Morning Hike with Gavin

Sweet Sleeper

Are they ever as sweet as when they're sleeping?

It's magic

Gavin was playing with his cars yesterday. When one of his miniature motorcycles magnetically stuck to the hood of a large car, he brought it to me and said, "Look, Mom. It's like God." Did I hear him right? "Like what?" I asked to clarify. "It's like God. Magic."

Wow. I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right, Gavin.

It's birthday time again.....

We've had a birthday, shout hooray!
Gavin turned four years old today!
One year older and wiser, too.
Now he thinks he can wear Kade's shoes. (and he did...he wore Kade's old baseball cleats all day!)


Gavin said family prayer tonight and thanked Heavenly Father for every thing special about today: got a new bike, toy motorcycle from Walmart (yep...he actually said that), Spiderman plate, M&Ms from friends, cake, swimming tonight. To end his special day, he wanted Kaden to sleep in his bed with him. Easy enough. I can accomodate that.


I asked Gavin what he wanted for breakfast, lunch & dinner. His response has been consistent for a week: I just want cake and cookies and M&Ms. For dinner, I literally just fed my kids birthday cake before heading off to swim at the pool. I know...so unhealthy, but what the heck. How many times is the kid gonna turn four and make such simple requests?

Baseball & Soccer Begin

Saturdays are busy with Eric and I trying to squeeze in some physical fitness of our own before heading out to drop Kami off at soccer and Kaden at baseball. Every week they overlap in times and, of course, do not play at the same location. Should be intersting when Eric goes out of town.

I'll get some pictures of Kami playing soccer with the Blue Dolphins team next week, but here are a couple snapshots of Kaden playing with his Boston Red Sox team today.

For me, baseball is just so slow and looooong. I asked Kaden, "Are you SURE baseball is the sport you really want to play? You have to stand around a lot waiting for action." Mr. Maturity responded, "Yeah, but Mom, it teaches me patience. And it teaches me to wait to use the bathroom." Guess I could use a little patience myself. Maybe I should pick up the sport.

Thank You!

To everyone who helped make my birthday a special one, thank you so much! Natalie watched the kids for me so I could go on a long mountain bike ride with Eric and Kim. Tiffany treated me and the kids to lunch at the country club (delicious!). I appreciated all the phone calls and emails. It was a great day!

The Secret's Finally Out!

After a period of hush hush, it's a relief to have it out in the open. I was set apart as the Young Women's President of our ward today. I'm super excited about the calling. I know it'll be exhaustive, but oh so rewarding. So as you all come across great ideas, please pass them my way. You know I'll be needing them!

Where Does God Live?

When I tucked the boys in bed last night, we were reminiscing about several things and I wanted to share a funny story we laughed about when Kaden was 3 years old. We had just moved from Arizona to California. Kaden was afraid to go to sleep because he thought the green light on the smoke detector was a monster's eye looking at him. I tried to comfort him by explaining that if he'd just close his eyes and say a prayer that Heavenly Father would help him feel better and he could know that he was protected by Him. After a moment of contemplation, Kade said, "But Mom, I thought you said Heavenly Father lived in Arizona." He thought when we moved to California that we'd left Heavenly Father behind. It was a great opportunity to teach him that Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost can be anywhere at any time that we seek their companionship, a fact I obviously hadn't been able to make clear until then. I love the simplicity and innocence of childrens' minds.

How Do You Know You're Loved?

At dinner last night, Kami said, "Dad, I know you love Mom." When asked how she knew that, she said, "Because you always hug and kiss her." Gavin added, "And you always touch her butt!" We laughed hysterically. I'm glad to know that our four year old equates that with love -- but hopefully he won't try it out on other people he cares for.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

One of the greatest things about being with kids all day is to watch them learn and develop a new vocabulary. I just wanted to share some of the funny things the kids have said lately so I don't forget them.

Kaden: We had to go into the bank the other day. Later that evening a commercial came on advertising Hawaii or some getaway vacation and in the bottom of the screen was the logo for Bank of America. Kade said, "We've been there!" Knowing we hadn't taken the kids to that exotic place, Eric asked, "Been where?" "Bank of America!" said Kaden. We laughed and laughed. Poor Kade didn't see the humor in it.

Kambria: Whenever we eat out, Kami always wants a hangaber. No matter how many times we try to get her to pronounce HAMburger, she still doesn't quite get it, so she's given up trying and now asks for crabby patties, instead. She's also cute when she tries to mimick the fairy godmother in Cinderella. Instead of saying Bippity Boppity Boo, Kami waves her magic wand and says, "bittiby bottiby boo!"

Gavin: Gavin is hilarious! He says something outrageous and off-the-wall at least ten times a day. This morning he asked if, instead of taking a nap, he could watch "Chicken and a Boom Boom" (instead of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"). Another time he asked to watch "Smoking Hot". That one took a long time to understand. I finally asked him to bring me what it was he wanted to see and he brought "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." Remember the scene when he's in the factory and stirring pots with lots of steam? From that one scene he's dubbed the movie "Smoking Hot."
One more for Gavin (there's so many to choose from). We were driving down the street the other day and Gavin said, "Mom, that lady has a secret." "Oh?" I asked. "How do you know that?" "I can see it," said Gavin. Curious, I looked over and saw the lady smoking a cigarette. Secret, cigarette...it's all the same, right?

Leyna: Being 2 1/2 Leyna is funny just trying to annunciate words like the rest of us. My favorite is when she calls her brothers and sister. Kaden = Kadee, Kambria = Beebah, Gavin = Gaddy, Leyna = Eena. When it's prayer time, Leyna likes to mimick everything that's being said. The other night Eric was praying and getting annoyed at Leyna copying him. He kept saying, "Sssh," and Leyna kept copying him, "Ssshhh." It was hilarious.