Ocean Isle Beach 2010

This year we were lucky enough to go and spend three weeks at my parent's beach house in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Robby couldn't miss quite that much work so the boys and I headed out a few days ahead of him. I was a little worried about flying across the country by myself with the boys but they did amazing and it ended up not being a big deal after all.

There's not much exciting to say that we did at the beach. It was just us, my parents, and my brother Jeff and his family. We pretty much relaxed for 3 straight weeks. It was amazing. We did venture out one day and took a ride on the ferry but other than that we went to the beach, went to the pool, read, slept, and ate...a lot.

So here's a ton of pictures from the trip. Thanks to my dad for being the designated photographer. (Sorry if you notice a lack of pictures of me, but I don't do pictures when I'm pregnant.)

Harrison, James, Jack and Owen checking out the sand castle.

James and Jack playing under the house.

Jack digging, one of his favorite things to do at the beach.

Jack playing in a bucket, his other favorite thing to do.

Jack sitting in a bucket. This was his favorite this to do last year and he was little upset that he no longer fit all the way in the bucket.

Jack splashing in the water.

Jack buried in the sand. We couldn't get Owen to join him regardless of the bribes.

Jack and Owen playing on the deck with glow sticks.

Jack and Owen posing for pictures.

Harrison, James and Jack hanging out in a tide pool.

Family picture! (Soon to be outdated.)

Jeff and Augusta's sand castle.

Owen and James digging in the sand.

Owen and James on the deck.

Owen playing soccer in honor of the World Cup.

Owen catching waves in a tube.

Owen riding on the ferry.

Owen catching more waves.

View from the deck.

Robby and the boys catching fish.

Monterey and San Francisco

Right after Owen's preschool graduation we jumped in the car and headed to Monterey for the weekend. Robby had a work conference to go to so the boys and I went along for the ride. The hotel had a pool and we were close to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. So as far as the boys were concerned it was a vacation!

Robby had meetings during the day so we went and hung out at the aquarium. It was packed as usual but we got there early enough to avoid most of the crowds. Owen and Jack loved the otters, sharks and penguins. After we left the aquarium, Jack kept asking why we didn't see the sea horses. After a while, I finally realized he expected to see actual horses in the water, not small funny looking fish.





While we were in Monterey, the boys kept begging to play in the sand and ocean. They are used to the beach on the east coast and didn't believe me that it would be too cold. So we ventured out so I could prove to them that they would not want to play in the cold water. They finally believed me after checking it out for themselves.



After Robby's meetings were over we spent some time checking out Monterey. The boys loved all the big boats and of course Ghirardelli Square.




We then decided to head to San Francisco for a Giants game. Of course it was freezing at the game but luckily we had planned ahead and brought tons of blankets, coats, hats, gloves, etc. The boys enjoyed the game, but especially enjoyed the food (hot dogs & popcorn) and all the fun stuff there was to do at the stadium. They went down the big slides and Owen even got to play a little baseball.


After a fun weekend it was time to head home so we could get ready to go to Ocean Isle Beach, NC.

Owen's Preschool Graduation

At the end of May, Owen graduated from preschool! That's right, I'll have a kid in Kindergarten next year. Crazy! We absolutely love his preschool teachers, Miss Judy and Miss Shannon, and can't wait for Jack to start preschool there next year. (Yup, I'll have two days a week with both my kids in school!)

Here's some pictures from the momentous occasion.



Much to our surprise, Owen even sang and participated through the whole graduation. He usually hates people watching him, especially people he doesn't know, so this was a great surprise. Preschool was a success!

Also note the button-up shirt. Like his father, he is a jeans and t-shirt guy, but he felt this was a special enough occasion to whip out a button-up shirt!

Baby #3 is a ...

BOY!

We hadn't told very many people until recently but we are having baby #3. I had several miscarriages last year and we are so happy to finally have baby #3 on it's way. Up until now it's been a pretty long and stressful pregnancy, but I'm finally starting to get excited. Since I had so many miscarriages I was treated as a "high-risk pregnancy" and have already been to several doctors many times and have already had 4 ultrasounds. So basically, we already have a photo album for this kid. Now that I am almost 20 weeks and things seem to be going smoothly I will just have my regular doctor appointments from now on. Yeah!

