The Realities of my Life...

January 12 of 12 -2013

2013-01-23T16:23:00.000-08:00

So here we are at the beginning of the new year. It started off as motivating and inspiring. Some of the motivation is still there and some is not. It's life folks. January 12 landed on a Saturday this year.

01. Lucas goofing around. Rolling on the ground.

02. Grace sitting on top of the table coloring. She colors not only her paper but also the table. She dressed herself too. Found the skirt and put it on. It's inside out and backwards. Look at her hair! It's so long and always in her face unless I put it back in a ponytail on top of her head. She refuses to get her hair done sometimes. I have to chase her down or just wait till she is strapped in her car seat. Then she'll let me.

03. We had Saturday morning chores. Kids helped a lot. We got the house looking somewhat decent.

04. Grace sleeping on the couch. She sleeps great there. Especially when she is sick and starts coughing. One day earlier in the week she coughed so hard during nap time she threw-up. It was all over her bed, but not on her at all. Very gross when I found it. Thus, sleeping on the couch is much nicer.

05. The dog. He drives me nuts. Just sitting by the back door waiting for someone to take him in the alley to play fetch. Can you say "Buyers Remorse" when it comes to this dog. Seriously.

06. Me. I have so many wrinkles appearing. I blame the weather. But, probably not enough water and the weather combo is why so many little lines are appearing. age. what can I say?

07. We went to Red Robin at the mall across from Jon's office. It's our favorite family restaurant. After we ate I ran some errands at the mall while Jon took the kids to his office since they have been wanting to see it. It was a very cold day and hot chocolate was a yummy treat they had when they got there.

08. Lucas wanted to take a picture of us on the couch. Jon and I snuck in a little kiss. Haha. The boys totally were grossed out and started yelling at us. So fun to tease.

09. David playing army guys. He loves to set all his guys up and then him and I battle it out. He always wins. But, I'm a good loser. :)

10. ME. Again. Pregnant. 31 weeks.

11. David and Grace sitting in my bed enjoying a t.v. show. Love it when my kids are nice to each other. Although, the boys are very nice to Gracie.

12. Weekly Chore Charts. I finally got organized enough to make these for the boys. It's working like a charm so far. Some of the things that they have to do each day in order for them to get their allowance on Saturday are: reading scriptures, individual prayer, family prayer, Family Home Evening, homework, reading, exercise, bath/shower, cub scout stuff/faith in God, daily chore, and then Saturday chore. Each child has different requirements and then they all have the same of some. It really is helping us as a family make sure we do the things we need to. Plus, it keeps me on track.

David's B-day Party

2013-01-14T16:27:00.002-08:00

This is a sample of the fun we had prepping and celebrating David's birthday. His birthday is 2 days before Christmas so it gets kind of hectic finding the time and energy in making a cake and having a birthday party. But we did it!

David loves Sponge Bob. I made this cake for him last year, but he wanted it again. This year he kept asking me if he could help frost it. At first I didn't want him too, but then I got thinking and realized it's his cake and if he doesn't care if it's perfect why should I care. So I let him at it. It was so fun and entertaining for us all. It was mainly a family party so him licking his fingers and all that was not a big concern for me. I just didn't eat that part:)

Lucas and Micah, with the help of Jon, made pretzel chocolate treats that were super good. And we let Lucas light the candles on the cake. Overall it was a successful birthday. At least I think so.

David turns 5!

2013-01-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

Can you see his excitement! Our David is 5. His birthday is right before Christmas. He is such a bundle of fun. We gave him the kinect Xbox game-Star Wars and this was his reaction. Funny thing about this is that he was very excited to get it, but didn't want to play it. He just wanted to watch his brothers play. He was completely content just watching.

What can I say about David? I'd say that 95% of the time he is the happiest, sweetest boy. The other 5% of the time he is stubborn and let's just say don't tick him off. You could say he kind of has a temper . . . don't know where he got that from? :) ummm. . . no comment. He is by far the toughest 5 year old I have ever known. Is not afraid of anyone and will just take care of them if they tick him off. I have a feeling I will be in the principles office more than once with this kid once real school begins. Just ask Lucas and he'll tell you that David has a great right hook. I always feel bad for Micah and Lucas. They hold back for the most part and show some restraint.

Because David is so small people would never think that he is so tough. He is probably the most athletic 5 year old I've ever seen as well. He is super fast and coordinated. He loves soccer and can play for hours if he has the chance.

Other loves include playing Army guys, Star War legos, Star War action figures, coloring, playing with his friends especially the neighborhood kids. He loves to ride his bike and play any sport. His favorite food is bacon cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets. He also loves cookies, oreos are his fav.

His dislikes: Being told no (I think all kids have this same dislike). Being put in time-out. He will never admit that he likes school and constantly tells me how much he dislikes it. But, once he's there he is so happy and confident so I don't buy into his whole "I hate school" drama. He says the toys at school are lame. I can only imagine. Don't know what will happen when he goes to Kindergarten next year. He'll really be upset...

His biggest fear are the sewer drains in our neighborhood. I should take a picture of them. They are quite scary since there is no barrier in front of them. A kid could seriously fall into one and be gone. I can sympathize with his fear.

We are so blessed to have David be part of our family. It is fun to watch him grow, learn and develop into a confident well rounded individual. His whole face lights up when he smiles and nothing can make me happier when I look at him and know he is "my David," full of love and spunk.

December 12 of 12

2012-12-31T21:59:00.003-08:00

The last 12 of 12 of the year. December 12th was on a Wednesday this year.

01. This is Micah standing in front of the school library. After school we went to the school book fair.

02. My dinner. It's not healthy but so yummy. Pancakes with crispy edges because they were cooked in oil. Then smothered in peanut butter and syrup. Totally not healthy. But one of my favorites and they are the best when I am pregnant since I have no guilt eating them. :)

03. Gracie patting my belly. I'm 26 weeks pregnant.

04. This is what the leaves look like in December in San Diego. Yep, it looks and feels like Fall. I don't mind since bundling up kids is no fun in the winter time.

05. Before bed Micah asked Grace for a hug. She loves giving hugs.

06. Walking home from school. Grace demanded to push the stroller home. Oh, and this is the same stroller we had in New York. It is old and squeaks. I don't usually use it, but Grace saw it in the garage so we took it.

07. Gracie looking at the tree and destroying the ornaments. She has destroyed more ornaments than any of the boys ever did. I don't mind too much since we didn't put too many on.

