Soon

I have some videos I need to upload to YouTube just know, they are coming soon.

Art museum trip

We took the kids to the art museum.  Man was it a blast!  I was concerned it wouldn't work out and that they wouldn't enjoy it, but they really had a great time, each one of them liked different things.  I got to read some of the plaques about the pieces, and we got to explain some of the pieces to Taylor and Reagan which to me made the trip that much more special.  The exhibit we took them to see was on the samurai and wow was it amazing.  We got to see some of the torture devices and old barbaric weaponry they used and various outfits and boy am I glad to share with the kids things that are historic, pretty cool!

This is an electric chair... Get it...

This is a beautiful butt...  Taylor wanted to know why it was so big... Haha

Many pieces of art, obviously, depicted religion...  Again, much to teach the kids...  We even saw idols among the ancient artifacts...  I am so glad we went and I can't wait to go again!!!  

Selfie

A selfie so that you can see how I am aging... No, I mean so you can see my long hair...ha!

Snuggling!

Don't have very many cute pics with Trent, as he is very much a daddy's boy!!!!!  Here we are though waiting in the lobby for Reagan who is off to a speech session.  I will savor these small moments!

Yeah, he's home!

Back home from his travels with a reindeer this time and two seals, some Viking helmets, and gifts for mommy, oh boy! We love you daddy and we are so thankful you are home!!!!!!!!!!!

Art

Today Taylor brought home his art projects from school.  This is his watercolor piece that he has been hiding from me.  I mean that I would ask him every art class what they were working on and he refused to say...  He did another piece that was his interpretation of fall with paint and it is great too.  I just love that he is into this!  Maybe this will be his outlet.  Today, at his school library they met with a local author and illustrator.  I told Taylor that that was certainly something he could do one day if he kept up with  art.  I hope you enjoy his art piece.

Well, it is official, we are crazy!

I know that a lot of you thought we went crazy when we said we were going to go Vegetarian last year, but we have really found it to be so wonderful and not so difficult, that we have not missed meat at all.  I will admit, that mostly we were pescatarian, since we would have shrimp or calamari out at the restaurants and tilapia or salmon at home and we weren't sure how things would go with the children.  Well, now we are going totally bananas around here and we have decided to try going Vegan.  Yes, I know there are going to be the million questions coming our way, especially, since we live currently in the biggest meat eating state, and we happen to be in the fattest cities ever!  Well, I suppose the first question, being why we are doing this is for health.  We watched and have always watched documentaries and news about health and nutrition and well, what we have learned through everything is that what we eat directly influences the way our bodies function.  We don't believe in going vegan for the sake of the animals, and I will have you know that we own a cowhide rug and many leather goods, oh and we will continue consuming honey instead of Agave Syrup and what have you because we don't care really about all of that hogwash, but we were studying effects of different proteins in our body and thought we would give it a shot, this vegan eating style and then go get physicals completed to really see if it helps with our overall health.  So far, we are merging slowly, since I still have several pantry items that are not vegan...  I am not tossing it out.  Well, the kids don't know really what is going on and thankfully, they like everything still except tomatoes and guacamole.  They all eat salad and tofu and whatever else we have like pro's and we enjoy a lot of ethnic foods too so that we aren't eating the same entry over and over.  Tonight, we had this great dish and loved it!  It was Tuno Salad, get it, not Tuna, but Tuno...  Hahaha!

Tuno Salad (makes 4-5 wraps or sandwiches)

32 oz chickpeas, canned (Drained and rinsed) or fresh cooked

6 T Vegenaise

1/3 cup sweet relish

1/3 cup diced sweet onion

3/4 t Old Bay seasoning 

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 t sea salt

pinch of black pepper

Place the chickpeas in a bowl and mash with a fork. This can be a little labor intensive, but you don’t want to leave too many whole beans.  Stir in remaining ingredients, mix well.Serve on bread, wrap, crackers or big piece of lettuce.