Before we even had kids, I told Robby that for some reason I thought we'd have a houseful of boys. Sure enough my predictions seem to be right. Both Owen and Jack were pulling for a boy so they are very excited. I guess I should say Owen is very excited. Jack is pretty clueless about the whole thing.

Here's the most recent picture of the little guy.



So as you can probably guess this (and tax season) were why I've been missing from the blog world for awhile. For the last 12 weeks I have been strictly in "survival mode." My only goal was to make the sure the kids were fed each day. It doesn't sound like much but some days it was stretch. Thankfully, Robby works close now so he was able to come home a lot and help. His family was also a big help by taking the kids off my hands and even cleaning my house!

Here's some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

This is the boys on the Father and Sons Campout. (Yup, I was home all alone for almost 24 hours!)


Here are the boys playing in some fountains at a nearby shopping center. Owen loved it and jumped right in. Jack was not so sure and only got in for a second or two.

Hopefully, I'll have lots of picture coming soon. We're going to Monterey, San Francisco and my parents' beach house in the next little while so I'll actually take some pictures (if I remember).

Birthday, Easter and Everything Else

I swear I have several good excuses for not blogging lately. But rather than get into all that now, here's what we've been up to.

In February, we celebrated Owen's 5th birthday. It's crazy to me that I have a 5 year old! He is getting to be so big and grown up and he can't wait to start kindergarten next year. And honestly, I'm very excited too. Jack will start preschool in the fall as well and I'll have two mornings a week to myself! Woohoo!

For Owen's birthday, I finally let him have a birthday party with friends. I told him he could invite 5 friends since he was turning 5. The funny thing was that most of the people he wanted to invite were his cousins. So really it was his cousins and a couple of friends. We did a Superhero party and invited the kids to come to "Superhero Training." We had three "classes": agility (obstacle course), marksmenship (balloon darts), and villain capture (pinata). The kids had fun and when they finished they each got a personalized cape and certificate. Here's some pictures of all the fun.

Ethan, Talae, Scotty, Owen, Payton, and Fallyn

Owen "capturing" the villain.


Owen's and his cupcakes.


Owen trying out his new cape on his new bike.


All the superhero capes.

Owen had a blast at his party and has already started planning for his next birthday. I think we have some time to work on it though!

From us and all of his grandparents, Owen got a new 16" bike and helmet. He was so excited. It's amazing how much faster he can ride on his bigger bike. He can now keep up if we all go on a ride.

Owen and his new bike and matching helmet.


Looking good!

I wish I could say we have been so busy, you know since I have blogged in so long, but the last few months have just been a blur for some reason. Most of it is probably due to tax season! In February, Robby decided to leave his job at KPMG and start working for a regional firm. It has turned out to be one of the best decisions we've made. It was nerve-wracking to change jobs right before tax season but we've been so much happier with him at his new job. He no longer has to drive 45 min. downtown (and expensive parking) but now works just a few minutes away (free parking!). It's nice that we get to see him more since he is so close. He often comes home for lunch or to help put kids to bed at night. It's been amazing. Don't get me wrong though, we're still counting down the days until April 15th (8 days, by the way).

This last weekend we had a pretty quiet Easter. Most of Robby's family was out of town so we skipped a lot of the usual traditions. On Saturday, we went to an Easter egg hunt at my friend Melanie's mom's house. (She had about 150 dozen eggs hidden!) It was tons of fun and my kids came home with lots of candy and toys.

On Sunday, we hung around the house and watched conference then went and had dinner with Robby's dad, since he was the only one left in town. It was actually nice to have a quiet Easter Sunday. The boys insisted on having another Easter egg hunt, so we did one, but it was pouring rain and really windy. Let's just say it was a very quick egg hunt.

Here's the boys checking out their Easter baskets from the Easter bunny. And yes, I know they look like they're dressed for Halloween.

That's it for now, but hopefully I will add more posts soon. I finally have a new computer so it doesn't take me hours to upload my pictures anymore. It makes blogging a whole lot less frustrating and time consuming!

I'm back...

I know, it has been forever. So here's what we've been up to.

