End of the Summer Bonfire

Last weekend before school started we decided to go to the beach and have a little bonfire as a family. It was so much fun. We've been here for 3 years and we totally should have done this before now. It was a perfect end to the summer. You really can't go wrong with a beautiful sunset, the ocean, and s'mores. Oh yeah, and a raging fire to keep us warm.

The boys liked to pretend their roasting sticks were guns or spears or something violent and grotesque like that. Oh well, at least they weren't poking each other.

I think I have a little pyro on my hands. He couldn't get enough of the fire. I'm in trouble - or maybe I should say his scout leaders are in trouble. ;)

I don't think I've seen my boys this dirty before. This picture doesn't truly capture it. It was pretty bad. I had to scrub my tub really good the next day to get it all out. But it was totally worth it. (I can't remember why Ben is crying but he really did have a good time while we were there.)

Breakfast in Bed

I think I am seriously the luckiest mom in the world. I have three of the sweetest little boys. One morning my amazing little boys decided to make me breakfast in bed all by themselves. Jim had already gone to work so I figured that they would make me something simple like cereal. But these resourceful boys made me strawberry waffles with whip cream and mango orange juice. Jimmy loves to cook with me and he has helped me make waffles before but when he told me that he wanted to do it all by himself I was a little skeptical. But I relinquished control and let them have at it. I wasn't expecting much but it turns out that they made me the best strawberry waffles that I have ever had. When I said that to Jimmy he said, "Do you know why Mom?" I said, "no, I don't know." He said, "because they were made with love." That melted my heart and made me cry. I was so proud to call those boys my sons. I think they are the best!!

Bike Riding

A while back in the spring our kids bikes got stolen (one of the many joys of living in LA). Our neighbor gave us a bike that is just the right size for Ben and it didn't have training wheels so we thought it was time for him to learn. He is doing a great job on his new bike and seems to really like going fast. Unfortunately, we don't have many open places to ride our bikes (yet another wonderful thing about LA) so we have to go to the church parking lot. Recently, we discovered that the UCLA campus is also a great place to go. We went on Labor Day because there was hardly anyone there and the campus is beautiful. Much better than the boring church parking lot. One day I hope we will live in a normal neighborhood where my kids can ride their bikes. I can dream anyway.

Ben doing a victory jump for his new found success of riding a bike!

The other two wanted to join in on the celebration. I love how excited my boys are about life. I really hope that they never lose that spark!

Luke got a new bike for his birthday. He loves riding his bike and he's been riding it around so much that his legs are getting really strong. He can climb the hills really well.

Luke the Ladybug

Grandpa Garfield had some fun with Luke at the beach when they were visiting this summer. If you ask me, I think he's the cutest ladybug ever!

Happy Birthday Luke

I can't believe my baby is 4 years old!! He is just growing up way too fast for me. Because of his older brothers, he has a serious obsession with Star Wars. It's kind of sad that he skipped the cars, trains, and planes stage and went straight to the violent stuff. :( But I guess that's what happens when you have older brothers.

I tried to talk him into letting me make him a Diego cake or a jungle animal cake of something suitable for a 4 year old, but he insisted on Star Wars. So I made this Death Star cake. It took me 10 hours, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (well not really any tears), and a few cuss words (mostly just in my head though). It was very challenging but also very fun to make. Luke was happy with it and that's what counts. The sun was a little bright. That's why no one seems to be looking at the camera.

Luke is an amazing little boy. His beautiful blond hair and blue eyes elicit comments from so many people when we are out in public. (Especially from cute little elderly Hispanic ladies.) He is a little shy but becomes friends with almost everyone he meets. He loves to wrestle and play with his brothers and can actually take them down pretty good. He learned every character and ship in Star Wars before he ever learned his colors, alphabet, and numbers. (Don't think I'm a bad mom for that one. He got most of that from legos, his brothers, and books - not the movies.) His favorite food is ramen noodles and if I can get him to eat a vegetable I am lucky - it doesn't happen very often. He loves his brothers and always sticks up for them. Last but not least, he gives the best hugs ever - the kind where he wraps his little arms around my neck and holds on like he doesn't ever want to let go. It melts my heart!!

