I think I'm ready to go...

Well, we are just about ready to head to Canada. This year, the kids and I are going to meet my parents in Vegas and drive up with them. Dustin is flying up in a couple of weeks. This kind of trip is always bittersweet for me. I LOVE going home to visit. Especially when everyone is pretty close and we usually get to see everyone at least for a little bit. But...I really REALLY miss my husband when he's gone. In times past we've been gone for longer periods of time, 3 or 4 weeks even, and that is harder...but its been well over a year since we were apart for this long. You start realizing how much you depend on that other person to help with kids, sanity, love, kids....I am staying with the grandparents so it does help, but still you hate to rely on them too much because they want to play an have fun..not parent. So as much as I am looking forward to going home this weekend, I'm going to miss you babe! I will count down the days till we get to see our Daddy, as I'm sure all the kids will too because they love him and love spending time with him sooo much!

I'm sure Dustin will enjoy his 'bachelor-hood' for the two weeks. He gets to do what he wants and gets to sleep in on his days off. He's planning on playing golf with his friends and maybe even a day trip on the bike. But I know when that two weeks is up he will be ready for having us be there with him. Just last week I booked a babysitter so we could go have lunch and go grocery shopping without the kids, like a date right?! We don't do this very often. We pretty much take our kids everywhere and date night is usually a bowl of ice cream in front of the t.v., so for us to do this is pretty rare. We had lunch and we were walking through the grocery store and I said, "Isn't this nice, not having kids wanting everything, running around..." and he says "I miss the kids." Ya, we were gone for 45 minutes. Do you think he'll survive 2 weeks?!

Busy Birthday Weekend!

Wow! What a weekend. I was really supposed to be getting ready for our trip home this last weekend. that was the whole point of planning the kids birthday party for Friday, so I had the rest to do stuff. My husband decided to be spontaneous and we headed for the mountains on Saturday and Sunday we were really just too tired! But we did have fun!

Friday afternoon we had Gracie and Brody's birthday party at this place called 'Pump it up!' It has different inflatables like obstacle courses and slides for kids to play. And they are huge! Big enough for adults to play. so we invited our friends...Brody's too even though his birthday is a couple of weeks away. But since we will be in Canada, we thought we needed to have a party for him as well. It was alot of fun and all the kids had a blast. Great day for indoor play as it was 100 degrees outside! We had cupcakes after (Princess and Pirates...Thank you Stephanie!) and then headed home. We had invited out Canadian friends up from Anaheim for a BBQ. Rob and Jess had to work, but Nico and Crystal came for burgers and cake and presents. It was a long day...but lots of fun!

Dustin and I were talking about the Sequoias a few days before hand and I said that we really needed to go back up. So he says, ok, this weekend. So Saturday we headed up. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Perfectly blue sky. Beautiful forest. Awesome. The kids were a little cranky before lunch when we were walking around, but later, they had fun finding the big trees and playing with the bugs. We even saw 2 bears. One at the picnic grounds when we had lunch and the other on the trail we were walking. Just little ones, but, ya, I'm not a fan. Still scare me. It was beautiful. Not as shocking as the first time, but nice because you could really see into the trees instead of the fog hanging around. Amazing...its hard to imagine anything that big. Awesome.

So we were quite worn out on Sunday, so Father's Day was very low key and quiet. Which was nice. It was a busy, fun weekend. And now we only have 5 days to get ready for Canada! Here we come!

Gracie is turning 6!!

Oh how time flies! Its been six years since my baby girl came into the world. I can't believe it! SIX YEARS! Oh what can we say about those six years...

Gracie was the easiest baby. I mean she slept through the night at 8 weeks. And I'm talkin' 12 - 14 hour nights! She wouldn't nap, but I still got my sleep during the night. She was very easy going. She didn't care to move anywhere, so she didn't crawl till she was about 10 months old and didn't walk till she was almost 14 months. Then there was no stopping her! After that she got the name "Hurricane Gracie" because you always seen the path of destruction she left behind! HA HA!

She has always been a very strong willed child. She has certain ways of doing things and I am starting to learn to let her do things her way...most of the time. I know this quality will serve a great purpose when she is older, but right now it is very challenging. But even if she is stubborn, she is also a very bright ray of sunshine. 

She is almost always happy, and loving and so bright. She has such a good memory. She remembers EVERYTHING! Little details, big things, places we've been...she remembers. And she is always thinking of her brothers. She always asks for something for her brothers if she gets something, or she shares with them so they don't go without. She has such a beautiful little spirit. I can't imagine the wonders she will do in this world.

