baby pic

*Poor Kendall has been sick since Thursday night. She was so sad to miss her special, "100th Day of School" celebration on Friday as well as a birthday party yesterday. :( So far, her days have consisted of movies, coloring (when the Motrin has kicked in), and lying on the couch listening to KidsBop on Pandora.

Yesterday I let her sit out front and watch her friends play for a change of scenery.

*I have had the most painful knot in my back since Tuesday. I have never had one this long and despite Chris using his elbow to try and rub it out, it doesn't seem to be getting any better. :(

*We are half way through, The Martian, and are really liking it.

*This weekend Kendall and I were going through my memory box. I found a baby picture of myself and the first thing I thought was how much I look like Cam.

mommy gets her steps up

*A couple of days ago Cameron rolled his foot somehow while walking. He still couldn't walk the next morning, so we headed to Urgent Care after dropping Kendall off at school. We had about 45 minutes to kill until it opened so we went to Starbucks. I drank my coffee while we both did some hiking research. It probably was the favorite part of my day. :)

*Turns out his foot is not broken, just bruised. It's been interesting to see him navigate his way with crutches, but he's getting better. :) He was bummed to have missed his Taekwando belt ceremony yesterday since he passed his most recent belt test last weekend. We were SOOO proud and are still in awe of how far he has come and how motivated he continues to be. :)

*We met my parents at Costco after school for lunch yesterday. Then, onto the list:
-Bananas
-Greek yogurt
-Graham Crackers
-Almond Butter
-Milk
-Cheerios
*Chicken Apple Sausages

*I found a good way for, "mommy to get her steps up", as the kids put it. There is a cul-de-sac behind us that has a slight incline. The kids love riding up and down and up and down. I take laps around the street as they bike and it's a win-win!

hamster

*When Cam stayed home from school this past week, he "helped" Chris with his graphic design. Cam LOVES doing this. Basically Chris explains to him what he does and let's Cam offer input. :)

*Several years ago a friend of mine and I were talking about cereal. She shared with me her strategy of mixing a sugar cereal with a healthy one. I thought this was brilliant and have done it ever since. The kids always know that when we treat them to an unhealthy cereal, they get to pick which healthy one it gets mixed with.

Fridays are always, "breakfast for lunch" days. Yesterday I decided to surprise them with Cookie Crisp. :) Here is Kendall measuring out the bowls. :)

*Chris and I have been in a TV show rut. We decided to try a reality show called, The Profit, which follows a wealthy entrepreneur who rescues failing businesses. We really like it so far. 

*We are officially starting to research guinea pigs and hamsters for Kendall's birthday. Not sure what we have gotten ourselves into... :) 

*It is slightly embarrassing to think of the LOUD excitement that occurs in our house when Kendall does a big poop. Lots of whooping and hollering. :)

*Why is it that you have a 50/50 chance of getting the fitted sheet right when you are putting it back on the mattress, yet I would say 80% of the time, I get the wrong corner and have to shift the whole thing???

bad mom day

I wish yesterday would have come AFTER today so I could redeem myself with a fun day. Yesterday the kids didn't have school so the four of us went for hike in the desert. We ended with dinner at Red Robin...which made it pretty much the perfect afternoon. :)

Now to today. First off, Cameron came in at 5:45am to tell me he felt like his head was hot. It felt normal, so I sent him back to bed. When I went in a little later, he was crying on his bed. He said he had actually been awake since 4:45am and was frustrated that he couldn't go back to sleep. This is not unusual for him, so I comforted him but continued on with the morning.

I noticed that he was pretty lethargic on the way to school. Again, I chalked it up to his early wake time. I dropped him off and headed to sub for the morning. I didn't check my phone and when I got done, there was an hour old voicemail telling me Cameron had a 102 degree fever and to please come get him. Ahhh!!! I felt dreadful!! After I called and straightened out the issue of why they didn't call Chris after I didn't answer (still am a bit unclear on that), I raced over.

I felt miserable having written off his fever complaint in the morning, ignoring his lethargy on the way to school, and then making him wait in the office for an hour. Luckily he was so sweet and understanding...but still. Ugh. :(

Right now he's snuggled on the couch watching Inside Out, so all is well. Kendall has enjoyed the perks of having a sick brother, like an afternoon movie and cereal for lunch. :)

fitbit

I have fallen in love with my Fitbit. I thought it would be interesting to keep track of my steps, but I never knew it would work so well in keeping me accountable in just moving more. I'm generally not competitive at all, however there is something about wanting to reach that 10,000 step goal that really motivates me.

