Fall Update

Savanna's birthday party was a success! It seems to me that as kids get older, their parties get easier. All she wanted was a doughnut cake, Hot Cheetos, popcorn, and a movie night with her girl friends. Super easy! It was a good thing too because I was sick with strep throat for close to two weeks and it was about all the energy I could muster to go to the store and get these few items. Still managed to get a picture for the blog too! And, yes, we embarrassed her by singing "Happy Birthday" loudly and making her blow out her candles. :)

I don't know exactly how it happened but Savanna has finally entered Scholar Phase! She now studies 6 to 8 hours per day on her own, without any prodding or pleading. She is reading a book on setting goals and plans out her day meticulously. She studies all morning and early afternoon, works out every day, attends seminary and reads her scriptures, does her chores, and works on the weekends babysitting and gardening- it is AMAZING! She recently was contemplating going back to pubic high school. We wrote out a pros and cons list, had her talk to several people (home schooled and public schooled), and then she fasted and prayed to find out what she should do. To my complete surprise (and relief), she felt she should stay home and prepare herself to start junior college next year. Since that moment any complaints about home schooling have ceased and her motivation to improve in her academics has gone through the roof. It is great to see her not only learning, but enjoying learning (I might even dare say love learning...but that depends on the day and the subject)!

 Savanna's very first cake! She had to make a two-layered frosted cake to bring to her first cake decorating class. Apparently it is harder to make a two-layered cake then one would think!

 Thank goodness for frosting!

 Ta-Da! Super cute, and just in time for her birthday!!

 Every afternoon the boys go out to the garage while Emma naps. They play Foosball, make crafts, play playdough, make forts, eat their lunch, and listen to their books on CD. They are currently listening to the 4th Eragon book on CD- Inheritance. What creative little men.

Speaking of Eragon, Bradley is also reading the series himself and just finished the first book! A whopping 730 pages! Not too shabby for an eight-year-old!!

Brad has his last soccer game next weekend. He is bummed to see it end, but it will be nice to have a little more family time and one less commitment. He finally started up cub scouts again and has completed all the requirements to receive his Wolf Badge! He should be getting that next week and he is very excited. He has worked very hard and has learned a great deal this past year in scouts.

 Like most kids, the boys love animals. We were taking a walk and this horse took a liking to Ben. He galloped right over to him and began sniffing his face. The boys were elated. 

 Benjamin's front teeth are finally coming in! The bad news: he has THREE front teeth. We took him to the dentist last week and he referred us to an oral surgeon. It looks like little Benny (as Emma lovingly calls him) will be having surgery to remove that third tooth some time next year. Poor kid.

 Little Emma is busy as ever. She has been fighting a cold on and off for several weeks. I almost think she might have allergies but I can't even go there mentally right now! I am hoping it is just a weird virus and she will be back to her healthy self very soon. The time change has thrown everyone off but Emma has been the worst. She normally is an early riser (she wakes up around 6am) but with the time change she now has been waking up at 5am! And for the past week she won't nap longer than 45 minutes or an hour which means she spends the majority of the afternoon whining and crying, "Mama, I want to hold you!" Not too fun but we are still enjoying how cute her little voice is (even when she is whining), and we are amazed at how quickly she is learning. She counted to 8 the other day, she knows her ABCs, she can name most of her colors and animals- yeah, she's pretty much a prodigy!

As she has gotten bigger, James keeps saying how much she looks like him. I think this is hysterical because 1. I don't think she looks anything like him (but we humor him) and 2. He thinks he looks nothing like the boys who, in fact, look exactly like him! He was talking about how much Emma looks like him again at dinner last week and Benjamin finally had enough. He said, "Dad, she doesn't look anything like you! She has hair and she is cute!!" Doh!

