What Cricket Problem?

As most of you know, while in Santa Barbara over Thanksgiving, Lance and Becky located a gecko to give to Gavin for his birthday. Immediately, Gavin named him Happy Gails. We weren't too sure what type of entertainment this little lizard would provide us, but as soon as we saw him with crickets, we know we wouldn't be disappointed, and neither was Happy, watch how he licks his lips afterwards.

Resurrection Lutheran Pre-School Christmas 2008!

My favorite Christmas Party of the year is the Resurrection Lutheran Pre-School Christmas Pageant. I can't tell you how sweet and perfect it is. We first experienced it last year with Gavin's 4 year old class.

He was the cutest shepherd I have ever seen.

This year Colby was a Wiseman and he was so excited.

He spoke his little lines perfect, "We followed the Star", and later, "My Gift is MYRRRRRRRR!" It made my Christmas and you can tell by his beaming little face that he thought he was pretty special.

Santa @ Broadway Plaza.

Seeing Santa is always a shot in the dark. Some kids are cool with it while some hate it. My kids are 50/50. I did get a shot of the boys trying to explain to Santa their wish list. Mazzy figured I was abandoning her with the crazy Santa who donned a yellow tinged beard and smelled of cigarettes. Not a pleasant combination. She was having none of it.

I did get a cute shot of the kids after seeing Santa. I do love the Holidays even with all the stress I never noticed before becoming a mom.

I have a 6 year old!

I feel way to young to have a 6 year old. Gavin turned 6 on December 4. I am not sure how I feel about that. He is everything a mother could want in an oldest child, clean, polite, basically responsible, a know it all, and maybe a little too sensitive, pretty much perfect for me. So why is it frustrating on more than one level when they get older? A.) I don't feel older so why should he be getting older. B.) I don't want him to grow up. Ever! C.) He already started Kindergarten this year isn't that painful enough?
D.) I fear teenage years more than anything else I can think of and he is half way there. The list could go on and on!

Anyhow Gavin's favorite movie is Eragon. It has been Eragon since he was 3. So naturally he wanted an Eragon Birthday Party. There is a lot of Dinosaur stuff out there but not much Dragon affiliated. At least not that I found. I did find some great ideas on the internet from a Birthday party that a mom threw in Texas in 2005. Sometimes I love the Web. So we had an Eragon party at a local park with a bunch of buddies and I am so glad that ship has sailed. I think it was pretty fun at least for Gavin. Here are some highlights.

He was pretty proud!

Colby did not like the idea of a party that did not focus on him but we did catch one happy moment!

Gavin told me the morning of that his cake was BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't ask for more than that seriously!

Let the games begin!

Hailey is just not that ferocious.

Laney on the other hand, she could take that dragon!

By the looks of it...Mazzy did!

Wait...No Amy took the Dragon Foot on! This was one of the highlights of the day!



HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY GAVIN!!! WE LOVE YOU!

A Little Christmas Cheer

So a girl at my work thought it would be funny to cramp our family's faces into the elf dance, so here it is.

Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks since Colby had his tonsils and adenoids removed so I am just going to start fresh. We drove over to Lance and Becky MacDonald's for Thanksgiving weekend. It was a perk that they live in Summerland which is next to Santa Barbara. It was awesome weather and great company. We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo,
This is a back end shot of the Male Lion. I tried to get him walking around but I was too slow. Troy, Gavin, Colby, Becky and Maz are in the foreground.

I don't know why Silver back Gorillas are so stinking cool and mean looking but this guy was posing all over the place.

Becky, Troy and the boys feed the Giraffe.

Lance was just trying to get a picture. Whoops!!!

THE BEACH!

Yes my boys stripped down to their underwear. I thought it would be cold and didn't pack swimsuits. Troy told me to and I didn't, what can I say?

This is a shot of the Lance, Becky and Chino family. In April they will have a new addition! A baby boy they are planning to name Wyatt! So FUN!
We hung out in downtown Santa Barbara (so cool), local parks and just hung out. It really was a perfect get a way. The kids did not want to leave which is always a good sign. We picked up a new addition to our family as well.