It's amazing how much walking is required to reach 10,000. It's also amazing how much you tend to overestimate the number of steps you take. Case in point, yesterday the four of us took a trip to Winco and all took bets on how many steps I would take. The result? A measly 500. I was the closest but still overestimated by a couple hundred!

I find that I'm always thinking of ways to move more (which obviously is the point!). I park further away when I go somewhere. I got home last week from subbing and had 15 minutes until I had to pick up the kids. Instead of plopping on the couch (which is what I normally would do), I went for a walk around the block. Today when we stopped by my parents so Chris could fix their computer, I took a walk with the kids on their scooters while he worked.

I love that not only am I getting more exercise, but I'm also getting outside more, which is always an automatic mood booster. I may sound a little too enthusiastic about it, but I honestly am so glad I got one and am happy to report I've met my 10,000 steps a day most days this past week. Not all..but most. :)

Sidenote: I know he Fitbit measures a lot more than just steps. Maybe someday I'll utilize all the other fancy stuff. But for now, I'm happy with my steps. :)

anne of green gables

*All this lottery talk got me thinking about one of my favorite movies back when I was a teenager...It Could Happen to You.

*Sometimes Kendall likes to eat lunch in her tent. She pokes her head out for each bite.

*Kendall has taken a liking to my heated corn bags. She typically wants one for bedtime. :)

*Speaking of heat, Cameron likes to sit by the fire to do his homework. :)

*This weather has made me think of Mimi's corn chowder, which is amazing. So last night I tried to make my own. Chris gave it a 7.5. On a "soup scale" (because he's not a soup fan), that is pretty good. The kids liked it, but I didn't sense a, "Wow!!".

*For some reason I've been craving an Anne of Green Gables marathon. It's been way too long since I've watched the series. I still am flabbergasted when I come across girls who have never seen it (and it MUST be the one with Megan Follows as Anne).

some questions i stumbled across

1. What was your favorite food as a child?
Baked potatoes and donuts

2. If you could change your first name, what would it be?
Emery

3. What celebrity have you been told you look like?
Janel Moloney (Donna Moss from West Wing)

4. What is something naughty you did as a child?

I would hide under the kitchen table and eat homemade Play-Doh

5. When was the last time you stayed up past midnight?

I honestly have no idea. :)

6. If you could go on a vacation tomorrow, where would it be? 

Aulani. Chris and I would simply die to take the kids here. Die.

7. Have you ever bought a lottery ticket?

No

8. What book are you currently reading?

No book. I'm done with Bill O'Reilly's "Killing..." series and have yet to find one that sticks. However a friend of mine just gave me a big bag of magazines and I'm super excited. :)

9. What is the last show you binge watched?

24 (kind of bummed that when it returns, Kiefer Sutherland will not be on it)

more snow

Yesterday we gave the kids an official snow afternoon. Some friends from college live up in Idyllwild, so we made the trek up the mountain. They had a BLAST and want to go again. It was so nice to let them sled/play in their backyard and then come right come inside to a warm house. :)

 Yes, I did venture outside, but stayed planted on their balcony to watch the action. :)

After church today we went out to the desert. THAT was much more up my alley, weather-wise. :)

treadmill

*I consider myself a decent mom...except in a few areas:

1. I don't like to swim. While I do take my kids to swim often during the summer, I rarely (if ever!) join them.

2. I don't like to go to kids movies in theaters. I get bored and ancy. Chris is much better at this and so I let him take over. :)

3. I HATE the cold (a reason for #1). Yesterday when Chris texted me that he wanted to take the kids up to Oak Glen to play in the snow, I eagerly took him up on giving me a free pass. :)

*I blubbered through the series finale of Parenthood last night. And I thought I cried a lot during all the previous episodes!! Holy Cow! :)

*We keep our thermostat at 65 during the night.

*I still double space after periods. Hard to break.

