Ian's 6th Birthday

I can't believe I just typed that. 6th birthday. I could swear that he was just a baby. Just like... yesterday. Time is such a funny thing. The older you get the faster it seems to go, which really sucks because as your kids grow it becomes that much more fun. I'm positively certain that I'm going to blink and he's going to be moving out *tear*. Here he is, in all his 6-year-old glory, where he knows everything about every animal, loves on his baby sister, lives for science, won't throw away any note I wrote that says "I love you", and can read like a 2nd or 3rd grader. Where he still wants to sleep with his mommy, can tell me all about the solar system, loves to hold hands, and dances like a maniac. We had a swim party for him, even though he doesn't swim, and took him to the zoo where he proclaimed that it was better than Disneyland. Kids don't get much better than this!

Crowded Tub

There are too many kids in this tub

There are too many elbows to scrub

I just washed a behind that I'm sure wasn't mine

There are too many kids in this tub.

-Shel Silverstein

Merry Christmas to Us!

I hate it when you think you haven't really bought much for the kids so at the last minute you run out and buy a bunch more stuff and then in the morning they end up with WAY too many toys. Next year I'm keeping a list... and checking it twice!

Squishy!

Yes, his name is Colin. No, he doesn't respond to it.

Yes, he responds to Squishy. We figure it won't be a problem until he goes to school, although I've heard stranger names...

Snow White, you ARE the fairest of them all!

Happy Birthday Baby!

My baby is 3. *sniff, sniff*

2nd Birthday...

1st Birthday...

When did she get so big? And why do all her dresses have polka dots?

Crazy Lizard Girl

Anna is one of the most bizarre children I have ever met. She insisted on going sans clothing, with a lizard tied to her chest in her "baby lizard carrier". To finish the ensemble, she tops it off with fuzzy Mickey Mouse ears. I refused to take her out in public looking like this!

This is what happens...

when the adults are watching a movie and they assume the children are playing nicely because they are so quiet.

She said "look how pretty I smell". Thank goodness for the Kirby.

And yes, I did vacuum the kid too.

La Bolsa Chica Beach and Disneyland!

aka "more fun that any one family should be allowed to have in a day"

So we set out to La Bolsa Chica beach, because we're all about going to EVERY beach in Southern California to decide which one we like best. Except Black Beach, which was recommended by my good friend Danny, because it turns out it is a nude beach. Ha ha, good thing I Googled it first. Anyway, the beach was nice except for the strong current, and the kids made some new, cute little friends.

So it was only 6pm when Emma started whining about wanting to go home (I know what you're thinking, Emma? Whine? NO!) but I wasn't ready for the fun to end. Turns out neither was our good buddy Jessica. I tactfully talked Shawn and my mom into going to nearby Disneyland, purchasing annual passes, and staying for the evening. We had an OUTSTANDING time! I don't think my kids have ever slept so well... they were troopers and went all night long without naps and without complaning. They definitely inherited my sense of adventure!

Good Morning, Sleepyhead!

Preschool Graduation!

Ian graduated from preschool last Friday evening and it was quite the event!

(and now I have two more graduation cake orders for next week! Yipee! I can't wait to buy my Disneyland year passes! You know, as a reward to Ian for graduating preschool...)

There was singing and dancing, including the tear-jerker "Proud to be an American".

Unfortunately Ian was very sleepy during the ceremony since Daddy didn't make him take a nap...

And his hat was on backwards... but he was cute anyway.

He proudly recieved his diploma...

and posed with his favorite teacher, Miss Carmen... (who is very spicy and is also awesomely teaching him Spanish)

and posed with the family...

and Maryam...

And yes, they are as much trouble as they appear to be. He chose to go out for Chinese after the ceremony...

where he excitedly told his sweet friend Willy about his graduation ceremony. And then asked if Willy from the restaurant could come to the beach with us. BTW, their orange chicken is the BEST.

I can't believe my baby is going to Kindergarten. I think I'm going to need to be medicated. I'm afraid I'll blink and he'll be off to college :(

Thanks to all our friends and family who showed up!

