Turkey and Impetigo

Happy Black Friday to all of you across the U.S. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving yesterday and found great deals today. We weren't brave enough to venture out into the crowds, except to Walmart for an ice cream emergency.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Hunt family (Grandpa Sue and Uncle Brad according to Jacob). We were a little late as I had a very flat tire on the van and Erik and the boys bought a new tire and fixed me up. Don't they look like great helpers?


Jacob has decided that he is big and independent recently. His new favorite phrase is "My do it!" Today I called him a monkey and he quickly told me he was not a monkey, he's a BIG boy. At dinner tonight I told him he had to eat his meat before he could have more bread and I was promptly told "I'm sorry, I can't do that." Now where did he pick that up? He's seen the movie trailer for Ratatouille many, many times and one of the lines is (father rat to son rat) "Eat your garbage!" Of course he had to repeat that one to me after I served lunch the other day. Life is getting interesting... We were taking an afternoon walk last week and Jake noticed that a large willow tree had been trimmed. "The tree got a haircut!" he said. And then you could see the wheels turning...hmmm...when I get a haircut I get a sucker. "The tree got a sucker! The tree got a sucker!" Our neighbors think we are crazy. Several have come up to introduce themselves and ask us why we dug up the beautiful palm tree from the front yard.

So I'm sure you are thinking, turkey, and...impetigo? Yes, impetigo. My children have to get weird diseases, remember hand, foot and mouth? and now Danny has impetigo. They gave us these horse pills to break open and sprinkle in his food and that is impossible, it tastes horrible! I put it in his yogurt and tried it after he refused it and I know why now. I gagged, literally gagged. We tried to come up with a strategy and aren't doing so well so help us out here! Fill the comment boxes and share your wisdom here, by the way, the pharmacist said he wasn't making a suspension because it tastes so bad, instead he recommended we break open the capsule and sprinkle the foul stuff on his food. Genius! I have to go now, Danny has been digging in the desk as I sit here typing and found a glue stick. We've been putting so much medicine on his mouth lately he thinks it is a really big ChapStick tube...

Mondays Are The Best!

With Erik working at church now, we have Mondays off. This is really a blessing because we can go do all sorts of family things without the weekend crowds. This Monday we visited the LA Zoo with some military friends we met in Ohio but are now stationed in LA.


The boys were excited to see lions and monkeys, but most of all elephants! We watched the elephant pace around her pen expecting the boys to be awed by this huge animal but all Jake noticed was that the elephant had a big "tractor tire" to play with. Hmm, elephant or old tire, which is mor exciting?

Overall it was a pretty fun day! Jake is teaching Danny all the best excuses for getting out of bed these days. We have: I need water, I need juice, I need a snack, I need a truck, my truck needs a trailer, and I need to potty. Last night I heard too much giggling and went in to find the lights on and both boys in the closet playing trucks. A couple days ago Jake decided Libby's bed wasn't in the right position so he turned it 180 degrees to give her a better view. While a little peeved, we were also a bit impressed that a 32-pound boy could manage that.

Libby has been a little sniffly and wanted to sneak in bed with us this morning. I think she's faking, she looks a little too happy here.

Who Stole My Palm Tree and Why Would You Do That?

I didn't realize how bad crime is in Southern California until this week when someone stole a little palm tree out of our front yard. What is the world coming to that we are stealing plants? Is the grass next? We left the house and palm tree last Saturday at 9:00 am and returned at 11:30 am to find no tree. Broad daylight!

Prepare yourself, here is the crime scene photo. It's ugly, I know. Palm fronds everywhere. Dirt. An empty hole. I'm not sure who you contact for botanical theft but I assure you I shall find out.

