Real Life

I was reading a friends blog that really made me laugh and really made me think. Here is a quote from Laurel's website...
"Seriously, sometimes I have blog envy. I see blogs that cleverly portray the perfect life with all the wit and charm possible, and on top of that it's all tied up with a nice photo shop bow and set to a sound track. I think, wow, their life is so good, their husband is so nice, their kids so perfect, and those outfits- where did they get them? Oh, and that cool graphic, how did they do that? I want to do that - and then I'm overwhelmed. But then I remember, their life really isn't like that all the time. They can put what ever they want on their blog, and of course, they really only pick pictures they look cute in, right? And they only share their awesome adventures. And no one titles their latest blog entry, "Today we did the laundry and it was fabulous!" "

So in honor of Laurel I will share some of the real stuff and some of my personal thoughts.
Logan has been going through what I like to call "a phase" in the last few weeks or is it months? Anyway the phase of not listening, not obeying, and flat out rebelling finally reached the limit. I tried everything and even had a little short term success with a rewards system. However a week ago I hit my limit and told him the consequence for not listening or obeying is going to his room without dinner and staying there until bed. That night he cried and cried and for those who don't know, he eats 5-6 adult size meals a day, so this is a major punishment. From that moment on I have heard, "yes mommy" "thank you mommy" and if there is a relapse during the day I just have to ask if he would like to eat dinner that night and he shapes up real fast.
We have been meeting so many new people lately which I love but I realized I how much I miss just chillin with my boys. So today we went to the beach a little early before all our friends got there. We played a little frisbie and dug holes and then I held Gavin as we went in the Ocean. He just cuddled close and smiled which is what he does most of the time. We were there for awhile and I realized as my arms and back were a little strained that A) He is not a baby anymore B) In a few months he'll be 2 years old and C) How blessed I am to have all three of my boys in my life.

Tonight we went to a swim birthday party. Tom and Gavin are sick so they stayed home. So Logan and I swam, ate pizza, and cupcakes and had a blast. As Logan and I were sitting in the hot tub around 8:30p.m. and he was massaging my back, he looked up with a smile and said, "Mom I like going on dates with you" His smile is written on my heart.

Happy Birthday Emily

It was Emily's birthday on Wednesday! The big 32? Funny thing was she thought she was already 32 and that this was going to be 33! "Well, you got a free year then!" I said. You know how memory starts to go with age . . . it's a tragedy really.

On Wednesday I took her out to The Beachgrass Cafe in Encinitas. From the outside it looks like someplace only senior citizens frequent . . . but you walk in and find a nice, understated elegance to the place. The smell of fresh seafood among many other things was great! Emily got the Fish and Chips with yam fries and mashed potatoes. She loved it (until the next day). I had the Clam Bake. Fresh clams, mussels, crab legs, grilled shrimp and boiled red potatoes in a seafood broth. Delicious!

Afterwards we went to the Carlsbad outlet mall to get her a new purse to replace the one that was stolen. She wasn't able to decide on a new one. So we headed home to find the babysitters "friend" she was having over to help was a BOY! AAAAHHH! Next time we know to pry a little bit more when these requests come up.

We were going to have a family party with Lisa's family (Emily's sister) and Monica's Family (Tom's sister), but both the boys came down with fevers, so we canceled. I still made Emily her Macaroni and Cheese and Watergate cake (tradition since she was a little girl). And we had a nice little couple party. I'm afraid it wasn't deserving of her, but she didn't complain one bit.

Happy Birthday, Emily! You mean everything to me. You are such a wonderful mother to our two boys and I'm so proud of how you do it. I love how you always have time to share yourself with others and help them through their hard times. And I'm especially grateful that you look past my many faults and love me for the crazy wacky person that I am. I really do love you more and more each day. May you reach all the goals and aspirations you've have for this year and know I will support you 100% every step of the way.

I love you!
Tom

Budding Environmentalist

Last general conference, between sessions, we went to Ocean Beach to go for a walk. As we arrived, a woman and her son asked if we would help pick up trash. She had a trash grabber and Logan saw it and immediately grabbed it and started picking up trash. He had the time of his live picking up garbage off the beach. Ever since, he has begged us to buy a "trash picker upper" so we could go to the beach and pick up garbage "to help keep the earth clean." This week we finally bought one and today after church, headed to South Ponto Beach for a little Earth cleaning.
Gavin, however, had ZERO interest in helping the earth (shocker). He was preoccupied with a feisty flock of seagulls. The seagulls didn't fly away when Gavin walked up to them. They must have been thinking, "If we all gang up on this kid and everyone grabs a limb, we can fly away with this little guy and no one will be the wiser." Luckily, Gavin escaped with his life, though maybe not his pride.
Along with the trash picker upper, Logan, in all his sanitary glory, also needed plastic gloves. To keep his hands clean of course.
As we were walking along, cleaning the Earth, a man stood up from his beach chair and said, "Thank you so much for doing that! It may not seem like it, but we really appreciate what you're doing." Logan was so preoccupied with picking up garbage that he paid no attention to the man. "Logan, that man is saying 'thank you." "Thank you," says Logan. "Say 'you're welcome" I say. " "You're welcome" he says without missing a beat or looking up to see who he's talking to or why he's even talking at all. He finds another piece of trash. Into the sack it goes. He's a boy on a mission.

