HANCOCK FAMILY

2010

2011-01-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

What can I say besides we have truly been blessed. We live a simple life. Our small town doesn't have anything fancy, but it seems we don't need all of that extra distraction. We have enough of that in the chaos of three kids. :) 2010 was full of happiness, stress, laughter, messes, family, LAUNDRY, growth, more LAUNDRY and lots of love. Since I hope to blog once a month during 2011, here is our year in review from the things I missed.

JANUARY- Two squishy cousins meet.

FEBRUARY- Date night. Sushi plus our favorite tag-a-long.

MARCH- Being at the Happiest Place on Earth apparently causes simultaneous mood changes.

APRIL- The LONGEST Easter egg hunt in history. (Notice the last egg in this picture that they could NOT find. Forever.)

MAY- Fat baby in a little tub.

And a Spongebob party to remember.

JUNE- Swimming lessons and sun-kissed kids.

Bonding with baby.

JULY- Fourth of July in Beaver. With the people we love. Paradise.

Family picnics just cause we felt like exploring. Gosh I LOVE July. The business is closed and we just get to PLAY.

More playing.

Camping with Grandma and Grandad. Making incredible memories every year.

AUGUST- Two kids start school. And one mom starts an adventure of her own in our new preschool. Love it. Especially the extra time I get to spend with my girl before kindergarten.

My perfect angels. Okay, rarely perfect, ALWAYS angels. :)

SEPTEMBER- Ballet. Her favorite thing ever.

Fantasy Football draft cake pops. The boys didn't even notice them of course. :) But they must've given Ro good luck because he won again for the fourth time. I can brag FOR him, right?

Mason discovered the camera.

OCTOBER- And she's off! Life changes as we have a new explorer on our hands.

Little Bo Peep, her adorable sheep, and some intense army dude make an appearance.

And my girl fell in love with a pumpkin...

NOVEMBER- Ro enjoys this moving target for the Nerf gun. JK. We are not THAT cruel.

Lu is not fond of her first carousel ride.

December- I can't believe she is already one.

The Christmas card we totally meant to send.

Little people told Santa how good they were this year...

Turns out they WERE pretty good. (Mase has just noticed the full-sized basketball hoop in the living room Christmas morning.)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the next year be blessed with less laundry and lots of time to blog. :)

Four

2010-05-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

My girl turned four. Leaving three behind in a mess of krabby patty wrappers and jellyfish still hanging from our ceiling (more on that later), she is SO proud of her new age.

Insane Spongebob party pictures coming, but for now... sisterly love.
Aren't sisters great? I need to give a shout-out to my five amazing ladies and tell them it's been TOO long since there has been a girls trip!!!!

Seems like overnight

2010-05-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

The comments have changed from "she's SO tiny!" and "oh, I LOVE the newborn stage!" to--
"Look at those THIGHS!" and "She's not missing any meals, is she..."

Baby Lu is:

Chunky
Smiley
Happy
Adorable
Smitten (with Ava and Mase)
Anxious (about new faces)
WIGGLY
Loved
Obsessed (with ME!)
PERFECT!!!

Top Twenty

2010-03-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

Our Top Twenty pictures of the last 3 months--
(Or, in other words, a quick way for a busy mom to redeem herself from slacking on posts for a LONG time!)

#20-

Fun times at Goofy's Kitchen.

#19-

Mission beach. Too cold for swimming, but the sand was fun for HOURS!

#18-

The cousin club.

#17-

Squishy perfection!

#16-

Best ride on Splash Mountain! This one makes me cry... miss you Kare!!!

#15-

Ro made a FABULOUS Valentine's dinner. Seriously. Fabulous.

#14-

Sisters.

#13-

My favorite boy turned SIX! I cannot freakin believe it. He is huge and I am old.

#12-

The kids tolerated my green dinner for St. Patrick's Day. After convincing them all green food doesn't taste like brussel sprouts, they actually enjoyed it.

#11-

A princess at Disneyland.

Wait- I mean TWO princesses at Disneyland. (:

#10-

Cousin time with Pax!

#9-

This funky hand-me-down nightdress is ALL she wants to wear. We call her Cindy Lou Who when she has it on. See the similarities?

#8-

Our beautiful baby was given a beautiful blessing in a beautiful dress made by her beautiful grandma. :)

#7-

Cindy Lou Who channeling Anakin Skywalker dressed as a cat complete with a sword AND a lightsaber.

#6-

The face of a kid who was FINALLY tall enough to ride Indiana Jones.

#5-

A cute daddy protecting his girl from the scary fireworks.

#4-

The loves of my life.

#3-

Best kids on the planet.

#2-

The smiliest baby we have had yet. LOVE this baby!

#1-

No words necessary.

Honorable Mention:

Lu in her "grandma outfit". Love the knee-highs and gown? (: We could not stop cracking up at her that night.

Just a tiny bit of snow...

2010-01-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Equals some good fun!!!

p.s. In no way is the word "tiny" meant to act as a request to Mother Nature for more snow. The novelty of the dusted front yard is quite enough for me.

Moments

2010-01-14T11:09:00.000-08:00

In the last six weeks, there has been a lot happening in our home. Sleepless nights, changing routines, Christmas, millions of diapers, traveling for Christmas, sharing attention, people (who shall remain nameless) struggling to follow directions at school possibly to seek more attention... all the fun stuff.
BUT... There are moments in our lives that make everything feel worth it. The world stops for just a minute and your little bubble feels like the very best place you could ever imagine. I have to document these moments when I can tear myself away for a second to grab the camera.

After a long Saturday of three great kids including a working husband, 7 loads of laundry, grocery shopping, trampoline jumping, cleaning, and lots more it was finally bedtime. I had just brought in the last of the groceries and asked the kids to be careful because I put Lucy on Ava's bed. This little sibling gathering was totally unsolicited, and as I switched the last load of laundry to the dryer, I heard laughing in Ava's room. Peeking in, I found this adorable sight. There they were, holding her attention completely. Each of them took turns reading her books and showing her pictures and she was clearly mesmerized. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing my kids interact happily and lovingly with each other.

Oh and one more perfect "moment"? Some of her first smiles!

Update

2010-01-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

The holidays are officially over. We had a fun time playing and visiting with family and friends but I will be happy to settle into a routine again. A new one, of course, since our baby was born right in the middle of things.
Just wanted to document a few things about little Lucy. She is a great baby. She eats well, is generally content, sleeps well at night... Not to mention she is super cute! I love having a baby again.
During the day, though, she hates to close her eyes. I don't mean that she is all fussy and won't sleep- I just mean she is SO interested in what is going on around her that she fights to keep them open. When she was one day old before we even left the hospital, the nurses were calling her "Nosy" because of her habit of looking around all of the time. There was no "newborn sleep all day" phase for this one! But I can't complain about her funny trait because first of all I find it endearing, and second of all, she sleeps 5-7 hours between her feedings at night.
Oh and her nickname is "The Gruntster". She is noisy at night in her sleep and is always grunting around. She takes after her big brother this way. The kids nicknamed her "Lu Lu" and they are both just loving her. Ava took a little more getting used to sharing mommy but Mase was smitten immediately. We feel very blessed!
I have a ton of holiday pictures and she already looks so different, but these were taken at 2 1/2 weeks of age.

Lovin these...

2009-12-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

Dimples!

Our new one!

2009-12-03T15:54:00.000-08:00

We are SO happy to introduce Lucy Marie Hancock to the family. She was born Dec. 1st at 4:22 pm. We were so excited to meet her- hope this isn't TMI but both Ro and I were literally laughing our heads off when she first entered the world. It all seemed too easy and perfect. (OBVIOUSLY I had an epidural...) She weighed 7 lbs. and 7 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

We were able to come home last night (after we begged and helped speed up the process because we missed our kids so much) and everyone is doing great. She was welcomed with open arms by Mason and Ava and they can't get enough of her. More pictures soon!

It's Really Never Good...

2009-11-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

To take a photo of yourself 3 days before having a baby. However, this is for posterity's sake. I realized that I have hardly allowed myself to be in pictures for the last 6 months, and someday this little girl may want to see herself when we were together. Anyway, I think my tummy is pretty funny jutting out there like a watermelon. Just ignore the puffiness of everything else. :)

I am being induced Tuesday morning and we can't wait to meet our new little girl!

Festivities

2009-11-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ava came running into my bedroom the other night saying, "I am hiding from Daddy because he says it's bedtime!"
I said, "Then you better go to bed..."
She looked at me with an irritated look and said, "Would I be TELLING you this if I wanted to go to bed????"

Here is my sassy girl these days:

This picture is blurry but if you see the guy in the red Flash costume in the middle, it's Mase at his school Halloween parade. Standing in front of the whole school with a major power stance. LOVE this kid!

And just a few of my cuties at Halloween. I always mean to get better pictures but time gets away from us when there is candy to obtained from strangers!

Only 3 1/2 weeks til this baby gets here. The family is very excited and I am VERY done being pregnant!

My thoughts today

2009-08-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

I miss my boy. Today we are celebrating his 1/2 birthday because 5 1/2 seems like a big deal to him this year. Yummy pudding-filled cupcakes with chocolate frosting and smashed oreos and worms on top. So... BOYish. Ava said, "Those worms are eating the Pupcakes! I don't want the worms to talk to me..."
The first week he was at school I had an aching in my heart. Seriously, I thought I would be fine, but thinking about the fact that I was no longer the center of his world cut me pretty deep. He actually happens to love school so much that he was upset that yesterday was early release. I am thankful for that. But this post wasn't even supposed to be about him...
My bond with my girl has grown SO much in the past 10 days. We spend our days doing "praw-jeKS" and crafts, reading books, dressing up, or just lounging around the house. And laughing. I really GET her sense of humor. Now I am not one that is into crafts or any art for that matter, but it is so much fun to see her get creative. She misses her brother and asks about him every day, but I know that both of us are treasuring this time until her baby sister arrives. Originally, I would have liked to have the spacing be a little closer, but I am SO grateful for this period where she and I can be alone for a few months.

To further prove my love for her, I have included a not-so-flattering picture of myself at 6 months pregnant, just because I know she is happy in it.

Now what am I going to do when I can't call them "MY boy" and "MY girl" because there just happens to be an extra one? (:

No tears were shed...

2009-08-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

On the first day of school. And you better believe that was an accomplishment, not from my cute boy but from his pregnant and hormonal mom who had some attachment issues today. I think I would have felt better if I could have just watched him in his class for awhile...or had lunch with him...or gotten minute by minute updates to my phone about what they were doing ALL DAY. (:
No, but seriously, I survived and he loved it. He was a little quiet when I took him in there this morning but I heard all about his great day and the new friends he made. I was a little sad for Ava after we dropped him off. He usually sits in the back of the van and when we were almost home she said, "Mase, are you asleep back there?". Guess she didn't realize that we left him at school. And when I put her to bed tonight, I told her that we are going to play tomorrow after we drop him off at school and she said, "But he already went to school!" The adjustment is harder for some than others...
I noticed that he wrote "Mase" on the top of his paper instead of "Mason." I asked him if he told his teacher to call him that and he said, "Yeah... it's my nickname. And I LOVE my nickname!" So I guess that is what he will be going by in school. He is demonstrating his independence already. (As if he hasn't done that from the moment he was BORN!)

