Warning this is going to be a bunch of nonsense in one big post.

I will add pictures to this post. I am having technical difficulties at the moment. I am afraid if I wait for the pictures I will never post.

I have to start this post by saying how totally and completely excited I am to have the summer finally here!!!! I have had so much going on in addition to homeschooling and now I have nothing besides what I choose. There is a lot I want to do over the summer. All the stuff I never have time for because I am my kids teacher. I want to make curtains, learn to stamp metal, bake fresh bread, make freezer jam, cook a lot more with yummy fresh foods of the summer, family reunion, crafts for the kids, home decor projects, just to name a few.

With this being our first week of vacation we ran away to my parents house and it felt so good to relax and enjoy their company. I also got to play at my sisters and she taught me how to make bread with my kitchen-aid. I am going to be experimenting with this in the weeks to come.

I received a calling for church.... What is it? Only the nicest relaxing calling this busy women could ask for. I am the relief society chorister. After having such a busy year this feels really nice. I am sure this won't last but for now I will enjoy this simple service.

I have decided to run a marathon. This is not really a new decision, just a renewed goal. I think it was accomplishing the Triathlon that motivated me (back in 2005 I think) I felt so accomplished and had such a life altering experience. I have learned that I can push myself farther and accomplish more then I ever thought possible. It is so much more to me then a physical event. It is in the training that I learn to take time for myself. It is in the pushing myself that I feel I can conquer any and everything life puts in front of me. Right now I am just getting back in shape and trying to get comfortable running 3 miles. I am still running so slow and with time I anticipate I will be back to where I was before I had Jacob.

Why have I been so busy? Where do I start. I made my second ever wedding cake and I was very nervous for it. It was for a women at my church and I did it for cost. Next time I will have to charge to make it worth it. It was very rewarding though. I am a little bit of a perfectionist and I had to redo the biggest cake but I was so pleased with the final out come!

The day after the wedding I had graduation centerpieces I some how got roped into doing. It was for the local charter high school. I ended up getting paid for it even though I told her not to worry about it. Which was a nice bonus. It was a simple project and I was surprise at how excited people got about it. One lady said to me, "Oh you are just one of those crafty people aren't you?" I guess I never really thought about it. I just enjoy making things. I derive pleasure out of the finished project. I need to work on having more fun in the process. The perfectionist in me sometimes gets tense or stressed when things are not perfect.

Then the following week was the last day of school for the kids. Which was wonderful but a lot of work for me. I had to get all the kids school work together to show their teacher, fill out report cards, and then decide what curriculum I will be using next year. That was another big relief when that was done.

Side note- I watched So You Think You Can Dance while at my mom's house and I love that show. It was so amazing to me to see what people can do with their bodies. Not being a dancer I was in awe.

After the kids were done with school I took senior pictures of my BIL Todd. That was fun for me. I really do love taking pictures of people. Some day I will be amazing! I do love when people let me practice on them. He was such a good sport and did all that I asked of him even when he was done. The pictures are posted here
http://delightedphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/8508556_JjcaZ#560114513_2dAch
Ryan came with me and he had Todd do some silly things. Brothers are so fun. I am so excited to see what goofy things my boys will do as they get older.

Before the wedding cake the Jared and Sarah were in the musical The Jungle Book. They did so good and I was so proud of them bot. Sarah was an elephant which is the part she wanted. Her "crush" was the lead elephant and she thought that was great. This is her first crush and she was so comfortable with stating to the world that she thought he was cute. She pointed him out to me when he was in ear shoot and told me he was cute and she didn't seemed phased. I like that she is confident but I do not like that she is bold when it comes to boys I am not ready for that.
Jared played the part of monkey # 3. That was important to him because not all monkeys had lines. The dance scene he had was awesome. I was so impressed with him. I didn't even know the kid could dance and there he was strutting his stuff for the whole world to see. Jared has also had the world of girls opened up to his mind. Sarah had a birthday party last Saturday. Jared stuck around and was the life of the party. The girls enjoyed playing with him and he sure seemed at ease playing with them. It surprised me. It shouldn't because he is going into the 6th grade and that does seem like the time the "boyfriend girlfriend" thing starts. When did my children get so old? I will have a middle school child come this fall. That is just more then I can handle.

