Compromise

The kids have finally come up with an acceptable way to share the tricycle. 

Jericho's Birthday Party

 

More Party Pics

 

Family Visit

We have been enjoying our visit with Justin's parents, my sister-in-law, and our cousins. We had a busy day down in San Diego. 

Summer Reading

Hero and Jericho finished the summer reading program at the library. The t-shirts they are wearing is their final prize. Even though we are done with the program, I am sure that we will be visiting the library on a weekly basis now. (The videos that they check out can only be borrowed for a week.) 

Happy Third Birthday, Jericho!

Then...




Now...

Kid Free

Today my kids are off to Disneyland with Grandpa and Grandma. This means that Mommy will have some time to herself. I am looking forward to going to the post office and not having to hold on to anything but my packages.

One Week Down

Hero made it through her first week of kindergarten. Mommy has survived too. Homeschooling is harder than I thought it would be. I am hoping that it will get better when Hero gets used to the routine.

Pregnancy Demensia

I am finding it increasingly difficult to remember things lately. The most common problem is remembering dates. I do write things down, but I forget that I wrote them on my calendar. I am hoping that this is a temporary thing that will go away after I stop losing brain cells with this pregnancy.

"Thou shalt not steal"

Tonight on our way home from our night out, I decided that it would be a good idea to stop and get some more butter. Hero piped up that she would like to go in too. I answered, "No, Mommy is just going to run in, grab the butter, and run back out." My daughter was quick to remind me, "Mommy, you have to buy it first."

Lost...Found

Couldn't find the Country Crock today. Looked in the fridge. Looked in the freezer. Found it in the cupboard.

Relaxation

Well, we were able to have a relaxing break from the kids. (Thank you to Grandma for watching them.) The weather was not so bad only 104 on Wednesday. The place that we stayed at was beautiful and comfortable. I would like to say that the trip was perfect...well, almost. Early this morning I woke up to hear a woman crying. Since I had to go to the bathroom anyway, I got up and being nosy, looked through the peep hole. Right outside our door were two women, one crying hysterically, and a police officer. I then overheard something about a coroner and an investigation. Of course now fully alert, I go and tell my husband this information. Now that he is awake he can fight off any murderers that might be lurking about. After a brief attempt at getting regaining sleepiness, I am back at the peep hole. It turns out that husband one of the lady's passed away from a seizure of some sort. This occurred in the room right next store to us. There were only two other couples besides us in the inn, so imagine the chances of this! Finally, after getting to the bottom of his mystery we both fell back to sleep. We were given one last scare when someone attempted to open our door at 4:30 am. Guess they had the wrong room. In the end, our mini-vacation was not exactly restful but definitely exciting.

Escape

Tomorrow my husband and I are going to get away for a much needed break. Of course since it has been so hot down here lately you would think that our destination would be a cool one. Well, not exactly. We are headed to Palm Springs. At least it shouldn't be too crowded, right? It is only supposed to be in the 120's.

Discipline

Today my kids were the worst that they have ever been. The worst part was that we had just reached the front of the line at the post office when they decided to display their sinful nature. Even after pointing out that they were sinning and giving them a smack on the behind their behavior did not change. In fact, it escalated. Now, if I had thought it through I would have realized that I needed to leave, front of the line or not. Of course, I was frazzled and not thinking clearly now that my kids were obviously out of control. When we did reach the counter the kids were screaming and crying. It seemed like the transaction was taking forever. (Do they really have to ask you if you need stamps when they see you practically every other day?)
When we were done I carried them out the door and informed that they would be disciplined when we got home. I cried all the way home. I now realize that I had better just leave next time before things get out of control.