We Love you Luke!
Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jimmy

My oldest child is now eight! Man, I must be getting old! He wanted brownies for his birthday since he made a cake with his Grandma for his baptism. I was totally okay with that. I guess he didn't really want to put his book down to blow out the candles.

All he wanted for his birthday was this gel ant farm. He has been asking for this for months. It is actually pretty cool. I never had an ant farm or anything like it when I was a kid so it's been interesting to watch. We tried to catch our own ants but that proved to be way to hard and the ants that we did catch weren't very big at all. So we decided to pay a little extra and send away for some. They came in only 2 days and they were huge so we can really observe their activity clearly. They dig out this clear gel and make tunnels in hopes to find a way out. Kind of a sad existence but at least they have plenty to eat and drink and they are safe from predators. So I guess their life could be a lot worse.

There is so much to love about this kid!

He is an avid reader.
He remembers everything that he reads.
He loves to learn new things and explore.
He is full of curiosity.
He always has a smile on his face.
He has a very contagious laugh.
He's a sweet and kind big brother.
He likes to wake up early in the morning.
He's a natural at push-ups and pull-ups. (Takes after his Dad.)
He is a human encyclopedia - constantly telling us interesting facts.
Loves Legos.
Loves to cook.

Jimmy's Baptism

I can't believe that 8 years ago I gave birth to this child and now he is baptized! My boys are growing up way too fast. The baptism turned out really nice. Jim baptized and confirmed him and Jimmy was beaming from ear to ear. I don't know if he was more excited for the baptism or for his grandparents and Amber to come all the way to California just for him. He was pretty excited and happy.

I was going to order a cake from Costco for afterward but Jimmy was adamant about me not doing that. He insisted on making a special cake with his grandma. I thought it was kind of cute and sweet of him to want to do that so I didn't fight too hard. A Costco cake would have been easier but I don't think Jimmy would have remembered it.

I think Jimmy was kind of sick of taking pictures at this point.

After the baptism we went to Jim's all time favorite restaurant, Gloria's Cafe. They have the best El Salvadorean food ever. Yes, this gigantic plate is what Jimmy ordered. He is a total carnivore so he got the carne asada and ate most of it. He just needed a little help from Grandpa to cut the meat. He didn't need much help eating it though.;)

Congratulations Jimmy!

Turtles

For Ben's birthday we got him a couple of little turtles. They are the red ear slider turtles. Ever since the whole cat fiasco I've been thinking that I needed to get a little pet for the boys. So I decided to get them these turtles. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision and I wish I would have thought it through a little better since they carry salmonella and require a lot of work. Not to mention that they kind of stink. But, oh well. I guess that's all part of having a pet! We're still debating on the names, but for now they are the newest part of our family and we'll have fun with them while we can and wash our hands - A LOT!!

Happy Birthday Ben

I can't believe my Ben is 6 years old!!! He was lucky enough to have Aunt Kristin, Aunt Heather and his cousins, Ethan and Camden, in town for his birthday. We had a little picnic at the playground. In case you can't tell, his cake is supposed to be a magnifying glass with bugs. One of his favorite past times is going outside to find critters and bugs. Jimmy told me that I needed to put a yellow dot on the cake which is supposed to represent the sun burning them up with the magnifying glass - ha ha! I told him no way!

Here are some fun facts about Ben:

He is so smart and good with numbers.
He loves to read.
He has the best blue eyes I've ever seen.
He loves to have his back rubbed - all the time.
He is very kind to animals - he wouldn't hurt a fly.
He likes to draw.
He eats his cereal without any milk because he doesn't like it soggy.
He likes to go to bed late and sleep in in the morning.
He will eat hot dogs every day 3 meals a day if I let him - which I don't;)
He is one of the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful little boys I know!