90: easter

The boys decided to stay in Catalina one more night, so I was on my own for Easter. I went to church, then picked up Buddy at Dogtopia. The 2 of us took a long Sunday nap! Later that night, I worked a little more in Jayden's baby book and came across a picture of Jayden that looked exactly like Skyler. They are even wearing the same outfit! 

{Sky's on the left, JJ on the right}

89: get the work done day

Saturday is my day..the boys are away and Buddy is at Dogtopia for boarding and I had a list of projects I wanted to get done! 

Started it off with a 6.8 mile trail run, then I installed 4, new outdoor lights, hung the curtain in my office, installed an organization system in the closet, planted some flowers, put together Easter baskets and worked on Jayden's baby book! It was a very productive day!

88: boys trip to catalina

Boys trip to Catalina!  It was a last minute decision, but I decided to stay home and get some projects done! I'm sure they had a great time without me, not brushing their hair or teeth, drinking soda, and all the other fun things that Dad's let them do!!

87: lots of chicken

Lots and lots of chicken!  Ordered 40 lbs. of fresh, no preservatives, no hormones chicken and today was delivery day. I drove and picked it up and then came home to use my new, fancy smansy, food saver! I was up to my elbows in chicken juice. If I had had more time, I would have cooked half of it or marinaded it for easy dinners. Next time! 

{I cooked one that night and it was the freshest, most moist chicken I'd ever had!}

86: eating our way through l.a.

Two of my girlfriends and I decided that we needed a trip to L.A.  Our plan wasn't so much to shop, but rather, to eat at some of the places we've heard about or have visited before!  L.A. didn't disappoint! We did our fair share of eating. We started off at Donut Man in Glendora {my hometown} and got their famous strawberry doughnut..to die for! Then to Blu Jam Cafe for Hawaiian french toast. Next we headed to the Farmers Market by the Grove and split a beignet from Bob's. Later it was time for more dessert. Fresh, homemade ice cream from MILK. And finally, Dinner at Mario Batali's restaurant Mozza. Our bellies were full, and our hearts were happy!

85: doggy tooth fairy

We are finding these large dog teeth around the house! I'm no dentist, but the tooth on the top looks to have a couple cavities! Good thing he lost them..I don't do doggy dentists!

84: a new adventure

First day of spring break and my boys were wasting it fighting and playing video games.  I put a stop to that very quickly! I decided we were going to try something new:  GEOCACHING! We downloaded an app to my phone and were on our way! We were hooked immediately.  It's a treasure hunt and you use the coordinates on your phone to find the finders log. Some are harder than others. We had to unscrew a sprinkler head to find one. Another was attached to a metal utility pole with a magnet. These Geocacher people are creative! We were out for nearly 5 hours doing something together, as a family, with little to no fighting! It turned out to be a great day!

83: dismissed...again!

I'm 4 for 4 now!  If you look closely at the picture, you'll see that the clerk used a lot of white-out! Was I guilty, then they changed their mind? Or did they just make a mistake? I decided to call and make sure I was in fact not guilty.  Yep..NOT GUILTY! This was for a cell phone ticket and it was lame! I don't need my cell phone in my car..it's built into the radio. Plus, I sent the judge my phone records which showed no activity for a few hours before and after the ticket! The only thing I was guilty of was having my front windows tinted, which in the end, was probably the key to my victory. The cop said he couldn't see in the windows. He just created reasonable doubt!!  Thank you Mr. Cocky motorcycle cop. 

82: trail run with my running buddies

It has been over a week since I've done any bit of exercise..this bad cold knocked me off my feet! With Ragnar less than a month away, there was no time to gradually get back into things.  I talked the gang into doing a trail run..I couldn't stand the idea of running the loop..I'm so bored with it! The trail is where I've been walking lately and it's such a serene scene. It's in our backyard, yet in the middle of nowhere! Pretty flat and easy too. If you looks closely in the bottom picture, you'll see Jim way out in front. For me, slow and steady! 6.6 miles later and I was feeling pretty good. I may have hacked out a lung, but it needed to be cleaned out anyways.

81: getting my hair did

My spring break officially began at 6:50 a.m. Woohoo!!  I spent the morning sitting on this chair for 3 hours while my hair was made pretty! I loved every minute of the rest!

80: seth..the discus thrower

Went to the GOHS track meet to watch one of my students. I miss the excitement of a track meet. I was once pretty good at that thing they call running..at least the sprinting kind!