I got on a tangent there. Part of having your children in the musical is that you have to put in so many hours of volunteer work. I thought it would be a great idea to volunteer to head up the programs because I could do it all from home. I had no idea what I was getting into and I spent way more hours then I could have thought possible. I had to compile bios and pictures for all 60 kids, design a cover, collect $ and ad's and then print 600 copies. I had a lot of help but I didn't delegate as much as I should have. My sweet husband always becomes my helper when I undertake these huge projects. And he never complains. I do love this man more then words can ever express.

Another side note- Ryan and I were talking last night about what we thought our children's spouses will be like. I got to really thinking about this. I pray that whoever they choose will bring out the best in them, will love them fully, will help them want to stay close to out Savior. I also hope that they like me and I like them so that my children always feel comfortable coming over to my house. I don't worry so much about what they look like. I just want my children to be happy the way I am.

I also made a simple little teachers gift for the kids teacher at school. It was so simple but the colors made me happy. I think I need to find a way to put baby blue and red in my house. Love it.

Sarah's bday was back in march. I promised her a party and then never got to it. So I had this great idea that we would combine her Aunt Kaylee's party with hers. We did a HSM2 party. Basically it was a pool party with the high school musical 2 theme. They made flip flops and played a few games. Ate pizza and just had fun swimming. (do 9 & 10 year olds really need to wear little tiny bikinis? Maybe I noticed more because Jared was playing with these girls.) Sarah said it was the best party ever. She got to celebrate her bday 3 moths after so I think that helped.

About a month ago I was feeling the need to get out of the house. So we took a field trip day and headed off to the Cabrillo National monument. Living in San Diego is amazing. There is so much to see. It was a lot of fun for the kids. The park ranger has a handout for the kids to fill out as you walk around the exhibits. My children paid much closer attention because they wanted to fill in all the answers. It was very pretty and we had a wonderful afternoon out of the house. Then a couple of weeks ago we went to Balboa Park and went to the Train Museum. Joshua loves trains and I thought the kids would all enjoy this. It was full of working model trains and the kids enjoyed chasing them around. I do love my life!

Now I will move onto kiddism.
Joshua has been a handful in the biggest way possible. I am sure it is because I have been so busy but let me give you quick run down of the past weeks. He has learned to climb on top of my car (an excursion and very tall). He locked himself in the bathroom and when we got him out he had my kitchen ladle and he said he drank the water. He came running out of the bathroom exclaiming, "I am super now" I guess the water has super powers. It was all I could do to not laugh hysterically. It has become increasingly more difficult to keep clothes on him. He runs around the house and outside yelling, "I'm nakey boy" It's bad when he gets out front.

One of our neighbors has an only child and I can tell they do not love that we moved in next to them. The parents will come over to tell me things the kids do wrong with smugness on theirs faces. It kinda feels like the teachers pet in school. You know the one who is always telling on everyone in the class. I wonder what they must think of us? If only I could be a fly on the wall I am sure I would have a good laugh.

I had to run into the scrapbook story with the little boys the other day. Joshua is in a batman phase. He declares rather loudly, "Mom, you are Batman." I fellow scrap booker did not like this and tells me that he should be calling me the queen instead. I laugh and go my way. What this nice lady does not understand is that Batman is Joshua's hero and if he wants me to play his hero I will take that as a complement. Being a queen has nothing on being my sons hero.

For memorial day we head down to the beach to go to dinner. We had dinner right next to the beach in one of the worst Mexican restaurants we have ever eaten in. It tasted like everything had been cooked from canned food. Ryan and I didn't say anything to the kids. We didn't want to taint their experience. But man they are making good money. Joseph took his paper place mat, folded it, and put it in his pocket. Later on he pulled it out and declared it was his treasure map. The simple pleasures of children. If only we could all be so creative in finding joy.

We really had not planned on going by the water but being so close we headed on over. We had a good time. The kids played in the sand and tried to run away from the water. They ended up getting wet and no one seemed to mind wet jeans. Ryan watched the kids and let me run on the beach. It was nice and I am excited to be able to run long distances. When I got back Joseph told me he had to use the restroom. There are no restrooms in site. I joking tell him as I point to the ocean, "There is the worlds biggest potty." Before I have a chance to realize he took me literally he walks up to the water and starts to pull his pants down. But before he does he looks back at my to see if I am serious. Ryan and I just bust up laughing. What a funny kid.

As we walk back to the car Emma says to me, "This is the best day ever!" A surfer with tattoo's all over his body walked by us just as Emma said. He got a huge grin on his face and said to me, "That is the best complement." It was cute to see this tough guy softened by my little Emma. She has a way of making people smile. I was grateful for his comment because it helped me to appreciate even more the fun day we had enjoyed.

