The Booth Ohana

Happy Birthday HeaBug

2012-02-04T22:21:00.001-08:00

Today, she is three!

She is icing on the cake. Not the ridiculously over mixed and over processed, artificial kind... the delectably light, from scratch, soft mix of pure organic sugar whipped with butter (which makes everything better) with hints of lemon zest for kicks, that's made with love.

Chosen to be part of our eternal family even before this life, we knew we loved her even before we met her.
Nohea means "Lovely" which we knew she would be. Maraea honors her great grandmother that lived her life on principals of being kind to others, singing loud, and smiling whenever possible. Kapuaililani is Hawaiian for "flowers falling from the opening rays of heaven". A family name she shares with her momma.

Always our baby and a little sister she isn't one to bite her tongue or not share her opinion. That she gets from daddy.

A fan of princesses, the color yellow, loves wearing skirts, painting her nails, reading Little Critter books, doing gymnastics, watching Super Why, Diego, Yo Gabba Gabba, Little Einsteins and Peppa Pig, flying in planes and sleeping in hotels, splashing in puddles, cooking with Mom, singing melodies from the Little Mermaid, correcting her brother, sword fighting, eating strawberries, visiting the "lotion store" (Bath and Bodyworks) and wearing cowboy boots.

She has completed our family. She brings us such joy even on her grumpiest days because in the end, her sassiness makes us laugh. We know it won't be nearly as funny in 10 years and I swear we're getting on it... But she's probably made you laugh too.

We're so happy to be her parents!

She woke up to the Beatles Birthday Song and ballons all over, had waffles at Polly's, then headed to San Diego for a day at the Zoo, just like brother did when he turned 3! This last week I took her to Kreme de la Kreme in downtown Long Beach to get a manicure and pedicure, she had so much fun! Next weekend we are having a tea party. A whole week of celebration!

Love you lillo girfren, always always.

On the first day she preschooled

2012-01-30T21:07:00.001-08:00

Today our little HeaBug became an official big girl when she started preschool! Her 3rd birthday is just around the corner and she was talking about school a lot. I take her to work with me but I felt bad for the long hours she was spending in our office and with the iPad.

After much searching, we found a great little place where she already had a friend, Gman. We enrolled her last week and dropped her off for her first day today. All "nervous" smiles as she met with her new teachers and class. We lingered for just a moment then made our way to the door. The walking away was slow and I knew we were both worrying. Mr B took a glance through the window as we headed to the parking lot. She was crying. All of a sudden there they were, my own tears and boy was I choking them back! Gman's mom waited for us in the lot with support and reassurance. Thank goodness my fear of crying in public saved my face from streaky and scary mascara!

We picked her up after lunchtime and she showed us her paintings and her cubby. She waved goodbye and squeezed me all the way to the car. I am definitely going to miss our little Rock Steady Gal but she's off to bigger and better things. Argh you, Growing Up. It's going by too quickly.

We are gonna skaaate tonight!

2012-01-29T23:18:00.001-08:00

JT's Charter school hosted an 80's themed family night at Skate Depot!

HeaBug brought her skates and JT had the rollerblades he's been practicing with since Christmas. It had been years, seriously, many years since the last time Mr. B or myself had gotten our skate on at Skate Depot! It was SO much fun! Both bugs did great, I swear JT sweated out his body weight!

It was an enjoyable evening hanging with pals and getting a serious work out. Our backs are still hurting from the hunched skate position we traded off on to keep the little miss going "faster! Let's go faster" around the rink!

We were totally rad with our side ponies and leather band jacket! Although truth be told, we had nothin'
On the full gold lamè Hammer Time suit or the white linen Crocket suit either ;)

Our school is like totally wicked, fer sure!

Choosing Right

2012-01-29T21:09:00.001-08:00

We were so happy to attend the baptism of our nephew D Lane last Sunday!
We visited their ward (church service) today so Mr B could participate in D's confirmation.
HeaBug said very loudly, "D you are so brave!". Yay for congregations with a sense of humor.

Congratulations D, we love you!

"Ever After" Kind of Living

2012-01-26T00:34:00.000-08:00

We could start by saying Once Upon a Time but that's how fairy tales begin... And those aren't generally true.

Back in the day, when were were young... but we're not kids anymore...

We were kids though. Kids who became friends then kids who fell in love.

I went to see scary movies (which I hate) so that I could sit next to him and hold his arm in terror.

He took me to Disneyland for my 16th birthday.

He took me to sushi for the first time and all I ate was rice. (that has changed)

He is who I kissed when the world was fearing Y2K.

He told me to get a job. Then he got me a puppy.

He took me to the prom, in a dress he had made for me by a costume designer friend. He gave me a necklace that I still wear every day (and through every important life event). We only danced to one song.

I knew I would be his wife.

On January 26, 2002 I laced up my blue converse tennis shoes and put on my white dress. We walked our own aisles of the Jordan Theatre to the stage that we met on and this is what we said:

I, take you, to be my very best friend. I promise to support you in everything you do, to stand by you in good times and in bad. To believe in you, to trust in you and to honor you. I promise to love you until the end of time.

People were so skeptical because the idea of marriage isn't so optimistic anymore.

We looked like kids up there in front of our family and friends.

It's not right for everyone and I'm not an advocate of marrying young by ANY means, but it was right for us. We were still seeds and with sunshine just happened to grow into the same kind of flower.

We have embraced the adventure of marriage knowing it requires constant care, attention, and work.

It's a very conscious decision that we remake often.

We've seen marvelous sights.
Lost some very dear to us.
Gotten lots of tattoos.
Been embraced by God's good love.
Sealed our family for eternity.

Our life has grown by two amazing children.

Each bringing light, joy, and a few years of sleep deprivation.

Mostly they make us laugh.

And they eww when we kiss... which we still do a lot.

We've started a business.

Out of our garage, our computer and two credit cards...

Rock Steady was born.

We work together, we live together, we sleep together, we parent together.

We don't tire of the company. It's nice to not only love each other but to truly like each other.

We're friends.

We work hard to live the life that we want. It doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

We still go on dates. He'll surprise me with flowers. I'll surprise him with Red Bull ;)

We are still adventuring. We've only just begun. There's a lot for us to see and do and experience, but we are doing it together.

To my guy Mr. B. I'm so glad to be Mrs. B.

Thanks for balancing out my crazy.

I love you.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T21:20:00.001-08:00

Although my Christmas post has yet to be published I am on a mission to be a better poster this year!

It's amazing to thing that this is the 13 New Year that Mr. B and I have rung in together. We remember all the hype surrounding Y2K...

This NYE we enjoyed an early countdown just like we did last year. We enjoyed games and yummy eats, just like last year... We enjoyed the company of our Friends the M's (of Cakestina M)... Looks like we're starting a new tradition!
We planned to do the 9:00pm New York countdown but we were in the middle of Lord of the Rings: Two Towers.We tried again at 9:30, 10:00 and finally at 10:25 we set the iPhone timer to count down... It was fantastic.
Come actual midnight, Mr. B and I were knocked out on a couch with a booth bug asleep next to us. It was a little bit of magic.

Happy New Year! May 2012 offer you adventure, clarity, peace, laughter, love, and prosperity!
And as I heard a friend say... "get rich, or die Mayan". Haha.

All the days of Christmas

2011-12-28T18:06:00.001-08:00

Notes from Santa...

Christmas is always magical for us B's. We enjoy the whole season, get our decorations up as quickly as possible and celebrate everyday.
Over the past few years, we've slowly moved our kids and ourselves away from the shamefully now normal excitement of "getting, gimme, more" and encouraged feelings of "I have enough, what can we give?". It's hard to instill in kids especially when all around them there are examples of excess. We work hard at it though, molding kind, generous, contributing citizens of the world.
This year, we counted down our excitement to Christmas day with a family activity advent calendar. Each morning, the kids opened up the activity for the day. Some were silly (make "snowman soup" aka hot chocolate with marshmallows), some to teach lessons (pick out a brand new toy that you'd really like for yourself, then donate it to the children's hospital), some to make sure we did traditional things of the season (hang mistletoe and sing I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus).
It was an inspired activity and we started off strong. As the month wore on though, our commitment list grew longer and longer. With so many birthdays and parties and holidays in December, by the 13th I felt like a crazy person trying to add yet one more thing to do every day.
Then Mr. B brought it all back home for me after I was stressing completing 3 days worth of activities in one night... He said that it was a great idea and that we were having fun when we did things that were a part of the advent calendar. We were also having fun doing all the other things populating our schedules that weren't on the calendar. Stressing about it was taking away the joy of it. So right then and there, I re-embraced the relaxed, chill, qué sera sera attitude that we had agreed would see us though the season, heck, through life.

Ms. Hea Bug

Don't mind his grumpy face... It's hard to sit by your stuff and not open it cuz mom is taking a picture. lol.

Stuff happens. Things come up. When you're surrounded by people that you live and adore though, it doesn't seem to matter so much. I know what I have and what is important. We didn't accomplish every activity but we did a whole lot of them, together.

We enjoyed Christmas close to home setting out a ginormous cookie for Mr. C. JT wrote an awesome letter offering up Mr. B's Red Bulls and Diet Cokes if he wasn't satisfied with milk. We bid farewell to our Elf on the Shelf, Blue Berry Angus. We woke to french toast casserole and a morning of "one at a time gift opening". The kids were so excited with their treasures. We made the rounds visiting our family and enjoyed a delicious day. We were so happy to spend yet another amazing Christmas in each other's company. This marks 13 that Mr. B and I have spent together... way back since '99. Love him, love my kids, love all the this holiday stands for.

Wishing your family a very Merry Christmas too... Love, Us B's

Awards for the Boy Bug!

2011-12-28T18:04:00.001-08:00

Only a far away pic since he was anxious to get back to the playground...

SO proud of JT! We were invited to attend the 1st trimester, 1st grade awards at our Amazing charter school. JT received an award for perfect attendance and the Mathematician award!
I obnoxiously cheered for him (even though we were supposed to be quiet until the appointed clapping time... um way lame) and for the other kids that I knew who they were.
There was a reception directly after in the library. We waited in the line for a bit but as we got closer saw that there was lemonade and nachos. While I personally am a liquid cheese fan, I knew JT would enjoy the pizza packed in his lunch more. So we said goodbye and watches him run off toward the handball court... Or lunch benches.

Rock Steady: The 3 hour Christmas tour

2011-12-28T17:43:00.001-08:00

Mr B and I hosted our Rock Steady Christmas party on the Pacific Spirit. A 65ft boat out of San Pedro, Ports'O Call. Friends we've made thanks to the work and believers of the Rock Steady dream joined us for a 3 hour tour lol.
The ship included a fiesta buffet and unlimited margaritas.

My friend Cakestina made 75 chocolate and vanilla cake pops and also handled decorating the boat for us. It was fabulous! The treats and decór as well as not having to handle it and knowing it would come out perfectly. It was chilly but we all had a great time. One of our friends, Coach Fred, works in the harbor and instructed our captain where to take us while pointing out cool things and awesome facts. One of our guys thought we'd hired a tour guide for the evening, haha!

