On Vacation

I'm on vacation this week from work, yay.  I have stuff i've been wanting to do around the house: clean out closets, organize rooms, go through drawers, and last but not least...finish those darn baby books! yes, Andrew is 4 and I still have to finish his book. Ah, my Adam, I haven't even started his baby book, eek!

I've been watching the show Clean House and it has inspired me to 'let go' of things I do not use and have not looked at in years. I have a little bit of hoarding inside of me. You see, I have about 10 plastic bins in the garage full of stuff i've carried around from apartment to apartment, and then finally to my garage. We've been in this house over 4 years and I can honestly say, I haven't even looked at that old vase or old lamp or old trinkets. So i'm cleaning house and having a yard sale on Saturday. Whatever money I make is going towards stuff to do with the kids this summer.

We would like to take the kids to California Adventure, Magic Mountain and the maybe sea world. Let's hope I am successful this Saturday.

Today we took the kids on our first summer trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo. We took the Amtrak Train and the kids loved it. For me, it was nice not to drive and just enjoy the scenery.

Nice weekend

I spent the weekend in Grass Valley, a charming city an hour north of Sacramento. My older sister and her husband live there.  My nephew AJ graduated from high school, and i'm glad I got to be there.  I love Grass Valley. The town is small with lots of little stores with great finds.  The city is surrounded by the forest and there is no traffic; everything is slow there.  What a nice change of pace.

I missed my boys terribly, but it was so nice to sit, read people magazine, and eat with no interuptions. I think mom's should get a weekend off once a month just to unwind, and relax.  I spent Saturday just hanging out with family in the front yard and enjoying the slow pace with a nice cool breeze. 

Sunday it was back to reality: grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc. but how wonderful it was to see my two little men in the back seat of the car waiting for mommy. There smiles were so sweet.

back...

It's been a busy, busy last two weeks. Raul was gone 7 days for work and the kids were terribly sick.  At least Raul's traveling for work is over and the kids are on the mend.  Andrew had a terrible respiratory infection that came with nasty cough.  Then, of course Adam got sick too. Thank goodness all the colds are almost gone.

Now, we're gearing up for summertime. We have some fun day trips planned: taking the train to Santa Barbara, Magic Mountain to see Thomas town, and a few trips to the beach. I'm looking forward to spending time with the kids.

This weekend I'm taking off by myself to visit my sister Cindy. She lives up north in Grass Valley. I'm leaving Friday night and returning Sunday! I can't wait.

Happy Thursday.

Funny boys...

Andrew, "Mom I want my spiderman pants." 

Me, "ok"

Andrew, "Mom I want my cowboy boots."

Me, "ok..."

This is the final product:

These are the pictures that will make you laugh 20 yrs from now.

I hope everyone has a fun, safe, fantastic weekend.

Snack Time

I've been on the hunt for fun, healthy snacks.  Andrew's pediatrician said he's technically almost obese,but if you look at him you wouldn't see that. It's just for his height, his weight is too much. As a result, I've tossed the gold fish, cheeze it's, and abc cookies and  moved in more fruits and veggies, and lower calorie chips and snacks.

 A couple of the snacks I found are Grammy Sammy's and Veggie Straws. Both can be found at babies r us. The Grammy Sammy's are a delicious, low calorie snack. The Veggie Straws are a great substitute for the cheese puffs Andrew loves.

For myself, I discovered a fantastic yogurt that satisfies my 2 pm sweet tooth with a small portion of oreo's, m & m's or reeses cups.

They also have 100 calorie packs too!

Now, if I could just give up this coffee habit...

1 day

3 ice blendeds, 1 Starbucks, and lots of ice cream later helped me get through this insane weekend. What I thought was an awesome Saturday with the boys, turned into a nap-less, crazy, tear-filled, screaming, kids hanging off of me Saturday afternoon.

We started out going to this drum circle in North Hollywood. It's free (yay) and the kids got to participate in a big drum circle. The boys were scared at first (it was pretty noisey), but they joined in and had a blast.

I was sure Andrew was going to have a fit when it was over, but he was so good and just walked with me to the car, no problem. Then, we picked up McDonalds and headed to the park. I told him we're eating lunch first, then we can play. That was fine too. He ate his lunch and we played. Last, it's time to leave the park and everything is fine, we leave...no tantrums. whew!

I start heading to Starbucks, but then Andrew says, "Mom, turn around. I'm tired." OK! I'm not going to pass that up.  I thought for sure our busy morning would = an awesome naptime.

Boy was I wrong...

Adam screamed from his crib, and I finally got him down for his nap. But, my lovely little Andrew decided a nap wasn't needed and decided to play and then wake up his brother, awesome.

The rest of the afternoon, through the evening was so much fun, ha! The kids were tired, and moody. We went outside to play, and then to a friends for dinner. The good news was they were so tired they fell right asleep after bathtime.

I can't wait for my husband to come home tomorrow. 

Great Book

Andrew has been getting in a bit of trouble at school lately.

He's hitting when he gets mad because he doesn't want

to start cleaning up or transition to a new activity. 

 We have been working hard on teaching him not to do those things.

I found a great book called, "Hands are Not for Hitting." 

I have been reading it to Andrew the last two nights and he seems to be catching on.

One of the lessons is "hands are not for hitting, they are for helping your brother get dressed or undressed," and what did I see this morning?

Andrew helping Adam put his sock and shoe on. 

A ray of sunshine came through my home.

I hope this new found behavior sticks around. 

Last night was actually a good night too.

The kids behaved, they listened, and they played together...amen!

Tomorrow I think I might be brave and venture out to Malibu with the kids.

It's going to be a great day and I can't stay in the house; we'll go crazy.

Happy Friday.