it's hard to be five

Five is coming with it's own set of challenges.

I almost cried at the kindergarden info. meeting for parents.

Charlie is becoming overly particular about the clothes he wants to wear.

(He would wear his Laker's shirt every day if he could...)

And he is struggling with some bad attitudes lately, usually related to leaving someone's house or something fun...

To quote a a wise friend of mine,

"God is teaching me about his (Charlie's) sin and mine during this time!"

I found this book about being five:

It's about how hard it is be five because you have to walk, even though your brother gets to ride in a stroller licking a sucker, and you have to sit still in circles during lesson time and all you want to do is play like the little kids...

It's hilarious.

And on a day like today,

[when the 5 year old didn't get to eat the cereal he wanted for breakfast because he had a bad attitude getting dressed and the 5 year old didn't get the special fruit snacks mom bought because he had a bad attitude leaving Bible Study...]

it was nice to have some comic relief and share some laughs with him while his "sucker licking, spoiled little brother" took a nap.

overcast day

We still go out to play on overcast days.

But on rainy days, we sing the song,

"Rain. Rain. Go away. Come again another day."

Being stuck inside in So. Cal is a little depressing...

up, up and {safely} away

There's a park very close to our house that is in the expansion process.

It's called 'The Great Park' and it's reusing land that was once a Marine base.

There are soccer fields, picnic areas, a community garden, farmer's market and whats so great about it is that the activities are *free*.

We rode the carousel:

(we're not quite sure why this smile shows up every time we take a picture...)

and the big orange helium balloon. We could see our neighborhood once we were at the top. The kids didn't show any fear of heights. Chris and I couldn't look down and we were scared to take out our phones to take a picture, in fear of dropping them.

(...but I had to get one picture. Scary! How high were we?)

Cousin Reagan: We want to take you here when you come visit!

interview with a 5 year old

1. What is your favorite color? blue
2. What is your favorite toy? my cars
3. What is your favorite fruit? apple
4. What is your favorite tv show? basketball
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? peanut butter and honey sandwich or ham and cheese
6. What is your favorite outfit? my Spiderman shirt and shorts
7. What is your favorite game? soccer
8. What is your favorite snack? vanilla yogurt with chocolate chips
9. What is your favorite animal? tiger
10. What is your favorite song? Hallelujah Heart
11. What is your favorite book? Race Around the World (Cars easy reader book)
12. Who is your best friend? Owen
13. What is your favorite cereal? cheerios
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? playing with George (our neighbor) and going to the park
15. What is your favorite drink? apple juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? my birthday
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? blankie and animals
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? pancakes
19. What is your favorite food for dinner? pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? power ranger or basketball player like Kobe Bryant

21. What is your favorite thing to do with mom? ride bikes to Starbucks

22. What is your favorite thing to do with dad? go to the park

23. What is your favorite thing to do with Ethan? play on the ipad

24. What do you want to learn how to do? surf

25. What makes you happy? when friends come to play

26. What makes you sad? when we stay home like when I was sick and didn't go to church

new decor

Shortly after moving here, I stumbled upon the decor store of my dreams.

Moving into a new space brings opportunity to redesign and this store was more than tempting with it's inspiration:

Also, when my mom came to visit, we toured some model homes close by and noticed a recurring stylistic theme. We decided to call it 'California Chic'.

So, here's my interpretation for our new space from my inspirations.

recycled glass vase:

bright, tropical rug:

reclaimed personalized wood plaque:

pallet shelves with glass vases:

Plans for the future?

I want to matte some framed coral art in orange for our room!

I love the orange and teal combo.

I want to find some lockers on craigslist to use near the laundry room:

& I want to order these pillow covers in green from etsy.

I love how bright and geometrical they are.

{green themed} friendship corner

We recently hosted 'friendship corner' again.

color: green

letter: 'M' (March, money)

bible story: David and Goliath

Here's Charlie acting as Goliath:

Ethan needed a turn too:

(they are too cute to resemble a scary giant...)

We made toothpick sculptures:

We played money BINGO, which was a hit:

& then, they could use their money to buy snacks:

Gotta love green jello:

& green juice:

lovin' on our cousins

Our time with cousins is appreciated even more now!

Can you tell how much they love each other?

my {ever changing} mantle

It's fun to have a mantle to decorate! I found these lanterns:

from Pier 1 that I was thrilled to find to find after eyeing the one's at Pottery Barn for a few months. I keep them up all the time and I've been changing the other elements to go with the season or holiday. You know me!

I have been very tempted to paint our large mirror a bright color (think apple green...), thanks to pinterest, but now that might cramp my mantle decorating style.

I don't know. Suggestions?

loved this Valentine's decor:

& the current st. patty's tribute:

Now, what to do for Easter?

i say disney, you say land!

We had a magical day celebrating our 5 year old's birthday!

His favorite ride was autopia, where he got to drive his own car!

They even let 2 year old's drive at D-land! scary!

My least favorite ride of the day = teacups.

Charlie was fearless. This photo was taken after he and Chris rode Thunder Mtn. Railroad.

It turned out that Ethan was tall enough to go on most rides as well. As we threw our toddler in the log at Splash Mountain, I wondered if any one was going to call CPS on us, but he was happy to be along for the ride, literally.

Roller coasters rule! Even those designed for little people!

I think his intention is to give Pluto a hug, but it looks like a jab to the nose from this angle.

And, this is why you take the family photo at Disneyland at the BEGINNING OF THE DAY...

We had a blast for 7.5 hours. Do not be fooled by that last photo, taken at hour 8.