Wordless Wednesday

last of the back yard fun...good bye summer, we will miss you.

Luke and the sand log

On the ground...

Up on the log

and over the log - face first...one of luke's favorite things to do at the beach.
Oh so much sand...

This is a before picture...all cleaned up and ready to meet the log with wet hair.

Mexican pizza

I thought that this recipe was Rachel Ray - way too healthy I suppose.

It is a Ellie Krieger from food network, and it was really good.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/mexican-tortilla-pizza-recipe/index.html
We ate the pizza on Friday, and today we had the black bean dip with chips with good friends.
Also on the plate is padron peppers. This is a new discovery from the farmers market, and they are good...very Spanish tapas type of food.
Boys pretty much hated it, but in the future I like to think they will like it. I added ham and cheese to the boys pizza and omitted the cabbage, not sure what they didn't like.

3 days

3 day, 60 3rd graders, 30 parents, and 3 teachers...oh my.
Loren went on the annual beach trip with his kids.
He goes for 3 days and comes back very tired and sunburnt.

We went to visit him at sunset beach on one of the days.
The sun never came out.

The boys loved seeing daddy.
This year was the first year that Jack realized that daddy wasnt home and he really missed it.
We had a few teary moments at night. Luckily, the first night we stayed at Uncle Bill and Aunt Kates and they had an eclair.
Jack got less sad when he saw the eclair.

Sunset beach has great big sand dunes that everyone loved to run down, and roll down.
I am still trying to get the sand out of their hair.

grandpa's pond

This is one of the boys favorite activities...
gathering water from the pond and pouring it into the waterfall or
vise verse

I try to not watch too closely, cuz it seems to me that they could go careening down the waterfall It is not a big waterfall, but more like a bunch of rocks gently sloping down a hill.

It keeps them happy for at least 10 to 15 minutes, so it is a great activity in my book.

All these boys need is buckets, water and a place to put it that doesnt get them in trouble.

Wordless wednesday at the beach

Luke and Daddy playing in the waves.

Irresistable boys

We go to hang out last weekend with this adorable little girl! She is 15 months old and loved playing with the boys. Sadly, she lives far away so we wont get to see her much.

She spontainouly gave them both hugs.

Jack hates hugs...he tends to stiffen up like a board. If he initiates the hug, he is good, but he is not into random unplanned hugs.

He continues to play the entire time she was hugging him.

world class slider

Do you think he is having fun!

Beach again

This summer we have been able to go to the beach a lot.
We were going to go to the Santa Cruz County fair today, but it got too late and it is too expensive!
25 dollars to get us all in, plus food, and you know you have to eat fried food at the fair.

It was really cold at the beach and the fog never lifted...considering that it is 85 degrees at our house right now.

Luke was acting afraid of the water cuz Jack is afraid...but luckily he got over it!

The river

Jack is getting over his fear of the water...so long as it is not the ocean.
He hates the ocean!
We went to the river a few weeks ago and the boys couldn't get in the water fast enough.

They marched up and down the "beach" and had a great time throwing rocks and twigs,
typically very narrowly missing hitting one another with the rocks and twigs.

and then the horses came...it was pretty cool!

not happy Jack

Well, I haven't had much to post here in a few days. Life at our house is stressful right now.

Jack is making a very big deal about not wanting to go to school. He pretty much hates it and complains all the time and it is really hard to get him ready for school in the morning. He is very emotional and not real easy to be around. We are not sure what is prompting this new round of hate for school, but he did do it last year too... He is usually pretty happy when we pick him up and says he has a good day, but it doesnt last. It is a good school and we like all of the teachers except for one, but she isnt really with him for very long anyway. He refuses to use the potty at school unless Loren or I am with him so now he is having "accidents" when we pick him up. Doesnt seem to phase him in the least, but not fun to deal with. I don't think it can be all that great for his bladder.
So we are hoping that this is a phase that will pass quickly, cuz taking him to another school really isnt an option for us. Wish Felton had more (any) pre-schools for kids 2 and up!

Tree saga continues

Guess what happened to us yesterday...
Another branch on the tree broke again and landed on the roof.
Loren got to spend his afternoon/evening cutting is down (with out taking out the wires)

It was very loud and the boys had to stay inside.
Not so fun for them.

We realized that the tree is growing sideways because it used to be in the
shadow of the big redwood tree that was taken out a few years ago.
And, it rained. We hardly ever get rain in September especially this early, but we sure do need it!

Beginning of school

Wednesday was Jacks "first" day of school.
He has gone all summer long, but the school had a week break around labor day.
He is moving over to the "big" kids now
He is going to be attending 3 days a week.
Sadly, he still seems to hate it...

Lukes first day ever was today. I think he looks a little tired.

Even more tired... but he did great! We hung out with him for about 10 minutes when we dropped him off,
and another kid showed up just as we were leaving who had a complete fit about the drop off.
Total temper tantrum with fists pounding the floor.
Luke was so freaked out about that that he didnt seem to care that we left.

No more pictures, Mom, and I had a great day at school!
When Loren went to pick them up...he didnt want to leave.
Jack, on the other hand, couldnt get out of there faster!

Whats for dinner?

Soup! My favorite thing in the world!
Finally it is getting to be cooler at night so soup time is starting.

And crockpot soup is even better...cooks all day and we come home to yumminess.
I used to think that I hated lentils...up till last year I wouldnt even try them, but then I did and I love them.
Im sure I ate something my mom made and it was good.
They are so good for you I am trying to eat more of them.
This soup is perfect! So tasty! Here is a link to a recipe - I can not find my original recipe - but this one
seems just the same, except I use chicken broth rather then vege.
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/235/Lentil_And_Canadian_Bacon_Soup56543.shtml