Hello Cali!

How excited can 2 little boys be?! I think I found out yesterday! I don't want to forget a moment right now...I want to write down every funny & cute thing Jude & Joel do or say! They are both SO full of life!

It was probably a mistake telling Jude that we would be leaving for California and would be meeting Mickey Mouse the night BEFORE we left! (Happy pic above Taken after we explained to the boys) He was in our room at 4:15am yesterday morning ready to wake up! Haha. We did leave the house at 6:30 headed for Lovefield airport! The boys were so excited to fly! I couldn't peel their faces from the window at the terminal...

"Is that our plane, mommy?!"

We had a stop in El Paso which I had kind of been dreading but ended up working out perfect! The break up worked for keeping the boys excited & moving. 

We lucked out w/the second leg of the flight from El Paso to San Diego & both boys slept 98% of the two hours!

Once we landed & got our rental car (note: we had an awesome guy that hooked us up with an SUV for no extra $) we headed straight to lunch. It was only 12:45 in San Diego but it was almost 3:00 in Fort Worth. 

We had several recommendations to try Point Loma Seafoods...perfect!! The boys loved the boats & view!! 

We ordered an Atlantic cod sandwich, a Philadelphia Sushi Roll, a cup of Clam Chowder & an order of fries. How's that for variety?! All delicious!!

We had gobbled everything up except the chowder when I thought to snap a pic. Oops! Did I mention we were starving? LOL. 

With happy bellies, we headed to Temecula to Darlene's parent's house. We got there around 5:00 & were greeted with smiles by Diane, Dar's mom. Let me say, I'm not sure I've met a sweeter lady! She showed us around the house, made us feel completely & immediately welcome! She had a new plastic pool w/toys waiting for J&J "so they will have some fun stuff to enjoy" & she had patriotic shirts for all 4 of us laid out on our beds. 

The boys put on their swimsuits & headed out to the back patio, which I might add has a GORGEOUS view, to swim a bit. Jon watched the boys while I visited with Diane over some Pinot Grigio.  She made a yummy Costco pizza for us and some chicken nuggets for the boys. We got the boys dried off and in PJ's & grubbed together! 

Here's a shot of the sunset off the back porch. Beautiful!!

The boys were hyper tired so we snuggled them on the couch to watch some Veggie Tales for a bit & then put them to bed around 9:00, which is 11:00pm Fort Worth time! Yep, definitely in vacation mode! Jon & I visited with Diane for another hour or so then headed to bed ourselves! 

California Bound!

In less than 24 hours we will be boarding our flight to San Diego! I'm so excited! I'm {very obviously} already in vacation mode! I can't focus at work...I just keep running my list of things to pack thru my head and looking at different reviews of Cali sites on TripAdvisor. I hate to wish any of my days away...BUT I plan to leave work today at 3:00 and it can't seem to come soon enough! :)
The boys have been on a plane before, longest trip being red eye flight to Hawaii, but they're old enough to really understand the experience now! They even have their own seats on the plane! Praise baby Jesus for that! Jude woke up this morning asking "Is it Saturday so we get to fly on a plane to California?!" I love that they're so excited and can't wait to see their faces when they get to meet Mickey Mouse & other friends at Disneyland, play on the beach, see the different animals the San Diego Zoo has versus the FWT Zoo, etc.

  

Jon has been to LA/Hollywood area a couple times but never ventured into the beautiful San Diego. I've been to San Diego several times (and loved it more with each visit), but have never been into LA area. I'm hopeful we can show each other both worlds of SoCal! We'll see whatever 5 days allows! We land tmrw at noon and fly back to Dallas, Friday, July 5 at noon. We know we're staying a couple nights in San Diego, one night in Anaheim (for Disneyland) and a couple nights in Temecula (wine country). Bring in the sunshine!!

We have a hotel secured for our one night in Anaheim but outside of that, we're staying with Darlene's family. I feel very blessed to have such a sweet friend! She (and her family) has offered to host us in San Diego and Temecula! I'm excited to get to meet her family and to enjoy a week of fun enjoying California!