Palm Springs Discovery Museum and Aquarium of the Pacific

Another Ianism

Tonight we're getting ready for bed when Ian says "My butt hurts". So I check him, and he has a rash. I announce "you have a chapped butt". He gets all teary-eyed and says "Do I have to go to the emergency room for a chapped butt?". I reassure him that it's fine, he didn't have to go to the ER for a chapped butt, and that I had something for him that would clear it right up.

"Is it chap-butt-stick?" he asks innocently.

A Long Overdue Update... Let's Start With Christmas!

We had a great Christmas! It was not the overwhelming toy extravaganza like last year; we were actually able to restrain ourselves this time. It was due to lack of storage space! The playroom is FULL! Enough exclamation and comma- laden sentences, on with the pictures!



The kids were SO cute together opening their presents and then playing afterwards. The older they get, the more I enjoy holidays with them :) 

Being Thankful...

From the mouths of babes... This is so funny I couldn't have possibly made it up myself.

Ian- "I'm thankful for Foster's Freeze and gas stations. I'm also thankful for whales, the sunset, and hot pockets. They're so cheesy. And I'm thankful for scorpions and tarantulas, my brain, your brown eyes, our teeth, and my aunt Kelly. And even letters and the desert and Halloween."  

Emma- "I'm thankful that my mom and dad got rid of my head lice"

Disneyland!

We picked up Suzie at LAX on Saturday night and drug her to Disneyland kicking and screaming on Sunday :) Not really, I think she actually enjoyed it as much as the kids did! We went directly to Downtown Disney after LAX and ate dessert at the Rainforest Cafe. Ian was TERRIFIED of the animatronic animals and passed out on my lap, possibly of sheer terror. Shawn and I split a Margarilla, which is like a margarita with orange sherbert and we each ate an order of Bananas Foster, which was heavenly. So we stayed Saturday night at the Ramada in Garden Grove, not realizing that it was Korea town. Not that it makes a difference, but I had not expected the hilarity of drunken Asian karaoke at our hotel until the wee hours. They were singing Pink Floyd which makes it extra hilarious. I could barely contain my giggles as I checked into the front desk but tried REALLY hard not to burst out laughing because I didn't want to offend the hotel manager. Disneyland the next morning was a BLAST and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely (even Shawn! See the teacup pictures for proof!). I see a yearly pass purchase in our near future. The Halloween decorations were AMAZING, especially since I'm a huge fan of Nightmare Before Christmas and a huge fan of Halloween in general. It's so awesome to see a spectacle like Disneyland through a child's eyes! The kids LOVED the characters and the music and the rides and Ian asked if we could go every weekend. With yearly passes and it only being a 2 hour drive, I think we could maybe go every other month at least... or monthly if it was up to me. Enjoy the photos!

Classic Ianisms

These are from this summer, but we got to talking about Ian last night and we were laughing ourselves silly over these two...

After examining his poo in the toilet... "That looks like a snail. I didn't ate a snail!"
After deeply sniffing the Kansas air..."It smells like buffalo out here!"

The Birthday Song

Happy Birthday Baby!

We had such a good time at Anna's birthday this evening! We sang, had pink and brown cake and pink and brown ice cream, and then sang some more. We even danced a little bit :) Anna was so damn cute when we sang to her, check back later for the video!

Horned Toad Hunting

We headed out early Saturday morning to go hunting for horned lizards. We didn't find any this time (probably too dry) but we saw some other really cool stuff!

This sign told us that we should be looking for gold :)

And Eureka! We found some! If you look very closely you can see the yellow shine of the gold in the sand. We walked through many washes and found lots of little tiny pieces. You can click on the picture to enlarge it and they're much easier to see!

I just liked the look of this old gnarly tree.

And this crazy jigsaw rock puzzle...

And we finally headed to the National Park Headquarters so that Ian could at least see a fake horned toad. Now that he knows exactly what they look like he'll be on the lookout. We fortunately didn't find any scorpions or tarantulas either so I'm sure that we'll have another hunting expedition here sometime soon. Hopefully when it cools off!