Another lost tooth

Brooke's first two lost teeth were very anti-climatic. The first one she lost when we were walking out of the church one evening last march after practicing the piano. All of the sudden she turned around and said, "my tooth fell out." The next one came out while she was jumping on the trampoline at MaKenzie's house in UT this last summer. So it was a fun evening of pulling out teeth tonight. I think it helped that she had already lost a few, because she was excited about it instead of being scared. Here is the video. It was really fun!

tidbits

It seems lately that we have been up to a lot of things and nothing at the same time. How does that work? Here are few snippets of what we have been doing:

• Ben SURPRISED me and stole me away for dinner and a night in Capitola. It was so great! We caught up on our anniversary binder that we hadn't done in July.


• The weather was unbelievable so I pulled Brooke out of school early and headed to the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous. 78 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, a slight breeze so you weren't too hot. September and October seem to be the best beach days, why can't we start school in November around here...enjoy the sunshine that didn't show up until August it seems.


• I have been watching my sister-in-laws five kids for a few days. Wow, its a lot of kids.


• Ben and I crashed my in-laws ward party and learned a little ballroom dancing. It was so fun. Kind of takes you back to college days.


• I went to Vegas for a foot zoning conference. Always so much information. You feel like your head is exploding.


• We got to hang out with Ryan when he came into town. It was only a few hours, but it is always so good to see old friends.


• We went camping to Henry Cowell Park in Santa Cruz mountains. It was fun to hang out with my volleyball teammates outside of the court.


• The kids and I are taking advantage of early out Wednesdays and trying to go somewhere fun on those days. We have gone to some water parks in pleasanton and dublin. The children's discovery museum. swimming and the beach.


• The girls started gymnastics. They absolutely love it. And I love this gym, much better than the one we went to last year.

It finally feels like we are in a good routine with schedules. Brooke loves her teacher and Livy is in heaven in Joy School. And Jackson, well he is another story. Absolutely perfect angel baby turned terrible toddler. I guess he is making up for lost time.

Cool House

Ben's co-worker gave us a window air conditioning unit. It has been on now for about 8 minutes and it is literally changing the atmosphere around here...not just the air. Hallelujah!

Annual Boardwalk Trip

We did our annual summer boardwalk trip with all of our friends two nights before school started. As usual, it was a blast! We walked on every ride-because a lot of the kids had already started school, so it was pretty empty. This year Laurel and I went early and went to the beach before the cheap rides at 5. it was the most beautiful day we have had at the beach in a LONG time. We saw so many dolphins about 20 yard off the shore, thousands of birds, and tons of seals. It was a great day and a very fun evening. Can't wait to go again next summer.

Getting things done...

Last week I just couldn't get out of the funk of feeling depressed about my to do list. I was having a little bit (okay a lot bit) of anxiety about stupid things...like a to do list. Sometimes as a mom you just feel like you are a hamster running on the wheel. Running as fast as you can and getting no where. That is really what i felt like with my list of things i have been wanting to get done on our house. And the more I tried to check things off, like organize the closet, finish the girls room, get carpet, etc., the more things unraveled. The house became a tornado. No matter how many times i told myself that things were going to get messier before they would get truly organized, I just could not keep from getting frustrated. Even though I know that it takes so much more time to get things done with three little kids running around, I kept questioning myself, "Why can't I just finish things on my list?" or "Why does this simple thing have to take so long?"

