Listerine

Every morning Luke comes charging into our bedroom and climbs into bed with us. Lately, the first thing he says is, "Something smells HORRIBLE!" Inevitably, it's my morning breath he is referring to.

This morning he climbed in and matter of factly said, "Mommy, your breath smells like farts."

I am humbled. Guess I need to start keeping some Listerine next to the bed.

Shorty

McDonald's is giving out cd's in their Happy Meals right now, and they are these horrible Kidz Bop renditions of popular songs. There is this one Hip Hop song that keeps referring to the girl as "shorty". Luke loves his cd, of course, but he has announced that he likes the song with "shorty" in it because he loves Indiana Jones. Scott and I had a good giggle.

Mammoth

We spent this weekend on our annual Mamoth trip, and had a blast with our friends, the Clarks. The weather was perfect for endless sledding, snowball fights, and skiing. We ate at the Stove, went in the jacuzzi, and caught snowflakes on our tongue.

Mercury

A few weeks ago we headed out to Palm Springs for our annual Family Reunion weekend. My kids and I love Palm Springs and Scott does not. He scornfully calls it Mercury. This year we stayed at The Marquis Villas, which I HIGHLY recommend. The rooms are all suites with a full kitchen, a giant living room, patio, two bathrooms and a bedroom. We set up the walk-in closet as Nate's bedroom. Because we were able to put the kids to bed and not be stuck in a single hotel room, Scott got to enjoy beers from the fridge and cigars on the patio. The hotel is directly across the street from the Hotel Spa and Casino, so we alternated staying with the kids and met Jamie, Lindsey, Rod, Julie and Biz over at the lounge for people watching, drinking, and gambling.

Cousin Jenny joined us the first part of the weekend, and Luke is still talking about her love of Roz from Monsters Inc. Jenny made quite an impression with her "magic" tricks that according to Luke don't work on him because he's too powerful. We swam in the pool, ate out, and in general just had a great time.

Luke Heart Mom

Lately Luke has been writing "Luke Heart Mom" on all of his papers, instead of just writing his own name. I LOVE THIS. Of course. The day is not too far away when my name is replaced by that of someone else. So I am relishing it.

As It Should Be

Daddy may have gone back to work, but it doesn't feel like vacation is over. Today we went to the beach, stopping first at Martha's for lunch. It was our first time tackling the beach with just Mommy, Natey and Luke, and it went better than expected. Luke made a friend immediately- a little girl named Kylie. Thankfully, Kylie's grandpa kept a close watch over the kids, leaving me free to keep Nate from walking straight into the Pacific. If I haven't said it before, Nate is FEARLESS; he walks into the waves cracking up, flailing his arms and legs, sitting then jumping, eating sand and inhaling salt water with glee. Ever protective, Luke would run over, screaming, "Look at my baby! He's crazy! Nate, you're crazy! Be careful!"

After the beach, we came home and just hung out in the backyard. The swingset was the best investment ever. Both the boys love playing on the swings, the sliding down and climbing up the slide, and scaling the ladder into the fort. It is no wonder I fall into bed every night.

Always grateful for my time at home with the boys, lately I have been proud of mastering the "do nothing" philosophy of parenting. While we have many fun outings, we are also good at having many hours of unstructured play time at home. I think this is so important to raising kids. I am not the mom who shuttles her kids from errand to errand all afternoon- in fact, I can think of nothing more dreadful than that. And although I love playing with my boys, I am also not the mom who sits and play endlessly with the kids, shoving toy after toy in their faces. When Luke was little, I did this more often, wanting him to have stimulation and learning opportunities. Now, Luke offers that stimulation to Nate, and together they make their own adventures. As it should be.

Kindergarten Round Up

Today was Kindergarten Round Up at Towers Elementary School. From this picture, you can tell that Luke is ready to make his mark on Towers school.

When we arrived, we went into the auditorium and met with the Principal. The kids were shuttled into the Kindergarten classrooms for their readiness assessment with the Kindergarten teachers. The parents heard from the Principal and the PTA, with a big focus (of course) on volunteering and donating- not particularly in that order.

