Sooo,,,,

 The story started when Justin shaved his head (and attempted to dye it blonde) for a Where's Waldo mutual activity.  Josh is already bummed that his hair isn't dark like his Daddy's yet so when he had hair and his Dad didn't it was too much.  So, Justin agreed to shave it for him, I was not super excited, and then.... he came down like this.

 Justin and him loved it - and wanted to leave it like that for at least a day.  I pulled out the prophet doesn't like "extreme hairstyles" card and I think I won without hurting Josh's feelings too much.  Now he just looks like a cute dimpled, freckled chemo patient:)

 I'm sure he will be thrilled that I posted the underwear pictures as well:)

And a post is not complete without the picture of my chica.  She has now figured out how to bat those big brown eyes to get what she wants, and it's soo funny I always want to give in.  "Mommy you play princesses with me."  Bat Bat.  We are in trouble

The New Toy

My parents went in on a boat with some neighbors. ... we love it!  And I'm sure I will love it even more when I am not pregnant.  For now it's really relaxing.

Anna kept promising, "There's no sharks in the water, I promise!"  With all her facial expressions.  And she loved just cuddling with everyone on the boat.  She even fell asleep for over an hour.

Josh tried surfing.  I also love his progression of facial expressions.

The tube was the favorite though.  We also convinced Anna to go on the tube.  Unfortunately, we started too slow (trying not to scare her and she face planted in the water).  Luckily her smart Dad convinced her to get right back on, and she survived.  I wouldn't say she loved it, but she's not terrified.  Hopefully there will be lots of days in the water this summer.

We Used To Be Best Friends.....

Josh and I, not Jessie and I.  Sisters are always best friends.  I just really like this picture that Jessie's wonderful photographer took (Christina P. Photography)....

When Josh was little we did everything together.  We would even sit on the corner forever and watch trucks and dogs go by.  He would help me make dinner etc.

We still spend a lot of time together, and on days he goes to school and then somewhere else I really miss him, I think I get separation anxiety more than him.

However, lately he has become a BOY!  I can't remember the last time he took a nap and he has soooo much energy.  I have noticed it especially the last couple of weeks.  He has to do at least one thing that is really physical every day.  And even then he is still bouncing off the walls and running around like a crazy person; and talking INCESSANTLY.  All I have to do is occasionally nod my head and he keeps going.  I can talk to him and he won't even hear me as he is completely in his own world.  This afternoon it was all about volcanoes, how he knew everything about them above ground and underwater, was going to climb one someday, and how exactly he was going to do that in incredible detail.   He doesn't like to help me cook anymore (unless he gets to taste the sugar).  He would rather be building a crazy contraption, playing war,or jumping on the couch.  Really the energy just busts out of him in crazy yells several times a day.  We are both much happier in general when he has a friend to play with for part of the day.

I have always been social and enjoy hanging out with friends most days, but somehow there has been a shift in our family dynamics that is hard to describe.  Mom is simply no longer enough.  Oh, I maybe could be, but I do have to do other things besides pretending to climb volcanoes and build race tracks for my own sanity as well as for my family's general well-being.

This change isn't a bad thing, just different, and pulls at my heart strings a little bit.

My little Anna has grown up a lot lately too, she is not as content to do whatever her brother wants,  and asks constantly, "Mommy you want to play with me?" (She really does not approve of the way Josh plays babies) Which is hard to say no to, time consuming,  and may be further contributing to my feelings of.... inadequacy?  that's not really it.. lack of time? kind of.....change?......importance of noticing and treasuring the moments?.... that too.

It's A....

Boy!

I was finally right on my hunch.

Josh said, "Yes!"

Anna said, "It's still a baby right?  I can hold it?"

We have no names and are open to any suggestions.

