October 31, 2013

I don’t care much for Halloween, so I don’t really know how I got myself into the habit of crafting ridiculous dog costumes for three of the past four Halloweens.  Isaac wanted to be Luke Skywalker and luckily Luke really liked the idea of being Darth Vader.  He likes Star Wars because Isaac likes Star Wars, and he actually really loves wearing masks.  Whenever we go down the toy aisles at Target he always wants to try on all of the superhero masks and look at himself in the camera on my phone.  Anyway, Isaac and I decided that Cracker should be R2D2 and the idea of making his costume seemed simpler than it actually turned out to be.  I was happy with how it turned out, but kinda wish I didn’t have to spend so much time on it. 

Also, I really liked this picture that Isaac drew at school of himself and Cracker in their costumes.  

October 30, 2013

Our dog is ridiculous.  He will take any opportunity to lay on anything that might be even the tiniest bit soft.  He does not like hard floors and will never lay on the wood or tile.  Even on the carpet he is always in search of the next best thing.  We often find him laying on things like Luke’s googins or Isaac’s clothes that he left on the floor.  As you can see in this photo, the dog bed behind him is plenty soft but he opted to come take a seat on top of Charlie’s sweater instead. 

October 29, 2013

Today I had the carpet cleaned.  I moved everything that I could carry out of Luke & Isaac’s rooms and stacked it up in the living room.  Then I had to keep the boys contained in one part of the house while the carpet guy did his work.  My friend also dropped her son Steve off for a bit while she took her girls to the dentist.  I was really happy with the carpet cleaning.  They offered a “dry” cleaning service that is environmentally safe and is dry pretty much immediately after they finish.  So much better than the soggy carpets and stinky chemicals.  And the carpets look amazingly clean!  So glad I finally had that done. 

Tonight we met my cousin Amy & her husband Jonathan for dinner at La Sirena Grill and then Charlie needed to go to some home stores at the mall for work.  The boys were drawn like a magnet to the displays of Christmas ornaments in every store.  Luke especially liked all of the balls.  It is a miracle that we walked away without any broken glass. 

October 28, 2013

Today the boys received their Halloween cards from Grandma & Grandpa Wood.  I was trying to take a photo to text and thank them, but there was not much cooperation..  And now that I think about it, I didn’t ever send the photo.  So Karl & Janelle, when you read this – Thank you! 

In other news Charlie’s photo was published with the celebrity gossip in Santiago.  He recently attended the opening of a gourmet store where they invited the guy on the right to make a celebrity appearance.  Apparently he’s like the George Clooney of Chile.  

October 27, 2013

Today was our ward’s Primary Program.  As you can see we have an enormous Primary.  I practiced Isaac’s part with him over and over again all week long.  He was supposed to say “Jesus established His church on the earth.”  But he thought that the word “established” was too hard to say and he wanted to say “built” instead.  Finally this morning I was able to convince him to say established, which he did but then left out a few other words.  He ended up saying “Jesus established on the earth.”  Um… close enough. 

Luke was really interested in the program.  He liked seeing Isaac up on the stand and every time the kids would stand to sing Luke wanted to stand up too and look for Isaac.  

October 26, 2013

This morning I ran 8 miles.  It was cold and overcast which I love when running.  I looked back on my time from about a year ago and am really excited that I ran 4 minutes (30 seconds/mile) faster than I did last fall. 

Next I drove out to Chino Hills to take my sister Sandy to lunch for her birthday.  We have a fun tradition of taking each other out to eat rather than buying gifts for our birthdays.  We went to Wood Ranch Grill and enjoyed a nice quiet meal together.

Tonight was the stake Trunk or Treat.  We got there just as it was starting and it was already packed.  Seriously, I think it gets more and more crazy every year.  Luke got really scared by a guy in a mask and I couldn’t get him calmed down until we found this little dog.  Luke seriously loves dogs.  I think he was more excited about the dog than his pumpkin bucket full of candy.  And that’s saying a lot because Luke really loves candy too.

October 25, 2013

We walk to school every morning and it is the only time that Luke will sit in his stroller.  Ever.  This week is Red Ribbon week at Isaac’s school.  They had themes everyday for how the students were supposed to dress and today was pajama day.  Isaac was really excited to wear his Angry Birds Star Wars pajamas.  Luke was really excited to wear his brand new Nike’s that he is showing off in this photo. 

October 24, 2013

Today Luke’s school had a field trip to the Tanaka Farms pumpkin patch.  It is a real working farm and it has a much nicer feel than all of the bounce house, spook house, mechanical ride stuff that is going on at the Johnson Brother’s patch that we normally go to.  Luke was most excited about riding on the tractor.  It was actually a wagon being pulled by a tractor but he still loved it.  

