You think your bedtime routine is tough?!? Most people just have to get their kids in bed, not quell a fully armed uprising; at least we still have Hazel.

While Chris was at SOS last month the kids and I drove to California to visit with family and friends. My mom was brave enough to fly out to Abq and drive with me. It was an adventure. The drive over there included a stop in Colorado Springs to see some friends, a trip to the emergency room when Calvin got both his legs full of splinters and an almost towing when Jonah managed to silently render the passenger side door of my van unclosable. Fortunately Mario at the Reno Kia service center was able to help me fix it over the phone. We were so close to Elk Grove we didn’t know if we could stand taking the rest of the day to get towed to Reno (from nowheretown, NV) and get the car fixed. After three days in the car with three kids and a dog I never thought I’d say “I’m so glad to be driving again!” But I did. So here are some random pictures, possibly in no particular order. If I feel like it I’ll do another post later with more pictures.

The boys took swimming lessons while we were there (I got the idea from reading sirmaxalot when Christen took her boys to swimming lessons in WA.)

Jonah is the one floating.

Calvin and I did a class together.

The last day of the class the kids were offered the chance to jump off the diving board. The boys were so excited to do it. There were not many kids that wanted to, so they each got to go a few times.

While the boys swam Hazel hung out with my mom and snacked it up. (more…)

Chris helped me find an easier way to do posts. My Mac was not wanting to work with our website, so I was having a really hard time doing quick posts and so I wasn’t doing it. So here are few pictures to get the ball rolling.

Chris and Hazel having a conversation.

The boys being cute.

Ellie wanted to sit on Hazel’s lap. Turns out babies don’t have much lap to work with, but she found a comfy spot.

I like this one because Hazel looks so serious and you can see her little toes sticking out from under Ellie’s collar.

So excited!

Sometimes there are ninja fights before bedtime. Naturally they must wear their goggles.

We’ve been swimming as much as possible. Hazel gets tuckered out. (So do we!)

Here’s just some random pictures from this week

We went bowling. As you can see I still didn’t win, but I at least beat Jonah this time. I’m not sure if that’s more sad for me or happy for him that beating him is a step up for me.

The boys took turns holding Hazel while we bowled, sometimes arguing over who got to hold her. They sure do love their sister.

Calvin isn’t quite ready to hold her on his own (well, at home he can, but somewhere like the bowling alley, not so much) so he sat on Chris’s lap and she sat on his lap.


Silly faces at breakfast.

A friends and her daughter came over the other day. She and Hazel did a good job entertaining each other.

Hazel sleeping with the teddy bear her Aunt Rayna and Uncle Noah got her for Christmas. She often rolls onto her side when I put her in bed and reaches out so she can feel the bear. Then she’ll go to sleep.

Well, I honestly thought that it would take a little longer than two days of Jenn being gone before Jonah and I started to devolve; but despite our best efforts last night found us at a monster truck rally eating junk food, drinking pure sugar, and making public spectacles of ourselves. Jonah was super-psyched up until the first truck started his engine and he realized what loud was. Even with the earplugs it looked like it might be an early end to the evening. Luckily they were quickly interspersed with dirt bikes and go-carts which he definitely loved. By the end of the night he was actually able to watch the trucks without covered ears (not sure if this was a sign of fear being conquered or simple hearing loss). Even though he didn’t get in bed until 11:15 it was worth it; we had a great time betting who was going to win waving our flag. I’m jealous that Jonah still has the mindset that it’s all about what’s being done, not who’s doing it. During one bathroom break he saw one of the bikers still in uniform (14 yrs old at most) and asked if he could talk to him. He went over and told him that he was a really good racer and wanted to get a picture with him. Then Jonah said he had a secret and told him that next time he raced when he waved his flag it meant that he wanted him to do a big jump. The biker said he’d do his best. Thanks again to our friend Jason for the invite, more pictures here.

Well, you got to hand it to him – at least he thinks he’s got it all figured out.  You never know though, maybe I should call Caitlin’s mom and let her know so she can start saving now – just in case.

I was very proudly presented with this the other day by Jonah.  Take note all current or future parents:  The most valuable thing you can give to children is your time; big shiny expensive toys are fun for a little bit (and trust me, Jonah has his share), but apparently are easily usurped by memories of bedtime stories, $2 army men battles, and even post-bathtime hair dentangler.  I love you too buddy, I’ll do my best to try and keep your world magical as long as I can.

Batman and Robin are so last year, these two bring a superfighting team that transcends even copyrights.  As long as you’re open to it, things have a way of working out.  Last Saturday I had really been looking forward to going to Home Depot with the boys to do a kid project they have once a month, but we ended up having a slower morning and didn’t make it.  When the kids came with me to walk down the street to send back our Netflix, we found a big cardboard box with an arrow pointing down the street.  Well, of course in the land of two and four year-olds such a thing demands to be followed lest one miss out out buried treasure or something better.  It turned out to be a garage sale which is apparently the most exciting thing ever.  The boys got the two costumes, a dinosaur book, a star wars book, and a DVD about tractors all for $3!  Suffice it to say the rest of the day was spent saving the day from evil villians (which turned out to be me in most cases).  So, today’s tip for kids and adults alike, if you’re walking down a path and there’s an mysterious arrow, follow it – you don’t want to miss out on superpowers.

Alright, I realize that this videois barely audible and most of the characters in it make those blurry bigfoot sighting tapes look like HD by comparison, but I was caught off guard and didn’t have my actual camera with me at the time.  The point is that after a looooooooong week away working night shifts I made it back early enough last Friday morning to get to take Jonah to school and see his class take their turn performing the monthly flag ceremony.  Basically they say the pledge of allegiance and sing a few songs.  Main points to take away:  1)  Jonah is the blurry orange blob.  2)  The purple skirted blob next to him is the much talked about “McKenzie” who I can only assume has already picked out the wedding date based on how much he brings her up.  3)  While Jonah may lack memory/volume skills when it comes to the actual lyrics he totally made up for it with the extra effort he put into all the hand signals that went along with the song.  4)  Don’t blame Jonah for my NYPD Blue type rocking camera style, I was jockeying for position between about twenty other parents all trying to catch last minute videos of their own on their phones.

I have be informed by powerful online forces that it is now my job to pick up the slack on cute kid posts since some people seem to think that reuniting families is more important that web posts.  Luckily, due to vacation induced hiatuses of our own, IHJ has a back-up of unposted cuteness to get through.  So, due to the time off and the afore mentioned cuteness, I’m going to extend the trivia deadline another week and get straight to the cute; in this case personified by a doctor, a brave little boy and the journey to restore him to his full manliness. (more…)