Wreck It Beck

Tonight we took Tully & Tessa to the drive in to see Wreck It Ralph. It was so fun to be cuddled up together under blankets, eating candy, and watching a movie with the chilly air all around us. At one point we talked about how this was a special big kid thing to do and that it is fun to have a date, just the 4 of sometimes.
Which got me thinking.
We are really in a season of Wreck It Beck.
This kid. This toddler. THIS baby, as we so often still call him. He is a run for our money.
The other day we had a check up for him at the pediatrician. At first everything was good, then the quick decline came. The pulling open of all drawers, the flinging of everything in them, the yelling "NNNN DONE" (all done), the peeing on the floor, the throwing off of his diaper, it went on and on and on. And I was RIGHT THERE. Always 2 seconds to late. I found myself telling our doctor, I know I had 2 kids 19 months apart but they were not nearly as......... crazy as Beck is.
Matt and I look at each other a hundred times a day, we laugh, shake our heads, sigh and then smile. Beck is a crack up. He is a runner. He manages to break at least 3 christmas ornaments a day and then exclaim "NO NO!" all the while smiling and shaking his finger. The child cannot be left alone for a second. He can most often be found these days in a diaper and my high heeled boots, still running around the house. He is a constant stealer of everyone else toothbrushes, he will throw anything into the toilet, and he has figured out the child locks on all the drawers that we only JUST installed.  Oh, this kid, this funny, smiling, happy baby. He is the light of ALL of our lives. Tully and Tessa carry him from his crib in the morning and feed him breakfast. They read him books. They hold his hand without being asked.
At the end of the day, I am just thankful. Thankful for this crazy baby, and thankful for my big kids.

Pebble Beach

We had such a fun time in Pebble a couple of weekends ago. We haven't been there for awhile because   Marv & Susan have been remodeling the house. They have done an amazing job! The house looks beautiful. I think PB is one of my top 5 favorite places. It is so beautiful there, I never get tired of going to the beach, taking walks and enjoying the view!
The kids had a great time, they have been missing spending time there. Tully was so excited to go to the aquarium again. Beck was in heaven with two sets of Grandparents there to entertain him, he spent the whole time transferring from Grandma to Ama, saying POPS! and ignoring,Grandpa. Oh well. With so many people to choose from we can't all be winners.

MUD RUN!!!

For some reason when my friend Patricia mentioned that she had always wanted to do a mud run, I got all fired up. All of the sudden I convinced myself that I had always want to do a mud run also. Fast forward a month later, and with an injured leg and all it happened! 

It was super fun. It was totally what I expected and totally not what I expected all at the same time. 

The kids helping me train before hand. They would run 2 miles with me, no problem! Great motivation :)

Halloween

Mama

Well, it's official. Beck has started calling Tessa "Mama". Yes, you  read that correctly, the last baby I will likely ever have is calling my 6 year old the one word that every mother longs to hear come out of their child's mouth. Mama.
I've suspected this for a little while but I thought it was confusion and probably had a little to do with the fact that he really doesn't talk that much yet.
Then yesterday happened. We went to pick up the kids at school and Beck does what he always does. Races over to Tessa's classroom, peaks in the door and scans the kids until he locks eyes with her. His face then lit up with the hugest smile, he pointed his chubby little finger at her and yelled "Mama!" (that part was new) with the joy of a toddler being reunited with his mother after a long separation. Oh my. I'm dying to hear what he might start calling me. At this point he usually looks at me and says "ROAR" so we're off to an interesting start.

Beck has also been my running partner this week. He is a little distracting.

We are working on Halloween costumes around here. Tully is going to be a baseball player and Tessa is dying to wear a purple dragon costume that is a size 3T. We are working on some alterations on that one. Beck on the other hand refuses to let me put anything on him. So, he will most likely be wearing his superman PJ's or his skeleton PJ's. It's that or having him go as a screaming, fit throwing, toddler.

Tully finally seems almost 100% recovered from his respiratory infection. Hoping that we don't have many more of those with cold and flu season just starting. Also really hoping that his asthma doesn't get worse!

Tessa asks about Kaya almost everyday. If she is as good a big cousin as she is a big sister than Kaya is in luck!!