I didn't get a great picture because he was anxious to get into his classroom, but he is still adorable with this cheesy look on his face... miss him already for tomorrow.

Summer Highlights

2009-08-09T15:06:00.001-07:00

Summer ends today for us. Mase starts school tomorrow and I have such mixed feelings about it. Before I can document my big boy wearing his new backpack, I need to play a little catch up. Here are a few pics of fun things we did this summer:

Back in June we took a trip to see my parents in Utah and also got to see some awesome cousins:

Then we had some fun without the kids at our Totally 80's party: (Did you know when you move to another state you can throw the EXACT same party again? We had a similar one in Portland- always fun!)

On the 4th of July, my kids had so much fun with cousins on Roland's side and their friends that I couldn't get them to stop for a picture. This is the best I got:

We went to Colorado in July and stayed in a cabin on the lake. It was beautiful and all of us had so much fun.

We also went camping but my battery died after two pictures. Here is one of them!

Because our yard is not yet landscaped, a rainstorm left us with a TON of mud in the gutter and street. We decided it would provide a good 3 hours of dirty play for the kids. Needless to say, they loved it! Now they are praying for another major rainstorm...

After all the fun, we are left with some satisfied and happy kids who are ready for their next adventure... I just don't know if I am!

So much to say...

2009-07-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

But for now, even though we have told a lot of people, I just have time to post that we are getting another one of these this Fall. The pink kind!

We loved our first girl so much that we can't wait to have a new one! (:

Free

2009-05-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Our little Aves turned three years old last week. (She puts up her chubby little fingers and says, "I'm FREE now!"
We celebrated with the ultimate girly party. Fancy Nancy theme with 11 little girls dressed up in every fancy thing they could find. Ava kept saying, "I sure hope they like pink and purple!"

Here are the top 10 things we love about our little princess.

1. How much she adores our cat (and all animals). Cleo gets chased around all day but she is patient and makes Ava erupt in giggles constantly.
2. Her little budding attitude and stubborn ways.

3. The way she enjoys being glamorous and getting fancy.
4. The love and friendship she has with her brother.

5. Her new curls. (Yes, I know this one is a stretch but look at the picture below compared to the one above and see the progress!)

6. That she is EXTREMELY girly but still can have a blast playing with all boys and collecting rocks.
7. The way her voice sounds when she apologizes. And she says it over and over again... "Sorrrry. Sorrrry mom. I'm sorrry."
8. Her tiny feet.
9. How hyper and delirious she gets right before bedtime.
10. The way she strokes her lip with her finger when she is tired.

LOVE this girl and I am so thankful for her every day!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

2009-05-20T23:51:00.001-07:00

Ava found reading a little too tiring tonight.

ConCUSSion

2009-05-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

An almost 3 year-old can say some hilarious things in the Emergency Room in the middle of the night. Not that I WANTED to be there or enjoyed it in the slightest, but I know Ava's night is bound to provide some laughs for our family sometime down the road. (:
It all started when Ava was playing at the playground during Mason's teeball game. I was just going to get her when I saw (in desperately slow motion might I add) a baseball coming right for her little head. Funny thing- the slow motion must have been just for my own personal mommy trauma- there was no time to warn her. Some big boys were practicing nearby and had thrown it from quite a distance when it accidentally hit her. I saw it hit above her right ear and I saw her fall down and immediately let out a wail. I ran to comfort her and then the panic set in. Did she have some sort of brain injury? Internal bleeding? A concussion? Should I go straight to the ER?
After some loves and a little Tylenol, she calmed down. Her eyes looked fine, her behavior was normal, and I calmed myself down a little.
We watched her the rest of the evening and then finally put her to bed at about 9:30. Before 10:00, she woke up screaming and throwing up in bed. Not good. This time it took only a split second to decide to head to the ER.
Now Ava is not a puker. I'm not sure she has thrown up since the baby spit-up days. So she looked all disoriented and miserable. At the hospital, she always made it into the lovely pink bin they provided (she was proud that it was PINK and it was hers). After awhile, there was really nothing left in her tummy. After another round of the dry heaves (gross but true), she looked at me and said, "Mommy, did you watch me frow up?" I nodded and she said, "Did you see that frog in my mouth?"
Ha ha- isn't that exactly what it feels like? And SOUNDS like? She is freaking funny!
We were put in a tiny room with a curtain divider next to two men who appeared homeless. One was yelling profanities and kept saying, "I need to get out of here!" Very comforting for my child, let me tell you. The nurse kept trying to calm him down and said, "Jack, there are children in here. Please don't use those words." Finally, Ava looked at me with a slight smile and said, "Jack just wants to get out of here" like she wanted me to convince the nurse to send him home.
The CT scan was a little drama. We didn't really want to have it done because we knew it would be scary for her and the risks are slightly alarming. There was really no choice though, considering her symptoms. The first try was a lot of crying (by her and her pregnant mommy). Then I was touched as I watched Ro take her back to the first bed and practice the CT scan with her (mimicking the machine's sound and movements) and telling her it would be funny. She decided it would be her "Great Adventure Spaceship" (LOVE this girl's imagination) and with Ro looking into her eyes (and me panicking in the hallway), she did it.
Results showed no damage. The doctor said she had a mild concussion but will be just fine. Scary stuff that I wish we didn't have to go through, but amazingly, I wouldn't trade the time we spent with our personality-filled child for anything.
But just to be safe, next time we go to a teeball game, Ava will be wearing a sun hat AND a hard hat!

You know you're LAZY when...

2009-05-05T16:28:00.001-07:00

1. You want to text someone in your own house because you don't want to get up and go where they are.

2. The person you want to text is your 5 year-old son.
(Who can't read... and uh, doesn't have a cell phone.)

3. You come up with a plan to get his attention without screaming at the top of your lungs:
Stretch to reach your cell phone that is sitting two feet away. Call your HOME phone because you know your answering machine will pick up. Pleasantly call to your child from the answering machine speaker until he comes into your bedroom to see what you want.

4. Lavish him with praise when he gets the drink of water you've been craving.

5. Last but not least, you sit and hatch other brilliant plans to get what you want from sitting in one position because you know you will continue to indulge yourself in this lazy lifestyle until morning sickness subsides.

The sexy bracelet that is saving my life!

2009-04-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe gray, cotton, slightly eighties wristbands are not quite sexy... but they are fantastic for morning sickness! Thanks to my sister in law for telling me about these. Esentially, it is just accupressure (pressure on a certain point on your wrist) with zero medication or side effects. Why this pressure helps with morning sickness, I don't know. But if it helps and it is harmless, I do not care!
Though I am still pretty nauseous at times, these babies have really eased the sickness and helped me function.
If only they would come in a wider range of colors...

Good thing I have a comfy couch

2009-04-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Truthfully, I have had no energy to post. Morning sickness (that lasts all DAY) seems to get worse for me with every pregnancy. Does anyone have ideas on things to do with your kids while you are lying on the couch? (: That does not involve TV? Believe me, we've played that card a little too much.

I just have to post to say I love my babies. I know they are not babies but they have been so patient with me and understanding while I am out of commission. Mase gets cereal for the two of them in the morning and then comes in and kisses my cheek and says "Have a nice sleep" while I am still in bed. I have tried to tell them that having a baby in your tummy makes you sick and tired and they actually seem to understand. Ava and I were lying on the couch when it was almost bedtime and she said, "We are tired. We have babies in our tummies, huh mom."

Thanks to my husband for helping out around the house and taking the kids outside to play. A lot. And the back rubs and crushed ice. (: And a huge thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for taking the kids yesterday and for the beautiful flowers today. Tulips- my favorite.

It's not like I'm on bed rest- I just have been feeling yucky. All day.

A few pictures of my cuties lately:

Sleeping soundly... we had no clue she had snuck into his room. :)

Easter fun with cousins

Hiding behind the couch will ensure that no one will steal your loot!

After Mason's first wrestling tournament- he wore that medal for days...

With his good buddy after the tournament. Go little Bulldogs!

2009-04-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I was asking Ava some random questions and I said, "If we were to have another baby, would you want a brother or a sister?"

Ava, with a serious expression said, "Actually, I want a doggie."

So sorry to disappoint, Ava! Hope you change your mind in the next 7 months! (:

Do you think...

2009-03-18T18:03:00.001-07:00

We've been reading a little too much Fancy Nancy?

(I actually let her leave the house like this- anyone who saw us on our neighborhood bike ride might have thought she was drowning in tutus.)

I know you're GREEN with envy...

2009-03-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

...over our awesome St. Patrick's Day breakfast. Okay, maybe not... We thought it would be fun to serve green pancakes and green scrambled eggs this morning. In reality, it took Mase awhile until he would agree to eat it. He kept mentioning green beans and asparagus- he must have thought I was trying to trick him. (:
Ava, on the other hand, was delighted to eat her monochrome meal.

I also made these cookies for playgroup. Note to self: When making green cookies, please consider that the oatmeal chocolate chip variety tends to resemble guacamole, especially in the dough form. It looked disgusting, but they were pretty tasty.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! And Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Visitors... FINALLY!

2009-03-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Since we have moved, we have made some really great friends and are starting to feel very settled here. I feel weird even writing that because this place was so NEVER in our plans. But we feel very blessed.
We do miss our family and friends who do not live near us anymore, so it was so exciting to have my parents come to see us this last weekend. Along with showing them our new home and letting them see into our new life, we went exploring around Northern Arizona and saw some sights I had never seen before... Thanks mom and dad for giving me a reason to see some interesting sights!

Mason's favorite was Meteor Crater. The day before we went my Dad said this phrase, all too enthusiastically, "I LOVE meterorites!" and it has made me laugh out loud every time I have thought of it since. All of my brothers and sisters can attest to his love of nature and geology. On many road trips we heard, "Look at that sulphur, MIL!" So Meteor Crater was perfect for him...

Anxiety filled my SOUL on our next journey. I knew Walnut Canyon was beautiful and I also knew we would see ancient ruins from Native American tribes who used to reside there... sounds like a fun trip right? Yeah, until I realized it was a hike down a canyon mostly WITHOUT guardrails and pretty much 4 feet of walking space until you plunge to your death in the deep canyon below.
Most people would have no problem with this, but I have a fear of heights (especially right on-the-edge heights... I have lived in Arizona for 28 years and have never been to the Grand Canyon- there is a reason for this) and was SO sick to my stomach taking my energetic, carefree children down there. I had what I refer to as "jello legs" and was unable to look down. And I am sure my poor children have bruises on their hands with how tight I was squeezing them. I apologized to Ro for being slightly (okay, EXTREMELY) neurotic, but I have never felt quite so out of control.

You can tell I am forcing a half-smile in this pic, and that my kids can sense my uneasiness... it was for your own good! (:

It ended up being so beautiful, but I took a long deep breath when we safely reached the top and were on solid ground.

The visit was SO much fun, and I hope we get many more visitors in the future. We are fully aware that our little town doesn't have much to offer in entertainment, so we promise to bend over backwards to make sure our guests have fun SOMEHOW. (: Even if it's just a show put on by THIS silly girl...

Of course they couldn't leave without Standin' on the Corner. And the kids played in the "flat bed Ford" they have parked there (from the song). Fun times- MISS YOU!

