Our mouse tale...

We received a bag of books from one of our youth group families, and in this bag was one of Paul's favorite books--The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. He has started reading it to the boys. Each night before bed he reads a chapter (or more if they can convince him to keep reading).

The first time Paul read to them, they weren't so sure about listening to the story and decided to color while he read. As the story progressed, the coloring became less and the attention turned to Ralph and his adventures. Our routine now is to get jammies on and teeth brushed and then park ourselves in the living room--Paul in our very worn and well-loved recliner and the boys sprawled on pillows on the floor. And on the nights when I am caught up on work, I get to enjoy the story as well.

What fun for us to see how our boys love books and their stories! During my violin lessons each week, Paul takes the boys to the library to return their books and movies and pick out new ones. Isaac gravitates towards the Lego Star Wars and super hero beginner reader books while Caleb is mainly about picking out his movie (usually The Wiggles or Go, Diego! Go! types). Paul would say that I have fine-tuned the art of reserving books so he always hits "our" reserve shelf and adds those books and movies to our bag. (A friend of mine has an "L" last name so we joke to each other about taking up the entire shelf since she likes to reserve books as much as I do.)

Paul has been talking about the day when he could read his favorite chapter books to the boys, and we can't believe we are already at that point! Oh, the adventures and characters to come...the boxcar children and the world of Narnia are at the top of our list. But for now, we are enjoying the ride with Ralph the mouse.

Boys...

...will be boys. Life at our house can be a bit chaotic at times. My boys love to wrestle and throw balls and jump off things and be fast and the list goes on. Today was one of those days where it felt like they had a little extra energy.

Isaac had school today so Caleb and I had a peaceful morning together. We went to the grocery store. We made dessert for Paul to take to school tomorrow; Caleb loved smashing the Oreos just like he did for Gma. N's dirt cake. He helped make and get things ready for lunch before we left to get Isaac. The rest of the time he spent playing by himself with a variety of toys. My favorite thing he is doing these days is making imaginary conversations between his toys, and today was filled with his making his football guys talk to each other.

Random side note regarding Caleb: He is in the process of potty training (yeah, I know he is three, but he is a stubborn three and is going to go when HE wants to go) and has finally mastered #1. Today while going, he said to me, "I really like peeing on the big potty now!" with a huge smile on his face. He also informed me tonight that he really does not care for pooping on the potty; I did not tell him that we had already noticed that.

Okay, back to our day. We went to pick up Isaac from school, and the boys proceeded to start yelling and wrestling as soon as we got home. We had some tears (many very fake if you ask me!) and yelling and whining and tattling and some timeouts between lunch and rest time but survived until naptime during which both boys fell asleep for a few hours.

Like I said earlier, boys will be boys. It has been hot here (upper 80's and into the 100's) so they have been inside more than usual which is part of the reason for their squirrely-ness. After dinner while cleaing up, I heard a crash and a shattering of glass. When I went to the hall to investigate, Isaac was nowhere to be seen and Caleb was standing in the hallway with very big eyes and saying, "Sorry!" His throw to Isaac was a "bit" off, and he managed to hit some of my Delft from my grandma off our ledge that is between the living room and hallway. He felt bad, Isaac was quick to clear himself of any wrongdoing when he came out of hiding, Paul cleaned up the broken Delft, and I went back to the dishes thinking about where I need to relocate the rest of my surviving Delft.

Oh, the joy of boys! I would not trade them for anything! (P.S. Right now they are both in bed resting up for tomorrow's adventures...)

Happy Birthday, Danae!

Sunday was Danae's birthday. I'd like to say I had everything planned out perfectly, but those who know me would only laugh at that thought.

I managed to make Danae a cake in the morning after she left for Praise Team practice at church. Not seeing the frosting in the cupboard, the boys and I decided we'd stop and get some at the store on the way to church. So, I got Isaac ready, saw Caleb playing with toys and decided to take a shower. Everything sounds normal, right? Yeah...leave Caleb playing...that was my first mistake. I completely forgot I let him wear big boy underwear after a successful potty time. I came out of our room and the living room had an extremely nasty scent lingering around. Caleb had pooped in his big boy underwear and was sitting down playing his little heart out. So, the extra time I did have to run to the store was now needed to clean him up and try to salvage his clothes in the process.

We made it to church on time, left right afterward and went and got our frosting. The boys picked out pink frosting, cuz "Mom is a girl." Isaac and I had an in-store argument over what color flowers to buy Danae--my choosing the orange bouquet and his wanting the pink. I knew Danae loved orange but try telling that to a 5 year-old.

We made it home, frosted the cake, wrapped the present, and put the flowers in a vase. We were just completing the customary birthday banner when Danae pulled into the garage. The boys ran out to stop her from coming in while I taped up the banner. All this was going to be a "surprise," but having an excited 3 year-old stop Mom from coming in wasn't the right solution. He spilled the beans on what was inside, even holding the door wide open so she could see everything I was doing!

