Jaden's first Haircut!

May 26th, 2013 we decided to take Jaden to get his first haircut! I've been putting it off for a while for a couple of reasons. One, I absolutely love his perfect curls. Two, with his sensory issues we weren't sure of how he'd do. Sometimes just brushing through his hair can send him into a sensory meltdown. But it was getting to the point where it really needed some shape. There's a salon nearby that is just for kids(or at least it is set up for kids) so we decided to take him there. They have T.V.'s set up for the kids to watch a movie or play video games. I figured that maybe he could get through it while watching a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode. That is his favorite show. It did work out better than expected. I let the stylist know about his sensory issues so she would be aware of that and then I just asked her to trim it up and shape it. We still wanted to keep his curls it just needed shape so it wasn't all over the place. Jaden did great! He held still enough for the trim and didn't seem as nervous as I thought he would. I think the movie thing worked for him. Maybe I will have to try that at home. The stylist did great and she made a certificate and placed some of his curls in a plastic bag to commemorate Jaden's first haircut. I thought that was really sweet. I'm so proud of Jaden! He looks so cute and adorable with his new haircut! He's growing up to be such a smiley big boy and I love him so much!

Mother's Day 2013

One of my favorite things about where we live is that there are nature reserves all around us. They are a wonderful way for us to enjoy the outdoors close by when we can't make the drive to the mountains or to the ocean. This year for Mother's day we decided to go to one of the reserves that sits just outside of town,The Consumnes River Preserve. I love coming here and so it was a perfect place to be on this day. Ron thought I could practice my photography here. He's really good at encouraging me to keep going and to get better. I really love him for that. Surprisingly there weren't very many people there on that day and it made the occasion all the more enjoyable.

We decided to take one of the boardwalk trails. It leads out into one of the ponds/marshes. This is where we saw this cute little watchful frog. It was fun to watch him watching us. At least that is how it seemed as he would swim from one side of the bridge to the other as we did. I love frogs and so I was really enjoying our little friend. The older kids thought it was fun to see him too but I think Jaxen may have enjoyed it the most. These last few month's he's really gotten into the idea of animal adventuring and says that is what he wants to be when he grows up. He's discovered Chris and Martin Kratt and loves to watch their show "Wild Kratts." He went around naming all the animals he saw just like they do in the show. I don't remember what he named the frog tho. I think it was something like Bullfreeg or something.

I do remember what Jaxen named this crawdad, however. He was named Humungo because he was the biggest one we saw that day. There were so many crawdads around then. It was fun to watch. We even saw a few sparing matches. The kids started to cheer them on. It was great. I think that was one of my favorite gifts that day, seeing the kids all enjoy and having fun with nature as much as I do! That is one of my greatest desires that my kids will always have a love and appreciation of nature and our world. I hope they can always see the wonder and amazement that is all around us.  I hope I am doing a well enough job to show them this!

It was a beautiful day full of egrets, crawdads and frogs! Warm sunshine and peaceful scenery. It was just what I needed for Mother's day! I don't always feel like the best mother but I am so happy I got to celebrate this day with my wonderful family. They are the best and I love them all so much. My life would not be complete without them!

Jaxen Fun!

I love spending time with Jaxen. Sometimes he says the funniest things and he always makes me smile!  For example: One day we bought Jaxen some cookies because we were late picking him up from school. Somehow we never got the message that it was a minimum day and we didn't know we were supposed to pick him up early. So he ended up sitting in the front office for nearly an hour or so before the school was able to get a hold of us. He was so worried that we had forgotten him. That can be scary especially for a 1rst grader. So we got him some cookies to help cheer him up. Well, the next day after school(which was a regular day) I asked Jaxen if I could have one of his cookies. This is how the conversation went.

"Jaxen can I have one of your cookies?"

Jaxen looks around at what is left and then replies "ummm............not right now."

"okay" I said sighing in the same manner that the kids do to me when I tell them no. To which Jaxen responded with in his most parent like manner

 "Don't look so miserable!"

 One time we were all sitting at the dinner table talking about our ages. I brought up that I was going to be 40 in two years. Ron said "Wow! That is so weird!"  "That is so scary!" I said. Then Jaxen adds "That is so scary because you are so cute!"

I thanked him and told him he made my day. Then Ron and I looked at each other and had a good laugh.

Another night while Ron was coming home from work I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies to surprise him and help cheer him up. He had a stressful week at work and was feeling a bit discouraged. Sometimes as he's pulling into the driveway he will call and ask me to send Jaxen out to help carry things in since he will occasionally bring dinner home with him. On this particular night I had given Jaxen a spoonful of cookie dough right as Ron called to send Jaxen out to help bring in dinner. I knew Ron was calling for Jaxen and so I had him answer the phone. When asked to come out Jaxen said "Hold on. Let me finish my cookie dough." I quickly began to shush him because it was supposed to be a surprise. Jaxen immediately went into repair mode and said "Never mind. I'm not eating cookie dough. I'm........uh.......eating a cheese sandwich!" It was hilarious! I couldn't help but start to laugh. The best part was that Ron didn't pick up on the cookie dough comment because he was so annoyed at the prospect of Jaxen eating a cheese sandwich when he had just brought dinner home. I could not stop laughing! It was one of Jaxen's perfect mistakes because it worked! His quick thinking managed to distract daddy enough that we still surprised him with the cookies! We all had such a great night that day. We laughed and smiled at what happened as we sat around the table and each enjoyed some fresh baked cookies with milk. 

