The boys first camping trip!

October 10, 2011- Keric, Ryan, and I went camping with a bunch of great friends at South Carlsbad Beach. We've been planning this trip for a while. It's hard to find a place to tent camp in San Diego County so you have to plan ahead. We were so lucky a bunch of our friends could come with us!

This was basically a first for me too. I went camping once when I was in high school but that's about it. I've never owned my own sleeping bags or tents, let alone a campfire grill. Luckily, our friend Miss Megan and her little boy Cayd let us do a dry run at their house about a month ago. We camped out in their back yard. All of the boys had a blast and Megan and I got very little sleep. It was a lot of fun and got Keric and Ryan really excited about our beach camping trip.

  
    Fast forward a month and we are at the beach! It was pretty over cast or "socked in" as it's called in San Diego as it's more of a fog than clouds but, who cares, a cloudy day at the beach is still a day at the beach.
  

                                            
    
     We were joined by Miss Megan and Cayd, Miss Suzanne and Elina, Miss Karrie, John and Riley, and Miss Abbie, Ben and Nate. All of these kids have been hanging out together since they were super tiny or for the younger siblings, since birth. It is an awesome thing watching them all grow up together.

     It didn't take too long to get the tents all set up with everybody pitching in. After we we were all unpacked and set up we headed down to the beach. It was a little chilly out so I was doubtful any of the kids would hit the water but wouldn't you know mine headed right in. Keric seemed oblivious to the fact that it was 70 outside and the water was about 63 degrees. He and Cayd headed in first, quickly followed by Nate and Ryan. None of them lasted too terribly long but they were having fun.

                                  
     Everybody worked up a good appetite and we were ready to eat! Megan made hotdogs, quesadillas, pollo asada, and carne asada. Everything was fantastic! After everyone had their main course it was time for S'mores!  I think the moms liked them even more than the kids. They were content with just the chocolate bars and marshmallows. : )

     After all that it was time for glow sticks and flashlights! What is it about those darn glowsticks??? Hopefully somebody got some good photos of that because I didn't.

    Speaking of glowsticks...Have you ever heard of phosphorence or bioluminesence? I hadn't until about 2 weeks ago. Then it seemed like every day on Yahoo or the news or Facebook, somewhere...I was hearing about it. It's not like I've never been to the beach. Probably been about, oh, I don't know, 200 times. Never heard of it. Anyhow, Keric and I are standing there staring at the waves at about 7:30-8 o'clock and sure enough, the waves start turning a neon blue, akin to the Northern lights, but in the ocean. SO COOL! I didn't get a picture but it looked similar to this.

   Not long after the light show the kids, and the Momma's, were about ready for bed. The next morning we were all up pretty bright and early. Megan did the most wonderful task of building a fire and brewing coffee! God bless her. It was much needed after not a lot of sleep. Then Karrie took over and made us all pancakes. It was a beautiful morning surrounded by friends, good food, good coffee, the ocean, and all of our kiddos running around wild. A little hectic but unbelievably good. Thank you God for putting these awesome ladies and their kids into my life.

These are just a few more random photos of our trip.

Cayd, Riley, Elina, and Ryan. Deep in discussion.

The ocean at sunrise

Keric and his frogs.

Jewelry Organizing

I have been obsessed with Pinterest lately and found some really cute ideas to organize earrings, necklaces, etc.

 I used one of the ideas for making my earring organizer and started to get crazy crafter and make a necklace organizer.

     This was super simple to make. Just a picture frame from around the house and some picture hanging wire. You could get more creative than me and paint the frame but I liked this one just the way it is.



Luckily, I stumbled upon this belt and scarf holder for your closet at the dollar store and decided while not crafty or particularly cute, it was too simple not to use! 



Now for anyone wondering, I am not turning my family blog into a how to manual but I thought these ideas were both so easy and useful I just had to share!

1st week back at school and the great blackout of 2011

     What a wild week it has been! We had 24 hours of rain and cool temps, which is really rare this time of year for El Cajon, followed by 3 days of above 100 degree temps, and it ended with the largest power outage ever experienced in San Diego County. The week started with a bithday party and ended with a birthday party. Oh, and Kurt has started working on a new shift at a new station. 
     We also had Keric's 1st day of preschool and Ryan's 1st day of Mommy and me preschool. Madness!

