We finally had a weekend where we didn’t have to be anywhere or see anyone.  We spent it at home as a family.  Will and Hudson spent time in the garage making a bird house and Annie and I spent time in the other half of the garage making her a play skirt.  My mom gave me a bunch of early 90s material to practice on once I got my sewing machine so I went to town.  I still haven’t learned to embrace(that’s code for use) patterns yet so the skirt is beyond less than perfect and I just kind of decided on design as we went.  Annie and I had fun though.  It sounded like Will and Hudson enjoyed themselves as well.

I was lazy about taking picture over the 4th so Amy was nice enough to email me these.  Our 4th of July continued into day 2 where we did a little BBQ, kicked back and relaxed.  The kids made a tree swing and did a few crafts.  It’s nice having them old enough to sit for any sort of extended time to do an activity.

We sat around and chatted as the kids did their thing…just another sunny, San Diego day.  The shade we could find brought welcome release from the heat of the day.

Okay we have been moved in for several months and I totally forgot to blog about the house.  Admittedly I have had other things on my mind lately, but better late than never, right?  People keep asking me about the house.  I think I will probably do it in two parts to reduce the number of pictures in the blog.  Even then I got a little carried away.

So far we have been lucky that the kids haven’t tried to climb over the rail onto the ledges.  Hudson does love sliding down the rail though and Annie has only tried to jump off the balcony part once.  I think my scream has deterred any further attempts.

We love, love, love the house.  With so much moving in my life we unpacked everything in about 72 hours and I haven’t unpacked anything since.  Most things have a home, but there are still the 2 token boxes in the garage full of junk I just dumped extras into on the last day of the move.  Those are always the last ones unpacked.  I supposed if I have lived without them this long and they aren’t Christmas decorations I should really just chuck the box.  I haven’t missed anything so far…

I know I still have Annie’s purple chair in my room, but it doesn’t fit in her’s without causing problems.  It just becomes another stepping stone for disaster.

Once again I love that the vanity area offers separate areas for Will and I to keep our OWN stuff.  What can I say…it keeps the marriage much happier.

Annie’s room is a little pinkified this time around, but she will only be a little girl for so long so we went with it…

It’s amazing the things one notices after taking pictures of the different rooms in a house.  I usually walk into Hudson’s room and notice the mess on the train table or the floor.  It wasn’t until just now I noticed one of the clocks slightly off.  I can’t help offering a second thought  to the huge booms and crashes I heard last week.  I was assured everything was fine and under control…yeah, fine….

Since the 4th of July is on a Sunday this year I have been struggling over appropriate activities.  This has resulted in a 3 day long celebration.  We commenced the celebrating with a Padres games.  Really, what’s more American that baseball…the 4th of July and Uncle Sam?

The kids got to go to their first baseball game.  We had some fun seats down on the field up the 1st base line so they could watch the action.  I felt a little guilty for bringing them in the beginning since they completely ignored the game and were coloring.  Once the Padres started scoring I couldn’t peel them away.  They were loving the crowd, the cheering, the music.  Of course the firework show at the end was the icing on the cake.

Yes, Will took these pictures.  Yes, those are my feet…I’m well aware they look like Vienna Sausages.

We took the kids beach camping for the first time this weekend.  We headed up to Camp Pendleton with some friends.  Roasting marshmallows and making dough boys were just the beginning of it all.  Besides, time is always better spent in the company of family and good friends.  And for the record I constructed and deconstructed the tent all by myself.  I just had to make sure I can still be organized and efficient if needs be.

The kids went crazy in the water…both ocean and shower.   The tide did come up around the fire pit at one point and gave us all a nice feet washing.  Some of the little kids got more of a foamy bath.

So I always wonder what my kids do with Will during piano lessons.  I just found out.  I think they handle just fine without me.

