Fire

Just wanted to let anyone who might be wondering how we are doing that we are fine and the fires are staying a safe distance away from us. It's smoky out and the kids have not been able to get out to play at recess and there is ash all over the backyard, but I can't see flames from where we are at. You can see a thick cloud of smoke over towards Foothill Ranch, and Sam's school is closed. Some of the houses in Foothill Ranch were evacuated but those are higher up in the hills.

The boys are in the paper!

Well, the online version of our community paper, that is. This Sat. was the annual Fall Festival at Heritage Hill here in Lake Forest. It's a fun community event that we go to every year. We always see lots of people that we know and the kids have a great time doing crafts, playing games, and collecting candy in thier costumes. Here is the link to the story in the paper. http://www.ocregister.com/news/vampire-historical-live-1901031-robinson-half If you click on "view more pictures" you can see the pictures of Will, Ben, and Sam. I believe Will and Ben are number 8 and Sam is number 10.

Super Mario Bros.!

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys in thier Mario and Luigi costumes made by Grandma Zukie. They got so many compliments on them last night at the party we went to! We are going to our town's Harvest Festival today so they will get another chance to wear them before Halloween.

Cupcakes for Ben's class

This afternoon, Ben and I spend some time making 36 cupcakes for his class for tomorrow's party. He cracked the eggs, mixed the batter, put the cupcake tins in the pan, did the sprinkles, and put the ghost rings on all of the cupcakes himself. I thought they turned out pretty cute!

Pet turtles

We are now the proud owners of two red eared slider turtles. We were walking around China town with the boys and Will, who has been asking for turtles for awhile now, saw all of these little boxes with 2 turtles each in them. They were 5 bucks and I knew I'd have to end up buying it a bigger tank, but I thought "what the heck" and let him buy the things. Not a very well thought out plan, as it turns out. I went home and researched these little guys and learned that they grow to between 8 and 15 inches and need a 20 gallon tank at the smallest. They also need a strong filter, and a basking area with a heat lamp. So, $300 later, the turtles are happy in thier new habitat. Will is in turtle heaven.

Vegas Vacation!

This past weekend the boys and I tagged along with Brian to set up for a convention in Vegas. We stayed at the Hilton and the kids and I visited grandma Kathi on Saturday and went swimming in the hotel pool and played in the arcade on Sunday while Brian was working. We were there for three days and had a great time!

We met up with daddy at night and took the kids to Bennihanna for dinner on Friday night, Planet Hollywood on Saturday night, and Rainforest Cafe on Sunday night. On Saturday afternoon we went with Grandma Kathi, Bob, and Uncle Kevin to Freemont Street in downtown Las Vegas where we had lunch, saw some performers, and saw a really huge fish/shark tank surrounding a swimming pool with a water slide going right through the middle. The waterslide was made of some sort of plexiglass so that when you went through, it looked like you were in the fishtank. The boys wanted to go back to our hotel and get our bathing suits!

Family hike

On Saturday we went on a family hike at Casper's Park with our playgroup and Jodi from Earthroots Field School. She takes children and thier families on nature hikes, teaching them about wild, edible, and medicinal plants along the way, showing animal tracks along the trail, teaching about the animals that live there, and just having a great time outdoors. The kids loved it. We didn't call it a "hike" because for some reason that turns them off. We termed it an "explore" and they were very excited, asking Jodi questions, collecting rocks and sticks, and helping some new friends to build a fort out of fallen tree bark and branches in the clearing where we stopped to eat lunch. Normally a picky eater, Will even sampled some of the prickly pear that we picked on the trail. We hope to make this a monthly family activity.

Camping fun!

We just got back from a weekend camping trip to O'Neil park today. We decided to try a little overnight trip and it was great! I had reservations about such a short trip, thinking that maybe it would be more trouble than it was worth, but we condensed our camping gear and were able to pack and unpack in record time. We went with a huge group of friends from one of my playgroups. There were 15 parents and 14 kids ranging in age from 7 to 22 months! We had 4 or 5 sites, so there were 2 families per site. The kids all got along great and had a blast! I was a little worried about how it would all work out with that many kids, but it was so awesome that we were all talking about doing it again sometime. Brian had a really good time with the dads too.

If anyone would like to schedule a trip just let us know because this place is about 15 min. from our house and really nice. They have bathrooms and showers, hiking trails, and a playground for the kids. It's also very close to civilization in case you need to run to the store. It's also very easy to get reservations and a nice little weekend trip. We're thinking of going from Friday night after work to Sunday morning sometime since it's so close.

