first job

I'm sitting here trying to think back to my very first job.  I'm sure it was probably babysitting.  There were other "winner" jobs I had growing up, like cleaning the guy's house across the street who was single (I still remember what a mess that place was!), being a pooper-scooper at Raging Waters in California one summer, and being one of those demonstrators at Sam's Club in Ca. another summer (but they were the BEST cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing to die for, so it wasn't too bad).  At least I was making more than $2.75 an hour scooping ice cream at Baskin Robins, which is what my best friend made when she worked there in high school.  Ok, enough of the nostalgia.

We were in California earlier this month, and we had taken the trailer down with us to haul a table for my brother.  We had to bring the trailer back home, so we decided to fill it with fresh picked oranges from a neighbor near my parents, who has an orange orchard in the back of their house.  Since there is no possible way to eat so many oranges ourselves, we decided the boys could help in the process and earn some money while they were at it.  Their very first job.  

They were amazing all along in the process.  We all spent an afternoon picking the oranges,  

and then Ben and Jake (Will had a hard time getting into this project) came back and started selling them.  First we washed every single orange, Ben made a flyer to put on people's doors with times they would be out selling them, and then they went around the neighborhood to pass out the flyers and sell a few while they were at it.  

These guys were pretty ambitious, and kept with it...most of the time.   Olivia and Janae were Jake's second customers at the orange stand set up in our driveway--I missed getting a picture of his first customer, Sharon, and her cute little granddaughters.  

The weather didn't really cooperate with the boys and their orange stand.  Between the rain, wind, and just plain freezing cold, they had it all that week they were selling, and spent lots of time in the garage, reading Calvin and Hobbes.  

It's funny when things come full-circle.  This orange crate belonged to my grandpa who, way back in the day, used to work for an orange company in California.  Funny how it all comes around. 

In the end, they learned a lot about working, and made some money while they were at it.  I am very proud of them for enduring all that they did, even for just a few dollars on some days.  Their motivation for earning money--Legos, what else?!  They are saving up for the Death Star.  However, Ben and Jake did take some of their "orange money" to spend at the bake sale they had at school to help those in Japan who were affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and they didn't even blink about it.  Good for them. 

treasure everywhere

   The subject of Calvin and Hobbes comes up on a regular basis around here, since the boys (and me too!) are completely obsessed with all the C&H comic books we have.  Last night I was sitting on Ben's bed, tickling his back as we were talking, and the subject of C&H came up again.  Ben started getting all philosophical on me and was talking about how "there is treasure everywhere" you look.  He was going for the deeper meaning of this phrase, so I asked him what one of his treasures were.  His reply?  "Milk is one of my treasures."  He went on a little about other things, school, etc., and then he said, "But my best treasures are you and Dad and Will and Jake."  Awwww.  How cute is that?  Thank you Calvin.  (Seriously wishing we would have named one of our boys that, but which one?!)  

And right back at him, this kid is a treasure and one of the funnest kids ever to have around.  He can find "treasure" in anything he does, from Legos to a toy car to a piece of paper and pencil to any object he can get his hands on.  Not including Jake. :)  He teaches me all the time to keep an eye out for treasures everywhere I go.  

P.s. Picture of Ben above after his "funnest night EVER" at the late-night science lollapalooza at school last month.  His favorite parts--"running down the halls, the scavenger hunt, making lava lamps, and the disco ball in the gym."  

two hours

Two hours.

Just two hours into this round of Will being off-track from school, and check him out.

It looks harmless enough--a tub with bubbles, right?  Who doesn't love that.  

It wasn't until a while later that I figured out the source of the bubbles.  It's that green bottle in the bottom right corner of the picture--shampoo!  I'm here to tell you, they make huge bubbles and it takes, like, all day for shampoo bubbles to disappear, and they leave a gross white film all over everything. 

The other half of the equation that makes this a pain in the rear is the balloon factor.  The boys have discovered how fun balloons can be in the tub...until they pop and go down the drain, which makes the water take FOREVER to drain out.  This happened the day before, and I thought it would be ok for Will to still get in, but you add in the very soapy water and the bubbles that took all day to disappear, and it was a pain.  Needless to say, balloons are forever banned in the tub!  Fortunately, the rest of this week hasn't been as eventful--just a lot of Lego playing and video games.  And at least it wasn't a house-full of crushed up styrofoam peanuts! 

spring break '11

Since when does Spring Break start on February 25?!  Well, for Ben and Jake it did, and we tried to make the most of our time.  They get 2 weeks off from school because it's the end of the term, and we usually go to California for most of that time, but because Will was still in school we scaled it down to one week.  Daren was gone to Mexico the first week they were off.  We really had a fun time together, but it was really hard for Will to get excited to go to school each day when he knew his brothers were home.  

We made it up to him one day by going in to Will's school and helping out for a while by taping books together that the first graders read.  Most of the books are 30ish years old and need some TLC, so we tried to help out a bit.  We barely made a dent in it, but at least we helped out a little.  Jake was in charge of finding the books while Ben and I taped the books together.  After that, we went to lunch with Will so the boys could see what Will's school was like. 

