9 year old

Yesterday Cameron turned 9 years old. Chris realized that we are now halfway through the time he will be living under our roof. I DO NOT want to think about that. :(

Cameron chose to go roller skating for his day and he and Kendall had such a fun time. Seeing my sweet boy make his way slowly around and around the rink was just too cute. He was so determined and quickly wanted me to let go of him to do it all on his own.

When we returned home, my parents came over for dinner (he chose hamburgers). He had also requested a "map" birthday cake. I consulted one of his many, many Atlases he has in his room and made a simple cake with common freeways we use.

It was a perfect day and he felt super special, which is all we could have asked for. :)

west wing

*I have a huge pet peeve when watching a movie/TV show. Whenever a character is carrying a cup of coffee (like a disposable one from a coffee shop), you can always tell the cups are empty. The way the people carry them so carelessly is a dead give-away. Why does it bother me so much? Not sure. :) But I will often point it out to Chris and he just laughs. But really, couldn't you just fill it with water so it's more realistic that they are actually carrying something with liquid in it?? :)

*Cameron couldn't be any more excited for his birthday on Sunday. The other night my parents came over and he accidentally saw a gift my mom was bringing that she had ordered for me from Amazon. When Cameron asked me about it, I lied. I later felt guilty and ended up telling him the truth. However I also added that from that point on, lying was okay only when it was related to presents or surprises.

*One of my favorite times of day are when the kids and I sit down to lunch. They are always in a super hyper/goofy mood and it's just so fun. :)

*West Wing. One of the best series ever.

school lunches

*Kendall received a Bible story pamphlet from church and decided she would take over doing our little devotional in the mornings. She's quite proud of herself. :)

*Yesterday was my first day back substitute teaching. I taught 3rd grade and actually had a great class. The day was long, but the time flew. 

*Cameron and I are set to finish the final Harry Potter book in the next few days, with the hope of getting the first of the final two movies in this weekend.  I must say that I will be REALLY sad when we get to the end. First off, this has been the BEST book series I have ever read. Second, this has been such a neat thing for the two of us to share over the past two years. I know we will start another series (maybe this time involving Kendall), but the end of our Harry Potter times still makes me sad...

*There are tons of back to school lunch blog posts out there. I really liked this one. Granted, I'm lucky in that I only have to pack a snack since the kids are home by lunch, but there are still some neat ideas, like a smoothie (frozen in the morning in a popsicle mold).

*The other day the four of us were in the car and Cameron asked Chris, "Dad, has your life turned out the way you expected it would?" Wow! Not sure where that one came from! :)

zucchini

*Last night we had Zucchini Crust Pizzas. I really liked them, Chris said they were "okay", and both kids ate them with no complaints. For a pizza crust made out of veggies, those are pretty good results! They were, however, very labor intensive. Why is it that eating healthy requires so much time and work??

Our dinner the other night was quite the opposite of health. I introduced the kids to what was a very common meal for Chris and I before we were married, a box of Rice-A-Roni Broccoli Au Gratin. The BEST flavor, in our opinion. The kids quite agreed. :)

Notice the Giants winter hat by Kendall's plate? She's been wearing it around lately, you know...because it's been so cold. :)

*We've been praying as a family for the fire near Hume Lake. Cameron is very into talking about it and sometimes we have to put a limit on the number of questions we get :)

*Yesterday Kendall randomly announced that she is ready get her hair cut. Woohoo!! I didn't question her change of heart too much because I didn't want her to change her mind. Her hair is already long enough to make it hard to keep it from looking scraggly, so I'm very excited to get it cut.

*I've conquered four days without soda. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. I crave one in the afternoon when it is hot, but I'm able to overcome. :) Maybe I should try to give up some other treat...like Skinny Cows every single night. No. Way. :)

*Good grief it is 9:56 p.m. I'm going to bed!!

soda

*For some reason, I'm a sucker for TV shows and movies which take place in small, quaint towns. I've recently been watching Cedar Cove. I cannot tell you how cheesy and horrible the acting is, yet I enjoy it because of the beautiful small town it takes place in and its portrayals of small town life. :)

*Chris and I have long known that diet soda isn't good for you. Recently Chris' mom sent us an article that finally pushed us over the edge in doing something about our habit. We made the decision to not have anymore soda in the house. This is big. We will still allow ourselves to have it when we go out to eat, but since that isn't all that often, our soda consumption will be cut WAY down. I know it's good and I know that once we get used it, it won't be a big deal, so here's to sticking with it!

*I finally felt 100% back to myself this morning from my hike-induced yuckiness. Wow. I guess as we progress in our hiking, I need be a little more serious about taking care of myself on them.

*The other day Kendall wanted to help me with a mailer project I was working on for my dad. Whenever she helps me on a project, we always watch Saved by the Bell. Cameron joined us and I explained to them that the infamous Zack cell phone is actually what they used to look like. :)

first day of school

*Cam had his first sparring class for Taekwando. The kids wear the big gear and actually hit/kick one another. He enjoyed it but was very timid during the actual sparring. I think it will be good for him to get over the worry about hurting the other person and just go for it! :)

*The kids' first day of school went great. They were super excited and came home with lots of stories.

*Yesterday we went for a hike. It was a super long one, leaving all three of us exhausted! While it was very fun, I made the big mistake of both not drinking enough water and not eating enough throughout. I ended up feeling sick, cutting short dinner out with friends that night, and am still not feeling myself a day later. Lesson learned. :(

My dad brought a water bottle/fan. Whenever we would stop along the trail, he would pull it out and it felt incredible in that heat! 

