Beginning of summer

We're not even 2 weeks in and I'm already dying. Summer started off rough last week - with pink eye (Elle then Calvin), fevers (Madi and Calvin), chills (Madi), sore throats (Spencer and I), runny noses (Madi and Cal), upset stomachs (all kids), and has continued through to this week with pounding, throbbing headaches for me (what I think might be a sinus infection that I'm trying to fight through without a doctors visit).  I had high hopes of getting summer started off right, with some serious cleaning, organizing, goal setting, and summer planning, but then sickness hit and I found myself constantly listening to whining, crying, moaning, and complaining. Add that to the constant breaking up of fights and it's pretty much done me in.

I have a feeling it's gonna be a long summer. With Cal still napping twice a day, it gives the girls lots of time to drive each other (and me) totally crazy. I really miss our school schedule. It was good for Madi and Elle to have that 5 hour break from each other everyday. They were always so excited to see each other again by 2pm and we had no where near the contention we have now. There's just something about the dynamics of 2 girls, 2 years apart that creates a lot of picking, bugging, competing, and lots of jealousy.

Oh how I wish they were always this sweet to each other.

I'm really trying to get a handle on this new schedule and get the girls used to having "quiet time" again. I refuse to allow more than 30 minutes of TV a day and they can't earn it until all their jobs are done. It's been tough, but today we had a break through. Madi had her bed made before even coming out this morning. Then she quickly got started on jobs right after breakfast. Today she cleaned their entire bathroom without even a complaint. She even asked to use the "cleaning toothbrush" to really do a through job. Then she got ready for the day, did 4 workbook pages, and earned her 30 minute show by 9:30am.

Elle on the other hand was being especially defiant and refused to clean her area for the day. Finally, around 10:30am, after realizing she wasn't going to win, she gave up and did a phenomenal job organizing the playroom.

One good thing I'm enjoying about summer is having the freedom of being able to do fun stuff all together everyday. When Madi was in school she'd beg for us to wait for her to do certain things. Now we can all load up and head to the beach, park, library, or pool (our 4 regulars) and not have to worry about 2pm pick up or bumming Madi out because we did something fun without her.

Despite how crummy and exhausted the kids all felt last week, we still managed to get out everyday. I wish I'd taken a picture of Madi (who never naps) fast asleep in a lounge chair at the pool. Or on the swings with a raw nose from blowing it every few seconds. I totally miss having a neighborhood pool, so we try to take advantage of every pool invite we're given. Yesterday we got two invites so we hit up the pool at 11am and then again at 4:30pm!

A few things we were able to get done last week:

Clothes organizing! Elle's a pro with folding and sorting her clothes - I didn't have to help at all!

Bathroom cleaning, floor mopping, and window washing

Goal setting - none of which have been followed through with yet, but it sure was cute watching them decide and write them down. We'll be revisiting our summer goals next week.

Choosing which school papers to keep. Learned I have to do this alone cause Madi wasn't willing to toss anything. And no, she's not mad - she was just feeling the worst on this day.

Morning work-outs: one of Madi's summer goals.

De cluttering the art room! Don't you love how thrilled Elle is about it?! After dozens of threats and warnings, I actually ended up taking down Madi's art table yesterday and I am only allowing one art project a day. I was quite pleased with how much "other" stuff Madi did today instead of creating a huge mess with all her nonstop writing and drawings.

Play date with the Nelson girls (Maddi and Ella)! These four had a total blast together!

Yummy homemade popsicles!

We were also able to do crafts at the library, read to the dogs, check out new books, get hair cuts (Madi and I), visit the doctor, and play at the park. So I guess the week wasn't a total loss. Now we're looking forward to all the family we're going to get to see in July! Summer is always more fun when you've got lots to look forward to! And here's to hoping that we'll be sickness free the rest of the summer!

Father's Day

A week late, but I have to take a minute and document a bit about the fabulous fathers I have in my life!

How lucky I feel to have such an amazing dad for my kids. I don't write a whole lot about Spencer on here (mostly cause he tells me to take it out when I do), but he sure is one incredible dad! Just a couple of things that make Spencer such a fantastic dad:
- He adores his children and makes sure they know it.
- He takes the girls on regular "daddy daughter dates".
- He's great about reminding them of their talents and how special, wonderful, and beautiful they are (every little girl loves being adored by their dad- at least I know I did)!
- He reads to them almost every night. Even when Spencer's trying to get out the door to work, he'll take time to read Calvin his favorite train book and lay him down for a nap.
- He's a great story teller and does all the voices and cool sound effects.
- He makes sure we have family prayer every morning before he leaves for work. He also sings a really annoying song to get the girls to come and won't stop singing until everyone is kneeling together ("Family prayer.... Family prayer.... Family prayer prayer prayer prayer prayer .....). While they act totally annoyed, I know they love it and will always remember it.
- He loves and adores me and makes sure the kids know it. Anyone that does or says something unkind to mom is gonna hear about it later from dad!
- He teaches, loves, disciplines, encourages, and is super involved!