  So Happy Birthday my little girl! We love you so much! We have been so blessed to have you in our family! Thankyou for choosing us to be your parents and sharing with us your beautiful little face and wonderful spirit! Love you little Lou Who!

Keeping Busy...

So Summer has come and we're hanging in there. I tell you last week was the LONGEST week of my life! I swear it took forever...time had stood still...but we made it! The weather has been great, even a little chilly?! Ha! Everyone back home is making fun of me, because to me, 75 degrees in June IS a little CHILLY! This is April weather people! But it is nice because the kids can go outside and play without cooking to death. And it is chilly with the kids taking swimming lessons in the morning. Still, I don't want 100 degrees, it can wait till I go home (only 2 more weeks!)

But we've kept busy...Gracie and Brody just finished their first round of swimming lessons and they both did really well. Especially Brody. He's turning into a regular fish! His instructor even had him swim on his own! He was pretty proud: "I swam like 5 feet, Mom!"

The kids have really enjoyed playing outside. We seen a baby mantis! About as big as a nickle. 

The other day they were in the backyard for 4 hours straight! They had the sprinkler out and 

Cooper played with them. He liked it till the first time it got him straight in the face! Then he wasn't so happy. 

Cooper is walking quite a bit now, and even when he falls he stands back up and keeps walking 

to get there. Awww! My baby is now my little boy! So sad! He did throw his first temper tantrum today. It was kind of funny. Dustin was carrying him and he stubbed his toe. He put Cooper down and was hopping around. Cooper didn't like that so he starts howling. Dustin says to him "That's enough Cooper, come here." Well, Cooper lays on the floor and rolls back and forth and kicks his feet and keeps crying. When he started to calm down, I sat him up and told him he needed to be nice and not do that. I picked him up and took him to Dustin. He would not go to Dad! He was mad at him! It was funny because he's usually such a Daddy's boy!

Gracie has decided that she like high heels. I bought a new pair of shoes for church a while back (yes, they were heels. Imagine me in heels!) and she thought they were so cool. She kept saying that she needed a pair. Well, after playing dress up the other day, she pulls out her princess pair and has been wearing them everywhere! And today while we were shopping, Gracie grabs a hold of a pair of shorts and says "These are my size, Mom. They say XS." As she holds them up to herself. I say to her "Well, hon, those are a little big, this is the women's section." To which she replies, "I am a woman!"

So we have been keeping busy and getting excited to go home and see everyone! Sure you'll all be sick of us by the time we leave, but too late! You're stuck with us!

Gracie is done Kindergarten!

My little girl is all finished Kindergarten! I am not sure how I feel about this. I am very excited that she has done so well, she loves reading and has learned loads! Also its summer and I don't have to remember to make lunches, do homework and I even get to sleep in an extra hour (or at least pretend too!) But my little girl is in Grade 1! How crazy is that! 

Gracie was talking to her Dad about this new adventure. She was telling him all about her little ceremony (Dustin couldn't go) and stuff and he asked her if she was excited. She said she was, but she was a little sad. He asked her why she was sad. And she said because she was going to miss Mr. Hall! How precious!

So they had a little program where the kids performed 'The Little Red Hen' for the parents and then back to the rooms to hand out Certificates. The performance was cute, and to keep Brody out of my hair I let him video it with the video camera. So I'm not sure the quality of the footage! I imagine its all over because when I seen him he was looking every where but front! But it kept him busy. He even had to stand on the side with the other adults that were shooting video. 

Then we headed back to the classroom and Mr. Hall gave out the certificates. He also made a special award for each of the kids depending on their personality or skills throughout the year. He starts with this story for one kid:

"I wanted to call this award 'The one most likely to get frostbite' because we all know that when a kid gets hurt the magic ice will fix it. And this girl had had more boo boos and trips to the nurses station than anyone..."

And before he could finish, the whole class yelled "Its Gracie!" Yes, my daughter is dramatic and every little thing is a big boo boos around here. We go through alot of Band-Aids! She was a pretty proud of her award though! What a goof!

Then after I told her that later when Cooper was done his nap I would take her wherever she wanted to go for lunch. I was thinking she would pick John's or Chuck E Cheese or McDonalds, that's what normal kids do right? So when it was time to go, I asked her where she wanted to go and she says "I want to go to Red Lobster. We haven't been there in a long time." I asked her if she was sure, and yep, she was. So we went to Red Lobster for lunch! 

So my little Gracie is finished Kindergarten and I'm not sure how to feel. This year has just totally flown by! She has grown so much, both height-wise and knowledge-wise. I cannot believe the stuff she knows and can do! I am a little sad she is growing up, but I am so proud of her and all that she has done! Love you Gracie!