*Since I've either been in bed or on the couch all day, Chris has been entertaining the kids, which has included a marathon game session. :)

*It has been a bad week for Kendall with her constipation issues. We've made a little progress, but we have spent quite a lot of time in the bathroom with her on the toilet and me reading her a book (with usually little to show for our time). 

*This morning while Chris was at church, I was sick of lying in bed, yet didn't feel up to doing anything. I ended up listening to a sermon by Matt Chandler. Chris had forwarded me a short clip of him last week and I immediately liked him. 

*My homemade granola last week was a bust with the kids in their snacks. I'm going back to an old standby I know they like, homemade graham crackers.

No, I do not make them into fun shapes. They take way too long as it is! :)

school is almost here :(

We've had a tradition the past couple years of taking the kids to the Palm Desert Aquatic Center right before they head back to school. They had asked about this several times over the summer and were very excited that today was the day.

It wasn't too hot (relatively speaking, since we ARE talking about the desert!) and the kids had a blast. This year the water slides definitely took a back seat to jumping off the diving boards :) Afterward we took them to Red Robin for lunch (also a tradition) and then headed home.

p.s. When we picked the kids up a couple days ago, Chris' mom sent them home with some of the yummiest cookie bars I've tasted in a long time.  These will definitely be made again!

No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

kidless week

So what have I been doing this week without kids?

-Chris and I have watched many episodes of West Wing. This took us back to our days before kids when watching more than one episode in a row of any show was the norm!

-I went to visit a friend of mine and got to stay for much longer than had the kids been with me. :)

-On Tuesday we spent the night out in the desert. This was so relaxing. The first thing we did upon arrival was collapse in the room and watch a movie. :) We later went to Cheesecake Factory (of course!) and then brought back frozen yogurt for dessert.

The next morning, while Chris played golf ...

...I went to the hotel gym (I forgot how much I like like running on a treadmill) and then read for a long time out on our patio. Soooo nice. :)

I read a good chunk of Laura Bush's autobiography. I probably won't make it the whole way through (it's long!), but it has been interesting to read all about her childhood and her meeting George.

-I've gotten some food prep done, mainly in the form of snacks for school. I made some granola and a homemade Nutri-Grain bar recipe I can't believe how much they taste like the real thing!

-Today we went to see the new Mission Impossible movie with my parents. Afterward we tried, Pieology. We all were very impressed!!

Sleeping in, not having to make meals, and just relaxing with Chris all week has been wonderful. But I will say that both Chris and I are SOOO excited and anxious to see the kids tomorrow. :)  We can't wait to hear all about their fun week filled with the Monterey Aquarium and more swimming then they've done all summer!!! We are incredibly grateful to Chris' parents.  A week is a long time to entertain two kiddos! :)

crying over silly things

Right now I'm relaxing on the couch watching a movie. This is the first day of our week without kids. They are spending the time with my in-laws and couldn't have been more excited.

I had a little pit in my stomach leading up to yesterday (I met his parents half-way). On one hand, I was so excited for the kids because they have some great things planned. On the other hand, it's hard to think about being away from them for this long. :)

On my way back, I hit quite a bit of traffic. My iPod had messed up and erased all my Dr. Laura's. After two sermons from Mike Erre (EV Free Fullerton Church), whom I love to listen to, I was a bit sermon'd out :). The silence led to way too much thinking. This led to crying.

It all started when I drove past the exit we took for our Mt. Baldy hike a few weeks ago. I remembered how I had rushed Cam a bit on the way down the mountain because we needed to get back to pick up Kendall. I felt guilty for rushing him. Yep, so I cried for telling Cam he needed to hurry up (he had been so sweet saying, "Sorry mom! Is this a better pace?"). I cried over a few other minor things with the kids as well. I think the combination of leaving the kids, annoyance with traffic, and a long day just left me with silly tears. :)

I'm better now. I've already smiled at the text pics Chris' mom has sent. Chris and I are headed out to spend the night in the desert tonight, so that will be a nice distraction and a fun time, just the two of us. :)

Next hike...no rushing my boy. Ha! :)

On an unrelated note, I recently cut out a $1 coupon for Carl's Jr.'s new iced coffee. Seeing as I love trying new ones, I bought one on my way home yesterday. My oodles of car time was also spent analyzing my ice coffee rankings. :)

Kelly's Fast Food Iced Coffee Rankings: 1-10 (10 being perfect)

Lee's Coffee: 10+

Jack in the Box (original flavor): 9

Carl's Jr.: 7

Burger King: 3

Del Taco: 3

McDonald's: 6

cousin visit

*This past weekend we had my two nieces stay with us. The kids had been looking forward to their visit for months. :)

On Friday I took them to the Where's Waldo? search through downtown Redlands. It was put on by a local bookstore and included a hunt through various stores for a cardboard cutout of the Waldo character (which each store had hidden somewhere). The kids loved getting their stamps each time they found one. We will definitely do it again next year. So fun!

On Saturday we met my family for a picnic for what would be our last time to see my sister and her family for a few years. I still don't think it has hit me that they are leaving. I do find that if I let myself stop and really think about not seeing them again, I start to cry. So I just don't think about it. :)

*This morning I made the kids pancakes and realized I was out of eggs. I found an eggless recipe that turned out to be the the most fluffy pancakes I've ever made!