An update....

Today we spent most of the day indoors with the air on. The outside air is so mucky with ash that we'd rather just have wild kids in the house than try to deal with respiratory problems. We tried to avoid going outside but we did make a quick trip to Costco for some supplies. With the fires around the county we have my parents and sister with her 2 kids staying with us and not much food in the house. We couldn't stay in all day and took a break and climbed to the top of a mountain to survey my parents house area with our binoculars. The fire raged and calmed, we had a hard time watching it. We couldn't see the house but my Dad did say that he could see their look-out tower at times through the smoke. I've also taken to calling the house, getting the answering machine and hoping that that means that it isn't engulfed in flames. We pray and hope that all is well in the morning, we are glued to the TV for any little glimpse of the neighborhood or even the house!

Happy Birthday Noah!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Noah!!!

Today is his second birthday but we celebrated it on Sunday with family. It's a good thing too because the fires have encompassed our lives the last few days.

He is two! I can't believe it. This last week his vocabulary and ability to make sentences has grown at such a speed that I can't catch up! He loves life with such a passion and his brother and sister are the best in the world. He loves to play with balls, drive his trucks, ride his tricycle, kick like a soccer player and just about anything else he can think of doing. He has become very comfortable with going down the slide at the park, until recently he wouldn't go by himself. He is such a hunk of love at around 40 pounds. He is about 31 inches tall. I'm sure I'll give an update on all that when we go for his well-child visit.

Happy birthday big guy, we love you so much! Pictures below are from his little Sunday afternoon party.

We're OK...

There are 8 fires in our county and some of them are getting closer and bigger. Not so close to us, we live in the city. But close to my parents house, they have been told to evacuate. We are hosting my sister and her 2 kids for the night and my parents will be staying with us or other members of the family tonight. Tomorrow brings another day and we hope the firefighters can get this contained to some degree tonight. Please keep everyone here in your prayers.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/

Farm...

We went to La Milpa Organica farm today with a group of homeschooling preschoolers. It was great! We were really looking forward to a tractor ride but once we got there, we totally forgot about it. We found our group and the tour started. We walked around the farm. We passed and checked out the turkeys in the pen. The kids were entranced. We went up to the carrots section where the kids got to pull out as many carrots as they wanted. It was great! They even ate them up soon afterwards and wanted to go and get more. We ventured around and picked some more produce (radishes, cilantro, onions) and then went to see the goats. There was a mama goat and our tour guide brought her out so that we could watch her be milked. It was great. Her daughter was about 9 or 10 and did all the milking, got the milk into a jar and passed it around for the kids to try. From there we went to the herb garden and checked out the lemon verbena, lavender, rosemary, mint and then some bell peppers nearby. There was a swing set for the kids to play on afterwards and boy did they play. TheThe farm was so generous and let the kids just pick and pick. And then they ate and ate. It was so nice to see my kids eating carrots fresh from the soil, and trying cilantro, and goats milk. I guess that is our cue to get them to eat veggies, we need to do more of our own growing at home! The kids had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again!!

Ben on tire swing

Turkeys
Carrots!!
Waiting to get them washed off
Munch...
Munch! Milking the goat
Goat milk...
Hens with egg

S-M-L...

Every time Ben goes to get something for his brother and sister it is always in size order. He is the oldest so he always gets the biggest, then Hannah gets the middle-sized one and Noah always gets the smallest. Today Hannah and Ben made telescopes with paper while Noah was playing on his own. Ben made one with 2 pieces of paper making it super long, Hannah used one piece of paper and Ben, noticing that Noah wanted one too, made one for him...with a half piece of paper. This happens when they are making boats in the back yard too, Ben makes a super extravagant one for himself, tricked out with all the bells and whistles, Hannah usually makes one for herself and Noah has a tiny one to play on The pecking order happens when they are playing with sticks or eating a snack too. Ben always has the most or biggest, and Noah always has the least or smallest. He's funny.

Tie-dye Thursday!

Today we went to a friends house for playgroup and their craft was tie-dye. We brought our own shirts and the kids went wild with the dye. We made a swirl pattern and they came out very cool. The kids are very excited about them and they can't wait to do it again. I'll post pictures of the shirts they made when I can wrestle them all to wear them at the same time!

We also celebrated one of our little friends 3rd birthday with cupcakes that her Mom made, yum! I think Ben had 3 to himself. Lucky there weren't that many kids there...more for us! They were delicious!

The kids also played in the pool and with all the pool toys. It was great fun. There were lots of floatey things for the pool and Ben thought he'd try them all. He has such a spark for life and is interested in how everything works. The water was too cold for me but the kids didn't seem to care, we even had a Mom swimming with them!


Thanks for having us!!

Mommy top...