His name is Happy Face and he is Gavin's 6th Birthday present. It was either a Leopard Gecko or a Boa Constrictor and I am not ready for the snake commitment just yet.

Shout Out to the Moms who UNDERSTAND!

Thank you to all the moms who could relate to my "Emotional Moment". I think Troy and I need to get separate blogs in the future so that we don't have such a 'difference' in perspectives in the future. That seems like a lot of work right now so I guess those who read will just get 2 views on things.

Colby was AWESOME! He did so well and has only complained a few times about having a 'gore froat' in his own vocabulary. The nurses thought he was a great patient. He loved his dinosaur oxygen mask and kept in on pretty much the whole hospital stay. That was a surprising feat in itself. When I told him Friday night that we were going home tomorrow morning he started to cry because he liked the hospital and all his nurses so much. Luckily Saturday morning when it was time to go he said, "Alright, mom RIGHT NOW!" The meds have done funny things to his personality. They kinda enhance everything and make him very emotional. It is sweet a lot of the time and then when he can't think of any other reason why he is crying he says, "I am just SUPER SUPER SAD mom!"

All in all it was great! Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers! I will post some pictures when I can find my freaking camera!

An Emotional Moment

Well, as you can tell Loralee was a little emotional when writing the blog about Colby going to the hospital. It sounded more like an orbituary. I would have censored that one if I were around, but since it is already up there, I figured I would leave it so people can see what I have to deal with from time to time. The surgery Colby had was a very simple procedure, and now he is recovering, and goes home in the morning. While anytime you take a young child to the hospital, there is some concern, fortunately this was very minor.

Sleep Apnea, Tonsils, Adenoids, Surgery, Therapy!

I have a lot of back blogging to do from Halloween, the election, Prop. 8 passing, Mormon's being persecuted because of Prop 8 passing, my dad's 62 Birthday, but I have to vent at this time about something that is happening as I am writing, Colby going under the knife.

I have never thought of blogging as therapy. I have used in instead of scrap booking, journaling, keeping in touch, but never out of necessity or panic. I just sent my 4 year old off to the hospital with Troy for an Adenoidectomy/Tonsilectomy. I have 2 1/2 hours to kill before I will see him in the post op and I am already on edge and wondering why I let Troy talk me into taking him instead of me. O.K. background...

Colby is a beautiful, spirited, aggressive and loving boy with a slight speech impetiment. However, I haven't been worried the speech problem, just aware of it. He has had a serious snoring problem since he was 2. It gets so bad sometimes that he wakes us up across the apartment or interrupts a movie that we are watching in surround sound. I could live with that too. One serious issue is that he also has Cold Induced Asthma. So whenever he has a slight cold and sometimes even when he doesn't have a cold, he has a hard time breathing, especially at night. The other thing I noticed and brought to the attention of his Pediatrician is that often when he is snoring he stops breathing for seconds at a time. The pediatrician seemed a little disturbed by this piece of information at his 3 year old wellness check. She told me to monitor his breathing at night and count how long his pauses in breathing would last. His snoring and pauses seemed to get worse over the year and at his 4 year check she recommended an Ear Nose and Throat specialist. Long story short after X-rays and talking with the doctor, Colby has abnormally large Adenoids and Tonsils that are blocking his airway in his nose and mouth. It is actually quite serious and so surgery was scheduled 4 weeks later and here we are. He is scheduled for surgery this morning at John Muir Hospital.

This is a strange time to bare one's testimony but I am so grateful for the Power of Prayer and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Troy was able to give Colby a blessing of healing last night and it is in Heavenly Father's hands now. I am so thankful for the Church Of Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to have had its blessings throughout my life and I hope never to take it for granted. I feel bad for the negative feelings towards the church at this time over 1 political stand that passed by the will of the people and may be overturned by tyrants. I will never regret my membership in this church or question that our Prophet, President Monson gets revelation from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for people who don't believe in something bigger and higher than themselves. What a bleak existence it would be.

Anyhow, my thoughts and prayers are with Colby this morning. I love you little buddy and I will see you in a few!

COPY CAT!

I guess Colby isn't the only Milk Carton this Halloween.