And then it hit me. After a long week of feeling depressed about running on this wheel. I just laughed. It was when we were trying to get to the park. I dropped Brooke off at school, then came back to try to get the breakfast dished cleaned before we left. While clearing the dishes, Livy tried to get a bowl of cereal and spilled the entire box all over the freshly swept floor. After it was picked up and i talked her out of the cereal and I went back to getting dishes cleared (not even washed) she got the milk out and tried to pour a sippy cup, whtch most of it missed the cup and spilled, so i was cleaning that up. I packed a few snacks got Jackson changed and dressed. I decided I had enough time i was going to try to walk around the lake before the park...when i went to put the stroller in the car, the wheel was flat. Even though i was frustrated, I just shrugged it off and told myself I wouldn't have had time anyway. When I went back inside, Jackson had pooped, so i had to change another diaper. Then I couldn't find my phone. We finally got outside and opened the van doors and realized the car seats were still in the front seat from transporting furniture for the girls room that was still not done (the main thing that was getting me a little depressed about the to do list). I get the car seats in the mazda, since I know we still have to pick up some more furniture and didn't want to have to put the seats back in and then take them out again. I put the kids in the car- forget that i don't have any water. Go get water. Get back to the car and realize Livy doesn't have shoes on. Go find her shoes. Finally get in the car (after throwing in the towel and deciding to leave the dishes, otherwise i would never get out the door) and remember I didn't pack a diaper. Go back in the house and snag a diaper and extra wipes (thankfully, because they came in very handy at the park) and get in the car. Only to find out we are totally out of gas and I need to get gas on the way. At this point I am like 20 minutes late for when I said I was going to be there. Good thing I didn't try to walk around the lake before getting to the park. As I was driving there I started laughing out loud. It was a good wake up call to me of all the little details that happen to get anywhere. It took me 45 minutes to get out the door to go to the park. And i didn't even pack a lunch. Why should I be discouraged about not getting ALL the things on my to-do list done in a week or two, when in reality it takes an hour to get out the door for a small outing.

Sometimes we forget about what it is like to try to do thing with kids around, even when we are in the thick of it. The house finally got cleaned up, the shelves have stayed organized, and even though the girls room still isn't totally finished i am taking my to do list a little lighter and trying not to get frustrated with my family just to get some things checked off a list.

The Entitlement Trap

So I pre-ordered the book "The Entitlement Trap", hoping I would have won one of the prizes for pre-ordering :), but mainly because I had read some of it while we were at Bear Lake and loved it. Sure, i might be a little bit bias, but i really do think Rick and Linda have really great ideas on parenting.
So it came today and I have read throught the first chapter and a half, and it has really got me thinking. Of course it has gotten me thinking a ton about parenting and the little things I am doing with my little kids that is already breeding them for entitlement and how I want to change them and try to do better. Over the past week or two i have been thinking about teaching my kids responsibility. And it has been conflicting in my mind: being really strict about taking care of things vs. not putting too much amphasis on the material things. I have been trying to figure out how i want to handle it. Like the most recent things I have been thinking about is taking care of things in the house, especially furniture. I want my kids to respect things and show that by taking care of them, but I also really like it when they do imaginative play and use the couch pillows for landing pads, and our couches are very well worn, to put it lightly, so i don't want to make a big deal about keeping them pristine. But on the other hand I want my kids to know that furniture is very expensive and needs to be taken care of. That is really simple example of some of the things that have been swimming in my head about teaching respect, but not wanting to put too much of an emphasis on the importants of "things" in general.
But the main thing I have been thinking about while reading just these few pages thus far in the book is the theories of teaching p.e that were so ingrained in my head from my classes when i was getting my master's degree. In a nutshell, it was taught over and over again that it is SO IMPORTANT for kids to have a good experience in physical activity, i.e. P.E classes. So as a teacher you needed to be sure kids liked P.E. Now some professors taught you to praise kids, and really give them positive affirmations. Other professors taught you to make the kids work really hard with fun activities for physical education, but be sure the kids were always moving and working and, hopefully, sweating. And while reading this book, I keep relating the ladder to parenting. Every class i taught, and team I coached, that I made work extremely hard, almost to the point of over-exhaustion, came out on top. The students and the athletes that tried hard and stretched themselves loved it and achieved so much.
I need to remember this in parenting. I wasn't always the nicest teacher, or the most friendly coach, but by golly my kids (volleyball players and students) learned a lot and loved it. (Although, they didn't love it all that much when I made them sweat before they had another class to go to right afterwards, or my teams didn't love it when they were having to fulfill their consequences of a lot of dive lines.) But by the end of the semester, or the end of the season, they loved it. And more importantly they respected me and believed in themselves.

