Becky's Day to Day Stuff

For Ray...

2010-06-23T23:13:00.001-07:00

I am so proud of my son. One of his best friends is going through chemotherapy and to show his support he wanted to shave his head. We went through a few stages taking pics along the way...

BEST WISHES RAY!!!!

I LOVE Texas!

2009-09-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

Nathan's grandma passed away and we flew down to Tyler, TX for her funeral this weekend. The Tyler airport has a grand total of 4 gates. Talk about an easy airport to find your way around in. From the moment we landed I fell in love with the charming little city of Tyler. It was absolutely beautiful! And also the rose capitol of the nation. It's like they made a whole city just for me. ;)

The funeral was beautiful. The cemetary she was buried in was in a tiny little town and was a tiny little cemetary. (I couldn't even find it on mapquest.) The only downside was the fire ants. I am NOT a fan of fire ants. I apparently got to close to one of the many ant mounds and got swarmed. That was less than fun. However, I survived thanks to some great advice. I was told to use everything from toothpaste to alcohol. Hand sanitizer for the win! I just doused my feet with it and all those little nasty bites cleared right up. Up until that point I had never even SEEN a fire ant. And I will be plenty happy if I never see one again.

While we were there we got to go the Rose Garden. They had every possible kind of rose you could imagine. And ALOT of fire ant mounds which I steered clear of! The garden was beautiful!! A few of the roses were in bloom. Unfortunately I had a sinus infection and couldn't smell a thing. But I imagine when they are all in bloom the sight and smell would be absolutely stunning.

We also were able to get some great food. My favorite was The Jalapeno Tree. Yuuuummmmmy! I think I would move there just for the food alone. So tasty. All in all, it was great trip. I got to meet alot of family and they ALL were so kind. They brought a new meaning to the phrase "Southern Charm". It made me sad I didn't have more time there to get to know them better.

We took our little girl with us and she did really good. Traveling with little ones can be so hard but she was really great. And it was the first time we got to see our little niece who is only 3 wks younger than Mandy. She was too cute!!!

I missed my little boys like crazy though. And I was very glad to come home and see them. I wish we could have brought them with us.

Well here's a few pictures of the Rose Garden and a few of Mandy:

No words necessary... or possible!

2009-05-19T16:43:00.000-07:00

This girl LOVES her binkies!! And is possibly a little indecisive. ;)

What is it with Zombies???

2009-05-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

We went to IKEA today. Love that store! Dropped the kids at the play center there for the first time- now they love the store too. Nick got a picture to color. When he showed it to me he explained to me in a very matter-of-fact way... "It's a zombie. Some zombies are purple." Of course! Everyone knows about the PURPLE zombies! I'm dreading the next time we go to church and they give him a picture to color. That's going to be an akward conversation with his primary teacher.

Today's Funny

2009-04-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

So today Nathan was explaining to Josh what a townhouse is-houses that are attached and don't have grass inbetween them. So if our neighbors on both sides of us were attached to our house it would be a townhouse. This is Josh's reply:
"Ooooh I get it. So if the Hulk lifted up our house the other two would stay attached!"
Guess the new definition of a townhouse is: houses the Hulk can lift up that stay attached. Naturally. That's real right? Good thing our son has such a keen understanding of what is real and how things work. hehe.

Funny Stuff

2009-04-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

So in effort to add more humor to everyday life I've decided to keep track of all the silly little things my kids say or do. Hopefully anyone who reads this thinks it's funny too. So to start it off here is a quote from my 4 year old Nicky:
He brought us a DS game he had been playing and said he didn't want to play it anymore that it was too scary. Nathan and I looked at each other with confussion... too scary? When asked what game he had he replied, "Touch the Dead". Oh goody! He apparently found Nathan's games. UGH! So we quickly traded him with a more age appropriate game. As he was leaving the room, he says "Ya, Zombies are NOT your friend". Couldn't agree more. Sorry Nick. We'll spring for therapy later.

Easter etc...

2009-04-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Our fun started Friday night. The whole family came over for a BBQ to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It was lots of fun. We got a little rain but nothing to stop the kids from playing outside. Then Saturday we took the kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens. Fun. Then went to lunch. Not fun. Not sure what got into Mandy but she was not happy. And after the 4th time to the bathroom with Nick we had had enough and called a babysitter. The rest of the afternoon went pretty good. We went and picked out paint for our bedroom. Fun. We had a nice visit from my niece and her husband that night. After they left we frantically put together Easter baskets for the kids before we collapsed from exhaustion. Sunday went pretty smooth. Did the Easter basket thing. Went to church. Did an Easter egg hunt at my brothers house. Took dinner to my parents. Came home and played W.o.W. Fun.