08. Before bed while I was getting the pajamas for the boys Grace pulled out David's underwear and wanted to wear it. This is her running around the house in them.

09. Walking home from school. This picture is more of the boys up in front talking and getting along. Notice how only Lucas has a jacket on. Yep, it's December.

10. For Cub Scouts the previous Friday we made graham cracker houses using old Halloween candy. It was awesome. We used up all the candy and the boys had so much fun.

11. Jon trying to leave for work in the morning. David and Gracie hanging on to his legs and Jon pretending to be a monster. They were laughing so hard.

12. Every morning before Jon leaves to work Gracie wants Jon to give her a kiss on the forehead. If she doesn't get this then she gets very sad.

So that is the end of 2012 12 of 12 challenge. It was a fun challenge. It really showed how much my days are like groundhog day and how the weather here doesn't change much. But kids change and I enjoyed the process of documenting at least one day out of the month. If I didn't do this I don't think I would have blogged all year. So I am so happy and thankful that I did this. I will continue this for the new year as well.

November 12 of 12

2012-12-16T10:08:00.000-08:00

Monday November 12, 2012

I'm only a month late. But, I did have the pictures taken on time and the collage done last week. Here is the day in review.

01. I organized the junk drawers. I put most the stuff in closed containers so Grace and the boys can't just open the drawers and empty them whenever they want to. We never baby-proofed the cupboards and there are days when I wish we had since Grace gets into everything and then scatters it all over the house. It makes the house kind of messy.

02. Lucas and Micah watching Minecraft videos on the computer. They got this game taken away from them for a couple of months because of the many fights it would cause. Since we gave it back to them they have done much better. I think they fear that we'll take it away again. It's still not on the computer just on the ipad and iphone.

03. David eating Life cereal for breakfast. It's his favorite.

04 and 05. Gracie playing peek-a-boo with David's Spongebob hat. She is so funny and entertains herself pretty well.

06. I drove around our neighborhood area to find a place to shoot our family photos. This picture is actually not the place we chose.

07. I made a Thanksgiving tree with leaves on it. As a family we sat down and listed off things we were thankful for. It was a nice way to show and talk to our kids about being grateful for the things we have in this life.

08. Our dog. Sometimes I put the crust of Lucas' peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the ground. This dog is so weird. Every time I do it he just stares at the bread for 5 minutes and and sniffs it. Sometimes he doesn't even eat it.

09. David running. He is just a cute kid. I can't get enough of his smile.

10. Grace sitting in her car seat. She just woke up and was still in a daze.

11. Micah relaxing in the evening before bed playing a game on the iphone.

12. Gracie playing with her dolls. She loves her baby dolls and will sing to them and rock them. She has a glow worm doll in her arms in this picture singing with it and rocking it. She is very cute and loves babies.

Halloween 2012

2012-12-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Fairy Princess, The Lumberjack, The Zombie Soccer player, and Captain America.

Dancing Zombie Soccer Player during the school parade.


David as the Army man during the school parade. At night he became Captain America.

The boys hauled in 22 pounds of candy total this year. Jon, Lucas and Micah trick-or-treated for 2 hours while Grace, David and I came home after an hour and handed out candy. It was a fun night.

Random thoughts...

2012-12-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

I'm tired. I don't really want to sit here and post anything. I started to post my 12 of 12 for the month of November. Yeah, I'm almost a month late. No surprise here. That is just me. Always late. Micah keeps telling me to change our clocks so they tell the right time. I tell him I can't. If I did then we'd never make it to school, practices, church, or anything else on time. Some clocks are 10 minutes fast, some are 5 and some are just a few minutes. I have no idea which clock is right. If I want to find out then I use my phone. How's that for some tidbit of info? Not that exciting, I know.
So looking through some photos I still never posted Halloween pics. We have some good ones too. Maybe I will at the end of this. I'm 25ish weeks pregnant. I lost track. Can't really remember what week I'm in. Just know that the baby will be here mid March. No name ideas so far. Sometimes I wake-up thinking about it. I don't know if I should stay with Bible names or not. Their are not a lot of girl Bible names that I really like. We'll see. This baby might just be siding with me since I'm the only one in the family not named in the scriptures. I have to have someone on my side:) j/k
It's Christmas time. I still haven't bought any gifts. Probably should start. The kids aren't asking for anything of greatness. Unless, you consider nerf guns, army guys, and basic lego pieces of worth. Lucas has asked for some soccer stuff. But, again no huge gift.
I don't know what else to say. I guess that is all I've got. Did I mention I'm hungry and tired. Should probably go eat something. I know I have lots to do. Like clean the counters and floor since I have cub scouts here at the house today. Plus, I need to get my Christmas cards addressed and mailed. Things to do, things to do. Think of you, think of you. (that was written on a hallmark card 15 years ago that I have never gotten out of my mind.) I'm weird. My boys think that being called weird is offensive. I don't mind :)

Thankful Nov. Challenge

2012-11-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

It's November! That means I always commit to blogging once a day to say one thing I'm thankful for. It also means I fail at this challenge every year. But, who cares?!! It's the thought that counts.

Today I'm thankful that October is over. It was a hard, difficult month and it just needed to END! Thankfully it did. Often during the month I caught myself saying "and this too shall pass." Yet, the next day or week something else difficult or challenging would occur. But, we made it. Yeah!! I could list all the things that happened, but will not do so in this post. Maybe in another one. I probably should write it down for the purpose of reminding myself that life gets hard, yet if we keep going eventually it'll get better. That is where hope and faith needs to come into play. And somehow it always does. . . if you let it.

Number 5...

2012-10-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

We said we were done. We said it many times. We said it over and over to the point we were considering to make it not even possible. But, then somehow in January after being on the pill for 3 months, never missing a day I got pregnant. I was shocked because I have always made fun of people getting pregnant on the pill. I mean really, what's the likelihood of such a thing to happen if you take it right? But, here we were pregnant and totally unexpected. And...we were happy. It felt right. Jon who told me at least every other day that Grace was the last. Grace as sweet and beautiful as she is has been our handful. She doesn't sleep and she doesn't eat. And when she does eat half the time she throws up because she chokes. For the record she is getting better. But, in January, it was rough. So when we found out we were surprisingly really excited. I was morning sick and night sick, the norm for me. I was pregnant. Then I went in for my first check-up. I was 11 weeks. They did the ultrasound and I actually had what they called a blighted ovum. Meaning cells came together but did not form into anything. But, the symptoms are the same as pregnancy. I was devastated and so was Jon. The comforting news is that Jon and I are very fertile. Not lying about this. :)

Fast forward a few months and we felt that their was one more baby to join the family. And now we are in October and I'm 18 weeks pregnant. I didn't really tell many people for a long time. I just didn't want the attention. When people don't know the time flies by. It's true. I was really sick the first 12 weeks. And since I never really lost all of my belly from Grace people didn't think much of it. (The benefits of holding onto the extra love handles:) hehe.)

