The Archers

January 27th: The day of Harrison :)

2012-01-27T16:54:00.001-08:00

My baby is FOUR years old. I really do not know where the time has gone but he is the sweetest and most lovable boy there is. He loves to cuddle and he idolizes his big brother. He is smart, witty, funny, caring and all boy. I am a very proud Mommy. I love you very much my little Harry Bugs.
January 27th, 2008 (born) January 27th, 2009 (1 years old)

January 27th, 2010 (2 years old)

January 27th, 2011 (3 years old)

January 27th, 2012 (4 years old)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRION PRESCOTT!

William turns 5!

2012-01-22T20:58:00.001-08:00

The hard part about taking a ton of pictures is deciding which ones to share. I still go overboard but I love it. William turned 5 on Tuesday and he loved his family birthday party/dinner. Harry helped me decorate while William waiting in his room. The entire night was so cute because no matter what came next, William’s response was, “Oh my goodness, this is great! This is the best birthday ever. Thank you so much!” He was just so incredibly cute about everything and so excited he had a pirate birthday. Since it was his birthday, he was able to chose what was for dinner on his special night. So we had peanut butter sandwiches and chips! Scott and I laughed because we asked, “what goes better with Peanut Butter? Red or White wine?” It’s really hard to figure out what to pair with it—lol. Here are some pictures of our fun night together. William was so happy and in turn, that makes us extremely happy

January 17th: The day of William :)

2012-01-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I am not doing well with this baby of mine turning 5. Scott reminded me it is going to be worse when he starts kindergarten. 5 seems so much older to me. I just can't get over he is 5! He is such a great kid, wonderful protective brother, good to his friends and a great follower of Christ. He is intelligent, caring and very lovable. I couldn't be more proud of William. Happy Birthday!

A look over the years on January 17th:
2007 January 17th, 2008 Age 1

January 17th, 2009 Age 2

January 17th, 2010 Age 3

January 17th, 2011 Age 4

January 17th, 2012 Age 5!!!

Sunday fun

2012-01-16T18:04:00.001-08:00

My absolute favorite thing to do on Sundays after church is to picnic at the beach. We have done this off and on since we have lived here but for the last year we usually go at-least once a month on Sundays. Not that we are moving anytime soon but when I look back to living in California some day, I know this will be one of my fondest memories. We just have the best family quality time together. We have a nice picnic lunch together and then we play all sorts of games (baseball, catch, football, soccer, etc). Then before we leave, we always walk the boardwalk and watch the birds at the end diving in the water for fish. I know it sounds silly since we do all sorts of fun stuff like Disney and other great things (which I love as well). This is just a FREE thing to do that brings such happiness to all of us.

Yesterday we stopped at the outlet mall to return some stuff so they boys had to ride the toy horse and take a little pretzel break :)

Kid Talk

2012-01-16T17:48:00.001-08:00

William:”Mom, I want Belle to have babies.”

Me: “honey, she can’t have any babies.”

William: “Well then I want you to have a baby.”

Me: “hmm, well I don’t think that is going to happen but if I did, would you want a brother or a sister?”

William: “A baby brother!”

Harrison: “Me too, I want another brother!”

Me: “You wouldn’t want a little sister to watch over and protect?”

William: “Well actually I would be happy with whatever God wants to make us.”

I think it is so cute that if that were to ever happen again, William says to make “us.” I just love that.

On the way home from the grocery store tonight

Me: “William can you please not grow up and turn 5 tomorrow? Can you stay 4 forever?”

William: “Mom, I can’t do that. You know that. It is in God’s power for me to grow and he wants me to grow. You need to be happy with that and not be sad. He wants you to be happy and I want you to too.”

Well I guess that’s that! I can’t be sad about him turning 5.

Here’s one for the blog!

2012-01-13T10:59:00.001-08:00

We have been extremely busy lately and I was so excited yesterday afternoon to be able to have more than 5 minutes at home and my plan was to clean. Well it wasn’t but a couple minutes after we got home that Harry ran up to me crying saying, “there are cranberries stuck in my nose!” Sigh!

I could barely see them up there but yes, they were there. I got the tweezers out hoping I could reach them but couldn’t. I called our neighbor, a nurse. She advised putting pepper in his nose to make him sneeze. Sneeze he did but no cranberries to follow. I tried just about everything.

So we made an emergency trip to his E.N.T. He tried too with the tweezers but no luck. So he had to have a little microscopic procedure (pretty interesting) but Harry obliged since the cranberries were hurting him and he wanted them out. Since it’s the beginning of the year, we had to pay $250 towards our deductible-yuck! Not too excited about that one since we just paid $350 less than a week ago at the dentist. Anyway, enough about money. The cranberries came out and Harry was happy. He also got a lecture by his E.N.T. about never sticking anything in his nose again. As soon as we got to the truck he said, “I’m hungry. Can I have some cranberries?!” Seriously????!

Then last night he was snacking on a graham cracker and says to me, “graham crackers fit in your nose.” I about lost it :) I said, “Harry, absolutely not, didn’t you learn anything today?” He replied, “But if you smashed them into pieces, they fit in your nose.” Why do I feel this is not going to be the last time something gets stuck in his nose?!

Kid Talk

2012-01-09T20:03:00.001-08:00

William: “Mommy, you are the best woman in the world. You are the best Mommy. … because you put Harry in time out when he hits me.”

Kid Talk

2012-01-05T15:43:00.001-08:00

I had to change my routine “Toddler Talk” to something new and I can’t think of anything clever :)

William today speaking about one of his friends at Preschool:

William: “Mommy, God tells us to love everyone.”

Me: “I know honey.”

William: “Well I think God forgot to tell Nathan.”

Our Little Getaway

2012-01-02T22:20:00.001-08:00

Since Scott had time off of work, we wanted to take a little getaway and we love taking advantage of where we live and all that is close around us. So we headed to Nevada. We left Wednesday and came back on Friday. Wednesday our first stop was Hoover Dam. And if you aren’t afraid of heights, you would be after being there!

It was absolutely magnificent though!

Afterwards we headed to our hotel. I think the boys favorite part of “vacation” is the hotel room. They really think a slumber party and sharing a bed with each other is the best thing. Or it could be that they love doing this:

We had a nice dinner in the hotel (which was huge). Vegas does it up right. Our hotel room was huge. We even had a walk-in closet and the bathroom was bigger than the boys’ bedroom at home. Our hotel itself had 11 restaurants.

Thursday we headed out to the Vegas Strip. We played at Coney Island Emporium in the New York New York Hotel.

After some serious playing, we went to M&M World. And if you plan on going there ever, be prepared that the M&Ms cost $13 a pound!!! Ridiculous!

We saw a fountain show and ate lunch at the Miracle Mile Mall in Planet Hollywood and then went to The Bellagio to see the fountain show. And talk about perfect timing. We didn’t know they only have shows on the hour and we got there at 3:59pm just in time to see the 4pm show. We of-course had to play more games and then headed back to the hotel.

It was then Scott got hit really hard with being sick so we stayed in for the night. The next day we ordered room service for breakfast which the boys loved!

We knew we had to get home since Scott was incredibly sick but we first made a stop at Ethel M’s Chocolate. They have a botanical garden of cactus’. We came in the day light so we couldn’t see but all of the cactus had Christmas lights on them. Wouldn’t you love to be the guy that got to string the cactus with lights?!!!! On our way home, our car broke down. Traffic didn’t help with everyone wanting to get out of town for New Years weekend. We did make it home and Scott made it to urgent care right before they closed. Turned out he had a double ear infection. We took our car in the next day and it cost $1000 to replace the water pump. Also the fuel pump is going out but that is another $939 to fix so we are trying to hold out. But I don’t think we will make it through the week because it took 6 tries at Wal-Mart today to get it started. Ugh! When it rains, it pours! We know we really need to think about getting a new car but we love not having car payments. And we cannot afford to add another expense to the budget right now. And to top it off, William went to urgent care today. He had 102.2 fever and cough. They said he “just” has a viral upper respiratory infection and Tylenol should help. Then tonight he started vomiting A LOT! So yeah Tylenol? I don’t think so. So our mini getaway was nice at first and then things have spiraled out of control since then. Happy New Year! But hey, I am doing better about blogging, right?!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T21:04:00.001-08:00

It goes by fast every year. We had such a nice time. Our favorite memory is riding The North Pole Express. We made lots of nice treats. We had a good turn out at church for our Christmas themed family fun night. We had our traditional salmon dinner on Christmas eve. Christmas Eve service was nice at church. We came home and opened one present and read Twas the Night Before Christmas before writing Santa a letter and heading off to bed. We woke up and had to wake the boys up at 8:30am. Since when do kids sleep in on Christmas day? We had streusel, egg bake and mimosas for breakfast and took our time opening presents. The mess waited to be cleaned up until the next day. We spent the evening at our friends, The Boes house and had a nice dinner together. By the end of the night, we were exhausted. We are very blessed and thankful for all that we have. I absolutely LOVE that our boys understand that it was Jesus’ birthday and that is more important than anything else.

Christmas 2012 Preparations

2012-01-02T20:27:00.001-08:00

We had fun getting ready for Christmas. We LOVE cooking and the boys are the best little helpers. We made Christmas cookies. Lots of treats for the neighbors: peppermint bark, cupcakes, truffles, dipped pretzels, etc. We made gingerbread houses. We love baking and it is a special time to share that hobby in the kitchen together.

Archer Tidbits

2012-01-02T19:45:00.001-08:00

I have to laugh at some of the things that come out of these boys mouths lately.

On our mini vacation (post to come on the vaca)

William: “hey, turn on that machine blower thing.”

Harry: “it’s called a fan!”

