"Won't Cha Let Me Take Ya On a Sea Cruise!"

Dang it we are back already. Our cruise last week with 'the Furni' went by entirely too fast. It was Nathan and I's first cruise and through a series of unfortunate events it almost didn't happen for any of us. Last minute here is a list of what happened:
*Injured Grandma who was to watch our friends children
*Our favorite overnight sitter had a death in the family at the last minute and legitimately had to cancel
*The morning we left the Furni got a call that their flight to San Diego was cancelled
*Our metro was late to the airport and they wouldn't check our bags which were too large for carry on
Let's just say MANY prayers were answered to work things out. My sisters were somehow available to come babysit. Nathan scrambled and found an executive car in LA (where they found a flight to instead) to drive our friends to the docks in San Diego. And unbelievably a lady walked us past the line at security and though we had tons of "liquids and gels" in our luggage they only made Nathan trash his shaving cream and we made the flight. When we finally made it to the ship with Eric and H. we laughed and said that if the ship went down we certainly couldn't say we hadn't been warned!


We did lot's of stuff: Ping Pong, Naps, Spa trip for the girls, Naps, and the boys played in a volleyball tournament and spanked everyone, woot woot!

They were given real Gold trophies, of course...

In Ensenada we went out to one of 3 natural Blow Holes in the world. I don't know if the Blow Hole just wasn't in the mood that day or what but it was only mildly impressive. It looked much cooler on post cards we saw.

And of course the meals were a major highlight. As many of you know the cement that binds this friendship together really comes down to food. :) Needless to say we all enjoyed soft serve ice cream cones whenever we wanted.
But probably our favorite part of the trip really we could have done anywhere. Our cabins were right next to each others and at the end of the day we would all go to one of our cabins and watch episodes of Arrested Development on a laptop and laugh our heads off. If you have never been around Eric when something strikes him funny you are really missing out. His laugh alone keeps all of us rolling, it's very contagious. I'm pretty sure you could record it and sell it as an Abs Work Out. This trip it was "Franklin" that had him going ("I ain't goin to no tight a. country club.....")

The real story from our trip is when we got into Cabo San Lucas... Stay tuned!!!!

How To Make Kohen's Life.

What is the easiest way to make Kohen's life you ask? Pretty simple. Take him to a Fire station for a tour. We did this the other day with an outings playgroup and in spite of one of the worst mornings I've had in a while we made it and Kohen was ridiculously into the tour. We got to see a short fire safety video, where the Firemen sleep, the trucks and a full tour of one of them. It was interesting how all the boys were enthralled but the little girls could have cared less what was going on. At one point the Fireman opened a door of the truck to reveal an ax and a chainsaw (aka: jaws of life) and Kohen asks me in a voice barely able to keep it's excitement under control, "What did he say they do to cars with that one?" pointing to the Chainsaw...and the highlight of Kohen's life was when his turn came to spray water out of the fire hose. He got so into it all crouched down and making his best 'Man Working Hard' face- even the Fireman got a kick out of him. It was awesome.

Pumpkin Patch 08'

We found the most quaint little Pumpkin Patch about 15 minutes from our house. They had a great area for children and we had so much fun exploring. First there was this cool maze/tunnel made out of bales of hay that we could find our way through. It was pretty dark in some parts and Kennedy was kind of spooking herself out. At one point Kohen and Kenna were ahead of us and I could see it was blocked up ahead. I asked, "Hmm, is that maybe a dead end?" Kennedy whips around with a very nervous look on her face and repeats, "DEAD???" I got a picture of it below.

Then they had these bales of hay set up with big plastic tubing in them so the kids would take a ball and put it in the top of the tube and it would roll down and out by their feet. This area was a big hit. Kohen was busy keeping the balls running down and out of the tubes and Nathan sat down and started picking up the balls that would roll over and tossing them back to the kids. Kennedy figured out how to catch a ball being tossed to her and was really doing quite well with that, at one point telling me how she could tell now she was going to be "really good at basketball". But the quote of the night came when Kohen paused before dropping another ball down the shoot and asked, "Mom, is this Disneyland?!"

Another cool thing was these giant bins full of beans for the kids to play in. I think I was more excited about them then the trio ended up being but they did play in it some and thought it was funny when we got home and emptied out their boots and out flew some beans. There were also animals, a train you could pay to ride (we passed) and pumpkins to buy- thankfully our kiddos were happy to pick out a small one for now. It really was a relatively inexpensive activity that turned out to be so much fun.

