Pillow Fight

This is what happens when you are on a very important phone call with the speech teacher. I should have known they were being unusually quiet and I wasn't getting the normal tug on my pocket questions while I was on the phone. Suppose it is a victory for mom that I didn't have to lock myself in the bathroom while on the phone. Bonus- they thought it was just as much fun to clean them all up. 

Cockroach - centipede scrimmage

We started the day off at the high school for the annual Cockroach - Centipede Scrimmage. The kids excitement to watch daddy coach the football players lasted a whole 5 minutes. Thank goodness there was a baseball field nearby for them to watch batting practice, a softball field to run around, and a new blue and gold sled for them to hit and play with. Their favorite though was seeing Papa and riding on the new golf cart. He was a lifesaver with entertaining the crew. Taking the kids to a Stanford football game is going to be a fun and eye opening experience for Daddy. After one game I am betting Uncle J and friends will get to go to several games. 

We ended our day with a fun dinner at Uncle J and Aunt Cory's. We had some delicious Pietros and then it was on to some serious business- Fantasy Football draft strategy. While the guys ironed out some plans, I got caught up on all the latest entertainment and reality t.v. news. Cory was kind enough to fill me in on the scoop. I am completely out of the loop and left shocked and devastated by the new discoveries. I guess we either need to get cable so I am informed of such news like the Wentworth Miller confession (still CAN NOT believe that new fact) or have dinner more often with two of our favorite people. 

T.G.I.F.

Today I sat in my car at 2:55 and fully appreciated my new job. After finishing my first full week, I was in my car headed home. The exciting part instead of having to creep on I-80 at a snails pace I headed across town and was home in 10 minutes. It was so nice and made for a very relaxing evening. We were even lucky enough to have Daddy home before bedtime. We loaded up the van and headed out for ice cream before our bedtime routine. It was a terrific Friday! 

Playland

Today I realized the many perks of my new job- during the week play dates with good friends and my Bestie! We took the kids to the new Playland in Dixon. The kids had a blast and Tiffani and I looked around in disbelief. Playland is what Tiffani and I had envisioned opening in one of the now 3 Walmarts in town. Playland is fun, but we could do so much more and much better. It is a very scaled down version of Super Franks. The kids didn't notice the scaled down version and had a blast. Now we just need some major investors or to win the lottery so we can open our play center/ kid party business. 

Happy Birthday Wesley Simon

Today we were lucky enough to celebrate our little buddy Wesley's, 2nd birthday. It was a Sesame Street and Elmo celebration. We really have gotten good use of all our Sesame Street decorations that I made or bought for the twin's party over 3 years ago. It was a scorching hot day and we were lucky enough to cool off after eating and before the piñata in the DeTar's beautiful pool. Funny thing I think the only two kids not swimming were the birthday boy and Jack Jack. We have LOVED watching Wesley grow up. I remember the day he was born. As much fun as it is watching Wesley over the past two years, I have LOVED watching Gabe and Tiffani parent Wesley and now Wyatt. They are pretty fantastic parents and I love sharing all the motherhood experiences with my Bestie and even cooler Wesley and Jackson love playing together. Happy Birthday Wesley. We love you!!!

Life is rough

Today's post I have to devote to Jackson's odd sleeping habits lately.  Every night before I turn in I go sneak a peak at my cuties. Jackson has transitioned into a big boy bed and lately I have found him on the ground sound asleep. I haven't decided if he has fallen out because I haven't heard crying or a thump or if he is climbing out. Thanks to a Pinterest idea that didn't work but I used the concept and adjusted - we know have a toddler who is sleeping soundly in his bed. The other night I caught a site of this.

Kind of fuzzy, but apparently life at age 2 is rough and we fall asleep on our back with our leg propped up on our knee. 

The following night I walked in to find something that our other two kids NEVER did. Jackson learned if he took of his pj bottoms he could easily rip off his diaper. So here is a 2 year old lying on bed buck naked from the waste down. I have to admit thus discovery came after I had been gone all late evening at a 40th birthday for a good friend. Thanks to the fact that I had a D.D. I enjoyed a few too many margaritas and it took me awhile to process what was wrong with Jackson's bedtime attire. After realizing what was odd and stepping on the wet (thank goodness it was only wet) diaper I quickly redressed him while he was sleeping. Not sure if it was a sign that he wants to start potty training or we need to invest in pj's that won't be so easy to strip off. 

Two Amazing Men

 Today  I get to write about two incredible men.

The first is my amazing husband. Today we get to celebrate him turning 36! I am blessed to be married to an amazing man who is the best daddy around to our 3 kiddos.