   

     Keric was really excited about going back to school. His teacher this year is Mrs. Furois. He was a little hesistant about leaving Mrs. Harres but he seemed to have a really good day. The following day we went to Ryan's 1st day at Mommy and Me preschool.  We all had fun in his class too. It was that afternoon, on a Thursday when the power went out.

   

We were at WalMart, again, when all the lights went out. The kids of course thought that was pretty entertaining until they realized we had to leave without all the yummy food in the grocery basket. Trying to leave the parking lot was like trying to leave a rock concert. This gave Keric plenty of time to ponder all the places we couldn't go because the power was out. No McDonald's. No train museum. No train station. No trolley rides...ad nauseum. We live about a minute, maybe 2, from WalMart, depending on lights. It took us about 15. I'm not complaining though. It took a lot of people hours to get home that day.

     After we got home we took stock of batteries, flashlights, candles, and glowsticks. : ) Our awesome neighbors let us put our food in their freezer since they had a little generator keeping things cool. We ended up having a little block party in their front yard with their kids and 2 other sets of neighbors. It was so good actually getting to talk with them instead of just the usual wave as we pass each other in our comings and goings.

     We have a gas stove so we were able to boil up some hotdogs and have a halfway decent meal even without power. After dinner we went out front to play a little longer before it got too dark. The two little girls from next door, Cameron and Jenna, came down with battery operated tealights for the boys for a nightlight. It was a super sweet thing for them to do.

     I decided to let the boys stay up late since it was way too hot to sleep. We all stripped down and went for a swim sans bathing suits but with glow sticks. The boys were completely exhausted by 9pm. Keric was falling asleep sitting up. It finally cooled off enough for bed and they slept like rocks. The power came back on at about 2am. I was really grateful that it only lasted long enough for the novelty to not wear off.

     Before we went to bed they announced that all the schools were closed. Sounded like a fine excuse for heading to the beach! We met our friends Miss Abbie, Ben, and Nate at Mission Beach. The boys had a great time looking for sand crabs and building sand castles. We took them to lunch at Belmont Park and watched all the rides for a little while. It is a treasure and a blessing to watch them all grow up together.

Well, now that this crazy week is almost over, I am packing for my 1st girl trip to VEGAS! Wahoo!

         

    

    

Granny's Visit August 2011

    Granny came to visit this month. She got to stay for about 12 days.  We tried to fit as much fun in the sun and relaxing into that short period of time as we could. We were also getting ready for my father-in-law's 80th birthday during that time so it was BUSY!

    We did make it to a few cool places. The San Diego Train Museum, of course, Balboa Park, and the Chula Vista Nature Center, Summer's Past Farm. Oh! and the beach. We took Granny to La Jolla Shores this time. We almost always go to Mission Beach so it was fun to take her somewhere new!  We also had a little pool party with some friends while she was here. We are so grateful that she can come and hang out with us!

    One night Granny and I even left the kids with Daddy while we went out to dinner. That was the 1st time we'd been out to eat without at least one of the kids in almost 5 years! Far too long!

    Mostly it was just awesome having her around. We, mostly she, peeled peaches from our tree. We made peach cobbler and peach jam. She and the kids played cards and had dinosaur wars. We sat around and drank coffee. Went swimming. It was very cool just hanging out doing all the simple things.

 
     It's always sad when it's time for Granny to leave but it is getting harder every time. Ryan just boohooed and boohooed when we left the airport. Then every morning for 3 or 4 days he would tear up and say, "I miss Granny." Heartbreaking. To the point that I can't help but start trying to plan our next trip home. : )
    

At the Chula Vista Nature Center

Christmas 2010

As is the tradition in my family, I put the tree up and started decorating the day after Thanksgiving. It was extra special this year because my Mom was here. It was the 1st time since I left home that my mom was at MY house to see it decorated for Christmas. Pretty cool.

Aunt Danni gave the boys a very cool present this year. The Elf on the Shelf! For those of you who don't know, the Elf on the Shelf is a little elf that goes back and forth to the North Pole to tell Santa whether you have been naughty or nice. The kids bought the idea hook, line, and sinker. Part of getting the Elf on the Shelf the first time is naming him. After I told Keric all about the elf I asked him what he wanted to name him. With a devlish little smile he said, "Pussy"....I was shocked, amused, trying not to laugh, trying to figure out why he said that...You name it...but mostly laughing on the inside.  After a little redirection he decided "Andy" would be a better name. Thank you Lord. : ) Thus started a new family tradition.