New Park

So this weekend was great. General Conference -at least the parts I could make out above the dull roar of my children being "reverent"- were uplifting and great. I got so many thumps on the head about things I need to do or could be doing better and yet I come away feeling like to pick up the slack in these areas is totally do-able. And the children were actually pretty good though at one point I had Nathan go get Aly's carseat and we buckled her in in front of the tv with her colorings. Sit Aly. Stay. Good Girl!
Before Nathan went to Priesthood session we went and found this new park that several friends had recommended. We were not disappointed. The scenery was gorgeous and the weather was great and the kids had an awesome time playing on the nice, clean equipment. Okay, I'm the only one who noticed/cared it was clean but still.

When Nathan had to go the kids and I stayed and played a while more. At one point Kohen wanted to go clear up this massive hill and say "hi" to the cows who were drinking at the top. After warning him not to touch the fence (barbed) or the cows I let him head up the trail. He got to the top and you could tell even from where we were that he was pretty proud of himself. Kennedy and another little boy followed soon after and at the top they are playing around and eventually Kenna and Kohen pick up dirt clods and begin chucking them down the hill. I call them back down and the other little kid makes it down first and reports to his mom that 'they' were throwing cow poop.

When Kenna and Kohen arrive back down I inform them of what they had been throwing and poor Kennedy...my clean clean girl. She looked slowly down at her hands and totally looked like she was going to be sick. Then there's Kohen whose only comment was, "That was cow poop?...it was BIG!"

Back By Popular Demand...

Alright, my apologies for the air headed move of filming a video sideways...send your chiropractic bill directly to me...But this is Aly singing her latest favorite song, I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. She can sing much of the song but in this clip at one point she gets distracted to tell Nathan it is her favorite song- but I promise it's at least worth a slight kink in the neck to watch.

Then we have one of Aly Jota's (think Spanish people- the J sounds like an H) hamming-it-up techniques which Kenna and Kohen call the "Scary Shakes". She will do it on demand which can be funny cuz say she is upset about something -you just ask her to do the Scary Shakes and all of a sudden the spotlight is on her, she can't resist and voila! a meltdown has been averted. That my friends, is a win, win...win.

Aly and the Jose' Song

Just a little back story for ya, the guy whose home we are renting is named Jose'. He is the friendliest guy and has come over several times to fix things (they should've before they moved) or to pick up his mail. The children all know him by name and are always pleased to see him and Aly especially took a liking to his name. As of late she has become the Family Ham and will do anything for a laugh. She was standing up on a stool one day dangerously marching in place repeating "Jose" with vigor and when everyone laughed the "Jose' song" was born. She usually does stand on something to sing it and also goes on forever but she must have known her time was short here.

*And I had to have her say her "frustrated" because she says it both with feeling and an extra syllable.

*And finally we have the "Ay Bee See Bees"

Kohen lately

Oh my dear Kohen. He is already a pretty funny kid but combined with his age, right now it seems like every time he opens his mouth he is saying something that I need to write down. The other day I was upstairs at the desk and Kohen had been out back playing when he mossies upstairs and loiters around me for a few minutes. Not catching on to his behavior he finally leans against the desk casually and offers with a sigh, "Well. I'm sorry. but I did pee outside...I did." while shaking his head like he couldn't believe it himself. This was one of those moments where you try your hardest not to laugh because you have to try and teach -not easy with my seemingly repentant pee-er in front of me. We had a talk blah blah blah we move on. Later that afternoon all three are out back when Kennedy comes racing into the house, sirens blaring "KOHEN JUST PEED OUTSIDE! KOHEN JUST PEED OUTSIDE!" And as I head to the back door to investigate I hear Kohen shouting his innocence and I turn the corner to find one of the funniest sights in recent history. Picture Kohen with his favorite rain galoshes on, his shorts around his ankles and underwear around his knees as he tests the limit of his restricted 2 inch stride trying to catch up to Kenna and yelling over and over, "I didn't do it!"- oh man, Nathan and I laughed about this until we about cried. Poor Kohen. He hasn't really learned about lying yet and so my conclusion was that Kohen was about to pee until his sister went and rang the alarm. I hope his desire for outdoor peeing passes quickly but even as I write the words I know my hope is futile...

