back tracking a little...

my blog missed father's day and i feel like my super dad and my exceptional husband got gypped by not receiving the proper internet attention. i mean, what if they thought i don't love them or appreciate how awesome they are? often, people will remark about what a fantastic father anthony is. and sometimes there is a hint of surprise in their comment. not personally directed at anthony, but just the fact that its seems there are fewer and fewer men willing to step up and be the leader of the family. and change diapers and do baths and grocery shop and instigate epic pillow fights and plan fun family outings and hide licorice in your pocket for impromptu snack opportunities. but this observation, or rather anthony's fantastic father-ness, doesn't really seem all that shocking to me. (partly because, come on, like i'd marry a loser?) but also, i had a pretty great example growing up. i mean, aren't all fathers supposed to be incredibly amazing?

perhaps i'm just really spoiled.
so happy (belated) father's day to the men in my life. thanks for loving me and loving my kids. so our father's day began with a reminder of how much our kids want to be just like daddy. like when mason climbed up on the bathroom counter and grabbed anthony's razor and started shaving. notice small nick on chin that produced a surprising amount of blood.

then it was off to san diego. pretty sure i'd never get sick of beach vacations. especially this special little place i've been to for more years than i remember. i have such great memories with my family. walking out on the pier at sunset. watching the surfers. and the waves.here is when mason realized there was water crashing under him. and here's where he decided he wasn't walking one more step. impromptu snack time. while watching the fisherman. there are all kinds of memories. riding bikes around the bay. playing in the ocean. building sand castles. watching for the "bird man" and wondering what special costume he may be wearing that will pretty much not cover all necessary body parts...

and really, one of my favorite parts about vacationing here is breakfast at konos.

(pardon me while i salivate over here.)

they have the most amazing french toast ever. EVER. and i pretty much don't like french toast. anywhere but konos.

i dream about it.

the only thing that would make it more perfect would be having it served to me on a tray in bed when i awake on my own free will around 9 or 10 am.

but the only person getting breakfast in bed these days is definitely not me. good times.

we have a winner!

and the winner is natalie!

go on over and congratulate her. (and while you are there, you can check out her adoption story and her adorable twin babies from ethiopia. pretty amazing if you ask me.)

and in other news i could have shared yesterday if i wasn't so busy unpacking, doing 85 loads of laundry, and cleaning my house... be sure to watch raising sextuplets. (WEtv thursdays) jenny happens to be a dear friend of mind and quite a fantastic lady. watching her life will make you realize yours just isn't as crazy as you thought.

dear bennett,

if it were possible to make time stand still, i would have stopped it long ago.

and again and again and again since then.

how is it possible you are already 4? FOUR!!! that's like a million in dog years. you are growing up way too fast.i love how sensitive you are and how you have the most innocent smile. and how you wish to be invisible when around other people.

that is, if you realize they are looking at you. and if not, you don't mind a bit to be running around with a net on your head swinging sticks in the air and screaming at the top of your lungs (like at church this weekend). i know you'd rather not tell someone your name or even have to say thank you, but its great that you do. you are so polite, even though you don't want any attention on you. well, unless of course we are talking about from me while i'm on the phone or trying to sleep or blog about you turning 4.

then you are persistent.

persistent could mean "annoying."

but not on your birthday...

i love that you still want to be "wocked in the wocking chair" every night. preferably by daddy. but sometimes you settle for me.

and i'm SO proud of you that you have finally conquered the battle to learn to chew with your mouth closed. that's a huge one, buddy. and you have one proud mommy you can thank later when trying to impress the girl of your dreams on your first date. (which, by the way, will be in approximately 30 years.)

and when you walk out of your room in the morning, with your hair standing straight up and your eyes all sleepy, holding your blanket and with your sweet voice you say, "mommy, can you cuddle up with me?" yeah, i really like that too.

i love the sound of your bare feet running down the hallway. and your giggles. and the sound effects you insert into every car, or crashing block tower, and everything else.

i love watching you play at the beach. without a single care in the entire world.
oh, and how you hold the door open for me without even being asked. you're going places in this world, big man.

and i know it wouldn't be good if you did it forever, but just for a little longer can you still say "scunscween" and "weally, weally" and "acswully" and "daddy is my best fwiend. he's the bestest EVER!" and "pweez can we have piddow fight, pwwwweeeezzzz!!!!" and "how many more days until my berfday?" and "suh" (for sure) - you are so agreeable. (this is cute now, the agreeableness. but please grow out of this by your teen years when surrounded by beer and drugs and loose little hussies who will be the death of you.)

