March 31, 2013

After church today we had our own little Easter egg hunt out in the front yard.  Isaac ended up with about 90% of the eggs, but both boys had fun hunting for them.  And all four of us helped with eating the candy from inside the eggs.  Thanks for sharing Isaac.  

March 30, 2011

Today we toured the USS Midway.  Isaac could have spent all day aboard this aircraft carrier.  He loved seeing all of the fighter jets and helicopters up on top and was fascinated by all of the workings of the ship underneath.  I say any exhibit that allows little boys to play with control panels full of buttons, switches, and knobs is worth a visit!

March 29, 2013

My friend Amy recently took her daughter to the zoo and posted about it on her blog.  Luke saw all of the pictures of the animals on my computer and started getting really excited.  He was jumping around and making animal noises.  So right then Charlie & I decided to add the San Diego Zoo to our vacation agenda.  Luke wasn't quite as excited about the real animals as he was about the pictures on the computer, but we all still had a fun time.

March 28, 2013

After Charlie got off of work this evening we loaded up the car and headed down to San Diego for a mini vacation.  On the drive down Isaac noticed a new kind of power line.  Sometimes people tell me that they don't think that Isaac seems autistic.  He is doing remarkably well, but if you spend a little time with him you will start to notice some of his quirks.  He has an obsession with power lines.  More specifically, he is fascinated by the way the lines are connected to the transmission towers.  This is something I would have never in a million years paid any attention to on my own, but the lines are connected to the towers in different formations.  Isaac has all of these memorized and every time we pass a tower he imitates the set of connection formations with his arms.  Tonight he noticed some towers with a formation he hadn't seen before.  Sometimes I am really fascinated by the way his mind works.  

March 27, 2013

Isaac has not stopped talking about feeding the tortoises a few weeks ago.  Today we headed back to Prehistoric Pets for a different kind of turtle feeding.  The store has a large pond full of swimming turtles and giant fish.  For just $3 you can buy a cup of worms.  I was totally repulsed by this idea, but Isaac was fascinated.  I suppose the giant tweezers make it a little less repulsive than if you actually had to pick those squirmy things up with your fingers.  Either way, Isaac thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Maybe someday I will have a girl...

March 26, 2013

One of Charlie's old friends from New Mexico is in town and he and his family are staying with us for a few nights.  Tonight we took them over to the Woodbridge lagoon for a picnic dinner.  We grilled hamburgers and made s'mores over a bonfire.  I brought some old bread so that all of the kids could feed the ducks.  Luke thought it was hilarious and couldn't get enough of it.  Once again I was totally impressed with his throwing skills.  He has quite the arm for a one year old!  Check out the flying bread in the photo below.

March 25, 2013

Luke goes nuts when he hears the trash truck outside.   He goes equally crazy anytime he hears a lawn mower, leaf blower, or weed whacker.  I've got the trash schedule down, but the landscapers seem to be outside ALL THE TIME!  I have taken Luke outside to watch them a few times but we usually end up with a face full of dust from a leaf blower.  Plus it's super loud and I have to hold Luke the whole time so that he doesn't run in front of a riding lawn mower.  I've started letting him watch from the kitchen windows.  He loves it and it's saved me from a whole lot of sneezing.

March 24, 2013

This is my lovey dog Cracker.  He'll be ten years old in May.  He's kind of a grumpy old man and mostly just lays around and sleeps all day.  He's the best cuddler you'll ever meet, and any time someone sits down he will instantly come to sit by your side - or on your lap.  I never imagined I would love a dog so much.

March 23, 2013

Isaac has been really excited to compete in his first ever sparring tournament at his karate studio.  His only motivation was to win a trophy.  He had his eye on one of the big ones, but he seemed plenty pleased with the participation trophy that he earned instead.  I don't know where he learned this victory pose, but it made me smile.  

