Spring Break 2013...Day 1

Today was the first day of our spring break vacation. This year we decided to take the kids back to Disneyland. The last time we went there I was pregnant with Jaedyn, so we were excited that she was going to be able to join the fun this time...me too!  But first we planned on spending a couple days in Oceanside with Josh's aunt Vickie.

We headed out of town right after the boys got out of school so we wouldn't get to Oceanside too late. It was dark when we got there and Jantzen and Jaedyn had already fallen asleep. I thought it was so cute how they were snuggling together...

   Notice how Jaedyn had to bring her Minnie Mouse? She was so excited to take her to Disneyland.    We got to Aunt Vickie's house around 9ish and before we went to bed we did a lot of visiting. We love staying at Vickie's house and they are the best hosts. The next morning we decided to spend the day at the beach. We headed down to Oceanside Harbor and proceeded to enjoy the perfect weather.    The boys started out playing with a giant sling shot that Marty (cousin Amanda's boyfriend) brought and they were all having a blast with it. I was a little concerned part of the time because they were using a baseball. Luckily no one got hit with it.               While the boys played Jaedyn got into the bag of Cheetos we brought for lunch. She couldn't wait until lunch to eat them. She would've been happy doing this all day if I would've let her, but I didn't.      Before everyone took off to play in the sand and water, I made them all gather for a family picture...      I loved how it turned out!    I especially loved this close up because you can see the Cheetos in Jaedyn's smile...      After that we all headed down to the water to play and freeze our tooshies off...the water was cold!!      The look on Josh's face proves that...          Jaedyn wouldn't get in the water at first, she made her daddy hold her while she latched onto him like a monkey...          Jaedyn had more fun playing with her cousin Raeley on the boogie board...          This was the look Jaedyn gave me when I told her I was going to take her in the ocean with me...she wasn't too thrilled!  I think it might have been because there were some really big waves going on.      The boys and Raeley, on the other hand, were having a blast! They couldn't get enough of the ocean.          Jaron was loving using the boogie board...      Amanda took this picture of Josh and I. It's not my favorite of me, but I loved that Jaron and Jantzen were in the background playing in the ocean...      Josh took the boys far out in the water to play around. They were all having way too much fun in the waves...      Jantzen liked watching the surfers...      I think it's safe to say that Jantzen's having a good time here...      Josh was having fun too. He was using his GoPro camera to record the boys.       I got Jaedyn to come down and get in the water...she didn't like it very much!It was too cold for her.      She was fine when the water wasn't touching her, but as soon as it did she ran away screaming.      The boys braved the cold water all day...      Okay, here's another picture of Josh and I. I like this one of me better!      After a little while being at the beach Jaedyn had had enough and decided to hang out and wait for her brothers to come out of the water. Notice what's sitting next to her...the bag of Cheetos! Yeah, she got into them again.       The boys came out of the water just long enough to eat a quick lunch. They really only wanted to play in the water more.      After lunch and a little more time playing in the water, the kids decided to play in the sand...      They thought it would be fun to bury each other...                      After burying each other in the sand, Josh, Jantzen, Jaedyn, and Marty played a little beach football...          It was so cute watching Jaedyn run with the ball, she was having so much fun!      After football, Jantzen wanted to be buried again and Jaron was quick to do it for him...      Jaedyn did her own shoveling, but I'm not sure what she was digging for exactly.       Josh was cold from playing in the water so much, so he snuggled in his towel...      When it was time to leave, we got everything packed up and headed to the car to load up. Jaedyn didn't want to walk to the car and I had too much to carry, so Jantzen gave her a ride...it was cute! He's such a good big brother to her!       When we got back to Vickie's house the kids wanted to go swimming in her community's pool because they hadn't had enough water already, so we did. Vickie went and got Chick-fil-A for dinner (Josh was sooo happy about that) and we enjoyed that at the pool.    After the kids had had enough water for one day we went back to Vickie's, showered, and relaxed the rest of the night. We were all so tired from being in the sun all day, but we all had so much fun. I wish we lived closer to a beach, my kids would be in heaven!    Tomorrow's going to be another fun day...

Walk-a-Thon...2013

Today was the annual walk-a-thon fundraiser at Jantzen's school. It's a PTO sponsored event, so of course I was there. This year we had a few more things added for the kids to enjoy and they loved it all! 

Jantzen brought in the highest amount of pledges in the whole 2nd grade, so he won a free pass to Flip-N-Out...he was so excited!

   We added in some obstacle courses for the kids this year. One of them were these cones that they had to run through. Jantzen and his friend Jose seemed to really enjoy this one...      There were also hula hoops and jump ropes for the kids to play with, but I think Jantzen was "too cool" for that kind of stuff, so he skipped that part.    Here's a picture of Jantzen with some of his friends. I love how Alyssa photo-bombed the picture...      Another new thing the kids got to enjoy this year was some yummy shave ice, but only if they had enough pledges. Luckily Jantzen did because it was really warm outside.           After Jantzen got his shave ice, which I did steal some of, he hung out with Jose and Jansen by the fire truck to cool off...          Despite it being a little windy and warm, the walk-a-thon was a success again and Jantzen had a really fun time. Next year I'm in charge of running the walk-a-thon, so we'll see if I can continue to make it fun for the kids.

