Every Girl is Crazy About a Sharp Dressed Man--In Glasses!

No, I'm not talking about my hot, sexy hubby. However, he does dress very nice and he has more shoes than I do...he hates it when I say that! (heehee) Anyway, I'm talking about Hayes! He looks so handsome in his Quicksilver shirts and plaid shorts, it's all he'll wear and I have to admit I think he's the most handsome, best dressed kid in his class (admit it...every mom thinks that about her own child!). Jolie, (Hayes' classmate) will most definitely agree with me! Whenever she sees him she gets all giggly and I didn't know someone could turn that shade of red! She apparently teases him relentlessly throughout the day and today, she even brought him a necklace, it was actually pretty cool too. He LOVES the attention...NOT that he'd admit it, he says that she makes him crazy! Deep down in Hayes' sweet, tender little heart, I think he's grateful for her adoration....he has been really homesick for Utah and he misses his friends! I think having a little groupie has helped him feel a little more confident around his guy friends and at his new school! She was the first to notice his new haircut...and also the first to notice his new glasses....and that is what this post is really about, my Hayes had to get glasses...

It all started when I received a phone call from Nurse Cathy (the school-nurse). She told me Hayes' teacher sent him down to see her for an eye test because he couldn't see the whiteboard (the first time I told this story I said chalkboard and Hayes quickly corrected me and said, "Mom, we don't use a chalkboard....only at church!"--WHATEVER!). It turned out his eyes are kind of bad and we quickly got him an eye exam and voila...here are some pics of him having his first eye exam and his new glasses. I probably spent way too much on them, but it is really hard to find cool, boy glasses, but these are very bendy so hopefully, they will last awhile. I think they are decent and definitely the best of what little selection they had! I looked online and found some really cool ones, but of course, they weren't available at our Doctor's office and would take several weeks to order! He was really struggling to see in class, so we decided to go with the quicker option. I like them and I think he looks older and so very, very much like his dad!

Yes, I am a Flip-Flopper!

Do you ever feel like a flip-flopper as a parent? I swear those wish-washy, change your stand on the big issues every five minutes, politicians have NOTHING on me. I had the funniest (and frustrating) experience with Scotty yesterday when we went to pick up Hayes and Ty from school. The process alone, of picking them up, can be can be very frustrating! The school doesn't have a decent parking lot (it's off limits to parents before and after school), or even a circular driveway so I have to park my gigantic car in a parking lot at a park almost a block away, in a space big enough for a small sedan, or if available on the street by the park (which is on a pretty steep hill). Then, I walk into the school and pick-up Ty in front of his classroom (it's all-day Kindergarten and they require a parent/guardian and NOT a sibling to pick them up). Then, I go get Hayes across the campus, and then walk up the hill to my car. The whole process takes about 45-60 minutes depending on where I can find a parking spot.

The experience with Scotty consisted of me, pretty much begging him to walk instead of hauling out the HUGE double stroller...he was insisting on the stroller because he didn't want to walk up that hill, and I certainly didn't want to push the stroller up that hill, yet again (he currently weighs in at thirty two pounds, Caroline at twenty-eight pounds and the stroller around 17 pounds). I'm not lazy, but the whole process is exhausting! I told Scotty that he's such a big boy--big boys can walk--they don't need to be pushed in the stroller--I'd let him run through the little patch of woods on the walk back to our car---he could walk on the little stone fence and I'd hold his hand so he wouldn't fall--best of all he would get to be a big boy like Hayes and Ty, and so once I'd convinced him that he is in fact, big enough...he walked. Woo-hoo, I WON! Thank goodness, I mean look at him, he's so cute and funny...it makes it very hard to say to no to him!