Their point of view

2009-03-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

I saw this on someone else's blog and I was interested to see what they would say... and a little scared of the truth! (: Turns out it wasn't so bad.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
M- I love you
A- You make me happy

2. What makes mom happy?
M- Me
A- When you see Daddy

3. What makes mom sad?
M- When I don’t hug you
A- When Daddy's at work

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
M- Tickle me!
A- I laugh hard!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
M- I don't know
A- She was yellow

6. How old is your mom?
M- 30
A- Three

7. How tall is your mom?
M- 50 feet
A- Big

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
M- Play with me
A- Make bows

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
M- Cry
A- Daddy plays with me

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
M- Painting and Dancing- I like when you do this-- (and demonstrates some slightly 80's moves)

11. What is your mom really good at?
M- Thumb wars
A- Bows

12. What is your mom not very good at?
M- Chasing me cuz I run too fast

13. What does your mom do for a job?
M & A- Make bows

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
M- Taco Tangles
A- Cherries

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
M- That you’re fun
A- I like your pretty bows

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
M- From High School Musical- the one with yellow hair
A- Luke Skywalker

17. What do you and your mom do together?
M- We play games and hide and seek
A- Clean up

18. How are you and your mom the same?
M- We’re not the same
A- We like to get drinks

19. How are you and your mom different?
M- We don’t wear the same clothes.
A- Your hair

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
M- Cuz I’m smart
A- I love you too.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
M- She loves him…. Because they’re married!!!
A- They like to play toys wiff me.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
M- Disneyland!
A- To Winslow

Bragging rights

2009-02-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

My favorite little guy turned five last week, so I thought I'd record my five FAVORITE things about him right now. I'm sure they will have changed by next year- this is MASE at FIVE--

1. FUN The boy loves to play and I admire the way he jumps into situations with both feet to have a good time.

2. LOVING He is so loving toward Ava, us, his grandparents... He would never miss an opportunity to give me a hug and a kiss.

3. INDEPENDENT I have to admit that I struggle with this one. It is hard to love a quality that makes your strong-willed child want to do something opposite than you want him to. However, I can see that this will be a benefit to him in the future. He has never been one to cry when I drop him off somewhere- he is excited for the new adventure of life!

4. HILARIOUS Gotta love his sense of humor! He keeps us (and his little sister) laughing constantly.

5. INTELLIGENCE Just yesterday we sat down together and did a whole workbook of counting and adding and writing numbers. And he loves to go to the library and check out non-fiction books... especially about sports so he can bond with his dad. This is an exciting time to see him pick up new concepts.

I LOVE my boy. He does present his fair share of challenges (mostly the strong-willed and stubborn issues... don't know where he gets that from :) but we are figuring out ways around those. Like letting him ride his scooter in the house to release some of that energy! The excess of tile in our new house is serving Mase well. (:

Here is a photo from Grandma's house that sums up my kids personalities and relationship. Are we supposed to remove these during prayer, like hats? Oops!

Too much information

2009-02-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

SOMEBODY in our bed last night said,

"Your farts are my favorite."

*My mom read this, and she assumed it was Mason's quote... I must admit this was only an adult conversation.

Bow special

2009-02-10T13:49:00.001-08:00

We have some new products on our hairbow blog and we are running a little special. If you place an order and you add our "button" (above logo) to your personal blog, you will receive a free mini bow with your order. Just email us at avanadybowtique@hotmail.com with your order and leave your blog address.
To get the logo button, go to www.avanadybowtique.blogspot.com and click on the logo right under where it says "get a button". It will direct you to the html code to add to your own blog.

Check out our new crochet beanies and loopy flower headbands- our girls look adorable and yours will too! (:

p.s. Plus, for anyone who may live anywhere near our little town, we are having a "bow party" on Feb. 19th at my house with some fun giveaways and a lot of cute products! Just leave a comment if you want to come.

Smartypants

2009-02-09T12:07:00.001-08:00

Mase came out of his room holding his new drawing. I told him it was good and asked if it meant "No girls allowed".
He looked at me with an irritated expression and said "No AVAs allowed!"
(Oh, I should have KNOWN... the normal girls he draws have a few strands of flowing hair coming off that round head- this one is bald...)

My Top Ten

2009-02-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Reasons I LOVE living in a small town:

1. We rarely fill up the gas tank.

2. Nothing to do means more time to spend with these guys.
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3. SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE... need I say more?

4. Well I will anyway. Ro comes home for two hours in the morning and for another hour at lunch because we are so close to work and traffic is nonexistent.

5. You get to see weird things like THIS on the corner:

6. Speaking of "the corner", it is a BIG DEAL here... The Eagles put this town on the map! The "standin on the corner" part of town goes a little overboard, but you can bet I will be taking you there if you ever come to visit us!

7. Road trips are a necessity!

8. The lack of good restaurants means we eat at home more.

9. Houses are unique and there are really no cookie cutters.

10. There IS such thing as a free lunch! (At the Rootbeer Stand of course...)

I could actually go on and on, but I will leave it at that. Then I will have to be inspired to create more when I get sick of looking at the same brown dirt and need some new reasons to be happy. No, this is not a beautiful place or an exciting place, but I am AMAZED at how much it feels like home.

It's really not so bad...

2009-01-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

In fact, it's pretty great! I am so surprised at how much we actually like it here. The people are really nice, we love our house, and the kids are having SO much fun with their grandparents! It's easier to enjoy the simple things in life when not feeling distracted by things a big city has to offer (shopping, fun things to do, all that terrible stuff...) Soon I will post pictures of our house and some of the funny quirks in the town of Winslow.
For now, I want to put a plug in for one thing I've been up to. Since Ava has been nearly bald for 2 1/2 years now, I finally decided to stop spending money on bows and just make some for myself! My friend Lani showed me how and we have decided to start a business together. Check out our blog (needs lots of work, but it's a start) at www.avanadybowtique.blogspot.com
We make small bows, big bows, flower headbands, crochet beanies, small funky barrettes... all things girly! There is a store in Winslow that is allowing us to display our fanciness, but we also will sell online. Thanks for checking us out!

You-know-where must have frozen over

2008-12-31T18:43:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, January 1 2009, we are moving to a place I said I would NEVER move to. Can you believe I am actually a little excited about it? (And a little bit dreading it, too.)
Let you know how it is when we are standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona...

Rich

2008-12-24T23:19:00.000-08:00

Just had to share this little experience I had with Mase today at the grocery store. Christmas Eve at the grocery store is no fun. So maybe I threatened him a little that Santa would not come if he did not behave...

He looked at me with big eyes and said, "Santa brings gifts to everyone, the rich AND the poor."

I contemplated this for a moment and said, "And what are we, Mason?"

He said, "Hmmm.... well, we are happy... so we are rich!"

The hug I gave him was maybe a little too long for the busy grocery store but I felt so proud of the wisdom he already has in his short four and a half years.

Merry Christmas!

Sillyhead

2008-12-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Blog neglect has led me to allow that wounded pic of Mase to be up for too long. So here is a silly one just to be at the top of the blog. We had our pics done and Mase really delivered some great photos... but THIS is the one he was dying to have in his new room. So he will have an 11x14 of this in his new room in Winslow.
Oh, by the way, did I mention we are moving to Winslow?
Next week?

Up and down

2008-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

Our week started with a little of this:

(Mase jumped off a chair and had a fight with the sharp edge of the trash can)

And also had a little of this:

(Ava in the ER at 1:00am-- she is fine now)

And our week is ending with me frantically cleaning the house on a Friday night at 9:30 just so I don't end up feeling even MORE depressed tomorrow on my 30th birthday... Is that pathetic or what?

On the bright side, our we also did a little of this:

And one more day of this: (Our annual pass expired yesterday)

Life really is full of ups and downs. We'll see which category tomorrow fits into...

THIS HAIRDO....

2008-12-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

Inspired the nickname "Fuzzy"...

Needs no detangler...

Softened Daddy's heart (and opened his wallet) to accept many purchases of cute hairbows...

Makes us feel like we still have a baby in the house...

Looks a lot like MY hair at this age...

Creates the CUTEST bedhead on the planet...

Probably invites strangers to think she is going through chemotherapy... ??? Really, as much as I think it is adorable, when will it grow???

The event we anticipate all year...

2008-12-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about Christmas. Not exactly anyway.
I have a big family. Okay, kind of a HUGE family. Now that all of my eight siblings are married and (almost) everyone has kids of their own, it's very hard for us to get together for Christmas. All the traveling and having commitments with in-laws make Christmas Day pretty hectic. For the past few years, we haven't gotten together in December at all. We end up grouping holidays together and do a weekend of celebrations all at once. This year we did the 70th Birthday Party of my parents/Thanksgiving/Christmas all in two days and all very early. (I'm just late writing about it...)

Our favorite thing ever is to have a weekend with family, fun, and food and LOTS of cousins, so here is my abbreviated recap:

A fun surprise pizza party for my mom and dad, who each had an important Fall birthday...

Finally took a big family photo... (Thanks for cooperating, guys!)

Had an eventful family talent show, including the above group called SABBA. For more information on this exciting performance, see here. If you are really in the mood to make fun of some people, you can watch the Youtube video after we put it up.

It was A LOT of fun and I'm so glad everyone came! We missed the few family members that couldn't make it and can't wait for you to be involved next year!

Together at last

2008-11-27T09:38:00.001-08:00

Minnieland

2008-11-22T23:13:00.000-08:00

Last time we were at Disneyland, we had KINGPIN seats for the parade. My kids (and their adorable cousins) enjoyed the close view so much, including special attention from characters and even a hug from a beautiful princess! During the grand finale of the parade, the float that held the highest character royalty possible, Mickey and Minnie, paused for awhile directly in front of our seats. Then the most amazing thing happened! Minnie Mouse took a special interest in my little boy. For about three minutes (the longest three minutes of his life maybe), they exchanged a silent but loving interaction...
She waved at him; he shyly waved back. She blew him kisses; he smiled in pure flattery. When he would not return the kisses, she put her hands on her hips and tried to demand more attention. He loved EVERY second of it. Finally, as the parade resumed, she blew one last kiss, and he could not help but blow one back. She looked back in amazement and jumped up and down at her victory.
Now- I know that she probably has this kind of interaction every evening. How amazing to be able to make a child's... uh, LIFE, in just a couple of minutes! Well, Mase told me later in a small voice that she was now his "girlfriend". (Where do they get these titles so young?) I couldn't help but adore his enthusiasm.
The next night we were not planning on watching the parade. However, we saw it from afar and ran to catch the last bit. This time we did not have great seats; in fact we did not have ANY seats. We stood in the distance as the Minnie and Mickey float approached. I glanced at Mase and could see the eagerness on his face. Before I could warn him that she may not see him from so far away, he yelled, "MINNIE!" My heart stopped as I prepared for a heart-broken four-year-old. Again, "MINNIE!!!" I started to say something and then I watched in slow-motion as she turned our way.
Her gloved hand waved through the air and looked in our general direction. A wave of quiet relief washed over his face. "She heard me mom!" Yes... she did babe. How I loved Minnie at this moment! (:
I am writing this little story in the hotel across from Disneyland. Tomorrow we will go there and he cannot WAIT for all the excitement of being with his grandparents, seeing his cousins, going on the rides... But this morning he pulled me aside and said, "Minnie will be happy to see me."
Pray for us...