I love my Jaxen! He makes me smile everyday!

My Sister Came To Play!

The first week of April 2013 Amy and Kyle and their kids( Makaden, Meagen and Madison. Erika stayed in Utah for a family thing) came to play. They drove out here with their camper trailer and camped at Butano State Park. Ron was unable to get that week off so we didn't get to go camping with them. They stopped by the house for a few minutes on their way down to the campground and then on April 4th we met them down at the beach. That was one thing Amy said she absolutely wanted to do while they were here was go to the beach and see the ocean. Butano State Park isn't too far from Half Bay Moon State Park and beach so I told Amy we would meet them there. It's one of my favorite beaches.

The kids were in heaven. They were loving the beach. It was their first time to see the ocean and play at the beach. Makaden and the boys wasted no time and started digging in the sand and building a sand castle and fort. They were having so much fun and they all got a long great! They don't get to see each other very often and it was fun to see them pick up right where they left off and continue to play. I know the boys all miss each other a lot.

They worked together to make their castle and the wall as big as they could before the tide came in. It was a race against the clock. Their wall held up for quite a while but eventually the ocean won and washed it away. It was exciting to watch as the anticipation of the inevitable built up each time the ocean waves crept closer and closer. You couldn't help but laugh and sigh and smile at the same time.

The wind is always blowing at the beach and so we brought a kite to fly. Ron held the kite for quite a while. We've not had much success at kite flying around home and so I think he was rather enjoying himself. 

Meagan and Madison were absolutely loving their treasure hunting! They couldn't get enough of all the shells and cool rocks they were finding. I loved watching them and all their excitement. It reminded me of when Ron took me to the ocean for the first time back when we were in Washington. I was the same way. Every shell and sand dollar I found was so exciting to me. You can find real shells at the craft store or pet store but there's just something thrilling to see them in their natural environment. I could see that excitement in the girls. They were loving every minute of it.

Of course you can't come to the beach without running in the waves. That's the best part! Even little Jaden got in on the action. His curiosity got the best of him and he tried it out. He had a little tumble but he still seemed to enjoy racing the incoming waves.

They all had fun with the waves. After the waves finally made it into their fort the boys decided to take a break and play in the water instead. Kaeryn and Ron had taken a walk along the shoreline, which is also one of our favorite must do's at the beach, and had come back and joined in the fun.

Jaxen is always the bravest when it comes to things like this. He has no problem getting down and dirty in the sand or completely soaked by splashing in the water. He's in his element here, loving life and carefree! I hope he never out grows that.

Makaden wanted to be right up in the waves too. I don't blame him. It being his first time to the ocean and not knowing when the next time will be. Why not make the most of it.  He seemed to have no fear and had a blast racing the incoming crashing waves.
After awhile we all went back to the campsite. Ron, Kaeryn, Jaden and I stayed inside the camper with and Amy and Kyle. A park ranger had come to tell us that we had to move our van. So Kyle followed Ron back up to the front of the park and brought him back but Ron forgot to bring Jaden's shoes with him so we had to keep him in the camper. We had fun visiting. Kyle got a fire going and started preparing dinner. The boys loved roasting their hot dogs with their cousins. I don't think either of them came in the camper at all. They were having to much fun. When they weren't roasting their dinner they were playing and exploring the campsite. At one time I couldn't help but laugh. There was a kid in a neighboring campsite that kept making noises and trying to get our kids attention. I guess he was being more annoying than friendly because all of a sudden Jaxen cupped his mouth and shouted back "WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO STRANGERS!" His expression and the way he said it made me laugh although I held it in until after I explained to him that the kid was probably trying to make friends and that maybe he should be a bit nicer next time. Then I went back inside the camper and had a good laugh with Ron, Kaeryn, Amy and Kyle.

The campground at Butano State Park is really nice and beautiful. It's in a grove of redwood trees. And although these trees were big and tall they still seemed like babies compared to the ones we saw in Yosemite and Redwood forest. Despite that, they were impressive and beautiful. The trees still held a sense of magnificence and serenity. There was a feeling of calmness and peace. Driving into the forest was fantastic. One minute your driving along the coastline then you turn onto a road that leads beyond some hills. It's not until you're behind the hills that suddenly you're transported to an entirely different place. It really did feel like it came out of no where. I'm so glad Amy and Kyle chose to camp there because now I know I want to go back and camp there. It was such a fun day and we loved every minute of our time with Amy and her family. I really wished we could have spent more time together but I'm so happy for the time we had. It was a beautiful and perfect day and I can't wait until the next time they come for a visit!

