How fast can you get to Disneyland?

Grace's cousin, Jillian, turned six yesterday, and to celebrate her birthday she went to Disneyland. Grace really, really, really wanted to go with her, but she still had school this week and we didn't want her to miss the last day. We also didn't want Steve to have to miss too much work. (Yes, I did say work. He has a job. A real job. Where they pay money!) In the end we decided to make a super-quick trip.

We left Tuesday after Grace's graduation and drove straight to Huntington Beach. We hung out at the beach, bought some yummy peaches from a farmers' market, and ate dinner at Wahoo's. (And neither of our kids threw up this time!) Yesterday we went to Disneyland all day and then we drove home last night. Whew! We're all a little tired and cranky today. Hopefully one of these times we'll be able to take a trip to California for more than one day.

Grace's Kindergarten Graduation

Holy cow! I didn't know that graduating from kindergarten was such a big deal. I guess I was wrong. They went all out for these kids with caps and gowns, graduation pictures, presentations of diplomas and everything. The cutest part was a song that the kids sang about going to first grade. I don't know why, but I started crying. Since when have I been such a cryer?

And this was the last day of school. All of the kids learned "The Hoedown Throwdown", a line dance to a song by Hannah Montanna. Then they had a dance off, where each grade performed the dance for judges. It was pretty cute.

Random Pictures

This is last weekend in St. George. We were able to go up for a couple of days and spend time with some of my family. Grace and Roman always love seeing their cousins. It may be hard to tell in the picture, but all four kids pictured have different shades of red hair. It's so funny how many red heads we have in the family now. We didn't have any when we were growing up.

This is our pathetic running-through-the-sprinklers set up. We don't have any grass in our yard, so the kids can't actually run through the sprinklers. Instead they just kind of stand there and get wet. It does keep them entertained for quite a while though.

This was taken at the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. We finally made it there a few weeks ago after living here for almost two years. It was pretty cool, but I have to say that I would be pretty disappointed in it if I had to pay full price. Luckily we had some free tickets so I didn't feel too bad. :)

Grace's Recital

Okay, so the recital was a few weeks ago, but I've kind of been apathetic toward blogging lately. Grace did great. I didn't do so great on the pictures though, because I was busy chasing Roman. Steve did film it, but I'm not quite computer literate enough to post any video. :)

Grace did two dances, one tap and one ballet. She seemed to know most of the steps and was really confident on the stage. The recital was held at the Henderson Pavillion, which is a really big outdoor ampitheater, and a really cool place for a recital. What amazes me is that Grace does not even get nervous at all about performing at these things. She definitely didn't inherit my shyness.

Cheap Diapers and the Hurt and Kill Book

So Roman is three, and still not wanting to be potty trained. After six and half years of buying diapers almost continuously, I'm pretty sick of spending so much money on the stupid things. I've been buying Luvs for the past few years. They seem to work well and they're not as expensive as some of the others. The last time though, I decided to go for the very cheapest ones I could find. They happened to be the Parent's Choice brand from Walmart. When I first used one on Roman, he asked if he could look at the diaper. He took one look at the picture of clouds, (not characters,) and said, "These diapers are boring!"

Roman has also decided lately that the illustrated kids' Book of Mormon story book that we have is the best book ever. The reason? It has Jesus AND it has lots of guys that "hurt and kill".

Max the Dog

So yesterday Roman would not let me call him anything but Roman. Not the nicknames I've always used. Not even Buddy. Just Roman.

Today, however, he is NOT Roman. Please don't make the mistake of calling him that. Today, his name is Max. And he's a dog.

Roman at Three

My baby is three. I can't believe it. It seems like only yesterday...

Here are some of the things going on with Roman:

• Roman is still not potty trained. We thought he was going to be so easy when he started using the potty last summer, but I guess we pushed too hard and he decided to be stubborn. We're working on the potty issue now, but trying not to force it. We do, however, have plenty of candy in the potty treat bowl, yellow stickers for our yellow potty chart, and plenty of super-hero big boy undies just in case Roman decides he's ready.
• We finally moved Roman from his crib to his toddler bed. We tried this unsuccessfully months ago. He just wouldn't stay in his bed, especially for naps. This time though, we're going through with it. Even though he hasn't taken a single nap since we made the switch. I'm not sure I like it though.
• Roman is talking up a storm. He had a late start talking, but now he can say pretty much anything he wants. That doesn't mean everyone will understand him, but hey, we're not picky right? Talking is talking.
• Roman is a wild and crazy little man. If he's not running, jumping or climbing something, then he's probably ripping something, breaking something or otherwise making a mess of something he shouldn't be getting into. He is a total sweetheart though, when you can get him to sit still for a minute.
• Roman's favorite things are the color yellow, cars and trucks, pirates, any Baby Einstein movie, his stuffed dog "Baby", (who we were so happy to find stuffed behind a couch cushion,) guns and swords and anything else he can play "shoot and kill" with, and chocolate milk.

