Mason on his 3rd

How to describe Mason on his third birthday? So cute. Tiny. Chipmunk voice. Very strong personality. Perfectionist. His way or the highway (I must add here that he throws an amazing temper tantrum and has embarrassed me in public more times than I'd ever hoped for). Very sweet. Helpful. Brave. Competetive. Did I say brave? Super fun and comical facial expressions. And really just adorable in every way! We love Mae-mae! Happy Birthday!

Birthday happenings:
I decorated the living room, wrapped presents and made a gumball machine cake the night before. I got up 3 times in the night to hang fallen streamers that just wouldn't stick to the wall. And I got up 2 more times with Isaac and his fever. And then we were all up at 6:30am singing Happy Birthday to the sleepy-eyed, 3 year old Mason.

After opening presents from Mommy and Daddy consisting of a Tech Deck and a few skate park pieces, and a collection of 3 "shinger" guys (sword wielding knights) from Isaac and a stunt trick motorcycle from Ethan, the kids enjoyed a piece of pink birthday cake for breakfast. Eating a piece of birthday cake for breakfast has somehow become a family tradition.

I called Isaac and Ethan's school and excused them for the day because...

We got dressed and headed out for a fun yet educational day at the Denver Museum of Nature and History! I figured Isaac and Ethan would learn more at the museum than they would sitting in school all day. And they did. And they made sure Mason got special treatment at the museum because it was his birthday. Speaking of which, I'd like to thank the museum for recognizing and honoring Mason's birthday today and making it a Free Day to the public. Score.

Dave (in MO) called Mason and wished him a happy birthday while we were at the museum. Mason loves his Daddy.

We spent all morning and into the afternoon at the museum. The kids loved it. Ethan didn't want to leave even after 4 hours there. The boys favorite area was the space exhibit. There were so many cool hands on things for them to do! We also saw animals of N. America, the mummies, the dinosaurs, a really neat body health exhibit and some gems and insects. We didn't even make it to the main Genghis Khan exhibit. Hopefully they have another free day soon!

On the way home we stopped for 3 kids meals at Wendy's. A birthday treat.

After a couple hours back at home we decided we'd head to the library. From the library we picked up a couple pizzas and headed back home in time for grandma and grandpa to join the birthday boy for his birthday dinner and more cake. They also surprised Mason with a real gumball machine that has a spiral chute where the gumballs slide down as they are dispensed. Cool! They replaced the gumballs with marbles. Even better! It was a hit and all 3 boys played with that the rest of the night!

When grandma asked Mason what his favorite part of the day was he replied, "eating my boofday cake." Simple pleasures.

Dave and I sure enjoy our little Mason. I know Isaac and Ethan do too because on more than one occassion they have turned to Mae-mae with this adoring look on their faces and said sincerely, "Oh Mason, you are so cute." He is such a bundle of joy and we are very happy to have him in our family!

Mean jerk

A mean jerk stole my purse and camera last weekend. He just lifted it from my unlocked minin-van. Imagine that. I hope he dies. Haha, just kidding. But I do hope the purse fits his personality and he enjoys all the great pics I had on my camera, since I don't get to now. (It had all my pictures of our trip to Moab with the Trapnells on it. Blast!)

I'd taken my kids up to the nearby Dinosaur Ridge to check out the fossilized tracks and bones. We parked the car in a parking lot at the bottom of the hill along with a few other vehicles. It was a miserably cold day and so I spent about 30 minutes bundling the kids up. I guess in the dress- up party I forgot to lock the van. Half-way up the mountainside I wondered if I'd locked the van? But I was too far away for my clicker to work and there was no way the kids would walk down and walk back up again. So I crossed my fingers.

Well that didn't work did it. What are the chances? The kids couldn't believe someone stole from us and looked frantically around the car for me. All the fun we'd had at the ridge, sadly, was forgotten. As we searched frantically for my purse Isaac got to watch a guy accidentally back his subaru up over a road sign though, smashing the sign flat to the ground, and the guy didn't even stop to notice until he'd backed all the way over it and then drove forward over it again with both wheels. And even then he never got out, he just sped away. Was he the robber making his frantic getaway??? Isaac couldn't believe what he just saw and brought me a piece of the guys car that fell off saying, "Mom, he even left a piece of his car behind!" And it was a nice car too.