*I'm still far from wanting to get back into working out. My Jillian Michaels videos have lost their luster. :) The only thing that sounds appealing is treadmill running. My parents had one back in college and I remember loving to run on it while watching a movie (Clueless was viewed too many times to count). I know there are probably thousands of nice treadmills sitting in peoples' homes, never being used, just dying to be sold dirt cheap to me. :)

Speaking of healthy stuff, Chris showed me something someone posted the other day and we both got a good laugh. :)

naan bread

*I'm good on the rain. Yes, I know it's good for our state, blah, blah, blah (just kidding...well, partially) :)

*Parenthood has officially become my all time favorite TV series. Ever.

*I decided to break myself into this Fitbit thing by setting a goal of 8,000 steps per day, rather than the recommended 10,000. Good grief! 8,000 is even hard (especially on rainy days)!!

*I am VERY particular about my kids' finger nails. I really, really don't like it when kids' nails get long. Dirt cakes underneath and it just annoys me. I'm pretty vigilant about keeping them quite short.

*Every now and then my kids ask if they can go through my box of memory stuff. Yesterday's rain made this activity a great choice. Kendall is actually holding a Reader's Digest cover I saved due to Dean Cain being on the cover. My friend, Jen, and I would watch Lois and Clark EVERY single Sunday night and call each other during each commercial to debrief. We obviously had quite the crush on him. Ha!

*Yesterday in the class I was subbing for, they had a guest speaker from the water district. Interesting fact: California has unusually high water standards, such that our tap water is higher quality than bottled water. Our filter went out long ago in our fridge and I have been using tap for a while. Now I can actually feel good about it! :)

*I'm really liking Naan bread from Costco. We've made pizzas and just last night, open faced burritos. They are so easy!

us + desert = perfect day

*Last night Chris and I had a dinner + movie date night. We saw, The Big Short. It was really good and held my attention the entire time (which is rare for me). It very clearly explains the 2008 housing crash in such an interesting and entertaining way. There are a couple scenes (nudity) that I wish they could have left out, but otherwise I recommend it. :)

After the movie we tried a new restaurant, Thai Chili. We RARELY try new restaurants, but Chris actually gave his meal (Pad Thai) a 10++!!! Wow! :)

*Today we headed to the desert. Most of our family knows that The Cheesecake Factory is our favorite restaurant. We were quite happy to have received several gift cards for Christmas and decided to go for lunch.

After our meal, the kids were anxious to get down to the amphitheater to run around. I waited for the check while Chris walked them down. You can see there is a lot to climb around on!

*Right now the kids are watching, McFarland for the second time. We watched it as a family last week and they loved it (more than I had anticipated!). They both requested to watch it again tonight.

*We have one more day of Christmas break and then it's back to real life on Tuesday. Boo.

*We will watch our last episode of, Making a Murderer (on Netflix) tonight. Seriously, I cannot tell you how good this series has been. I think we made it through faster than any show we've ever watched. So good!!! If you decide to watch it, DON'T Google it until you are done. :)

biggest hike yet

*My two favorite Christmas presents were a Cutco knife from my parents and a Fitbit from Chris' parents. On Tuesday Cameron was extremely excited to help me set up my Fitbit, knowing it would help us on our hike the following day.

*And now the hike. Wow. What a doozy! This was our longest to date...9 miles/6 hours. It was so much fun. We still would have had a LONG way to go to the top of the tram (which is our eventual goal), but this was still a good training hike to get us that much closer.

Cameron really wanted to reach the first rescue box (they have two on the way up, with emergency supplies for stranded hikers).

*My mom watched Kendall while we were gone. She made the morning so special by planning a play date, complete with a tea party. :)

*New Year's Eve had us attending a wedding of a friend from our former church out in OC. This was the kids' first wedding ever. Here they are throwing rose petals on the runner as the bride walked down the aisle (they were big fans of this!).

*After the wedding, we went straight to my parents to celebrate Christmas. Each year my sister's present to them includes new pages to scrapbooks she has made for them. The kids love to look at them each time we come over. :)

*Kendall has expressed interest in going on some longer hikes. Today Cam and I decided to introduce her to a very small portion of what we did on Wednesday. She did awesome!! I can't tell you how excited I would be if she got as into hiking as Cam is and we could eventually start doing family hikes. :)

 Umm...favorite picture ever! So sweet...

p.s. The common recommendation of trying to reach 10,000 steps (on my Fitbit) a day is HARD!! I easily reached it on our hiking days, but yesterday I reached a whopping 3,200. :( Yikes!