And that is what I want for my own children.

So I may not be the "nicest" mom along the way, or the mom that always gives praises and flowers at any trivial effort. But hopefully through the years, as I implement some of my coaching philosophies into my parenting, my kids will come out on top. Meaning they will believe in themselves, they will know that hard work brings joy and setting goals and accomplishing them, even when they are hard, stretches us and makes us strong.
And they won't feel entitled to every little thing.


Yep, I hope someday I will be as good of a parent, as I was a coach.

Joy School

Today was Livia's first day of Joy School. We did a very low key pre-school last year with Nathan and Lizzy Beck when Melissa still lived here, but this was her official day of Joy School. I wanted to take pictures, she was so excited about it for the past two weeks. And then the true Livy came out. We were getting ready to go, 15 minutes early just to be sure, and her real colors came flying out. She didn't want to go, she was screaming and kicking on the floor. Nothing could console her. I had to get ben to carry her out to the car, and even then she hung on to him wiht a death grip adn wouldn't get in the car seat. Thankfully, Ben talked her into getting in the car. And I go t her there, of course 10 minutes late. She had to sit on my lap for a while, but after about 10 minutes with Jessica's awesome distraction techniques and kindness, she was happy as a clam amidst the kids. As I left i thought how much better I handled this than in the past. I feel like i really know Livy better these days. She acts very fun and outgoing, but deep down she is scared. Its not that she doesn't want to do things, but she is much more nervous. She is also shy in front of people. Unlike Brooke, who likes to put on a "show" that she is shy, Livy really is shy and does not want the attention. As I thought about this coming home (excited to get my house clean with only one child in tow), I want to really remember how important it is to really dig deep into your kids behavior. Finding out who they really are makes it so much easier to process the situation and keep control. Not that it is easy, but today I felt glad inside that I could really understand Livy, instead of getting mad and frustrated with her actions.
I know she will love Joy School, and hopefully i can get a good picture of her on thursday morning and just act like it was her first, and happy, day.

First Day of School

This year was definitely a better experience of the first day of school. It was so great to be at ourcommunity school with all of Brooke's friends. Although she was a bit nervous, she was also super excited. Maddie and Allison are both in her class. Ben came with me this year and it was so fun to walk to school as a family. I was able to hold back the tears just a little bit. They started to come and then I saw some friends and was able to hold back the flow. We all mingled at the playground for a few minutes talking and laughing and then on our way home someone decided to go to breakfast. It was so fun. So we dropped the kids off and then went to breakfast. Definitely a tradition for the years to come.
I know Brooke will love her teacher this year. (She was a teacher when i was there. Although i never had her.) She described herself to the kids as strict and silly today. Brooke said she is so nice. We are excited for this year! I can't believe she is in first grade.

Haircut

Jackson got a haircut late last night by my sister. It is really short. Brooke woke up and was so excited about his haircut. She said, "Mom, now that Jackson has a haircut we have more places to kiss him (meaning all over his forehead)." I chuckled out loud. And then she quickly added, "And besides that, he is super cute!"
Man, I love these kids. I wish i could write down every cute thing they say or do throughout the day that just melts my heart.

