Happy Halloween

Some Guys Dream, Others Do

Stole this from my brother's blog and after I picked myself up off the floor from laughing so hard, I decided I needed to share it. This is truly why I don't take jon shopping with me - he hates it so much, I fear he would resort to antics like this guy. Enjoy!

Our Little Preschool Group

I do a co-op preschool with five other moms and I have to say after teaching my first week, we have a pretty great little group. This picture is from a talent show my neighbor put on for the kiddos. They each got a star for performing. Aren't they cute?

This Tuesday we talked all about culture, learned how to say hi in lots of languages, ate some fun foods, and danced to all kinds of music. Today we celebrated Halloween and ate eyeballs and goblin fingers (photos soon!), played fun spooky games and made cute little ghosts and spiders.

I am enjoying this time with the kids and it's really all about fun!

Disneyland Day 3

You may wonder where Disneyland Day 2 is. Well, I haven't managed to download my mom's pictures from the beach or day 2 at the happiest place on earth. Tom, Anne, Kieran and Asher met us there on day 2 and it was a blast. As usual, more to follow.

For day 3, we spent some time at California Adventure, took some halloweenish family pictures, rode some of my favorite rides - Soarin' Over California, the California Screamer, and my latest favorite - the Tower of Terror. I could ride that ten times in a row and never get sick of it. I also rode the Maliboomer by myself. Guess I'm the only real thrill seeker of my little family - at least on this trip. The kids LOVED Toy Story Mania, and we may have to purchase the game for the Wii.

We rode the kids' favorite rides again at Disneyland that afternoon, in particular, harry loves the Matterhorn. He likes to scare the abominable snowman. Silly boy. Luke's favorite was the Haunted Mansion, all done up for Halloween Nightmare Before Christmas Style. Either that, or Splash Mountain, he'll tell you if you ask. Grandma and Grandpa also took him on Indiana Jones and he liked it, "because it's not fast, but it was kinda scary."

Mom and Dad took the kids back to the hotel at dark and let Jon and me spend the last evening in the park on a little date. We met a friend of his from work and hung out with them to watch the fabulous Halloweentime fireworks. We then rode a couple rides, watched Fantasmic, and said our goodbyes to a super place. Disneyland was "at capacity" and felt like a big party that night.

The last few hours at Disneyland always feel a little sad for me. I know the time there is coming to a close and soon life will be back to normal - dishes, laundry, school, housework - and so many other things it was nice to escape from this vacation. The last ride of the night for us, however, made our final minutes there a little more eventful than a peaceful farewell. We rode Indiana Jones, and the ride BROKE while we were in the middle of it! We sat for twenty minutes with the lights on, trying to find the hidden Mickey's in the skeleton room, then we got stuck again right before the big boulder almost falls! It was fun, and different, but when they asked if we wanted another uninterupted ride, we were responsible parents and said, "Thanks, but no thanks." It was almost Midnight and we would have missed the shuttle!

It really was such a great vacation and we can't thank my mom and dad, and brother and sister-in-law enough for helping make it so great. Until next time....maybe we could do this again in six months?!

Disneyland Day 1

This is just a little taste of the Disneyland pictures....feel free to click on the picture to see all of them bigger. I have had such a busy week since we came home, and this week isn't shaping up to be any less busy, so I just made a collage to feel like I posted something "Disneyland." Still to come, lots more pictures, stories, funny quotes, and more pictures. It really is the Happiest Place on Earth. I LOVE Disneyland, and I am so glad my kids do too!

Welcome Baby Scarlett!

Rob and Nicole were blessed Monday with the birth of sweet and perfect baby Scarlett. She is the first baby girl and first cousin to our boys on Jon's side, so we're a little extra excited! Poor Nicole endured 29 hours of induction/labor, two hours of pushing, and ended up with a c-section - another example of why I think my planned c-sections are way easier and less scary than labor!

Anyway, congrats to the new parents; we are DYING to see her and will be heading that direction as soon as possible!

The Perfect Birthday

My 34th was pretty awesome. I woke up early, hung out with the fam a little, then I took a nap here: Yep, that's the ocean from my brother's back patio. Then we went and ate on the Malibu Pier.
I do have the best brother ever, before the day started, he presented me with a bunch of ideas to do for my birthday. I decided on the nap, lunch on the pier, surfing/boogie boarding, tide pools, and take out Thai for dinner. Yum.

My folks went to So Cal with us this trip and it was so great having the time to spend with them.

After lunch, we went boogie boarding and played on the beach - my mom has all those photos, so I will have a separate beach post later. After all that fun, Anne picked up Kieran and Asher from school and met us at the tide pools, where the kids had a ball exploring all the little creatures of the sea. Notice no Harry? He crashed in the car on the way to the tide pools, so he and grandpa had a nap in the car!

I love the ocean and it was a beautiful day to play.

I have the greatest brother ever - strangley it seems I manage to position myself in their company for my birthday often....and they always make it fantastic! Anne and Tom both rolled with whatever we wanted to do regardless of their crazy, busy lifestyle with the two teenagers and two little kids!

Exploring...

Luke fell on a little rock and scratched his leg, but he was a trooper.

King of the Rock!

The little prince of the rock!

Grandma's always good for some help with uneasy feet.

Z and Daddy had a ball with Asher on the sand.

Z thinks sand on his little toes is so funny!

Pretty girls.

Baby Z crashed on his cousin Dax that evening. What a perfect day.

Thanks Tom, Anne, Mom, Dad, Jon, and all the kiddos for making my birthday so wonderful. It really was the perfect way to spend the day.

Warning...

Getting my DISNEYLAND pictures uploaded and organized, finally - many posts to follow!!!

A Nice Thought

My sister-in-law, Anne, just had a brithday - we share the excellent month of October- and this summer while they were visiting, she left me a list of quotes and scripures she would like to have displayed around the house. My job is to make them more pleasing to the eye.

This is the first one I've done so far. I printed an 8x10, and framed it in one of the Ikea "Ribba" black 11x14 frames. I was very pleased with it and I think it will look great in their house. It was fun to get to hand deliver it last week while we were on our vacaiton. Happy birthday Anne!

Me and My Guys

Here are just a couple more pictures from our little drive up the canyon Sunday. It was such a pleasant evening.