The Oehring Clan

31 weeks

2011-11-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

Feeling pretty good. Baby Noah is carrying different than my other two and doesn't constantly have feet in my ribs which is nice :) I'm definitely slowing down now that I'm getting so much bigger.

Campfire in the Backyard

2011-11-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

We've really enjoyed the chiminea our neighbors gave us! Thanksgiving break provided some great family time. Nothing like sitting outside, eating marshamallows!

Getting them ready

Time to roast! The kids hold their marshmallow in for about 5 seconds so it's not really roasted :)

Finally, time to eat!

Yummy!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Check me out! Blogging Halloween the day after! Only because we ran poor Justin, who was borderline sick, into the ground apparently and he's having a slow morning recovering (slept in till 10am!) so I'm sitting on the couch with him and thought "what can I do while I sit? Blog!" We had a great Halloween-actually the whole week leading up to it was fun. You almost don't need trick or treating with all the parties and events there are! I selected just two events for us.

Halloween storytime at the library. The kids got to dress up, do storytime, then trick-or-treat at the 3 different desks in the library. It was fun!

Our darling angel.

Outside the car at the library-the sun was really bright!

Then, we had the ward trunk-or-treat. It was a potluck dinner, games, and trunk or treat event. I took my cat litter cake-I love to make it at Halloween time! I think the kids got just as much candy that night as they did on actual Halloween night.

Face-painting was included in the festivities! First time Lindsey's had her face painted!

Holding the heavy baskets.

Sporting the vampire teeth she won at the ward party.

Finally, Halloween day actually came! We went over to Jared's parents' house and went through their neighborhood. It was very successful. And, it was perfect weather, meaning not cool enough to chill anyone, but not muggy and warm!

I bought a bag of cobwebs that ended up not getting used, but Lindsey found them and insisted we decorate our car so we let the kids drape it over their seats in the back. Our wonderfully intelligent dog that jumped in the backseat while we were driving and got himself stuck in the cobwebs! (okay, I actually shoved him back in them for this picture b/c he climbed out before I got my camera.)

Angel and pumpkin dog.

Pumpkin outfit was too big, so we tried witch dog. It also didn't fit right, so Maverick escaped having to be dressed up for Halloween this year!

I had to come up with something fun to use my pregnant belly this year. I decided to be a Magic 8 ball. Remember? the childhood fortune-telling toy?! I painted it on myself by doing a freezer paper stencil (for the first time). It was very easy!

The (unplanned) herd.

His face is saying "Mommy just woke me up from the car and made me throw on this costume and walk out in the street. I'm not sure I know what's going on yet..." He woke up quickly though and enjoyed the evening!

I think it was two years ago that I learned that our little kids' legs were tired long before they were done trick or treating, so I remembered the wagon this year! Here they are riding home after collecting all their candy.

Justin got a second wind and decided to walk home, doing various goofy walks!

Inspecting the passed-out cow in Grandma's front yard! Looks like we wore that cow out herding him around the neighborhood!

Total candy collected: Lindsey=3 lbs and Justin=2.5 lbs (he did every other house at some points because his sister was just too fast for him!) It was great fun. And, I'm very proud of my daughter-this was her first year with no shyness. She ran up to every door, said 'trick or treat' and then said 'thank you' before running to the next house! Guess we're now counting down days to Thanksgiving!!

New Family Picture

2011-10-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Taken at JCPenney and received for a steal of a deal thanks to Groupon.

23 weeks and counting!

2011-10-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided this week that I'm officially more uncomfortable than I am scared to have another baby, so I am now counting down! 17 weeks! You know, baby's finally big enough to make it hard to get socks on, pick up toys off floor, exercise...and then there's always the pressing on the bladder which is uncomfortable and the waking at night and millions of pillows in our bed trying to support me. And, the not so good part, I'm ONLY 23 weeks and it's already like this! :) Good news, we might have finally chose a first name...we'll see :) Here I am.

Little Helper

2011-09-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

I realized that poor Justin just doesn't get as many pictures taken of him, life is just busier, he's not any less cute than Lindsey!! So, I decided to capture this little moment-my little man helping with the dishes. He's great at it, and has finally stopped pouring water out of the sink. It's so nice to have company during the day, especially with mundane chores like dishes!

All done up

2011-09-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a concert called "Lest We Forget". It's a concert our church stake puts on every year on the weekend of September 11th. It's beautiful-last year I sang in it, but this year I was out of town for too many of the practices. It's very moving, patriotic music with the walls in the back of the cultural hall covered in the pictures of current/past servicemen. Well, we got all ready to go-Lindsey got on her Sunday best and even requested I use the curling iron to curl the bottom of her hair, so then I did a few photos of my girl. Of course, they were indoor because it's too hot and windy outside right now :) That is according to Lindsey.

What's a photo shoot without the family dog?

In the meantime, Justin's chillin' in the kitchen, being a boy!

Texas Wildfires

2011-09-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Down here in Texas we've been having an awful drought-the worst in at least the past 50 years I've heard. As a result, wildfires have been popping up all over the state. One of the worst ones I've heard of is in Bastrop, but then close to home there's been one about an hour north of me. Smoke filled the skies and it smelled like campfires for days. Here's a couple picture I took of the smoke-my camera doesn't adequately capture the colors in the sky. Between the setting sun and the smoke, the sky and sun were some shade of red and orange. It has been scary and many prayers are being sent heavenward for relief. Everything that looks like clouds is actually smoke. From our house you could not see this, but just around the corner the trees/houses cleared out and you could actually see on the horizon where the smoke was billowing up from the fire.

Body Art

2011-09-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

It was finally 'cool' enough (it's all relative down here in Houston) to get some organizing done in the garage, but how do I keep two little ones entertained while I do that? Well, I had some scrap plywood so I sent them to work painting and designing it. Well, that quickly digressed into...see for yourself!

Body art! What will a mom let the kids do in order to let her work? Apparently, I will let my children decorate themselves :)

Backs...

...and fronts!

Pure joy.

Of course, then one needs to get cleaned up so we took a bubble bath in the inflatable pool in the backyard. A super fun, once-in-a-lifetime kind of day! :)

18 weeks with #3

2011-08-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well, we're on baby #3 and haven't ever been the type to picture document every week of the growing belly bump, but this time we thought we'd do better. But, we lost the 8 week picture and then didn't take one again until 18 weeks-time just flies these days! So, here I am-showing away. I can't believe how soon this baby will be here-fall will come, holidays will pass, and then it's baby time! (ignore my right-before-bed-no-makeup-or-hair-done face :) ).

