The Many Faces of C

Time to Slow Down

This message was made clear in two different ways by both Taylor & Cody these last few weeks. First from Taylor in a conversation she had with her teacher on Monday. It went something like this.

Ms. Sheena: Hi Taylor, did you have a nice weekend

Taylor: Yes, Sunday was awesome!!!!

Ms. Sheena: Really, what did you do on Sunday?

Taylor: Nothing, absolutely nothing. It was perfect.

And a picture of Cody from that same weekend. All tuckered out...

These two events made it quite obvious that it was time for One Busy Mommy to slow down and let the little ones catch up. Bring on the relaxation!!!

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Cody's Weekend with Grandma

A few weeks ago Cody got to experience his first "hotel" weekend with Grandma. Taylor and Grandma Brenda (GB as Taylor likes to call her) started this tradition a few years ago when Cody was just a little guy. Taylor lives for these special weekends where GB takes her to a hotel and they get to spend the night having fun, shopping, eating, and just escaping for a few days.
Cody's hotel night was at the Sheraton Universal. The day started off with Cody charming his way into a room with a view and an upgrade to the VIP level complete with free food. When my mom called to tell me this I was so excited for the two of them. After the two of them got checked into the hotel they headed out for a day of fun in the sun at Universal Studios.
I was for sure my little guy would have a blast, I mean I love the place so why wouldn't he. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was very wrong. My Little Guy hated the tram ride. Too much scary stuff for one little boy. Maybe in a few years he will change his mind, in the meantime it looks like the season passes I was contemplating are out the door.
My mom and Cody spent the rest of the day hanging out and doing some serious shopping. Part of "hotel" weekend always seems to include an even advanced level of spoiling my GB. But since it's not every day mommy let's it slide and even more so because the kids love their one on one time with GB. They are only young once right, at least that's what I keep telling myself.

The "tourist" shot in front of the Universal Globe Waterfall

Getting ready to take off on the tram ride
Cheese crepe a.k.a Quesadilla to Cody

Big giant bed all to himself and one of his many newly aquired toys from the weekend

What happens with Grandma, stays with Grandma, except when Grandma comes back with evidence. Up past his bed time...eating candy and drinking soda. Now I know why the kids love Hotel Weekends so much

Milk and a banana for breakfast, he loved his coffee cup

The view from the room, they overlooked mommies office

Cody had an awesome weekend and now talks about the next "hotel" night with Grandma and what he wants to do.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Easter 2009

Tomorrow will be one month since Easter, which means it falls into my rule: "as long as it's less than a month ago it's still Blogable". I just hit the mark on this one.
Easter was yet another extremely busy Holiday filled with family and fun and food. This was Cody's first year understanding the Easter Bunny and he was very excited. Taylor enjoyed dying the eggs this year and took pride in making sure they were up to her standards.
The night before we did our traditional dying of Easter eggs, Easter morning was spent having breakfast with my parents and an egg hunt at their house. We followed that up with a visit to a local driving range that was hosting an Easter egg hunt for the kids. The day ended with a visit to Jeremy's parents for Easter dinner and the final egg hunt. Three egg hunts in one day equals Two tired kids and Two tired parents. Great fun, but happy to say that Easter 2009 is now behind us.

Stuffing eggs to take to school for the egg hunt

One for Cody, one for the eggs

This face says it all, that's my Taylor

It's got to be perfect
Concentrating

Easter morning loot

Egg Hunt at the driving range

Dinner Easter Egg Hunt

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Home Depot Workshop=Parents Required

At a local festival they had the Home Depot Workshop set up for the kids to make a fire truck. Of course every kid wants to get involved, get a cute orange apron, and give it a try with some tools just like Daddy. The problem though, these projects are not the easiest to put together and required some serious parent help. So the kids each got their kits and set out and watched mommy and daddy put together their fire trucks.

Staged photos, Cody never used a tool the whole time

Taylor tried for 5 seconds and got nowhere
Finished product

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Dinner: Teppanyaki Style

Jeremy had never been to a Japanese Steakhouse before and recently we had been talking about how the kids would love it. After a few times planning to go and it not working out on a whim we decided to give it a try. The kids had a great time watching the food get cooked right in front of them. And the cook had a fun time giving a show for the kids. It was not the cheapest meal, but good food, fun times, and the kids enjoyed themselves so it was worth every penny.

