sick kid

*I've officially decided that carving a pumpkin is NOT my favorite thing. The kids are super excited about picking it out and drawing the face, however it ends there. Mom has to actually scoop out the guts and carve while they watch. Not a fan. :)

*This past weekend Cam had his belt testing and advanced to his blue belt!! This was the first of the more difficult level tests he will encounter and we are so proud!

*I went along on Cam's school field trip to the San Diego Safari Park on Tuesday. I LOVE this picture of a bird landing on his head. He thought it was funny...for about a second. He quickly wanted it off. :)

*I had to cancel my sub job for today last night around midnight. Poor Kendall came down with a fever and has been off and on all day (mostly off). I must admit, though, that I loved taking care of her and enjoyed our one on one time. So while I'm bummed she is still not feeling well enough to go to school tomorrow, I'm not too sad that I'll get her to myself another day. :)

p.s. I'm also not that sad that I now don't have to put together a scarecrow costume for her, "Dress like a scarecrow day". Ha!

1988 encyclopedia

*This past Friday, while we waited for Kendall to get out of her dance elective, Cam and I drove to the ranger station to get a permit for our hike in a couple weeks.

*Last week I heard there would be a community wide yard sale this weekend. So yesterday we decided to make it a fun, early morning outing. We started out getting the kids donuts, then gave them each some money to spend. We stopped at several yard sales and they were both able to find some cool things.

Cameron's favorite find: A 1988 World Encyclopedia Set. We tried to tell him that a lot of the information would be WAY out of date, but he was determined. He was very anxious to organize them as soon as we got home. :)

Kendall's favorite find: A scooter...which I'm thankful she got as her old one broke last year.

*Last night the kids spent the night at my parents and Chris and I went out to celebrate his belated birthday. We headed out to the desert. He first dropped me off at Starbucks while he headed to a golf store. I tried the Toasted Graham Latte for the first time. Verdict? Very good but not amazing. I got a nice chunk of reading done. I realized it's much easier for me to read somewhere else because at home, I'm always thinking of other things I could be doing. Afterward Chris picked me up for dinner at Cheesecake!

We got ice cream to bring home afterward and headed back to binge watch some TV. Before kids, it was common for us to plow through three shows at a time. Now it's not uncommon for us to barely make it through one! It was fun to just relax and zone out for a few hours. On the agenda? Newsroom, West Wing, and Suits.

bacon salad

*I finished, Killing Patton a few days ago and now am reading, Killing Lincoln. These are such great books.

*I went for my yearly "woman check" today. Now that I'm 36 (and considering my family history), I need to start the yearly mammogram thing. I feel old.

*I think I've realized why Parenthood is SOOOO good. Even if you have never gone through what the characters go through, you find yourself thinking, "I would react the exact same way!".

*Costco trip yesterday:

-String Cheese

-Feta

-Bananas

-Greek Yogurt

-Sour Cream (Chris and I are the only ones who eat sour cream but we have no problem polishing off this enormous size!)

-English Muffins
-Cauliflower
-Almond Butter
-Shredded Cheese

*Today I took the kids to a park after school for a picnic. It's been too long since we've been to a park. I miss the days when this was a daily occurrence.

*Chris saw this picture on Facebook and we laughed. This is definitely his kind of salad. :)

*I can't believe Halloween is in a week!

camping

Yesterday I returned from a women's camping trip with our church. It was such a nice weekend. I drove down with my friend, Teresa, and joined about 45 other women.

My tent mates:

The retreat was a perfect mix of worship, listening to speakers, and free time. On Saturday afternoon, we walked down the beach to the San Clemente pier and had lunch.

Some highlights:

*Hearing from other women, especially older women from our church that I would not otherwise cross paths with. It was so neat to hear their experiences, their takes on scripture, their advice, etc.

*Having all my meals prepared for me!

*Early morning reading. I woke earlier than my tent mates and I loved sneaking out and reading in the early morning. Mornings have always been my favorite times during camping trips.

*Getting to spend two car rides with Teresa, whom I don't get to see as often as I'd like :(

*Having my mom on the trip (she helped run it). It's always so nice to hear other women talk about how much they adore her as much as I do. :)

*Getting fun text updates from Chris. They went to see their cousins on Saturday, which they had been looking forward to for several weeks. :)

On the agenda was a park and the Orange County Auto Show. :)

cool toots

*Our no soda rule (or at least less soda) led Chris to bring home some Crystal Geyser Flavored Seltzer Water for us to try. There was no sugar or artificial sweetener. Exactly. It tasted like nothing despite its, Very Berry "flavor". Yuck!