The exhausting events called Halloween

2008-11-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Yep, SO exhausting, in fact, that it took three weeks to even get around to posting about it! (: By the time October 31st actually arrived, I was SO over Halloween. Here is a summary of the many things we did to celebrate this usually satisfying holiday.

*1*
See pics in last post. An AWESOME annual party at a friend's house. I'd like to say we had the best costumes, but you should've seen some of the others. My personal favorites were a couple dressed as Juno and Bleaker. Didn't really enjoy sitting across the room from the shiny gold shorts that were scandalously short (on the male of course) but they fit the part PERFECTLY!

*2*
The pumpkin patch. Kids had fun. Parents enjoyed watching.

Went on a hayride...

Tried to play ringtoss, but someone kept taking all of the rings for vain purposes...

CAUGHT red (but beautifully adorned) handed!!

*2*
Trunk or Treat. This event was what I considered the real Halloween this year. This is where they got most of their candy and actually kept their costumes on.

Sharkboy and Lavagirl get together for the evening-

I love this one of Ava and her friend comparing costumes...

It always amazes me that they collect ALL kinds of candy and eat a few pieces and then I hide it away when we get home and they never ask for it again. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess...

*3*
Halloween carnival at preschool. I actually have adorable pictures of this, but they are not on my computer, and what the heck do people do with hard copies of photos anymore (when they do not have a scanner)? I actually dressed up as a witch on this day because the kids really wanted me to. Helping at their school was really fun and they had a blast.
That night, we had event #4...

*4*
Trick-or-Treating at work. I invited some kids I knew as well as kids from church to come visit the assisted living home where I work to trick-or-treat. I know most of the kids were nervous, but I helped "the grandmas", as I affectionately call them, to dress up in witch hats we made to make everyone feel a little more festive and comfortable.

By this time, I was tired from my head to my feet (princess shoes and witch shoes are not made for comfort). And we hadn't even hit Halloween night!

So needless to say, event #5 was a bust for the smaller, more easily fatigued member of our family.
*5*
One more trunk or treat and a FUN party at a friend's house.
Ava slept through the trunk or treat, so we only stayed for 10 minutes. When we got to our other party, she was VERY tired and grumpy, so Ro ended up taking her home and Mase and I stayed out late to party some more. Edna and Chris sure can throw a party! Hot dogs and hamburgers in the driveway, complete with a Halloween movie projected onto the garage and LOTS of friends in costume. So awesome!
We did actually trick-or-treat down a couple of streets and it was hard keeping this wild group together.

More to come on Hall reunion fun, family pictures, and upcoming events... I just KNOW you are on the edge of your seat with anticipation...

Mario saved the princess!!!

2008-10-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

Six Weird Things

2008-10-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by two great people. Thanks Tina and Alison- you probably know most of my weird things, but let's fill the public in on my little secrets. (:

1. I have had a fear of clowns since I was a kid. I used to think it was unique, but now I think they've actually created a phobia name for it... there I found it- Coulrophobia. My friends in school thought this was so funny they sent a clown to my house for one of my birthdays. Nice. And created a book called "Nat's book of clowns" (Thanks Tia- I found it the other day!), not to mention all of the teasing my older brothers enjoyed involving the painted villains. I don't know if it started with Poltergeist or It or some scary guy at the circus... but really, does that face above really look harmless to you?
I just don't get why someone would LIKE a clown. Not cool.

2. I cannot STAND cell phones that are not flip phones. I always feel like I am not actually talking into the speaker when I borrow someone else's phone. Then I end up talking way too loudly, like I do at work when the oldies can't hear me.

3. I hate juice. It tastes all wrong to me. I also don't like most smoothies. The tart and sour tastes really don't agree with me. The only juice I like is fresh-squeezed OJ... that my dad makes.

4. I have an overwhelming fear of breath. Yes, I said "breath", as in used up air. Even if it's good breath, I don't like it near me. This fear is behavior-altering and sometimes feels like it could take over my life. Close-talkers beware: I will avoid you at ALL costs.

5. I love the smell of pipe smoke. Some college professor years ago used to smoke a pipe and I followed him around (at a safe distance, mind you) just so I could smell it.

6. I have three different costumes for Halloween this year. That's right- ME, not my kids. They get one each. (: Okay, I will admit that one is a costume I am making for a family talent show in two weeks, but it counts because it is around Halloween. I love to dress up.

Oh, this list could go on... But I will leave it at that and tag Renelle, Tia, Linz, and Crystal.

We DID actually come back...

2008-10-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we've been back for two weeks and I still haven't posted pics from our trip. Fun times were had by all! Cousin time has always been special to us- I love watching the kids play together ALL day and sleep together at night. So sweet to make those kinds of memories. Here are some photos of what we did:

The "Daddies" went to a USC football game. Here they are watching another football game on TV before actually GOING to the game...

That left me and my sister to lounge around all day and watch the kids play. We didn't even get most of them out of their PJ's until dinnertime. Did they care that we didn't leave the house? No- not with all of those cousins to play with!

We even let them wear costumes at the dinner table...

Here are a few photos just for grandma:

We went to the Getty Museum the next day and enjoyed the perfect weather and beautiful gardens.

I just noticed this "protective and WAY too intense boyfriend" pic of Mase... That kid is so funny!

The kids were all pretending to be statues right here...

They even had this beautiful fake bed area for kids to read books. I could not get Ava out of there!

We topped off our fun trip with a little Disneyland on the way home. Can't wait for the next road trip!

Car fun

2008-10-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about living back in AZ is the close proximity of fun places to go and people to see. We built our early relationship in a car (no, not like you are thinking!) when I had car troubles and Ro would pick me up at 6:30 every morning to take me to work. Our car trips almost always included the Mamas and the Papas, good conversation, and a big Diet Coke. (Wait, it was still Dr. Pepper back then- remember, we didn't have kids yet, so I had no need to give up my sugary bliss). My mom said she knew that we had a future together when I bought a brand new car and yet we STILL rode to work together. (: I, however, had no idea that we would be happily married someday.
After we got married, we enjoyed nothing more than a spur of the moment weekend trip to San Diego or Vegas or... basically anywhere that involved a road trip. Now our car experience is a little different. They still include the necessities of our earlier times, but now we just have to include a few more things... snacks, kids' music, bathroom stops, the essential Mickey Mouses (I guess in our case it would be "mickey mice"), etc. The road trips now are a little more work but ALSO more fun! (:

This trip will include meeting a beautiful new niece, going to a USC football game (for Ro and my sister's husband), letting six cousins enjoy LOTS of playtime, having sister bonding time, and maybe hitting Disneyland for a few hours on Monday. (annual passes rock!)
I don't know what I am thinking, sitting here reminiscing instead of packing up our car. Here we come, LA!

Bummin around

2008-09-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

If you would have talked to me at 7:00 this morning, I would NOT have been very optimistic about my day. I woke up with what my family refers to as a "bum neck". You know, that lovely feeling when you are unable to turn your head in either direction without severe pain shooting down your body. Nice. Then I realized today was preschool day. The kids go two days a week while I go to my part-time job. At the same time I was thinking about preschool, I realized that teaching exercise to senior citizens was NOT going to happen today. My day started to look up...
I painfully got the kids dressed and forced the brushing of the teeth, drove them (quite unsafely, I might add- it helps to be able to turn your head when you are driving) to preschool and said goodbye. Then I made the phone call that rendered me a free woman for the day and headed home. Four Advil and three hours of sleep later, I was sitting on my couch eating Ben and Jerry's and flipping through the Tivo list for some guilty pleasure that I NEVER have time for. Bingo! I watched an entire (sort of painful but also fun) episode of "the new" 90210. I found myself longing for Brenda and Dylan instead of these new anorexic drama queens, but I must admit that I enjoyed it.
Ro's phone call telling me he would have some time to try to fix my neck before his work event tonight made my day even cheerier. And we might even have a second to grab a bite to eat together before I need to pick up the kids.
So it turned out I had so much time on my hands today that I could actually write a blog about... well nothing! I need to call in sick more often...

Bald is beautiful! But just for fun...

2008-09-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

A trip to remember

2008-09-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late, but it is something we will never forget!

We feel very fortunate to have two sets of parents that love our kids SO much! We were both almost in tears when we got to see the pictures from the camping trip Ro's parents took with the kids when we went to Hawaii. It was so cute to see all of the things they did, how happy they were, and it was especially nice to see them doing the same things Ro did when he was little and went camping every summer.
How lucky are we that we sent the kids off for a week to have SO much fun and got them back safe and sound with clean and folded laundry?! Thank you to some amazing grandparents! The kids will NEVER forget this trip! (They have looked at the picture books you made for them OVER and OVER again...)
The highlights they have mentioned were:

Helping Grandma cook...

seeing "HUGE" elk and deer!

Playing a TON of games and sports...

GETTING nice and DIRTY (:

Exploring...

GETTING lots of HUGS...

Visiting Great-grandma and going to the park by her house...

Reading stories...

Sleeping in the trailer...

And lots more like roasting marshmallows, going on walks, swinging "to the MAX!", picnics, and just being kids!
Let's do this again next year! (:

Happy Birthday dear RoRo...

2008-09-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

Here is my late birthday post- it was two days ago, and I can't seem to catch up on my blogging lately.

Happy 33rd, ya old man! (: I remember when you were 25 and I thought you were so old... You make this family what it is and we are thankful for you every day!

Miss-Matched

2008-08-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to jam pack a Saturday with lots of events for the young cousins who live here. The bowling alley was a fun place to start, and the kids had so much fun together and really got into the game. Then they all went with (brave) Roland to get food and play at our house while the moms got to have a sisters' lunch at Olive Garden. Soon Tina and Jana took Mase with their kids to see the new Star Wars movie, which inspired a lot of lightsaber action at our house this week! (: Needless to say, all of the kids were pleasantly exhausted by the day's end. These bowling pics are mainly for the proud Grandma of all of these little guys:

The REAL reason I posted about our fun cousin day was just so I could document the funniest moment of the day. One of my sisters, who shall remain anonymous, displayed a look of utter HORROR as she glanced over at the pile of shoes we had removed to replace with bowlng shoes. I expected to see a big bug or even a mouse but I quickly realized why she had had such a strong reaction to the sight.

You see, the pair of shoes in the middle (you might not recognize it as a PAIR) were what she had worn to the bowling alley. She was mortified when she realized her mistake, but not half as mortified as her teenage daughter would have been if she had come bowling with us. (: We made fun of her for a couple of hours and made even
more fun of her when she ran home to change shoes before going to the Olive Garden.

I noticed she took awhile to pack up her stuff and return the bowling balls to the correct place. While the rest of us were anxious to remove the scary (both in sight and smell) rented bowling shoes, she was reluctant to part with them because it meant she had to put her mistake back on display. (:

My kids got three new cousins!

2008-08-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

These three beautiful girls were all born within the last couple of months in our family. Just wanted to post how excited we are for the girly cousin group and the new friends for our kids. Congrats to Lori, Sharalee, and Cari!

Shayla Raine

Lilah Grace

Alexis Dawn

Souvenirs, anyone?

2008-08-14T22:12:00.001-07:00

Ava washes her hula girl's hair (think she's jealous??)

Mase gets silly with his new ukulele

And finally...