I guess I never realized we don’t have fans in our house and somehow William never heard the term, fan.

Tonight hours after buying a Venus Fly Trap plant:

Harrison: “Mommy, where is your dragon snapper?”

Me: “huh?”

Harrison: “Your dragon snapper plant.”

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care

2011-12-25T00:57:00.001-08:00

Looks like someone made a visit….

Trip to the North Pole

2011-12-21T10:23:00.001-08:00

We completely surprised the boys last night with probably the best gift we could have gotten them. We usually open our ‘Christmas Pajamas’ on Christmas Eve but we had a special night planned so they got to open them early. And they were very pleased with their new PJs. In fact, it is 10am here and they have begged me to let them keep them on this morning.

Scott and I also wore our pjs and we took the boys to Fillmore to catch “The North Pole Express.” William was so excited to see the conductor.

The boys got a lot of extra attention. The elves were very excited that the boys brought their “Polar Express” book aboard. “Tickets please!”

Cookies and milk while a story was read “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

After the elves passed out the “I believe” bells we were at the North Pole to pick up Santa. Time to ring the bells for Santa to come in. The first glimpse of Santa made it all worth it!

I think towards the end Harry was a little tired.

The boys already asked today if we can go back to the North Pole tonight. This has got to be one of our most favorite Christmas memories to date.

Preschool Christmas Sing

2011-12-15T22:28:00.001-08:00

Tonight was the boys Christmas sing and holiday parties. There is such a vast difference between last year to this year. William yawned last year and didn’t participate. This year was so different. William LOVED singing. He saw me and smiled really big and waved several times. He was so excited to sing all of the songs he learned. You aren’t going to find Harrison in any of the pictures because he didn’t want the attention. He sat on his teacher’s in the front and sang the songs from there.

Check out how tall William is. He is by far the tallest kid in the preschool!

I am so proud of these little guys and how much they are growing. Afterwards, we went to McDonald’s for a second dinner (per William’s request). Then we drove around looking at lights. It was a nice evening.

The Joy of Giving

2011-12-14T14:27:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, we hosted a fundraiser at church during Thanksgiving. Our hopes was to raise enough money to sponsor someone for Christmas. I wanted things to be “easy” so I ordered Thanksgiving meals from our local grocer for a lunch benefit at church. When I went to pick them up, they couldn’t find them and when they did, they were not cooked! Thank God the turkeys were at-least thawed out otherwise we would have been in some serious trouble. So Scott, my mom and I stayed up until 2am cooking our hearts out for the Thanksgiving lunch Fundraiser the next day. It turned out fantastic. We had over 30 in attendance and we all shared a very special meal together. It was great fellowship along with knowing there was a benefit to someone in the future. And you can tell after we go home how tired we all were :) This past Monday we had the special privilege of our hard work coming to fruition. We sponsored a group home at Penny Lane. There were 45 teenage girls that had nothing for Christmas. Kara and I enjoyed shopping with the personalized wish lists of these girls. Instead of just buying 45 presents, we wanted to surprise them with individualized gifts according to their dreams, goals and interests. Kara, Shelby and I wrapped for a long time while the three of us plus Pastor Katherine wrote personalized cards to each girl. Monday night we filled our truck (the back and the seats) with all the gifts and headed to Penny Lane to deliver them.

All the gifts laid out: A full truck of giftsPassing out the gifts Myself, Pastor Katherine and Kara Even better news is that we have enough funds left over to sponsor another family for Christmas. We found a local family of 5 that need basic necessities. We are excited that everyone at church contributed and made all of this possible. It is such a rewarding experience (and humbling). Thank you to all for all of your help!

Archer Tidbits with Nana

2011-12-14T14:03:00.001-08:00

I already know that my New Year’s Resolution is going to be giving more time to focus on blogging again. I love doing it but lately, I cannot find the time. I finally uploaded some pictures (over 2000 actually) and realized how behind I am. In an effort to start from scratch, I just made a little album of some of my favorite pictures recently from my mom’s visit. And there are some really cute ones in there that the boys took themselves. I think William really wants to become a photographer. He took the one of Scott and I at the beach. Harrison took the one of Will and I playing. They don’t take bad pictures for their age.

View Full Album

Picture with Santa 2011

2011-11-30T09:14:00.000-08:00

Harrison Age 3, Santa Claus Age 191, William Age 4

Christmastime

2011-11-26T00:21:00.001-08:00

I absolutely love Thanksgiving. I am very blessed with all that I am given. I am so happy that my mom was here to spend Thanksgiving with us this year. I think it has been 7 years since we had Thanksgiving together. But the day after Thanksgiving is so fun for me as well. And no, that is not because I am one of the hard core shoppers to go all out on black Friday. I prefer to get all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving so I don’t have to go to any store (other than the grocery store) until after Jan. 1st. I am a very impatient person so crowded parking lots and long lines aren’t my thing :) But decorating the house IS my thing :)

And this year was great because the boys were so super excited to help. So we turned on the Christmas music, put our hats on and got to work. We let them decorate the tree. They were so proud of the finished tree. And I am so proud of them.

Here is a little bit of what is around the house: Advent Calendars, Ornaments and snowflake towels Yearly pictures with Santa (this year yet to be taken but the frame has been purchased) Still hard at work hanging window clings The finished tree with all the wrapped presents already under the tree. The boys were so excited to find out that Scott already bought their Christmas outfits so they insisted they had to try them on :)

And William wanted to take a picture of us in our “I believe” Santa shirts. I got to say, the kid takes good pictures :)

The best part is that William and Harrison were so excited about decorating the inside that they overlooked Scott was outside setting up the lights and such. So when we went outside Harry said, “Is Christmas here? Wow!” I think it is going to be a very fun Christmas this year with the boys understanding more and more.

Fun Birthday Party at Scooter’s Jungle (and celebrities)

2011-11-25T23:53:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, the boys had a birthday party to attend for their good friend, Leah. The boys absolutely love Leah and this summer they played together almost every night. She had her birthday party at a place called, “Scooter’s Jungle” and it was a lot of fun. Scott even said, “I want to have my birthday here!” Ha.

Here are some fun pictures of the night. Harry even talked Nana into going down a slide with him. Most of the littles didn’t want to go down the big slide by themselves. But as adults, we all got a work out because as soon as you were at the bottom, they were requesting to do it again. And they do not get tired! Here we are with the birthday girl. Isn’t her expression just the cutest?! Then you have William who had no fear and went down the slide by himself face first! Alright for those of you that never believe me that Jamie Foxx’s daughter lives across the street, here is the proof :) You know I couldn’t just ask for a picture because I feel he has to go through that all the time and this was a family affair so I am not going to ask. But my mom got a kick out of him coming up to her to introduce himself and shake her hand :) Here he is standing next to Scott (you can click on the picture to enlarge it). And with his daughter (Leah’s big sister) And the birthday girl herself. I love Harry’s expression as he makes new friends. It was a really fun time. And Harry keeps asking, “when can we go back to Leah’s party?” lol

School pictures 2011

2011-11-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Are these just not the cutest school pictures in the world? Of-course I am partial :) Harry Age 3 and William Age 4

Archer Tidbits

2011-11-12T11:53:00.001-08:00

Lets be honest, I have been horrible about blogging lately. I still haven’t uploaded my pictures from my sd cards. Most pictures come from my phone lately. It has just been really busy around here lately. So at-least I am trying to update you all :) William and Harry love to help me cook in the kitchen. They were so excited to find aprons their size at the Dollar Tree the other day. William was ready to bake as soon as we got home.

Here is Harry playing hide and seek with William the other night. He fell asleep waiting on Will and when I checked on William, he was asleep in his own bed. :)

Here are my little guys asleep in the morning. They always climb into my bed and they snuggle together. Most times you can find Harry’s arm around William.

Here are the little men excited for PJ day at school. They were so excited. Check Harry out! He cracks me up.

Oh Harry! Him and his stickers! This is common in our house.

One of my favorite. Harry fell asleep in the rocking chair and William was quietly rocking him. William is always taking care of his little brother.

And that is it for now!

Women’s Tea

2011-11-12T11:43:00.001-08:00

Every month, we host a women’s tea at church. Last month we were fortunate enough to have Pastor Katherine’s mom in town to attend. This month, my mom is in town and was able to come.

It’s a nice time to relax, sip some tea, eat great finger foods and fellowship.

My mom and Pastor Katherine.

Festivals and Los Toros

2011-11-12T11:35:00.001-08:00

Last Friday we went to a Family Fun Festival and then to Los Toros for dinner. Harry stayed on that slide forever and got more and more adventurous each time. By the end, he was jumping down the slide. William was content in the racecar.

It was my mom’s first visit to Los Toros and my least favorite. We still got the best service as usual (didn’t even have to wait for a table like the others ahead of us. What made it so bad is that William spilled a completely full drink and it landed right on my crotch! And of-course that was when we first got there so I did not really enjoy dinner too much. But the boys did of-course. Fernando sang their favorite songs. And O’Ryan made Harry a dirtbike and William a horse.

Halloween Night 2011

2011-11-12T11:27:00.001-08:00

Harrison was getting impatient with us. He was waiting at the door for about 15 minutes while the rest of us got dressed. My little firefighter and Knight. Batman and Robin. The boys loved that we were dressed up as Super Heroes. William and Harrison actually addressed us the entire night by “Batman” and “Robin.”

William and Harry with their friends Nicholas and Michael. The first house. And just like last year, Harry outdid William with going door to door. I would usually wait a few feet back while they did their trick or treating. I didn’t know why Harry’s basket was so much more full than Williams until I went up to a door with him and after he said, “Trick or Treat” and then “Thank you,” he added, “can I have more?” My guess is he did that at every house! His bucket was twice as full as Will’s and who is going to tell a 3 year old no?

