Weekend of my birthday, cell phones, brotherly love, and lady bugs

Faith and I just got new cell phones. She got hers for her Jr. High promotion and I got mine for my birthday! With in the first 24 hours, Faith sent 300 text messages and received almost the same amount! WOW! Good thing she has unlimited texting.

Here she is texting!

After church today when we picked Josh up from his class, he came out with this chalk drawing. He said it was him and Zach. He tells us that Zach is his best friend! They love each other so much. When Zach is taking a nap, Josh asks several times if we can wake him up so that they can play. Zach gets so excited about getting to go into Josh's class during my Tuesday morning Bible study. I love that they love each other so much.

Josh's chalk drawing should be titled "Brotherly Love"

We just got Lady Bugs for our roses. Guess they are supposed to eat the aphids. Sean walked around and put the lady bugs on the roses. Zach was afraid at first. Josh picked them up and let them crawl on his hands and arms. When Zach saw that Josh wasn't afraid, he picked them up and let them crawl on him as well. They even named the lady bugs that were crawling on them "Cadillac" and Josh asked if he could keep it! We told him to keep the lady bug outside and that it would fly back and visit him once in a while. A few lady bugs got stepped on, but the boys really loved playing with them.

Here are Sean, Faith, Josh, and Zach with the Lady Bugs for our roses!

While typing this I pulled a lady bug out of my hair. I can hear Josh, getting ready for his bath, saying "there's a lady bug on my leg!" Wonder how many more made it into our house.

This weekend, Sean's parents stayed with us. The kids had fun playing with them. Josh got to sleep with grandma and grandpa, which he loves. We all got spoiled a little. I got spoiled a lot. And for my birthday, I got a new camera. These pictures are all from my new camera!

Memorial Weekend

For the long weekend we went to visit Grandma Brooks and Grandpa Mike. On Saturday, Faith, Josh, and Zach swam in the pool. Faith is our fish. She loves to swim. It reminds me of when I was her age and you couldn't get me out of the pool. Now you can't get me in unless it's close to 90 degrees! Josh and Zach spent some of their Saturday out in Grandma's garden. They have child size garden tools at Grandma's and they love to dig everything up and make a mess!

On Sunday, Grandpa took us all out in his boat. The boys were so excited about getting to go on a boat. They talked about it the entire week leading up to this weekend. As soon as we got to the lake, Zach wasn't so sure he wanted to go on the boat! But he did and he loved it. Poor Ben, had to wear a life jacket that's bigger than he is. As always, he was a trooper and didn't even shed a tear. When it came time to go in the tube, Josh wanted to go out with Grandma. She they had a great time getting pulled behind the boat on the tube. Zach wanted nothing to do with it, but I forced him to go with me thinking that he would enjoy it once he was out there. No such luck! He didn't like it, so I quickly swapped Zach for Josh. Grandpa pulled the tube very slowly for Josh and Zach, but Faith was a different story. It was so much fun watching her flop around on the tube and eventually get thrown off! We had a great weekend and I know Josh and Zach will want to go out to the lake another time this summer.

The Garage

If a man's home is his castle, then the garage is his private sanctuary.

This post is for all of you who thought we would never be able to park a car in our garage! I just had to show proof that Sean worked hard all day to clean up the garage so that we could park our van in it. The boys have too many toys for us to be able to put both vehicles in there, but one vehicle in a two car garage is pretty good Now, lets see how long it stays like this!

Mr. Golden Ben

Josh loves to sing. He learns so many new songs in pre-school and comes home singing them. The other day he learned "Sun, sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me" and has changed the lyrics to "Ben, Ben, Mr. Golden Ben, please shine down on me." We think it's the cutest thing and he has all of us singing it to Ben now!

Josh and Zach's quotes of the week

Josh and Zach say the funniest things and they never realize just how cute they sound. And I'm sure they are left wondering what was so funny when we are cracking up laughing.

This morning when Faith and I were leaving to go to her Orthodontist appointment, Josh said "Bye Sissy, I love you." Faith replied with her usual "I love you more!" To which Josh replied "I love you more than the bad guys," with so much enthusiasm. I don't know where Josh got that from, but it was so funny!

Yesterday Zach spilled his pennies all over the floor. He got these pennies from Grandpa Denny's piggy bank and he and Josh must have gotten at least $3 worth of pennies. They fill their pockets with them everyday and love carrying around money, just like daddy. So when Zach spilled his pennies, I told him "pick up your pennies" and Zach said "they're not my pennies, they're Grandpa's!"

Big Josh, Little Josh, Big Zach, Little Zach

The family across the street has two boys. Their names just happen to be Josh and Zach! Their Josh and Zach are quite a bit older than ours at 13 and 10. But the older is Josh and the younger is Zach, just like our family. And just like my boys, Josh is calm and laid back, while Zach is rambunctious and very sweet.

There is also a mom in my Bible study who has 3 kids, with her 2 boys named Josh and Zach. She jokes with me that if she has another boy, she will have to name him Ben! I guess Josh and Zach go together like "peas and carrots!"

