A Visit With Robins

There are some cousins on my grandmother's side of the family who write back and forth to each other in a round robin letter. I joined the "robins" a few years ago but have only known these people via the pictures they send in their letters. My grandmother's cousin, Millie, lives in Long Beach and I had the privilege of meeting her and her husband Jim a few months ago. I went to her house today to meet my grandmother's other cousins (Millie's sisters) Anna May from Ohio and Mary from Florida as well as Millie's daughter Pam from Berkley, CA. Ken stayed home with the kids so I was able to have a wonderful time of talking and getting to know them. They are all amazingly artitistic and I really enjoyed seeing their various forms of artwork!

Halloween gathering #1

On Tuesday we went to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) Harvest Party. There was an awesome jump house that was just perfect for smaller kids. There were also crafts, singing, stories, and tricycles to ride. There was yummy food for lunch too.

The temperature was in the 90s so it was a very hot day for Brad to wear his Mickey costume. He did, however, find himself a Minnie Mouse. They were very cute together. Bet you've never seen Cinderella riding a tricycle! I found Sky's Cinderella dress at a thrift shop for $5.99.

Halloween gathering #2

On Thursday the MOMS Club had a Halloween potluck and parade at the park. There was yummy food for lunch and fun games for the kids to play. One of the games was for partners to wrap each other up as mummies. Sky's friend Kelli was her partner and they had fun wrapping each other up. Brad enjoyed the mummies in a blanket.

Halloween gathering #3

When Sky went to preschool on Halloween morning, all of the students dressed up and paraded around the campus in their costumes. They all looked so cute!

Halloween gathering #4

This gathering was with the Talbot wives and their families on the evening of Halloween. We met at the Talbot patio, ate a pizza dinner together, and then paraded over to a dorm on campus that puts on a HUGE Candyland themed trick or treating extravaganza. Sky's prince is her little friend Timmy.

Each dorm hallway is decorated after a different part of the game Candyland. The college students decorate their rooms, dress up, and pass out candy to all the kids. There are free treats (cupcakes, caramel corn, cheese and crackers, etc.) and there are couches outside so that people can sit outside and watch the Candyland movie (yes, there is a Candyland movie!).

I did this last year with the kids but Ken had to teach a class that night. So, this year was a much better experience as Ken was there to help with the kids. I think Candyland is going to be a Way family Halloween tradition. For those of you who voted on Brad's Halloween costume, you might be wondering why he's not dressed as Tigger or Mickey Mouse. Well, it was very warm tonight-too warm for those heavy costumes! Gotta love southern California!

One Cool Library

Today I took the kids to the Cerritos Library. It is such an amazing library! The kid's section is complete with a space shuttle replica, a t rex fossil, an aquarium (which was empty for cleaning today), a fake tree (with the sound of birds playing around it), and a light house. This library has many free programs and classes for kids so I went today to show their birth certificates and register them in the system so that we can take advantage of some of these classes.

There are quite a few fountains outside and the kids had fun looking at them and playing there. There is also a sculpture garden nearby which I hope to visit sometime soon.

Guavas, Guavas, Everywhere!

Our front yard has a pink guava tree. Guavas have a very strong smell and taste! Sky and Brad will eat them but Ken and I are not guava fans. Brad eats them right off the tree, skin and all. We have skinned and deseeded them to make smoothies but our tree produces more guavas than we could ever eat or deal with! I have brought bags and baskets of these guavas to every group that I am a part of (which is a lot!). Now we are to the point of just throwing them away.

I included some pictures so that those of you who have never seen/tasted a guava could experience them long distance. I pick them up off the sidewalk, our yard, and the neighbor's yard every other day and fill that blue tub with them! Crazy!

Sky and Her Sunflowers

In July Sky planted some sunflower seeds in her "garden" Her garden consists of artificial flowers "planted" in sand from the sandbox and also a pile of shells from various beaches that we've visited (along with some rocks from Martha's Vineyard). So, I was skeptical that her sunflower seeds would grow especially after she dug them up just a few days after she had planted them. Well, she watered them faithfully everyday when I watered the rest of our plants and low and behold they grew. Ken helped them by putting up some fencing for them. The first flower bloomed yesterday and you can only imagine Sky's excitement when she saw the flower for the first time!

Pumpkin Carving

Yesterday I took Sky and Brad to a local pumpkin patch. It is really just a big gravel parking lot with a bunch of pumpkins sitting in it. There were lots of jump houses but neither Sky nor Brad were interested in that. They did have a little train that drove around the "pumpkin patch". Sky enjoyed that. We picked out our pumpkin and had fun with daddy carving it last night.