Gramma and Grandpa's Trip to California

2011-10-31T13:06:00.001-07:00

After Disneyland, the boys (and us) were exhausted. The next day, Scott and I went on an overnight date which was nice to have our own one on one time. Sunday, we went to a biker bar for lunch. The boys were the only kids there. That was quite the experience. It is a biker bar on the Pacific Coast Highway. The food was awesome! Afterwards, we stopped at the beach but the weather was really cold. Monday, we went to ChuckECheese. I love how excited the boys were when Gramma said she wanted to go to ChuckECheese. They were shocked that grown ups would come up with that place to go. But just to get things straight, the grown ups played games too. Tuesday we went to Underwood Farms for some pumpkin pickin’. They have a lot of games, rides, corn maze, hay rides, animals to feed, etc. It is more than a pumpkin patch. Tuesday night, we celebrated Grandpa’s birthday. Happy Birthday Grandpa! And Wednesday, it was time to say good-bye. William woke up crying because it was time for them to go. He even made the comment, “I wish God didn’t make the airport so they can’t go home.” And as we pulled into the airport, his tears started flowing. He is a very sensitive little boy. His tears didn’t stop soon and he kept asking to go back to give them “one more hug and kiss.” He has already requested to mark on the calendar when they come back so he can count the days until they do. Two is the ideal amount of days until the come back :)

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T12:25:00.001-07:00

This year has already been eventful. The boys have been wearing costumes for the last month so who knows what they will actually be tonight. We definitely get our moneys worth out of costumes. The boys had their preschool party on Thursday. Harry was a different kid. As soon as he walked in, he was in character and was playing and showing off with other kids. Harry is usually very shy and does not participate. Maybe I should send him to school in a costume every day? At church, we had a Halloween Themed Family Fun Night. It was so much fun. My friend, Shelby, and I decorated one of the rooms into a haunted room. We stayed late one night to do this and it actually turned out scarier than we planned. There is a sliding glass window in the room that Scott grabbed the older kids as they walked by. He even scared me and I knew he was there! We played Halloween Bingo, musical chairs, made crafts, watched Casper, etc. It was a very fun night. I made pizza with fingers in it, noodles with eye balls, chips with bugs, dirt with worms (brownies with gummy worms), etc. It was a lot of fun. Now to see what tonight holds

…

DisneyLand/California Adventure Day 2

2011-10-31T10:48:00.001-07:00

Scott's parents came to visit last week. A special treat they gave us was season passes to Disneyland and California Adventure. We spent two days down there hopping between the two parks. I purchased a software program called, “RideMax” and it is the best thing ever! You just plug in the things you want to do and see, schedule breaks, etc and then it computes where you go in the day by the shortest wait time, shortest walking distance between the 2, etc. It was awesome. We fit in so much and I would definitely recommend this program to everyone visiting Disney. The boy’s favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear and I think it ended up being all of our favorites. Mom and I really enjoyed Color of Wonder. It is a fairly new show at California Adventure. It makes me want to buy the older Disney/Pixar movies and watch them again. It was a very magical show. We stayed the night down there and I think the boys enjoy that just as much as anything. They loved that we has a staircase in our hotel room and that we got to have a slumber party Gramma and Grandpa.

The second day we spent most of the day in California Adventure. We rode a lot of rides, took a bakery tour, watched a lot of shows (Phineas and Ferb, Pixar Pals, Disney Jr, etc).
And we went back over to Disney at the end of the day to see Mickey’s Parade. You can see from the one picture that we had to write, “My name is Harry. My daddy’s phone number is….” He had a tendency to run off and “I don’t care” attitude when we told him why he can’t do that. Oh that kid! It was a very fun trip and we are so thankful to have gone. Thank you so much Gramma and Grandpa A.

DisneyLand Day 1

2011-10-30T14:57:00.001-07:00

Clones

2011-10-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

When I was little I remember people always telling me I looked like my dad. Every once in a while people would say I looked like my mom. But mainly I followed the "Payne" gene. When I died my hair dark a few months back and took a picture, I thought, "OMG, I look like my mom." Well I am blond again and I haven't thought about it since. Then the other night I found this picture. I think I was probably One or two years old and my mom 34 (correct me if I am wrong Mom). I was completely stunned. If it wasn't a Polaroid, I would think it was a picture of myself. From the smile to the nose and eyes, I feel like her clone! Now I know what I would look like with black hair :) Even cuter, I have to admit I was an adorable kid. lol But does anyone look like me? If I weren't wearing a dress in that picture, I swear it is Harrison. So I guess we are all clones of our parents :)

Catching up with the Archers

2011-10-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

I say we have had a bit of cabin fever. Harrison got really sick almost two weeks ago. He started off with a fever and then the next day vomiting. By that night, he was breathing super fast. I took him into the doctor that next morning and his oxygen level was 79.5. He immediately got a shot and two breathing treatments. He had bronchitis, a nasty chest infection and possible pneumonia. Our insurance company sent a breathing machine out to our house that same day and the next few days were spent at home resting and getting a couple breathing treatments a day (along with antibiotics). He is doing just fine now but he was down for about a week. By time Saturday came, we were ready to get out of the house. We headed to Six Flags Magic Mountain. The little boy sitting next to William was so cute. As soon as he got off of a ride his dad said, "where to next?" And his response every time was, "keep following those little boys like the last ride." So they had a playmate for the day.

On Sunday, we had church of-course. We have been walking every night 3.25 miles and taking long hikes (about 5 miles) every Sunday. Well we found this new park that the boys absolutely love. And Scott and I also had fun on the teeter tauter.

We are trying to get back into shape. Once you get out of the habit, it's hard to find time. I used to be so good at exercising every day but the health issue got me out of sync for a while. Scott was my motivation to get back into the habit. He works out at 4am every morning and then again on his lunch break at work, then comes home and walks with the family. We have been doing the family walks for almost two months now so a couple weeks ago, I'm making myself find the time to get on the elliptical once a day. I think the older the boys get the busier we get.

32

2011-09-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Yes I am 32. My birthday was fantastic and full of surprises. Scott surprised me the Friday before my birthday with a date night. We went wine tasting at Flemings. Then we headed to Malibu to Moonshadows. We had drinks on the patio while the sun was setting and the waves were splashing below us. It was very romantic. Then we moved into the restaurant for dinner. The room we were in hung over the ocean and the birds looked like luminaries on the water. The dinner was absolutely fabulous. I want to go back just for the spicy Hawaiin Ahi Tuna Tartare appetizer.

Then we took a stroll on the beach at midnight. It was amazing and very romantic. On Sunday (9/11), I woke up to a wonderful breakfast and then we went to church. Scott surprised me with a trip to the spa. So I went back to Blonde!

When I came home he made a wonderful dinner.

And the boys decorated the cake. It was delicious.

I was spoiled but my most favorite thing about my birthday was the book Scott made me. He made me a scrapbook about my life with my three favorite men written by him :) 32 isn't so bad! :)

Family Vacation 2011 Final Day

2011-09-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made it to the last post! One month later! After we checked out of our resort, we headed to Avila Pier for lunch and then to meet the boys for the drive home. But we also were interested in visiting the seals. And walking the pier. We had an excellent lunch on the pier.

And then were reunited with our boys!

It was an awesome vacation. We had so much fun!

Family vacation 2011 Boys day

2011-09-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Jillian and Erik took the boys to lunch and then to a park and beach for the day. They enjoyed running in the sun and playing in the dinosaur eggs.

And of-course they spoiled them with ice cream too!

Before meeting us, they went to Avila Pier to see the seals. They had a blast with Jillian, Eric and Jacque.

Family Vacation 2011 Day 5

2011-09-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

We woke up early and took a morning dip in the pool.

We had the entire pool to ourselves. Afterwards we got ready for the day and met Jillian. Jillian is our babysitter that we have had for years. She goes to college in San Luis Obispo so she had plans to spoil the boys for the day while Scott and I got away to have our own time. We went wine tasting.

Our favorite winery was Kelsey winery. They have hundreds of peacocks on the property and they just had babies!!! They were so cute.

We got our own private tour and even extra tastings out of the barrels. These wines haven't been released yet. They were so good!!!

Afterwards we checked into our resort, the Sycamore Mineral Springs. They have hot sulfur mineral water spas. Supposedly it is like a facial for your whole body. The resort was pretty cool. They have hot tubs EVERYWHERE and a really cool Labyrinth and meditation gardens.

We had plans to go to a nice dinner but instead ordered pizza and watched tv in our room! Ha. It was a nice little 24 hour date. We enjoyed it and we know the boys had a great time with Jillian (post to follow).

Family Vacation 2011 Day 4

2011-09-13T13:58:00.001-07:00

Day 4 was pretty relaxed. This was our transition day. Before we left San Francisco, we had to stop by Alamo Square to take a picture of "The Painted Ladies." These houses are often featured on HGTV but most commonly known for being the house from Full House, Party of Five and Mrs. Doubtfire. Since we took the interstate to San Francisco, we wanted to take Pacific Coast Highway on our way back. It was scary at times because it is steep in areas and the fog was so thick. And it made the drive really long and we were only headed half way home. We stopped in Big Sur to see a few of the views.

And you really can't tell from this picture but we DID get to see a whale!!!! The white in the water is where he went back under.

Look how pretty the fog is!

Then we stopped in San Simeon to see the sea lions but we only saw one.

We finally made it to San Luis Obispo where we would spend the next two days. We found a little restaurant for dinner and it was awesome!!! I usually don't get this excited over food but all we spent was $30 for all four of us and that INCLUDED a bottle of wine! Ha.

