Hintons aren't the only ones with a new home

Yes folks, we actually managed to buy a house in Orange County. We didn't even have to take out a mortgage to do it (Craigslist is really active around here). Unfortunately, Derek and I can't stand up inside.

Do you like the linoleum flooring?

I know, the air conditioning view isn't the greatest.

Should a 3 year old have access to his own stove?

Flip it over, and it's a table.
Now he just needs some friends (or cousins)to come over and play.

We're Too Cool for School

Yeah, the dollar bins at Target are sometimes irresistable.

And in my own defense, Ryan is picking out his own clothes these days. I always let him wear whatever he picks because I figure that no matter what, he'll be digging in the dirt in it so I'm not going to bother making him look good.

I meant to add the rock hopping pictures too.

Ryan's 3rd Birthday

(Yes, there are TONS of pictures here)

I was NOT up for a birthday party this year. All the kids around here seem to have parties at the pool, or in the park with a huge bouncy castle, or at Chuck E Cheese's or something like that. I didn't want the stress of making sure that everyone is happy and everything goes just right. I don't think that I am much of an entertainer at heart (and neither is Derek) so I opted out of a formal party. Instead, I took advantage of our Friday park days and told Ryan that all the kids were coming to his "party" at the bike park.

Unfortunately, I procrastinated (big surprise) and didn't even have a cake mix by Thursday night when we were going to "Wicked." We didn't get home until 12:30am and park day was at 10:00 the next morning. SO, I learned my lesson and headed to Albertsons to buy a birthday cake for the "party." #1 I do NOT like store bought cake. The frosting is NASTY to me and the cake is always dry and gross. #2 I was not interested in paying $15 for a cake that is gross to me. Oh well, I was feeling like I had no other option at that point. Ryan picked out a terrible looking balloon cake (only other choices last minute were "The Incredible Hulk," roses, or graduation hats.) I went home to get my camera to take a picture of it at least but totally forgot until afterwards, of course.

There were probably 18 kids there (boys and girls, a variety of ages) though from this picture it looks like Ryan just plays with girls. Another mom was assigned to bring park day snacks and she brought the most FABULOUS spread. It really made it seem like a party! :) The bike park is so fabulous, it is fenced in and has a road that winds around and under tunnels and over bridges.

Saturday was breakfast in bed like usual and it was like Christmas for the boy. (This is what he chose for breakfast but Katie ate most of it because he wasn't super interested in it.) Jana, do you recognize your birthday cake?

Here he is playing with his construction trucks for the sandbox. We don't have many pictures of opening presents because Derek was mostly using the video camera. We have this hilarious clip of Ryan opening these trucks and he screams and points. If I can ever figure out how to upload it I will include it one day.

The trucks came with this fabulous remote control crane - he's had a lot of fun with it.

He also got a Thomas shaving set, DVDs, and bandaids. What can I say, the kid loves Thomas. Grandma Cookies sent that fabulous Thomas costume and lunchbox (that he has hardly put down.) Grandma Bayles sent the Thomas puzzle and lincoln logs, plus some great lacing toys that we used at church.

Then, we went over to the Orange County Zoo and he actually got to ride on the zoo train this time.

I was a little nervous for that bunny on the tracks.

If you zoom in on this one you can still see that bunny. It looks like he got off the track in time. whew!

A shot next to the train.

Some pictures of the little sister.

Oh, I got my Beco Baby Carrier in the mail the day before. Time to try it out.



I can't really say that it is "slimming" like it claims, but it was very comfortable. The weight is mostly supported on the hips and that makes it very nice. I like that it can be worn in front, back, or on the hip. We were going to do a paddle boat but the rental was more money than we had left so we opted to let Ryan go on a pony ride instead.


At the last minute he totally chickened out so we let Katie ride instead. (As a strange side note: a guy who was doing a pony ride with his son asked about the Beco Baby Carrier. Turns out, his wife was the one who designed it. What are the chances?)

Waving at the boys.

Petting the pony.

We also wanted to have cake with the neighbor kids (who have all invited Ryan to their parties.) Ryan asked me for a Spencer cake (a certain train from Thomas) and I ALMOST attempted it. It could've been some sort of adaptation of this fabulous Thomas one. Then I had a reality check and realized that I just didn't have the time to do it. So, I found this tractor cake pan at JoAnns and followed the directions. A BIG thanks to Jana for introducing me to icing coloring that made the grey and black possible. I owe the success to you.

(It's supposed to be tire tread.)

Another successful "party."

Katie enjoyed birthday spaghetti dinner.

"Wicked: the Untold Story of the Witches of Oz"

On Thursday Derek and I went on a date to the Pantages Theater to see "Wicked." I don't think I could explain how much fun it was. I'm really a sucker for some good singing and that's exactly what we got. The main character (Elphaba) was played by the understudy but we weren't disappointed. She did a fabulous job.

It was fun to see some TV actors as part of the cast. Nessarose was played by Jenna Leigh Green who was Libby Chessler on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (think snobby school girl.) Boq seemed familiar to us and after going home and looking up Adam Wylie we realized that he was Larry on "Kindergarten Cop." Maybe you'll recognize him too. (Apparently he is also on "Gilmore Girls," a show that I personally can't stand.)