We waited until 14 weeks to tell the boys. They were hilarious. We sat them down and told them. Lucas and Micah both responded at the same time, "Another Baby!" Lucas then goes on and says "You just had a baby! Now you're going to have to take care of him (pointing to Micah), and him (pointing to David), and her (pointing to Grace)." (Obviously, he thinks I don't do much for him. hilarious.) Then he says, "Now you're gonna be up all night." I told him that I'm already up all night, so not much will change with that. It's true remember Grace doesn't sleep. At least he's concerned for me. Then we asked what they wanted to have. Girl or boy? Micah and David said a boy so they could have another wrestling partner. And Lucas said a girl so Grace doesn't get too spoiled. haha. Another great quote came the next day when walking home from school. It was all 4 kids and myself and we walked past this woman and she said "Wow! You have your hands full." (we get this comment all the time.) But, Lucas says under his breathe so I could hear "yep, and we're gonna have another one." Although, it sounds as if Lucas is not looking forward to another sibling he really is fine. Lucas is a very serious yet a sarcastic kid. He has a great sense of humor.

At the beginning of the week we found out that we are going to have another...GIRL! We are excited and grateful to be parents to another child. I am due at the end of March.

12 of 12 October

2012-10-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

Another day in Paradise. Friday, October 12, 2012. We live exciting lives around here. Looking at all the 12 of 12 pictures throughout the year it looks as if we live the same day over and over again. But, Grace's hair is longer each month. That is really the only difference. It's not like the weather changes around here. At least not enough to really notice. Not complaining. It's just a observation.

01. David coloring. He was really into coloring Sponge Bob pictures.

02. Micah hanging out in the tree at the park.  He loves to climb and is quite good at it.

03. Me taking a picture and Grace trying to see what it looks like. It's her favorite part. She loves the camera as long as she gets to see the picture after you take it.

04. Grace reading a book by herself. She loves books and constantly asks if you can read to her. None of my boys did this.  Personally I think it's a girl thing.  You might disagree.

05. Army guys and tanks. I think I picked these toys up at least twice during the day and finally I gave up and just walked over them.  The boys especially David and the neighbor kids love army guys.

06. Lucas relaxing on the couch watching some t.v. show that is allowable in our home. He is working hard in his studies and sports. I am always happy when he gets to take a break and relax.

07.  We went to the neighborhood park and the boys brought the nerf guns. They got into some battle and enjoyed fighting each other and running around all over the place.

08. Micah pretending to be a karate kid. He really wants to take karate. I honestly do not need him or any of my children to learn to fight more often or effectively. They already fight enough.  

09. Lucas with his Nerf gun.  He looks so old in this picture. I like it, but at the same time the reality of him growing up is tough sometimes. Where does the time go?!!

10. Jon doing the dishes. He's the best husband and father ever. Always willing to help me and the kids as well as working long hours.  He does a lot for our family and I'm grateful for his love and patience with us all.

11. David. What can I say about this kid. He just is pure joy. His smile lights up the whole house.  Seriously, he is just so fun and such a firecracker. Always, making us laugh and keeps up going constantly. 

12. Grace sitting on the floor playing the ipad. She is very good at navigating it even though she is not even 2. She loves the preschool monkey game. And she loves to look at the picture albums on it.

September 12 of 12

2012-09-28T14:19:00.001-07:00

This is my life. Filled with noise, messes, soccer, school, and crazy chaos. It's a good life and I'm blessed to have it.

01. Reading to Grace before bedtime. Dog is chewing some stuffed animal that he found. Some stuffed animals are worth chewing up. Or so the dog thinks.

02. David throwing the dog a ball in the alley. He is accurate half the time. Usually we lose one or two tennis balls in the neighbors yards. We eventually get them back.

03. Pots and pans. Need I say more. Lots of dishes. No desire to wash them. They eventually got washed. Maybe the next day... but who's counting.

04. Grace running after the boys in the morning while they are walking to school. Every morning she runs after them. Every morning I run after her (usually in my pajamas). awesome.

05. Grace's favorite word: STOP! She hangs onto the O and so it usually is this ST OOOOOOOO P!
She's just a little vocal and a little stubborn...just a little. (o.k. maybe a lot)

06. Micah. I snapped this one at the playground. He was waiting for his soccer practice playing with Grace while David was at his practice.

07. Walking to school. David is now in Pre-K in the afternoon class. Who says you can't turn a single stroller into a double? What do you think the basket is for? Obviously it's for 4 year olds who don't like to walk in 90 degree weather to school. I don't blame him.

08. Grace climbing and getting into whatever she can make a mess out of. She has mastered it.

09. Grace stole Lucas' shirt in the morning and put it on. Then she came down stairs all proud of herself. David saw the camera and had to get in the photo. He's a superstar!

10. Micah got on the toy at the playground with Grace. Grace is pushing and yelling at him to STOP! I don't know how she got so demanding. hmmmm. oh, she has brothers. right.

11. Lucas was showing me his guns. While David practices Lucas takes his ball and finds a goal and friend to practice with. Lucas has really taken to soccer and is always playing in his spare time.

12. David is a natural athlete. The kid is crazy fast and coordinated for his age. Not bragging just stating the obvious:) hehe. Seriously, he is fun to watch. Scores like 8 goals a game. He's getting better at not taking the ball away from his own teammates.

August 12 of 12

2012-09-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

I'm almost a month late with getting this up on the blog. We have major computer issues right now in our home. Our iMac is on its last leg. We are waiting for the new iMac to come out sometime in the next couple months. We've only been waiting since basically January for this, but no use in buying the current iMac model now. Because of the slow computer and lack of memory on the hard drive I don't use the computer much. It's probably a good thing.

