Apron Love!

I've been inspired! I was thankful for this newfound inspiration because during the last few weeks, I've witnessed several sad events (a MOMs Club friend's husband passed away from a freak accident, our family friend lost their baby and the Virginia Tech tragedy). One day I happened to find an apron online (the apple and pear one) and thought it was so cute! Then Julie emailed me a link to a great blog that had an even more fabulous apron(the 1/2 apron ruffle one)! Somehow I fell in love with these things! How adorable would you feel making dinner or dessert in these!?







I love making gifts for when babies are born. They are so cute and easy! When I saw the first apron, I thought...WOW! I could do that...I think. And what a fun gift..that isn't related to babies. And so original! But then further research showed that in many circles these fashionable aprons are chic and already a trend. Regardless, I love the happy fabrics and cute styles! They make me want to make a cake and put it on a cakestand to display on the counter. Or make pizza and cookies with my kids (both we've done recently and you get flour everywhere!). Basically they inspire me to be a better homemaker (which I do enjoy) and who doesn't need a little inspiration?

I've discovered many blogs with a purpose...photography, crafts, food, etc...soon a friend is starting her own travel blog! Many people offer their own experiences, but somehow seen to inspire along the way (a few friends from long ago ...www.twoandthensome.blogspot.com (she has a great way with words-Hello! I lOVE the name of her blog) or http://homeschoolblogger.com/henryteachers (inspiration through homeschooling). I started thinking that mine was rather simple and I needed to step it up! How cool and fun to read...but I'm no expert in anything. I'm a dabbler...like to try several things. My blog is just really about our family because we have so many family and friends far far away and it's a fun way to keep in touch with the simple everyday things. So this is just about us and our simple lives, but since we don't live enormously exciting lives and I do enjoy new and interesting stuff or a good find, I thought it'd be fun to include them for those who might enjoy something a little different from time to time. Don't expect too much though, by no means will this be a regular thing! Bon Appetit!

Kid updates and ramblings

I figured I should update whomever read my last blog. Sean is fine both in the head and on his foot. No issues. When he got hurt yesterday climbing out of his crib, he has a small rugburnish at the base of his neck. Our doctor said with the injury there, she'd be worried about him moving his limbs and that wasn't a problem. Gotta love those bendable bones! There is definitly a reason small kids don't have brittle bones. His limping is pretty much gone now. This morning he did a bit, but he's fine...which I knew...but I wondered if he was like his Uncle Chris or cousin Dylan who both walked on broken or fractured legs for weeks before the doctors could decide what the trouble truly was. So we made sure and he's fine.

As for the climbing out of bed issue...that's been going steady for a few weeks. He was pretty skilled so I didn't worry much until yesterday's mishap. So since I mentioned it to the doctor, she kindly suggested I change his sleeping situation asap. So as not to get in trouble with the doctors and the law, we took the gate off of his crib yesterday. Didn't change much since he'd climb out of his crib with the gate on multiple times each night...the crib gate didn't make him hesitate. On the other hand, the gate we put in his doorway did help a bit. It's funny, we just didn't have this issue with Ryan (at that age).

While you can't show him your amusement, it's been pretty funny several times he's been so proud of himself...of course after a week or so of this I'm ready for him to get the idea. Now he and Ryan are starting to share secrets. One of the times Sean got out of bed, opened the door and stood at the gate in his doorway last night, he started yelling, "Pee Pee!" Yea, he's not potty trained yet. Funny kids. Oh and I almost forgot...the night he slept without the crib gate, he did wake up crying once in the middle of the night. I go in to help him, and I hear him, but I can't see him. It's pitch black and I hadn't turned on the hall light. So I'm wondering if he got out of bed and is standing by Ryan or the door, but he sounded so close. He was definitly not on his bed...and so after feeling around...and realizing the sound of crying was from the floor, I found him entirely UNDER his bed! I'm so curious to know just how that happened. Did he fall out of bed and just happened to roll under the bed? Sounds hard to believe...I think he started crying when he woke up and found himself under there and was stuck. Wierd!

So...someone's gotta figure out how to print these as this is becoming a great family journal...and suedo scrapbook since I've included pictures. Hmmm...I'll try not to go too overboard on these ramblings!

Every Rose has it's thorns!

During the last couple of weeks, I have been LOVING the roses in my backyard. They are beautiful and smell great. I can't wait to someday plant ones that are a blend of yellow at the bottom and deep apricot or redish/pink at the tips...if you've ever seen the movie Hanging Up, Meg Ryan has them growing around her house on trellises and rose trees (which I love) and they are amazing. I don't think the movie is great, but the roses were gorgeous! Anyhow, I've marveled at the ones in my yard this week...and cut some to bring into our home. Ouch! Do they ever have thorns! But the fragrance is gorgeous! Three small roses, filled our house with the greatest aroma!

On a separate note...I had to add another picture of my boys in church attire! I love church clothes. It's fun to look nice. I think my boys look especially angelic when in church clothes. They love going to church and get excited to do so. What a wonderful uplifting day! Well, both grandmas love it too, because both found adorable outfits for the kids. I am their mom so it's obviously biased, but are they not so adorable? This week they sported the green and brown motif. Back to my theme for this posting...and just as every rose has it's thorns, these two sweet and adorable boys can (at times) behave not as sweet as they look here! So now I'm off to the doctors...Sean jumped off our bed yesterday and is still limping, so we're going to see what's up. Plus, he climbed out of his crib just before falling asleep and somehow hurt his neck...too scared to imagine how, so the doctor can take a look at his eyes and neck to make sure he's alright! You know that commercial about how the parent didn't know how their kid was gonna make it past age 2, then age 7 etc, etc! Goodness. I hear that! My kids hit their noggins all the time! It can't be healthy.