March 22, 2013

Today Isaac came in wearing nine different shirts.  He thought this was the cleverest and funniest thing ever.  He hates wearing a jacket so sometimes when it is cold out I just tell him it is his lucky day because he gets to wear two shirts, and then I double him up.  So he thinks it's really cool to wear two shirts and today he is super cool because he's wearing nine!  It was not cold out today but he sure looked warm all bundled up in his layers.

March 21, 2013

I rarely use the drive-thru car wash because it doesn't work very well and for only a few dollars more I can get a nice hand wash.  But today I decided to go for it after filling up with gas.  Once a few years ago I let Isaac sit up in the front seat during the wash and he loved it.  I thought Luke might like it too.  As we were waiting he was really excited watching the cars in front of us.  And then once we pulled inside and the machine started up he quickly changed his mind about the car wash.  

Poor thing!  I don't know if it was the noise or the water being sprayed all over the windows, but he was terrified. 

I scooped him up into my lap (I look really lovely because this was pre-gym and shower) and he calmed down, but was still pretty nervous about the whole thing.  No more drive-thru washes for awhile!  

March 20, 2013

Tonight was Open House at Isaac's school.  Though I've spent a decent amount of time in his classroom, Isaac was excited to bring us and show us a few of his favorite things at school.  He really loves school, his classmates, and his teacher this year.  I hope it continues in years to come!  His teacher, Ms. Chelle, could not stop talking about how Isaac is such a ladies man.  There are two little girls - Emma (the one he is supposedly going to marry) and Ivanna - that both love Isaac.  Chelle says the three of them are often holding hands and one day while listening to a presentation he was standing with one arm around each of their shoulders.  Should I be worried?  I'm just glad he is making friends.  And he does play with the boys too.  Alexander and Jack are his favorites.  There is another boy named Samarth and I always can't help laughing when Isaac talks about him because he calls him "Smarf."

Also, I got a good laugh from his zoo poster that was hanging on the wall.   Forcefields?  Of course!

Here is his description:  This zoo has three monkeys and it has one tank for a crocodile.  This zoo has forcefields to keep animals in their cages.  We are going to buy one more crocodile.  We have, you'll be surprised of what you will see.  You will be surprised about the very mean lion.  The zebra is nice as long as you're nice to him.  The elephant is still nice to you even if you are mean!  This is the best zoo in your life you go to!

March 19, 2013

If Isaac's karate studio would accept one year old students I would sign Luke up in a heartbeat.  He LOVES it.  Whenever I tell him it's time to go to karate he starts running around the house yelling "guy! guy!" (kiai) and hitting things.  He also loves, loves, loves when he can put on Isaac's sparring gear.  Today the therapy room that we usually play in was occupied so we ended up outside.  We spent the first 45 minutes throwing rocks into the bush (I'd stick my arm in and pull them out and Luke would throw them all in again) and then the last 15 minutes, after Isaac was done sparring Luke donned the gloves and ran around whacking the bushes while yelling "GUY!"

March 18, 2013

To go along with "Benny the Bear" visiting our home, Isaac also got to be Star of the Week at school.  We filled out a questionnaire about his favorite things and made a photo collage to hang on the wall in his classroom.  Here are his answers to the questions:

My favorite color is:  Blue
My favorite book is:  The Body Atlas (He checked this out from the library and is totally fascinated by it!)
My favorite movie is:  Goonies
My favorite sport is:  Karate
My favorite food is:  Salad w/ lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and yellow bell peppers
My favorite school subject is:  Building w/ Legos (They do this as one of their play centers.)
When I grow up I want to be:  A race car driver that drives the world's fastest race car.  And work in a robot store.
I'll bet you didn't know that:  I'm very good at keeping secrets

March 17, 2013

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  My iphone is always so full of pictures, that sometimes when I go to take another one it tells me it is too full and can't take anymore.  That's what happened this morning so this is a not so great shot of the boys with their "Leprechaun Gold."  When I was a kid, we wore green on St. Patricks Day.  That's it.  But last year Isaac came home from school singing some song about "Have you Seen the Leprechaun" and talking about traps and gold and everything else.  I thought it would be fun to do a little something, so the night before I snuck into his room and made a little mess with some of his toys & stuffed animals and left him a treat.  He seemed a bit disturbed, yet also fascinated, by these "leprechauns" that had snuck into his room and talked about it for weeks afterwards.  Sure enough as the holiday crept up again this year Isaac started talking about those sneaky leprechauns that came into his room.  How could I disappoint?

