Last Weekend of Summer Vacation

I don't think we could have added one more thing to our last week of summer vacation and had it be any better. Phew, what a weekend we had! The kids and Dan had been sick all last week and I was looking forward to a weekend at home to make sure everyone was completely mended before the first "official" week of school began, but that was not to happen. It started off innocently enough. Friday afternoon Dan was helping me in the kitchen put together our favorite family casserole (the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti) for dinner that evening. About halfway through Dan starts talking about going to Disneyland. That sounded great to me, but we were up to our elbows in chicken and it was 3:30. He suggested us baking the casserole and putting it in the refrigerator for the next day, and while it baked we could pack up and get ready to go. Okay, twist my arm, make me go to Disneyland. We had been blocked out during the summer and this would be our first trip back. So in the oven the casserole went, and upstairs we went get packed up and ready to go. I suddenly got an idea, what if we were to find a room and spend the night? I checked the Disney hotels. Ha Ha, not going to happen. Then I checked Howard Johnson's. I had heard they were a great hotel and an easy walk to Disneyland. I called and got a terrific rate. There was no parking fees, and the hotel would let us check out Saturday and give us a room to their pool area so we could stay and play for as long as we wanted. Perfect! I packed up two bags for the family, an ice chest with green juice and milk, the casserole went in the fridge, and off we were.

Luke's favorite ride.

One of these days that sword will come out for us!

We can not come to the park without going on this one.

Zach and I opt to sit this one out, but those three LOVE spinning.

Last ride of the night.

The hotel was perfect! The walk to the park was only 5 minutes and easier than the Disneyland parking lot. We got to the park at 6:00 and played until midnight. We walked back to the hotel, had a great nights sleep, and got to play at the pool area for a good part of the day. Then when we got home Saturday evening, all I had to do was pop the casserole into the microwave and dinner was done. Ahhhh.... It was even a mini vacation for mama!

That's Zachary getting clobbered by water.

Dan and Luke going down the water slide.

This little 1 foot pool was a perfect way to stay cool.

A perfect afternoon indeed.

I slept in Sunday morning and was awaken by my lovely husband who was dressed and saying something about, "the car is packed up, we're gong to the beach..." Once I came to I jumped in some clothes and off we were again. Except I had no idea that the beach was not our only destination. Dan had found a beach cruiser for me on Craigslist in Irvine and we were on our way to pick it up. From there we headed up to Gardenia to pick up another bike he had found on Craigslist for himself. So with three kids, two adult bikes and a car load of beach stuff we headed to Seal Beach to try and find a parking spot. This was not to happen, so we called Nana, changed our course and headed south to meet her and Papa in Mission Bay to have a beach day and enjoy some fun on the bay. A few tacos (and perhaps a couple Corona's later) we were home again to sleep the night away.

Teacher got to have sandy feet the day before school starts. Not bad at all ;)

Monday morning... Labor Day... 1st day of school... to be continued...

Summer Birthdays - Emma

Emma's birthday celebration started Friday, the day before her birthday. We decided she could have a small party this year. Emma had been to a friends birthday party a couple weeks prior, and we had so much fun. The girls all brought their dolls and just played and did some fun crafts. Thankfully, this was just what Emma wanted to do. Between borrowing some things from that friends mom and Pinterest, the party went together pretty easily.

This cute cupcake stand is what we borrowed from Emma's girlfriend. Emma wanted cupcakes with chocolate pink frosting. Once I explained to her that the chocolate was going to make them brown, she settled for just pink frosting. I think it was a great decision, even though its hard to say no to chocolate.

This was the sweets table. Cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, puppy chow, red licorice, and our homemade marshmellow pops. Yum!

The Marshmallow pops turned out great and were the perfect take home gifts for the girls.

We had lots of little snacks, but these were perhaps my favorite. Little corn dogs. Cornbread made in mini muffins with a slice of hot dog in each muffin. 

The girls enjoyed making an American Girl treasure box from a kit I found out Micheal's. I was surprised how long they each worked on them, and they all turned out great.

Enjoying birthday cupcakes and pink lemonade.

And now we have an amazing and beautiful seven year old!

Summer Birthdays - Zachary

Zachary celebrated his 9th birthday in July. It's hard to believe I've been a mama for almost a decade. He really makes being a mama so easy. He is so gentle and kind, and he is a good example to his sister and brother.

