I need my stuff!!

We've been staying with my parents for the last couple months. It's been a great stay. I love my parents more than anything else.

With that said.......I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE INTO OUR APARTMENT!

I miss my bed and my T.V. and cooking dinners and my computer.........and the super exciting thing for me is that after 4 years of using old ragged hand-me-down couches, I finally bought beautiful furniture for our living room. Not only is it so exciting to picture myself sitting in my sweatpants on that couch in a couple weeks, but it just feels good knowing that I saved up money and paid cash for this beautiful furniture.

So, if the next two weeks could go any faster I'd really appreciate it. Nov. 16th is the big day.

Can't wait!!!!

Santa Cruz Vacation #1

Remember how I mentioned that for our last weekend in Cali we took a vacation in Santa Cruz?? I mentioned it, then I never followed up did I?

We stayed in this AMAZING hotel right on the beach. Our view was simply splendid. It was so beautiful I could've just sat on our balcony the entire time.

We frolicked on the beach and the whole evening was perfect.

In this post I only included a few beach pictures and the view from our room.

More to come soon!

Longing

We kind of miss the ocean.

Grandma

We were sitting at the table eating lunch and Jackson snuggled up to Grandma and asked me,

"Can you take a picture of this?"

swordfights with cousins

First day of School (last week)

My little baby Jackson started kindergarten last week.

He missed the first two days of school because we were in the process of moving, but he jumped right in as soon as we got here and didn't miss a beat.

The only draw back to him starting Kindergarten is that I feel old, and Payton feels abandoned when Jackson leaves him for school.

All in all though, it's been a smooth transition and we're all doing great.

update

gloomy nights (& days)

I sent my soldier back to Monterey yesterday.

I miss him a lot.

We're crossing our fingers and hoping that we'll get to see you for Thanksgiving.

Not as Promised

If you've been eagerly awaiting the promised "Boden Family Beach Vacation" pictures.....

...you'll have to wait a little bit longer.

Due to the internets unwillingness to run fast enough to upload my pictures and my procrastination in getting things ready for the move tomorrow the pictures will have to wait until we get to Utah.

That's right.

The movers are coming in the morning.

So meet me back here in a couple weeks.

Happy Birthday Jackson!!

Jackson turned 5 today!!
We had planned on spending the day in Santa Cruz playing on the beach and going on rides. On Friday morning we were trying to find something fun to do. Nate wanted to go to L.A. but we figured taking a big trip right before we take a big trip isn't a good idea. So then he suggested Santa Cruz, but I reminded him that we were planning on going on Saturday. So he came up with the grand idea of staying the night in Santa Cruz.
Brilliant!!

So we combined Jacksons birthday celebration with our desire to live it up during our last weekend in California. It was perfection. I'll probably post millions of pictures about it tomorrow and drool while I do it.

So, here's the Birthday Boy! Happy Birthday Jackson!!!



Usually when we come to the Boardwalk the boys go on all the rides together which means that Jackson ends up going on the tamest rides in the park. He always enjoyed himself, but, feeling extremely big today he wanted to go on the big people rides. This meant that I got to go with him.

The first ride he wanted to go on was the Ferris Wheel.

I've been avoiding Ferris Wheels since about the 5th grade.

My parents took us down to Lagoon when I was a kid and I was so excited to go on the HUGE Ferris Wheel that they have there. I was talking it up for weeks about how awesome it was going to be. Then when we got in line I freaked out, pulled my hat over my face and cried LIKE A BABY!! Seriously ya'll!!

I inherited some amazing qualities from my lovely Mom. One of the not so amazing things is a crippling fear of heights.

But because I love Jackson so dang much I put on my brave face and got in the Ferris Wheel line. I wasn't really sure how he'd do. Sometimes it kind of seems like he doesn't like heights, but you never can tell.

He LOVED it!!.

As soon as we got on the wheel went half way around and stopped us at the VERY TOP for about 3 mintues. I would've had a full blown panic attack right then and there if it weren't for the Lamaze techniques that I learned but never had to use. Steady breathing did the trick for me (but don't expect to see me on another Ferris Wheel anytime soon).

I felt the need to take pictures to prove to any doubters (Jackie) that I really did it.

