The Host

I just finished reading Stephanie Meyer's book "The Host." Everyone has been asking if I liked it or if it was as good as the "Twilight" series.  "The Host" took me a bit to get into. I had  a hard time with the alien invasion at first. However, I did really enjoy this book.  There is a lot of  information in this book and the characters are just as good as the "Twilight" Series.  I think the second time I read it, I will have a better grasp of everything in it.  I still can't wait until "Breaking Dawn" is out in August. I know for sure, I will read "Twilight," "New Moon," and "Eclipse" again before it comes out. That will make 4 times!  Isn't that crazy? I know, a little obsessive. Anyway, if you haven't read it, go and read "The Host." It was a great book!  

California Adventure Park

I know it took a lot longer than I had planned, but I finally loaded pictures from our trip. I know there are a lot of pictures where we're on the different letters, but we took them for my scrapbook. I want to create a two page layout with the letters as the title.  I thought it might be cute. Anyway, enjoy the pics!  :o) 

familybadillo

Memorial Day Weekend

We just got back from a great weekend with family. We headed to St. George for my new nieces' baby blessing. It was so fun to spend time with family. We had fun shopping, swimming, playing games, eating and just talking. It was so worth the drive and the crazy traffic on the way home to spend good quality time with family. It will be hard being further away and not being able to make it to everything.  I know the kids loved it just as much as I did. They keep asking when we are going back. For them, July seems so far away.  

So know that we are back, the kids have only 2 and 1/2 more days of school. Actually, really only a day and a half as Wednesday is the day for the classroom swim parties. The kids can't wait. I can't wait either, but then I think, what am I going to do all summer long? One thing is for sure, it is going to be great to not have homework!  

Max's new look!

Max got his new glasses yesterday. He is so excited about them. These are the only pair I could get him to try on. He picked them out, tried them on and said, "I want these ones." I coaxed and pushed him to try a bunch on since he would have them for a year, but he liked these ones. So, here is my guy with new glasses!  Hopefully these will help him with reading and homework since he is farsighted. I can't believe how much older he looks!  He truly is growing up. Love you bud!

We're going to Disneyland!

Last Thursday morning, we surprised the kids and we headed off to Los Angeles. We told them we that daddy had meetings and that we were going to maybe go to the beach and swim in the pool and such. They didn't have any idea how long we were staying or anything. The minute we drove by Disneyland, they were so mad at us because I told them we couldn't go because daddy had meetings, but at least we knew where it was so we could come back. Elena and Max both pouted, but Aidan however, was so excited!  He kept saying, "Awesome, Cool mom!" It was cute. I have pictures of the kids pouting. 

We arrived at the hotel and we unloaded and then we pulled the kids aside and told them the news. We recorded it so I will add it on as well, since it was pretty entertaining!  Anyway, we had a great 4 days, despite the 103 degree weather. Thursday and Friday, the crowds were pretty manageable. Saturday was INSANE!  The hottest and busiest day of them all!  Overall, we had a lot of fun. The kids loved it and it was sure fun to surprise them. There are a ton of pics. I went a little camera happy!  

A day in the life of the Badillo Bunch (Warning! It is really long)

Okay, so I had a pretty embarrassing, frustrating day. As many of you know, our debit card number was stolen when we moved here to Cali. To make a long intro short, we have been without debit cards for a month and a half and we finally just received new ones with a new pin number.  Be forwarned, it is long.

Today I went to Wal-Mart for cleaning supplies and shampoo for the kids and tried to use my new pin number and it wouldn't work. So I had to run it as a credit. Fine, no big deal. After Wal-Mart I headed to the grocery store called WinCo to do my grocery shopping, yeah, can you believe it? No SuperWal-Mart!  Anyway, after over an hour of fighting with Aidan over everything in the cart, we finally made it to the checkout counter.  The clerk rang up all of the groceries. I swipe my card and entered my pin, hoping it would work and that I had just entered it wrong at Wal-Mart. It didn't work of course!  Just my luck. I asked the clerk if he could just run it as a credit and he told me NO!  They don't accept credit cards!  Only checks, cash or debit cards. Oh man. What was I to do? I called Lemuel to see if he was home or close to home to see if he could find the paper with the pin number on it to get me the correct pin. Thank goodness he was heading home for an address and was able to find it for me. Of course, I had it right the first time and so my card was still not working. I bagged all of my groceries and then pulled off to the side to call my bank and find out what was going on. They couldn't help me worth beans! "The pin must have matched one of the other cards we sent you."  Great, now what? Thank goodness by this time Aidan had fallen asleep in the cart so I wasn't having to listen to him scream on top of it all. So I had to leave my whole cart of groceries to the side and apologize profusely and hide from embarrassment. Can you believe it? I am still a little dismayed about the whole situation. My friend Michelle informed me that the reasoning behind not accepting credit cards is so that they don't have to pay an additional fee on their end. 

