Weak Wiggle

Each one of my children has been obsessed with the Wiggles. It is the one show that allows me to get ready, do the dishes, put on some makeup, etc. So just to reiterate... I have been watching the Wiggles non-stop for 7 years now.

I have actually come to somewhat enjoy watching them progress throughout the years (I'm a fan of the newer stuff with Sam), although I have really learned to just tune them out. The parts that I cannot seem to tune out, however, are the times when Jeff is on.
Let's learn a little about Jeff: he's the purple wiggle... he plays the keyboard and accordion... his shtick is that he has narcolepsy "WAKE UP JEFF"... his other shtick is that he is not very good.

He really can't sing, dance or act. He can play the keyboard pretty well, but please don't try to combine that with dancing or singing cause it just doesn't seem to work. You know how some people shouldn't be doctors cause they can't stand the sight of blood, or how some people shouldn't be kindergarten teachers cause they don't like kids? Well, Jeff shouldn't be a Wiggle because he isn't very good at wiggling.

I just reread what I wrote above and I sound really rude. I think I am just venting 7 years of frustration of watching a mediocre purple wiggle make multi-millions of dollars. I guess what I am ultimately saying is: I am jealous and secretly wish I was the mediocre purple wiggle singing and dancing making a fortune in the process. Nonetheless, I will be viewing Jeff (along with Murray, Anthony and Sam) until my kids are old enough to finally turn it off themselves.

Venting session over.

Hyatt Hide-a-way

Over Valentine's Day weekend, we decided to do one of our very favorite things... go on a family staycation. We drove down to San Diego, got a killer rate in one of our favorite SD hotels (Manchester Hyatt), and spent the next couple of days hanging out. Here are some of the happenings of our weekend in San Diego:

We went swimming in the pool (I hope Spencer will someday forgive us for letting him swim in public with bright pink Barbie floaties on... stinks to be the third).

Spencer screamed throughout the lobby (good acoustics!) like he owned the place

We went on family adventures

We rode the carousel

We waited in line (forever) to get the kids a "character balloon". The guy was pretty good. Dallin chose a basketball player (he has a one-track mind), Claire chose Ariel (so does she), and I chose Blue from Blue's Clues for Spencer. I thought he would really like it until he took it and let it go swimming in the fountain. Afterwords, he bit the balloon until all of Blue's limbs had been destroyed. Three bucks down the drain (or in the fountain).

Spencer loved running (really fast)

The kids rode their scooters all over Seaport Village

We played on the escalators (a Waldron family favorite)

We also loved watching the Olympics in our room, ordering room service, shopping in the little shops, going to the candy store, staying up late, playing basketball in our room (Dallin brought his "door hoop") and hanging out as a fam.

We are so glad to have San Diego as such a close neighbor.

Extemporaneous Evening

At 4:00 on a Friday evening (March 12), we were at the park swinging on the swings with no preconcieved ideas of what to do for dinner or anything else that evening. Within 1 hour, Peter came home, we grabbed the backpack and stroller and were headed for Disneyland... isn't that great?! I love spontenaity... even if it does involve a demanding van full of children.

We had a fun night together riding a few rides (it was pretty darn crowded), eating yummy corn dogs for dinner, watching the beautiful fireworks display and finally getting to ride some of the big-kid rides with Daddy. Claire has been super-anxious to ride the Matterhorn with Peter, and just as Disney seems to promise... dreams really do come true.

Here are the highlights of our spontaneous family outing:
-Spencer screaming on Pirates of the Caribbean (out of fear, not joy)
-Spencer just wanting to run through the crowds of people
-Claire playing 20 questions with me while Peter and Dallin rode Thunder Mountain
-Dallin being the best big brother helper
-the boys running up and down a brick ramp and having a blast (why did we drive to Disneyland?)
-Peter making fun of my Disney knowledge
-watching the fireworks
-walking all the way back to the parking garage to avoid the tram lines at midnight
-getting home at 1:30 in the morning... we are still recovering.

Hooray for spontaneity and hooray for precious family time!

Toothless Tyke

We have been wiggling Dallin's bottom 2 teeth for months now... it has become a regular part of our nightly tooth brushing routine. The other day, we noticed that Dallin had 3 teeth on the bottom... an extra friend decided to pop up behind one of his baby teeth. It was a little weird... he looked like a shark (which he thought was cool).

We made an appointment at the dentist and Dallin was so excited to pull a prank. He was escorted back to his chair, where he sneakily put in some yucky fake teeth that Uncle Scott and Aunt Sara gave to him for Christmas. The dental assistant asked him to open up when he quickly discovered some nasty looking buck teeth. He he he. Needless to say, his bottom 2 teeth were yanked to give his peek-a-boo tooth a good place to call home.

SO, not only did St. Patrick come and leave presents yesterday for St. Patty's Day, the tooth fairy also made a visit and sprinkled Dallin with some heavy money (10 BUCKS!!!).

When Peter toots, he says that it's weakness leaving the body :). If this is the case, then Dallin losing baby teeth is most definitely "baby" leaving the body... he is growing up so fast.

We love our toothless wonder!

Future Florist

Claire's latest hobby is picking flowers (and yes, we have had many talks about not picking flowers from neighbor's yards... the church... Disneyland... the grocery store...). I have given her free reign of our yard however, to encourage her love of floral arranging. She actually does have an eye for beauty. The other day, she came to me with this beautiful bouquet (she pretends she's getting married first, then puts the bouquet in a vase). The combination of flowers was quite stunning. I see a future...