Then....after picking up the kids, making our way up the hill, loading in the car, getting everyone in their appropriate seating restraints, Scotty, decides since he is so big and can walk instead of ride in the stroller.... it is now time to use a seat belt instead of his car seat. He's just a few pounds away from a booster and so I explained to him he is surely big enough to walk...but not quite big enough for the seat belt. Then...his little face turned all red, he had "that tone" in his voice that meant serious business and told me in no uncertain terms, "Mom, my head is getting so high (I think he meant tall), you just told me I am big enough to walk...I AM BIG ENOUGH FOR MY SEAT BELT!" When did he become so logical? He's only three!!! So needless to say, I stuck to my flip-flopping parenting style (yes, you're big enough, wait...no, you're not big enough) and he remained in his car seat all the way home.

I do try to be consistent with most issues, but there are times when I, like our current government need a little wiggle room. I echo the Gerber commercial when it says something along the lines of, "These are wobbly times in a wobbly world".

The Lovely Park!

Today, I took my kids to the park. Parks are so good for little boys with lots of energy! After school my kids were so crazy we had to do something besides play Star Wars on the furniture.

We have the best park on our street and during the summer we went there almost every day. Since school started, my kids have been going through withdrawals and have begged me to take them to the park...they really love it and we've made lots of memories there.

Scotty discovered it's much easier to go tinkle on the lawn rather than to walk all the way to the bathroom--he says, "why not all the dogs do it", and Caroline went down the slide for the first time--ALL BY HERSELF! Ty learned to ride his razor scooter and Hayes hit his first home run during one of our family baseball games. Whenever family came to visit over the summer, we would always end up at the park, since our house is so small and also, my kids made friends with some of the local kids while I made friends with their nannies!

I LOVED saying, "Nope, I'm not the nanny, I'm the Mommy". Funny thing...I now have a nanny that helps me out a little during the week. She's a darling girl from our Ward named Kaitlyn. Now I can volunteer in my kid's classrooms, get my hair done, and grocery shop. Chris and I even get to go on a date once a week--THANK YOU KAITLYN and THANK YOU nanny friends for helping me see that I could use a little help!

I took a few pictures at the park today(they aren't fabulous...I took them with my cell). We are moving next weekend and we are really going to miss our lovely park.....

Great Day at La Jolla Cove

Hayes, Scotty, Mommy, Ty
Hayes, Ty, Scotty looking in a tide pool
Mommy, Caroline (BAD HAIR DAY MOMMY!!!)
I wonder what they are thinking about....
I just know my boys are going to try this at home!

We went to one of our favorite places today called La Jolla Cove. They say it is one of the most photographed beaches because it is so beautiful and also because there is so much to do. There's kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, tide pools, seal beach, and of course laying on the beach doing nothing but soaking up the sun (except when you have four kids under the age of seven--NO LYING AROUND ALLOWED!)
We met my cousin Paul Cook and his family at this beach about a month ago and he brought his kayak, snorkeling equipment and all the beach gear you can imagine. It is one of my favorite memories so far (THANK YOU PAUL!!!) You can take the kayaks right through some of the caves....it is amazing! I wished I would've had my camera that day, but thankfully I had it today....

Way Too Much T.V.!!!

You know your kids have been watching way too much T.V. when they pipe up with ad blurbs in everyday conversation!
When Ty got home from school he hopped up on the couch and took of his shoes and socks. His feet were covered with white fuzzies from his brand new socks and he looked up at me and said, "Mom, what a mess...we definitely need some Oxy Clean to take care of this".
Over the summer when we weren't sitting around watching television, we'd try to go to the beach as much as possible! One time on the way to the beach, we decided to stop and get Subway sandwiches and when I drove into the parking lot Tyler--who doesn't read yet-- yelled out "SUBWAY EAT FLESH" then Hayes couldn't resist correcting him with "SUBWAY EAT FRESH". Ty informed him we'd have to immediately turn the car around and go home to turn on the television and prove that it is in fact, "SUBWAY EAT FLESH".
Tyler asked me the other night when he was helping me set the table by filling the cups with ice water, "Mom, why can't we drink carp-i-cana instead of water", and when I asked him what carp-i-cana is, he simply said, "Mom, it's orange juice!". I concluded that he was talking about Tropicana.
In my defense, it has been a really long summer. The kids have been out of school since the end of April because of our move to Cali. So when I was tired of playing mommy, referee and tour guide at the same time...we'd watch a little television. Hopefully, now that they are back in school they will spend more time reading books!

