how to get cam to sleep in

*We have finally discovered the secret to getting Cam to "sleep in".  The key? Removing his clock. I realized that what was making him stay awake when he woke early was turning on his bright light to check the time. He then wouldn't go back to sleep! Granted, he's only sleeping in until 6:15...but that's 45 minutes later than normal!!

*Today was our first day back to school. I'm so bummed as I've loved having mornings not dictated by the clock, no back and forth to school, and just having days to fill with fun things. Oh, well. Summer will be here before we know it. We celebrated our last morning yesterday with a bike ride to the donut shop. :)

*The other day I stumbled across the 1970's show, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. It's a tad above Kendall, but Cam LOVES it!! :)

*I think Kendall could live on yogurt with cereal sprinkled on top.

*Tomorrow Chris and I are going to Las Vegas for two nights. His parents are coming down to stay with the kids. When friends have asked what we are going to do, I'll admit it doesn't sound too exciting...but it is exciting to us. Eating out, planning where we will eat (yes, that is quite fun for us) reading at Starbucks (while Chris golfs), window shopping, maybe a little actual shopping thrown in, and relaxing. Ahhh...can't wait!!

*A couple of my friends will text me their pics from that App that shows you a pic taken exactly a year ago on that day. I wish I could get something like that on my non-Smart phone. How fun would it be to get a pic like this one? :)

mexico

Our church took a family trip to Mexico this past weekend. It was "family" in that they really worked in making it easy to take young kids. We stayed at a hotel (as opposed to the ranch with bunk bed quarters), which made sleeping much easier as well as allowed the kids to spend some free time swimming (in the hotel pool, which they adored). My sister and her kids were on the trip as well (her husband had to fly out to Germany so was unable to com).

As a group, we assembled two loft houses (10x10 homes with a small loft for sleeping) for two families. We also went to a local church and helped paint and pass out flyers for a movie night they were hosting for the locals. It was so good for our kids to see how other people live. It was also neat to see the end result, which was a small ceremony presenting the lofthouse keys to the family.

The kids did awesome, considering the many hours spent in the car, the long days on the job site, and just adjusting to being in another country. Chris and I also really enjoyed getting to know others in our church that we see each Sunday, but don't necessarily know.

Here are some pics:

Playing jump-rope with the kids at the local church. Umm...that's exhausting!

The kids had a BLAST swimming with all the other kids from our church.

At the work site.

You can see Kendall right in the center of the picture :)

We ate at the same taco stand all three nights. It was delicious! My dad joined us on the trip as well, which was really fun. 

beach

Permission to be sappy? I just love my kids too much. Too much. They are just the best little travel companions I could ask for. :)

Today was beach day:

spring break

*We had an awesome weekend in Mexico. I'm still waiting on gathering pictures and I'll post them soon. :)

*Today was such a nice day, we decided to eat lunch outside. It's funny how excited Kendall gets about this.

*We are still enjoying spring break. This week is somewhat low key due to our trip this past weekend. The only big outing we have planned is the beach on Thursday. I will say that it has been heaven to not have to pack their lunch/snack boxes each morning. Heaven!

*We got together with some friends this morning and I made Snickerdoodle Scones. I had made them in the past and forgot how labor intensive they were. However they taste pretty darn good so I think they are well worth the effort.

*We made a trip to Winco last week for some groceries. Part of the reason we made the drive was to stock up on candy for our Mexico trip. Our favorite? Yogurt covered pretzels. :)

*Cam is still really enjoying Tae Kwan Do. He's already gone the past two days and wants to go again tomorrow. It is SUCH a good thing for him. During one class, his teacher even talked to him about his tendency to apologize for everything (and how that shows a lack of confidence). The self assurance and assertiveness we are hoping he gains from this will be worth all the money in the world. :)

cashew milk

*Yesterday we tried a new hike out in the desert. We headed out extra early, knowing the heat would come quickly out there. :)

After a Cinnamon Crunch stop at Panera, we got to our destination about 9:00 a.m. This was by far the most crowded and popular hike we had ever done. It was fun to pass so many people up and down the trail. There were some pretty steep parts, but Kendall persevered (Cam ran most of the way!).

*Afterward we stopped at Costco on our way home. Since Pirate Booty was still on sale, I caved and bought two bags. After we run out, I think we'll need to take a break. Kendall is way too obsessed with the stuff.

*Chris and I are loving Secrets and Lies. So good!!

*I've decided I'm a nut milk fan (for my hot chocolate, not so much to drink). My newest try is Cashew Milk. Yum!

*I had suggested several times for Cam to build one of his Lego sets since he hasn't done one in a while (and we have plenty of time on our hands over break). He kept resisting. I decided to get him going by setting it all up and helping him sort the colors. Apparently that was all he needed because now that he's started, he's non-stop! And this set takes him about 7 hours. Woohoo!

veggies

*Yesterday Chris and I went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Before dinner, we parted ways for just a bit. He dropped me off at Starbucks while he went to a golf store. It was so relaxing and I was excited because right before we left, my newest Food Network magazine arrived. :)

One of the fun facts included in the issue was that, "84% of vegetarians and vegans eventually go back to meat". I thought that was super interesting. While I'm not technically a vegetarian, I am much more so than not. Speaking of meat vs. veggies, last night I ordered a really yummy portobella mushroom "burger" at a restaurant called Stuft Pizza.