Family Vacation 2011 Day 3

2011-09-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

My goodness, I am having such a hard time with blogger lately that it is becoming such a task to blog. Day 3 of our San Francisco trip was amazing. We spent most of the day at Golden Gate Park. Golden Gate park is over 1000 acres large. There is so much to do there so I had to pick what I really wanted to see. We have such amazing pictures from this day that I really tried to narrow them down for this post. Ha. Here is the Lilli pad pond. We started out with exploring the Japanese Tea Garden. It was so beautiful.

William

Harrison

Lush gardens.

One of my favorite pictures but I really can't understand why the tourist was dead set on taking this picture crooked.

The boys

The boys and I on the bridge.

All three of my boys. Another pretty view.

Scott and William

Another amazing view.

Then we took a hike around Stoll Lake and

up to Strawberry Hill. This was taken at Stoll Lake.

This is at Strawberry Hill.

The guy is red in this picture had one goal- to get an awesome picture. Instead he fell in the water and got all wet.

Then we went to the Children's Quarters. Does it seem to be a theme that we rode the carousel almost every day?

Afterwards we took more public transportation (the boys favorite-ha) back to our hotel and we played in the pool.

Then took a trolley to Ghiradelli Square for dinner and ice cream.

The boys insisted we take a picture in front the "naked people fountain."

Ice cream brain freeze!

World famous Ghiradelli chocolate.

You got a little something on your face.

And that is Day 3 :)

Family Vacation 2011 Day 2- Alcatraz & Fisherman's Wharf

2011-09-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of our San Francisco vacation included public transportation. We took the F line down to Pier 39. Now Scott and I worked our arm muscles while holding onto the ceiling straps and got the pleasure of smelling individuals very closely that did not believe in deodorant. The boys, on the other hand, loved this!

Getting ready to board the ferry to go to Alcatraz Island. And William showing off.

On the ferry. The boys were glued to the windows.

This is the first thing you see as you get off of the ferry.

Inside the penitentiary

Trapped! Now if I only could talk the boys into this every once in a while :)

If you don't know the history of Alcatraz, it's a good read. The "Battle of Alcatraz" is very interesting and so is the escape. This is one of the cell where one of the "trios incredible escape" happened. They used spoons to dig their way out of their cells. See the hole under the sink?

What I found very interesting is that Alcatraz island was a small community. People would love to live there because it was cheaper than San Francisco and because it was the safest community to live in. I know, doesn't that sound odd? But true, they knew where all the criminals were.
and people never locked their doors. This is an apartment complex on the island.

Here is a view of San Francisco from Alcatraz Island.

And the view of Alcatraz Island from San Francisco.

The ride back to SF.

Next we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf to Pier 39 to see the seals and to ride the carousel.

Harry talked William into sitting on the seat for once.

The seals.

We did finally ride the trolley back to our hotel. The trolley has a ridiculous wait on the weekends (over two hours) so we waited until Monday.

Then we met up with Meghan Sharp and her boyfriend for dinner. We went to college with Meghan and have not seen her since graduation over 10 years ago! It was so nice to catch up.

Day 2 was fun. Onto day 3.

Update on William's dental work

2011-09-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well the day after Harry went under for his ears, Will's turn was next for his dental work. Thursday we went back to the "rocketship dentist" to have his work done. Now I know they didn't turn the nitrous oxide at the first dentist because William was out cold when they did here. That is just another complaint I have about the old dentist. They filled the two teeth that needed to and then they got to the filling the other dentist did last month. Well!!!! Well! Well! The other dentist did such a bad job that William needed a baby root canal and crown. The other dentist totally messed up big time. Here is William right before falling asleep. The pink part is now in his sock drawer and it smells like bubble gum! William did great. He came home and slept for a while and unfortunately bit his bottom lip. He got a little sick from the gas and threw up a little but the next day he was almost back to 100%. So glad to have found a good dentist. And our whole family is definitely leaving the other dentist office after now knowing what they are uncapable of.

2011 Family Vacation Day 1 Part 2

2011-09-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

After visiting Muir Woods we headed to Yerba Buena Gardens with Scott's 2nd cousin and the boys' 3rd cousin. The last time we saw them was last year. Take a look at how all 3 boys grew so much in just one year. We started off by riding the carousel at Zuem. If you are wondering where Harry is....of-course the seat!

Next we went to play at the playground where all 3 boys got out a lot of energy and loved clowning around.

Next we went to Zuem to explore. We made clay figures and then turned it into a movie.

The boys dressed up.

They clowned around some more :) Will's face cracks me up in this picture. Click on it to see a larger version.

The band: they made a music video. This had to be the highlight of the day as all three boys really got into it. William was the lead vocalist while Harry was back up. DJ was the guitarist and did some back up vocals as well.

Then DJ and William made another dance video. William must of watched some break dancers lately because he loved to roll on the floor.

Then we walked around the MLK Jr Memorial.

This was the only picture of the 3 boys standing still. It didn't last long.

We went to a nice family dinner before heading back to the hotel after a very long but very exciting first day to our vacation. Here are all three boys (DJ, William and Harrison).

And of-course cousins Sara and Scott.

Sara also has a blog and you can find a post about the little reunion here.

1st Day of PreSchool

2011-09-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

The boys first day of preschool was on Tuesday. They changed the start date and they moved up the first day one week. They asked to go to the dentist instead of school on Tuesday. Great thing their perception of the dentist changed! They were ok until we got there. In summer school, they were in the same class. We walked into where the 4 year old class was last year and William's name wasn't on the roster. When I asked, they said they have another class in the next building. Well change for Will is not exactly a positive thing. He thought he was going to be in the classroom next to Harry's classroom. So William started crying that he was cold (it was 100 degrees outside!). So the principal heard him and came out to sit with him until school started so I could check Harry in.

Harry was ok until it was time for me to leave and then he started crying. Now Harry doesn't just cry. I don't say this to be mean but it is rather cute. He has the most pathetic little cry. He puts one hand on his forehead and then the other over his eyes and he pouts his bottom lip. It will definitely make you cry.

When I picked them up Harry said, "I only cried for a minute and then I was fine." William said, "Mom lets wait to talk until we get in the car." With that line I was a little nervous. But when we got in the car a huge smile went from ear to ear with excitement and then he said, "Mom, it was great! God created new friends and he sent them to my school!!! And some of those friends have brothers and sisters and they might become my friends too!" I can't tell you how sweet he is and how proud I am of him just for hearing things like that! So I would say the first day of preschool this year was a success!

Family Vacation 2011 Day 1 part 1

2011-08-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

So we just took a family vacation last week. The week before Scott was in Utah for work and the week before that he was getting ready for his trip so we hadn't seen him in two weeks. The vacation came at a perfect time. We have lived in California for three years now and there is so much to see. I have never been to San Francisco and Scott has only been there for work so this was on our "to do" list of places to go. We left at 4:30am on Sunday morning and drove up the 5 (the fastest way to get there) and made it to Muir Woods a little after 11:00am. Since we were cooped up in the car, we figured this would be perfect for the start of our vacation. We were a bit shocked to go from triple digit heat to the 60's. We don't even have much of that type of clothing. Ha. Muir Woods is known for having some of the world's tallest trees.

It was absolutely beautiful! It was breathtaking.

My boys on the bridge.

Now we learned a bit of a lesson. Don't wake William up at 4am. Check out his face!

a little later....

Still not having it....

I did finally get a smile when I told him we were going to see our cousins after this.

So off to the next part of our day, visiting our cousins and spending the day at Yerba Beuna Gardens. But first we had to go over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Harry's Bilateral Myringgotomy Tympanostomy with tube placement

2011-08-31T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today was Harry's second go at tubes in his ears. We woke up at 5am and he was pretty good until we got to the surgery center. While we were waiting, he told me he was hungry and I told him he could eat after his doctor's appointment. Then he said, "but Mommy, my tummy is telling me that I am hungry too!" Too cute. He had two nurses, the anesthesiologist and his doctor. He would not answer any questions or look at anyone. He buried his head in my chest and would not let go. I think they knew it was going to be a bad hand off so the anesthesiologist recommended that mom get cleaned up and dressed for the O.R. So I did and took Harry into his operating room and laid down on the bed with him. Then the two nurses held down his arms while the anesthesiologist put the mask over his face. That was the hardest part. Seeing him struggle and be completely frightened. I pushed the tears back and just held tight and whispered in his ear how much I loved him and he was doing a great job. It was harder on me than him. And now I am so glad they let me in there because I can't imagine how much more scared he would have been with total strangers holding him down until he fell asleep.

The procedure went really fast and I met him in the recovery room and he was ready for me. He cried for a little bit and then fell back asleep and even started drooling! Ha We were home a little after 9am and I thought he would sleep but he has just been lounging around watching cartoons. I really hope this helps with his ear infections, speech and eating (or lack thereof). Fingers crossed!

Dentist 2.0

2011-08-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

We are back from vacation (posts to follow once I upload my pictures) and we are running into a very busy week this week. First we started off with William's new pediatric dentist. We didn't have the best visit at his last visit and he did not want to go today. Today's experience...AWESOME!. We walked in and saw the big board, next to the movie Cars playing, that read, " Welcome aboard New Space travelers....11:00 William." Then we saw William's name run across the board! This is very exciting for a 4 year old.

We took new xrays (no vomiting this time), then watched a cool cartoon about taking care of our teeth and then we were able to board the spaceship. We went to play video games!

And then watched a movie while he got his check-up. He didn't want to get out of the seat! Above him is the tv screen and he was wearing ear phones.