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

Fireworks? Banned. Husband? Sick, and working on school when not too sick. Me and kids? Quiet holiday weekend. I got up and did 2 hours of yard work first. Then, we spent the rest of the morning at the Oehring's, swimming and then attending the Cypress ward lunch. It was yummy and fun to see some friends from the ward!! Lindsey (and Justin) enjoyed running around with her preschool buddies and other kids, and then they came home with some fun star balloons from a table centerpiece. It was good! I'm so grateful for our country, our freedoms, and all those who sacrifice for it. Happy Fourth!

Best, New (easy!) Cooking Creations

2011-06-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

So, at the grocery store they had a sample of the yummiest tart, and ever since then, I've had to make it. I don't even remember the event-something at the Oehring's :) Anyway, I made these two tarts and they were so easy and SO yummy! Plus, they looked so fancy :-) I was very pleased (as was everyone's tummies!) Both recipes courtesy of Pillsbury.

Strawberry-Kiwi Tart

Crust

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Filling

1 1/2 cups vanilla low-fat yogurt

1 container (8 oz) reduced-fat sour cream

1 box (4-serving size) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

Topping

1 cup halved fresh strawberries

2 kiwifruit, peeled, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

Directions:
1 Heat oven to 450°F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell, using 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom or 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
2 In medium bowl, mix filling ingredients with wire whisk until well blended. Pour into cooled baked shell. Arrange strawberries and kiwifruit on filling.
3 In small microwavable bowl, microwave marmalade uncovered on High 5 to 10 seconds or until melted. Brush over fruit. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until set before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining tart.

Sometimes, pie crust bubbles up when it's baked. If bubbles form, press them down gently with the back of a wooden spoon. Continue baking until the crust is done.

Blueberry-Lemon Tart

Ingredients:

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

2 containers (6 oz each) lemon yogurt

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/3 to 1/2 can (21 oz) blueberry pie filling

1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

1 Heat oven to 375°F. Remove pie crusts from pouches; unroll 1 crust onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Unroll second pie crust over first crust, matching edges and pressing to seal. With rolling pin, roll out into 14-inch round.

2 Fold 1/2 inch of crust edge under, forming border; press to seal seam. If desired, flute edge. Prick crust generously with fork.

3 Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4 In medium bowl, beat yogurt and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Spread evenly over cooled baked crust. Spread pie filling evenly over yogurt mixture. Top with blueberries. Cut into wedges to serve. Store in refrigerator.

Our Beautiful Babies

2011-06-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

Beautiful big sister

Wonderful friends

New toys-new fun

2011-06-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

These days, Lindsey insists I take a picture of just about everything. I got Justin some cheap duplos (like, the giant legos) and the kids had fun building some towers. Here are their creations:

New Pajamas!

2011-06-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Grandma Oehring was in Utah for a week visiting Nicole and cousin Ryann, and we missed her a lot! But, she returned with some cute new pajamas for the kids! (Lindsey and Ryann got matching pajamas!) They love them! Thanks, Grandma!

Lindsey's Dance Pictures

2011-06-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

First Dance Recital

2011-06-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, Lindsey made it through a year of dance classes and got to do her first recital. She danced at the Joee Schapiro studio. The recital was held in a local high school auditorium. I was extremey concerned that it would be too overwhelming and wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't dance, but what do you know? Our little girl is growing up and did her dances and all! It was precious!

All ready to walk out the door. She really enjoyed getting to wear make-up!

Back stage and all set for her tap number. The theme of the recital was "The Land of the Sweets" so all the dances were related to sweets/candy/etc... Lindsey's tap number was done to the song "C is for Cookie".

Changed and ready for her ballet dance. They danced to the Winnie-the-Pooh song with their bears.

After their dances, all the girls got a trophy. Lindsey was thrilled!

Her whole class. All the girls did a great job! No one froze on stage!

Lindsey (a little tired of pictures) and her WONDERFUL teacher, Ms. Paige. She was amazing with Lindsey. Even on an off day for Lindsey, Ms. Paige was patient and great with the little ones! We will miss her!

An after-recital treat! For the dancer and patient brother.

A short clip from her tap dance, I believe :) I can't get her other dance to upload to blogger. All the shaking is due to Justin climbing on me. Jared had a work conference this weekend (unbelievable how things always happen at the same time when all our other weekends are uneventful!) so I was taking video and pictures with our little camera and keeping Justin quiet! I took more pictures than video because I know ultimately pictures will last longer and can be in a book. We ended up ordering the video of the whole recital so Jared could see it.

The birthday party for the birthday boy!

2011-05-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is growing up! We celebrated his 2nd birthday this May! We're so happy to have Jared's family close to celebrate with us! Justin relished in the attention and fun of his special day!

New trains.

A helpful sister.

Big truck for our big man, from Grammy and Grandpa.

Lindsey reading the card she wrote to Justin. Such a sweet sister!

Not sure who the cowboy presents were for...Justin, or uncles?

No cowboy is complete without a valiant steed!

Justin's cake-Lindsey insisted on helping so I let her put the cars on the road.

New trains-built by Uncle Jason-the ultimate track builder.

The whole bunch enjoying cake time.

This time, he got to blow out candles and they were actually his! (unlike when he snuck in a blew out his sister's candles for her birthday!)

We couldn't ask for a better son. What a blessing he is in our lives. An easy-going, fun-loving, attention seeking, goofy, dare devil little miracle!

How old is he? TWO he says! With two pointer fingers because he couldn't do two on one hand! Always solving his own problems. We love you, Justin!

Justin's actual birth day!

2011-05-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

Justin's actual birthday started with a trip to Dunkin' Donuts for 'breakfast' :) Yum!

So happy that her brother has a birthday!

Chow down, big boy!

Need a drink to wash it all down.

Here he is looking his best! I even did his hair "pikey" for him because he likes that :) Probably the only day he's been out in public with it like that. Plus, I put nothing in it so after it dries it just falls down. Still, I think it's cute!

Ask Justin, "How old are you?" He will say "TWO!" and show you his two fingers, just like this picture!

Words do not express the happiness he brings into our lives! Happy 2 years and here's to many many more!

Justin Turns TWO

2011-05-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe our baby boy turned two! And, he seems so grown up! On his birthday, we took him to the zoo.

We watched the sea lions and other animals.

Pet the goats.

Got cotton candy.

Our zoo is in the middle of a huge park-Herman Park (maybe Hermann?) which has a lot of stuff, including a small train that rides around the park. Justin loves trains, so we decided this would be perfect for his birthday.

He's not asleep-he's actually very excited about the train, but he was also quite scared when we first got on and wouldn't leave my side!