This is a photo of Mariah Carey's husband.

Colby wins in my book!

TAG?

So, I have never responded to a tag before. I made the mistake of browsing through Leisa Waldron's blog around 10:00 pm just to find out I was tagged for this '8 list thing'. Now Leisa is one of my favorite people ever so instead of ignoring her I am going to acknowledge a 'Tag'. So here is my attempt at a tag sequence (I may be totally botching it up)...whatever. I still love Leisa.

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS

This one is easy since I don't have TV.

I watch old or recorded or internet seasons of:

1- The Office (funniest show ever)
2- Heroes (Troy and I finished season 1 this summer)
3- 24 (However we have not got back in since season 6)
4- Prison Break (we may skip season 3 because they killed off Sara, but I hear she is back on Season 4...hmmm)

Thats all folks for TV!
How about movies for the final 4

5- I am really excited for 'Twilight' (shocking)
6- Penelope and Stardust are the new 'Princess Bride' for my bored What should I watch tonight? evenings.
7- Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I am a Fantasy/Romantic/Sci-Fi fan at heart)
8- I secretly wish I were Aeon Flux (just between us)

8 Favorite Restaurants

1- Scotts Bar and Grill
2- Boudin's
3- Beni Hanna's (spelled incorrectly)
4- Gianni's Pizza
5- Senro's Japanese Bar and Grill
6- Genovas Deli
7- Chowder on Fisherman's Wharf
8- Five Alls

8 Things I did yesterday

What was yesterday again? Oh yeah, Wednesday.

1- Got Gavin ready for school.
2- Made Gingersnaps for Colby's pre-school and Gavin's kindergarten classes.
3- Laundry
4- Talked to a police officer about one of our neighbors stealing our mail. (bet no one else has that one:)
5- Hung out with my sister Barbie and her kids for a few hours at my mom's house.
6- Took Mazzy to the doctor. It was just a safety precaution to her abnormally whiny behavior to find she has not one but 2 ear infections.
7- Packed for Monterey for the weekend
8- Read 100 pages of Twilight for the 3rd time because it comes out soon. (I am not proud of this at all)

I will finish this tomorrow I am really tired/embarassed/tired.

O.k. so I woke up at 5 am with a Bee in my bonnet to get things ready for our weekend trip and 'Halloween' at Gavin's school. I am pretty close to being finished so I will continue.

8 things I love about Fall:

1- It starts getting darker earlier and I can get away with putting the kids to bed sooner!
2- I love foggy mornings and cold nights.
3- I thought I would love the kids being in school more, it is still an adjustment. I do love pre-school!
4- I remember when Troy and I lived in Utah and would drive/hike/walk a round in the canyons in October. Can't be beat really!
5- HALLOWEEN!
6- Holidays with kids is 100 x's more fun than without
7- My kids are all born in the fall :)
8- I love change

8 things I look forward to:

1- Having a house someday! (That has been #1 on my list for 4 years)
2- Being able to back pack with the kids
3- Going to Europe, South America, Africa and maybe Asia someday
4- Dancing again
5- Sleeping
6- Proposition 8 passing!
7- The election being over so I can sleep again at night!
8- The weekend!

8 things on my 'wish list':

1- Having a house with a big back yard!
2- Having a President who will uphold the Constitution!
3- Being calm!
4- Having more time to enjoy living in the moment
5- That my family is always healthy and strong in every way
6- That Proposition 8 passed and no one ever contended it again
7- That Troy would just know what I was thinking without spelling it out for him. (Some of the time)
8- Can't we all just get along?

8 people I tag: (ha ha ha)

1- Dalee
2- Jen
(Honorary Tag)
Becky

Sorry guys, but you are most likely to actually read this!

3- April
4- BJ
5- Faith
6- Karen S (and then you have to invite me to your blog again)
7- Mandi Crockett
8- Britt S.

This just means I love you. I totally understand if you fail!

TRUNK or TREAT!

This is a before shot of the Great White Shark, the Littlest Witch and the MILK carton. I wasn't sure I would get a chance to get them all together again and I was right.

This is Gavin helping me get a good shot of Mazzy in her costume.