Well, for the 12th of August we found ourselves waking up in my sister's house in Utah around 3 in the morning Utah time. (it's really 2 in the morning for us.) On the 11th of August we left my parent's house and drove to Utah. It took us 10.5 hours and we only stopped once outside of Boise. We made excellent time. We contemplated just driving all the way home to California, but our kids were done and we were done with our kids in the van. :) hehe. Thankfully, my sister was home and we stayed with her for the night. We ate Cafe Rio for dinner and watched Spiderman with the kids.

Up at 2:30 and in the van by 3 we were off for our last 10 hour drive home. I didn't actually remember it was the 12th of August until we hit Las Vegas which was sometime around 8 in the morning. I could be a little off on my timing. I don't pay attention to time after being in the car for so stinkin' long.

01. Jon driving. I don't know how he stayed awake. I kept falling asleep. Thankfully, he's really good at getting no sleep. Thank you law firm for that:) hehe.

02. Micah playing the ipad. I think he's trying to hide it from his brothers. 

03. Lucas just enduring the ride. And picking on his brothers when he was bored...meaning often.

04. Las Vegas. What can I say. I actually don't like Las Vegas. Unless you're into strippers or gambling I don't see the point in going.  Just sayin.

05. David. He's adorable. He did great on the drive. 

06. We let Gracie out of her carseat when we made our one stop outside of Vegas.  I let her play in the front seat while we all took turns using the restrooms and getting breakfast.  She loved the freedom.  And she did not like getting back into the car seat.  She actually did amazing on the whole trip.

07. We only made one stop in Primm.  It's outside of Vegas. 

08. The longest 3 hours and 45 minutes left of the whole trip. By this point we are all exhausted and cranky.  The boys are bored. Jon is tired. I am tired and my feet got swollen. Weird. Plus the traffic from Vegas to Los Angeles is brutal.  

09. Lots of traffic and congestion on the road.

10. We bought a sign from Alcatraz that we plan on hanging up in the garage. It says "Regulation #5: You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention.  Anything else that you get is a privilege."  Sometimes our kids don't understand how great they've got it.  

11. After two straight days and 21 hours in the van Gracie's hair got a little ratted.  It took a lot of detangler to get this out.  

12. Phineas loving that we are home and couldn't get enough of Lucas and the kids.  Lucas just happy to stretch his legs.  Yes, that is our dog on the couch and yes we are fine with it.    

That sums of the day. We drove a total of 3,200 miles in 13 days. We went to San Fransico, The Redwoods up in Crescent City, Portland, Multnomah Falls, and then the Tri-Cities for 3 days where we crashed and literally didn't leave the house for one of those days. We were exhausted by that point. It was a great trip. Although we didn't see any friends, other than family, which I regret. Sorry. I hope you don't hate me and know next time when I come home we'll stay longer and most likely we'll fly. That way I won't be so exhausted.

Beach Days

2012-07-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

Gracie loves the beach. She loves the water and the sand. Our official beach day is Wednesday. We go with our friends from church. We'll spend between 3-5 hours depending on how the kids are doing. I am so grateful we live so close to the ocean. It really is calming and peaceful even if the beach is full of people. Just the sound of the water and the feel of the sand between my toes make the whole day amazing. We love SoCal!

July 12 of 12- Summer Continues...

2012-07-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

I love Summer time. I love having my kids home. I love having busy days with them. And I love having slow summer days with not much to do. July 12th was one of those days. We had nothing planned when we woke-up. I was up all night with Grace the night before. She has not been sleeping well. Could have been because the previous day we spent 5 hours at the beach and she didn't get her nap until 4:15 that evening.

Thursday was the day before Micah's 7th Birthday. So part of the evening was the prep work for that.

01. Smoothie. I got a cool blender for Mother's Day. In this recipe is soy milk, greek yogurt, banana, spinach, an apple, grapes,  frozen mixed berries, strawberries, and ice. My kids love it. So do I.

02. Grace drinking the smoothie.

03. We went swimming at our friend's house. They have a sweet pool that we often play in.

04. Lucas and Micah chilling on the couch. Lucas watching a show on the ipad. Micah practicing his math skills on his own.

05. Gracie loves the water. She is fearless and it frightens me. But, she is cute.

06. Lucas stayed at his friend's house after we were done swimming. Micah and David came home and chilled out. Micah got some ipad game time without having to share too much. David was happy to just watch and drink my soda. 

07. I went to Target in the evening.  Jon actually got home at a reasonable time so I headed to Target to get some last minute presents for Micah's b-day.  When I got home Grace was still up so she helped me unload the Target bags.

08. I was exhausted by the end of the night so I told Jon to take a picture of me on the couch sleeping.  But I couldn't pretend to sleep without smiling so instead I made a goofy face and stuck my tongue out. I'm crazy. Crazy tired that is. hehe. But don't you love my dog Phin, snuggling up with me?! I love him.

09. I put a sign up for Micah. 

10. Our family tradition is to blow up balloons and put them all over the birthday boy's bedroom floor so when he wakes up his room is over-flowing with balloons. The kids love this.

11. David fell asleep at 5 p.m. on the couch. I put him in bed even though he was still in his swimsuit. He slept until 7 the next morning. He was exhausted. 

12. This is my crazy face. I love me when I am crazy fun. Life is so much more fun when I don't take myself so seriously. This is true for everyone. Just some advice I give myself. Also, my freckles are coming in pretty nice because of all the sun I'm getting. 

That sums up the day. I crawled into bed at 11:40 p.m. and Grace actually slept the whole night. Yeah!

June 12 of 12 - Summer Time!

2012-06-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

June 12th landed on a Tuesday this year. The boys are out of school and so summertime fun was had.

01. Micah doing his summer homework.  Grace playing play dough. She is stabbing it with a pencil. David is actually next to Micah (not shown in the picture). He is playing play dough and bugging his brother.

02. Lucas eating a popsicle at the sprinkler park. This kid loves popsicles. He'd eat a dozen a day if I'd let him.

03. In the evening Grace, Micah, and David played in the alley.

04. David decided he wanted to learn to ride a bike without training wheels. Before this day he was only on a tricycle. Mainly because he is so crazy wild on his bike that I have been afraid to put him on a two wheel bike with or without training wheels. So I got him on "the Diego" bike. This bike is magical for any kid to learn how to ride a bike. After two times down the alley he got the hang of it. Not enough where I trust him on it. As of Thursday he is much better. Still a little crazy on it though. As in not looking in front of him. 

