Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We have been very blessed by the love of friends and family this year. We hope this card finds you well and that you feel the love of our Savior during this special time of year when we celebrate His birth.

Videos, As Promised

So here are the videos that I had so much trouble with for my last post. They include j* riding his 'no pedals' bike and some of l*'s first steps. Enjoy!

Milestones

The past few weeks (okay, month and a half) have been very busy. Here's a little update:
J*- one word...finals
graphic design for invites and holiday cards. Here's one example:
T*-opened an etsy shop for her new hobby...making headbands (http://www.everythingoes.etsy.com/)

j*- turned 3!

loves to ride his bike and explain to anyone "it has no pedals and no training wheels!

www.bootscootbikes.com

loves doing projects. Here is our Tom the turkey project

l*

lounging on his chair

walking

(vided to come)

Happy Halloween!

We hope you each enjoyed a spooky and sweet holiday!

We celebrated in our version of Goldilocks and 'da Three Bears

aren't vertical stripes supposed to be slimming?!?

the candy sort!

p.s. I was two different versions of Goldilocks for different parties.
(Those who know of my costume phobia might be shocked, but it worked out alright.)
Here's a peak at the more traditional, and almost totally homemade version.
I told you I was getting into sewing.

Passing the Time

It seems like the boys have grown up quite a bit over the past few months. We've been passing the time lately with some of these fun things....

...clearing the pantry shelves several times a day. I know, you might suggest child locks, but I say, "look at that face, he loves it so!"
...surfing the wave at a Pepp event

...resting in between adventures. (This seems to be the only form of nap that j* is willing to take these days, so I enjoy every minute of it!)

Back in the saddle again...

My last post was in July?!?! How did that happen? It is not for lack of life being full of cute moments, adventures, and stories. Maybe it is because it is so full. At any rate, I am officially back in the blogging saddle.
To kick it off, a few of our highlights and some pics.

j*

-potty trained!!!

-mixed his own 'dough' today while I was changing a diaper (it ended up being about 1 CUP salt and 1 cup flour!)

-favorite phrase: "What we do next Mommy?"

l*

-standing on his own. (I know, I missed the crawling milestone...that happened about August)

-finger foods- for now cheerios and animal crackers are the faves.

-this one's a thinker. He checks people and situations out from a distance. Once he has it figured out, he is off.

-Still gives cuddles.

J and I

-Have made the most of his free Friday afternoons with trips to the beach for the past two weeks!
-I have walked several days a week, while pushing the boys all the way around Pepperdine campus. (For those who have not been here, there are some major hills here.)

-Making time to play tennis with friends. (Even if that means that both boys are playing on the court next to us.)

A Miracle

I know many of you have offered prayers of support for my neice, Izzy, over the past 2 and 1/2 years. Last Friday was her last dose of chemo, and the cancer is in remission! What a wonderful miracle!

It has been an incredible journey for her and her family! Here is a link to her blog which has a new video to document and celebrate this life changing chapter! I hope it reminds you of the miracles in your life!

http://izzycostley.blogspot.com/

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

What would summer time be without a couple good baseball games?!? Well, for me, it would still be a great summer. But for J* it would be incomplete. The boys have been able to enjoy two major league games with us. Both times we were allowed onto the field to watch fireworks after! Pretty sweet!

Go D-Backs!

Hanging out in the dugout at Bank One Ballpark

Can you say, "All you can eat?" Right field bleachers at Dodger Stadium

Enjoying fireworks laying in outfield at Dodger Stadium

This is our version of a summer on steroids without the 50 game suspension.
Sorry Manny, we love you, but you're not top on our list of role models.

As Promised...

...pics of the boys! Enjoy.

To mop or not to mop? That is the question.

It is June! How does that happen? (I plan to post pictures of our growing boys soon, I promise.)





True confession: mopping is one of my least favorite household chores. Not so much because of the back breaking work involved, but more because the floor still doesn't feel clean after that back breaking! Does anyone else have this problem?


Here is my situation: Luke is a few months away from crawling. Of our 600 sq. ft., I guess that 150 of it is a type of linoleum. I usually use the vacuum or broom to get up the dirt. Then I use a sponge mop and a bucket with a little bit of Mr. Clean. Like I said, it just doesn't seem to be clean, even after a few passes.