I got released as Primary President. (Woohoo!) Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved this calling but it was a lot of work and after 3 years, I was starting to feel pretty burnt out. After some friendly suggestions to the Bishop, I got my wish to be the Primary Chorister. I love it! I still get to be in Primary but when I go home on Sunday, I'm done until the next Sunday.

We had our annual New Year's Eve party. This time we made it to the New Year without stitches or a trip to the ER. So our year started out better right away.

We had a fun and busy Christmas. Most of Robby's family was in town so it made for a crazy and fun Christmas. The boys were thrilled to have Kelsey, Tommy and Maya stay with us. As usual the boys got nearly everything they could possibly want for Christmas. We spent a whole evening the next week cleaning out their room to make room for the new ones. We nearly filled out entire trash can but at least now they can find their toys.

Even our neighbor Margaret got them a present. Margaret, who is 83, came over on Christmas Eve and asked Robby if he would come and help her bring the boys' present over. This is what he brought back:

Yup, that's right, the present was bigger than them both put together. Here's what was inside:

They LOVE it. The only problem is where to put it in the house until it's warm enough outside to put on the patio.

Sadly, Jack did not get the real puppy he asked for. Instead he got a toy puppy that does all the stuff a real puppy does, just minus the poop. He seems to be satisfied with it for the most part. But if he ever finds money lying around he tells us he's going to use it to buy a puppy. This phase will end soon, right? Because seriously, it's not going to happen.

A couple days before Christmas the boys got together with their cousins and made Gingerbread (graham cracker) Houses. If you know my boys their houses say everything about them. Owen's is nice and neat, the sides match, etc. Jack's is crazy! My favorite part is the huge cookie he slapped on the roof.


Last week my parents came to visit. They came this same time last year and the weather was sunny and beautiful. This year they came and it was like a hurricane! It rained every single day and the wind blew like crazy. The boys still had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa and as usual my parents help us fix things around the house. My dad fixed our doorknobs, installed a new doorbell, helped Robby fix the bathroom faucets and hung a new towel bar. Here's Jack "helping" my dad.


My mom and I spent most of our time making Valentine decorations and sewing. Owen was thrilled to have her sew his Webkin some clothes. Here's Shaggy in his latest getup.


Owen's requests while my parents were here were to 1) go to McDonald's for breakfast, and 2) go to the train museum. Luckily, we were able to do both. The boys had a lot of fun at the train museum. We had never been before and the boys loved getting on all the old trains and then playing with all the toy trains. I'll add pictures when I get them from my dad.

December Craziness

Yup, it's that time of year again. No, not Christmas. Primary everything! It was nice to get the Primary program over, but then comes all of the end of year stuff that has to get done. Parent folders (not done), teacher binders (not even started), birthday gifts for next year (barely started), Santa's Breakfast (done!), Teacher Board Meeting (almost done), etc. I'm very much looking forward to a December when I will no longer be Primary president. It will be nice to enjoy the holidays without all the Primary stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love being in Primary. I just don't like everything that has to be done at the end of the year.

Needless to say, I haven't had much time to blog or even take pictures. We did get a chance to put up Christmas lights and even got a tree - from WiseBuys, $9.98! The boys have had so much fun helping decorate. Jack likes to continually remove the Christmas tree ornaments and rearrange them. Thankfully, I put all the breakable ones out of his reach.


On Saturday, we had our ward Santa's Breakfast. It was a lot of work but a huge success. I miraculously guessed right and bought the right amount of food and we had well over 100 people show up. Santa came, and the boys got to tell him what they want for Christmas. Owen asked for a scooter and skateboard, and at the last minute a red dinosaur! Great, that was not on his list a week ago. He is constantly adding to his Christmas list, so I hope he is not disappointed when he doesn't get everything he asked for.

Jack told us he wanted to ask Santa for a puppy. That's right, a real puppy. Thanks to the Walmart ad that showed kids opening a box with a real puppy. Unfortunately, Santa is not bringing a puppy this year, or any year for that matter. Jack says it so cute though I seriously thought Robby was going to run out and buy a puppy. (Sorry, but I no longer have any kids in diapers and I'm not going to clean up after a dog!) Jack screamed as soon as we sat him on Santa's lap so he never got to tell him what he wanted. I'll add the picture on the blog as soon as I get it. It's pretty funny.