a small glimpse

aaron often says i have too much stuff [meaning junk] in my purse. this is coming from the man who only has 1 key, will not wear a watch and does not put a wallet in his back pocket. but in my defense i start to say "i would like to see you stand in a line for 30 min with 3 kids" or "take 2 to gymnastics and while waiting entertain 1 for 45 min". well the list could go on and you guys get the idea.

but i had to laugh though when i opened my purse this morning, i can see why he would think that.

i really am a mom of 3 boys...
[in case you cannot tell what is in there, it is swedish fish - more for me then anyone, 2 star wars action figures, superman and a pirate paper. that is only what is on top.]

go PADRES & a birthday gift!

last night aaron and i were lucky enough to go out for a night in san diego, with NO kids. i love downtown's and this one especially! a few highlights consisted of...

* my hot hubby by my side & friends

* lots of laughing

* good food

* a ball game [we won!]

* annoying crowds [a few rows behind us some cops had to tackle a few guys and take them away in cuffs. gotta love drunks!]

* and after the game we went to a restaurant [which is known for being fun and rowdy] and my sweet hubby ordered a "virgin" daiquiri, that gave everyone there someone to tease. the waiter even made sure to yell out "for the pretty princess". i just think that nick name is going to stick, ha ha.

all in all it was a great night!

on a different note. early this morning before his big b-day party, i made this for sweet little carson who turned 1. i hoped it turned out the way you wanted it to janice and thanks for letting me make it.

i have the "force". do you?

as many of you know our little monkeys are obsessed with star wars. seeing that i have never watched these movies until about a year ago, they have given me a new appreciation.
it amazes me how much they think about it throughout the day. for example our 2 older monkeys think dad and mom know how to use the "force". one example of this is when we are driving in the car ev will say "can you use the force to turn up the music?". it's quite simple to amaze a child when the sound volume is on the steering wheel and they cannot see you turn it up, thank you honda.

well last night, aaron thought it would be fun to do a few kid science tricks. what a great idea babe, it was so fun! we did a few different ones but one of the things we learned was how to use the "force". our kids thought it was great that dad and mom were passing down their knowledge. this is how it works...

take piece of paper and fold it in half.

stand the paper on a table [with the fold going up and down], then move just far enough away so that you can't reach out and touch the paper.

with practice you can snap your arm out quickly and knock the paper down without touching it!

so simple and they loved it. the best part was that everyone was able to participate, even luke with an "ahh". our kids are at a great age for this kind of stuff!

can i just say, i love kids imaginations!

what to fill you in on...

it's that time of year where the vacations come to an end, routine gets put into place and most importantly school and soccer start! we have had a wonderful week with a lot going on.

this past week i had a meeting to get ky's preschool going and i am so excited. i am doing a joy school with 5 other moms and this year its all BOYS, how fun!

then...

ev had his first soccer practice.

we are so lucky this year that he has 5 other little friends on his team (i did not even request it, how lucky is that?)

leigh (an old neighbor) and myself.

here are some pictures of how to do the central part of california in 22 hours... i do not recommend it but it was great catching up with old friends. aaron had a conference to attend so i thought why not tag along.

sorry jamie i was not able to see you and your 3 beautiful girls, it would have been fun but we ran out of time.

sherry, rachel, luke, becky, ky, andrew, ev and a friend.

blake, ev, ky and kaden.

kasey & teresa's boys, they also have a new sweet baby girl that i did not get a picture of.

i cannot wait for you guys to start your blog, hint hint:)

wow, the last day of summer and we officially have a "surfer" in the family. we were so proud! ky even gave it a try.

sorry janice we could not hit the beach with you guys, trisha called but we had already left... next time.
and here is ev with his SWEET teacher. she even called to talk to ev last week before school started. how cute is that? she reminds me so much of my mother-in-law, i could not be happier!

another thing we got so lucky (or blessed) with that he got the best teacher and i did not even request it. he also has 5 other little friends in this class.

it is going to be a GREAT year!