In the end, we had a great day! Happy Birthday, Danae! We hope you had a great day and have many more in the years to come!

Another Step in our Routine Climbed

I loved our summer and time of relaxing, but I am glad to be getting back into our school year routine. (Paul would probably not agree since his school routine is a bit fuller than mine!)

Today was the first meeting for the moms' group that I attend at our church. We had a potluck brunch and a baby shower celebrating one of our newest additions. What a gift these ladies have been to me since the birth of Isaac! We share our problems with each other, listen and share helpful hints that have worked for us, and laugh together a lot! Oh, and bless the hearts of the childcare workers who allow us an hour and a half of adult time--they are our heroes!!!

The joy for today (besides getting to be with my friends) was that Caleb got to attend the preschool part of the childcare with Isaac. Because he is three, he has advanced out of the nursery. He was so excited when I told him two days ago. In fact he thought he was missing it yesterday when Isaac and Paul left for school without him; he yelled, "Wait for me!" and proceeded to pull on his flip-flops and run after them in his pajamas. (Before getting to church, I did try to prepare him for not getting to be part of it in case they required a fully potty-trained child...something Caleb is not but that we are working on. Sylvia said it would be fine and let him come.) Wow! Did he have a great time! He got to do artwork like Isaac finally and even created his own little salvation caterpillar--all of which he proudly showed me and explained to me afterward. (Notice the very exact and carefully painted dots that he did on his fish! His teacher said he was very careful to get them in just the right spot, and I am guessing his tongue may have been out for part of it. ;-)

It was so nice during the brunch to hear so many little ones crying for and missing mom in the nursery and knowing that it for sure was not my child! Now, to master the potty...

ALOHA!

Hawaii has been one place that both Paul and I have wanted to visit for a long time! A few years back we had the opportunity to go with our friends to Maui but instead decided to have another child--Caleb instead of Hawaii was a great trade-off. Anyway, when these same friends approached us last fall about possibly going with them to Maui this summer, we jumped at the idea.

Our friend's parents own a place in Lahaina and let us stay there for the week that we visited. That meant we had to get ourselves there and decide which activities we wanted to do. Our great trip planners (P & K) got on the research wagon and started watching airfare prices. Once we booked our tickets, we then got busy booking other activities and making plans for the week.

The highlights of our week included relaxing, going to the beach and snorkeling, relaxing, swimming in the pool, reading books (even Paul read the new Dan Brown book while we were there), relaxing, playing games, eating a lot of wonderful food, seeing some amazing scenery and sights, catching up with friends, and more relaxing. The big theme of the week was relaxation.

Having no children with us helped with that even more. What a joy it was to just decide to head to the beach, sunscreen ourselves, grab our bags, and leave! And then when we got there, we just sat in our beach chairs and talked and read books and enjoyed the ocean...never once having to keep an eye on anybody!!! (Thanks, Grandpas and Grandmas, for watching the boys!)

To make this possible, though, I flew with the boys to Fargo and left them with my family a few days before our big trip. I flew back home for a day to finish packing, and then we all headed out of San Diego on June 21 landing in Kahului later that afternoon.

We stopped at Wal-Mart and Costco to get our basic necessities and then headed to Lahaina (about a 40 minute drive). The condo where we stayed was beautiful and spacious with the most gorgeous view of the ocean. It was easy to call it home for the week we were there! And we had the best tour guides on the island who showed us around all week.

Food:

~Ululani's Shave Ice in downtown Lahaina (thinking about it makes me drool!)

~Leilani's for Hula Pie and dinner

~Aloha Mixed Plate

~Lahaina Grill

~All the meals prepared in the condo

~Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with granola bars at the beach

~The hole-in-the-wall donut shop in Makawao

The Ocean:

~We couldn't get over the extreme blue-ness of the water
~Snorkeling (It took me a bit to get over the claustrophobic feel of the snorkeling mask and not being able to take a really deep breath nor breathe out of my nose, but I did eventually get out and marvel at the beauty of God's underwater creation!)

~The reef was spectacular

~Amazing sea creatures including sea turtles (swimming within a couple feet of us and much larger than I expected!), tropical fish galore (my favorite was the Moorish Idol--"Gil" from Finding Nemo), octopi, and a snowflake moray eel

~Nakalele Blowhole

~The Olivine Pools

Other Activities:

~We went on a zipline tour partway up to Haleakala. This included zipping down five ziplines including one that was 750 feet long. We LOVED this and would do it again if given the chance.

~Another day, we went kayaking which included snorkeling in some coral gardens that could only be reached by boating in or climbing down the sides of the cliffs. Paul and I rode in a double kayak and worked together okay once we got the hang of it, and we did not tip at all!

