"Climber" is his middle name

Whether it be trees or walls, this kid can sure ascend.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

When love was flowing for most of the world in the middle of February, Dr. Jekyll came to visit our home.  When asked to do simple tasks such as "Put your boots on the stairs", he would reply with an angry and very firm, "NO!"  Not just once but EVERY time he was asked.  It didn't stop at that.  The early hours is when it all would begin, "I NEED MILKIES NOW!"  Nap time also had some issues and nasty words would fly, "NO NAP!  PLAY CARS!  NO READ BOOKS! WATCH A MOVIE!"  Dinner time wasn't any different, "NO STIR FRY!  OATMEAL!  CEREAL!"  I was starting to wonder what to do (besides laugh).  Then when the month of (supposed) "love" was coming to an end, Mr. Hyde suddenly showed up out of no where.  "Put your boots on the stairs," was followed by a sweet voice offering, "Okay Mommy!  Thank you Mommy!"  and every other request had the same answer.  Where did Dr. Jekyll come from and where did he go?  I have no idea, but occasionally he visits for short periods of time.  Short (for Dr. Jekyll) and sweet (for Dr. Hyde) is what we prefer.  

Breakfast (not) in-bed

Saturday morning...doesn't everyone want to sleep a little bit longer?  Not if you are 4 1/2.  Oshyn kept bugging us to get up (mind you it was only 7:15a at the time) and we kept trying to stay in bed.  He decided that maybe if he complained about being hungry we would help him out.  Well, when you have demonstrated your capabilities in the cereal pouring department, you have no case with this whine.  We told him to go make a bowl of cereal and we would be down soon.  After what sounded like a massive cereal explosion down stairs...that much cereal for ONE bowl?  Oshyn arrived back in our room and announced that breakfast was ready.  He had poured us all a bowl of cereal.  How sweet!! you're thinking, well he also announced that he had poured the milk already because he knew we didn't like soggy cereal so we would surely come down right away.  Smart little cookie.  We were down in a flash.   

We had our treasure all along

After a morning at the temple, Oshyn trying out every tree available to climb, we decided to go on another letter-boxing treasure hunt.  The pirates stayed home, but their attitude came along.  We followed the directions to a "T" and came upon the treasure's location after a nature walk by the 

American River.  I was just thinking what a good job the boy scouts who planted the letter-box did as Oshyn 

lifted up the rocks to find...a bunch of dirt and roots.  Where was the blue lid they described?  We searched high and low around the area, but had no luck.  It was no where to be found.  I guess being planted in 2005 can do that to you.  Boy Scouts may be Man Scouts now.  We were left empty handed

---or I guess "stamp-less".  Bummer.  As we were hiking back to our car, we ran into a guy with a dog (always a popular attraction).  Oshyn told him all about how we were searching for buried treasure, but it wasn't where they said it would be, yada yada yada... The guy smiled, very intrigued by this little man, and said matter-of-factly, "I know exactly where the treasure is.  Do you want to know where it is?"  Of course Oshyn was pumped.  The man said, "Turn around.  Your treasure is standing right behind you."  Not quite what Oshyn wanted to hear, but a good little wrap up of our day--starting with the temple and then realizing we had our treasure all along.  

Putting on a show

Cruz was workin' it with the skateboard and wanted to make sure I didn't miss a thing.  He kept saying, "Watch this MOM!"  So I got out the camera and he hammed it up some more.  Then I videoed him and he was sooooo excited to watch himself--you will see him do a trick and then run over to me to see it.  Recently this guy is making Oshyn look like a calm, relaxed, shy one--what will he be like at 4?!?  Can't wait.

Happy Heart Day!

Brian

As my kids are slowly breaking me into those teenage years when they eat me out of house and home---both have had 2 eggs & toast and are onto oatmeal/cereal, I thought I'd take a minute to talk about "Brian".

When Oshyn is Superman, I am ALWAYS Lois and Cruz gets to be "Brian". Who the heck is "Brian" you ask? This is what Oshyn calls him. I have no idea where it came from, but it makes us all laugh--especially when Cruz answers to "Brian" almost as much as Cruz. Superman and Brian have been having a good time together. Here are some pictures of their beds (differs daily), some on gates, some in random crevices and the one not shown is the bed, under Cruz's crib.

I laugh out loud to myself daily.

Buddies for Breakfast

I've always ment to take a picture of Cruz with his "buddies".  He loves these two guys.  Lambie is the one on top, almost leg-less and the monkey's name is Buddy.  What-chew doing Buddies?

Supersuits

It is highly apparent that the oldest Nobmann child in our family is a bit preoccupied with having supernatural powers.  We have not struggled with pj time for many months--maybe years because of Oshyn's 'faster-than-a-speeding-bullet' urge to get them on...with any hint of darkness in the sky he rushes upstairs to the closet to transform himself.  This has caused a few minor problems.  Enough that I decided to make him some supersuits that could be worn during the day.  He worked extremely hard to earn these and when he finally did, Oshyn changed between the two suits over a half dozen times throughout the afternoon.  On days ending in Y (minus Sunday btwn 9-12p and laundry time) this guy is either Flash or Superman.  I've never known a person so excited to get dressed in the morning.  Any bets for how long this will all last?  

