The Nose Knows

I lost my sense of smell on Saturday night, along with this curse of a cold. I never realized how much I rely on this un-appreciated sense. . . until it's gone! Mom's need their noses.

Here's why. . .

I can't tell when someone has a dirty diaper

I can't tell when naughty children have been eating food that they shouldn't have.
I can't taste dinner, to see if it's seasoned right.
I can't smell Carter's yummy head.
I can't smell socks to see if they're clean- yuck!
I can't smell the pretty flowers my boys pick for me.
and lots of other things you would never think of!!


Dear Stupid Cold,
Go away- and stay away from me and my family.
You are no fun-
you make me tired and grumpy and
you make my nose red and sore.
I hate you.
You are good for nothing.

Good bye.

Good Bye Summer

Aaron rode in a 75 mile bike ride on Saturday (a whole other post) to benefit Multiple Sclerosis- and it ended in Santa Barbara. I found a sitter for the little kids and I was planning on taking the boys up there to meet Daddy at the finish line. Well, late Friday night (like 10:30) I changed my mind and decided to get "crazy" and turn it into a weekend trip- for all of us! I'm so NOT spontaneous. I like to have things planned, packed, organized, house cleaned, laundry done and reservations made- days in advance. So this was very unlike me. I woke up early on Saturday packed all 5 of us up, got Jake ready for his soccer game, lugged us all to the game, then home and then we hit the road around 11:00. There was traffic the ENTIRE way. Serious. It was awful. Let's just say I made it there with about 2 minutes to spare. I got to the finish line, got out the camera and they all rode by! Barely!!

After the race we checked into our hotel and had such a fun weekend just relaxing. The weather was amazing (about 75) and the location was beautiful! We will definitely be going back. The perfect place for a quick weekend get away. I got sick on Saturday with a nasty cold, so that was kind of a bummer, but I tried to have fun despite feeling like I wanted to be in bed. The weather was a little cloudy and cool- so it felt like the perfect way to say goodbye to summer and welcome in the fall! I think we've started a new tradition to wrap up the summer- see you next September!

The view from the balcony.
Taking a ride in the surry... poor Aaron, his legs were so tired and sore from his ride the day before. He could barely peddle. We decided these things are over-rated- we'll try again in a few years when the boys can help with the peddling!On our bike ride, we found this amazing park- only problem was that it was surrounded by this fence and had these signs everywhere. BUT- it was FULL of people. So we pretended like we couldn't see the fence and the signs and we went for it. Too bad some mean lady from the parks dept. showed up and kicked us all out. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

See-- we weren't the only ones there- there were kids and parents everywhere!

The kids enjoying some room service, after a day at the beach.Carter-man- just hanging out on the beach.
The beautiful hotel- our room was right there! The beach was so amazing- different from where we live. They had these cool sand dunes all over. The kids loved them!
My baby girl.
I think we wore them out! The drive home sure was quiet!

Good bye Summer- Welcome Fall!
I love fall- my favorite season ever!!!! sorry ani!

The Big Kahuna

I found these cute jammies and I just couldn't resist buying them for Carter. He's so big! He turned 5 months last week and these jammies are a 2T!! I admit I have big boys- but he definitely takes the cake! He is weighing in at 20 pounds now. I have been having a lot of pain in my left elbow and my upper back and I just realized what it's from- carrying that boy around in his car seat! I'm in and out of the car so much these days- with carpools and school stuff, that I've always got that guy in his seat- hung on my arm. Plus I always hold my babies with my left arm, so I have my right hand free. That explains it! I looked up "tendinitis" tonight and the suggestion for treatment. . . rest. Not likely. Looks like I'll have a sore elbow for awhile. He's definitely not getting any smaller. That's okay. He's cute and sweet and delicious.
ps- I found an awesome website tonight. It's symptoms.webmd.com. It's super cool. You put in your sex and age and then click on the part of the body that you're having trouble with. Then it asks you questions and narrows down your symptoms and gives you suggestions. Great for kids- seems like somebody always has some weird unexplainable thing going on. This has some great information. (that's how I got my elbow thing figured out!)

firsts

We've had lots of firsts in our family this last week. . .

