winning

Charlie Sheen isn't the only one "winning" these days...look what I won playing the Albertsons' Monopoly game! I rarely go to Albertsons anymore because they don't double coupons, but I have been there a few times recently for some good deals. I stashed my few game pieces in my coupon binder and didn't even bother opening them since I have played the past few years and have NEVER won anything. One day over spring break I was cleaning out my coupon folder and decided to open the game pieces, mostly to see if there were any good coupons in there (since the grocery store I usually shop at takes competitor coupons). I was quite surprised when I saw I had the whole set to win a free Monopoly board game! The best part of the story is that it took 2 regular employees, 2 store managers, 30 minutes, and 3 forms to claim my prize! Apparently they don't have winners very often...

spring photos

My hatred for school photos has been well-documented. But I just got the proofs back for the boys' spring school photos (they allow them to wear regular clothes instead of uniforms) and I am ALMOST impressed. If it weren't for their ugly, dirty shoes showing I might have been tempted to order some! Sorry for the poor, grainy quality...I "borrowed" them from the studio website.

Brandon - age 8 1/2 - 3rd grade

Tyler - age 6 - Kindergarten

And PS - sorry about having to put comment moderation back on. I wasn't getting many comments so I turned it off. Sure enough, then I started getting random spam comments which I would have to go find and delete. It's easier for me to approve the few comments I get than to deal with unwanted ones.

sea world!

When our plans for San Francisco fell through and we went to Huntington Beach instead (see post below), we decided we could justify spending the money to go to Sea World (which was on our "to-do" list in 2011) because we were saving a lot more by not going to San Francisco. The last time we went to Sea World was almost 4 years ago in July 2007 (Brandon was almost 5, Tyler was 2, and Natalie was 1 month old). Brandon didn't even remember being there.

I won't bore you with 150 photos I took of the great sealife in all the exhibits we saw, but the kids were fascinated and I love that nothing at Sea World requires waiting in lines (except a few rides which we didn't do) and you can go at your own pace.

We laughed at the line of cars to get in. At least 75% of them were Arizona license plates (surprisingly we didn't see anyone we knew that day)! When we walked in the gates, the guys with the cameras immediately swarm. I had my nice, big camera around my neck and assured them we would get plenty of quality photos. I was shocked when the guy then offered to take our family's photo with my camera for us! I was even more grateful when I saw they were selling them on the way out for $17 each!

First stop was the sharks, of course! The kids were a bit nervous, but we assured them they would not get hurt.
We saw the Seal & Sea Lion show, which is always cute. The pre-show entertainment guy was very funny as well.
We quickly ran over to the dolphin show which started 10 minutes after the other show ended. The dolphin show has always been my favorite and I was slightly disappointed with the changes they've made to it. It was very impressive, but it's a lot more story-based with human acrobatics and high diving stunts and a lot less dolphin tricks. I think they even call is "Blue Horizons" now instead of the dolphin show.
I still haven't figured out why there's a pet show (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) at Sea World, but it was fun to watch and amazing the things they can get those animals to do.
I was fascinated with the gorgeous flowers planted all over Sea World and had to stop and practice my photography skills a few times.
After our only long line of the day for a late (overpriced, mediocre-tasting) lunch, we decided to go see the Sesame Street 4D show (again, not sure why this is at Sea World). Does anyone else find this sign as hilarious as I do? Not exactly what you expect to read next to a picture of Elmo as you're going into a Sesame Street show! Though Natalie did get quite startled when they started dripping water from the ceiling! Only about 1/2 of the 20 minute show is in 3D/4D, which I though was lame, but the kids though it was funny and it was nice to sit and relax for a bit. We happened to be there at the time the first (of only two) Shamu shows was happening so there were only about 15 people in the theatre.
We headed back over to see the penguins and the Wild Arctic animals. Natalie wasn't tall enough for the simulator ride, so we just walked through to the exhibits. The boys saw a polar bear peeing which was apparently very amusing and memorable (it was first thing Tyler told grandma about when we got back). We then walked around the corner to see this beluga whale right up next to the glass. He stayed in this position for the whole 5 minutes we watched him and was still there when we walked away. You felt like he was staring at you, and it was impressive to be able to see the size of it up close.
We made our way over to the tide pools. Brandon loved touching the star fish. Tyler touched a few, and Natalie wouldn't have anything to do with it.
Our last stop of the day was the Shamu show.
It never fails to impress me how these enormous animals can be trained to do these amazing stunts.
They constantly remind you before the show starts (and it's marked on every bench) that if you are sitting in the bottom section you will get wet. Our kids really wanted to sit close at every show, but I wouldn't let them, especially since it was getting chilly by this time of the late afternoon and we had a 2 hour drive back. My favorite part of the whole show was when Shamu started splashing everyone on the other side of the stadium and a whole group of people who were in the bottom section in front of us got up and ran out of the way! I wish I would have had the video camera running - it was FUNNY! You could tell they were all first-timers who didn't think the water could possibly get up to row 16!
I enjoy creating memories for my kids and it was a great day as a family. The weather was perfect, the crowds weren't that big, and we were able to see/do almost everything (except the rides - Natalie wasn't tall enough for them and we didn't want to do the water rides because it's wasn't warm enough). I don't think I heard more than a couple complaints the whole day. I love that our kids are getting to a good age to do fun things like this!