~Warren and Annabelle's (a magic show) where we ended up getting the best seats in the house--front and center--since we were picked to sit at the magician's table and "help" with his tricks. Our friends were giddy just thinking of our being up there (they had been there before and knew what we were getting into), and Paul thought it sounded fantastic. The one who was a little leery of it (ME!) ended up sitting at the magician's left and, of course, got called on to help with most of the tricks. It ended up being a great time, and being in the spotlight was not as bad as I thought it would be. We'll just say that I ended the show by pulling a $100 bill out of a lemon!

We ate well all week but dressing up and going out for dinner at Lahaina Grill was a highlight of the week. I have always scoffed at those fancy chefs who put a tiny tidbit of food on a plate and decorate it with greens and some fancy sauce on the sides of the plate and then charge an arm and a leg. After eating there, I admit there is something to their talent at pulling amazing flavors out of the food! Wow! Everything was so delicious. (The place was so fancy that one of the attendants...not our server but one of the people who hovers and takes care of all the extras like refilling drinks and more...refolded my napkin and set it on my plate for me while I was in the bathroom.)

We returned home on June 30 (actually early morning on July 1 because of some complications with our airplane). Most people don't want to leave Maui, but after sitting in the airport for nearly four hours waiting for our plane to be repaired, we were ready to be home. Our ride changed plans and picked us up in LA at 1:00 a.m. and drove us home.

The next day Paul flew to Minneapolis to get the boys (who finished their week with his side of the family), and I headed to camp for a day. What a wonderful week! Thanks, Friends, for sharing this trip with us!!! And thanks to our parents who watched the boys and gave them a wonderful week in the Midwest while we were gone. Below is a picture video that Paul created. Enjoy!

Ahhh, Summer...Sweet Summer!

I finally made it to church yesterday (and again today) to touch base with Athena and Dawn after my weeks away from the office. Before leaving, I told them that I felt like my head was finally "back in the game" after being removed from the normalcy of daily life. The bliss of summer sometimes means escaping the everday for a bit, and we definitely did that this past summer!!!

We had such a wonderful summer catching up with friends and family doing so many things--most of them away from home. In fact, I think we were gone as much as we were home this summer. Of the 87 days of summer vacation, we logged 50 days away from home this summer. That number makes me understand a little better why I barely feel ahead of things as far as programming for this fall in youth group and in worship!

Most of you probably know where we were, but here was our summer in a nutshell:

*Elementary basketball camp for Paul

*Vacation in Maui with a couple really great friends and NO kids!

*Paul and I each either flew the boys out to or back from the midwest to spend time with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins while we were in Hawaii.

*For Danae--a day at Camp Dunamis and then to Beaumont and the Hollywood Bowl for the LA Philharmonic and Vince Gill concert which ended with a fireworks show set to music.

*A couple days camping at San Clemente State Beach with friends and all the kids this time

*A few youth group activities scattered throughout the days when we were home

*One week spent driving across the country to visit family and also return home

*Three weeks with family for fun, sun, and Brian and Whitney's wedding!!!

*Back to reality--study skills class for Danae and preparing the classroom for Paul

We have so many pictures of this summer that it would greatly overwhelm the readers of this blog who are used to a scattered amount of postings throughout the year. :-) To save you all from the shock, I have included a couple teaser photos and will work on adding more in little bits.

A New Chapter--Preschool

School has started up again. Paul had meetings last week, and the students joined him in class on Monday. Here is to his 13th year!

Paul, however, is not the only one heading to school this year. Isaac started preschool today. Despite some nervous visits this last spring and the last couple weeks to "prepare" him for it (we'll just say that he "hugged" the doorway and bolted as soon as we mentioned heading for the car), his first day went delightfully well.

He picked out his clothes and made sure they were washed and folded and ready for him this morning. He actually set them out already on Monday. (Thanks, Gpa & Gma N.!) He packed his backpack with his new Batman folder and a few unnecessary things (which I removed last night while he was in bed...) and was ready to go. This morning he woke up bright and early, got dressed and joined Dad for breakfast.

He decided that he wanted to go to school with Dad and ride in his car so I took his picture, gave him a hug, and waved goodbye. He was ready...climbed into his seat and waved happily back. We had it set up that one of his friends (who has been going to the preschool for a while) was waiting for him to go in to school at the same time, and she proudly showed Isaac to school and helped him very well.

Caleb and I spent the morning running errands and spending time at church. Caleb proudly pushed the mini-cart at Henry's and loaded all the produce into his cart. It was fun spending some one-on-one time with him. We picked up Isaac from school at 11:30. (The director greeted us with a big smile and the assurance that he had a great morning and never stopped smiling. She and the rest of the teachers are so wonderful!) The new preschool mom that I am had to ask where to sign him out and the procedure for picking him up and gathering his things, but we made it and headed home for lunch.
The boys made up for lost time with each other this a.m. and immediately started bugging and yelling at each other. Ahhhhhh, preschool is going to be a great chapter in Isaac's (and our) book of life!