Our major excitement this month though was remodeling the house. We had a laundry room put in upstairs (where all the bedrooms are). SOOOO NICE!!! No more hauling baskets of laundry up and down two flights of stairs. I just wash it all there, fold it, and put it away. Easy! My brother and his wife did an amazing job tiling the room for us. Too bad it has to be covered by a washer and dryer. Next project I guess will be to tile the bathrooms. :)

Well here are some pics of our little ones enjoying Easter:

Christmas Village

2009-01-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

So when I occasionally get a little free-time and I'm not playing World of Warcraft... I paint. Here are pictures of the Christmas Villages I've painted so far. I still have 7 or 8 more to do. Who knows maybe I'll even get some of them done in time for next Christmas. :)

Slacking

2008-12-16T19:08:00.000-08:00

Yes. I've been slacking. It has been way too long since I've updated my blog. And now so much has happened... where do I start? Well I'll start with my kids. Josh just started playing basketball. He had his first clinic last Saturday. Got his jersey and everything. I think this Saturday will be an actual game. May be another clinic though. Either way, he loves it! It's the first time we've enrolled him in anything like this. It really makes you realize how fast he is growing up though. He is doing well in school. He is learning how to read and is doing great at it!
His favorite thing right now is Ben 10. A kid show on cartoon network. He is ALL about Ben 10. Lives and breathes for Ben 10. Did I mention he really likes Ben 10? Oh well, it's all good. At least it isn't the Wiggles. Whew! Still glad that phase is over. I don't think I will EVER get those songs out of my head.
Nicky is doing well and getting more grown-up by the day. He lives and breathes for his DS. The worst time of the day is when the batteries finally die and it has to be charged. He then starts hounding to use my DS. He is a DS addict. He doesn't always even have to be playing it. As long as it is close by and he can hear the sweet sounds of Mario being blasted at the highest volume possible. (Which by the way, I now hate the Mario music & insisted Nathan no longer use it as his cell phone ring). One of the funniest things is when Mandy steals his DS and won't give it back to him. She thinks it is pretty funny too. Nicky, however, does NOT.
Well Mandy just turned one year old. Now that she is walking and even doing her best attempt at running (usually away from Nicky while carrying his DS)- there is no stopping her. She is into everything. Our house is a series of hurdles. Seriously. We have finally installed a permanent child gate into the front room. It will be a sad day when she figures out how to open it. Although she keeps us all hopping she is also a real blessing to our family and brings so much love it's amazing. Josh will be having a total freak out and Mandy will come up to him and hug him. He can't help but get a big huge smile. Freak out over.
As for Nathan and me... we just try to keep up with the kids. After they go to bed and we have some time to ourselves, we like to play World of Warcraft (still trying to hit level 80). We also find time to tease each other ruthlessly. I tease him about having a "girly car". We bought his mom's car... which just happened to be a VW Bug. At least it's silver. But still very very GIRLY. He teases me about ... well everything. The list is long of all my little idiosyncrocies. And being it's my blog... I'm not listing them. hehe.
So there you have it. Blog updated. Now for pictures:

Hogle Zoo....

2008-07-20T19:44:00.001-07:00

Saturday we took the kids (and my nephew) to the zoo. We had a blast. Saw the animals. Rode the train and carousel. Had yummy snacks. It was a great trip. Mandy LOVED her very first ride on the carousel. It was just too cute. She is almost 8 months now and is finally starting to crawl. Actually, it's more of a scooch but, we don't tell her that. She also is sporting her very first tooth. She has turned into quite the chatter box- cooing and giggling most the day. We're still trying to get her to say "mama" but no luck yet.
Josh will be starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks. Big time baby! We took him school shopping and just about shop-lifted his backpack. I noticed (as we were walking out the doors) he was wearing it and it never got paid for. We ran back in the store and luckily avoided any mis-haps with JC Penney security. WHEW!!!
Nicky will also be starting pre-school soon. Hopefully. We have yet to conquer the potty-training. I am tiring quickly of having two little ones in diapers so I hope we can work that little issue out soon.
The boys are still just enamoured with thier little sister. It is so much fun to watch them all interact with each other. I love our little family. Three little ones is definately hard but Mandy has been such a wonderful addition to our crew. Even when the boys are being super cranky, I can let them give Mandy a hug and they snap right out of it. They forget all about being little stinkers and turn all gooshy trying to get thier baby sister to smile.
Nathan and I are doing well. Just trying to keep up with the the kids, the house, and the yard. Not to mention the dogs and the aquarium. Nathan's brother (and his two boys) came out last month for a visit. We really enjoyed having them out here and were sad when they left. Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon. Also, congrats to Noelle (Nathan's sister) who just got married. Welcome to the family Brad!
Nathan published his very first book! An RPG (Role Playing Game) that can be found on-line at either amazon or barnes and noble. I am sooooo proud of him. Here are the links if you want to check it out.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Terra-Immortalis/Nathan-Sumsion/e/9780615208022/?itm=1

or

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=terra+immortalis
And finally- I have been having tons of fun with my new cricut (paper-cutter). My friend introduced me to it. She has a cricut us well. We've been having lots of fun making cards, scrapbook pages, and what-not. One of the coolest inventions ever.
And now.... here are some pictures from the zoo and a few random ones for fun:

Mandy and Mommy

Josh on carousel

Mandy's first time on carousel

Nicky with Daddy

Birthday Season...