However it was nothing compared to one of my top favorite sandwiches of all time (I discovered a couple months ago), the Portobella Sandwich from Claim Jumper.

PORTABELLA SANDWICH

Layers of portabella mushroom, balsamic dressed spinach, roasted red pepper, avocado and goat cheese, served on fresh baked tomato herb bread spread with Dijon mustard and basil walnut pesto.

The flavor on that thing is amazing. :)

*Bachelor: I think if Becca had been into Chris, he would have chosen her. I guess it's a good thing Whitney didn't watch the season because she would have seen how obvious that was. :(

*FYI: County libraries have their reading programs going again. Five books read equal one coupon for a free burger at In & Out!

*Spring Break starts tomorrow and I'm excited to have the kids home for two weeks. We have this week planned, but I'm really hoping next week gives us some good weather so we can take a trip to the beach.

laughing cow

*One of the things Cam's Taekwando class requires is that one or both parents take four classes. Interesting, huh? Anyway, Chris volunteered to go and said it was quite rigorous!

*I found some cute shorts a while back at Old Navy. I took my own advice in buying two pair since it's not often you find a good fitting pair of shorts. I like these because they come in two lengths. I opted for the longer, more mom appropriate length. :)

*Whenever I feed the kids toast in the morning, I make one of Cam's with peanut butter, for a little protein. Kendall is not a PB fan, so I have been wanting to find something different. I decided to try "yummy breakfast cheese!", aka Laughing Cow cheese wedges. I let her open and spread it and made a big deal of the silly name. She's in! 

p.s. They are still on coupon at Costco. :)

*So I think there is a fine line in sharing things about one's life and bragging. However since this past Monday Chris and I celebrated 13 years of marriage, I feel like I get a free brag. What I love so much about Chris is how thoughtful he is. This past week has been pretty difficult for him, work-wise. However instead of taking out his stress on us and the kids, he actually did the opposite...something super sweet. This morning when we came down to breakfast he had left us each a note telling us what he appreciated about us. Wow. Here are the kids reading their notes:

legoland or bust...part two!

*I just love going to Costco with the kids. This past time they sampled a Veggie Burger and really liked it. Hmmmm... :)

*Saturday was our Harry Potter movie day. Every time the opening music begins, Cam looks over at me and gives me the biggest, "This actually is happening!!!" grin. I LOVE it. :)

*That night we met my parents at Spaghetti Factory for dinner.

The kids LOVED the balloon man who came around.

*On Sunday we made a second attempt at Legoland. We had a blast!

yellow belt

*One of the reasons I rarely meal plan is because it never seems to go as planned. For instance, my Monday crustless quiches didn't happen because I was too lazy. So we had spaghetti. My cottage cheese pancakes for later in the week didn't happen because I ran out of cottage cheese. I stuck with the rest of the week's plan...kind of. :)

*We went on a new hike yesterday with some friends. The views were so pretty!

*Costco trip today after school:

-Italian sausage: Chris will barbecue the whole package. I then cut them into chunks and freeze a big bag. Chris loves them chopped up in burritos. 

-Feta

-Bananas

-Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges: Coupon for these!

-Pirate's Booty: We first tried this a couple weeks ago at some friends' house. Kendall and I loved it (Cam not so much). I saw they were on coupon, so on the list they went!

-Skinny Cow: Coupon! I'm hoping they actually HAVE these. Costco hasn't carried them for the past few months :(

*Cameron got his yellow belt!! He was so excited and we were soooo proud of him. :)

*Cameron and I are slated to finally finish our latest Harry Potter book tonight. This was the longest one yet (870 pages!). We have definitely used the, "up to 9 renewals" rule at the library! I have already checked out the movie and we'll watch it tomorrow morning while Chris and Kendall go find something to do. :)

sleepover

*I've decided it is just worth the extra money to buy name brand plastic cling wrap.

*On Saturday Cam had his belt testing (to move up a belt color in Taekwando). I was really proud of him because he had been practicing a lot. We won't know for sure until Wednesday, but we are hopeful that he passed. It would be hard on him to see other kids from his class with yellow belts, while he still has his white.

Here he is afterward holding his wood board that he broke on the first try! :)

*Last night we had my sister's kids over to spend the night. Lots of fun was had.

*I'm attempting to meal plan a few nights this week:

Monday: Petite Crustless Quiche (this will be sketchy as both my kids aren't egg lovers)

Tuesday: White Chicken Enghiladas (one of Chris' favorite things I make)

Wednesday: Possibly go out to eat to celebrate Cam going up a belt color (crossing fingers!)

Thursday: Meatballs (I made a bunch and froze this weekend) and Cottage Cheese pancakes

Friday: ???