I wish I had more time to update my dinner blog. I have been trying some amazing recipes lately. During my sickness I watched every food/nutrition documentary on NetFlix. My favorites were "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and "Forks Over Knives." Both advocate a high plant-based diet rich in fruits, veggies, whole grains, seeds, nuts, beans, and animal products sparingly (Sounds like a scripture I read once...hmmm...). I found the "Forks Over Knives" cookbook at the library along with another fascinating book called "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I think I have finally found the balance I have been looking for as I have studied nutrition over the past five years. Going too extreme in any direction has given me great results, but not long-lasting, continual results. These books talk more about a way of life that is based on eating high nutrient food MOST of the time. Eating to fuel your body, eating to live a life without excess weight or disease. But unlike some of the other avenues I have tried it isn't super rigid. It is just common sense mixed with desire to care for yourself, our animals, and our planet. 

So far the fam loves the recipes! They are basically vegan or vegetarian recipes but they are hearty and very tasty and they don't involve any rare or faux-type products that are costly and hard to find. Above is an AMAZING pizza bar we made for the missionaries. Tomato sauce, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, red bell pepper, olives, black beans, corn, cilantro, spinach, and  nutritional yeast (or a small amount of cheese) baked on whole wheat pita breads circles.

 Our make-shift Panini pan! Veggie Paninis are one of our new favorites- hummus, green onion, red pepper, mushroom, avocado, spinach, and cilantro. Grill on each side for 1 minute. It lightly steams the veggies and warms the hummus. The kids say it tastes like pizza and even my husband will eat them!

 

 I started my new workout program, Rev Abs. I know I say this about every Beachbody program, but I REALLY love it! I think I have just finally fallen in-love with exercise. I love the way it makes me feel (and look). I enjoy working out different parts of my body and feeling stronger. Just prior to getting sick I completely fell off the wagon with my diet. Not sure what I was thinking but I was eating very BAD! Then I was in bed for 2 weeks and I had a lot of time to contemplate my actions (and the consequences of my actions). I renewed my commitment to take good care of myself both with exercise and diet, not for 90 days, but forever. It is worth the time, energy, and preparation. Plus, I deserve it. :)

The boys have been practicing magic tricks. This is Brad's new trick which he calls, "The Magic Tunnel." 

Oct- Nov 2012

Boo!

 We had a great Halloween this year. We started it out early by attending the ward's Trunk or Treat celebration, followed that up with pumpkin carving later in the week, and then ALL 6 of us dressed up on Halloween for the first time EVER for an evening of fun! What were we you ask and what did we do? Well, keep reading and you will find out!

 Brad and Ben's pumpkins (Brad's is the one on the right that looks like it has some sort of oral trauma- he was very impressed with how "scary" it looked- scary indeed)!

 

 Minnie Mouse all ready for the youth Halloween party!

 Little China Doll (or Mulan as the kids called her).

 Our little vampire. The missing teeth made him look like he really had fangs! Someone asked him if he was Edward. He said, "Edward? Who's Edward? I'm Dracula!" Duh!

 And no Halloween would be complete without a superhero- Holy Candy Bars, Batman!

 James was actually home most of the evening and was able to be with the kids on Halloween for the first time in FIVE years! We headed to Chipotle for an early dinner (if you go in costume you can pick anything off the menu for $2! We fed our whole family for $12!). 

 We then stopped at Costco. If you ever want to shop at Costco and have the store to yourself, go there at 6pm on Halloween. It was a ghost town! No lines, nothing!!

 Finally we went to our old neighborhood for trick or treating, and the kids got a TON of candy! As usual I let them pick out 15 pieces to keep and Dad took the rest to work. It was a really fun night, but I am glad that it is over and that the candy is out of my house!!

Oh, and here we are: Scout Master and Fed Ex Delivery Girl (It was the best we could do on short notice)!

And here is what is left of our garden pumpkins. We are going to make pumpkin turkey chili on Thanksgiving- simple and yummy. One holiday down!