The food getting started on the hot plates

Flaming Onion
Taylor is a pro with the chopsticks

Cody amazed at the fire

Taylor and her favorite dessert

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Tag, I'm it!

So a long long long time ago....well not that long but back in January. My friend Kylee tagged me on her Blog. I set myself a reminder to make sure I answered the tag and here we are almost 3 months later. Without further ado, here are the rules.



1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 people to do the same

First off, I typically don't store pictures on my computer, I keep them on CD's. So I wasn't sure I would have a picture to share. But I did come across 6 folders with photobook pages in them, the 4th one happened to be from our cruise last April. I can't believe it's been almost a year since we sailed off on a week of pure bliss. This picture was taken on one of the formal nights all dressed up and ready for a night on the ship. I still remember this night like it was yesterday and will treasures those memories forever.

Now it's your turn. I tag...Steph, Kimmy, Brandi, and Stacey.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

You Grab a Line...

I'll grab a pole, honey...Now that I got that song stuck in your head, let's move on.

A few weeks back my Pops decided it would be fun to take the kids fishing. Now you need to understand that when Pops decides something it means it's going to be all out. Here is a great example.

I think hey, let's go pick up 2 kids fishing pole kits and hit the park.
Pops thinks, hey let's go pick up 2 kids poles, a pole for me, a new tackle box, gotta have a fishing license, bait, weights, and a million other disgusting looking fishing things.

See the difference. Simple versus Complex. But I've learned it's easier to just go with the flow when it come to Grandparents.

The day came and this weekend we headed out to the fishing hole. Which for us means a park a short drive away that has a giant lake in the middle of it. Taylor & Cody were super excited for this day to come, they had both spent the past 3 weeks casting their poles in the front yard. We got up, got ready, and headed over to Pops house to pile in the truck.
As soon as we pulled into the park we knew it was going to be a quick fishing trip, just didn't realize how quick it was going to be. The wind was blowing, but not unbearable so we decided to make the trek across the park and find the perfect fishing spot.
Pops baited up Taylor's pole and she cast out in the water and waited for a fish to bite.
Cody cast out his line as soon as we stopped at the water's edge. Yes, with the cute little red play fish and no bait on it. Then he reeled it right back in and cast out again. Part of me thought I should correct him, put some bait on the end and explain the art of patience. But he was having too much fun reeling in his fake fish over and over so I let him be.
About 10 minutes into the fishing adventure Taylor caught a nice piece of branches from a tree.
The wind started to pick up, my chair tipped over, and my Dooney purse was mere inches away from dropping into the lake.
It was at that moment I realized this fishing thing was not going to work, the wind won and we shall try fishing another day.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Cody -- March 2009

Cody, Cody, Cody...where do I start on my silly little boy. These last few months have really shown me just how there is no longer a baby in this house. Cody is by far the sweetest little guy I've ever met. He is going to make some girl a very happy wife...but he is almost too sweet so mommy is working on that part because no girl is going to take advantage of my little stud. Cody will give you the shirt off his back if you asked for it. This is especially true with Taylor, whom he loves more than words could say. Anything Taylor wants Cody will make it happen.

Last week Cody received an award at school that about knocked me off my feet, he got an award for participation for answering a question during bible study. I had to check with the teachers to make sure they didn't have it wrong and that indeed it was Cody who earned it. You see, my sweet perfect little Cody is the best when it comes to compassion but when it comes to attention span and being able to sit still he has zero on that front. This award proved to me that indeed he has it in him and one day it will come out, in the meantime I just chalk it up to "being a boy".

Cody's obsession with fire trucks has not stopped and has increased to taxi cabs, police cars, ambulances, and trash trucks. Cody is capable of spotting any of these on the road, parked in a lot, or at a house a million miles away. He has to point them out to me oftentimes because he sees them well before I do.