spring break

Usually we have a major vacation planned months in advance for spring break. I love traveling when everyone else in still in school! February rolled around and we realized we better figure out what we were doing, but then regular life got busy and planning kept getting put off. Everything I attempted to plan just didn't feel right and I kept running into problems & frustrations. First we tried San Francisco, but I couldn't find any hotels or rental cars that were reasonably priced so I gave up quickly. I tried booking a cruise, but that kept feeling like I was trying to shove a square peg into a round hole and I had too many questions and concerns so that never materialized.

One night I decided to try San Francisco again (I LOVE San Francisco and have always wanted to take my kids there) and I immediately found a reasonably priced hotel (by San Francisco standards) in a great location and a rental minivan cheaper than we have ever paid before ANYWHERE! I knew it was meant to be so we booked them and we started planning a San Francisco spring break trip. Four days before we were scheduled to leave as I was starting to pack, I checked the weather forecast. I was heartbroken when I saw it was supposed to rain most of the week! Five wet, cold people staying in a hotel room (with no clothes dryer) and 80% of the things we wanted to do were outdoors didn't sound like a fun vacation so we canceled everything (no costs incurred) and moved to Plan D, which was go to Huntington Beach and hang out with my parents for the week.

Those who know me well will realize what major chaos this last minute change of plans created in my carefully organized brain. I had no plan! I hadn't contacted anyone! What would we do? Would it be fun? So many thoughts running through my head! But I knew for sure I couldn't be here at home for 2+ weeks of spring break with NO PLANS! So I tried to relax, we went, and we had a great week! A huge thanks to my parents for allowing us come on such short notice.

We drove over Monday. We were able to see Bree, a close childhood friend of mine. We have been friends since first grade. She lives in San Francisco and we were going to get to see her there. But when our plans changed I knew she was only going to be in HB until Monday night so we left extra early and made quick stops so we would have a few hours to visit with her. It's been 5 years since I've seen her. Since then she has gotten married and has twin baby boys. In the rush to get over to see her, I completely forgot my camera so unfortunately I have no photos. Her boys are simply adorable and she is a great mother. It was so fun to chat and catch up. We ended the day with dinner out at my favorite mexican restaurant...Las Barcas!

Tuesday we went to Sea World - which will be a separate blog post to follow.

Wednesday very early in the morning I dropped Kevin off at the airport so he could fly back and work a few days. I love this arrangement we have figured out. I get a vacation and he doesn't have to spend too much of his vacation allotment each time I want to go to CA. Wednesday I took the kids to Pretend City. My mom took them there in October while Kevin & I were in China and Brandon has not stopped talking about it since. As soon as he heard we were going to Grandma's house, it was the first thing he asked about. It's a fantastic, huge children's museum. We went about 1:00 in the afternoon which worked out perfectly. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. All the school field trip groups had left, all the little kids had gone home for their naps, and all the bigger kids were in school. The kids played for almost 4 hours and weren't ready to leave. It's a bit pricey, but you could literally stay all day and not get bored. I highly recommend it to anyone that lives in or is visiting the Irvine area.

Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, but in my last minute packing & plans changing, I forgot green clothes for everyone! In the morning we made & decorated shamrock shaped sugar cookies. In the early afternoon we took the kids to the park. And in the late afternoon & evening we went and visited another dear childhood friend of mine, Bekki, who is married to a high school friend of ours, Troy. They have 2 girls (Maddie 8 and Darya 4). Natalie thought she had died and gone to heaven with all the girl toys in that house...Barbies, Polly Pockets, Disney Princesses, dress up clothes, and baby dolls everywhere you turned! We usually get to see Bekki while we're in town and these kids always play really well together. It was nice because they are all old enough now to just send them upstairs to play unsupervised and the adults can chat.

Friday morning we just relaxed at my parent's house. Friday afternoon we got to spend with yet ANOTHER childhood friend of mine, Julie. One of the kids acted surprised when I told them we were going to see another friend of mine: "You have a lot of friends Mom!" Julie has 3 boys (and a baby girl due in a few months). The kids all played together really well at their house also. A lively game of soccer in the backyard, climbing on the swingset, and even a bit of video game time for the boys. Julie & I were able to sit and chat. Don't you love those friends who, no matter how long it has been since you've seen them, you can just talk forever? I feel very blessed that I got to see THREE women like that in just a few days! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera again! Friday evening I picked Kevin up from the airport.

