First of many ocean trips

We went out to Morreau Bay to see the ocean the first full day there. Vaughn was just so excited to go to the beach. In his mind going to the beach meant swimming and although it was much nicer in CA than MN it definitely was not swimming weather but that didn't stop Bercan and Vaughn. Torin on the other hand was too busy exploring the rocks/caves/sea animals to bother with getting wet :)

We climbed to the top of the rocks. A little scary as the

rocks were wet and slippery and behind us was ocean

and waves crashing into the rocks. I made Torin

a little nervous with getting closer than he wanted me to :)

Big man made it to the top...

The boys exploring...

Love that Vaughn has his shirt on backwards this is

not unusual for him. And of course his swimming suit :)

One would think for how wet this baby is that he would

anything from happy but he was happy as could be

with digging in the sand and running through the water.

Trying to climb the rocks to keep up with his brothers.

Trying to keep him a little dry. Not sure why I was

even trying as he was about soaking wet at

that point anyway.

Just love this picture of the three of these boys :)

Christmas Memories 2011

This year I decided that I thought it would be important to teach our children that Christmas is not all about presents. I absolutely get sick to think how much people spend on presents and the fact that beyond the actual morning of Christmas kids typically forget what they got anyway. Maybe it was because we didn't get a ton at Christmas as kids but there are only a few things that really stick out in my memory. Getting the Sony playstation which was the one gift that all three of us kids got as our only present and when I got the real cabbage patch kid as I had gotten what I termed "the fake one" the year prior. But really beyond that I cannot pin point what I got for Christmas as a kid.

The only Christmas that I will NEVER forget as a kid was when my parents took us to Mexico for Christmas. Christmas morning there was not a tree of presents to be found, or the craziness of wrapping paper being torn into, no new toys to play with BUT we had our family all together for 7 days of fun in Mexico. We spent quality time together, visited places we had never been before, got to learn about a culture beyond our happy little American one and it was awesome! Why they never did it more than that time I don't know but they are memories that I will never forget.

So Bjorn and I decided that we would take the family to California in lieu of presents. It was our memories versus materials plan. I gave up my birthday gifts as well to make it possible to do this. Bjorn and I did not exchange presents and we did not buy any for the kids. Because the kids still SO believe in Santa we got them a small gift each from Santa. The kids had no idea about California as we decided to keep it a surprise. Bjorn has an Aunt and Uncle and I have cousins there that we don't get to see alot. Thus we arranged to stay with them and make it a little extended family trip as well.

We had everything packed and ready to go. Started to get the kids up, get them dressed and headed down to breakfast. The funny thing is none of them asked "Why are we getting up?". After all Torin knew that he didn't have school and that Christmas break was starting. They all just followed our lead. As we were eating breakfast, we handed them a gift. We had bought a dog toy to hint as to where we were going even though at this point they had no clue what was going on. Torin and Vaughn ripped into it and Torin says "It's a dog toy." with a puzzled look. At this point Ryan, Bjorn's brother showed up. Now Torin knew something was up.

We said that Ryan just wanted to stop by. They bought it even though Torin was still a little skeptical of that answer. So we said we were going to visit someone that had dogs and thought that they would maybe want to bring that with. They started guessing people in town. So we showed them a picture of Louise and Perry's dogs. Torin says...."That's Auntie Louise's dogs." And right after he said it out loud it clicked to where we were going "WE'RE GOING TO CALIFORNIA" he yelled. We said yep and both the boys started going crazy. They were so excited. Torin asked when and I said "Well we need to leave in about 5 minutes." He was so shocked he didn't know what to do. "Mom, I have to pack", "It's done Torin. Your bag is packed in the car.", "Did you get my Shawn White shirt? My DS, my Pokeman cards...I have to show Gavin my Pokeman cards Mom." He went on and on and thankfully I had thought of everything that he mentioned so we were good to go. The boys jumped into the van with smiles as big as I had ever seen them and we were off to the airport.

The boys did great on vacation and we got a ton of quality time in along with seeing family and making a ton of great memories. After all it is pretty rare in MN to be able to go for hike on Christmas day :) Torin had really wanted a Wii for Christmas and when we were in the airport on our way home from the trip I asked "Torin wasn't this trip better than any Wii." Torin said that was a tough question that he would have to think about and to ask him again later. About an hour later he asked me "Mom ask me that really hard question again." So I asked him and his response was "It really was better. Because we got to be together the entire time. I got to see Auntie Louise, Uncle Perry, Gavin, Dylan and their Mom and Dad. We got to go hiking, to the ocean, see the elephant seals, the aquarium, see glass being blown, geocaching, eating at that really fun restaurant, the skate park and just be together. That was better than any Wii. Thank you so much Mom for taking us on this trip!"