There was a lot of reading time during the week too.  The weather was nice, so they would take out some books, snacks, pillows, blankets, and read on the trampoline.

By the end of the week it was time to load up the trailer with a table that was going from my sister, Brenda, here in Utah to my brother, Eric, in California.  As you can see, we chose comfort over style by taking the van.  Not that the van isn't stylish, but you know what I mean...

Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast, finished loading up and headed out to Vegas, where we were going to meet up with Daren.  When there aren't movies to keep the boys entertained, they find their own entertainment.  Jake got a hold of my phone and took pictures galore.  I did get a picture of Jake sitting in the front seat with his arms stretched as far as they could go so he could be the "first one in Las Vegas." 

Jake has a hard time going to sleep at night most of the time.  Daren was so tired from his motorcycle trip that he crashed early and hard that night.  Daren also snores a bit, and when Jake couldn't go to sleep because of Daren's snoring, he tried to come up with his own plan to block out the noise.  I was having so much fun with my phone camera I didn't want to pull out my big ol' DSLR, so all of these pictures have been from my phone.  But eventually I got back into it.

On Sunday we drove the rest of the way to Gpa and Gma Airplane's house.  Gma Waterwheel was there too, and we all ate lunch together.  Will was so excited to read The Monster at the End of This Book to anyone who would listen, and Gma Waterwheel was kind enough to sit with him for a few.  

Ben is a very streaky eater like me...he gets into something for a while until he's eaten so much he can't stand it anymore.  His latest craving--peanut butter.  While reading a book, of course. 

Monday was California Adventure with Gpa and Gma.  It's been a couple years since we have been here, so the boys were really looking forward to it.  On our way there, Will made the comment that he was NOT going on the Tower of Terror because he just did not "want it to mess up my hair."  Gma laughed so hard I thought she might pass out!  It was only around 60 degrees that day, so we were in jackets most of the time.  

Someone had to stay out of the water to take pictures, right?! 

Gpa was a good sport going on the bumper car ride with Jake, while Gma was a good sport going on two rides she never thought she would--California Screamin' and Tower of Terror.  It wasn't until we got to the front of the line, just about to board on California Screamin' when she found out it went upside down!!  She was a trooper and still went.  First and last time, I think!  But she did it, and here are the pictures to prove it.  

We ran into some school friends that night, and then went to see the new water light show.  It was just ok.

Tuesday we went to Mt. Baldy to see Gma Waterwheel.  Daren and the boys went out for 2+ hours hiking/exploring around in the mountains while Gma and I sat and got to visit with each other.  It was so much fun for me, and for the boys.  She is still going strong at 90!  

Wednesday was back to Anaheim for Disneyland, this time without Gpa and Gma.  It was a perfect day, close to 80 degrees, and  NO LINES.  I kid you not, we basically walked on every ride with little or no wait.  We rode Thunder Mountain 3 times in a row because we could get right back on.  However, my stomach was  a bit queasy after the third time, so Will and I went to the Nemo Submarine ride to settle me down.  The first ride of the day, besides the train, was Indiana Jones.  This was something Will had been looking forward to for years, and he wore his Skechers just to make sure he was tall enough, but...he HATED it!!  He kept his head down the entire ride.  He had something going this time where every ride scared him, poor guy!

Will holding onto Daren for dear life in the Haunted House

Thunder Mountain, third time!!

Thursday was pretty low-key. We went out that afternoon to see the movie Rango, 

but the boys spent the majority of their day putting together...

The Lego Star Wars AT-AT.  This is a new phase we have entered, one which I had hoped we could just skip.  Lego has got a market in Star Wars like nothing else, and something clicked recently for my boys that got them into it, and now they can't get enough.  Ugh--and of course they are the most expensive Legos out there!!  

Friday afternoon we went to see my brother, Eric, and his family, and they just recently moved into a new house...with a beautiful pool!  The boys were in heaven--a pool party and pizza for dinner and a whole bunch of cousins to play with; it just doesn't get any better. 

Of course I forgot the boys' swimsuits so they had to make do with what they had on.  The slide was a bit rough on Ben's shorts, which were old anyway. 

After days and days of exploring and playing outside, these guys were just worn out.  

Saturday morning it was time to say goodbye. :(   We had such a great time--thank you Gpa and Gma!!  

When we were back on the road again, I was back to my phone pictures again.  The best thing about driving the van is there is extra room for all to move around, and Jake has claimed the back row of seats for him.  On our way home he built this "security system" *ahem, barricade* so that nobody could disturb him.  Even better?  He couldn't disturb/bug/pester anyone else, namely Ben.  It was AWESOME!  

Favorite game of the trip--Angry Birds on Daren's smart phone.  

Life saver on the trip--all the Calvin and Hobbes books we brought.

All the pictures and memories on the trip--priceless!