Looks Good

Today I came out of the boys' bedroom, into the family room and had a conversation with Max that went like this:

Me: Max, did you get into my makeup?
Max: Des. It look dood?
Me: Let's go look in the mirror and see.
{Look in the mirror}
Max: WOW! It look doooood!
And since he refused to let me wash it off, he looked dood at Chili's for dinner and the mall afterwards. Even several hours later, when Blake tried to wipe "the pizza" off Max's face he said, "Hey! Don't wipe off my make-up!" I can't even start to describe how much I love this boy.

Armor of God FHE

I have been obsessed with this idea since my cute little friend sent me a picture of her daughter in a similar get-up almost THREE YEARS ago. (Thanks Michelle!) The gold spray paint has been sitting on my shelf for nine months now, so I figured it was time.
I'm showing the boys how the armor protects me. They can hit me, step on my toe, whatever. It doesn't hurt! :)I had high hopes for a very educational lesson. I tried explaining "breastplate of righteousness," "gospel of peace," etc., but it didn't go so well. So we settled with, "Heavenly Father gave us armor to protect us because he loves us."

And dear San Francisco friends, why don't we have a FHE exchange? I still have tons of spray paint!

Sac Town Take 2

I just read my post from the last time we went up to Sacramento in January. WOW--Max this, Max that. What was Baby Jack doing the entire time? Sleeping? I do remember he had a diaper blow-out at the movie that I didn't mention in the last post. So, that's something note-worthy. Today's trip to Sacramento was much different. Well, kind of. We did the same thing, the Train Museum, but this time, Jack played right along with Max. What a difference 8 months makes. His favorite thing to do was pull himself up to the train table and throw off all the trains he could reach. So fun. We spent a good 3.5 hours at the museum with a 2 hour break somewhere in the middle for lunch, a stroller nap for Jack, and eating treats and walking around the stores for me and Max. And during this time Blake was having fun at his meeting, even using his speeding ticket from the way up as a good joke during his remarks. But don't even think of joking about it with him now. He already told me, "It's still not funny."

The Circus Came to Town

I am happy I got to claim the same inaugural circus visit as Max and Jack. I myself cannot believe that I've never been to the circus. Apparently Blake is some circus pro, having gone as a child. So, he got to take care of the fussy child while I took it all in. But this circus was unique. No Ringley Brothers in a large, indoor stadium. Oh no--this was the real stuff. A tent pitched into the depths of the asphalt in the middle of a large parking lot. The three rings featured several death-defying acts including the high wire, trapeeze artists, world hula-hoop champions, clowns (but not-so-funny clowns), tight-rope motorcyle, and camels, elephants, horses (large and mini), dogs, and a zebra (yes, just one).

And while the protestors were outside the gates holding up signs, chanting, "Cruelty to Elephants!" we were inside doing this--Apparently Blake has not only gone to a circus before, but has also rode an elephant. But, as he so lovingly explained, he has never rode an elephant with me, Max, and Jack before. So, there you go. It will be a very fun family memory.

I really do feel bad for the elephants, though.

Book Club!

Tonight was the best book club ever, by far. Well, I've only been to two other meetings, but still. BY FAR! I mean, how often do I get together with fabulous women, eat fabulous food, and discuss important things like how vampires drink blood, matching white shirts and khaki pants, and sculpted, ice-cold, rock-hard chests? I know it's two years away, but after a night like this, I get sad thinking about leaving this ward. Although by then, several of these girls will have already left me. I just have to keep reminding myself--Backyard!

When Daddy's In Charge of FHE

This was the treat--
(I love Blake's new BBQ apron. It has pockets for all the essentials--spatula, matches, s&p. Plus we learned that Max says habumgers instead of hamburgers.)

This was the activity--

And I guess this was the lesson--
I'm pretty sure I'll never get sick of pictures in front of this bridge. Daddy should be in charge of FHE more often!

Summer in San Francisco?

Is it possible that San Francisco is actually having summer weather during the summer? (Okay, well, I guess technically summer is over, but close enough.) Is it possible that this wonderful weather is not some one-day fluke and has actually been here for the past two weeks? And is it possible that the temperature here is actually hotter than what we left in Sunny San Diego and what our family is experiencing in Utah's desertland? Yes, it is! I checked. San Francisco: 89, San Diego: 79, and Bountiful: 75. (I checked Mesa too, but we didn't come near their 105!) So, since Jack didn't eat enough sand while we were in San Diego, we hit the beach today for some more.
We love this beautiful city!

Spaghetti!