Joshua's birthday was on the 12th. We had just gotten back from Vegas the night before and I was so tired from driving. It is traditional in our family that the bday kid gets whatever they want for breakfast. Josh told me he wanted donuts the night before but in the morning all he wanted was cereal. The other kids kept trying to convince him he wanted something else, (they knew they could have whatever he had also) but nope. He knew what he wanted. For a week he has been telling me all he wants for his birthday is a ladder, a brown one at that. This mischievous child does not need a ladder but how do I tell him that when that is all he wants. The first thing he said when he woke up was about this ladder.

Joshua also told me he was excited about his party. Party? I had no party planned. SO i quickly text my 2 SIL's that live real close and my MIL and ask if they can get together for a pinata and lunch and we will call that a party. I made him a quick train cake, it looked more like a truck cake. I bought angel food cake cause I didn't have time to do anything more. I also bought a pinata and we used all the leftover candy from Sarah's party. He was so satisfied with the party, cake, and presents he forgot all about the ladder. Phew. We let him open the presents from us right before we took him to dinner. He cried when it was time to leave. He didn't want to eat, he wanted to stay home and play with his toys. Funny kid. We went to Boudins and he didn't touch his food. He ran circles in the restaurant instead. He was just to excited to sit still. He got a new bike and he loves it even though he does not know how to ride it yet.

The kids sometimes will say, "Oh my gosh" Joshua is convinced they are saying "Oh my Josh"

The other Day Joshua was out back playing with him self. He was swiping at the air and yelling something. Upon further investigation he is boxing with swipper the fox. I am never surprised by what this kid thinks up.

Last Sunday at church Joshua was being rowdy so Ryan had to take him out into the foyer. There are pictures there of the Savior. One of them is of the Savior blessing the apostles. Joshua told Ryan he wanted "that guy" for his birthday. That guy was the apostle kneeling at Jesus feet being blessed. There was also a picture of the lamb and the lion. He told Ryan he wanted to go in the picture and he wasn't scared of the lions. He has an imagination to bet all.

Jacob is 4 months wait 5 months

At 4 months he is growing so fast it makes me feel a little sad. Some how I wish he could just stay my baby forever. He know weighs 18.5 lbs and is 27 inches long. He is the size of an average 7 month old. He is going to be one tall kid.

He loves to put any and everything in his mouth. It's my favorite when he grabs his shirt and starts sucking away. His little chubby belly is then exposed and it is just so kissable. Just this last week he has started to stick his tongue out and blow. Kind of like a razz with his tongue out. It cracks us all up. The funniest to me is when he is done nursing and he does this to let me know. He is not tongue tied like a few of the other kids and he loves to show that off.

He has such a mellow disposition. He hardly ever cries. Even when he is hungry he doesn't cry much. Only when he gets super over tired.

He loves to suck his fingers and I am surprised at how entertaining it is to him. The down side is when he gets his fingers to far in and starts to gag but does not know how to pull his hands out. Silly boy. It never upsets him like I think I would.

Update:
I started this post a month ago and now he is 5 months. Boy time flies. Jacob weighs 20.5 lbs and is starting to thin a bit. Not much. He is just so long. This sweet little boy has a way of lighting up any room. He smiles with ease and often. He rarely cries and I feel so blessed to have him.
The last couple of weeks have been crazy for me. Things were so crazy one day I was feeling kinda stressed about all I had to do so I bundled him, gave him his binkie, and put him in bed. I thought this would give me a minute to calm myself and once he started to cry I would go get him. Normally I would rock him till he fell asleep. He never cried. He fell asleep on his own. I wonder why it took me so long to figure this out. Know I can lay him down when he is tired and he falls asleep on his own.

He loves the kids. Jacob shares a room with Jared and when he wakes up in the morning Jared has been taking him out of bed and laying Jacob next to him. Jared will read to him or play with him and I am not even aware that Jacob has awoken. They have a sweet little bond. I love my boys!

As easily as it is to get him to smile it is equally challenging to get him to laugh. He very rarely laughs at the same thing twice. I have tried. And he has yet laughed a big huge belly laugh. Sarah was that way. More reserved as a small baby. He does not roll over much. He can but I think he is just pretty content hanging out. I hold him to much and I am sure that does not help. We have hard flooring and I am hesitant to put him down on our one little spot of carpet for fear that Joshua will love him to death.