December 10th, Keric participated in his first Christmas show and on stage performance. He and his preschool class sang two songs, "The Stable Song" and "Tapping elf". It was so cute to see him up on that big stage with all his little buddies. The whole family went. Kurt was really proud to see Keric be such an outgoing little guy. He videotaped the whole thing. Kurt was a very proud Papa.

I have to mention also that we went Christmas caroling for the 2nd time this year. Our friend Angie invited a bunch of us over to make cookies and go sing. It was such a good time! Santa even paid us a visit!

     Christmas Eve we had the Alan, Lois, and Uncle Mike over to the house. Kurt smoked a turkey for the first time. I made the dressing, green beans, etc. Everything was really good. Uncle Mike brought the boys two big Hot Wheels sets. Grandma and Grandpa went overboard, of course. The kids got to open up lots of stuff from the folks. Somehow though we lost Grandma's present. Keric had picked her out a locket. I wrapped it up all super cute and, well,  we still don't know what happened to it. Best guess, Ryan threw it away. He had just discoverd the trash can and he loved playing around by the tree so, best we can figure, he was "cleaning up" and threw the present away. We'll make it up to her one of these days. Christmas Eve was lots of fun and will hopefully be  a tradition from now on to have it at our house.



Kurt and Alan preparing to carve the turkey. : )



Ryan giving Uncle Mike one of his presents.

 

Trying to catch up!

Oh my goodness, It has been a while.

My last update was Keric's 4th birthday. Since then we had Grandma's 75th birthday party, Granny came to visit, Thanksgiving, Keric's Christmas show,  and Christmas! That is a lot to cover but I've got to do it. : )

First off, Granny was supposed to come and visit about a month before she actually arrived. She made it as far as the Atlanta airport but had to go back home. Turns out she had pneumonia. We were all super bummed in California but glad that she was able to stay at home and get better. 



Soooo...Fast forward a couple of weeks to November 17th. West coast Grandma, Lois, turned 75! Kurt and I threw a dinner party for her at our  house. It was our first big "fancy" dinner party. It was  a lot of work but the food came out great and everybody had a good time. Kurt smoked a couple of tri tip roasts and I handled all the sides.  Lois was surrounded by lots of friends and family. Keric and Ryan went totally beserk because there were balloons everywhere. What is it with kids and balloons??? I think they thought it was their birthday! They were just running laps with balloons driving everybody crazy!



Lois celebrating her 75th Birthday













 

My Mother-in-Law, Lois, and her friends















Sometime between the party and Thanksgiving, Granny arrived! The boys loved having their Granny around. Especially Keric. When he saw Granny in the morning he would say, "Well Helloo Granny!" as if he hadn't seen her the night before. He would even ask Granny for "neck sugar". For those of you who don't know those are big ol' smooches on the neck. Keric is a fan. We went to the  San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, and  Summer's Past Farm.

Granny and Keric at the zoo

Watching a movie with Granny

You name it. Except for the beach. The weather wasn't really cooperating for the beach but we'll go next time. I was so happy to have my Momma here to help me with Thanksgiving. We celebrated at the inlaw's house but we were in charge of the dressing and a homemade cherry pie. It's not the turkey or anything but I feel like the dressing is a big deal. I was really grateful to have my Momma here to show me how to do it right. Thanksgiving 2010 consisted of Kurt and I, Keric, Ryan, my Mom, Alan and Lois, and Uncle Mike. It was nice to have a fairly "quiet" family Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving 2010

I think I am going to save Christmas for another post. There was so much leading up to Christmas this year. With the boys being 2 and 4, Christmas is extra special.

Missing in Action

Wow! The last time I posted Keric had just turned 4. Truth be known, it just got so busy after that with my Mom visiting, Thanksgiving, quickly followed by Christmas that I got so far behind in posting that I quit.

Well, I'm back. Keric will be 5 in 3 months so I better get to typing. : ) I'm not going to try to fill in all the blanks from the last 9 months but I am going to do my best to post once a week from now on.

It is amazing to me how much both the boys have changed over the last year. They are both doing new, and amazing to me, things all the time now. They both just finished up VBS at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church. They both had a really good time. This is a picture taken of them there.

Making noodle necklaces at VBS

Anyhow, hopefully we won't be MIA anymore and will have lots of fun stories to share!