To David: you are an amazing dad to our boys. They love you so very much and want to be just like you. I love that they have your beautiful blue eyes! They can't wait for you to get home each afternoon and race to the backdoor to greet you. Thanks for loving them the way all kids deserve to be loved and for playing such an active role in their lives. I appreciate how hands-on you are with them, from breakfast to showers to playing T-ball in the backyard. Watching you with play with them and seeing all three of you burst into laughter fills my hear with great joy. They are so blessed to call you Daddy! I love you!
To my Daddy, aka Papa: Thanks for being the kind of dad every daughter dreams of. Thanks for showing me the importance of putting family first and what it means to love sacrificially, for teaching me that anything is possible if you set your mind to it, and for instilling in me a love of Jesus. Thank you for all you do for Joel and Silas. Watching the way y'all play together and seeing their love for you is very special to me. They love their Papa very much!
To Lynn, aka Grandad: Thanks for raising such an amazing son. Thank you for teaching him how to live an upright and godly life and what it means to be a daddy. Thank for welcoming me into the Moore family with open arms and for all the love you show to Joel and Silas. Their time with Grandad is special and precious and I look forward to all the memories they will make with you! You are loved!
Today, I let David set the schedule. I let him sleep in a little, and then we headed to church.
Happy Fathers' Day, Da-Da! We love you!
I am happy to report, that Joel did much better this week. David took him and stayed until they broke off into their classes. It might have helped that we told him he could have a donut if he didn't cry. We also tried to take him to see Mary in the nursery before church but she wasn't there for the second week in a row. I asked where she was, because she is always there, and found out that she just had surgery to remove a malignant tumor. Oh my word! My heart just broke for her and I felt so guilty that I didn't know! They don't believe it's spread and she will probably only do radiation (no chemo). Please pray that her recovery would be smooth and quick and that the prognosis would remain excellent.
After church we headed over to the new Qdoba for lunch. It was pretty good. They had queso that was yummy and their chips were really good. I think David enjoyed it! Then we headed back home so the boys could nap. After their naps, our plan was to head to the beach. Unfortunately, they woke up a little on the cranky side and Joel was insistent that he did NOT want to go to the beach. Rather than fight that uphill battle, David decided we could just stay around here and play in the pool. He put his swimsuit on and got in with the boys. They had a fabulous time splashing and going down the slide.
Big Splash
Deep Thoughts...
For dinner he decided he wanted to go find a taco truck. So, after the boys were in bed, David, Andrew and Joey went looking for a taco truck. He said it was great. A fairly low-key Father's day, but I think it's just what David wanted...low stress!
Monday, June 21, 2010 - Happy Birthday, Andrew! Hope your first day of your "late 20's" was fabulous! Eli and Katie came over this morning so Katie could get a little laundry done. The boys loved playing with Eli and I think he liked the chaos! They played peek-a-boo and talked to him and he just smiled right back. He is such a little cutie! Sometimes Joel and Silas get a little bit rough or don't understand the limitations of infants, but overall, I am really impressed with how gentle and sweet they are with all the really little ones around. We headed over to the Rose Bowl for a quick walk. However, after I put Joel in the stroller and we started walking, I noticed the boo-boo on his knee was really red, and was starting to streak out to one side. I watched it for a few minutes and then noticed it was warm to the touch. After our run-in with staph in April, I didn't want to take any chances. So, we turned around and came home so I could put the anti-bacterial cream on it. I drew a sharpie line all the way around so I could keep track of it. I called the doctor's office and the nurse told me to just keep an eye on it since Joel wasn't running fever and it hadn't spread since we got home. Thankfully it either wasn't really infected or we caught it early enough and it appears to be healing up.
