It's off to Nana's (new) house we go!

This weekend we're heading back to Idaho to help my parents move into their first home.  Well, we're hoping they close in time to move on Saturday or else we'll move next weekend.  I'm staying through the week and flying home next Saturday but we'll get to enjoy the long weekend with Peter and family.  It's been awhile since Benjamin has seen Nana, Grandfather and Auntie Amanda!!

It's been a busy week for some reason.....on Wednesday I was wishing it was Friday.  Now that Friday is tomorrow I'm wishing it away because it means I have to finish packing tonight, ha!  I guess I'm just not that easy to please.  Anyway, not sure how much I'll blog next week, we shall see.  Here's a few cute pics of my little boy from random times this past week.

Okay, off to get the last minute packing finished, almost done!!

Yard Progress

While I was away in San Diego my amazing hubby was hard at work.  He not only worked his 40 hours at his job, but he totally worked his bum off in our yard.  We've been in our house for about 2 1/2 years and have never really done a ton to improve the yard.  So this year we(and by we, I mean Peter!) decided to take on the project.  I thought it'd be fun to show a few before and after pictures.

Here's some of the before:

And here's some of the after:

He used a bunch of products to kill weeds in our yard.  He trimmed out of control bushes.  He weeded and dug up the top layer of soil pretty much everywhere.  He then had to load up all that dirt and get rid of it (soooo glad I was not here for this part, ha!).  He then ordered mulch and had to spread it in all the different areas of the yard.  He also planted some flowers in the backyard up against the house, and planted a garden.  He worked SO.STINKIN.HARD.  It was awesome to see his hard work really pay off.

There's a few more little things to do, but it's mostly finished and we're looking forward to spending a lot more time outside this summer!  Thanks again hubby, you're amazing.

So long San Diego!

Despite my best efforts to make the week stretch as long as possible, Saturday morning finally came which meant it was time to re-load the suitcase and prep for the flight home.  I was super psyched to see Peter, it was just sad to leave Anita, Katie, Jack and Mandy.  I wish we lived closer so we could see them more often!

We had a low key morning while we packed, caught up on laundry, etc.  Anita snapped this silly picture of my dork of a son!

We had to leave for the airport about 12:30, so we made a quick stop for some nuggets in the Wendy's drive thru and then we were off.  Once we arrived Anita had the brilliant idea for me to pay the $2 to use the curbside checking.  AMAZING.  They checked me in right there on the curb while Anita was with Ben in the stroller, and I didn't have to lug Benjamin in his stroller with his carseat and our bag.  Did I mention that it was AMAZING.  Such a relief.  Security was a breeze because Long Beach is a small airport.  Keeping him entertained for the next hour in a small airport was a little harder, but we just did a lot of walking and looking at airplanes.  

I was seriously praying so much that he would be good on the flight.  He napped in the car on the hour drive to the airport so I wasn't banking on a nap but was hoping he'd be decent.  He was sooooo good.  We read lots of stories, ate cookies, watched part of a DVD, and looked out the window.  Even though I didn't have an empty seat next to me this time, I was on the aisle which gave me extra "elbow room."  I was so thankful that he was so well behaved.  Granted, if the plane ride had been a 1/2 hour longer he probably would have melted down, but thankfully it wasn't :-)

We arrived in perfect time, because once our luggage finally came through, Peter was outside to pick us up!  It was SO GOOD to see him.  Benjamin was sleepy but smiled a huge smile when he saw him.  He acted like a goofball most of the way home before finally falling asleep.  Of course, we needed dinner so we had to stop for an awesome burger at Fuddruckers.  YUM.  We came home and pretty much went right to sleep because we were all exhausted.  I'll show you what Peter was up to in the yard while I was away soon!  He worked SO hard and I'm so grateful for the work he did.  We were finally home again as a family and it was wonderful!

This pic was from Sunday but these two were sure glad to be with each other again.  Benjamin missed his Daddy.....and I'm pretty sure Daddy missed Benjamin too :-)

That's it for the San Diego pictures.  Thanks again Anita for being such an awesome hostess.  We survived a week with 4 kiddos and no husbands.  Wish we could tag-team parent all the time....can't wait to see you again soon!

Chick-fil-A, dance class & a movie night

One of the biggest reasons Peter was jealous that I was going to San Diego (other than seeing his sister and his kiddos!) is that I was more than likely going to go to Chick-fil-A.  It's a fast food joint but it has the greatest chicken sandwiches, is run and owned by Christians, and is such a fun place to go.  So go we did! 

