Newport Beach

After 2 days at Disneyland we needed a chance to relax and unwind.  A family member let us use his beach house for free in Newport Beach.  I have to say, this was my favorite part of our vacation and may be my favorite vacation spot ever!  We were just 4 or 5 houses away from the beach and right down to block from a bunch of little shops.  During the day we walked along the beach collecting shells and making sand castles and giant holes in the sand for the water to come in.  One night we walked to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner (Yummy)!  And best of all, we just had no agenda for 2 days!  It was wonderful and just what I needed!  

Disneyland Fun!!!

We had such a fun trip to Disneyland.  We went with Tim's family for two days, which meant that there were lots of cousins for Jacob and Micah to play with.  That made things even more special for the boys.  Jacob was so brave this time!  He went on all of the big roller coasters...Space Mountain, The Matterhorn, and even Indiana Jones.  Micah's favorite rides were Finding Nemo and the Rockets.  Tim's parents surprised us all by buying us season passes!  We were so excited and thankful.  They are such a blessing to us!  Here are some pics of the highlights of our trip.

Kindergarten Grad

Hi, this is Jacob.  You know what?  I graduated from Kindergarten.  I sung "Each of us is a Flower" and "This Little Light of Mine"  and got a certificate.  My teacher's name is Mrs. Pennington.  My best friend is Canyon.  My favorite thing about Kindergarten is recess and free choice because they are so much fun...and snack!  After I graduated from Kindergarten I went to the park and played with my friends from school.  

Off to LA and Disneyland!

What a week it has been.  Jacob graduated from Kindergarten.  I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.  I'll post pics of his graduation soon, but I am in the midst of doing laundry and packing us up for our trip to LA.  We leave in the morning bright and early, so I have a busy day ahead of me.  Tim's parents are having their retirement party on Sunday, then Mon and Tue we will spend at Disneyland.  After that we head to Newport Beach for 2 days and then home.  I am so excited.  Off now to pack!!! 

Auntie Dana is GREAT!

Hey!  The other day I got a package from New Zealand from my Auntie Dana.  It was candies and a New Zealand shirt.  It made me feel happy because the New Zealand shirt was cute and I loved the candies!  They were so great!  I got to wear my New Zealand shirt to church.  I like you Auntie Dana.  Please visit soon.  Thanks for sending me all those packages.  I love you. Goodbye.  Love, Jacob

Food Allergies and "The Terrible Twos!"

Well...I got the results back from my food allergy test on Friday and I have to say that I was quite disappointed!  It turns out that I have several acquired food allergies and it is no wonder that I have felt so terrible for almost a year now.  Almost everything I eat contains one of these ingredients.  My top 4...yeast (brewers and bakers), sugar (I know!  this one is the worst), wheat, and whey protein which is in milk and other dairy products.  You must be thinking, "What is left to eat?"  Well, I can have any fruit, veggie, meat, nut, eggs and several other grains like oats, corn, rice, spelt, buckwheat, barley.  I can also have chocolate, but not sugar...someone figure that one out for me and coffee (which I don't really drink much of) and some hard cheese like cheddar, soy products or goats milk (hmmmm).  I can sweeten things with honey and pure maple syrup and I can use carob as a chocolate substitute. Here is the good news though...I do not have any life long allergies.  Because all of my allergies are acquired, I will eventually be able to add these foods back and hopefully my body will begin to tolerate them again.  Initially, I have to go off of all of them for a period of time (3-6 months) and then slowly add in one at a time and see how I feel.  So if anyone has any really great sugar free, wheat free, dairy free recipes...send them my way.  I am going to experiment with some cookie, muffin, and smoothy recipes I found on line.  

On to the next topic...The Terrible Twos...

My precious little Micah who loves to snuggle has turned a corner and we are just praying that this is a short phase that he is going through.  This whole weekend he has gone on a pushing and hitting rampage.  It started with him pushing Jacob every so often last week and then on Saturday I must have put him in time out over 20 times.  It seemed that every time I let him get out (after having him show me what "nice" is ... he rubs his hand gently on our cheek and says, "nice")  he would run over, with this devious little brother look in his eye, and push Jacob again.  Time outs did not seem to be very effective, but consistency is key right?  

Sunday was a disaster! I put Micah in his class at church after warning the teacher that he has had a tough weekend and telling her to page me if anything happened.  About 3/4 of the way through the service I was feeling pretty encouraged that I hadn't been paged and was singing a worship song when I felt a tap tap on my shoulder, "sorry to interrupt, but Micah is having some trouble."  Oh no...I get to his class to hear that he has pushed 3 kids in a row and I am mortified.  Then as I stand there talking to one of the nursery workers, he walks over and shoves a little girl super hard.  She cries of course and I take Micah out...feeling like the worst mom in the world, my cheeks hot and not sure what to do with this defiant little 2 year old who has become the class bully.  I have to say that I have been humbled in so many ways since becoming a parent and am just clinging to what the Lord spoke to me this weekend through James 1...I am asking for wisdom for how to deal with Micah in the way that is most effective for who he is.  And I am believing that He will give me the wisdom I need for each circumstance that comes.  Feel free to pray for a softening of little Micah's heart and a receptiveness to

 discipline.  He is such a sweet little boy and I don't want him to be labeled as trouble.  

My Big 6 Year Old Boy!

Jacob turned 6 last week and we had such a fun party for him.  He really wanted to have a Dr. Seuss birthday, so we transformed our office into a movie theater for the evening.  When all of the kids arrived I gave them pretend money and they walked the "red carpet" to the concession stand to buy their popcorn and candy.  Then they went through the curtains into the "theater" and watched a couple of classic Dr. Seuss cartoons beginning with Jacob's favorite, The Cat in the Hat.  It was a lot of work to pull off, but Jacob was so happy!  I attempted to make a Cat in the Hat 5 layer birthday cake that actually turned out pretty well.  We had a little trouble trying to make the frosting red ( I got a little stressed out when I thought my 6 year old boy was going to have a bright pink and white cake for his party, but after a whole jar of red dye, the pink turned to a nice red).  I also posted a pic of the cupcakes I made for Jacob's class at school.  I got the idea on line, and they turned out so cute.  I used white lifesavers and red cinnamon candies to make Dr. Seuss hats.  So fun!  My mom was here for a week and a half and I so appreciated her help.  Jacob is going to write a little about his birthday now...

Jacob says, "Hey!  Remember my birthday?  Guess what?  We had cake and we opened presents and we watched a couple of Dr. Seuss cartoons and we played in my room last and when it was time to go I gave people their goodies.  They were a Dr. Seuss pencil sharpener, a pen, a book, and an eraser and books for the little kids.  Bye Bye."