His check up was good. Well good is probably not the word I am looking for. Of-course, he has that second tooth he needs filled. And because the last dentist didn't get a good picture of his molars, he has another cavity back there. And to top it off, the filling he did have done (nightmare experience at the last dentist), they didn't do it right. There is still decay underneath the filling so they have to redo that one! I should have just went to the pediatric dentist in the first place.

Here William is with his new Dentist, Dr. Raza.

And all his cool new toys (a space ship, a race car and stickers). And Harry even got a toy phone for being a good little brother.

Afterwards we went to lunch with the staff! Yeah probably unexpected but it turns out the boys teacher from Community Bible Study works there and invited us to go out to lunch with everyone. Since the boys did NOT want to leave the dentist office today, they were very excited to go to lunch. And William about cried when lunch was over. Who wouldn't love that kind of treatment?! Talk about a great dentist visit!

So moving on with our busy week, tomorrow is the boys' first day of preschool. After school, Harrison has his audiology appointment followed by his pre-op appointment. Wednesday is his surgery. I don't think I posted on this? Anyway, he is getting tubes again back in his ears and I am very relieved to be taking this step! And then Thursday William will be sedating for all of his dental work. All of this while trying to do the normal week stuff and catching up on church work! Pray for us this week as it is going to be crazy busy!

Hearts of Gold

2011-08-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! We go to the park almost every night to let the boys play and Miss Belle run with her best friend, Hemi. When we got there tonight we saw this... Not a big deal to the average person but we saw the same thing last year. If you look at the top of the picture, there is a water main break at the top of the playground. What happens is that it floods the mulch and it becomes quick sand. Harry fell in last year up to his neck (he was a lot smaller then) but one could easily drown on the playground as it had been running for hours. It is very deceiving. Well of-course Belle didn't listen and ran into it and well almost completely under. She was swimming.

We called the parks and rec to report it and waited for the park ranger to come. The boys were so anxiety ridden that we had to wait until they got there and I had to call them back to see how long it would take! If Miss Belle was within 10 feet of the playground, there were tears and screams for her life. I chuckle a little writing this because I wish someone else could see how concerned they were. After a few minutes of her being off her leash running around with Hemi, the boys could not handle it. They did not want her to leave their sides and she had to have the leash on with both of them holding it for dear life. I cannot get over how frightened they were for her. And they wanted to wait for the Park Ranger so that they knew no other dogs or children went near the playground. There was another dog that showed up and Harry was crying to the owner to not let the dog off the leash because" he could drown and die."

I know the boys love Belle with all their hearts but tonight was a horrible example of what to expect if something were to happen to her. I have never seen them in so much fear for her. Not their own concern but for the love of Belle. I love their little hearts of gold!

Update: tonight when William was giving Belle and hug and kiss good-night he said, "Good-night Belle, I love you. I was really worried about you today."

Weekend update with the Archers

2011-08-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

Friday morning William got his first filling. Again, do not like the dentist. The Nitrous Oxide did not change William's mood not even 1%. I don't think they even had it on. And they argued with William when he told them they were hurting him. And of-course they couldn't do both fillings in the same day. This way they can get another $272 out of me next time as well. I am seriously thinking of calling a pediatric dentist to see how much it would cost because I can't imagine without insurance it would cost much more.
William was a little trooper and I am very proud of him. Friday night we went to the Katy Perry concert. We had planned this for about 6 months. Of-course we got tickets in the Farmer's Luxury Suite at Nokia Theatre. Thursday I had the absolute worst migraine I have had in years. So by time Friday came around, my migraine was mostly gone but I felt so extremely sluggish from all the medication and my blood pressure was super low. So the thought of a concert wasn't very appealing. But I'm glad I stuck it out because it had to be the best concert I have ever been too. Katy Perry is super funny and a great entertainer. The show had a theme and the props were amazing. She is a huge risk taker and her back up dancers were awesome. If you know me well, you know I love back up dancers :) I'm very impressed by them. Sorry the picture is so dark!

Saturday was Miss Belle's 7th birthday. I cannot believe my furry baby is already 7 years old. She still acts 2. She is so full of energy. I took her on a long walk. Her is her first treat. The boys fells asleep early so we didn't get to have her party until Sunday.

Sunday we went to church and then when we came home, we took Belle on her favorite hike. She was in doggy heaven.

And the boys had so much fun too! Because we passed them...

And this little guy...

And she was so worn out afterwards.

The boys were so excited to give Belle her presents. They told me later on in the night that was their favorite part of the day. Harrison and William bought Belle the same exact present. I tried to talk them into different presents but they were both set on rubber chickens with swim trunks on.

And that is the weekend update. Happy Birthday my Miss Belle!

1st Day of Summer School

2011-08-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

William loves school now but if you remember, he had a hard time adjusting. In fact, it took over 4 months of preschool before he stopped crying bloody murder when I dropped him off. So I didn't want to keep him out of school for the entire summer. They are learning about the North and South Pole over the Summer. I didn't think Harry would be a big problem but to avoid the adjustment period like last year I thought it would be good to enroll Harry for the summer session as well. This is pretty funny. I obviously had my kids very close together in age. 12 months and 10 days apart. Well because of their age, they are in the same class for the summer session! Here is William showing Harrison around the room. Last Tuesday was the first day. Harrison was not very happy. He was crying when I left. The teachers told me when I picked them up that the boys were so cute. William's eyes welled up with tears when I left but then he saw Harrison was crying. He took a deep breathe (as to know to be strong for his little brother) and he turned to Harry and said, "it's okay, mommy always comes back." And William made sure to include Harry the entire morning in everything he was doing. Since then it is so cute when I drop them off. As soon as I say good-bye, Harrison grabs William's hand.

Palm Desert x's 2

2011-08-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun in Palm Desert a couple months ago. When Scott's parents came in town over 4th of July weekend, Scott and I got away for an overnight date so we decided to go back to the JW Marriott in Palm Desert. Well we weren't thinking because obviously the Desert is much hotter than the valley. In fact, it was 117 degrees! We didn't leave the pool!!! And neither did anybody else. That night we went out to eat and then to the club in the resort. On our way back, we stopped for brunch at another resort. It was soooo good.

It was a nice little getaway. Thanks Mom and Dad A for letting us get away!

Play Dates

2011-08-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

We are really starting to enjoy Summer. Things are slowing down and we are having more free time. We have had a few play dates. We went to swim at a friends house. Notice, they aren't in the pool but playing next to the pool ha. Harry boating.

A video of Will jumping in the pool. His temperament with swimming has changed so much now that he is comfortable with his swimming abilities.

Weekend update with the Archers

2011-08-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled weekend. Friday night was our typical Friday night at Los Toros. They love us there. Besides the staff knowing us and our order, the valets don't even give us a ticket anymore. What was even funnier Friday night was when we were leaving, we started walking up to the Valet station and there was a long line of people waiting and we hadn't even made it to the stand yet. And we see our truck coming around the corner! We love that place! Saturday we went to the beach for some family fun time and a picnic. Even Miss Belle enjoys the ocean. The boys making sand castles.

The boys making sand angels.

Posing for the camera.

Saturday night, after the boys went to bed, Scott and I watched a movie. Sunday was church followed by Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. I didn't take any pictures but I did find this one on my phone that Scott snapped. How many kids do you know can get their heads stuck in the ropes?

It was a very fun weekend and lots of quality time together. It feels like summer!

Working 9 to 5

2011-08-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago, we went to see Dolly Parton in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. We were really excited because we haven't been to the Bowl yet and of-course Scott is a huge fan of Dolly. You can barely see the "Hollywood" sign in the hills behind us in this picture. Picnicking beforehand was a blast but once the concert started, not so fun. It was a totally different crowd than what I am used to at a concert. I think Dolly would be disappointed. Because of a 3 strike rule, I probably will never go back to the Hollywood Bowl.
Strike 1: the woman in front of us got really mad and "shhhish" us because we spoke during the concert. Later on, I tried to make amends and said she should dance with us when 9 to 5 comes on. She didn't know the song. How do you come to a Dolly Parton concert and not know her most popular song?
Strike 2: the guy next to us said, "can you not take pictures? The flash is distracting." Since when can't you talk or take pictures at a CONCERT?!
Strike 3: When 9 to 5 came on a large group of us stood up to sing and dance with Dolly. The usher came up and said, "please sit down, this is not that type of concert."
So confused at how many artist don't want the crowd to sing with them at their concert? I doubt Dolly would approve.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for having the Orchestra there so I think the crowd/ushers must be used to that type of performance. Little to say, we were quite disappointed with the actual ambiance during the concert.

Harry's three and a half years old

2011-07-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

Harry getting his ears checked

Harry had his 3.5 year well baby check up yesterday. It was not a good morning. Usually the boys do really well at appointments together but yesterday was one of those days you don't want to look back on years from now. Harry wouldn't cooperate and William was loud, whined and complained the entire visit. Plus both boys were being so loud that I couldn't hear the doctor and she couldn't hear me. It was just not a good day.

Onto the visit itself. Harry did not do so well with the eye exam but they said he passed. I guess we will worry about that later. We will continue to blame all his bumps and falls on his clumsiness. So I have been really concerned with Harry's ears. His tubes fell out a couple months ago and he has been getting ear infections back to back again. I am concerned because although his speech is cute, he talks like he is under water with some pronunciations. I am sure this is the way he hears things. So I am afraid of permanent damage. Plus back to when he first got his tubes at age one, the ENT told us we waited longer than we needed to and that he would never get rid of his ear infections because his ear drums were concave and held the fluid in them. But our pediatrician wouldn't refer us to an ENT because she is so conservative with that kind of stuff. Anyhow, I don't want to make the same mistake twice. Harry does not have the personality to complain about his ears but I don't want him to be in unnecessary pain. She checked his ears and said he still has his infections but is on the mend. She is more concerned with his speech and wants to wait on the ear issue. California is a bit different. Because Harry is 3, a speech pathologist will not see him until the unified school district screens him. So we have to wait until August to make that appointment.

