Labor Day Weekend 2010 - California!

This year we decided to take our first ever family vacation and go and visit Kayla, Jeff, Rachel & Jaki in Huntington Beach, CA. They were so nice to let us come and stay with them and to hang out with us and show us a good time!

We left on Thurs. (9/3/10) late afternoon. The kids and I took David to work that morning, so we could just pick him up on our way out of town, thus saving him about an hour's worth of driving home and heading back the same direction. This was the longest car trip either of our kids had ever been on, but other than general whining and wanting to get out of their carseats they did okay. Neither of them, but especially Mary, have the greatest attention span when it comes to movies, but the Sesame Strett DVD's kept them semi-entertained. Mary didn't sleep at all until about the last 20 minutes of the trip, and by then it was about 11:00 pm! Crazy girl.

Friday morning we took Kayla with us to check out Balboa Island, since it came highly recommended from some of our friends (Jeff had to work). We took the ferry across 100 yards or so of water to the island, and let the kids play for a while at a park we came across. We walked around a bit more, admired the crazy-expensive houses, stuck our toes in the water on the beach then got back on the ferry to go back to the "mainland" to ride the ferris wheel.

Friday night we all went to eat at California Pizza Kitchen and had to wait For-ev-errrr! It was a little tough keeping the kids entertained that long, but somehow we managed.

It was fun to see Rachel & Josh having so much fun together. Rachel is almost a year older than Josh, but they would sit next to each other in the van and laugh and giggle, and hold hands like this almost everywhere they went.

On the ferry ride over to Balboa Island

I thought Josh might get a little scared on the ferris wheel, but he loved it...

...and so did Mary!

David had quite the following!

On the pier at Newport Beach

Mary decided she wanted to be part of the choo choo train too

Three cute girls sitting in a tree!

On Saturday we woke up to a pretty hazy morning, but went to the beach anyway. The water was COLD, and it was even a little chilly out of the water to us "Mesans." Mary had a bit of a runny nose and didn't seem to be feeling the greatest, but I was glad that she perked up later in the day. The sun finally came out after an hour or so and David and I braved the cold water to do some boogie boarding. I think that's the first time I'd ever done that, and I caught a couple of good waves just right and had a lot of fun. The kids had a ball playing in the sand and running away from the waves. It was a fun day.

Saturday night we got a baby-sitter and Jeff & Kayla and David & I went to eat at Pei Wei, then went goofy golfing. I was totally on my way to winning and finally beating David (for the first time) until about the 2nd to last hole where I blew it. Dang it!

Josh testing out the water

We got a cheapy kite from Big Lots before heading to the beach and the kids LOVED it! Rachel hung onto it most of the time, but here's Josh with a turn.

Josh went and laid in the sand for a while...it looks like he was throwing a fit, but it wasn't. He just went and laid down for a bit then went back to playing. He must have been getting tired.

If you look closely, you'll see the kite handle hooked onto the boogie board handle strapped to Rachel's wrist.

Our lovely host and hostess

David the one-finned Mer-man.

On Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting with Kayla's family, then went to see the Newport Beach temple. The whole way to the temple Josh was upset about not going to class...I guess that'll teach us to ditch the rest of church! The temple grounds are beautiful, and the kids loved running up and down the wheelchair ramps.

Monday we packed up and headed home, and made pretty good time until we hit the Buckeye area, where a small fender bender (at least that's all we could see) left us stuck in very slow moving traffic for about 45 minutes. That was fun trying to keep the kids entertained for that much longer! But, we made it home safe and sound.

Thanks, Kayla and Jeff, for a great weekend!

It's Not Your Problem

Someday maybe I'll finally update with all the fun things we've been doing since...ummm...forever ago, but for now, I want to write these down so I don't forget.

The last while I've been letting Josh wear his regular underwear during his naps, rather than a pullup. The other day he woke up and came out to the family room and I asked him if he was still dry. He said he was, so I told him to go potty so he would stay dry. On the way to the bathroom I realized he wasn't dry and he said, "Someone just poured water on me!" Hmmm...we have a trickster around here!

Lately Josh has taken it upon himself to discipline Mary when she does something wrong/something he doesn't like. David will often tell him it's not his problem, we'll take care of disciplining Mary. While we were shopping the other day he was trying to get out of the cart so I got after him. He said, "Mom, it's not your problem." Darn kid picks up on too may phrases these days and tries to use them against us!

Jury Duty

So, yesterday I got a jury duty summons...for the 5th time in about 7 years. (I've only had to actually appear once, and I got picked to be on the jury.) They say that the process is totally random, but I swear they must keep my name on some special list! Not that I mind serving and doing my part (it's actually kind of interesting), it's just a bit inconvienient.

Anyone wanna volunteer to possibly watch my kids for me on 9/29? I won't know if I have to go down to the courthouse until the evening before.

