Friday, September 27, 2013
Uncle Jerry's Birthday .... photo bomb
My son, Quinn, is the best photo bomber in the world.... We went to plaza Grill for Uncle Jerry's 55th bday - he's so lucky to be alive, just having had a small heart attack and a double bi-pass surgery... we all really wanted to celebrate this one with him! Here's one of the gems from that night.
Dave Matthews Band!
September 8th - Dave Matthews Band at the Shoreline in Mountain View.
What an EPIC event. I have wanted to see Dave live for YEARS now... I mean, seriously.... YEARS!
I first became a Dave fan when I heard the single - "Crash" from his 2nd album in 1997. I loved it so much, I bought the album, began listening to the first album (which I found out was BETTER than the 2nd!) and I immediately knew I loved these guys! For the past 15 years I have wanted to see Dave in concert - and for the last 15 years I haven't been able to - usually because by time I hear about the tour, or think to look at the tour dates, the California dates have past, or sold out already, or one year he wasn't touring. In any case, this past summer I got a bug to check the schedule and see when the band would be around again. I was surprised to find that I hadn't missed the date! Checking online, I looked to see if there were any seats left. Lawn seats - well, lawn seats are better then nothing, right? First thing is first - I have to make sure the kids are taken care of. if I have no where for them to go, then we can't do it. Luckily, it's a Sunday night - my mother in law can take them, and get them on the bus the next morning since her house is on the bus line for them. PERFECT! Tickets ordered and we go!
It's Justin's first rock concert ever.... I've been to a couple, but not many, and the venues for the 2 I went to were not nearly as big... a few hundred dollars down for food and souvenirs, and we are ready for the concert.
AMAZING! BREATH TAKING! LOVE! I'm so glad we went. It was kind of like an anniversary present to ourselves (Sept. 9th - 15 years ago - was our first date!). Here are just a couple of pictures of that day!
One of the better shots of the night... of course our camera phones don't take the best pictures... of which we weren't even supposed to do, but everyone did!
This was the set list... OMG.... loved these songs!
I first became a Dave fan when I heard the single - "Crash" from his 2nd album in 1997. I loved it so much, I bought the album, began listening to the first album (which I found out was BETTER than the 2nd!) and I immediately knew I loved these guys! For the past 15 years I have wanted to see Dave in concert - and for the last 15 years I haven't been able to - usually because by time I hear about the tour, or think to look at the tour dates, the California dates have past, or sold out already, or one year he wasn't touring. In any case, this past summer I got a bug to check the schedule and see when the band would be around again. I was surprised to find that I hadn't missed the date! Checking online, I looked to see if there were any seats left. Lawn seats - well, lawn seats are better then nothing, right? First thing is first - I have to make sure the kids are taken care of. if I have no where for them to go, then we can't do it. Luckily, it's a Sunday night - my mother in law can take them, and get them on the bus the next morning since her house is on the bus line for them. PERFECT! Tickets ordered and we go!
It's Justin's first rock concert ever.... I've been to a couple, but not many, and the venues for the 2 I went to were not nearly as big... a few hundred dollars down for food and souvenirs, and we are ready for the concert.
AMAZING! BREATH TAKING! LOVE! I'm so glad we went. It was kind of like an anniversary present to ourselves (Sept. 9th - 15 years ago - was our first date!). Here are just a couple of pictures of that day!
Selfies as we wait to begin....
Our view - though we stood most of the time!
One of the better shots of the night... of course our camera phones don't take the best pictures... of which we weren't even supposed to do, but everyone did!
This was the set list... OMG.... loved these songs!
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Vacation Day 2 - 4th of July
Sometimes you just have to become tourists in your own back yard. Originally this week I was going to take a few days off for more camping - well, just because that is how fate is sometimes, this was not possible - but this allowed for me to do some fun stuff with my family - around Humboldt County.