I spent most of the rest of the day just cleaning house and getting ready for our dinner guests. Our friends, Cory & Karissa and Ipp & Lizzie came over for dinner. The boys loved having a new audience to entertain. Sans when Silas pulled the sour cream off the table, shattering my bowl and sending it everywhere, they were really well behaved. (No one was hurt, thank goodness!) We had carnitas and all the fixings. So yummy! It is truly one of my favorite recipes. Unfortunately, the oven is on ALL DAY, which makes our house so warm. So that recipe will probably not come out again for a while because it is not the same when I cook it in the crockpot. Anyway...we played Ticket to Ride after we put the boys down. We had a great time, but unfortunately, Cory won. I'm sure he won't let us forget that any time soon. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures! FYI..check out the blog that Lizzie and her sister write; it's a fun read ....http://www.theunexperts.com/
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - Today was a pretty uneventful but exhausting day. I can't really put my finger on it, but honestly, today was a day when being a (mostly) stay-at-home mom was especially draining. So, since there's not much to recap beyond a little laundry, a quick trip to the bank, and ignoring screaming kids, I thought I'd share a few of the cute and quirky things the boys have said recently. Fair warning...we just finished potty training Joel so there's a little potty humor here....if that kind of stuff offends you or grosses you out, you might want to skip ahead to Wednesday....
Silas - He calls Woody (from Toy Story) "Boot" as in "There's a snake in my boot."
Background: In the midst of potty training, Joel has become fascinated with the digestive system and how food goes into your mouth, moves thru your body, and comes out in the toilet.
Joel - (While going to the potty) "Daddy, I have a lot of stink. I eat a lot of food."
Joel - (A few days later, while on the potty but not going) "Mommy, I not have poop. I not eat food."
Background: The first time Joel went in the potty when we started officially potty training, I tried to clap for him. He did not like that. I asked if I could sing/dance for him and he agreed. Thus was born the "Potty Dance." Joel thinks it's ok but Silas loves to join in.
Silas - Walks up to the potty, opens the lid, and indicates he wants to sit on it.
LB - "Silas, do you need to sit on the potty."
Silas - "Uh-huh" (Silas doesn't say "yes" just "uh-huh")
LB -
Silas "Uh-huh"
LB - (Removes Silas from potty)
Silas - "Flush!"
LB - "You didn't do anything."
Silas - "Flush!"
LB - "Ok"
Silas - "Dance!"
LB - "Do you want to do the 'potty dance'?"
Silas - "Uh huh"
LB -
LB and Silas in Unison - "DANCE!"
Heard daily from Joel...."Momma, what you doing?" "Dada, what you talking 'bout?" "Momma, what its name?" "What time is it, Dada?"
Joel laying in bed with his Woody doll...."Yee-haw cowboy!"
Joel, walks in with a statue of Kansas Jayhawk of Kim's...
Joel - "Look Momma, a Seahawk"
LB - "No buddy, that's a Jayhawk"
Joel - "Oh, a 'jee-hawk'...'jee-hawk', Cowboy"
Background: One of Joel's favorite new shows is Special Agent Oso on the Disney channel.
LB - (Walks into bathroom where the boys are taking a shower)
Joel - "Oso, we need your help!"
LB - "Joel, who are you talking to?"
Joel - "I calling Oso. We need help."
Silas, upon seeing that we are turning tv on always has a request, usually Word World, Turbo Dogs, or Oso but sometimes Mouse (as in Mickey Mouse)
Background - LeLe (my mom) always has snacks around, especially animal crackers.
Joel - "Momma, I want some animal crackers."
LB - "We don't have any."
Pause
Joel, with a heavy sigh - "I miss LeLe..."
Joel is telling me a long story to which I am simply nodding and saying "uh-huh"...
Joel - "Momma" (grabs my cheeks so I look at him in the eye) "Use your words!"
Oh those kids! They do make me smile!
Deep Concentration
(notice the tongue!)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - Happy 9th Anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 9 years since I married the love of my life. I feel like we've been together our entire lives and I am so happy he asked me to marry him. I still remember that day very clearly....getting ready at Gana and PaPa's house, getting dressed at the church, our few moments alone together in the sanctuary before pictures, hanging out in the bride's room, waiting for the ceremony to start, and on and on until at last we were husband and wife. What a fun day! And then, off to Hawaii, with a short stopover/adventure in LA. Who knew we'd be moving here just 5 years later! Thanks for last 9 years together, babe. It's been a fun time and I can't wait to spend 59, 69 , or 99 more years with you!
Happily married to this smile since 2001
Today was a busy day for us as Papa and LeLe were coming to town. The boys and I cleaned the house a bit and then got ready to go pick up David for lunch. We had a delicious lunch at Maria's and the boys, overall, did really well.