After a fun day downtown, we stopped to get icees on the way home at Burger King.

I'm not sure how much the kids liked the icees, but they sure enjoyed the crowns and spinning around on the swivel chairs.

Using the super-fat straw.

Happy 2nd birthday to our favorite boy! You have been such a blessing in our lives.

No nap? Not yet!

2011-05-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Justin hasn't been sleeping well at night-waking up quite a few times. I couldn't figure out what was wrong and then I remembered that last time this happened it was because he wasn't tired enough so I cut his nap down and it solved the problem. But, at not quite two, I was NOT ready for him to give up his nap. One day, he was in an especially good mood, so I thought I'd just let him push through the afternoon and see what happened. Well, turns out he's not ready to give up naps just yet. He sat down for one minute and then I came back to find this:

Not to fear though! Big sister is here to take care of him! She removed the stick he was carrying, and carefully tucked him in with a blanket and some toilet paper (who knows?)

Guess we're still taking naps! Hooray! (update: he is now sleeping fine at night. I just have to wake him up from his nap after an hour and a half.)

Bed Head

2011-04-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Blue Bell Fun Run

2011-04-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Up in Brenham, Blue Bell (only the best ice cream company in the nation!!) sponsors a race for the local high school. There's a kids 1k, a 5k, 10k, and 10k relay. Jared's family and us all signed up for the 5k. I haven't been running so I started training a couple months ago, but jumped in too fast with bad shoes and gave myself a stress fracture in my foot! Ouch! So, I really didn't train at all for it (probably why it killed me!). Plus, Jared and I had to take turns pushing the kiddos! The best part? Free Blue Bell ice cream! The bummer? At 8am before the race I didn't feel like ice cream. By the end of the race, it didn't sound good either! I was very dissapointed in myself, :) but I had an obligatory ice cream treat anyway :)

Before the race

Justin screamed for 90% of the race. It was kind of sad. He usually rides just fine, so I guess he wasn't feeling it that morning. Lindsey was great. Everyone kept yelling at me "Go Mom!! Don't let him win!" It was kind of fun! But, as you can see, a little ice cream erases any memory of the race.

After the race.

Family Pictures

2011-04-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

While Jared's sister and her family were in town, we took a few pictures of people:

Jared and Nicole with spouses.

...plus kids

Jared and niece Ryann

Trying to capture a picture of grandparents with their three young grandkids? Almost impossibe!

Grandma and her little girls!

Duck, Duck, Water Turkey? (like the game ya know! duck, duck, goose!)

2011-04-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

Feeding the ducks at the ponds in Vickie and Klaus' neighborhood is always a desired pasttime of the kids, so when cousin Ryann was in town, we had to go. It was great! We've got some mallards, some other white ducks, and then these large 'water turkeys'. We don't know what their real name is. The ducks are so tame, they're pretty fearless-in that they'll eat out of your hand/off your feet and you can even pet them or pick them up while they eat. We feed them deer feed corn b/c bread is actually not good for ducks when they get too much. We loaded the kids up in the wagon and away we went!

Lindsey really enjoyed taking care of baby Ryann.

Uncle Clint helping the kids feed the ducks.

We love seeing the moms and babies.

Unfortunately, hardly any babies ever survive-but they're cute right now. (Well, maybe not unfortunate-they would quickly overrun the lakes and become a big problem!)

I asked Justin to show me the ducklings, so he threw his arms out and porclaimed "Ta-Da!"

Bayou WIldlife Park

2011-04-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

The Bayou Wildlife Park is a very fun place to go! You get to feed and see the funnest animals! The best part, perhaps, is buying enough feed buckets to feed animals from your car on the drive in-emus, large deer/antelope, ostriches, and other stuff. The emus are kind of ugly up close, and somewhat violent eaters-they peck very fast and hard.

Feeding an ostrich

One of the large, deer-type animals. They have the wettest, grossest noses! So, watch out or you get slimed!

The kids each got a pony ride. Lindsey enjoyed it.

Justin was very hesitant, but enjoyed it too.

I think Ryann might have enjoyed it the most! She loved it!

There's a handful of deer that hang around that you can pet. This one got up and followed Justin around for awhile and kept trying to steal his apple.

Lindsey with antlers.

Besides driving in and walking around to see some animals, you get a tram ride to see the majority of the large animals that live at the park. Here is a father emu with his kids. Male emus care for the babies and will usually kill others' babies, but for some reason, this male adopted a group of chicks besides his own-and you could tell because half of them were a bit bigger. What a good dad! And baby emus are so cute!

Feeding animals from the tram ride.

This guy had the best head of horns ever-the tour leader warned us to keep head/arms inside the tram because this guy is was relatively young and didn't really keep good track of his horns-and sure enough they came swinging pretty close!

Feeding the bison (buffalo?). They try to steal your buckets so you have to hold on pretty tight.

Feeding a camel.

Did you know there's different kind of zebras? Some have the distinct black and white stripes, but there was also some that have a light brown stripe too. Interesting. Also interesting to me was that the zebras never domesticate. They will not come up to eat from your bucket-not even the babies that are born in the park!

Getting a little hot and tired.

Petting the goats.

It was a great trip!! Always tiring, but well worth it!

The Zoo

2011-04-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

We didn't just lounge around while Nicole and Clint and Ryann were here-we went to the zoo!! It was a little harder trying to get a large group of people to move together...the more you have the slower you go! But we managed-saw the elephants for Lindsey, monkeys for Ryann, and everything else for Justin (he doesn't care what we see.)

Nathan and not-then-but-now fiancee, Candace!

Spotting the baby monkey.

Uncle Clint quickly became the favorite uncle when he bought the kids cotton candy.

First time for Justin, and it was good!

We love the carousel at our zoo!

Justin on the okapi.

I think Lindsey's on the tapir. Cousin Ryann also rode the carousel, but it was a little intense so her and her daddy moved from an animal to the bench until the ride ended.

Parking at the zoo was not good when we got there, so we ended up parking in the Natural History museum parking garage, so after the zoo, we stopped by the butterfly exhibit at the museum.

Got a butterfly right on my arm!

And finally, playing with the giant, really heavy, solid, maybe marble?, ball that is completely supported by a thin layer of water that you can spin it on!

What a fun day!!

What a tiring day! He fell asleep eating the cotton candy-not the blue on his face, hand, and even in the door handle.

2011-04-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

Back in the end of March/beginning of April, Jared's sister and family came to visit (Nicole, Clint, and baby Ryann!) We had so much fun. It'd been too long since we saw them, and it was our first time seeing Ryann who was already 11 months old! We had plenty of quality playtime and just hang-out time! Lindsey and Justin LOVED playing with their new cousin.