Last week, Jack had his first go at spaghetti and man, was that little baby a mess! Look how nicely he pushes his ear forward to show that he even got some sauce in there. Blake told me he looks like he has some sort of skin disease, not spaghetti face. And you should have seen how dirty the tub was after cleaning up this mess. But boy, does that baby like spaghetti!I think Jack must get his eating technique from his older brother. Why does the good stuff have to be so messy? I think I should have taken off Max's shirt too.
(Disclaimer: This video may be one that only grandparents enjoy, but definitely proves my point.)

The only sad thing about this is, if Jack got his eating technique from Max, Max must have got his technique from...Blake. Definitely Blake.

Laboring in San Diego

Talk about the perfect Labor Day weekend--absolutely, positively no laboring involved; including picture taking. I guess we were too busy not doing anything to take the time to take a picture of it. But it was just so relaxing! Oh well, here's the run-down:

After a close to perfect drive down south Friday night (Max threw up and just kept reading his book and didn't say anything until I noticed something on his shirt and asked him if he threw up, to which he merely responded, "Yeah" while looking down at his shirt, then just kept reading.), we met up with Nanny and Grandpa in Carlsbad. Saturday morning we hit the pool and beach. A nice little girl kept dumping water on Jack's head and Max kept splashing everyone else with his jumping and kicking. When we were good and hungry, we headed over to the Fish House and ate lunch. Max totally surprised me by practically licking his plate clean, just like the rest of us. Even Baby Jack couldn't resist eating a whole scoop of that yummy rice. After lunch, we met up with April who showed us some beautiful San Diego neighborhoods. We're hoping she buys one of the houses we looked at so we have a permanent San Diego vacation house! After open-housing, we ate a plate of mizithra and a bowl of spumoni and called it a night.Sunday, while Blake, Jack and I went to church, Max chose to stay with Nanny and Grandpa to swim. Max loved "Nanny's church" and I loved that Max actually chose to be away from me! Thank you Nanny and Grandpa! Of course we had Fish House again for lunch, then spent more time down on the beach. Beautiful.We are so happy that Nanny and Grandpa decided to celebrate their anniversary in San Diego with us. They spoiled us rotten with daily Fish House meals, peaches and treats galore, fun toys, and all their time riding elevators, looking at fountains, and swimming at the beach and pool. We love you Grandpa and Nanny!

Sunday we spent the night at April's house and boy did that girl treat us good. Since she was at a wedding, we had the house and all her treats to herself. She even got Sprites especially for us. And I don't know how she knew Blake LOVES Toaster Strudel (well, who DOESN'T love Toaster Strudel?) but I'll just say we had one fabulous breakfast.
Monday we went to the famous San Diego Zoo (after finding coupons on the internet of course). We loved going the double-decker-bus tour, riding the skyfari, eating pizza (Max's request) and cotton candy, petting/feeding the goats, drinking our endless cup of Sprite, and seeing the pandas, hippos, koalas, giraffes, elephants, grizzly bears, monkeys, tigers, lions, warthogs, polar bears, meerkats, rhinos, etc.
But the highlight of the day was definitely feeding the giraffes. Their tongues are SO strong. And if you're keeping track, Max officially does not like touching/feeding dolphins, butterflies, and now, giraffes.
OK, I guess I took more pictures than I thought. Thank you, San Diego for an absolutely perfect Labor Day weekend. We'll see you again soon!

A Little Angry

Today I'm a little angry with Jack. I've tried to be a good mom to him these past 10 1/2 months, and today he's totally turned his back on me. For the past 24 hours, Jack has refused to nurse. (Luckily after I wrote that he wasn't eating solid foods he decided to try them again. So, he is actually receiving nourishment.) I wanted so badly to give him a year of nursing just like I did for Max. I never wanted to hear, "But you did it for Max" come out of that little guy's mouth. I know, what child, especially boy child, is going to complain about that? Especially when there's so many other things he could compalin about--never getting to nap in his bed, having his toys stolen, constantly being tied down in his stroller watching his brother run around. (Okay, I don't need to give Jack any more ideas of things that have happened in his ten short months.) But STILL! I loved being guaranteed that time cuddling him and holding his little hand or watching his eyes roll back in his head like "Oh, this is the best stuff ever." I've been pumping, but don't know how much longer I can keep it up. I guess I can understand the benefits of the bottle, though. I mean, you don't have to work near as hard to get the milk out, you can drink and see what's going on around the room at the same time, and if you want to chew on it a little, go ahead. The worst part about this whole thing is the smug little smile on Mr. Independent's face as he drinks his bottle. Stinker!