Shining Light

Matthew's preschool is named Shining Light Preschool. I have it's location saved into my GPS and usually use the navigate function so that I can track the arrival time. You know, am I going to make it on time or not?! As the route guidance comes to an end, the navigator says, "arriving at Shining light on left." Each time this happens, so 3 times per week, Matthew and I have the following conversation: "Mom, it's not shining light, it's shiny light." I tried for the first few weeks to correct him, but it was utterly futile! This week, he expounded on why it is shiny light. I'm sure he was fed up with my ongoing mistake and that darned GPS because in an exasperated voice, he said, "Mom it's shiny light because we keep it shiny and clean." My response was of course, "I guess we should call our house shiny house. Maybe then it will stay shiny and clean?" So far it hasn't caught on, except in my dreams.

Phew!

We got a little lucky this week. America's paranoia with unclaimed backpacks totally worked in our favor this past weekend! On Friday, We stopped at the playground to play before heading home. We had a great time. Fast forward to Monday morning when I was looking for T Jay's lunchbox. I realized that T Jay had left his backpack at the park. I remember looking at it laying on the ground, surrounded by a bunch of other backpacks and thinking it wasn't a very good place to put it. Then I further realized that not only were his backpack and lunchbox gone, but his jacket and library books were also in there. This was going to be a pricey mistake. Instead of getting mad about the irresponsibility, I just informed T Jay that he would have to help pay to replace everything. He just nodded. As we walked to school, we discussed the possibility that it might still be at the park. Poor T Jay was nervous the whole time, hoping his backpack would turn up. It wasn't at the park. I told him to check the lost and found, but I was not optimistic. If I'm being honest, my guess was that some obnoxious older kids found it, stole what they wanted and then kicked the rest around until it was destroyed. After school, he came racing out with his backpack on and a huge grin. Apparently someone saw a lone backpack sitting at the park and called the police, who determined it was not a bomb and returned it to T Jay's teacher! Yay for cautiousness!

Hungry.

So, Matthew frequently walks up to me and says, "hungry" when he wants a snack. If I'm busy, I will try to put him off. When I do that, he takes matters into his own hands. Sometimes Lexi goes along for the ride. Who eats a cucumber like a pickle? This is not the first time either. Just thought you might like a peak into the eating habits of this utterly adorable 5 year old and his protege'.

A First

So apparently I experienced my first earthquake tonight! I was sitting downstairs folding laundry, watching TV and holding Simon, (I know multi tasking much?!) when I felt a huge bump. It seemed like someone upstairs dropped something really heavy causing the house to bounce a little. Strange. I even went to investigate, thinking someone might've fallen out of bed, but all of my sweeties were snug in their beds. I had a 'what if' thought in passing, but then I went back to my laundry folding and TV watching. When Jess got home we were talking about it. Apparently there were two earthquakes today. One around 2:40 and then the one at 8:16. We weren't aware of the first one because we were walking at that time. Someone told Jess that you don't feel them if you are walking. I'm not sure of the science or truth on that one, but we didn't feel the first one, so maybe it's true. I feel like I need to get things a little more prepared around here, and learn a little more about earthquake safety. We do have two cases of bottled water though! That should hold 7 people, what, two days?! OK, yeah, add earthquake prep to my to do list. :)

She's a big girl now!

