kids say the darndest things

Mom: Jackson, what kind of cake do you want for your birthday? White cake? Yellow cake? Chocolate cake? Sprinkles cake?
Jackson: NO cake. Jus brownies.


Mom: Jackson, do you want chocolate milk or hot chocolate?
Jackson: Um, jus nice n warm chocolate.


Sis. Berrett: Jackson, who was your favorite character you saw at Disneyland?
Jackson: Uh... Jackson Jeremy Ward.

Spring Break @ Disneyland and CA Adventure!

Spring Break was a whirlwind adventure. We hit Disneyland, the beach, CA Adventure and then came home. Here was our crew for this adventure. From Left to Right: My brother Thomas, his wife Amy, and baby Bella. My sister, Mica. And US!

We learned a few things about our kids on this trip:

1. Jackson loves the big rides - the bigger the better. Space Mountain was his favorite (That sounds about right, doesn't it?).
2. All of the kids will go and go and go from 6:00 AM until 11:30 PM until they just can't move another step until they flop down on the sidewalk wherever we happen to be standing.
3. Jackson likes to pull "pranks" on the people in front of us in line. One lady got her Easter goose early... if you know what I mean...

Here are some photos of our wild and crazy time. Buzz Light Year. Oh how our family loves this game. There is always a bit of friendly competition in this interactive ride to see who can score the most points. Note the intensity of our concentration in these photos. Ever since I schooled Jeremy on this game he has been on a secret mission to NEVER LOSE AGAIN. Check out his score. Yep. He's the winner. By far!

Special thanks to Amy for finding the sweet/suite hotel deal for us. The rooms were awesome with full kitchenettes, French doors (for Jordan), and cozy beds enough for all of our kids. One more special thanks goes out to Mica for being the eyes in the back of our caravan and for teaching us cool ninja games while waiting in line. We had a blast traveling with you guys! Can't wait to do it again!

jeremy's 35th year

Jeremy's 35th birthday was last week, but we did not do a big birthday post. No worries - we DID celebrate, as we always do, we do enjoy our week-long celebrations around here... The purpose of this post is not to document what we did for his birthday, but to celebrate all the cool stuff Jeremy got to do during his 35th year of life. The year was packed with good stuff and good memories! It was a GREAT year! Here are some of the highlights:

Jeremy's school won 2 very prestigious awards #1 was the California Distinguished School Award and #2 The National Blue Ribbon Award.

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The spring season was full of many firsts. Jeremy took the family up to Yosemite for a day. We did our first official family bike ride there. Everyone was on their own bike! This dream has been in Jeremy's mind for as long as I've known him. And finally that dream came true! Speaking of dreams coming true... Jeremy finally got to eat at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland! His #1 favorite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean and has forever watched from the boats as all those people ate lunch at that restaurant. We were there alone. With no kids. Also, the first time ever. That was a great day.

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Jeremy got to baptize Logan when he turned 8 years old. It was such a special day to watch Logan choose to be baptized and watch Jeremy use his priesthood. Oooh, they look so good in their white clothes!

Jeremy went to Pismo Beach a couple of times this year. And both times got to enjoy his favorite BBQ Tri-tip sandwich from Brad's. See how much he loves it? He gives it little kisses before he chomps down.

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Our big summer trip was a different story. We go to Shaver every year during the summer for a week of fun. We play on the lake, go fishing, kayaking, do campfire with karaoke, go for nature walks, and eat as a massive group of 50+ friends. This year turned out a little different. Most of our crew got sick - including Jeremy - which made for an uneventful, miserable vacation experience.

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In the fall we got to take another "just Jeremy & Jennifer trip" to Washington D.C.! Once again, we were all alone and got to enjoy everything WE wanted to enjoy without worrying about entertaining the kids. We even got to see the Washington D.C. temple for the first time (took our first taxi ride to get there) and do a session inside.