i know i sometimes joke (to discreet adults only) that you could possibly be my favorite (a confession (and of course total joke people!) i will come back to delete when your siblings get older and learn to read) but its just because you are really so, so easy. and happy go lucky. (except for when you are tired or hungry and then you are super whiny but that's ok because aren't we all?) sometimes in the midst of *other* people's drama and screaming and meltdowns and strong-willed battles against the world, i glance over and there you are outside jumping after butterflies or building your flying tree house. or digging in the dirt. or you've turned your fork into a catapult or your book into a slide and you are happily minding your own business.

you could quite possibly be the happiest kid in the entire world.

and your love for tomatoes is quite extraordinary. and when you begged me to get green beans at the grocery store... that was pretty funny. and i think its cute that you say your favorite food is salad even though we all know its pizza. i love that curious george still makes you giggle. and that you burst with excitement at the sight of thomas the train or lightning mcqueen or buzz lightyear.
i love that when we get to the park you sprint as fast as you can for the sand and kick your shoes off in any old random direction and play your heart out until its time to go home.

and it completely breaks my heart when you come over to me fighting back tears because some boy was mean to you. because as your mommy, i don't ever want to see your huge heart crushed by this mean ol' world.

and then last week, in the middle of the night when you called out for me and i came running into your room thinking you had a nightmare about "cloudy with a chance of meatballs" (which you dubbed "the scariest movie EVER") and i said, "what's wrong?" and you mumbled into your pillow, "nothing. i just wanted some lovin' from you." i think that is the first time i've ever smiled when being woken up in the middle of the night. it was so precious. (but totally not necessary to do it again or anything.)

and i hope that when you grow up, you will follow your dreams and be someone who "teaches kids their memory verses" and then also, "maybe a mailman." i can't even begin to imagine the joy you'd bring to people's lives each day.
you are refreshing. you love life. you are content. you teach me so much about joy and delighting in the little things. about taking it easy, slowing down and smelling the roses.

happy birthday, my little buddy. may the year of 4 be good to you.

it's giveaway time!

***CLOSED***

so, been looking for kitchen gadgets, camping gear, platform beds, wall art, baby stuff, or just the chance to do a little shopping?

lucky for you, one lucky blog reader o' mine will receive a $50 gift card to spend at csnstores in any old way you choose.

and who doesn't love free stuff!

maybe a waffle maker...or maybe you are upset you didn't get that fondue set (or any of those other items) the last time around...how about some super cozy boots for your daughter (or self)?
i could keep going here, but you can head on over to csnstores and see for yourself.

there is a lot of stuff to choose from. i wasted a good chunk of my day doing a little shopping. 'cause really, they have just about everything you could possibly want. and definitely everything you didn't even know you needed.

furniture, handbags, outdoor living, home decor, toys, games...

winner will be randomly selected on june 25th.

leave a comment to enter. and for another entry, post about it on your blog or facebook and come back and comment telling me you did so.

good luck!

if your email address is not visible on your blog, please be sure to leave it for me so i can contact you when you win.

if you don't have a blogger account, you can comment under "anonymous" and be sure to leave me your email.

contest open to US and Canadian residents. thank you to csn stores for sponsoring this fantastic giveaway.

the zoo

thirsty?
must for sure be my 3rd. i go for the camera instead of scrubbing the inside of his mouth with hand sanitizer.
who knew you could pay so much money for your children to slide down a fake grass hill on cardboard?

but there were some pretty amazing animals.

not in here though. these were just a whole bunch of creepy creepies that, oh, gave bennett about 85 nightmares last night. he kept crying about "bugs!" and "mommy, please, oh please, can i sleep with you?"

hours of haunting bugs...but i must say, if i were an elephant (and especially if i weren't) this wouldn't be such a bad place to live.
rolling hills of mansions on one side. the beach on the other.

rough life.

memorial weekend

once you mention "memorial day" and explain its meaning to ella, there is no turning back.

its sweet how she prays for the "sholdiers" who are protecting us.

and for the people who bled.

and then she decided to make memorial place mats the other night for dinner.

i, for one, thought this was totally awesome. i expected innocent red white and blueness not this hardcore "mean guy" (translation: tough guy) complete with sword in his left hand.

i can't decide what i like the most though. that he's giving a thumbs up with his right hand, or that his gun, tucked into his belt on his right side reaches on down past his feet.

or that he is possibly 9 months pregnant.

