Cousin's Party Crash!

Our "superfun" cousins from Arizona have begun their California summer vacation! They were in Big Bear and we decided to come up and spend a couple days with them! It was so nice escaping the heat and we even had a thunderstorm just after we got their. We went swimming, made smores, played games, and did the Alpine Slide.


Ooeey S'more goodness, hangin with the boys!

Dillan was in heaven with all the boys! Leah even warmed up quickly to everyone, and everyone was so sweet to her. In fact, at the end of the day, when she was beyond exhaustion, she begged and begged for Jenni to hold her, NOT Mommy!



Thanks for a fun trip guys and we'll see you soon!

Happy 14 Juillet!

On my 4th favorite day of the year (July 4), I was unfortunately in a lot of pain and very nauseated so didn't enjoy it as much as I had planned.
So we decided to celebrate Bastille Day or France's Independence Day.

Just kept it simple (I am still technically on the mend) with quiche, salad, a baguette, Boursin, Le Petit Ecolier (cookies) and some fabulous looking strawberry tart-like things I picked up at the cute little patisserie I found locally. So yeah, a little bit of splurging on the food. That darn cheese is $6, but oh worth every penny!



Pulled out Chris' french flag that he'd like to be a permanant wall hanging in our home, but I have not allowed. Just too college dorm-like-post-mission for me.
Dillan liked it, though: "Hey! nice blanket Mom!"



Also pulled out one of my favorite souvenirs I got from France: my lovely napkins in beautiful Provencial style with wheat and olive branches in the great yellow and blue that dominates in the south of France. My mother got them for me at Carcassone. No one will be wiping their mouths with them, they're just there for the full effect.



We practiced our chiffres 1-10. Dillan's had the counting down for a while, Leah's almost there.

Then pulled out some pictures and the only french children's book I have (regretfully) and tried learning "I am a Child of God." No fireworks, but had some kazoos and silly string. That works!

After the kids get to bed we'll be taking out Notre Dame de Paris to finish the night off.

Don't remember any kind of celebration like this when I was in France! Next year we'll do much better.

Happy Independence Day France!

Swimming Breakthrough!

I knew it was going to happen someday, but I was convinced he needed a different teacher, someone who wasn't Mommy, before it would happen. But it happened!

Drumroll....

Should have played some"Eye of the Tiger" in the background.

Way to go Dillan! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! You have worked so hard and have done such a good job! Brave little man! You are proof that you should never give up and just keep swimming! Every morning, he's ready! Let's GO!

Summer Fun

So inspite of Mommy's tummy drama, we've been having lots of fun this summer.


Like trips to the lake,


Leah taking a ride with her two favorite people:
Chad and Lindsie!


Watched the fireworks at the park,




And spent many many hours in the pool,

A Crazy Week

I promised I wouldn't let the blog get away untouched for more than a week, and alas it has. But I have good reasons. About a month ago I went to bed with a little pain in my abdomen, but in the morning it was gone so I figured it was something I ate. Same pain came back about a week later. Lingered a little longer, but eventually went away. It was uncomfortable and kept me up at night, so we figured if it ever came back I'd go to the doctor. And it did. So I went in to the doctor that I had only seen once for a flu shot to tell him my problem. I still had some pain, in the upper right quadrant of my gut, but especially my back, and wasn't sure what he was gonna say.

After many questions and some investigating, the doctor finally said, "One more test." He told me to take a deep breath and he stuck his hand right under my ribs, right at the hot spot. Oh crap. That hurt. I couldn't complete the breath and tears quickly filled my eyes. He ordered an ultrasound for the following week. Two days later I was told I had gallstones. I was also told that 30 million americans have it and live with it. Just avoid fatty, greasy food. Easy enough. Two days later I ate a piece of toast (with nothing on it) and a scrambled egg for breakfast. Then it hit. It felt like something was crushing my chest and I couldn't breathe. I finally threw up my breakfast hoping for some relief. Nothing. Chris threw all of us in the car and rushed to the ER.