First the boys and I went down to Trinidad Pier - in the past 10+ years, I have NEVER taken my children to the pier! Can you believe it? I was given a lot of complaining - I don't want to go to the pier - I just want to play my DS... ugh, the DS (which is such a great babysitter at times!) has become the bane of my existance this summer. Anyways, once we got out there it was.... "cool - look all those star fish!" and "I want to go on a boat." They also enjoyed chasing a few sea gulls and acting like children - oh wait, they ARE children!
We of course then go to the light house - Xavier, who is the child who really likes to be adventurous, wanted to go look at it and take a few pictures with it.
After this we all go to the church to sell some fireworks. OK, not really a "tourist" thing, but something I needed to do, and the boys helped me. At least they were happy to play their DS at times.
After all this, we go to pick up Justin, and off to some Mini Golf in Rio Dell. We have never been - well, Xavier did once, a very long time ago... he doesn't even remember, though he did 2 years ago (he must have Justin's Memory). OH MY... what a fun time!! I think this will be something we'll do again. Wasn't all that expensive and we had a blast for a full hour.
After Mini Golf, it was time to head over to the Ramsier house for some good old fashioned family fun. Not all the cousins were present - Lance and Alyssa were camping - but Xavier and Quinn got to have some quality boy time with their Ramsier Cousins - Cade and Riley. Food, Fireworks, more food, running around like crazy boys, oh... and MORE food... it was a great 4th of July!
First the boys and I went down to Trinidad Pier - in the past 10+ years, I have NEVER taken my children to the pier! Can you believe it? I was given a lot of complaining - I don't want to go to the pier - I just want to play my DS... ugh, the DS (which is such a great babysitter at times!) has become the bane of my existance this summer. Anyways, once we got out there it was.... "cool - look all those star fish!" and "I want to go on a boat." They also enjoyed chasing a few sea gulls and acting like children - oh wait, they ARE children!
We of course then go to the light house - Xavier, who is the child who really likes to be adventurous, wanted to go look at it and take a few pictures with it.
After this we all go to the church to sell some fireworks. OK, not really a "tourist" thing, but something I needed to do, and the boys helped me. At least they were happy to play their DS at times.
After all this, we go to pick up Justin, and off to some Mini Golf in Rio Dell. We have never been - well, Xavier did once, a very long time ago... he doesn't even remember, though he did 2 years ago (he must have Justin's Memory). OH MY... what a fun time!! I think this will be something we'll do again. Wasn't all that expensive and we had a blast for a full hour.
After Mini Golf, it was time to head over to the Ramsier house for some good old fashioned family fun. Not all the cousins were present - Lance and Alyssa were camping - but Xavier and Quinn got to have some quality boy time with their Ramsier Cousins - Cade and Riley. Food, Fireworks, more food, running around like crazy boys, oh... and MORE food... it was a great 4th of July!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
4th of July Vacation - Day 1
I don't get a lot of time off, and originally I wanted to go camping for 4th of July - but, alas, it was not meant to be. I took off today from work at 12:30 and I haven't taken any pictures yet, but hope to later.
So here is Day 1, even though it's not a full day.
1pm - Go swimming! My boys do swim team, but some times they just want to "play" in the water, not practice. When we got there, the McKinleyville Kids Camp was there - so it was a MAD HOUSE! an hour later, the camp leaves - I go do a little lap swimming. By 2: 25 I'm done, and by time I got done getting all cleaned up, so were the boys (all ready to go).
3:15 - Pastor Steve comes over to babysit. I love that my kids have a million role models out there, and our pastor is one of them. It's good for them to gain a relationship with him. He has offered many times to watch them, and I finally have taken him up on the offer. As he drives in, the kids are waiting - Xavier waited by the corner to be sure he found the right road - but Quinn waited in front of the house, with 2 squirt guns behind his back. As soon as he parks - Pastor Steve pulls out a mega super soaker of his own, and an all out water gun fight ensues! At this point, I leave to go see World War Z with Justin!