(oh, and it was pasta for dinner. pardon the sauce remains...)

so this morning, anthony took the older 2 to a memorial service at a nearby cemetery.
he was telling me how cool it was and how the speaker was explaining how memorial day used to always be may 30. then congress decided to change it to a monday for the convenience of a three day weekend. many prominent military knew that by doing so, it would change our perspective and remembrance of such an important day.

"changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. no doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of memorial day." (VFW)

he then said, "look to those on your right and to your left and give them a hand. they are the ones who took the time to honor the heroes for whom this day was established."

(unlike your wife who is at home preparing for the afternoon barbecue)

anyhow...

ella made a card to pass out to a soldier.

its a boat, and the plastic spoon is the oar...

so i mentioned that maybe daddy could help her find someone who had served in the navy.

(and who also might have a sense of humor...)

but they found this fine young man who was thrilled to be thanked by my kids.
and also, they brought some friends with them and i'm really sad that noelle isn't actually looking at the camera here. but this is the only picture that our fearless marine is looking and i figure since he's the one who may give his life for our freedom, he wins. sorry noelle, maybe next time.

man vs wild: family edition

its a beautiful saturday afternoon.

daddy asks with excitement, "who wants to go exploring?"

the kids are thrilled and run around finding shoes and socks and hats and ask a million where/what/when/how questions.

ella says, "i know. exploring means hiking."

wrong.

maybe it used to.

that all changed today.

exploring actually means braving the elements and risking your life for adventure.

it started out harmless enough. wide open spaces. perfect temperature. green trees. and we found this awesome little creek.and who doesn't love throwing rocks in the water, getting your feet wet... good times. everyone was happy. the trail pretty much ended right there at the water. and no matter that we'd only ventured a mere few hundred feet from the car.

but then...

we happened to notice that the trail continued across the creek.

well, that could be fun.

(or not.)

"funny" thing is, i'm pretty sure no one has been on this trail in the last century. it was covered with overgrown weeds. i think my poor little boy is in there somewhere...this wouldn't have been so terrible if it weren't for the fact that i was positively sure we'd step on a rattlesnake any second. or that there were 85 million gnats swarming around our heads.

it was a bit claustrophobic being surrounded by these gigantic wildflower/weed-type things, fearing snakes and then having your children stop every few inches because they didn't want twigs touching them.

but hey, we couldn't turn back. and what is there to fear when bear grylls is leading us? no but really, once we made it through that horrible, scary rattlesnake infested no man's land, i really didn't want to go back through it.

i mean it. i was sorta freaked out.

especially when we heard loud "rustling" at the base of the mountain.

ella gasps, "its a bear!"

daddy, mr. fearless explorer, reassures, "no, its probably just a lizard."

big fat liar.

i know lizard sounds. it was no lizard.

but whatever. (yeah, this is actually the picture of when we heard the "lizard" (aka bigfoot). i had to capture the moment. after all, what if we died? you all needed something for my memoirs.)

and while this completely secluded "we could die here and no one would ever know" place (sure there is a paved road like 1/2 a mile away, but still, we were buried in this unforgiving terrain) was beautiful...

i was kinda wondering if we'd make it out alive. ish.

so anthony says, "i'll head up and see if this crosses back over to the road. you guys can wait here."

yeah, that was fun. except for all the bugs flying in our noses and ears.

oh, and that wild animal about to pounce on us out of the bushes. so being the scaredy cat i am, we follow off in the way anthony went. the whole while i'm watching very intently at the base of this mountain. i've convinced myself a mountain lion is about to attack us. and i'm also convinced i can kill it with my bare hands to protect my children. it would have made an awesome story. but it didn't happen.

instead, anthony meets up with us and tells us he found the way. its just up here across this: yes, but is there actually civilization across that? so he blazes on up ahead to find out. thumbs up.

so, child #1 makes it safely across: child #2 makes is safely across: child #3...

well... he made is safely across too.

and now that i'm home and alive and well, i can say it was actually kind of fun. and maybe we'll go back there again sometime.

with a machete.

and a gps.

and a rifle.