My cute kids! Lots of pics, so be prepared!

So, my awesome sister-in-law Jill took some great shots of my kids doing what they love to do when they go to Nana and Papa's - SWIM. While we were at the USC game, Papa and Dave took the kids in the pool. Here are some great shots of some pretty darn cute kids, if you ask me.



Ben floating on his back.

Making crazy faces in the pool.

Seriously, this is the funniest thing to see. Jake does this dive where he literally falls face first into the water right after saying, "Cowabunga!"

Benny

Jake floating on his back.

Jake's swimming! Jill said he almost made it the whole length of the pool by himself. Big improvement from the last time we went swimming.

Taking a breath....keep going buddy!

Almost there! Good Job. And thanks Papa, for teaching both our kids to swim. Who needs swimming lessons!

The kids love jumping into the pool. Nice form, Ben.

Jake so happy with his Uncle "David".

Ben loves his little cousin Ella.

Jakey

This is such a great picture of Ben-so happy.

Fight On!

Watching his team dominate!

In the first pic we took, I told Ryan his smile looked funny, so he opted for the no smile look in this one.

Sitting pretty close to the field.

Gotta love the self portraits. And the sun in our eyes!




So, Ryan and I were able to get away on Saturday and go to the USC game. Besides parking in the ghetto, and I mean ghetto, it was a super fun day. Thanks to Terri, we dropped the boys off around 2:30pm and headed for LA. (South Central to be exact!) We got to the game with time to spare and got situated in our seats. I was ready to sit, after a rather lengthy walk from where we parked. We ran into some of Ryan's schoolmates, which was fun for me to be able to meet them. The weather for the most part was great, except for some rain for about 10 minutes. All in all, it was a great time. And of course our team dominated, which is always nice. It was a little scary on the way out of the stadium knowing that we would have to walk through a scary neighborhood to get to our car. We stopped on the way out to talk to some cops to ask them what the best route to take would be. He told us the best way would be to walk the way we came, which we thought was scary even in the daytime. I made it clear to the cop that we weren't looking for the quickest of most direct route, just the safest way. His response, "Maam, this is South Central, there is no safe route." Boy, was that comforting. So, after he told us that, Ryan decided he would go by himself. I wasn't too keen on that idea and told him I would rather go with him. Then he told me it would be safer for him if I weren't there because at least he could run if he got into danger, where if I were there, we probably wouldn't get away too fast. That made sense to me, so I reluctantly remained in my safe place by the police as I watched my husband go like a sheep to the lions den. I was so worried. I kept going over scenarios in my head about how long I would wait for him to return until I approached the cops and told them I thought something was wrong. I was so relieved when he pulled up to get me in record time. He said it was pitch black and he literally ran the entire way. So needless to say, next time, we are parking way closer and going with a bigger group.

Pics of Ben's Birthday Extravaganza!

Happy Birthday Ben

It is so hard to believe that we have a 6 year old. It is so fun to watch Ben grow and develop and become such a cool little man. I love most stages kids go through, but I think I am learning that I am really going to love being a mom to older kids. The older Ben gets, the cooler he gets. And now, we just hang out and play games and talk. It's so fun. He is such a great kid. So funny and sweet and just fun to be around.

On the day of his birthday, my dad took him to Knott's Berry Farm for the day. They had a blast. Of course my dad bought him everything under the sun, plus stuff that he could take home for all of us, so you could imagine how excited he was. Above is a picture of the 2 after they got home. We made a cake and had pizza when he got home. Nana and Grandpa Jim stayed for the festivities.

Since I am still figuring out this new blogspot account, I think I will just make a new post with all the pictures from Ben's party he had the Saturday following his birthday. 60 people, 30 kids, a bounce house, pinata and yummy food and you have a pretty fun party. He had a great time playing with all his buddies. He also got a new fish tank and many of his friends brought live fish to put in the tank. He was stoked and so were we, because that meant less toys to have to find a spot for! I will post pictures in a new post.

New house, new schools, new ward, new post....

Well, when you don't post but every couple months, you sure have a lot to write about. I always feel behind, thus putting it off even longer, and so the cycle goes. Well, we have moved into a new house in North Huntington Beach. We rented out our condo to a great lady, and rented a little house of our own. We are loving it. It is so nice to have a big front yard and backyard and especially a garage! Now all are closets are filled with clothes instead of endless storage boxes and old baby clothes.

Ben and Jake both had exciting weeks a couple weeks ago as Ben started Kindergarten and Jake started preschool. Ben is really enjoying school and meeting all new friends. At the school we had him signed up to go to before the move, he would have known about 15 kids going into his same grade. So, this was definitely different for him but he was super excited. He thought it would be so neat to get to meet "all NEW friends". I was so proud of him, because I'm not sure I would have faced the task with the same enthusiasm.

Jake was so stoked to start school. We were never really intending on sending Jake to preschool so young. We didn't start Ben in preschool until he was 4.5, but Jake having a big brother, wants to do everything that he does. He kept asking, "mommy, when do I get to go to big boy school?' or "when does my soccer start?". So, I thought, if I can get him into Ben's preschool, which I LOVED and it was cheap,( but SUPER hard to get into to)I would start him this year. If not, I would do Joy School like I did with Ben. Well, nothing short of a miracle, we got in and made the decision that 2 days a week of school might be good for Jake. And, most of you that know Jake, know that he is the cutest, most charismatic little guy, but definitely can be a wild child. So, we thought the extra year of discipline and routine would help him prepare even more for Kindergarten. He is loving school and feels like such a big boy.

Well, that's all for tonight. Ryan and I are good. Ryan is busy with school and work and I with running the kids to and fro and being pregnant. 9 weeks and counting!