Making Daddy proud

It was raining today.  Not drizzling (the pictures make it look almost dry--don't be deceived!) but REALLY raining!  A few days earlier I had told Beau I was a little bummed that it was going to start raining a bunch.  I didn't want to have to start driving the kids to school.  I love our little morning jog/bike ride.  It gets all of our blood pumping and its nice to get some fresh air.  He looked at me and said, "A little rain never hurt!  Who said you can't ride in the rain??"  Spoken from a true Seattle born rain man to a sunny Arizonian raised lady.  So I decided when it started raining, that it wasn't going to stop us!

The boys thought it was pretty fun to be getting all wet.  Glad their pant legs will stay dry at home...they wear shorts EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

Locking up!

These are the other kid's bikes who decided to ride to school in the rain also.

As we were parting, Oshyn's teacher from last year saw us coming out of the bike racks.  She said, "Oh look, there go the Nobmann's, the family that never drives their car!"  

Tyce and Kai all snuggly, warm & DRY

Bloody babies as Jenny would say :)

The things we do to impress! :)

Trying to Balance

to illustrate my point :)

my time & life in general.  To do what is most important & not get overwhelmed (at least not on a daily basis).  It's hard.  Really hard, but I want to do it--with a smile.  So I'm trying.  I've always liked this quote by Mae West: "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it".  Definitely not easy...but when was anything easy in life very gratifying?  I think I can.  I think I can.  I think I can.

Snuggly sleep obsession

Every night before I go to bed, I feed Kai.  He is sooo tired when he's done that he always snuggles right up on my shoulder to go to sleep.  Before I put him in bed I always glance at him in the mirror & soak up the moment.  I never want to forget how sweet he looks so I've made Beau (& myself!) take pictures...I guess on multiple occasions!

Just a bit

We all try to steal a moment with this sweet baby when we can.  He's just a little bit loved.  A lotta bit.

Pancakes & Pumpkins

Randomly Oshyn decides to wake up & make everyone pancakes.
Today was one of those days.

Tyce picked the perfect pumpkin @ Teacher Jan's walnut/pumpkin farm.

A pretty good Friday if you ask me!

Tyce's Turn

Tyce has a December birthday, so he's right on the edge of the school cut-off.  This means he got to start preschool right after the October break instead of in July when the other little people started.  Patiently he waited for the time to come.  He could hardly wait.  We picked out Trashy Town to give to Grace & headed over to the school he has been looking at longingly for years, hoping it was finally his turn to call it, "Tyce's school".

Teacher Patty greeted him at the door (as she does for all of the little people every morning) and he walked right in and sat down on "a letter".  

He looked up at me, filled to the brim with excitement, and said, "I'M IN SCHOOL!!!"  He was sooooo pumped.  I almost teared up I was so happy for him.

When I came to get him at 11:30, I asked Teacher Patty how he did.  She said he did great and it was like he'd always been there.  Well, he has always been there.  It was just finally HIS turn to get to stay. He couldn't be more content.  We all love Grace Preschool and are thrilled it is Tyce's turn to go.

Mr. Precious

A Sunday Stroll

How did you...

get up there??

Gotta love some brotherly help (& a stool)

Teenager wanna-be

Oshyn told Cruz today, "You look like a teenager!"  

Cruz replied, "Good.  I want to look like a teenager!"

Roadhouse Reward

These two boys did an incredible job their first semester of kindergarten & third grade.  I went to both parent/teacher conferences and each of their teachers raved on and on.
Mrs. Duncan (Cruz's teacher) said, "If all of my students were like Cruz I would go home singing everyday."  She said that he is so on task & he just can't understand why other people talk when she's talking or do anything out of sorts in general.  She said it just boggles his mind :)  She also told me about how Cruz likes to be first in line on the way to the cafeteria for lunch.  He chums it up with her, asking her questions about life & what she is having for lunch.  I was beaming and proud as a mom could be after his conference.  On our way to the car, I was trying to think of what I could do to show him how extremely happy and proud I was of his efforts.  Should I take them out for ice cream or something better or should I just tell him & leave it at that?  (Sidenote: I had been giving the boys a tic tac when they got their seatbelt on--Tyce motivation)  As they were all getting in the car, I really made a point to let Cruz know what a great job he was doing and how that made me feel.  I gave him his tic tac & feeling that I was proud of him, he said, "Can I have TWO tic tacs?"  I had to laugh because my plans of ice cream or bigger were settled by a mere tiny piece of a mint/candy.  I said, "Sure...you can have THREE!"  Boy that was easy.
Mrs. Adams (Oshyn's teacher) first words to me were, "He's rockin' it!"  She was blown away at his dedication and seriousness for learning.  Oshyn told me she said to him, "If people would cooperate like you, Oshyn, I would have the best class in the world!"  All of his scores were above average and his mind is always working, figuring things out on his own--such as the fact that division is the opposite of multiplication.

