Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Danny Boy–Age 3

TheBoys_August2012_ 651The late summer and fall get pretty busy with birthdays around the Marcroft house and we just celebrated our first. Danny turned three over the weekend and I still can’t believe it!

We went to the doctor’s office yesterday and he’s still (in true Marcroft fashion) off the charts in height (100 percentile) and almost that in weight (95 percentile) so he is long and dense but his ratio is healthy (phew!) I think that he might even be catching up to Nathan!

Here are some things that I’d like to remember about Danny at this age:

  • He loves Balloons – so much so that he’ll fall asleep holding one in his hand (and not let go all night), or carry around a drawing or a picture of one, or even a book that has a balloon somewhere in the story.
  • He is very loving and gives lots of hugs and kisses and is very aware of Mommy’s feelings.
  • He likes to say “I love you still” when he tells me he loves me.
  • He’s a bit feisty with his brothers but I guess that is what happens when you have two big brothers that pick on you.
  • He likes to draw and draws tiny circles and other delicate objects very carefully. Hmm…I wonder if he’ll have Thad’s flair for art?!
  • He loves riding his big boy bike and scooter! Sometimes he’ll just shout out because he’s so happy and say things like wooo hooo! and Awesome! as he’s riding! And his new bike is a “rocket”!
  • He loves Benny (and really all of his brothers) but is always wanting to hold Benny even if Ben is getting too big and too strong for Danny!
  • He doesn’t like pickles or tomatoes (so strange to me…the rest of us love them!)
  • He loves trains…but I don’t know many three year olds that don’t!
  • He loves coins of any shape and size and will play with them, stick them in his pocket and steal them out of my purse if it’s anywhere near him!
  • He wants nothing to do with potty training :( but we’re still trying from time to time and at least I know he won’t go to kindergarten in diapers!

Happy Birthday to our little Danny boy!

Here are a few pictures from our mini playdate/party at the park!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Is it the end of summer already?

On Monday Thad goes back to school :( so our summer is kind of almost over. I don’t go back officially until after Labor Day but I do have two days I have to work next week as well :( so this week we did some playing :).

My parents reserved a few rooms in Oceanside and invited all of the grandkids down. The Fongs and our family were both available and we packed up our bags and headed south on Friday. Saturday we played at the beach, swam in the pool, caught sand crabs, enjoyed family time and yummy family dinner together each night. Sunday we attended a nice ward in Oceanside, dyed eggs (since we ran out of time at Easter Nate’s been asking to do them), did an indoor Olympics with paper plane flying, egg bashing, egg-in-a-spoon walking race and other quiet events complete with medals. Monday we got up, had breakfast at Ruby’s on the pier, packed up and then swam until the boys were ready to pass out.

We spent Monday resting and packing for our next adventure on Tuesday. We left after lunch and headed to Barton Flats to join the Marcroft Clan. Great Grandma Marcroft has been going there every summer for (I think) more than 60 years. Aunt Addie, Uncle Eric, the Badalamenti family and G&G Marcroft were there as well as Great Grandma Marcroft who is in her nineties. Great Grandma slept in the motorhome (phew) and it was nice to have her there. We brought the boys bikes and they rode almost non-stop. They would only stop to eat or to play in the wheelchair, dirt or fire. The weather was perfect, the boys played all day and enjoyed the campfire and smores as well. Sammy even got to ride bikes with Grandpa Marcroft down a “really fast hill” (direct quote from Sam!) We even made a stop (the boys hiked, I drove with Great Grandma) at Jenks Lake before travelling home. It was nice and quiet until Thursday when we were packing up when the weekend campers were coming and I was okay with leaving (I like it when camp is empty—the boys can roam and be adventurous without bothering anyone!)

We had a lot of fun and hope to recover soon from the adventures (lots of laundry and car cleaning to do still!) Enjoy the pictures!

Oceanside

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Beach Day!

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Egg bashing…winner – > Nathan!

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Sunday afternoon (Easter) Egg Decorating

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Airplane launch—Jared’s plane won!

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Grandma and her little buddy Danny!

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Benjamin loves the water…he’s either splashing or if he gets tired he just goes right to sleep in it!

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On our way to breakfast…Sammy took this of us – I guess that this is how he sees us!

Barton Flats

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Grandpa and Sammy riding together!

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Some of my boys at Jenks Lake

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Nathan

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Benjamin (now 9 months!)

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Grandpa Marcroft, Danny, Great Grandma, Nathan and Sammy

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Sam was so excited—we put a hitch on his bike so that he could pull Benny too!


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My balloon loving Danny-boy!

Monday, August 20, 2012

C’mon everybody it’s Family Night!