05. The boys getting their computer games in. 

06. Micah eating a popsicle after he ate a fudge pop.  I was on the phone and next thing I know they're all on their 2nd popsicle. Limits have been set since. 

07. David at the park. Always running.

08. Gracie loving the splash park. She loves, loves, loves water. She can't get enough of it. Laughs when she pours water on her head. It's hilarious to watch.

09. Gracie with her popsicle. Not only does she love popsicles she loves ice-cubes. She is always trying to get into the freezer to get ice. It must feel good on her teeth.

10. While Lucas was at Soccer camp. The rest of us (Micah, David, Grace, and myself) went to the grocery store. I have to say that shopping with 3 kids is much easier than 4. It has to do with one less kid that comes up with shooting, hiding, or asking constantly for stuff. In this picture Micah is picking out apples. Grace wanting to grab an apple. David is grabbing apples while I am taking pictures quickly before David drops all the apples onto the ground.  He only dropped one thankfully. :)

11. I like this picture of David looking at Lucas while eating his popsicle. Both David and Grace look up to Lucas and think he is amazing.  So do I.  

12. End of Soccer camp. Lucas had it in the evening this week. He is playing club soccer now. It is fun to see him progress.  He is very fun to watch.  

Well, my kids are beating each other up while I type this so I must go. It's going to be a fun summer. Or something...

May 12 of 12

2012-05-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay with the 12 of 12 this month. We had company come in and the last thing I wanted to do was sit down at our computer. We have the slowest computer alive right now. Although, at least it is still alive so I won't complain. Next month or the next we will be getting the new imac. Whenever it comes out we'll be splurging. Can't wait. All the pictures are from May 12th.

My parents came in this last Saturday. It was a quick trip, but so much fun. We also had our friends from the Tri-Cities come in last Friday. So we had double guests. Our house was full, but we loved catching up with them and with my parents.

May 12th was on Saturday. I drove up to Orange County and got my parents from the airport. Grace came with and we did a little detour to one of the greatest malls in this part of the world in my opinion. Here are the descriptions of the pictures and the day.

01. Micah and David playing air hockey. My Dad and Mom and Grace cheering them on. They were having lots of fun and laughing a lot.

02. David fell asleep in the car seat at 5 p.m. after Mom, Grace, David and I dropped the big boys off at the movies. When we got home I put David on the couch. Then at 8 p.m. we moved him to his bed. He slept 14 hours that night. He was obviously tired.

03. While David was sleeping on the couch Grace and Grandma were bonding over the my Mom's phone. She would show Grace pictures of her cousin Ila who is about 6 months older than Grace. Grace would laugh and smile. Ila and Grace look similar so we don't know if she thought the picture was her or if she just remembers her cousin from the previous life. You never know with little ones especially when they can't talk.

04. Grace would go and lie down next to David with her doll while he was asleep. He didn't move much or open his eyes either. Grace sometimes sat on him and laughed in his ear. She loves her brother.

05. After trying to get David to wake-up with no success we went outside and played with her other best friend, the dog. She also would put rocks in her mouth and than take them out and throw them.

06. The boys had their last soccer games of their regular season. They have their playoff tornament this weekend. Micah did not want his picture taken as evident from the picture.

07. At Fashion Island, Grace and I grabbed some food from Five Guys. She loves pop. Or for those who don't know what pop is then Soda. We people from up north call it pop. Californians call it soda.

08. I grabbed some workout clothes and a swim suit from this sweet store.

09. Jon. He is working a lot. Growing his beard. I made him trim it back that morning, after our friends who were visiting, their son who is 3 asks me who my dad is, pointing to Jon. I told him "He's my husband. His name is Jon." 3 year old boy says "oh,I thought it was God." Yeah, not quite.
Another quote from last week about Jon's beard. At work Jon makes a comment to one of the partners about the partner being dressed up. The dress code in Jon's office is very casual so when this particular man had on a collared shirt and slacks, Jon made a comment about him looking nice and asked why he's all dressed up. (They're pretty good friends Jon and this man.) This man says to Jon "well, we can't all look like the Uni-Bomber." Totally funny. Point being I asked Jon to trim his beard.

10. Grace and I drove to the Airport.

11.Grace's hair is getting long. Look back to the January 12 of 12. I try to put it in a rubber band most of the time. She sometimes is able to take it out.

12. Fashion Island. If you ever go to Newport Beach then I suggest going. That is if you like shopping.

It was a fun day. It was a great weekend. We stayed up talking to our friends till 1 in the morning Friday and Saturday. We are way too old to do that.

My Dad, Jon, Lucas and Micah went and saw "The Avengers" that night. I didn't get a picture. Also, Jon went to work after the soccer games and when I got home from the airport. It was a busy fun day.

Different Stages of Happy

2012-04-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

It is 8:06 p.m. and I find myself lying on my back staring up at the ceiling listening to David's heavy sleepy breathing, Lucas trying to get comfortable to fall asleep, and Micah picking his fingernails trying to fight the sleep that awaits him. He is tired. We all are tired. The room is dark and I find myself thinking and stretching since I'm on the ground and my hip is out. I have amazing kids. They are funny. They are helpful and kind. They make me laugh and I find myself trying to make them laugh. To realize the little things in life are just that and to laugh about them. To shake it off is how the old adage goes in sports.

At 7:40 David comes to me and tells me he is ready to go to sleep. He wants to put all the stuffed animals in his bed and go to sleep. I am happy about his decision. He has been tired all day. I ask him to go wash the dirt and oreo cookie off his face and to wash his hands with soap and water. He runs off and comes back all clean and proud. I sit him down and help him with his pajamas. I notice his little feet are brown from running around outside barefoot. If you were a neighbor you would know that David doesn't wear shoes. He has the most shoes in our family. I'm not exaggerating either. I have bought him so many shoes hoping he will wear them. I think he finds shoes uncomfortable. He does love shoes until he puts them on. They might last 10 minutes on his feet.

As I am washing his feet with wipes I am reminded of our Savior and how He washed His disciples feet. Not that I am comparing myself to the Savior. No, just pondering how back in those days people had tough feet...kind of like David. And how being his mom is pretty amazing and that I don't mind washing his feet.