On his birthday morning Danny woke him up early and took him fishing at the lake. He came home with a huge bass and a story about the "one that got away". In the afternoon we joined some friends for a field trip to a place where you can paint pottery. We picked up some cupcakes to share with our friends. Nana joined us fir dinner at home. He chose a seafood dinner with stuffed clams, bbq'ed shrimp, his birthday fish, corn on the cob, and couscous. Nana made him his requested pineapple upside-down cake fir dessert. An action packed, fun filled birthday for sure.

Last Week of Summer

We have had such a fun summer this year. This was the first "summer" we have taken since we started homeschooling. We took the entire month of June off, and then started working on writing with Emma and math with Zach. They both also read everyday during quiet time while I put Luke down for his nap. Zach has gotten into the Narnia books this summer, which I am very thankful for. He has been hooked on Magic Treehouse books for quite sometime and would read a couple of them a day. I felt like his reading skills were not being challenged enough with them. They are great for some quick fun reading, but I am glad he is branching out some now.

We have been fortunate to get some beach days in, as well as some pool days. We had an amazing vacation to Idaho with my family, and I got to go on a girls weekend to Oakland with my cousin. We have had several overnights at both my parents and Dan's dads house, and lots of time with friend both near and far.

One would think I wouldn't want summer to end, but that is not the case. I'm ready to get back to a sense of schedule. I'm ready to start learning again. I'm looking forward to our first year of both my big kids doing the same curriculum. I'm curious to see if this year will be any easier to get through our school days with a two year old. I am ready for some cooler weather (although I'm sure I am going to be waiting awhile for that!).

Some of our summer fun...

First Day of Summer

We spent the first day of summer at home, all day. It was so nice to just be. There's much to do around here and I went from task to task slowly knocking things off my mental to-do list. I have been moving rather slowly lately, more tired than normal. I was determined to make a good dinner for my family. I decided pizza on the BBQ was in order, complete with the first ripe tomato from our little garden. Pulling the last pizza off the fire, I decided that dinner ought to be enjoyed alfresco. It was the perfect way to end the day.

Today starts dance recital madness with rehearsal before the big show tomorrow night. Then a couple months break from dance classes. Another thing checked off the list ;-).

Happy Summer!

Lately...

I love how my iPhone is so kind to send the photos I take on it directly to my computer. It's quite convenient. Here are some of my faves from the past several days.

Zachary is totally schooling his father in Backgammon. He serious rolled no less than 15 doubles. It was awesome, and at the same time scary. I'm thinking of checking the Google search on his iPod for "weighting dice"???

I got to "borrow" a baby for a couple hours one night. Awww, two weeks new and snugly as can be. This is good stuff for my soul.

We had a Disney day last weekend with the cousins again. While the dad's took the big kids on Soaring Over California, the moms went for a glass of wine. We found these guys on the way to the wine bar. Luke was so excited to meet "Ka-chow" and Mater. He got a little camera shy when we had our turn, but he really was amazed. I was amazed that we got a relaxing glass of wine while the men corralled the kids :).

On Monday we had Astronomy class at the park. The weather was perfect and the labs were so fun. There were rockets, Mento's and diet cola geysers, and marshmallow guns. A GREAT science day indeed.

This photo was taken by my mom of my dad on his new yacht. (Well, perhaps "yacht" is a bit of an exaggeration, but I'd hardly call it a kayak) I can't wait to see this in person, perhaps with a grandchild on board?

What have you been up to lately?

This Kid

Need I say more?

Camping, Riding, Shooting... Oh my!

We rung in the New Year this year at Joshua Tree Dry Lake. It was the first time we had been to this campground, but I doubt it will be the last. Any place our family can camp with a gorgeous view, where we can let the kids ride their quads, where we can have dark skies for telescoping, where we can take the van out in 4-wheel drive, AND where we can shoot.... well let's just say we will be going back.

Here are a few highlights from the trip...

Seems both the boys enjoy riding!

Playing with the glider on the dry lake.

Looking for meteorites.

The sky was beautiful! Cold, but beautiful.

One tired boy, one happy mama.

Lukey getting his first shooting lesson with sissy's bb gun.

Zachary using his new pellet gun.

Girls RULE!