Lovin' this face since 2007
Lovin' this face since 2009
After lunch, we hurried home for a quick nap and then it was off to the airport! Both boys were so excited to see Papa and LeLe, even though it took Silas a bit to get over his recent shyness. We came home and played until dinner. Of course, Papa and Lele brought surprises....manually rechargeable flashlights, binoculars for Joel and a Finding Nemo book for Silas. They loved their toys. We spent a large part of the afternoon playing in their dark room with the flashlights and the binoculars went everywhere with us, too.
Side note: And, Silas LOVED his book. To the point that I think he started to develop an obsession with it. We had to take it everywhere we went and he wanted to read it all the time. We didn't have it at one point in the car and he literally had a melt down. He says, "Melmo" when he points to Nemo (or wants his book) and it's so cute. He also likes to yell "Shark" and "boat" when he sees those pictures. A little loud but oh so precious!
Back to the week....I made beef enchiladas and we enjoyed a nice meal outside. After dinner, my parents took the boys to McD's for play and ice cream and David and I headed over to Stewie's for shaved ice. It was quite good, probably the closest thing to Bahama Bucks that I've had anywhere. David got pink lemonade and I got a snow capped black cherry. They had these cool holders that I thought were great.
Pink Lemonade...Black Cherry
Only a real man eats a pink snowcone
I thought they were great!
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - After we hiked to the waterfalls a few weeks ago, Joel could not stop talking about the "cave" we saw there. When we walked past it originally, we were on our way out, the boys were tired and we were just anxious to get home. So, we told Joel he needed a flashlight to go explore the cave. Well, when Papa and LeLe arrived on Wednesday, lo and behold, they brought flashlights for the boys! Of course that meant we had to go check out the cave!
We loaded up and headed out soon after I finished working. We were able to park fairly close and off we went! There was a little more sun this time and a LOT more bugs! They loved me! We saw quite a few lizards and some squirrels this time. The boys had a blast.
Papa and LeLe and Joel giving Silas a bear hug
Silas trying his best to move the rock
He loves his Papa!
"Where is the bear, Papa?"
The cave wasn't very big, really just a large crevice in the rocks, but Joel loved it. We told him the bear wasn't home but was out looking for berries, thank goodness! We hiked on to the falls. The boys (and my parents) got their feet wet in that cold water. I was on clean-up and bug patrol since I felt like I was getting eaten alive at this point! We made our way back and finished up our expedition.
We headed over to Chick-Fil-A for a yummy lunch and some more playtime. My boys LOVE Chick-Fil-A. They always eat really well and have a great time in the play area (as long as it's not too crowded). My mom worked especially hard keeping them awake on the drive home so we could all take a nap when we got back, which we did!
We had a pretty low-key evening. We made dinner and chocolate chip cookies and then Mike and Annie came over. They packed up their pod on Thursday and then came to spend their last night here with us. It was bittersweet. We were honored to spend their last evening/night here in Pasadena with us and we are excited about all that God has planned for them. But, we are very sad to see them go. They have been like family to us and we will miss them greatly!
Friday, June 26, 2010 - This morning was the day when Mike and Annie were really headed out. My mom made yummy sausage balls and crescent roll cini-minis for breakfast. Delicious! We said our sad good-byes and they headed out.
We decided we needed to do a little shopping so we loaded up and headed over to the Americana in Glendale. Papa took the boys to the playground, for a trolley ride, and to the movie arcade to ride the motorcycle. They had a great time while my mom and I browsed thru Anthropologie, Home Goods, and Vera Bradley. We found a few things, but nothing major. We had lunch at the Granville Cafe. It was awesome! We will definitely be going back there, as there were lots of menu items I wanted to try!
Joel and his bike
After naps, David, my dad, and Joel got ready to head to the Yankees vs. Dodgers game. Joel was so excited to a) get to ride in his car (aka David's car) and b) take his glove (he really wanted to take his bat, too). And they were off!
In the car on the way...
Apparently Joel did not like the noise at the start of the game
This must have been before the ice cream...
Pretty good seats!
And this must be after the ice cream or the Sprite or the hot dog or the cotton candy...
What a great night!
Thanks for a fun time, Papa!
Silas got to go on a shopping excursion to Paseo and then Trader Joe's with me and LeLe. He thought it was a great time! Ok, maybe not so much, but he was a real trooper and definitely charmed all of The Loft ladies!