Saturday we drove home. Every time we travel with these kids it gets easier as they get older, more patient, able to self-entertain, and sleep better in different places. I was thinking as we drove back that I love visiting California and it will always hold a very special place in my heart, but that Arizona definitely feels like "home" now.

brandon's first pinewood derby

Brandon was very excited to do the pinewood derby with the cub scouts for the first time this year.
He & Kevin spent many hours designing & making his car, with some help from Grandpa Turner and his wood shop.

Kevin allowed Brandon do as much of the work as he could. They did a great job! Since the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl, Brandon wanted to paint his car green & yellow.
Here are all the ward cars (Brandon's needed some extra weight so we stuck it on top to look like engines):
Most of the Wolf troop:
Brandon's car started out pretty well each race, but slowed down and usually came in last or second to last. Even though we had the "winning isn't everything...not everyone will win...it's the fun making the car and working with dad" speech many times, it was still sad to watch. It's times like these that I see exactly how much Brandon's personality is like mine. When you put so much of your time and heart into something you want to feel successful. I didn't expect him to win (nor did I even really want him to because we didn't have time to come back for the stake championship race later that day), but middle-of-the-pack would have been nice.
Brandon held his emotions together pretty well and put on a good face for the award ceremony, even though I could tell he was crushed. My heart was breaking for him, but thankfully I could hide behind my camera!

First or last, you'll always be a winner to us!
Great job on your first pinewood derby Brandon!

third grade zoo field trip

Can you believe in four years of kids in elementary school I've never chaperoned a field trip? Our school generally just does 1-2 field trips per year per grade level, and they limit the number of volunteers per class. I have either not been able to volunteer due to lack of babysitters for my younger kids or I have not been chosen in the "lottery" if there are too many volunteers. So I was very excited to have been chosen for BOTH field trips (Brandon's and Tyler's) this year! Brandon's field trip was last week to the zoo (Tyler's will happen in April).

I was a bit nervous when I arrived and the teacher said we don't stay as a class or a grade, but we divide up into small groups of 4-5 kids and that my group consisted of 5 boys! Given the strict school environment these kids are used to, it should not have surprised me that these boys were used to listening and following rules. They were great boys and very obedient and helpful! I don't think I've ever seen that much enthusiasm at the zoo before. They never wanted to stop and I definitely got my exercise trying to keep up with them! I actually loved being in a small group. It was great to be able to go as quickly or as slowly as we wanted and to go wherever we chose (actually wherever I chose, because 5 boys arguing and trying to decide amongst themselves didn't sound like a very good idea).
The Phoenix Zoo is fairly large, but we managed to cover about 75% of it in 2 hours! I had to force them to stop and eat lunch and I was shocked that they didn't even want to play on the playground! They were good sports about posing for photos (one legged pose for the flamingos!) and the weather was gorgeous so every animal was out and easily visible (check out the komodo dragon in the middle photo - it was literally right on the other side of the glass!).

Even though it wasn't one-on-one, it was nice to have some time with just Brandon without Tyler & Natalie's distractions and the competition for my attention. I always love seeing Brandon around his friends. It helps me remember that many of the annoying things that he does are just normal 8-year old boy behaviors! It was fun to go to the zoo with kids who were old enough to read and remember and ask questions and make intelligent observations and genuinely wanted to learn. What a great day! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go.

running club

Brandon & Tyler both participated in school running club this year and they both did great! All of the races were on Tuesdays or Thursdays which conflicted with Brandon's cub scouts and piano lessons so he wasn't able to do any races this year. But Tyler decided he wanted to run in one race and he did fantastic (which is not surprising since that kid has been running non-stop since he was 9 months old)! The races are 1.5 miles and there are at least 500 kids running. Tyler came in 194th (the races are for grades K-6, so that is REALLY good)! Tyler also ran about 25 miles total during their weekly practices. Brandon ran about 40 miles total during their practices.

At the end of the season, they have an award ceremony where each kid gets a medal. Since there are almost 200 kids at our school that participate in running club, they are divided up into smaller groups (called "pods") of about 10 kids and this is their Pod #14. (if you're wondering why Tyler is wearing pajamas, it was kindergarten Dr. Seuss & pajama day)
I know they don't always love running club, but like everything else that they do, they give 100%, they try their best, and they don't quit. I am so proud of them!

star wars birthday party

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I decided to throw Tyler a Star Wars themed 6th birthday party. Thanks to some great ideas from the internet and from friends, it turned out to be a wonderful party! We now have 9 official Jedi in the area who have completed their Jedi training.