Jackson told me about 50 different times during the trip that "This is the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!" and boy did he deserve it!!

Brotherly Love

Payton loves to give his brother big spontaneous hugs.

SLC

Things We'll Miss #3

Visitors

Last weekend we were lucky enough to get a visit from my brother John and sister-in-law Tracy. They just spent a year in Iraq so to say I was excited to see them would be an under-statement!

We had so much fun with them going to the Aquarium and to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It was beautiful up there despite the raging forest fire. The boys scored some sweet shades and went on pleny of rides (pictures to come soon).

I also took advantage of my brothers skills with Garlic and he made some of the best garlic cheese bread I've ever had in my life.

We are so happy you guys are home and extra happy that we got a visit from you!!!

Graduation Pictures

Nate's class & teaching team

Diploma

Certificate for exceeding the Army's expectations

Graduation

He Passed

2+ 2+ 2

For those who don't know, that's a really good score.

Things We'll Miss #2

DLPT

Nate took the SPEAKING part of his DLPT last week and felt really good about his performance. We won't know the score until he's done with the READING & LISTENING. He does the listening today and the reading tomorrow.

I've been all pre-occupied with physical therapy, doctors appointments, Harry Potter, Kindergarten Registration, and potty training Mr. P that I didn't even give myself time to freak out about the seriousness of this testing. Since my kids got up before dawn cracked I had plenty of time to quietly freak out in my brain while I cooked breakfast for Nate and the boys (I thought it might help Nate on his test if he got a break from the usual breakfast of cold cereal).

It's not like this is a normal test like the ACT's. I mean, I prepped for my ACT's by going to a football game and screaming my head off and following that up with a rowdy visit to JB's for dessert. After 4 hours of sleep I woke up with a nasty cold & headache but still managed to get a respectable score.

No, this test is major. After all, we did pack up all our belongings and move our entire life to Seaside, CA so Nate could learn this language. And all the perks that the U.S. Military is contractually obligated to give us depend on Nate passing this test and moving on to the next phase.

So, it's a little bit nerve-racking.

But,

Despite my moment of freaking out, I'm confident he'll do well. He's put in a lot of extra work and has a real determination to pass and get the "H" out of here (not in a mean way though, just, move on with life).

Things We'll Miss #1

Is there a mouse in my house.....

...........That likes to nibble on butter???

Or do I have a two year old who didn't believe me when I said "We're all out of cheese" so went on a discovery mission and found something that just HAD to be cheese. I bet he was a little thrown off by the taste, but clearly he decided to go for it.

This is proof that McKenzie blood does in fact run through his veins. We love our butter. Just talk to my Dad.

Kindergarten

Nate is almost done with school!! He starts testing next week. As long as he passes everything we will be moving back to Utah on September 4th!! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to move back. I was in a panic the other night trying to figure out what I wanted to do with Jackson. I was originally planning on staying here in Cali when Nate went off to Arizona for 5 months for more training and I didn't feel comfortable with Jackson starting Kindergarten out here. I don't know why, I just didn't. So now all this Utah business got thrown into the mix and I sat up all night Thursday night thinking about all the things I need to get figured out. I looked online to see when school started at Bella Vista Elementary school and he will be missing the first two days of school and the Kindergarten Interview/Assessment dates. I called the school knowing that no one would be there since it was July and I left a message thinking no one would call me back for two weeks. But, I got a phone call "bright and early" this morning at 7:30 a.m.!!!! Even though we'll be getting there late he'll still get to go!!!

I can't believe he's old enough for Kindergarten. And he's so excited too. He been asking me for weeks when he gets to go back to school. He loved his pre-school class and I know he'll really love Kindergarten.



These photos were taken on his last day of pre-school. Look at that little girl behind him showing some skin. Scandalous!!!!

Water Babies

Most nights when bath-time rolls around I'm tired, grumpy and thinking about all the things that I still need to get done before I can lay down to rest. While they're playing I usually try to muti-task and get as much done as I can all while staying within arms reach of the bathroom.

When I finally take the time to sit in there with them and not be all uptight about the splashing I appreciate their craziness, insanity and thirst for fun.