Happy Easter 2013

Easter time is always fun. I love our little traditions old and new. Coloring the eggs is always something we look forward too. The kids love to go crazy mixing the colors. The artist in me loves to see their creativity at work. Experimenting with each color to see what happens. Sometimes the messier it is the more you have perfection!  We didn't decorate as many this year as we have done in the past. We found that we were making more than we could eat before they went bad. I think next year I'm going to remember to look up new recipes for hard boiled eggs. I love deviled eggs and egg salad sandwiches but I think we need a bit more variety. That will help. Jaden still wasn't interested in coloring any eggs. He still seems over whelmed with these things. He would occasionally come and walk around the table to see what we were doing but he preferred to stay in the other room. I do hope that next year will be different. That maybe it won't seem so overwhelming for him and he'll be more comfortable trying it. Either way it will be fine. He was just as happy and having fun doing his own thing. Which I think is more important. We all were having fun in our own way. Which is what doing this is about. Being together as a family and having fun with what we are doing and each other.

 Next year though, I'm going to remember to save some eggs just for me to do! Haha! I forgot to do that this year and spent the whole time behind my camera. I'm not complaining, I love to take pictures. I had just as much fun. But I did miss making a colorful mess with everyone else. And I do mean colorful! We had bright mixtures all around. I don't think there was one egg that had only a single color on it. Each one was unique in it's own way. They were all so proud! It's great to see them the next morning when we do our traditional egg hunt in the house and they find the ones they painted themselves. They get so excited. We actually do multiple egg hunts on Easter morning. After the first initial hunt each of the kids like to take a turn and hide the eggs for everyone else to find. It's fun and amusing to see their mischievous side come out. Jaxen especially. He tries to come up with the most tricky and sneaky hiding places. He's actually come up with some pretty clever ones. Like switching one of the plastic candy filled eggs out and replacing it with a hard boiled egg. I have a special stand that is kind of like a cupcake stand only it is for eggs. That is where our candy filled eggs go. I remember Jaxen hiding an egg there and no one noticed for a while. It was one of those subtle hiding places that actually worked! It was fun.

 Starting last thanksgiving I began a new tradition of making a banana bread breakfast. For thanksgiving I decorated it in fall colors with turkey's. I wanted to do it again for Easter but obviously turkey's wouldn't work. So I came up with this. I saw a picture of the chicks and thought they were so cute and adorable. So I decided to make my own idea with it. I made my traditional banana bread and covered it with a cream cheese topping and then colored coconut. The nest is monkey poop( no bake cookies) molded over a bowl and pretzel sticks woven into it to make it seem more like a nest. I must say it was very fun and exciting to see this come together.

One thing we like to do as a family is go to our local grocery store and each get a bottled soda. We usually do this on the weekends and will sometimes take a drive together while we enjoy our sodas. It's something that we also look forward too. So I decided that I wanted to have some fun with our family soda appreciation and I got each of us an orange cream soda. Except for Jaden. I got him an orange juice. To make them seem more festive and to go along with the holiday theme I made them look like carrots. Since carrots are often used with Easter decorations. They turned out so cute! I couldn't wait until the morning for the kids to see my creation. I wanted it to be a surprise and so I waited until they had all gone to bed before I started baking. Ron stayed up with me to keep me company while I worked. I love that he does that.  

Easter morning was full of happy smiles. The kids went crazy when they saw my little surprise for them. It was such a great morning. We had fun finding and hiding eggs. We had fun eating banana bread and drinking orange soda. We enjoyed sitting around the table with one another in happy conversation. It's times like these that you really want to treasure and I was loving every minute of it!  
       Happy Easter!

Our Four Legged Friends!

 These are just some practice photos I did of our dog and two cats. I don't always have time to set up something to practice with so every once in a while I will just sit with my camera and watch our four legged friends. Kati, Kimahri and Calcifer all have different personalities and I rather enjoy watching them. Kati is definitely the most dramatic. She's just like a kid or preteen or a teenager. Actually, she's just like all three! Her pouty eyes crack me up. Kimahri is spunky and a bit feisty. She is also very loving and loves to cuddle. But when she's had enough, she's had enough. Calcifer is........well, he's Calcifer. He's your typical cat. Snugly and lazy but has to patrol his area. He's also a bit whiny. But we love him. We love all of them!  Our family wouldn't be complete without them. 

Backyard Fun!

 With the weather warming up I decided it was time to fill up the sand table for some backyard fun. I was also curious to see what Jaden would do with it. If he would even play in it. He did! It may not seem like a big deal to some but for Jaden this was a huge step. His developmental delays have also brought many sensory issues. Playing with new textures can be hard for him. Sometimes it seems textures are distressing and scary for him. But little by little we are working through them. He liked the digging in the sand part but wasn't sure about the sand sticking to his hands. The more he dug around in the sand the more he seemed to feel comfortable examining it and experimenting with it. It was a great day. Jaden absolutely loves to be outside. Sometimes though he just paces around outside with no direction. I'm excited that this will be something he can do while he's exploring the backyard. Maybe he will love to dig in the dirt as much as Jaxen does and they can be dirt boys together! Now I can't wait to take them to the beach! Oh yes........this is going to be fun!