Our Journey Across the WORLD!!! (country)

Our Journey began one week ago with our "Plan of Achievement." This was a schedule Kevin and I created that involved all the cleaning and packing we needed to do. I get travel anxiety and it is worse with kids.
Rachel spent the night at our house on Thursday night because our flight was at 8:30am on Friday. We woke up super early, finished all the last minute packing, hit the road, stopping to get Jamba Juice before we got to the airport. Our flight was packed. We did ok for awhile, but then the DVD player died, the toys got boring, and all the books were read... it was time for some serious intervention.... DRUGS!!!! Yes, I am a parent who drugs their children on airplanes in desperate circumstances. Finally, Gavin passed out... we made a bed for him on the floor.

Hannah would not go to sleep! We hit some turbulence on our decent into the Newark Airport. Hannah fell asleep, of course. It was amazing to see the Manhattan skyline and the statue of liberty. I hope to be back there in July if the stars align correctly.
We were the LAST people off the plane... we just had so much junk, not to mention all the crayons we had to gather. We made our way to our connection. We had about an hour to kill. The kids were happy to get off the airplane. Hannah sat so nicely coloring her new Princess coloring book complete with stickers.

Gavin mooched some soda off Kevin, yes first we drug, then we caffeinate... See Gavin's airplanes? Kevin bought those for Gavin, Gavin loves them.

Our layover was a pleasant time of our trip, we were relaxed and our kids were happy. We got onto our flight with one minor problem... Kevin's carry-on was too big for the tiny airplane's tiny over head storage so we had to leave the suitcase at the gate. Rewind to about an hour ago, I consolidated all our carry-on items because we were traveling with too many bags. I put the diapers in the suitcase that was left at the gate. Fast forward to sitting on the plane waiting to take off... There were so many flights taking off from Newark we literally sat in line for 90 minutes baking on the airplane.... then Gavin POOOOOOOD! NOOOO!

At first I didn't realize the predicament I was in until I looked for the suitcase. It was gone. What was I supposed to do? I went to the bath room, scraped off the yuckiness in the diaper and lined it with paper towels. Call it a ghetto, white trash diaper, but I was DESPERATE. Finally after baking in the airplane for 90 minutes we took off. We landed in Norfolk, got our rental car, and drove to our hotel. We were all happy to get some sleep. The next morning we woke up at 8am (5am our time), got breakfast, and was on the road by 9am. Hannah was still a bit sleepy...

We drove 2 hours to the Outerbanks of North Carolina. We made it in one piece.

Last Day of Preschool

Today was Hannah's last day of preschool because we leave for North Carolina tomorrow. I was so sad. I've dropped her off and picked her up a hundred times, now I wish that I cherished every one. I will miss hearing who was the helper and the other preschool gossip I was privileged to hear every Tuesday and Thursday. Today was a day of reflection for me. Realizing how much my sweet baby girl has grown up this school year.
This is Hannah at her birthday party when she first started preschool back in November. (Because we moved to Long Beach in October she started late)

Hannah and Miss Baker on Hannah's last day of school.

Hannah loves Miss Baker. Miss Baker is your quintessential preschool teacher with her kind voice and eternal patience. She makes school magical, exciting, and enriching. She really loved the kids in her class. She is the kind of teacher you obey not for fearing punishment, but because you don't want to disappoint her. Miss Baker is wonderful and we will miss her and preschool, but we have a lot of fun and exciting adventures awaiting us this summer.

Crib Crisis!

Gavin got out of his crib for the first time tonight. He is quite skillful. He manages to flip his legs over the side of the crib.

Then shimmies down the side of the crib...

All while holding his "blah blah" (his blankie). What am I supposed to do?

I Got an A!!!

I got an A in my sociology class. I'm so excited, I feel like all my stressing out was totally worth it. I'm dedicating my A to my husband, my kids, Rachel, and my bowl of cookie dough.

Grandpa's Birthday

Grandpa loves to go fishing, I thought I would make him a "fishing" birthday cake. It made me feel so good when Kevin complimented it. He said it was a great cake.

I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures of the festivities. I'll ask Rachel to send me some of her pics.

The Coolest Thing EVER

Do you hate it when your hair sticks to you when you run? Or how about when your ponytail gets caught under the bar when you're trying to do squats. Well, if you suffer from the same annoyances I do I just found the coolest thing for you.

They are "sport" rubber bands. They are your regular elastic rubber band, but there are pieces of ouchless rubber around to create more holding power. Totally awesome.

Arrrr Me Maties!

