The Maz and Peek-a-Boo

Its nice to see that after 7 months of taking Gerber baby food and recycling it to be discarded in diapers, we are starting to see the fruits of our labors.

Quote of the Day!

Saturday morning at 8:40 am, the kids are still sound asleep from the late night before, Troy rolls over in bed and looks at me with panic in his eyes, "Are we in the Twilight Zone?". I don't think we have all slept in till 8:30 am since Gavin was born 5 years ago.

A Good Day!

Troy really outdid himself this year! It is my birthday on Monday the 26th and Troy asked me what I wanted. I told him I just wanted have my parents watch the kids for an extended date and go to a nice restaurant and a movie. He asked me where and I told him a few ideas. He said he would ask around and plan out the day if that was o.k..

Now, Troy is great, but a mystery date where he wants to take care of all the details, and surprise me is a little out of character. Lets be honest it's just out of character. So I'm a little skeptical throughout the week not sure if it's really going to happen. Friday when I find out there is a chance of rain and cold I am especially skeptical. I am still totally excited about the prospect of dinner and a movie with Troy.

Saturday morning comes and Troy wakes up and says, "Lets Go!". I ask if we are still doing his 'special day' and he says, "Lets Go!". So we get the kids ready and drop them off at my mom's. Then we drive up to Sonoma which is a little past Napa. I have never been there in the 30 plus years of being around the Bay Area. It is beautiful even through the rain and fog. We get up to Sonoma and Troy has made reservations at 'The Girl and The Fig'. It was an awesome restaurant that brags of Country Food with a French Passion. We sampled their Cheese and Fruit platter minus the alcohol (much to the dismay of our waiter) and shared Trout and a Grilled Lamb Burger. It was delicious and really fun. Then we walked around Downtown Sonoma and watched everyone getting sloshed. Sonoma is definitely Wine Country.

After walking around for a bit we got in the car and drove up to Jack London Park. We are both fans of the author and Troy thought it would be cool to see 'Beauty Ranch'. It was so cool! Up in the hills of Sonoma there is 800 acres dedicated to a State Park. Within the area are 3 of the many of Jack London's living quarters,(The Cottage, where he wrote a good deal of his works, Wolf House which burnt down before he could move in with his wife Charmaine,and Happy Halls (which is what Charmaine built after Jack died at the young age of 40), . Everything is renovated except for Wolf Cottage which was burnt down but stands still as an enormous stone skeleton structure about a half mile from Happy Halls. The museums had a lot of their original possessions and great stories to tell. Jack London was amazing man who had adventure, passion, vision, talent and a great sense of humor. He really shared his whole being with the world and died too young. He is a great example of living life to the extreme.

We will definitely go back to Jack London Park in the future. There are cool hikes and picnic spots to do with the kids.

We hung out there for a while and then came back to go hot tubbing at my parents house with the kids. A Great Birthday Treat!

Thanks Troy, love Lee!

Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk

Okay so we thought this guy was pretty classic. Rolled up jean shortys, peace sign in one hand, Remember Lord Jesus sign in the other. His mission president must be pretty 'Hang Loose'.

This Saturday we decided to hit the beach. It was upwards of 100 degrees in San Ramon so we took off for a cool 72 degrees in Santa Cruz. It felt quite a bit warmer than that in the sun. I guess it was opening weekend at the Board Walk because they had a bunch of cool events going on. This is a picture of a high jump diver. The platform he is taking off of is 80 feet high. The pool that you don't see is a little blow up pool that is probably 10 feet deep. Good for him. The finale which we didn't get a photo of which my kids can't get over was a lady jumping off in a full black sweat suit that she lit on fire and then dove into the pool...WOW


Gavin and Colby had a great time chasing the waves and then trying to get away from them. It is so fun and nice that they can be entertained like that for 4 hours straight.



Mazzy enjoyed a few firsts today. Her first day at the beach, first taste of nasty Santa Cruz sand and her favorite was the umbrella poll. We hope she outgrows that one real quick.
All in all it was a super fun day, minimal breakdowns, no injuries and only minor sun burns for Troy and I (of course).

Saturday at the Nut Tree!

