Natalie's first scraped arm of the season. She needed a lot of lotion (neosporin) and band aids to make it feel all better!  :  )

Jeremy's First Post (Just the Boys)

Evelyn usually does all of the blogging for the family, but since she wasn't there it's a good excuse for me to try it out.

Since the kids now outnumber us 3 to 2 and we've had to switch to zone coverage, I've noticed the kids needing 1 on 1 time with us more. So, the girls went to a baby shower (thanks Kari & friends) and we took advantage and went for a daddy - son hike. Uncle Jake gave us a good idea of a nearby location (dripping rock).

Kai had a great time with his highlights consisting of 3 walking sticks, 2 cool rocks and 1 snail shell. He also learned to enjoy crossing the river and getting a bit wet (the first time "stung" because it was still shady in the canyon). Here are a few pictures.

California 2009

Every year we take a trip somewhere warm to escape the cold winter here. This year we went to California again!

Jeremy's Aunt Irene and Uncle David were kind enough to house us for the first couple nights and the last couple nights of our stay. Natalie loved playing with their tiny dog Masako, and Kai colored up a storm. I'm not sure if they have any paper left.

Our first full day there it was pouring rain so we decided to go to the children's museum along with the rest of the world (it was a rainy holiday in California)! The kids had a lot of fun; Kai really liked the building blocks, and so did Irene.

That night Jeremy got some tennis in. He's so fast even the camera can't capture him. ; )

David even said he won most of the games. I wasn't there to witness this though, Natalie and I were still feeling sick.

The next day was mostly clear with a few rain showers during the day. We decided to head up to Point Loma. Here's our pictures at the lookout point by the visitor's center.

Quite the view! We watched a few boats leave the harbor, and a few jets take off from the naval base!
Next we hiked up to the lighthouse you can see behind Natalie and Kai.
Inside the small lighthouse.

Next door in a small house where the original lens is. The children are really loving learning about history, can't you tell?!
We walked around the lighthouse to the whale watching station and swear we saw whales in the water below so we drove down to the shore to investigate. But when we finally got there we couldn't see anything and it started raining again .So here's the token photo to prove we were there! Once again, the children are thrilled! haha
By now, we were hungry and searching for food. We ended up at Sea Port Village and walked to a pizza place where we shared lunch with the birds. The kids thought the birds were pretty funny and liked feeding them.

Kai had seen lots of boats on our various drive and told us he wanted to go on a boat that moved. So we boarded the ferry to Coronado Island! Not soon enough though, I got stung by a wasp while waiting in line, ouch! We found some ice cream and a snack on the island and came back. On the return, we stopped at the naval base to pick up some marines and sailed past a huge carrier; that was cool. By then we were all worn out and went to the hotel to crash!

The next day was a big day too, we went to Sea World with Uncle Kael and Aunt Heather! Kai and Natalie got to feed the seals, but the birds there are fierce and kept stealing the fish right out of our hands!

Here we are waiting for the Sea Lion show having a snack. Apparently five sandwiches makes a picnic at sea world and is frowned upon. ; )

We took the kids to pet the dolphins. Kai had fun, but Natalie....

just wanted to wash her hands! She didn't like touching the sting rays either, too slimy I guess.

We also got some rides in that day! I think that was one highlight for Kai.

But the most exciting thing to him was his sword! He had wanted one all day! Natalie got a Shamu puppet.

Shamu!

We went back to Sea World the next day, too. This was mommy's favorite part that day. Kai liked the walrus the best, and Natalie still liked the dolphin show. However, we had to leave early that day. About 30 minutes after this picture was taken Natalie threw up all over the cafe and all over Jeremy! Poor kiddo.

They slept so good every night and went to bed so early! Ah, aren't they cute?!

Our last day there Jeremy drove me to Oceanside for my workshop and took the kids to play at the pier. Kai really liked watching the surfers and Natalie liked meeting Charlie the Pelican.

Every time we visit California I want to stay! Until next year, I guess. Thanks David and Irene for letting us stay with sick kids and all!

Valentines Day 2009

This year for Valentine's Day we had a double "date" at home with the kids. We figured it doesn't hurt to teach Kai how to treat women early on. The boys (Jeremy and Kai)  made us girls (Natalie and I) a nice homemade candlelight dinner. Then they brought us a rose and a box of chocolates and asked us to dance! Natalie loved getting her flower, she smiled and said, "oh, wow!" 