First we rode over to the petting zoo.  Luke normally loves animals but he was not so excited about the sheep and goats that we met today because he said that they were dirty.  It was certainly smelly in their little pen and the floor was covered with droppings.  Luke did not like it one bit and kept asking to leave.  He does not like dirty.  He told me repeatedly “Let’s get out of here Mom.”  

Next the wagon drove us out to the vegetable fields and we got to pick carrots, green onions, radishes, and green beans.  Luke especially liked picking the carrots and ate them all up for his snack later that day.  

We also got to choose a pumpkin to bring home.  Luke originally told me that he wanted a really big one, but once he tried picking them up he changed his mind.  He said “I have little hands.  I want a little pumpkin.”  This kid.  He kills me with his cuteness.  He found the perfect little pumpkin that he could carry and was so excited to bring it home.  He carried it around all day long, 

October 23, 2013

Charlie is in NYC so it was left to me to take the boys on their “run” this evening.  Isaac had been talking non-stop about the coyotes that he saw at school today.  Woodbridge has developed a major goose problem and in an effort to get rid of them they are setting out coyote decoys to scare the geese off.  I read about this in our association newsletter last month and I have actually been kind of wanting to see one.  So when Isaac kept telling me about the coyote out on the field at school I decided we should go check him out.  Isaac was really really excited to show me, but when we got there the coyote was no where to be found!  As you can see, Isaac was quite disappointed.  Turns out they move the coyotes around all day long and put them away at night.  We stayed and played on the playground for awhile instead before heading home.  

October 22, 2013

This week is Red Ribbon week at Isaac’s school and they have a different theme each day for how the students are supposed to dress.  Today was “Mismatched Day.”  I guess Isaac thought he didn’t look crazy enough because when I came to pick him up I found that he had turned his shirt inside out and backwards.  We may need to have another talk about keeping our clothes on in public.  

This afternoon we did pumpkin patch round 3 with my friend Sherri and her kids.  More pony rides, more haunted houses, more bounce house, teepees, feeding goats, pulling wagons, and riding the mechanical vehicles.  The kids all had a blast and Sherri and I quickly realized that we were spending a small fortune on bounce houses.  You buy tickets at the front, and each is $1.50.  By the time you get to the bounce house that costs 4 tickets you’ve kind of forgotten that it actually costs $6!  Times four kids.  These pumpkin patch people are making a killing!

October 21, 2013

Charlie is in NYC this week.  As we were skyping tonight Charlie and I started talking about a photo that his brother Chris had posted from his deer hunt that day.  Isaac wanted to know what we were talking about so I showed him the picture.  Chris is a Wildlife Biologist in Utah and we used to tell Isaac that Chris’ job is kind of like Diego from Go Diego Go and he is an animal rescuer.  So when Isaac learned that Chris had killed a deer he was shocked!  “But he is supposed to be helping the animals, not hurting them!  He should be fired!”  

October 20, 2013

Today we attended my cousin Jason's mission farewell in Huntington Beach.  Jason and his sister Jacie are twins and I remember the summer that they were born I was 15 years old and I went to stay with their family for a week and help my aunt Karen.  That seems like so long ago and yet I kinda can't believe that this guy is all grown up!  Jason will be serving a Spanish speaking mission in Chicago and I know he'll be an awesome missionary.  His talk today was super impressive.  

Afterwards we went to his grandparent's house for a luncheon.  They have a cool "sport court" backyard with lots of play things for the kids.  Luke loved making baskets with Dad and all of the kids played outside for hours riding bikes, scooters, and plasma cars.  I should have taken some better pictures but I was too busy chatting it up with family and friends inside.  

I thought it was super funny that my sister Sandy showed up wearing the exact same top as my aunt Karen.  We all got a good laugh from this.  Sandy said she knew when she tried it on that it looked like my mom's style - and apparently my mom's sister's style too!

Luke is happy anytime cookies are involved.  This kid looooves cookies.  On the way home (while he was eating one more cookie that he grabbed for the road) we told him that he is a cookie monster.  He laughed but told us no, he's not!  I beg to differ Luke.

October 19, 2013

This photo may be a little inappropriate but it cracks me up.  Luke decided today that he wants to pee like Isaac & Dad.  The reason that I didn't teach him this way in the first place is because he is too short to reach the toilet that way.  But he was determined today so I put him up on a stool and let him do his thing.  He loves it and now it is like potty training day one all over again!  He wants to go every 10 minutes so he can practice his new skill.  I really can't complain though because he has been such a champ with the potty.  He's hardly had any accidents at all since the first day, comes to tell me when he needs to go, and even stays dry for naps and overnight.  He is wonder child.  