We love you Roman! We're so happy that you're part of our family.

Roman's 3rd Birthday

When I asked Roman what he wanted to do for his birthday this year, he responded that he wanted a yellow balloon and a yellow cake. Is this guy easy to please or what?

So Roman had three birthday parties this year. (Lucky boy, huh?) First, one with my family, complete with cousins, yellow balloons, yellow cake and yellow ice cream. Next, one with Steve's family with his other April birthday cousins on the Parke side. And then he had a yellow party at home with friends from church. The pictures above are from this third party. He had a great time at all three parties.

Easter

Easter morning at Bon's.

Coloring Easter eggs with Isaac. (Yes, with crayons.)

All gussied up in their Easter finery. (Check out Grace's short hair!)

At Grandma's, waiting for the egg hunt to begin.

The race is on.

Spring Break

This year Grace had a week off of school for spring break. Steve was in school, so Grace, Roman and I headed to St. George to spend time with family. We had a great time. I got to see my sister Colleen, who I hadn't seen for a long time, and the kids got to see their cousins Isaac and Charlie. The kids had a fantastic time. The pictures above are from a day we spent in Zion.

The Mormon Mom

My friend Sarah has started a website to help busy moms with parenting, date night ideas, family home evening, organization tips, couponing, and recipes. I know she'll have some great tips. Check out her blog for more info: http://sarahandcorysmithfam.blogspot.com/2009/04/mormon-mom-website-launch.html, or go to her website: http://themormonmom.com.

He Won!!

Great... now we have to go to the barrister's ball.

Steve for President

Just a few of Steve's campaign posters. (The photoshop work is courtesy of Steve's friend Byron.)

Steve is running for SBA (student bar association) president again this year. He ran last year as a 1L (which was completely unheard of,) and forced a run-off between Steve and a 2L. He didn't win, but came very close. We'll see how this year turns out. Good luck Steve!

Disneyland

Thursday was Steve's birthday, and since he's such a great dad, he decided that he wanted to take the kids to Disneyland for the big day. (The free admission on your birthday did help inspire the idea.) We left Wednesday after school and headed straight to Huntington Beach so we could eat at Wahoo's. We don't get to eat there often, so we were a little excited. Just after we got our food, Roman, who had been coughing all day, started coughing so hard that he threw up. Poor Steve ran him out of the restaurant and tried to avoid getting hit as Roman threw up three more times. So we boxed up our food and left, skipped the beach and went straight to the hotel. Sad, sad, sad.

Thursday went much better. We gave Roman some medicine and it seemed to make him feel much better. It was either that or Disneyland. Our favorites of the day were Autopia, where Roman and Grace were both thrilled to drive, Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters, where Roman got to play "hurt and kill", and the roller coaster in Toon Town. I didn't think that we'd be able to get Grace to go on the roller coaster. But Roman had gone first with Steve and liked it, and Grace just couldn't let her little brother outdo her.

After waiting for what seemed like forever in a line to meet some princesses, Grace informed us that they aren't really princesses. They're just people dressed in costumes. (When did she get so grown up?) She did pose for pictures with them anyway. Roman, however, wanted nothing to do with the princesses. He told us, "No! That's for girls!"

It was a really fun day. Maybe we'll do it again the next time one of us has a birthday. :)

Coupon Mama!

Last night I went to a coupon class, which was held as part of one of our enrichment groups. I actually debated going to the class, because I already considered myself somewhat of a bargain shopper. Wow! I was definitely wrong. After all, I have been know to, gasp, PAY FULL PRICE for cereal on occasion. This is, as I learned last night, a major couponing mistake. So I left the class armed with loads of tips and four subscriptions to the Sunday newspaper. Yes, I did say FOUR subscriptions. I am a serious couponer now.

This morning I woke up excited to try out the methods I learned last night. I went to the store and bought nine large boxes of name-brand cereal, two six-packs of kid's Yoplait yogurt, a gallon of milk, 64 oz of orange juice, three pounds of grapes, and a pound of bananas. For all of this food I paid a total of $12.80! That's right, no more full-price cereal for me. I am such a bargain shopper now, it's not even funny. And I haven't even started getting my Sunday paper coupons yet...