Just since we have moved Kohen has started to be afraid of Randall, a creepy character from Monsters Inc. I got to hand to the boy, he picked a great thing to be afraid of because as many of you know, Randall becomes invisible by changing his skin to match whatever background he is against. Perfect. Just perfect. I can't even prove Randall isn't there by turning the light on. The other night Kohen woke me up just screaming "RANDALL'S HERE!!! RANDALL'S HERE!!!". I race blindly and still half asleep to his room and find Kohen completely beside himself and pulling at the back of his neck. When he sees me he tells me in sheer terror, "Randall just licked my neck!!" Eew. That is creepy. I had to get him to fully wake up before I could get him to settle down. It took a while. That darn Randall.

About twice a year in our church during Sacrament meeting the Sunday School children will do a program. This usually consists of the kids singing songs and taking turns speaking short lines and then more singing. They sit up front on the stand and since we are in such a small ward it turns out Kohen is the youngest kid in primary...not really so unbelievable seeing as there are only two Sunbeams (3 yr olds). Anyway, Kohen started off the program with a good, long digging session...in his nose. Oh yeah, Nathan and I both were sitting down in the pews trying to catch his attention and make it STOP! He finally did as they began to sing a few songs. After a song they'd sit down and all of a sudden Kohen disappears. About 60 seconds later he reappears as everyone stands up again to sing. He holds up his new found Hymnal, opens it up to a random page and starts singing as if from the book. Okay, it doesn't sound that funny right now but it had lot's of people chuckling I swear. Then for the last song the kids all had bells that they were supposed to ring at certain times. Unbelievably Kohen raises up his own bell and I am thinking *oh no* as the song starts and he begins going to town ringing that bell. It only took a few seconds to realize the Sun. School Pres. was on top of things...Kohen's bell was taped. He could 'ring' to his hearts content and he wasn't going to make a sound, unbeknownst to him of course.

When I came in his room after quiet time the other day he had a blanket over this little work of art which he unveiled for me telling me it was simply himself.

Lastly he got his official Big Boy Bed last night. He was pretty darn excited about it. But fairly irritated we won't let him up on top though. Right, like I want to see what injuries this boy could inflict on himself from the height of the top bunk!

I''m So Glad When...

Daddy comes home!!!! Finally, Nathan came home and he is all ours for a while. It is always pretty crazy when he first gets home from a business trip because there are three four of us all vying for his attention. Kids are grabbing projects they've made and toys we've owned for years to show Dad and get him reacquainted with our home. Today we settled into the kitchen at lunch and Nathan and I were trying to steal kisses in between children competing for 30 seconds of face time with him. At one point Nathan and I were interrupted by Kohen repeating over and over "Do you see me? Do you see me guys?!" We found him with his head on the floor and his buns in the air, trying to show off some new move to Nathan...in the middle of lunch.

Another funny side effect of Nathan's sudden presence is that Kohen often feels the need to go to confession. He will sit and tell Nathan every last thing he got in trouble for while his Dad was gone. I really should try and get that on tape sometime but it happens so spontaneously it is hard. Anyway, it is always a good day when Nathan comes home. Everything is just peachy.

Speaking of fruit I have a warning for all unsuspecting grocery stores. If you see my cute, innocent (ha!) little Aly in my cart- beware she is only there for the food. Two weeks in a row now I have been filling a bag with some sort of produce only to turn back to Aly and find her eating an apple or in this case, a pear- with an impish grin on her face of course. Stinker.

Kreativ Blogger

I was recently given this most distinguished Kreativ Blogger Award from Kristie :). Upon accepting this award I am to list 6 things that make me happy and then pass the torch to three other lucky ladies. So here goes:

1. My husband -obvious maybe but hello, have you met him?

2. My children - extra happy when they are sleeping, lol

3. A good book (preferably reading it on a beach somewhere, that qualifies for super happy)

4. Target!!!

5. Extended Family Gatherings

6. Finding one of these letters in the mailbox every week



I now present this award to:

1. Shelly - my cousin
2. Jana- friend from h.s.
3. Jetta- Nathan's cousin

Disclaimer: It was seriously hard to choose- all my friends are creative.

Another Visitor!

My SIL Kysa came to visit this weekend, yay! Friday we loaded up the children and made our way to San Fran. Unfortunately I committed Blogging Crime Numero Uno by accidentally leaving my camera in the car (I know, somebody give me a virtual slap on the wrist!) so though we had a fun time down at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf the only picture we have to show for it is this one I took of Kysa while trying not to cause an accident- you can see the Fisherman's Wharf circular sign in the background- proof of our presence.
We couldn't let Kysa leave without trying our favorite crepe place, as you can see below, she Hated it.

