Hittin' the beach

We went out to Lover's Point on Thursday and had so much fun! We didn't stay too long, but it was a great time!

Children's Museum

This was our little trip to the San Jose Children's Museum. It was loads of fun!! We ended at the Cheesecake Factory. Yes all 4 of us, with our 11 children. It was a pretty exciting venture. We shall not discuss it any further.

Conference

This Sunday was General Conference for our Church. Twice a year, our church leaders speak to us as an entire LDS people. It's so great to hear from them and to top it off, we get to sit on our couch and watch it in our jammies. That's right, people, church on TV. Love it! Anyway, it gives us about 8 hours to sit and listen without running around in and out of the house. We try to think of something that we can do while we sit. Usually laundry tops the list, but since that was all done we were free to occupy our sitting bodies otherwise. I worked on my Christmas cards for card group and Clint mastered the Rubik's cube. All in all, a pretty productive time. Plus, the speakers were amazing which was the best part of it all.

Fall Break Fun

The kids are on their 2-week fall break right now. Which basically means, mom is going to go crazy all over again. We are trying to keep super busy, and I mean SUPER busy, so we won't be bored. Here's our schedule so far:

Monday

8:30-11:00 - YMCA

11:00-12:00 shoe store and lunch

12:00-12:45 pharmacy for prescriptions

1:00-3:00 swimming with friends

3:00-5:45 showers, clean up rooms, and dinner

5:45-7:00 pumpkin patch with friends

7:00-8:00 In-N-Out for some delicious neopolitan shakes

8:00 BED

Tuesday

10:30-3:00 Aquarium Mystery Shop

3:00-4:00 Piano lessons

4:00-5:00 get home, change for soccer practice and grab snacks

5:00-6:00 soccer practice

6:00-7:00 grab some fast food for dinner and bring it home so Clint can eat before mutual

7:00-7:30 fit in 30 minutes of wii and then BED

Needless to say, we're tired. Tomorrow is the Children's Museum and Cheesecake Factory! Two days down, so many more to go...

Arts and Crafts part 2

Oh, and this was what Cambria looked like at the end of our painting session.

Arts and Crafts

The kids love to paint. I rarely indulge them , but I decided to let them go for it. I just had to smile at Cambria's selection of paints. I didn't know I had 6 different colors of pink. I guess she needed to coordinate with her shirt, pants, socks, paintbrush and shoes...she's such a girl, no doubt about it!

"Cambria, leave the dog alone!"

It's a popular refrain at our house. She harrasses that dog like no other! Well, some may beg to differ...Mom...Dad. If memory serves, a popular refrain at my home growing up was, "Erin, leave the dog alone!" I guess I had it coming to me.

the cute blanket

For those of you who asked to see the finished result, here it is. For those of you who didn't, look anyway.

In short, I am.

So, I've always been short. I manage just fine, but I'm still shorter than many. It's not really a problem. I just never realized that I couldn't reach the counter without standing on my tiptoes. My arms were full of stuff that I needed to put down. I just couldn't quite make it happen.



Some Things I Can’t Do:

~get things on the top shelf of the grocery store without standing on the shelves
~hand wash the windshield of my car
~retrieve items from the high cabinets without standing on the counter
~slam dunk a basketball
~reach the gas pedal of my car without hugging the steering wheel
~wear 'regular length' jeans without 2-inch heels on
~and apparently, reach the counter with my arms full of stuff

Soccer Stars

The boys had their first soccer games yesterday! Here's a few of the prize winning shots.

Treasure Box

Clint wanted to help Gavin with his Cub Scout requirement for Marbles. He asked his Dad to send us the bag of marbles he had from his youth. Apparently, there was a whole box of stuff that was hanging around the attic. When we got the box in the mail, it was like a dream come true for the kids. There were old toys, pirate hats, stickers, and the greatest bag of marbles ever. They sat on the kitchen floor (because that's where the box was opened) for a good 1/2 hour perusing the merchandise. It was a fantastic afternoon for them.

Oh, and I just noticed that this all occurred on Navy Blue Shirt Day. I crack up when they walk out the door and they all match.

Services Rendered

At church they asked for some volunteers to serve food at the women's shelter. I said I would help out with some of my friends, so we did. When we arrived (oh, how I wish I had taken a picture) to the scary ghetto section of 'Old Town Salinas' (google: Salinas gangs, see what comes up) we circled the block and said a prayer. Yes, it was slightly unsettling. Anywho, we made it into the kitchen and starting cooking dinner. There was no menu planned and no guidance other than the 7 of us and our grand ideas. There was a big fat fridge and a pantry full of various items and we just had to plan and prepare a meal of our choosing in 1 hour. It was interesting but a lot of fun! We served the ladies who came to eat and had a really good night. Thanks for being brave with me, ladies!

80 degrees? I could never believe it.

We are finally getting into our summer here, so we are taking advantage!

California girls

Cambria got to play with her new friend, Elliot, on Tuesday and they had so much fun in the Barbie Jeep. It played music, so they just sat there an jammed out. They even threw the guitar in the back, in true California girl form. What little cuties!

Pepper anyone?

Clint was commissioned by our friends to make Christmas gifts out of some Koa wood that they brought home from Hawaii. There was even a block of wood large enought to make these two pepper grinders. I think they turned out pretty nice, what do you think?