Modes of Transportation

I am spoiled. I know I married the greatest man ever (please excuse my bias). When we decided to go down to one car I of course told Johnny I had no problem waking our boys at 5:20am to drive him to work. Ugh! Really I was dreading it and jokingly suggested he needed to get a bicycle (note: not a motorcycle, this is still Johnny was are talking about and let's face it, he is accident prone!). Johnny didn't take my suggestion as a joke and immediately started looking into getting a bicycle. He borrowed my mom's wonderful Trek bike (her baby) for a few weeks (thanks again mom!). Once he got the route and timing down he never looked back. It is almost 9 miles one way. He still gets up just after 4am to have time for the 35-40 minute ride. Personally, if it were me I would be bitter. Bitter that we have a car and I could not use it to get to work to earn the money to pay for the car, insurance, gas, etc. Johnny is not like that at all, he really is my better half. He has fully embraced riding to work stating it gets him going in the morning and he enjoys the exercise. Plus he wants me to have the car in case of emergency and to take the boys to preschool.

That being said, I am now a little jealous. He has a new love. I don't like competition for his affection. I am not sure he has named "her" yet, but be assured it is a "her." She is his new EZip Electric bike.

It was about the same cost as the other bikes we were looking into buying and I do have to admit it is a big help on the hills. I have tried it out and was impressed. She is also helpful for after work when he has already ridden 9 miles to work in the morning, worked a full day sometimes up to 12 hours or more, and is riding home in the heat fully loaded with his big boots, jeans, and the mandatory long sleeve lineman shirt. I pick him up almost every day but once in a while there are conflicts and he rides all the way home. Such as last week when I was sick and taking a nap while the boys slept. He rode all the way home then let me sleep for a few hours while he manned the kids.

Oh goodness, just thinking of how wonderful he is makes me swoon! Plus, he did the dishes and folded our four loads of laundry last night when I was at the grocery store. I know the Lord loves me and blesses me. How else could I have been so lucky to get a man like this?

LA County Fair

Yesterday we went to the LA County Fair with my family. It was a really great time (minus the 100+ heat).

I found a discount package at COSTCO so it was actually not expensive (well except for Jaxon's Turkey leg, that was $9 just on its own). It was worth it so that Jaxon could eat something that the rest of us were eating rather than the food I always bring in the cooler. Of course the food and drinks at the fair are always the most expensive part, right!

We started at the farmer's fair area and the petting zoo. The boys loved their pony ride and having Aunt Jeanine explain some of the facts of life when it came to the nursing piglets and milking cows. The flavored honey was delicious (I really enjoyed the peach and blueberry honey!)

Daniel LOVED riding the horse. He has been asking to ride horses for a long time.

Next we went to let the boys ride a few of the carnival rides. I let them each pick 4 (thank you again COSTCO for the discount package). It was nice to see Jaxon pick a few different rides than Daniel rather than just following along. As a parent it is nice to recognize little things like that and realize your kids are starting to have their own preferances and become their own person.

After the carnival rides we headed into the A/C! It was so hot we were pouring water on our feet to cool them down. Wesley did not appreciate the ice I kept rubbing all over him but I am sure it helped.

We all loved the Jurassic Park building. Wesley was squealing the entire time. It was one of the only times we let him run free from the stroller with mom close on his heels! The dinosaurs were so life like!

After the Dinosaurs we headed out to the Pirate Adventure where we had the front row for the pirate show and sword fight. Daniel really liked the fighting but Jaxon was in complete shock when Captain Hook came out. For a boy who is obsessed with Peter Pan it was a dream come true. As you can see in our picture he could not take his eyes off of Captain Hook!

Everything about our day was fantastic. I am only sorry Johnny had his once a month class and couldn't be with us. We owe Uncle Kevin & Uncle Jimmy a great big thank you for hauling my tired 45+ pound boys out to the car.

And of course what would our trip have been without precious June? She was perfect the entire day!

What is a Mother?