That response was of course the one that I was looking for but when I actually heard it, it melted my heart because I knew that this was something that he was never going to forget. These memories that were made were ones that were going to last a lifetime. To me that is priceless and something that no material thing could replace.

We decided that every other year we are going to do the memories versus materials. Bjorn and I have already starting plotting out the next SURPRISE :) The next few posts will show the pictures from the trip. I hope you enjoy them all :)

Berc...

It's crazy to me just how quick this little boy is growing up. It so much sadder this time round as I know that he is our last. I want to cherish every moment with him but with two older ones demanding time and attention and those other things in life like work just get in the way. I will say that when I am with him, I feel like I am REALLY with him probably more than I was with the other two. Here are just some fun pics of my little Berc...

Just being his cute self :)

He's such a combination of the boys at this age.
It will be interesting to see who he tends to look like
more in the years to come.

He definitely loves his Daddy..mustache and all :)

I love the way that he is looking at Bjorn in this picture...

Lots and lots and lots of snow

Why I actually live here in MN sometimes suprises me? I really don't like the snow or cold at all. Each year that I get older my tolerance for it decreases dramatically. I actually begged Bjorn this year for us to move but unfortunately because of the housing market we are here to stay, at least for now.

Even thought I loathe this winter weather my children are far from sharing the same opinions on it. Little Bercan is by far the craziest snow/cold weather lover I have ever met at his age yet. We had about 17 inches of snow and it was cold. Single digits, negative with windchills and when I finally brought him in because his cheeks were red he threw a tantrum. Oh well he was coming in with Mama.

Here are some pictures to show just how much snow that we got...

My little snow monster....
As you can see the bank of snow is almost was high as Bjorn.

Mailboxes snowed in :)

Nose Picker

Out of the blue last night Torin informs me that he knows two people that have NEVER picked their noses. Interesting that this is what he wants to tell me while snuggling in bed. I bite and asked who these two peopl are, "God and Jesus".

I asked how he knows that they NEVER have picked their noses. Curious as to where his logic is coming from, "Because they would have choose the wise choice to use a kleenex." Hmmm, interesting point. I let him have that one, kiss him good night and tell him thanks for the point of clarification :) What a funny little man!!!

Reflecting on Tor's Doc Appointment

Last week Torin woke up saying that he was having a hard time breathing. His wheezing confirmed his statement thus I made the appointment to take him. Mind you that Torin hasn't been to the doctor for being sick since Kindergarten and before that it was really only for wellness checks. Thus my doctor appointments for Torin have been more check ups then trying to figure out what sickness he might have. Seriously, he never has even had an ear infection. He's a pretty healthy kiddo.

We got into the room and the doctor started to ask HIM questions. How do you feel Torin? Where does it hurt Torin? It seemed odd at first why wasn't she asking ME those questions. I'm the Mom. Well, it's because he's almost 8 and can talk for himself. I felt so out of place almost in a surreal world. Was my baby that big that he could articulate the symptoms that he was feeling? Yep, he was. He explained in detail when it started, how it felt and where it hurt the most. It was cute and hard all at the same time.

I was proud that he could do this but also a little sad. I felt a little not needed which as a Mom does not feel good. Unfortunately, the big guy had croup. The first of any of my boys which is kind of interesting since it was my almost 8 year old that was the first to get it.

I know that these situations will be more frequent then less as the years go on but it doesn't mean that I have to love every second of them. I feel blessed that he is able to do this and will reflect on that versus the growing up-not-needing-Mom-as-much part of it :)

An Afternoon with Vaughn

Well today I took some time for Vaughn. He has asked a couple of times if I could come to his class and after a very long month of being gone evenings to help with a benefit for a friend of mine I decided that we both needed this.

When I told him that I was going to be coming to his school with him he was so excited. On the way there, he asked me if I had to go to the bathroom. Odd I thought but when I told him that I didn't. He explained to me if I did that the bathrooms were right outside his classroom. Here are the other details that he provided.

1. Mom if you have to wash your hands our sink at school comes out like a shower. You don't have to stand on the step though cause you are tall enough.

2. If you get hungry I think that there are some Craisins on the counter that you can have. (When I told the teacher about this she said that she had brought some in last week ;)

3. At circle time if I wanted to sit on his square with him I could.

This was all on the 5 minute drive to his school. I guess my little man is just trying to make sure that I have a good first day at school with him.

It was a ton of fun to see him in his element and just to get to be with him. I received many hugs and kisses throughout the couple of hours and I have to say that it was the best couple hours of my day :)