Tyler's FIRST day of school.

Some last minute instructions and love from mommy.He is doing great and loves kindergarten! The first couple days were a little rough for me, but we are getting used to having him gone. We are all sure happy when 11:20 rolls around and we get to pick Tyler up- we miss our boy! He has just started bringing home books from school and "reading" them. Right now it's more sight reading and memorization, but it's a start. His teacher is one of the best at his school for teaching kids to read. He is so prouud of himself, when he reads those books. We are proud of him, too!


Jacob's FIRST (although 2nd year) of Tiny Tots.

Addison's FIRST time going potty on the "big girl potty."We are congratulating her by doing the "wee-wee" dance. It works and she love it!

The FIRST day of AYSO soccer.
Jacob and Tyler are both playing this year. Jacob's jersey wasn't ready, so I'll post pictures of him later. The y both had games today, at the same time! Aaron is coaching Jake's team, so I watched Tyler's game. It was so hot- over 100 degrees. I felt so sorry for the poor kids running around in the sun. They didn't seem to mind though!
Tyler and his friend Trey are on the same team and also in the same Primary class.

The FIRST flu of the season.After a fun girls night out on Thursday (thanks, girls, that was fun!!) I awoke to Tyler who had just thrown up all over his room. He continued to be sick for the next 7 hours. Poor guy. We stayed up all night on the couch and snuggling in the guest room- between throw-ups. By ten the next morning, he was back to normal. I guess it's going around- yuck! No one else has it here...yet... knock on wood! He was treated like a king all day- chicken soup on a tray while watching a movie and homemade apple juice popsicles. I think he secretly had a fun day and while we're being honest- I secretly enjoyed having him home instead of at school! Shh, don't tell.


Enjoying my sister's FIRST baby.
Could she be any cuter?? I love her.

All 5 grandkids having fun at a picnic on Labor Day.


Last but not least-my thirty FIRST birthday.(I can't believe I am posting this picture for all to see! It's not very flattering, but it was so much fun I want to remember!)

We didn't really celebrate until that night, because it was the first day of school and we had to all be our the door by 7:40, but Aaron decorated for me and had all my presents out. By the end of the day I was feeling a little sorry for myself because the day was feeling just like any other day- so I decided to go outside and have some fun with the kids. Aaron came home and found us sliding down our homemade water slide into a pool. It was super fun and we all laughed really hard. He brought home some yummy Wahoo's and we feasted on chocolate cake from Claim Jumper and opened presents. One of Aaron's young men (he's in college now) showed up at my door earlier that day with a homemade chocolate cake. That made my day. Thanks, Matt! 3 of my good friends stopped by throughout the day, too, delivering yummy treats- pinkberry (thanks Keri!), cookies and bath stuff from Victoria's Secret (thanks, Amber!) and some darling earrings and sweet card (thanks Amber J!) I am blessed with wonderful friends. My parents also came out for the afternoon with a pie from Marie Callendar's. So after all, it ended up being a great birthday. Thanks everyone for making it special!

Big Bear, finally

There are so many darn pictures to choose from, I haven't known where to start. I'm just going to jump in with both feet!

Our trip to Big Bear was fantastic! We rented a house that was right on the lake. Since our kids are so young, we needed something that ensured a good nights sleep for all. This was just the answer. The house had 4 bedrooms so everyone got a good nights sleep and no naps were missed! We loved being right on the lake because the babies could nap and Aaron or I could take the big boys down to the lake to fish, catch bugs or just explore. We also really enjoyed the big (fenced) backyard, the spa on the back deck and the pool table. This was just the perfect vacation for our little family- with young children. We can't wait to go back next year!