Ofcourse I made shirts for the trip, too! Mickey tanks for Disneyland and Patriotic tanks for the 4th of July!

Here's some "Hot Spots" I hope to hit during out week: 

1. USS Midway
2. Coronado Bridge & Island
3. Balboa Park
4. San Diego Zoo
5. Disneyland
6. La Jolla Cove
7. Torrey Pines
8. Temecula Wineries

It will be interesting to see what we actually did! I'm just thrilled to have some time off work to play with my fam and make some fun memories! Cali here we come!!

{{SOME}} Favorite Funny Moments Captured on Video

 August 2012: Roadtrip home from Dalhart 

We took this video heading home after a fun-filled XIT Dalhart weekend. The boys were so bored after being in the car for 5 hours (we still had 2 to go)... For the record, we did manage to pull over before Jude went potty! Yay for small victories! :)

April 29, 2013: Happy Birthday to Joel

Joel is 2!! We had his party the previous Saturday but we still celebrated with a bedtime song...and some pretend "bedtime cake!" ;-) Such a sweetie pie!

February 2013: Jude Reading to Joel

This video remains one of my very favorites!! I could be in the most foul awful mood ever and watching this video will ALWAYS make me smile! Sorry for the sideways view..my filming skills are obviously lacking! My bad!

I did a little better recording this one...

May 2013: I'm Gonna Be a Chicken!

We stayed with my Uncle Rick and Aunt Sharon a couple months ago for a quick fun weekend trip for my cousin, Vicki's wedding shower. Jude and Joel had a blast! They got a small (fun) glimpse into a country cowboy weekend on the 6T Ranch! Jude talked about his "adventures" for weeks! I hope we can take them back soon! ♥ ♥ ♥

 

This video is also in May. After 2 weeks of Jude asking daily if he could wear boots and a cowboy hat like Deano, Roy and Uncle Richard...we took him to the Justin store and made his dream come true! We ran to ACE Hardware afterwards on an errand and he was trying to plead his case on why he needed a rope! ;-)

June 15, 2013: It's my song

No, it's not Christmas... Jude and Joel love playing daddy's guitar!

June 26, 2013: Tantrum caught on video!

I so wish I could have caught the ENTIRE tantrum on video! Joel woke up in a super happy mood...the moods I LOVE!! That turned 180 degrees foul fast! He wanted to use a "fun" stamp he had and stamp all over his arm. I agreed to let him stamp once on his hand...he did that but wasn't wanting to comply = major tantrum! He threw the stamp and slammed himself down on the ground in anger... When I told him I was recording him, things turned around pretty fast. LOL. Silly kid! I can't help but laugh!

Lockheed Martin: Jet Day 2013

Because its not every day you get to pose with a hottie in front of an F-35 Jet!

Happy Father's Day 2013

Father's Day is a bittersweet day for me each year. I miss my dad terribly and yearn so often for him to be a part of my "grown up" life! BUT, I am also overjoyed knowing that J&J are blessed to have such an amazing daddy in Jon! He really is the best dad any kid could have! He's super talented, athletic, totally hands on and funny...always up for a good time! Then there's the more serious side of him...disciplined in his Faith, as a provider for our family and in his guidance as the boy's role model and he's just so smart! It's sometimes intimidating to be married to someone so wonderful! The love and happiness Jon brings to our family is written on every happy face & hug below!

 Happy Father's Day, Jon!

 Jude is looking more and more like Jon with every day!!

We had a really great time celebrating Father's day this year at our house! We started the day off by waking daddy with hugs and cards and ended up in the kitchen to make our typical Sunday morning waffle breakfast. Jude and Joel were such good helpers! :) They LOVE to help us cook & especially wanted to cook WITH DADDY on his special day! I guess I'm off the hook then?! LOL. I just stood back and let my heart smile and took pics!  ♥♥♥

After our yummy breakfast, we all got dressed & headed off to church! 