2008-02-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

Most people have birthdays. In our family, we have a season. It starts in November with Amanda (our most recent family addition). Then January 14th (with Nathan), February 14th (Nicholas~our Valentine), and March 14th (Joshua). Mandy couldn't be lumped in with the boys too much and insisted on her own day (the 26th). Which means... she is 3 MONTHS OLD today. I can't believe it! It is so much fun to watch her grow and develop. She's super smiley and loves all the attention she gets from her big brothers. Plus, there's just something extra special about seeing a daddy holding his baby girl. TOOOO cute!
We had a great birthday with Nicky. We took him to see Spiderwick. Which was way too scary for him. Next birthday we'll spring for the therapy. We looked over at him during the movie and both his hands were covering his mouth. Then he leaned over and said "I don't like this!" Nathan had to take him out for awhile and just walk around the theatre. Poor kid! Although the next day him and Josh were playing together pretending that goblins were getting them and having a blast. Boys!
So now we have to figure out what we're going to do for Josh for his birthday. He says he wants a Superman birthday party. He hasn't been into the superman thing for awhile though so we'll see what happens. Either way, I'm sure it's going to involve a super hero of some sort.
Also this year we are celebrating our 6th Anniversary. I am so excited. I am still so crazy in love with my hubby~ I can't wait to get away with him and have some time to ourselves. We'll have Mandy with us of course but the boys will get to go stay with my brother, his wife, and 5 boys. I'm sure they'll have a great time too. And thanks again to Shawn and Anna, we owe ya!
And being it just seems wrong to post something on my blog without pictures...here ya go:

She's Here!!!

2007-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

We finally got our baby girl. Amanda was born Nov. 26th (a day earlier than scheduled-wheee!)
She weighed 8 lbs 15 oz. So she wasn't my smallest or my biggest. And she was 21 inches. She's an absolute sweetie. The only time she really fusses is when she realizes she's not being held. So basically, she is almost never fussy-hehe. The boys are so cute with her. They love when they get a turn to hold her. And Josh is quite protective of her. He even told me to be careful to not drop her and likes to brag about how good he is at holding her. Nathan of course is quite the proud daddy and is totally enamoured with his little girl. It's been great to have my family and friends around for this delivery. So much fun!!
And now... pictures of our beautiful little girl:

Baby Update

2007-05-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are expecting.
Yes, we've had the ultrasound.
Yes, we would be happy if baby #3 was a boy.
Yes, we would be even happier if baby #3 was a girl.
And Yes, Baby #3 is a GIRL!
And Yes, we are absolutely ecstatic!
Our little girl should arrive around Thanksgiving. We can hardly wait. Nathan and I are pretty much in shock. Both of us really wanted a girl but didn't want to admit it and then be disappointed if it was a boy. We floated out of the drs office and were all kinds of proud of ourselves. We then went to lunch where we discussed every girl name under the sun. It was so much fun. I'm already thinking of ways to decorate a little girl room and what it will be like to have a little girl. Hope she likes superheroes, lightsabers and hotwheel cars. And of course, she better love playing games (esp. video games) like the rest of the family. The boys are very excited to be having a baby sister. Well at least Josh is. Nicky doesn't have a clue as to what is going on and how his life is going to be turned upside-down in a matter of months. Josh loves suggesting names. Zelda. Daisy. Peach. Padme. Basically any name that is from a video game or Star Wars. Luckily for our little girl Josh will not be picking out her name. We have already decided on Amanda. The middle name is still undecided. But I can pretty much guarantee it won't be anything like Zelda or Peach.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from the ultrasound. Best of luck trying to figure out what is what.

Disneyland

2007-03-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

So much fun!!!! We just got back from taking our two little guys to Disneyland. This was their first time there. And the last time Nathan visited was about 30 yrs ago. So it really was all kinds of fun. :) We got tons of compliments on our cute little boys. They were both very well behaved for the most part. And as far as we could tell.... they had an amazing time!
The very first ride we hit was Star Tours. Josh and Nathan went while Nick and I checked out the gift shop. After that was the Buzz Lightyear ride. We went on that ride SEVERAL times. The boys LOVED it! Josh liked being able to shoot at stuff and Nicky like telling Zurg "NO NO! Be nice Zurg!"
We managed to hit Pirates of the Carribean that night too. It scared Josh and Nicky both but they still enjoyed it. Josh just about jumped out of his seat when we hit the part with the cannons blasting. That puff of air hit him and he thought he was done for. Later that night he was complaining of a tummy ache. As we're walking back to the hotel Josh says, "Hey wait a minute. I know why my stomach hurts. It's from when I got hit in the stomach by a cannon." Whew! Glad we got that all cleared up. We were totally stumped as to why his stomach hurt. Cannons. That simple. Getting shot by a cannon I guess would make my stomach hurt too!!!! And as he was explaining this to his Grandpa... "yeah, it hurt but at least I didn't die or anything". That kid is just too funny! When we returned the next day and tried to get a picture of the boys with Capt. Jack Sparrow... they both freaked. Josh likes to point out though that he wasn't SCARED.... he was just tired and that's why he didn't want his picture taken. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. :)
They also loved the rocket ride and It's a small world. Neither one of them were very fond of the haunted mansion. Nathan and I however had a blast watching them squirm! It was great. Anytime Josh started acting up we could just ask him if he wanted to go to the haunted mansion next and his behavior would mysteriously improve. hehehehehe.
They both LOVED the Jedi training show. They were in awe over Darth Vader and Darth Maul. The best part was when Darth Maul started wandering around. As he got closer and closer, Josh backed up more and more. So funny! I don't blame him though. The costume and make-up was amazing. He looked like he just stepped off the Star Wars set. I even thought he looked a little scary.
The boys were great on the plane ride home. I think they're really getting the traveling thing down. Made me all kinds of proud when people commented to me on how well behaved they were. Although I think they were just comparing them to a 3 yr old in front of us that was freaking out. Poor kid. First time on a plane and the mom decided the best way to deal with the situation was to let other people entertain him while she downed her double vodka and hit on every male within speaking distance. (Glad Nathan was on the row behind me-hehe)
It was a great trip though. I wasn't ready to come back home. Anyway... enough of my rambling.... here's the pictures:

Welcome Zelda

2007-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about the new Zelda game. Although, I really want to get that too. Zelda is what we named our new puppy. She's a great dane and she's an absolute sweetie. We are so excited. Here's a few pictures of our little girl...