He made a bunch of phone calls (my parents were out of town) and some wonderful friends came and took the kids. They hooked me up to an IV and took some blood tests. I told them of my recent diagnosis so they checked for infection, blocked duct, and pancreaitis. The pain finally subsided. All tests were clear. We called the surgeon and had a consult scheduled after the weekend. I spent 4th of July weekend taking tons of meds to keep the pain away, and ate practically nothing. The surgeon recommended immediate surgery and suspected an infection. Normally an easy laprascopic out-patient surgery, but if there was an infection, then much more invasive and more cutting.

So after many prayers from so many wonderful family and friends, I had the surgery and it went perfectly. Of course it happened to fall on Chris' birthday, but the relief has been instant. Just 4 holes on my tummy to deal with, but I know it will pass. Life has never been so sweet or tasted so good.

Whattaryagonnado?

Leah got this cute dress-up outfit when she was just a month old (thanks Jenni!) and it's been hanging in her closet untouched ever since. She wandered in there and managed to pull it out and bring it to me. How could I refuse? Add Mommy's shoes to the mix and VOILA: a lovely dancing girl. Even Dillan remarked how beautiful she was and that she looked like a princess.

Later, sans said dress, we were out and not once, but TWICE someone had a comment to make about the little boy in my shopping cart. Way back when, her pigtails used to get rave reviews wherever we went. Now it's just her cuteness, but everyone thinks SHE'S A HE! I don't make a big deal out of it, or at least try not to. I put skirts on her and cute T-shirts with flowers, rainbows, and something pink; but nothing seems to work. Clips don't stay on her head, and even if I tried Super Glue I know she'd find a way to pull it out.

So we may be heading out soon with the dress up tutu, just for a little experiment. Be warned all ye who dare open their mouths when they see us coming!

Really people, TWICE in one day? Come on. I pity the person who happens upon us at the end of a long day and decides to open their mouth...

The Great Elmo T-shirt Quest

Late in the morning I took the kids over to Kohls for a little light shopping. This cute Elmo T-shirt practically jumped off the shelf at me. For $3, I was sold. Then the genius idea hit that I could find both kids Elmo T-shirts to wear to the show. The first had appeared without warning, so I figured it'd be a simple task. This is why I don't do much of the figuring chez nous.

To keep it short, I'll just say our search took us all over to many different stores. Everywhere had Elmo on something for baby girls, but nothing for boys! Dillan tried to talk me into getting him one shirt in particular. I told him Daddy would kill me and I couldn't live with Dillan wearing it in public. I even braved the dreaded WalEMart, where I was sure I would find something! (I know I'm not the first mother to sacrifice whatever it takes for her kid) NOTHING! Not even PJs! Yes, by this point, I was going to let him wear PJs to the show, if it meant that cute red monster was on them! So many character shirts, but no Elmo. We considered settling with Transformers (he's not 100% sure who they are yet) or Lightning McQueen, but he really wanted a shirt like his sister. Both the kids were troopers through this whole fiasco, and Dillan repeated several times to me, "Don't give up!"

All day we had been flying in and out of stores empty handed in the hot sun and were glistening in sweat. Our last stop was the mall. I told Dillan if it wasn't there, we'd get one of his white shirts at home and put Elmo stickers all over it. Finally at JCPenney we found one! There were two styles, but only one in his size. He loved it! $7, SCORE! I was relieved and Dillan was glowing. Then the cashier has the nerve to pull out this little plush Elmo and wave it in front of my kids after Dillan told her we were going to see his show. I ignored her and pretended not to see the thing and we were on our way. Near the car, of course, we run into a friend with her kids. She takes one look at me and says, "Whoa, what are YOU up to?" Yeah, I must have looked lovely. Lucky for her, since she asked, she was the first to hear my rant about the huge conspiracy with none of the stores having anything close to Sesame Street apparal and how I was so bent on NOT buying one for $20 at the show. I was convinced someone would emerge from the spinning around me with a camcorder laughing hysterically on how they'd been following me all day and how could I not know that Elmo shirts were a novelty I was never going to find! Didn't happen.

But it all turned out okay...(cue 2nd post)