I served this on a sandwich and it was fantastic!  We had chips and pineapple with it although I would have loved watermelon...  Oh well!  I am sure you could have served it up with beets or celery or whatever else and called it simple.  Tomorrow we are having baked potatoes and broccoli cheese soup.  I have found that the substitutes out there are quite satisfying.  Another really good meal that we enjoy is Baked Falafel with spinach salad and quinoa.  We are having fun experimenting really and we aren't sad about the lack of ice cream or other things... in fact, we still have our sweets, but they are much more exciting.  I love meal planning too...  This Saturday, we are going to have Pina Colada smoothies... last night for desert, Taylor picked a coconut out at the grocery so we had fun busting it open and we added the coconut water to some chocolate milk...  It was good!!!  I hope to make a pizza this week with zucchini and other fixings too... I know it is crazy, but it is crazy good!  I just thought I would share our newest adventure with our readers...  until next time... I am tired!  I have got to hit the hay!

Ylvis - The Fox (What does the Fox say?) [Official music video HD]

Really?  Hmm...  Isn't this just the strangest???  Well, it is all we have had buzzing in the back of our minds around here.  I heard it on the radio with the little ones in the car one day and thought I would share it with Taylor when he got home from school.  We watched the video, and thought, huh, odd... but then we had to watch it over and over and now we get such a kick out of it.  They love to dance to it and now they love to shout the lyrics too.  Oh boy... what is next?

With the kids...

I

I love these kids!!!  They are such a joy!!!  I think they are pretty cool kiddos!!!  Here are some random shots from the last few days.  We had a great weekend and played, watched chitty, chitty, bang-bang, and some other movie called Arthur and the invisibles, we have just been plain OL sick and lazy around here. I think we are getting better though...  Thank goodness!!!  Hello to all!

Good morning

We love sitting at the bar!!!!  Where is the dog to lick up the mess???  Jk!!  No dog for us, that would be a bit much at the moment!!!

Surgery day

This is her new pretty pink robe for the hospital, but it helps keep her warm when she has wet hair.  She loves it!!!  She walks around like a prima Donna it is hysterical!

She has amazing spirit!!!!  We kept her up late, she hasn't had any food or water, and we have been waiting for hours!!!

Looney tunes gown/scrubs...  What fun!!!

She LOVES the iPad!!!

I had to beg... To get in the bed with her, but she is a goof!!!  We played tickle fight and the anesthesiologist we saw was so serious!!! We had to stop smiling while he conducted his bit with us...   Grump!!!

Artkive Sharing from Robyn Tibbs

Hi!

Robyn Tibbs has been storing art done by Taylor and Reagan and wants to share some art with you.

click here

Best,
The ARTKIVE Team
www.artkiveapp.com

Happy times!

Who said you couldn't go playing in the dark, like you were going to stay up all night???  We were watching bats and just enjoying the weather out front.  It was very nice!!!

I hope they always remember that they are loved!!!  These two are so fond of each other, I am so glad!

He is so goofy!  There is no reason for the helmet, in fact there were no bikes around, he was just running with headgear.  

Grandparents Day @ school

What a fun day with Grandma Kim!!!  She met me today at school along with hundreds of other grandparents and boy was the event exciting!  Everyone of them crowded into our lunch tables and conversed and shared special moments...  I love school and all the things we are doing!!!  Thanks Grandma Kim for being apart of it all!

Busy day...

She was such a good patient today in the chair, I was so proud!!!  When she was finished she kept asking if I was happy, to which I kept repeating oh yes indeed, I was so proud of her!!!  She is such a good big girl!!!  Trent on the other hand, was a crab!!!  We went in a sound proof room, called the cry rooms, and he hated the dentist, didn't want to cooperate, kicked and screamed and told the assistant no while he was asked questions like, do you want a toy?  Do you want a sticker, that sort of thing.  I couldn't wait for his part to be over!!!  The worst part about the whole visit was when I was talking to the beautiful lady at the front desk...  I don't ever hesitate with her name because, it is the same as my sisters.  But anywho, I asked her when she was due, to which she replied, oh I am not pregnant....  Oh my, I was so mortified!!!  Well, mAybe in 6 months she will forget my stupidity!!!!!!

Happy birthday Taylor-

We love you Bubba!  Happy birthday!!!

Pic of the week for me.

It is pure joy....

Because I just LOVE this picture!

I am so sick!

I woke up so sick!  I thought I might shake it off with a hot shower and hot tea, boy was I wrong!!!  I took lots of meds and felt like I was getting sicker by the minute.  Casey made a green smoothie with kale and apples to help me beat this monster, and it was really good!!!  My husband tried all he could to help me, he is amazing!  He then made me a bath with a miracle agent in it.  I told him I might have meningitis.  It was horrible!  Anyway, I took a rest and only woke for a bit to have a bite to eat and found that my baby made a "get better mom" heart.  He even cut it out with fancy scissors.  My family is so sweet to me.  I went back to bed and woke up because case didn't know what to do for dinner.  He said that after a full day alone with the kids he didn't know how I did it...  I am glad I got some rest, because it is a full time job tomorrow.  Case has to be out of the house at 5:00 am.  

