Whad do you wanna do?

My kids are brilliant when it comes to beating boredom. I caught a few of these examples on camera. Enjoy!

The second video didn't work, sorry!

Read more...

Happy Halloween!

What a night!!!  Frankie decided he wanted to be Ol' Mac Donald for halloween so I made a checkered shirt.  Ollie was so cute in his chaps and vest with all the fringes.  These were some of the easiest costumes I have made yet.  Jesse and I got into the act as well.  I was barbie, fake hair and all.  Erin is a beautician and glued in extentions for me.  The hair totally made the costume.  Jesse was GI Joe.  Come on everyone knows that's who Barbie really wants.  We went to my mom's for dinner and some trick or treating.  Frank got really into it once he understood the drill.  1. Look for lit houses  2. Knock on the door.  3. Say "trick or treat" Presto, candy in the bucket!!!!  4. say thank you.  5.  Repeat steps one through 4!!!!!!!!

We could hardly keep up with him.  Ollie got a sucker on the first house and was content to walk along with the sucker in his mouth while Frank did all the work.  My mom loved taking her cute grandkids around to all the neighbors and there were some pretty cool decorations.   We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat too.  The turn out wasn't all that great but the candy was awesome.  I hope everyone had a happy and safe halloween.  

Read more...

The Fire Department? at our house? Nooo!

It was your typical monday with nothing special to do.  Just house work and letting the kids be kids.  Frank woke up from his nap, quietly closed the door so Ollie could continue sleeping and came down stairs.  I was also enjoying an afternoon siesta when I heard.  step..step..step.. "Mommy, mommy I had a good rest."  Seeing that as my cue to get up I promptly rolled over and pried open one eye.  "That's good, why don't you go play."  With a cute smile he wanders off and starts to play while I wrench my tired self from that oh so comfortable mattress.  I begin the never ending task of LAUNDRY and we continue on quietly for about 15 minutes or so.  After a while Frank wants to go upstairs and play... by Ollie's room.  I am hesitant but I extract a genuine vow of silence form my three year old (laughable, I know).  As I'm putting yet another load into the dryer I hear Ollie upstairs through the vent but he doesn't make his way out of the room.  I know he can't reach the door knob very well so I call up to Frank to let Ollie out.  Silence... Ollie begins to whine.  I call again, let Ollie out.  " I can't, Ollie's stuck."  What?!  I race upstairs, thinking he's wedge between a bed and a wall or something.  I reach the top, run for the door and turn the knob.... it's locked... from the inside.  I run around trying to find the right size screwdriver to take off the door knob.  Curses!  Jesse actually put his tools away.  I end up using an eye glasses repair kit and finally get the door knob off.  "Did you lock the door?"  I ask Frank as I try to release the bolt.  "Yea."  I wanted to say so many things to my older one like "never do that again" and "time out" etc. but I was more concerned with the pacing, tear stained blond boy I could see through the hole in the door.  He stuck his fingers through the door trying to get to me and cried.  Frank began to cry and try with all my might the useless tools I had could not get the bolt out of the jam!!!  The wheels in my mind began to turn.  What would Jesse do?  He's a fire fighter.... fire fighter.... fire department.  Why not have them get him out?  We know almost every single fire crew member that works out of our fire station thanks to Jesse's career and Frank obsession with fire trucks.  I called 911 and they sent out the engine.  Captain Williams jumps down from the engine and the first thing he says is "So, is Jesse at work today?"  Ha, ha.  Boy do I feel like a nerd:)  "My brother is stuck," Frank informs them all as they come inside.  They walk in and within a minute Ollie is release from his room and sniffling in my arms AND the door is still intact.  Hurray for Engine 18, you have saved the day.  Ollie looked at all the guys, curious as to why the fire truck is at our house and not "sleeping" at the station like it usually is.  As they walk back out Captain tells me to "call any time" and I retort "next time Jesse's not home, you bet."  As we wave at the departing fire truck I realize this is the second time this year they've been called to my house for an emergency.  I think we've reached our quota.   

Read more...

Frank is 3!!!!

This weekend was Frankie's Birthday weekend.  He turned three on Sunday.  My little boy is three!  I am a little weirded out by that.  Anyway on Saturday we when up to North County to spend the day with Jesse's mom.  We stopped at Buchaneer Beach first.  What a beautiful day.  The sun was warm, no marine layer, and a cool fall breeze blowing.  The water was a bit chilly but the boys had fun playing in the sand and throwing sand clots at each other and Dad.  I got to sit on the sand and watch:)  We brought Frankie's dump truck and let him run it up and down the channel.  Don't worry, we didn't let them play in the stagnant water, although they wanted to.  Ollie discovered that sea water doesn't taste good and Frank figured out that if he runs fast enough he can kick mud up from his dump truck's tires and get doubly dirty.  After hanging out at the beach we went to "wee-g's" and crashed.  When we were all rested and fed a trip to the park around the corner sounded like fun.  On Saturdays most parks in San Diego turn into fiesta central.  There are bounce houses everywhere and mariachi music is blaring but we got lucky.  There was only one party going on so the playground wasn't swamped with kids.  Frank is becoming more adventurous, and as you can see from the pictures below he learned to climb to the top of the jungle gym.  Ollie has always been a little monkey.  He plays on the bigger equipment all the time.  On Sunday we woke up and I told Frankie it was his birthday.  "It's my birthday?!"  He exclaimed, "Oh, thank you very much!"  All day he kept telling everyone "It's my birdday!" We had a great family party at my mom's that night complete with cake and presents.  Whenever Frankie would open a gift he would get a priceless look on his face, quiver with joy and say "thank you very much!!"  I have never seen a child more grateful for his gifts.  What a sweet little man he is turning out to be.  

Read more...

Cowboys

I have the cutest cowboys on the block.  I know their garb may be modern but they sure do love their hats.  I know that they are excited to wear the whole shebang for halloween.  

Read more...

budding photographer

Frank loves to take our little point and shoot and click away.  Most of the shots are blurry, too close and insignificant....but sometimes he captures something impressive.  Take a look.  Speaking of photos I did a photo essay.  Click on my photography page link and go to my porfolio.  Enjoy.

Read more...

Money, money, and more money

That seems to be the only thing that we do not have in our lives right now.  It's nothing crucial but it does seem to be making for a bleak Christmas.  I was at my mom's today talking about Christmas and here is what my humongous family is doing this year.  We are drawing family names, not just person to person but family to family.  Then, we are to use the talents of everyone in our family to create a gift for the people we drew.  This is a really good idea and maybe it will help some of you out.  I'm hoping to use some of my children's artistic abilities to create something truly unique.  When we know what we are going to do I will post our ideas.  We usually do home made gifts every year but this is even better because we can put time and thought into one big gift instead of spreading ourselves thin to come up with something original for everyone.

Besides money, life is great right now.  Frankie is turning three this week and we are going to have a costume party this year.  I hope I will be done making their costumes in time.  Ollie's babeling is turning into understandable english and he loves wrestling with his brother.  I am working hard at the gym and trying to book my first client.  Jesse is still with Barona fire and is looking to find a new fire department with overtime and call volume.  We have our fingers and toes crossed!

Read more...