Summer is fun but BUSY

NOTE: So a friend encouraged me to update my blog and after 2 unsuccessful tries, I finally downloaded the right pictures and got my camera to do what I wanted it to.

Here's what we've been up to but not in this order.
We went to Yellowstone with some of John's family. The kids loved it. Here's Zora feeding a very friendly chipmunk who would take cheese right out of our hands.

John's taking a nap while holding Isaac (above) and Uncle Luke and Zora are giving their best smiles for the camera (below).

And this is my charming husband and me at a waterfall.


In Yakima, we had a little strawberry patch. This is how much we got on our first picking. P.S. Zora loves strawberries if you haven't already guessed.

And in our new home, we planted a garden and this is how it gets watered. John believes in child labor.

And I can't forget our trip to the beach in San Diego while John stayed home and studied for Medical Boards.

Zora loved the water so much that she couldn't stay out of it even though she was turning blue from the cold so she borrowed a wet suit. Just a little big!

We also had a family reunino. Isaac enjoyed the pool outside. O.K. not really, but he looks cute anyway.

KIDS!

Ugh, my kids are wearing me out! Isaac has started getting up at 5:45 a.m. every morning. I'm so tired that I'll give him a bottle and stick him in front of the T.V. with a movie going and go back to bed. Then he'll usually come find me once his bottle is empty and he has a messy diaper for me to change. He hates to get his diaper changed, though, so I've started to wonder if he comes in with a messy diaper to wake me up or just make life more miserable. (: Anyways, even that hasn't been working to get me out of bed lately because I have a cold and I can't smell a thing, so today he tried a different approach. While I was peacefully sleeping in bed, Isaac whacks me in the face with my own alarm clock. It left a mark and I've had a head ache all morning. Needless to say, even that didn't get me out of bed. It just made me more cranky. Maybe this new way to use your alarm clock will work for you, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Here's some cute kid pictures. Yah, I still love them despite all they put me through. What would I do with my time if I didn't have two toddlers to chase around.

The first two pictures are of Isaac's haircut. His hair was getting quite long and I didn't want anyone thinking he's a girl, so I started snipping with the scissors. He wouldn't hold still enough to make it even, so I finally got John's buzzer out and used a longer attachment so he wouldn't be bald when I was finished. This is what he looks like now. If you haven't seen him for a while, it probably doesn't look any different.


This picture is of Isaac and Zora in their matching bear pajamas. It is impossible to get a decent picture these days because my kids can't hold still until Elmo is on.

One night, I had been up a lot with a sick Isaac so I took a long morning nap. Zora was sweet and entertained herself. When I woke up I heard her jabbering to herself so I went to see what she was up to. She shows me what she was working on. "Look Mommy, I made a castle." I think she got the idea from a nickelodeon show called Max and Ruby, but I still thought she was very creative.
This last one is just showing off how cute my two year old is.

Our New Friends

So it's been a little over a week since we lost our poor kitty and we sure miss him. Zora always says he's happy with Jesus, but I sure miss all the annoying things he used to do. Anyways, we've noticed that there are a lot more birds in our yard since he left us. We've seen a lot more quail on our lawn and robins, rock doves, and swallows pecking at my garden. Today, though, it has been very windy and I kept hearing a tapping on our window as if a branch of a tree was smacking our window with the wind, but we don't have trees in our yard. So I went to investigate and found two small finch looking birds perched on the ledge of our kitchen window and pecking at it as if they want inside. This has never happened before, possibly because our cat wouldn't allow it. I just cleaned the windows last week too, so maybe they can't tell the difference. I filmed them pecking, but can't transfer it onto my computer so all you get is a few photos.

Does anyone know what type of birds they are?

Updates of a Mom

So we're supposed to look at the bright side of things. Here's my attempt...Last night Isaac kept me up most of the night because he's pretty miserable and sick. Thank goodness Dora the Explorer entertained my daughter while my son and I took a morning nap. After lunch, I was holding my son and he coughed, spewing mashed banana remnants all over my face. At least Isaac has a cold and not the stomach flu (no vomit)! Isaac's nose has been running all day and he tends to use me as his kleenex. At least I don't have a job interview coming up! Isaac snuck into the bathroom and found Zora's potty full. Luckily, I caught him before he ingested anything. Zora unrolled the 2nd roll of toilet paper (Isaac did the first) this week and dumped most of it into the toilet. I'm just grateful the toilet didn't flood. AHHHWWWW! I love being a mom. TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY!

Aren't they cute?

In memory of Cinders

Something to Celebrate!

So Isaac turned 1 on Saturday. We still can't believe he's been with us a whole year. The time has flown by and he makes life so enjoyable. I call him my tease, because he loves to do things to get a reaction and then he'll take off running with a grin on his face. I laugh when he steals Zora's blanket and then runs away giggling with Zora chasing after her blanky. Here's his blueberry chocolate birthday cake (very messy) and the birthday boy.



But the next day, we found out that our cat, Cinders, was hit by a car and passsed away. I never thought we would have our cat for such a short time. We had a really hard time saying goodbye.

Since it wasn't expected, it seemed to harder to accept. It reminded me that we never know how long we have with loved ones, and yes even a pet can be loved. We'll miss you, kitty so much. We'll never forget you!

We're lovin' the sunshine!

Now that the weather's warmer, the kids are spending most of their days outside. Isaac has a new habit of screaming everytime I bring him in the house. Here's a picture of my sweet hearts. Here's another picture of my not so sweet angel. My kids love the dirt.
And at the end of the day, it's all they can do to stay awake.