After J&J's naptime, Grandma, The Lowrance gang and Clementine came over to enjoy a nice night grilling out and loving on each other! We had a delicious dinner - Corn on the cob, Grandma's famous potato salad, Clemi's cole slaw & Tim and Pam brought steaks...thanks to Jon for cooking (again), even on his special day! And we can't forget the yummy brownies by Jac and homemade butterfinger ice cream by Jon and Grandma! The food was not to be beat and the company was just the same! ♥♥♥

 Timothy enjoying a new tasty twist to a teething toy... a steak bone!

We set up the bounce house in the backyard and the kiddos had a blast playing! Clemi brought her granddaughter, Gracie, which Jude seemed to be quite fond of after playing "gymnastics" together! She tried teaching him how to do a cartwheel and was so great to play with him all evening in the bounce house!

♥♥ Gracie ♥♥

Jude showing off for Gracie...so cute!

A Gracie Sandwich! :)

Hanging out with my Grandma (my dad's mom)

 My lil' monkeys!

Bentley wasn't sure what to think about all the 'adventure' going on in his backyard, haha.

J&J with their third cousin, Timothy 

Grandma "churning" the ice cream 

Happy faces all around! 

Timothy took a little while warming to the idea of a bounce house but once he tried it, he was hooked!

Timothy playing with his grandparents (My Uncle Tim and Aunt Pam)

Such a cutie pie! Look at that smile! ♥

"Look at my boo-boo...Kiss it?!" Ofcourse Grandma did, too! 

We hung out until the clock hit bedtime! It was a great day!!

Psalms 127:3-5 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

 

Proverbs 17:6Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

Swim Lessons: Progress Made

We went to our last swim lesson with Mrs. Cathy this past Saturday. Jude did okay but he still wasn't overly thrilled to be there. On the way over to Cathy's house he says to me "mommy, I'm going to go under water, use my arms and kick and I'm gonna like it!" I was optomistic and do believe he meant every word. He really did swim his little heart out until he just got tired! Such a cute kid! He did make some mad progress from lesson one to lesson four and I have no doubt he'll only improve as the summer goes on.
To recap, at the first lesson he didn't want to leave the ledge and wasn't about to go under water! By the second lesson, much improvement but still scared!

{{videos from the second lesson}}

Joel's turn?!

As you can tell from the pieces you see of Joel in the videos, he is NOT scared at all. LOL. I've been kind of wondering lately if Jude might have regressed last summer after not having a "big pool" to swim in?? We were staying at my Grandma's while our house was being built so he didn't play near as much in a "big pool"...he mainly just splashed around in his blow up pool in the backyard. Jon and I were totally fine with that because he and Joel had both had tubes put in. He's also the youngest in the lesson. Ryder, Reed & Brady are all 5 years old and swim pretty well already! I'm sure all of the elements combined offer an intense environment for Jude. 

We leave for California this Saturday and Cathy's schedule is full this week so we're holding off lessons for a while. I'm not sure if it's the best idea but we don't really have another option so...I will definintely continue to work with him in the meantime...after all, I was a swimmer! ;-) I pray he loves the beach and just has fun with the water in California!! ♥♥♥

{{Fourth (last) Lesson}}

Joel enjoying his "laid back" afternoon in the pool while Jude learns to swim



Favorite New iPhone Picture App - Collect

Hello, my name is Brooke and I'm a picture whore. Haha. No, but seriously...I can't stop taking pictures!! I contribute it to not having many pictures of my dad. He passed away my senior year of high school and we really have very few pictures to reflect back with. Hence, I take probably an average of 2-3 pics a day. It's gotten to the point that when I take out my phone, Joel just automatically says "Cheese!" and flashes me a quick smile. Hahaha! Love that kid!
Obviously, being so obsessed with capturing moments, I love all the fun stuff the iPhone has to offer! It really has a pretty decent camera! Outside of the fun apps that let you edit photos, I've found a new one called "Collect" that I've really been enjoying! If you search the app store for Collect, it pulls right up and it's free! It's super user-friendly, too.  It looks like this...