One of our goals this year was to have FHE more often! So far we haven’t been perfect but we’re doing a lot better! The boys look forward to it and I love the site, A Year of FHE, which has great lessons and printables so you can search for a lesson (or just do her weekly lesson) print and go! They come with a scripture, song and everything you need!

Here are two quotes that I found that I like about FHE and why it is so important to us…

"We call upon parents to devote their best efforts to the teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles which will keep them close to the Church. The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality can take its place or fulfill its essential functions in carrying forward this God-given responsibility. We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities."  (First Presidency letter, 11 February 1999 - Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, and James E. Faust, emphasis added)

"Family home evenings should be scheduled once a week as a time for discussions of gospel principles, recreation, work projects, skits, songs around the piano, games, special refreshments, and family prayers. Like iron links in a chain, this practice will bind a family together, in love, pride, tradition, strength, and loyalty."  (Salvation; A Family Affair, Ensign, July 1992, p. 4 - President Ezra Taft Benson, emphasis added)

Here are a few pictures from our lesson tonight on each of us being a special spirit son/daughter of God. I thought it might help with some of the issues we’ve been having with the boys lately! They definitely loved it. We modified it and cut out the cutting/gluing and had them circle what they liked (to save time, it was late when we started) but it was still fun!

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I really loved Nathan’s little person. I think that it is the first time he’s drawn a person. He always has me draw things for him. I told him that he needed to do it and that he could…just draw a circle, and then eyes and then he took it from there. Cute eh? :) Happy Family Night!

p.s. Don’t forget to head to A Year of FHE and find a lesson today! You’ll love it!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Another breath-holder?

Really? Another one?TheBoys_August2012_ 343

Today I had a scary thing happen while Thad was gone, thankfully, we know what it is since Nathan did (and does this still if he gets REALLY hurt) so I was a little more calm but I am still not ready for it.

I was in the living room picking up and the boys were in their room playing. The little Legos were up so I thought it was “safe” in their room for the baby to be crawling/playing with them around the corner from me. All of a sudden I hear Benjamin screaming so I run in to see him turning blue. I assume he’s found something and is choking so I try to get something out but there isn’t anything then he passes out and I am screaming (Nathan and Danny who are arguing over something and have no idea what is going on-ugh!) when I realize that he’s still breathing shallowly and that he’s not choking but involuntarily holding his breath. Then I start screaming (I know :( ) at the boys to see who hurt him or took something from him. That is how Nate’s incident originally occurred—I took away a skateboard from him (he was about 14 months old and not big enough to ride a skateboard) and he got really upset. I didn’t call 911 this time since they taught me what to look for when this happens so that I can make sure that they’re still breathing. Soon after I realized what had actually happened (meaning not choking) Benjamin “woke” up and started breathing a little better and just rested in my arms for a few minutes until he felt better...

So life is going to be exciting since now I have TWO that do this. He has been showing signs (similar to how Nate reacts when he gets hurt or really angry) and I was thinking that he might have breath holding spells but I was hoping I was wrong. At least I know what usually triggers them, how to help them (slap their face gently, blow in their face, splash water on their face; anything to try to “break” them out of the cycle) and most importantly I know to run to them and either hold them or sit/lay them down so that if they do pass out they don’t get injured when they fall.

TheBoys_August2012_ 328Things like this definitely remind me to hold them a little longer and cherish them a little bit more each moment that I can…

p.s. Here he is on a happier morning in one of his favorite places—water!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Happy 8th Birthday Marcroft Family!

FamilyBdayYesterday was a very nice day! It was our wedding anniversary (which we started including the kids on two years ago) so we celebrated our 8th family birthday! When Thad came home from work he asked the boys where they wanted to go to celebrate and they said, “YOGURTLAND!” and so we went, before dinner mind you! We each enjoyed our own yogurt (a definite splurge there since we usually share!) and then stopped and picked up a Redbox for Mom/Dad’s cheap date night in, made some quick but yummy tostadas for our post dessert dinner, had FHE and put the kiddos in bed.

Thad and I enjoyed a super funny movie, This Means War, and I think that we haven’t laughed so hard since we watched Get Smart. It was definitely worth $1.31! We ate yummy chocolate covered almonds from Costco, real popcorn, Klondike bars (on sale at Stater Bros for $1.97 this week!) and snuggled on the couch making a perfect and cheap date night.

ThadAllieIt seems like only yesterday we were two teenagers who loved going to church dances…we’ve known each other about half of our lifetimes now even though we’ve only been married eight years it is hard to imagine life without him (or the boys). Enough mushiness though I have dishes to do, clothes to wash and boys to chase.