AVA LEARNS THE HULA

Late night snack advice

2008-08-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

With Ro at work until late these days, I snuggled up to finish my book after I put the kids to bed. After awhile, I decided I wanted a little snack. Even though I know late night sweets are not the smartest diet choice, I grabbed a little piece of chocolate and opened it up. I was in the middle of thinking about how I should NOT be eating this when I glanced at the wrapper. Since it was made by "Dove", it had a message on it.

"Don't think about it so much."

Ha. Okay, I won't. I laughed to myself, finished that one and decided to grab another. This one said:

"Do what feels right."

Of COURSE they are not going to put messages like "Think about your big booty before you put something in your big mouth" on their chocolate. Dang marketing geniuses!

Last one, I promise!

2008-08-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

I remember my Travel and Tourism Professor at ASU telling me "Sometimes when you get home from a trip, you need a VACATION from your VACATION." I didn't really get that until now. Luckily, my mother in law sent my kids home with clean, folded laundry (spoiled, I know) and I had done all of the laundry in our condo while we were there, so I wasn't swamped. But it is HARD to get back into normal life when you get home. Especially when that normal life includes 110 degree weather and a husband who works every night until 11pm.
So there are my excuses, and I am finally posting the last segment of our amazing trip to Hawaii.

One of the funnest things we did was our "water adventure day". We spent a good six hours doing all sorts of fun things in the ocean and with boats. The highlight of my trip had to be watching Ro hold onto this tube when the driver of the boat was continually taunting him and trying his best to throw him off.

Notice the expression on Ro's face as I go flying off...

We even stayed on after the tube looked like THIS:

Then we got on this banana boat, and I made the mistake of assuming it was going to be easy to stay on. It was not. Especially after the lengthy tubing episode that made my arms feel like rubberbands.

We made it!

Here is Ro diving into the middle of the ocean when we were on an anchored boat/dock waiting for our speedboat ride.

Parasailing was the BEST! It was a very windy day and we had the ride of our lives. It was especially refreshing when we got dipped in the ocean before we got reeled in. LOVED it!

Right after our parasail came to an end. I felt SO accomplished that I had the confidence to finally wear that toupee on my head. (:

Great fun... great day... GREAT TRIP!!!!!

And on our way to the airport on our last day, Hawaii even said goodbye to us like this:

Hawaii, Part 2

2008-08-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

More fun stuff from our vacation:

We ended up exploring Waikiki, but only for a few hours because we were happy to get back to our private getaway, where the tourists were not EVERYWHERE.
We shopped and got some cute souvenirs for people, especially the kids. They were happy when we showed up with Hawaiian outfits and ukeleles for them, and they LOVED their candy leis. The excitement grew when we pulled out a "shark tooth" necklace for Mase and some Shark cards. (He is obsessed with the movie "Sharkboy and Lavagirl"... once I even picked him up at preschool and the kids all said, "Bye Sharkboy!" in all seriousness.) I'll post some pictures of their camping trip and them wearing their "My parents went to Hawaii without me!" clothes when I get them.

We ate some FANTASTIC food, and here is Ro enjoying garlic shrimp from popular (but still a little shady) shrimp truck. I read about it before we left and this one has a lot of fans out there (You know you want to eat from that truck, Tustin! :) We ended up there more than once and the garlic butter shrimp was VERY tasty. And then here he is at a yummy little restaurant eating macadamia nut pancakes with ice cream on top. Uh, no wonder I don't fit into my clothes anymore since we've been home...

We tried to go snorkling at Haunama Bay but it ended up closed because of this:

How funny is this interchangeable sign? Imagine the other possibilities besides jellyfish... CLOSED, due to: sharks, strong currents, too many Asians... Oh, Just kidding! You know that Asians love to travel. The funny old Asian lady at work that always tells me I'm too fat told me I could NOT go on vacation without at least $10,000 to spend.

The final segment of my LONG vacation posts will be of our exciting tubing and parasailing adventures. SO much fun, but I must admit that I am still sore from the ruthless banana boat riding. (:

More to come if you can bear more tropical love pictures! (:

Trip to Paradise, Part 1

2008-08-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to even start this one. Wow. Seven days of SO much fun, including exploring an island, action-packed water sports, and the necessary relaxing on the beach. And more importantly- hanging out with each other without any added stress (Hmm mmm... jobs, bills, kids...) and remembering how it was when it was just the two of us. We knew the kids were having so much fun camping and being spoiled rotten by Grandma and Grandad (THANKS A MILLION!) and we were free to retreat into our own selfish vacation mode.
First off, we had to say the big "goodbye"... kind of tough, but no tears were shed.

We left these guys in good hands and they were excited for their adventure.

Then it was time to head to the airport. We were giddy like little kids going to Disneyland.

We had to do something to make us feel "islandy", so we started our love affair with tropical drinks before we even left the Phoenix airport. Ah, I may as well skip ahead and show you a selection of our lovely liquids (as I start to salivate.)

Yummy! We finally arrived after a delirious time on a couple of planes, and Ro was very excited when he upgraded our economy rental car to a Jeep. It was so much fun to ride around the island with the top off and dance to our Ipod tunes while we stared at the ocean.

The condo we rented was on the North shore of Oahu and absolutely perfect! There were NEVER more than five people on the beach out back and they were always at least 20 yards away. It felt like we had our own private beach (and pool, too- seemed like nobody ever used it but us.)

The next day we explored the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had an awesome time and Ro enjoyed reminiscing about some of the cultures he was exposed to on his mission to Australia (New Zealand, Samoa, etc.)

(Mase wanted to know why Daddy was with "GIRLS" in this picture... hee hee)

We took a tram tour to the temple and it was beautiful. This is the view from the front of it and you can see the ocean out in front.

That made Ro pine for the ocean and he was tempted to take a dip in this fountain.

The luau was delicious and the night show was AMAZING. The cultures of all of the different islands are so diverse (Fiji, Tonga, Somoa, etc.) and it was awesome to learn about. Uh, not to mention the guys who were sitting on and eating fire. (:

The next morning we took a breakfast sail on a catamaran. So fun! We sailed for two hours out into the BLUE waters and we got to see sea turtles and flying fish. It got going really fast when the wind picked up and it was fun to get sprayed with a little water. (And fun to watch some others get soaked.)

There was even a net where you could sit down or lay down and be directly over the ocean. (We finally snagged a spot from one of the kids who was hogging it... funny how you feel about kids on vacation when you had the sense to leave yours at home. J/k)

We also went to a water park that day because it was free with something we purchased. A couple of waterslides later, we left, knowing that the ocean was nearby and MUCH more inviting than teenagers and a fake wave pool. We ended up driving all around the island that day and just exploring. Our day came to a close eating fresh mango and watching the sunset on Waimea bay. Beautiful.

More adventures to come! (A million pictures, I know...We had been looking forward to this vacation for SO long that I have to keep it detailed so we can remember it.)

See ya next Thursday!

2008-07-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

The kids and their grandparents will be having a blast...

And WE will be having even MORE of a blast! (when we can get over missing them and trying not to worry...)

Because I want to remember their cute little brains...

2008-07-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

Ava was sick yesterday, so we had a little time to burn... here is how my little interview went with the two of them.

Me: How old are you?
Mase: I'm four.
Ava: I one... No I TWO! (with a cheesy grin and two fingers carefully put up.)

Me: Who is your favorite superhero?
Mase: I don’t know. Batman cuz he’s so cool. Cuz he… guess what… on the new one… he shoots BATWEB!!
Ava: um, I want fwuitsnacks. I fast. I wike wonderwoman.

Me: Do you know how to swim?
Mase: Uh, yeah. I know how to swim underwater… yeah, it’s my favorite thing to do. (he doesn’t know how, by the way.) Mom, where is my BALL? It disappeared again.

Me: What do you guys think about me?
Mase: You're cooler than I ever thought... I love you... and I'm looking for my ball.
Ava: Um, I wudd you. You siwwies. (I love you. you sillies.)

Me: Mase, what do you think about your sister?
Mase: I think she's a cutie.
Me: And Ava, what do you think about Mase?
Aves: Um, I O know... He nice!
Me: And what about Daddy?
Mase: He's my best friend because that's just all.
Ava: Um, I WUDD Daddy. He's at work.

Me: What do you want for dinner?
Mase: Mac and cheese... and tacos... and green beans.
Ava: Peaches, toast, apples... um, maybe I want cereal!

Me: Do you have anything else to say?
Mase: Um, I love you... I love Batman and you.
Ava: Mom, I hurt my thumb.

Little of this, little of that

2008-07-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today I had the car to myself on the way to work. With no Dan Zanes or Wiggles singing in the background, I decided to dust off the old Ipod. I was in the mood for LOUD music that I could belt it out to. (I drive quite a few miles down a county road to get to work so I was only embarrassing myself in front of truck drivers and tanks full of marines.) So I put my Ipod on shuffle songs and only stopped to listen to the songs that would make me feel the happiest. When I got to work with a smile on my face, I had to let out a laugh when I thought back to what my choices were:

Van Morrison
Britney Spears
The Beatles
Dr. Dre and Eminem
Maroon 5
Air Supply
50 Cent

I felt a little conspicuous pulling up to work with 50 Cent blaring from the Element, but when you're In Da Club, you can't hide it! (Not as fun as it was when I was getting gas with Tina and Jana listening to Snoop Dogg... LOVE girls trip!)

Not exactly people you would invite to the same party but all great feel-good music. If I would've had more time, I may have thrown in a little Abba and Billy Joel... and Jay-Z of course.

Great expectations

2008-07-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Ava is not one to fall asleep in the car. Rarely would you ever see her curled up against someone's chest taking a nap, even when she was just a baby. Sleep in bed with us? Forget about it- she just thinks it's a big party. Her crib has always been the only place she could really get some Z's.
I had the brilliant idea of skipping naps today so I could catch up on some fun stuff like cleaning and laundry after I put the kids in bed around seven. So when they were all tired out from playing outside in the hose and making peanut butter granola balls with me, I gave them baths, put their PJ's on, and let them watch Caillou (an annoying show about a whiny four-year-old and his little sister). Thinking I could get a head start and begin sorting the laundry, I left them alone for ten minutes.
Silence is never good when it comes to kids, right?
This situation wasn't quite the "I sorted through mommy's purse and am chewing a whole pack of gum and used red lipstick for some carpet art" devastation, but it was about to sabatoge my plans for the night.
I walked in and saw this:

No! It was only 5:32 pm! Five minutes of hard sleep is known to make a kid stay up an extra two hours.
Scooping her up and scurrying to the kitchen, I offered her one of life's greatest pleasures (in the minds of my children), a sippy cup full of milk. All I got was this on the kitchen floor:

Something more drastic was necessary. I quickly rifled through the pantry for a sweet treat that we call a "sometimes food" at our house... something they really only get for a birthday party, an airplane ride, or going #2 on the potty. Candy! The bag of Smarties had to wake her up.
I carried my floppy child and the candy over to the dining room table to show her the unexpected treat and I got only this:

There was no more bribery that my desperate mind could come up with so I sat her on my lap, cuddled her up, and enjoyed the snooze for five minutes.
Then I let Mason loose on her and she was up and irritated within 30 seconds. Negative reinforcement was the answer this time. (: They quickly figured out how to bond again over Caillou swimming with his sister and surprisingly, they were both OUT by 7:27 pm.