So, I get home and put Aidan down with about 15 minutes to spare before Max would be home. I transferred laundry and then threw another load in all the while talking to my girlfriend Michelle.  Max got home and then another battle began. HOMEWORK!  I can't wait until school gets out. I am counting down the days more than my children are!  And I completely agree with the kids, "I hate homework!" I think it is more stressful for me than them. Almost everyday without fail, we do 3 hours of homework between the two of them. Thank goodness Elena finished quickly and then Lemuel arrived home with his turn to help Max.  Laney went to play while Aidan was still sleeping and I ran to Albertsons to get the groceries that I couldn't get at Winco!  I think the most annoying part about the whole situation is the fact that I got everything I needed at Winco for under $90, and then I head to Albertsons and they didn't have half the things I needed and the produce was horrible. They didn't even have limes!  Plus it still cost me more than what Winco would have!  AAAAAAHHHHH!   I know I am venting but sometimes I just need to. 

So, I got back from groceries, to a complete disaster. Elena, Max and their friends were inside the house playing since it was 105 degrees outside and they had made forts with all of the bedding from all three of their beds. Of course they were from fully made beds that I actually got made today. I brushed it off and went to unload groceries and start on dinner. After dinner, Lemuel was going to the gym to play tennis and some friends wanted Elena and Max to come as well and swim. So Lemuel took the older kids and left me with Aidan. I figured, that is fine, he will play and I will get the dishes and kitchen cleaned and then fold the laundry I washed today. Of course, while I was loading the dishwasher Aidan came in wanting a snack. He opened the cupboard to get some crackers and then went into the family room to watch his movie. He comes in when I am just finishing loading the dishwasher and says, "Mommy, need a towel." Warning signs start flashing in my head. I don't question, I just grabbed the rag and ran into the living room. Instead of crackers, Aidan had gotten the bottle of syrup out of the cupboard. Do you see where I am going with this? Yes he did!  He dumped the ENTIRE bottle of syrup on the coffee table and the carpet. I looked at him and he grabbed the rag out of my hands and says, "I spilled mom, I sorry" and then proceeds to smear it all over the remainder of the table. Then as he is wiping, he sings "clean up, clean up, clean up...." That is the only part of the song he remembers. It was so adorable it is hard to be angry and then I realized, it is going to be okay. At least it is not paint! (a little side snicker for Kahea ;)) It will come out. We got it all cleaned up, and then put him in the tub to get cleaned up as well since by this time he had it in his hair and all over his face.  

Finally, I am sitting here posting to you and plugging this in my journal so I can remember that despite crazy days like this one, I truly am grateful I am a mom.  

Oops!

So in the process of trying to change my layout, I deleted all of my posts and all of my add ons!  AAHHHH!  So now I guess I am starting all over. I am still trying to figure out how to get it all back again, so if you see this post, put in a comment with your blog address in it so I can add them back on!  Hopefully I will get this back up again soon. 

Girl's Night Out!

Friday night Lemuel took the boys on our ward Father's and Sons campout, which left Elena and I free for the night. :) Elena was in charge and we did all the things she wanted to do, with a little bit of what I wanted. We went and got pedicures, with really cute flowers on our toes, then went to dinner. Afterwards, we headed to the mall. Elena just wanted to "shop." I asked her what she thought she wanted and her response, "Mom, I just want to window shop until I find something cool." We got her some black church sandals, and then she wanted to hit the new store called, Libby Lu. What an amazing store for girls! She was in heaven. She got to make her own lip gloss and then put together a bag of glitter. She can't wait to go back for her birthday. After we finished shopping we headed to a friends house for girls night of games. We played a game called loaded questions. Afterwards, we headed home to put in a movie and "stay up really late" but once we were here, I was exhausted. I headed to bed at midnight. I woke up around 3:30 with the lights and TV still on. Laney had gone to bed but didn't turn anything off.

On my one morning to sleep in, with no one but Elena to wake me, I still managed to wake up at 7:30. I got up and started cleaning the house when Laney woke up shortly after. We cleaned quick and then went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. After that, we hit Border's with my 40% off coupon for Stephanie Meyer's new book "Host." I am so excited! Elena got the second book in the "Fablehaven" series, which was on sale as well. A got a bargain deal for a hardback book and a paperback. We had a great time!

Lemuel and the boys arrived around 11:30 pretty tired. They didn't rough it too bad as our friend took the motorhome. :) Aidan came home and crashed. Max was pretty excited and couldn't wait to tell me all about his hike up to the top of the mountain. He was so proud! I wish I remembered to give Lemuel the camera to take some photos of the bunch. Oh well! Next time.

AAAAHHHHH!

