...like my teacher tells to me...bum bum

You know I couldn't resist. I bought this today after seeing it on FB.



thanks Pam!

And now it's 3:06am and it feels just like 3:06am.

Cohen's been in our bed since 2. He moves around a lot. I don't think he is ever sufficiently asleep because he seems so restless. I couldn't take it anymore so I finally put him back in his bed. But, now I am awake. WIDE. AWAKE.

Things I've been thinking about at 3:06am; sinkholes and what if I got swallowed up in one, if Ambien would cause me to eatwalk (a version of sleepwalk), am I required to scrapbook my kids school years - do boys even care about such things? Would I wear a wig if I ever got cancer and lost my hair - because let's face it, I rarely do my hair as it is. I wonder what show is on at 3:13am on HGTV. I wonder how mad Eric would get if I were to find out. My eyes are on fire.......oh, hello again Mr Cohen, back for round 2?

Sent from my iPhone

Oh, the things you find on Etsy

Sisters: we have to draw names for Christmas quickly because I wouldn't want to miss out on this sweet find....



(yes that's Brett Favre)

It's 8:05, yet it feels like 11:30.

Cohen has never been a great sleeper. Ethan, on the other hand was a great sleeper. He would sleep in till 10 back in the day. However, Cohen has been his roommate for the past 2 years, which has forever changed Ethan's sleeping habits. This morning I woke up at 6:30 to get ready for work. I thought it was strange that Cohen hadn't come into our room yet to say "good morning, is it wake up time yet?" I peeked into the hall and found their bedroom light on, door wide open, the bathroom light on and noises coming from downstairs. Yep, already awake, Ethan included. So I call downstairs to see what they are doing.....um, playing Toy Story on the computer. Nice. Who knows how long they had been down there. Because of this Cohen has been a crank for the past couple weeks or so, and it hits right around dinner. It's non-stop whining, moaning, and crying, like he's two again. He's almost 4 yet I have concluded that his afternoon naps are making a comeback. We'll see how that goes.


I guess this is another favorite early morning activity.....no one around......why not take a few pictures.....I found these just now along with 17 Photo Booth movies of him looking at himself and talking to the computer, I will have to get to posting those later.

3 whole hours to myself.

Yes, I have blogged a lot today. Why? Well, for one I am behind, but really it's because Cohen started Preschool. I dropped him off at 9, ran some errands, came home and started to catch up, left to go get him by 12, he fell asleep in the car on the way home and is still sleeping. It's a little weird with this much free time. ENTER: comments about me having more kids to fill the gaps. Don't even start.

Cohen is a great kid. He is so happy and smiley, and is afraid of nothing. He is my affectionate kid - always giving hugs and cuddles. I love this kid. Today was his first full day of preschool. It's run by a lady in our stake at her home. Lets just say the kid was ready to go. He got Buzz, put him in his backpack, and was anxiously waiting for me hurry up so we could leave. When we got there we waited for a few minutes for the teacher to come out and when she did she asked, "are you ready to come in?".... Cohen looked up at me and said, "I'm ready Mom" and took off running. I could barely snap a picture. I didn't know if I should be offended that he wanted to get away from me so quickly or thrilled that it wasn't a battle getting him through the door.



Cohen high stepping it...

I have a 7 year old. Whaaaaaht?

I still can't believe it. Seriously, I am getting old and so are my boys. Next year Ethan is going to be 8, and before I know it he's going to be 16, NOOOOOOO! I don't think I can handle him dating. Girls are sneaky and manipulative. It is years away and I am already hoping he doesn't fall for any stupid mean girls.

Anyway, his birthday came up so quick this year. We had a long weekend for Labor Day in Yosemite and came back and started school the day after so it didn't leave me much time to plan a party. Thankfully, he's been begging me for a Pump it Up party for years which just so happened to be running a last minute party special, PERFECT!! He was thrilled. Cohen is already thinking he is going to have his party there as well. Not gonna happen.



Ethan with the ladies...


I died over this face of Roxie. So great.


Cohen going down like he should.


Cohen bored with the regular way decides he needs to try and ride a toy down the slide. It didn't quite work.


Again, with the ladies...I'm in trouble.




And home, to open presents, LEGO CITY!!

2nd Grader...

Ethan lucked out this year with a sweet teacher named Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry is our favorite because he is type-1, just like Ethan, so it alleviates any worry because he knows what to look for and how to treat him if there is an issue. His class is a combo class with two grades which at first I was unsure about but I think it will actually allow for more focused time because there are only 9 2nd graders in his class (4 of which are from church!!). I can't believe he's already in second grade.

Yosemite: Take Two

All packed - amazing what that rack will hold. We had a minor problem on the way up, one of the plastic lids to those tan bins flew off on the 5 freeway and stuff started blowing out of the bin. Luckily, Ethan noticed it and we were able to pull over and secure everything. Whoops!


I didn't think we could top last year's trip to Yosemite but we managed to do so. The weather was perfect, the Rover didn't break down, the food was awesome, the campsite was eventful, and the bears stayed away! Eric and I and the boys drove up a day early so Eric could climb Half Dome. He didn't take a camera with him but met some other hikers along the way who said they would email him some photos...we have yet to see them. He did take one of the chains with his phone. He looked pretty thrashed when he got back to camp. The soles of his shoes were separating.




Hanging around camp - we had a double site which accomodated 12 people. We had five tents between the twelve of us. Diane and Ed win "Best Tent Set-up" they brought cots, a piece of carpet to put in their tent and even a side table for storage. It was very "lower-bowl of them". It's amazing to me that I didn't take any pictures of us eating because I think we spent the majority of our time doing just that. Seriously, we planned it perfectly - we were well fed... foil dinners, dutch oven cornbread, cobbler, pasta with peppers and sausage, breakfast burritos, gourmet turkey wraps, pancakes, s'mores, homemade churros - yummy!









The hike to Vernal Falls - last year this hike seemed to go on forever and ever. I was worried about this year because the boys would have to walk it themselves. Cohen did pretty good, he got pretty much the entire way up but was tired going down and needed to be carried for part of it. Ethan did great though and Lucy got to take a nap. The hike isn't too long, about 3 miles, but it's pretty much straight up, it was a great day hike.





The Falls - during the Spring/early Summer these falls are raging. By the time we get to them they are just a trickle, but still amazing to see. The brave ones jumped into the pool below the falls, I would bet the temp is about 50 degrees. No way I was getting in.








Floating the Merced River - we didn't do this last year and decided we needed to make it part of our trip. The river was pretty chilly but not bad when the sun was out. We floated a 3 mile stretch that winds through the park.








Headed home - thank goodness it didn't rain like last year. Until next year! Who's in?