In the Zone...the Minecraft Zone!

Jaron had Peter come over after school today to "hang out" because at his age he no longer has "play dates". Jantzen and Jaedyn had to join in on the fun too, but I wasn't hearing any noises coming from anywhere in the house that would indicate there were children present. I went searching for signs of life and this is what I stumbled upon...

   All four kids were zoned in on their Kindles, Jaedyn was on Jaron's phone, playing Minecraft together. Not a single one of them acknowledged me when I walked in the door. I'm wondering if I should be worried about this or if I should be happy that there isn't any fighting or arguing going on.    I do think it's funny and cute how much Jaedyn loves playing Minecraft with her brothers and their friends. She's pretty much an expert at it!

Green Food & Happy Kids!

I made the kids their annual "St. Patty's Day" breakfast this morning. It consisted of green eggs, green pancakes, green muffins, green milk (orange juice for Jaedyn) all accompanied with green plates and cups...there's so much green!! 

These are the beautiful smiling faces I got when I asked the kids for a picture...

           Jaedyn held that pucker the whole time while saying "cheese!".    The kids all loved breakfast, as usual. I think they might end up pooping green stuff for a week with all the food coloring they consumed...TMI, I know!   HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!

Family Night at the Drive In

Last night we took the kids to the drive in to see "Oz The Great and Powerful"...

   This is the first time we've ever taken the kids to see a movie at the drive in. Josh and I used to go all the time before we had kids. The kids were all so excited to go. We brought blankets and pillows and made a bed for the kids in the back of the Tahoe so they could be comfortable while watching the movie...          Josh and I sat in chairs outside the Tahoe and we also brought my stereo (from when I was 16, yeah it's still awesome!) so we could have surround sound during the movie.    We got the kids all set up with their movie treats. They each got to pick out what treat they wanted and then we popped our own popcorn at home because I'm too cheap sometimes to pay for movie concessions. The kids don't mind where the treats come from, just that they have some.      And here's a picture of Josh and I. I wasn't feeling the greatest, but I still went to watch the movie with my family and I'm glad I did.      The movie was good. Jantzen and Jaedyn actually fell asleep about half way through it, so they didn't really have an opinion about it. I think Josh and I enjoyed it the most because we've actually seen "The Wizard of Oz", so we know more about what's going on in the movie. I told my kids that they should watch "The Wizard of Oz", but they said, "No Thanks!"...fine!    We really did have a fun time at the drive in and it was cheap, so I think we'll come back often. It's a fun way to spend time together as a family.

Who's That Boy?!?!

Today Jaron made a very big decision...he decided he wanted a drastic change with his hair. He's been telling me for the last few weeks that he wanted to cut off his hair, but I thought he was just saying that because he thought he'd like it and I thought he wouldn't. Here's why I thought he wouldn't like it...Jaron's had long hair since 2nd grade and he did choose to cut it all off a couple years later. After he got it cut off, he immediately regretted it and said, "The girls aren't going to like me anymore, they like me with my hair long". So, he grew it out again and has had it that way ever since.

I personally love Jaron's hair long, it's cute on him. Not many people can sport that look. However, he's getting older and with his ever growing age comes a need to make his own choices with his appearance (within reason, of course...no piercings or anything else like that are going to happen on my watch!). So, despite my efforts to change his mind and continually remind him of the regrets he had last time, I took him to get his hair cut today.

 Before we left, I got a picture of him so I could remember the long, thick, soft hair that is no longer going to be around...Good Bye lovely hair, I will miss you terribly... 

   I made it through Jaron's dramatic haircut without tears (sniff, sniff) and I think he made a good choice in his new look...      Don't you love the poses this little cheeser is giving me?!?!    I was wrong this time, Jaron LOVES his new hair cut! I think the new style looks good on him, although it's going to take me a while to get used to his new look. I keep looking at him wondering who he is because he looks so different. I think he's getting a little creeped out by my staring at him so much. It's going to take some time, but I'll get used to it. On the bright side, it's a lot easier and faster to style it. My JarBear is such a handsome boy, I mean young man!

"Bike Rodeo"

This morning Jantzen had a bike rodeo at his school. This is where the kids got to bring their bikes and scooters to school and they learned about bike safety. Janzten was really excited to bring his bike to school because he never gets to. It also helped that he got to be out of class for about an hour...he loved that part!! 

Here's Jantzen with his best friend, JoseAlfredo...they are never very far away from each other...

   Like I said, they stayed together for all of the drills they were doing (Jansen snuck in there with Jantzen too)...      Jantzen and the other kids had to weave through rocks (aka, sponges) in the road, watch for cars (aka, Coach McCracken), and use their arms to make proper turn signals...       Jantzen had a blast and he did very well!     I thought it was a fun and informative activity for the kids. It was nice for them to be able to have some more outside time during the school day.