Luke is ready for Kindergarten, I don't need anyone to tell me that. And I am not having any trouble handling this particular milestone. I am having a hard time, however, quieting the school administrator in me. I was quite disappointed in the program at Round Up, and kept imagining how it could be better. The Principal is young and in his first year. I am going to try to give him a break. Administrator Amy, Sh! Be Quiet!

The only other thing that has really been rubbing me wrong are these other parents who are praying for the Preppy K program. Preppy K is for kids who are supposedly not ready for Kindergarten but make the age cutoff. I know there are some kids who truly aren't ready- they are insecure, immature, have developmental delays, special needs, etc.. But, people, they have to put the age cut off somewhere! SOMEONE is going to have to be on the young end of the class. Just because you have a boy doesn't mean you should wait. I have seen these boys (and girls) in high school, and I can tell you, there is NOTHING worse than an 18 year old senior. I hear these parents talking about how being older will give their kid an advantage in sports, etc., and I cringe. I am also biased here, because I am a November birthday and was always one of the youngest in my class, making the cut off by only three weeks. As an "early bloomer" I cannot imagine getting boobs in third grade rather than fourth, or being my full grown, adult size, dimensions and all, in seventh grade rather than eighth. Somehow I still managed to get the grades, fit in, even excel. Okay, I'll be quiet now.

Anyway, Luke loved Round Up. He met up with a friend from preschool and another from soccer, and they clearly became a posse. Luke was holding court as though he already ruled the school. The Principal had to kick them off the stage, because they just climbed on up there and starting hamming it up after the program was over. Good Luck Towers staff. You are about to have your hands full!

The Family Reunion

This year the female cousins were responsible for planning the Auchterlonie Family Reunion. The theme: Heroes v. Villains. Jenny sent out a fantastic evite, we all collaborated on the food, Lindsey served as the superhero tattoo artist, and we played a game where you blow up balloons to look like your muscles in the hopes of looking like a superhero. Grandpa Jim won the balloon contest, and did a little Popeye routine. The Talent Show was fun, as always, with at least one completely RANDOM act, and Jamie brought the house down with her version of Rocktomom. Sherry, Laurie, Tim, and Sue had everyone in tears with their tribute "My Dad" to Grandpa Jim.

Luke dressed up as Spiderman, complete with the theme song, to do his act. But he ended up just standing on stage, draped backward over a high stool. I asked him later why he didn't do any cool moves and he said that he was trying to climb the wall like Spiderman, but the stool was too high. The picture here is of Luke with Nicolas, my cousin, receiving the Children's Talent Award.

I always look forward to the Family Reunion. My mom is one of nine children, and all of these aunts and uncles, their spouses and children have been an important part of my life since birth. I am thankful for a large and close family. Grandma Aileen, our energetic, vivacious matriarch, refers to this group and our gatherings as "The Circle of Love." And in response, we all say, "Slurp it Up!"

Best Friends

Today marks a milestone in Luke's life. It is a milestone that I mistakenly believed only belonged to the second grade girl: The Best Friend Fight.

Today Scott and I went to pick Luke up from preschool, and while I was waiting outside Luke's classroom, Luke's buddy Denzel approached me. Denzel and Luke have been friends for well over a year, and are regulars at each other's houses. I could see the frog in his throat as he told me in his adorable New Zealand accent that he and Luke had had a fight and "Luke was really mean to me."

Luke's classroom door opens, and out the kids come. I pull Luke over to the side and ask him what happened with Denzel. I see the lump in his throat form immediately, and he just starts shrugging over and over again. I told him he needed to apologize to Denzel, so we went over and Luke said, "Sorry" as the tears started to roll, all the while shoulders still shrugging up and down. It was really, really sad to witness.

I took him to the car where Scott and Nate were waiting, and it was clear that Luke could not regain control of his emotions. Scott took him to a nearby bench for a man to man talk, and the problem was revealed. Prepare to be launched back into your own childhood (or even adolescence):

Michael told Denzel that Luke said Michael was Luke's best friend. Denzel confronted Luke and Luke said he never said that. So now of course the question hangs out there as to who is Luke's best friend (the answer is Cole, by the way). Also, Michael is now calling Luke a liar and swearing that Luke told him he was his best friend. And, well, nobody likes to be called a liar. It started with them fighting over him and ended with him feeling like a big jerk. And of course, this is only Luke's version of the story.