High quality H2O

2008-06-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

The kids emptied THIS entire thing onto my kitchen floor this afternoon. I'm talking 3 inches of water under the dining room table. A strange phenomenon occurred. I wanted to burst out laughing. In the middle of telling them sternly that this behavior was inappropriate and then putting them in time out, I had this hilarious memory of my childhood.
I was very little. All I remember is that my brother Jeffrey and I (two years older) were being babysat by an older sibling (a regular occurrence, I had seven of them)and we got bored. We decided it would be really fun to make a swimming pool in the bathroom. We proceeded to put towels under the door (to block the water AND to not let anyone know that something fishy was going on) and turn on the two faucets. Pretty soon we were splashing in puddles and having a blast. I won't go into details about how the story ended (older sibling got mad and accidentally caused scar on Jeffrey's lip, which his wife happens to think is sexy, so it wasn't all bad...) but we survived. And we had a blast, for a minute!
I am not claiming to always be calm when the kids are naughty. However, when I can be rational enough to see the perspective of some creative little brains at work, it can be fun to travel back to a time when you didn't really think about consequences before you did something.
Hey, can you remind me of this next time I start to lose it over an entire box of Cheerios spread all over the house?

Little Indulgence

2008-06-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a picture of a huge hormone-injected pear... This is an ultramicroscopic carton of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. What a great invention! Ro and I were discussing the benefits of having a miniature carton of ice cream last night. We had to throw our new product endorsement out there so they will keep sellin these babies. You can have a delicious treat without going overboard and then having the pesky remains of temptation in your freezer the next day. There is even a teeny-tiny little spoon included under the lid to make it last longer because you can't fit more than 1/8 of a teaspoon on it. (:
To be honest, our trip to Hawaii in a month has caused me to mostly choose the healthier alternative on the right, but everyone needs a little chocolate sometimes.

Bonding over sports

2008-06-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

I actually shed a tear (or seven) during the NBA Championship game today. This IS Natalie typing; the emotional behavior over a game would be quite the norm for Roland. (:
Couldn't tell you if it was because I like the three top players so much, or because the coach seems so genuine, or perhaps because they celebrated with so many kids and babies after the game... or maybe it's just because I never could stand the Lakers. Whatever the reason, this game was good for the Celtics AND good for my marriage.

Just remembering...

2008-06-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

When my baby looked like this! I had always imagined myself with a fat, bald and fair baby. Aren't I lucky that she still looks like that at two-years-old? (:Only slightly bigger with a little more peach fuzz.)

Fickle as a pickle

2008-06-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

Could you describe a pickle as fickle? Guess you could say so because there are different variations of pickles. You could be prepared to eat a delcious bread and butter pickle and then realize mid-bite it is actually a sour dill. ? Anyway, it's the first thing I thought of that rhymed with the word that is in my thoughts today. This post isn't even about pickles, so just drop my dumb comparison. It's about girls. But "fickle as a girl" is just too obvious of a simile.
Ava is a sweet and charming little person... most of the time. And almost always with other people. However, I just had a challenging moment with her. It was the end of her nap and she was talking sweetly in her room. I went to pick her up, knowing I needed to quickly get her out and get the chicken out of the oven and broccoli off of the stove for the kids' lunch. I walked in with a smile and she looked at me and screamed "NO MOM!" at the top of her lungs. I tried to tell her nicely it was time for lunch but she just buried her head in her pillow and screamed at me. Then I tried to pick her up and she yelled "Go away!" So I turned and started to leave and she peaked through her crib slats and screamed "NO MOM!" even louder. I was annoyed. Can't please her by picking her up or by leaving her alone. At that moment, the phone rang.
I ignored her sudden insistent pleas to stay with her and went to grab the phone. It was my husband. I got excited, thinking he was coming home. Instead, we had a familiar conversation that he had more things to do at work (it's his day off and he is covering for someone, as general managers are expected to do) and would meet me at my job to exchange kids in 2 hours. Sarcasm colored my voice as I sweetly said, "That's okay honey- just what I was hoping to hear. I didn't really want to talk to any adults today anyway." We got off the phone after agreeing on a time to meet and I went back to the grumpy baby. I then realized that even if Ro would have been calling to tell me he was coming home, I would have been a little bitter to only spend 30 minutes with him before having to leave for work. Then little Aves and her stubborn (and sometimes moody) personality popped into my mind.
After coaxing her out of her crib, we both went to enjoy some burnt chicken and overcooked broccoli together. After all, I know her better than anyone because she is so much like me. Wish me luck in the teenage years. Fickle friends forever.
SO I am documenting this right now because in five minutes I will probably feel like my fickle self and have changed my mind about it: The real people in this family to feel sorry for are not the two alike, head-butting females but the males, who will have to deal with our ever-changing moods and still love us anyway.

Shout out!

2008-06-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

To all the special fathers in our lives on this Father's Day! We love you and are so thankful for you Daddy, Grandpa, and Grandad!

Getting Out

2008-06-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

We are anticipating getting a little stir-crazy in the coming months while the heat is intense. As of now, we still play in the backyard with the hose almost every day and we are lucky enough to have Jana's family and their perfect swimming pool five minutes away. However, we wanted to go out and enjoy nature a little so here are our most recent AZ adventures. Wait, I'm lying- both of these adventures happened to be in nearby California, just a short drive away.
Dunes day: We don't have any "toys" for the dunes as of now (got to have something for our kids to look forward to in the future) but what kid doesn't love miles and miles of dirt, so we had a little picnic and fun in the Dunes one beautifully cool afternoon:

Then on one rare day when neither of us had to work, we packed up the van and headed to the Laguna mountains for another picnic and hiking day. We had a blast. There is something about nature that brings out the kid in all of us. We played baseball, went hiking and just hunted for rocks and pinecones. Can't wait to do some actual camping this summer!

Nature girl just kept rolling around in the grass and dirt.

Only one very sad point- Mase got a splinter in his finger and there was some LOUD wailing in the wilderness. Man, I can still remember seeing my Dad come at me with the tweezers when I got a splinter- the anticipation was killer! He was back to exploring in no time, though.

Everybody got tired after awhile so they all took 15 minute naps while I cruised over to Pine Valley so we could play at their amazing county park for a few relaxing hours.

To some, these little day trips may not seem like a big deal. But to us, with our crazy work schedules and Ro in school, we really try to embrace what family time we can get. We document these things so our kids will know that we treasure our time with them and tried to provide little opportunities for family fun. That was so important to both of us when we were growing up.

Next month: Braving a week without our kids in Hawaii! Think we can handle it?

Brotherly advice

2008-06-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

I just heard this conversation coming from the bathroom. The kids are in there taking a bath together and Mase says, "Ava, do you want to be fat?"
Ava: "What?"
Mase: "Do you WANT to be fat?"
Ava: "Yeah."
Mase: "Then just ask Jesus to be fat. Say, 'Jesus, I want to be fat."

Simple as that. Can't I do the opposite?

Spitting Image

2008-06-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

***NOTE: This post relates to the previous two posts***
I thought this look-a-like-meter would once and for all tell me which kid looks like which one of us, but it gave me nothing. People are always changing their mind about who Mase or Ava look like. But they seem to do it with such certainty:
"Ava looks EXACTLY like you, Nat!"
-OR-
"Look at Ro's little Mini Me!"

Funny thing is, we hear both things about each of them. I think people mostly relate us to our little ones due to gender similarities. Guess time will tell. My opinion is, they are both outrageously adorable, so it doesn't matter who they look like; just thought this would be a fun game.

Hancock Look-alike Meter

2008-06-05T15:08:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Hancock Look-alike Meter

2008-06-05T15:00:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genealogy software - Ancestory

Just a thought

2008-06-04T07:53:00.001-07:00

I keep sitting here thinking that this shouldn't be bothering me. I should definitely be used to this kind of thing by now. A man at work passed away yesterday. I work at an assisted living home and this kind of thing happens all the time. I've been in this line of work for 10 years, give or take a few child-bearing years. I visited with him just before I left to go shopping for Bingo prizes (a very vital task) and when I returned, he was gone. Pretty normal situation, I guess.
Here's what I think is bothering me. He and his wife shared a room. They had been married since 1939. Um, that is almost 70 years. I walked back there and hugged the poor woman and the look in her eyes really made me feel sad. I know she was probably grateful to have him for that long. I know she probably knew it was coming soon. But he took care of her. And she needed him. And she looked so lost when the news was sinking in.
And I just realized that I am thinking of myself. And my mom. And my mother-in-law. And my sisters. And my grandma who had to live for 26 years by herself. Women almost always outlive their men. I guess I should feel like they are stronger and they can handle it, but I don't feel all independent when I see this situation firsthand.
Anyway, just have to put it out there that I am SO thankful that my husband...friend...true love...did I mention best FRIEND...companion...has been there for me for the last seven years and I hope we make it to EIGHTY years of marriage! And if he leaves me a little early, I'm just thankful I will someday have him forever.
(Sorry about the morbid post- older people just force you to think about things you don't want to sometimes.)

Revision

2008-05-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

So, in my last post, I wrote this:

Siblings form a bond right at birth and little phases of bickering do not harm it. My kids LOVE each other SO much and I am grateful for that every day.

While this is STILL true, it doesn't mean I haven't gotten just a little annoyed with the whining/fighting that has been going on in my house for the last two hours. And it happens to be only 9:44 AM.
The problem begins with the ear-infection-fighting baby who was up for two hours in the night and got up at 6 am. The problem worsens with the brother who went to bed late and got up very early and just wants to go out and ride his bike (which we will do later.) The main source of the problem is the mom who went out to the movies with her friends last night and came home at 1:30 to a baby who woke up for the next couple hours. This mom's husband and sisters can attest to her severe grouch issues when there is a lack of sleep.
This alleged whining coming from the living room will most likely become worse in the coming years. I mean, I can't be naive about it. I grew up in the age before every teenage kid had a cell phone and Jeff and I had full-on WARS every night over using the phone. My mom probably wanted to pull her hair out... But she didn't.
I guess the hope is that your nerves become less sensitive as you hear it more and the kids get older. (And maybe you have more to threaten them with than skipping out on the park for the day.)
All of my babbling is just coming to the conclusion that I have to make a long-term goal.
I hope to be more patient and tolerant like I see in the examples of moms around me who have been doing this A LOT longer than four years. You know who you are, Mom, Tina, etc...
And a short-term goal: Get these kids OUT of the house to run around and get ready for a LOOOOOOONNNNGG nap! (:

Our new two-year-old!

2008-05-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe she is already two. This girl has been such a blessing to us. I have so many things to say about her, but for now, I will post some pics from her fun birthday. (And by FUN, I mean FUN-NY, because this normally happy, easy-going girl acted like a classic two-year-old on this day.) We planned a family party with Ava's favorite foods: LOTS of fruit, homemade bread, and Mac & Cheese. It all went downhill when she saw us pick up the cake and did not let her shove it in her face right away. Mom mistake number one.

THEN, we let Mase help her blow out the candles because her tiny puff of air was unsuccessful:

THEN, she only wanted the first gift that she opened and we encouraged her (and her cousins) to open the rest:

(You can see she has dramatically thrown off her tiara and started a fit here...)