There is a really fun family park in Vacaville called the Nut Tree. Last year for an all day pass it was $19 and this year it is $10, MUCH BETTER. It is perfect for kids ages 7 and under. There is only one roller coaster that you have a height restriction of 38 inches to ride. There is a Merry Go Round, wooden boats, Hot Dog Stands, a little Train, Bumper Cars, little Rescue Vehicles and little Hot Air Balloons. We had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa Boyer as well as Barbie and Haley. Troy and Ben worked on Barbie and Ben's house installing insulation for the first part of the day and met us over at the park later.

HIGHLIGHTS

Colby's highlight is always a choo choo train but he had a lot of fun with the cute little wooden boat that you push around the pond with a stick.

Gavin went on the harvest rollercoaster upwards of about 20x's. My favorite quote of the day from Gavin was, "That is a FINE Machine MOM!".
Colby tried the roller coaster with not as much success as Gavin. He muscled through the first turn with a scowl on his cute face and when the roller coaster went for a surprise 2nd turn with out asking him he tried to stand up and started yelling, "No! I did not want to go AGAIN!"

Mazzy did her usual job of being a great tag along and sleeping when the time was appropriate.
It was a very fun day and not to hot like this week has been!

The Grand Finale was eating at the Fentons at the Nut Tree. The Bananna Split was AWESOME!

+'s and -'s of Motherhood

This is more for me than anyone else.

NEGATIVES (-)

-waking up at all hours of the night
-poopy diapers
-diarrhea
-vomit
-fighting children
-me yelling at my kids and husband
-me mad and frustrated over something insignificant
-ouchies
-hurt feelings
-mean siblings and other kids
-dirty laundry after I just folded the last batch
-tired
-any form of shopping with the kids
-missing a valuable teaching moment
-tired, cranky, attitudes (mine and theirs)
-taking family pictures
-being pregnant
-feeling guilty
-getting a babysitter
-packing or unpacking from trips
-illnesses
-bad words
-road trips

POSITIVES (+)

-their smiles
-Colby's, "I really love you, Mommy"
-hugs
-stories
-having babies
-nap time
-learning moments
-siblings playing happily
-Gavin and Colby making up words to Primary songs
-Mazzy's coos
-Bandaids
-Troy teaching the boys to fish
-Mazzy sleeping through the night
-Gavin making his own breakfast and lunch
-Colby kissing Mazzy on the head and saying, "I really love you, Mazzy."
-bath time
-going to parks
-Troy saying, "I could never do what you do, Lee."
-fleeting moments when the apartment is clean and laundry is done
-bedtime kisses and cuddles
-Colby saying, "Mommy will you please sleep with me?"
-Gavin saying, "One more thing, wait, one more thing."
-Colby's eyes
-Mazzy's smiles
-Gavin's goodness
-Mazzy's flapping arms
-Colby's confidence
-Gavin's quizzical brow
-Mommy Pleases and Mommy Thankyou's
-outings
-Troy looking at Mazzy sadly like if he blinks she will be a woman
-shopping for my kids
-looking at family pictures
-Gavin's long explanations
-Colby's determination
-working at Pre-school
-Mazzy after a nap
-Primary
-Holidays
-Vacations
-Gavin and Colby Prayers
-All the LOVES!

I didn't realize that I would come up with so many more (+'s) over (-'s). It is always good to reflect on why we do what we do! I am grateful for all the moms out there! Especially my own. I am so glad that my Heavenly Father gave me a chance to be a mother. There is nothing that I would rather do than take care of Gavin, Colby, Mazzy (and Troy of course). They are the best things that ever happened to me and I take them for granted every day. May I do better in the future!

Colby's Faith.

I was just going through some pictures on my computer and came across this one. I remembered a story from the day it was taken and have been thinking about it ever since. Colby is my "extreme" child or the one who has reinforced the principle of 'Opposition in All Things' for me. As sassy or naughty as he can be he is also sweet and perfect. About a month ago we went to a birthday party for a cousin, Shepard. There were all kinds of activities but Colby's favorite was taking the eggs out of their chicken coup and showing them to everyone. He is a lover of eggs in general. His favorite ways to eat them are hard cooked. He will generally settle for eggs on toast, egg salad or just plain scrambled eggs. Anyhow on this particular day he just could not leave the chicken's eggs alone. Finally he broke one in his hand. He looked up at me with those big beautiful blue eyes and said, "Thats okay mom, Jesus will bring it back to life, remember."

