1st clue summer is on it's way...

Lizzie used every one of these bathing suits last week. EVERY ONE OF THEM. She hung them up in her room and it looks like a little tribute to summer hanging there on her wall.

Anyone else start swimming last week?

Family Room Makeover

BEFORE

AFTER

See if you can spot all the differences from the first picture.

1. new wall color
2. new CHOCOLATE BROWN SECTIONAL (that started this whole business) and throw pillows
3. new fancy chair
4. new dining table (we stained it ourselves) and purchased chairs (same old benches I said I'd restain to match 5 YEARS AGO, but never have gotten around to it)
5. new hutch/cabinets still need to be refinished/painted offwhite to match the new island
6. new chandelier
7. one new floor lamp
8. new window treatments

Here's the opposite view:

1. notice the tablecloth hiding the "countertop" (it's just an old piece of plywood - 2 actually - duct taped together. nice.) still need to finish that project
2. new 3 tier basket organizer thingy - thank you craigslist for exactly what I wanted!
3. new island (we found 2 beautiful matching bathroom vanities at Lowe's and decided they would look so nice in our kitchen pushed together back to back - trying for a non matchy matchy look here with the contrasting white cabinetry.)


Some of my new favorite spots in this room are:

This seat by the entertainment center is my "piece de resistance". It's comfy and super stylish. That black on white floral print makes me so happy! And that Jeremy wanted us to purchase this beauty from Costco, our favorite store, was the icing on the cake.

My "above cabinet space" loves new/fresh decor. This whole white and black and brown accent thing is working so well with the blue wall color - some days I just stand there and take a few seconds to look at it and enjoy .... mmmm.... new color......


And I think I may have a slight fascination with clocks. Not time, mind you (obviously - they are all telling different/wrong times), just the clocks themselves.

kids say the darndest things

We're driving in the car and Lizzie says: Mom, you know I have another brother?
Me: What?! Who? (Please tell me she doesn't think I'm pregnant!) You mean Trevor?
Lizzie: No.
Me: Jackson?
Lizzie: No.
Me: Logan?
Lizzie: No. Mom - it's JESUS!
Me: Lizzie! How do you know Jesus is your brother?
Lizzie: I just know, mom.



Me: Jackson, what do you want for breakfast?
Jackson: (No hesitation) Oak-milk!
Me: Oh, oat meal?
Jackson: Yes, oak-milk!

Cowboy Caviar?

So here's my new favorite recipe. So easy. So yummy. So much tastes like summer! So good that I've made it twice in the last 2 days!

Cowboy Caviar/Fancy Salsa
3 avocados diced
2 roma tomatoes diced
1 can black beans
1 c. can white corn
Rojo's salsa to taste (mild, medium or hot)
salt to taste

Serve with tortilla chips

Serves 5-8

That's it! Only minimal prep and wa-lah! You have a summery savory appetizer or side dish for your meal.

Bathroom Makeover

We started some redecorating projects several months ago. This week you'll get some good updates on our progress.

We purchased a new sectional in lovely chocolate brown and it DID NOT go with anything! The paint, curtains, art and all the red (besides the brick floor) had to go. So here was the first of many projects. Here's our powder room. It was hard to say goodbye to the beautiful red that my dad so painstakingly cut around the edges for us. Sadly, it was time for a change.

BEFORE

AFTER

I just love this cool beachy blue color. It's called Seaside Village from Lowes under their signature collection colors - probably the Eddie Bower ones . We did this small bathroom and the main family room in this color. It looks soooo nice with that new brown sectional. And the black and white accents just make my heart sing!

I used Becky's idea for interchangeable art. These are the same frames leftover from Christmas - I had a collection of vintage Santa prints displayed in the bathroom. All I did was a Google search for flower images, chose 4 that I liked, and had them printed to 5x7's at Costco for 39 cents a piece. I took out the Santa pics and traded for flowers. It was so easy! (And if you click on that link to go back to the actual post of the Santa prints you will see that the bathroom has been painted since before Christmas - that's how long this makeover has been in process.)

2 Family Movies

We rented 2 new movies while we were at the Hernandez Hotel. We did some good movie watching on that trip, but you know how we love our movies. These were two family friendly flicks. (That was some good alliteration if I do say so myself.)

The first was the Tale of Desperaux. It's the story of a fearless mouse with HUGE ears. The kids were entertained well enough and the story was cute. I just can't get over the scurrying mice and rats. It gives me the creeps. There was a great moral at the end of the story about believing in yourself and standing up for what you know is right - so it was all worth it in the end.

We gave it 3 bowls of soup out of 5.

Our second flick of the night was the newest Adam Sandler show - Bedtime Stories. I, personally, really enjoyed this one. It was a very tame Adam Sandler - he stayed in character the whole time and was quite convincing as the kids' uncle. It was so neat to see a [fictional] family come together to support each other in a time of need. The stories they told at bedtime were the best part. How fun to see them actually come to life! This movie poster shows my favorite scene in the movie. Could it really rain gumballs?