My beautiful mother

2007-01-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

My parents have now gone to their "winter home". I miss them so much. It's been so nice to have mom and dad close by. Luckily my mom is a game nerd like me and loves World of Warcraft. So while she's away we can still get on-line and go kill a bunch of bad guys. Mwah ah ahhh! Now we just have to get my dad playing. >hint-hint<
I hope you have a wonderful time Mom and Dad!

San Antonio & other stuff

2006-10-31T15:42:00.000-08:00

Nathan and I got back from San Antonio, TX this weekend. We had a great time. It was beautiful. The food was great. The company was great. Kinda fond of spending time with that Nathan guy. :) And staying with our friends was really nice. They have 4 really cute kids. It made me miss my kids tons! I could hardly sleep and my stomach was in knots the whole time. It was the first time we've left them.
The pressure was on for us to move there. Nathan gave a presentation at a University there. They really want him to teach game design there. He did a great presentation. He was sooo cute. I wasn't the only girl there who thought so either. I can tell he would be a really good teacher, I just don't want to move again. My kids love having cousins close by to play with. It would be hard to move them away from that. But, his hours would be much better. We would be able to see him alot more. Tough decision. We'll see what happens.
More importantly, I just found out my best friend is going to have a baby!!!! How could I possibly leave now?? I am so excited for her. Congratulations Jenny and Ben! I can't wait to see that little one and snuggle her/him right up! I was hoping that we would be able to be pregnant at the same time but, I guess we just have less control of those things then we think sometimes. I miscarried twice in a row this summer so we won't be trying again for a little while. But on the positive side, now I'll feel well enough to totally dote on Jenny and help make this experience as amazing and fun as possible!
Well there's more to tell about this summer but no time. The kids and I are waiting for Nathan to get home so we can take them trick-or-treating. They are both dressed up as Robin this year.

The baby has arrived...

2006-06-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Yep! I finally got a new baby...Baby George. And tonight, he was soooo amazing! Plus he came with a brother: the extra large George Foreman grill. SWEET!! So here's a proper introduction for my new baby: Baby George is a very nice little rotisserie cooker. He served us well tonight with a very nicely cooked herb-rubbed chicken. The chicken was so tender and juicy and my house smelled so yummy! It was so simple but yet tasted so gourmet! The clean-up was not too bad- which is always nice. And being I have a weakness for kitchen appliances...Baby George now almost ranks up there with my kitchen aid (almost). Nathan got Baby George for me as an early birthday present. A gift the whole family can enjoy!!! Thank you soooo much Sweetie! I love it! I've already promised to bring Baby George over to my parents house and fix them dinner.
Here's a little side note:
While we were living in Germany, there was a little Turkish place (The Alpler) that had these amazing chickens cooked on a big rotisserie. You had to get there early or else they would be gone. For some reason eating a chicken like that has always turned my stomach. But not these chickens! They smelled and tasted so great! Maybe it was just because I was pregnant. Who knows. But Nathan and I would often walk down to the market and get us one and take it back to our little empty apt. We had very little furniture: a couch with 2 matching chairs, a bed (kinda), and an armoire that were left by the previous renter and a little round living-room table that the missionaries gave to us. No kitchen table. So we would sit there in our sadly bare living room and eat this amazing food while we enjoyed each others company and waited for me to go into labor. (We ate alot of chicken). So now every time I see a rotisserie I am accutely reminded of a very special time spent with my sweet husband. However since we've come back to the states, I've tried rotisserie chicken a few times and it still turns my stomach a bit. Until now. Until Baby George. It's yummy goodness was right up there with The Alpler! Hallelujah! Plus Nathan praised me and my cooking abilities the entire night. Just call me Iron Chef Sumsion!!

Camp-out in the backyard

2006-06-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

We were going to go camping this weekend but decided it would still be too cold (and wet)in the mountains for our little campers. So I set up the tent in the backyard and had a... "camp-out in the backyard". We started by BBQ-ing some hamburgers and hotdogs and eating dinner outside. Then we went for a "hike" to Blockbuster and rented some movies for the kids. We set up the portable DVD player, got in our jammies, and watched a movie in the tent before going to sleep. This morning I baked some blueberry muffins and set out an assortment of pop-tarts. Nutrition! The kids had a GREAT time. We played together all morning.
Nicky loved being able to play outside. Sleeping in the tent was a bit of a trial for him---and for me. It was a great trial-run though. Now I know that we're going to have to get a bed of some kind just for Nicky. No more sharing a sleeping bag with Mom! Better to figure that out now than when we're in the mountains.
Josh loved watching a movie in the tent. He fell off his air matress in the middle of the night and wanted his own bed. So Nathan let him share his sleeping bag with him. Sharing a sleeping bag with a 3 yr old must have been about as much fun as with a 1 yr old. After Josh went back to sleep Nathan finally ended up just moving over and sleeping in Josh's bag.
Nathan and I really didn't get much sleep but it was so much fun to see what a great time our boys had. Today I get to clean-up from our camping trip and Nathan had to go into work for a few hours. But then tomorrow... we'll have all day together to celebrate Father's Day. And Nathan deserves it! He is such a great Dad. Every day I fall in love with him all over again just from watching how cute he is with our little boys. Happy Father's Day Sweetie!!!
Oh and here's some pictures of Josh pretending to be Superman while I was setting up the tent.

