Catching Up...

I can hardly believe that it is middle of July and someone has a birthday coming up. HeeHee. In any event it seems like some weeks fly by and others are slow as turtles; I will take them all! I was going to work a little from home, but my night was a little exhausting and since I find enjoyment in keeping up with the blog, I thought I would focus on doing something fun!

Steve is out of town until Friday for work attending a "Best Practice" Summit for DPR. It is good practice to send DPR employees to seminars to stay engaged in the business. There is one seminar in particular that new employees must attend so many months into starting at DPR but timing has always been an issue. This seminar is actually in Northern CA so at least we can stay in the same timezone. I love my boys dearly...of course...but man oh man ToddlerHood can test the limits as it is expected. I guess that is why there is wine. :) I am a Mom that is as honest as can be and I don't live in this world where everything is white picket fences and red roses. There are days when all I can think is hmmm, wonder what last minute deals Princess Cruises has for Mexico! Or can we line up Monica every night since the boys just love showing off for her and as she says, "oh they were chill tonight". While at dinner this evening Jack looked at me as if we were playing a game of dare and threw his food all over. I said, "Jackson Lloyd do it one more time and you are on the fast track to time out".  He looked at me and there goes the corn...on the floor.  I had to snicker on the inside because Zacharoo chimes in..."uh oh". Yep...thats my boy. So I wiped Jack off and said Mommy asked you nicely not to throw your food on the floor. Food is for eating. Now go to timeout. Wow...he listened. He walked over to timeout and stood there until I said it was okay for him to leave. I think I had to check myself like who the heck are you and what happened to my son, Jack. As I am picking up the corn explosion I look over at Jack (it does break my heart but you have to remain in control and let them know who is boss) and I said are you ready to say sorry to Mommy and come back to eat dinner. He nods his head yes, walks over and gives me a kiss and hug, pats my head and mumbles "sorry". Okay...so there we have it and that was just the start of the evening.

I shoved dinner down my throat and got on with the evening. They decided to fight this evening, and felt that any toy they touched was all theirs and no one else can touch it. That resulted in toys going into timeout. It is funny because when I do that the boys look at me like "Geeze Mommmmm". Too funny. Now it is bath time. Bath time actually was decent. No complaints other than how many monster trucks they can hold so the other does not take them all. Steve has two Monster Jam episodes recorded and so to catch their attention while I cleaned up they watched a little bit; they really like watching the trucks. When one of them crashes our flips over the boys instantly say,"uh oh". Typically if I am alone one of the boys will stay in the bathroom so I can get the other ready to go. Jack was the first one out and he is behaving...amazing...and all of sudden Zach comes tip toeing in with a smile holding his trucks. Okay. So I said hang in there. He walks over to put his trucks down and all I needed was one minute. Well, I was one minute too late. What happened? Zach looked down and all of a sudden a gentle stream of pee forms. Okay I thought. I said Zach, you go pee-pee on the big boy toliet. He quickly jumped on the towel and stood there. At least he stopped himself and got onto a towel. I said where do you go if you have to go potty? He points to the bathroom. So folks...we are making progress and Karley is trying with them during the day so hopefully sooner rather than later we will be out of diapers. I know...positive thoughts. Karley has been putting them on the big boy toliet asking if they have to "pee", "poop", or "toot". If they did any or all of the 3, then they get a little special something.  The boys ended up doing okay but by the time I made it to bedtime...late of course...they wanted to play with trains and books. It was time for me to push things forward regardless of cying, giving hugs and kisses and saying nighty night. To think I have two more nights. :) Oh well.

To rewind, we had a nice relaxing weekend. We went to San Clemente Pier Saturday morning. It was a little overcast but cleared up by 11ish or so. We had no agenda, so it was fine and I kinda like days when that is the case instead of zipping all over town. We had planned to go out for dinner but ended up staying in as the boys were in a tizzy and thought it was not worth it. Instead it was hanging out with neighbors, this time at Bruce's house. He is the neighbor that brews his own beer. It was a full house this time. Monica and her parents, the pastor across the street, and Monica's neighbors, Mary and her husband. It was great. I am so impressed with our boys. Our house is 4 houses down from Bruce. Of course we could see the children but I look over and Jack is walking across the street up the sidewalk to our house. Hmmm. He knows our house. I mean I guess they should, right? I see his feet under my car walking into the garage and here he comes with his broom. Next thing you know there goes Zach. Clearly he needs his broom too. Goodness. I was impressed because they did not wander and knew where to go and came right back. Steve and I were not impressed with the haircuts the boys got lately so we decided to get new shears and give them a haircut. We decided to put them in the bathtub. We figured they love the bath and the toys so hopefully that will grab their attention. It did work, although they were back and forth. I started with Jack and had him for a bit. I have to say...not to shabby of a job. Zach on the other hand, started with Steve, floated by me, back to Steve, and this went on and on. Throughout the day I just walked around shaping up Zach's new do and although it is a bit too short it is hair and will grow back. Overall, not to bad of a job and it looks better than the bowl cut they got last time.
Sunday, after a long day of cleaning and yard work, we decided to try a new place for dinner, La Siesta, which is also in San Clemente. Wow. The food is better, but I am not a fan of the salsa...bummer. Skinny margaritas are good. The kids were well behaved, but of course they were thrown off because of a new environment and you can tell they are getting older; they enjoy people watching. Oh well. They were good so that is all that matters. Earlier in the day we had a little situation. As noted, the morning was so busy and the boys were doing great helping daddy with the chores outside. As I am inside making my lunch for the week and cooking the boys lunch for that day, I hear Steve, "oh boy, take a look". I look over and Zach, not in a swimming suit, has climbed into the pool to fill up his bucket with water. We tried to rationalize with Zach that you get into the pool when you have your swimming suit on. He just stared at us. Next thing Jack is in the pool. Hmmm. Out of the pool and changing into dry clothes.

Other than the daily chores and responsibilities, we are just enjoying our time. The weather has been decent. I have been forcing myself to get outside after lunch and walk a little. I learned that my coworker, that actually recruited me to Allergan, is moving back to Michigan and will remain with Allergan but as a contractor and will work from home. Okay...something is missing. I am a contractor but go into the office. Scratching head. My boss mentioned it is her goal to put me in his office by August 1st. That will be great so I can actually have a place to interview candidates and conduct my phone screens without it sounding like I am at a bar trying to shout over people. Fingers crossed.

Here are some pics from the past few days.

San Clemente Beach

Awesome view

The boys enjoying their time (Check out the scene from Baywatch in the background)

Chheeezzzeee

Shortly after haircut time, they loved the shower

Getting rinsed!

After haircut/shower time. Nothing like trying to do their hair only for it get messed up...

Zach, easy...gentle

Who needs a swimsuit

Uh-oh

Zach--on our way to La Siesta (nice do!)

Jackson

Jackson

Chheezzzeee

I asked Zach to smile and I got this! We don't stick our tongues out so I like to believe he was just being a silly willy.

HA...Shower Time.

This was funny. Zach is SO excited!

Until next time...

Love,

Julie