Happy Family Birthday to our little family. And Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart!


p.s. There are a bunch of old pictures here if you like that kind of stuff!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie (or frozen chocolate popsicles!)

TheBoys_August2012_ 106I am still licking my lips from the chocolate peanut butter smoothie/shake that was left over after I sacrificed my time to make for one Thaddeus and his young helper who were suffering through the heat outside. I made a double batch and froze half in some little popsicle molds I got at the grocery store (even if I do have my eye on this set or this set on at Amazon…maybe one day) gave some to the boys and had a small cup for myself. Then I thought to myself…yum…and then, hey, others should know about this recipe! And that it freezes nicely too (if you’re a Fudgesicle fan you’ll love these!) So here it goes:

I adapted the recipe to our liking but found the original here at Musings of a Housewife

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup plain yogurt (vanilla works too!)
  • 2 Tbs. peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup milk (coconut, regular milk or almond milk)
  • 2 frozen bananas, cut into large chunks (or you could use one banana and ice to your liking ~ 8 ice cubes; with two bananas you can definitely taste the banana but if you’re not a banana lover stick to more ice and less banana!)
  • 2 slightly rounded tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 3 tsp sugar (or you can be healthier and use maple syrup or raw honey or agave)

Instructions:

  1. Toss all the ingredients into your blender.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Serve immediately.
  4. To make popsicles pour into mold, freeze and enjoy!

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p.s. this picture actually shows some fruity popsicle concoction since I keep forgetting to take finished pictures of the chocolate pops! :)

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Summer Fun: OC Fair 2012

It’s Daddy’s birthday today but since he’s at Boy Scout Camp we had some fun without him! Grandma and Grandpa Driggs have been helping us stay busy to help make the time pass more quickly and they invited us to go to the Orange County Fair today.

Growing up my mom and dad would always take us to the fair and so when it’s fair time there is something inside of me just aching to go! We went on “We Care Wednesday” and got a ticket in and a carnival ride for the cost of one $5 school item. What a great deal! And, we helped out some school kids somewhere! And Sam did the Read and Ride and got three free rides too (for kids 5-12) with his book report.

The boys were really excited and although we looked through the shopping areas first (it is always neat to see what people have come up with) we did some fun stuff afterwards. We saw a bunch of animals, the pig races, rode horses, rock climbed, rode the sky rail and a few other rides. We stayed until it got dark and by the time we walked out it was 9 pm and we were all pooped. We grabbed some food on the way home and everyone but Sammy passed out quickly (I think that he was still too excited about the fair, rock climbing “for real” and just a super fun day).

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for letting us go with you—you made our day! In Sammy’s words, “it was incredibly awesome!”

Enjoy the photos!

Grandma and her Buddy!

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Danny on the balloon ride! :)

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Rock Climbing! They got scared and a bit tired a little further up but they still loved it!

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Happy, happy Benjamin!

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Grandpa on stroller duty!

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Riding across the park on the Sky Rail

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Danny didn’t stop smiling the whole time he was riding!

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If you want to see more pictures click below!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Mini Vacation: Palm Springs :)

TheBoys_July2012_ 360Grandma and Grandpa invited us out for a couple days to stay with them in a condo and we said sure! Daddy had to stay and work but the boys and I went happily. I was a little worried about the weather since it gets so hot there but I figured that we could stay in with the air on if all else failed, but it didn’t! The locals didn’t seem to like the weather too much but it was perfect for us! It was cloudy and rained both days in the late afternoon but the clouds made it bearable, not too sunny and gave a little breeze.

When we got there Grandpa asked Sammy what he wanted to do and he told Grandpa, “swim all day long” and that is what we did for two days straight (as well as the last morning before we had to drive home). We only took time off to put more sunscreen on and eat (and the little guys had naps!)

I did get brave on the way home and we stopped to see the giant dinosaurs in Cabazon and the Air Museum at March Air Force Base. The boys were exhausted but they had a blast!

Thanks G&G for inviting us on your little mini vacation! The boys are sure lucky to have you so close! They really love spending time with you!

Enjoy the pictures!

Pics in Palm Springs

I felt like we were in the pool more than in the house!

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Nate on his “raft”

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Sammy using pool noodles to spray water-fun!

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Silly Danny

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Grandma & Benjamin

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Brothers!

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Playing in the cool afternoon air

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Family pictures at Cabazon

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Pictures at March Air Force Base Air Museum

Nathan and his sunbrella!

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All of us in front of one of the giant planes there!

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Danny loved the planes, and the tires. This one spun!

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I gave Sam the camera and he got lots of nice shots!

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Smiling Benny Boy!

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Sammy by the missiles (I think!)

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