Saturday, June 26 - We woke up early and headed over to the Aquarium of the Pacific. The boys LOVED it! I think I'll tell the story with the pictures.
Checking out the fish with Papa
The boys were mesmerized from the moment we arrived. They wanted to see all the fish and went from tank to tank to tank. Silas, of course, was screaming, "FISH" every 10 seconds!
Driving the boat
They had a fun little play area for the kids that included a boat to drive. The boys had a lot of fun taking turns driving the boat.
Looking at the Seals and Sea Lions with Daddy
Their sea lion and seal exhibit were really great. We had fun watching them swim through the water and play on the rocks. Unfortunately, Silas and Joel were a little too young to fully appreciate the shows.
The playful Otters
Joel LOVES to talk about otters. We first saw river otters at the LA Zoo this spring and he fell in love. He would mimic their sounds and it was hilarious. So, David started telling him "Otis the Otter" bedtime stories and they always make him smile. Amazingly, Otis' days usually are filled with almost identical encounters as Joel's; Joel loves that. So, we were very excited that the Aquarium now has an otter exhibit. The otters loved to come up to the front of the tank and spin in circles under water. They were also really fun to watch, once they got going.
Joel the camera man
While we were waiting for the otter show to begin, I gave Joel my old camera to take pictures with. He loved it. At one point a lady commented, "I hope that's not a real camera." I told her that yes, indeed it was and her response was, "Oh, my!" He took a ton of pictures of people, the otters and other sea-life and random pics. Some turned out better than others. The flash was off and the room was fairly dark but I think he did a pretty good job on some of these. Here are two of his shots...
Towards the end of our tour, we finally found the Great Barrier Reef aquarium where all of the "Nemos" were hiding. Silas loved this room, of course!
Finding Nemo...
I didn't get any good pictures of the boys touching the sharks and the sting rays. They had several tanks where you could touch them (with 2 fingers!) and the boys were really interested in that. Some of those sting rays were HUGE! The only issue was that the tank was just a little deeper than Joel's arm and they pretty much stayed at the bottom of the pool. So, for him to reach them, he had to put his whole arm in. I think I dunked his forehead in a couple of times! Oops!
As we were leaving the aquarium, we stopped in the gift shop to get an otter for Joel and a Nemo for Silas. We found a Nemo (ok, so he's a bit sparkly) and thought we found an otter for Joel. But, Joel was convinced that none of the stuffed otters were Otis. When we first walked in, he found a rubber sting ray and was attached immediately. We tried to convince him otherwise but David said he told him like 3 times that he wanted to sting ray. So, Silas got Nemo and Joel got Mr. Ray. He LOVES that toy. You just never know about kiddos! I'll try to take some pictures of them this week.
After the aquarium, we went to a bar-b-cue place that everyone's been telling us to go to...Famous Dave's. The food was good and atmosphere was fun. We were all pretty worn-out so we probably didn't get the full experience. My parents shared a big plate. I had brisket and David had ribs and brisket.
Silas telling us what he wants to eat.
Joel enjoying his hamburger
We walked around Rainbow Harbor for a little bit after lunch and then headed back home. Papa and LeLe took the boys to the park to ride bikes and play at the playground.
Silas trying to ride Joel's bike...he wants to be a big kid so much!
All reports indicate that Joel LOVED running around this wall around the park and it looks like Silas wasn't far behind.
On your mark, get set, GO!
Meanwhile, David and I officially celebrated our 9th Anniversary with a night out to Bottega Louie. So sad that did not take a single picture because it was really chic. The entire place was white, with nothing on the walls and really tall ceilings. The host took our name, asked if it was our first time there, and told us to check back in 20 minutes. We went back 20 minutes later and were seated. We were addressed by name for the rest of the evening and they took great care of us. I ordered Portebello Mushroom fries (5 stars!), a Caesar salad (3 stars), and spinach and ricotta ravioli in a pea and pancetta cream sauce (5 stars!). David ordered an Italian salad (modified to lose the olives and mustard vinaigrette instead of balsamic) (4 stars, I think) and chicken Parmesan (3 stars, I think). The menu was all a la carte, which was interesting, but we really enjoyed it. They also had a deli and bakery counter so we got a couple of macaroons for my mom. I had never really spent time in downtown LA and this was a great first experience. Thanks for a great evening, babe! What a fun find!