Jon is not home tonight so it is just me putting the kids to bed. It is a balancing act. I leave Micah and Lucas at the t.v. to finish their show. David and I go upstairs. Gracie follows a few moments later. David lays his head down on his pillow. I say a prayer and I turn the lights off in the room, but leave the hallway lights on. I lie down next to David's bed while Gracie is going through the desk drawers finding all sorts of fun things. I sing David his three songs. The same three songs since Christmas: Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. He only wants Christmas songs at bedtime. I need to learn more Christmas songs.:)

I kiss the top of his head. Tell him I need to go put Gracie to sleep and then I'll come back in to sleep with him because he always asks for me to sleep with him. I know that by the time I get back he will be fast asleep, but he wants the reassurance of me coming back. I'm fine with this. Because I know that when he turns 8 or 9 he won't ask.

As my oldest gets older I realize more and more how time does not stand still and moments come and go. And they were great moments and there continue to be great moments even when they do grow older. Just different but still amazing. I am finding joy with each of my children at their different ages. It is busy. But I find it rewarding. I love looking over at Lucas and sharing an inside joke or having a moment of laughs b/c something happens and the younger ones don't get it, but we do. It is fun to look over at him and we both laugh.

Then there is Micah. It is fun to listen to his ideas and how he thinks. He loves to talk. He loves to tease and he loves to succeed. He wants to make sure I notice his success whether it is at school or on the soccer field. "Hey Mom, did you see that? or Hey Mom, did you read my homework/school papers?" I'm just happy that I am around to witness most of his accomplishments. He is full of joy and often I find he is in his own world. Which, I have to admit, is a pretty good world from listening to him and his make believe.

Then there is David who loves to just play. "Mom, can you play with me?" about a dozen times a day. Legos and super hero guys and army guys and hotwheels are his life. I just love sitting next to him on the floor and making sound effects and coming up with dialog as to what storm troopers say to jedis. He is pretty creative.

And then Gracie. She is our most curious baby. She is into everything. She is constantly going. I really thought when I had a girl she would just sit and read books. Not our Gracie. She has to be part of everything. She loves playing outside. She loves wearing every one's shoes all over the house. She can unlock and lock the dishwasher and start it. She loves hotwheels and seeing them race. She just belly laughs every time David races his cars. She loves the dog. She loves belly buttons. She is constantly moving and when you watch her walk she is almost always on the verge of running. She is fast. She loves to tease. She will put a rock or lego head or anything in her mouth and show me, and then run as fast as she can while laughing. She is a trip. She also loves my hair. If I am sitting on the floor she will just come stand behind me and pull on my pony tail and hold it. If I am sitting on the couch she will stand next to me and find my pony tail to hang on too. She really needs to grow her own pony tail:)

4 kids and 4 different stages of life. It is fun and enjoyable to be a part of each of their lives. I should say a 'blessing'. This is a long post. I guess that is what happens when one never sits down to write a thing or two. The thing or two become a bazillion things.

April - 12 of 12

2012-04-13T23:00:00.003-07:00

My April 13th deadline is almost done. I had technical difficulties getting this up. But, alas, it is 11:05 p.m. and I'll be making my deadline:) Cause you know. I'm a working mom. hehe. Had to throw that in there.

Yesterday was fabulous. Just another ordinary day in our lives. Obviously, by these photos I am around Grace and David much more during the day than Lucas and Micah. We'll fix that during the summer. As those of you know who have kids in school and sports their time is much more spent away from home. It makes me think that I need to work that much harder when they are younger to teach them right from wrong and good manners. I'm very pleased with my children and who they are becoming.

01. Grace playing in the alley in her red car. I finally figured out how to put a rubber band in her hair. It's hard. Her hair is in her face half the time.

02. David and Grace taking a bath after Grace got soaked in the puddle outside. This is the first bath that she has played in and not cried the whole time. David had fun spiking her hair.

03.We finally got around to dying eggs on Wednesday night right before bedtime. David spilled the vinegar dye all over Micah's leg which ended up stinging and Micah was in lots of pain. So the pictures of the eggs came on Thursday. David was so excited and loves his eggs. I know that we are major slackers with the whole celebrating Easter when it comes to dying eggs. Sometimes I get so tired of how much Christmas and Easter are commercialized and that the meaning of the whole day is lost. Even though we try to get the real meaning in I wonder how much the kids understand. Bah Humbug.

04. Lucas finished the second book of Harry Potter. His reading challenge ended today at school so he spent over an hour of his time finishing the book so he could take the test this morning before school. He PASSED! So proud of him and how hard he works. If you didn't know, Lucas likes to read, but would much rather be doing something else. So this was a big accomplishment for him.

05. On Thursday, Jamba Juice comes and sells smoothies at school. The boys are enjoying their treat. Micah is pretending to be a dead zombie.

06. I put together a laundry hamper thingy. Pretty impressive I used tools to build something. Jon and I are quite proud of my talents:) (sarcasm much.)

07. Grace eating a crayon. She loves them. I hate them. And David drops them when he's done coloring.

08. David jumping out of the laundry hamper thingy. I just like this picture. He's so athletic.

09. Gracie talking to the dog while he is outside. She just loves her doggy.

10. Three little dots. Jon walking Micah and Lucas to school. I love the green trees in this photo. I love my 3 boys in this picture too.

11. Paperwork. I registered David for Pre-K for next school year. I am excited for him to go, but I will miss him too. He's such a fun kid to hang out with.

12. Gracie splashing in that darn puddle. It was cold outside too. Well, cold for us SoCal people. She had a great time playing outside. She threw dirt, played in the puddle, threw the dog his ball, and played in her red car. She loves being outside. She is always asking to put her shoes on, after which she goes to the door hoping she gets to go out.

Things that I did not get pictures off that are noteworthy for the day. Me picking up 4 piles of you know what that the dog leaves in the yard. Gross. Also, Lucas had soccer. Jon took him. While Lucas practiced, Jon ran a couple miles around the fields. We are trying to get in shape to run the 10k mud run in June. Wish us luck on that one. It'll be fun but challenging.

March - 12 of 12

2012-03-13T16:32:00.006-07:00

Can you believe it's mid-March? It's hard to believe. Here in SoCal our weather doesn't change much so months and days just gel together and the next thing we know school is out or it's a new year. My days are like Groundhog Day. It seems we do almost the same thing over and over again daily. But some days there are small differences. I tried to find some yesterday as I did this challenge.

