Strawberries

On Tuesday I went with a group of people to a strawberry field in Ontario, CA. We were invited to help glean the field before it was plowed. There were so many strawberries it was overwhelming. In three hours "we" (meaning mostly me and a few of my boys on and off when they were not complaining, smearing lotion all over the seats in the car, or somehow locking our car in 4 wheel drive) picked 7 huge boxes. And when I say boxes I am talking Costco diaper size boxes. I had well over 100 pounds.

 After the harvest period and cleaning out my lotion covered car (there is still an outline of Garrett's face pressed on my passenger side window) we went to the closest splash park to cool off. 

Daniel wouldn't get out of the water long enough to get a picture!

After giving away large quantities of strawberries to 6 different friends and throwing out many that were smashed (because I should have used small shallow boxes & I had jury duty all day Wednesday) I now have 14 quarts of low sugar strawberry jam and 3 gallon size bags of dried fruit leather (plus the two gallon bags of apricot fruit leather and 6 quarts of apricot jam I made two weeks ago). Since I traded a lady for a huge box of Mason jars I think all of this cost me under $12 (plus the gas to get to Ontario and the man I am going to have to pay to clean up the strawberry my son smashed into the living room carpet)! Next week I help harvest my friend's plums.

I never want to see another strawberry again in my entire life...or at least not until we do this same thing again next year!

Jaxon's 6th B-day

Jaxon turned 6 on the 19th of June. I know I already posted about his party, but his birthday was too full of "fun" to not record it here.

On the 19th we went to the Idyllwild Nature Center for a short hike and picnic lunch with a group of moms from church. My friend (the mother of Jaxon's best friend from school) and her son came too but we didn't drive together. Jaxon wanted to ride with his friend and both of the boys were so excited to spend the day together.

Side note: Now recently Jaxon has been having poop "accidents" multiple times per day - this being significant because he is scared to poop, he says it hurts so he refuses to actually sit on the toilet. He holds it until he just can't any longer then only a little comes out and gets on his underwear, he smells disgusting, we clean it, I am frustrated, etc. When I say multiple times per day I mean 5-6! The pediatrician is not convinced it is EE related, maybe just a normal 6 year old kid thing to have to work through, but it may be contributing to his random vomiting, or so she says. So here is the important part, I gave him a dose of what Johnny calls MOM (Milk of Magnesia) before we left the house thinking it would help.

Half way up the mountain to Idyllwild I get a call from my friend stating Jaxon vomited all over the back of her car. We pull off the side of the mountain road to clean the mess and I say a silent prayer of thanks I had a full package of wet wipes on hand. It was a rough one! I think it was car sickness, maybe a mix of that and the MOM. Maybe EE? Who knows. We spend a half hour cleaning car seats, changing clothes, and laughing hysterically because of the situation. Luckily my friend was in a laughing mood! While we are cleaning up vomit Wesley pees his pants. Of course!

The hike was lovely but not peaceful (I have 4 boys). Most of the time I was telling them to stop and come back or "drop the stick!"

 Don't you just love how Jaxon and Wesley are styling in their "emergency bag" clothes?!

 Do you see Garrett sneaking off? Then Jaxon trying to stop him? Too funny!

 Garrett just loved this tree...isn't he so stinking cute?!

After the hike we all enjoyed lunch and some of my fresh batch of APRICOT FRUIT LEATHER! Do you know what apricot fruit leather does to bowel functions? Especially after a fresh dose of MOM??!!! In case you don't know, let me tell you!


For Jaxon's birthday he wanted to make a bear at Build-a-Bear so after dinner at Red Robin I took him on an outing, just the two of us.

No need for a diaper bag of course! I didn't have my baby with me! The smell of poop surrounded me halfway through the mall. We rushed to a family bathroom. It was everywhere! No amount of paper towels and garbage bags could save us. I didn't know what else to do but leave my poor, naked birthday boy locked in the family bathroom stall with strict instructions about never opening the door for anyone but me. I had to buy him some new clothes. Luckily Children's Place was close and I had a coupon!

In the end he was happy, clean, and had a camouflage bear in an Iron Man suite. At that point I was in no mood to take a picture! 6th birthday success!

Father's Day 2013

This year we made Johnny a shirt with a race track on the back so the boys can give him a back massage with their cars (stole the idea off Pintrest of course). On the front were their hand prints and a statement "Best Dad Hands Down."

 They also answered questions about him. Jaxon said Johnny is 33 years old, 10 feet tall, 104 pounds and his favorite food is cereal. Daniel said Johnny was only 3 feet tall. They both like it when he plays "ruf up" with them.

Johnny is an amazing husband and father. I am thankful for him each and every day. He is patient with not only the boys but all my craziness. He works hard and best of all has an amazing testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Johnny is a true example of faith, devotion, and love. I am so glad he is mine forever and always. I will be one happy Mamma if my boys turn out just like their Daddy!

Recent stuff...

Here are a few recent pictures from my world...

 Jaxon Kinder graduation.

 Play time outside.

 Natural History Museum LA.

 Butterfly Pavilion 2 the Natural History Museum LA.