"See what happens when I am angry at you!"

I almost took a picture of the final product but I thought it might encourage the behavior. I have pretty much recovered from the incident but thought I would write it down for posterity, and so I could laugh when Colby has his own kids.

Explanation:

Last Friday Troy came home from work and everything was relatively normal, Colby and Gavin were playing/fighting and Mazzy was entertaining herself with a plastic bowl. Troy gets on the phone with his brother Ladd and they are catching up. In the midst of Troy talking and me doing whatever, Colby asks for a 'sippy cup of hot milk'. Troy tells me to get him a cup of powdered milk jokingly and Colby takes it a little too serious, "I don't want a cup of powdered milk, STUPID mommy". I could not believe that he (A)-knew what powdered milk was and (B)-that he called me STUPID. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and said, "Colby, we do not say STUPID, especially not to mommy." "Not unless you like the taste of soap." I thought he got the picture but shortly after Troy got off the phone and I don't know what the reason Colby said something that ended in,"Stupid Daddy". Troy picked him up and put a miniscule amount of soap in his mouth. Colby came out of the bathroom laughing and decided to spit. Well I am definitely the mean one and informed Troy that he obviously did not give Colby enough soap. So I took Colby into the bathroom, put a reasonable amount in his mouth, told him to wash it out and then I left the bathroom. At first he cried for me to come back in. Then it got quiet for a while. I felt bad so I went back in there to help him wash his mouth out with water. I should have known when he was so willing to cooperate and wash his mouth out that something was amiss. After we were done at the sink, he hoped off his foot stool and showed me his 'special puddle' on the floor, "See what happens when I am angry at you!". I couldn't believe it, he had gotten so mad that he had peed through his clothes and on the floor to prove his point. I made him strip down immediately and take a bath. I was so mad, but I couldn't help thinking that was maybe something that I might do if I didn't have any other weapons to get my own point across.

Fire Dreams

I know it is normal for kids to have nightmares. Gavin seems to have special theme nightmares for a couple of weeks at a time. 2 weeks ago his pre-school class visited the Dublin Fire Station. He came home with all kinds of information floating his head. For example: If there is a fire in your home/apartment, don't hide under the bed, put a blanket in the crack in the door to keep smoke out, have an escape ladder handy, know where a fire extinguisher is, practice emergency exits, have an exit plan for the family, and scream and yell if you smell smoke. These rules have become daily role play events with Colby and I personally get tested on the rules on a daily basis. His latest question besides, "When is the Earth going to be baptized by fire? is, "Why haven't we had an emergency plan meeting before?". Last night at 3 am I hear Gavin crying in his room, "Mommy, please put the fires out!". "I don't want to die." I went in there and had a rather difficult time calming him down/waking him up. When I finally convinced him he was having a dream he still said, "O.k., thankyou for putting the fire out, Mom." It is nice to be a hero. Even if it is only in Gavin's dreams.

First Family Pool Day of the Year!

There is one activity that we look forward to every summer and that is swimming in Grandma and Grandpa Boyer's pool and hot tub. We tried last week while they were still enjoying Hawaii but the pool was a little frigid at 68 degrees. I didn't feel that would nurture Mazzy's future relationship with water. The boys and Troy however went for it and got a little chilly. This weekend Grandpa came to the rescue and got the heater up to par. Today the pool was a very pleasant 87 degrees. Now if only the weather could be what it was last weekend. Oh well plenty of fun in the sun to come!:)

Mazzy's first experience was a good one. Nice thinking on my part to wait a week!

Gavin was bugged that Troy was taking his precious swimming time with capturing moments.

Colby was just happy he remembered how to swim without his 'shark suit'.

What we learned in/during Pre-School this week!

It is fun to see what the kids get out of Pre-School.


Colby is practicing to become Houdini. His latest magic trick, turning his teacher, Mrs. Richards into a sleeping bag.



Gavin learned how to morph into Clifford the Big Red dog.



Mazzy learned that sitting up by herself is actually possible.

I can't wait to see what next week will bring!