As in so many aspects of our lives, we are truly blessed to have our business surrounded by awesome people who continuously make us look good.
Thank you. You know who you are!

JT rocked his 7th birthday

2011-12-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday, we celebrated JT's 7th birthday. I cannot believe that he is this old. And only going to get older.

Months ago (yes months. i'm crazy, we've covered this already) when I asked JT where he'd like to have his birthday he said... Yosemite. I'm not that crazy.

I told him it probably wouldn't work because there will probably be snow and seeing how most of his pals are from Long Beach, not everyone has snow shoes.

We looked into doing a party at the batting cages where he hits once a week, On Deck but decided to go to the Rock Gym in Signal Hill. We went there for our niece's birthday a few years ago and knew we'd have fun.

Breeze whipped up some super cute invites on photo shop and thanks to the clever ideas on One Charming Party we assembled 30 (just in case) small reusable bags, filling them with Pop Rocks, Rock Candy, Bouncing Rock Balls, (play)compass caribeners, Rock Star tattoos and decorated them (well wrote in sharpie but whatever) "Friends Rock".
Cakestina handled the 4 dozen cupcakes and 5in cake for the top. So yummy and SO cute! She's the bomb! I knew there might be some friends with allergies so we also made some yummadocious vegan rice krispie treat! Delish!

Side note: I use a lot of exclamation points, especially when talking about food. Hmm.

As I mentioned in my post about the gymnastics holiday show... I originally thought the show and his party were going to be on the same day so when I booked the party, I had to choose the 2pm time slot. I knew there was a chance of there being a party before us but when we headed over an hour early and were told that the current party wouldn't be done until 2pm I have to admit I was temporarily worried and miffed. Then I decided I could either be a jerk parent to the staff (which by the way turned out to be JUST ONE person!!) and be stressed in the process or I could roll with the punches, realize that nothing I did or who I yelled at would change the situation, and enjoy the tons of people that turned out to celebrate our JT!
It took forever to get the kids all strapped up in their safety/climbing harnesses but the just ran around the gym. We had a lot of awesome parents that were willing to belay our little climbers. After all the waivers were turned it, we had about 34 climbers! That's nuts. JT knows too many people, haha! They played, munched on apples, pretzels, granola bars (ALL individually wrapped because it's cold season, they're kids, and Mr. B is faux-c-d about communal food lol.) and little waters. We sang happy birthday and the playing continued.
We had a great time despite the chaos and JT felt so loved and celebrated!
The Booth Bugs were exhausted and so we missed a party that we were supposed to attend that evening :( (so sorry again) but we grabbed some dinner at Golden Eagle, a burgers and breakfast all day kind of spot there in Signal Hill.
When we got home, after a shower JT opened his birthday presents. He was so cute at his overwhelming appreciation for his gifts. I love to see that.
On the morning of his actual 7th birthday, we had balloons strung throughout the house. On each one was a special message written in dry erase marker. They led to kitchen for a breakfast of Belgian waffles on happy birthday plates. Me B and I picked him up for lunch and went to John's for shakes and pancakes for lunch then after passing out treat bags (school supplies, glow sticks, silly straws and pixie sticks) to his classmates we went to Sushi for dinner. All his picks. Ahh, we've raised him well!
JT has enriched our life. He amazes us and fills our house with laughter. He is strong, kind, socially aware, responsible, courageous, bright, athletic, and energetic! We love you so much bug. Being your parent is a privilege and a joy.

Happy Birthday to... Breeze

2011-12-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Breezer,
Aging has made you cooler,
Birthdays suit you well.

We can't even say how much we love her. She's my person. You know, the person you'd call. The person that would laugh at your most embarrassing moments and then swear never to reveal them to another soul.

The person that will tell you stories while your in the car because your parents said you weren't driving far enough to watch Kung Fu Panda... not the short lame kind, the long, complicated, intricate, awesome, drawn out kind. The person that won't tell your wife if you were playing on the xbox. The person that will tell you the truth when you ask for it. The person that won't pass judgement, ever.
She's trustworthy and kind. Sarcastic and random. Fierce and loyal. She snorts when she laughs, that honest and awesome kinds of laugh. She gets my crazy, and that's a whole lot of crazy. She understands and embraces the faux-c-d tendencies I've passed on to her.

She's the actual best.

in the world.

no lie.

We celebrated her and JT with a trip to Disneyland (Thank You Fiebergs!) which was magic.

Happy Birthday to... Mrs. B

2011-12-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

It was my birthday on the 6th! Birthday's are always fun at our house :)

JT's school holds a monthly family dinner night at various local restaurants and December's happened to fall on my birthday. So we arranged to meet our homies and grub down on some yumminess at Papalucci's in Belmont Shore! Afterwards, we walked (in the cold!) to Frosted on 2nd street and bought half a dozen cupcakes... 3 of which I ate for breakfast the next morning. Don't judge. Commit to do the same on the day after your birthday.

I didn't want to do anything extravagant as I'm saving all that up for our Anniversary vacation coming up next month... 10 years. So breakfast with my parents and family, dinner with our pals and kiddos pals, life of love, live-in bff's, smartypants booth bugs, job that rocks, handsome hubs... a girl couldn't really ask for more.

Happy Birthday me.

Silent Auction Fun

2011-12-21T13:54:00.001-08:00

A fun night of bidding on fabulous baskets, all bids benefit our Amazing Charter School. We were the winners of Hair Bows by Mrs. Sees (JT's kinder teacher). We bid on them last year but lost at the last minute. This year, HeaBug's hair is growing and cute bows help to cutie-fy the crazy curls up top!

We won a Keurig instant drink machine (you're welcome Rock Steady Shop) that was JT's class's basket. And thanks to Mr. B's thoughtful scouting, I scored a basket full of wrapping paper supplies. I used most of it for our Christmas wrapping! Sweet. Poor JT bid but on a Lego Harry Potter game but lost. He was close to tears because "WE ALL" (as in the rest of us B's) got something but he lost and he lost his $25 of his own money that he bid.

We explained to him that since he didn't have the winning bid he didn't actually have to pay any money! He was comforted somewhat but my sympathy for him went out the window when he asked to stop at Target on the way home so he could pick out something for "equal or lesser value". Little monkey trying to work the system! LOL.

There was live music, free crafts, a girl scout bake sale and a delicious spaghetti dinner. JT was happy to get to hang out with his buddies and Hea Bug made beautiful decorations that made their way on to our Christmas tree at home.

It's turning into a fun annual tradition since this is the second time we've attended! Here is a peek at last year.

Our Annual Ornament Party

2011-12-11T21:51:00.001-08:00

We host an ornament potluck party come winter time. It's good motivation to get the tree up asap and keep our house wonderful and Christmasfied for as long as possible! Our wide and wonderful group of loved ones come together to mingle, eat, sing, play, visit, chat and ultimately take home a new and potentially unfabulous ornament for their tree. It all depends on the players. It's all in good fun and this year we tweaked things just a bit. We themed the food, had a hot chocolate bar with different flavors of chocolate, flavored syrups, whipped cream, cinnamon sticks and the hot water dispenser. We had coffee from It's a Grind available to help keep us warm in this chilly southern California winter cold. (argh 45 degrees!!) Note to self as a non coffee drinker... coffee drinkers prefer house blends and not vanilla nut or hazlenut or whatever other flavor sounds yummy to my not coffee drinking self. Sorry guys!

Instead of our usual 3 steals rule, we took it down to 2 since we knew we'd be expecting a lot of people! So here's the game... You bring a gift wrapped ornament. Awesome, funny, beautiful, whatever, as long as it's under $10. You place it on the table. When playing time comes... We draw/assign numbers. Chronologically, players choose to open an ornament or steal one that they like from someone who has already opened something. Each ornament can be opened then stolen 2 times at which point it's frozen. Our game is generally pretty intense and ruthless but this year, while still fun, we were all a little distracted by the cold. At least I was!

Lots of kids jumped in the trampoline and chased each other down the slide. Last year, the lovely Cakestina made cookies to decorate. This year we popped out the spray can of frosting and graham crackers to make "gingerbread houses". We got quite the wonderful array of candy/cookie/cracker/frosting sculptures. Love their craziness and creativity!

Even the little ones get excited about playing the game. The kiddos were awesome at taking a break from loud play so that I could holler out my narration of the evening!

Lucky us, we had old friends, new friends, kids from 1 to 92! In total there were upwards of 60 faces warming our chilly backyard! I remember when we first started hosting this party, we'd have 20 ornaments playing. We had 52 on the table this year. Needless to say, I should've allotted more than an hour when I was planning!

There goes my faux-c-d again. ;)

We definitely missed a few faces but we will be doing it again next year! Filling the house with yummy Christmas scents (put a cut up apple and or pear in a pot of water with some cinnamon sticks and a few shakes of nutmeg. stick it on the stove and let it boil. your house will smell DEE licious!)

I must say, I sneakily put the Duck in Hunter's gear ornament back in play this year. He just didn't have the same charm as the dead chicken ornament the Mr. B loves so dearly and I figured since no one was attached... I'd just wrap him up and smile at the person who scored on taking him home this year!

The fantastic additions to our tree this year included a silver spray painted grenade, a white owl on a branch with a bell, a menorah (Happy Chrismakkuh), turquoise slippers and a stuffed heart with a peace sign stitched on it.

We feasted on salads, chips and dips, pastas, pies, cookies, meatballs, spicy sausages, and beautiful cakes. We did how we like to do come this time of year (well anytime of year I guess)... Surrounded ourselves with peace, love and joy.

It's nice to own a production company to light up your backyard for a night time party!

It got PRETTY chilly, we tried staying warm by the fire!

An AMAZING shout out to my friend and neighbor Mia Reed (of Mia Marisa Photography). I was fretting because I hadn't taken out my camera at all during the evening and was worried I wouldn't get any photos that night. She took herself oldskool on my little Canon Rebel XS and snapped a few for me! You are wonderful and I'm so grateful for you!!

The Kamaes and The Thompsons.

Peas in Pods

AGA Holiday show 2011

2011-12-11T21:08:00.001-08:00

The amazing gym where our kiddos work out (AGA American Gymnastics Academy in Signal Hill) holds an annual holiday show. Class kids are featured doing various routines that showcase basic skills that they work on. It's an optional show so not ALL of the 800 enrolled participate but there are still so many that there are 3 separate performances. The competitive level kids also perform and its heart stopping and breath taking to watch them! This is our 2nd year in the holiday show.

SIDE NOTE STORY- We almost didn't make it! Having had our own annual ornament party the night before, we were up crazy late and slept in on this Saturday. I (occasional loser that I am) was checking my weather app and facebook when I saw that one of my girlfriends was taking her daughters to their gymnastics holiday show... and they go to the same gym as us. Quickly I called AGA to ask if the show was indeed today and NOT NEXT WEEK which I thought for the last month!! Yup, we rushed. Didn't get to shower or wash my hair. Got there an hour early. Woot Woot!

JT has been in Gymnastics for about 18 months now and HeaBug for about 21. They've each been gymnast of the month.