Testimonies and Beans

A couple of weeks ago for Family Home Evening I wanted to teach Josh about testimonies. So I let Josh pick out 5 beans, which we wrapped in damp paper towels and put in the cupboard to germinate (is that the correct terminology?). We then related to him how beans are like a testimony, in that they need to be nourished to grow...beans with soil, water and sunlight, and testimonies need other spitirual care to grow in our hearts.

The next Sunday was Fast Sunday, so during one of the testimonies Josh picked up on the the word "testimony" and said "A testimony like my beans!" At least he picked up the relationship, right?

Fun Trip to Kohl's

I was shopping at Kohl's the other day and forgot to put the double stroller in the van before we left, so I only had the single stroller. (Why don't department stores have carts with room for more than one kid, by the way?) So, I just strapped Mary in and had Josh sit on the handle/cup holder tray, like I often have him do.

As I was shopping, and coming close to nap time, Mary was starting to get kind of cranky and had grabbed an item of clothing from one of the racks during my browsing. It was keeping her relatively happy, so I let her play with it. A few minutes later Mary somehow got the metal hook of the hanger stuck in her mouth and started crying. I go to her and get the hanger out of her mouth, but it did some damage and there was blood. Alarmed, I take her out of the stroller to assess the injury, forgetting that she is weighing down the stroller that Josh is sitting on...oops. The stroller tipped over backwards and Josh fell. He wasn't hurt badly, but now I have two crying kids, one of which is bleeding. Awesome! A nice older lady asked if there was something she could do to help, but really I just needed to get to the bathroom to get Mary cleaned up a bit. I finally convinced Josh to ride in the stroller and push him while carrying Mary and trying to keep myself from getting too bloody (there wan't THAT much blood, but I still wanted to salvage my shirt, if I could).

We finally made it to the bathroom and got cleaned up. I found some smarties in my purse which got the kids to stop crying. Mary's injury never seemed to bother her after the incident, and we were able to finish our shopping with only some of our dignity lost.

Josh is a Big Boy!

We started potty training Josh during the beginning of January. I was trying to think of something good as an incentive to get him to want to do this. One day, as we were driving along we saw the light rail, as we often did, and Josh told me he wanted to ride the choo-choo train. So, I told him if he could go 5 days in a row without having an accident, we would ride the train.

It took a lot of days (and a lot of accidents), but he finally achieved his goal at the end of February, and on March 6th we took a family ride on the "Choo Choo Train" to downtown Phoenix. Before boarding the train we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway to have a picnic with, then we rode downtown and got off near the Science Center and had a picnic on the lawn near there. Josh was pretty excited, and I think he had fun.

Josh still has his accidents every once in a while, but he generally does pretty well. Hooray for being potty trained!!! Now if only I could get Mary to use the toilet!

(3/6/10)

Adventures at the Dr.'s Office

Yesterday while we were at the pediatrician's office for Mary's 15 month check-up, Josh and Mary were playing with the toys in the waiting room. Suddenly Josh looks at me and says, "Mom, I'm peeing" as pee is running down his leg and onto the floor. I run over and tell him to stop so we can run to the bathroom, but no...the stream just keeps on comin'! Luckily it was a tile floor, and I'm sure that's not the worst they've had to clean up, but still...how embarrassing!

The actual appointment went well, luckily. Here are Mary's stats for 15 Months:

Weight: 24 lbs. (50th %)
Height: 32 1/4" (90th%)
Head: 18 3/4" (?)

Mary is such the little copy-cat these days she wants to do everything Josh does.

Concert Invite

The East Valley Mormon Choral Organization, which I play in the symphony for, is holding it's third concert this Friday, May 21st at Gammage. I've had a lot of fun this past year trying to brush up my violin-playing skills and participating in this organization. It has been so fun to be a part of a really good musical organization again.

Anyway, I invite you to come to our final concert of this season. Here are the details:

I hope you can come, it's going to be great!

Once There Was a Snowman

(3/14/10)

A couple of weeks ago while we were driving to Snowflake Josh and I were admiring all the snow on the Rim, and Josh kept saying how he wanted to get out and make a snowman and a snowball. I'm a mean mom and wouldn't stop, but told him if there was any snow at Grandma's house we would play in it there. There was no snow when we got there on Saturday, but low and behold, it snowed about an inch during the night! Josh, my nephew Jake and I (in my pj's) braved the cold and went out to play. We (and by we I mean Jake and I--Josh was too busy to help) were able to put together a mini snowman that at least stayed upright through church. By the time church got out that was pretty much the only snow left on the ground.