Onto the next problem (which I also think is related to his ears) is his nutrition. Harry is a horrible eater. He basically only likes breakfast foods and chicken nuggets. Nothing else. And you can't take away snacks in hopes that he will be hungry for dinner. He just won't eat. He will eat one meal a day and that is it. So when he says he is hungry, you take the opportunity to feed him what you can (he woke up at 12:30am last night hungry and we sat down at the table for a meal). But I think because his ears hurt, it probably hurts to chew and swallow. So once we get his ears fixed, hopefully that will help with his speech and nutrition. He is very anemic so he is on iron drops for the next 6 weeks. None of this is a shock but it still sucks. I just want him to be happy and healthy.

He is super tall for his age (just like William). He is in the 95th percentile for height. And he is underweight, the 20th percentile for weight.

So all in all, he has bad ears, a minor speech problem, way too skinny and is anemic. Hoping the next couple months come with answers and resolutions for his health.

Open Wide

2011-07-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well I put off taking the boys to the dentist for some time now and knew I couldn't get away with it much longer. The problem is that our insurance doesn't cover a pediatric dentist and Scott and I are both not fond of our dentist. But with time ticking, I knew I had to get them in. Everyone there knew this was the boys first visit and they were very nice to them. They blew up gloves as balloons. This poor xray guy made William throw up by sticking a film too far down his throat:) And because so he only xrayed Harry's front teeth. William was super great! The dental hygienist even told me "he is such a great fun kid." He listened and gave good responses. His best response had to be, "my pawpa said he would knock my teeth out and they would go boom, bang, bang, explode! And then he will knock your teeth out too!" Oh Pawpa, thank you for all your goofing around. Who knew that this would be the time William would mock you!

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't very excited to see the dentist! Can you tell?

So we left cavity free for Harrison (not that they could tell because they didn't do xrays of all his teeth or exam them very good) and William has two cavities. He goes back August 5th to get them filled with a little help from some laughing gas! I can't say this was the best experience because Harrison was not having it, William threw up on someone, William has to go back, they took 2.5 hours on us making us wait, and they didn't even give the boys a toothbrush when I promised the dentist always gives their new patients new toothbrushes.

So we went across the street to CVS and bought new electric toothbrushes.

Who knew this would be a big hit. Their game to play last night was dentist. Harry was instructed to put part of the floss container in his mouth as William held the soap box up to his cheek and "clicked" to take a picture (taking xrays). William came up to me last night, "I brushed my teeth with the tickle brush, then my dinosaur brush and then Harry's toothbrush." Who knew one visit would make them want to brush their teeth so much. And it's not like brushing our teeth is something new! But just so you can see the excitement, this is what I found when I checked on the boys before I went to bed...

Sleeping with his toothbrushes.

Church Back Yard Renovation

2011-07-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Scott and I are very involved in helping make our church more kid friendly. Last year we had the nursery renovation. That was a ton of work and it was so rewarding to see the payoff. This year I got bids for our backyard and our council approved the project thankfully. Check out what we had before:
Would you let your kids play on this? Or this?

Or this ground? We wouldn't let anybody in the backyard because it was such a liability.

It had danger written all over it.

I had planned our very first Vacation Bible School (post to come soon) to run after the yard was finished. The very first day of VBS was the day we were allowed to walk on the new sod. And I am so glad it all worked out because check it out now! It is an amazing transformation.

(Kids at VBS)

More kids enjoying the new play structure.

I am so happy and proud to be a part of this change at our church. It is rewarding to see the end result and to see the children enjoy where we are headed and focused.

What happens at Saddle Ranch....

2011-07-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

When six adults go out for the night....

We do it up right.

Making friends with Saddle Ranch Manager.

Who, in turn, gave us VIP treatment the entire night. Everything we did was basically free. We even got a $250 VIP table at the dance floor. But not without a little embarrassment. This is him introducing Scott to the ENTIRE establishment!

Have you watched Saddle Ranch on VH1? Well I really haven't. This guy is one of the main cast members.

We all rode the bull but I have to laugh about this one. Do you notice anything wrong with this picture? This is Shawn and her attempt to ride the bull. (She didn't know she got on backwards).

Shawn, Chris and me.

The rest of the many pictures are like the reel at the end of "The Hangover" movie. Now since I was a D.D, I had just as much fun with the pictures and messing with them but I will save them the embarrassment. But seeing that Scott doesn't know how to use our blog, I'm not too shy to at-least post the video of him riding the bull.

Grandpa and Gramma Archer's visit

2011-07-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a few months of Grandbaby withdrawal so it was time for a visit. We picked them up and had lunch at the Junkyard in Simi. It was our first time there and it was yummy! Next up, Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Then of-course as with any other Friday night, Los Torros for dinner. We can't let Fernando (the guitarist) down.

Saturday morning we woke up and Scott and I headed out for an over night date (post coming soon) to Palm Desert. We returned Sunday night in time for dinner. Here is everyone relaxing before bedtime.

And being silly.

Monday was 4th of July. I blogged on that day already. Wednesday it was time to go home but of-course park pictures first as this has become a little tradition of ours.

Bye Bye Gramma and Granpa A

We will see you soon!

Legoland California

2011-07-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

So in Utah, we had this great baby group. We got together at-least once a month and the first 5 kids were all within weeks apart in age. This picture was at our going away party that last few weeks we lived in Utah. (William, Me, Harrison, Andrea, Colin, Juliet, Alix, Yen, Kenzo)- a few were missing. This pictrue was our very first get together as a baby group. You can tell the kids were just month's old. (Me, Will, Andrea, Collin, Alix, Juliet, Yen, Kenzo).

And this was one of our last get togethers at a Farmer's Market.

Their first Halloween (Jack, Collin, William, Juliet).

We haven't seen anybody from Utah since we moved. And guess what? This month makes 3 years we have been gone. So when Andrea said she was going to be in San Diego for work and visiting family, we jumped on the opportunity to get together and catch up! Scott and Harry

William, Collin (look how much they have grown up) plus Reece and Harrison.

Legoland is truly amazing. I have never seen so many legos!!!

Yes all legos

Look at all the boys!

It's so crazy to look at those first pictures and now look at them today. Our baby group babies are going to be in Kindergarten next year!! Where did the time go?

Andrea and me.

I never seen Star Wars (yes I know!) but they have a new exhibit of all Star Wars stuff.

I also posted more pictures on Facebook. Afterwards we went to Sea Life Aquarium.

It was so nice to catch up. I'm glad we got together.

What a horrible Blogger I have been

2011-07-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Time to catch up: Lets start with the 4th of July. We went to Ventura Beach for a nice picnic lunch and stroll along the beach. The boardwalk was lined with American flags.

We watched surfers catch their waves.

We came home to grill out hamburgers before heading over to the 41st Annual Simi Valley Fireworks Festival.
The kids played before it got dark.

Then once it went dark (Harry was out)

It was a beautiful show!

The boys first movie

2011-06-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

I kept wondering when would be a good time to take the boys to the movie theatre for the first time. Harrison can't sit still most times to make it through a movie in the playroom. Lately on Sunday nights, we have a movie night at home. The last couple times, both boys have done really well so when I saw Cars 2 coming out I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to take the boys. Harrison was scared at how big and dark the theatre was so he sat on my lap the whole time. They enjoyed eating popcorn and relaxing. Since Sunday, they keep asking when they get to go back and watch another movie :)

Hiking

2011-06-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

I went on a hike Saturday morning with some of the women in our neighborhood. It was a nice time to fellowship and get some exercise in at the same time. Take a look at this rock. I don't know if you can tell by the picture but there are a lot of little seashells on it. It is really hard to imagine that hundreds of years ago this rock was under water. But with earthquakes and settling, this is how much our earth has changed. Now this is a desert area. Isn't that a hard concept to grasp?

Here is a pretty little creek that ran next to us on our path.

Some of the women on the hike.

Swim Lessons part 2

2011-06-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

The boys finished their swim lessons. They absolutely amazed me at how much they loved going each day and how well they did. I want to sign them up for another session but I think I am going to wait a couple weeks since they go every day. Here are some pictures from their lessons...
William coming up for air William jumping into the water. Jim, his instructor, asked him the last day if he wanted to jump off the diving board but he respectfully declined :)

Underwater swimming for Will

Off he goes

William titled this picture "The run jump."

Harry on the board

Harrison swimming

I love Harry's face in this one. This is probably the reason why he swallowed a lot of water.

William and his instructor. He had to jump out and then swim back to the wall by himself.

If you can't see William in this picture it is because he is completely under water searching for the blue ring. :)

Harry blowing bubbles.

They got a certificate at the end and candy from Jim and Nikki. William's certificate read:

" William kicks and scoops, is jumping from steps and wall, blowing bubbles, face in water, crawl stroke, kick boarding, retrieving toys from underwater, Good Attitude :) "

Harrison's certificate was different than Will's because of the age group. He mastered: jumping in, climbing out, Ice Cream scoops, kicking, retrieving submerged objects from steps, floating on back, bobbing, elementary backstroke, face in water and blowing bubbles. His instructor wrote, "Harrison was really a joy to work with. He was polite, well mannered, and so much fun. He improved so much from day 1 and I hope he continues with swimming."

I'm so proud of you boys. You are natural fishies :)

Cooling Off

2011-06-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

Last week we got to our swim lessons and the parking lot was practically empty. It's never a good thing when you tell a 3 and 4 year old they are going swimming to find out the pool is closed for maintenance issues. The boys were as expected....very disappointed. We headed out for ice cream but they were still sad they couldn't go swimming. We went to Target next where they decided on this little number :)

It may be small but it does the job!

