No training wheels

Go Brock!

Love a good deal

We used to have a large pool with a vinyl liner. The liner was ripping and we decided that we would remodel our pool instead of buying another liner. It's been about 2 years now. The funds are just not there to remodel the pool. So we try other things to keep it fun and cool in the summer.

Target was running an ad for an inflatable waterpark which we seriously considered purchasing even though it was well over $400. We figured it could last us a couple of years but when we measured it out, it would only fit where our current dirt hole (formerly known as the pool) is. So we checked it off of our list.

Until I went to a garage sale the next weekend. And purchased this perfect little kid inflatable for only $20. I love that price and we are going to have so much fun with it this summer! And actually we have already started to.

Deja vu

Wesley played t-ball/baseball at the same park as Brock did this year. The first practices and games for Brock struck both Steve and I as surreal. We did this with Wes 9 years ago. Amazing that we are doing it again with Brock.

During Wesley's baseball playing days at this park was when we found Brock's name. I was about 5 months pregnant with Brock (didn't know he was a boy yet) and Steve and I were heading to Wesley's game. As we came up the ramp to the park, a little boy named Brock was walking in front of us. Steve asked me if I liked Brock as a boy's name and I actually did. From that point on, Brock was the only boy name we had picked out and obviously it stuck. We walked up the same ramp with our Brock in front of us many a time this season.

This was our other deja vu moment. (I did plan this picture so it will be next to Wesley's)

Wesley's pic on our wall.

T-Ball

Brock joined a t-ball team this spring. He had a lot of fun. Here he is on opening day.




Brock's team banner.


Brock really learns well from his coaches. He is working on his hitting from live pitches and he does the funniest thing when he is on base. He blows into a clenched fist. I asked him if he was talking into his hand or something and he says that he is preparing to run. Not sure how that helps but it makes the spectators on the bleachers chuckle. During his last game, a couple of other parents were cheering him on and called him "Brockilicious" for me. (my sometimes nickname for him) He thinks it's funny and isn't at all embarrassed by it. Not sure how long that will last though.

Golf

Sometimes you just have to get out of the house. Here are our golfers.

Wes is actually thinking about trying high school golf next year. We think it will be good for him.

Mommy & Me Preschool

Lynzy and I attend a Mommy & Me preschool one day a week. We love her teacher, Ms. Suzanne, and her class is super fun. Lots of painting, playdoh and crafts. It's a good interim thing for us to do together before she heads to Montessori preschool in the fall (Brock's preschool.)

I volunteered to sew mesh fabric to cover the hole in the middle of the preschool's parachutes and the kids (all 3) loved building this fort with them. (yes, there were two and I'm not the best seamstress, but it worked.)



By the way, if you can't tell, Wes is 6'1" and wears a size 13 shoe and is 14 1/2 years old.


Lynzy with her teacher, Ms. Suzanne



Last day of winter/spring session - Easter Egg hunt at the park

Dancing at the park

Two funny things before I forget

Lynzy has some funny words that I don't want to forget once she stops saying them. Yesterday, Wes and I had her saying them all day.

Marbles = Markles
Pear = Parrot

It is hysterical to hear her ask "Brock, do you want some of my parrot?" Or "Mom, can I have a parrot?"

In honor of our governor

Of course our children have not seen The Terminator or even know what this means but it sure makes us laugh each time.

Santa

Santa was at Santee Lakes this year. He didn't say anything to the kids though except Ho Ho Ho. And Mrs. Claus was missing a couple of teeth, which can be common in our city. I'm pretty sure the kids didn't notice that part though.

Miraculously, Santa and Mrs. Claus (with all of her teeth) visited Brock's school a short time later. Lynzy got over being scared and sat with them happily. This time Santa asked them what they wanted. Lynzy said bunk beds and Brock said cars.

La Posada

Brock's preschool has a holiday party which teaches the kids a couple of the different traditions from around the world. One of them is La Posada which reenacts the journey that Mary & Joseph made on Christmas Eve. The school designates the oldest boy and oldest girl as Joseph & Mary and Brock was the oldest. He was really proud to be Joseph. He got to walk around with "Mary" and knock on all the doors asking for a room to stay.