We LOVE watching them do their thing and love even more how much the coaches at AGA care for our kids. Quick shout out to Ms. Whitney, Ms. Lorena, Ms. Nicole and Mr. Scott. The other coaches remember my kid's names, laugh at their jokes, have created nick names for them and love their moves! Thanks so much to a kind and caring staff that has made us feel very much a part of the AGA family.

Maga is definitely one of JT and HeaBug's biggest fans. Any chance she has to make it to the gym, just to watch them, she's there. She made special congratulations cards for these two and was excited to make it to the holiday show!

JT's routine was to a rock out version of "Up on the Housetop". He did rolls and jumps, pushups and cartwheels. He was pretty nervous when they went to sit with their groups but it didn't show during his performance and he said once he go out there, he wasn't shy at all!!

HeaBug danced to "All I Want for Christmas". She is the youngest in her class. LO-O-Oves gymnastics and showed off her donkey kicks, forward rolls, jumps, and dancing skills at the show. Last year she was a Mini Tumbler and went on the floor doing various skills on a little course with a little help from mom. This year I was confident but nervous at her being out there and following directions on her own but little Sassypants did great!

SO crazy proud of these sweet peas! To watch them learn and grow brings us great joy!

Future Olympians

2011-12-07T11:28:00.001-08:00

The kids do gymnastics at AGA in Signal Hill. They LOVE it there. HeaBug was moved up to the Mighty Tumblers (3+) because she was so ready to be out on the floor alone. It helps that the coaches love them. It's hard not to! JT is in the All Stars boys class. He works out 90 minutes once a week and has decided he'd like to take on another day. With fall ball over he's only doing baseball 2-3 days a week so we thought we'd let him try something new like swimming. He would prefer to wait until it's warmer. haha. That's my boy <3

Here are their gymnastics photos taken by Rafael Beer Photography. Love my little monkeys.

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-03T23:12:00.001-08:00

The Lazy Dog cafe at the Cerritos Mall hosted a Breakfast with Santa on November 12. For $5 (what the what?!) you got a ticket to come to breakfast. Each ticket purchased also earned 1,000 school cents points for your school (which is an ongoing fundraising opportunity for schools in the area based on turning in receipts). We went with a whole group and had so much fun! Cakestina brought her boys and we had lots of friends from school! There were pancakes, eggs, bacon and potatoes. Blinking red noses for all and the Big Man himself came around table to table visiting the children! Again, I didn't have my camera so any pics were from my phone... boo.

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-03T22:48:00.001-08:00

Every year that Mr. B and I have spent Christmas together, we've had a real tree. In the beginning they were bought at Home Depot and we of the Doug Fir variety. Slowly we made the change to Noble Fir then to a tree lot where you tip the person who carries the tree to your truck. The last few years, most of JT's childhood, we've gone to Snowy Pines Christmas Trees in Belmont Shore. You can see why here.

It might seem like I'm taking my "low key"ness to drastic levels because I lobbied for an artificial tree this year. Hubs wants the real pine smell, Breeze likes the crisp air and atmosphere of the hunt for the perfect tree, I love taking the kids but struggle with the idea of spending so much money and time (oh the vacuuming of pine needles) on something that we have for a short time. Snowy pines plants two trees for every one you purchase but I still was just not feeling it. Not being a scrooge or anything, just looking in a different direction.

Success came in the form of a trip to Michaels and Home Depot. Scentcicles and an Artificial GE pre-lit (YES!) 7.5 foot Just Cut Fraiser Fir. Looks fantastic, smells like Christmas. Happy Campers all around. Kiddos were excited to decorate right away (no waiting for the boughs to settle) and haven't said anything about going to the tree lot or riding the train. I guess that's just one more of those things that I'm sure they need/want so badly but they don't miss at all when they don't have... funny...

[JT is hanging his Papa Ron Ornaments first. Now that he has the occasional Faux-C-D tendencies (you're welcome son...) he likes to go by year. HeaBug knew it was her turn to put the star on the tree so she carried it around for a while.]

It looks great. We enjoyed letting them put on the decorations, starting with their special Papa Ron Lenox ornaments and ending with HeaBug putting the star up on top. Mr. B and I only had to "fix" a few spots and by fix I just mean thin out the tiny area that HeaBug had decided ALL ornaments should go. We have two stars, a red on and a blue one. We alternate tree theme colors each year. This year is a red year.

Our Elf on the Shelf, Blue Berry Angus, found his way to the top of the tree.

Nuts that we had all of our decorations up and tree decorated by November 28th! We were all very excited about the season. We ARE all very excited about the season!

Gobbling Good Times -Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-03T21:37:00.001-08:00

"Let us remember, too, that greatness is not always a matter of the scale of one's life, but of the quality of one's life. True greatness is not always tied to the scope of our tasks, but to the quality of how we carry out our tasks whatever they are. In that attitude, let us give our time, ourselves, and our talents to the things that really matter now, things which will still matter a thousand years from now."
--Spencer W. Kimball, "A Gift of Gratitude",

Thanksgiving is at our house. We did the travel from home to home, family to family when we were just a married couple and continue to do it now as a family for other holidays but after JT was born... We decided that if you'd like to see us on Turkey day? Here is where we will be.

Over the years we've had so many of our family and friends fill our home on this holiday. The kitchen is where any and all who want to and are capable gather to chop, cut, rub, stir, mash, whisk, sort, mix, unwrap, test, taste, joke, laugh... generally in a hysteric manner, talk, chat, visit, reminisce, love...

I get a lot of credit since I buy the turkey. Haha. But the meal is always one prepared by many hands and with a lot of love. I have learned how to cook a Thanksgiving meal here, in my own kitchen. Sisters, Mothers, Aunties and Friends sprinkle their wisdom on my kitchen and the result has always been delicious. We average 25-40 people every year. There is always plenty of cider and butter. Last year we had all six missionaries from our ward and you know how 20 year old boys eat like they're 20 year old boys and there will be no more food in life after this meal. LOL, love you elders and miss you... well most of you ;)

This year was considerably different. Deciding to let go of my Faux-C-D tendencies I didn't stress centerpieces and place cards or food cards or renting chairs or always doing the same exact thing as last year or previous years. This is how I roll now. And you know what? Still turned out great. Still tasted wonderful.
My sister and niece came down to spend the night on T-Day eve and as in past years... we went to a late showing of the latest Twilight movie, this year was Breaking Dawn. Obnoxious and funny in the theatre. It's one tradition I don't mind being a slave to. Maga got to come with us since she's been on leave from her school job after injuring her back. She normally works until 11 and is too tired to go with us so I'm glad that she has been getting to hang out more! My friend Cakestina got to come too. She had fun laughing at how silly we were and even "spilled" the Reese's Pieces on the couple sharing the one seat in front of us. That's what they get for coming to a Twilight movie to make out. Staying up that late isn't as hard when you're giggling like schoolgirls the entire time!

A lot of people do a Turkey Bowl the morning of Thanksgiving. My nephews and Brother in Law play in one. Since we started running, we planned all year to do the Turkey Trot 5K as a family in Long Beach. My stress fracture and subsequent time off from running nixed that idea. We decided to play softball. There's a fantastic little park down the block with 3 baseball fields. We invited anyone that wanted to play. Big, little, family, friend, old, young, cheery, grumpy. haha. A great turnout yielded about 20 players. Grandma GG came and played with HeaBug and said had she not been needed to keep our little lady company, she'd have gotten out there and whooped us all. LOVE how fiery she is! We played from about 7:30ish to 9ish. Decided to randomly draw teams... Random decided to stack most of the fellas on the red team. We had fun, rocked our bandanas, I know I impressed with my stellar Alice Cullenesque pitching skills! (Hey, I JUST watched Twilight, I couldn't help myself). It was SUCH a fun morning. I was glad we put a breakfast casserole in the crock pot the night before and a french toast bake in the oven before we left for the field because it sure was nice coming home to breakfast.

This year we had a smaller bunch than we've had before. My Long Beach in-laws had their own T-day feast. My Pasadena in-laws stayed close to home as Papa Ron just had surgery to remove cancer. (Eff Cancer. Just saying) We just kept things really small and low key. Rain was in the forecast so we decided to stretch out our lovely "As-Is section" Ikea table and fit all 16 right there in our dining room.

This year we also made Grateful Rolls (thank you pinterest). Inside each crescent roll was a piece of foil with someone's name on it. As we started dinner, everyone took and opened a roll. You said what you were thankful for this year and then gave a compliment to the person who's name was in your roll. It was a little choppy but the sentiment was definitely there. The feast was delicious and the conversation had constant laughter in the background. We didn't watch White Christmas, which is one of my favorite things to do but we did stuff ourselves with pies and other deliciousness.

Applewood Smoked

Cooking Nosh

Sugared pecans. Good on salad and alone.

the grateful rolls

Bird. Garlic Herb Butter.

Pre butter the Hawaiian Rolls. Makes them Fancy.

Spinach, Gorgonzola, Cranberry, Bacon, Pecan. With White Balsamic Vinaigrette

Feast Peace

grateful rolls.

carved it. thank you America's Test Kitchen tutorial.

Asparagus, Baby Bellas, Red Onion and Garlic Herb

My Gals.

Hope your Thanksgiving was amazing. Hope your home was filled with laughing kids, stomping feet, snoring husbands, and delicious aromas. I am certainly thankful on this day as well as everyday. I count innumerable blessings from Heavenly Father. I hope you can too.

The Autumn "Leaves"

2011-12-03T21:08:00.001-08:00

Living in Long Beach is perfect for us B's. Our kids are growing up in diversity. There are so many different neighborhoods and we love ours. We affectionately refer to it as the "Suburbs of the Ghetto". It can feel a little shady driving towards our neighborhood but this street, yeah, it is just two and a half blocks from our house.

It's a regular on our running and bike routes. At one end, there is white vinyl fencing. This place, my kids call "the area". Little sillies I tell ya. Our dogs love to come down here to play. There are never cars parked so we did a family photo shoot here last year with Mia Marisa Photography. Pexie is a big fan of playing here with the kids.

Hubs and I enjoyed watching our boy play baseball this fall. He's growing so fast and it's great to see his love for the game and his skill level improve. He bats at the cages once a week. Had team practice and a game. He works with a Coach Buddy once a week and is now doing clinics with Dad and his Spring Coach. There is a theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. So if he continues to practice 1-2 hours a day a few days a week... it should take JT about 23 years to become an expert in baseball. So I guess by 26, he'll have to pick a new goal. lol.

We've had a great sports year. Made a lot of friends and accomplished a lot. Being healthy and active are important to us B's. We like to know that we're going to be sticking around for a long time and chasing grandbabies one day. It's no accident that HeaBug calls any sneaker her "running shoes" or that they ask to do pull ups in the hallway before bed. We do a lot of yoga and stretching. JT knows how incredibly cool it is that he can do one armed push ups. It's awesome that they can do things that we want to learn how to do (A Handstand is on my list of things to do... it just is. Just cuz.) and that they want to do things that we can do. We inspire each other.

Ice Skating on Veterans Day

2011-12-02T14:22:00.001-08:00

JT's school held a great assembly for Veterans day. On his day off from school we decided to go Ice Skating with Breeze. Now the boy did ice skating a few years ago and I warned him he might be a little rusty. He was confident that he knew exactly what to do. After getting our skates on, he stepped onto the ice and fell. He spent the next hour and a half falling. And falling. And falling. Not once did he ask to leave and kept shooing me away when i offered to help him. I am so proud of his perseverance. I have such amazing kids.