Back at home... We'd carved pumpkins a little early this Halloween and they had begun to decay. Ethan wanted me to let them keep them until they were totally decayed. I was fine with that, but with them sitting on our kitchen table all moldy while we ate dinner it was kind of grossing me out so I moved them to the back patio where the kids could still have a good view (but at least not during meal times). Well, when we got home from our robber incident, Ethan's decaying pumpkin had been demolished (by a squirrel I'm sure). Isaac saw it first and yelled, "Mom! The robber smashed Ethan's pumpkin too!!!" Wow, how did he find out where we lived and get here so quick? But it only makes sense. He's just a mean jerk.

On a happier note, we ended our dinosaur day by seeing Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs at the nearby dollar theatre. Great flick. We were all laughing. And another positive side note, my cell phone and wallet weren't in my purse when the robber took it. Sucker! I'd hidden them in a different part of the car! Phew.

These past few camera-less days I have missed being able to take pictures though. I thank my lucky stars that After Thanksgiving Day Sales are just around the bend and I'm married to the A.T.D.S. master-of-the-world-who-will-work-you-and-anyone-else-he-is-up-against-over. I definitely see a camera in my future. Wink.

I am strong

I think to myself, "Yeah, I'm tough. Uh huh, I'm pretty strong. Strong because I can do guy style push-ups, strong because I've endured a fair share of surgery in between child bearing, strong because I helped get our family through dental and ortho school, strong because I can hold down the fort with my 3 little boys in a 1 bedroom apartment as my husband is gone 3 weeks a month with work. Oh, and I've looked to God through past trials and made it through so I'm strong because of that too. Don't forget I can also bear a decent amount of physical pain without complaining and blahblah blah..."

AND THEN I look at the rock hard lady running for hours on the treadmill next to me (as I walk) or then I read NieNie dialogues (you know what I'm saying) or then I listen to an apostle speak. Hmmm. And then I laugh at my silly old self for ever thinking that I am strong. Yep, a big *sigh* and an "Oh well." And then I hear that voice in my head warning not to compare myself to the next person because this isn't a race against others. There will always be someone stonger or weaker, funnier or not funnier, richer or poorer, prettier or uglier, smarter or dumber (I mean more dumb, but I like the -er affect), taller or shorter, and on and on and on... There will always be someone better off, and there will always be someone not so better off. Maybe if I remember these things I could enjoy a few less egotistical and also a few less self-deprecating moments? That would be awesome. And then that would mean that I would be awesome. Oh yes. And then I could title my next blog post "I am awesome!" Yes! I think I've got it! That's it!

Love

Some may say my boys can be wild and perhaps a bit unruly. Maybe I'd even agree with them. But I like what a friend said the other day. She has 4 girls and 1 boy. She said she's heard that you don't really know what it's like to raise boys unless you have multiple. I can see the sense in that because if I ever have just Isaac, just Ethan, or just Mason around, they are as sweet as molasses and calm as a summer's morn. But get them together (which is definitely the majority of the time) and their energy magically multiplies and the sound level elevates 20 notches. I am not one to crack down on them if they are just having fun and being kids. If it's harmless and not disrespectful and they are having super fun I usually let them carry on. (The sound level can drive you nuts though.) I think kids have such a short time to enjoy being kids, I don't want to make them grow up any faster than they have to.

Anyway, I just wanted to jot down a few things that have been said and done around here lately that have reminded me and reassured me that amidst all the rowdiness and noise and boyness around here, these boys are the best boys I could ever ask for.

