If any of you in the Crowne Hill area ever find yourself in need of some extremely inexperienced, somewhat destructive, but darn cute firemen--well I have got the boys for you!
(If there really is a life threatening emergency please don't call us--call 911)
Sam's mom got this firetruck for Porter two Christmases ago and we are just now starting to take it out. Boy am I glad we waited as long as we did because Porter and Carter, are definately not some of the best drivers I have ever seen. =) The first day we took it out Porter had a head-on collision with a big truck parked on the street, luckily I had left Sam with the boys while I ran home to get the camera when it happened, otherwise I probably would've freaked out and put a stop to all the fun right then and there. Porter got an earful from Sam about how important it is to pay attention to what is around you while driving that I hope will last until he's fifteen and ready for real driving lessons.
All in all they did very well and they love, love, love, the firetruck. Thanks Grandma Sherri!!
So we made our way to Disneyland on Wednesday morning with Charla and Kyle for a few hours. The best thing ever, for me, is that I no longer take a stroller for the boys. We hop on the train and use it to get to all the different "lands" and save a ton on walking, plus the boys love, love, love the train. Can't you tell?
We spent a lot of our time in fantasyland because Charla said that because Kyle is usually at the park with his older siblings he never gets to hang out there. Our last ride for the day was the Casey Junior Train. Look at the cute circus animals I saw! =) The other great thing about not having a stroller--super worn out boys who just sleep....
....and sleep. (How could that even be comfortable?)
Well we've all heard of muffin tops, right? (And I'm not talking about the ones that spill out over the tops of our jeans sometimes). But there are food manufacturers that are selling muffin tops in stores now. Anyway, Mr. Baker Man, I was wondering if you could somehow start making donut tops because it seems that both my boys have this weird habit of eating their sprinkle donuts the same exact way, and well this idea just occured to me and I thought it could really be the next big thing. Well, not really but I thought it would be fun to blog about anyway...
Now I had many, many nieces and nephews and babysat lots and lots of different kids before I had my own children but Porter and Carter are the first kids I have ever seen eat a sprinkled donut this way. Actually, Carter had a chocolate raised glazed donut later and did the same exact thing again! Please tell me--is this normal? Do any of you have kids that eat their donuts this way too? Are there any other weird ways that kids eat things that I should be preparing myself for?
So, as some of you may or may not know, ever since Sam came home from his mission he developed a love for MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting. He was training at a kickboxing gym in Hermosa Beach up until the time we got engaged when I asked him if he would stop training for fear that he would have a black eye or something in our wedding pictures.
In the last seven years that we have been married he has gone back to various gyms from time to time but finally concluded that he didn't really want to pursue anything on a professional level, for him, fighting is more of a hobby(thank goodness). Then, one day I asked if there was anything else he wanted to do in the MMA realm other than fight and he got the idea that he would like to try and become a referee.
After finally getting in touch with the State Athletic Commission, he found out that before he could go further with them he would have to get some experience and so he started making phone calls and was able to get in touch with a promoter who would let him come in with no previous reffing experience. For the next month or so he went to Team Quest and they let him practice reffing during their team training sessions. All the guys there were very helpful and he felt really good about going to Cahuilla Casino to referee alongside Herb Dean.
There were fifteen fights and Sam got to referee three of them. They were short on judges and so he was asked to judge when he wasn't refereeing. There were lots of guys from our Stake who went out there to cheer him on and Ben videotaped him (thanks so much Ben) so he can now send it to the State Athletic Commission and see where things go from there.
He had such a blast, loved every minute of it, and I know he can't wait to get out there and do it again. He looked like a total pro and I am so proud of him!
Spring Break for us started off with Sam and I participating in the Murder Mystery Dinner put on by our ward activities committee. It was so much fun and a lot of work but we had a blast! I was so proud of Sam because he had his lines down perfectly and had most of my lines down as well. Leading up to the night of the play he would throw me a cue out of nowhere trying to make sure that I had my lines down too. He was great as Tuff S. Nails while I was trying so hard to fit into my role as S. Candy Luss (talk about really having to come out of my shell).
We had a super fun family day at the park planned by my niece Autumn for her Faith in God Award. There were lots of great activities and treats for the kids as well. Porter and Carter had so much fun and no longer ask for balloons but are now asking for water balloons all the time!
We went on three day camping trip to San Clemente State beach. The Shreenans invited us to go with them and so we went. Sam wasn't able to come until the next day so I braved it and took the boys the first day on my own. It really wasn't bad at all because Charla, Greg, and the kids were a total help. Porter and Carter had so much fun except for having to walk up the ramp from the beach--thanks Greg for carrying Carter, otherwise I think one of the three of us might have been left there.
Carter's new favorite snack: roasted marshmallows. (Who knew they could be even better than just eating them right from the bag.) My least favorite part of the trip: taking the boys to the bathroom before bedtime and Porter screaming bloody murder because he was afraid of all the bugs in the bathroom that he attracted with his flashlight. Charla took him back to camp while I tried for almost five minutes to get Carter to calm down from his fear of all the bugs so he could go pee pee. Boy is he stubborn and I resorted to awful threats to get him to go by telling him that the bugs would get him if he didn't. If only I had thought of that sooner there wouldn't have been nearly as many tears and screams. After that experience I think Greg was afraid that he would be woken up in the middle of the night by me telling him I wanted to go home, but I didn't. Porters favorite thing about the trip were all the trees by our camp that he got to climb on. He had so much fun and it was fun to see what a great climber he is! We had a great time and came home telling the family how much fun we had and want to plan a family campout there at the end of the summer. I have always loved camping with my family...I'm just a little out of practice! Our break ended with a wonderful conference sunday at my parents house. There were so many wonderful talks to be heard as always and just having the family together is always fun. We missed the Shaws and Trapps but know that they were having fun at Leo Carrillo.
Camping, picnics, family, and General Conference ...what a great way to spend Spring Break!!!
