Camping at Prado Regional Park

We went camping at Prado Regional Park last weekend.  The first night, Nancy, Jacob, Josh, Dylan, Grandma Renae and Auntie Rach came to visit us.  We had lots of fun roasting marshmallows, or just eating them raw like Joey does, and visiting.  The boys, including Daddy, played in the water and went fishing.  Joey is very good at casting his line, but he doesn't like to wait for the fish to come, so he just casts and reels.  Aaron did not have a hook on his rod, that would have been scary for sure!!!  I love camping with my family, we we always have a great time! :)

Joey's First Day of School

Joey's first day of school was August 4th.  He has been in for almost a month now and I think we've worked out all of the kinks!  He did great for the first couple of weeks but then he started getting sad in the morning when it is time to leave.  I always remind him that he has a great time when he gets there and that seems to  help a ton.  He really loves going to school and he has taken on so many new responsibilities.  I am so proud of the way he rose the occasion.  He is in all day, so I think it is a lot for al little guy to handle at first.  He brought his first benchmark home and his little scores were great, as if there was any room to wonder, he is a boy genius after all. :)  I am going to start working in the classroom soon.  I can't wait to see what his little routine is like. :)

Camping at Refugio

We went camping at Refugio State Beach for a couple of days with the Cranstons and some of Sabrina's family. We had a great time. I REALLY miss spending a ton of time at the beach. I need to convince my husband that playing in the ocean IS AWESOME even if you do get sand everywhere. The beach was beautiful and the waves were just right for the kids to play in. We camped about 3o feet from the shore line, it was great!

The beach really is the best place to get beautiful pictures.

This picture of Joey cracks me up. He looks so Karate Kid! :)

Or Moses maybe.

Cy loved the sand. I was a little worried about what he would do at the beach, but he just crawled around and stood up on our chairs and wagon. Thank goodness he didn't feel inclined to eat the dirt. :)

Here is Joey digging for treasure I think. :)

I just dig this picture of Aaron.
Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto!

Here is a video of Joey boogie boarding. Yes...boogie boarding. He rode in once with me and once with Joe. He had so much fun playing with "The Dudes" (Sabrina's teenage nephews) and he says he wants to be a surfer when he is big. We're just going to have to start dragging Daddy to the beach more often. :)
He looks a little nervous at first, but that was just because the water was a little chilly. Once he got used to it he loved it!

...called a noodle

I wrote this a few weeks back and posted it in my other blog. Just thought I'd share with the Blogger crowd...

"What's it like having three boys?" An innocent question asked by the man in line behind me at Wal-Mart at 11:30 pm.
"Like I live in a circus, or a traveling zoo!" I answered as I ran after Aaron who was darting out the front door because I wouldn't let him play with the big foam noodle that he was using to beat the unsuspecting passers by.

The Wal-Mart expedition started out like any other. We unloaded all three boys and entered the store optimistically, sure that we would swiftly find what we needed and make a quick exit. After realizing that all of the carts were being used for stocking purposes, we left the store to find one and re-entered slightly less optimistic than before. We wandered over to the pool toys to make a few selections for Joey's party and found two shiny new foam noodles. The boys were thrilled and promised not to hit people or things with them if I would let them carry their special new toys through the store. Since we are in need of various light bulbls throughout the house, it seemed prudent to go to the light bulb department next. Do I even have to tell you what happened then? Aaron decided to declare war on a shelf of light bulbs with his bright orange pool noodle. I took the noodles and hid them between the pallets of boxes that were impeding our every move while David ran to get some janitorial help to clean up the broken glass. I turned my back and Aaron grabbed the noodles and ran down the towel aisle, probably hoping that my "mommy butt" wouldn't fit between the boxes that lined the aisle. My flip flops slid across the freshly buffed floor as I barely nabbed him by the nape of his neck. I half whispered and half screamed at him as we continued on to the camping department.

I watched the monkeys while David looked for tent stakes. Aaron was still throwing a fit because I wouldn't let him have the noodle. He threw himself on the ground and I walked away having decided that I really was going to leave him. I only hoped that nice people would find him and love him. I thought better of it, turned back, and he was gone. He had literally vanished. Just as I was about to declare a Code Adam and have the store put on lock down., Joey announced that he had found him. The little angel had crammed himslef in a two foot cubby between boxes under exercise equipment display. David became Houdini and squeezed in the tiny gap to retrieve him. I placed Aaron in the cart and we decided to hurry to find the few remaining items on our list.

As we rushed through the store, we struggled to keep the noodle out of Aaron's grasp (they were a gift for Joey's party, and I decided that he shouldn't be punished because of Aaron's actions, so we kept them in the cart). But much to the dismay of a group of annoying female adolescents, he was able to grab the four foot stick of fun and whack them as we walked by. They giggled and 'oh my goshed' and scurried away. As the girls passed us again one blurted out "Oh my gosh, like I don't want to get hit again!" Feeling slighty agitated and a bit like an adolescent myself, I waited for them to scuttle off and I said,"Oh my gosh, like I don't want stupid to rub off on me either, but you dont hear me complaining!"

David realized that Mommy needed to get out of the store so we made our final selections and checked out. As we drove home, I thought there must be something that I missed, I thought about how hard I try to discipline my children and teach them how to act appropriately. I wondered what I had done to deserve such a nightmare at the wonderland that is the Victorville Wal-Mart on a Friday night. So I asked, "Where did I go wrong hun?"
"I'll tell you where we went wrong dear" David said "we started out by giving our two year old a four foot floppy sword called a noodle!"