3 Peas in a Pod

Marlee, Mary & Jaki (3/14/10)

Last summer when I found these dresses on clearance for $1 each (yes $1!), I couldn't pass up getting matching dresses for Mary and her cousins Marlee (Mindy's daughter who is 6 days younger) and Jaki (Kayla's daughter who is about 5 months older). A few weeks ago we were all in Snowflake for my nephew Shad's mission homecoming talk, so they got to all wear them together. Unfortunately we forgot/ran out of time to take a picture before church, so Mary was really tired and slobbery from church snacks, but these 3 girls are still cute! Mindy, Kayla and I often had matching dresses that my mom would make for us when we were little, so it was fun to pass on this "tradition" to the next generation.

Mmmmm...Milk

(3/1/10)

The other day I walked out of my room to find this. It made me happy.

I Made A Difference!

A couple of weeks ago we had dinner with my mom and she passed along a partial message that was left for me on her answering machine here in Mesa (she has the same phone number as they did when they owned our condo). It was from a girl who I used to visit teach in one of my singles' wards, probably 6 or 7 years ago. This girl came to our ward and got her records transferred in, but then I don't think she ever came to our ward again. I was her visiting teacher, and would get to visit with her every so often, but usually would just end up leaving her a note.

Anyway, after a couple of times trying to call her we were able to get in touch with each other. She told me that she was going through some stuff she had and came across one of the notes I had left her with my phone number on it, so she tried it out. She is now married and going back to church (her husband got her going back) and just recently got sealed in the temple, and she just wanted to let me know that I made a difference. She totally made my day!

Uploading Pictures???

How do you upload pictures to Blogger?

These are the options I've tried thus far:

• the "Add Image" button that limits you to 5 at a time (and you have to browse for them individually),
• uploading them directly from Picasa, which limits to 4 at a time,
• emailing them to the blog via Picasa, which also has some downsides (I haven't tried this in so long I can't remember them right now),
• using the Blog Template in Word 2007, but I can't figure out how to get the pictures to upload.

If I ever want to post more than 4-5 pictures, it's annoying and takes forever! I've heard of blogging with LiveWriter, but I really don't know much about it. Anyone else use it?

There must be a better way...what am I missing people???

Josh's Funnies

Several months ago I started keeping a list of the funny things Josh says/does so I would remember them to add to this blog. Here are those that I remembered to add to the list:

1. After getting shots during his last checkup (back in August), the nurse put bandaids over the pricked spots, then we prepared to give Mary her shots. Josh was pretty upset about the whole ordeal (understandably so), and kept crying and crying and trying to pull the bandaids off. When I finally realized that it was the bandaids that were upsetting him and pulled them off, he calmed right down and started eating his fruit snacks. I've never heard of a kid who doesn't like bandaids, but he still doesn't! He'll never let me put one on him and fights it tooth and nail if I try. I guess he associates them with being hurt.
2. Josh LOVES his fruit snacks! One day while trying to get him to share one with me I started fake crying after he said no. He started almost crying seeing me "cry," so I stopped and explained to him I was only joking. Apparently it wasn't too upsetting to him, though, because he still wouldn't share with me.
3. One day I overheard him doing "This Little Piggie" on Mary's toes...so cute!
4. Several months ago I started singing the song "When We're Helping We're Happy" while he was helping me pick up toys. After singing it through a couple of times and finishing with "and we like to help Mama, for we all love her so" he added "MUCH!" I love that boy!
5. Back when it was still super hot outside I was putting Josh in his car seat and he said "Roasty toasty." Yes indeed.
6. David often has Josh feel his whiskers by taking his hands and rubbing them down his face and saying "Rub the whiskers." One day I saw Josh doing the same thing to Mary, complete with the "Rub the whiskers" saying!
7. While driving in the car around Christmas-time I was trying to teach Josh "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." He said "We Wish You a Baby Christmas." (Mary = Baby to him.) That one had me busting out laughing when I finally figured out what he was saying/meaning.
8. He calls his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Orr "Baby Grandma" and "Baby Grandpa." I don't know where he got that from.
9. When Josh does something really good I'll tell him "I'm so proud of you" and give him a big hug. The other day (and a few times since), while giving me a hug he told me he was so proud of me. I'm so glad he isn't embarrassed of me yet!
10. The other day we passed by a big crane on the way to David's work and Josh pointed to it and said, "A fishing pole!" I guess it does kind of look like a fishing pole, although I don't know where he even learned about fishing poles!
11. This afternoon I turned "Cars" on for him, and when the Disney castle logo came up he pointed to it and said "A temple!"
12. Pretty much every time I zip up pj's or jackets for him or Mary I sing the "Zip-a-dee-doo-da" song (got that from my mom). I guess Josh has heard it a time or two, since the other day he started singing it and was able to do most of it by himself. Actually, Josh has a GREAT memory and can learn songs fairly quickly. Some of his most recent are: "There's a Great Big Turkey," "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck," and "K-k-k-Katie."

What a funny boy!