6pm I come home to everyone, including the house, in tact and the boys playing mind craft. We are having a lazy evening, and gearing up for tomorrow. hopefully I'll have pictures to show!
So here is Day 1, even though it's not a full day.
1pm - Go swimming! My boys do swim team, but some times they just want to "play" in the water, not practice. When we got there, the McKinleyville Kids Camp was there - so it was a MAD HOUSE! an hour later, the camp leaves - I go do a little lap swimming. By 2: 25 I'm done, and by time I got done getting all cleaned up, so were the boys (all ready to go).
3:15 - Pastor Steve comes over to babysit. I love that my kids have a million role models out there, and our pastor is one of them. It's good for them to gain a relationship with him. He has offered many times to watch them, and I finally have taken him up on the offer. As he drives in, the kids are waiting - Xavier waited by the corner to be sure he found the right road - but Quinn waited in front of the house, with 2 squirt guns behind his back. As soon as he parks - Pastor Steve pulls out a mega super soaker of his own, and an all out water gun fight ensues! At this point, I leave to go see World War Z with Justin!
6pm I come home to everyone, including the house, in tact and the boys playing mind craft. We are having a lazy evening, and gearing up for tomorrow. hopefully I'll have pictures to show!
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Sleep
I've been asked several times recently - "How did you get your kids to just go to sleep when they are supposed to?" - the simple answer? Cause I'm the meanest mom in the world who doesn't let my children sleep with me, and never did, and who has had her nights of yelling at the kids to go to sleep.
OK, truly, I don't know how I got my kids to sleep when they are supposed to, but it's the one thing I know I did right, cause I love it. But truly, I did have some "rules" early on, and I think that this helped to make it so. The rules, a lot of praying and whole lot of luck - and they go to bed almost with no fuss.
So, here were my rules.... and you are going to feel like I'm seriously heartless.
1. No sleeping with mom and dad. After having to rock Xavier to sleep for the first 6 months, I did the whole detachment thing - laid him down every night and have him cry himself to sleep. Let me tell you, hardest thing in my life! he cried to himself for at least 5 min every night from when he was 6 months old until he was about 2 1/2 and we placed Quinn in his room. Yup, the kid was just lonely. I wonder though how hard it would have been if he slept with us when he was a baby and we started having him NOT sleep with us when he was 2. ACK. Yeah, no sleeping with us. That is not to say that they cannot come in and cuddle. There have been times when they had a bad dream, couldn't sleep at night, woke up early - I would let them hop into bed and "cuddle" I'd usually let them do this for 2-5 minutes, and then give them a warning: "OK, I'm going to count to 10, and then you'll have to go to bed." I'd count slowly and then at 10, I would walk them back to their room, sometimes rub a back a little, sing a little song, or just a kiss on the head... and they would go back to sleep in their OWN bed. They are 9 and almost 11, and still come in if they wake up before 7AM to "cuddle" with me.
2. They have a bedtime! Yes, my kids have a bedtime! That's not to say that we have stretched it here and there, but they have a set bedtime. When they were younger, it was 7:30, as they have gotten older, it's moved to 8:00 during school nights, 8:30 during non school nights. But, they need sleep. I learned early on that bedtime went horrible if they stayed up late. Of course now, it's kind of a moot point - I can put them to bed at 10 and have the same result as 8, but I think this helped with early bedtime development. :) Family and friends used to get frustrated with us when we would leave a family dinner at 7:00 because of their bedtime. Well, I'm not because every time we would give in to the pressure to stay just a little longer, we were ALWAYS sorry.
3. Bedtime has a routine! The routine has changed slightly over the years as the kids have gotten older, but there is a still a routine. When they were younger, we got ready for bed, brushed teeth, read a book, turned on music, lights out. It now consists of them getting themselves ready plus brushing teeth, 10-20 min of silent reading IN bed - hugs and lights out. Routine! cant' say enough. Start it early!!