Easter Fun

2006-04-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend. Although Nathan had to work on Saturday we made the best of it. Unfortunately missed an Easter egg hunt with our neighbors/friends. We drove Nathan to work and then the kids and I had a car picnic (McDonald's drive-thru). We took our lunch to a park and ate in the car. The kids loved it. Afterwards we went to Tracy Aviary. The kids thought that was all sorts of fun too. Finally we went and picked Nathan up from work and rushed our little selves to an Easter egg hunt at my best friends' house. It was so much fun.
Sunday morning we had our own little egg hunt for the boys. Josh had a great time. Nicky kept finding the same egg. He would pick it up. Toss it in his bucket. Clap. Take it out. Toss it. Go and pick it up....
After church we went over to my sisters house for dinner and another egg hunt. My whole family was there. It was a blast.

Tank Additions

2006-04-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we set up another salt water tank in our home. This one is a 55 gallon that we converted from fresh water. Yikes! It was a mess. Thanks to my brother and my very sweet husband, it's looking great. It's been sitting at my parents house with nasty yucky water for over 3 years. I wish I had taken a picture of what it looked like to start with. I'll be taking some pictures of it a little later but for now... here's a picture of the new additions.

Two anenomes and a tomato clown (Mario):

Here's some pictures of the bubble coral and feather duster that we added to our 46 gallon reef tank:

And here's a picture of our reef tank when we started it in October:

And now (April) six months later:

Vacation!

2006-03-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

We got back last week from one of the best vacations! We went to San Jose for our 4th anniversary. It was so much fun. Nathan has family there so we got to hang out with them too. It was really nice to get to know them better. We really had a great time... overall. As we were descending into San Jose, Josh started complaining that his stomach hurt. Just as we landed he had a major explosion. Poor little guy. It went all the way down to his brand new spider man socks!
We made it over to his grandma's house that night after checking into the hotel and a quick bath for "Stinky Bumb Boy". It was great to finally see where she lived and the hill that Nathan and his friend (in all their wisdom) attempted to skateboard down- nearly killing themselves.
The next day we went to San Francisco. I love that place! We drove the boys over the Golden Gate Bridge. Had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf (a fresh crab, clam chowder in a bread bowl, fries, and sourdough bread). And did some souvenir shopping at Pier 39. On the way back we stopped at a Turkish restaurant- the only one we've been able to find since we've been back from Germany. It was sooooo tasty!
Sunday we met up with Nathan's family and drove to Capitola where we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant owned by Nathan's aunt (I think). We met more family there and then hung out at the beach. The food was great! I had a prawn enchilada that was amazing. And the boys LOVED playing on the beach. I didn't get to chat with his family as much as I would have liked but they all seemed very nice and I really enjoyed meeting them. After all of that we continued our drive south to Monterey where we spent the night. Our hotel was great. The boys really liked it too. There was lots of room for them to run around.
The next morning we met Nathan's uncle at the Aquarium. Nicholas LOVED the sea otters. Josh loved the "splash zone". They were both a little cranky so we didn't stay too long. And we took a break to go get lunch. I guess one of Monterey's little things is deep fried artichoke hearts. Wow!!! I think I could possibly live off those. Although the garlic and the calories- no one would want to spend a lot of time around me and I probably wouldn't live a very long life. But, they were so yummy.
We drove back up to San Jose that night and checked into our hotel and then went out to dinner. The next day we spent the majority of our time at Grandma's house. Josh had some great lightsaber battles with cousin Joe and Uncle Brent. Grandma June also made him a birthday cake. It was great!
The next morning Aunt Sharon took me and the boys to the airport and we headed home. The kids were pretty well behaved. We had the whole row to ourselves which was great. SO GREAT! As we were descending into Salt Lake, Josh started complaining that his tummy hurt. YIKES! Not again! I told him whatever he did... don't poop.
As we were getting off the plane I was telling Josh how proud I was of him that he was such a good boy. He didn't cry. He didn't talk rude. He was a good helper. And then in a not-so-quiet voice he said, "Yeah Mom. And I didn't poop!" The lady in front of us stopped, and while laughing turned around and said, "Yeah. And he didn't even poop." Which in my opinion, is always a good thing.
The only real downside to the trip (other than Josh's bumb problems) was trying to get the kids to sleep at night. That was more than a little difficult. Sleep was not something that we got alot of on this trip. Any of us.
Nathan had to stay in San Jose for a few more days for work so that wasn't fun. We really missed him. And he probably thought he would get to come home and relax. Nope. We instead went over to my parents house and got our 55 gallon tank (that they gave us) that has been sitting there with nasty water in it for longer than I know. We got it cleaned up and turned it into a salt water tank (with my brothers help). We now have 101 gallons of salt water in our house. It was a two day job and our backs may never be the same.
Who knows. Maybe someday I'll know sleep again. Either way, our trip to San Jose will definitely need to be repeated annually. It was a blast!