A Typical Morning

 We have been much slower than usual this summer getting going in the mornings.  Which is usually OK but sometimes a source of frustration to me.  This morning it was a slight source of frustration, and an exercise in patience, but then I saw these pictures.  I have been much better about taking day to day pictures lately and these ones made me feel like I was doing OK.  My kids definitely have their moments - we're working particularly hard on not screaming when something doesn't happen exactly as you wanted it, but I am grateful for the most part they play so well together despite a huge difference in interests.

First the princess must pack her bag for the adventure of the day.

 And the knight/Jedi must get all his weapons ready.

 Then they have to have a quick light saber practice because they are BOTH good guys.

 no idea.

 The towns must also be built - each with their own specific blocks, no helping or stealing blocks at this point.

 When they get worn out they build a boat and go to sleep.

 This is how you will see Anna, for most of the day every day.  It is a dancing skirt, which she calls "my Mary"  She like to wear it on her head and pretend to be Mary, and of course baby Addy goes EVERYWHERE with us.

We also love the summer reading programs at the library.

 And designing new weapons.  Everytime Josh watches a new movie he has observed all the weapons and how they are used - this spear design came from Tarzan.

And design new princess outfits, this particular one is beauty.  And I'm sad that I can't figure out how to upload videos to blogger, it never works for me, but if I ever figure it out this one is hilarious! Dancing princesses with descriptions of weapons cut in.

Fire Station

 One of our favorite friends invited us to the open house for the new fire station at Sun River.  Her husband had helped design the building and his kids were very proud. From left, Avery, Ella, and Jack Jensen.

 They got to drive all the trucks, ask questions, and explore the inside of the firehouse.  Oh and throw a fit when they only got one cookie and missed the jaws of life demonstration:)

Sitting in the firetruck proudly wearing their new hats.  I love an afternoon of free entertainment.

Memorial Day - A New Perspective

 These pictures are not the best because they were taken on my phone, which I can't figure out how to get off of black and white:)  When we have holidays like Memorial Day, I always want my kids to understand WHY we get the holiday....  So that morning we looked up the history of the day and talked about it, and went to the service at the cemetery that my Mom had told me about (she's the one that taught me about Memorial Day and all the other patriotic holidays....  )  There we saw my Grandpa who is a veteran - joined the army at something ridiculous like 16.  Mom went up to him, gave him a hug and said, "Happy Memorial Day Grandpa." And he said, "There are no happy memorial days."  with a small smile.  That comment stuck with me throughout the whole day.

 The service was great.  They had some amazing veterans speak, and honored the dead, MIA, and POWs.  Josh got to sit up right next to one of the soldiers and was just drinking it all in.  Anna was with me at the back skipping around the flag pole and looking for dandelions...  The end of the service was the best.... and the worst.... part.  They did a gun salute.  Josh was sooooo excited and ran around collecting the bullet shells afterwards.  Anna cried, was completely traumitized, and covered her ears.  She was so shaken up, that a couple of days later when we went to an event to see off 400 troops she saw the soldiers and said every 5 seconds for the first 20 minutes, "No guns Mom?"

 She also loved the pinwheels on the graves.  Some sweet family had gone through and put notes on all the veterans graves that thanked them in sweet little kid handwriting for their service.  Not going to lie, I got teary reading them.

Josh with his new most precious possession, bullets:)

What Josh got out of the experience:  "Mom someday I'm going to go fight for freeness!"
What Anna got out of the experience: "Mom, soldiers are not mean, they are nice, they fight mean guys so I safe."

We ended the day with a neighborhood potluck BBQ in true LA fashion.  Luckily one of our neighbors had a nice big grill because ours is super tiny.  We're hoping to do it a couple of more times throughout the summer. So economical and easy, and I only had one freakout that no one would come:) or worse just one other family which would make me feel stupid:)

I am so grateful for all those who sacrifice so much for us.  Going to the send off for the troops was touching and long.... (2 hours for little kids).  It was in the college basketball arena.  The whole time I kept thinking, "I wish this place was packed from top to bottom."  (it was probably just more than half full) to show these families how grateful we are....even if you don't agree with the War On Terror....