Kerri Russell and Courtney Cox also starred in this movie. We are fans of both and thought they both did good work in the show.

We give this movie 4 Bugsy eyes out of 5.

I promise, it WILL make you smile

(Pause the music playlist on the right hand of your screen.)

Improv: 200 Sound of Music Dancers

During a promotion stunt for a Belgian television program, more than 200 dancers come out of the crowd to perform their version of "Do Re Mi".

kids say the darndest things

Speaking of Jackson and his lack of pronouncing the “l” sound in any word… he has learned how to compensate nicely by inserting a “n” sound in place of the “l”s. For example:

Logan = Nog (we call him Log for short and Jackson calls him Nog)
Lizzie = Nissy
Eyelashes = eyenashes
Ladder = nadders
rolly pollies = rohnny ponies

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This morning we had a family prayer just before the kids walked out the door to go to school. Lizzie (Nissy) really wanted to say it. Here’s how it went:

“…Thankful for this day. Bless the boys to have a good day at school. Bless us to have a fun day and watch TV like [pause] Tom & Jerry…. Amen”

What?! I was doing everything I could to hold in the laughter. She was dead serious in her request too. I guess it’s time to have another FHE on prayer, eh?

Baby "Benna" and...

Her name has been officially changed, around our house anyway, by Jackson, to Benna. No more Bella. Those "l"s in her name are just too hard to pronounce. So, for now, she will be Benna. Here are some cute pictures of Benna and family:

Benna & Gramma Elizabeth, Benna & Grampa Louie:

Benna & Nanny Boggs, Benna & Gramma DeeDee:

Benna & Uncle Samuel, Benna & Uncle Jordan:

Baby Benna with her mama and dada:

Easter Slideshow 2009

anniversary + birthday = FUN!

We celebrated our 11th anniversary in style! Jeremy's parents invited the kids, yes, ALL our kids, to stay the night so we could go out and have a relaxing evening alone and be able to sleep in the next day. How great is that?

I've been wanting Japanese Kitchen for ages so we made a reservation and invited Marcos and Melody to go with us because we did get married on Marcos's birthday after all.

Jeremy's dad offered his corvette for our mode of transportation and we couldn't refuse!



Jeremy captured this great moment at the table. Teppanyaki is so awesome.

Here's a great shot of the anniversary couple. And there's Marcos - the BIRTHDAY boy! - and his beautiful pregnant wife.


Dinner was delicious, as always. We both got the New York Steak dinner with all that fried rice, egg drop soup, shrimp, veggies, sprouts and all that. And I just love that hot and spicy sauce. You have to try it the next time you go.

After dinner Melody and I made a stop to the restroom and came across a curious sight. It was the fanciest, most exquisite, high tech toilet we've ever seen in our lives! Right there in the Japanese Kitchen restroom! Check out all the features:

Wash, bidet, enema wash (WHAT THE HECK?!), pulse, massage, dry, child (oh, how nice, they even remembered the children), you can adjust it forward, backward and even up and down, and finally there are the temperature settings. GOOD GRIEF! Who needs all those options when "doing their business"? We had a great chuckle about this phenomenon in the pot and when we told the boys about it then they had to go see if there was a fancy toilet just like this one in the men's room. Sadly, there was not. Or should I say "thank heavens there was not"? We would have been there another 30 minutes so the boys could have tried it out, I'm sure.

After the bathroom adventure we headed outside to show off our ride. Marcos and Melody looked shocked when Jeremy offered them a ride around the parking lot. They asked a couple of times if he was serious and then hopped on in. What do you think? Their faces say it all. Do you think they liked sitting in a red corvette?

Marcos and Melody, thanks for hanging out with us on YOUR special day. We had a great night celebrating with you guys and "discussing" names for your baby. We need to do it again soon.

Thomas, Toilets & Treats

Jackson put on his first pair of chonis today. Thomas the Train chonis to be exact. He thought he was pretty hot stuff. He kept pulling his pants down to show off his new duds and ended up mooning half the people he showed.

And guess what?! He did it. He really did it. I didn't even have to twist his arm. He was so agreeable and interested - it was AMAZING! HE POOPED - IN THE TOILET! None of our kids did that - especially on their first day of potty training.

Jeremy was just as shocked as I was. He did a happy dance, high-fived and made a huge big deal out of Jackson's accomplishment. Jackson was to receive a small reward each time he performed well in the bathroom. Jeremy hopped on the reward train and said, "Jackson, you want some poo-poo chips?!" Jackson knew exactly what he was talking about and ran right out the door behind his daddy to collect his treat.

A treat for a treat. What a nice thought...