As you all know, we have had a lot of things going on here. If not, here's a quick recap: moved across the country, unpacked a monster load of stuff (6 people worth!) into a new house, had a baby and started all new schools. So there are a few things that I have been putting off, with no real date of intent. Potty training Lexi is one of them. The other day, as we were walking the kids to school, I watched Lexi run along with her over loaded diaper sagging and bouncing behind her. Thoughts of how ridiculous she looked rolled around in my mind. That's it, I told myself. Lexi is getting potty trained this week. Done, date set, now to stick to it. Ugh! On Monday, we went to Target and loaded up on yummy drinks and snacks to reward Lexi toward clean and dry pants. She was super excited, I was not. Potty training is my least favorite part about child rearing (so far!). We woke up on Tuesday morning, ready to go. We got the kids off to school, threw her last diaper into the trash and got to work. We went into the bathroom and began to demonstrate and then practice the potty process. Lexi is both independent and strong willed, so she took charge right away. And then we waited. Pretty soon, she announced that she had to go pee! What? I was expecting at least several puddles on the floor before this breakthrough. Thrilled, I followed her into the bathroom to witness her achievement. She didn't disappoint. I checked her pants though out the day, and gave her a reward for keeping them dry. She put two and two together and followed me around for the entire day, asking me to check her pants every five seconds so she could have a treat! I guess we'll play that game for about a week, and then I'll mysteriously run out of treats for her!
Day 2 went well also. I decided to run a couple of errands after we dropped Matthew off at preschool. I was a little nervous, but decided to roll the dice. We were in Target, deciding between Dora or princess pull ups for night time when she told me, "I pee in my underwear" I panicked a little, asked her to wait until we got to the potty and dashed off. It felt a little like I was in a race, and didn't hear the gun go off. Now I had to scramble off the blocks and try to catch up. We made it to the bathrooms, discovered she only peed a tiny bit in her underwear and she was able to finish peeing in the toilet. Sigh of relief! She has told me she has also gone poop in the toilet, but I missed the proof, because she had already flushed. Other than the little Target thing, she has kept her underwear dry. Amazing. Who new she would be a 2 and a half year old potty training prodigy?! Just kidding! I am so grateful that she has decided to make this easy on me. If you need any potty training help, I basically used the Toilet Training in Less Than a Day Book. It's labor intensive, and really isn't fun, but the kids tend to be toileting on their own (with out being reminded) within a day or two, and that makes it all worth it! She is so proud to be wearing underwear. I know what you are thinking. The binkie is next on the list. No date has been set. Any thoughts on how to make that one painless? I'd love some ideas.

Cannon Beach

We stayed in Portland, so we drove the kids by the Portland temple.

Look at that face. Delicious.

This is the restaurant where we had lunch. I had yummy fish and chips. Fresh caught halibut by a local fisherman. I was in heaven!

Cute, huh?!

We also shared a s'mores crepe. Mmmmm!

Gepetto's toy shop. I love small town America!

Bruce's candy shop, known for their salt water taffy. My favorite flavor was the peanut butter and chocolate.

The balcony.

Haystack rock. Remember, from Goonies? I wish there really were an ancient pirate ship hidden inside to explore!

Lexi on the balcony. That smile is to die for!

Snuggled up reading time. Heaven.

Birthday boy, Matthew. this is on Oct. 3rd, Matthew's 5th birthday! Here are my top 5 favorite things about Matthew:

1. He has the sweetest face on the planet.

2. He is a champion snuggler. I wake up most mornings with him snuggled up close!

3. He is super (SUPER) independent.

4. He is really outgoing. Our first Sunday in our new ward in CA, he slid into the pew next to a woman and said, "Hi, my name is Matthew. I just moved from Florida and it's a long trip." A real charmer.

5. He ends statements with, "was that so sweet of me?" Melts my heart every time.

Oregon coast sunset.

Why are birthday hats and blowers so much fun?

Birthday cake!

After cake and presents, we went out to a bonfire on the beach. We put glow sticks on the kids, gave them flashlights and let them run around. They had a fabulous time.

See?!!

We slept with our windows open, so Simon got to sleep majorly bundled. I think he liked it!

Brunch. More yummy halibut for me, and fried avocado, a first for me.

When we were looking in the gift shops in town, there was a shirt that said, "I went to the Oregon coast and poked dead things with a stick." My kids did just that. Here, they are admiring a headless seal. I am not sure if Jess let them poke it with a stick or not.

Enjoying the coast

Maybe Lexi wasn't all that impressed? More cold than anything.

It's never too cold to strike a pose when you are 7!

I had so much fun in OR! I loved the weather! We also met up with Jess' parents and introduced them to Simon. It was great to see them!

Redwoods!

Our first CA road trip was actually to Oregon, but on the way, we checked out the great California redwoods! A-mazing! Speaking of amazing, look at Jess' super human strength as he holds up that massive tree!

This is the first of three drive thru trees that we drove through. The girth of these trees is seriously impressive!

Crazy kids on a crazy big log.

This was one of our rest stops. Look how clear the forest floor is. There was another grove that we went in that was really dark as soon as you stepped in. Nighttime would be really frightening in there.

Hikers

Matthew is dwarfed by these monstrous trees.

This little tree house was at the second drive thru tree. The second tree was not quite as impressive. It was leaning over, cracked and held up with cables.

Tree # 3. We were the only ones at this one, so we got our money's worth! We drove through like 4 or 5 times!

We loved this drive! It was breathtaking. We found some really neat places that we'd love to go and camp at and explore. Hopefully we can get back there soon!