Side note... my gluteus were killing me the next day.

Happy Ghosts at Halloween

2011-12-02T10:45:00.001-08:00

We had a pretty full Halloween Season this year. Coming off the Fall time sickness, we attempted to keep it more low key than we did last Halloween. Regardless, we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, baseball, gymnastics, PTA, Rock Steady and sleep kept us from an evening of pumpkin carving so this year, our pumpkins sat cutely on our porch. JT and I did spend a quiet saturday creating these cute Family Fun creations. I saw them on Pinterest and started saving our milk jugs. We had fun drawing the faces, JT decided to keep them funny and not scary. He and I feel the same way about Halloween, we're into the candy, we're into the costumes, we are NOT into the scary... at all. The faces weren't enough for him so he went through after we'd colored them in and drew mustaches... and tiny happy faces.

Costumes this year: Mr B was handsome Mr. B (nature made). Mrs. B (hi that's me) was Rosie the Riveter (home made... pieced together, thank you Pinterest for the ideas)

JT was Sam Flynn from Tron (home altered. We bought a regular costume, ordered some LED wire that Maga sewed to the reflective lines. Mr B soldered, wired, cut, snipped, and powered up the wire. We attached the batteries to the underside of a disc that we'd picked up at elecTRONica at California Adventure this summer and I crafted up a way to enclose it on the back side so that he could remove it in case he had to pee. Family effort = awesome costume). Plus being lit up really helped us see him in the dark.

HeaBug was Snow White (home altered, hemmed to fit our little princess... we gave her an apple and some lipstick and she was perfection).

They went to Uncle Kene's ward Trunk or Treat and chili cook off. Got lots of candy. We created and operated a maze for our school's Trunk or Treat... Lot's of Rock Steady help and love on this one. Breezer was quite the stellar one man band inside the maze. She was hoarse at the end of the night due to her excessive dry ice inhalation. The maze was in demand though, I managed the line for over 2 hours! Our wonderful Martinez friends came to the trunk or treat which included a carved pumpkin contest, a best trunk contest, and a movie (Monsters VS Aliens). Thank goodness for Cakestina aka Wonder Woman for keeping an eye on my little snow white and sorry we didn't actually get to hang out very much that night.

We spent the next evening visiting with the (W)Rays. Thanks to J and Dr. Al for hosting with the mosting. Homemade churros were the highlight of the abundant yummness. Halloween itself fell on a Monday night. Kind of a bummer as it's a school night and JT's school had a huge cow about not allowing any costumes... whatever. We dressed up and headed over for pizza and trick or treating with our friends the Saenz family. Our kiddos were tired out pretty quickly so we didn't stay out for long. We came home, sorted the loot and here we are in December, the chocolate is gone but we're still working on the rest

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

2011-11-22T19:28:00.001-08:00

We had a brief day off from work in October and decided to take the kids to Willowbrook Apple Farm in Oak Glen. It's our 3rd year going, here's last year (you might remember my raving about seeing my couldabeen BFF Jennifer Garner the year i was preggo with HeaBug).

The crop was small this year and the trees are over a hundred years old so this year, we were given, um, fruit pickers (?) I don't really know what they are called and that's what came to mind. Whatevs.
We showed the kids how to use them and they still got to pick their own apples. We took pictures in the little grove. It's one of those places that we visit annually so I try to get a picture of them in the same or similar place to measure their growth. And to reminisce on how cutie patootie my bugs are.

There was a crazy line for apple cider so instead of making a gallon like we have in the past, we bought cups to drink and sat down on hay bales to enjoy our cider and caramel apples. We left Oak Glen with two large bags of Stayman Winesap Apples, lots of honey sticks, a piece of apple pie, apple butter and boysenberry jam.

On the way home, we decided to head to Tom's Farms in Temecula to visit their Pumpkin Patch. We've never been for pumpkins before and had only even visited the farm for the first time this summer (when we had Pexie with us). We knew that we were packed with work and might not have another weekend before Halloween to enjoy these "picking" activities.
We were actually pretty let down. The pumpkins were in rows on AstroTurf... Lame. We made the best of it and the kids had a lot of fun regardless. We always do when we are all together. Us B's know about having a good time! We ate at Tom's Farms and had strawberry shortcake for dessert. Another awesome Autumn day.

Puddle Shooting

2011-11-20T15:38:00.001-08:00

We had some rain, rain makes puddles. We love puddles. I have been wanting to do a photo shoot of Breeze in a formal dress in the rain with a big umbrella for a while. It was raining and I called her on my way home to get into a dress and some rain boots and get ready to head to our local park to take photos. My favorite photographer, Mia Marisa just happens to be my favorite neighbor across the street as well. I called her and told her my puddle idea and asked if she and her girls would like to come play in the rain with us. She happily obliged, here is the result.

here is the link to Mia's photos of the day: http://www.miamarisablog.com/?p=1623

AGA's SECOND Booth Gymnast of the month!

2011-11-20T15:34:00.001-08:00

Way to go JT. We have another gymnast of the month! JT is in the All Star Boys 6-12 program at AGA. His coach, Scott is very tough on him. For good reason. This little guy is ridiculously skilled and strong. We expressed interest in him advancing to the team/competition level so Coach Scott has been expecting a lot more of him lately. We are so incredibly proud of JT and his crazy gymnast skills!

The miracle isn't that I finished, it's that I had the courage to start. -John Bingham

2011-11-20T14:47:00.001-08:00

You might remember a while ago when I posted about the Wrigley 5K that Mr. B and I ran in June. That was step one on the path to running the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon in October. I run a few times a week, short ones, maybe 2-4 miles. I started upping my mileage about 6 weeks before the big race. My first "long run" was 6 miles. From home to the Long Beach airport. I too Pexie, she was pissed when we were done. I felt triumphant.
Sunday mornings were my times for the long runs. The hubs began joining me. We run at different paces, I'm more of a penguin... slow and steady like. Breeze even joined us on a run, home from the Cerritos Mall. We were trying out different routes around Long Beach and seeing if it felt better to run, "from home" or "to home". Going from 6ish to 7ish to almost 8 was working well for us. Then the sick swept through our house. Taking us out one by one. After a two week running hiatus, we were just two weeks away from the LB marathon. Figuring that we'd been appropriately training, we decided to up our mileage even more to 10.
We each had our own playlists and we were both feeling great during the run. With a mile to go, I started doing a running dance inspired by Katy Perry and her Fireworkageness blasting in my earbuds. I felt it after we got back to the car...

Thanks to Groupon, Mr. B got us a smokin deal on VIP entries to the Gladiator Rock'n'Run at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Up and down bleachers, over tires, through tubes, over walls of wood and cargo nets, through icy pools, belly crawling through mud, carrying 40lb bags of rice, climbing over walls... all while our kiddos cheered us on. Nothing gets you over a wall faster than hearing little voices say, "Go Mommy Go! Go Mommy Go!".
It was a great experience and running by Mr. B's side eased the pain of whatever was wrong in my leg (darn you Katy Perry).
We finished, passed on our free beer, desperately attempted to clean some of the mud off of our bodies and hopped in the RV and drove home. That was a napping day.

The following Saturday, we took the Blue Line downtown for JT to participate in the Aquarium of the Pacific, Kids 1 mile run! He was AWESOME and finished 12th in his age group running a mile in 8 minutes!

We went to the Long Beach convention center afterwards to the Marathon Expo to pick up my racing bib and d-chip which would record my time. At the last minute, Mr. B. thought that he could use his time waiting/cheering for me wisely and signed up for the Run Forrest Run 5K sponsored by Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

Marathon Morning, we were up in the dark. While I'd spent the last couple weeks with my leg in excruciating pain, the adrenaline took over and I was feeling great. I guess I should give a little shout out to the Hydrocordone that was in my medicine cabinet. Hey, I was prepared. Mr. B and I took the metro downtown again. Race began at 7 but I put myself in the last wave, the 7:30 for the 3hr 30min and over crowd. I wasn't so much focused on speeding though the race as I was concentrating on not dropping dead! Over 20,000 runners! Lemme just say, I crossed the line and I didn't stop running until the 10 mile mark. I walked/ran the remainder. I was surprised to see the most handsome face in the world at mile 11. He had finished his 5K in just under 30 minutes then after hanging around, made his way along the race course until he found me. Then he ran with me for almost two miles at which point i made my way down the finish line and he couldn't come with any further.

Can you imagine my elation when I found out that not only had I survived the race but I finished in 2 hours, 59 minutes and 50 seconds? Under 3 hours, that's right! Not dead, done faster than I thought! Woot Woot! Not one to stick around for hullabaloo, we made our way back to the train and came home to our kiddos. JT played a ballgame that evening. Aside from the fact that I'd just ticked another thing off of my bucket list, it was just another day. An awesome, crazy cool, hell yeah kind of day.

**update- so after a trip to the doctor and a few x-rays, I have a stress fracture of the left tibia. yeah, rocking out to katy perry (aka running like a crazy person) and upping my mileage too quickly make the old stompers mad. no running for 6 weeks unless i want permanent and more serious damage. yikes. waiting patiently for december...

i'm thankful

2011-11-10T12:39:00.001-08:00

for a lot... i wish i would take a little more time to journal for my own family. i'm excited and caught up with my school blog and we're all good with the Rock Steady site (thanks to Breezer)... I need another blogcation. or i just need to get off pinterest lol. if you know what i mean, the you KNOW what i mean.

updates to come, i promise.

now let me go put a reminder in my phone... Siri will run my life, although I always say thank you so when our technological devices take over the world, mine will remember how nice I was hahaha

Clean Teeth!

2011-10-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

HeaBug took her first official trip to the dentist! She's gone to see Dr. Mimi before but has only had her teeth counted. This time she got to have a few x-rays and get her teeth cleaned and polished! Things are looking great! I'm so glad we have such an amazing dentist who is kind and gentle. I remember my childhood dentist, Dr. Arthur... grr. I blame my dental anxiety on him. Boo. Thankfully, Dr. Mimi cranks up the oldies music and will even put a towel over my eyes. We love her!

Rock Steady Juniors

2011-10-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

We work for ourselves and spend a lot of time at our shop in Artesia. Many days, especially during the summer, when they aren't at their various activities... our little munchkins spend quite a lot of time there too. They are generally free to help and build and paint and work and play on computers and under tables... I feel so blessed to have such awesome people working with us. People that put aside scraps for my kids to build with and people that cut swords, planes and other toys out of random materials for them to play with. Working at Rock Steady is awesome!

