Spring Break - Day Two

Spring Break - Day Two

Today we again had a lazy morning (am I noticing a trend) followed by getting everyone dressed and out the door for a visit to Escondido.

I waited till Natalie's nap time, so she could slumber on the drive down, she willfully obliged, and the boy's watched Bolt for the umpteenth time as we drove.

We grabbed lunch, and our first stop was at my Gram's home. I had made the kids wait to eat till we got there, you can imagine the moans and groans on the entire eight minutes it took from MickeyD's to her place. I was hoping it would keep them somewhat occupied for the first ten minutes of our visit. They happily ate, after all they were starving, but some it seemed more than others. Afterwards they busied themselves with boggle letters, dominoes, and playing cards. My mom was there and helped to contain the confusion somewhat. (I mean four kids in a two bedroom apartment, that just ate and are rarin' to go) I meanwhile visited with my Gram and enjoed carnitas from Chipotle while we talked.

As the kids got busyer and bored, it became quite obvious that we had outstayed our welcome. I quickly finished up with some computer repairs (yes, my sweet husband's talents did rub off on me) as my Mom took the kids to get her mail, and take out the trash. I think Caleb made a few solo trips in the elevator, along with a fire bell to announce is arrival at least once, and Natalie was getting tired and fussy (I forget it's less than an hour drive down) that really isn't long enough to maintain her sweet disposition.

We said our goodbye's with hugs and kisses for all, and then made a short visit to my parents home before we headed home for dinner.

My grandma isn't doing too well, but she is quite the trooper. My parents and a nearby aunt in LA, have been watching over her and keeping her company 24-7 for the last week and half or so. I was grateful for the conversation and to visit with her. As we talked I noticed her voice was no longer weak, but strong and vibrant. I believe it is so true that people can mend one's spirit, and give them strength just with simple conversation. I know she did for me, and I hope that maybe I did too.

Spring Break - Day One

Spring Break - Day One

We started our first real day of vacation off rather slow. Breakfast followed by a movie, followed by playing, and then a nap for Miss Natalie. I could no longer resist the beautiful weather outside and packed up the kids, towels, and sand toys off to the beach we went. It was a beautiful day, and even though the water is still quite chilly, we all found ourselves playing amongst the waves. We built sand castles, and dug holes (the kid's favorite). By early evening we had had our fill, and my goodness I need to figure out what's for dinner.

We have many things planned this week, the kid's have been working on our schedule. Everything from dying eggs, to having friends over, swimming, the park, and of course more beach.

Tomorrow we will head down to Escondido and visit my grandma and my parents. Daniel is begging me to take him to Target so he can spend his birthday money, so if Mom & Dad oblige maybe he and I can go solo and enjoy some one on one time together.

I love that even though we don't have elaborate plans of visiting some far off place, or skiing in the mountains, that my kids are super excited to have some time off, and play with their most favorite person ever, ME.

(OK, it may quite possibly be Daddy, but I'm pretending it's me anyway!!)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

I've had some requests for the recipe, so here ya go:

Here is the link to the website where I found the recipe

The cake was pretty simple to make and all in one bowl. The batter is quite soupy, but the cake bakes up so moist and delicious. It's a light chocolate that blends great with the peanut butter frosting, and then the chocolate glaze on top make it pretty and even more decadent. Enjoy with lots of friends!!

Happy Birthday Daniel

On Sunday, Daniel celebrated his 9th Birthday!!

We celebrated with a family dinner of Daniel's favorites pot roast and mashed potatoes. For dessert, I made a Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake that was absolutely divine.

We'll be celebrating his birthday with friends later in the week, so more of that to come..

I can't believe my little boy is really 9. He is growing up to be such an amazing person, and I feel so blessed to be his mother. He is definitley the oldest child. He has an awareness of the world around him, that I constantly marvel at. He doesn't understand the need of others to have fancy cars, and why people care about the clothes they wear. However ask him what he wants to do when he's older, and he'll tell you he wants to be a millionare. Guess we still have a little bit of work to do. He's empathetic to others and their needs, and he has quite the imagination. He loves to play outside and of course loves to play the XBOX and computer. I am thankful for his short attention span that he can only handle bits at a time, and I never have to get after him to do something else. He is quite the artist, and loves to draw.

I love watching the person he is turning into.

Happy Birthday buddy, here's to another great year!!

I did it!!

I have been oohing and ahhing for sometime at the creative genius of others to design their own banners and blog backgrounds. I have even stumbled upon quite a few sites with a plethora of cute designs.

In the back of my mind I knew I could do it, it would just take time,

well I finally did it!!

I opened Photoshop and then about a million other files. I cut and stretched, and added and removed..

This is my first attempt at my very own made from scratch, background and banner. I hope to come up with even more fun creations, but for now enjoy. I'm hooked!!

Family is HERE!!

Saturday evening, we got the much anticipated knock on the door, they're HERE!!


Andy & Jennie and kids arrived form their long travel from Utah to California. The kids immediately b-lined it for outside to play and get their wiggles out. I think everyone was overjoyed to not be sitting anymore.



After the wiggles were gone, hunger set in, and we started to plan what we would do for dinner. We decided on a trip to the pier to pick up pizza, and play on the beach. As we picked up the pizza's we noticed that the coastal breezes were pretty chilly, so Dave dissapeared with Caleb, and returned with wood and lighter fluid. We soon had a roaring bonfire and enjoyed the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach, and cousins playing in the sand.

Sunday morning after a big pancake breakfast we said goodbye to our visitors, but only a short goodbye since we would be seeing them tomorrow to play with them at Disneyland. The kids can hardly wait..OK Dave and I are pretty excited to play hookie for the day as well.



to be continued..

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it is March, really March, where did that come from? I mean it seems as if we just started 2009. We are already getting notices about Spring Break, and activities for the spring from school. I have green shamrocks decorating my entry way and stairs, and behind it is the sweet pastels of Easter.

We have two birthdays to celebrate in our family this month as well.

Daniel will turn 9, and my sweet hubby will be 33. Daniel has changed his mind a gazillion times on what he wants to do for his birthday. I think we have settled into a gaming sleepover party with a few friends. We haven't decided when to have it, and with the beautiful weather and springtime activities we are trying to work around others schedules, so that needs to be decided.

Dave and I had decided to go away for the weekend to Catalina and celebrate his birthday, and a night away. We haven't since Caleb was 1 1/2. So 2 1/2 years ain't bad, right? I know there will be plenty of time for that when the kids get older, and honestly as much as they may make it, so I accomplish next to nothing in a day, I enjoy my children so much, and they are after all only little once. Back to the subject, work is keeping him busy, so it looks like we will have a belated birthday trip sometime in April (after Conference and Easter) so late April sometime..

First at hand is making these adorable leprechauns to adorn our shelves and make it more St. Patty's and less Easter for now.

We are also expecting a visit from Andy & Jennie this weekend, (maybe I should be cleaning the house instead of typing, heck that's what Friday is for)..

They are coming down for a trip to Disneyland and the kid's and Dave are playing hooky from work/school to play with them for a day at the Magic Kingdom. They are so excited. They are only out of school if they are sick, so this is a real treat, and with Daylight Savings we'll have an extra hour of light.

So Miss. March is here, with a day of green, birthday parties and family visiting we should be extra busy, but oh what fun we shall have!!