The last couple of days have been a bit crazy. Aidan has been so clingy and hasn't been taking very good naps the last couple of days. Then, I don't get as much done as I want. However, I did get 10 batches of strawberry jam made last night and the car washed and vacuumed today, along with getting to the gym, a stop at Costco, dropping off and picking up dry cleaning, and four loads of laundry. I then squeezed in 2 hours of homework and dinner. Needless to say I am exhausted. Hopefully tomorrow will be less chaotic. Aidan and I plan a leisurly time at the park and then we will be helping my neighbor Jill make some flower arrangements for a PTO luncheon. It should be nice. Well, I am going to go vege out in front of the TV for a bit before I hit the sack. Ciao!

Aquarium of the Pacific

Aquarium of the Pacific

Friday night we were online checking out things to do in LA that would be fun for the kids. We found the Aquarium of the Pacific had a special discount on tickets because of Cinco de Mayo where all the kids would get in free. We loaded up the van Saturday morning early and hit the road for an unexpected adventure. Only Laney was in on the fun. Max and Aidan were as surprised as could be when we got off the elevator and headed for the aquarium. It was pretty packed, but was so much fun! The kids had a great time and the weather was amazing. They had crafts that the kids could do, Mexican dancers and a Mariachi band which only added to the atmosphere.

Elena said her favorite part was the whole thing! She has to do a research report in school and it is on the starfish so she loved seeing all the different kinds and colors that were there.

Max loved the sharks and the sting rays. We couldn't keep him out of the water. He came rushing up to me to tell me about it. I immediately asked him if he washed his hands, only to find out that his whole sleeve was wet from reaching in; he was in a short sleeve shirt mind you. I guess he really needed more of a shower than a handwashing.

Aidan just loved the whole thing. I think maybe he loved running back and forth in the underwater tunnel as the sea lions dived into the holes and back out in front of him. Or was it the "Nemo" tank? There was a complete tank filled with little "Nemo's" and "Dory's". He kept saying "Hi Nemo! Bye bye Nemo!" He was a joy to watch and so amazed that he could lean on the glass and have the fish swim right by him.

Lemuel I think was just grateful we all made it out of there alive and in good spirits. I told him it was just a prep day for Disneyland! He did enjoy jellyfish and the tropical fish as well.

I loved both the tropical fish tank as it reminded me of snorkeling in Hawaii and also the amazing Sea Dragons. They were so neat looking. I can't put in a picture as they wouldn't allow flash photography in there and it was too dark without it, but they were so cool! It took a bit of pointing them out before Elena finally realized what they were. For those of you who haven't seen them, they look like the yellow kelp! They camouflage themselves and are very interesting. They actually do have a dragon shape to them.

I added in a slideshow of the aquarium so you can see the fun time we had!

Cool dude!

Aidan couldn't wait to ride his new bike. The next day was Sunday and after his nap he said to me, "Momma, my glasses? Where my glasses?" I found them for him not really sure what he wanted them for, when I came in and found him like this......

Isn't he yummy! Just too cute for words!

My baby is 2!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Aidan....Happy Birthday to you! I think having us sing to him was his favorite part of the day. When Grandma and Poppa Josh called, he was so excited to tell them it was his birthday. I can't believe he is 2 already. Time truly has flown. My baby is getting so big. We had a little barbeque for him with our neighbors along with a Coldstone ice cream cake. Aidan loved it! He got a much desired Diego big wheel, clothes from Grandma and Poppa Josh, his own tennis raquet (since he kept taking Laney and Max's) and a bubble machine. He had so much fun. What a great way to turn two!

Max's 7th Birthday!

Max finally had his much anticipated 7th birthday. His gift ideas ranged from going to Lagoon to Disneyland to a gigantic kite to a hamster. He finally settled on a hamster, depsite all of my horror stories of when my sister Amy and I received hamsters for Christmas and they ate each other. However, I was just not ready to have a rodent in the house with Aidan still so little. So, he got a croquet set, a green machine, ( a sit down bike) and UB Funkeys (computer games) and the whole set of "Captian Underpants" books from Grandma Karen and Poppa Josh as well as some much needed summer clothes.

He wanted to go miniature golfing for his birthday so we found a place in town called Camelot and had a crazy fun round of miniature golf. Aidan loved the idea of golf but of course couldn't quite get the concept of keeping the balls on the green. We lost two into the pond and many more through the additional holes. He got tired of trying to hit them into the hole and instead started throwing them. He liked the reponse he got from that better I guess.

After a rowdy round of golf, he headed to a pizza parlor for Max's favorite cheese pizza and then home for cake and ice cream with our friends and neighbors. All in all, he had a great birthday and loves being a year older. Happy birthday to my seven year old boy!

Unfortunately my photography skills need a little work so the photos are blurry. I need some practice. I had the camera on the wrong setting. oops!