is (things we already knew about her). :)

Yesterday's recap (mother's pride)

Now that I'm refreshed (sorta) and have some time on my hands (sorta), I have some pictures to share of Nate's first day of preschool yesterday. While Joanna chose to get all gussied up in her first-day-of-school-finest, Nate chose his trusty Star Wars t-shirt and Spiderman ball cap. He did wear new jeans, though. :) His Daddy would be so proud. He did really well in class, too. Toni, his teacher told me that they did a little worksheet about mama and baby animals. They were supposed to circle the babies, and Nate's worksheet had every baby animal circled perfectly. When we got home, I told him that I was impressed and proud with how well he did, and he told me "Yeah, all my friends did scribble-scrabbles on theirs."

Joanna has a friend in her class that she also knew at Miss Audrey's preschool. Her dad is deployed right now, too, and her mom works in the mornings, so I told her that Jocelyn could come over in the mornings and I would take her to school with us. She's a really nice little girl, and I'm happy to do her mom a favor, but let me tell you...5:00 a.m. comes really early! I actually am glad to have a reason to get up and motivated so early. This way there's no rushing around at 7:40 when it's time to leave for school.
Here are some pictures of Nate's first day of preschool:

Jocelyn, Joanna and Nate Lookin good, Nate!
At Miss Toni's house!
Playdoh at school?? This is my kind of place!

While the kids were in school, I took the opportunity to go work out at the gym. I had some fellow CG girls with me and we had lots of fun (well, "fun" is a relative term, I guess. I had as much fun as one can have at the gym)! My arms are sore this morning, though. I'm going again tomorrow. I'm going to make it a M-W-F morning thing.

After the kids got home from school, I took Joanna into town to try out for a production of "Annie" that the local theater group is putting on. I was nervous, and I almost didn't even take her (I know, poopy of me) because I have just been feeling so anxious about all the new schedule changes we've had. I didn't (well, I still don't) know if I have it in me to add play rehearsals into the mix several times a week! Anyway, she really wanted to try out, so I figured what the heck. I took her and...WOW! She did AWESOME!!! I am so proud of her!! They got up on stage and learned a little dance routine, and when she came back to sit down before her turn to actually try out, she looked a little pale and had her arms crossed. I told her that she didn't have to do this, and this was suppposed to be a fun thing and that I wouldn't be disappointed or upset if she didn't want to do it. She assured me that she was ready and wanted to do it, so when her name was called to go up, she went. She was the littlest one on stage! They tried out in groups of six, and I forget sometimes how small she really is...she's a peanut next to 3rd and 4th graders! Anyway, she NAILED this audition, let me tell you. She sang every note on tune, she danced her little heart out, and she cracked up the audience when she yelled "I LOVE YOU, MISS HANNIGAN!!" with her cute little sassy face (can you picture it??). I was so proud of her...I couldn't stop smiling for an hour after we left. Even if she doesn't get a part, I am just so proud that she had the guts to get up there and sing and dance in front of total strangers. What a kid. :) Actually, I should say what kidS. With Nate's perfectly circled baby animals and Joanna's attempt at the stage, I am just as proud as a mother hen could possibly be. :)

EXHAUSTED in Alaska!

Wow. These past two days have been some busy ones, and I am flat ready to pass out right here in my computer chair. I have some fun things to chat at you all about, including Joanna trying out for a production of "Annie" that the local community theater group is putting on, and Nate's first day of preschool, but I'm just too dadgum tired. I will write more tomorrow when I have the energy, but for now, it's 7:18 p.m. and I'm going to bed. For reals, yo. :)

First Day of Kindergarten!!

I dropped Joanna off at kindergarten a little bit ago. She is such a wonderful little girl, I know she is going to love school and do so well. Nate cried when we had to let her go, but I told him that his school was starting tomorrow. I packed Joanna's lunch and also packed a little snack in Nate's lunchbox too, just to make him feel included. When we came home he told me that he was pretending that Sissy was here with him. Awww...anyway, here are some pictures I snapped of her first day...

Bowling

Here are some pictures of the kids bowling the other night. They had fun, although, I always feel a little anxious whenever we do this. I just remember when Joanna dropped that bowling ball on her little thumb 2 1/2 years ago and it makes me nervous. They did great, though (in spite of my hovering over their every move), and there were no injuries...for like the 9th time in a row. I guess I should chill out, huh? :)

Pictures of Japan from Jake

Jake sent me some pictures from his adventures in Japan the other day. Just thought I'd share! :)
Sweet. I'm going to totally have to try this place. :) (For those of you that are unaware, the "Joe's" chain of restaurants in the SF Bay area are a Camagna family favorite.) I can't believe they have one in Japan! (I like the fact that you can see Jake's reflection in the door, too.)

This is very Jake. :) Of all the exotic beverages to choose from, he picks Coke. I love it (and him)! I'm smiling right now just thinking about this.