All of us at the Golden Gate Bridge:

Daddy and his boys at the beach:

Mommy and her boys at the beach:

Me and my hubby:

Nicky at the beach:

Our favorite hotel in Monterey:

Josh at Monterey Bay Aquarium:

Nicky in a highchair built by his great grandfather:

2005 Done and Gone!

2006-01-04T11:31:00.001-08:00

Well, it was a busy and exciting year. We ended the year with Nathan's mom spending Christmas with us. It was great. Josh and Nikki LOVED having Grandma here. Josh showed off the whole time and was super hyper. He had a few (more like several) tantrums when he felt like all eyes weren't on him. He's just barely starting to unwind. Nikki was super affectionate with Grandma. He was more than happy to give mom a break and let Grandma hold him and entertain him. And I was more than happy to take advantage of the break to try and keep my house somewhat functional.
At least one of us has been sick though for pretty much a month straight now. Nathan's poor mom had asthma and then a cold shortly after she got here on the 6th. It managed to go back and forth between all of us. The worst was just after Christmas when Josh got pink eye joined with an ear infection. Then Nikki got it (also joined with an ear infection). And then Nathan got it. The boys' eyes are cleared up but Nathan's are still a little red. Of course now Josh is sick again with some kind of cold/crud. And Barbara (Nathan's mom) is now home nursing pink eye and bronchitis. I feel so bad for her. She had such a hard time getting out here and an even worse time getting home. I hope at least while she was out here she enjoyed herself and was able to relax a bit (in spite of being bounced back and forth between us and Nathan's sister).
Now the year is done. We have a new year to look forward to. Hopefully we all (including you the reader-whoever you may be) have a healthy and wonderful 2006.

And just to make this post complete: PICTURES!

Weekend Adventure

2005-11-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

Wyoming: place; blistering cold weather (including lots of snow) with high winds resulting in terrible driving conditions; a place where due to severe weather conditions you often get detained in over-priced crappy hotels and pay twice as much for everything just to be treated rudely by the local Wyomingites that are ripping you off; hell.

Friday night we decided to borrow my brothers truck and drive to Nebraska. The weather was "supposed" to be good and Nathan had Monday off from work. We thought it would be a great opportunity to surprise his mom and bring back a few things. We left about midnight on Friday. Things went okay at first. We had to stop for half an hour for Nathan to get a little sleep but that was all. That and the other bazillion times we stopped for several diaper emergencies and bad weather. We finally got to his moms house around 6:00 Saturday night. So that took a bit longer than we had expected but it was worth it to see how happy his mom and grandma were. They got to see our baby for the first time. Nikki instantly took to his Grandma Barbie. It was great to see our new nephew too (only 1 mo old). We had a great time visiting with family and friends. We wish we could have stayed longer. We left Monday morning at 8:00 and got into Salt Lake around 4:00 pm on Tuesday. So that was ALOT longer than we expected. We got caught in a snow storm and had to spend the night in Rawlins WY. I just can't stress enough how much I HATE Wyoming. The roads were terrible. There were a ton of accidents (mostly semi's that were jack-knifed or had rolled). I think it was some of the worst weather Nathan and I have had to drive in. Nathan drove the whole way. He rocks! He did such a great job. I love my man! We totally got price-gouged in Wyoming though. We were barely able to find a room and then had to pay through the nose for it. Stupid Travelodge. It was a balmy 11 degrees when we hit the road in the morning. There were still some icy areas but it was a much better drive than the day before. The kids did great. They hardly even fussed. The worst part was when we started to climb in elevation and the roads were really bad. Poor Josh kept crying because his "ears were popping out". Other than that he did great. We watched Scooby Doo 2 about 5 or 6 times and listed to (or watched) alot of Wiggles. We made it home safely and were very appreciative that my brother lent us his 4 whl drive truck. Nathan got his Dad's desk and his old bed that his dad and grandpa had made for him. We'll get the bed painted nice and let Josh use it. I'm sure that would please his dad and grandpa alot. And we look forward to Nathan's mom coming out in December and celebrating Christmas with us.

New additions...

2005-10-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Aquarium

2005-10-24T13:03:00.001-07:00

So Nathan and I finally found a hobby that we both really enjoy. My brother got us involved in a salt water fish tank. We love it. Our goal is to focus mostly on corals although we have enjoyed adding some fun fish. And it's a good thing being Josh turned up the thermostat on our tank... we had a lot less coral after that. Our tank is pretty new (to us) so we have a long ways to go. But here are a few pictures of some of our more shy pets. The first one is a hermit crab I noticed today that has a tiny little star fish attached to it. The second is our brittle star fish. And the last one is our shrimp (who we named Calabash).

First Haircut

2005-10-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

The title pretty much says it all. I took Josh to get his first haircut. Now that we're in the desert...no humidity...no more curls. My last attempt at cutting his hair was a disaster. So... Great Clips it was.

My baby is mobile

2005-10-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yes. It's true. My little baby is crawling. Which means I am constantly chasing after him (or Josh) now. He can also pull himself up to a standing position. I can't believe how fast he is growing.
Nikki has also said his first word, "mama". One of the best days of my life. :)
His second word was "Grr" and he can also say "dada". Him and Josh love having screaming matches with each other. They take turns seeing who can scream the loudest and then break out with the giggles. Loud but very cute.

Here's some pictures of my boys sporting their new clothes:

We got Josh some new shoes that he is convinced make him run faster which he of course has to show you over and over again. I'm just glad he hasn't decided they make him jump higher too. He loves his new house. And he loves playing with all his cousins. He asks me several times a week if we can go camping with "Guncle Dave" again. "Gungle Dave and Guncle Shawn" have won him over.
We took a break from working on the house this weekend and went with my brother Shawn to his cabin. Josh and Nikki both had a great time, so did Nathan and I. Nathan even broke out of computer geek mode and gave a 'shot' at being a red-neck... the picture tells it all:

The house is coming together but I still wonder if we'll ever be totally unpacked.
We've mostly been focusing on the yard. We (mostly Nathan) cleaned up the shed and playhouse area. That was a super nasty job. And it just goes to show how much my husband loves me. He didn't have me do any of the yucky parts. There are pictures of our work on Nathan's blog.