We honored Spencer this year with a waffle breakfast. He had a 7am Sunday presidency meeting, but we made sure everything was all set up when he walked in the door. The girls were hungry so I let them start eating before Spence got home. Madi ate really slow so that she'd be able to eat with him when he got home.

Let's take a closer look at those sweet cards the girls made:

After breakfast I held down the fort and kept everyone quiet, so Spencer could take a nap. Cal wasn't feeling great on Sunday (which was actually the start of the week of sickness we've been enjoying over here), so Spencer took him home after sacrament meeting and got started on dinner prep. We had Spencer's dad, and his cousin Seth and wife Stephanie here for Father's Day dinner. Since I did very little of the work on the meal (just made the dessert), I made sure to do all the dishes afterwards. I was bummed that we didn't get any pictures of our fabulous curry meal and the wonderful company that we enjoyed it with, but I stayed pretty busy with kids who at that point were all starting to feel a little under the weather. Madi asked to go to bed at 5:30, Cal was in bed by 7pm, and Elle right after. It allowed us grown-ups a nice quiet evening though.

Since Calvin didn't make it into any of the pictures on Father's Day, I attempted one today. So much for that idea. He's been an absolute pill this week!

Spence wasn't too thrilled with "forced" picture taking either!

Not only do I have a wonderful father for my children, but I feel so lucky to have such an amazing father-in-law who we get to see pretty regularly. He is one of the kindest, most patient people I know. It's no wonder Spencer's such a great dad!

And how blessed I am to have a truly amazing dad in my life who has always been there for me. He'd drop everything in a heartbeat if I needed him.

How I love and adore all these father's in my life!

End of the school year

The 2012-2013 school year has officially ended. Elle's last day was Thursday and Madi's was Friday. Everyone always says "enjoy these years while they're young cause they fly by" and boy do I know that to be true. I feel like I blinked and the school year's already over. 

I never got too attached to Elle's teachers or class for obvious reasons- she started in April, had class only 2 days a week, and only for 3 hours a day. On top of that, Spencer was the one who usually dropped her off in the mornings, so my only interaction with her teachers was for 10 seconds at pick up. It sure was a great experience for Elle though. Looking forward to next year!

The end of kindergarten was a much bigger deal. From working in the classroom, helping every Friday at Motor Lab, attending school functions, and getting regular play by plays everyday after school, I sure am going to miss it! While I'm excited for the freedom that summer brings, I love the structure of school and I loved knowing that Madi was in great hands for the 5 hours she was away from me. It was also pretty incredible seeing how much Madi learned in just one year. She's become such a great reader, breezes through addition and subtraction problems, and even has several multiplication facts memorized. She's also a really good writer and now writes her cards, letters, and stories all on her own. Made me so very grateful for such an awesome teacher that Madi got to learn from!

For Mrs. Newton's end of the year gift, we contributed to the class gift, but I also wanted Madi to do something from just her. So all on her own, Madi wrote a sweet letter:

Then along with some sparkling pink lemonade and chocolate treats from Trader Joes, Madi wrapped a copy of the Book of Mormon with her and Mrs. Newton's picture on one side and Madi's sweet testimony written on the other:

Inside the Book of Mormon, Madi wrote another letter . . .
Starting on the third sentence: "Here are your scriptures to keep. It will remind you of me. I do these things it says in them."

And just like at the bottom of her picture, Madi was crying at the end of the day (like most of the girls in her class).

I'm not one to get emotional about school stuff, but after looking at Madi's end of the year memory book, I was in tears too! We sure love Mrs Newton! Can't believe I'm gonna have a 1st grader come August 28th!!

Jenkins Cousins

Trying to stay on top of life and the busiest of the last week of school, but it's been a little hard when we're got cousins in town who we all want to spend every spare moment with!

Cal ran off at the last moment and didn't make the picture. 

Madi and Elle completely adore their cousin Sydney!

We got to join Syd for her 12th birthday celebration! Tanna made a pretty amazing ice cream cake- the candles were a bit tricky though. :) I love that Madi's in the back sending good blowing vibes!

Again, Cal's missing

Oh there he is - in Sydney's arms!

We love our Jenkins cousins and have had SO much fun having them here! I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post later.

A house of artists

During scripture reading tonight Spencer decided to illustrate while I read:

We're in 1 Nephi chapter 8 in case you're wondering

After reading, the girls saw Spencer's picture and had to each make one of their own. Then I spent the next 30 minutes trying to get my 3 artists to finish their pictures and get on with bedtime.

I love that the girls take after their dad with their artistic talents, but I'm getting completely overwhelmed with the piles and piles of art projects, books made, scrapes everywhere, and especially all the wasted paper from unfinished projects. Ready for a major summer clean out!

Cooking with Chef Brad

This week I had a unique opportunity of taking an "intro to grains" cooking class from the one and only "Chef Brad". I hadn't heard of him before, but Spencer was familiar with him (from his show on BYU TV) and was the one to encourage me to sign up for the class. It was fabulous! I left feeling excited to cook and excited to cook healthier, while also a little overwhelmed as to where to officially start.

