Tide Pools

During the warm weather and before the shark attacks, back in the days when the beach was a safe place, we visited the tide pools. We found no sharks but did find several large star fish, a sea slug and lots of sea enenemies. I am seriously traumatized by the recent attacks and though the odds of me stepping in the water and getting attacked are slim, I won't be venturing out far in the water this summer. When I was young I worried about flushing the toilet for fear I would trigger an earthquake. I've gotten over that one at least!

Quarantined

Flu again. Good grief. I think we already had our turn with this recently. We have enjoyed high fevers, throw-up and some phenomenal diarrhea. With it has come refusals to eat anything, the standard "I'm not feeling well so don't dare put me down" from our sweet Brock who also tends to vocalize his discomfort very loudly and dear Kedrick hasn't had the wherewithal to do anything but watch tv. I expect tomorrow we will be in the clear of all symptoms. I hate watching my kids feel so miserable and sadly my patience and energy to meet their levels of desired care are starting to wane. At the end of a very trying Monday, my visiting teacher brought over some much needed chocolate chip cookies. I set the boys down for dinner, went into the back and indulged in some amazing food therapy. There were four cookies left that I planned on either later sharing with my family or hoarding for myself depending on how the night went. Kedrick managed to find them, happily announced their discovery and came out and said, "this one's for Brockie, this one's for Daddy, this one's for Mommy, and this one's for Kedrick." He is so good at sharing. I felt like a shmuck. Good we have kids to teach us how to be nice!

Beach Bride

My oldest sister stands out singly as the most bride possessed being I know. I have no idea how much money she has spent on bridal magazines over the years but it is no small sum. April 10 she came and got herself hitched at the Wedding Bowl in La Jolla. Her biggest fear was that after all her life long dreaming and planning she was going to be an ugly bride. And she was. Just kidding. Far from it, she blew us all away and was absolutely stunning. The weather was amazing and wow, I can't say how much I loved her bridal bouquet. I can't wait to see her professional photos but for now we will suffice with some snapshots. For the past two months we have been up to our necks in wedding planning and talk and as fun as it was....it was nice to pry the phone away from my ear and my very patient husband is glad to have his wife back! Congratulations Annette and Fernando!

Funny Kids

Kevin was trying to explain the whole resurrection thing to Kedrick. Kevin was telling him how they buried him in the tomb but on the third day he came out of the tomb. Kedrick looked at the picture (apparently focusing on the small tomb door size), paused and then responded with a puzzled look, "oh, did he used to be little?"

Kedrick has me "tell" him stories not "read" him stories every night. He is sure to make that clear. One night I asked him if he had any stories in his head to tell me. "Nope, they all fell out mom."

We had just dropped off a friend at the airport. We explained to Kedrick that the airplane would take her back to Texas.

Kedrick: Oh, is that close to heaven?

Kevin: Some people think so.

Brock LOVES love. He can't get enough snuggle time and kisses. I kiss their owies. We have caught Brock banging his head on things so he could come get a kiss all better! You'd think he was starved for affection. Anyhow, we told him he could just ask.

Brock's favorite activity as of late is to jump off anything screaming, "to infinity and beyond." I'm sure he has no idea where the phrase comes from but regardless it makes him feel like a superhero.

We are in sacrament meeting. It is quiet. They just start passing the bread. Brock belts out, "I want chicken!" I was a bit embarrased, a few too many trips through the drive-thru I guess. At least everyone around us got a good laugh.

And lastly for this edition, Brock's latest communication tip... When you really need to get some one's attention and add emphasis to what you are saying, get up as close as you can and with eyes focused on their lips, talk into their mouth. He likes to make sure the message he is trying to get across is internalized.

Kedrick sharing Easter spoils with his cousins Madeline and Matthew.

Brock planning his attack strategy for the egg hunt.

Growing Up

There is something in our water. Kedrick, who has shown an incredible aversion to cleaning throughout his short life, cleaned the whole house before he went to bed last night. He started with toys in the hall way, then cleaned up my closet and room, went out to the kitchen and then tackled the living room, no small feet. Kevin and I just let him go, quite in shock. This comes from a boy who said a few weeks ago, "Daddy, you and Mom like my room clean huh?" To the affirmative response he replied, " not me, I like it messy."

It's like he just woke up recently and realized he was older. At church on Sunday he was getting a drink from the drinking fountain all by himself (he is just barely tall enough now) and he looked at the tall youth next to him also getting a drink and said, " I'm tall too, look I can drink like this."

Sunday morning he went peepee in the potty on his own for the first time (well not counting one drop he did a couple of weeks ago) but the first substantial amount.

I will not mention the very long nights of screaming that we have endured with Brock recently. No not one word of complaint from me even though he is 18 months and we are still having sleep battles. Nothing in any of the books works on my child....oh wait, I said I wasn't going to talk about that. Despite that, may it be said that Brock is fast becoming a quite accomplished linguist. Favorite phrase is "I did it!" He started saying that one around 12 months, though it is much more intelligable now. He lights up with the cutest happiest smile and says, "I like it!" when he eats something good. He lets us know it is time to get out of bed by saying, "I want cereo (cereal)!" He demands we acknowledge what he is saying, if I fail to do so he will follow me around and say "mom, Moom, MOOOM" until I respond. I thought that started later.

I love my boys so much. I can't believe how fast they are growing up and how quickly they change. What happened to my babies??

Where's Daddy?

I'm lucky. My husband only travels once a year for his job and only for a few days at that. He is gone this week for 4 days and I already miss him terribly. I missed hearing Brock cry and both of us trying to outsleep the other to see who will break down first and go get him. I certainly missed him at church as I drug both kids out of the meeting after an intense wrestling match on the pew. I missed not having anyone to tell me that my dinner creation was much appreciated. The boys missed having their daddy to chase them and throw them around on the couch. I really missed his help when it was time to put the kids to bed. I didn't like cleaning up the mess of the day all by myself. But what I miss most of all is just being with him. Kedrick came out of his bed to listen for any noise that might be daddy coming home. I guess I've been doing the same thing. I'm piddling around the house because it just feels weird to go to sleep without spending the evening with my best friend talking about nothing and everything. I know, it's pathetic. Just three more days!

On a happier note, Brock went to nursery for the first time today! Wooohoo! He cried after I left, and then fell asleep pretty much for the rest of it. I felt so free!! I don't get it....he is the lightest sleeper at home but can sleep in the midst of a bunch of kids playing?

When I grow up...

I want to be a garbage truck driver. You are right up there with Santa Claus in the eyes of all the little boys. I would honk wildly anytime I passed a youngster. In fact, I'd stop and take pictures with them and hope to be put in their scrapbooks. I'd let them climb up in the truck and then send them home with a pamphlet on recycling. I can't imagine all the treasures I would find in people's castoffs. I guess we all have our dreams of fame and fortune. Today a very friendly garbage man waved and honked repeatedly at two of his mesmerized fans. I thought...now that is a great job.