The dickens...We visited with Scott's grandma on Easter and he was telling her that Sean can be the sweetest boy ever and then he can be "the dickens" on occasion. It was funny and true. Aren't kids hilarious! A friend the other day mentioned they thought their 4 month old was manipulative as she does not sleep well. Kids instinctively learn something like this...but innocently of course! They are simply focused on their own basic needs and wants while not using reason and logic. They are babies and kids! The trick is learning to teach them over time this reason, logic, and perspective. On my friend Julie's "flog" she has the quote..."Parenting forces us to get to know ourselves better than we ever might have imagined we could." Mr. Rogers.

How true that is! How wise Mr. Rogers was! Did he even know how spiritual he was being? Having kids has helped me realize more fully just how important our family relationships are in helping us grow and become better, in the end helping us become more like Christ and our quest to live with him again. Thank you Julie for showing that quote to me!

And everybody came and everybody sang...

Happy Birthday Sean! One of my favorite books this year has been Little Gorilla. It's not new, just new to me. For those of you who haven't read it ... I'm including some of the words below...

"Little Gorilla"
Once there was a little gorilla, and everybody loved him. His mother loved him. His father loved him. His grandma and grandpa and his aunts and uncles loved him. Even when he was only one day old, everybody loved little Gorilla. ..........Just about everybody in the great green forest loved Little Gorilla. Then one day something happened. Little Gorilla began to grow and grow and Grow and GROW and one day, Little Gorilla was BIG!
And everybody came, and everybody sang, "Happy Birthday Little Gorilla!" And everybody still loved him.

Anyhow, Sean turned two on Easter and we celebrated a few different times with a few different relatives throughout the week! For my kids birthdays I have enjoyed making different shaped cakes. So this year, for Sean's 2nd birthday I made Lightning McQueen! I have to say, I'm not an expert and Ryan's first birthday was the first one I ever did, but I've had a lot of fun creating these different cakes and I've been pretty proud of myself!
Here's the boys on Easter. Who doesn't love a kid in adorable new Easter clothes!
By the way, can you tell by my blog catching up that it's the first time in 3 or 4 weeks that Ryan took a nap! Ha!

Grandma in California

My mom got to come visit us and Grandma Lee! We had tons of fun. We took her to Folsom's Animal Sanctuary Zoo which is not your typical zoo, though it is close and a great small day trip. There are lots of peacocks and chickens roaming free through the zoo. All the animals are rescued from somewhere in California. It has monkeys, tigers, bears, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, and various other animals. There is a train outside the zoo that we always visit as well as an ice cream shack. (PS...for the well trained eye...the brown shirt I am wearing was bought in the Juniors department it is not a maternity shirt and that's not why I'm wearing it:) though it should work for that when at some point I might want to wear that type of thing he he hee).



We planted flowers in the yard, made Easter sugar cookies, colored Easter eggs and had lots of fun doing it all!

We got to visit my Grandma Lee who is in a nursing home and not able to communicate much. My boys have visited her since Ryan was 6 months old. You would be so surprised to see how a 2 year old and an almost 4 year old do so great with her! Ryan loves to push her wheel chair and Sean will hold her hand while she walks or is in her wheel chair. She likes him to sit on her lap while she rides and he'll sit for that too! Somehow they know she's different and they are so good with her. Ryan tries to tell her things and they always ask her to go for a walk or to the yert. We have found lots of fun things to do for a couple of rowdy kids in a not so fun place.


We also got to visit Aunt Jo who lives a few minutes away from Santa Cruz. The beach we went to is called Natural Bridges Beach. The kids had so much fun in the sand and as a result, sand was everywhere! After we thought they had it all brushed off and finally ready for bed, Ryan laid his head on his pillow and sand rubbed out of his hair...and lots of it.

We're going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...How bout you, you you?

When Scott was little they sang this song every time they went to the Zoo. from my memory this is how it goes:
Daddy's taking us to the Zoo tomorrow Zoo tomorrow Zoo tomorrow, Daddy's taking us to the Zoo tomorrow and we can stay all day! chorus: We're going to the Zoo Zoo ZOo, How bout you , you , you? We've been to two Zoos in the last month: Sacramento and Folsom. Did you know a flamingo's coloring is because they eat shrimp? This was our discussion at the Sacramento Zoo. Three of us had heard this fact, while another was curious if it was true since shrimp are not pink until you cook them! So I researched.

From this research, I have discovered that a flamingo's coloring is because the food they eat is high in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments. They eat a variety of crustaceans, mollusks, small fish, blue and green algae and brine shrimp. So it's not exclusively shrimp that they eat, but all of their diet has these pigments. Evidently blue/green algae has more red and orange pigments to it than it's name. And in researhing brine shrimp, you'll never guess their color! Yes! Orange, pinkish little tiny shrimp! This conclusion was set after reading various internet sources. However, such sources deny shrimp is the only cause of the pink coloring and some sites contradict other sites.