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

So Thursday as Scott walks in the door, the conversation goes like this:
William: "Daddy, Daddy! Guess what? We got you two books. A lion book and a new bible!"
Me: "William, what did we talk about? What is a surprise?"
William: "We aren't supposed to tell Daddy we bought him a Bible for Father's day."
Then later on in the night while speaking to Scott's mom on the phone, he tells her the same thing with Scott right next to him. I guess you can guess how Christmas will be around here this year. No Surprises. Then Friday after Scott walked in from work, Harry grabs his hands and leads him to our room, he brought him in and showed him behind our door and said, "see Daddy, here is where Mommy hid your presents and we wrapped them for you!"

Harry comes to church with me to work. On Thursday I gave him the project of making Daddy's crown for Father's day. I thought it would take a couple minutes but he was so meticulous with where he placed the gems. It actually took him hours! And we had to go back to the store because two packages of gems were not enough.

So this morning he was very excited to give it to Scott. And he made it clear that he had to wear it all day long!
And he did! He even wore it to church (obviously took it off in the Sanctuary but had it on everywhere else) and lunch and he is still wearing it.

Here is "the lion book" William was referring to. It is about a little lion cub who is thankful for his daddy. He made Scott read it to him right away this morning.

And the Bible! As if he didn't know what he was getting :)

Happy Father's Day! I am so blessed to have such wonderful Fathers in my life. I have an amazing husband who is the best dad I know. Of-course my Dad taught me morals and ethics and is an excellent role model. And then I am so lucky to have gained another dad through marriage and he is an awesome supportive dad as well.

Harry's Day

2011-06-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

William has been in preschool for a full year now. My thought at the beginning of the school year was that Harrison and I would have some bonding time together. And even though we did, it wasn't quite what I had in mind. Because it is easier to work at the church with only one kid in tow, I would work the mornings William was in school. Of-course Harry is a great helper and very good. And he enjoys going to church. William's last week of school was last week so on Tuesday I surprised Harry. Instead of heading to church, we headed to ChuckECheese. I wish you could see his face. I bought 90 tokens! Harrison was so shocked that every time he said, "one more time?" I would say "yes" and hand him a coin. 90 coins last a long time but even longer when you get there so early that the workers unlock the machines for you so that you can play for free! Here are some pictures from our fun morning!

And I had to add this one. The boys are loving swim lessons. I am so proud of how well they are doing. It shocks me that after only 5 lessons so far, they are so much more advanced than I thought they would be. They are my little fishies!!!!

Swim Lessons 2011

2011-06-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

The first day of swim lessons began today. I signed them up for a 2:1 ratio lesson for two weeks Monday-Friday classes. I figured it would be easier for our kids to have classes every day than to spread it out over weeks. And to my surprise, MY kids were a very few of the only 3-4 years olds NOT crying!!!! I say this all of the time that William can be very anti-social and not daring at all. Well he got there and was impatient to get into the water! Harrison was a bit more reserved but I think it is because he is coming down with a cold. The little boy that was with Harrison screamed bloody murder for a good 20 minutes. This is the first time in a very long time that I didn't dread doing this by myself. Scott even called to wish me good luck ahead of time because taking the boys to lessons of any sort has become a nightmare at times because William does not like to participate and then Harrison will follow suit. I think we are really going to enjoy these next two weeks of lessons.

I'm so proud of them because they did everything the instructors asked them to do. And Harrison kept telling me about "Nikki" his instructor the whole way home. (Harrison is in blue) When I showed William the pictures I took, he said, "That's my new teacher friend, Jim."

Look at his smile! Yay!!!! When we got home, they asked when we get to go on vacation! I think they associate our trip to Palm Desert (our mini vacation) to swimming at the hotel pool. Believe me boys, I'm ready for vacation as much as you are! :)

Archer Tidbits

2011-06-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

Oh the lovely conversations we have.

Preface: Harry kicks a puzzle piece under the refrigerator.
William: "Mom, we need to get the puzzle piece out from underneath the refrigerator."
Me: "I can't Will, I'm can't move it."
William: "Oh yeah, we definitely need someone strong enough to move this. Oh yea, God is strong! Lets get God!"
Me: smiling "Yes William, God is strong but I don't think he is going to move the fridge for us."
William:" Well maybe Spiderman, he is strong too. But you know God is stronger and he would beat Spiderman in a fight."

Other things I don't want to forget that are cute. When Harry visits us in the middle of the night, he is so polite. It is really hard to turn him down when he wants to get in our bed. He comes to my side and puts his cute little face to mine and says, "cuse me." That's signal for move over, I'm coming in! When we aren't already asleep he comes to my side and says, "peas I seep with you?" And if you have seen Harry lately, he gives the saddest more defeated look.

Venice Beach anyone?

2011-05-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after church, we headed down to Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. Jason, Stephanie's boyfriend, has never been to California. And as I have said before, if you have never been here and you do visit, Venice Beach is an absolute must. It is by far the best people watching I have seen in my entire life. It is a whole different lifestyle down there. From medical marijuana being sold on the street, random people trying to find their 15 minutes of fame by singing, Muscle Beach to the two homeless people having sex on the beach (in front of everyone)!

Oh but it was so cold there yesterday!!!! Well it was mainly super windy.

Walking in Venice Beach...
Stephanie and Jason on the beach...

The speedo guy! Sorry about the bad picture. For some reason it came out so dark that the only way you could see his speedo was if I lightened everything around him. This guy is there every single time we have been there! But he upgraded his speedo from the American Flag to basic black.

And ok seriously?! Butt Cheeks anyone? How can you not know your skirt is that short?

And the weekend is over. Short but sweet trip. Time to say good-bye to Auntie Stephanie.

And Jason

Scott and his littlest sis.

We hope you two had a good visit. It was nice having you!

Simi Valley Cajun Festival

2011-05-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the Simi Valley Cajun Festival. We went a couple years ago and it was so much fun. Look how much William has grown up since the last time we went!

Here are the guys!

We had a great time eating a ton of Cajun food and the kids had a great time on the bouncy slides.

I think this one had a little too much fun. It was so loud with the bands and he slept like a baby! And we DANCED!!!

Me and Stephanie

Stephanie and Jason.

Me and Scott. We never have many pictures together so it was fun to have a few.

We were there for over 7 hours so you can imagine the sunburns the Missouri kids got :) LOL. This is why I am not ashamed to use 50 SPF! Ha. It was a really fun filled day.

Another Six Flags kind of Day!

2011-05-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine how shocked the boys were when they woke up after a Six Flags day and I asked them if they wanted to do something fun again today?! William's response was, "oh can we go to the park?" Harry's response was, "oh, can we go to the gym?" I said, "nope, lets do something more fun." And William responded with, "There is something more fun than the gym?!" OMG!!! Anyway, we went to the airport to pick up Aunt Stephanie and her boyfriend, Jason. On a side note, I have to tell you what Harry did when I said Aunt Stephanie was coming. When he found out that Aunt Kelly wasn't coming with her, his face got all puckered and pitiful and he said, "not Kelly?" He was so upset. Ok, onto the original post.

So we picked them up from the airport and headed to Six Flags!
Stephanie and Jason Jason has never rode a roller coaster before. Here is his very first one (with William). He started off easy until Stephanie made him ride The Viper that flips 7 times!

Harry Trapped!

Scott met us there after work and rode some rides with us.

A tradition at Six Flags...I'm sure you have seen similar pictures of this game on other posts.

William could talk anyone into anything.

Silly Willy

Stephanie, Jason, Will and Harry.

We stayed at the park relatively late and then went to Los Torros for dinner. It's our favorite Mexican restaurant here and we are determined to make everyone else enjoy it as much as we do :) The boys fell asleep at the restaurant. They were worn out from two back to back days at Six Flags. I don't blame them :)

A Six Flags kind of day!

2011-05-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

Things have been so busy lately. My friend Shawn and I decided to take some time for quality family play. So last Thursday, we took the kids out of school an hour early and headed over to Six Flags for some fun. We even closed down the park! Here is William with Nicholas. William on the roller coaster. There were no lines so him and Nicki kept running to get back into line. This was their favorite ride.

I also learned that we could ride the log jammer. It's the water ride with two big drops. The boys absolutely loved it. I would scream on the drops and Harrison would laugh. I told him, "Harry, will you scream with me? This is one time you are aloud to scream as loud as you want." He thought I was funny.

Miss Shawn with Harrison.

Michael and Harrison.

The boys fell asleep as we were leaving the parking lot. They fell asleep by 7pm and slept through the entire night until 6:30 the next morning!!!!

Palm Desert Vacation 2011

2011-05-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

We had such a FANTASTIC mini getaway over the weekend. We made a very last minute decision to get away for a couple days. After T-Ball on Saturday, we headed to Palm Desert, CA. Here is a view from the drive. On the way, we stopped in Cabazon to see the "World's Biggest Dinosaurs." The boys love dinosaurs so we thought this was a perfect opportunity to explore. They enjoyed mining for treasures...

And finding a lot!

We had fun climbing inside the T-Rex all the way to his mouth. Here is William being a scary dinosaur!

And here is the outside shot of where we were.

We stayed at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa. I have to say we lucked out. This resort was awesome and nothing like I have seen before. They had so much to do there. Here is the view from our room looking over the mini golf course included in our package. Since we didn't have time to golf, the boys said we have to go back. I agree!

Here is the thing I haven't seen before. The property is over 400 acres. So they built a man made lake on the property. The amazing thing is that the hotel is 8 stories high. One wall is all windows and the lake comes inside the lobby where there are boats waiting to take you on a tour or to dinner. The boys LOVED this. You could walk to dinner much faster but it was definitely more fun to get a boat ride there.