Fun for the whole family :)

A New Sport

Danny's interest in paddle boarding has been increasing lately. His interest really is in prone paddle boarding, which is laying down on your stomach and using your hands/arms to paddle. He purchased a board on Craigslist and used it a couple times, but it really wasn't the right board for him. So he went back to Craigslist and found a used board from a guy named Mike in Carlsbad. To make a long story short, Mike said he would sell it to Dan if Dan signed up for a race in January in Mission Bay. Seems he really loves the sport and wants to make sure that there are enough people to keep the racing going. Danny agreed and brought another huge 'board' home.

He had not found a lot of time to practice, but to my surprise decided he was going to stick to his commitment and register for the race. It was last week, and he did great!! It was a beautiful day, and it was so much fun to go out as a family and root him on. Nana joined us too. He did great considering his lack of preparation. He finished the race with a smile, and we were so proud of him. Mike, the guy that sold the board to him, had finished much earlier, but went back to cheer Dan on to finish the race. 4.75 miles! Way to go Danny!!!

This Saturday Dan is doing his second race, and we are looking forward to cheering him on again.

Truly a gorgeous day on Mission Bay

This is Dan (on the left) and Mike paddling out to the starting line.

Danny crossing the finish line and checking in at the pontoon boat. He did it!!

Celebrating our Daddy and his 1st race!

Exciting Side Note: My mom has been bitten by love of stand-up paddle boarding after trying it with my sister in St. Thomas. She rented them for us to use at Lake Havasu last summer, which was a blast. Last week she bought her own and took it right out to the lagoon in Carlsbad to get it wet. My dad got a kayak too so they will soon be grazing through the water together :-). LOVE IT!!

Getting Slim and Trim

The Standard Process cleanse is officially over, and all in all I would have to say it was a success. We completed the 21 day cleanse and decided to go back and repeat the first 7 days. We are both feeling great, and have both lost weight. Dan has lost about 25 pounds, and I have lost a little over 15. It's a great start, and done in a healthy way. We hope to continue eating healthier, but I can honestly say I can't wait to have a slice of pizza, the cheesier the better!!!

On the subject of getting slim and trim, we have decided to take it one step further and slim down our expenses. It is time to get in control of our eating AND our money. We decided to look into Dave Ramsey, so I checked out an audio book from the library and Danny and I really liked what he had to say. I won't get all preachy here, but after a few days I was moved to check out Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University on-line and see what the classes where about. Lo and behold there was a introduction to the class at our local church the next morning AND there was childcare. (ahem... okay God, we're listening) So we went, we loved it, and we bought the t-shirt (meaning we are now signed up for the 13-week class). Our first class was last night and it was great. This is not going to be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.

By the way, while we are going to the class the kids get to go to Adventure Club, which is a weekly Bible Study that they have attended in the past and loved. Unfortunately our youngest has never gotten through a Church service in the nursery without someone having to come get us. He cries and screams and just wont be consoled. Surprisingly the first night he got through the whole class, he did a craft, played on the playground, he went to music and the teacher said he loved it! He was even sitting at the table with the other kids praying when we picked him up. And last night when we picked him up it was again a success, he was excited to show us the Valentines he made in class with his Bible verse on it. All thanks goes directly to God for this!!! His work is being shown in this place and so, as a family, we have decided to pursue the Grove as our families church.

So here we go on another adventure together. I'm so blessed to walk it with my hand in my husbands and Christ in my heart (and all three of my kiddos HAPPY at church!).

Welcome 2012

A new year has started, and with it comes promises of change. I could list all of the things I hope to "do better" or "do more" or "do less", but then there would be let down for me when not everything changed. So I start this new year trying as best I can to slow down and take every moment in. Life is full of moments not to be missed by other things getting in the way. I want to be more present in the day to day things going on around me. In doing that, I believe there will be change in many things.

So blessings to you and yours for a very happy and healthy 2012, and slow down with me and breathe in life all around.

Happy New Year!

Whoo Hooo!!

I just managed to get a video off my phone, on my computer, converted to the right format, and burned onto a DVD that will... wait for it, wait for it... ACTUALLY PLAY ON OUR DVD PLAYER!!!! This is a major accomplishment, if you couldn't tell from all the caps ;-).

Emma's now practicing her dances that I took video of. Her Christmas recital is tomorrow!! Off to watch my girly <3