The kids also enjoy their many uncles, and Opa-always good for a thrill! Especially Uncle Clint!

Jason's always up for a good beating :)

I believe that's Kyle who was being pinned down...

...and Justin who was encouraged to come beat him-all in good fun of course!

The weekend they were here was General Conference weekend-nice and quiet, spending time together, listening to our church leaders give direction!

What a faithful little one! (for all two seconds that he's capable of sitting still)

We realize it wasn't Easter weekend, but Vickie had a little egg hunt with the grandkids anyway-to see them all having fun!

Cracking eggs on heads.

Ryann is such a doll!!

'A' for Effort, Lindsey!

2011-04-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I had some gummy bears (that I'd planned on using in preschool but we ran out of time) so after lunch I let the kiddos have a few. Justin, as always, stuffed his whole handful in his mouth and then was fussing because he didn't have any more. Well, he stopped fussing, so I turned around and Lindsey, who has her moments as a great sharer, proclaimed that she'd given him one more of hers! I told her thank you and she said very enthusiastically, "Yeah! I just took one of mine from my mouth and gave it to him!" hmm...not exactly what we want! But, she gets an A for sharing, and a lesson on germs later :)

More March Birthdays

2011-04-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

Jared and I also celebrated our birthdays in March. It's nice to have his family around to celebrate. I don't have any pics from my party, but it was nice. Jared wanted a pie and ice cream instead of a cake, so I did that. I got everything ready for his party and then realized I didn't have candles! So, I got one of our big ones and lit it. Jared decided he liked it so much he wants to do that every year! :) Another year gone, another year to come!

Lindsey's party: the after-party

2011-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Ah, the after-party! Presents-opened. Cake and ice cream-eaten. Time to relax!
We spent the evening in the backyard visiting and playing.

Not so sure about grass, especially this pokey Texas grass!

Justin and cousin Ryann enjoyed some time at the water table.

She was surprisingly tolerant of Justin's splashing.

Sporting his new clothes!

The best part of the evening? A beautiful, impromtu serenade by the birthday girl. She sang and sang forever-just made-up songs about her party and whatnot. Even our neighbors had to poke their heads over to see what the occasion was! Her face is so expressive!

Good ol' fashion relaxin'!

One tired bunch of boys!

What a day! Happy 4th birthday to our favorite girl!!

Lindsey's party: the middle

2011-03-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

Alright, after presents, we moved on to birthday cake!! Lindsey specifically requested a pink cookie cake. I was really excited to decorate it just right for her, but put it off till too late, and she happened to be around while I had to decorate it. She begged me to let her help, and although I knew it wouldn't be what I wanted, I knew letting her help would make her happier than a 'perfectly' decorated cake. This is what we came up with:

What you are seeing is her cake. A pink flower in each corner. The green she added on each one is a leaf. The orange next to "birthday" is a sun (although as I type this post, I asked her what the orange was, and she said they were caterpillars!). And sprinkles were also courtesy of Lindsey :)

She was THRILLED with her cake.

Waiting for her cake. She gets pretty serious when all attention is focused on her!

Here is Daddy putting it down while we sing Happy Birthday.

Are you ready for this?? The next picture is THE BEST one from her party :) A big THANKS to Aunt Nicole for managing to capture it! So, we were just finishing the Happy Birthday song, Lindsey was at the table with her cake in front of her, and Justin was hanging out with Kyle in the next seat. We sang the last "happy birthday to you." Before Lindsey (or anyone for that matter) could take a breath, Justin jumps up, lunges across the table, and in one blow he blew out all her candles!!

You can see Jared's unsuccessful attempt to block him! It was SO hard to not laugh because we all thought it was so funny, but Lindsey did NOT! I quickly jumped in and told her we'd just do it over. We sang again and relit the candles, but she was less than amused.

Her moment had been ruined by her little brother!

We recruited candle blowing help from Daddy and Uncle Clint.

Luckily, she moved on quickly once we served the ice cream and cake!

Ryann was pleased to be able to participate!

With all the commotion, I suppose no one was keeping a close eye on Justin and he didn't hesitate to help himself.

One out-of-place, belongs-in-the-last-post-about-presents picture--Lindsey and her new umbrella. Now, if we could only get some rain!!

Lindsey's Party: the beginning

2011-03-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

Alright, here's the attack plan. Lindsey's family party will be broken into 3 posts-presents, cake (THE BEST POST!!) and the after-party. Here's the presents post.

These first few pics are a bit out of order, but blogger doesn't move pics around very well, so they're staying here-out of order. I took Lindsey to the store to pick out a present with money courtesy of Grammy and Grandpa. She picked a cute little fake make-up/hair style set. I never would have thought she'd want it, so I'm glad she could pick it.

Lindsey all set up with her new toys-My Little Pony and her hair/makeup set.

Okay, before everyone arrived at her party-we were all ready to go! Hats and all.

So happy to see Uncle Clint (who lives in Utah). Lindsey really loves her uncles!

I had a few presents I hadn't wrapped so I locked myself in my room-here's Lindsey banging on the door, waiting for me to come out.

Nothing like some hats and some dog love!

Party Guests included:

Mommy, Daddy, Justin, Aunt Nicole,

Cousin Ryann and Maverick,

Uncle Jason,

Uncle Kyle, (and Ryann and Jason again),

our favorite Grandma Oehring,

and, baby Ryann again :) Enjoying some yummy hat!

Time to open presents! Lindsey is very blessed and got a lot of great stuff. However, it was a bit overwhelming, so she ripped open each present...

...and proceeded to almost immediately drop it on the floor and move onto the next! Funny girl. I got a few shots of her gifts.

New umbrella courtesty of Grandma Bird that she's wanted since before Christmas.

Since Lindsey moved on so fast, Justin was right behind her to actually look at and play with her new stuff :) And she was okay with that, because as you see, she was already opening something else.

However, when she found the most coveted present of all, we all knew it!

The Ultimate Princess Set, pointed out by Lindsey with Grandma, purchased by Grandma and Opa (they had to drive far to find a ToysRUs with it in stock!) and Lindsey reminded me multiple times before her party that this is what she was getting!

Aunt Nicole helping her get out her princess stuff.

Meanwhile, Nicole and Clint had gotten Justin his birthday present for May (so they wouldn't have to mail it in a month) and we let him open it in an effort to help him not feel so left out (which he didn't anyway. He was amazing!)

Some awesome new clothes for our growing boy!! Thanks, Nicole and Clint!

All dressed up.