Home Owners!

2005-08-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

We closed on our new house today. We'll be moving in on Sunday. Actually, we can move in on Saturday at 9:00 pm. Which means if I get things my way, we'll be at the house at 9:01 pm with our sleeping bags ready to go.
Things went really well. We didn't run into any problems. We even got a little run-down from the sellers on all the how-to's of the house. It's going to be so great to finally have our own place. This is something I've been dreaming of, well... since forever.
Some of the things I'm looking forward to... having a garden, having a big (fenced) yard, a decent sized kitchen with plenty of counter space, being able to listen to music and not having to worry about bugging the neighbors, and a place to do hobbies (like sewing). But, probably the best part is the kitchen. I can't wait to have a kitchen that has plenty of room for all my dishes, appliances, and food AND a countertop that is bigger than a placemat. I've already enjoyed being able to make jam this summer at my mom's. I'm really looking forward to doing more "homey" stuff like that.
So if any of my friends actually read this blog and would like our new address and phone number, just e-mail me and I'll give it to you. :)

And now... here's some random pictures to enjoy:

Josh getting good and dirty:

The boys getting good and clean:

Josh wearing his new belt and shoes (which he would even wear with his pj's if I'd let him):

Nikki sporting his Nike's:

Brief summary of the past month

2005-07-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it was about a month ago that I boarded a plane with my two little boys and flew across the country. Although things went very well, this is not something I want to attempt on my own again. Most people were very nice and helpful. And Josh only tried once to run away at the airport.
It was great to see all of my family. I missed them so much. It's basically been a month long family reunion between moving back, the fourth of July, my birthday, and my mom's birthday. I'm LOVING it!!!
So we're now looking to buy a house. We went to see a few places tonight and ended up adding more chaos to our already very busy and eventful lives. (Oh and in the process saw a house or two that might work for us.)

Meet our newest addition to the family... "Gypsy". She's our 8 wk old black lab. I'm sure you'll be seeing lots more pictures and posts about her.

Battle of the Kids Meal Toys

2005-06-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I think most toys that come in 'kids meals' are a companies way of punishing you for not spending more money on a regular combo meal. It's a conspiracy.

Example One: Mini video racing game. This toy appeals to the Dad more than to the kid. We had to make several fast-food runs when these little goodies were the bait. When I tried to throw them out, I put them in a box and told Nathan that they were the junk toys that Josh didn't play with anymore. Thanks to the game going off with it's annoying repetitive sounds... Nathan heard it in the box and decided my ideas of junk toys and his ideas might not be the same. He rummaged through the box and pulled them out and took them to a "safe location" (aka: his office). I doubt I will ever see or hear the last of those annoyingly loud toys that are cousin to those freaky furbie dolls. And apparently it doesn't matter what the game is, YOU DO NOT THROW AWAY VIDEO GAMES. So I've been told. I'm doomed in that department.

Example Two: Buzz Light Year Action Figure. Now when we first got this toy I was very surprised. A decent toy that wasn't just a flimsy piece of junk. It got me thinking, I bet Josh would LOVE to watch Toy Story. So we loaded the kids up and headed to Best Buy, all excited about getting a new movie. No such luck. Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are no longer in print. Lame!!! Lame!!! Lame!!! Why promote a toy for a movie that you can no longer purchase?

Example Three: Jimmy Neutron cardboard computer. This little beauty is a total piece of garbage, actually several pieces of garbage. It comes with a card board disc that you can put in a little card board sleeve that is supposed to look like a computer. However, the lure of putting this cardboard disc into more practical places is apparently quite great. Yes. Josh put it into our DVD player. (At least it wasn't our computer). Just when I think I finally got all of the different parts- I find another one- jammed into my DVD player.
Now Burger King has Star Wars toys in their kids meals. You can collect all THIRTY something of them! That is a butt load of crappy cheeseburgers!

I fear this is a battle I'm going to lose.

Road trip: Round two

2005-06-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend we drove to Washington, DC. I know I said I didn't want to drive any farther than the grocery store but I really wanted to go before we left NC. We left early Saturday morning and got there about noon. We took the boys to the National Zoo. Josh loved it. We only had time and energy to see a small portion of it. It's a huge zoo.

After that we drove to our hotel (only a mile away). Our hotel was great. The room was huge and it had a nice big bed. A big bed is essential when you have to share it with Josh- he sleeps horizontal. Nothing like getting kicked in the small of your back. After we checked in we walked down Connecticut Ave and ate dinner at Buca De Beppo. YUMMY!
The next morning we woke up early and hit the town. We started with taking the metro to the Eastern Market. That was fun. We got some apple fritters and ate them in a nice shaded play area.
We got back on the metro and headed to the Natural History Museum. Josh loved that too. Although by this time, he started to get quite cranky. So we buzzed through that and then got some lunch.

Next on the agenda was the Lincoln Memorial but, being we started walking the wrong way...we never made it. By this time it was about 92 degrees with about 75% humidity. YIKES!! Our poor little boys were melting. We stopped to take a break in some shade and that was nice. Josh really enjoyed being able to take his shoes off and tackle Daddy.