October 2012

August 2012

 James and I had such an amazing anniversary! Savanna was a doll and watched the littles for us for the afternoon and early evening. We decided to do a progressive lunch/dinner and try out three different restaurants for an appetizer, entree, and dessert. We started with clam chowder from Hoagies in Pismo Beach. We walked around the beach area and chatted. To be honest we weren't super impressed with Pismo. Besides the food there are just a bunch of T-shirt/souvenir shops that appear to have the exact same merchandise! But it is always nice to get away with my love WITHOUT the children! We checked on the kids briefly and then headed to Jocko's, the best steak joint on the Coast (which happens to be 3 blocks from our house!). I'm not sure how we have managed to go 5 years without going to Jocko's but I have a feeling we will be going there as often as possible now that we have tasted their steak! We are not super steak people, but the steak at this place is out of this world! We found out later that James gets a pretty nice officer discount and he has already been back with his partner to take advantage of that (he brought me home leftovers too)! We were going to go somewhere else for dessert but we were seriously full so we rented some movies and cuddled up for the night. Before our movies we pulled out the letters we had written to each other over the 2 years he was on his mission. Oh my gosh, I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! We were so funny, and immature, and funny, and cheesy, and did I mention funny? It was a blast! We stayed up way too late but fortunately the kids let us nap the next day! :)

James' parents had a time share in Avila for the week and on top of our fun day, Kathleen watched the kids for TWO nights while we snuck away! It was like a Happy Anniversary to us week! We watched the Olympics, swam, walked on the beach, played board games, and slept in- it was perfect and just what we both have been needing for a long, LONG time! I just adore my husband. He is truly my best friend. I enjoy his company so much and it is great that after 10 years and 3 more babies that we can still connect and have fun together. 10 years down and eternity to go, and I couldn't be happier!

 The kids made us Anniversary cards and the boys gave us their very last dollar because they knew our anniversary budget was  not very large. :)

 We saw this place in Pismo. Excitedly I thought it was a raw vegan cafe but after glancing at the menu and seeing chimichangas, taquitos, and carne asada, I am thinking their sign means something completely different to them! 

 This little guy liked the pier in Avila.

 Our little princess will be two in less than a week! She is getting so big and is talking so much- and singing (as you can see above)! She sings constantly, and every morning for family devotional we have to sing her favorite, the ABCs, before we are "allowed" to sing a hymn.

 Emma's birthday present from her Auntie. She LOVES this baby! She carries it with her everywhere and pushes it in its stroller. She won't sleep with her two other dolls she has been sleeping with since birth. All she wants is this baby. It's darling. Girls are so much fun!

 James has been working hard as usual! He has one last night of training and then he is finally on his own!! He will be on probation until next March, but he will get his own car and beat and will finally be able to spread his wings a little bit. Bradley has been taking over some of his Daddy duties on his work nights by rocking Emma Leigh to sleep. Love those two!

 Ben has been doing my Les Mills Pump program with me every day for over a week. He told me that he wants to see results so he is going to exercise with me for at least 2 weeks- must be nice to see results in two weeks! I am 30 days into this program, and I absolutely love it! I will be posting more pictures at the end of the 90 days. Who knew lifting weights could be so much fun??

 We hit the big rock show a couple of weeks ago and the boys are all excited about rocks again. We have been reading books from the library and they have been playing "rock show" in the front yard. I love how Brad soaked the rocks in water in my Tupperware and made his own "jewelry" out of plastic rings. They have been rock hunting around the neighborhood and sampling garden rocks from various properties (Shhhh). Now to convince them that they can't "borrow" other people's rocks and then try to sell the rocks back to them!

Poor Brad dropped a hot bowl of Shepherd's pie on his foot and it totally blistered up for days! Who knew mashed potatoes could be that dangerous? He is finally able to walk and put on shoes. He had his first soccer practice today and all went well. He is in the "big kid" division now with larger fields, goal keepers, and referees. He seemed intimidated but I know that he will try his best and do wonderful.

What else? We started school this week. It is going great! The boys have been studying geology and math. Savanna is gearing up to start her Algebra lessons and has recently started her own YouTube channel with hopes to put videos up about hair, makeup, etiquette, and modesty. I am reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy which have to be some of the best books ever written. I also was recently called to be the nursery leader for our ward so I will be starting that on Sunday. Seminary and scouts begin next week. We are dropping formal piano lessons for the Fall to simplify some scheduling issues. Savanna is going to mentor Bradley in his piano and practice on her own in the mean time.

As usual, very busy here. Still a little too busy but I am making time for myself every day to exercise and making sure that I get out on dates with my husband and children and friends each month. Balance: it is always what we are striving for and very hard to achieve. I will keep trying!

At the pool at San Luis Bay Inn.