Our Weekend

We had a great weekend! On Friday we met some friends at Disneyland and rode the rides and ate dinner together. It ws the first time we met friends there and we really enjoyed our time together. We met Amy, Derek, and their two kids, Kaylin and Trevor. Such fun!
Then yesterday we went to the library book sale so that Sky could expand her library. She found lots of Barbie books so she was really happy. We got about 25 books for $6. Gotta love the library book sales!
We went to church last night and I was called out of the service (for the 2nd week in a row) to get a crying Bradford. That boy needs to shape up! So I spent the rest of the time in the nursery playing ball with Brad and a few other babies.
Today we got a babysitter and Ken and I went to Disneyland together-alone-with no children, stroller, or diaper bag. It was a liberating experience. We rode the fun rides for the first time: Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Bobsleds, and The Pirates of the Carribbean. Some of you are wondering how we can go to Disneyland so many times and not get bores. Truth be told, there are still quite a few things that we haven't done. There is so much there!
Now I'm gearing up for a new week starting with bringing the preschool snack tomorrow (pumpkin cupcakes) so that Sky will get to be the snack helper. My friend Jen from college is flying in for a work conference tomorrow and will be staying with us from Thurs.-Sun. morning so I'm looking forward to catching up with her. Plus, my good friend Kara (we were in a Crossroads small group together) will be here on Sunday so I'll get to hang out with her for the day. What fun!

A Few Updates

Sky's teeth are still "hanging in there". She is very careful about what and how she eats so it may take a while for them to fall out but I do think they will fall out. They are still extremely wiggly!
While Becky was here visiting Brad slept in the pack and play in the master bathroom. One morning I went to get him out after he woke up and the door was locked. It took Becky and I about 20 minutes to disassemble the door knob and get to him. He is so good though-he didn't cry at all. He was just cooing and singing in there until we got to him.
Thanks to those of you who voted for Brad's Halloween costume! Thankfully, I think I will get to use them both as we have quite a few dress up functions that week. So, I guess they both won!

Visit from Becky

Ken went to a conference in Chicago this past weekend so a friend of mine from Cinicnnati (Becky Schnell) came out and stayed with me and the kids for the weekend. We had a blast! We went to Newport Beach and rode the electric boats around the harbor and then ate at The Spaghetti Factory (with a group from Talbot). Becky enjoyed meeting some of the Talbot students and hearing their stories.

We also took the kids to Balboa Island and had a picnic dinner on the beach while watching the sunset.

We spent one night at Downtown Disney and Becky did Sky's makeup at Sephora. She drew all sorts of dots and hearts, etc. Becky is an interior designer and is a very creative person! Sky loved it. While at Downtown Disney we visited the Anne Geddes store and Brad had fun with the dolls there.

We also watched Kaylin and Trevor one morning and Becky threw a tea party for everyone on the patio. She decorated everything so nicely and the girls really had a great time together being girly.

We also went to Saddleback Church on Sunday (Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Life fame is the pastor there). It was a great message and Becky really enjoyed seeing the largest church in North America. It is pretty impressive!

Ken came back last night and Becky left this morning. It is great to have Ken back but I am definitely missing Becky now. Part of me definitely still lives in Cincinnati (I think it's the part with my heart)! The kids went crazy when Ken arrived back home. It was really cute.

New Englanders

My grandmother forwarded this to me and I thought my New England audience might enjoy it. It actually makes me miss New England!

Forget Red necks .......here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders...
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England.
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.
If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.
If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.
If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England.
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.
If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.
If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England.
If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.
If you place your sodas on the porch to stay cold you live in New England.
If you drive behind snow plows 7 months out of 12 you live in New England.
If you plan to go to Cape Cod for a Sunday ride on the weekend, you wait for three hours to get on Cape Cod and four to get off. You only spent an hour on the Cape then you live in New England.
You drive a new car to Boston and when you get home you have $3,000 in damage to your car and you weren't in a accident. You live in New England.

Teeth Update

Well, we saw the dentist today and he said that the teeth will fall out but that new ones will grow in within 12 months. That doesn't really sound right to me so I think we'll be getting a second opinion. Thanks for your prayers. Sky was very brave and was very glad that nothing painful happened there. I'll keep you posted...

Loose Teeth

Last night as Sky was getting out of her bed after her nap time, she slipped on some papers in her bed and banged her mouth on the rail of her bed. There was a good deal of blood from a cut in the gums and also a great deal of crying. I initially thought the damage was limited to the gums but on further inspection, I noticed that one tooth was moved over a bit. Then I discovered that both top front teeth are loose. Ugh! Our dentist isn't in on Thursdays so we have an appointment for tomorrow at 12:30. Please pray that the teeth can be saved and won't fall out (3-4 years with no front teeth could be very difficult for a "princess"). Also, Sky is very apprehensive about the dentist. I'll keep you updated!

Disney Silliness

Today was not our most successful Disney day but it was still fun. Tonight was Miley Cyrus' sweet 16 birthday party and the tickets were around $250. The park was closing early at 5pm for all of us regular people so our day was shortened and the place was pretty much mobbed with preteen girls. Many of the usual attractions were closed due to set up for the party tonight. But we still managed to ride the momorail and the Disney train and look around in the Disney shops. We had fun trying on some hats in one of the shops. Sky saw the princess shop for the first time today. We've been avoiding that one! Whenever she asks for us to buy her something and we say maybe another time, she's says, "Ok, but while I'm still 4." Then we looked around the shops in Downtown Disney. Sky tried on makeup at the store Sephora. She loved that!