Some of the highlights were:
*renting the pontoon boat- and Addie being the first to jump in the freezing cold lake!
*movie night
*playing lots of pool
*going in the got tub with the boys at night and looking at the stars
*Alpine slide-so fun!
*bowling
*go-carts
*swimming at the lake
*playing with the water-propelled speed racer car
*catching thousands of baby catfish and keeping them in our blow up pool
*sleeping in and lots of naps
*Addie sleeping in a "big girl" bed
*my parents coming up for a night

Here are a FEW of the hundreds of pictures we took. . .


This is the view of our house from the back.I love this procession of pictures- getting ready to jump ( it was cold!)
jumping...
She did it!!
Jake, our captain.
I think this is my favorite picture of the whole trip. Poor little Carter and his life vest. He didn't really love it- and for good reason! "Fat man in a little coat" -- name that movie!
Addie loved "driving the boat."

Something sure was interesting to these three
Serious Tyler- he took his job very seriously!
This pool table kept the boys busy for hours. I never knew there were so many things you could do with pool balls and cues.
We only brought one pack and play so we weren't sure how Addie would do in a bed. She did wonderful! She would stay in the until someone came to get her out-
How's that for some bed head? Some of you have asked what "it"looks like before I tame the beast- well, here it is in all it's glory. Oh. My.
My three sweeties.
We had a private dock and we spent lots of time there, just exploring.
Snack time on the back deck.
Movie night with the big kids- Jumanji, popcorn and candy.
The view from the back deck.

The water propelled Speed Racer- tons of fun.
Our attempt at a family picture.
The boys spent lots of time doing Lego's- just like home.
and puzzles.
Last time we took the kids bowling ( couple years ago) it didn't go so well. This time was so much better. Everyone (ok, Addie needed a little help) could bowl by themselves.
All 4, on the pontoon boat.
We each took turns taking teh kids on the go carts, they loved it!

Brothers, at the Bowling Barn.
Addie thought bowling was great- she was so funny!
Look at that form. Sometimes I get so sick of Aaron being good at everything! Seriously, isn't there something that he ISN"T good at?? (the answer is no, I've seen him do it all)
Me and my girl.
Finally, a good picture of Jake smiling. he has the cheesiest forces smile, it's rare that he has a natural smile.
Addie got stuck in the mud down by the dock. She started sinking and it was so funny! She was crying and Jake came to her rescue and pulled her out of the "quicksand."
Love this goose.
She loves to grab your cheeks and say "Chubby cheeks, chubby cheeks!"
Above: The boys found these schools of catfish and caught the and then put them in our pool in the backyard. Although we returned them, alive of course, I think we may have single-handedly wiped out the entire catfish population of Big Bear Lake. There were thousands of these little guys swimming around.

My sweet Carter. He was such a good boy on our trip- sleeping through the night like usual and going with the flow.
Fishing off the dock.
Above: Grammy and Tyler on the Alpine Slide. Can't wait to do that again, so much fun!

Our new tradition: Ice Cream Party on the last day of vacation. We hated to throw our left over ice cream away- so we brought out the ice cream, gave the kids spoons and let them go to town!
Hot tub party!
My Dad and Aaron, relaxing on the boat.
Another beautiful view from the yard.

Last but certainly not least. . .
MVP for our trip goes to my wonderful husband!!

He took the kids EVERY morning so I could sleep in. It was just heaven to wake up every morning, with the most amazing view of the lake- and then roll over and go back to sleep. I can't say thank you enough- I enjoyed every minute of it.

I will be the first to admit that going away with kids is sure a lot of work! I think it took me just as much time to get ready for our trip- as we spent on our trip! BUT- it was so wonderful to get away for a few days. I loved having no phone or computer. I loved being able to focus completely on the kids and my husband and I loved all the laughing, playing and wonderful memories that were made, and for that reason, I would (and will) do it all again!