I am not sure how this event "Trunk or Treat" got its name but my kids look forward to it every year and it is a good bribing tool for mom. I always said I would never bribe my kids with stuff. What was I thinking? It is nice to have any party card. Then after they get candy or goody bags it is beneficial to use the, "You had better do what I ask or your candy/goody bag will disappear!" It works like a charm. At least on Gavin and Colby. I don't know what I am going to do with Mazzy.

Grandma and Grandpa Boyer were entranced by Mazzy's cuteness.

She is hard to resist!

The best part was watching Colby trying to play the games and successfully put his treats in his bag while wearing his not so comfortable costume.


It was fun to have Barbie and Ben in town to show off their cute kids and join in the festivities.

Hailey was a really cute giraffe/chocolate chip cookie. It would have been more obvious that she was a giraffe if she could have kept on her giraffe head.

Carter was the cutest dragon at the ball!

BOO at the ZOO!

We usually try to stay away from frequented places during a holiday, but we tried one out that was pretty successful this year. We went to BOO at the Oakland Zoo on Saturday. They had all kinds of fun little events going on like scavenger hunts, a parade, free face/body painting and watching the wildlife get little Halloween treats. It was really fun.

I heard that the kids could dress up but didn't really think my kids would be into putting on their costumes when it was 90 degrees outside.
I was amazed that Gavin wore a felt Great White Shark costume almost the entire day and Colby put in amazing effort with a full dragon suit.


Mazzy was the lucky one with out a costume. She did try on Gavin's shark head for entertainment, but it never lasted.
Colby got pretty grouchy quickly in the heat so we relieved him of his burden about an hour in. Still much longer than I expected. We got to see the animals pretty close up.

Notice the Alligator along the fence. Perhaps a little too close. We could have jumped on him if we felt so inclined.

The Tortoise had the right idea.

I couldn't resist a few shots of the Flying Foxes that were showing off their stuff. The boys had a really good time at the body art booth.

I had a hard time getting them out. Hopefully not a premonition.

A Golden Eagle Award

We are the 'Proud Parents' of a Golden Eagle Recipient. I am not sure what that means. Gavin was really proud and has been talking about it all week. In his words, "I am not the only Golden Eagle, my friend Ellie is one too. But it is a pretty big deal". So there it is. Congratulations Gavin you are truly 'Golden'. (Troy took a picture at the assembly that did not turn out at all. Hopefully I will get one from Mrs. Dulle, Gavin's teacher, at a later date.) This may be the only award ever so it needs to be documented.

Who says a 1 year old doesn't care about presents?

Mazzy's big day was a success. Colby, Maz and I hung out in the morning. (I was really worried when Gavin started school that Colby would be devastated without his playmate. I didn't expect that he and Mazzy would find a lot in common. They both love to build, destroy, climb into and out of anything they can fit into, eat a lot, yell a lot, push, pull and try to walk without interference. It has been so fun watching their relationship develop. Sometimes it is not so pretty but for the most part so far so good. I am crossing my fingers.)

Me being the prepared mom that I am didn't have any birthday presents for Mazzy. I didn't think she would care being 12 months old and all. So I decided to take her to Target and see if anything struck her fancy. To my surprise she fell in love with almost every toy I put in front of her. I let her play with them for a while and realized she didn't care too much what it was as long as she got to play with it for a while. I toyed with the idea of letting her have a mini play date at Target and calling it a day, aka leaving all the toys there. Colby helped me decide on a few dominant toys and then we left. Colby went home with Grandma to wrap the toys and hang out till Mazzy woke up from her nap.






After Mazzy's nap Grandma brought Colby and Gavin home for the present opening section of the day. I had no idea Mazzy would be so excited. She was so happy and I was lucky I caught some of it in photos. It is amazing what a happy child does to a parent. It is like the best present the parent can have. Now I know why my own parents went overboard with gifts when I was growing up. There is nothing better than seeing bliss on the face of your children!

I can't say enough about Mazzy. Just thinking about what she means to me makes me choke up. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives. I never thought I needed a little girl. I was all about being a boy mom! I was unexplainably wrong. Happy Birthday little lady! We LOVE you!