So thanks Nikki and Sarah. I am forever in your debt. ;)

Un-private-ed

It has come to my attention that some of my family members can't view my blog now that it's private. Because they're one of the main reasons I have a blog, I've decided to make my blog public again.

Citizen of the Month

Today we went to an assembly at Grace's school and watched her receive an award for being a citizen of the month. We're proud of Grace for being such a good girl! (In case you were wondering, it was also pajama day at school.)

When Roman saw Grace sitting on the stage he ran up and sat next to her. He didn't quite understand why we didn't want him to sit there. He was also very disappointed when we left the school. The poor little guy really wants to go to school like his big sis.

HOORAY FOR STEVE!

Steve is now officially half-way through law school. Hip, hip, hooray! Only a year and a half to go.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. The week before Christmas we were on our cruise to Mexico, and it didn't feel like Christmas at all. The last night of the cruise, however, they did have a "Holiday" show. Grace and the other kids got up on the stage and sang with the Carnival singers and dancers. Grace even sang into a microphone for a minute. She was great! They also got to meet Santa that last night of the cruise.

We got back to Henderson just a couple of days before Christmas. Our friends invited us to their house for dinner on Christmas Eve where we also read/watched/listened to The Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean. It was nice to have that reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. At home we read the account of the Savior's birth from Luke, and Grace gave us a ballet performance that she made up to the Nutcracker Suite. Grace also left a note for Santa along with a treat. In case you can't read it, it says, "Dear Santa, I hope you have a very good time at the north pole. Frum Grace."
On Christmas morning the kids got to the top of the stairs where they could see all of the presents under the tree. Roman shouted, "It's a bike! It's for me!" He was right. Santa did bring Roman a bike. He also brought Grace a scooter. Hopefully they'll learn to use them one of these days.

After presents on Christmas morning we headed to St. George where we spent the next week with our families. All in all it was a great holiday season.

Ah, Mexico!

Last month Steve's family took us on a cruise to Mexico for our Christmas present. (What a great present, huh?) We had a fantastic time. It was eight days of endless food, free babysitting, and sunny weather. What more could we ask for?


We stopped in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo. Our favorite stop by far was Zihatanejo, where we had a local guy take us in a boat to the small island of Ixtapa. It was gorgeous. The sand was soft, and the water was warm and clear. Grace surprised us by getting into the ocean! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it.


We also had four days at sea. Normally, I'm not a big fan of the days at sea. But after taking care of my kids, (one of them an extremely active two-year-old boy,) almost completely by myself for the few weeks before our cruise, (finals for Steve,) I was in desperate need of a break. And the days at sea were great. We dropped our kids off at Camp Carnival and relaxed. Ah! Just what I needed!


Grace and Roman had the time of their lives. They had three cousins to play with and it was a non-stop party for the kids. Roman was very excited when on the sixth day he finally realized that we were on a ship. He was looking off of the deck with Steve and all of a sudden he turned to Steve with an amazed expression and said, "We're on a boat ride!"

Anyway, it was a wonderful vacation. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Yes, we're still alive.

I've been a horrible blogger lately. My only excuse is a dead computer. Now I'm going to have to try to remember everything I've wanted to blog about in the past couple of months. It won't be easy, but here's a start:

Grace lost her third tooth last month. I don't think it was ready to come out yet, but her mouth is so small that her first two grown-up teeth pushed out a third tooth trying to make enough space to grow in. Anyway, when it came time to put the tooth under her pillow, Grace asked, "Mom, is the tooth fairy real?"

I was kind of stumped. I've always thought playing along with the whole Santa and tooth fairy thing was fun, but I've also always told myself that I'd answer honestly if my kids ever asked me directly. So I took the easy way out. I said, "What do you think?"

Grace told me that she kind of thinks that maybe Mommy or Daddy is the one leaving her the money. "Really?" I asked. (See how adept I am at dodging the question?) Then Grace said, "I just don't know how you would be able to fit under the door to sneak into my room." Ah yes, I'm saved from having to explain the tooth fairy because my daughter doesn't realize that her door opens, even at night.

And, drumroll please, today I got some great news. My criminal charges, you know the ones brought against me because my insurance company made a typo when turning in our info to the DMV, (see http://romangrace.blogspot.com/2008/10/traffic-court.html) have been dropped! I am no longer a criminal and I no longer have to appear in court later this month. YAY!