Seeker Sensitive

This is an issue that I have wanted to blog about for a while. The problem is that I have never been able to express my opinion on the matter in a simple and concise way. Tonight, however, one of our pastors addressed this fad so well. In essence the words were always readily available to me. I just wasn't looking were I should have been looking. (Ironically, I think this is one of the major problems with the seeker sensitive movement.)
Romans 3:10-11 "As it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God;'"
The main problem with the seeker sensitive church is that there are really no seekers. But you say, there are some people that are looking for God. Really, who is doing the seeking? Seeker sensitive church members need to put down their copy of the Purpose Driven Life and pick up a reliable copy of the Word of God.

No Electricity

Yes, you read that right. We had no electricity today. Thankfully we were notified that this event was going to take place so I had my whole day planned around not being home. We first went to see a free movie at the theater with about 200 other kids who wanted to do the same thing. At least there was air conditioning. We then had a nutritional lunch at Burger King were Jericho was accidentally given a double cheeseburger. Our next stop was the Library were they apparently misplaced Jericho's reading card. Although they didn't find it they still gave him his prize for the week anyway, thank goodness. The kids, amazingly, had been behaving quite well throughout the day. Of course our final stop was to visit Daddy at the store. They were getting rather antsy, but thankfully we at least made it out of the store without any discipline issues.
Well, the kids had a fun filled day and we (hopefully) saved some money on our electric bill. Did I mention that I am tired?

VBS

Okay, so it is 6PM and the temp outside is still 107.
This week we had Vacation Bible School. I got to teach the 2nd grade kids. We had a great group. I hope that the kids were able to understand and retain the gospel message that they received. Tomorrow night the VBS kids are going to sing the songs that they learned this week for the evening church service. Hopefully the parents that are able to attend will stay for the whole thing and get a good serving of the gospel.

Hummingbird Bully

This evening while I was fixing dinner I glanced out my window to admire the hummingbirds taking in their evening meal. I watched as a hummingbird zoomed in and stopped to rest on the chimes that are next to the feeder. I was quite intrigued since I have never seen one do this before. To my dismay, the hummingbird did not fly over and eat. Instead it sat there until another hummingbird came close then dive bombed the poor thing. The pint sized bully continued this until finally, I had had enough. I went out the door to scare it away, but it just sat there. Eventually, when I came too close for it's comfort, it alighted. Instead of flying off however, it just hovered next to the feeder. I came in closer, trying to scare it off. It soared off near the tree. But it didn't hide in the tree like most of them do, it circled around and seemed to come after me. I must admit that I was a little taken aback. I didn't run, but I did put my hands up to try and block my face. Well, apparently that was enough to make it run, but not too far. He hid up in the tree while I stood on the ground yelling and clapping my hands at it. As soon as I was back inside it went back to guarding the feeder. Alas, I was forced to spend my dinner and the rest of the evening watching the hummingbird bully pick on his fellow species.


(This is not actually the real bully. I was too scared to take a picture of it. This is from a few nights ago. Justin took it and he did a much better job than I have ever done.) 

Mom's Site

For those of you that this pertains to, all two of you, I have finally updated the Mothers Helping Mothers' site.

Everything tastes better with...

...ketchup. Yes, Jericho is finally acquiring a taste for the pureed tomato condiment. Tonight he even dipped his raw carrots in the stuff.
Besides the carrots in ketchup thing, he has been acting very silly all day. He is talking so much now but it is still hard to tell what he is saying sometimes. One thing that I did make out while he was coloring today was, "Mommy, you crash car. You crash in the water." I am hoping that this is just an idea that he got from reading one of his Thomas the Train stories and not prophetic.

Fifth Month Checkup

Today at my doctor's appointment I asked my doctor about having a birth plan. Not because I am too concerned about the delivery itself, more because of the duration of time that my child will be away from me afterwards. Unlike Oregon, where all measurements and tests are done in the same room as you, the hospitals here will actually whisk the baby away from you to have all this done in the nursery.
Anyway, when I mentioned birth plan, my doctor immediately launched into telling me what must be required (IV, Monitor, etc.) She then proceded to tell me that they try hard to accomodate my wishes. This was nice to know since last time I had no idea of what to expect down here. Apparently she thought that I was some sort of conservative nut (well, I may be to some degree, but not where giving birth is concerned.) It was almost as if she believed I was going to try to have this child on my own and she was considered back up. Needless to say, she seemed quite relieved when I mentioned that I was more concerned about what would happen to the baby after it had been born. Well, the best part about all this is that this has been the longest conversation I have had with my doctor so far. She even sat down while she was giving me all this information. So, other than finding out that I had gained three pounds, it was actually a fairly good check up.