October 18, 2013

This morning after Luke's OT appointment I had to return something to Home Depot.  We passed a Jamba Juice and it sounded really good to me.  I always make my own smoothies at home, but I decided I'd try Jamba today.  I asked Luke what kind he wanted and he said "green."  That's my boy!  Ha.  But they were out of green.  Huh?  So we went with a fruit & yellow veggie smoothie.  Makes me wonder what they are actually putting in there when they just call it "green veggie" and "yellow veggie."  Anyway, we sat outside by the fountain and enjoyed our yellow smoothie.

While we were at OT Luke's therapist Lis asked me if we were doing the Parent's Night Out tonight.  ICEC offers this every few months where a few staff members volunteer in the evening to watch children and parents can go out for a couple hours.  We did it a few times when Isaac was attending there but I hadn't even heard about it this time.  I checked at the front desk on our way out and coincidentally they had just had a cancellation so there were two spots open for Isaac & Luke.  Hooray!  I texted Charlie to see if he would be my date.

We went for sushi at Tokyo Table.  We went on a date here a few months ago and I remember it tasting sooo good to me.  Tonight's meal did not disappoint.  We shared tempura vegetables, bacon wrapped asparagus, a lobster dynamite appetizer, and three sushi rolls: the OMG roll (our least favorite - too creamy), a Rainbow roll, and a Citrus Salmon Summer roll (our favorite - super light and yummy).

Every time Charlie and I go on a date I am reminded of how fun it is and wonder why we don't do it more often.  But we do have a big week long date coming up soon, so I guess I can't complain too much.

I had to snap a photo to commemorate our evening.  Charlie thinks I am a nerd and teases me about my photo blog, but I know he secretly loves it.  He didn't love the super bright flash though.

October 17, 2013

Pumpkin patch round two!  Tonight was much better.  We met up with our friends Jason & Bridgette and their little guy Hudson.  The boys had a blast running from one activity to the next.  And I was snapping away with my nice camera until I finally looked down and realized that I had left the memory card in the computer at home.  Agh!  Jason took some nice ones for me with his camera so I am waiting for him to send those over.  For now, here are the blurry phone photos of the boys riding ponies.  Luke rode on Coco and Isaac rode the biggest horse Angel.  They both laughed and smiled the whole time and thought it was great fun.  At the end of the ride Angel let out some big guffaws which made both boys laugh hysterically.

October 16, 2013

Tonight Charlie had to go to a few stores to pick up some products for work.  First stop was Bed Bath & Beyond.  Isaac was in heaven checking out the gadget wall.  For reals, this kid loves kitchen gadgets.  Charlie has some info-mercial type videos on his iPad that demonstrate a few of the products he sells.  Isaac will sit and watch them all and then repeat them back to us verbatim to tell us how great the Zyliss products are.  It is super funny.  Tonight he was really fascinated by a meat ball maker that he found. 

Next stop Wal Mart.  Bleh.  But they had cheap pumpkins so we loaded up a few of them (we will still go back to the patch).  And Charlie got the stuff he needed.  Isaac thought he was really cool pushing the cart with Luke hanging on the side.  And Luke thought he was really cool hanging off the side like Isaac usually does.

October 15, 2013

Tonight we had planned to go to the pumpkin patch.  Both boys were so excited and looking forward to it all day.  The first thing they chose to do when we got there was to go in the big bounce house with the obstacle course and the slide.  But someone was having a little too much fun and didn't make it to the bathroom in time.  I wish I could say it was Luke.  We had to turn around and leave about 15 minutes after we got there.  Luke was not very understanding about the matter and cried the whole way home.  We'll go back later this week.

October 14, 2013

Isaac had another day off of school.  It's Columbus day but the district called it a furlough day.  Luke usually goes to his preschool on Mondays but they also had the day off.  I was planning to take them to the beach again since we had so much fun last week, but instead we are stuck home without a car.  Charlie's Audi started acting up while I was driving it to the airport (of course it happened while I was driving, so I feel terrible, but I really don't think I did anything to it).  Anyway, it is in the shop today and he took my car to work.  So change of plans.  I decided it would be a good day to clean and get a lot of stuff done around the house.  Except I forgot to factor in my two little loves who like to have my constant attention.  I didn't get quite as much done as I would have liked.  I tried enlisting their help for awhile but they mostly just chased each other in circles with the brooms.  