 It stores a picture of your choice every day! You can actually do as many pics/day as you want but only one is displayed in your calendar. It looks like this at a glance when you open it...

click on the day and this pops up...

You can choose a pic from your album or you can take a pic. Then you can enter whatever details you want.

Once you save your pic, it's stored in your calendar! You can scroll thru the pics like a slide-show and have a snap-shot idea of what happened during the week, month, etc. AND, the app even has the option to set an alarm! I have a text message type alarm that pops up daily at 6pm that reminds me to update my calendar with a daily pic. Some might say it's furthering an annoying addiction. I say...awesome!!

Note: There's also another app called Project365 that's very similiar and fun. I've kind of been playing with it and Collect. I like Collect better but you may prefer Project365...They're both free! :)

Swim Lessons for Jude Bug

Jude does great putting his head under water at home in the backyard (blow up) pool and while playing in the bath tub. He's also been to the public and neighborhood pools/splash park with no problems, ofcourse keeping in the shallow end. I wasn't nervous that he would be scared to start swim lessons. Especially with his good buddy & neighbor, Ryder, there!
We hired Cathy, a swim coach with 15 years under her belt in private lessons, to teach Jude, Ryder and 2 other twin boys that the Dilley's know 3 times a week. They had their first swim lesson last night. To say it went well for Jude would be stretching the truth, haha. We showed up at Tricia's house (Dilley's friend) and met her two twin sons, Reed and Brady, and then all 4 boys played a little in the pool until Mrs. Cathy arrived! Jude was excited to get in the pool! The lesson began...
The twins went first and were SO good! They live with a pool so I suppose they have that advantage but really, they were swimming! Next Ryder was up...another great swimmer! I had to remind myself they are all 2 years older than Jude in that moment. When Cathy called Jude out to the deeper water, It was immediately evident he was scared. She started with a game and he started smiling again but it quickly faded when the lessons started. Cathy was great! She was patient and pressed on! I tried staying out of view for some of the lesson but not sure if it helped or not?? He did go under water several times but the nerves took over and he stayed tensed leaving it far from a "swim" lesson and left it more of a "let's calm down in deep waters" lesson.
I talked to Cathy once things wrapped and she assured me it's totally normal for his age. I hope so! The next lesson is Saturday at 11:30. Praying it's a better time for sweet Jude bug!

Mrs Cathy helping Jude with his goggles and calming him down

Learning how to "look at the bottom of the pool" and kick 

Potty Training, Round 2: JOEL

Jude was so easy to potty train! He was in full-time "underoos" by age 2 1/2, even thru the night! He totally spoiled us! He just really didn't like to be wet or dirty. He still always asks for a napkin with his meal and shows me his hands when they're sticky, etc so I can wipe them off immediately(even mid-meal). With help from his super sweet daycare teachers during the day and Jon and I working with him at home, he learned fairly quickly!!

Joel has been showing a large amount of interest in using the potty "like his big brother" lately so we thought it would be a perfect time to to start the process full force while Jude was out of town (staying with Grumpa & Mimi). I do call it a successful "starter week!" We were able to really spend some one on one time with him that we aren't always able to do when we have both boys fighting for attention. He really only had 3 at home accidents...and they were all within a 2 hour span. Ha! Outside of that he did wonderful! He had one "recess" accident at school and another right as I picked him up in the afternoon. Mind you, we were taking him to the bathroom atleast once an hour and watching him like a hawk!

When Jude arrived back home, things stayed positive! Jude was happy to show Joel how to be a "big boy" and use the potty and Joel was cooperative to "pee-pee for a treat!" 80% of the time and we worked to make it happen anyways the other 20% of the time. The biggest obstacle was and still remains to be morning potty time! He just does not like to go straight from the bed to the potty! Once he's there and goes, life is back to good. Until that point, there are tears! *sigh* Every. Single. Morning!