#1: Lately I have been worrying about all my newfound wrinkles and gray hair. I don't know if moving from a very humid area to a very dry area has made my face shrivel up or what. Gray hair I can deal with- I can fake that with color. But wrinkles? Anyhow, just the other day I was out on the patio giving Ethan's hair a little a trim. He was standing on a stool and his face was almost level with mine. All of a sudden he looked up and said, "Wow, Mom, you look beautiful." I was shocked and thanked him. Nothing more was said and 30 minutes or so went by. Then we sat down to lunch and I asked Ethan to say the prayer. He began, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you that my Mom is so beautiful, please bless the food..." So wrinkles and gray hair or not, Ethan still thinks I'm beautiful ;)

#2: Last night after I'd tucked Mason into bed, he snuck out, came out to where I was sitting and crawled onto my lap. Then he said, "I duv you Mom." And gave me a big a hug and a kiss on each cheek.

#3: Last week I got sick. And one evening I was feeling pretty bad and had a fever, the chills, just yuck. I told the kids I was sick at dinner. Isaac became very concerned. He told me that I could just go lay down. He made a bed for me on the couch with blankets and pillows. He told me he would take care of everything. If I tried to do anything, like even break up a tiff between Mason and Ethan, he would chastise me and say he would take care of it. He fed Mason dinner and got Mason's pjs on and did the dishes. Isaac cared for me at my bedside asking what he could do for me and bringing me water. Ethan got out a tray and made a snack for me to eat as I layed on the couch. Then they disappeared into their room for a while. When they came out they had each made me a beautiful get well picture. It was awesome... it makes me wonder if I should get sick more often.

#4: The other day as I got out of the shower I noticed a piece of paper had been slid under the door. Sweet Ethan had sent me a love note just for fun.

#5: Isaac, when he got into the car after school a few days ago, told us how 2 bullies had thrown a football in his face when he tagged them playing at recess. (His friends told on them and they got in troubel, haha.) Ethan's first reaction was: "I wish that had happened to me instead of you Isaac." You can see how deep Ethan's devotion is to his older brother.

#6: Back to the first day of school this year. Isaac was super excited. I made a comment about how excited he was. He said to me, "I'm not as excited for me as I am for Ethan! We are going to be in the same school now!" The next day when Isaac got home from school he shouted, "Guess who I saw at school today Mom?" I thought it would be someone from church or something. "Who?" I said. "Ethan!!! And two times!" I love to see how deep their friendship is and how much they adore eachother.

#7: The kids and I have a special meeting spot where I pick them up from school. It took us a few tries to find the best place. One day, we forgot to specify where we were going to meet and I went to one place while they were headed to another. They got to their spot before I could get the van turned around to find them there. When we finally met up, they jumped in they were smiling, luckily, and Isaac shouted, "Mom, my prayer was answered!" "What was your prayer Isaac?" I asked. "That you would find us Mom and you did!" I am so glad to belong to a church that teaches at such an early age that we can pray and recieve answers. And I'm glad to have a living God that always hears and answers prayers. I'm also glad that Isaac was able to experience a little testimony builder too.

#8: If Mason sees Isaac picking on Ethan, or Ethan picking on Isaac, he does not hesitate to jump in vocally or physically to stand up for "his guys." Little matters that he weighs 1/10th as much as they do. Mason will get right in there to defend the underdog. And he fondly calls his brothers "my boys" and "my guys."

I don't want these little guys to ever grow up!!!

A long awaited trip back to California

Elementary school through part of high school I lived in California. It was fun because during summer vacation my sister Emily and I got to spend a week with my grandparents in the Bay Area. Their home has always been a magical place for me and I have many fun memories there. Living in Ohio and Florida I didn't get an opportunity to visit my grandparents in CA for years. So in coming back West, it was one of the first things I wanted to do. Emily was able to arrange things so that she could go too (but sadly sister Liz couldn't work it in.) My parents kindly offered to watch my kids and I was off for a 4 day vacation to relive some old memories and help my grandparents around the house. It was a wonderful trip!