Legoland

We went to Legoland with the Cranstons for Joey's birthday this year. It was a blast. There were a ton of rides for the kids to go on. I think the highlight of the trip was on the second day while we were paying to park. David heard a cough in the car next to us that he thought he recognized (he is a tennis freak) and looked over and it was Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf with their kids. We didn't see them again but it was awesome! :)

Here we are shooting the unsuspecting passers by! :)

The boys and their Cheetos

Joey was having a bad morning and David was torturing him a bot LOL! We waited in this line for an hour. We call it the best ride it the park, but only because we have a hard time swallowing the fact that we waited an hour for dud! LOL

This ride was awesome. You got to choose the intensity you wanted. Sabrina chose a 2 and the guys chose a five because they wanted to have their brains rattled a little more! Joey and Danny went on too but they had to do a 1.

Here are the kids getting ready to go on the first day! YAY LEGOLAND!

Photo Tag

The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. And you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning, or wiping your child's nose. And then tag five others.

1. The Fridge

I am out of Diet Pepsi. There is usually at least an 18 pack in there. :)

2. The Toilet

Here it is, dirty and fun. Just like a toilet should be!

3.The Closet

All clothes put away and busting at the seams.

4. The Kitchen Sink

This isn't cheating, but I am not posting a picture of my dirty dishes!

5. Favorite Room

This is my favorite room because the kids are strapped in and not drawing on my furniture with eyeliner or toothpaste. Don't get me started! :)

6. Laundry Room

This was just after the whole package of TP toppled on my head when I tried to retrieve a roll for Joey.7. Favorite Shoes

I love these because they are comfy!

8.What are your kids doing right now?

Do I need to explain this one? LOL

Aaron doesn't want his picture takenJoey is watching Backyardigans
9. Self Portrait

Here are two because I can't get that other one to go away! My computer is on the fritz. :)


So my kitchen isn't really that messy all the time. We had an ant invasion in my freakin pantry so everything is on my table and counter right now...I know likely excuse.

10. Dream Vacation

A trip to Chicago with David

And now I tag Sabrina Lacy and Van! Haha! Three people will do just fine! :)

Here it goes...

So my last post was on June 1. On June 2 my favorite friend ever, Traci, was killed in a car accident. Everytime I come back here to post I realize that I can't just skip over my friend and her memory, but everytime I try to think of what to write about her and that day, I just choke. Words cannot express what she meant to me, or how amazing she was or how sad I am everyday. So I am going to take the easy road here and copy something that I posted on Myspace the day I found out.

Just a few awesome memories about one the best friends I've ever had!!!!

Traci was literally an answer to my prayers for a friend. I was barely 18 and had just come back to church, so I didn't have a friend to speak of. I had stopped hanging out with my friends from High School because we didn't have that much in common anymore. I was so afraid to go to Institute because I didn't know anybody there. As I drove to class for the first time, I prayed that I would find someone to talk to. After class was over, Traci approached me immediately, we hung out that night, and almost every weekend after that for two years!!!

We always joked that we shared a brain. Our lives were so similar and parallel in so many ways, that we just knew that Heavenly Father had brought us together to support one another. We joked about petitioning the First Presidency to allow this one same sex marriage, because we were sure that we would make the perfect couple...but after careful consideration, decided that we needed husbands so we were going to live in a dual family home and give the boys their own bathroom to clean. Anyway, you get the idea ! LOL

One day while we were driving together, "Buy Me a Rose" by Kenny Rogers came on the radio. She told me that that was our song and that the song described our relationship perfectly! Obviously, she was just being a goofball, but that became our song, and even after we got married we would call eachother whenever it came on the radio. One time I checked my messages, and there was one, that was just that song playing, with no explanation! ROFL!!!

I needed help with math one night (she was a math genius) and she offered to tutor me. There was some equation that I didn't understand, so she converted the Plan of Salvation into math terms in order to explain it to me. I don't remember how it all worked out, but it made perfect sense to me. I didn't know why an x left the equation and she told me it went to x paradise, then got ressurected or something like that. LOL

One of my favorite memories is the Date Auction where I met David. Traci, Carly and I made a poster describing a date and the guys had to bid on the posters without seeing the girls that went with it. We had so much fun planning that, and Traci's Cheer skills made our poster the sexiest one there. We went to Santa Monica and walked to Venice with the guys. That date was hilarious!!! If you're interested, I posted some pictures of that day. :)

Well, thanks for listening. I just want to keep talking about her, it's like if I keep talking about her, it will keep her with me that much longer. So again, thanks for listening.

Promalongadingdong

David and I chaperoned prom last Saturday. We had lots of fun. High School kids are really odd though and I am positive that I never acted that strangely! LOL I spent forever trying to find a modest dress, and finally found one the DAY BEFORE the dance. Amazing huh? Well here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment! :)

My pretty prom hair and make-up! :)

A crazy monday, a few weeks back. :)

I am doing a little catching up, so here are some pictures from a few weeks ago. We got together with friends and went to play at Mojave Narrows. They have an awesome playground with a really cool water park thingy for the kids. I didn't many pictures in the water, 'cause I was busy with the baby, but the kids has a SWELL time!

The guys on the tire swing

Cy, doing what he does on these sorts of outings.

Aaron really enjoyed the tire swing for a while, but after ten minutes of spinning in the 90 degree heat, he kind of lost it! Poor baby!!!

Joey started giving a peace sign for the camera. I think he gets it from Alvin and the Chipmunks! LOL

Joey and one of his best pals, Danny! We have awesome friends!

Joey and Aaron on the swingy thingy.

Here we are at Joey's Teeball game later that evening, Aaron still hadn't recovered from the tire swing incident so he slept through the whole thing.

My beautiful Joey boy!

David loves this picture of Joey adjusting his hat like a pro.

There's that peace sign again!

Joey is such a goof, no season is complete without a picture of him laying in the grass. I don't think he noticed that he missed the ball here! ROFL