Kid Pitch Fall Ball

2011-10-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

We decided to switch baseball leagues this year. We're trying out ELB Pony. It's kid pitch, which is exciting but scary at the same time... they throw all over the place sometimes. At our last league, it would have been another three years before JT would see pitches from another kid. Between baseball and gymnastics, JT keeps seriously active. He hits at the cages with Mr. B and once a week, he meets up with another coach to work on fielding. It might seem a little excessive but he really enjoys his time playing baseball and even after team practice or individual practice, he still want to play catch in the yard. We figure as long as he digs it, we'll let him run with it. Fall Ball is supposedly more laid back and about the fundamentals... and this league is much more competitive come the Spring season. We'll be playing with several of the boys that we played with last season in our old league. If we can get them really comfortable playing with each other this young... Williamsport, here we come :)

Lobsterfest with GG

2011-10-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

Grandma GG came to visit and wanted to take the great grandkids and grandgirls out for lunch and playtime at the park. Never wanting to miss out on time spent with GG, Mr. B and myself joined them for a day of fun.

After time at Cinderella Park where they all played to their hearts content, GG came with us to LA Ports O Call for Lobsterfest!

Music, food trucks, booths, and whole Maine Lobster dinners for under $20. It was definitely an interesting and yummy experience. We parked in a lot and caught one of the free buses to the entrance. After grubbing down on three lobsters (shared by all of us) and googling whether or not you are supposed to eat the "green poop looking" stuff on the inside, we tasted a little chowder from the lobster truck and some seafood gumbo. JT likes gumbo but didn't care for the seafood variation of it.

Before calling it a night and catching the bus back to the car, we bought some blackberry cobbler and some banana pudding. It was all SO delicious! Can't wait til next year. We were so glad that GG was able to spend the WHOLE day with us! JT and HeaBug especially love their Great Grandma Booth!

LA County Fair Day

2011-10-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

We anxiously await the LA County fair each year. Lucky us, we spotted a Groupon that was good for 2 fair admissions plus excellent parking for $25. We utilized it opening weekend and did more than our fair share of walking, shopping and of course eating.

I tried fried avocado and to be honest wasn't that impressed. Although we've made a lot of changes in our eating habits as well as our general health so our tummies weren't as excited by the glutenous offerings of the fair as in years past... Interesting... We did enjoy lots of roasted corn, kabobs and lemonade!

JT and HeaBug enjoyed a pony ride after dark and wandering through looking at all of the animals and plants in the garden. They rode the sky ride and got mini cupcakes too. HeaBug loved the Dinosaurs the most! It was a great day!

Cosmic Bowling for Ms K

2011-10-22T23:06:00.000-07:00

We went to a birthday party for one of JT's little friends, Ms K. who's been our pal since Kinder. HeaBug especially LOVES seeing Ms. K and her mommy when we are walking JT to class. The party was fantastic Cosmic bowling for rock stars! Such a good time, we were glad to be a part of her special day.

1st day of 1st grade

2011-10-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

JT began another year at the Charter School the we LOVE. His new teacher, Mrs. G is a long term substitute for his teacher that is out on maternity leave, Mrs. K. He's really enjoying Mrs. G and has a few kids in his class that he went to kinder with.

We love the school and are adjusting to the new administration. The whole district got a might shuffle over the summer and our old principal retired at the end of last year. It's an amazingly strong school though with a great parent presence.

Part of the charter agreement is that each family agrees to donate a minimum of 25 hours of service. Long Beach also offers School of Choice which means you can apply to attend any school in the district and a lottery (most of the time) determines whether or not you get in. There is no transportation or bussing system provided so getting to and from school is your own responsibility. Once accepted to the school you need not reapply each year.

I'm doing PTA this year and serving on the board as the Historian. I had to attend several board meetings over the summer. It's been fun getting to know other parents and being so involved. It's a plus knowing all the great activities being planned for the year! And man are there a lot! We are looking forward to another year as an Eagle!

The Happiest Place

2011-10-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

After 4 years, we gave up our Disney Ultimate passes after JT's 6th birthday celebration at The Disney Parks last year. We've definitely missed it but with JT in school and work we weren't able to make it out nearly as often as before so we decided not to renew.

One of our guys at Rock Steady, Klaus, was kind enough to sign in our family. We went the whole day from 9am-11pm. We hit the park like tourists and had a total blast!

Finally got to see World of Color and ride the new mermaid ride. We played in both Disneyland and California Adventure on what had to have been one of the hottest days of the summer!

Ready for Little Mermaid!

See him feeling sick?

Poor Mr. B started feeling sick toward the end of the night and I wasn't nearly as sympathetic as I should have been considering he spent the next 5 days seriously ill (So much that we spent time in urgent care!) I forced him to suck it up so that we could stand in line for more than an hour to see World of Color. Love you babe... and sorry again!

Our Dier Friends

2011-10-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

Mr B and Mr Dier have been friends since the beginning of time. Best Men at each other's weddings, always in touch regardless of where in the world Airman Dier was stationed, we try to catch up as often as possible when we're in a 200 mile radius. They spent the last three years in Germany and while there, expanded their family by two sweet peas. We were so excited to finally get a chance to meet them while they were in-between moving from Germany to Colorado. Mr and Mrs Dier are the kind of amazing friends that when we get together, it feels like no time has passed at all. We count ourselves so lucky to be able to love this family <3

Sweet Tori

Little Man Will

Pals even before they were born

Riss and Mr B

Little Monkies

Hea Bug, JT, and Miss Riss

"Children reinvent your world for you"

2011-10-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

My Beautiful Friend Mrs. Mabry gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Mom and baby were healthy and happy. I was so glad to get a chance to meet him in the hospital.

Weeks ago, we attended the Mabry's sports themed baby shower. Mini Corn Dogs, Hot Dogs, Nachos and Churros! Yum!

Mrs M and I have been friends since forever. It's wonderful to witness such beautiful milestones in the lives of those we love.

I embellished cloth diapers/burpee cloths as one of our shower gifts. Though I forgot to take a picture, I also made hooded towels for baby and his big sister!

So happy for the Mabry Fam and their new addition <3

Why walk when you can cartwheel?

2011-09-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

HeaBug LOVES gymnastics. She has been going for a year now to AGA in Signal Hill. She was recently named Gymnast of the Month for the Mini's Class which is 18months - 3 years. After that, the coaches decided that she was ready to move up to the Mighties Class which is for 3-6 years. Yup, she's 2 1/2 still. She is so into it though. I love that she's challenged and her wonderful coaches are great with her.

To celebrate her achievements she got to pick out two new leotards since her pink/zebra one is getting too small. She now goes out on the floor without me since Mighties is not a parent and me program. She's amazing!

"Sports should always be fun" -Charles Mann

2011-09-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

JT attended 49er Camp at CSULB again this year. HeaBug also did her first session of swim lessons there. Her lessons were 2 weeks and I scheduled them to coincide with JT's Camp. It was funny because most of the swimming teachers knew JT from Sports Camp. He's going to be that guys, the one who knows people where ever he goes.

We were at the campus from 11-1 every day for two weeks. Swim from 11-11:30 lunch on the grass and then drop off the boy at camp. We enjoyed home packed lunches on our picnic blanket. Laying and looking at the clouds or playing catch, it was good quality time together.

Hea built a lot of confidence in the water with Ms. Kristin. She is pretty fearless so we try and give her as many knowledge and experience gaining opportunities as possible so that she can go through life as safely as possible.

At the end of her lessons her teacher told her to get her towel and meet her at the office for a special surprise. HeaBug completely straight faced looked at me and said, "I hope it's a dolphin!" Silly Baby!

The last day of camp, parents and families are invited to come for the day to see all the physical units they've been working on. JT demonstrated his swimming skills, gymnastics (which we knew he was good at) elementary games, and soccer. We got to request a friend to be put in the same group and he chose R Man. They were in the same group last year and then went on to be in the same Kinder Class. Little Homies.

We're so grateful our kids are able to enjoy these opportunities. They're naturally athletic and we are so proud of them!

"Dumbledore's Man, through and through. That's right"

2011-09-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

We surprised JT with an evening at the movies. HP7, coming to a close. JT has always been (thank goodness!) into "cool" movies. We knew that even if it was a little intense, JT would LOVE going to see it. Sho'nuff. The B's dig it! Here's the little boy bug fighting He Who Must Not Be Named.

"You may delay but time will not" -Ben Franklin

2011-09-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

It's freaking me out that i cannot seem to sit down and catch up on blog posts. I'm doing an ok job over on the school site, posting about the current events. I have a sticky note on my desk top of all the things i have to write about. Not like people are dying to know what's up with us but this has become my official family journal and I really want to be able to look back at 2011 and see the cool things we did.

Breeze reminded me that she owes me one more "Blogcation" evening. I have to figure out when I'm free enough that I can take that and I have to do it asap.

sigh.

The more I practice, the luckier I get. ~Jerry Barber

2011-09-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

Mr B and JT, doing the post camp recap.

JT attended Dirtbag Baseball Camp which was held at Cal State Long Beach. The baseball program at the college is quite impressive!

Dirtbags History
4 NCAA College World Series Appearances
18 NCAA Regional Appearances
5 Regional Titles
6 Big West Conference Titles
4 Big West Conference Player of the Year
14 First-Team All-Americans
15 USA National Team Players
2 USA National Team Coaches
36 Major League Players
16 Players in the MLB in 2010 season

From 9am to 4:30pm JT breathed baseball. He loved it so much that he still wanted to play catch when he got home. He was the youngest player participating and just about the smallest. The camp was in week long increments and had we know that you could do multiple weeks, we would have baseballed his entire summer! He gets along well with adults anyway but college guys get a kick out of him. At the end of the week, he was presented with the Hustler Award, for working hard and always having energy and being willing to participate. JT was thrilled and we were super proud. Some of the coaches play for the Dirtbags and were signing gloves, hats, programs, you name it, at the last hour. What was awesome was that 3 coaches had JT sign their shirt and hat! The camp was intense but it only intensified his love for a game that he was born to play.

Even in the womb

Little f.y.i... in the delivery room, after my cesarean, the nurse brought JT up close to my face so that we could officially meet. He was crying and the only thing I could think to do was start singing "Take me out to the ballgame". Sweet thing stopped crying and gave me one of those 'oh, it's you, good' looks. Even if baseball is only something he does in his youth, if it brings him joy, mission accomplished!

Coming home from the hospital

Season ticket holder (ish)

Rally Cap time with Uncle Chris

Learning to run bases

Braves, with Coach Daddy

Dodgers, got him out at first

Twins, Sliding home

Go Dirtbags by the way. We're fans.

"You are my SonShine" -Author Unknown

2011-09-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

After two years of growing his hair out, we decided that JT could use a little change. He'd been acting a little out of sorts, getting in trouble a lot. Our deal has always been, you can grow your hair out as long as you are good in school. Even though we're on summer break, we talked with Jack and he decided that we should go ahead and make the cut. After it was over, he just seemed so much older. Gone were his golden brown locks and in place seemed a new character. Once in the shower he called out past the curtain to tell us that without so much hair, he could do push ups easier!
He's been a much better listener and he told our neighbors father that it's because his brain can breathe a little easier now. The haircut combined with the purchase of new running shoes, he said he's faster, stronger, and a better listener. This boy is just the light of our life and we love him any way, shape or form!

"Age is an issue of Mind over Matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter" -Mark Twain

2011-09-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

We had a small birthday party to celebrate my dad's birthday. Family, friends, gather and eat, sing, dance and talk story.