I wanted to included some of my notes and tips I wrote down during the class to save for future reference and to keep me motivated.

Main goal:
to eat 80% pure nutrition
the other 20% is whatever it takes to get the 80% down

- First thing: buy a pressure cooker. Fagor brand (future Christmas gift). Until then, rice cooker or pan on stove will do, just takes a LOT longer!

-2nd- buy some grains- quinoa is found at Trader Joes, Costco, Whole Foods. Best grain to start with - mellow flavor and texture and it's easy to cook. Cook the same way you'd cook rice. 1 to 1 ratio with water. Cook a large batch, put into a tupperware in fridge, incorporate into foods all week. (6 min in the pressure cooker- AMAZING!)

                -Try stopping in Whole Foods, or Lassens to explore other grains.  Buy small amounts of Millet, Teff, amaranth, spelt, brown rice, barley and test them out in cooking. 

-3rd- put grains in our regular foods.  Put them in anything: Ideas: Scrambled eggs, quesidillas, PB sandwiches, smoothies, sauces, pasta sauce, soups. They can virtually be added to just about anything! Or plain- try a bowl of cooked quinoa with butter, salt and pepper.
-4th- buy an electric mill or borrow one-  truthfully I don't see this one happening for a few years. But I would eventually like to be grinding my own flour like Chef Brad's "Wonder Flour" (equal parts of Spelt, Brown Rice and Barley mixed together and milled on finest setting). The nutrition in his flour is far superior to wheat. It's a "Super Grain" so much more fiber and amino acids/protein. Until then, I might try out the "Wheat Montana" or "King Arthur" brand white flour which doesn't have Bromine (which is supossedly harmful to your body). 

             

Other ideas:

-buy chia seeds, flax seed or ground flax- at Trader Joes or any other store. Buy a powdered sugar shaker and put the flax in. Leave on counter and shake on any food. 

- Use Coconut Oil in replace of butter or oil in cooking. 

-Trade out sugar/honey for Agave- XAGAVE brand is best. It is sweeter than sugar so you'll use less of it. It is low on the glycemic index so better for you. Ideas: sweeten smoothies, cookies, syrups, drinks, lemonades, muffins. 

-Redmans Sea Salt is a great everyday salt. Celtic Sea Salt is the best for you. 

-Baby Food: Millet Grain- cook like you would rice

In our class he made two recipes- a "sweet brown rice" breakfast Cereal that was to die for, and "Rigatoni" which was amazingly easy and all done in the pressure cooker in 7 minutes! I was sold! 

Looking forward to learning from Chef Brad again. I guess he's agreed to return sometime in the fall for a "bread" class!

9 years!

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life! I couldn't ask for anyone more perfect for me. 

We celebrated with dinner at Eric Ericsson's on the Ventura Pier. We stayed for sunset though it was much too chilly and windy for my liking, then topped of the night with a white chocolate Macadamia Nut Pizookie at BJ's. 

I look forward to the many more adventures that lay ahead for Spencer and I. Everything seems possible when I've got him by my side! Love you babe!

14 months

Cal continues to be our sweet little boy. He's so happy all the time and always has lots of smiles for everyone. 

He's super social and likes to run around and give people high 5's.

He's currently obsessed with trains and airplanes. Lucky for us, we're close to the airport and get a good amount of planes that fly overhead in the afternoon when Cal's outside walking around.

Cal's quite the explorer, and thankfully rarely gets into stuff he shouldn't get into. He just likes to walk up and down our outside walkways- picking up rocks, holding his cars, watching bugs, listening for airplanes- he really is a dream! I usually just open the side garage door and the backdoor and let him come and go as he pleases. With our gates shut he can't get out to the front and I never have to worry about him escaping. He can also now open and close the screen door by himself.

I never thought it'd be fun dressing up a boy, but I gotta say, there's not a whole lot cuter than a little boy wearing his first real tie! 

He's already very obedient and a good listener. All I have to say is, "give it to mama please" and Cal will part with almost anything he's holding, including the binky in his mouth.  

He continues to love his binky and monkey and basically jumps into his bed to have both. Cal still takes 2 naps a day (9:30-11am and 2:30-4:30) and goes to bed around 7:30pm.

He's a fabulous eater! I love that I can cut open an avocado, slice it into chunks and he'll gobble up the whole thing. It's fun to finally make meals that at least one child will appreciate! He doesn't drink milk (at all), but I also kinda gave up trying. I stick to yogurt and cheese. He loves all fruit and eats a ton of it. Funny how our grocery budget has already gone up with a 14 month old! I fear the teenage years!

Cal still loves his books and at least once a day he'll wander into his room and sit and "read" for awhile. His new words for the month were "baby" and "tank too" (thank you) and he'll say lots of animal sounds on command (cat, dog, cow, bird, lion, and elephant are favorites).

I continue to soak up these "sweet" months where Cal's full of hugs, kisses, and loves for his mama. Sure love my baby boy!