My husband the fugitive

Travis went to Redding last week for a conference, I have since received some very convincing evidence that he was involved in some illegal activity while there. I got him on the phone and first gave him the opportunity to "own up" to anything he did in Redding that he thought I should know about before I confronted him with what I had in my hand. My husband, who HAD 20 years of a perfect driving record, was caught committing a traffic violation. They sent us a notice with FOUR pictures of him running a red light. Trav's response, "I was so confused! There were all these one way streets, I was lost, I didn't know what was happening... Did I get one notice or two b/c I ran two red lights."
Trav's going to take his chances in court and swear that it's not him in the driver's seat.

Favorite Moments of our Big Sur Trip

We've just returned from our annual camping trip with the Foors, McIntyres, Boonies, and Lances! We were so refreshed and encouraged by our time together. We love these guys and they are all like second family to us. It was hard to say goodbye as our get togethers are fewer and far between, but plans are already in the works for "next time" which helps make it a little easier! Here's a few pics from the trip.
Mud pie anyone!

The boys are back in town.

The kids singing "Who let the dogs out" on Adam's swing 50 million times.

Davey thinking he could slurp up a huge puddle of FooFoo Berry Soda and immersing his whole face in it.

Watching Zeke and Jonah pick up where they left off. They had a blast together, got into trouble together, blamed each other when they got in trouble, and authored an amazing song, "Cheese Nips, Cheese Nips, You're the Cheese and I'm the Nips!"

Watching the kids re-esatablish their friendships.

The kids reading for hours on end together in the grass field or eight feet up in a tree. Sometimes they'd be reading quietly and other times they'd be reading to each other. It was awesome to watch!

Being with friends that we love.

Boys and the Laundromat

Eight Loads of Laundry-$23.50
One Tall Non-fat Green Tea Latte one pump melon syrup-$2.95
Davey pocketing the quarters he was supposed to put into the machine-negative $.75
One package of starburst candies split between Jonah and Davey-$.75
One compliment on my well behaved boys-AMAZING
Davey pitching an embarrassing fit 5 minutes later-Irritating

Another morning survived at the laundromat with Davey and Jonah-priceless

What I'm Listening To

I love love love this CD and have yet to get tired of it even though I play it all the time. The lyrics are amazing and I get lost in my thoughts just listening to it. I can't wait to get some of their older stuff.
I put the kids down to bed an hour ago and since then Jonah and Davey have both come out separately tattling on Payton, we've removed Jonah's stuffed animals, Payton's stuffed animals, they've been singing "Happy Birthday Princess Daddy" at the top of their lungs, and I just went in and found Davey naked in his crib. I don't even have putting them to bed to look forward to anymore. The madness just continues until they finally drop off from exhaustion. Please, may it be soon..

same faces, same expensive gas

This morning as I was fueling my car the digital screen at the pump read:
"Welcome to Felton Fuels, same sexy faces, new cheaper gas"
It cost me $71 to fill my tank which means I taught seven long hours of preschool to buy me one tank of gas that will last me one week! What up? At least there's still the same sexy faces...

beating the heat

The kids and I have been hanging out at the creek the last few days with the recent heat wave. The world just seems a whole lot better when it's 10 degrees cooler, shady, and there's ample cold water to play in. I can't get Davey to stop drinking the creek water. He's apparently gunning for some intestinal issues. He also enjoys wading on tiptoe through water up to his neck repeatedly back and forth across the creek which requires constant supervision on my part. No more kicking back with a magazine for me! He also hung himself by the neck from a tree swing and swung out! Yes, my three year old hung himself, it was a split second of absolute horror, followed by my scream, a quick rescue, and stern instruction to never do that again. No wonder I'm tired by 8pm every day, make that 7:30pm.

Shades of Me

More and more I'm seeing bits of myself wrapped up in Payton's personality. Last week I was in the drive through lane for pick up at her school, and there's my girl at the end of the line, her nose buried in a book, oblivious to the world and my waiting car holding up a line of 20 others. She's a reading fanatic. I mentioned that she started reading the Chronicles of Narnia series awhile back, but she dropped it after a few days b/c it was too difficult. She has since picked up the Beverly Cleary chapter books, Romana Quimby, Henry Huggins, etc and she's been devouring them. She read "Henry and the Clubhouse" in one night! I got the reading award in sixth grade myself. Not for a getting a good grade but b/c I was ALWAYS reading in class when I shouldn't have been. I still love reading to this day. There's nothing better than a great story to get lost in.
Payton is also an organizer, coordinator, and director of her brothers. My sister Vicki smirks every time she watches Payton in action b/c she says it was exactly how I was with her and our younger sister Sara. I commonly hear these words drifting from the kids' bedroom from Payton, "Ok guys, here's what we're going to do!" and then some elaborate plans for a fort, game, or decorating scheme follow and the boys eat it up!
It's fun and embarrassing at times to see your kids pick up some of your traits. I can only hope she also picks up Trav's easy going and positive outlook on life to counter balance some of my control freakiness and stress. Let's hope she gets the best of both of us!

We met Audrey!!

They certainly don't come much cuter than this baby girl. She is so petite and tiny, she felt so light when I held her. It's hard to believe my kids weighed just about what she does now at eleven weeks when they were born! We had such a good time getting to meet her, she's already showing so much personality. My mom happily offered to feed her and rock her to sleep, it's such a treat to enjoy a baby!