Who knew the friendships of four year old's could be so complicated? But not so complicated that it won't be forgotten by Monday. You'll see.

California Adventure

Over Daddy's Spring Break we used our 2-fer from Disneyland and went to California Adventure. We were there for 5 hours before we even stepped foot on a ride. First we saw the High School Musical Street Show- both the boys were mesmerized. Next we headed over to the Playhouse Disney Show, then on to Turtle Talk with Crush. Luke and I discovered the Artist's Studio, where an Imagineer taught us to draw a Disney character- we came home with a fine looking Minnie Mouse sketch, if I do say so myself. California Adventure ROCKS for the preschool set, seriously. What a great day!

Afterwards, we ate at a restaurant in Downtown Disney that had a balloon man making creatures for the kids. Luke sat at our table with his hand raised for twenty minutes, then gleefully requested a balloon tarantula. I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of his trip, along with the reversible Zurg/Buzz Lightyear hat he picked out.

The Minnie Picture

At the end of the session with the Imagineer, an artist named Noel, I was hurrying to finish the bow on Minnie's head. Noel was already saying his closing remarks when Luke yells out from the auditorium, "Wait! Wait! My Mommy's not done yet!!" This earned us Noel's copy of Minnie, which he had used to guide us in our drawing lesson. But here is a picture of my drawing :)

Thank You, Easter Bunny!

We celebrated Easter at our home this year, and were thankful to have all of Scott's family as well as Bumpa, Melly and Jamie with us. The Easter Bunny hid eggs in the yard for an egg hunt, and he spoiled the boys rotten in their Easter baskets. Nate's favorite things were the plastic eggs and the grass in the bottom of the basket. Luke loved his new electric Power Ranger toothbrush and the Smarties. Thank You, Easter Bunny.

The Brothers That Play Together

What a great age the brothers have reached! Even though Nate is barely 15 months, already he plays with his brother- he begs to, in fact. Thankfully, Luke welcomes it most of the time.

Santa Barbara

While we were vacationing in Carpinteria, we decided to take a day trip to Santa Barbara to visit the Natural History museum. We had a great time exploring the trails, playing with cactus, and acting like pirates while discovering treasure in the Gem and Mineral collection!

Carpinteria

This Spring Break we decided to head up to Carpinteria for camping the Altenberg way. The Altenberg way involves a giant tent, also known as the Best Western. Our friends, the Ormsby's, have a pop-up, which they parked beach-side, so we enjoyed the days at the beach and the smell of campfire, without ever crawling into a sleeping bag. This year it was cold and rainy, so we were glad to have a hotel room- and the heated pool was an added bonus!

As a girl, my Dad took us to Carp for several summers, so I have been looking forward to taking my boys and starting a new family tradition. The campsites are beautiful, and the beach wide and clean. We walked the trail to the sea lion rookery, and saw the baby seals sleeping and wiggling on the shore. We walked to The Spot for lunch, and cooked our own meat at The Palms for dinner. The kids touched anemones and starfish at the tide pools and played in the sand and waves. Heaven!

Sprinkler Time!

It's Spring and the weather's warming up! Nate took his first run through the sprinklers, in the buff! He got to the middle of the yard, and started crying. He was more comfortable just staying put, next to his Daddy, within arms length of the nearest sprinkler.

Decorating with Daddy

This year Daddy has two weeks off for Easter break, so we are getting to do all kinds of fun things together. Check out the Easter Eggs we decorated together :)

Disneyland

We spent Cesar Chavez Day at Disneyland this year, and it was a blast. It was Nate's first time, and he was riveted by It's a Small World and all the other songs and stimuli around the park. Luke conquered his fears this visit, going on both Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. We made the latter happen by cowering in the corner during the elevator portion of the ride, stuffing our faces with Smarties and talking about how we were NOT going to be afraid of these fake ghosts! It's that elevator that is really the worst part, and sure enough, once we all crammed into one of the carts, Luke was loving it! He is especially obsessed with the floating candelabra. Ask him what his favorite ride is, and he will tell you, "The Haunted House!" Next time, Space Mountain!