Little Boys 'n Little Treaures

I WROTE THIS BACK ON NOVEMBER 27, 2007. BUT I WANT TO HAVE ALL MY THOUGHTS IN ONE PLACE, SO I THOUGHT I WOULD POST THIS OLDIE BUT GOODIE :)


I came to the notion last week that I officially have earned my "mommy wings" (ya know, like pilot wings). Anyways, there have been other cues that I am really a mommy; the macaroni & cheese cuisine, sleeping half on half off the bed so I didn't disturb any one of the other 4 sleeping in my bed, wiping snotty noses with my own hands and then wiping it onto my own pants, hearing "MOMMY" orchestrated 15 times in 15 seconds, etc… But, nothing like this small series of laundry room events.

Last week, I heard a LOUD clanking noise coming from the dryer every time it spun around. I was sure that whatever the cause, it was going to leave large dent marks on the inside. Come to find an assortment of ordinary stones rattling around. Kienan's Explanation: "Mom, these are my treasures I found on our walk!" Right.

The next time I heard a VERY LOUD thunking noise (even louder than the first) coming from the dryer every time it spun around so I ran to see what I needed to fish out. I searched and searched the dryer and could not find the culprit. Until of course, I was folding the clothes and it was then I discovered a cell phone enwrapped in my son's shirt. Kienan's Explanation: "Oh mom, thanks. I have to call my work." Gotcha.

The last episode was not noisy, but a lil messy. As I was loading the clothes into the dryer from the washing machine, I noticed spots. Lots of spots on lots of my son's clothes. Spots that don't look pretty when the shirt is being worn. Of course, I couldn't find the cause. Not until I was folding laundry did I find the EMPTY chap stick tube. Empty because it had melted all over his clothes. No need for an explanation.

It was then my "mommy wings" appeared. I floated above the laundry room looking down envisioning myself finding an assortment of little boy treasures in his little pants pockets. Perhaps, an ink pen, a frog, empty snail shells, and maybe some day a folded up love letter from a girl. Whatever my future laundry room adventures may be, I'm glad to be a mommy of a curious, imaginative, little boy.

What We Have Been Up To

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~Marc Brown

I really wish that i could blog ALL the time as there is so much that i want to write down for my own memory's sake and also to share.

We have been swimming a whole bunch. We've been to my mom's a lot and enjoyed her pool. We swam with my friend Suzzi and her 2 kiddos. We have also spent an afternoon at the Santa Clarita Pool which all the kids loved. Kienan completely swims on his own and Mackenzie is pretty darn close. Kiera wants her face in the water and doesn't care how wrinkly she gets, she DOES NOT want to get out!

We spent an afternoon at the beach with daddy. He rarely gets to go with us so this was a GREAT treat! He attempted to teach Kienan how to boogie board who kinda caught a small wave. Since my son has no meat on his body the cold water temperature was too distracting for him. i think they will try again another day.

We've been to the library to check out books and see some shows. Kienan got to go up on stage at the "Balloon Man Show" which is one of my favorites. i guess you know you're a mom when you can say you've seen the "Balloon Man" 3 summers in a row :) Anyways..... the kids love the Used Book Store at the library. They bring their coins and pick one or two items and off we go to check out some others. Even Kiera digs the library. She sits and flips through the books and no i am NOT just saying that cuz i was a teacher. She REALLY does! Kenzie picked a children's Hymn Book today. I know she's gunna sing some day :) Kienan picked a skateboard and a guitar magazine. i really, really, REALLY love the crinkly sound of the library book covers. Nostalgic for me i suppose, in regards to my own childhood.

K, we went to the movies and saw "Wall-E" and WOW that was a FANTASTIC movie!

MUST GO SEE!

We finally painted Kienan's bedroom with a skateboard theme. i took some photos to hang in frames as bedroom decor. He loves performing "tricks." In his mind he IS Tony Hawk tearin' it up. In reality and in mommy's mind we are still in the learning phase.

