Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

I have been looking forward to summer for a long time now-excited to have Nathan out of school and home with us and the freedom of defining our own schedule rather than being a slave to school starting and ending times.

We have been on summer break now for two weeks and so far it has been everything I hoped for, and honestly, more. I worried we would get bored or have fighting or something but so far it has been nothing but good times (well, almost nothing but good times-of course there is the occasional whining and whatever).

Here are some of our summer activities so far:

Sitting in the fridge to keep cool:

Nathan and Jack have been in swimming lessons every afternoon for the past two weeks. I hoped that the timing and having them in the long afternoons would he a good thing, and it has been. They boys love it-88 degree pool, good teachers, and just overall fun! Chasing this little beast around the pool area isn't the greatest but it's still been worth it!

Nathan can swim! Bubbles in the backyard including lots of giggling-I love that this could entertain the boys for 30 minutes!
Beach Days-Every Friday is ward beach day. Today was our third time going this summer and was the best day so far! We stayed for 3.5 hours and it was finally sunny and warm AND we saw a crab, dolphins and a sea lion swimming in the ocean!

Swimming-Wednesdays are ward swimming day and the first one was this week. I was unsure of how it would go with three kids on my own but it was GREAT! Dal learned to like the water, Nathan loved jumping in and Jack liked the Hot Tub.

Family Sports Night-I started up a little sports activity night for families every Thursday night. We just get together and play a sport-so far we have done kickball and soccer and it has been a blast!!!

Free Balboa Museums-Every Tuesday is free museum day in Balboa park so on Tuesday we went to the Air and Space Museum-super cool!

Parks-Of course. We are always at parks.

Cousin Laura and Sam-Laura moved to San Diego about a month ago so we have been hanging out a lot with her and her hubbie! Loving that! She came to the beach with us twice, we have played games, had dinner, etc.

Also lots of relaxing, reading stories, walking to the library, eating popsicles, and late bedtimes (which means sleeping in). Loving this!

Validation

My dad emailed me this video last week and I just now took the time to watch it. It is 16 minutes long-I never sit down to watch a 16 minute movie on the internet, but this one kept me watching. I LOVE it! So, next time you have 16 minutes, watch this.

What do YOU like about Josh?

Happy birthday to the best guy in the world! Josh is the big 3-0 today! Yippeeee!

Josh and I were having a discussion recently about good husbands, him being the tip of the top, best husband there is. Friends sometimes post about their husband being the best and I always feel sorry for them because I know the truth-I got the best. :) Actually I think several of my friends who have posted about their hubbies recently have great ones-yes Rachel, Ryan seems like a dream, Shannon-your hubby building that photo thing for you rocked, and Sarah, you caught a great man!

But anyway, I want to celebrate my wonderful husband today because he has made the past 30 years on Earth better for me (ok well, I have only known that he was making my life better for what-dang, how long have we known each other? Um, 12 years?) but certainly for his mom and dad for the whole 30, his sister for 25 of them and lots of other people's lives when they have gotten to know him.

So, here are some of the things I love most about Josh:

1. He knows this but I have to say it. The most important thing that I love about Josh is that he is so very kind to others. I could never imagine Josh being unkind to anyone really-never a mean word or even a rude tone of voice. He is even always kind to me-always. To me this is the most important quality a man could have and Josh has it in abundance. (Probably why I was attracted to him.)

2. Josh is what I think of as Pure in Heart. He never intends to do wrong and literally wants nothing more than to choose the right. He is so hard on himself-thinking that he is always messing up and that he is imperfect but I know the truth. First of all that he is pretty close to perfect and second of all that his heart is always in the right place and that is what counts the most.

3. He rocks as a dad. Daddy knock over game is a tradition in our family that I know the boys will remember all their lives. I also love how he is always teaching them something-they do science experiments together or he explains how something works. Same is true for the gospel-always teaching them something. Plus, did you know that he has made up a whole series of stories about Hubert the Traveling Monarch Butterfly and his little brothers Philbert and Eggbert that he tells Nathan and Jack at night when they are going to bed? And Dal adores him-leaps up from wherever he is in the house when Josh walks through the door and comes "running" saying "daddy, daddy."

4. He is super smart. But you all know that. Not just in chemistry and things though but in a lot of areas. I like to tease him because he listens to BYU religion class podcasts while he drives and is always telling me things like "speaking of that, did you know in Jeremiah it says..." I tease him about it but the truth is that he is more knowledgable about the scriptures than anyone I know!

5. He is a really hard worker. He is up at 5 to leave for work every day but also does things like emptying the trash or the dishwasher before he leaves. He takes almost weekly trips to the temple lately, helps clean up after dinner/bed, makes Nathan's lunches, fold laundry, etc. He certainly is no slacker-he is amazing! And he lives on not too much sleep!

Josh, I love you.

Now, what do YOU like about Josh? Post a comment and tell him something you like about him. And don't leave him hanging. If there aren't many comments on my blog today he is going to feel sad! :)

Horsey Ride

The boys got to ride horses at a community service project we went to recently. Dal was way too scared to actually get on but he enjoyed them from afar. The service project involved scooping piles of mulch into a bucket and then dumping it about 30 feet away-perfect for two dirty little boys!

Summer is Here!

Yay! Summertime is finally here. We are so excited. I am so glad to have my Nathan home with us each day and to have no rigid schedule to follow. Already in the one and a half day we have had off we have had a blast! We went to the beach on Friday and have had a nice time in the evening without the rigid bedtime. Loving it!