March 16, 2013

Poor Luke had a bad fall this afternoon.  He was trying to climb up on Isaac's bed and he slipped and hit his face on the wooden step stool.  He cut the inside of his top lip, and while I never got a good look at it, it bled pretty bad.  He woke up early from his nap, but then as soon as I sat down with him on the couch he fell right back to sleep.  It was a nice excuse to cuddle, relax, and watch TV for an hour with Charlie. 

March 15, 2013

Isaac got to be the first one in his class to bring home the new class mascot: Benny the Bear.  Benny needs to go with us everywhere we go this week and we are supposed to document his adventures with us in Benny's photo journal.  Exciting, right?  Well at least Isaac is excited.  And Luke is pretty fond of this bear too - he is almost as big as Luke.  Here we are on our way to karate.

March 14, 2013

While Luke was at speech today I took Isaac to a place called Prehistoric Pets.  Someone had told me about it before, just saying that they had lots of reptiles and stuff.  I had no idea you could feed giant tortoises there!  There were lots of different types of snakes, lizards, and turtles to see in the store plus they have another whole area that requires an entry fee.  I didn't budget near enough time so we'll definitely have to go back.  We bought a bag of lettuce and carrots and then Isaac got to use this long grabber to offer pieces of food to each turtle.  It was really pretty cool and Isaac loved it.  

March 13, 2013

This car garage is Luke's favorite toy right now.  We don't normally keep any toys in the living room but I moved it in here so that Luke could sit and play and still be near me as I get stuff done around the house.  It holds his attention better than anything else right now.  It cracks me up how he scoots right up next to it and sits with his legs inside the bottom level.  He loves driving his cars and trucks down the ramps and then lining them all up on top again.

March 12, 2013

Every time I get up to the register at Sprouts Luke looks for the container of lollipops and if he sees them he goes totally nutso.  And I always end up buying him one.  Perhaps I am over indulging him, but this is a battle I don't care to fight.  They are only $.16/piece.  He only sucks on it for about five minutes before he hands it back to me.  And it saves me from dealing with a major meltdown while in public.  Sold!  Oh, and added bonus: they are organic too. 

March 11, 2013

Back in our college days, Mikael and I would occasionally make the drive from Provo up to Sandy to eat at the nearest Sweet Tomatoes.  The same restaurant is called Souplantation here in CA, but I think it still holds a special place in my heart because of all the fun memories I have of eating there with Mikael.   We would gorge ourselves on chocolate lava cake and leave there feeling sick.  These days I am much more interested in the salad (plus a few pickles on the side).  The location by our house is usually really crowded so we don't go often, but tonight Charlie was willing to go along with my suggestion.   

March 10, 2013

My sister Sandy had a new baby girl in December.  Today was little Emma's blessing day at church.  She is such a sweet little babe and she was adorable in her tiny white dress.  Her father Chris gave a sweet blessing and after Sacrament meeting all of the family and friends went back to their house for brunch.  I took it upon myself to be the photographer for the day, but I handed Charlie the camera just before we left so that I could get a photo with my two sisters and my newest niece.  