Noah is getting to be very good at talking these days. He will be 2 years old in a couple of weeks...yikes! So the last few weeks he has been saying "Mommy top" and then continuing with a sentence to tell me something. I couldn't fugure out what he was saying until I heard myself saying something to him. It started out with "Noah stop..." So perhaps that is what he thinks should go after the name of the person he's speaking to. He has said "Daddy top..." too. I have been trying to not word it that way lately and "Mommy top" is not heard as often but he still says it. I'm sure it's a phase.

Apple picking...

Last year we went apple picking with my sister and her kids. It was so much fun that we really looked forward to doing it again this year. And with our first theme for schooliing at home being apples, it fit right in! The orchard we went to last year didn't have any apples this year, so we found a different one. We tried Raven Hill Orchard in Julian. Nanny came with us. We packed up the car and headed out in the morning. It was chilly so we wore sweaters! It really hasn't been that chilly here so sweaters was a nice change.

We found the orchard and bought 2 bags to fill. It was great. The kids remembered how to pick apples off the trees from their lesson last year (lift and twist). I didn't remember, but they did. We found Empire apples, Jonathan and Golden Delicious. They were all yummy. Smaller than the ones in the stores but those are a little nicer because there isn't much wasted after a tiny apple, when the kids eat them. We walked up and down the aisles of apple trees searching for big ones, when we found some there were bug bites in them or they were beginning to rot. It was a fun game of hide and seek with the apples.

Towards the end of our apple picking experience, we ran into the owner making apple cider for a bunch of people, so we sat and watched for a while. What a treat! Ben and Hannah watched for a while.

After picking apples for a little over an hour we headed to the car for lunch. We just ate in the back of the car. The atmosphere was perfect for a tail-gate lunch. The winery next door was having a festival so there was a little music and even some funky people walking around. After lunch we headed to Julian for some apple pie at Mom's. There is always a huge line out the door and today was no exception. We waited for a spot to sit and enjoyed apple pie a la mode (with vanilla ice cream). Ben kept eyeing the caramel apple and ordered one of those instead of pie. He barely got through a little bit of the caramel with apple when he decided that he wasn't going to eat any of the apple. So he scraped the caramel off and left the apple. Gotta love kids.

When we got home we unloaded all the apples and the kids from the car. Noah finally fell asleep so we got him to bed. The bigger kids were tired from all the driving, Noah was cranky most of the day (very tired) but we all survived and brought home a huge bag of apples.

Enjoy the pics!

Rubio's

Tonight we went to Rubio's for dinner and Hannah got to thinking about "what if they close the doors and we get stuck inside for the night?" We started to think of different things that we would be able to do in the restaurant but the favorite thing to think about was how and where we'd be sleeping. I said that we could sleep on the tables, or on the stoves in the back (because they'd be warm). Then Ben looked up, spotted the palapas over our head and said that we could take that apart and use some of it for our bed then the rest could go on us for blankets. What about napkins for blankets? We'd need a lot of those. Hannah suggested that we sleep on the floor or on the counter or even the computers!! Boy that would be uncomfortable. They went on and on about different spots to sleep and then they thought about the morning. Boy would the people who came here for breakfast be surpised to see us sleeping on the floor!! We all laughed.

Water...

We had a very warm day today. It wasn't too hot but definitely warmer than it has been. The kids played soccer with Daddy and were all hot and sweaty this morning, so after he went to work I got the hose and put the sprinkler attachment on it and went after the kids. It was fun spraying them. They had a nice cooling off time and I got to do it! I sprayed the water up in the air and made it 'rain' on them and they loved to dance, or jump, around in the downfall. I also made the water come down like a waterfall and they found that it was cool to be inside and run through. After all of that watering we had lunch, boy did they have an appetite!

Library day...

Today we went to the library and found the non-fiction section. We sat down in the aisle and picked books out. Hannah and I had fun just looking through the books to decide which ones we would check out. Ben and Noah ran around mostly and had had enough of the library. I think we went too late, nezt time we will get there earlier so we don't get the crazys in the quiet library. We managed to pick out and check out more books than our bag could carry. Now we're off to read them!

1 month....

Noah will turn 2 in one month from today. I think we are noticing signs of his age. He yells and screams and demands things from us. Sometimes we can tell what he wants and others we both get frustrated with not understanding each other. He is a bundle of cuteness ready to pounce on you. He can take us down (meaning that he can tackle) if we are not ready. He loves life. He's such a joy. We can't wait for his birthday, we all already know what we are going to get him! And that is a first!!

Tiles....