I caught Kennedy trying to lick a little bit of ice cream off of her elbow. It was pretty funny to watch her realize she couldn't quite reach...

Sorry folks. Kohen doesn't stop eating to take pictures, nuh-uh.

Aly just trying to show you her tonsils~

Our Award Winning Photographer Kennedy Jolee was kind enough to take this picture of Kys and I. Thanks to our hubbies for a nice weekend~

An Unexpected Gift

How does Nathan missing his International flight = an answer to prayer? Because then he got to come back home and spend a Saturday with his family. And it didn't really effect his schedule because his connecting flight overseas was cancelled because of a typhoon anyway. Our family was given the gift of one more day with our Hubby/Dad at home. I don't like to announce it on my blog when he is actually gone- but unfortunately Nathan has had to be gone with work A LOT since we first got here so this truly was an answer to my prayers...his being home an extra day, not being gone all the time :). It turned out so great, Nathan roughhoused with the kids and played outside with them and fed them dinner while I got ready by myself. This would account for the dinner of corn dogs and tater tots..avert your eyes Mom.

I had to take a picture of the state of our children. Can you say poster for white trash??? The cutest WT ever of course but still...Our kids play outside in the backyard so much- it is unprecedented. They eat at least one meal a day out on their little picnic bench and I realized while taking the picture that I had chosen the wrong day to try and illustrate how much they love it out there. Love how the girls are in swimsuits though there had been no swimming, and Aly topped it off with her cowgirl boots and signature one pig-tail in and one pig-tail out look. It's all the rage.

Anyway, we got a sitter after we put the kids to bed and we went out on a date. I repeat: Nathan and I went out on a date...by ourselves. This is big news folks. It was so wonderful to just chat with my favorite guy over yummy food that I didn't have to make, yay! The next morning when Nathan actually left the feeling was 180 degrees different then what it had been the day before. What a difference an unexpected day made.

Family Face Off

So last night we decided to have our pre-bed routine outside on the deck off of Nathan and I's room. We blew up the air mattress and got a bunch of blankets because it was chilly. We read a few books, read scriptures, had family prayer and things might have continued to settle down after that had a blogging obsessed mom resisted taking one quick picture. Somehow that innocent picture snow balled into a full on silly face competition. Here are just a few of about a dozen rounds:

Kohen and I went first and as you can see Nathan and Kenna clearly copied the essence of our picture. Round 1 goes to Ko-dawg and I.

Round 2 definitely goes to Nathan and Kenna but just know that there were no feel good ties in this competition. Kohen and I were the clear winners.



The Grand Finale came when Nathan and Kenna whipped out their cheez covered "Thumbs Up!"


To which Kohen and I responded with a too-cool-for-school "Thumbs Down!" (or Thumbs "Dee-yown" pronounced by Kohen with two syllables)



T.U. and T.D. is sort of a thing we do where anything good we see (ie: bikers wearing helmets)
gets a gregarious Thumbs UP! And anything bad (ie: no helmets or someone smoking) gets a big Thumbs Dee-yown! It was the funniest way we could have possibly ended our little competition. We all snuggled up together and goofed off some more before Nathan took the kids one by one to bed. It was an unexpectedly fun time. A deck and a digital camera...who knew?

A Dream Come True For Kohen

And what could these 3 cuties be so excited about????

General Conference!!!!!!!

Okay, no. I lied. It was their first ever viewing of Star Wars, Episode 4!!! ( or the first old one, to uncomplicate it, ha!)

Don't be fooled, Aly was reacting to the popcorn not the movie...

So Nathan and I have been debating for a while whether or not it was time to let Kohen see at least one of the Star Wars episodes. Apparently Nathan decided tonight was the night because he and Kennedy came home from errands with the video in hand. Kohen was ecstatic and it was SO worth it to watch his reactions. Like the first time Luke turned on his light saber and Kohen's mouth dropped open, or when Darth Vader made his first appearance, "Why is that guy bad? he has a cape!" Obviously in Kohen's mind Cape = Righteousness, so this was all a bit mind blowing for him. Kennedy didn't miss much so I had to distract her once or twice and she probably asked several hundred questions throughout the movie- love her but that got a little old. Aly called it quits and went to bed about a half hour in....guess the popcorn must have been gone.