Emily and I met at the SF airport and rented a car so we could spend some time in the city. Of course we had to go to Fishermans' Wharf, Pier 39, China town, and drive up and down the amazingly steep hills! As a family of 7 growing up, when we visited Fisherman's Wharf, my Dad would buy a couple small cups of baby shrimp and escargo for us to share. Emily and I got fish and chips and a sourdough bowl, but also for memories' sake bought a small bowl of shrimp.
Alcatraz

After the city we drove through Golden Gate Park and enjoyed the smell of eucalyptus and ocean. We stopped at a beautifully restored windmill from Holland surrounded by gorgeous flowers. I think the kids must have deleted those pics of my camera. Can't find 'em!

We made it to my grandparent's house in Los Altos Hills late afternoon. They live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. It was so fun to see my grandparents and be at their home with them. We spent a wonderful evening talking and having dinner together. Below are some pictures of their place that have alot of meaning to me but won't mean much to you. I always want to remember their home and all the memories there.

This is one of my grandpa's sheds where he used to smoke his pipe back in the day. I love the smell of pipe smoke because of that and I loved the smell of this shed too. Also, in front, you can see his old compost bins and shredder machine. Now he has an even larger compost pile elsewhere. This was one of our primo spots to catch blue belly lizards too. To the side of this shed is one of grandpa's amazing gardens. My grandpa has multiple gardens and is the best gardener I know. Everything he grows is like gold! Believe me that we ate well on this visit: fresh green beans, avocados, tomatoes, peaches, mandarin oranges, pears and orange juice every day!!! The week after Emily and I left the neighbors and friends were having a summer celebration to honor my grandpa and his produce just to give you an idea of how amazing he is!

This is the back side of the house, which we always thought was the front of the house because it's really the only entrance that is used unless you are an unfamiliar visitor. My grandparents always had alot of neighborhood dogs around and we'd fill up their aluminum dog bowls by the back sliding door. They used to have a beautiful black lab that we loved, called Jed. We'd also eat Cornflakes with peaches and whole milk out here on the patio for breakfast, and in the evening put on silly plays and performances for anyone who would watch.

This is a special side of the house that we would visit because it was another primo lizard catching spot. They would hide in the random wood pile and fruit crates used for drying apricots during the summer. I love that after all these years they are still in the same spot!

Here is Emily, Danielle, and poochie. Danielle is a dear neighbor to my grandparents and has been there as long as I can remember. She always has a boxer dog and always names them Poochie. I think I have known 3 Poochies. We actually stayed at Danielle's house this visit. She is wonderful and generous and has this great, thick German accent although she has lived in CA for a long time now. When we were young we'd always go to Danielle's house on our visits because she let us swim in her pool. My brother always told me there were sharks in the shadows of the pool and I always believed him.

This picture isn't very good because it was dusk, but I'm using it anyway. It's a picture of Poor Claire's, a monestary right up the hill from my grandparent's. We too many walks through the grounds and were always a bit creeped out thinking there were Nuns hiding in the bushes spying on us. One time they did let their dogs out on us. But we liked it anyhow, it was always so peaceful and quiet. You can actually see the Bay from here. But it just looks white in the photo. Another thing important about Poor Claire's was that it has a stone wall around it and my grandma and parents, ever since I can remember, would take us to go walk on "Poor Claire's Wall." After that we'd collect Oak balls off the trees nearby. Emily and I found some to bring home to our boys this trip. And it was still even a little spooky for me this time around even though I'm older and more brave now!

The rest of the time actually at my grandparent's house we spent canning pears and peaches. Twas the season and I'm so glad we were there at that time to help out- or maybe I'm so glad we were there at that time because of all the good fruit I got to down while I worked! Before this I had never learned how to can so this was a really fun experience. And I learned from the best, my granny, who is the best cook and homemaker around. My grandma's skills in the kitchen are equal to my grandpa's skills in the garden, everything she touches turns to gold! I feel so blessed to have such hard working, and skillfull grandparents who have passed their rich heritage down to us. We have learned so much from them about thrift, hard work, health, diligence and self sufficiency- oh and good food. It was a great time working together in the kitchen.