October 13, 2013

Today when I went to pick Luke up from nursery I found him sitting in a circle on the floor singing a song about bunnies and eating a Dum Dum sucker.  I'm not sure why they think it's okay to hand out junky candy full of food dyes, corn syrup, and artificial ingredients to a group of toddlers.  I wasn't really mad, just thought it was odd.  Luke sure loved it though and he got a good laugh when I showed him his bright blue tongue in the mirror.

October 12, 2013

This morning we drove up to LAX to pick Charlie up from his trip to Brazil and Chile.  We are SO glad to have him back!  When I talked to him a few nights ago he suggested that we go straight from the airport to the beach and I could run while he played with the boys.  This was so perfect and thoughtful.  I always look forward to my Saturday morning runs and he didn't want me to have to skip it.  We drove to Manhattan Beach and I ran down through Hermosa and into Redondo.  I don't think I'd ever been to these beaches before and it's always fun to have a change of scenery for a run.  Especially since I discovered that my iPod was out of batteries.  The boys were excited to be at the beach again.  When Charlie first got in the car at the airport Isaac told him "We have a surprise for you Dad, close your eyes until we get there!"  Little did he know that Charlie planned the surprise.   

Tonight Charlie and I were feeling brave and took the boys with us to South Coast Plaza to do a little shopping.  I got a new coat for our upcoming trip to Paris and he got a good pair of walking shoes.  We promised the boys a ride on the carousel if they were good.

October 11, 2013

The other day our neighbor knocked on the door to let me know that my tire was really low.  (This was also the day that Isaac had off of school.  I had gone to the gym and was just getting out of the shower when he knocked.  I told Isaac "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!" but apparently he heard me wrong... or didn't hear me... or just didn't care what I said because he opened the door!  Cracker ran out barking and Luke followed behind him and poor Peter was standing on the doorstep looking bewildered while I hurried to throw some clothes on.)  Anyway, I tried getting air at the gas station but after two rounds of quarters it was still looking flat, so today I had AAA come and put the spare on.  He discovered a nail in my tire so hopefully that can just be patched.  The boys were both super excited about watching this procedure and Isaac even chimed in to give the guy instructions on how to change the tire.  So helpful, that kid.  

This afternoon we met up with more friends (Jodie and her kids Lincoln, Marshall, and Adeline) at Castle Park.  That makes three trips to our new favorite park this week.

We also went out shopping this evening looking for Halloween costume pieces.  Isaac wants to be Luke Skywalker and when we talked about this we were looking at a picture of Luke from A New Hope where he has the white top, tan pants, brown boots, and blue light saber.  I ordered some used brown UGGs for $10 off of EBay thinking they would be perfect but when they arrived Isaac burst into tears and told me "No Mom!  Not THAT Luke Skywalker!"  He clarified that he wants to be Luke from Return of the Jedi in the black outfit with the green light saber.  So I'm starting from square one again piecing together a costume.  Tonight we found some black boots and Luke was more than happy to stomp around in the unwanted brown boots.  

October 10, 2013

The police officer was back at Luke's school today but this time he brought the big SWAT truck.  Luke spotted it the second that we pulled into the parking lot and I believe his exact words were "Oh YEAH! A big truck!  I want that one.  It's awesome."  Some of the other kids were shy around the officers or nervous about being up high in the big truck, but not Luke.  He ran right over and wanted up in the driver's seat.  

 

When he was in the police car earlier this week he kept laying on the horn (like literally laying on it) and loved hearing the loud honk, so he kept doing the same thing in the SWAT truck.  But a few of the little kids would burst into tears every time, so I was trying my best to discourage him.  

Charlie is still in Brazil.  When I asked Isaac what he wanted for dinner tonight he requested little hamburgers (sliders that I make at home) but since I didn't have the ingredients handy we settled for In-N-Out.  Twice in one week.  Luke kept trying to play peek-a-boo with the family on the other side of the glass.  Except he says "peeky boo!" and it really is the cutest thing.

October 9, 2013

This morning while Isaac was at school Luke and I met up with my friend Erin and her little guy Dylan at the Spectrum.  She wanted to grab coffee so I got a hot chocolate.  We took the boys to play on the new pirate ship playground.  After my hot chocolate had already cooled off quite a bit Luke noticed that I had a drink and wanted to try some.  And that was the end of my hot chocolate.  He loved it and gulped down all of the rest.  

The boys eventually got bored with the pirate ship so we walked around a bit and ended up at the carousel.  It had probably been about a year since I'd taken Luke on a carousel because last time he went on one he was unimpressed and wanted to get off.  But today he loved it!  As soon as the horses started moving his face lit up and he grinned and giggled the whole time.  So adorable.  Looks like there will be many more carousels in our future.