Andrew and Owen's Holiday Party

Here's a short video from Andrew and Owen's holiday party today.  Enjoy!

Sick day

Sick day, originally uploaded by leslie_capron.

Sarah and I are staying home today. She's got a little stomach bug. So today, she's lounging on the couch and getting popsicles to stay hydrated. I get to indulge my inner homebody and putter around the house.

Weekend update

Saturday was a beautiful day in between two super rainy days.  Owen had Tae Kwon Do in the morning then we headed to the Shake Shack again for lunch. (It's becoming a bad habit.) Really, we went for the milk shakes- do not try to kid yourself at a place called the Shake Shack that you'll actually eat food!  After the shakes, we headed to our favorite park in Laguna Beach to burn off that sugar.

We've got to do this more often

During a playdate last week Andrew got to go to the Shake Shack on the Pacific Coast Highway for a cool weekday treat.  This place is awesome, right on the bluffs above the beach and less than 10 minutes from home.  I was again reminded that there are lots of cool things to do right around home. Andrew gets out of school early on Wednesdays so we had a little mommy-son time before we picked up the other kiddos yesterday.  It was a great little break from the weekday grind.

Fall at the pool

The weather is finally changing and we are getting some chilly days.  Here's Sarah at the pool during Andrew's swim team practice this week.  It's definitely sweater weather.  Owen was chillin' in the hot tub.

Return Flight

My return flight from Singapore through Seoul on a brand new A380. Massively large plane dwarfs 777 parked next to it.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Yeongjong-dong,Incheon,South Korea

Can I take this headband off now??

Can I take this headband off now??, originally uploaded by leslie_capron.

Have you ever seen a poutier pout than that? I really don't know where October went. Halloween is MONDAY! How did that happen? But now the kids are all back in school and I'm looking forward to some serious uninterrupted computer time. We're making over the back 40 (sq ft), look for some before and after pics soon!

Sunday Stroll

Well, let's get that bloody tooth picture off the top of the page!  Wow, we had a wonderful and busy weekend here in the OC.   Friday night out with Eric, beach on Saturday, and yesterday we took the kids on a hike in Laguna Beach.  We trekked 3.5 miles and Eric and I endured only smidge of cranky backtalk about how this was the worst idea ever.   (Note to self: next time bring more snacks). 

The kids really were champs.  Andrew and Owen were often left in the dust by little Miss Sarah. That girl has some stamina (and a better attitude I must say).  The boys melted a bit at the end, but when we finished they were proud of themselves.   

Our Navigator Andrew:

Exploring Caves:

Taking a break:

Are we lost?

So happy to be at the turn around point:

Good times:

Milestone

Sunday Morning Andrew lost his first tooth.  You might remember that his loose tooth created a lot of anxiety for Andrew a few weeks ago.   Amazingly, Andrew pulled out his tooth without a tear Sunday morning.   He held true to his original wishes and wanted to keep the tooth.   He wrote the Toothfairy a note to make sure she didn't take it with her.  

*******

When Andrew was a baby, I anxiously watched his gums for signs of teeth.  At three months, I would run my fingers on his gums and see if I could feel a little tooth trying to push through.  Nothing.  "Well" I thought, "there's lots of time for teeth to come in."  Every month I would check to see if a little tooth was poking through.  And every month nothing.   I would casually ask my friends about their baby's teeth and yes, every other child seemed to be able to grow teeth - lots of them!  At 13 months I finally took Andrew to our dentist so she could check to make sure those little teeth were in there.  She was so patient with me and reassured me that yes, my son would have teeth and was not destined to a life of rice cereal (although quite frankly, Andrew would be just fine with that).  At about 14 months, right around the time Andrew started walking, teeth finally appeared.  Such relief!

 

*******

Lately, I mirrored those early months of Andrew life as I again, anxiously watched for signs of Andrew's teeth now trying to make their exit as I saw his friends loosing teeth last year.  

I am reminded again how Andrew will do and achieve things in his own time, right on time.  

Health update

I continue my summer of surgery!  In July, I had a small benign tumor removed from my neck and yesterday I had one of these implanted in my chest.  



It's a small heart monitor that will continuously record my heart rate and hopefully help my doctors diagnose my wacky heart beats.  Yesterday was awful.  I am not one that tolerates anesthesia or strong antibotics well.  But today, I am MUCH better.  

As usual Eric was a champ taking care of the family.  He did the kid drop off, Andrew early pick up, Leslie pick up from hospital, Andrew homework, pick up Sarah and Owen, home, more homework, dinner, TaekwonDo, home, reading, and bed.  Phew.  I think he's glad to be back at work today! : )

What?