Loves

Even though today my body felt like a tone of bricks (it just might be the aftermath of camping for 9 days, being a single mom for most of that time, Ben leaving 12 hours after we got home and i got to clean up all of the camping stuff, the 95 degree weather with no air conditioning, and my body feeling like it is detoxing from all the YUMMY foods we ate over the entire week....to name a few), there were some really bright spots.
Like,
Livy telling me she loves me at least once every hour and giving me a hug or rubbing my back.
Me sitting still for half an hour and letting Livy "braid" my hair. She is really into braiding these days.
All three kids planning a hug attack and then running up to me while i was doing dishes and squeezing my legs all at the same time and saying "I LOVE YOU, MOMMY!" And Jackson just screaming and smiling.
Going to the pool to cool off.
Having Nana stop by just to say hello.
Holding and cuddling Jackson for about 20 minutes before the girls woke up. And watching him dance and try to jump to sesame street music.
Listening to the kids squeal with delight while jumping on the trampoline (even if there was some bickering to go along with it.)
Jackson trying to mimic the words i say (finally). It is so fun seeing his personality come out after being such a quiet, mellow kid. Even if it is a lot of screaming to accompany it.
Having my little sister come over for a little bit and talking to her about life.
Soaking in my kids...even when i am tired.

Annoying Me

Brooke and I were singing a nursery rhyme/song while playing on the carpet. And Livy screams out, "Stop singing. Its ignoring me!"

Brooke and I started laughing and, of course, it made Livy more mad.

Cupcakes and Friends

Location:Blogging woes

Love these pictures....

I haven't taken the time to learn how to really "edit" pictures. And i don't know if i ever will. It is just too time consuming for me. I just want to take pictures of my kids and have them in some sort of book. But these are some of my most favorite pictures from the last week that i think look great, even without editing.

Ashleys iPad

Gotta love Photo Booth!!!

more summer pictures

First Weeks of Summer

Jody and Michelle and me. I'm so glad we got to see them.
rock climbing. Brooke really did have a good time, although it doesn't look like it in the picture.
Loving the frozen yogurt. Too bad the air was broken inteh store and it was blistering hot.

Livy is fearless. Except at actual swim lessons where i have to run after her to put her in the pool.
Ben is always the fun guy in the pool
I'm so glad these three got to at least go to school together the last month.
Jumping for joy for summer
Last Day of School
We have had a fun filled summer already and it has been less than two weeks. Monday evening we had a wiffle ball game with some friends in the church parking lot to kick off summer with a fun FHE. Tuesday was Brooke's last day of school. My old coach called and we met up with him and his family at the park and had a picnic and then got frozen yogurt. It was so fun to see Brooke be such good friends with Kaja right off the bat. And it was especially awesome to catch up with Jody and Michelle. They were such an integral part of my growing years at college. Jody shaped a lot of who I am through volleyball practices and competitions and work (I worked for him in the summers and then was hired as his assistant my first year out of college.) he challenged me in every aspect of life. And his wife is just amazing. She is one of the main reasons I aspired to get a master's degree. So it was such a blast to see them. And see Jody in a father role. He is so good with his son. We met up again on Wednesday and went rock climbing and to lunch. Again brooke and kaja were best buds right off the bat.
We went swimming again. It is so awesome to have such good friends that you can just call to go swimming with!

Thursday was beach day! Man I love the beach especially rio del mar with lots of friends because my heart is overwhelmed with joyful memories that brought so many families together when we were growing up. As a kid, Tuesday's were beach day. No matter what, if it was Tuesday we were at the beach with about six other families. And I still have such a lasting bond with those friends. So I love the beach. It also makes me feel like such a good mom because my kids are outside in the fresh air all day long. There is minimum whining, lots of playing and socializing and lots of time for me to hold my kids wrapped in towels an watch the waves together or find sand crabs or build sand castles...I love it.
Friday we had a fun day at home with Calvin and little forrest. We watched them all weekend. Saturday was graduation parties, farmers market, biking in the church parking lot and keeping five kids happy and then stake conference and dinner with friends after.
Sunday we got to have ben's cousin Kate and her husband Kyle for dinner. It always so fun to have family over. Kate taught me piano when we were at BYU and she took my volleyball class. So it was especially fun to catch up,
Monday was the waterpark with friends. And I got up enough guts to take all five kids. They had so much fun. But it made me feel for all those people with twins. Man alive, it is hard. Jackson and little Forrest are only 3 weeks apart and they kept me on my toes. And then dinner at the pool and swimming with the McCoys.
Tuesday was swim lessons and a swim party with dinner at the pool again. It was SO hot. When we left sour house at 4 in the afternoon, the temperature in our house was 90 degrees. Wowzers.
Wednesday was a fun baby shower here at the house, so the day was spent cleaning and decorating. Thankfully my neighbor took Livy and Brooke to the dollar movie with her and her girls and I was able to get a ton done, so it wasn't as stressful as it has been in the past trying to get the house ready. It was such a fun evening, we had it outside on the patio! It again showed me how incredibly supportive and loving our ward is. People are so generous and truly care for one another. And the older women and the young moms mingle, it truly doesn't matter your age, we all get along.
Thursday we had a BLAST at cull canyon. Kate and Haley came with us. It was treat to have older kids to help lug everything to and from the car. And everyone had a great time. We went to the Minor league giants game that evening as well. There were four families that all sat together. The kids absolutely loved it. It was so much fun. And they had a great fireworks show after. Although we paid for the late night the next day with lots of whining, but it was well worth it.
Friday was a low key day at home and Saturday was just perfect with lots of chores and getting things done around the house. A bike ride and park outing with ben and the girls and then an afternoon and evening on a date! Love those kind of weekends.