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Another life-long goal of Jeremy's was to teach his kids how to ski. This winter he did it. He bought a cool $100 pass good for 4 lift tickets for 4 people for one season of skiing. Wow. What a deal! He had a blast taking the boys up to Badger Pass several times and watching them develop some skiing skill. It was a great satisfying experience for this daddy.

And, finally, there was a LOT of coaching that went on this year.... Jeremy coached Lizzie's soccer team, Logan's soccer team, and Trevor's Destination Imagination team. He's always wanted to be an involved father especially with the kids' extra curricular activities. He had a great time with each of the kids - spending quality time with them and doing everything he could to make them feel like they are important to him - because they are important to him!
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Once again, I say, IT WAS A GREAT YEAR! Next year will be even better. Happy Birthday, my love, my hubby, the father of my children - you deserve all the happiness a birthday can bring!

12 years of sharing

BEFORE (engagement photos) and AFTER (12 years later)

It's been a great 12 years. I love sharing everything with you.... I love that we share a bank account, an iTunes account, the blankets on our bed, and I especially love sharing a plate with you when we go out for sushi. I LOVE sharing life and memories with you!

Happy anniversary, my love!

kids say the darndest things

Jackson: C'mere mommy. I give you big kiss. I hold your head.
He pulls me in close (by my head) and plants a good one right on my lips and doesn't let go for a solid 5 seconds. That's a long time to lock lips with a 3 year old!

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Me: Jackson, is mommy a girl?
Jackson: No, you no grill. You, jus mommy, mommy.

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Jackson comes in the house and pulls off his shoes he's been wearing ALL DAY LONG with NO SOCKS. The smell that wafted through the room was sickening.
Daddy: Jackson you have STINKY feet!
Jackson: (pulls his foot up to his nose, takes a big whiff and says...) No stink, daddy. They smell good!

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Mommy: (while carrying Jackson to bed)Whew, Jackson. You are heavy!
Jackson: No mommy, you have big muscles!

Trevor's D.I. Competition

Trevor also competed at the same Destination Imagination competition as Logan on March 13th, 2010. They were not in the same category or age group so they did not compete against each other (THANK HEAVENS!).

Trevor's team was made up of all his good buddies which made for a fun group of kids that already know each other really well. Trevor's coaches were his dad, uncle, and Caleb's dad - who is also our great friend.

Their challenge was different than Logan's team in that they had to include a structure that could bear weight. They had to construct a structure made of only newspaper and glue and use it during their skit by stacking weights on top of it to see how much it could hold. And when I say weight, I mean weights - like weight lifters use on the ends of their barbells. They got their structure to hold 375 POUNDS! Yeah, a little thing made of newspaper held 375 lbs! We were all amazed that it did so well. The other teams that competed didn't come close to that - the nearest team's structure held 125 lbs. LESS than ours!

They also performed a great 6 minute skit where they reported on newsworthy stories set in London (note the cool hats). Although... no one conjured up a great British accent... hmmm.... may have to work on that for next time.

The kids had great chemistry acting out their practiced segments, using their props, and incorporating more required elements. They were naturals up there on stage! Especially our Trevor, who had the most classic line of the whole thing, "I'm goin' commando!!" (Now, we may be bias on that point because he is our son after all... but even those judges thought it was superbly entertaining as they stifled their laughter.)

The judges were bowled over by their charm, smarts, and hilarious one-liners (of course, they completed all of the required elements and scored the most points too) - and granted them FIRST PLACE in their division!

With that win comes another step of the Destination Imagination journey - State Finals. These finals are happening on April 10th. So, until then, we will revel in that glorious moment... and KEEP PRACTICING!

Enjoy a short video of the pre-competition jitters... you can almost feel their anticipation before their turn came.

Not so Wimpy to me!

Our kids LOVE the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney. They own every single one of these books and cannot wait for the next one that comes out later this year. We saw previews for this movie several months ago and knew it would be a hit with our crowd.

We took the kids for a date last Saturday night to see this movie and they LOVED it! We all had our favorite parts - be on the look out for a talking belly button, the Cheese Touch, a potty chair at the dinner table, the mother/son dance & dance routine, black socks with Birkenstocks, and an awesome scare scene in the bathroom.