My garden was dilapidated by the Very Hungry Caterpillar!!!!! During my normal morning garden walk i almost passed out from the 4 inch long, 1 inch in diameter caterpillar loudly munching on my tomato plant leaves. i gasped and called for the kids to come see, of course. Kienan thought they were the COOLEST ever!!! i ran inside and called my mom and she said to lock all the doors! :) Needless to say i was in wonder at this phenomenon and had to research this peculiar garden dweller. WELL....... the "Tomato Horned Worm" (not a cute caterpillar), i found out can DESTROY your tomato plants. So i planned to rid of these creatures once we got home later that day. By the time i was able to revisit my garden it was 10:00pm. I almost cried when i discovered that while we were gone for those 5 hours THEY COMPLETELY ATE THE TOP OF MY PLANT!!!!! GONE!!! i was determined to find those suckers with my flashlight, metal kitchen tongs, scissors, and garbage bag. Yep, i collected 26 of those darn worms. TWENTY-SIX!!!! The better news is that they cycle TWICE in a season! Oh JOY! The BEST news is that the parasitic wasps DID NOT burrow their eggs and feed off of these menacing pests. Soooo... my poor poor plant is hanging on for dear life :( Everything else in the garden decided it was time to grow and now i will have to weed out some plants as we are getting over crowded with green beans, peas, squash, cucumbers, onions, peppers, strawberries, and corn. There is so much to learn about gardening and i am LOVIN it!!!! FYI, the caterpillar transforms into the FIVE SPOTTED HAWK MOTH. "HAWK" sounds scary for a moth.

A bee chillin' in my Sunflower Garden~

We went to the lake with our neighbors and had a BLAST on their boat. Thank you for inviting us :) I believe my son will some day participate in extreme sports. He had the time of his life on the inner tube! AND I SKIED! i got up first try after 5 years! Kyle skied and tubed too... What a hottie he is ;) Mackenzie even did the inner tube with our neighbor. She mostly enjoyed swimming around the boat when we stopped in the coves.

Kyle showing his stuff! I promise that i was up and skiing :)

That's Kienan in the yellow life vest hanging on and laughing most of the time~

We hung out at the park and hit some balls with my brothers and friends.

Yesterday she officially banned crawling and became a walker. :) This is where i will get my exercise chasing her ALL OVER THE PLACE! She is almost 1 going on 4 and won't be left behind.

Josh stayed in Denver for awhile but has been back a few weeks. He is working, surfing, and doing an internship for HGTV. Just so happened they were filming in our neighborhood and so he took advantage of the opportunity!

Overall, summer has been really good to us. Kyle and I celebrated being together 11 years this past friday. Not married, but our first date was 11 years ago. And YES, we remember the date just because we have celebrated it for so long. That first date that he claims i was late to was at Baja Fresh :) Well, we were able to go on an actual DATE on Friday without kids. We believe it was the first time in a year. We spent the evening in Ventura with Suzzi (it was also for her birthday), Cameron, and some other friends. We laughed, ate, drank, walked, listen to a Johnny Cash tribute band and had a great time! We also went to a kid birthday party this past weekend and spent some time with friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Amongst all the activities we are attempting to complete a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle which is sprawled out on the kitchen table. The sooner we get it done the sooner we can stop eating on the picnic table outside :) It's a comical picture of Noah's Ark and all the animals. It will hang in the kid's bathroom when completed.

Now i know why i have not had time to blog! ;)

While we try to teach our children all about life.

Our children teach us what life is all about.