July 4th Pool Party

Jericho smiles for the camera.

Hero gets ready to go down the slide...

Splash! She made it.

Pretending to be a mermaid. 

More Pool Pics

The kids had fun playing with cousins Michael and Mitchell.

Hero and Michael ride the alligator.

Jericho rides the wave cruiser while Mitchell gets pulled along.

At least she stopped long enough to wave.

Big Adventure

Today we are off to brave the Wild Walmart Supercenter. It is either this or make 4 different stops all around town. If I fail to post a new blog within a couple of days, you better send out a search party.

Art

This is the "surprise" that my children made for me. At least it is on the dry erase board and not the wall.

Don't Tell Me

Today I had my second ultrasound. I am 21 weeks which means that one can possibly tell what the gender of the baby is going to be. Well, I informed the technichian that I did not want to know. However my husband has since changed his mind on the whole "waiting to find out" issue. So, he wanted to know. I watched the entire ultrasound and didn't even notice any viewing of the lower region of the baby. When the ultrasound was done the tech told us that she did know the gender and said that we could fight out whether we wanted to be told our not. I said that Justin could be told while I went to the bathroom. So I don't know what the baby is but Justin does. Unfortunately, since the tech seemed quite certain about the gender, I am led to believe that we better work harder on finding a boy name.

Library

The kids have joined in the summer reading program at our library. We have to read 20 minutes a day for eight weeks. Each week they turn in their little time card and get a different prize. Last week it was a door hanger that tore the same day we got it. This weeek's prize is a little sturdier, a plastic book bag. If we are able to keep up with this reading schedule, the kids will each get a t-shirt at the end.

Gas and Steam

Yesterday we went with my parents to the Antique Gas and Steam Engine show down in Vista. Thankfully we were able to enjoy some cooler weather since we were closer to the ocean. The kids seem to have fun. Jericho especially enjoyed the N-scale trains. The only way we could get him to leave was to tell him that we were going to the playground.

Lost and Found

Today we took a fun filled shopping trip with my mom to Sam's Club. Of course, due to the exciting adventure and the sugar filled samples that we partook of, Jericho was in a splendid mood by the time we were done. In my haste to get into an air-conditioned vehicle and get home with the cranky kid in the back seat, I managed to overlook something very important. As I was pushing the carts to the corral my purse opened up. Having not noticed anything fall out, I simply closed it up and put the carts away. Of course, by the time we got home and I reached in my purse for my house key I realized that my wallet was gone. Thankfully we were able to call the store and find out that someone had turned it in. Unfortunately this meant a 45 min trip back to Moreno Valley. (We dropped off the kids at Great Grandma's house so they wouldn't have to suffer.) So, I got my wallet back with all the cards and pictures inside it. However, I was missing the cash. Whoever turned it in must have thought they deserved a reward. Who knows? At least my children got a good lesson on prayer.

Bagels

Today the kids and I made bagels. I have always been fearful to attempt this, but my sister in law said that it was easy. So, not to be out done, I decided to give it a try. Other than heating up my kitchen it really was quite painless. Hero and Jericho enjoyed rolling the dough into balls and making "O's". They even found it fascinating to watch as I plopped their creations into the boiling water. I think that making your own bagels is the best way to go if your children are carb addicts like mine. It really is cost effective and the bagels taste better. The only thing you have to give is a little time.