Ben's 4 Month Check-Up

I took Ben to the doctor for his 4 month check-up this morning. Josh and Faith were at school, so it was just Zach, Ben and I. It made for an easy doctor's visit. Even the doctor noticed. And he told me how to keep my kids from fighting. He said "only have one!" He thinks he's funny! But he more than one child, which I reminded him of.

So, Ben weighed 11lbs, 9oz and measures 23" and just like my other children, he is below the 5th percentile. Guess I just have small kids. Ben is healthy and that's what matters. He got a couple of shots and we will be back for more in 2 more months. Sometimes I think that our doctor could make a living just off of my family. We are in his office at least once a month.

The Cat and the Hat Comes Back

I have read this story to my kids so many times. Never did I think it would come true.

In the story, the Cat comes back to visit. He eats a pink cake in the bathtub with running water and leaves a pink ring around the tub. Then tries to clean it up, but the pink ends up on their mom's dress, the wall, the bed, a pair of shoes, and eventually ends up outside turning the white snow, pink. In order to clean it up, the Cat pulls off his hat to unleash Little Cat A, who takes off his hat to unleash Little Cat B, and so on until Little Cat Z who unleashes "vroom," which finally cleans it up.

Yesterday, I was in the laundry room trying to get some laundry done (a daily thing with a family of 6). Josh and Zach were in the kitchen, next to the laundry room. I was in the laundry room no longer than 3 minutes when the door bell rang. Zach raced to answer the door, leaving red feet prints on the tile from the kitchen to the front door. Then Josh comes, with a trail of red. I looked at Zach's hands and there was red grainy stuff all over his hands. Then I saw it all over his shirt and pants. I asked what it was and he told me it was apple juice (all drinks that aren't milk. soda, or water, Zach calls apple juice.) So I went into the kitchen and found that the boys got into a packet of Kool-Aid. It was all over the place. It took so long to clean up. Luckily, we have tile floors, because I don't know how I would get that out of carpet!

This morning when I got into the pantry I saw red hand prints and then when I was walking out the door to take Faith to school, I saw red hand prints on the front door. And I can still see some of it on the floor even though I swept, vacuumed, and swiffered (wet) the floors. Were is my Little Cat Z with the VROOM?

Mother's Day Weekend

On Friday...

May 8th, Ben turned 4 months old. I dressed him in a big boy outfit, but I know he will always be my baby! I can't believe how quickly time goes by. I haven't even blinked yet and he is 4 months old!

On Saturday...

we went to Powerhouse in Del Mar. We hung out with friends, played on the playground, and chased squirrels. Sean surfed, while Faith and Josh played in the water.

Zach ate a cupcake and stayed away from the water. He loved looking for squirrels, but he called them bunnies.

On Sunday...

We went to church, had a nice Mother's Day lunch with Sean's parents, and

Josh decided he wanted to take off his training wheels and ride a two wheel bike. One of the neighbor boys told him he would go faster if he took off his training wheels. Josh was able to ride without them. I was so proud of him. He would ride about 10 feet, then get scared and put his feet down. After about 30 minutes of riding without his training wheels, he decided he wanted to put them back on. We'll try again another day!




Faith and I made soap and then went out and did a little shopping without the boys.


I had a great day!
I love my family!

Happy Mother's Day

This morning Josh's pre-school had their Mother's Day Tea. We all gathered together to celebrate us moms. It was great being able to spend time with Josh. Sean took Zach and Ben to the park so that I could spend 45 minutes with Josh. It was great being able to sit down and not have to look around for Zach and not have to bounce, nurse, or hold Ben. It was just Josh and me and all the other moms and pre-schoolers. Josh was selected from his class to hold the letter "O" in MOTHER when a student from each class went on stage. He also made me a hat, painted a pot with a plant and made me a card. He was very good about keeping everything a secret too. I love my little Joshy!

When Zach saw the painted pot with the plant, he told me "I want that coffee with the tree!" It is so cute how Zach describes things. One day I am going to have to write a blog about Zachisms! He thought the pot was a coffee cup!

Every day is Mother's Day for me. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my children. Everyday, they do something that touches my heart and brings such a smile of joy to my face. I love being able to spend all my time with my children. They are the greatest!

Embarrassing moment with my boys

Today the boys and I went shopping at Nordstrom Rack to find new shorts for Josh. He must have gone through a growth spurt, because nothing fits him. And they had nothing there in his size for a decent price. I must be crazy going shopping with a 4 year old and a 2 year old!

While we were shopping, Zach started laughing and pointing at a baby girl who was in her car seat/stroller. The baby must have been about the same age as Ben, 3 or 4 months. Then Zach calls Josh over and points and laughs some more. Now Josh joins in laughing at the baby girl. By this time the mom is giving me dirty looks. So I tried to get the boys to turn towards me, but they were just so interested in the baby. Then Josh pointed to the baby's pacifier and asked me what it was, so I told the boys that it was a pacifier for the baby to suck on. Now I knew what they were staring and laughing at. We have never used pacifiers and they thought it was the funniest thing. And it probably didn't help that it wasn't an ordinary pacifier, it was animal shaped with some bling on it. With another dirty look, the mom pushed her baby to another area in the store. I'm sure she was a first time mom, taking it personally. I even told her that they didn't know what the pacifier was and thought it was funny. She'll probably never use that pacifier in public again.