The last day we had there my sister and I wanted to go check out the beaches and town of Half Moon Bay, about 45 minutes away. Knowing that my grandma hadn't seen the beach in ages, we talked her into taking a day away and coming with us. My grandpa stayed home and got to work outside all day like he enjoys so much.

We had a great time taking a few walks and visiting several beaches as we watched the seals and the surfers play in the breakers. VERY different from Florida beaches. Not too warm. But still very beautiful and enjoyable. Everything went well that day and I'm so glad my granny got to see and hear the ocean and feel the breeze in her sweet white hair. I love my granny.

We ate lunch, fish and chips which was a first for my granny, from a seafood restaurant in the quaint little town of Half Moon Bay. We ate it in the car together after ordering and just had a real enjoyable time. Emily is such a trooper, as you can see she was 8 months pregnant. I love Emily too.

That night we did another load of canned peaches and had our last visits together. Emily and I both flew out very early the next morning, back to our anxious Moms and awaiting boys. It was a blast and I hope to be able to take this trip again next year!

My honored graduate... FINALLY! (not finally that he's honored, well, maybe that too, but mostly that he has graduated!)

I am going to say some things about my dear Dave. So don't feel wierd, I'm not saying my husband is better than your husband, or that my life is better than yours, or gee, we just have it all- I'm just going to toot Dave's horn because first of all, he never would, and second of all, well, to me he IS great.

Well at last, Dave did it, he graduated from ortho school! What a feat! He is such a great student. Dave has always been a student in our life together, which started 10 years ago. I don't think he'll ever not be a student at heart. He is such an avid learner, reader, thinker and much to my chagrin, he talks of some day going back to more school, perhaps law. (Dave would make a great lawyer, have you ever tried to argue with him? Well, don't. I mean, uh, not that we have ever argued or anything.)

During Dave's dental and ortho schooling he has always worked hard to keep his priorities straight. He always did the best he could in his classes and had great raport with his patients and certain faculty. In dental school Dave worked part time overnight at a Security Systems place to support the family and keep loans down, and he also got a government scholarship by taking Russian language courses along with his full load of dental courses. In ortho school, during the summer, the students got Fridays off, so of course responsible Dave got a job at a dental office on Fridays to also help keep the loans down. Through all of this demanding schooling, Dave has worked hard, very hard. I'd also like to say that at the same time he has always made sure he was with the family as much as he could be, and always made church and his callings a priority.

Dave graduated from dental school Magna Cum Laude, if you know what that means. I was so proud of him. He'd wanted to do well enough to keep the doors open in case he ever wanted to specialize. Well, that came in handy. A year later he decided he'd apply to just one ortho school, the one that was in town, Jacksonville University. What are the chances of that? We had some friends with connections at JU and I kept prodding Dave to take advantage of those connections to sure up the bets that he would get in. Dave told me time and time again NO, he would not want to get in that way. Dave knew not using connections would be risky, but he wanted to know that he got into ortho school on his own merits. So he applied and interviewed and sure enough, he was accepted on his own merits. Yay for that! I'm glad he stuck to his guns.

Another 2 busy years of school went by and Dave learned alot and really enjoyed himself. He was sad to graduate and leave the school and his patients. He really was. That's one thing about Dave, he finds happiness wherever you put him. He really knows how to roll with it, and I thank his parents for that. Hmm, I thank his parents for alot of things.

Well, Dave made me proud again at his recent ortho graduation night. It was so nice to have his parents there with us. They are wonderful people and should get most of the credit for helping this boy become who is today. That night at dinner, Dave gave a couple nice speeches. People laughed and cried (okay, so maybe it was just me.) He said his good-bye's to his favorite mentors and friends. And lastly, Dave had told me about this special award that the director gives out at graduation, named after the director's deceased and honored father, which was really something special to recieve. There are different awards they pass out on graduation night, but this one is kind of the hum dinger. It's awarded for excellence in academics, input to the program, and for being an excellent clinician. Yes, I don't even have to say it, but yes, Dave recieved that special award! I'd be proud of him with or without any awards, but it's nice to see him applauded publicly for just being who he is. I sure love him. He IS the "best eva!*" (*refer to the photo of the chalkboard below.)