But at the same time I know that the fun of Kindergarten year is gone and we will miss it. Every day after school we went to a park with several of our friends who have kids the same ages as mine-3 moms in particular were really close friends. One is moving away, one is going to start working next year and the other already works, so I don't think next year will be quite the same. I am sad about that and I know I will miss it.

Here are some pictures of our fun at the park:

Nathan and his best friend from this year Joshua-2 little monkeys in a tree!

Jack and his little best friend Caleb:
Another Nathan and Joshua

The 4 boys:

Nathan and his teacher Ms. Chambrone:

Jack-Jack Attack

Birthday #2 for the week has come and gone. We had to postpone our special birthday dinner one day for Jack since we were supposed to be in Disneyland yesterday for his special day (be sure to check your blackout dates before driving to Disneyland and getting your kids all excited).

So tonight was Jack's bday dinner-nachos and we are going to Coldstone for ice cream in a little bit.

Here are just a few of the things I love about my Jack Jack:

1. The wiry, adorable little body. Skinny minnie, funny cute smile with the slightly buck teeth (from thumb sucking), beautiful eyes that he likes to put right up to my face when he talks. I just love to squeeze and snuggle him.

2. He has what I told him tonight is called a strong will. I also told him tonight where he got it from and it wasn't his father. :) I told him it is special and that as long as he uses it to follow Heavenly Father's commandments, he will go a long way in life. We knew before we left the hospital that this kid had an opinion on life.

3. He is what Josh termed best-tender-hearted. I know that those of you who know Jack best know that the kid has a temper and, as I said before, is slightly strong willed-just slightly. But the flip side is that he is almost the most tender and loving little guy. He likes to be a baby animal when he is pretending, he likes to take care of his stuffed animals, he likes snuggles and he has sensitive feelings. I love it about him.

4. He has quite the imagination lately. The kid won't get dressed (again, see #2 ie. strong will). My brother told me yesterday that my kids looked like homeless children in the birthday pictures because they were in their jammies. I politely informed him that those are not jammies but space man suits. Who am I to kill their dreams? Jack goes out of the house most days in pajamas or inside out shirts and mismatched pants. I have decided for the most part not to fight it. I want him to explore his creative, independent side, his dreams and his imagination. And have decided that that matters more than what other people think....I think. I don't know, what do you think?

5. He is learning to love the gospel and I love to see it. He has such a soft spot for temples (again the tenderness) and has begun asking questions during scriptures like "what does the wrath of God mean?" He comes home from Primary on top of the world (thanks to really really great Primary teachers and leaders) and I can tell that he is learning to recognize the spirit.

I adore this child-almost all the time. :)

Nathan-My Nater Snood

My Snood (that is what we call Nathan around these parts) is 6! Six years ago I became a mother-last night I told him thanks for that, for making me a mother.

Nathan is a great kid with a pure heart. Last night at his special birthday dinner (pizza-his choice) we told him fun things we remember about him and then things we love about him. Here are some of the things I love most about this guy:

1. He has such a pure heart and wants to do good. In spite of making mistakes at times which we all do, I know that his heart is always in the right place and he is always trying to make good choices. I know that he is already sure that he loves Heavenly Father and Jesus and that he wants to do what they ask of him and he always tries.

2. He loves to learn. We were telling him about how when he was just barely 2 years old he started asking questions about the world. It started with "tell me about a butterfly" and we would have to tell him all about how caterpillars built cocoons and then became butterflies (over and over and over) and it has never stopped. He continues loving to learn still. He never complains about school and loves learning. The crazy kid can already do multiplication and is a great reader and writer.

3. His smile is wonderful. He learned to smile at just 2 and a half weeks old and just kept on smiling. The ladies at Walmart where we used to go a lot to buy fabric for my business called him "smiley" because he was always smiling. I love that smile and I love those freckles on his nose.

4. He is kind and he is a good friend. Especially to his brothers-most of the time. The first thing Dallen asks for in the morning is Nay-Nay and Jack adores his big brother/best friend.

5. He has the cutest little skip/walk that he does when he is really happy. I love to see him do it because I know he is having a good day when he does.

Love you my Snood!

Intergallactic Emergency

Another year, another party-over and done. This year we combined the boys party into one (which I used to swear I would never do but just seemed to make sense this year since most of their friends are mutual friends-mostly from Nathan's school). It was wild, it was crazy, Josh and I took naps afterwards, it rained that day (can you imagine-in San Diego!) so we had to move it all inside, we went over the top and felt like maybe we overdid it, and the boys loved it! Here are the pictures:

The invitations were cool but my ma said I had to remove them because they had our name, address and phone number on them...

The kids arrived and made Space Ranger helmets (see the green hats?) Then we had Space Ranger training which involved a few games like a relay wearing Space boots and space packs, throwing moon rocks and a Moon walk (stomping on bubble wrap) see below:



My 2 Space Rangers enjoying the fun:
Damien doing the Space Suit Relay:

Then they hunted for Zurg (a treasure hunt ending in a pinata) and had to defeat him (break the pinata-Josh spent WAY too much time on the pinata) followed by a celebration at Pizza Planet and cake (I spent WAY too much time on the cake). Then they opened presents and played like wild things for the last 20 minutes.

The Essence of Boyhood

This is a post I have had written in my head for a week and a half now and I am just now getting it up.

Two Saturdays ago I was up bright and early with the boys who were playing in the garage, when to our wonder we heard the sound of a truck backing up. Upon further exploration (opening the garage) we discovered a cement mixer pouring a new patio at the neighbor's house right across the street. We quickly parked ourselves on the driveway (joined shortly by our neighbors to the right who also have a little boy) and watched in awe.

The excitement of the morning carried on as we then moved on to making our own concrete and building buildings...
In full costume...