Trevor and Logan assured us that there were several parts of the movie that followed the book, but there were so many things that were different. Isn't that always the case?

If you enjoy bathroom humor (swirlies, wedgies, and boogers), Jr. High school myths, great one-liners, have children that enjoy all of those things, and are possibly a Jr. High school teacher or administrator, then this movie is for you.

I have to say that Jeremy and I laughed our heads off several times. It was so funny!

After the movie you will ask yourself, "How do you spell the word diaper?"

We give it 4 "I love my mommy t-shirts" out of 5. We will even rent it from Netflix and watch it over and over when it comes out.


***DISCLAIMER*** For the record, Jeremy gave it 2 1/2 stars out of 5. He says he was not as impressed as I was. Although, I did hear him laugh out loud more than just a few times...

Logan's D.I. Competition

Logan joined the Destination Imagination (D.I.) team this year. All of the kids on his team are in 3rd grade just like him and they all go to the same school. His coach was his lovely Aunt Kari. He's been practicing with his team these last several months to prepare for this competition.

They faced 2 challenges when they got to the competition. The first was the "Main Challenge". Here is Team Superstars! just before entering the Main Challenge area.

They did research and much role playing to prepare for this event. All of the elements that were to be included in their skit we read to them by the judges before they began. They had to be rescuing an endangered species (the VHS tape), forming human props (a TV, VHS & DVD player), and incorporating a surprise superpower element at some point during their presentation. Watch the video below to see their performance:

Their second challenge was the "Instant Challenge". The kids are sworn to secrecy and are forbidden to share any details of any sort about the challenge they were given. We still have no idea what happened in there. They are all very tight lipped about that portion of the competition.

They did a great job with their Main Challenge skit. So great, in fact, that they won the prestigious Da Vinci/Renaissance award for their ingenuity and creativity.

Special thanks goes out to Kari for all the time she spent working with our boy. He had a blast imagining and acting for the first time. It was a fun ride. Go Team Superstars!!

Let's go Dodgers! Let's GO!

Logan's first ever season of baseball has begun!

His coach has the boys wear their full uniforms to all practices with the intent that they will play as a team if they look like a team all the time. And he also advised them that they didn't have to wash their uniforms between practices and games - only if they want to. This small factoid brings great relief to the laundress of our home (ME) and to Logan because he is in charge of knowing where all 10 pieces of his uniform are at all times. He can just pull off his dirty uni and throw it in his locker for next time. Awesome.

One of the 10 pieces of his uniform is a cup. Yes, a CUP. All kids (EVEN GIRLS) are required to wear a cup at all games and practices. It was quite a crack up to see all those boys walk onto the field at their first practice. Unsure. Timid. Knowing that for sure EVERYONE was staring right at the front of their pants! After the first 2 practices it finally became second nature and no big deal whatsoever. Oh, the joys of being a boy (or girl? what?).

He's playing for the Dodgers this year and has already played his first 2 games. He'll play 2 games a week until the end of the season. The most exciting play was at his last game. He hit a HOME RUN! But in the league he's playing in they are only allowed to advance 2 bases - so he didn't actually make it all the way home. It was really cool to see him actually hit the ball and run the bases. Pitter, patter, goes my heart for my little Logie Man.

That's all we have to report on Logan's baseball season thus far. I have Logan's game schedule ready to email out if you'd like to attend.

Service!

For the spring sports season Trevor was given the option to play baseball, volleyball, or track. He chose the only one he's never tried before - volleyball! He looks great out there in his green uniform. He's always on the ball (heh, heh... pun intended), paying attention, and in his ready stance. He has yet to get the ball over the net when he serves, but there is still time. Check out the intensity on his face when he's in server mode. He will do it!

He's played 2 games so far and has won both. Undefeated - that's how we roll (again with the ball puns). Trevor is also enjoying playing on the JV team. He gets out of school early to go to the game and then finishes before school is out - sweet! What a great set (pun pun pun).