California Here We Come...

I've been playing single mom for about 3 weeks now. Scott started a job out in CA about 2 weeks ago and is loving it. Today we finalized plans to move into a townhouse in Beverly Hills. I'm here in CT still hoping to find someone to rent or buy our house before we leave. Crazy huh! We are all so excited to go and it makes it even more real to actually have a place to move into. YEAH! The funniest part is Bolton, CT and Beverly Hills, CA are about as polar opposites and you can get! We are so excited to have a winter without piles of snow. Haydn wasn't so sure about that idea. I had to reassure him that Santa will know it's Christmas there even if it doesn't snow.

Here's a little catch-up of what we've been up to in these past crazy weeks...

We went at the end of summer to a celebration at the library for the summer reading challenge. The kids got their face painted and snacks. It was really fun.



While the big boys are in school Tristan and I like to play outside. He LOVES to be outdoors. He pushes his little car around everywhere. He also likes to ride on the back of my bike He even tells me which direction to go and if I turn toward home he starts saying, "NO, NO, NO! That way!" This is one morning when he found a caterpillar.

Connor started playing soccer this fall. He loves it. His favorite position is to be goalie or defense.


Tristan likes to bring a ball and kick it around while we watch practice.

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school! I had some VERY excited boys in my house. Here we are taking some quick pics before driving them to school...


It's a little tradition of ours that I make them a BIG cookie for a back to school celebration! I started this last year and the boys had totally forgotten about it but I hadn't! It was fun to surprise them and totally make their day, after-all there's nothing better than cookies with frosting and milk to win over your kids right?!

Here they are with their pieces of cookie! They were amazed I let them have such big pieces yet still asked for more, what's that all about?!



Anyways, the boys had good days! Haydn has a half day of preschool so he came home for lunch and told me all about Preschool. He got to play with potato heads that had "openings on their butts" (he thought that was amusing apparently), write his name with shaving cream, and sang songs. He made some new friends too. He said there is another Hayden and an Aiden in his class and one of his teachers is named Mrs. Connors so he'll always remember them.

Connor came home on the bus happy but so excited about school that he forgot to bring home his backpack, oops! He got to choose your own desk and set up his supplies inside it. He's sitting by one old friend and one new one. He said he got to start off his day in art and then they played some get-to-know-you games like a scavenger hunt about people. They got to bring in 5 things from home and tell about themselves. They also did word searches and talked a lot about their class and each other. They had indoor recess and he got to play on the computer right in his classroom (he thinks that's awesome)! He also got to play with legos.

I'm so glad they had an awesome day! It was so strange just having one little 2 year old in the house for the morning but Tristan and I enjoyed our alone time! He brought me lots of books to read and we watched a baby einstein movie. We also played with cars and I tickled him a lot and just about anything else I could do to make him laugh hysterically because he has the cutest laugh EVER!

What next, a plague of locusts?

We are alive and well after this crazy week (an earthquake and a hurricane! REALLY?!?) but are without power. It looks like our little town is about 90-100% in the dark, and the power company might get to us in 5-7 days. We're fine, we have a couple of options for now, but keep your fingers crossed that we get power back sooner rather than later!

Soccer Camp

I heard about a fun soccer camp I just had to get my boys involved in. They loved it! Even Tristan, that wasn't technically part of the group, enjoyed playing with the coaches a bit.





Here's a fun video of a song one of the counselors did with the kids, my kids LOVED it!

Tristan Turned 2!

My baby is now 2! He's the sweetest thing ever. He's finally starting to talk more and seems to learn new words all the time. He had an awesome birthday at home right after our big trip. Nana was even here to help us spoil him. He got a bunch of cars and some tracks to play with them on. He hasn't put them down and he usually can be found with at least 5 cars in his hands. He also got a cool sprinkler toy with balls that shoot out, and some bubble toys.



Tristan's cookie cake and blowing out the candles!

Nana and a BIG ADVENTURE!

Scott's Mom came into town and so we got some amazing time with Nana! We went on an amazing trip to upstate NY together. We got to go to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and see some other LDS church historical sites. We got to see the printing press that printed the first Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith's childhood homes and the Sacred Grove where he saw the first vision. It was so fun! We also took an amazing trip to Niagara Falls!

Here's some poses with the cast members of the Hill Cumorah Pageant...


An amazing view of the printing press where the Book of Mormon was first printed...

This inside Joseph Smith's cabin...

This is Connor by the fireplace of Joseph Smith's frame home where we learned that he actually hid the golden plates under the bricks in the fireplace for a time.

This is our family after walking through the sacred grove...

Amazingly we ran into some old friends we hadn't seen in years, the Velingas, while on our trip! That was a great surprise!

Here's the photos from our Niagara Falls adventure...


We rode on the Maid of the Mist boat...




We stayed until late so we could see the lights on the falls and an amazing fireworks show as well.

Haydn's Joy School Graduation

We have a Joy School Graduate! Haydn has loved doing joy school this year. He got to do it with 5 friends from church. All of us Moms took turns teaching and they were such a great group. Here are a couple pics of his graduation and a video of the kids singing "I've Got Joy". Haydn got an award for being the friendliest. Yeah Haydn! We love this kid!




In case you were wondering, the capes were made by me and my friend Liz, they are basically the same as the Jedi capes I made for Connor's party, minus the big hood. I made the cute Joy Boy cake too.

Prophet Tristan

Reading scriptures with kids can be crazy. Half the time it seems they don't listen but we love it when they obviously do and we have some great conversations around our breakfast table. We rarely, however, get any input from our 1 year old. Here's a video of Tristan enjoying our family scripture study...

Connor Turned 7!

Connor turned 7 last week! Wow 7! He's such a big boy! Tomorrow he graduates 1st grade! I'm feeling old! Anyways, he had a great family party. He got some great presents, his favorite is probably the watch that his Grandma gave him that he is OBSESSED with. He asks me all the time what time things are supposed to happen and he sets timers on his watch. Here's some pics of his big day and a video of his birthday wish (this is the best part, we can't stop laughing about it!)






What's he into these days? He's obsessed with the Wii, specifically Super Mario Bros. lately (Haydn is too). He loves swimming, biking, baseball, and soccer. He LOVES to read and sometimes even asks to bring a book to a friends house (in case he gets bored). He's unfortunately getting a little bit of an attitude and starting to think he can make his own rules, YEAH! Mostly he's a great kid though and we love him! I can't believe it's been 7 years!

It's Officially Summer

I love June! It's just great outdoor weather. We've been working on opening our big pool for the summer but it's still in progress so I filled up the little pool today for the kids. When Connor got home from school and saw it he exclaimed, "yes, Yes, YES!!!" They had a great time breaking it in this year. Here's a few pics...