We did a LOT of swimming. The boys were little fishies. And I have to say that Harrison is not afraid of anything. William respects the water and gets scared if we don't hold onto him (even with a life jacket). Harrison, on the other hand, listens to all instructions and can swim! It wasn't hard to teach him at all. I was surprised. It was really hard to get them out of the pool. It was so much fun and I have a sunburn to prove it :)

Family picture!

Here is a picture from the boat ride. I thought this was pretty. The whole grounds were so beautifully maintained.

Can you tell we took several boat rides?

They also had exotic birds in the lobby. "Cowboy" was the boys favorite because he talked to them. Dinner was fun. One night we went to Mikado, the Japanese Steak House. We have been to Japanese Steak houses before but this one was by far my favorite. The chef did so many tricks, made music, jokes, etc.

Even when it was time to catch the shrimp in our mouths, he went a step further after we caught them at the table. He made Scott moved across the restaurant to catch more! He's the guy in blue in the very back!

On Monday, we checked out but headed over to "The Living Desert" which is a zoo in Palm Desert. I LOVED this zoo. The exhibits were so large that you couldn't even see the end of the cages. I loved this because I often feel so sorry for animals in the small cages. They let these animals be in the most normal habitat possible.

We had such a great time! The boys did great and we even received several compliments on how well behaved they were. Now I am not so scared to take them on a big vacation. The switch did flip as soon as we got home and immediately were in time out within minutes of getting home. At-least they know how to behave in public, right?! It was so refreshing to get away and not worry about anything else. We had 3 rules on the trip: 1. Have fun. 2. Behave 3. Eat. The boys repeated these several times. Maybe I just need to remind them of these at home too. I took so many great pictures, I decided to put them in a slide show. Have fun looking!

View all

Get your own

Happy Birthday Scott

2011-05-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

May 13th is Scott's 32nd Birthday. I let this year be all about the boys. We spent some time at the mall looking for the perfect present for Daddy. Of-course that comes along with some rides...

When is came to the cake, I decided to order one this year opposed to making one. So the boys and I visited the bakery. I let them browse through the entire book of cakes and told them it was up to them to pick the cake but to remember, "the cake is for Daddy, not for you so please pick a cake out that Daddy would like." I reminded them of this several times. And even when the assistant was taking the order, she asked, "is this what your Daddy would like?" And they were very confident with their YES.

Scott came home a little early tonight so we were able to celebrate with cake and ice cream and open presents early.

The card the boys picked out for Scott.

And cake they picked out perfect for Scott and nobody else.... even though it came with bath time water squirters that you know Scott is going to use....

Blowing out the candles.

The Birthday boy.

The fun part about having a 3 and 4 year old is that right before you open any present, they tell you EXACTLY what is inside including EVERY detail so there is nothing left to the imagination :) I love kids! This evening, I took Scott to Cafe Firenze for dinner. Fabio, the chef, was the fan favorite on Top Chef Season 5 and is the owner/partner. I managed to get a "Chef's Table" reservations that included a 5 course meal accompanied by Fabio himself. Well what do you know, he was out of town filming so we got his apprentice instead. It was still a fabulous meal. It was a great experience.

And now a very last minute decision, we are taking a mini vacation to Palm Desert, CA after T-Ball tomorrow morning. We are excited to have some quality family time together with no other distractions. More posts (obviously) to come on that.

Happy Birthday Scott. I am so blessed to have you as my husband and the best dad to our boys!

A Great Weekend

2011-05-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend was so fun and nice. Friday I spent the day with the boys. We went shopping and had lunch together at Chipotle. I have to say I have always loved Chipotle and I loved the "off menu" for sides and kids meals. Now they actually added a kids menu to their menu and it is amazing! You get a large Chocolate milk (or whatever else), main dish like a taco, beans, rice and chips all for $2.95!!! I love that place. Later that night, we went to the park to play. I have to post on my Miss Belle. Her best friend, Hemi, meets us there most nights. They run and play forever and nobody can hardly believe Belle is almost 7 years old because she has so much energy and has never grown out of the lab "puppy phase." I know it looks like they are hurting each other and biting but they aren't. They are having a great time. They do this every night.

So cute!

Saturday morning was the boys first day of T-ball. Of-course William was so excited to go but when he realized other kids were going to be there, he shut down and wouldn't participate. Harrison , on the other hand, had a great time. Running bases...

And batting practice. My little left handy!

Saturday night, Scott and I went out to celebrate our wedding anniversary (May 8th also fell on Mother's Day this year). We went out on a dinner cruise out of Marina Del Ray. It was really fun and they had dancing on the yacht.

Sunday we went to church and then the boys took me out to lunch at Old Susana Cafe by our house.

Afterwards we went to the old Santa Susana Train depot and museum across the street. The boys loved looking at the models.

And posing with the mannequins.

Petting the fake dog.

They have this huge town inside with trains. This is a model of the train station we were in.

Then we went to the park again to play last night.

It was a great weekend. I have to much to be thankful for. I have a wonderful husband of 7 years (10 years together). I am a mom to two beautiful boys. I have a fantastic Mother-in-law. And of-course, I have the best mom to have raised me. I am very fortunate!

A Stay-at-Home Mom kind of day

2011-04-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was perfect. We didn't do anything big but it felt so good to spend quality time with the boys. Don't get me wrong when I vent here. I am supposed to work part time at our church (16 hours a week) and any extra time I consider my volunteer time. Well lately it has been around 40 plus hours a week. I can't get away from the place as there is always something that needs to be done. I spend more time taking care of Church than I do my home. Even the day I had the flu, I had to go in to pay some vendors. Now I love the church and what I do. I just need to learn how to not take everything on and to ask for help from others. It has become more of a full time job instead of community service. I need to get back to loving it and not dreading what I have left undone. So yesterday I took the day off! This is pretty big since I am there 7 days a week. So I blocked everything out in my mind and spent the day focused only on the boys.

We went to the park to play in the morning. How cute are they?!!! We went shopping for a birthday party we are attending this weekend. And coincidentally we found "Old Puffer Pete." William has wanted this specific train since the beginning of the year and we could never find him.

And I know this is probably not a big deal to anyone else but FINALLY some of our Wal-Marts and Targets have become Super Centers. California didn't allow super centers before (I forget the word used here for that). Well they finally lifted it and now we have them. You don't realize how much you love super centers until you don't have them. And the prices are amazing! So Target had some Easter Egg cookie sets on sales obviously. They were $10 marked down to $2.25. So our project of the day was decorating cookies.....or eating the frosting.

We actually took a nap after this which is huge for my boys. When we got up, we had dinner and went back to the park with Dad. Then exercised together-the boys are so cute trying to do jumping jacks and crunches. I will have to videotape it for you. Baths, reading and bed. It was just a nice relaxing family day that I missed so much. I love being a stay-at-home mom and I need to get back to the focus of that. Not that it isn't ok to take care of other things but taking care of my family and myself first.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Wow What an incredibly busy weekend. We had services for Maundy Thursday. We skipped Good Friday services to attend a going away party for a friend at Scott's work. Then Saturday we were busy getting ready for Easter. First we attended an Easter vigil at our church. Check out my handsome men!Then Sunday morning came. The Easter Bunny left a trail of jelly beans from the boys room to the kitchen table where their baskets awaited them.

Check out their hair! Cracks me up.

The boys really wanted fishing poles and were surprised the Easter Bunny brought them!

Talk about resisting temptation.

Then I was off to church to set up before services. After church we had an Easter Egg hunt and a Sunday Brunch. We had a great turnout! This was just our table.

Check out my handsome men. They look like little Mormon boys. I'm not making fun of Mormons. I'm just laughing that the box Harrison is holding looks like a bible and they look like they are about to walk door to door :) Brunch was fantastic!Desserts were awesome. Our friends from college started a business, Porrello Girls, and the desserts were a big hit! The Egg Hunt!Our cute family :)Did I ever say taking a picture was easy????
When we got home, we were surprised to find that the Easter Bunny hid more eggs in our back yard!

It was a great day! I hope we all remember the true reason for today! This is the day that the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it!!!! Happy Easter to all of you!

So Incredibly Proud

2011-04-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

Let me give you a bit of a background. We put William in preschool because he can be anti-social. It took over 4 months but after that, he doesn't cry EVERY time I drop him off anymore. For his Christmas singalong, he stood up there and looked miserable. Last weekend his preschool was singing for their church so we went there before heading to our church. Well he wouldn't even go up to the front with all of the kids. Instead he cried bloody murder and sat on my lap. So this past Wednesday at Community Bible Study the boys were scheduled to sing in front of all of the women. Throughout the week we practiced their songs if by some miracle they would actually sing them. I mean what would change from Sunday to Wednesday? There are A LOT of women that attend CBS and if you can tell from the picture, there were only 6 children "singing."

I tried to hide so that the boys wouldn't see me and I had a friend take my camera. But the teacher next to William pointed me out and I thought it was over at that point. He looked like the water works were about to start. So all 6 kids got up there and not one of them sang! You could hear the teachers pretty good though. It was over and the little boy in the green stripes started singing and was pretty good. This must of prompted Will because out of nowhere, William grabbed the microphone from his teacher.

And he sang solo and sung his little heart out!!!!! I was in absolute disbelief because if you knew William well, this was complete opposite of his personality in big crowds. And sang loud, clear and very proud. I think my smile was from ear to ear as my heart just melted!!!! AND every one clapped and cheered because he was fantastic. I couldn't be more proud of my little William!!! Oh and if you look at the very first picture, you can see Harrison on the right looking at William while he sang :)