Our family went to an elementary school carnival tonight. Our good family friends, the Patricks, invited us. Julie (mama Patrick) organized the WHOLE thing. It was the most amazing school carnival ever, I didn't expect anything less from Julie. Not to mention her house is spotless. Kevin is good friends with Glen (dada Patrick) and Hannah is friends with Madilyn and McKensie (see 160 nails post).
Julie arranged for these cool face painting ladies to provide their services at the carnival. Hannah got a princess, pink, "parkely" butterfly. Gavin got a pirate face. He was so cute. We didn't get a picture of Hannah's butterfly before her major meltdown tonight, but here is Pirate Gavin.

Why is he so dang cute????

160 Nails...

Hannah had her little friends over today. They had lunch on Princess plates. Gavin had lunch on a "Beast" plate. The little girls go back and forth calling him "Beast" or "Prince Charming." I put Gavin down for his nap and then we painted nails. With 4 girls, 10 fingers and 10 toes each with two coats of paint, I calculated that I painted 160 nails. WOW that's a lot of nail painting.

McKensey, Amy, Hannah, and Madilyn showing off their manies and pedies!

Preschool Picnic

Today was Hannah's preschool picnic. I signed up to bring a dessert. I like to make desserts because it gives me a good opportunity to make some yummy treats. Kevin and I LOVE yellow cake batter too. I made yellow cake cup cakes. Then I made a buttercream frosting. After dividing the frosting I put a little cocoa in one to make a really light brown. I crushed gram crackers and covered the frosting. I used orange to make the start. You see... they are beach cupcakes. Don't they look like starfish in the sand?

Birthday season is coming up in my family... stay tuned for more decorated cakes!

The Gavinator

Gavin made a disgusting mess of himself today at lunch. I got so frustrated with him because he poured milk all over my freshly moped floor. Post Mother's Day I tried to be patient, laugh it off, and find joy in my children. Just look at that face... He is so cute!

After I cleaned Gavin up, the high chair, and my freshly moped floor, it was nap time! I peeped my head in to check on the kids and Gavin was too cute. He loves his boppy pillow and his blankie.

Finals and a Bowl of Cookie Dough

I did it!!! I finished all my crap for school. I was really starting to freak out that I wasn't going to get it done. The kids are napping and I made a bowl of cookie dough, sat down and finished my take-home final and my outlines for the in-class final. Accomplishments feel so good. But I do feel a bit guilty about the cookie dough. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I'm such a blogger/weirdo for taking this picture... ohh yea, I took care of those hairy eyebrows too. Thanks for all your words of encouragement.

Baba with the Bapa

Gavin loves his Grandpa. One of his FAVORITE things to do is to have a baba with Bapa (Grandpa). Grandma makes his baba, then Gavin walks over to Grandpa, stands between his legs and turns around so Grandpa and pick him up and put him in his lap. It is so cute. If Gavin sits on Grandma's lap he will pull his shirt up to expose his cute belly, grab Grandma's hand and place it on his tummy. He loves to have a baba with Mamo and get his tummy tickled. See what I mean? The epitome of a Grandma...

Zinnia

Hannah planted a flower in a small can at school and brought it home. She wanted to plant it. I said, "We can't plant it at home, (we live in an apartment)where do you want to plant it?"
She replied, "I want to plant it at Grandma's house."
I asked, "where do you want to plant it at Grandma's house?"
"In the front," she replied.
Hannah asked Grandma Brown if it was ok she planted her flower in her front yard. Have you ever heard a Grandma say no? Especially Grandma Brown. She is the epitome of what a Grandma should be, the knick knacks, the homemade cookies in the cookie jar ALL the time (yea, Kevin and I lost about 5 pounds just by moving out), and the spoil factor. I digress... back to the flower planting. Grandpa decided to help out, so Grandpa, Hannah, and of course Gavin went out to plant Hannah's flower.

Grandpa needed his thing he kneels on so he mosied on back to the garage to get it with his shadow, Gavin.

When he came back Hannah had already dug the hole all by herself (in her Cinderella dress of course). She was pulling out the flower right when Grandpa came back. Hannah used to spend a lot of time in the garden with Grandma and Grandpa. I think she will inherit Grandma's green thumb.

Gavin is such a big helper. He loves Grandpa. Every time we get to Grandma and Grandpa's house he is so excited to get out of the car. I get him out of his seat and he runs to the house. Hannah always beats him to the door and she leaves it open for him. He goes strait to Grandpa's chair, if Grandpa isn't there he looks in the backyard, then in Grandpa's room.