]]> http://mrsblattman.com/2010/06/without-me/feed/ 3 http://mrsblattman.com/2010/06/the-mucc/ http://mrsblattman.com/2010/06/the-mucc/#comments Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:15:05 +0000 Jessica http://mrsblattman.com/?p=2754

While I was busy in Denver celebrating my brother, Will couldn’t imagine California without me so he packed up the kids and headed to Winnemucca.  Okay so maybe the first part isn’t completely true, but the part about Wimmemucca is.  Packing the children for an 11 hour drive, will wound his way through the hills and sands of Nevada to his parents house.

With so much fun to be had with cousins, Nana and Papa, the kids did not want to come home when the weekend was over.  I appreciate the patience and kindness Nana and Papa always have for my less than perfect children.  I am so thankful that they got to be with them and Will while I was gone.

For those you wondering, he is playing with a periscope…incorrectly.

This beautiful Memorial Day weekend found me with my parents and my little brother, doing the Bolder Boulder in Colorado.  Doctor’s orders forced me to walk it, but I still finished around an hour and 20 minutes.  Since my dad is military, we went with the military heat in the morning which resulted in my ears being filled with chants from the soldiers running by.  Doing 5 of the miles by myself gave me quite a while to think and soak in the scenery.  Brian whizzed passed me at about the 2 and a half mile marker, catching a marshmallow in the air and popping it into his mouth.    The memory is quite vivid as we were being pelted with marshmallows for the “2 mile marshmallow,” that was quickly followed by the bacon station.  Really, who couldn’t use a few pieces of bacon as you are running?!  Needless to say, he started 10 heats behind me with his friend and finished WAY before me.  I can’t forget the 9K marker when ladies on the side were serving beer in the water cups.  How drunk can you be before 9A.M.?  I found out the answer to that while I was running…VERY DRUNK!

Having a race take place in Boulder really brings out a diverse group of people.  The ENTIRE race was lined with people…many of them wanting to help by offering random items(i.e. – cupcakes, beer, marshmallows and bacon).  I must have passed at least 20 if not more live bands playing along the route, not even mentioning Elvis and Blues Brothers impersonators.  I guess with 53,700 people running you have to entertain!  And ohhhhhhh those belly dancers on the sidelines…well…I just never expected to see an 80 year old one.  We did pass 3 different groups of them and boy were they a sight.  I just better not comment further.

We ended in CU’s stadium.  As Brian pointed out, its great because it feels like you have 40,000 people cheering for you.  If you take a closer look, you realize they are all just chatting with their neighbors.  Okay and I have a little confession.  I did run…but just a little.  When they said there was only .24 miles to go I just couldn’t help it.  I still hadn’t broken a sweat and I had been dying to run.  I finished strong and loved the whole experience.  Thanks Dad, Mom and Brian!  I would do it again, any day!

Today was a thrilling day for me.  My youngest brother, Brian graduated from High School.  Of course it is over a decade after I walked those Smoky Hill halls, but it was wonderful to help celebrate him and his accomplishments.  I had to keep with tradition by yelling and screaming for him as his name was called.  I’m pretty sure he didn’t hear me amidst the thousands of people there, but I was there as a witness to a closing of a huge chapter in his life. 

 I love him so much and am grateful to have such a wonderful brother.   I applaud him as he moves forward and embraces university life…all those experiences and challenges will bring such great growth…some wonderful and others painful.  I’m pretty sure it will be a hand in glove situation for him.  Brian, you rock!

We had our friends Michael and Jen fly in from Denver this last week.  Needless to say, the blogging got back burnered due to all the fun.  Just some background, this friendship was the first after Will and I were married.  They were married just weeks after us and we found each other in our first married ward at BYU.  We usually run into each other about once a year in Denver.  This time around they came out here to us!

Disneyland, the beach and then back to back days at Sea World found us nonstop.  We played games, ate great food and had fabulous chats.  We feel so blessed to have such great friends.

We were so busy I forgot to take my camera most places.  Even when I remembered I forgot to take pictures.  Let’s just say pregnancy is taking a toll on my brain.  Cells are being sacrificed daily.  I just had to include this picture so Will and Hudson would remember they were apart of the adventure.  Believe it or not, I never got a picture of both of our families together.  What was I thinking?!  Oh that’s right…I wasn’t.