01.Grace fell asleep this morning by the time we got to Target. Daylight savings is really messing with her schedule. Oh wait, she doesn't have one... life of the fourth child.

02.I drew army guys, police guys, tanks, police cars, guns, rockets. He has a thing for the military and weapons. This is how we keep him occupied during sacrament meeting on Sundays. It now has carried over to a weekday activity.

03.When I go to Target and have a ton of stuff to buy I put David and Grace in the stroller and pull the cart. Why do I do this you may wonder? It is because Grace can squirm her way out of the seat belt in the cart and that makes it difficult to shop if I'm holding her.

04.Changing diapers. That would be one way to describe the whole day. It started out with Grace having a blowout with her sleeper still on. When I took it off she had poop all the way down her leg to her toes. Gross. She had a bath which she hates passionately. I think she must be teething again since she did the deed 5 times and now has diaper rash. Plus she is biting everything and everyone.

05. David has decided he likes turkey and cheese sandwiches. This makes me so happy that one of my kids likes a sandwich with meat on it.

06. Grace sharing the ball with her best friend.

07. I took a picture of me in the van while I was waiting for Grace to get more than a 10 minute nap. Don't you love how great I pose:) hehe.

08. SpongeBob. What more can I say. I use to hate this show. I did not let my children watch it. In my early mothering years I would actually judge other mothers that let their kids watch it. After 4 kids I gave in. The show is hilarious. I actually audibly laugh. Maybe because I'm more sleep deprived or maybe I have learned there are worse things kids can watch. I don't know, but the show is hilarious.

09. I have decided to paint two walls. Or at least I am thinking about it. Most of the taping is done. I bought a gallon of paint. As you can tell, I let Micah paint a small part of it to see if we like the color. Honestly, I don't know if I do. It is bright which I was going for. It is coastal which I like. But I just can't make up my mind. I don't think Jon likes it. So we'll see. I'll post pics of what we end up doing.

10. Grace woke up from her afternoon nap. She wanted to chill on the couch with me and play with my hair. She has a hair fetish. I think this is why she loves the dog so much.

11. Funny story. I have sheltered kids. Really I do. Lucas has a solar system research project he is doing for school. He decided to chose Uranus. When he chose it some of the kids started laughing. When I asked him why he picked that particular planet he said "I liked the way it looks." We asked if anyone laughed when he chose it. He said yes but did not understand why. We educated him and now it's just so dang funny to ask him questions about it. ex. "How is your Uranus report going?, Let's work on your Uranus project." So funny and yes I am juvenile. As a side note it is a very cool planet. I'll post a pic of Uranus when the project is done. (hehe -- ok Jon wrote this last sentence)

12. I got some new shoes for church. Do you think I'll be able to run after Grace in them? Hope so. Also, it opens up more church attire options. Why is it so hard to find clothes to wear for Sunday? I'm just lucky I have shoes on when I leave the house. Once I got all the way into the van and put my seat belt on with my slippers on. Thankfully I noticed before we got out of the garage.

festering rants...

2012-03-06T11:00:00.004-08:00

This post was started on Sunday morning. I finally finished it on Tuesday.
..........................................................................

It is Sunday morning. I need to start getting ready for church. It takes forever to get ready. We all need baths/showers. I think most of the church clothes are findable. I did go buy the boys new clothes last week. Lucas keeps growing and therefore I find the whole getting ready for church thing daunting since every weekend something doesn't fit him right. But, I think this weekend might be the one that he is not wearing high watered pants or shoes too small. We'll see.

We have been busy lately. Just like everyone in life. Jon is the new cub scout master. I am the new wolf cub scout den leader. Before this I knew how crazy 3 boys get. But, I had no idea how crazy 7 boys can get. It's nuts the amount of energy that's bottled up in kids. Especially after school. Thankfully we have a park that we go to and play at.

...........................................

A new day and let me tell you. We got to church on time. It was horrible other than the first 45 minutes. Which I am grateful I had 45 minutes at all of being fed spiritually. But, I mean seriously, Grace is at an age where all she wants to do is run the halls. Plus she misses her nap so she is extra crabby. I got nothing out of church after the first 45 minutes other than frustration and being more tired than I already was. That's my rant. Also, I need to buy Lucas a sports coat because he does not believe me that his black pin strip suit coat does not match his navy slacks. It drives me nuts but he makes his own choices and I will not pick that fight with him. Therefore, the solution is to buy him a sports coat. :)

Is everyone mad and angry in this world? I feel like people constantly misjudge and are misinformed and therefore get angry with others. I have to say it seems like they are getting angry with Jon and I more often than not. I am EMOTIONALLY exhausted right now about all the DRAMA that people want to build up in their lives.

With all that said. I need to let things go. I need to turn the other cheek. I need to love everyone no matter what. Problem is I have a hard time doing all of this. I am not known to roll over and let people yell at me or misjudge me or say harsh words about me. Whether I actually say anything back to them or confront the person I still go over it in my mind. My feelings fester and I get more exhausted. I want and need to let it go. I just need to not care and move on. People's misjudgements and anger is probably the reason why I find myself being anti-social. This is sad too since I use to be a very social person. I use to love being around people and talking and laughing and getting to know others. I don't know what to do. Tell people they need to get over being easily offended. And if they want to be offended they need to first put themselves in the other person's shoes.

My rant is over. Do I feel better? Nah. But now you know me better and can be offended by my offenses. I probably have offended you at some point. :) I'm sorry and most likely I didn't even know I did. Seriously I'm done now.

Don't you love this picture of Grace? Her hair is amazing. I love her. I love her hair too. If only I knew what to do with it. She won't wear any hair accessories. I try and than she takes them out and chews them. She is cute even if she has crazy awesome hair.

I have realized why I do not blog much anymore. It is because Grace does not let me touch the computer. If I don't allow her to sit on my lap then she cries at my feet. And if I let her on my lap she just pounds the keyboard. I forget this until I sit down at the computer and then I am reminded. She is sleeping now. Well, she was until David yelled. She is not sleeping anymore and thus this post comes to an end.

12 of 12 February

2012-02-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

I didn't think it would be a month between posts. This last month has been a complete roller coaster ride and stressful to say the least. But, it is over and we are onto another month. Hopefully not so stressful and crazy. Although, can't say that it will change all too much.

Anyway, 12 pictures to capture the 12th day of the month of February.