Back to the flower. Grandpa planted the flower in the hole Hannah dug.

It looks so pretty... Hannah's little Zinnia.

Just Me and You, Hannah and Mommy!

I told Hannah that I was going to take her to Disneyland, just mommy and Hannah, no Gavin. Finally the stars aligned correctly with schedules and we set out for our adventure. When I put her car seat in the car and she got in, she was giggling! She was so excited to go. Gavin and Daddy went to the gym. Hannah kept repeating, "Just me and you, Hannah and Mommy, no boys, just two girls." It was so nice with just one kid, and not to have a stroller!!! oh divine All I brought was my pass, drivers license, and ATM card. I left everything else in the car. Our goal was to go on all the rides that we can't go on when Gavin is with us. First, we hit the Matterhorn, then ran over to Toon Town and rode the roller coaster. It's so funny to hear her scream. She puts her hands up high and just screams. The lack of lines was a plus too. We had fun driving in a car too. I was trying to teach her how to pose.

I wanted to get her a special treat so we got a Jamba! My kids love Jamba Juice. I get the power size and divide it up in three cups. I used to do two, but Gavin is a big boy and needs to have his own cup.

We had so much fun together. I can't wait until our next date.

Hairy Eyebrows

I actually took a second to look in the mirror at myself today. Messy ponytail, hairy eyebrows, thermal,USC sweats, and no make-up. What happened to me? I'll tell you exactly what has happened to me... finals, research papers, take home final, and all the studying that goes along with it. This past semester has really been a breeze until now. I am 2 weeks behind on Grey's Anatomy and ER. I manage to watch American Idol, but still... You would say summer is just around the corner... But I decided to take English and Food & Nutrition. They are both online so we will see how I do with that. I'm not looking forward to writing a paper every week for five weeks. Sometimes I feel I am going to be in school FOREVER!
Any messages of motivation are greatly appreciated.
Hopefully I can take care of these eyebrows!

"My Daddy Has Huge Muscles"

Hannah likes to talk about her Daddy's huge muscles. She shares this fact with strangers all the time. "My Daddy has big muscles," "My Daddy's muscles are huge."
It's cute, but can be embarrassing at times. Here is Daddy using his HUGE muscles.

Manic Monday

I often rate how good of a mom I am based upon how much fun my children have on any particular day, especially by the amount of dirt left in the bathtub after bath time. This past Monday was definitely one of the best mom days I've had.
I usually run to the gym, but I thought I would run on the bike path to the park this day. We live next to El Dorado Park. It's amazing. It costs money to drive in, but since I ran, it was FREE!!! I love free activities! We ran (I ran, Hannah and Gavin rode) to the playground, the kids played for awhile, then we had our picnic lunch.

We walked to one of the lakes to feed the ducks. I use the term "duck" loosely. There are ducks, but mostly these huge, hissing geese. They are scary. The rule is, the kids have to stay by the stroller. It's stressful watching two kids, giving the kids bread, and smacking any goose that gets too close to MY babies!!!
Our "duck" feeding started out calm and safe.

Hannah is good to go if I give her a whole piece of bread, she will tear it into appropriately sized pieces.

I have to give Gavin pre-torn pieces because I don't like chasing after the whole piece of bread he throws.

See how close those geese get... scary!

They hiss and nip at us. This is the part when I start having to smack them with my big bag of frozen bread.

We even saw baby geese. They were so cute.

I love being home with my kids!

When we got back from our trip Daddy was home so we went swimming together. Our pool is still a little too cold, but the kids love it. After naps we headed down to Seal Beach to meet our friends for Family Home Evening. While sitting on the sand watching my kids play, I finally had my first "Long Beach is my home" moment. I have been waiting over six months to have that feeling. I love being 10 minutes from the beach. I think we have gone to the beach more times in one month than we did all last summer.

After the kids got cleaned up we walked down the pier to Ruby's for dinner. I love little girls, look how carefree they are walking, holding hands down the pier.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to give my kids a bath that night because they passed out once they sat in their car seats to go home, but the next day I got to give them a bath AND wash their sandy sheets.

Mr. Olympia

Kevin's childhood friend, Anthony, is a body builder.

He came down to Anaheim for a body building competition.

Crazy muscles, I know... Kevin also met Mr. Olympia. He has been the #1 body builder in the world for the past two years.

Mr. Olympia did his routine for the audience.

Looking at these pictures make anyone feel fat and out of shape. It has definitely motivated us to be better.