Good 'til the Last Drop

Superbowl Sunday 1999

January 31, 1999 held a bit more than just another Superbowl Sunday for me.  10 years ago this weekend, I got baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Something that has had such an impact on my life that I find it quite hard to forget, unlike who was playing in that year's football game.  I have learned a lot in ten years (man, I hope I would--10 years is a decent amount of time) and have had many blessings come because of it all.  Some of the biggest were meeting Beau in college, marrying this fabulous man in the Seattle temple, and having two wonderful little boys born under the covenant.  Can't ask for too much more than that--except for something else pretty huge.   My family (and friends) have been in 100% support of me and my decisions since day one.  Wow.  I KNOW not everyone can say that.  Those of you I'm talking about, know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Here is some of what I have become more and more sure of since that day, it is my testimony.

I know that there is a God.  We have a Heavenly Father that loves us immensely and knows each of us personally. 

 

We have an elder brother, Jesus Christ, who volunteered to come down here and suffer and die for our wrongdoings.  We have the ability to live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ once again because of this selfless act.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God.  It was written by Prophets in the ancient Americas and its teachings can be paralleled to our lives today.

Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and went through a tremendous amount to translate the Book of Mormon and restore the Gospel to the earth.  We can become closer to God by reading this book along with the Bible.

All of the Presidents of the Church since Joseph Smith were called of God with Thomas S. Monson the current Prophet leading us in these latter days.

I know these things are true and challenge you to learn more and find out for yourself.  

Maybe next Superbowl Sunday (or someday sooner) will be your day. :)

websites to check out!

www.mormon.org

www.lds.org

They're back...

When we described our upcoming afternoon events to Oshyn, he immediately NEEDED to put on his pirate suit.  What could be more appropriate for our "treasure hunt" aka. letterboxing adventure?  After following the detailed instructions, we arrived within view of General Mills to find the 'Cheerios' treasure.  (See hands and forehead).  A great way to make a walk/hike more fun for everyone.  We got great rubbernecking from cars the whole way home.  Maybe it was the big pirate walking in front with his red punching gloves on? with an Ariel-like princess or possibly the shorter pirate strolling along singing "Ho ho, Ho Ho Pirates!"  I hope everyone is having as much fun being parents as we are.

 

Showing off

Blood, sweat, and tears

After lots of hard work (always more than you imagine)...we are nearly finished with our kitchen...minus a little caulking.  I love it.  

Its been a while but sometimes I like to revisit what our condo looked like before we moved in.  

Hardly comparable in my book.  Helps me realize that anything is possible.  Good on ya Beau!

Superboy

...named by the other superhero in our family

Child labor

with enthusiasm!

No worries, popscicles are in the house!

I vividly remember talking on the phone...with Oshyn on my lap as a toddler. He was dancing around on the seat and rocking back and forth between the desk & I (doing the little munchkin I-can't-sit-still-for-one-minute groove.) Suddenly Preston, I mean Oshyn, missed placing his hands on the desk and hit it with his chin instead. Chomp! Down went his teeth, taking a chunk (literally) out of his tounge. He was bleeding so much I thought maybe he needed stitches, so I called Stephanie and we got in the car--and called Kaiser's advice nurses on the way to ?who knows where--I don't even know if we knew where--the ER or the Dr.? Just feeling sad and anxious for him. Lucky for me I had a friend that thought quick and brought a popscicle to distract Oshyn and the blood. Yadda yadda yadda, turns out that saliva makes it look like more blood than it really is, tounges heal on their own--no stitches needed, and just give him popscicles, sherbert--cold stuff to keep the swelling down. Done. Oshyn had so many cold sweets that day that for dinner when I put a bowl of orange sherbert down in front of him he cried for broccoli.
Cruz jumped onto the couch and rolled off landing face first today. Later on, down the stairs...bloody mouth again...and I'm sure a few more mishaps that I haven't committed to memory. Bad luck today Bay! After the first fall I thought he might have lost his front teeth the way they moved and with all of the blood, but they are still there--might be black, but luckily we have Uncle Don.
This isn't Cruz's first bloody fall, but for some reason today brought me to thinking about Oshyn's incident. Funny how the worrying lasted much shorter this time around, we went straight to the popscicles, and the day went on.

4 in 1

Biker, Conductor, Popeye and what you can't see under the clothes...the infamous Superman pj's. Funny guy.

Because I like ribbons

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Why are these so funny?

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

7 steps to Delicious

Snow ice cream
introduced by Chas Clawson
Step one: Go outside (in the freezing weather) with a bowl
Step two: Scoop some fresh, white powder snow into your bowl
Step three: Come inside before you turn into a snowman
Step four: Add milk/cream, sugar and vanilla--just the right amount--must be determined by the individual
Step five: Stir
Step six: More sugar
Step seven: Enjoy!

Wow! I never knew homemade snow cream could be so easy and SOOO good!! Thanks for the enlightenment Chas.
If you have snow, try it!

Weekend Warrior Wanna-be's

We decided (in Nov) that we needed to do more things on the weekend because so quickly Saturday slips away and then months are flying by. We want to do more hikes and mini adventures outside--supposedly there is a ton to do here all within 2 hours.

Our first stop was a close one: CASWELL MEMORIAL NATIONAL PARK::11/15/08
and this is what was heard from the #1 adventure enthusiast...
If there is a crocodile there I am going to WaCk them with my sword!
Don't be frightened Mom.
If there is any vines in our way, I am going to WaCk them with my sword!
They're called Tadacules (talking about tadpoles :)
I had a long day so I need to sleep.
We also realized Oshyn was capable of going to the bathroom pretty much anywhere, but wiping with a leaf (his choice) left for an itchy bum later.

A good start and we've done well pretty much every other weekend since.
Here's to keeping it alive in 2009!