Finadene, Ahi Poke, Teri Chicken, Pineapple with LiHing powder, Jello Cheesecake, Orange chocolate cake, and Pineapple Cream Cake. Not pictured but just as delicious, Kalua Pork, Potato Mac Salad, Rice, and Hawaiian Sun drinks. SOO yummo!

"Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean." -David Searls

2011-09-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

On July 5, 2001 we bid farewell to Maraea Nahaku Kaioelawea Lua Kamae. Every year we make several trips up to visit her but always especially on the 5th. 10 years went by very quickly. Miss her still, glad for the things she taught us and the impression that she left on our lives.

"In summer, the song sings itself" -William Carlos Williams

2011-09-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

We kicked off summer at home in the pool. We'd spent the last few weeks traveling so it was nice to get to be home and swim in our own pool. Welcome Summer!!

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better" -Albert Camus

2011-09-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

4th of July we traditionally spend with the other Long Beach Booths. We spent the first part of the day with our friends from Baseball the Saenz's. Yummy food, time in the pool, good friends and good times.

We spent the afternoon playing and visiting and eating before shooting off fireworks. Always lots of fun!

Visiting Texas

2011-09-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

We spent the last week of June and the first days of July in Texas. Our Cousin Katie was getting married and we attended the wedding which was just outside Houston. Being adventurous, Mr B, the kids and I flew from Long Beach into Austin where we rented a car and drove up to Arlington to meet and visit with our Aunt Mickey. A GREAT Aunt in every sense of the word, we enjoyed visiting with her.

We ate some fantastic Texas BBQ and stayed at a hotel in Arlington near the Rangers Ball park and the new Cowboy Stadium. The next morning we decided to take a tour of Cowboy Stadium which was actually incredibly fun! There had just been an event on the field the night before so we weren't able to take a picture on the actual star but it was so cool. Even though we're Charger Fans, Go Bolts! (and JT our lone Raider fan... don't get me started) it was a neat experience to be in the locker room and down on the turf. The facility itself is still so new! Absolutely worth the $17 (kiddos were free).

After our tour, we drove down to Houston and checked in to our Hotel, the Hotel Magnolia it was beautiful boutique hotel in the heart of Downtown Houston. After checking in we changed in to our Astro Gear and walked over to Minute Maid Park to watch their game agains the Boston Red Sox. Stadium food was delicious, chili dogs, ice cream, cotton candy and diet cokes. Ugh so yummy!

After the game, a tough loss throughout which JT hard core rooted for the home team despite the unrelenting and passionate BoSox fans by which we were surrounded... we were treated to a fireworks show after they opened the retractable roof! It was insanely humid during our whole Texas experience. As soon as the roof opened up, we were drenched in sweat. Crazy how they were able to keep the interior of a space as large as a stadium fairly cool during the whole course of the game!

Our hotel featured complimentary Milk and Cookies every evening and we made in time to snag a few chocolate chip treats. Tired from yet another very full day (and the two hour time difference) kiddos went to bed without a single fuss. It was during this trip that we were trying to wean HeaBug off the 'Mommy helps you go to sleep' and this combined with our trip to Dove Mountain did great for that cause.

We attended the wedding the next day and afterwards explored the highway. We had to drive back to Austin to catch our plane the next day. In essence, we drove a giant triangle... From Austin, North to Arlington, South to Houston and back West to Austin. It was indeed a great adventure peppered with great food and fun. By the second day driving we had banned electronic devices, Leapster, iPad, iPhone i.e. all the things we'd brought to help us survive the car time. Funny thing was how they were just as occupied counting churches and water towers. Since the little miss is potty training as well, we had almost hourly stops for bathroom breaks. We tried buffalo jerky, venison, buttermilk pie, cobbler, and lots of other roadside treasures.

After flying home from Austin we got to get a peek in the Jet Blue cockpit. The pilots were awesome and let JT and HeaBug sit up front and play with all the controls they wanted. We really enjoyed our time in Texas but as soon as we stepped off the plane we were so happy to be back in Long Beach and the beautiful weather!

Love is a flower that turns into a fruit at marriage -Finnish Proverb

2011-09-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

The event that was behind our whole Texan adventure was to celebrate and witness the marriage of our beautiful cousin Katie (formerly Booth) to her husband Scott Mills. Their nuptials were so special and we were so glad to be a part of such a special day. HeaBug was so exited to see someone getting married and to dance at the reception. As they were exchanging vows she not so quietly says, "She's is beautiful and now they are really really married!"
She was quite a hit in her pink boots as the whole event paid homage to boots and cowboys. We enjoyed the afternoon at Shirley Acres and spending time with Grandma GG and Uncle Ronnie. The day was beautiful as was the bride. Congratulations to Katie an Scott!

May the blessing of light,
Be with you always,
Light without and light within,
And may the sun shine
Upon you and warm your heart
Until it glows
Like a great fire
So that others may feel
The warmth of your love
For one another.

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" -Roger Caras

2011-09-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

After our week in Tuscon, we had 3 days before we flew out to Texas. We decided to take Pexie out in the boat for the first time. She is 1 year old now! We drove out to Lake Elsinore (aka Smelsinore... it really does stink) and launched the boat. It was my first time there although Mr B and JT had been before. It's a resevoir so when that heat is pouring down, it activates some crazy underwater sea monster that farts as it swims under the water. Not really, i don't think anyway. But that's a fair description of what it smells like. After letting the kids drive a few laps, yes, the kids, we were heading in and all of a sudden heard a clunking sound and the steering got tough. We pulled the boat out and decided to take it by the shop to get it checked out. On the way we stopped for lunch at Tom's Farms. Turkey Burgers for us, peanut butter sandwich for the pup. Although it turned out that the boat needed a few repairs, it was a really nice day.

Dove Mountain

2011-08-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

June 2011

We travel often for work. Most of our clients know that we have young children and a few of our awesome clients have watched out family grow. A few years ago, we did a show in Las Vegas where we stayed at the Red Rock Hotel for 10 days. JT was 3 and I was preggo with HeaBug. They were so cool with JT being back stage and thinking he was quite a little boss man.

This year we were doing the same company's meeting but at the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Resort outside Tuscon, AZ. The company had bought out the entire hotel for the week. We had rooms for ourselves and our crew, who were coming in from all over. We had a room reserved under Mr B and one under my own name, as a place holder. When we checked in they said, "We have two B reservations." We let them know that we would be staying under Mr. B. At that point, they offered us the option of two rooms... Either a standard room (still a standard at the Ritz!) or and EXECUTIVE SUITE! Mr B quickly says we'll take the latter. I refuse to unpack once our things are delivered to the room because I'm positive it must be a mistake. Client called, no mistake. She just knew we were bringing the family and thought we could use the space! Hello top floor and thank you VERY much.

That can pretty much describe the rest of our stay at Dove Mountain. It was beautiful, amazing, breathtaking, fun. The resort itself was extremely family friendly (not the norm for the Ritz). A lot geared toward the kids. A huge waterside and two fantastic pools. Considering my two munchkins were pretty much the only little people there for a few days, we pretty much enjoyed uninterrupted time at the pool.

They ate breakfast on the balcony and hollered down Hello's to members of the staff that they were beginning to recognize. They watched movies that we brought from home and even got ice cream sundaes delivered to the room!

Seeing as it is the desert and 113 outside, our attempts at a hike were quickly squashed a 1/2 mile in. We did make it to the Desert Museum, which was fun but still yucky hot. I took the kids down to the meeting rooms and ball room where they were setting up. We got to spend a lot of time with Mr. B even though we were on show site. We're friends with the people that work with us so the kiddos had plenty of folks to show all their dives and jumps and slides and tricks to. (Thank you Andrew, John and Al!)

We ate tons of delicious food, napped in the air conditioning. When it was too hot to be poolside, they played and watched TV from the very deep soaking tub. HeaBug is potty training and managed to stay dry, night and day, our whole trip there!

The grounds were beautiful, the food was delicious and as much as I enjoyed living the life in a suite at the Ritz, I sure was glad to be home (even if just for a few days) and out of that crazy heat. Something about being in my bed at home and knowing my kids are asleep in theirs just puts me at ease.

Uplights and projecting a logo via a gobo on the side of a mountain!

They are wonderful car travelers and the 10 hour drive (because of potty breaks) was a breeze. I'm so grateful for my super cool kiddos. I'm thankful that we have and awesome company and great clients. I'm glad we made the choice to work for ourselves and thankful that we are able to support ourselves and pass along work to other people. Life is good for the B's.

Gone but never forgotten -Remembering on Father's Day

2011-08-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

June 2011
Father's Day

This year, we spent father's day taking the kids to honor their grandfathers that have passed on. We visited the grave of "Papa Booth". Mr B's grandfather and Great Grandpa to JT and Hea Bug. He was very important in our lives and I'm grateful for the time that we were able to spend with him. I'm grateful that my children knew and loved him well.

We also took them to see "Grandpa Jack" for whom JT is named. It was their first visit and we try to come often enough that they will remember to honor those that are no longer with us and what they gave us. I never got the opportunity to meet Grandpa Jack since he died when Mr. B was only 10. I feel like I know the man that he was through stories though and us B's try to pass that on to our own children.

I worried that Mr. B might feel left out considering we weren't making a huge deal about him. But he enjoyed talking to the kids about their Grandfathers, the men that they were and the things that they did for him and taught him. It's not always an easy thing to pop up and say, "let's go to the grave site today" but I think he was glad that we got to do that for them and for the kids.

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

2011-08-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

June 16, 2011

So proud of our little man! He has finished Kindergarten! What an amazing year of growth, learning, and accomplishments! At the last award's assembly, JT was given the "Most Improved"award for the leaps and bounds he made with his penmanship. We were there celebrate his achievements!

The last day of school was spent with all the other Kinder Classes as we walked to El Dorado Park for a fun day of play. There were bubbles, games, relays and face painting. Each class rotated stations, they had such a fun time even though we were experiencing June Gloom weather.

Kinderbration was hosted by 2 classrooms at a time. So smart to have only the families of 50 students in the auditorium as opposed to all 100 kindergarteners at the same time!

We were treated to super cute songs and we got to cheer for our kids as they were presented with awards (JT got a Math Super Star award!) and then their Certificates of Completion. The wonderful Mrs. S choked up a little when offering sweet words of kindness about our children. I know that JT will remember how much he loved and learned from her for his whole life!

At the end of the day, we went back to class and collected all the projects, books, tests, and memories of kindergarten. Can't wait to come back and experience 1st grade!

"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. " -George F Will

2011-08-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

June 10, 2011

The 2011 Spring Baseball season has ended for us. JT had an awesome time playing on the Twins and we met a lot of really cool families. Coaches were awesome, Parents were great, Kids had fun, can't really ask for much more than that.

I team-mom'd this year. We had a pretty great bunch. After our last game, we went straight to Cirvellos for pizza! We handed out special "Slugger Awards" to each of the players and then gave thank you gifts to the assistant coaches (who doesn't love Sunflower Seeds and Big League Chew and a framed photo of The Guys on Family Fun Day?). For Coach Freddy, I found a wood grained baseball that had the Twin's logo stamped on it. Over the last few games and practices we got all the boys to sign it and that was our special gift to him.