It has definitely been a great summer already This week is already planned with lots of fun things from swim lessons to the beach and lots of packing to get ready for our trips. I love summer!

LIttle things...

I just love watching the three kids "run an errand" for me. Like this morning, returning a plate to a neighbor, i just watched from the doorway as Brooke was the little mother hen guiding waddling Jackson to the otherside of the street making sure he was well taken care of. And Livy, and all her spunk, skipping an djumping alongside. For some reason lately, i always watch the kids do things outside trying to soak up all those memories and remember how cute it is when they all play together.

Double Trouble

We got to watch Amber and JT's kids - Calvin and Forrest - this past weekend. It is so fun to watch Jackson and Little Forrest tromp around together. They get super excited to see each other, start squealing, and then run off to cause trouble. It's awesome! They are only 3 weeks apart, and it seems like they have their own little lingo like twins.

Anyways, here's a video from a few months back when we were celebrating Jackson 1st birthday. Gotta love these little guys!

Just for Punka

Punka,

Happy Father's Day! We love you and can't wait to see you in exactly two weeks! Here are some fun little videos to wish you a Happy Father's Day!









Love you DAD!

Little Loves

Jackson:
-absolutely loves getting his blanket wrapped around his shoulders and snuggling.
-loves watching Leap Frog letter Factory. Lately when he wakes up he goes immediately to the TV and wants you to turn it on.
-loves drawing chalk.
-loves getting oil rubbed on his feet and put in his ear. (at first i thought maybe he was getting an ear infection because he kept pointing to the eye dropper and then to his ear, then i realized he just liked it)
-loves playing with babies and pushing baby strollers.
-loves his Daddy! Definitely a daddy's boy.

Livia:
-loves, loves, loves riding her two wheeler. (She asks at least 10 times a day, can you play outside with me, which means: can we go ride bikes together in the backyard.)
-loves all bugs. Her and Jackson are always going in the front yard to find rolly-pollies, ants and spiders. She usually names the ants Annie. And, as of yesterday, ants are her favorite bug right now becasue they don't tickle when they crawl all over you.
-loves trying to pick up any kid/baby that is smaller than her.
-loves "writing" letters and coloring, and especially loves it when she can show Brooke that she has done something just like her.
-absolutely loves her gymnastics class.
-loves to be held. A typical conversation is, "Livy, why are you crying." answered, "I dust want someone to hold me!"
-loves to end every sentence with "wight, mom." translated: right, mom.

Brooke:
-loves school.
-loves to read.
-loves holding Jackson, even if Jackson doesn't really want her to hold him.
-loves to wear hats. And she looks absolutely adorable in all of them, too.
-loves to be complimented on how well she is doing things.
-loves to have her back scratched when going to bed. (A definite Eyre trait.)
-loves helping me cut vegetables, even if she doesn't like to eat them yet.