We were so blessed by our time with Mike and Holly. They are the kind of friends that you might not see for several months at a time, but when you do it's like no time has passed at all. It was good to laugh, talk about future dreams, and just watch them be parents! It was crazy when I realized they were here just a year ago when we first moved and if only we could've seen what this year was going to bring! Who would've thought we'd still be living with Mom and Dad and that Mike and Holly were about to become parents! Who knows what the next year holds? We could still be shacked up with mom and pops and Holly might be preggers with twins. Anythings possible. But let's hope some of them may not be.

New possible couple alert. Davey LOVED holding baby Audrey and asked to do so several times. He always had this sweet, smug smile on his face like he was so proud. He was quite taken with her and when she left he assumed her role and wore his onesie pajamas and insisted Payton and Jonah call him Audrey. It lasted for a day and then he was Davey again.

Big Boy Davey

We took Davey's training wheels off on Saturday and by Sunday he was riding! He can ride the length of our driveway back and forth but he's still mastering the turning around bit.

He's so pleased with himself he shows anyone who happens to come by the house. Our neighbors, the window washer man, etc have all been asked if "they want to see him ride with no training wheels". It's so fun to watch your kids when they accomplish something new. Davey is all smiles when he's on his bike. Camping should be even more fun this year now that we can all ride together!

He's a vision

I miss my husband. He's worked from 8am-11pm two days in a row, the reality of two jobs. We always laugh more when Trav is home.

Jonah's Weak Stomach

I apologize for all of the poop and throw up posts that have been the bulk of my blog lately, but it's my life. It's not for the faint of heart. So Saturday night Trav and I are catching up on an episode of "Lost", minding our own business, when Jonah comes out of his room highly stressed, agitated b/c Payton spit "skunk spit on him". And then he pukes right in front of his door. We're like "what??!" and he tries to say it again, "Payton put skunk spit on me" and then pukes right by our bed again. Then he goes into the bathroom and nails the floor too. It was too weird to be real!
Apparently Jonah was bothering Payton so she decided to spit on him and told him it was skunk spit. It's dark in their room (b/c they're supposed to be asleep) and I guess the idea of "skunk spit" was too much for him to handle and he lost it under stress. I had Payton help clean it up so maybe she'd think twice about spitting on her bro. We don't think Jonah's going to be a doctor one day.

They're so sweet when they're sleeping...

This can't possibly be comfortable.

He calls his Teddy bear T-bear or Tedd depending on the mood.

Carrying on Family Tradition

I grew up going to the Pinnacles with my dad and sisters every year for long day hikes. It's my Dad's favorite place b/c his grandpa took him and his brothers here when he was little too. Lots of memories. I haven't been in the last nine years till we ventured out on Saturday with my sister Vicki and P and D. Jonah was fighting some nasty allergies and the doctor wanted him inside. My childhood memories of this place are walking switchbacks of dirt in extreme heat with lots of rocks all around. It's SO much more than that! It was like seeing it for the first time. It's truly stunning scenerey. I finally understood why Dad loves it here so much. This picture doesn't do it justice b/c of the shadows.

Dad loved being able to experience the Pinnacles with his grandkids. Payton and Davey ate it up. They saw polywogs, a coyote, lots of wildflowers, climbed tons of rocks, and even went caving. Davey was a champ in the cave. He's three and managed just as well as the rest of us and was holding the flashlight while climbing. I was so impressed with how brave he was!

One of the highlights was the baby rattlesnake we found resting on some rocks. Very impressive and sobering. The kids weren't afraid at all of course, which they SHOULD be.

We left out the switchbacks and the high peaks trail and stuck to the valleys and cool, shady places. Payton never tired of course and Davey almost walked the whole 2hrs we hiked!

But of course he ended up hitching a ride the last 1/2 mile back. I'm so excited Jess sent up a baby sling for me to borrow for walks like this! Davey wants to "hold you" every hike or walk we go on. He's 3 and 1/2 and weighs 85lbs. I sometimes think I'll still be carrying him when he's 10. Of course, he is the baby, so sometimes I don't mind so much that he wants to be held and cuddled. One day he'll declare he's a Big Boy and these days will come to a close.

Favorite Moments from the Weekend

*watching Bill and Nancy on a giant tree swing in the forest. I WISH I had my camera at the time. It's forever etched in my memory regardless.
*admiring pictures of sweet baby Dillon
*going to our church gathering with good friends.
*walks to the creek together

*Davey calling Sarah "Aunt Sarah" all weekend. She pretty much was an aunty by the end of the weekend. She adapted into our family pretty smoothly!
*Eating gigantic pieces of carrot cake and princess cake with Sarah at Gayle's Bakery my favorite place to eat.
*watching Jonah tackle his teammate at his T-ball game and then holding the ball up triumphantly, "I got the Ball!!". It's really tackle ball in the outfield.
*lots of good talks with Sarah...

*being greeted at church with huge hugs from Bethany and Liz. I LOVE these girls.
*laughing with Bethany and Liz
*still laughing b/c of the card they left for us with their voices recorded on it that our kids replay 100x each day