 This is what it looks like when a little brother pushes his big brother's tub of Legos off the top of a bunk bed...of course he had his get away motorcycle close just in case.

 Learning to swim.

Wesley insisted on wearing this church vest over his jacket as his "Ninja Warrior" outfit. Go figure!

Pirate Party

Today my baby turned 2. This morning I told Johnny how strange it is to have a two year old and not have a new baby or not be prego. He got a very scared look on his face and wanted assurance that I was not wanting another baby any time soon. Ha!

Since Jaxon will turn 6 on Wednesday we celebrated Jaxon and Garrett's birthdays with a Pirate Pool Party at my parent's house. I made the mistake of letting Jaxon hand out invitations at school, church, baseball, and  playgroup. I had no idea who actually was invited or not. No one RSVPs any more! My sister's and cousins all attended as well as some of Jaxon's friends from church and school. His amazing teacher Mrs. Moreno and her son also came. It was such a great time!

 Johnny wanted me to make the cake myself since he is not a fan of store bought. I opted for a treasure chest and I think it turned out really well. I stuffed the middle of the layers with cream cheese and strawberries to make it more adult friendly. And, thank you Pintrest for watermelon pirate carving ideas!

We played  the usual game of how many people can you cram in one jacuzzi!

Jaxon loved having his best friend Elijah and his teacher's son Lucas come over to celebrate.

Garrett will now either scrunch his nose or close his eyes for pictures. This is as good as it gets for now!

Jaxon has been talking about going to Build-a-bear for weeks now so we will take him on his birthday and go to Red Robin (need to get his free burger!). I can't believe Garrett is the same age now as Jaxon was when we left Arizona. I forget sometimes how long it has been even though it feels like forever. Jaxon doesn't have memories of living in our Mesa home and Wesley & Garrett are 100% fun in the sun California boys.

Jaxon EE Update

I am so sad! Jaxon has been puking on and off for the last few weeks. It happens very suddenly. He eats like normal, says his tummy hurts, vomits, then goes on like nothing happened. Of course he makes a point to throw up in the swimming pool or on whatever rug I have most recently pulled out of the dryer. I know he can't help it. He just can't seem to make it to a toilet! I think it is a reaction to eggs. We added eggs last and he loves them. He has been eating hard boiled eggs almost every morning. Poor kid, I dread telling him he can't have eggs any more.

We have a consultation with Rady Children's Hospital GI next week. Of course they are going to tell me he needs to have an endoscopy. I am so frustrated I could cry every time I think about it. When I ask him how he's feeling he will consistently tell me his tummy is hurting, not his throat. I know this is sad, but I was secretly hoping my other kids would start vomiting so I could write it off as a stomach bug. How deranged is that? To actually wish my other kids would be sick so it would mean Jaxon was not having an EE reaction. Ugh! Now we get to wait and see what the scope results will be. I just want him to be all better. I let myself believe he was all better. It is hard to know he is not feeling well all the time. As an added bonus we get to pay thousands of dollars for him to be scoped again!

I am a whiner. So many other kids with this condition have a much harder time than Jaxon. We really have been blessed that he has done so well with his previous food trials.  

Silk Worms

Being a mom of 4 young sons I have sworn off all pets. I just don't want to deal with anything else! I have enough to take care of every day with out cleaning fish tanks, picking up poop from animals (I get that enough just with the kids) or having to keep my kids from eating pet food! That being said when Daniel brought me a note from his teacher asking if he could bring home silk worms I thought "how much work could worms be"! Well let me tell you, it is more work than you would think. Daniel brought home a bag full of silk worms. Poor kid actually asked to "take them camping" with him! Silk worms only eat mulberry leaves. We don't have mulberry trees. The only one I located within a convenient distance is on my parent's street, and I don't know the people who live in that house. I have tried knocking on the door but they don't answer. Guess what? Silk worms need fresh leaves EVERY DARN DAY! They don't drink water because they get moisture from the fresh leaves. I have been making special trips over to steal leaves (25 per day) off this stranger's tree for the last 3+ weeks. Let me tell you now that their neighbor thinks I an absolutely crazy! We have "stopped by" at all different times of day and without fail the dogs go NUTS when we pull up. This innocent little project has turned in to a daily drive by! We screech up, then both Daniel and I sprint like bandits up to the tree to grab leaves before someone runs out with a shot gun! What is Daniel going to remember about his first "pet?" He is going to remember his mom harshly whispering "grab and go, grab and go" or "run Danny RUN!" as we sneak like thieves to steal mulberry leaves on a daily basis!

One by one all 12 have made their cocoons. They STINK, and I do mean stink! Just yesterday the first one came out. I was assured they don't fly or eat, only walk and mate. Daniel explained to me what his teacher told him "they put their butts together to lay eggs then die." What a life! Today we cut open a cocoon from the first moth to feel the silk and check out the skin it shed. It was neat to see the look on his face, but I think we are going to be done with pets for a long time. Oh yes, and I was just informed I need to keep the eggs in my refrigerator until next season so we can watch them hatch and go through this process all over again. Lovely!