That's it - all my rules. OK, you may be asking what about the stalling some kids do - "I have to go potty" or "I need a drink of water" - well, going potty right before bed was part of "getting ready for bed and we have always had a water bottle near their bed for those late night water urges. My other thing is - don't give in. The minute you give in - everything you've worked for is out the window! that's right, it's going to take at least 10 times, or MORE, of you NOT giving in to undo that one time of you giving in!! seriously.... "oh please mom, lay with me a little bit" - don't do it if you want them to just go to bed in the future... :)
OK, so now that you probably are thinking that I'm a cruel mom who can't possibly let my children sleep with me at night, and how heartless I am for not catering to my children - know that I am very happy - getting tons of "me" time at night, or time with my husband, PLUS sleep! :)
OK, truly, I don't know how I got my kids to sleep when they are supposed to, but it's the one thing I know I did right, cause I love it. But truly, I did have some "rules" early on, and I think that this helped to make it so. The rules, a lot of praying and whole lot of luck - and they go to bed almost with no fuss.
So, here were my rules.... and you are going to feel like I'm seriously heartless.
1. No sleeping with mom and dad. After having to rock Xavier to sleep for the first 6 months, I did the whole detachment thing - laid him down every night and have him cry himself to sleep. Let me tell you, hardest thing in my life! he cried to himself for at least 5 min every night from when he was 6 months old until he was about 2 1/2 and we placed Quinn in his room. Yup, the kid was just lonely. I wonder though how hard it would have been if he slept with us when he was a baby and we started having him NOT sleep with us when he was 2. ACK. Yeah, no sleeping with us. That is not to say that they cannot come in and cuddle. There have been times when they had a bad dream, couldn't sleep at night, woke up early - I would let them hop into bed and "cuddle" I'd usually let them do this for 2-5 minutes, and then give them a warning: "OK, I'm going to count to 10, and then you'll have to go to bed." I'd count slowly and then at 10, I would walk them back to their room, sometimes rub a back a little, sing a little song, or just a kiss on the head... and they would go back to sleep in their OWN bed. They are 9 and almost 11, and still come in if they wake up before 7AM to "cuddle" with me.
2. They have a bedtime! Yes, my kids have a bedtime! That's not to say that we have stretched it here and there, but they have a set bedtime. When they were younger, it was 7:30, as they have gotten older, it's moved to 8:00 during school nights, 8:30 during non school nights. But, they need sleep. I learned early on that bedtime went horrible if they stayed up late. Of course now, it's kind of a moot point - I can put them to bed at 10 and have the same result as 8, but I think this helped with early bedtime development. :) Family and friends used to get frustrated with us when we would leave a family dinner at 7:00 because of their bedtime. Well, I'm not because every time we would give in to the pressure to stay just a little longer, we were ALWAYS sorry.
3. Bedtime has a routine! The routine has changed slightly over the years as the kids have gotten older, but there is a still a routine. When they were younger, we got ready for bed, brushed teeth, read a book, turned on music, lights out. It now consists of them getting themselves ready plus brushing teeth, 10-20 min of silent reading IN bed - hugs and lights out. Routine! cant' say enough. Start it early!!
That's it - all my rules. OK, you may be asking what about the stalling some kids do - "I have to go potty" or "I need a drink of water" - well, going potty right before bed was part of "getting ready for bed and we have always had a water bottle near their bed for those late night water urges. My other thing is - don't give in. The minute you give in - everything you've worked for is out the window! that's right, it's going to take at least 10 times, or MORE, of you NOT giving in to undo that one time of you giving in!! seriously.... "oh please mom, lay with me a little bit" - don't do it if you want them to just go to bed in the future... :)
OK, so now that you probably are thinking that I'm a cruel mom who can't possibly let my children sleep with me at night, and how heartless I am for not catering to my children - know that I am very happy - getting tons of "me" time at night, or time with my husband, PLUS sleep! :)
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