February 2015

Okay, sadly I don't have much to report on February.  It was a month full of normal days doing normal things, which was the best part of February.  We took the boys on a lot of adventure walks, had some family parties and celebrated Valentine's Day.

Adventure Walks

We are lucky to live by so many horse trails.  They lead from our community to my parents community and there are so many different routes to choose from.  It's become one of our favorite things to let the boys run around in the horse trails, finding sticks and rocks.  We take our time and by the end of the walk, the morning is gone and the boys are worn out.  We also feed two horses along our way, Harley and Brandi.  The boys don't always like to feed them because they drool...the horses that is.  But you know me, I can't help myself, horse drool or not.  On one of our walks, Scott found a rope swing.  It is a little worn out so Scott is going to fix it up so the neighborhood kids can use it again.  I'll post pics once that is done.

James with his joy school friends on an adventure walk!

Family Parties
Stan, Monika, Chloe, Brett, Connor, Isabelle, and Ian came for a visit in February.  It was great to finally meet Brett and to celebrate the February birthdays.  We had parties planned all weekend except the boys got sick and we had to miss out on some of them.  Alas, life with kids.  But we had a great time seeing the family, and as always, we wish they lived here!

You Rock!

Valentine's Day
We didn't too much to celebrate Valentine's Day this year because we had a family party planned for that night.  We got the boys Star Wars boxes of chocolates and Valentine's crafts were made.  Other than that, it was kind of like a normal day.  But Scott and I have been so lucky lately because Tess babysits for us almost every Saturday night.  So we have been able to put date nights back on the weekly schedule.  It has been so nice! 

Celebrated Valentine's morning by getting donuts and yes, going for a walk on the horse trail.

Mi Ani taught me how to make french macaroons which were a delicious Valentine treat!

So that's it.  Just like February, this post is short and sweet.

January 2015

The start of the new year is always good and this January was no exception.  One of my best friends, Meridith, was married on January 2nd.  Such a happy day!  We celebrated James' 4th birthday, my baby is really growing up. And lots of readings of "James the Brave".  For a long month, it went really quickly and 2015 is off to an amazing start.

Meridith Sebra and Brandon Slade Get Married!

The two of them were married in the Los Angeles temple and it was an incredible experience to be there.  Meridith looked so beautiful and happy and it was a true testament that the Lord knows what He is doing.  It was always such a mystery that Meridith was single.  She is beautiful, accomplished, fun and a caretaker.  It turns out she really was just waiting for the right person and she found him.  I am so incredibly happy for her.  After the sealing, Scott and I went to dinner with friends and then went to the reception and Smog Shop.  So fun to see so many friends that I had not seen in awhile.  We always have such a good time when we are together.  Basically it was a great night celebrating a person we all love so much!

James turns 4!!!!

We celebrated James' birthday at Disneyland....again.  This is turning out to be a tradition, a very expensive tradition!  James discovered Star Tours this trip and could not get enough.  His obsession to all things star wars definitely heightened after our Disneyland trip.  James is in what I like to call his "robot phase".  He acts like a robot, thinks like a robot and talks about robots, robots, robots!

Foster had a great time at Disneyland too.  The highlight for him was the parade and the lollipops.  My kids have become very predictable but as different as can be.  It's so much fun to see their relationship grow as Foster gets older and James becomes more of a "big brother".  These two really love each other and I'm so lucky to be their mom.

At the end of the night, we bought James a chocolate cupcake, sang Happy Birthday and headed home.  It was a great way to celebrate our little James.  He has grown up so much this past year.  As he gets older he gets so much more comfortable with social situations and is thriving in joy school.  He even likes going to sunbeams and gets up and sings with the rest of his class.  He says the prayer every  night at dinner and loves having family night.  What he loves the most is being home with his family, watching a movie and eating popcorn.

Here are some stats on James:
His best buddies: Hudson, Anna, Leah and Berkley
Favorite food: chocolate milk, he loves anything chocolate
Favorite show:  Rescue Bots, Anything superhero
Favorite toy:  transformers and robots
My favorite quote by James:  He asked if he could get an Iron Man toy and I replied that we had to wait until a special occasion.  He thought about it for a minute and said "where do humans buy these toys?"  I reminded him that he is indeed a human and not a robot.  Something I've had to remind him of a couple of times!

Here are some great pics of James from last year:

 

"James the Brave"

This month I committed to reading "James the Brave" to schools around the county.  It has been so fun to see the kid's reactions to the book firsthand.  I've also been able to donate a book to each school.  I love the idea that all of those school libraries will have a copy of "James the Brave"!  I was even able to donate a book to Painted Rock Elementary, my old school and the school the boys will attend one day.  Selling 1,000 book takes a lot of work but I am really loving it.  It's been a chance for me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.  Always a good thing!