Halloween, Take 2

Since our first attempt at costumes was marred by the stomach virus, we had to try again on Saturday. The boys were sick on October 30th and 31st, Erik and I really became sick late in the night on the 31st and it just wasn't pleasant. We got dressed up on Halloween night to try and do 20 minutes of Halloween, just so they could have a couple pictures in their costumes and get some candy for me, I mean, for themselves. Alas, Jake threw up all over his outfit and that was the end of that idea. But here is a picture of Libby in her costume pre-Jake explosion.
And here are pictures of my cowboys a few days later, washed and ready to try again.
Jake has named these two little pumpkins "Mr. Pumpkin." Anyhow, now that we are a ministry family, our big day off of work is Monday. This Monday we went out to a local airfield and watched privately-owned airplanes take off and land for a while and then headed over to the Feline Conservation Center for big cats in Rosamond, CA. The boys really enjoy the Jungle Book so they were really excited to go see Bagheera and Sheer Khan up close, until the cats started "growling." As the boys walked by the bigger cats would "stalk" them from within the cage. It's a very strange thing to watch an animal that wants to eat your children.

Libby's baby dedication will be this weekend and we are so excited. It is a wonderful blessing that we have gotten to dedicate all three of them in the same church. Wish you all could be here for it!

The Halloween Visitor

I've heard so many conservative Christian groups say that Halloween is evil and now I know it is true. About midnight last night, as soon as it became Halloween, the stomach flu hit our house, namely Jake and Danny. Jake is winning the "Who can throw up the most war" with a current score of 6 to 4, at least 3 of those on me. Needless to say, long night. They have some really cute costumes and I hope we can get them dressed and make a brief appearance tonight but we shall see.

Jacob, Micah and Riley's 3rd birthday party was a blast! The boys loved the cake because I bribed them by putting Hot Wheels on it. I know the way to little boys' hearts!

Here are all the little boys eating cake on the back patio. I think they like it...

Erik picked out a little remote control airplane set for Jake's present, I think it was really Erik's present but the boys liked it too.

We had a fun day of fingerpainting last week. They have watched us paint so much it seemed time for them to get to paint.

Birthdays and Bunny Chases

I am still in shock that Jakey turned 3 already! He had a pretty normal day since the big party is this coming Sunday but he did get a really neat present from "Grandpa Sue and Uncle Brad," as he calls them. They brought a little tool set with included a picket knife and power drill that actually works, all plastic of course. He has had so much fun watching Erik work on the house and now he has his own tools.



Last night we went on our first walk around the neighborhood. We came around the corner and a fluffy white bunny was sitting in a yard at a very busy intersection. Obviously, it wasn't a desert bunny so Erik had to investigate. We met a little girl who was trying to round up the bunny, whose name is Maya, but the bunny did not want to go inside. Erik, Jake and the little girl chased to bunny all over the neighborhood for 15 minutes and finally wore her down and trapped her. What excitement for the boys, Erik included!

This is just a cute picture from a couple of nights ago. We bought The Jungle Book and sit in the play room every night to watch Mowgli. Dan decided Libby couldn't have Daddy all to herself during the movie so he crawled up too. We got up this morning and got our flu shots. We thought that if the boys watched our brave faces as we went first it would help. Nope, just made them start crying sooner since they saw what was coming. They survived though.

The house is slowly coming along but I don't know if we'll ever get it all done! Come see it anyway!

Pumpkin Patch

This morning, the boys and I visited a local pumpkin patch with our Mothers of Preschoolers group. Jake and Dan were amazed at the enormous pumpkins and had to touch every single one!

Farmer John read a story about the Native Americans and how they would grow hardy vegetables like gourds and Indian corn that would keep all winter. Jake really liked the Indian corn and didn't want to give it back.

Then we went on a ride. I thought Jake would cry and Danny would be happy but I was mistaken. Dan didn't scream but he was pretty nervous and Jake loved it!

Next we were off to see the animals in the petting zoo. Dan was excited to see chickens, which he believes say "a-doodle-doo," and one very large pig.

Overall we had a great morning and left with two cute little pumpkins! We are going to a fall harvest festival on October 31st and Libby will be a pumpkin (thanks Mimi and Sam) and the boys will be cowboys.

Jake will be 3 on Sunday! On the 28th we are having a party for him and some other little boys with close birthdays. It may be at our house if our furniture arrives, please pray for that! Happy Halloween!