We are now in the home stretch of our second full week with Joel and I'm so so proud of him! He makes it throughout the day at school and has asked several times now "I go potty, mommy!" and has made it to the toilet without an accident!  I'm hopeful that we won't be needing to haul around a diaper bag much longer! Maybe...just maybe...we can even be successful in eliminating a "carry all" by our Cali trip?! Okay... I know I may be asking alot with that one. Hehe. A momma can dream! I'm not ruling it out though! Yay for super smart boys!!

I will end with a quick pic & story... can you tell me what's wrong with this picture?! I met up with several girlfriends for dinner at Mama's pizza this past Monday. Joel politely taps me on the shoulder, I turn to him...

Joel: mommy, I have treat?!

Me: What for?

Joel: I pee-pee'd!

Me: Huh? You need to go?! Let's go! (I start to take him out of his booster seat)

Lara: Umm, haha. I think he already went!

Me: Joel! NO NO! We don't go potty in our pants!!

(as the pee drenches his shorts, dribbles down his leg into his socks, shoes and ofcourse flows onto the booth bench)

Joel: I go pee-pee, Mommy. I get treat!

Jude was giving the camera a face to show how Joel SHOULD have been feeling. Joel was totally content with his little show and sported a big cheese smile! Silly monkeys! I had just picked them up from daycare, strapped them completely in their carseats when Joel tells me "I have to potty, mommy." I unbuckled both children, take them both back inside, take them BOTH to the potty, go back out to the car, buckle both boys again and we're on our way... Seriously?! What would I do without them to keep me busy?! By the way, I was also lucky enough to have forgotten an extra pair of shorts so I left Joel in his wet pants until we finished our plate of pizza and then strapped him in his car seat pantless for the ride home! I should be expecting my Mother of the Year Award soon I just know! ;-)

Adventures at Grumpa and Mimi's

Jude had such a blast last week with Grumpa and Mimi at their house out in the Dumas Canyan! He got to leave his little brother behind for almost an entire week to go on a "big kid" adventure with his two oldest cousins, Kathryn (8) and Ivye (5). They got to ride "Hershey" the donkey, "Dixie Raisin" the horse, "Molly" the pony sized dog & play with kittens just to start! Mimi kept them all busy with such fun activities! They had a tea party outside, went to the big city pool and got to help pick fresh strawberries! It was definitely a week none of the cousins, or grandparents will soon forget!! The smiles in the pics say it all!!  

Riding on Hershey

 Loving on sweet Dixie Raisin

Jude has been asking all weekend already when he gets to see Grumpa again. I love that he was able to have the week of bonding time! He thinks "Grumpa is awesome!"

Best Buds! Grumpa and Jude bug! ♥♥♥

Playing on the back porch. Mimi said "This is a man's house. Jude has a car in every room. Earlier he had Woody from Toy Story driving a pink Barbie corvette"

I was so thankful she kept in conversation with all the parents all week sending us adorable pics and text updates. She's always SO thoughtful! The kids are lucky to have her in their lives and we as parents are so fortunate she loves our kiddos like she does!! ♥♥♥

All the kids LOVE Mimi's kitty cats!

"Kitty Katy Kathy Kid"... That's what Stan calls Kathryn, when he's not calling her Suzy! :)

Mimi says - "We named Jude Captain Courageous. At first he'd barely get in the water but soon he actually stood under the big pail as it dumped right on his head. He grinned from ear to ear. Of course big cousin Kathryn encouraged him to be brave."

While Jude bug hung out with Grumps and cousins at the city pool....

I hung out at our neighborhood pool and caught some sun myself while Joel napped. *sigh* Life is good!

Anybody care for tea?!

 Looks like Hershey would like some, too.... hehe.

Enjoying their last full day at Grumpa & Mimi's

Mimi spoiled the cousins from arrival to departure! She handmade them personal goody bags for their road trip home, which included coloring books/markers, goofy glasses, candy, cheetos (Jude's favorite!), dancing and singing flowers and a very very sweet love letter! ♥♥♥

Joel is invited to join in the Panhandle adventure next year but for now...he seemed to enjoy his time "left behind" just as much as Jude enjoyed his time away!