I love my family!!!  I love my husband!  I am truly blessed!

Thought I might try this...

This is my CRAZY kid!!!  Can you see it in his eyes???  

Say cheese!  They are so different!!!  Love the quick pose!  

Today we had a pretty busy day!  We went to a navy picnic, and it was hotter than the dickens!!!  Then we left and made a quick dash to gymnastics class across town for T.  He loves gym!  All the kids napped and I completed a test for school.  We later went back to the gym for family night and got loads of energy out.  The kids were there for an hour before we said we needed to go and they were so tired after.  It was so much fun!  Sorry no pics of that.  Well, we are still up, but hardly!  I have pried my eyes open and case has been asleep since 8:30.  Well, hope to continue to post on phone.  Keep your fingers crossed I can keep it up.

Always doing something...

Mommy out of school temporarily, and we are back to more posts, more pictures and more outings!  I think Bubba asks for his picture to be taken every time he moves, what with all the I-phones and the world-wide-web, and he knows that it will get posted somewhere for everyone to see...  Eeeh-gads!  Anyway, here we are at farmers market...  Having fun and cooling off, but I wanted to share because how often do I get all 3 kids in a picture.

Exciting!

We went to see Scooby Doo on Broadway.  It was a blast!  They were a bit scared but it was so entertaining, they wanted to stay for the following show!

Bubba of course wanted to snap my picture so please ignore the flashy ghost face!

We had some company from San Diego in for a Paralympic Nationals Track and Field Meet.  It is fun to see the guys together!  One is blind as a bat!!!  The other is one legged and they all veg and make fun of eachother!  It is so lame and fun all at the same time!  We miss them!  The kids had fun playing with them on the trampoline outside and just palling around!  Too bad the other friends didn't get into the picture!  

He lost his first tooth!

Now, these posts will be slightly out of order, but I am doing them very quickly between dinner prep and playing games with Bubba.  Anyway, two days ago now, Bubba lost his first tooth.  He wiggled and jiggled the thing trying very carefully to not swallow it.  We went for a drive and I peered in the rear view mirror to see him leaning over the cup holder so it would fall naturally into a safe spot.  Well, it didn't fall out in the car then, but we had carrots at lunch to see if we might eat healthy AND persuade the little bugger to come out.  Mommy ended up yanking it the last bit.  It was so exciting!!!  Here is the picture of the proud boy!

"I'M A BIG, BAD, DUDE!  YEAH!"

Look at me!  I lost my first tooth!  YIPPEE!

On rainy days...

On rainy days, and we have had a lot of them, we don't sit at the windows like Sally and Sam.  The Cat and the Hat doesn't visit but rather we think of our own silly games and stunts.  Sometimes it is so crazy and fun around here that we just have our own tropical storm called Hurricane Tibbs and we get every toy and clothing item out and we have darts in the background...  but there is the horse that always gets a ride from a princess or cowboy and well, we have a video or so that I need to see if I can post of some of our other rainy day fun.

Because Buzz Lightyear has just become Incredible Hulk!

This is princess Pearl

This is Bronco Bill

This is Hawaiian/Princess/Tutu Crazy Woman

∫

This is the scary Dragon of Doom 

This is happy Buzz Lightyear

Just hanging around!

Unpacking sure is fun!  Wait, don't put that box out on the curb...

Day of move in, we were locked in this room with a laptop for movies while all of the boxes and furniture were brought in.  We played with boxes and had much fun finding things we had boxed up for a whole year.  Now we have cars, trains, blocks, books and more dolls!  Oh my!

Before anything was in the closet, it was a mini gymnastics area for Trent.  I hope to show you videos of the kids activities in the house later.

Here is the front of our ranch house, minus a huge Texas star that we have hanging now.  We love, love, love our new house!!!

 This is the front of our house and the beloved Crepe Mertle tree that Bubba loves to climb on!  Reagan and Trent love to climb it too, but we don't spend much time in the front playing except when we climb out from the cars and gather to talk to neighbors.