sorry that was so long, i need to be better about blogging right after things happen. hopefully i will have more time now.

baby kaiya

we are pleased to welcome our niece kaiya. she is just so beautiful and precious, there is nothing like a newborn baby! aarons sister and her husband [karli & chris] have waited a LONG time for this moment. we are SO excited for them and cannot wait to get our hands on that little girl!!!

congrats - we love you guys!

hungry for pizza?

a cul-de-sac + fun neighbors + bikes = oops!

happy "bir-f-day" to you

photo taken by blue lily.

someones birthday is today. can you guess who is "tree"? its you ky.

when asked "when is your birthday?" you say "aug fur-teenth" [or something like that] but the best part about your age is that you have no idea that that is today. your daddy has been SO busy with work lately, more then he ever has been, so we decided to celebrate it next week. since you have no idea it makes it easy to make everyone happy. but that does not mean i need to let my journal go till next week.

today you did not want to turn "tree" because you had a doctors appointment but you were lucky and escaped with no shots. thats a first! i guess there is a shortage of heb a and i was asked if i am taking you out of the country. fortunately you are not going anywhere... i am!

ky, i love you sweetheart and am so grateful and lucky to have such a beautiful blue eyed boy as mine... all mine.

playing catch up

kathy, joann, carol, beth, myself, celeste & paula

last weekend we were delighted to have celeste come and visit from indiana. can you believe she drove with her 4 kids? and i thought i was brave for going to utah with 3. while she was in cali we got to steal her away from her family for a few days. we were able to have dinner, chat and hit the beach. thanks for coming celeste and squeezing us into your busy schedule. things are not the same without you, so i look forward to you moving back, "wink".

a random post

first of all let me start out by telling you about my last post. the link sent you to the gap.com and half way down the sale page they had 1 sweater only it was a picture of a very small crocheted bikini bottoms. it gave aaron and i a good laugh and i wanted to share that with you all but they must have caught their own mistake. darn gap!

anyway, onto my next random thing. many of you know that my husband is a pro surfer [ok only in his dreams but you get the idea... he loves it]. so to many of you this may look like a normal wetsuit and typically i do not care about his wetsuit. i actually hardly think about it until my husband cleans it.

this normally happens late friday night before he surfs on saturday. it is not a welcomed time because it is not a comforting feeling to see a big black shadow in my shower, knowing my husband is in bed. it freaks the heck out of me! it happens so often you think i would learn but no every time i almost pee my pants. so one day i hope to have a sink in my garage so he can clean it out there. until then i hope to keep my pants dry.
photo taken by the wonderfully talented wendy [a.k.a. blue lily].

and my final thought for today is for all those beach go-ers out there. did you know that baby powder makes sand slide right off? well it does! it is great on all the spots where sand likes to stick... baby creases, bathing suits, etc. next time you go to the beach make sure to grab the baby powder and use it after a day at the beach but before you get in the car.

if you want to learn about more uses for baby powder read here and here. i had no idea something i used on my kids bums could be so useful!

hmm

i was shopping some sales and came across this, scroll down half way until you see sweaters. this may not be your typical sweater but i hope this keeps someone warm and its on sale!

water park fun

yesterday we went to a local water park with kristen and some other friends. it was a little hard at first with 3 small monkeys but when ev realized he could do the lazy river with friends it was easy sailing for me. the kids had a great time and we filled our day with lots of sun, water, food and talking. what more could you ask for?

ev enjoying the lazy river with friends
ky eating everyones snacks.
my smallest monkey all tuckered out.

a big thank you...

goes out to aarons parents for coming all this way to hang out with us for a few days. i cannot say it enough, they are awesome! i feel so blessed to have married into such an amazing family. i look up to my in-laws in so many ways and am grateful that they want to have a close relationship with our family. thanks for coming you guys and we look forward to seeing you in just 6 more weeks!

king peter!

check out the helmet, it does not fit but ev puts it over his nose to hold it into position. little piggy.jr knight!