~Angela Schwindt

Sprinklers, Bubbles, Slurpees, & Neighbors

....that's what our summer day was all about :)

We rode our bikes down to 7-eleven with the neighbors at sunset and got some slurpees. Kyle and Kenzie brought up the rear together as she was enjoying running her fingers along the fences and making sure to take in all the sights. It's great how kids can remind us that relaxing is important for rejuvenating. As daddy was riding behind her kenzie came to a SCREECHING HALT! Daddy also came to a screeching halt to make sure he didn't run her over. She then proclaimed, "Oh, a rolly polly, daddy!!!!" And sure enough there crossing the busy sidewalk was a rolly polly. And together they waited until God's little creature had safely made it to the other side :)

decided to play with the camera and photoshop:)

Garden Tidbits

The earth laughs in flowers.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Author Unknown

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale

If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden. ~Attributed to Claudia Ghandi

...we have tomatoes, onions, peas, green beans (8 sprouts this week), a few radishes, i think some carrot seeds finally found a happy place, watermelon plants wanting to bloom if the dogs would stop trampling them, 5 pumpkin sprouts, an eager grape vine, 1 flourishing raspberry plant, 1 trying to survive raspberry plant, squash or zucchini plant, herbs and SUPER TALL SUNFLOWERS of a sorts of colors.

We brought back a few plants from grandma's garden in iowa hoping to keep her with us all the time. 1 of the 3 Black Eyed Susans seems to have settled down and sprouted some new leaves. We also brought back a pianese plant that originated 90 years ago in kyle's great grandparents farm. i'm still not sure if it's gunna make it, but we haven't given up yet!

Gardens are a form of autobiography. ~Sydney Eddison

Warm Summer Nights

i really think that concerts on summer nights are one of my top 3 favorite summer things to do...
it's the warm air

picnic dinner

openness

sunset (of course)

blankets in the grass

get my groove on with the kids (they should know their mom has got the moves)

hanging out with my family

people watching

sometimes the good music

that kickback feelin'...

My uncle jim and aunt nancy came for a weeks visit. They were able to experience a bit of santa clarita with us at the park. My mom came too! They shared some great stories and brought back some amazing gifts from their travels by sea. I have worn my handmade necklace everyday! :) And kienan remembered to blow the shell tonight when he saw the sunsetting!

Look Who's Walkin'

Baby girl has been taking a few steps here and there... no more than 3 at a time. Until TODAY! She was cruisen' all over the place like she wanted to keep going and going. She would stop after a few steps, regain her balance and then take a few more steps. Of course after a long walk it is necessary to squat and take a drink!

I felt a little bit sad that soon i will no longer watch that diaper butt wiggle across the floor :(

i don't know if i'm ready for her to start growing up....

The Buzz Around the Donovan House

Kienan:

Description: Beat-boxer & break dancer in training. Loves to spend time dancing in front of his bedroom mirror to LOUD music (huge Justin Timberlake fan). Does not enjoy going to bed. Developing drawing skills. Is a master at swimming! Amazing on his bike (can even stand up and ride). A day doesn't go by that he doesn't go across the monkey bars. Still LOVES to read. New hobby is Magnetix. Is into asking random questions, ie: "Mom, why do we breathe?" Catches all bugs and keeps them (that's a leaf bug that we found camouflaged on our grape vine). Still loves to watch a good movie. Improving skateboarding skills. Will always be collector of something :)

Favorite Food: Blueberries

Favorite: Movie: Indiana Jones (we've only seen the 1st one)

Favorite Summer Adventures: riding bikes at night, road trip, swimming

What he loves about Mackenzie:

What he loves about Kiera:

Mackenzie:

Description: Princess in training with a slight attitude (i fear for 13 years old). Prefers princess heals; the fancier the better. Sings 50% of her sentences (we totally see Broadway lights in her future). Loves to read in bed at night. Extremely proud of her ability to put her face under the water and swim. VERY emotional. Applies her own make-up for special outings (blue eyeliner always applied across the nose bridge). Really does NOT like her hair brushed..no REALLY. Smiles the whole time she rides her pink bike. Enjoys always being around people. Still likes to play with stickers and play dough. Always wants to help mommy plant the seeds, but never wants to eat anything from the garden. Looks up to her older brother.