It was so cute watching Kai and Natalie dance, they were having so much fun that I had to grab a shot with the camera! : )  We ended the "date" by watching the date scene on Little Rascals. It was a fun night and I think the kids will remember it for a while. 

How to remove Desitin From Carpet:

Natalie squeezed half a tube of Desitin  all over her carpet the other day, then proceeded to comb it and spread it out even further! She was out of my sight for 5 minutes! 

So, here's the solution I found after I tried water, soap and water, and carpet cleaner....

Cover the area with baking soda and let sit for about an hour. Wipe with a wet cloth and dish soap. Keep rinsing and wiping.  It removes the stain and leaves the carpet smelling fresh!

Oh, and it helped remove the stains from Natalie's pants, too!

My Comeback

 I've begun a long quest to become somewhat fashionable again! I'm going to buy a few items at a time to add to my very casual wardrobe and update my tired mommy look. Like I said, this is going to take a while since money really doesn't grow on trees. Darn.

Anyway, I've been sporting the same, old- lady purse for about 3+ years now. Sad huh?! This was the first thing begging to be updated.  Here are my finds:

I may have made a mistake by going all brown, but that's what I really like right now, so I guess I'll live with it, for another 3 years. Just kidding!

My date purse, for occasions when I'm not concealing diapers/wipes, snacks, toys, wrappers, hair clippies, you get the idea. On sale at Kohls for $10!

My everyday bag, that now holds a cool wallet, too! Purse- Kohls, wallet (first photo)- Target.

Beautiful Curls

Since I have finally mastered my head of curls (after 29 yrs) I thought I would share my secret with everyone! Anyone with thick hair and a slight wave can do this, I promise! My hair isn't actually that curly on it's own, if I just let it dry and do nothing to it, I end up with a full head of frizz and a few waves! ; )  (Sorry for the bad pictures, my cell phone distorts and blurs everything!)

How to do curly hair:

1. Fresh out of the shower (curls need to be washed everyday and re-done) comb with a wide-tooth comb. Part your hair now if you want it parted.

2. Flip your head up-side down and gently scrunch curls in a towel to get some moisture out. You still want your hair pretty wet. 

3.  Use a curling cream, gel or mousse and apply to hair. I like: Sun n' Silk cream and mousse.

4. Blow dry with head up-side down with a diffuser (looks like a ray gun or something) just until you start getting some fly-aways. Be sure to move the dryer to different areas frequently.

5. Spray with a curling spray gel. I like Aussie's sprunch spray or TRESemme's curl spray gel.

6. Continue drying, your hair will get dry and be crunchy, keep drying a few more minutes and you will end up with soft, luscious curls that last all day!

Other things that help:

Go to a stylist that knows what they are doing! If you have thick hair it is good to get it "thinned" so that you don't look like a poodle. Also, layers are your friend! And, you can't add too much texture either! With layers and texture your hair will lay nicely. 

Good Luck!

Christmas Video

This is the video I made for my family for Christmas. I think we have the best, worst hair photos ever and wanted to emphasize that. I took each family's recent photo and put one of their past do's on everyone! Check it out...

Christmas Wishes

I wrapped the kids' presents last night after they went to bed, but forgot to warn them. This morning Kai and Natalie rushed into our room so excited. Kai said, "I think Santa came and left us presents to open!" He was very disappointed when I told him that they were actually from mom and dad and that they didn't get to open them until Christmas. Poor Kai, I think I crushed his dream, he wouldn't stop crying.

I told him Santa was still going to come if he was a good boy, but that would be in a few days too. He is so excited about Santa this year it's adorable! He said Santa came to his school yesterday and landed on the roof and sang him jingle bells! I think we might need to go visit santa at the mall this year too just because he is so excited. 

Natalie informed me that she wanted a purple present from Santa with a princess in it!

Christmas Card

Hint: Click the text to enlarge so you can actually read it!

Family Pictures

So these are way late (we took them on Thanksgiving) but here is the whole clan (Jeremy's side)! And a cute one of my sisters-in-law! Enjoy.

Naughty or Nice

Kai has been learning some very naughty things at school lately! Why can't kindergartners even have a clear mind? Honestly! Everything he talks about is about poop or hitting/shooting/killing bad guys. 

We went to the dentist the other day (Kai and I had appointments). After our teeth were cleaned and I was gathering our things Kai ran up to me and whispered in my ear, "That lady (the technician who cleaned our teeth) is kinda ugly!" I about died, I told him that wasn't very nice to say. Later we had a big long talk about how we should be nice to everyone, and that all people look different and how we shouldn't say bad things. I don't think he got the message.