What works for you? Is hands and knees the only way to really get it clean? Please tell me there is a better option! Do the Swiffer mops work well enough to outweigh the expense? Can't wait to glean your tips!

We're Going to Ride a Train... errr Wait, We're at the Zoo!

So as the spring semester was winding down we tried to think of something fun that we could do as a family once I was done with finals. We had heard that Santa Barbara had a nice zoo so we planned a family trip to the zoo. While looking at the zoo's website, which had a picture of the little train at the zoo, j* got really excited about riding the train. We told him that we were going to ride the train and he could hardly believe it. We live a little over an hour from Santa Barbara and needless to say, we were asked a few times when we were going to get to the train. As we pulled into the zoo parking lot we told j* that the place with the train was actually a zoo with animals... he was blown away and quickly began asking if they had various types of animals. T* remarked that it was a good thing we didn't tell him that we were going to the zoo before we left the house and I quickly agreed.

The Santa Barbara Zoo was great. It is not the biggest or fanciest zoo in the world, but it is also not the most expensive and it is across the street from the ocean. We were there on a "postcard" Santa Barbara day and really had a good time. They had elephants, lions, gorillas, giraffe(s), eagles, California condors, penguins, snakes, monkeys and more. The really cool thing was how close you can get to the animals. One of j*'s favorite things was feeding the giraffe(s) with his mommy. One of his other favorite things was playing on the little rides that cost fifty cents. Luckily for us, he still thinks its cool to play on them without putting any coins in. The gorillas were also pretty cool. We lucked out and they were really close to the glass. One was probably about 6-8 feet away. As far as the snakes go, J* is not a real fan and when we first arrived at the zoo j* asked if they had snakes. J* told him they did and j* got a little freaked out. Then J* told j* to make faces at the snakes and all of a sudden he really wanted to see the snakes, in fact we had to go back to see the diamondback a couple of times.

We would really recommend the Santa Barbara Zoo to anybody with kids. One cool thing is that it doesn't feel like they are trying to get you to buy stuff around every turn. They have their souvenirs and stuff, but they aren't to get your kids to notice them and beg for them everywhere you go. The ocean view from the giraffe pen and the accompanying breeze are two other reasons to go. Also, there were school kids there until about 2pm and the rest of the time the zoo was wide open. If you can avoid the train, you can save some money. It is a little overrated since you don't really get to see a lot in the way of animal life. Finally, if you do get the chance to go make sure you take some pieces of cardboard. The good people of the Santa Barbara Zoo put in a sweet astro-turf hill for kids to play on and it is one of the most popular attractions. With a little piece of cardboard the little munchkins can get flyin' down the hill.

Here's a few pics:

Feeding the giraffe... more fun for j* or mommy?

Face-off with the gorilla... thank you thick glass.

No coins... but we still got a thumbs up.

Memo to the City of Santa Barbara... thank you for putting the zoo so close to the ocean!

Astro-turf hill without cardboard... luckily no holes in the shorts!

Finals, Toddlers, and Wrinkles...OH MY!

Finals...
J* completed his last final today!!!!! He has worked and studied very hard, and we are very proud of him. We've come a long way over the past 2 years! Way to go babe!

Toddlers...
Okay, just one toddler, but what an life-force he is! He has survived finals as graciously as any two year old could be expected! He and I went to a local cupcake bakery (with a coupon, of course) today to get a cupcake to share with daddy! The last hour before daddy made it home was just about too much for him to handle, but I wish I had a video of how much he enjoyed the bites of chocolate cupcake. Not to mention the joy in finding out that daddy was not going back to the library tonight!

They say children make sense of their experiences through play. Here's an example of j*'s attempts to make sense of law school finals. Over the past few weeks, he's has been packing up a little bag full of toys and saying, "I'm going to school." He walks down the hall to his room, and comes back within a minute with a big grin on his face. When I ask him what he learned about at school, he says, "Wills and trusts!"