Favorite Food: Ice cream or anything NOT related to the vegetable family.
Favorite: Movie:
Favorite Summer Adventures: swimming & playing & camping
What she loves about Kienan: "playing"
What she loves about Kiera: "loving her"

Kiera:

Description: Seriously CUTE! Makes a monkey face. A serious dancer!!!! Takes 3 or 4 steps at a time. Improving her time on climbing up the stairs ( i think she is aiming for 7 seconds from bottom to top with no looking back). Started using sign language this week: more, puppy, fish, all done. Enjoys emptying dog food onto floor & in dog's water. Loves how her hand can make the dog's water splash everywhere. Says "dadadadadadada". Gives hugs and pats on the back. Gives the juiciest kisses with the open mouth and has the softest lil lips. Enjoys being in mommy's garden. Plays on her own for long periods of time. Attempts to put on clothes and shoes all by herself no matter who they belong to.

Favorite Food: mommy's spaghetti (she becomes the spaghetti when she eats it)

Favorite Movie: hates the tv

Favorite Summer Adventures: Hanging out in only a diaper, playing in the backyard, sticking her head out of the RV

What she loves about Kienan: his smile (makes her smile back)

What she loves about Mackenzie: Her mutual love for music and dancing!

i just don't want to ever forget all these little goodies :)

Party Time!

DRIVERS START YOUR ENGINES!

HAPPY 4TH TO EVERYONE!

We went to Irwindale Speedway to watch my brother, Jameel race. He did great for his first time driving a car that big! Kyle's cousin, Vincent, and his girlfriend, Jennifer spent the weekend with us so they were able to join us for the races. We watched a fabulous firework show. For the first time Kienan genuinely enjoyed the firework show without covering his ears. He even ooooed and ahhhhed a few times. Mackenzie was still petrified even with her ear muffs. A few times i could see her forget she was scared, but not for long. Kiera looked at them for about 2 minutes and then fell asleep :)

We celebrated Kyle's 31st birthday with a luau in our backyard. i attempted a Hawaiian menu for the evening: coconut shrimp, Hawaiian pilaf, Hawaiian ambrosia, pork chops (as we chose not to roast a full pig in the ground), teriyaki hamburgers, and then the fruity drinks of course.... i don't think it tasted quite as well as i had hoped... better luck next time :) everyone dressed to the occasion which made it super fun. Our friend, MG DEFINITELY gets the award for Best Luau Costume!!!! i decorated and tried to make the backyard look as tropical as possible including the tiki torches. We also featured an outdoor movie, Indian Jones, with popcorn (thanks natalie & eric). i highly recommend this as a summer get together activity. Super, super FUN!

DO YOU THINK KYLE'S HAD A FEW MARGARITAS?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!

Leo Carrillo State Park is a MUST!

“Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.” --Anonymous

Kiera was even interested in picking up rocks and stomping her lil feet in the water! She grunted when i held her so that i would put her down. She tasted the water a few times and then a few more times. Apparently the salt did not bother her!



Kienan was ALL over the tide pool. He kept asking to join other groups so that he could see what they had found. He admired one kid who had collected 20 or so crabs. Another kid found a huge sea star. By the end of our stay he was confident enough to pick up the tiny hermit crabs. We ended up bringing some home in our own homemade hermit crab habitat. He also went on a major shell hunt. He said that his favorite part of the day was , "collecting sea stuff."



We thought we found a muscle. We saved it all day hoping to get it home to share with daddy. At the last minute Kienan decided he wanted to open it now. We situated ourselves on the beach with some ocean water ready. I was prepared to pry this shell open with all my might! I inched my nails between the shells explaining what it may look like inside. With all my force i flung open the shell full of muddy sand :)

It was a little bit windy so Mackenzie said it was cold. That's the reason for her sweatshirt. Silly girl :) She was terrified to let her toes touch the water because she had seen those crabs. Instead she decided that beautiful ocean rocks was her thing for the day. A WHOLE BUCKET FULL! We found some really pretty ones. Kenzie said her favorite part about today was, "hunting for rocks."

i just love the beach....

“Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.”

--Isak Dinesen