What the.....?

So now I'm a jerk? After all the hard work and love I've shown my wife, I'm a jerk? Anyone interested in an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii? Shark diving, fishing, and helicopter rides. I dont think Courtney wants to go anymore. :(

No Such Thing as a Free Breakfast...

We ran out of milk yesterday (Sunday) and didn't have milk this morning for breakfast.
So I thought, "I'm going to be a cool mom and take my kids to get bagels!"
We left for preschool 20 minutes early to hit up the Starbucks drive thru for 2 bagels, toasted with cream cheese... mmm...
Since I'm not a frequent Starbucks customer, I was unaware of the trap ahead of me.
I turn left into the shopping center, and then... I see lights in my rear view mirror! Oh no!!!
What did I do?
Cell phone.... nope
Seat belt... yes
Kids in carseat... yes
Registration up to date... yes
I couldn't figure out why I was getting pulled over!!!
Well, apparently I crossed a double yellow line to turn left. The cop had to explain it to me because I just didn't understand what he was talking about.

You see... I pulled into the suicide lane and turned left. But in actuality, the suicide lane ended and then I turned left.
My kids were very interested in why mommy got in trouble from the police man. They were absolutely SILENT while the cop was at my window listening to everything.

To make matters worse, after the ticket was written, I got back in the drive thru line to find... they just sold out of bagels!!!! AHHHHH!!!
We went to a different coffee shop down the road, and they just sold out too! I told them my sob story and the guy who just bought all the bagels gave me one.

So all in all... I got a ticket, a free bagel, and a life time of sweet reminders from my children every time we drive by the crime scene, and the best part... one jerk of a husband.

The Best Husband Ever!

Kevin and I have our ups and downs like any other couple, but for the most part, I have the best husband. He is supportive of my academic pursuits, and likes to make me happy. I could give a long list, but I'll get straight to the point...

Kevin won a trip to Hawaii!!!

He was one of the top 2 people in Southern California! What can I say??? My husband is good at selling drugs! So in 3 weeks we will be packing our bags and leaving! Thank you Aunt Mar Mar (Kevin's aunt, Marilyn) for watching Hannah and Gavin.

We can pick one excursion a day while we are there. The first day, Kevin will go deep sea fishing. I decided not to go, my last deep sea fishing experience was 8 hours of puking and I only caught ONE fish! So instead I opted to get a facial. The next day we are going on a helicopter tour of Oahu. The last day... diving with sharks off the coast of the North Shore (in a cage). I'm most excited about that!

So thank you Kevin for working hard and winning this trip! You are the "bestest"!

Home Sweet Home

Kevin and I have bought our first home! It still seems so surreal, I thought we would never be able to buy a home in Southern California.
It's a foreclosure in La Mirada. It needs A LOT of work, but Kevin has always been pretty handy so I'm not too worried (no pressure Kevin!). It will be a "fun" family project to make the new house our home.

I can't wait to post our before and after pictures. We should close escrow mid-May. After we get home from Hawaii and before we go to the Outer Banks.

Once a Marine... Always a Marine

This past weekend we joined my family in San Diego for my brother, Grayson's, graduation from Boot Camp. The first day was family day. People are just plain CRAZY! The parents were 100 times worse than pre-school parents. We kept getting shuttled around the base waiting to see our new Marine. Hannah playing on a "big huge gun" while we waited

Here is the first sight of Grayson we got. It was right before the "Moto Run" (motivational run). They had to run 4 miles before they got to see their family.
Then they changed and marched out for us to see them...

Grayson is the 2nd row, second person

Grayson looked really good. I had been warned by several people that he would be totally different. They were all wrong. He was a funny as ever.

The Branch on base hosted a nice luncheon for the families. It was Mormon cooking in its finest. Pull-pork sandwiches, I think Grayson ate 6 of them, along with a couple of hotdogs, and other side dishes.
The next day was the real graduation. My whole family made it! My mom was REALLY proud of her son!
Congratulations Grayson! I look forward to hanging out with you while you are at Camp Pendleton.

Pre-Easter Fun

Hannah got to wear her Easter dress to school for her Easter Party. She was so "tsited" (excited).

(Hannah and her "boyfriend" Jake)

That day we decorated eggs and made sugar cookies. We never finished the cookies, but they had fun rolling the dough and cutting it with the cookie cutters.

I was a little stressed during the egg decorating. Two little kids with dye that can ruin anything does not sound like my idea of fun, but they did really well keeping everything clean.

Now what do I do with all those eggs? I figured since I got a dozed for .99 cents (Fresh n' Easy) I'm not going to stress too much about it.

Thank You Mamo J & Papa T!

Hannah and Gavin's thank you for their Easter presents!
Hannah made up this song all by herself.
(Apologies... Tilt your head to the side to watch...)

Keep on Swimming!

Hannah and Gavin completed their first session of swim lessons. Since no one else signed up for the class (March isn't the high season for swim lessons) Hannah and Gavin had PRIVATE lessons.
They did really well and LOVED their teachers... Hannah got the Aquatics Director as her teacher.

Hannah had a "boo boo" and refused to get her hand wet. Her teacher still made her swim... this is how she did it... I though she did pretty well considering she was swimming with only one arm.



Gavin loved his teacher, Chris


They are so competitive. Check out Hannah try to take down Gavin in their race...