(not really into the picture thing)

Lindsey Turns Four!

2011-03-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Preface: This is the first of many, MANY birthday posts to come. Because I use my blog as my photo album and because I will print a blog book at the end of the year, I put all the photos I'd like to save in it. As a result, I have over 60 photos from Lindsey's family party alone that I want to include-like I said, many posts to come! Here's her birthday!

Lindsey Julia on the morning of her fourth birthday! What you see next to her is her "birthday box". About a month ago she started a collection of all the things she would need for her birthday, including the clothes to wear, toys to bring, etc...She started by trying to keep it all on her bed which I vetoed, but in exchange I told her she could keep it all in one place-which became her baby doll bed. SO CUTE!

Thrilled with the card her Aunt Laurie sent with 4 "moneys" in it!

Birthday Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts! The best way to go! I'm glad to be in Texas with Dunkin Donuts! She picked (can you guess?) the pink frosted with sprinkles!

Justin was more than happy to share in the breakfast, except with white frosting and sprinkles.

Since we weren't having her friend or family birthday party ON her actual birth day, I wanted to do something fun, so I took her to an indoor bounce house. She LOVES them. It's a bunch of giant, inflatable slides and climbing things.

Justin's not even two, but he loved it too!

Climing up the big slide. I got this picture but that's as far as Justin could make it-I had to climb behind him and push.

At the top of the big slide ready to go down. It's quite a thrill-even for me!

This part of the obstacles proved to be a lot of fun. Justin wasn't quite heavy enough to throw himself on it and weigh it down so he could climb over...

...as a result, he would just get stuck on it!

With sister's help, they could all get over!

It was a perfectly fun day!

Lindsey's Friend Birthday Party

2011-03-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

Lindsey had a wonderful 4th birthday! Last year, I did not throw her a party and with good reason-I did not think she could handle it (which she proved when some friends tried to sing happy birthday at the park and she ran off crying). I was hoping she had grown enough to handle the attention of a party, so I planned a simple one at home. Lindsey's only requests: pink cake, pink decorations, pink everything :) I did my best. This is the morning of her party-on the chair is all the stuff from her 'birthday box' that she had been saving for her big day!

My friend, Jamie, has two twin girls that LOVE dogs and hence LOVE Maverick. I think Kylie especially was rarely found without him!

We started with some balloons as kids rolled in. I planned only a few friends, but somehow ended up with 9?!

Official first game: say your name and something you like.We had friends there from the neighborhood, old ward, new ward, and preschool group.

Next up-Duck, duck, goose. Per the birthday girl's request. It was pretty fun!

Next, we moved inside to play 'pass the parcel (or pass the box)'. The idea is there's a wrapped candy for each kid in the box. I play music and when it stops, the child holding the box gets to pick a gift and open it. It kind of fell apart at the end when Lindsey had to be removed for screaming (she wanted more candy) and I was short a couple candies and was desperately trying to come up with something! (Who forgets to count the birthday girl when planning??:) ). It ended fine but that was enough structure for the kids.

Opening her candy.

So, we headed back outside for bubbles!! Each kid had a little bubble container and I had some big bubbles to blow for them to chase.

She finally recovered from her melt-down and came out to eat her candy.

Pinata time!! All lined up to hit the pinata. I didn't want a pull-the-string pinata. They're so anti-climatic.

But, turns out that 4 yr olds aren't strong enough to break a pinata-not even the 5 yr old boys.

Jared finally ripped it open and dumped it out all over the kids.

A mad scramble for candy!

Time for cupcakes. I decided to not do a big cake, but have everyone decorate their own cupcake. It was great!!

When Lindsey finished her masterpiece :) we sang 'happy birthday' and she blew out candles on her cupcake.

Present time. We have many generous, wonderful friends. Thank you all! (Notice Kylie still holding Maverick!)

After the guests left, we just hung out recovering. Throwing a preschool party is more tiring than I realized!

Playing outside.

Lindsey relaxing with one of her gifts.

It was a wonderful, successful, party! I'm grateful to everyone who came! And, a special thanks to Jamie for taking pictures!!! They were great! (and I didn't even post all of them!)

Yay for Texas Springtime!

2011-03-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung here in Houston and with it comes fresh fruits! Justin, our fruit eater, who would pick fruit over anything (even picked a strawberry over a cookie once!) will taste any new fruit. This time, plums!

Mmmm, juicy! But not too sure...

He decided against the plum, but is always up for sharing. Uh, thanks I guess :)

Big boy bed?

2011-03-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

So, Justin LOVES Lindsey's big bed. He wants to climb on it, play on it, and sleep on it. He always cries at bedtime when he can't stay with her on her bed to sleep. So, we acquired a free mattress and decided to see if he was ready for it! He LOVED picking out the sheets, and setting it up. I just slid his crib to the other side of his room. After we got it set up, the kids played on it and Justin rested in it. I thought it might work! We even discussed it and asked him where he'd sleep and he pointed to his big bed.

All was good, but at bedtime, when we went to put him in it he pointed to his crib and asked for it. So, that was that. He's not quite ready. So, we put it away and will get it out another time. And that's okay-he can stay my baby for a little bit longer!

Playdoh Creations

2011-03-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

One of my children's absolute favorite activity-playdoh! Here's Justin's creations.

Here's Lindsey's creations. She loves using the scissors or knife to cut it up.

More haircuts

2011-03-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

Well, Lindsey ALWAYS fights hair brushing. It's a constant battle. One Friday morning, we were getting ready to go to playgroup and Lindsey was screaming and pulling out the hair ties I put in her hair and I said "That's it! We're going to the salon right now to get your hair cut!" And we did just that!

And, she loves it short. And I love it short b/c that means very few tangles to brush so it's easy to do and doesn't hurt her little sensitive head! Although, I do miss her longer hair to style a little bit, but I'll take short hair over battles everyday!

Say Cheese!!

2011-02-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

(I told him to smile big, and this is what I got! So cute! Best boy ever!)

Lindsey's new bed

2011-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

In our old apartment, Lindsey's mattress just sat on the floor. Partly for space issues, partly b/c as a toddler she really enjoyed having it at an accessible height. Well, Jared's wonderful parents saved the bunk beds they had for Jared and his siblings as they were growing up, so we took advantage of that and got a frame for Lindsey's bed here in the house. She was SO thrilled to have a big bed (as long as she could still sleep with a blankey :) ). Here she is pretending to sleep in it after I set it up.

