lexey and things that crawl

 

Lex has a pretty serious fear of some bugs and all spiders. We are wondering if we can trace it back to the time when Dave threw a spider in the bath to get the kids out quicker....anyway, phobias aside she really loves some of God's creations. Recently we had a baby lizard get into the house. While Calvin and Clare were away Lex and I caught the lizard and took some pictures as proof for her siblings who we knew wouldn't believe her so that we could let it go before it died or got loose in the house again!

 

It was funny to me how Lex wasn't afraid to touch the thing even though she is so terrified of some other things that crawl.

This bug landed near lexey and then when she tried to move away it ended up jumping right on her dress.  It was hissing and it nearly scared the daylights out of her! Poor thing couldn't get it off of her since the little claws were hanging onto her dress. Finally we took the dress off.

Jo's 2nd birthday!

Somehow I fogot to post about Jo's 2nd birthday (july 7th)! We had such a fun day!

Scott, Lance and Abbey were here. Abbey helped me make Jo's monkey cake!

Jo's first order of business was to have a family swim party. Her favorite activity this summer was jumping into the pool and she was always looking for an adult to swim with her. Dave's present to her was swimming with her (he doesn't love swimming so this was a true gift)!

lance

The monkey cake!

 Jo loves monkeys so we decided to do the monkey cake. At first she didn't know what it was and was kind of scared of it.

 scott

Singing happy birthday!

Blowing out the candles

 There was a wasp trying to make a home on our deck so dave hung his stinky socks up there to keep them out. It worked. They must have been super stinky!

Once Jo figured out the monkey was a cake, she was pretty happy.

 Cute guests - Parker, Jess and Austin

 and Bob and Kari

With the extra cake supplies we let the kids make their own mini-monkey cupcakes!

 Jo loves her babies!

Happy cake face!

Jo enjoyed opening her presents. Parker helped her open the one from him.

 Whenever she wears these clothes she still says "Jessica pants Jojo" or "Jessica shirt Jojo"

The kids gave her monkey books (her favorite).

They also gave her a baby bed for her baby. It took us a while to figure out how to set it up. Just like the real thing! Those darn pack-n-plays!

Cute dress grandpa Bob picked out from Tea clothing at Nordstrom.

We also got Jo a zoo pass so she and I can do the zoo this year with just the two of us home. We went for the first time last Friday when Dave was home after interviews. It was such a fun day, just the 3 of us. Jo was so excited about all the animals. We haven't been to the zoo since last may so everything was as new to her. When we approached the car she started crying and saying "more monkeys. no go home. more monkeys at zoo." I am looking forward to a fun year with her! She is such a delightful little person. I get such  a kick out of all the things she says and does.

My favorite word of the week for her is sure. She says it "dure".  If you ask her almost anything, she says um....sure. (instead of yes or no). I just can't get over her cuteness!

San Diego bucket list

It is possible that 9 months from now we will be leaving San Diego.  (insert tears, whines and wailing).  Consequently we have been talking about some of the things we want to do and see before we leave. 

Camping at William Heise Park Julian

Auqatica Water Park

Go to Reno to visit Grandma (attend water park in summer if possible)

Invite residents over

See the Larsens in OC

Yosemite

Find Dave's old middle school friend in OC - Tony Smith

LaBrea Tar Pits

 

 

Calvin's hair cut

Calvin is always asking for a buzz. I usually try to avoid a full buzz because of the scars running across his head.  If he has longish hair and I trim him to a 3 or 4  on the buzzers he is usually satisfied since it is such a dramatic change. However, this time he wanted a real buzz. Actually, he wanted to shave his head.  We walked upstairs to get the buzzers an as we were getting into my room the phone rang. I stopped to answer the phone and while I was on the phone (for 2 minutes, it wasn't for me) Calvin shaved the front of his hair with the buzzer and no guard. He looked crazy ridiculous. I had to shave the rest of his head for him.  He looks a little funny still and people definitely stop and stare at the scars but he is happy with his soft fuzzy head and his ability to control the situation.

He has the big zigzag scar across his head and also has two smaller hairs just behind his hair line from his surgery last November (brow advancement). Those ones I've never seen before because they are so small and even a little hair covers them.

We actually had a really nice FHE Monday and played freeze tag and then ate ice cream cones afterwards.   (sometimes FHE's are less than ideal!)

It is fun having 4 kids! Now that jo is 2 and fully aware and talking she can participate in all the family activites!

patience in parenting

I am worried that by the time I figure out this parenting business my kids will be long gone!  I guess that's why grandparenting is so great - cuz you know everything by that time :)

A few nights ago I was nagging the girls (Lexey and more especially Clare) for taking too long to get ready in the mornings and not being able to finish her work, and for not going to bed quick enough so that they are rested and can get up on time to finish morning jobs.

Anyway, I went in to check on the girls and they had both gotten dressed for the next morning before going to bed so that they'd be all ready to go. They are little darlings.

The girls really enjoy sharing a room. I am happy for them that they have each other! I never had a sister!

The girls fight over whose bed Tressel will sleep on. To be quite honest, he kind of chooses for himself so it doesn't matter where they tell him to go. He is such a bed hog though, I don't know how they stand it!

 I am always trying to find the balance between pushing them to accomplish and learn a lot and letting them be 5 and 7 year olds who need lots of time to play and develop. Some days when I just let them play I think that the most important thing they are learning right now is not how to finish a to-do list, but how to be good people. I'd hate to burden them with so much stress that they grow up too quickly!  They have a full adult life of worrying about all those to-do lists!

I think of the words to the song from Peter Pan, "Never Grow Up!"

I don't want to wear a tie,
Or a serious expression,
In the middle of July

.... and if it means I must prepare,
 to shoulder burdens with a worried air,
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow uuupppp, not me!

There is something so beautiful and wonderful about children and it is because they are innocent, care free and playful. I am sure that will all be gone before I know it so I want to enjoy every minute of it, and somehow still get them to do all their chores! :)  For record keeping sake, I will mention that Lexey is pretty good about getting jobs done quick so she has time to go play. Clare is better at taking her time  :) and

interview trail

Today Dave is in Seattle. He called real quick to say hi and to tell me how green everything is. It is beautiful there.  Seattle would be a fun city to live in for a year. One of the perks of this hospital is that it is not located downtown. It is near the U of W but really it is in the middle of some nice neighborhoods by the water.  As such, we could live very near the hospital and not have to worry about a long commute or traffic. Dave said they have a deal where they pay you $3.50 if you do not bring a car to work. Many dr's/staff bike to work each day.

 

Since it was 90 degrees here today and a beautiful overcast 70 there, it is sounding really good! 

 

(seattle children's hospital)

Wed/Th this week Dave is off to Boston Children's. Boston Children's is one of the top hospitals in the country. It is sitting in the heart of Boston next to many other medical facilities.  It would be a fun city to live in and would be VERY different from what we're used to.  We have several friends who have trained in Boston and lived there who speak very highly of their time there. It would be an adventure.

Both Boston and Seattle would have good special education. I'm not done with my research but from what I have seen so far I think both cities would have something suitable for Calvin, which is good. Aside from his needs I think we are happy to go anywhere.

Next Mon is LA Children's, which on one list I saw is the largest (by # of beds) children's hospital in the US.  The biggest down side to LA children's is that it is affiliated with USC. I hate USC.  It would be as hard to go there as it would be to Michigan. Although, Michigan is probably a prettier place to live.  Actually, the hospital  in a nice location near Glendale and Pasadena and some of the prettier areas of LA. You can see that downtown LA is in the distance.