The boys all learned so much and had a great time in the process. Super proud of JT and looking forward to our Baseball Filled Lives in the future! Go Twins!

"Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going" -Jim Ryun

2011-08-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

June 5, 2011

In December of last year, I crazily decided that I wanted to become a runner. Did I EVER like it? No. I have dreaded running the mile since like 6th grade! Over Christmas I'd listened to my sister tell a story about a friend of hers that had run the San Francisco Marathon and uncontrollably... it popped up there on my bucket list. I started a program called C25K and downloaded an app called Get Running. After 2 "attempted starts" and a crappy calf injury, I finally buckled down and got serious. In February, I started by running for 1 minute and walking for 1.5 minutes at a time. Three runs a week, 9 weeks later, on April 30th I completed C25K and ran for 30 minutes strait, without stopping, for the third time in a row! It was just under 3 miles.

Having completed the program, I wanted to test myself and signed up to run the Wrigley River Run. We got caught up with work and I stopped training for about a month. Since I'd already signed up, I decided to do the run regardless. When I went to pick up my information packet, Mr. B. spontaneously decided to do the run with me! I was skeptical but sure enough, after a pre race stop at 7-11 for some Red Bull, we showed up to the starting line and ran that race! We finished the 5K (3.2 miles) at (me 36:28 and him 37:50), pretty decent considering we hadn't been running for so long beforehand.

We felt great afterward and I've signed up for the Long Beach Half Marathon (13.1 miles). I've faltered on my training plan but have no intention of being a no show come Race Day, October 9th! JT is signed up to do the Long Beach Aquarium Kids 1 mile fun run the day before. He's pretty excited.

pirate fest carnival and day with grandma gg

2011-07-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Our Awesome charter school hosted a Pirate Festival for our annual carnival fundraiser. There were games, music, food, entertainment, rides and good times to be had by all!

The whole playground was transformed and each class hosted a game booth. Ours was the Ducky Pond. It was monitored by volunteers from our classroom and they did a wonderful job. HeaBug had to make sure everything was in working order and spent a lot of her tickets here!

I made a banner for our class utilizing an old banner that we had printed for a pirate themed birthday for JT a few years ago. I snapped pictures of all of his classmates and teacher and used apps on my iphone to transform them into cute pirate pictures!

Silly string was the big winner of the day. Kids were running around spraying each other, their parents, teachers and anyone else in a good mood. Our playground looked like it had confetti all over by the end of the day.

There were aerial acrobat performers, chinese dragon dancers, huge carnival rides and lots of food and fun. What made it even cooler was that GG (Great Grandma Booth) was visiting with us for the whole day. She joined us for JT's baseball game early that morning and got to stay the whole day with us. Maga and Tutu also hung out with us and the other older Booths came for a little while.

The kiddos enjoyed the day so much and were wiped out by the time GG had to head home.

Mr. B took off after the carnival to hop in a Penske with our brother in law Craig and drive straight through to Atlanta, Georgia. Our company built some scenic element for the Katy Perry tour and due to delays, we weren't able to make the deadline for the shipping company. Our stuff had to be on site by Monday morning so Mr. B and Craig drove it there, taking route 40 the whole way through and dropped off the pieces Monday just outside Atlanta. Then they hopped on a plane and were home by Monday night! Keeps us on our toes!

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust

2011-06-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

The week before school let out for the summer, I got to go with JT's kindergarten class to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It was a wonderful free day as each parent volunteer was given 4 children in their group and we were at liberty to explore the exhibits and the grounds at our own leisure! We had a great time!

"Sun is Shining, Weather is Sweet" -Bob Marley

2011-06-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

It was River trip time for us again. Annually we take our boat out with our Imbach ohana to Laughlin. We’ve camped before but this trip was one where we take the boat out all day and come back to shower and sleep in the hotel at night.

We left for our trip on Memorial Day, going the opposite way of all the coming home traffic (NICE!!) JT took the days off of school and we took the days off (sort of) from Rock Steady. Breeze came with us and The Imbachs had two of their boys, Dev and Bird and another boy from their ward, Kyle.

We found a great little beach up by the dam and set up camp. Lots of yummy food, tons of gatorade (thank you electrolytes), wake boards, knee boards, skis, and tubes… there was NO shortage of cool stuff to keep us entertained!

JT and HeaBaby love being on the boat and in the water. It was her third year going, funny as how she’s only two… yes, we had her out there when she was 4 months old the first year. My little aquarius/daredevil. They both love to “drive” and Mr. B lets them when there aren’t other boats around.

The inevitable wind kicked up but didn’t knock us out. We still enjoyed tooling around on our Maxum that we’ve named “The Holo-Holo”. It must run on air, or water, we’ve decided because we only filled up once and towed it home with the tank half full!

It was the perfect kick off to our summer trips, we’re looking forward to coming out to Lake Mohave again. Can’t wait to try out a few other lakes too!

argh

2011-06-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

Frustrated at how behind I am with keeping up our blog. JT keeps asking if I put "this" or put "that" on our "Internet Family Journal".
Next week, we are in Tucson. I have no baseball, room parent, team parent, gymnastics, jiujitsu, anything. I plan to get some posts up. Before I forget lol...

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. -- Mark Van Doren

2011-05-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

Oh how we LOVE the LBUSD charter school that JT goes to. Oh how we LOVE his wonderful teacher Mrs. S. HeaBug LOVES coming to JT's class, she feels quite a part of the happenings in his room! Mrs. S hosts a ocean themed open house, which is evident from the adorable "Message in a Bottle" invitations. Because of issues in the district, Open House, which is in the second part of the school year event where you get to go and see all the things your child has been up to for the last few months, had to be moved to the end of May, barely weeks before the end of the school year. Mrs. S pulled of an amazing evening that showcased all of their wonderful work, beautiful art projects, and excellent writing! We were so proud as we strolled through the class. At the rate that JT and Hea were playing with his classmates, you would have never guessed they'd just seen each other hours before. There were beautiful sea horses, crazy cute ocean books, crab math, scuba diver writing, "who am i" mer-people, and coral/sea star displays. I work in his classroom once a week and even I was incredibly surprised! We are so proud of him and so thankful that he has such an amazing teacher.

"Jiujitsu is the gentle art. It's the art where a small man is going to prove to you, no matter how strong you are, no matter how mad you get, that you're going to have to accept defeat. Thats what Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is." -Saulo Ribeiro

2011-05-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

JT got his 3rd stripe at Gracie Jiujitsu Academy in Torrance, CA! SOOO proud of his ability to focus when we are there and his agility, balance, and coordination!

Babies are such a nice way to start people. ~Don Herrold

2011-05-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

My WONDERFUL friend Mrs. M of the Long Beach M's is about ready to pop out a cutie patootie baby brother for our friend lilloB. We celebrated with a little baby shower and enjoyed an afternoon of good food (thank you Souplantation) yummy cake pops and mini cupcakes (thank you Sweet and Saucy) fun games and favors (thank you Mrs C and Mrs G) and great company.

*update* Baby S was born Tuesday! Pics and deets to come very soon! I have to shake my little cold before I go over to see and swoon over his cuteness!

The Great Mother's Day RV Costal Adventure

2011-05-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Just home, showered and wiped from our AMAZING Mother's Day weekend trip. I knew if I didn't take the chance to now, it would be at least a week before I updated with this post. So with my last ounce of vacation energy... here's a taste of the fun we had.

We've ultimately decided that "things" are nice and we like "things" but "experiences"... that's where the real memory making is at. For mother's day this year, Mr B. rented an RV from Cruise America and we invited my mom (Maga) along on our adventure. We packed up the RV on Thursday night with the intention of taking off for our campsite of Pismo Beach, CA early Friday morning. At the urging of our buddy JR, we decided to just head out. The fridge was packed and beds were made so why not? We'd wake up someplace new. Well, finding a place to park an RV when you aren't used to parking an RV at 2:00am, that's a new challenge for us. I tried staying awake as long as possible but we were all wiped out so in Carpenteria, we pulled over near an IHOP and slept for a bit. Mr B started driving again around 7 and the jolting of the "Bus" began the wake up process for everyone else. Thank you YELP for helping us find Ellen's Danish Pancake house in Buelton!

We passed Pismo and went further up the coast to San Simeon. We went on a tour of Hearst Castle, a tour that we've done two times before but it was Maga's first time. Plus the benefit of different guides is that you learn something new every time you go. We enjoyed the tour and afterwards headed back down to our campsite. I created the menu before we left and did a great job sticking to every meal plan. We were so wiped out by the end of day we knocked out after dinner.

Saturday morning, I went for the best run ever. Over the Oceano Dunes and out on to the beach. Four 1/2 miles of complete bliss.

We went adventuring through the beautiful diversity of the California Coast. Through farm land and cattle land, ocean and sand. We stopped at the famous Madonna Inn so that JT and Mr B could pee in the Rock Waterfall Urinal hahaha. We wrapped up the day with a long walk on the insanely windy beach. There were a ton of wind surfers out! After another great dinner, more campsite walking and playing and showers, we played some dominos and hit the sack after it got dark.

Sunday morning brought yummy aebleskivers, chicken, apple and gouda sausage and a mushroom scramble. After packing up our site, we ventured down to Solvang, CA and had lunch, pastries, ice cream. It was an amazing weekend packed with fun, quality time and love. I LOVE MY OHANA. So incredibly much!

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. ~William Shakespeare

2011-04-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

EC turned 5! We played and had a great time celebrating our little friend!

LaDy and her little sister GraDy had their party at Pump It Up! our first time and we had a blast!

We got to celebrate a lot of birthday parties this month. And we didn't have to plan a single one!

Only to children children sing, Only to youth will spring be spring. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

2011-04-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

Spring break is in full swing this week. I had to work yesterday so I'm making up for it by jam packing every other day... This morning JT went to a Spring Workshop at the El Dorado Nature Center called "Potions, Lotions, and Strange plant notions".

HeaBaby and I picked him up and then went home to grab Auntie Nini and the camera (which I had to drop off at home to charge since I grabbed by bag and lenses and spare cards to find that my battery had died!) and headed up to Exposition Park.

We explored the California Science Center, learning and playing. We got to see Born To Be Wild in IMAX (which was amazing).

Afterwards, we took my little butterfly whisperer and his sister to the Butterfly Pavilion at the Natural History Museum. It was magical and amazing.

Trying to attract butterflies by pretending to be trees. JT even rubbed the leaves on his hands so that he would smell like a tree. I love how awesome kids are.

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. - Ben Williams

2011-04-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

This is Pexie. She's our nine month old American/German Rottweiler. She's a sweetie peetie. We love her to pieces.

For I remember it is Easter morn, And life and love and peace are all new born. ~Alice Freeman Palmer

2011-04-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter.

"At this Easter season, as we contemplate our own mortality and remember loved ones who have passed from this life, our hearts turn to him who promised: 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' Jesus Christ is the literal Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Holy One of Israel, even the risen Lord, who declared: 'Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world … I am the light and the life of the world.

'I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.'

This Easter season, as his witnesses, we testify that he lives and that through him, we, too, shall live."