Comfy Cozy

Well, the dog is back. Apparently she was so bad for my Grandma that she has changed her mind about having a dog for quite a while. Needless to say, Justin was thrilled to see her.

Dog Gone Day

Today I gave my dog to my Grandma. It is so weird. I keep looking for her under my feet. If you are wondering as to the reason why I had to give up the dog, you can read Justin's blog. Hopefully, if we do get another dog, the whole family will be able to enjoy it.

Ratings

Well, it turns out that our house is marked for the Nielsen (sp?) ratings system. The problem, we don't have tv. That is, we have a tv we just don't get any reception whatsoever. The Nielsen lady informed me that it had been 6 months since she last came by and she wanted to know if anything had changed. I did mention to her that we do purchase some shows to watch via Itunes but I think this just confused her. Apparently you are only eligible for the ratings system if you have dish or cable. I think that it says more about a show if you are willing to pay for it per episode. (Yes, I know that you can watch "Lost" for free on the website, but it is really much better to see it on the entire screen without interruptions.)

Brag Time

Okay, so bear with me as I gush a little bit about my kids. Today I took Hero to Alpha Omega (the homeschool program we will be using) to get tested. The test that they gave her was the same that they give for those students leaving kindergarten. The lady was extremely impressed with what Hero knew. She said that if she was going to a public school, she would be at the top of her class. (Of course, I know that this is not saying much considering the public schools here in California.) Anyway, she told me that Hero should be reading within a few months. I am excited for her to start reading because she already loves books so much.
Well, on a side note, they lady was also impressed with how much Jericho knew (he tried to help his sister a couple of times.) She encouraged me to photocopy the Kindergarten worksheets and let him work on them also. Obviously he gets his brains from his Daddy.

School's Out

On Friday we had our last day of preschool. I think that the moms were more excited than the kids that it was over. This will give me a break for a couple of months until we start homeschooling Hero in August.



Most of the kids were able to make it to our water party.



Stacy, the mom who's house we had preschool at, made a cake with a water slide theme.



Hero enjoyed playing in "the cube."



Jericho, of course, was thrilled to be splashed in the pool.

Spiders

Okay, so in general I really do not like spiders. Most of them, however, I can leave alone as long as they are outside and not bothering me. This is not the case with Black Widows. These are the type of spiders that I despise above all else. So far we have been very fortunate down here. We only see a few every once in a while.
This record has drastically changed in the past week. I now believe that these spider are out to get me. I think that there is a secret society of Black Widow spiders out there stalking me. Well, on my own I deal with them quite well. Spray them with poison till they convulse and then whack at them with a fly swatter.
The problem comes when you have a daughter who is a bug lover and a husband who is more than willing to indulge her in this hobby. So, instead of promptly killing these deadly spiders, it seems to be more fun to catch one in a little plastic bug catcher and stare at it through a magnified lid. After examining the creature we then kill it by putting it in the freezer. Thus providing a fairly painless death. Personally I prefer to watch them suffer.

Fourth Month Checkup

Gone is the pound that I had gained at last month's checkup. I don't know what happened to it but I am sure that I will see it again shortly. Other than the missing pound not too much excitement at this checkup. Everything is fine and baby is moving around alot. The best part of my day was waiting two hours at the lab to have blood drawn. There are just too many people in Southern California.

Hot

Today it is 106. That has to be pretty accurate because our thermometer is in the shade. Anyone want to visit Southern California?!

Oranges

Today we went to pick oranges with my Mom and sister. We finished the our time in the heat (it was 103) with some ice cream cones.

Mom's Day Off

Well, I mowed the front lawn today and that pretty much wiped me out. Thankfully my Mom and my sister watched the kids for me this afternoon so that I could get some rest. It was rather strange though; every time that I came close to falling asleep I would hear a noise and think that one of the kids was getting into something. Anyway, not much got done around here today other than the lawn getting mowed. These days are few and far between, so I think it is best to enjoy them when they are given to me.