I had to document Lindsey's peculiar way of playing. She loves to 'get ready to go somewhere' by getting out just about everything she owns-shoes, clothes, toys, hairbows, etc... and getting it all lined up on her bed or on the floor. This time it was on her bed. She refused to clean it off before bed, and we explained it might be harder to sleep and she didn't mind. She slept fine. In the morning, she said that it had been "wiggly" b/c of the stuff on her bed. Silly girl.

February Fun

2011-02-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

Taking our babies for a walk.

Cleaning ears-learning to care for his body :)

Getting ready for dance class-every Monday morning. She loves it, and loves her teacher, although she's a little tired of when they have to practice the same parts over and over for the recital.

Lindsey's creation-this is what happens when you take a nap. Try and notice the scotch tape strung across the hallway. It was quite a maze! I was impressed with her creative skills.

My little Miner

2011-01-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

Justin found and fell in love with Jared's headlamp. It has a white bulb and red bulb. He just walks around with it, totally amused by the fact that he can point the light by moving his head :)

He insisted on wearing it to bed. I snuck in later and pulled it off.

Perks

2011-01-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

So, what's one benefit of having all tile in our house? We get to play games like this when it's time to change the sheets!

It's a good workout for me-pulling two kids around in a sheet. They think it's SO fun! And Maverick runs along side them as I pull barking and jumping :) The only unfortunate thing is that with games this fun, there's always tears when it's time to stop because Mommy gets tired before they are done!

Building Blocks

2011-01-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

Horrible picture quality :( Lindsey's getting so good at building with blocks. When I was little, I LOVED my wooden block set and would build huge towers! I love watching her skills/imagination grow!

Our Little Girl is Moving Up!

2011-01-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

Since our ward, the Wheatstone ward, is so big, they didn't change Primary classes until today (technically the second Sunday already of the year) in an effort to have people back in town before they changed. So, today was Lindsey's first day of Sunbeams! We've been talking about it and trying to get her ready. It's sure a big change going from running around in nursery all the time to sitting in Primary, but I think she'll be fine. I subbed for the Primary pianist today and next week so I got to see her during sharing time. She was fine. Shy, as usual, in new situations-just watching it all and taking it in. What a big girl she is getting to be!! She did great and said she liked her class.

I love how you can see Justin looking up at her.

Justin's got some funny hair part going on right in the middle of his head in these pictures.

Guess it's got a mind of its own!

All ready for church. I love these two big kids!

Sibling Love

2011-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

It looks like a head lock-but it's actually a hug. When these two aren't teasing each other, they are so much fun together! I love it when they take care of each other!

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

We had a great New Year celebration at our new home with Jared's family. After my appendicitis and meningitis events I've had in the last year and a half, our new year resolution is no hospital trips :) Hopefully, that's one we can keep!

Playing with Uncle Nathan

Roasting marshmallows in our new chiminea that our neighbors, Tommy and Sherri, generously gave to us when they replaced it with a different kind. It's so fun!

Bad red eye, but good marshmallow drool. That's what happens when you stuff them in your mouth all at once. The kids enjoyed the roasting idea, but mostly just ate marshmallows.

Some good ol' Rock Band fun before the kids went to bed.

Enjoying the first day of the new year in the yard (hooray for yards!) with some new flowers to plant.

Vickie and I took the kids to the zoo.

What a great start to 2011!

Christmas from Grammy and Grandpa

2010-12-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

Wonderful gifts sent from my parents. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad! The kids LOVE everything!

Merry 2010 Christmas!

2010-12-27T22:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was a LONG night-both kids were up multiple times (who knows why..it wasn't all anticipation), and we finally were all up around 5 or 6ish? But, after that we had a wonderful Christmas here at home-in our new place! I love our new place, by the way! It's kind of picture overload, but I can't help myself.

Opening stocking stuff.

Candy from the stocking-yum!

Helping Maverick get his Christmas treat from Santa. The sausages on the table are our sad attempt to get real food in the kids before they fill up on candy. If I remember, they actually ate one or two.

Justin's new trains! He loves trains!

Rip it open!

"Squeaky toy" from Aunt Laurie-thank you!

Getting into it.

Also from Aunt Laurie-yay for both kids having the same toy so there's no fighting! :)

New book from Justin to his sister.

New bag from Grandma Bird. Can you tell she's happy?

Big sister helping out.

New ball! Justin didn't even want to open it at first, he was just kicking the wrapped ball around!

More trains from Granmda Bird!

Outdoor fun from Grandma Murdock-perfect for the new backyard!

It doesn't get much better than playing with new toys with suckers to eat! :)

Jared and I also got some wonderful things, but it looks like we didn't take pictures of eachother. We're just not as fun to look at so early in the morning.

Merry Christmas from the Oehring Clan!

Christmas at Grandma and Opa's

2010-12-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

After doing our own Christmas morning in the new house, we moved the party onto Grandma and Opa's house! We love living so close to Jared's family-what a blessing!

Lindsey and Justin got great presents in these great bags too!

The dollhouse she's been dreaming of for months!

A bike just the right size for little Justin!

Little cars and trains.

What's Christmas without a little playing with uncles? (aka hitting them with empty wrapping paper rolls)

"Sqeaky toys" from Aunt Nicole and Uncle Clint (and cousin Ryann)

Mr. Potato Head from Ryann (and Nicole and Clint)

Bubble wrap. Thanks, Uncle Jason!

Christmas Eve Play

2010-12-24T11:13:00.000-08:00

We started a tradition of acting out the Christmas story as part of our Christmas Eve activities. It was so fun. Here's Mary and some shepherds/Joseph/wisemen. We all had to play multiple parts (except Mary who was Mary the whole time). We also had the help of many stuffed animals.

Giving baby Jesus kisses.

Sweet Mary and her new baby.

Bringing gifts for the King (although, the wisemen didn't see Jesus until he was about 2, but we usually ignore that! :) )

We had so much fun, Lindsey requested to do it again, so we did it twice. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach my young, sweet children about the birth of their Savior.

General Christmas Merriment

2010-12-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

Time for Christmas celebrations! I'm not very pleased with my picture quality in some of these shots, but I still had to put them up-blurry and all! It's better than nothing.

Decorating the tree:

It got a little late and he got a little tired. Also, he was a little grumpy from us not letting him tear the ornaments OFF the tree and throw them. I think he broke 3 or 4 when we didn't catch him fast enough.

Making treats to take carolling. It was fun!

Shaking the chocolate, peanut butter, sugary chex mix!