We saved it a little when she had some cake and she demonstrated some of her charming personality:

I just WISH I had a picture of the screaming, throwing herself down on the grass, relentless fit she gave during her gracious exit.

Good thing she is our second because we thought MOST of this was absolutely adorable. Here are five things Ava has taught me since I have been privileged to be her mother:

1. You should not leave the house without picking up your stuff. I don't know how many times I am standing at the front door, keys and purse in hand, with Ava slowly picking up some mess, "Have to Keen-UP, Mommy!"

2. Grudges cannot be held when her laughter fills the air. ANYTHING she does wrong can be forgiven by a little cute laugh or a gap-toothed smile.

3. Siblings form a bond right at birth and little phases of bickering do not harm it. My kids LOVE each other SO much and I am grateful for that every day.

4. Moms can relive their own childhood wishes when they have a little girl.

5. You CAN and WILL love your second just as much as you love the first. I wouldn't have thought that when I only had little Mase, but there is room in my heart for both of them (and more, if we are blessed with more).

E-Wings

2008-05-24T13:22:00.001-07:00

I really wasn't planning on doing it this young. I mean, I never planned to make her wait until she was 18 to get them done, but I was going to wait until she asked for it. However, we made a last-minute decision to decorate her little ears. Here is the unsuspecting victim in shopping heaven at Claire's:

Here there is still zero suspicion, even when two strangers are pointing unknown objects at her earlobes... guess she feels secure with Daddy.

This is where I had to put the camera down for some necessary comforting. Once I had her under control with the lollipop in hand and the puppies in view, it was smooth sailing. She looked in the mirror at her ears and said happily, "I wook just wike YOU, mommy!"

The next morning I heard her talking to herself in her room and I peeked in. She was laying in her bed touching her earlobes and telling herself, "I have E-WINGS!" She's growing up so fast- stay tuned for a post on her Memorial Day birthday. I love my girl!

"Senior" Prom

2008-05-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

What do you do with a TON of old ladies who desperately want to dance and about three old men who will tolerate dancing? You throw in the one person you know who LOVES to get his groove on and is always willing to help out with some cute seniors! Ro just happens to be my hero. This is the "Senior" Prom and he was the star of the show.

This one is 99 years old and did NOT get off of the dance floor!

She is a feisty one. (But very funny) She told me later that night, "I danced with your husband... And I made LOVE to him, too!"

My favorite Hide-n-Seek Discovery

2008-05-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

Mommies

2008-05-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

I spent all day Friday preparing food and making these:

And then all day Saturday hosting this:

And after such a fun but exhausting Mother's Day Tea Party & Brunch for the oldies, I wasn't thinking much about my own Mother's Day.
Ro had told me he was ordering me this new phone and I was happy:

So when he brought the kids in this morning at 9:30 am to a still-sleeping mom and brought these, I was surprised and excited! (Anything that makes me think about packing for our upcoming trip to Hawaii makes me giddy with anticipation...)

And they were all excited to give me these:

(A little explanation on this one... Ro told Ava to draw me a picture and she looked at him with a confused expression and quickly scrawled this question mark. Oh, and we call her Fuzzy sometimes because of her lack of hair. She'll even say that if you ask her what her name is.)

And then I went out to the kitchen and found these:

But the best part was yet to come! I knew I needed a necklace to go with my dress today for church so I was very thankful when Ava gave me this after nursery:

And the kids had made these in primary:

(Note the bow in Ava's profile and the spikes in Mason's)

Nothing like homemade gifts to make you feel like a REAL mom. This is the first year I have really felt like this and I am so proud and thankful to be their mother. So as I sat in the bathtub and read this later on:

I reflected on all of the many wonderful blessings that come with motherhood. I am so proud to be a mother. It may not be easy every second of every day, but what is? And WHAT can give you a greater reward and so much joy? Nothing brings me as much happiness or sense of accomplishment than my babies.

So I had a good Mother's Day. No, a great one. And it was not because of the plethora of gifts or wonderful food that was prepared for me, it was because I was able to further recognize the greatest gifts in my life.

Thanks for reading this long post (I am not known for my brevity) and thanks to the mothers in my life for helping me learn how to be a better one. Mom, you are the most positive person I know and ignore other people's flaws like they do not exist. I love you! Sandra, you are a wonderful mother in law and have raised the most perfect boy I have ever met!
Even as I write this post after midnight with a sleepy girl on my lap who doesn't want to be in her bed, I feel SO thankful. I hope to make every day feel a bit more like Mother's Day because we get little gifts from our kids every day that surpass any other gifts there are.

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love (the now annual) GIRLS TRIP!

2008-05-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

10- These girls make me laugh like nobody else! Sometimes until I pee my pants. (Luckily, that didn't happen TO ME this year...)

9- It's fun to plan a vacation when you don't have to worry about carseats and sippy cups.

8- We don't actually have to PLAN anything- hanging out is all that is necessary.

7- My mom loves to have us all together and announces the fact that we are her SIX daughters any chance she gets. (Until one stranger said, "I feel sorry for YOU!" and we errupted in laughter.)

6- I feel very close to these girls and can go to them for any advice. It makes me want Ava to have a sister so badly!

5- I can afford to stay in a beach house (in Oregon and California so far) because we get to split the bill seven ways!

4- It's fun to eat some RBC! (sorry, this is a personal one...)

3- Speaking of personal, there always ends up being some hilarious personal joke, that we get because we have a similar sense of humor. And it's funny over and over again.

2- With such a huge family, this is the ONLY way to truly catch up. We need this time without boys and kids to keep each other close.

1- This one gets me a little teary since the trip is over. I feel SO lucky to have a great mom and five built-in best friends! I mean, I have some really great friends, but the people I talk to EVERY DAY are my sisters. I love you guys from the bottom of my heart!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-04-25T14:25:00.001-07:00

Bedtime at the Hancock House

2008-04-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

I want to document our current bedtime routine so we can remember how it was when our kids were 4 and almost 2. It's actually fun for all of us, especially if it is successful and the kids are content in their beds.
After brushing the kids' teeth, we all run to the red couches in the living room. The sofa is the "boys couch" and the loveseat is the "girls couch". (There may be some evidence that most of the routine was created by Mase...) The boys first pick a song and sing it to us. Tonight it was the Shrek song by Smashmouth, but we have our favorites. Then the girls sing one. Tonight it was Little Bunny Foo Foo, but Aves usually requests "God song" (I Am A Child of God). Then we all sing one together. Then we all go to the boys couch and kneel for family prayer, usually said by Mason. Immediately following prayer, we march down the hallway to their rooms singing the first verse of "The Ants go Marching..." I take Ava in her room with whatever stuffed animal has been her favorite that day, and Ro takes Mase in with Mickey and tells him a story. Some days these are the best 15 minutes of the whole day. I'm sure pretty soon our routine will be different, but they grow up so fast that I wanted to document some of the small things so we don't forget. Goodnight!

Playing Catch-up

2008-04-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Since I've been a slacker on the updating of the blog, I am attempting to redeem myself with posting a lot of pictures from the last couple of months. Here's what we've been up to:

Mase turned 4 and had a double birthday party with Renelle's son Nile. It was a very fun superhero party where the kids got to choose their own superhero capes and logo. After the jumping castle, pinata, pizza and batman and spiderman cupcakes, everyone was happily exhausted.

I could hardly get a picture of Mason. He never took this Batman cape off, never stopped running, and never stopped laughing. (Shen, I have better pictures for you that I'll send in an email... they are on the other computer.)

We went on another road trip to California and the kids got bored in the car:

We had a fun Easter Sunday...

Aves went with me to the nursing home to have an Easter Barbecue with the old ladies... so I dressed her (and her dolly) like one. (:

We went to the fair. Not just any fair, mind you, the YUMA COUNTY FAIR! Gotta love it!

Mase missed the last episode of "What NOT to Wear" and made some interesting clothing choices...

Ava did some lounging...

Ro and I booked our trip to Hawaii for July...

And last, but not least, I bought a swimsuit and started a diet... (: (No, these are not my legs... I'd have to do a lot more than diet to look good in my swimsuit if they were!)

There ARE perks to being four!

2008-03-31T00:26:00.000-07:00

There is something ridiculously exciting about a boy who suddenly decides to wipe his own booty.

Showdown

2008-03-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Princesses verses superheroes. Who do YOU think will win?

(Note the pictures on their pajama tops. They are CLEARLY rooting for their own teams...)

We'll miss you, snowbirds! (:

2008-03-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

We finally moved out last month, after spending about five months living at my parents house. We were ready to have our own space again, and I'm sure they were ready to be done living with other people again. (After having kids living with them since, uh, 1963???) BUT... we did have a good time hanging out with them and the kids just LOVED IT! I also had some added perks- thanks for doing the dishes, mom! (And I know I can never repay you for all of the babysitting, but just know that Ava loved every second of it.) Now they are making the big snowbird migration and heading back to their adorable haven in Beaver, Utah for the summer. We have appreciated their good examples, their warm hospitality, their love for each other and their family, and their GREAT babysitting skills. Monster Hancock will live forever, Dad! The grandparents bonded with both kids, but especially Mase and Grandpa and Ava and Grandma. It was really nice. A few photos from our short return to 2375 Greentree Drive:

BALLET IN GRANDMA'S KITCHEN

ALL KINDS OF FUN IN THE YARD

THE "PLAYROOM"

CHRISTMAS MORNING

PIGGYBACK RIDES ON GRANDPA (with Grandma's loving assistance)

ATTEMPTED FAMILY PHOTOS

JUST WATCHING MY KIDS PLAY IN THE SAME YARD I DID

We love you, Grandma and Grandpa! (Mom and Dad)

Have fun in Beaver and we'll visit you soon!

Swamped

2008-03-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

No, I did not forget about my blog... My excuses for not posting are endless, but mainly it is because we moved into a new house and the Time Warner guys could not get us hooked up with cable and internet for a MONTH! (Tomorrow is the big day) So, I have a ton of things to post but for now, I will leave you with a quote from my date with Ro yesterday...
"Sears is the BOMB-DIGGITY!"
(I am sure that nobody has or ever will in the future utter that sentence again, so I thought everyone should hear it the one time it will be said.)

HIJACKED!!!

2008-02-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

Just so you know, the post below this just appeared on my blog today. He did not write that in a letter just to have me post it for the world. I didn't even know he knew the password of our family blog, but I guess my secrets are not too hard to figure out. (: And I'm going to keep it on there so my kids can see one day just how much their daddy loved me. MAYBE he'll still like me by the time the kids decide to read this old blog. Love you, too, Ro!

What I see...

2008-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

In this life, you happen upon one person who will determine how you shape the rest of your existence. A person so important to you that there are no words to describe what life would be like if you didn't have them. A person with whom you dream. A person who makes those dreams a reality. Someone in which your heart is so intertwined that feelings occur simultaneously in both of you. A person who challenges you and makes you great. A person whose own happiness comes in knowing that you are happy.

Let me tell you "What I see..."