I have to say, what started out as a "let's do this so Logan will finally stop whining about it" turned into a nice family outing where we felt like we made a difference. Made the world a better place, if you will.

On the drive home I had visions of an older Logan. A young man organizing the masses to "help keep the Earth clean" and make the world a better place. Marching with an army of volunteers. Gallantly assuming responsibility for the littering actions of others. "I feel good when I'm cleaning the earth. Tomorrow can we stop on the side of the road? I'm sure we'll find tons and tons of garbage there!"

"Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves. One Earth a week, ok? That's all we've got time for . . . do you have your seatbelt on? And don't forget to REALLY wash those hands when we get home."

Tom

Little Moments

This is our ever expanding Lego builder. His creations are getting bigger and better every day.
This is our Ramen popsicle. Dad tried to cool it down in the freezer and somehow they both forgot about it until the next day when it was found in the freezer. Ramen popsicle anyone?
With our change to Direct T.V. we have recently added a few more kids channels. There is a particular channel that is into the kids infomercials. He has learned how to pause the T.V. go and get his crayons and write down the number. Logan recently was able to write down about seven different 1-800 numbers during a 30 minute program. For a few days he took his stack of 1-800 numbers with him every where. It was pretty funny.

Grandma Moore got Logan a Lite brite for his birthday. I had one when I was his age and was a throw back to being a kid and playing with this timeless toy.

Summer Fun

So we have this long skinny side yard with some grass or it did have some grass. It was just screaming, "slip and slide" So we went for it and the boys were in heaven and had so much fun all day. From the picture at the bottom you can see it was literally ALL DAY! Oooops. We currently have reseeded the side yard and are just waiting a few weeks to try it again.

Carlsbad Strawberry Picking

We drive by the strawberry fields every time we go to Legoland but had never stopped to pick them. They have a U-pick section and some friends of ours put together a meet-up at the fields. We had a fun morning picking strawberries and Gavin had a fun morning eating them. We went with a bunch of friends and went to Rubios for lunch. It was a fun day.

Logan's Birthday

Logan turned 5 on June 15th. We usually do a big party at the park, but since we just moved I decided to have a nice family party at our new house. His present from us was a Power Wheels Cadillac. He was pretty excited. He loves driving his brother to the park in it and is actually a pretty good driver. Although I think I have had a peek into what it is going to be like watching my teenage boy learn to drive.

We Moved

For those of you I haven't told we moved to a house last month.  We are about 40 minutes from our old place in a great family community.  We are a couple minutes from K.C. and Monica (Tom's sister) and 10 minutes from Sam and Lisa (my sister).  So far we are loving it.  The moving part was not so fun but then again when is it fun?  It was especially fun when 10 guys from our ward showed up right on time at 8:00a.m. to help us and the movers didn't show up.  It got worse when we called and they said they weren't sending any one out.  He remembered putting together the quote but there wasn't anything in the computer.  It got better when we called Uhaul and Budget to find out that every truck from San Ysidro to Oceanside was booked for the whole weekend.  That was the point where I was laughing and crying at the same moment. The movers somehow found another company to move us. Of course they were 6 hours late but by 11:00p.m. that night we were in.  The house is beautiful, the boys have there own rooms and sleep so much better now which is making us all happy!

Family Photos

My friend Nina took some family photos for us at Windan Sea beach.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

Red Bull Air Show

We met the Winn's, Baxters, and took Patricia to the Red Bull Air Show.  It is a timed race where airplanes fly between 80 feet high cones and do twists and turns in a very small area.  We went over to Coronado to watch the show.  The Winn's had the perfect plan because it was free and the kids could run around on the grass.  It was a beautiful view of the skyline and amazing flying by the pilots. I have never seen anything like it.  So my favorite part was when my 6'3" husband came riding up on child's razor scooter.  The traffic and parking were crazy so he dropped us off and went to park.  He saw Logan's scooter in the back and jumped on it to make it to the show. 

La Jolla Cove

I had a few more photos from Patricia's visit. She flew to San Francisco and then stayed another few days after that.  We took here to see the seals and walk along The Cove.  

Here is a side note story for ya...The seals are causing a bit of controversy right now because they have taken over what was intended to be a children's beach.  All of the activists won't let anyone go to this particular beach so as to protect the seals.  It has brought so many seals to this area, and many people believe it is what caused a recent shark attack in San Diego. 

  

Mom and Dad

Here is a photo of my parents speaking at the Marriot Center for Women's Conference.  I was so glad when they came to visit last month and brought a DVD for us to watch. They spoke about how to have an equal partnership in marriage.  They did a fantastic job and we are so lucky to have them as our example to show us how great marriage can be!!!