CALIFORNIA CRUISE!!

Jesse & I have decided to take a road trip! But, since I can't sit in a car for very long without having to go to the bathroom or just move my legs we've decided to rent an RV! I'm so excited!! It'll be so nice for the kids too. We're gonna hit the beaches and just enjoy the California Coast! It'll be nice to be away from it all and just spend some time with the kids and each other.

Cameron was a baby when we lived in Oregon so he doesn't remember the beaches there, but Bryce does and they're both just so excited that I almost wish I would've kept it a secret until we got there because everyday they ask me, "Are we going to the beach today!" Bryce will have to miss a week of school, but we figure since he's in Kinder. and he's doing well in school that he can miss. They've been going on a lot of field trips lately which has been a nice break for him. Today they walked to Lowe's and made an Ant house and so tomorrow we're going to look for some Ants to put in it. Hopefully they stay and not escape!

MY BUCKET IS FULL!

Ok, I've procrastinated enough...I've got to tell all of you about the "Time Out for Women" weekend I had. There were 7 of us total that joined the hundreds of ladies who came to Albuq., NM to listen to the speakers and musicians. Some of my in-laws came, but I was really excited to spend a few days with my mom, uninterupted, just sitting there getting some inspiration from the speakers. We listened to people like Micheal Wilcox, Mary Ellen Edmunds (who was so hilarious and easy to relate to), Emily Watts and Sharon G. Larsen and some other great speakers that I can't remember right now. The singers were great too. I felt that the lyrics to their songs were truely inspired and will later post some of their music to my blog. The speakers are all authors so I highly suggest checking them out. I would've liked to have bought all of them, but since that's not possible I chose two books by Emily Watts called BEING THE MOM- 10 Coping Strategies I learned by Accident Because I Had Children on Purpose and also Take Two Chocolates and Call Me in the Morning- 12 Semi-Practical Solutions for the Really Busy Woman. She spoke of something all of us Mom's feel from time to time...MOTHER GUILT! Her stories of being a mother were so funny and I easily related to her life as I'm sure a lot of ladies could. But, one of the most powerful quotes I wrote down in my journal was from Wilcox when he said: "Children first see God through the lens of the mothers soul." That hit me like a ton of bricks. I wondered how my children see me and felt the mother guilt swarm over me. I try to be the best mom I can, but I know I'm not perfect. I also know that I can try harder and that's what I've been doing. I feel like I came home a different person. With a better resolve. I'm thankful that Jesse is such a wonderful husband and loves for me to be able to do things like this and to spend girl time with the women I admire and love. Thanks honey!!

Hit the ball...RUN, RUN, RUN!!

Bryce & Cameron are on the same T-ball team this year and it's a first for both of them. Last Friday was their first game and very enjoyable to watch. Bryce played 2nd base and surprised me by making two outs in a row! I particularly like the way he does this sort of superhero/prance on his tip toes back to the pitcher and then back to his spot. Cameron played left field and since he likes lots of action he was disappointed at the LACK of action he was getting out there. Several times he ran to me during the middle of the game over to right field where I was standing and said, "Mom, why is this taking so long. I'm ready to go." (Keep in mind that the game started at 8 pm which is just 30 min. shy of their bedtime.)The coaches frantically rushing him back to his spot. All the while we're trying to keep Claire out of the dugout by coaxing her with lifesaver gummies. She so thinks she can do just about whatever the boys are doing. When it was time to hit I guess my boys were expecting to hit another one or wait until their picture was taken because they would not run! I think they got the hint though. Cameron started to have tears well up in his eyes when he didn't run and was out at first. He's not used to that since at home he's never out. :) Anyhow, it'll be an interesting season. Hope you enjoy the video and sorry about the poor filming job/quality....I didn't have enough battery in my regular video camera and had to resort to my digital, but at least it captured the moment.

Bryce's first musical debut!

All of the Kindergarten classes got together to sing songs to the parents a couple of weeks ago. Bryce is in the bilingual class and so he had to learn a few Spanish songs. I tried to video as best as possible, but at times I had to hold Claire so sometimes the camera is a bit bumpy. The whole evening Bryce was just a riot, but I choose this last clip because it was the last song and it was as if he were using the two boys next to him as curtains and just being so goofy! It's pretty funny.

I know...I'm playing catch-up!

How glad I am that I survived the month of March. I don't think I've done anything to this blog except play with the different background templates only to realize that I like the one I started out with better. I realized that the first week of April is almost over and I haven't even blogged about Bryce's b-day much less the whole month so I'm trying to play catch-up. Please bare with me and my jumbled thoughts.
Bryce, the poor guy hopes to never be in the Dentist's office for other than a teeth cleaning. He's a trooper though. He's had couple of teeth pulled and is now an avid flosser. We celebrated his 6th birthday while in Albuq. for the Republican Pre-Primary while supporting my father-n-law Greg Sowards who's running for Congress. We were able to swim and Bryce had so much fun swimming under the wall from the indoor pool to the outdoor pool. He couldn't talk enough about it! Later, we ordered Pizza and Salad from an Italian restraurant nearby our hotel that had the BEST food. I love the Olive Garden, but this place puts it to shame. I can't remember the name, but I'm going to eat there again next time I'm in Albuq.
We stayed an extra day to go and visit my Grandma who's in a nursing home while she's recovering from a Heart attack. We got to watch her do her therapy and the boys were able to play catch with her and I haven't seen her smile like that in a long time. Later we went to the Children's Museum to wear out the kids so that they could sleep all the way home. Boy, did they.