The same day that we get to celebrate my hardworking husband, we lost one of the kindest men I have ever met. I still remember meeting Coach Green and being intimidated by the largest man I have ever see, but after receiving my first hug from the 6 foot 8 inch, 400 pound man I learned he was a giant teddy bear. His smile and laugh were infectious. He welcomed me to the Bulldog family and was a sight to see on the sidelines. I always felt better seeing him down on the field. I knew to look for him before kick off. He would give a talk to the boys and I would never turn down a post game hug. As much as I loved his devotion to all things Black and Orange and I loved hearing him on the sidelines, I LOVED hearing him in January recite Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. It was simply moving. I remember bringing the twins one year and I wished they were older to really focus on him and his words. I told myself that when they are older I would pull them from school one day so they could hear the moving speech. It breaks my heart that they won't be able to hear him recite it, but thankful that they had the chance to meet him. It was moving to see the crowd at the high school that all came because they were touched in some way by Coach Green. It was heartbreaking to see my husband, other coaches and kids look lost- not knowing what to do now. I have to say I am not looking forward to that first Friday night without Greener, but how cool is it to think about Z and Greener up there watching down on the boys. 

Pizzookie

With summer drawing to an end and back to school time quickly approaching we have been trying to spend some one on one time with the kids. Yesterday Emmeline went shopping and met up with Grammy. It's adorable how much she likes to shop and put together outfits. 

Today I took Caden out for a date to BJ's  where I introduced him to a pizzookie. He  was in LOVE and ate so much he said his stomach hurt. What an adorable date I had this evening. 

National Night Out

Tonight was National Night Out and our neighborhood does an AMAZING job of organizing a fun evening. It never fails that the event falls on the Tuesday right when football starts back up. So in 5 years Chris has made it to zero and I am out there solo chasing after our crazy kids. And for the past 3 years I have had the kids screaming and crying because they don't want to leave or tonight I had the kid who fell and scraped up his knees on the asphalt.  Nothing like having your child screaming bloody murder and everyone looking at you - especially when most of our sweet neighbors are all older and haven't had to deal with scraped knees for awhile. Thank goodness the "firef$@k" as Jackson calls and couple really nice firemen were there to help and distract. Jackson was on heaven. After lifting him in the truck to distract him, he then didn't want to get out. He was playing with helmets and buttons and jackets. After having to drag him out he discovered the ladder, hoses, and TONS of switches and buttons on the outside. 

This kid was in heaven. The kids also loved sitting in the ambulance and seeing the CHP car. 

After receiving a call I had to pry my youngest out if the truck again. There was a lot of crying, yelling, kicking, and hitting. Poor boy was crushed. Looks like we will hAve to go see Uncle Bri Bri and work soon so Jackson can go see the "firef$&k". 

Summer Splash

Today we took a quick trip to Yuba City to visit Great Nana. We thought it would be much easier for her to have us drive up and see her then have her make the trip down to us. We started the visit with rides on her motorized scooter and then a trip to Toys R Us. Lots of dollars, tears, and quarter machine prizes later we took the kids to their favorite water park there and we lucked out with it being pretty empty. After a few hours of water and sun we headed to In n Out for a yummy late lunch. The kids burned off so many calories that they all finished their own cheeseburgers and split a fry- WOW! I think gone are the days where they can all share one burger. It was a fun and exhausting day in Nana Land but so glad we made it up there to see her. 

All that sparkles

Emmeline has been hinting and begging to get sparkly "real" earrings. My rule has been she has to be old enough to turn them and take care of them. Well I guess 5 is big enough. And she really did an amazing job - it certainly helped that Luis at the shop has it down to a science and use a two person team. I was thinking that there is probably no way she would go for getting the second one done after the first. 

She picked out beautiful sparkly earrings and sat in the seat like a big girl.

One whimper and tear and she was done. She walks around all day stopping and looking in mirrors to admire them. And every stranger we approach she quickly does a hair tuck and asks them to admire them..,pretty sure I am going to be in trouble with her. 

The vacations are over

July was a busy month. We vacationed to Aruba, Sunriver, a few day trips, and I took a vacation from blogging. Well it's August 1st and summer is coming to a close. The suitcases are all unpacked, the dirty laundry is all washed and put away and  now to get back to BLOGGING!!! I will be busy the next few days catching up on our very busy July. In July sweet baby Wyatt made his entrance to the world. There was also a few big birthdays we celebrated, an AMAZING family vacation, a big decision I made with teaching, and my baby started sleeping in a bed - how can that be??? Excited to backtrack and reflect on our busy July.