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.