R.I.P. Crib

Last Sunday was a sad night in the Boden household. But when I say household I mean ME. Cute little Payton and his rambunctious ways broke the crib. The child likes to jump on the bed and I guess he jumped one too many times. Nate and I happened to be right across the hall. Luckily he was right there because me and my deaf little self didn't hear anything. I thought Nate was just being old and senile and hearing things. But sure enough, when we went in to check on him the mattress was sinking abnormally low.

I seemed to be the only one truly affected by this. I think Payton was secretly pleased with himself, and Jackson was just happy to have a reason to stay up. I was sad for two reasons:

I wasn't ready for Payton to move out of the crib!! He's a determined little boy who likes to party. He pushes the limits as far as he can (while still being unbelievably cute) and I just wasn't ready for the bed-time battle.

I was also sad because this crib had some sentimental value for me. I bought it for Jackson for his first birthday. I was a poor single mom and was so happy to buy him that crib. In reality though, we got plenty of miles out of that little crib. Two babies and four good years. I think that's a lot to ask of a Wal-Mart crib.

I wanted to wait until we got to Utah to get a new bed. I wanted to get the boys twin bunk beds, but the current sleeping arrangement wasn't going to work out. We had Payton sleeping on his mattress on the floor. Nate went in to check on him at 4 in the morning and he was asleep on the hard-wood floor almost underneath Jackson's bed. So after a Craigslist find fell through I sped on over to our faithful Wal-Mart and purchased a pretty cute Toddler bed. After moving all the toys and anything else moderately entertaining out of the room Payton does go to sleep at night and even takes a nap during the day in it. I just have to get him really tired beforehand.

So, just as we're about to say goodbye to beautiful Monterey, we welcomed a beautiful dark brown Toddler Sleigh Bed into our little family. Good Luck. I'm betting the bed breaks in 7 months.

Twenty-Seven

Well July 8th came and went without a single thing mentioned on this blog about my birthday. I did indeed turn 27 years old on July 8th. For the first time in what seems like forever Nate and I got a babysitter and went out on a date.

We ended the evening in Carmel-By-The-Sea, one of our favorite spots, to catch the beautiful sunset.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Watch out for this one....

...He's a smooth talker.

Jackson has a serious love of Transformers. I'll admit to being a bad mother and confess that he's seen the first Transformers movie. He got introduced to the world of movie ratings when I told him he couldn't watch Transformers anymore because it's PG-13. Now anytime we want to watch a movie he asks me what it's rated. When the previews for the new Transformers movie started playing he got really excited. I told him he couldn't see the movie because he wasn't old enough. He tells me, "Mom, Transformers isn't PG-13. It's PG-"I" 3, and I'm 4. So I can see it."

This kid has got skills.

Congratulations little man!!

Say Hello to my semi-potty-trained-friend!!

In all honesty I've kind of been dreading potty training Payton. He didn't seem too interested, and I just wasn't really eager to get started. Then one day he didn't take his nap. He just sat up in his crib for an hour talking and playing. I finally went in to check on him only to find that he took of his pants and diaper. There was poop everywhere. I was mad.

After this I decided I should take potty training a little bit more seriously. When I potty trained Jackson it was easy, structured, and essentially quick and painless. He was potty trained by the time he turned 2. It's been a little bit different with Payton. See, he lives life on his own terms. He's the sweetest kid in the world, but prefers to not have people telling him what to do. Even if that means holding his pee in for hours, he'll do it. But he does it with a smile on his face! So when I realized that having him on a structured schedule while potty training wouldn't work I tried something else. Nate thought maybe the problem was that Payton didn't like sitting on the big toilet. So Payton and I took a trip to Target and he picked out his own toilet that was just his size. This helped. He at least enjoyed sitting on it. But still, he didn't like me telling him to go pee.

So I just let him be a free spirit and I left him alone. I think this is what he wanted. He wanted to do it his own way. He had a couple instances when he completely wet himself. Then after that he wet his pants just a tiny bit, recognized what happened, and ran to the bathroom to go potty on the toilet.

This is all very consistent with his personality. He's very independent and prefers to figure things out on his own.

So here's to less money spent on diapers and wipes!!!!

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I guess they just felt patriotic.