I wish I had taken more pictures and I *really* wish we had gotton a group shot, but as you can imagine it was pretty much chaos with 14 kids running in different directions. Lining them all up for a picture was just not going to happen. I did manage to snap a shot of Will with the baby lizard he caught and one of Sam and a friend.

Ben has a loose tooth!

Yesterday, Ben got an apple out of the refridgerator, bit into it, and told me that I must not be brushing his teeth very well because one of them was hurting. I asked which one and he said it was a bottom tooth. I wondered if maybe it was loose, and sure enough, it was! Now I know why he has been asking that I brush his teeth lately. He was saying that he thought he wasn't doing a very good job by himself. Turns out that tooth was just bothering him because it was loose. I'm going to have another little toothless grin pretty soon!

I actually did it!

In my seemingly never ending quest to shed the last 30 baby pounds (can you still call them baby pounds when your "baby" is almost three?) I have taken up jogging. I have never, ever in my life been a runner. Even when I was a skinny little high schooler, I would get winded trying to run more than about a minute. So I had my doubts as to whether I could actually do this or not. I found a running plan on the internet called the "couch to 5K running plan" where you work up to jogging for 30 min. straight over a period of 9 weeks. I am currently on week 5 and have just completed a 20 min. jog with no walking in between! I'm now pretty sure that I will be able to do 30 minutes in another 3 weeks or so.

p.s. In case anyone is wondering where the pictures are over the last couple of posts, unfortunatly, Ben spilled orange juice on my camera cable and it isn't working anymore. I will try to get out to get another one a.s.a.p. so that you can all share in the kid cuteness.

September 11, 2007

Today was Sam's first real day of preschool. I got a little teary in the car driving away after dropping him off. My last baby is a preschooler. How did that happen? When did that happen? The time has gone by even faster with my last baby than it did with my first, if that is possible. I'm still blown away by the fact that I'm the mother of a 7 year old 2nd grader!

I am so grateful that I have been able to be at home with the kids all of this time. Today I went to volunteer in Ben's Kindergarten class. He was thrilled to see me and ran up and gave me a big hug. He absolutely *loves* Kindergarten. He is already making new friends and was talking to some other boys in his class during snack and playing with them on the playground.

Now a moment of remembrance. Every year on Sept. 11, I, along with every other American, I am sure, think about what happened on this day in 2001 and how the world will never be the same. Everyone has a story to tell about that day. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard of the horrible events. I was sitting at home alone with Will, who was 15 months old at the time, having breakfast. We hadn't turned on the t.v. or the computer, so we had no idea what was going on. Brian called and I asked him what time his flight was going to be coming in since he was scheduled to fly home from Houstan that day. He said that he wasn't going to be coming home today and to turn on the t.v. What I saw on the t.v. looked like some scene out of an action movie. People running and screaming on the streets of New York. The footage of the twin towers being hit by the plane. It was very surreal. I can't remember how our conversation went after that, but I remember walking around in a daze for the next few days. The playgroup that I had when Will was a baby got together at a park on a day that we didn't normally meet, just so that we wouldn't have to be alone. For the first time ever, I really felt like I had a shared history with every person I saw. We all had this tragedy in common. We will never forget.

More back to school pictures!

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for all three of the kids- big day! Will is officially a 2nd grader, Ben is a Kindergartener, and Sammy is in preschool. I can't believe how big my babies are getting! Sam's first day was actually an orientation, so we have not left him there alone yet, but he absolutely loves his school. He cried when it was time to leave. I don't anticipate him having separation issues. Ben was excited, but very nervous, which is reflected in the pictures that daddy took. This is all old hat for Will now and he marched off into the classroom without so much as a backwards glance at us *sniff*. He was excited to see his friends, and happy that a few of them were in his class.

Muddy Mudpit!

Yesterday a friend was telling me about a neighborhood park that has a big waterslide and a mudpit for kids to play in. I thought the boys would love that, and it would be a nice family outing so we made plans to go today. The place was pretty cool. They have several play structures with ropes, fireman poles and lots of ladders and rock walls to climb, an area that is open during the school year for kids to come and use wood and tools to build forts and play structures of their own, and then in the summer they have the waterslide and mud pit. The boys were a little nervous about going down the waterslide, but they did brave the mudpit. We all got in and had some good, dirty fun!