Unfortunately, Benjamin likes their chicken a lot too which meant I had to share more of my sandwich than I really wanted to, boo hoo hoo.  It was all delicious though!  Then we let the kiddos play in the play area.  Katie made a new friend which was fun to see, and Jack made his Mom and I laugh when he stood up for himself to a little girl who referred to herself as "Princess Aurora" and had quite the little attitude for a 2 year old.  We were dying laughing at Jack making sure she knew that he really did indeed watch volcanos on the (com)puter that morning.  (All 3 kiddos sat in my lap for the longest time watching random videos about volcanos on youtube....here's the picture to prove it, take that Princess Aurora!)  :-)

(In fact, we were so inspired about volcanos that Anita actually made a volcano with leftover playdoh and we let the kids watch the experiment in the driveway later in the afternoon)

We headed home to put the kids down for a nap, and then I was so thrilled because I got to take Katie to her dance class.  Oh. my. goodness.  She is adorable.  She sticks out her tongue like Michael Jordan as she dances and it's just hilarious.  I couldn't take any pictures because there's only a small door opening for you to view the girls and there were lots of other moms there blocking my view (watching their own girls).  It was so fun to get to watch Katie though, I wish I could be there for her recital in the next month.

After naps were over we headed to the dollar store so Katie and Jack could spend the money that their Nana and Papa sent them from Guam.  They were in heaven! 

Afterward we picked up a pizza from Papa Johns.  We got home and it was some BBQ chicken nonesense that we had NOT ordered.  So after calling them to discover they wouldn't deliver to us because we were a different city (we're only 3 miles from them) I had to go back and pick up the pizza we did order!  Don't worry though, they're also getting a free pizza on their next visit for the hassle :-)  The kids didn't mind the BBQ chicken one though and they happily ate that while they watched their Tinkerbell movie for movie night.

After the movie it was time for bed.  Anita and I may or may not have had some more dessert while watching Flashpoint.....we were so good earlier in the week, does that count for something?  Anyway, once again we stayed up way too late but I was enjoying my last night hanging out in San Diego with Anita.  Tomorrow I'd have to finish packing and start dreading the plane ride home.....at least on the other end of the trip was my amazing hubby who I couldn't wait to see!

Benihana & the Beach

I am so jealous of all the good eating you get when you live in a bigger city, or at least close to one.  My budget and my waistline however are very glad that our best option is either a so-so Mexican joint or Sharis.  Um, no thanks.  Anyway, so Anita decided to be the rockstar SIL that she is and took me to Benihana.  YUMMO!!

It was seriously delicious (definitely upgrade to the filet mignon if you go)  Sooo good.  And I get to go back soon for my birthday lunch with my sweet hubby who has never been himself.  It's a rough life, really, it is.

We rushed home to get the kids down for naps because we had a babysitter coming over for 2 hours so we could go and get a 30 minute massage courtesy of Groupon!  Benjamin didn't nap long for the sitter because he had taken a morning nap (after getting up at 6:15, surprise surprise) but he was good.  Jack napped the whole time, so did Mandy!  Anita and I thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of taking 30 minutes to have our achy backs worked on, then we grabbed a soda from McD's and drove around a bit, without the Cedarmont Kids blaring in the background and without grabbing someone's sippy or paci or crayons.  It was awesome (thanks again Anita, so fun!)

We came home, ate dinner (yes, we still managed to eat spaghetti even after Benihana....our appetites really are that amazing) and then we headed to the beach for the sunset!  I had thoughts of Benjamin rolling all around the sand, having a blast playing with his cousins.  Ummmmm.......let's let the picture do the talking.

He. Hated. It.  Seriously.  He was tired I know, but he could not stand walking in the sand.  He's never been in sand before since he's been mobile and apparently it'll take some getting used to.  He was like this with grass too....would just cry and scream bloody murder.  Now he walks in it fine, no problem.  It was pretty funny to see his reaction though, made for a cute picture!  The other kiddos had a blast(and he loved looking at the water as long as I was holding him!)  :-)

It was a gorgeous night and the sun was sooo pretty as it was setting.  One could get used to capping off an evening with this view huh?  Perfect night!

Church, Carts, Chloe and Cupcakes

Wednesday morning we headed to a woman's Bible study at Anita's church.  They had snacks, and a lady gave a wonderful talk on the importance of praying for your children.  It was a great reminder with some really practical and sweet ideas for ways to pray for your kids.  We also made cute little magnets.  It was low key and fun to be with a nice group of women.  The kids had a good time in the childcare too!

Afterward, we headed to Henry's grocery store for some produce.  It's fun because they have miniature carts for the kids to push around.  To say Benjamin was a wild man would be quite accurate!  They all had so much fun.

We headed home for naps then let the kids play with the water table in the backyard since it was pretty nice out. 

When Benjamin got tired of the water table he chased Chloe around.  He is absolutely obsessed with Chloe.  Even now that we're home every dog is CHLOE, CHLOE, CHLOE.  It delights Peter to no end that his son loves dogs like he does!

While I watched the kids, Anita made cupcakes which were delicious.  Don't ask me how many I ate while I was there, I will deny it all. 

Katie had Awana that evening so we dropped her off then we headed with our boys (and Mandy!) to Panera's for a little soup date.  It was so yummy!  We let the boys play around outside, then we grabbed a Starbucks and headed back to pick Katie up.  

It was a full, good day!