01. Getting into the van mobile to get us to church. We had to clean up the remainder of the previous days lunch. Groooooossssss. David in the picture saying "Peace Out." He's like that.
02. Snap a shot of me before church. Wearing the same dress I've had for at least 7 years. I really need to go shopping. Badly.
03. A little playtime in the neighborhood park after church. It's our daily family activity. We get out and run around. Get the wiggles out.
04. Luke throwing the Frisbee and Grace thinking he's amazing. She has the dog ball thrower. She likes to tease the dog.
05. The Hot Air Balloons land right in our neighborhood. Sunday is always a busy day of the week for this. Pretty cool though to see them land.
06. Gracie finding the dirt and thinking she's pretty clever throwing it all over the bench. She's cute and busy.
07. Grace is always found in the front room on the boys desks playing and destroying something of the boys. Either finding the legos and taking them apart, coloring all over their desks with pencils, or taking everything out of their desks and throwing it on the ground. Told you she's busy.
08. The boys taking a break chilling on the couch watching some dolphin movie.
09. Lots of dishes to wash.
10. My new running shoes. Not completely loving the bright pink, but my feet don't hurt after wearing them.
11. Still have the Christmas cards still on the wall. Mainly because our walls are pretty bare and if I take them down I feel like I need to make a decision as to what to hang on the walls. I feel like hanging pictures make things so permanent. It's been a year in this house and I really need to hang some pictures.
12. Grace. Throwing a tantrum. She wants Jon's blackberry or the ipad. Being only 1 she already scores a 9.5 when it comes to tantrums. Throws her whole body on the ground. Spins around stomping her feet. Crying at the top of her lungs. Yep, she is the Princess.

12 of 12 January

2012-01-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 2012

I am beginning a new project/goal this year. I got the idea from a blog I read. The blog is on my sidebar as "my words." The project is called 12 0f 12. You can visit her blog to get more info if you'd like. I personally don't know her, but I love her pictures.
Basically, 12 of 12 is every 12th day of each month I'll post 12 photos that I want to remember from that day. I'll post this on the 13th since the 12th day is when I'll actually be taking the pictures. I like this idea because it will help motivate me to write more on this blog. It'll help me to remember what my daily life consists of. It'll help me to remember to use my camera. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

01. I have been walking the boys to school lately. Usually, Jon takes them, but he has been working constantly and usually on conference calls.
02. Wednesday was a bad day for me. I was tired and not motivated to clean. Thus the reason the kitchen looked like a tornado flew thru it and the next day Thursday was the aftermath.
03. I put my leggings on. I always feel motivated to clean and work-out just by putting these tight pants on. Just wish my butt was a little firmer, but the reality is what it is.
04. My daily or almost daily trip thru the drive-thru at Wendy's to get my diet coke. They have the best Diet Coke EVER!
05. Weekly trip or even maybe the bi-weekly trip to Target. Ran out of deodorant. Plus, now they have groceries so I bought meat and snacks.
06. The weather has been summer-like here. We took our daily trip to the park. The dog, 4 kids and me. Grace is throwing the dog the ball in this picture.
07. Micah jumping out of the tree. David is right behind him trying to catch up. Lucas too jumped later. I wonder what people think of my mothering skills as I take pictures of my kids jumping out of trees. Ummmm. Don't know. Don't know if I care.
08. The boys dishing out their ice-cream. David insisted in dishing out his own. Same with Luke.
09. Jon and Luke playing air-hockey. Good competition. Grace as usual insists on Jon holding her.
10. By the end of the night, after dinner, after ice-cream, the kitchen is finally clean.
11. The book I'm currently reading. Very interesting and enjoyable to read. I like it.
12. Jon back to work in "his corner." He has been working at least 15 hour days. Last night he even slept on the couch and was checking the blackberry every hour, making calls to far away countries (i don't remember specifics). He was exhausted this morning. Poor guy. Love him to pieces.

Well, that sums up the day. It was productive and I had fun capturing the moments.

Christmas Morning

2012-01-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas was lots of fun this year. As you can tell by their faces they were incredibly excited when they got their gifts. Each of them were grateful and happy. Grace didn't wake-up until after all the boys were done opening their presents. Although, she was up all night which is why she slept in. It was a great morning. I'm grateful for my family and parents and sister who came to celebrate the Christmas season with us.

Christmas Eve Traditions

2012-01-09T21:41:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas at our house this year. My parents and sister came. It was nice having them here. We continued our family traditions for Christmas Eve. Jon's brother and family, who live just 15 minutes away, came over for dinner. Christmas Eve dinner is always my Grandma's taco recipe with homemade corn tortilla shells. That tradition has been in our family for at least 35 years.

We also reenacted the Nativity. Aaron (jon's bro) is always the reader. This year Emma (3) was Mary, Lucas (8) was Joseph, David and Micah were the wise men. Our dog Phin was the donkey. Grace was the baby Jesus. She didn't want to get in the basket. And Emma was not having it that we were using a doll as the baby. A quote from Emma: "this isn't Jesus, this is a doll" (as she tosses the doll out).

After the Nativity we decorated the sugar cookies. At this point I think it was almost 8 p.m. so we had the boys quickly frost and dump the sprinkles on their cookies. As you can see they literally dumped the sprinkles. Santa really loved the cookies this year too. He just couldn't get enough. The whole evening was fun and a joy to spend with family.

Birthday Boy

2012-01-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

We celebrated David's 4th Birthday twice this year. The first birthday was celebrated at the beginning of December. David is an amazing boy. Full of love and fire. He is the life of the party. He is tough, funny, happy, goofy, serious, smart, comprehends so much, athletic, and is stubborn.

He does not deal well with change. Because this last year was full of change he did not want to progress in some ways. He wanted to be a baby like his sister. He would steal her pacifier right out of her mouth and put it in his. And he refused to be potty trained. I tried and tried, and bribed and bribed. The thing is when a kid is stubborn and doesn't want to do something when it's completely in his control he won't do it whatever it might be. At the beginning of December after telling me over and over again that he is not a "big boy" I asked him "when do you become a big boy?" He told me "when I'm 4." Because I'm such a smart mom, hehe, the next day he had his birthday. And the next day after that he was potty trained. He officially turned 4 later in the month of December. I made the Spongebob cake since he loves him and the army cake was later. He loves army guys. He loves legos and cars too. He is all boy. He is my David and I love him to the moon and back plus more. Happy Birthday David! You're my big boy.