Dave's wonderful Momma. I am so sorry I didn't get a good picture with Dave and his wonderful Dad too, but know that he was there!

A few faculty who inspired Dave and taught him many things:

Dave on his way up to receive his special award

Dave receiving his diploma
Dave with his biggest fan

I thought I'd include this photo I took from our last day at church. Dave taught the gospel essentials class and was not only loved as a student, but here, as a teacher too:

BIRTHDAYS FIVE & SEVEN

I don't know if I should say Isaac and Ethan got ripped off this year or totally lucky by having their birthdays in the peak of moving madness.

Pros: they got to invite lots of friends to their FL party because the house was empty-ish and I wasn't worried about having it trashed (we had at least 20 kids in the house!) and they got to celebrate 3 times- in Florida, in Kansas, and in Colorado.

Cons: the real day of their birthday was not celebrated because it had either already been celebrated with a party, or would be in a couple days, and they didn't get a birthday dinner or cake.

But whatever, they are 5 and 7 now. And get this, they are both not too hot on it. Isaac says he doesn't like the number 7 anyhow and he can't wait until next year because he likes the number 8 alot better. Why? I asked, well, because "when you're 8 you get to be baptized, not when you're 7." And as for Ethan, the night of his 5th birthday, as I was tucking him into bed, he confided "I don't want to be 5, I want to stay 4." Why? I asked, "because Mommy won't love me like when I was 4." I quickly assured him that he was right and he just needed to buck up. Ha! Quite the contrary, my sweet little Ethan. Now, a couple months have passed, and Ethan seems to be assured that life isn't much different being 5. But Isaac is still waiting to be 8... either that or a teenager, he can't decide. But I'm loving that he still has a whole year left of being 7.


First photo, meet sharky. A special request was made for a whale shark pinata. ?? Our last pinata was a lobster. ?? Have we been watching too much National Geographic? Last picture, say good-bye to sharky!

I decided against cupcakes, too messy and everyone just licks the frosting off anyway, so we went with candy and frosting covered rainbow pancakes. They were a hit.

Fun games and super cute kids that we really miss!

CUMBERLAND ISLAND GETAWAY

One of our last weekends in Jacksonville, our friends, Julie and Russ, invited us out on their boat to the mystical Cumberland Island National Seashore off the coast of Georgia. We'd been dying to go ever since we'd moved to FL but the ferry costs an arm and a leg to get there. So thanks again Julie and Russ! It was so beautiful, so fun and not to mention, so hot.

wild horses, they were everywhere

the crew


wow, look at those amazing dung beetles!




the manchine ruins

mason, cole, mason, parker, isaac, ethan

refreshing water break

never ending trail to the beach

check out those cute boys and that enormous horse shoe crab

my hunk o' burnin' love

all tuckered out on the drive home, well, except for cole

LAST MOMENTS IN FLORIDA

Downtown Disney

pink is his favorite color!

Last book club with the ladies

House SOLD! Afterwards letting the house be messy and loving it

The beach of course

Packing!

Hostessing Isaac's end of the school year Dance Party

(where he gets these ideas, I don't know)

The family favorite fishing pier Amelia Island

St. Augustine

Alligator Farm, St. Augustine

Cummer Art Museum Botanical Gardens

Fort Matanzas National Monument

Swimming with friends

SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE BEES

I was out at the pool today reading and happened to look down and see a bumble bee on my shorts that were laying next to me. I wondered what he was doing. I kept watching. The bumble bee was dancing around on the shorts, attempting to pollinate the bright blue and white flower print! Every few minutes I'd check back to see if the bee was still there or if he'd given up yet. Finally, after a long 15 minutes of hard work he flew away. Poor thing. He must have that bumble bee virus the scientists are talking about and it's gone to his brain.