Cuts

The whole reason that I changed careers was so I could have a "safe" job to go to. What I found out is that I am having a hard time with this. David swears that I am accident prone and I tend to agree.
I had two haircuts this Saturday. I cut my fingers about three times. I one of my clients that I like to remember customers by the scars I leave on my fingers in remembrance of them. So I have been walking around with bandages all over my fingers for the last couple days. I also made the mistake of using hand sanitizer after picking Quinten up from Pre-School...ouch!
I guess I am gonna have to be more careful. I never got this injured at the Police Department!

1st day of school

This was the first week for the boys to go back to school. Gavin started 1st grade and Quinten started Pre-School. I wasn't sure if the boys were happy about school starting, but as the week has progressed Gavin has got back into the swing of things and Quinten has shown me that he has grown up.



I had a hard time getting Quinten to stand still for his picture. Apparently he thinks he is a ninja.



Gavin is really good at the "fake smile" that Daid thinks that I have mastered. I caught him off guard and got a real one.

Gavin has made a couple of new friends, but chooses to play with his friends from kindergarten during recess and luch time.

Quinten needed me to help him start playing when I took him to Pre-School, but waved and told me "Bye" when it was group time. I was the one crying, not him. Good thing for big sunglasses.

David and I have been able to have "day dates" while the boys are in school. It is nice time for us to talk and spend some time together.

Vegas

So this last couple days we went to Vegas for some last minute summer fun! We weren't really sure how "fun" it would be with two little ones but it turned out and we were happy about that.

We loaded up around 3:00 on Saturday and headed out to our destination. David was driving, the boys were watching their DVD in the back and I was....talking. That makes any road trip better. We stopped in Bakersfield for dinner and made a couple other stops on the way, arriving in Las Vegas at 11-ish. The boys, who were still wide awake, loved the lights and the excitement of Vegas. They also loved the architecture of our hotel, the Luxor. When we were unloading the suitcases, I noticed that Gavin's suitcase hadn't made it in the car. He had NO clothing. Was it an excuse to go shopping? Not this time. Thank goodness the boys are about the same size and I could change him into some of Quinten's stuff.



On Sunday we woke up and got Starbucks, which was $15! Yeah, I know. Sometimes it isn't a luxury though and this was the case. We headed to the coffee shop and ate, while Gavin threw a quiet temper tantrum. It was really annoying. After breakfast we went to Nordstrom for some clothes for Gavin. Everything we needed was on clearance and we were in and out of there in 20 minutes.



We headed to the pool, which was 3 1/2 feet all over. Gavin was the perfect size and could reach the bottom with his tippie toes. Quinten was swimming with his water wings and we just played and hung out for a couple hours. It was really hot and we were loaded up with sunscreen. We didn't take any photo's of the pool because I was scared that I may show up on film with a bathing suit. That would be a terrible and depressing time for me.

So we cruised around the Excalibur, the Luxor and the Mandalay Bay and got ideas for what to do Monday. We ate at the Excalibur because they had a shrimp and prime rib dinner for $14.99 and they let the boys bring McDonalds in.

Monday we got up and got Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, but they weren't that great. Quinten was the one to throw and temper tantrum this morning. Yeah! We went back to the room, got ready to go to the pool and we were off. We spent the morning there, swimming and having fun.

We ate at Tacos and Tequila, which I had seen on the Food Network or the Travel channel. It was really good! I had a peach margarita..mmm! Then we headed to the Mandalay Bay to hit the Shark Reef Aquarium. The boys loved seeing the sharks, jelly fish, swimming turtles and touching the stingrays. After that we went to the Tournament of Kings. This was our "luxury" for the trip and it turned out to be the boys favorite thing. They couldn't eat, they couldn't clap, all they could do was stare. I have never seen them so enamored with anything before. It was definitely worth the money. We went back to the room, where they ate their dinner, which was left over from the show. All they did was talk about the knights and the jousting.



Tuesday morning we left. We stopped at David's favorite place in Baker, the Alien store. We took pictures and it was a long drive home, but we made it by 6:30. It was too late for me to go to school, so I was able to just relax and start some laundry.



I was a great trip. It wasn't really relaxing, but it was worth the trip. The boys liked it so much they questioned me as to when we will go back. I guess this will start being a yearly trip.

Quinten is 4

Quinten's birthday party was a success. We rented a water slide/bounce house and about 10 kids came over and jumped and slid until their little hearts were content. We had a pinata, cake and presents to follow. It was quick, fun and exhausting-for me at least. Friends came from church and Visalia to help us celebrate.
Quinten has been wearing his Tranformer Bumble Bee costume for, oh, the last 24 hours. He loves it. He also received books, GI Joe stuff and more Transformer toys. He had a really good time and missed all his friends today when he realized that everyone had left. When he woke up today, he told me that it was "...still his birthday". Unfortunately, this wish did not come true for him. He did, however, get me out of bed at 7am to help him get his Bumble Bee costume.
I am so glad that he had such a great party. I am sure there will be may many more where that came from.

almost over.....

I can't believe that summer vacation is almost over. I remember that when I was a kid, summer vacation was almost too long. I was more then ready to go back to school, but now I am not ready to give up my kids yet. Yes, I will admit that I yell at them a lot and I loose my temper with them, but this house is gonna be so quiet. There won't be any over dramatic "Shh", to remind the kids that David is still sleeping. There won't be any cuddling on the couch and watching Diego or Dora in the morning. These are some of the things that I enjoy during the summer.
Since I am going to school in the evening, my parents have been taking the boys to the golf course and swimming. They have really improved. Gavin is now swimming on his own and can swim to the deep end and back. He also enjoys diving to the bottom of the pool in the deep end with my Dad and waving underwater. It is fun to see that my Dad does the same things with him that he used to do with me. He throws the boys as high as he can and they splash into the water with huge smiles. Quinten still wears his life vest, but has ventured to the stairs in the pool without it, putting his face in the water and kicking. It is really cute. He also slides off the edge of the pool like a "seal with a broken arm". Don't ask me, but I laughed so hard when he did it, I almost peed my pants.
Now the next things are Quinten's birthday party and school starting. I also want to take the boys on a little vacation. Where is yet to be determined. I really thought it would be fun to take them to Vegas for a couple days. We can stay somewhere with a really nice pool and just relax and enjoy family time. Oh yeah and eat on all the buffets...mmmm.