Bisected Birthday

Those of you who know us, know that we love our half-birthdays. Today is Spencer's half-birthday... and not only is he 1 1/2, he is officially a legal nursery participant!!! Woot woot! We have been illegal in our nursery for about 3 months, but I can now be dismissed by the nursery leader and feel good about it. Spencer loves nursery and it has seriously been the easiest transition ever.

For his half-birthday, he threw dirt in the backyard, ran around naked, climbed all over the place (not naked), and did all the funny things that Spencer likes to do. I made him his favorite lunch (mac & cheese), and one of his favorite chicken dinners. For his birthday dessert, Dallin, Claire and I made some fabulous rainbow cupcakes...They took quite awhile to make, but the end result was awesome. We could tell Spencer was grateful (and so were the rest of us!).Happy Half-Birthday sweet Spencer!

Haiti Help

The earthquake in Haiti happened almost two months ago. This tragedy was heart-breaking for everyone... I think we have all felt helpless. My sweet husband has most definitely felt that heart-break because he served his mission in Haiti. He truly loves the Haitian people and has many dear friends who still live there. One of those dear friends is Fritzner, a former mission companion. He and his sweet wife Carole run an orphanage in Haiti with 24 kids. After the devistating quake, they were taking care of 85 kids. Their struggle is impossible for us to understand... it is heartbreaking and yet they are full of hope and optimism. We have wondered on a daily basis what we can do to help.Here is where my sweet 7 year old steps in. A couple of days after the earthquake, Dallin watched the news with us. He saw the devistation, the death, the sadness, and he sweetly felt for their pain. With tears in his eyes, he looked at me and asked "what do I do?". I told him to think about it. As I tucked him into bed later on that night, his response was that he wanted to raise money for Fritzner's orphanage. The next week, he had made flyers, put out a bucket in his elementary school, and money envelopes at his previously attended preschool. The fundraising went on for a couple of weeks and in the end, my kind-hearted son raised almost $900. He has inspired me to be better.
Here is the letter that Dallin wrote to help raise funds at both schools:

Helping Hands for Haiti

The earthquake that happened last week in Haiti makes me sad.

I was watching the news with my parents, and I decided that I wanted to help.

My Dad served a 2 year mission in Haiti, has many good friends there and will be going there soon to help translate and rebuild his friend’s orphanage.

Fritzner and Carole’s orphanage used to have 24 kids and now has 85 because of the earthquake... they need our help and I KNOW we can help.

I went into my room, grabbed my piggy bank and decided to donate my money to these kids… I hope you will do the same.

It will make your heart feel good.

My Dad will take the money we earn with him to Haiti and give it to the orphans… from our hands to theirs.

Thank you, Dallin Waldron – NVES 1^st grader

At Friday morning lineup, Dallin was recognized in front of the whole school for his efforts. Peter thanked the kids for their donations and shared some phrases of gratitude in Haitian-Creole. Dallin smiled ear to ear. They were given the bucket filled with money (as well as some sweet notes).
Peter and I will be heading to Haiti in April. What a joy it will be to hand the money that was donated by the hands of children in Southern California to the hands of the sweet orphan children in Haiti.

Love Letter

Here are the cute lollipop flowers Claire made for her friends
for Valentines Day...

Happy (belated) Valentines Day!
Love, Claire

Cavaness Cousins

A couple of weeks into January, we met up with my darling cousin Annette and her just as darling family at Disneyland. We had such a great time! They are such a positive, uplifting and full-of-life family (great people to be with at Disneyland!). They have 3 kids the same ages and genders as ours... as one might imagine, they all had SO much fun talking, playing and riding rides together... I really wish they lived closer (Germany is way too far away).
Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures, but I did capture the girls. Claire and Eva held hands while jibber-jabbering in the lines. They were insta-friends. Emma (another cousin there to help) was also a joy to be with. I didn't get any pictures of the boys because they took off. Joe escaped with Dallin and Diego to go on the big boy rides... Dallin's dream. He was SO happy that he didn't have to ride Winnie the Pooh at all that day.

It was a great escape for all of us and I hope the Cavaness family comes to visit again soon!

Allegiance Anchor

Here is how Dallin became famous yesterday
(at least at his elementary school):

They had a lot of technical difficulties, cut Dallin off in the middle of the pledge at one point, didn't have sound another time and then they finally got the system to work. I was amazed at his poise after all of that.

Here is Dallin waiting for the technical difficulties to be fixed...

The background story of how he was chosen to lead the pledges goes like this: "Abraham Lincoln" came and spoke at Dallin's school last week. Dallin's teacher noticed that her class was getting fidgety... all except for Dallin. She says he was enthralled. In fact, Dallin came home and told me how amazing Abraham was (I later found out that he was quite boring). Apparently Dallin has a love of American history (the other day, he told me that he desperately wanted to go to Philadelphia. I thought it was so he could go to a 76ers game, but he quickly informed me it was so he could see the Liberty Bell. He is also dreaming of Washington D.C.).

SO... Dallin's teacher auditioned a few kids in the class to do the Pledge of Allegiance and he was chosen because of his deep interest and love of history. How grateful I am for teachers who notice what kids are good at and love, and then help foster and build upon it. It was a good morning for Dallin.