"What I see when I look across the table from me,
is a person so great, greater than I could ever be.
What I see when I hold your sweet hand,
is a lifetime of conquests beyond what we can understand.
What I see when you smile with the greatest of ease,
is the way your eyes light up and your heart gives me its keys.
What I see when I look into your heart is the best,
I see me and our family and no other guests.
What I see is a heart that is pure and true,
One that screams in quiet tones, I Love You!
What I see when I feel your breath on my face,
is a future without limits in Mase and Ava Grace.
What I see when I look at these words that I write,
This statement is true and could not be more right...
You are...
Wonderful First, Mom Second"

I know everyday seems like you are a Mom first, and everything else seems to take a back seat. I wanted to let you know how I really feel about you and how important you are to me. I have the greatest person in the universe as my best friend. Do you know what kind of a special thing that is? It's amazing!! I love you and am so blessed to share my life with you. Thank you.

Love, Roland

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2008-02-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

Can snoring be cured?
Blame it on the strep throat he is getting over if you want, but the snoring keeps getting WORSE at our house. Before you start feeling sympathy for the sick guy, think about this for a second. You finally get the kids in bed, hang out for awhile with your husband, think about the jillions of things you need to do the next day, and immediately feel tired. Before you can relax, you know it's coming. You dread it. You know you will be awake just listening to it. The anxiety that "the snoring" has blessed me with has become worse than the actual snoring. I try to be a nice wife and gently touch his arm and tell him to roll over. But after a few times and still no sleep, I get a little more forceful. Nothing would rememdy the snoring last night. All I could do was think up ways to vent about his snoring (through our blog) just to bug him. (: I informed him about it today and he just started laughing. I still love the man, but come on! (: Any suggestions to save my sanity and get my much-needed beauty sleep?

The pooping fashionista and the ladies man

2008-02-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

Today was an eventful day at our house. So eventful, in fact, that the kids got new nicknames out of it. These nicknames change from day to day (and include things like Mr. Out-of-control, Miss Whiney, Skater Boy, Princess Perfect, etc) but today it was the Pooping Fashionista and the Ladies Man. Ladies (man) first...
I went to pick up Mase from preschool today and his teacher told me a funny story. Three girls from the five-year-old class had come up to her all giggly and asked her about "the new boy with the spiky hair". They said "he's so cute!" And then she said they found excuses to walk by the class and whispered to each other, while giggling and staring at him. Two things- 1. When did FIVE YEAR OLD girls start liking THREE YEAR OLD boys? 2. Are restraining orders allowed in preschool? (:
Ava gained her nickname by going poop in the potty for the first time. She had such a shocked look on her face when she looked in and saw her creation. (: I asked her if she wanted a treat and she said, "No. Want to wear coat!" She inherited a cute pink jacket with a fur collar from her cousin and it hasn't been cold enough to wear it. So we put it on and she was in heaven, repeating "kitty coat!" over and over. Then she walked to the potty and said, "Poopy potty, wear kitty coat!" Ever heard of a kid forgoing stickers and M&M's for a new wardrobe?

A freebie!

2008-02-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

I could not resist posting this situation that happened at my job. To refresh your memory, I do recreation at two small assisted living homes. During a meeting on Tuesday, my boss told this TRUE story about when she first opened the facility. Ocassionally, some confused (or uninhibited) resident would escape from their room with their birthday suit on. Well one day, TWO ladies happened to forget their clothes at the same time. A man down the hall had his door open and caught a glimpse of the scene in the hallway and said, "I didn't even have to PAY for this!!!" My job is very rewarding in many ways...

No more BINKIES

2008-02-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

At 20 months of age, I thought she'd have more hair. At 20 months of age, I thought she'd be talking LESS (little chatterbox!). At 20 months of age, I thought FOR SURE she would be done with her binky. I guess I wasn't trying hard enough to take it away, but I just still think of my little baldy as such a baby. This sort of happened out of convenience. Or lack thereof. We were driving home from Jana's house one night and the kids were TIRED. Ava fell asleep in the car with her purple binky in her mouth. See exhibit A.

When we arrived home, it was raining and we were in a rush to get the kids in the house. The binky never made it inside. Now I know for a fact that we have purchased about 57 binkies for this kid. However, when she cried at 2AM, there were NONE to be found. (It turned out later that my mom found a big stash of them in a basket Aves had been playing with.) So we decided right then and there that she was done. No more binkies. Surprisingly, it wasn't very hard at all. She asked for it 2 or 3 times after that night, but we never gave in. We combed the house and made sure to find all of the other binks before she could, and believe me, there were TOO many. Anyway, she has been clean for almost 2 weeks and we are not going back. I just think it's comical that I have pictures documenting the very LAST time she used her pacifier and then after it dropped out of her tired little mouth. See exhibit B.

Mr. and Mrs. Hall

2008-01-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

What a fun wedding! I mean, it's ALWAYS fun when all of my brothers and sisters and the millions of kids get together, but this time it was such a special ocassion. Jon is a very important person in my life. He was the only one I ever got to pick on. (: We were actually very close. We spent A LOT of time playing video games and being silly and... just talking, I guess. I can't even say how much we enjoyed the year that Jon lived with us before his mission. He made our house so full of life and Mase and him created a bond that will last forever. Anyway, I feel so happy that he has found the girl that he wants to spend forever with. Just seeing the look on her face during the wedding ceremony was enough to know he picked exactly the right person. My dad was able to perform the ceremony and it was so beautiful and touching. We are excited to have you in our family, Lisa! Now let me borrow some shoes... (:
I didn't get the best pictures of the happy couple, but I will post a few just so you can see how beautiful they looked. And then I hope to post more when they send me some of their professional pictures. (Because I am the WORST photographer on the planet.)

Lisa looked stunning with that beautiful hair, and under her dress are the cutest pair of funky red shoes. I have to admit I am jealous of her style. Maybe I can learn a little from my new sister-in-law. Jon didn't look too shabby, either. But the real pictures are fabulous, I'm sure.

Once again, bad picture... but these are the centerpieces I made for the open house. I took this at home before we took off to Mesa. They looked much better on a real tablecloth instead of a dress and a mousepad, I promise. The boxes were full of red and white striped mints.

This is my FAVORITE pic of them, just because it tells the story of the REAL them. I snapped this at the open house when they were just alone in a corner laughing at something. Look at how Jon is playing with his new ring and how natural they are. Adorable!

Can you believe they married us ALL off???

2008-01-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

Just a quick shout-out to my single-for-one-more-night little bro and his adorable girl Lisa. We love you guys! More photos to come...

I can do it MYSELF! (:

2008-01-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

I know you have all heard about how much Mase is growing up, but I HAD to cite another example. (Partly because it was so cute and partly just to get my big face not to be the newest post...) We had lunch and Mason wanted to watch a movie instead of take a nap. I put on his movie and came up to check my email and after a few minutes went back to check on him. He was lying across his skateboard with a big smile on his face and eating something. "What's that?"
"Mom", came the reply, "I made myself another sandwich." He had gone into the kitchen, found a knife, got out the bread and peanut butter and jelly, and made himself a sandwich. When did this kid become so self-sufficient? And the best part is, he put everything away! I was so proud. Now that the boys in my house are showing me so much talent in the kitchen, guess I won't be cooking anymore!

First impressions

2008-01-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

There is a reason I put this very unflattering self portrait of myself of this blog. If you look oh-so-closely, you can see that something is wrong with this picture. Yeah, that's it, look at the ears. Nice... one brown earring and one red. Silly me, I put two different earrings on yesterday. That wouldn't be so bad, except that yesterday was my first meeting at my new job. That's right- I have decided to return to work (part-time, doing my favorite thing in the world, recreation for seniors...) and I was at a meeting where I had to MEET everyone and give a little presentation about my new recreation program. I failed to notice the earrings until I got home. Nobody said anything to me, but how could they not notice? I had on a big red beady necklace that matched ONE of my earrings. Hee hee! Anyway, I'm sure I already have a dorky reputation to live up to at my new job. That shouldn't be too hard. Next time I'll do mismatched socks and see if the old people notice. (:

A milestone

2008-01-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

Mase grew up today. And I freaked out a little. Today was his first day of preschool. He was very excited about it this morning and did not even complain that his bath only lasted 5 minutes. That's HUGE. My freakout wasn't really visible, it just happened on the inside. I wasn't nervous for him, and I knew he would love it. It all comes from the fact that he is almost FOUR and getting so grown-up. Pretty soon he will be in regular full-time school and then he will move out forever! Okay, so I'm overreacting... But to see him with his little backpack on... and then when he was so brave when I left... and then to hear him talking about his new "friends" that I don't even KNOW! (: It's all very new to me. And new to him... And I'm just glad he is not prone to the same freakouts that I have. I love my little well-adjusted happy person. Hopefully, he still thinks I'm cool for a little while longer.

Kid Humor

2008-01-15T12:13:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to record some funny things these guys have been saying lately.

When Ava gets something she wants, like to eat a banana or go down the slide, she says, in the most hilarious tone, "WU-CKY!" (Lucky.)

I put her in her booster for lunch the other day and a salad was sitting there for her (she loves salad but not many other veggies) and she said, "Oh my doodness! Sawad!"

Ro was cooking for me the other day (again) and he told Mase he felt like Ratatouille. Mase looked at him and said, "Try FATatouille!" and started cracking up. I am STILL laughing as I write this one, by the way...

We were walking through the toy aisles at Walmart and Mase said, "HOLY GHOST! More superheroes!"

Interview with the greatest almost 4-year-old on the PLANET!

2008-01-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

Me: Hey Mase, can I ask you a few questions?

Mase: Bout what?

Me: Just want to know a few things. How old are you?

Mase: Three.

Me: Who is your favorite person to hang out with?

Mase: You.

Me: What do you like to do best?

Mase: Play with my superheroes.... Hey mommy, I love you.

Me: You too, buddy. If you could pick anywhere to go today, where would it be?

Mase: To Target.

Me: What would you buy?

Mase: Some more crayons and fingerpaints.

Me: What is your favorite food?

Mase: Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, pineapple, cantaloupe... and french fries and cake!

Me: What did you learn at church on Sunday?

Mase: Prophets... I just learned those. I'm thinkin about somethin that rhymes with somethin else. OH! Cat, hat, FAT!!! (Crazy laughter)

Me: Nice. What city do we live in?

Mase: Portland... I mean Arizona!

Me: What do you think about Ava?

Mase: Mmmm, she likes to watch Elmo.

Me: What is your favorite movie?

Mase: Surf's Up. Cuz I like when Cody falls when he's surfing and the big wave hits him and he goes underwater and he gets hurt... but he was SLEEPING! Mom, can we be done? I gotta think about somethin... What rhymes with Capital???

Chef Roland

2008-01-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

The alarm clock read 9:40 when I opened my tired eyes this morning. Bonus! I got to sleep in. The sound of feet coming up the stairs is what woke me and I could see my cute husband holding a plate and coming toward me. Breakfast in bed! Double bonus! As I eagerly awaited my cold pizza or even peanut butter toast, if I was lucky, I saw this:

WHAT?! I squinted to see if this was some leftover lasagna, but no... It was made-from-scratch banana crepes with fresh blueberries and strawberries. I had to take a picture before I ate it because it was just so... so... well, pretty! Delicious, too, once I finally got around to eating it. Anyway, Crystal with the chef hubby, you might have this done for you EVERY morning, but this is a much-appreciated change in the kitchen from Ro's delicious egg sandwiches. They ARE good, too, though... maybe starting this Master's in Accounting thing wasn't the best idea after all. I have a chef on my hands! (And he BETTER appreciate this post and make me lots more samples!) Love you, babe!