*Today was Chris' birthday. His dinner request:

Peanut Butter Pasta (Thai peanut sauce I make)

Bread

Cookies n' Cream Ice Cream

Pretty simple! We had a nice dinner and the kids enjoyed giving him their homemade cards. Our favorite part of Kendall's card was when she wrote that Chris has, "cool toots". Nice. :)

*Chris had someone back into his car yesterday. Luckily they left a note. Today we got the rental car while his is being fixed. Kendall was SOOO excited about getting our, "vacation car". :)

*We went to our favorite pumpkin patch several days ago. We were the only ones there for a while and the kids loved running around, despite the heat! :)

change of perspective

This morning Cam and I went on a new hike with my dad (Plunge Creek Truck Trail). I had told Cameron that it would just be a mild hike since it was my dad's first hike after he had surgery several weeks ago. However when we told him it was time to turn back, he became very sad as he was hoping we would do the whole route.

He didn't get angry, just emotional (tears in his eyes) and started walking ahead of us without talking. After a while, I pulled him aside and talked to him for a few minutes. After that, it only took a few more minutes for him to snap out of it and get back to his chatty, cheerful self. It reminded me of how far my boy has come. I recall many, many times when he was much younger in which he would slip into a funk that would last all afternoon. He was just unable to regulate his emotions very well.

When we got back into the car after dropping my dad off, I went on and on about how proud I was that he was able to change his attitude and perspective so quickly. We talked a lot about what a great life skill that was...to be able to take a negative situation and change his attitude and perspective on it. The hike was really fun, but that was my highlight. :)

numbers

2: Hours Cameron and I worked on creating his own board game for school. Wow. We were pooped at the end and he was emotional because he had yet to start his actual homework. I told him to take the afternoon off and finish in the morning. :) School projects + me = Ugh.

5: Season I'm on with Parenthood. I'm sad it's the last.

2: Times the kids got startled/jumped at a Halloween decoration when we visited a Halloween store this past weekend. They love exploring there. I love it too but find myself re-directing often when they get too near the nasty/gory stuff.

25: Percent I've read (according to the Kindle) of, Killing Patton (I had to take a break from, Gone with the Wind because my loan expired). This book is fascinating.

160: The temperature I request my latte to be on Wednesday mornings for my solo coffee date (between school drop-off and Bible Study). I've found I get a better result requesting a specific temperature as opposed to just a, "Can you make it extra hot?".

$40: (speaking of coffee) My guess as to how much this mug will cost. A friend of mine emailed me about it the other day. It actually allows you decide what temp you want your drink to be. Now as to how much I'd be willing to spend if it really works...???

99: Cents per pound I paid for Fuji apples this week. I realized I get far too excited when good apples go on sale. 99 cents per lb. and below...I stock up!!

2: The max number of times I'm willing to get the same sample at Costco. In my defense, I don't get two of all the samples...only the really good ones. :) I don't feel too bad because my dad's rule is three. :)

magic mt.

For Cam's birthday this past August, we gave him a future trip to Magic Mt. with Chris. Yesterday turned out to be the day and they had a fun time...mostly.

The park was pretty deserted and they were able to walk on most rides. Cameron was obviously eager to dive into the map to figure out where they should go first. :)

The rides were pretty intense and sound like they have escalated in the craziness since I went years ago. They both did relatively well and just needed a few breaks now and then before plowing on to the next extreme ride.

All was well until the last ride of the day (or what ended up being the last ride). While they had previously gone on, "Tatsu", for some reason it did not sit well with Cameron the second time around. Afterward he not only didn't feel well, but lost his appetite (they had planned a fun dinner out to wait out traffic) and just wanted to come home. :(

Luckily by the time they got home, he was much better and has insisted his time wasn't spoiled by that last ride and that he would like to go again sometime. We'll see... :)

two front teeth

*I was just beaming today during Cam's sparring class. He had been nervous to go. For a boy who HATES to see people hurt/upset, hitting and kicking do not come naturally. :) Sparring is required to move up in belt levels and today he really turned a corner. He kicked more than I have ever seen. I almost teared up watching him knowing how out of his comfort zone he was, yet still giving it his all.

*Today I surprised the kids after school and treated them to, "dessert for lunch" at Yogurtland.

*Last weekend, when we were at the Palm Desert Costco, I bought a pullover shirt. We went to the mall afterward and I wore it (since malls are always cold!). Holy cow. This thing is the MOST comfortable thing I have bought in years. It is SOOO comfy and I love how it (especially the sleeves) are so long. I'm very much looking forward to wearing it when the weather turns cold!

*Back when I worked full-time, every single morning I would make a bowl of oatmeal and watch Good Morning America before heading off to work. I've gotten back into watching it and while I only watch the first 5-10 minutes (which tend to be the top stories), I enjoy feeling like I actually know what is going on in the world. 

*I've found a strategy that has worked pretty well in dragging myself out of bed in the morning to work out. My two favorite bloggers (#1 and #2) live back east and because of the time difference, their posts are always done super early. I pull out my Kindle and read them, which inevitably wakes me up enough to then get out of bed. :)

*Kendall ended up losing both front teeth last weekend. She looks so different, but so cute!