Speaking of Kaya, be still my heart. Check her out in her Halloween costume. 

She looks like she misses her Auntie. 

8 months. Thats how long it's been since I last wrote a post on this blog.  I've missed all 3 kids having a birthday, summer vacations,the end of school,  the beginning of school, the start of soccer and a million other things. For a long time I was convinced that I wasn't going to write anything until I could catch up on everything. Um, yeah right. It's not going to happen. So, I decided to just get over it and start up again. Nobody is perfect.

Things that are happening right now. 

Soccer, Soccer and more Soccer. We are a soccer family and LOVE it! Even Beck wants to dribble the ball everywhere.

Colored skinny jeans. I have nothing more to say about that.

5k MUD RUN!!! I am running a 5k mud run with some friends on Nov 3rd. This is hilarious because if I run down the block I start having convulsions and feel like I need a day at the spa to recover  - but I'm pumped and I've been training and I can't wait for the sense of accomplishment I plan on feeling. Even if I come in last and they have to carry me home on a stretcher.

Playdates, MOPS, the Gathering and working in the classroom. I'm exhausted just typing that sentence.

Dave Ramsey. I love him. I want him to come and be my BFF. He is changing our life.

Pumpkin pie smoothies, pumpkin pie muffins, pumpkin pie pancakes, pumpkin pie cream cheese. Even though it is 80 outside WE WILL celebrate fall.

In & Out's burger, without meat, without cheese, extra everything else. Who knew? This is a game changer for me.

Happy to be back in the blogging world. Talk to you soon!

Catch Up

Another month has almost come and gone and still my blog remains strangely silent. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my head I write at least 2 blogs posts a day. I fall asleep with great ideas of things to write about but whenever I make it to the computer all I can think to tell you about is my simple little life at home with 3 kids. To sum it up, there is never enough time, never enough hands, never enough laundry being folded and not nearly enough patience. There are disgusting messes, 30 little fingernails that seem to constantly need to be trimmed, and we never have enough dark chocolate.
I love every minute of it. Even the minutes I don't love, I do love. Does that even make sense?

Month in review 

I got the flu. again. I was down for 4 days. Then I gave it to my Mom. 

I made smoothies in both kids classes on Valentines Day. It was SO fun! Loved that all the kids had something healthy instead of a bunch of junk.

We went to Mammoth for Presidents day weekend. It was SO fun! The kids skied for the first time this year. It was awesome, they are getting much better. By the last day, Tully was flying down the hill so fast that I almost had to close my eyes, Tessa was looking like everything was just a piece of cake and I had a flash of what I might be dealing with when she is in high school and way too cool to be seen on the hill with any family member. Beck and I did a lot of hanging out at the condo. I read 2 books, "Dreams Of Joy" by Lisa See and "Unbroken" by , I highly recommend both of them. One of the things I love about going to Mammoth with my parents is that I get to do all the cooking but they pay for all the food. I love trying new recipes while we are there. My Dad is especially enthusiastic about most things I make, which fills my cup. Love me, love my cooking. I had several winners that I will for sure make again. Vegan Veggie Lasagna, Moroccan Chick Pea soup with Coconut, "Fried Rice" that was actually cauliflower instead of rice, and some yummy veggie sandwiches. Beck spent his time in the condo alternating in practicing being cute and trying to make a mad dash up the stairs. He also spent a lot of time dancing, drumming on every surface and crawling as fast as he could around the living room.

Have I mentioned that Beck is extremely cute? He is really developing his own little personality, and he is becoming a little chunk. My arms can feel a big difference as I carry him around all day. He is also becoming a major dancing machine. Whenever he hears music he starts to groove. He especially loves going to the kids' Hip Hop class. I think he thinks we are actually there for him.

In other news, we are starting to talk about our summer plans. I've thrown out a few different options. The one I'm leaning towards is renting our house out for a month, flying to Canada and then camping our way through Banff, Jasper etc. Have yet to convince Matt. I figure this would be a prefect time for dreads. For now I've learned how to french braid my own hair. 

Tasks for next month, learn how to make a quilt, plan our summer, ween my kids off of dairy, continue with our family Lent devotional (more on this later), sleep through the night, blog more, consume much more kale.