Beau and I decided we wanted to let them know how much we appreciate what they do all day at school.  We took everyone out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Rewarded with RIBS!  A treat for us all.

Lucky Day

A Costco employee handed the boys some "free" cell phones off of the cell phone display stand to keep.  You'd have thought they all won the lottery.  They began 'fake' texting, calling and checking their phones right away & couldn't wait to show their friends.  1st world excitement.

A&W

What good is it living in Lodi and never visiting A&W?  

After all, Lodi is where this root beer joint originated.  A&W began in June 1919 at 13 Pine Street... 

The First Frosty Mug

One hot day in June of 1919 in Lodi, California and entrepreneur named Roy Allen mixed up a batch of creamy root beer and sold the first frosty mug of this delightful beverage for one nickel.  Now, more than seventy years later, A&W Root Beer is the world's number one selling root beer and is still mixed fresh daily and sold at hundreds of A&W restaurants.

Allen purchased the formula for his root beer from a pharmacist in Arizona.  To this day, the unique blend of herbs, spices, barks and berries remains a proprietary secret.

With the success of his first root beer stand in Lodi, Allen soon opened a second stand in nearby Sacramento.  It was there that what is thought to be the country's first "drive-in" featuring "tray-boys" for curb side service, opened up.

In 1922 Allen took on a partner, Frank Wright, an employee from his original Lodi location.  The two partners combined their initials-"A" for Allen and "W" for Wright and formally named the beverage, A&W Root Beer.

Kai's 1st Frosty mug!

I love to see the temple...

Sacramento LDS Temple 

and the turkeys...& the deer.
(When you're lucky, you get to see them all!)

Final Dip

Brrr!  It's getting cold (even in the "little pool")...

1st day of fall--I was sad (& so was Kai) to think we'll have to put our swimsuits away for a few seasons.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder :) and we'll embrace the pumpkins and changing leaves.

Muddy Aftermath

Dive rights, some jukes, pump fakes & touchdowns!

These guys are HARD CORE...

and Tyce wants a piece of 'em!

Longing for H2O...

When you don't live close enough to the water (freezing, butt cold water doesn't count) to teach your kids to surf, you fake it!  We love that when we walk in our house the first, ginormous thing we see is this wave.  Serenity now.  Feel the stoke!

I'm smitten

Kai @ 3 months

Festival of the Grapes

I love that we live in a small town that has its own fair.  Its not too big and they always fill up the Grape Bowl Gym with tons of art work made all of Grapes.  We live near a "few" vineyards :)  The boys are all about the rides.  It doesn't take much to satisfy them and its almost as fun being on the side watching their faces. 

Freshly shaven, ready for a good time, and the beginning of Tyce's sugar high.

1st stop: Race cars

Oshyn riding the bull this year took the cake--for sure!  He was determined NOT to let go!

Ski-do's for Cruz & Tyce

He waved to us almost every time around 

Too LOUD for Little man!!  He's not much of a crier, so we thought it was pretty cute :)

Mark it in the books...1st Grape Festival--check! All is well when Kai's with Daddy.

Free-spirited, early shower taker

Tyce makes a lot of his own decisions without thinking twice or wondering about the consequence.  He giggles about it and has a smile that makes putting up with his chaos doable.  Life with this kid is like running a blender with the lid off...but he gives the best cuddles and kisses.

Kai

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

BAM!  I'm so happy I can hardly contain myself.