After we got home, my kids acted it out even more with the awesome nativity set my cousin Jamie made us this year.

Halloween 2009 - better late than never

I think in blog posts but finding the time to post them is something else. Anyway, here are our scarecrow and Barbie cheerleader. Brock chose the scarecrow idea from a book and we found the shirt and hat at the thrift store. Lynzy's cheerleader outfit was courtesy of a yard sale where it only cost me $2.

I just have one complaint about the cheerleader costume. Is it really necessary to have a see-through mesh middle? My three year old isn't going to be showing any skin if I can help it. She also won't be wearing any bikinis, makeup or dating until she is 30.

A little rain

It's been rainy recently. And we have a GREAT hill that ends at our house that is perfect for foil boat races.




A game for all ages.

For Christmas we used the gift cards from Auntie Darlene to get rain boots for the little kids. They were FREEZING after this day in the rain.

Santa

Lynzy was helping me wrap a present for Wesley. It was the first present to go under the tree. She happily placed it under the tree and on her way back to me she asked, Mommy are you Santa? Too smart for me....

Ms. Worry

I am a huge worrywart. Have been all my life. It is and probably will be my hardest struggle for years to come. I was hoping this "trait" stopped with me but it may be passed down.

Last night, Lynzy and I went to a party and left the boys alone. When I came home, Brock was super tired and ready for a bath and bed. He started to tell me that Wesley was showing Dad a video about a huge earthquake and fireball and that an asteroid was going to hit the earth. He kept talking about it for 20 minutes. Even as we were laying down, he kept asking me what would happen if an earthquake happened. I told him that there were earthquakes all over the world, sometimes in another state or even another country and we couldn't control them but that he was safe with us.

I later found out that Wesley's science teacher has told his students about Dec. 21, 2012 which some people believe will be the end of the earth. "2012 WARNINGTHE BLESSED MOTHER WARNS US OF EARTH CHANGES WHEN TWO SUNS CAN BE SEEN IN THE SKY Mayan Calendar Ends, Planet X Returns, the Milky Way Aligns with the Earth & Sun all on December 21, 2012 911 STARTED IT, THEN KATRINA, IOWA FLOODS, CALIFORNIA FIRES, NWO, INCREASED NATURAL DISASTERS, THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN" Taken from the 2012 warning website. We aren't sure if the teacher was teaching all aspects of this theory or what but both Steve and I were a little annoyed with the fact that this can cause kids to worry needlessly. I remember one time as a kid, the planets all aligned and the news was reporting it for days prior about there being some kind of force or supernatural thing was going to occur. I was FREAKED OUT! Because that is who I am. Darcy (my stepdad) finally had had it with my nonsense and told me, do you really think that in the history of the world, this is the first time it has ever happened? That question actually helped me. And so I repeated it to Wesley last night. We also asked him to chill on the doomsday talk around Brock and Lynzy. Save it for after 8 pm at night.

Brock woke up this morning all fired up and began asking Daddy tons of questions about the asteroid and earthquakes. I hope it's just because he is curious.

Just as I suspected

The conversation about babies resurfaced this week. Thankfully, my cousins were wonderful at offering advice and "words" to use and I dodge the bullet.

Brock: Mom, how do the babies come out again? I forgot what you said.
Me: They come out of the birth canal.
Brock: Oh, ok.

Not sure I handled this correctly

Here's an excerpt from a recent conversation I had with Brock & Lynzy at bedtime.

Brock: Mom, how did I get in your belly when I was a baby?
Me: Well, God put you there.
Brock: How?
Me: God helped Mommy & Daddy meet and get married and then he helped us have you.
Brock: How do babies get out of their mommies?
Me: There are two ways, one is through surgery and the doctors take them out and the second is between mommy's legs. (that's the part I am cringing about..this totally caught me off guard)
Lynzy: Are the babies in your belly with all your food?
Me: No, there is a special place that babies grow inside their mommies but not in their stomachs. Food goes into the stomach.

And then I quickly changed the subject because I was having heart palpitations about the whole conversation. I guess it's a good thing they didn't ask to see pictures or ask for more details. I probably would have passed out.