One of the talks on Sunday in our new ward in Ontario was about motherhood. It was given by a woman who has one 6 month old boy, and the talk was very nice. But, it got me thinking about some of the stuff she said. She of course talked about sacrifice, what else is there when talking about motherhood? Now I am far from perfect, obviously, my problem was that she talked about the end all be all sacrifice of giving your life for your child as an example of mother's love. i.e. jumping in front of an oncoming car. What about the daily sacrifices? Are those not even more significant? Recently I have been thinking about who I am. What defines me? If someone asks what I do I would say I am a stay at home mom. If someone asked Johnny he would not automatically say "I am a dad." He would tell them he is a Lineman.

Am I defined as being a mother? Not that I would change it, but who am I outside of my children? I used to play the French Horn at ASU and Chandler-Gilbert Community College, I have a Masters of Education degree and used to train the new finance employees at University of Phoenix. I gave these up to be a mother. It is not a regret, but makes me think. Are my daily sacrifices more important than giving up my life for one of my children (which would by the way leave the other two without a mother)? I would in a heartbeat, don't get me wrong, yet I think my daily feeding, clothing, potty training, disciplining, doctor appointment, etc are more important. Last night alone I was up 7 (yes, 7, it was a rough night) times between all three of them. That of course is rare, but I am on call 24/7. I am creating a person, forming and molding them to be parents themselves. Did not Christ suffer the atonement for us while he was living? He lived for us and ultimately died for us. I am sacrificing my life for my children on a daily basis.

Is that not the point of motherhood? Sacrifice. To be more like our Savior who suffered the ultimate sacrifice? But, who am I then outside of being a mother? Have I lost that part of me, the part that is not a mother? Where is the person I was before becoming a mother? I need to find that part of me again so that I can then be an even better mother.

Yeah for Preschool!

Both Daniel and Jaxon started Preschool this week. Daniel goes M/W/F and Jaxon T/TH. It is WONDERFUL. My life all of a sudden has become peaceful. It is great to be able to concentrate on just one of my older boys without the bickering and fighting. Plus, they both love going. Daniel went back in Arizona, but this is Jaxon's first time and he is super excited to make new friends.

Santa Monica Pier

We visited the LA Zoo and Santa Monica Pier last week with Aunt Diana and Aunt Jeanine. It was a blast. It was Beatles night so we listened to some awesome music, ran around the "Bubble Man" and went on the completely overpriced and scary Ferris wheel.

Wesley stayed with Johnny listening to the music while the three Percival girls took the kids for a ride on the Ferris wheel.
Jaxon was in shock most of the time and when he wasn't Jeanine had a death grip on his pants and leg to keep him from going head first out the side of the gondola. It is nice living close enough that we can do more things with my family like this.

Poor Baby!

After Wesley's party on Saturday he took a turn for the worse. By that evening he had a fever and I suspected an ear infection. Why do kids always get sick on the weekend? I had some prescription ear pain drops so I gave him those and Tylenol thinking we could make it until Monday to see a Pediatrician. We were not so lucky. He started coughing then started swelling. By Sunday afternoon I knew he had pink eye too. We ended up at a 24 hour Urgent Care in Chino CA at midnight with Wesley's eye swollen shut.
He had Croup, and ear infection and pink eye on both sides. My poor baby was having a rough time. Luckily no one else got it and three medications later Wesley is doing well too.

Wesley's 1st Birthday

Wesley had his 1st birthday this past weekend. We celebrated at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica. I reserved a Canopy on the sand which also gave us access to the beach house park and splash pad. The weather was perfect.I made a snake cake with the help of Johnny and Aunt Jeanine. Wesley was a little confused at first when we put it in front of him, but it was not long until he dug in.

He was covered in green frosting by the time he was finished.

Daniel reserved the rice crispy snake head and sat down to feast. Johnny helped him eat it. Jaxon enjoyed a rare box of Nerds. They have a little corn in them so it is not often I give in and let him have a few. Johnny handed him the box which was quickly taken back!

Thank you again to everyone who came. We had a great time eating Mexican food on the beach and celebrating Wesley's first year.