Playing with the wooden nativities:

My little sleeper

2010-12-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

I just had to capture how little Justin sleeps so I could always remember. Ever since he was a little baby, he scoots himself into a corner so his head is pushed up against it. When he was a baby it concerned me because I didn't want him smothering in the corner of the crib bumper, but I couldn't very well sleep next to him all night and pull him back into the middle of his bed. Well, when we moved I decided he was old enough to take the bumper away (isn't it the idea once they're climbing on it you're supposed to remove it?) and I got rid of it b/c it was old and I'll get a new one with baby #3. Anyway, he kept waking himself up at night hitting his head when he scooted up, so now his bed is lined with stuffed animals that he sleeps up against! It's so cute! He is my favorite little man ever! (I also LOVE that he loves his blankies around him!)

Tired!

2010-12-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Ever been this tired?

Justin fell asleep in the car one day but it was late evening so we had to wake him up when we got home so he'd go to bed that night! Well, just goes to show that you can keep them out of bed but can't keep them awake! He kept dozing until his knees would kind of give way, then he'd straighten up and keep sleeping and do this over and over again.

Crafting Adventures

2010-12-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Last fall I got the crafting bug and actually did something about it! For Halloween, I got together with a good friend, Jamie, and we attempted (mostly successfully!) to applique these witch hats for our girls. It was so fun, although I had to work out kinks with my machine on how it appliques since I'd never done it before. We ran out of time to make shirts for the boys too. Lindsey liked it, and Jamie made a matching orange hairbow-it was so cute!

Then, I saw this idea on makeit-loveit.com for making decorative balls-take styrofoam balls and hot-glue hemp around them, then spray-paint them. It was pretty fun and easy!

Finally, Jared and I wanted some faux flowers around to brighten things up so we bought some flowers and the branch decor and put the flowers in it to make this:

Besides having serious issues with needing things balanced and symmetrical and yet trying to create decor with flowers that are asymetrical, I think it turned out well! :)

How to Eat an Ice Cream Cone

2010-11-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

This is how our sweet daughter eats an ice cream cone-with a spoon.

...and this is how our sweet son eats an ice cream cone.

He may copy a lot of things she does, but he can definitely do things his own way!

This is how our sweet daughter eats an ice cream cone

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T19:11:00.000-08:00

We had a good Thanksgiving-at Jared's family's house as usual :)

Uncle Nathan is just so fun!

Our practically-a-tradition Thanksgiving walk. Do the kids look tired or what?

One of the kids really was tired! That's Justin sleeping in the wagon. We just sat outside while he slept for awhile!

Attempt at a family picture with almost everyone looking except Lindsey who can't resist staring at the delicious peppermint stick! Living near family is the best!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, Halloween wasn't too exciting this year, although plenty of fun. First of all, we were all kind of sick (I believe this was when the kids had strep/throat ulcers-maybe, but all the winter sicknesses blur together!) and didn't have the energy or chance to go to a pumpkin patch, but we felt well enough to drag ourselves to Walmart to pick pumpkins :)

Also, Halloween fell on Sunday this year and we don't trick-or-treat on Sundays, so instead I took the kids to a trick-or-treat activity at a nearby senior center with my mommy group. The kids had lots of fun and it's great to help people feel well. Sometimes, with little kids I feel I don't have time for service, but I love being able to cheer people with my little ones-it's the least I can do! All the elderly lined up in the hallways to pass out candy. Lindsey was shy but enjoyed it, and Justin enjoyed it-especially after he learned he could keep all the candy he was getting. He kept trying to give his pieces to the next elderly person in line! So cute!

Our Little Dancer

2010-10-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

So, after Lindsey kept asking day after day when she could go to a 'tippy-toe' class, we decided to sign her up. She loves it and it is so so so cute! Here she is on her first day:

The studio is literally across the street, so we walk every week.
She also makes sure that her hair is in a bun every week.

In the waiting room with her ballet shoes on. The class is ballet and tap so halfway through they change to their tap shoes. She has a great teacher-Miss Paige.

First few minutes in a dance class-taking it all in! :-)

Lindsey's First Salon Haircut

2010-10-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Back in August, I finally took Lindsey to get a real haircut. I've been doing her bangs, and even cut her hair once, but between my lack of skill and her lack of holding still, I couldn't do it! She did AMAZING! It's nice to see her growing up and surprising me in situations where I think she's going to freak out and she doesn't! Although, the lady did ask "is she ever going to smile?" To which I replied-probably not (and she didn't until we left. It was a new, very serious

experience!)

I told her after her haircut, she could get a new toy from Target for being such a big girl. Once we left the salon, she was SOO happy to have gotten a haircut! She thanked me over and over for taking her to the 'hair cutting place' and she thought is was soo cute! She was really happy. And, the salon gave her a lollipop.

Baby Shower

2010-10-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

In September, I had the opportunity to throw my first baby shower for my friend, Carol Kimmons. She was expecting baby #3, the first boy! Chloe and Lindsey were good friends when they lived at the apartment complex with us. We sure miss them!! I did, "Ahoy, It's A Boy" (that's what's written on the banner).

Isaac Michael. Little goodies were sweedish fish and life saver mints wrapped in mesh (like fish netting!) and tied with rope!

My FIRST EVER fondant cake!! It was SO FUN to make. Took me three tries/batches the night I made it and it was a little thick, but so fun!

Me and Carol!

Bu-bu-bu-bubbles!

2010-10-01T10:44:00.001-07:00

What started out as some harmless water play with a touch of dish soap turned into quite the bubble fiasco! That stuff just keeps bubbling if you keep splashing!

Investigating the first of the bubbles stuck to the porch.

Bubble face.

Splash splash! That's one seriously happy Lindsey!

Eating the bubbles in the table.

Eating the bubbles on the ground. (Not unexpected-until recently Justin would stop at any puddle and stoop over to get a taste! ew!)

Happy Girl!

Rainy Day Fun

2010-09-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

A little rainy day fun (yes, from September. I'm a little behind) Gotta love those warm Texas showers!

My little loves! (and a baby doll)

2010-09-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

HEB Camp

2010-08-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

The homeschoolers in the area (well, Houston and San Antonio) do a family camp week once a year. This year, since as of now we're planning on homeschooling, we decided to go with Jared's mom and brother. Jared even took the week off work to come, and it was SO FUN! We all had so much fun! Except that it was in August in TX and ridiculously hot all the time! We showered 2-3 times a day just to refresh and cool off. And, slept with floor fans on us all night which made it barely bearable! The kids spent a lot of time in the sand volleyball pit aka sand box :)

Lindsey buried.

Lindsey burying Justin.

Eating something on the run and finding sticks. He always finds a stick.

We had cabins to camp in with bathrooms. Each held 10-20 people, so we shared with the Gouge family. They brought a few toys, Justin enjoyed borrowing them occasionally.