Just before Disneyland

The day before we went to Disneyland, my car broke. It is currently at the dealership waiting for Ford to build a part for the car. The expected date isn't for another month so we are driving a rental car until they fix the car. That same day, Brock decided to swallow a Lego head. Yes, you read correctly, our soon-to-be five year old swallowed a foreign object. This particular Lego head had a peg for a neck in it and he had just shown it to me about 10 minutes prior to the swallowing. Brock was FREAKING OUT! He was slapping the back of his neck, crying and begging for water. I got him a glass of water and asked him what happened. In between his sharp intakes of breath he told me what happened. I told him that I needed to call the doctor and he panicked. He kept begging me to not call the doctor. I think he thought that the doctor was going to get out the head the same way it went down. To be honest, I didn't tell Brock what would happen one way or the other. This lesson had to be learned the hard way. Anyway, the doctor said it was small enough to pass and we think we left it at Disneyland :). After the call to the doctor, I called Steve. Brock was more upset that I was calling Steve to tell him about it. I told Brock, I have to call your daddy, you ate a Lego head, he needs to know. Please don't call Daddy! Too bad son, this lesson is going to hurt. Brock was petrified when Steve came home. He is really concerned about approval from his dad. Steve was strong with him and let him know that if he ever does it again, he was in some serious trouble. Brock finally calmed down. This has been the last of the stupid boy things Brock has done in awhile. Thank goodness.

Wes is 14 soon.

Last night we celebrated Wesley's upcoming 14th birthday with his friends. Wes invited about 5 people (2 girls included but they couldn't make it.) The boys had a good time eating pizza, chips, soda, building a fire, and playing hide & seek in the dark until 9:30 pm. I love these simple parties. Wes had a really good time and he was happy. We also got him a desk with his own office supplies. Might seem like a boring present but actually he was really appreciative and happy about it. He had been complaining about doing homework at the kitchen table where Brock & Lynzy bug him and not having his "own" things to complete his work.

Wes with Greg, Joey & John (and Brock)


Wes is really good about letting me experiment with his birthday cakes. This year he requested an ice cream cake and I had this recipe for an ice cream sandwich cake. This was the result. It actually doesn't have any cake in it all but the boys really liked it. Inside is 3 layers of ice cream with whipped cream on top and ice cream sandwiches on the outside. Super easy.


Brock thinks that he is the same age as Wesley. It was hard to tell him that he couldn't play basketball with them or go hide in the dark. But the older boys were fairly tolerant and allowed him to find the hiding boys with the seekers. One of the big things that we stress with our kids is that we are family and being kind to each other is the norm not the exception. And we expect others to do the same. Thankfully, Wesley has chosen some nice friends that get that concept. Wesley's younger siblings are just part of the deal when you come to our house. Of course, Brock didn't sleep in the treehouse with the boys...there are limits :)

Disneyland

We took the kids to Disneyland on Brock's actual birthday. Wes of course has been before but Brock was a baby the last time we went. This was huge for the little ones.



Small world

We're getting better with the characters.

Dumbo ride

Small World

Oh, where to go??

King Arthur's Carousel

1st pic of the day and Brock was sooo excited.

I actually got emotional taking the kids to Disneyland. I just felt like this was a huge memory day for them and they will never have the 1st time to Disneyland again. Not to mention, Disneyland is one of my favorite places ever. They were super good the whole day and they still ask to go back every other day. It was fun.

Brock's b-day

Brock turned 5 on 9/26. (I'm a little behind on my blogging.)

His preschool celebrated on 9/25 and Steve and I were able to be there for his last b-day celebration at his school. They have the birthday child walk around the sun for the number of years they are. They tell a story or show pictures about the child's family. So I wrote a short story about Brock. I included pictures of Steve and I and wrote a little blurb about how Steve comes to fix the plumbing at the school and that I clean up at lunch a couple times a week. Well, Ms. Taffy (Brock's teacher) was prompting the kids as to what Steve does at the school and then what I do at the school. When she asked what does Abby do at the school, Brock loudly said, SHE BRINGS AVON! He made us all laugh. It's not really what I wanted to be known for but he is right. The teachers at the school are some of my best customers.