-1st presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

B's kept it super low key this Easter. Normally we have a big brunch or dinner with an egg hunt for all of our nieces and nephews. This year we had a lot going on with work and school and baseball that we just didn't get around to planning the big hurrah.

Then we thought Mr. B would have to be in the shop after breakfast but we lucked out being a little ahead of schedule thanks to our Rock Steady Crew! We slept in and the bugs woke us up to discover that the Easter Bunny

(who forgot to leave a note like he did last year because he was exhausted from a very busy saturday and he just plum forgot) had filled each LilloB's basket with new books, a movie, good ole' pez and a few hazelnut chocolates. He left them by new scooters and shoes!

I put together a jammin breakfast and we sipped OJ and italian sodas from champagne flutes. GK and Papa stopped in bearing baskets filled with treats and bordeaux eggs! It was nice to visit for a while and we spent the morning coloring eggs and riding scooters in the house (gasp) since it was drizzling outside.

After a nap and cleaning up, our little boothohana went to the movies to see RIO. Super cute, funny and highly recommended! We arrived home where Maga and Tutu had hidden all of our dyed eggs and a few plastic ones all over the front yard. JT and HeaBaby had the best time filling up their baskets with eggs. We spent the rest of the evening outside practicing scooter riding and enjoyed a day together.

Ye Auld Renfaire 2011

2011-04-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the Renaissance Faire in Irwindale, CA. The last few years, it’s been held at the Santa Fe Dam. Here’s a glimpse at earlier years. Here too.

This Spring, Rock Steady has quite the full calendar. We knew we wanted to make sure that we attended but weren’t sure which weekend would work out best. As we woke up on Sunday morning, we realized that this was opening weekend so we took the day off as a family for a journey into earlier times.

The food is always the highlight. Of course. Strawberry crepes, scones and cream, steak on a stake, steak sandwiches, roasted corn, mango and coconut fruit ice, english toffee and peanut carmel apple slices… our bellies were happy campers.

A few years ago, Mr B, JT and myself dressed up in faire wear. This year, since only HeaBug and myself seemed game at the last minute, I decided to tribute the traditional garb by pairing my top and corset with jeggings and cowboy boots. HeaBug has a favorite purple velvet tutu dress that she loves wearing so we put a turtle neck underneath and tights on and we had ourself a fairy!

Annually, we buy handmade head wreaths of dried flowers and ribbon. HeaBug got her first one this year and she wore it all day.

JT has had better years at the fair and this year was in a Six Year Old Grump Slump. We’re looking forward to the experience again when he’s seven. Haha.

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

2011-04-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

JT has the official best Kindergarten teacher in the world. As a class, they had caterpillars in a habitat and watched as they went through their different cycles finally emerging as painted lady butterflies. His teacher, Mrs. S. had a tent that they put the butterflies in so that each student in his class could go inside one at a time and get a close look. It was awesome!

April 3 -Happy Birthday Mr. B

2011-04-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

Mr B is a top notch, Gen-yoo-wine, honest to goodness, best of the best, numero uno, Good Guy. He is a Husband, Father, Son (in-Law), Brother, Uncle, Boss, Coach, and Friend.

One of the hardest working men and best judges of character, Mr B is a difficult man to buy for and even harder to catch off guard. For his 29^th birthday, I surprised him with a Long Beach Staycation. JT was surprised with an overnight trip to Pasadena with GK after his baseball game and HeaBug got an evening with Maga and Tutu.

We went to King’s Fish House in Downtown Long Beach. Oysters, Sushi, Filets, Lobster, Ahi Steak. We enjoyed the date and I had more up my sleeve. It took some convincing but I told Mr. B we were going to the movies down at the Pike. In the elevator on the way down from the parking structure, I gave Mr B my gift. A small box from Sweet and Saucy. Inside was a lemon filled vanilla cupcake with lemon buttercream frosting. Painted in gold ink on a fondant ribbon was Happy Birthday and inside the box was a room key to the boutique Hotel Avia, located just across from the elevator on Bay at the edge of the Pike.

We enjoyed a night off from listening out for kiddos and midnight potty trips. Views of amazing Long Beach, the ferris wheel was beautifully lit. The hotel is modern and beautiful in design and features a rooftop pool! The next morning, after lounging and watching Nadal and Djokovic play a little tennis we brunched at Johnny Rebs before heading home to our munchkins and Thai food for dinner.

ah, that smile lol

He’s definitely loved beyond measure and we were wonderfully excited to celebrate his special day! Happy Birthday Mr. B!

It is all very beautiful and magical here -Ansel Adams

2011-04-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

March was full and busy for us B’s. Then end of the month brought a long weekend due to furlough days for the district. We took advantage of the time and booked a propane heated canvas tent at Camp Curry in the Yosemite Valley. We took our nephew, 11 yr old Bird of the Ontario Imbachs. We took our time going up the 5 and 99 stopping for lunch at Bravo Cheese Farms! What’s better than cheese?! We stretched our legs and spent an hour exploring this roadside adventure spot. There was a tree/fun house, lots of old and vintage signs, equipment, coke bottles and play things. We fed animals and ate fried chicken and mac n cheese topped off with some ice cream. HeaBug played with her daddy on an old fashioned porch baby swing. We topped it off by picking up some cashews, cheese and jerky.

Thanks to my trusty weather app, we knew to expect cold temps and maybe rain/snow. We got a call the day before we left from the camp to let us know that power was out in the valley and would probably be until Sunday. They offered to let us reschedule if we wanted but ever the adventurers, we knew that we’d be great with tarp covered luggage and four wheel drive on the truck. The road in to the valley was slow due to the snowfall (that I didn’t expect because I lost iphoneness just before we went through the great tunnel). Only one side of the road was open at times and groups of cars were being led by rangers.

We finally made it to camp and had to hurry to get our stuff to the tent before the sun completely went down since the valley was running on generators, the normal lights that are on throughout Curry Village were down. Then they told us at the front desk that we couldn’t even leave the car seats in the car because of BEARS! I didn’t know that we wouldn’t be able to cook our own food in camp so after a shared dinner of lunchables with trash carefully thrown away in the bear proofed trash cans we put any and all food, toiletries and car seats in the lockers. As we were doing that, Mr B left the locker unlatched since it was literally 12” away from our door. He came out with the next load to find an intruder! Of course while never once losing his composure, we deduced that it was NOT a bear (my first thought) or a raccoon but a ringtail squirrel. We shooed that sucker outta there and did not walk away from an unlatched bear locker the rest of the time we were there.

The dark night in a new and strange place made going to be a little difficult but traveling is tiring and it had been a long exciting day so with a small flash light hung as a night light, the tent was knocked out by 9pm.

We awoke to some serious snow that had been falling all night and bravely made out way to the bathroom/shower house. There was a work light lighting the facility but the water was warm. Showering a two year old when it’s 30 degrees outside is an hour long task.

We made our way around the valley floor via the free shuttle bus all day long. In fact, the whole time we were there, aside from walking, that was our only transportation and even in the snow they operate a great system. We took the kids to the Ahwahnee hotel and went to Yosemite Village, Visitors Center and Museums. Grabbed soup and sandwiches from Denagans deli and were glad we made the choice to rock the camelback as opposed to lugging water bottles around.

We played some uno and read books and scored some dinner at the pizza patio. Heard rumors that the power was going to be on again soon. Again, we were wiped from a full day and slept a lot more soundly.

Sunday we made our way back to the Awahnee for the infamous Grand Brunch only to find that they weren’t serving it because the power outage. It had come back on in the middle of the night but I guess that wasn’t enough time still. We settled on the regular delicious breakfast buffet and filled our tummies. The snow had stopped and we had an amazing view of the approaching blue skies and sunshine from our seats in the dining hall at the Awahnee. That was that, we spent the morning going to Yosemite Falls and then after a nap, reading and journal writing time, spend the afternoon hiking up to Mirror Lake. It was amazing and the upper portion had frozen over. We ate some astronaut ice cream before heading back down wait for the shuttle.

We spent the evening playing dominos and the kiddos got to watch Despicable Me on the iPad. We packed quickly in the morning and hit the food court at the Yosemite Lodge before making the trek up out of the Valley. I don’t know if the curves on the mountain were more noticeable but HeaBug was fussy and I felt carsick. She finally fell asleep but we had to pull over so I could donate my huevos rancheros back to the park. A few miles more and Bird was rudely awoken with the same carsickness. BOO. Once we were out though, everyone felt much better.

The ride home was smooth and we can’t wait to get back to Yosemite. Although a little less snow might mean a little more bear...

Our little cat in the little red hen

2011-03-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

JT's kindergarten class put on a musical production of The Little Red Hen. Mr B was glad to help by donating and setting up the lighting and focusing the school's existing equipment. JT was offered the role of the sneaky sly fox but his shyness (SHY?! JT?! I know, you don't believe me) over took and he happily supported in the storyteller's chorus as a cat reciting the finishing line to the play.

He had LOTS of support present and luckily I got a front and center seat since I filmed for his teacher! Nice!

Play Ball!

2011-03-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

Take Me out to the ballgame...

JT is playing for the Rookie Twins this year. Mr B is helping Coach and Mrs B is somehow Team Mom. One of these days, I'm gonna learn about that word "No"... I seem to do fine when it comes to my 6 and 2 year olds haha.

We've got a great team. Rookie Division plays non competitively, hitting off a pitching machine and learning about getting out and getting others out. Even though we don't keep score yet we still want them to learn. That running the bases is left in T-ball. Run fast and through first base or take your seat and cheer for the rest of your team.
There was an official pancake breakfast opening ceremony and a parade. Our Twins walked behind their AWESOME CUSTOM banner designed by the ever talented Frosties and printed by out great business associates and friends at Sew What? Inc. We're SO glad to have such amazing people in our lives that are willing to donate their time, talents and resources. BIG THANK YOU!

With the ceremony at 9 and our first game not until 3, we all took a break and came back for our first game agains the White Sox. The boys hit hard and played SO well, we were incredibly impressed and proud. They did a great job cheering for each other and I kept our bench very neat! I even got the boys to put all of their empty bottles and trash in a basket that I bring so we don't "leave our junk on the earth" lol. They're such a great bunch. JT was amazing. He and all the other Twins kept sliding at home. Whoever decided that white was a great color for baseball pants was obviously not a Mom. Hello OxyClean!

Needless to say, we're proud to be Twins Fans (This Season Anyway) and Super Proud fans of JT!

Gracie Academy, his 2nd stripe.

2011-03-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

JT has been learning JiuJitsu at the Gracie Academy in Torrance for a while. He loves it so much. It's kind of his Dad and Unk thing. He goes twice a week and comes home wiped out every time. He just received his second stripe, marking 40 classes. He's recognized in front of the class and then gets to help kick the dodge balls that they play with at the end.

JT loves coming home and practicing his moves on his Unk and Dad. I love the emphasis on character that they teach. Every six weeks they host a game day and in order to attend, you have to accumulate points. Depending on the attribute they are focusing on, you can earn points by doing different good deeds, completing tasks without being told and so on. This last section was on RESPONSIBILITY, JT earned the most points of all the students! He was the responsibility champ and got a big patch for the back of his Gi. He was so excited and we are really proud!