Day 4 Spring Break: Morro Bay

Here it is folks. The last day of our Central Coast Tour trip during Spring Break 2009. We tend to pack in just enough fun to wear ourselves out completely. So we were all a bit tired, but still enjoying our vacation, on this last day.

We spent the morning packing and cleaning up before we finally headed out for the last time. We wanted to visit this Mexican/California fusion restaurant that my parents found the last time they were at the coast. They told us stories of burritos that were the size of your head - so of course they had our interest peaked. We had to see this place (and the burrito) for ourselves. It's called Taco Temple in Morro Bay.


Check out this food! Boy did they deliver! That burrito of Jeremy's was just about the size of his head. Trevor's $2.50 tostada was huge! My albondigas soup had meatballs the size of my fist and my parent's full size tostada could have been a meal for our ENTIRE FAMILY.

This is why we Californian's have a need for portion control. The servings were absolutely huge, beautifully presented and surprisingly different than regular Mexican food. The meat was seasoned with non-traditional Mexican food spices and they served only black beans - not refried. Their lettuce was not shredded iceberg, but fresh spring mix. It was a taste adventure for sure!

We said good-bye to my parents after lunch and then headed to the Shell Shop in Morro Bay. The kids spent 45 mintues picking their souveniers before we made our way over to the beach.

We pulled up and the kids almost did not want to get out of the car again. It's hard work having so much fun! We got out and climbed down to the beach. The tide was out so there was some good play area - perfect for a game of catch. Jeremy had fun teaching Lizzie how to throw a ball.



I was impressed by Trevor and Logan's skill. They could both throw and catch the ball really well.


A couple of last photos before we hopped back into the car for the drive home.


Well, we did it. We wiped him out good. The kids thought Jackson's sleeping position in the car was pretty funny. And I have to say that his nap made our ride home so very enjoyable.

One last thank you to Kelly and Julio for a great vacation. Your home was warm and welcoming and we hope to return the favor soon. But for now, Spring Break has come to an end and life will go back to normal tomorrow. It was great to spend so much time together and it's amazing how one week is never long enough.

Day 3 Spring Break: Pismo/SLO

Day 3 of our Central Coast Tour took us to Pismo Beach. This beach has many fond memories for our family as we visit every summer for about a week with my Boggs side of the family. We do all the same things and eat all the same places every time we go. But we could only choose our most favorite activities because rain was forecasted for this day of our trip. We had pier fishing and Splash Cafe on our To-Do list.

We got all the way down to the pier, parked and got out of the car JUST as it started raining! My parents had just come out of their hotel room and were walking up to the pier at the exact same time we arrived - total coincidence. Mom was prepared of course, with her umbrellas - one huge golf umbrella and her beach umbrella - genius! The wind picked up and sadly it was too strong for the beach umbrella and we had to put it away.

That rain was not going to deter us or our fun! The boys, grandma and grandpa went out to the pier to fish while Kelly and I took the babies shopping. Fishing in the rain or shopping with small children. Which would you choose? After about an hour we were all done with that fun. We sloshed our way to our next activity - Splash Cafe! and met for lunch.

This restaurant is on our family's top 5 favorites. Jeremy is not a fish eater, but he likes to dip the onion rings in the famous clam chowder. He also likes to run next door to Brad's and get a tri-tip sandwich to eat while we enjoy our fishy food. You can see just how much he likes it!


Mmmmm.... I'm salivating..... Logan went for the sourdough bread bowl this time around. And Trevor loves their hamburgers with curly fries.


So after yet another gut-busting meal we decided we were cold, wet, and tired and needed to find some candy to cleanse our palates. The Pismo Hot Lix store was closed and a sweet treat was calling! We hopped in the car and drove back to San Luis to visit their Powell's candy store. The kids were in heaven trying to decide how to spend their money. Jackson was in heaven as he filled up his bag with all different kinds of gummy candies, "I wun dis wun, an dis wun, an dis wun..." After about 30 minutes of shopping they all plopped down into the movie seats in the store and sat for a good while. Can you tell these kids were wiped out?




With candy in hand we walked down the street to the San Luis Obispo Mission. None of us had been there before and thought it would be interesting and appropriate for our crowd especially because Trevor had just finished his mission project for school. He didn't have the San Luis Mission, but it was still relevant, right? The chapel was gorgeous as was the garden/courtyard area. We walked down to the small river running in front of the mission and had some fun floating sticks down the stream and racing each other to see who's stick was the fastest.

It was such a beautiful spot that I couldn't help but take a few shots of these to gorgeous girls. They are so cute together! And that Lucy has the cutest wardrobe of any little girl I know.

I forgot to mention earlier that Julio did not get to spend the days with us. He was busy at work and school otherwise he would have been right there with us the whole time. But we did get to see him in the evenings which was nice.

So after another fun-filled day we headed back to Kelly's house earlier than usual to kick back and watch movies. She cooked us a delicious dinner and we had a nice time just laying around and being lazy relaxing at their place.