Camping trip to Leo Carrillo

We are back from our annual camping trip to Leo Carrillo! Okay, well technically we got back two weeks ago, but who's counting? We had a blast as always. We had a really big group for the first two nights which was a lot of fun. It was me, Brian, our three boys, Tim and Wendy and thier two, Zukie, Laura, Lisa and David and thier four kids, Kathe, Lauren, and Aunt Mary. The kids loved getting to play with all of thier cousins and Sam was quite smitten with Brianna, Lisa and David's daughter who I think is 9. What can I say? At two, he is already a little ladies man. He had a great time playing with Izzy as well.

One of the big highlights of the trip for the boys was getting buried up to thier necks in sand by daddy and another big favorite was roasting marshmellows at the campfire. There is just nothing quite like sitting around the campfire with family on a cool summer night. These are the memories that our kids will hold onto and treasure for life. I still remember camping trips that I took with my parents when I was thier age. It just goes to show that kids do not need fancy, expensive vacations to be happy. Give them some dirt, a tree for climbing, and a beach and they are in heaven.

Houseboat Trip 2007

We just got back from our annual vacation to my parents houseboat on Lake Mohave on Friday. Fortunatly we got the camera working before the trip so I have plenty of pictures to share! We all had a blast, as usual. This time, no stitches for Will, which was definatly a plus! Also no major storms to report, which thrilled me, but Brian was a bit dissappointed. His hope was to capture the perfect storm on his camcorder and send it in to the local news stations. Oh, well, maybe next time.

The weather cooperated with us for the most part. The first couple of days were a bit windy so we didn't do much boating out on the lake, but the kids got to play on the shore in the cove that the houseboat was in. The next two days were calmer and we made it all the way to the marina at Katherine's Landing one day, and to Willow Beach, which is right near the Hoover Dam, the next day. Both were full days of boating and swimming and we were all exhausted by the end of the day. The kids slept great and the adults relaxed under the stars on top of the boat.

It was another wonderful vacation and our time there just flew by! We're now counting down to our camping trip at Leo Carrillo.

Some cute kid speak

The kids were in full form yesterday so I just wanted to share a few gems.

We were going to do some watercolor painting yesterday, but Ben's preference was to go shoe shopping. I told him that we'd be waiting for dad to come home before we went out and he said, "When I'm a grown up and I am an artist, and I have a phone, and it's a reading phone (he means a phone will caller id, where you can see the person's name who is calling you) and it says "mom", I'm not going to answer it.

Later on, Ben, still thinking about what shoes he was going to get said, "I want those shoes. You know, the ones I cried and cried for when you bought Sam's Crocs but YOU wouldn't buy them for me". Those would be the $70 Geox shoes from Nordstroms. For the record, he did NOT get the $70 pair yesterday either, he settled on a "jazzy, snazzy" pair of Vans with flames on the sides.

Will, on the other hand, was more enthusiastic about the watercolor painting. He piped up with, "This is even better than getting into trouble!". Indeed.

Moving up the ranks!

Will is now officially a Wolf in cub scouts. We had a bridging ceremony at a local campground and some families camped out for the weekend while others (us included) just went out there for the evening festivities and then came back again the next day for more activities. The kids had a great time. Roasting marshmellows was the biggest hit of the evening, of course!

Last week, Will spend Mon.- Friday at Boyscout day camp. It was a really neat experience for him and he is eager to do it again next year. He got to do archery, push carts, make a tool box in woodworking and a wallet in leather crafts, have relay races where they did silly things like walk on stilts, they had water play, tug of war, and did just about everything that a group of 6-11 year old boys would want to do! He came home filthy every day so I know we got our money's worth!

This might be my last update for awhile, as sadly enough, our camera has given out on us. We are going to try to get a new one this summer so that we are able to take pictures of our upcoming vacations.

Will's 7th birthday!

Will standing in front of the decorated car
The kids on Will's actual birthday eating some homemade cupcakes (decorated by them)
Will's Patrick cupcake cake, made by Grandma Zukie
Pineapple house Sponge Bob cake, made by Aunt Laura
Will with his friends at Chuck E. Cheese

My oldest "baby" is 7 years old! I can't believe it. Having older school aged kids is really starting to make ME feel old! Am I really old enough to have a kid going into second grade? He's just such a happy, good natured kid (most of the time anyway!) and it seems like 7 is going to be a good age. Right now, for the first time in many months, I am happy to report, none of the kids are going through especially difficult stages. We are on pretty even keel around here lately. Will had a great birthday. On the day of his actual birthday, I surprised him by painting the van with window paint that said, "Happy birthday Will" along with other messages, on all of the windows. His teacher made him a crown at school. The next weekend was his Chuck E. Cheese party with all of his friends from school and cousins. Pizza and video games. What more could a 7 year old ask for?