Scotty Started Preschool

He can't contain his excitement!
Mr. Brave walking all by himself.
Apparently, he wore his backpack all day and wouldn't take it off.

Look at Caroline Go!

Getting ready for take-off,
there she goes,
and woops....there she lands.

Caroline Has Teeth, FINALLY!

Show mommy your teeth...
Show mommy your teeth...
Ahhh...look at the pretty teeth! Papa Shoff look how white they are (Chris' dad is a dentist) she LOVES to brush!

Scotty is 3 Years Old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SCOTTY!
Friends: Cooper, Carter, Crew, Hannah, Leah, David, Cara, Joe and Wendy! Thanks for the presents!
Yummy ice cream cupcakes--egg-free, YEAH!

Caroline's First B-day

B-day party at the Shoff reunion in St. George.

She hated the cupcake!

We love our Sweet Caroline! (She took a big drink and washed the nasty cupcake down and now she's somewhat happy)
I'm ONE! Party at home in San Diego. Yummm....this time she loved the cupcake!
She got her first American Girl doll, Bitty Baby. Mommy was much more excited than Caroline.

Summer '08

Uncle Rick & Uncle James with the Shoff Grandkids
Rick & James (Chris' youngest brothers) are home from their missions
Julia (my niece), Hayes, Gramma Mary Ann, Scotty in the splash zone--SHAMU, SHAMU!
Mama and baby Shamu
Hayes & Ty at Lego Land

We had a lot of fun over the summer...good times at the beach, Sea world, Lego Land and Rick and James got home from their missions. We've met some great friends and are LOVING San Diego!

HOORAY FOR SCHOOL!

It is so good to report that the boys, well at least Ty and Hayes, had a successful first day at school. We managed to get them to their classrooms, fed, dressed, on time and prepared. They seemed to do great and Tyler's teacher reported that he has a strange fascination with hand sanitizer???? Hayes seemed to do okay, but he said he struggled with finding the lunchroom and unfortunately, he wasn't able to find it in time before the lunch bell rang because when I checked his lunch bag, it still contained most of his lunch.:( Other than that, their first day went off without a hitch.
Okay, now for the sad news...Scotty missed his first day of school because he has pneumonia.:( Poor little guy!!!! He got a stomach/cold virus last week, which kind of put a damper on his birthday party. We had had invited some friends over and later that night he spiked a pretty high fever. He seemed to get better throughout the week, but then he got really sick again and by Saturday night Chris and I were both pretty scared because he couldn't breathe very well and I took him to the Urgent Care and they sent me to the Children's Hospital. They kept him most of the night giving him breathing treatments and they finally sent us home early Sunday morning with more breathing treatments, steroids and antibiotics. He still hadn't improved much this morning so I took him to the doctor again and they gave him more breathing treatments and different steroids so hopefully he'll be able to start school by Thursday.
The doctors think this is all related to his asthma and every time he has a viral infection he's really prone to secondary infections, which this time resulted into pneumonia. Our doctor is working on some preventative treatments so this doesn't keep happening! I'm really relieved we have found a great doctor!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION FROM SERIOUS DESTRUCTION!

I pulled out my laptop to look at my friends blog and the doorbell rang...I left it on the table to answer the door and I came back to it and guess what??? My friends blog was interposed with mine! It was the biggest mess I've ever seen!!! KIDS!!! I don't know what "he" did but "he" really did some damage. I spent an hour trying to figure it out and decided since I didn't see what happened, I had better start fresh...so here is my new blog.

Things are pretty fresh on my mind so I will get to work! :(