Napping on-the-go.

We ate in a large mess hall and all families took turns with food and cleanup assignments. Here are my boys enjoying some smores.

Resting (not actually sleeping) with Granmda.

We took the liberty to go on our own hike. It was SO beautiful up there. It was at a non-profit camp owned by H.E.B about an hour west of San Antonio. This is the closest I've been to mountains or anything close in a while and it was great.

Mostly, this is what we looked like. The camp is right on a river, so we swam and played the days away! I got to play tennis with Vickie one morning, and we also went to a big swimming hole in a little canyon-the water was so clear and so deep. BEAUTIFUL!

The kids with their walking sticks-it was the preschool craft. Each age-group had appropriate activities to keep them busy during the week.

Perhaps this will be a new tradition! Hooray for HEB camp!

Fruits of our Labors

2010-08-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well, really vegetables. We had just a few plants in front of our apartment this year, and our peppers did great! They weren't very big so I didn't really jump to try them, but once I did I was pleasantly surprised because they were delicious!

And, check out this weirdo! One stem and one attempt at a twin pepper? Who knows!

Packing Peanuts

2010-08-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

What do you do in a small apartment when you get two large boxes filled with mostly packing peanuts?

You let the kids go at it!

The Rest of Vacation (it's a little bit looong!)

2010-08-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Day number one: teach cousin Logan how to use Mommy's iTouch.

Play pool to the best of our ability. Playing was cut short once control was lost and balls were flying to the tile ground!

Seth and Justin at the mall.

Pet store at the mall.

Poolside with popsicles and Grammy and Grandpa's!

Making brownies with Mom.

The lovely beach (well, in Mission Bay so the water was pretty calm. Very good for small children). Lindsey had so much fun (very different from last year where she hated the sand and was scared of the water). And, Justin of course loved it all too!

Digging holes and more holes.

Justin in a hole :)

Perfectly green, spongy, soft grass. Perfect weather. Perfection.

That's my thought on the landscape and weather in San Diego.

Okay, here we are pedal boating/kayaking/ . I thought-sure, I can pedal boat with the kiddos. Never again. Yes-it was fun. Yes, I thought I wouldn't make it and would be swept out to sea b/c you go nowhere compared to the amount of pedaling! The kids had a blast though (thanks to cookies and capri suns!)

Julie and Logan.

Seth on his paddle board.

Me and the kiddos. I started out in the middle, but that doesn't work because of the way the pedals are set up. So, I'm on the edge. Notice the tilt of the boat? :)

Trying to steer us!

Reading books with Aunt Laurie.

Cruisin' Grand Street at "Cruisin' Grand". An awesome summer event where people bring their old/classic cars to display and you walk around and look and get good stuff to eat :) I just love this picture. Kids eating icees, chatting at eachother, walking down the street.

Where's the real person? This lady makes these little stuffed people! It was so funny!

Grandpa and Justin. Riding on his shoulders was Grandpa's attempt to contain the boy who would take off running faster than you could keep up!

Grandpa keeps some super cool hats around :)

Bate's Nut Farm. We go everytime we visit my parents. (Not to be confused with Nate's But Farm...why oh why do we always switch the letters?? I tried really hard to say it right everytime!)

Finally with the nerve to feed a lonely sheep through the bottom of the fence. They are pretty intimidating, along with the goats.

Holding hands :) Justin talking/pointing to Lindsey :) I love having two kids.

Me and my wonderful sisters!

The boys chillin' on the new couch.

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetary. It was very sobering.

Hills and hills of graves.

I found it rather neat, that the ONE row I chose to walk down happened to have this grave. The grave of Lydia Hunter, who died from complications after giving birth to her son, Diego Hunter, who was the first American born in California. She came with the Mormon Battalion in 1847.

The view from Cabrillo National Monument.

Picnic lunch at Balboa Park. In this picture, Justin looks a bit upset b/c the airport's nearby and the planes kept flying low overhead-it took him a handful of planes before he stopped running to me everytime.

Lindsey was thrilled with the mountain (aka hill. We live in flatland Houston so to her it's a mountain. Sad, but true.)

A perfect evening (just like the one before and the one before that!) in the front yard. Chillin' with Aunt Laurie, playing football with Uncle Jim. Lindsey LOVES Uncle Jim! And, after having him play football with her for awhile, she caught on and played with the cousins.

This picture makes me laugh because I took it while Jim and Lindsey were running by and Jim just HAPPENED to look at the camera at that second-so it looks posed, but it wasn't!

Escondido Children's Museum

Poor Justin. We ran him hard on vacation. He's actually asleep in this picture-we just carried him in from the car after an outing, and after this picture we proceeded to completely change his outfit (he dumped his water bottle in his lap) and then put him to bed. He didn't even stir!

Cousins reading together.

Grammy and Grandpa keep a bunch of old sunglasses for use by the pool. Seth slipped some onto Justin, and the kids were so amused that they all decided to try some on :) They were especially amused that you can see Justin's eyes right through the glasses!

Visiting the Chula Vista Nature Center. It was very fun! And I love places like this because they have some rare birds (like a Bald Eagle) but I don't feel bad for them and their small cages b/c they all are injured and cannot live in the wild.

Touching the sting rays. They also had 4 baby sea turtles to look at donated by Sea World. They were so cute!

We met this cute little owl-blind in one of his eyes. He was so cute and little.

Visiting Laurie and the rabbits she cares for.

Playtime with Grandpa.

I FINALLY captured how Justin's always worn glasses-including Mr. Potato Head's glasses. It cracks us up! Don't try to take them off or fix them b/c he'll just put them back!

More pictures from Double Peaks park.

That's it for California summer vacation 2010! Can't wait for the next one!

More Vacation Bliss

2010-08-20T11:51:00.001-07:00

Playing at Double Peaks park (I think that's what it was called). Cali is amazing-beach and mountains within a half hour in opposite directions!

Took this picture by myself with camera upside down while he was standing between my legs :) Then, turned the pic around!

Me and sister Laurie!

Grammy and the kids

Looks like Uncle Jim is about to push Lindsey off the edge :) But they were seriously not even close to it.

Splash pad in San Marcos (I think that's where it was?) It was pretty cold-Logan lasted the longest, Lindsey and Justin only a few minutes.

Jason's Eagle Court of Honor

2010-08-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jared's brother, Jason! He received his Eagle and he's only 14!

We're so proud of him-he's a great young man!

The four Eagle Scout Brothers!

Justin helping me play the music :)

What a beautiful group of sons and their parents!

Kisses for our favorite Uncle Nay-nay!