A Thank You

There is a reason for this belated post...Computer problem when Nathan wasn't home, need I say more? Anyway, Nathan's parents Bonnie and Norm were kind enough to bring down our second car and then stay for a few days and help us out getting our house in order. The boys especially, did all the manly work and had switched out the refrigerators practically before Bonnie and I could even sit down! Nathan and I were so grateful for their help.
Monday before Bonnie and Norm left we loaded everyone up and headed to San Fran to share our new favorite Crepe Vine and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf to snag some sourdough bread and clam chowder. Then we decided to find out just how close we could cut it taking someone to the airport, yikes~ I think we had all of two or three minutes left before the cut off. Anyway, we were so grateful they came even for a short time.

What Type of Blog Do You Have?

On MMW's someone asked if perfectly polished stories and retellings of our lives and experiences are really what we want our blogs/journals to be (referring to when stories on blogs are totally rose colored compared to what they told you in person). It was an interesting question because you know, we've all read blogs that are so perfect you have to fight the gag reflex. But I think that is different than those who are choosing only to write about the good, which is also a reasonable option. But unfortunately for you, it isn't an option for me. I strive to be like my personal fave blogs (see the long list to the right) I always check first, they are the ones where I know I will find reality for better or for worse. No sugar coating.

Lest anyone should get the wrong idea about my blog I shall share:

*Yesterday I burned the left side above my lip cuz I kept the Mustachio Remover on too long whilst breaking up an ultimate fighting brawl between my kids. (course that was after Kohen found me with the cream on my face and asked me if I was shaving like Dad. Yay! free self-esteem boost!)

*Briefly tried potty training Aly today- she would hold it while on the potty then go elsewhere and relieve herself. You would think I would have been a little more suspicious when she wanted to snuggle on my lap...I guess she didn't want to take a bath alone???

*During Quiet Time Kohen had smuggled some Elmer's Glue into his room and smeared glue all over the back of his door and stuck one of Kennedy's paper dolls to it. After overseeing him scrub his door clean I turn to find where the other 3/4 bottle of glue went...I didn't like the carpet here anyway.

*While making dinner the kids were out back riding their respective bikes. There must have been some sort of fantastic collision because all three trailed in whimpering, bruised and bleeding. Had that UnSupermom moment where I fumed their Dad wasn't home to help juggle...

*Went to church here for the first time to find a ward so little our 3 kiddies added 18% to their primary in one day. And at least 70% of the ward is very elderly. This was underlined when they noted the two funerals they had that week had gone well. Bloom where you're planted, bloom where you're planted...who am I kidding, I always kill plants.

*No matter how you cut it, it is lonely in a new place without friends.

I'll Give That A Four

Last night I had just gotten the children settled and I was sitting on the floor trying to figure out the tv in the family room when out of no where there was the loudest noise that sounded like a freight train and the whole house started to shake. So obviously it was an earthquake- my first ever- but I got to tell you, it took me about 3 of the 4 seconds the house shook to make sense of what was happening. It was just so completely unexpected and it is funny to me now how my mind tried to make sense of something it didn't understand.

And it totally scared the crap outta me. I know 'crap' isn't a nice word but I am using it here because it is how I felt. Nathan had left to catch a flight up to the BYU game with his BIL's and Dad and so I was on my own. Immediately after the shaking stopped I hear Kennedy upstairs and as I go to her she says worriedly, "Mom, my bed was just shaking!" And then I had to act (emphasis on the word 'act') like I was calm and not afraid and try and explain to her what an earthquake was and wasn't that so cool... all the while trying not to let her see how shaken up I was...no pun intended.

I don't expect to always be a pansy about earthquakes. Really I don't, but this caught me so off guard and I was alone and I haven't learned what I should do in case of a dangerous earthquake, though I think I have a general idea. And I also spent the next half hour worried because Nathan's phone was out of service off and on on the way to the airport. But once I got a hold of him and learned he was fine (hadn't felt it) I went back to just worrying about me, lol. I didn't know if there would be more or if the one that happened was even a big deal somewhere else.

I found the news and learned that it was a 4.0 and the epicenter was about half and hour away but 10 miles below the surface...And when I opened up our home page on the computer and it was on CNN's headlines I felt a lot better about myself. Obviously it wasn't a huge earthquake but enough that it made me feel better about my newbie reaction. I think we have officially been welcomed to California.....