I got a bunch of Star Wars books from the library and Kevin read to the kids while we waited for everyone to arrive. We then gave each child their Jedi cloak and headed out to the backyard. Their first Jedi training exercise was an obstacle course. I did not want to make it competitive, but with boys everything is competitive so Kevin timed them. Not surprisingly, Mark won (4 brothers makes him pretty fast!).

Next we gave them their (pool noodle) light sabers. I think they could have filled the whole time just fighting each other! I had heard about a fun light saber Jedi training exercise to keep a balloon up in the air, but either I had really cheap balloons or our grass is very sharp because every time they would drop they would pop, so that activity lasted about 2 minutes!

From L to R: Brandon, Natalie, Sean, JJ, Tyler, Josh, Carter, Joe, Mark

The next Jedi training exercise was to defeat Darth Vader. This was highlight of the party in my opinion! Thanks to my brother-in-law's awesome Darth Vader helmet, Kevin looked fantastic. If it weren't for Tyler shouting, "don't worry...it's just my dad!" when he walked out, I think some of the boys might have believed it was really Darth Vader!
He fought each boy individually:

And then all the boys ganged up to kill Darth Vader:

Their final Jedi training exercise was to destroy the Death Star (ball shaped pinata spray painted gray).
Each Jedi received a certificate of excellence for completing their training so we held a little award ceremony. Tyler opened his presents, and then it was onto the cake. Thanks to a friend loaning me her Darth Vader cake pan, this was one of the easiest cakes I have ever done.
(I took this photo the night before so I wouldn't forget before or during the party...in case you were wondering why Tyler has on different clothes!)

We also had Yoda Soda (lime sherbet in Sprite) to drink.

The weather was perfect, the boys were well behaved, and one boy's mother emailed me the next day to tell me her son declared it the "best party he's ever been to!" so I consider it a huge success! Happy Birthday Tyler and may the force be with you!

happy 6th birthday tyler!

Tyler turned 6 today! It seems like just yesterday he was like this:
Now he's off to kindergarten all day and reading everything in sight! I love this kid so much. He makes me laugh every single day. I am very grateful he is part of our family and ours forever!
Here's my "interview" with Tyler (the items marked with * have not changed since last year):

Favorite Color: Orange *

Favorite Number: 101 (no, he did not recently watch 101 Dalmations...this is the amount of Liberty Dollars he has at school)

Favorite Drink: Juice

Favorite Food: Ravioli

Favorite Game: Trash (apparently this is a game they play at school on the slide at recess - they pretend they are going down the trash chute?!?)

Favorite Animal: Turtle *

Favorite TV Show: Spongebob

I feel sad when: somebody bites me

I feel mad when: somebody hits me

I like it when my friends: play with me

I like it when my teacher: gives us new books

I like it when I: eat lasagna (lasagna was last year's favorite food - he had a hard time deciding between lasagna & ravioli for this year's favorite food)

I wish I could: be a monster and eat Natalie

Who is your best friend? Kirk

Why? because he plays with me

What makes you laugh? jokes *

What is your favorite movie? Toy Story 3

What are you most afraid of? Natalie

What is your favorite song? I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ

What makes you really angry? when somebody pushes me

What is your favorite activity? play Wii

If you were parent for a day, which rule would you get rid of? going to work

What do you want to be when you grow up? a race car driver

Do you think it would be hard to be a mom or a dad? no

Why? because you don't have to do work

If you could have a magical power, what would you choose? super strength

What three things are you are good at? reading, Wii tennis, and playing Rush Hour on Dad's Blackberry

What is the best thing about turning 6? you get candy at church

I am special because: Jesus loves me!

Happy 6th Birthday Tyler! We love you!

kevin or chris?

This story makes me laugh every time I think about it and has created some funny jokes in our ward so I thought I should share it.

We love the Meeker family! We both lived in the same ward in our old houses, they moved down to this area a few years before we did (imagine our surprise when we bought our new house without even knowing it was in their ward!), our kids are the same ages & genders (except they also have an older daughter), we carpool together, and Buffie is Brandon's piano teacher. We have know each other for over 9 years and they are some of our dearest friends.

A few weeks ago Kevin was at church one evening standing outside talking with his Elders Quorum presidency and a lady in our ward walked by and told him to tell his wife that their son wouldn't be at piano lessons the next day because he was sick. He came home and told me the story and said, "she must have thought I was Chris Meeker!" We laughed because they don't really look that much alike. Kevin walked out of the den and imagine my surprise when I clicked on this newest blog post that my friend Buffie Meeker had written. I called Kevin back in and we laughed for hours (their hilarious son Max is 6).

http://meekermoments.blogspot.com/2011/02/attacked-by-another-maxism.html