Anyway, the inside of Pantages is SO ornate and you would never guess by looking on the outside. It is so beautiful. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed. There was this one on the internet though to give you a small idea of how nice it was.

We were in the very last row right in front of the aisle so we got plenty of leg room and it truly seems that there was no bad seat in the house.

I'll tell you what, "Wicked" is just a great musical. It has a very fun story, fabulous songs (especially the first half), and has few parts where it seems to be slow. It also doesn't have any rude or risque parts (which are pretty common in theater.) We checked out the storyline on Wikipedia before we went so we knew what we would be seeing, but I hear that it is SO much fun for people who don't know what to expect. Either way, it is worth seeing. I was SO glad we went and couldn't wipe the grin off my face during the whole show.

Oh, and I will be posting about RYan's birthday later on. I'm tired! :)

This Kid Cracks Me Up!

We put on a big pair of pj's tonight and the pants sag. As a joke, I pulled the pants up Urkel style. Ryan laughed and said, "Mom, I look like I have a baby in my tummy." Hilarious that he would associate it with maternity pants!

Ryan on Swimming Lessons

It has recently occured to me that Ryan must be growing up. He has quite a few friends who he plays with on a regular basis, including two five-year-old boys in the neighborhood. The bigger boys have always been competitive about who is first and strongest and biggest but Ryan seemed oblivious to it all until just recently. William is taking swimming lessons and Ryan will sometimes talk about it with me.

Last week -

Ryan: "William is bigger than me because he takes swim lessons."

Me: "He does take swimming lessons. You could take swimming lessons too you know. You aren't too little. You can take swimming lessons whenever you want to, just tell me when you're ready and we can sign you up."

Ryan: "Okay, I will. I will be really happy when I get bigger. You're really nice Mom."

Then today it went like this -

Ryan: "I'm really big. I'm bigger than William."

Me: "Well, William will always be older than you because he was born before you were born."

Ryan: "No, I'm bigger. Mom, I need to take swim lessons."

Me: "Okay, sounds good."

Ryan: "Let's go."

Me: "It's pretty late right now. (7pm) We have to sign up for swimming lessons. If you are ready then we can call someone and sign you up for a class. Then you can start going to swimming lessons. You will need to put your head under the water if you are in swimming lessons."

Ryan: "But I don't really like to do that."

Me: "Well, maybe we can wait to do swimming lessons until you're ready to put your head under the water."

Ryan: "Does William put his head under the water?"

Me: "Yes, he does. They taught him how and he isn't scared. You just have to hold your breath like this (demonstrated)"

Ryan: "Okay, I'll tell you when I'm ready for swim lessons." (then a minute or two later) "Moms put their heads under water don't they?"

Me: "Yes, we do."

Ryan: "Big Mommy!"

Creatures of Habit

I am speaking of children. Each morning as Derek prepares to ride off to work on his bike, Ryan and Katie convince him to first go over to the grass to look for snails with them.

It is usually the same, we find a few, and Ryan picks them up and shows us. For the fat ones Derek exclaims, "That one is Jabba" (Star Wars) and then Ryan puts them back and we go inside and wave goodbye to Derek through the window.

The kids always want to stay outside but I am rarely in anything besides my sweatpants that I slept in the night before and my hair is ALWAYS a frizzy mess, so I don't like to stay out there like that. Recently, I was able to shower and get ready before Derek left, so we stayed outside and had a snail race. Such a thing is probably nice and boring to all but a 3 year old boy.

We lined them up for the race and Katie was in such a bad mood that in her crying fit, I think she killed about 3 of them. darn it! The snail race was a riveting scene, believe me. *yawn*

There were 9 snails in the race. If the slideshow works for you, try and guess who was the winner. If it doesn't work, you aren't missing much. ;) Still, you can try this link.

And the winner is....

me!

This is what I won. Which pattern would you pick if you were me?

(Thanks to Gina and Jodie for letting me borrow your cute kids.)

15 Things I Learned From My Mother

1. "Nothing matters, only feelings."

2. Simplify life – and laundry.

3. Heavenly Father answers prayers.

4. "If we aren’t supposed to ACT like the world, why do we EAT like the world?"

5. "If you didn’t get dirty, you didn’t have fun."

6. Start early to teach your kids – they learn WAY faster than you’d expect them to.

7. Things shouldn’t always be equal – that wouldn’t be fair.

8. The Lord needs valiant servants, not fence sitters.

9. Music can invite the Spirit of Christ.

10. Come on, let’s go SHOPPING!

11. You don’t have to do things the same way as everyone else to be a good mother.

12. If you want something, go out and work until you have it.

13. If you sacrifice for the Lord, he will pour out His blessings upon you.

14. If your mom wants you to do something, you are going to end up doing it anyway, so you might as well say “okay” the first time.

15. Put Heavenly Father first in all things.

Putting life lessons in list form never quite does them justice. I am grateful for these few things that I have learned and even more for those things that I have been taught that cannot be worded in a short sentence, but would take a book to truly express.

Happy Mother's Day Mom. I hope I grow up to be JUST like you.