By this time though, Josh was done walking and insisted that he get his turn in the stroller. So I held Nikki and made a little do-rag for him out of his burp cloth so he wouldn't get sunburned. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of that. It was just too stinking hot to stop and do photos. We busted our butts to the nearest metro and went back to the car.
Of course by the time we reached our car we had cooled off from our ride on the metro. And being we were parked right by the White House... We threw Josh in his stroller, put Nikki back in his stroller, and headed off to see more sights. Both boys promptly fell asleep and we were able to enjoy our stroll around the White House and even get a few pics in.

After that it was about 4:00 and we decided to head home. We would have driven by the Iwo Jima monument but, we took a wrong turn. Oh well. We had a great time anyway.
When we got home poor Josh was so tired he didn't even want to go with Nathan to pick up our dog. (Thank you again to Liz and Rick for watching Grr for us). Josh just ran up the stairs giggling and jumping- happy to be home. I got his pj's on him and he ran to his room to go to bed. If only he was that eager to go to bed every night. Ah well. Another successful road-trip. Next trip: Salt Lake City!!! (BY AIRPLANE- WAHOOOO)

On our way

2005-05-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like we'll be moving back to Utah in a couple of weeks. Nathan starts his new job the end of June. We're so excited! I'm looking forward to being close to family and friends. I can't wait to see my new niece. And I can't wait to show off my new baby. It's going to be so nice for Josh and Nicholas to be around their cousins. It will be great to be able to spend the holidays with family. It will be heaven to have babysitters available so Nathan and I can go on dates (somewhat regularly). And when my family needs me I won't feel guilty that I'm too far away to help. This is going to be great!
As soon as we find out more details, I'll post them. :)

TICK!!!

2005-05-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to get out of this state! North Carolina is very beautiful but something about having to pull ticks off your cute little boy just doesn't seem worth it. Last week Josh had a tick on his leg that I noticed while giving him a bath. I pulled it out and it started crawling around. YUCK! It quickly got thrown into the porcelain bowl and flushed, never to return. Nathan picked one off him (Josh) before it had the chance to implant itself. Last spring I had to pick a tick off of Nathan and 2 or 3 off of Grr. And today we had to pick one off of Grr that had apparently escaped our attention for awhile because it wasn't exactly small. Once again- YUCK!!! It took several several attempts to get the sucker. We had almost gotten it out when Grr decided he had had enough and was not going to let us near him with the tweezers. So we gave him a little break. When we came back for another try, the tick was gone. Uh oh! That was just what we needed was a tick on the loose in the house. Nathan and I took one look at each other and dropped to the floor to start looking for the bludger! I found it on the carpet... about 6 inches from the butt jiggler (otherwise known as a baby bouncer)! I think if that thing had gotten on Nicholas (or Josh) I would have gone into hysterics. And needless to say, I have the heebie jeebie creepy crawlies so bad, I doubt I'll get any sleep tonight.
So now that tick season is once again here- the sooner we get out of this tick infested swamp the better!

My little angel...

2005-05-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

Poor Grr

2005-05-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

Poor Grr... doesn't have any friends. No yard to play in. No other dogs to romp around with. The most fun he gets is when he runs around the apt teasing Josh, who sometimes thinks it's fun and sometimes doesn't. The only time he really gets to stretch his legs is when we take him outside on a potty walk. Needless to say he is an absolute spazoid any time we even mention the word "walk". And being Nathan is the one that usually walks him, if Nathan even moves, Grr thinks it's walk time and starts getting all hyped up. We're so ready to have a yard for him to play in it's not even funny. Really. It's not funny. Way past funny. Want a yard bad! Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Josh didn't insist on going and "helping" every time. He needs a yard to play in too. The major production it is to just get out the door is exhausting. We really look forward to having a fenced yard that we can just open the door and let him out. No big commotion. And no following him around with a poop bag. (I don't so much like that part either). So I know this started out as "poor Grr" but there's definitely a "poor us" in there too.
This picture doesn't exactly help the "poor us" perspective but it's too cute to not show.

A New Discovery

2005-05-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

Nicholas found his thumb this morning. He's been fascinated with his hands lately and will hold them up and just stare at them. Well, now he's figured out that the thumb fits perfectly inside his mouth and has been sucking on it most of the day. As much as I don't want to encourage thumb-sucking, it's really nice that he can soothe himself a little bit now. It was starting to become quite an ordeal to get him to fall asleep. Now, once he gets a hold of that thumb he's out in less than 5 minutes!!! Ahhhhh.... peace.

Road Trip

2005-05-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a road trip to Detroit. It took us SIXTEEN hours to get there! The kids did great though. The only one that really got cranky was Nathan. And to be fair, being he drove the whole way, he had the right to get a little cranky. The drive back was a different story. We were all cranky on the way back. We even split it up between two days. Hopefully the next time we go anywhere farther than the grocery store, it will be by plane.
It was really great to see all of Nathan's friends again. The last time I saw them was just before we got married, when I met them for the first time. Hopefully, we'll be able to see them more often. They are all very nice and they gave my kids tons of attention. Not that my kids would have it any other way. Josh, especially demanded a lot of attention. Talk about a show-off!! He was one little ball of energy. I wish I could say that he was just acting up because of all the commotion. But no. The boy never stops! If only I had his energy.
Here's a few photos from our trip...