Riding a Bike

Livy is riding a bike today! She just picked up one o the small bikes at my mom's house and asked my mom to come watch her play and she stated riding the bike! We have been trying to get her to ride the srider bike around for months and she didn't want anything to do with it. So we returned it to my mom's a week ago, and now she is riding! 3 and a half and riding a two wheeler! Awesome!

Brooke's Dance Recital

It was a fun weekend of dance recitals. Brooke and Emma were in the same class, along with Nia. They performed a cute dance to the music "The Codfish Ball". Miss Gentry was her teacher this year. She has been there for over 40 years. She got sick at teh end of the year and was unable to come to classes and the recital at the end. She was still teaching dance at 88 years old.
It is always fun to watch Brooke at her dance recitals. It brings back memories of the excitement for dance recitals and getting all dressed up with the glitter and glitz.

Sayings

Brooke had been laying in her bed this evening to go to sleep for over half an hour when she came out and told us we forgot to finish her Star of the Week poster. So glad she remembered. It could have been a very hard morning tomorrow had she not reminded us. I got a big kick out of her when she said to us, "A TV show? that's something you watch on TV, right?" We had to give her a few examples of things she watches at my moms to jog her memory. It made me realize how sheltered she is without having regular television to watch.

My favorite saying from Livy the last few weeks is when she gets a little frustrated with something Brooke does, or when Brooke corrects her on her c's sounding like t's, she responds, "I just have a little pwoblem with my talking, Bwook!" It is so cute. I kind of hope she never grows out of it. Ahh i love that girl, but she sure has a mind of her own.

Jackson tried to say three words today. Drink: kaka. Mama. And poop: bub. Wow three in one day! It makes me so happy. I didn't think he could get any cuter, but man he is so dang cute and every day i feel like i want to squeeze his unbelievably squishy cheeks even more.

Gualala Anticipation

I love that our whole family gets so giddy about Gualala. It is so much fun to anticipate. Thankfully, i am not stressed a bit about getting ready for the trip. I am always just so giddy. It is like butterflies in your tummy all the time. We talk about all we are going to do there at dinner every night for two weeks leading up to it, it seams. Brooke shares all her fun memories and we talk about all the friends she will get to play with there. Gualala is just part of who i am. It is such a huge part of where i learned important things in life, like HARD WORK (jessica, kim and I have lots of fun memories scrubbing huge stainless steal pots in the spicket by the road)and how to have fun, and bonding times with family. Some of my earliest memories are roasting marshmallows around the fire gate Grandma Smith had with Heidi and Micah, and often times waking up with marshmallows stuck in our hair. Or playing cards in Aunt Holly's motorhome, finding banana slugs in the fern forest, collecting crabs at point arena and getting "lost" from the campsite, but always finding our way back to the christmas lights Grandma Smith made sure to hang at her site, just for that reason. Or earning money picking up trash just so we could buy more candy from Grandma Smith's store. Man, the list goes on for miles and miles.

But i just wanted to write down and remember the giddyness that fills our home for the weeks leading up to this awesome weekend! I also love it so much because it makes me think about Grandma all the time and all the memories that are woven into my heart because of her diligence in making this a family tradition. For some reason i feel her presence and love just a bit more about this time of year.

Our family is so blessed because of this fun tradition. Its going to be another fun memorial weekend! Cold, but always fun!

Croc-a-Gator

Livy was happy this morning, VERY HAPPY. She fell asleep at 4 pm last night, didn't wake up for dinner, and slept through the night. So she had a lot of energy.

As I was leaving for work, she ran out the door and said "See you later, Croc-a-gator!"

Love that Livy!

I tried to get some cute mother's day pictures in front of our neighbors "weeds". The wild flowers grow totally over his walkway leading up to his front door. He says its to keep solicitors out. They really are beautiful. Too bad we were too rushed before church to get some great shots.