March 9, 2013

Today's photo is somewhat of a bore.  In fact I'm feeling kind of bored with this whole project... But I keep telling myself I'll enjoy looking back at it.  Anyway, here we all are in Isaac's room just before bed time.  I did have a nice trip to the mall today by myself to pick up a few baby gifts.  I also got Isaac these new bulldog pajamas.  He loves bulldogs so when I saw them on the clearance rack I couldn't pass them up.  Charlie is not really sleeping, Cracker is laying on my out stretched legs, and Luke is to my right looking at a truck book.  

March 8, 2013

For the first year or so of Isaac's karate classes I was able to sit and watch in the dojo.  Sensei Wayne often has the parents out on the mat to help their child practice or learn new skills.  When Luke was about six months old, we got kicked out.  Luke is not a quiet child.  And even at six months he was intensely interested in what was going on in that karate class.  I clearly remember the day we got kicked out.  Sensei was counting loudly and the students were punching and yelling "Kiai!" with each punch.  Every time they yelled "Kiai!" Luke would do his own baby yell right along with them.  Everyone, including Sensei Wayne was dying laughing but then he asked us nicely to leave the room.  We probably couldn't have lasted in there many more weeks anyway.  Once Luke could crawl, there was no way he would still in there for an hour.  So we go in the extra therapy room and play and I take peeks through the window to see how Isaac is doing.  Thank goodness there are so many toys to keep us busy!  

March 7, 2013

Brushing Luke's teeth is not an easy task.  He hates it and pretty much refuses to even open his mouth.  We've tried it every which way but he absolutely hates it and refuses to cooperate.  After the battle of the actual brushing I usually give him a turn to "brush," meaning he waves the toothbrush around his mouth for a second and then sucks the remaining toothpaste off.  And then he's just as happy as could be! 

March 6, 2013

Tonight Charlie returned from his very long trip to Chicago.  We are all happy to have him back!  Sometimes when he is gone on a long trip Isaac & I like to hang up the "Welcome Home" banner for him, even though I think Isaac is more excited about it than anyone else.  When we picked Charlie up at the airport Isaac told him "When we get home you have to close your eyes until I tell you to open them."  Charlie did a good job acting surprised.  He brought the boys flashing green St. Patrick's rings, though Luke's fits better as a bracelet.  

March 5, 2013

I was so sad to take Mikael back to the airport early this morning, but Luke was pretty happy to be back in his room and back in his own bed.  While I was washing the bedding he wanted to get in and throw balls.  This is one of his favorite games.  He has always loved balls and has a pretty good collection of them.  He gets in his crib with all of the soft balls and throws them all out at me, and then he lays down and I dump them all back in on top of him.  He thinks it's hilarious and will repeat the process over and over a million times.

March 4, 2013

Tonight I wanted to take Mikael out to dinner for her birthday.  In retrospect, perhaps I should have let her pick the restaurant, but I didn't.  We went to Nordstrom Cafe and enjoyed salad, a panini, and most importantly, cake!

March 3, 2013

Mikael, don't get made I stole your photo!  I actually did take this one - just with Mikael's camera and she edited it to look awesome.  Mikael really wanted to do a photo shoot at the beach with her & Drew, me and my boys, and some shots of her & I together.  Unfortunately my boys were not very cooperative and my cousin who was going to help out was a no show.  We still got some fun pictures though.  

March 2, 2013

This afternoon we went to the Irvine Spectrum to walk around and window shop.  Luke does not tolerate shopping, but he does love fountains and being outdoors, so we just walked and enjoyed the gorgeous weather (and attempted to go in a few stores).  Mikael is currently living in a tiny middle-of-nowhere town, so she was thrilled to be back in civilization and walking around an actual mall.

March 1, 2013

YAY!!!  My friend Mikael came to visit me!  As her birthday present to herself she decided to fly to California for the weekend.  It was perfect timing too since Charlie is gone to Chicago for eight days.  She brought her baby Drew and we are looking forward to catching up and having fun!  Tonight we had dinner at Cafe Rio.  And we managed to get through the whole meal without a fuss from any of the three little boys.  Success!