I think that l* gets the award for smiling the most during the past few weeks! Thank goodness for his goodness!
Wrinkles...
Calling all friends, family, and beauty experts! My skin and I really need suggestions for a great, budget friendly moisturizer. Leave me a comment with your beauty tips....PLEASE!

Happy Mother's Day

To all of the women who have had a mothering influence on my life I say, "THANK YOU!"

Throughout my life I have been nurtured by friends, sisters, teachers, aunts, grandmothers, in-laws, roommates, cousins, co-workers, neighbors, strangers, and of course my very own mother.

Inspired by your influences, I choose to develop a mother heart!

What an adventure it is proving to be!

(*As you can see, watercolor is one of our new favorite activities! The credit for painting goes to j* and I added my tearing skills!)

Brings Me Joy

Just a quick note about how much joy I find in using our stroller! So many of our friends and ward members helped us to buy this stroller, and I send them thank-you-vibes every time I use it. It is easy to push, fits both boys or only one, makes navigating an airport with two kids a breeze, and even fits in our tiny trunk! I LOVE it! Just thought I would share.

More than Half Full

With J much more occupied with school (finals are approaching), I have had a lot more solo time with the boys. There have been lots of great things to do, but I noticed that about 30 minutes into each great activity, I would be thinking, "If only I weren't alone doing this...This would be so much easier with someone else helping...etc." At one such moment, I looked down to see the boys in the stroller, both smiling and just enjoying the beautiful day. I thought, "Okay, time to see the cup as half full! Make the best of the good that is around me. Enjoy what there is to enjoy, and let a beautiful day with my boys be 'enough'."

View of the boys in the stroller

Our days have been much better since then! The three of us have made it to the library, to the park, and even to the beach together. And when loading them in the car seems like too much, we have just walked to the courtyard or dipped into some watercolors! My cup is much more than 1/2 full! (Plus, my husband will back soon ;))

Just to See You Smile

Spring Cleaning!

Because we live on a college campus, many of our neighbors are in the process of moving. We have been blessed to be able to stay here over the summer, but I have found myself feeling envious of our neighbors' chance to sort/throw out, etc. while moving. So, I thought I would spring clean!

Although it has taken much longer than I would prefer, I am loving it! I have found about an hour a day that I can work on a closet or cabinet. Slow and steady wins the race! One of my favorite projects was giving our book shelf a face lift. With only two bedrooms in our place, our room serves a bed-room, baby nursery, office, library, 'cold storage', and much more. Needless to say, it is not oozing with style! I saw a design show where they sorted all of the books in a room by color, so I thought I would give it a try.

The result is one of my favorite face-lifts ever...and it was FREE! (Since I neglected to take a before picture, I am including a picture of our other book shelf which has not been overhauled:))

Faux Before

Fantastic After!

Even with all of my love for the new look, the best part came a few days after the project. The shelf at j* eye level includes a Bible and Book of Mormon. While he was checking out that shelf, he found both. He grabbed them, put them on the bed, and said, "Mom, read me the scwiptures, pwease!" How could I pass up that kind of request! We had a great time reading several favorite verses and talking about how much God loves us! Gotta love how organization and de-cluttering bring peace and clarity to our lives!

Fun With Cardboard

One of my best 'mom-spirations' ever!

J* is easily bored with his toy selection. As I wondered what I could do (short of getting new toys constantly), I thought of hiding and rotating toys. Since we are very short on storage space, I wasn't sure I could make it work. Then, the mom-spiration'! Cardboard to divide half of the shelf. Look closely, and you will see that there is white cardboard blocking off the back half of each cubby. Every few weeks, I hide the toys that have been out and switch them with toys that have been hiding! This simple idea has breathed new life into our play time! YIPEE!



I have heard people say that children often have more fun playing with the boxes their gifts come in than they have with the actual toys. I am not sure if that is always the case, but we have gotten a lot use out of several different boxes around our house. Here are a few of our cardboard creations! Enjoy.

Car seat box....I mean playhouse!
(complete with pipe cleaner door and window handles)

diaper box...oh, I mean deluxe cook top, stove, and sink combination
(complete with play food that is probably toxic plastic, photoshopped burners ala joey, basin from hospital for the sink, and an old towel bar as the stove handle)