79: beautiful wild weeds

In spring, even the weeds are beautiful!

78: discovering acts through playdough

We've been talking about Acts 16-19 and about how the people 

worshipped the unknown god.  We know that God is not unknown..he is a living God, whereas idols are merely stone, gold, or silver. I found this great idea from this wonderful seminary teacher.  I love when people share..especially when it is something up my alley!  The kids loved this lesson. The key for my class..keep them busy doing stuff and learning will happen!

77: nature walk..i love temecula

It has been perfect days for taking Buddy on walks.  I've been sick so I haven't been running or going to the gym, so my daily walks with Buddy have been all the exercise I've gotten.  I've taken different paths and came across all these hidden gems, literally just minutes from my house.  I love where I live! One minute I'm in suburbia, the next, I'm in the country!

76: garden is planted

The garden is planted..a whole 2 months earlier than last year! Thanks to Jim for building me a second box! We had such success last year, that I wanted to grow more!  New to the garden this year: spinach, romaine lettuce, string beans, carrots, and I'm trying an artichoke. Now we need to build a fence because if Buddy has his way, these will be unplanted again shortly!

75: soda ring toss

Despite me being so sick, we walked the kids up to the Tony Tobin School Carnival. I'm kinda at the point of despising this event. The school attacks us for donations for an entire month, then they want you to volunteer to work the booths, then they get you to spend tons of money trying to re-win the stuff you donated! I'm over it!  But the kids love it, so of course, we put aside our feelings and participate.  Ryder spent nearly all his tickets at the soda ring toss and loss just about every time.  On his last 5 rings {he had 15 in all}, he won 2 in a row!  He was so happy with himself and I was happy that we got to leave on a positive note.  Once again, after putting $15 worth of tickets in the basket raffles, we won nothing! We've been doing this for 9 years with the same end result! You'd think we would have learned our lesson by now! We're slow learners! 

74: jayden's kc award

Jayden was recognized at flag salute today for earning the KC award..Kindness & Compassion. He got to make his mark on the KC wall with his handprint. We are so proud of him!

73: naughty

Looks like someone isn't wasting anytime after surgery getting naughty again! So much for planting broccoli.

72: goodbye puppy testicles

He has no idea what's about to hit him!!  Poor puppy!  Time for some neutering. I'm doing my part to control the pet populations..Bob Barker would be so proud!

The cone of shame...it's actually quite hilarious watching him try to figure things out with this contraption on his head. We didn't keep it on for more than 1/2 hour.

71: destructive buddy

Why is it that when Buddy's outside, he finds the wettest, most dirtiest mud we have and then proceeds to roll in it?  Then after getting sufficiently dirty, runs away with my sunglasses and destroys them!  This puppy is losing his cuteness by the second!

70: polar swim

Just because it's in the 80's doesn't mean the pool will be warm!

Ryder doesn't care...he's going swimming!

69: skylers ordination day

Skyler was ordained to the office of a Teacher today at church. Grandma & Grandpa Watkins came down for the ordination! I still can't believe 14 years have gone by since I had my first baby! Now he's almost taller than me! 4 more years and he'll be going on his mission!  Now is when I wish time would slow down a little.

68: mans best friend

 Jim was sick in bed all day yesterday! Buddy cuddled up next to him and comforted him most the day!

Just part of the aftermath of mud sliding! At least they had the smarts about them not to come inside!

67: happy 14th birthday skyler!

 It all started with a beautiful, full rainbow over the church as I left seminary this morning!  Skyler's 14th birthday....

As I was driving home this morning in the pouring rain, I noticed the hills where they were bulldozing were saturated and completely muddy! So I suggested to Sky that he and his friends go mud sliding tonight. Who doesn't love ripe, muddy hills? A boys paradise, right? Skyler loved the idea..{I just loved that he finally loved something I suggested!} So once it got dark, the boys got in their dingy clothes, armed with a headlamp, some pizza boxes, and trash bags and headed for the hills.  Yes..I was actually encouraging this. It seemed harmless to me! They had great fun even if the hills weren't as wet and muddy as earlier that day.  They weren't as slippery but they still managed to get dirty.  Afterwards, they jumped in the spa to wash off. Skyler doesn't like any kind of cake, so we had a milkshake bar! He blew out his candles..which in our family, makes it an official birthday. Then all the boys were up till the wee hours playing Halo.  Skyler didn't want a birthday party, but this seemed like one to me.  I guess it's all in how it's packaged!

Happy 14th Birthday!!