Today is the day. All three kiddos are in school. Sarah was a champ at drop off. I knew she'd be fine. She's tough and excited by new things. My tears? That, I did not expect.

Labor Day Weekend

I'm loving the Shake It app. Here are a few shots from the weekend. Hope you had a great one!

First hair cut

It was finally time to get Sarah's hair cut. I'd been wanting to just let it grow, but after a summer in the pool the ends were just too crunchy for me to ignore. Since I usually get the boys hair cut at Sport Clips, and they don't do girl's hair, we took the whole crew to First Cut. It's the kind of place with movies, airplane seats and an entire candy store. The kids loved it. This will be the last time I take all three there though, they got us for $80! Hello Supercuts!


Sarah was not sure of the whole thing. She cried when we tried to put her in the seat by herself, so she opted to sit on Dad's lap.

Where did my baby go? She's getting to be a big girl!



Andrew loved it.



Owen loves the spiky hair. He calls it his Mohawk.



Looking good kids!

Uh oh

I can't even blame the kids on this one - I dropped it. I would be totally sad about it if I wasn't holding my new iPhone 4 right now.

Homebound weekend

This was the first weekend in a while I didn't take any pictures. Sarah has a stomach bug, so we stayed close to home. Eric took the boys to Taekwondo on Saturday and Andrew had baseball tryouts on Sunday. Other than that, we hung out, cleaned up the backyard and let the kids play way too much Lego Star Wars. Hopefully, we'll be back to our routine and my picture taking this week!

Ice Cream Social

Every year the Vista Verde PTA hosts a fun Ice Cream Social to welcome back all the families and celebrate the new school year. Being new to the school community, last year I didn't realize what a fun night it would be and we skipped it. I'm glad we went this year.


Nothing builds community like waiting in a long line together for ice cream! Can you find Eric and Owen? Yes, that's Sarah running in the foreground.




This year's theme was the "Blue Brothers". Hats, glasses and a cool band made it a really fun night.





The kids liked the ice the best of course!



After the ice cream, the kids ran around the playground and went a little wild.



Everyone was sad to go, but we'll be back next year!

P.S. You noticed Andrew's shirt, right? : )

Thursday walk with Sarah

Sarah went down for her nap at her usual time this morning, but she really didn't sleep. Lately she's been going down around 10:00 and sleeping until 1:00pm. Which is awesome, I can crank out a lot chores and web surfing in three hours! Today she rolled around and made noise for an hour and a half, until I finally got her up. We decided to go on a neighborhood walk to get out. We really don't do that as often as you'd think.

I thought she'd like to ride on her tricycle, but she preferred to push it instead. We walked around the block, found lots of snails (she loves to find snails), ran up to front doors and started knocking (yikes!), and waved to lots of neighbors.







Good. Times.

Jedi Training

There's a Star Wars epidemic here at the Caprons. It's affecting everyone, including Sarah. That's Sarah trying to play the Lego Star Wars video game. (And no judgement on the almost two and half year old still using a bottle please; she's my baaabbyyyy!!!)



Andrew and Owen can play that game for hours. And Owen is FINALLY able to play it by himself too. He went through some awful weeks of wanting to play, but not really knowing how to, and was too frustrated to accept any help. That lead to some g*d-awful tantrums. I'm glad that's over.

The current favorite show right now is a month-old Tivo-ed Cartoon Network Lego Star Wars episode. They watch it at least once a day. And Sarah is the most insistent on watching. (I'm still waiting for those pink genes to kick in. She does not display one iota of interest in anything girlie yet.)


Andrew asked me to mend a two year old Star Wars shirt that barely fits because he couldn't bare to part with it. He was not amused at my suggestion of just cutting the sleeves off.






His most favorite clothes are all Star Wars themed.



And I'm counting my blessings that its Star Wars and not SpongeBob on all his clothes. That I could not handle.

Belt Testing

Friday was yellow belt testing! The boys tested by themselves for their Orange belt, but yesterday their belt testing was with their larger class group. Testing happens in belt order: white, orange, yellow, low green, high green. This is an awesome test of patience for the little kids who are expected to stay seated, still and respectful until it is their turn. I got a little nervous for Owen, but he held it together and maintained composure, phew. Once their group was called, Master Daniel lead them through their forms and evaluated them. I have to say this is a very supportive Taekwondo dojo, and kids are given a few tries and sideline coaching until they get their moves right. It's intense for them (and parents!), but because kids aren't invited to test until their teachers think they are ready everyone is going to get their belt and have a really positive experience. The boys did great and we are so very proud of them!























*side note: at bed time last night, Andrew said he was done with the sport. I think seeing what the green belts had to do during their test scared him a little bit!

Boost

Because she didn't think she was fast enough already...