We started the next phase of our backyard patio today. Last week we did the preliminary work for our work this weekend so we were able to get right to work today. We started tiling. We got about halfway through the patio section. The kids (who were with Nanny) came home just in time to help out a little. Ben loves helping out with any kind of house project we are doing. He wants to be right in the middle of it. Hannah will hang out with us and watch us work, sometimes she'll help but most of the time she plays alongside us. Noah was sleeping while we finished up for the day.

Rain!

We had a good bit of rainfall today. While we were waiting for the kids to be picked up it started raining again. It is always so exciting when rain falls with kids around. They are so interested in it and eager to touch it, jump in puddles, get out the umbrellas, get jackets on and watch it fall. I would rather sit on the couch and read a book. But today we are tiling the patio...in the rain. And the kids are being sent to Nanny's house for a few hours so we can get it started.

Screaming...

Noah is in the midst of a new phase. Every time we get in the car he screams and cries at the top of his lungs. It is not pleasant. It reminds me of when Ben was a newborn. He screamed when we put him in the carseat to go to the grocery store. It was not fun. Noah screams and cries until he throws up and that isn't fun either. It makes me not want to take him anywhere.
At first I thought it was only when I was in the passenger seat and we were going places all together and he couldn't have me all to himself. But Corey says that he does this even when I am not in the car.
I can't concentrate on driving when that happens. He needs to change his ways so that we don't become hermits and stay home all the time. I hope it's soon!

Wobbly...

Today seemed to go well. I feel a ton better but still not 100%. My throat is no longer on fire so that is a good thing. My back aches like crazy, so do the lymph nodes on either side of my neck and I feel wobbly on my legs.

We hung out at home and did some work around the house. We did school a bit and then I followed their lead for what they wanted to explore. We worked in the garden, planted some seeds, dug in the dirt, played soccer and had lunch. After naps, we hung out and waited for Daddy to come home so that I could get ready for class.

Daddy's home...

Corey stayed home again today. I had a fever all night again. He took the kids to the Museum of Man for the morning so that I could get some rest without the kids jumping on me. They had a nice time. The curator showed them the kids area. Corey was a little put off by that because he was trying to show the museum exhibits to the kids, not really looking for the kids area.

I hope to feel better tomorrow!

My turn...

I have strep throat and am miserable. It is horrible...fever, achy body, chills, sweats, headache, throat on fire. I'll be back when I can see straight. blech...

Hannah's first day....

This morning was the first day of Sunday School at the Mission Church for Hannah. Ever since Ben started going last year (she joined him a couple of times) she has felt nervous about starting her own class. She has the same teacher (Ms. Diana) that Ben had and she already knew Hannah from last year. We walked to the class together and Hannah found a seat and turned to see where I was (at the door-where I was supposed to be). I had told her that I will walk from her room to Ben's to make sure everyone was OK. So I guess she was happy to see me because I got a big smile from her.

For the rest of the hour they made necklaces for name tags so that the teachers would remember their names. During that half hour, she didn't turn to look for me once. Not once. I walked down the hall to check on Ben for a while and he didn't look towards the door at any time during the almost 10 minutes that I was standing there. I felt excited that they were having fun and engrossed in their projects. I wandered the hall to see Hannah and still no glance, she was OK with her class. This is the first class ever that she has started. This is also the first day. Last year she was OK with 2 or 3 classes and then she decided to call it quits, and that was OK because it wasn't her class to begin with, it was Bens.

Overall she had a wonderful time and can't wait to show her teacher that she knows the sign of the cross already!

Hannah a little nervous at the morning meeting while Ben is excited!! Ben in his Kindergarten Sunday School classHannah giving me a big smile in her Preschool Sunday School class
Hannah eager to do the sign of the cross

Patio visitor...

Today we started to work on the patio floor, the cover is done so, on to the floor. It has been a long time coming and we finally have dived into it. It looks horrible, cracked and coming apart. So we are finally doing something about it! So we got the concrete out and started to mix it and got a great idea. What about making some more steeping stones!? We pulled the molds out (that we got for Christmas last year), some leftover glass pieces, some vase marbles and start making some more stepping stones. The kids had a blast. Noah loved it this time and was much more involved in it. He put all of his pieces in and even wanted to include his hands and feet! With such a small tile we could only do one footprint so that's what we ended up with. I'll try to post the newest ones soon!!

After our side-track we got busy on the filling in all the cracks and holes. The kids were great helpers! They had their own trowels and were helping us. They must've worked for over an hour with us and helped to finish the job! It was awesome to have so much help.

patio floor before...yuck!!!!

And while we were working we had a little visitor in the garden...not a butterfly or a bunny or a hawk! This dragonfly was so beutiful and I happened to see it land and exclaim "Oh a dragonfly!" Noah heard me and followed me to see it. I am lucky to have caught this picture at all because as soon as he saw it, he scared it away by running up close!

And if we stay on track with our schedule, next weekend we will continue with tile!