Last weekend Jeremy & I broke down and finally went for a new hair style for Cody...he is now officially a flat top kid and we love it!!! As soon as his barber was done with it she said, this is the cut for him.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Pippi Longstocking

Who would have thought that one name would make a little girl so happy. Taylor is smitten with Pippi Longstocking. It all started a few month ago when on a whim I searched for Pippi Longstocking on YouTube and came across a bunch of short clips. Taylor was sitting with me that day and saw them and from that day Taylor had one thing on her mind, a freckled faced red head girl, Pippi Longstocking was coming into our world. I went on the search for a DVD and came up empty handed. Really, no stores feel the need to carry this in stock, my mom went everywhere, and trust me if it's out there my mom will find it. My search of course turned to the one place that never lets me down, eBay. We got the DVD last week but didn't have a chance to sit down and watch it until yesterday. And now the total count of times Pippi was viewed this weekend in its entirety is 4. Yes, 4 times this weekend both Taylor and Cody too sat and watched Pippi from start to finish.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Dorky Boys

I can still recall a conversation with Jeremy a number of years ago...it was pre-Cody and even pre-Taylor. Jeremy & I were in a grocery store doing some shopping and as we were checking out there was a boy ahead of us. He must have been about 6 years old or so and I remember him acting like a complete dork. I told Jeremy that if we ever had a boy I hoped he didn't act like that. Jeremy said don't hold my breathe and that all boys act dorky. I only had a sister so I didn't know any better. Over the years I would see boys and the only words out of Jeremy's mouth were see, told you so. When I was first pregnant and had a girl I was thrilled at the thought of not having to deal with that "dorky" boy and instead had a princess in my cart while out shopping.

Then Cody came along, I was blessed with a boy and scared of the thought of one day having that "dorky" boy that insisted on just acting well, plain old dorky. These first few years with Cody have been awesome, no acting dorky just like I had planned in my head.

But then it all changed. In the last few weeks, Cody has turned into that dorky boy, doing all things dorky. And you know what, it's ok, and I even like it at times. Well more at home than out in public but it's growing on me. You see, all boys are dorky that's just what they do and it's ok. So the next time you are out and you see a boy acting dorky remind yourself he's just being a dorky boy, it's normal, all boys do it.

I love my dorky boy!!!

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Paint-A-Bear Gingerbread Cookies

At Target's Holiday clearance sale I picked up a Crayola Paint-A-Bear Gingerbread Cookie kit and had been meaning to do it with the kids. Tonight was the perfect night as we didn't have any plans. I baked the cookies for the kids then let then go to town with the painting. Taylor is addicted to painting right now and using a million different colors, just ask my mom who has to spend tons at the craft store for wood projects for the Princess to paint when she is over at Grandma's house. Cody on the other hand just loves to get the job done so he can move on to the next project.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!

Rose Parade Float Viewing

Not many people live in Southern California and have the opportunity every year to take a short drive to see the floats from the Rose Parade. Ok, maybe that statement is not completely true since there are a ton of people that live in Southern California, but my point is that since we are here, so close to this once-a-year opportunity we should definitely take advantage of such an awesome sight…2 miles worth of floats decorated completely in stuff of “natural materials”. This year was going to be the year we took this trip. The kids were not exactly sure what to think but once we got there and they found out we would take a school bus to get to the viewing area they were very excited. This would be the first trip for each of them on a real school bus.

It was a bit cold which provided for some drama with Taylor. My Little Princess did not want to wear her jacket because then nobody would be able to see her gold sequin shrug. I did let her take her jacket off for a quick pic in the bus which resulted in a giant smile.

But as soon as we got to the viewing area and were back outside the jacket must go back on which created for some pretty interesting pictures: One upset Princess and One Crazy Cody.

The float for the princesses complete with a tiara was the one sure fire way to get a smile on Taylor's face.

Cody was head over heels for the Sesame Street float.
The day was awesome though, the floats were beautiful, and it makes me want to watch the parade now that I have seen the floats in real life. What it made we want to do even more though was go to the actual parade. I will add that to my list of things to do.

And it seems that many other people had the same idea as we did as the day wore on it turned into a sea of people checking out the once-a-year opportunity.

I’ll add another post with the pictures of the floats…I took a ton and had to narrow it down best I could.

Peace Out...Cub Scout!!!