Timmy

Hey all, a quick Timmy update.

Day one of potty training was not very successful. 2 or 3 wet shorts, no pee pee in the toilet. This morning, however, he did successfully make it in the toilet, so some progress is being made! The other news update is that Cyndie took Tim to the doctor yesterday because he has been just acting off and complaining that his mouth hurts. It turns out he has a form of herpes which is pretty common amongst young kids and gives them painful mouth sores. There is no treatment other than to let it run its course, usually about ten days. We think we're at least 5 - 7 days in, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Post Father's Day Post

Hey all, I hope a nice Father's Day was had by fathers and families alike!

We had a nice weekend together out here. Friday I worked at home. We did some work on the jacuzzi (still no power, but moving along slowly but surely). Saturday Cyndie went to have breakfast with her dad and grandma (and Jon was there too). The kids and I stayed at home. After a walk to the donut store to get donuts, I tried to upgrade Emma's curtains (to be darker ... I'm sewing some blackout material on the back of them), but ran into some problems with the sewing machine, so that was a bit frusterating. After quiet time, we went to a graduation party for a girl from church (I play in the worship team with her), and then went directly to the 50th anniversary celebration for Fountain Valley. We went with our small group. A couple of the guys had went and bought Thai food for the whole group, so we enjoyed that while we watched a concert (in the park). We left about 7:30 as the kids were nearing meltdown territory, but the rest of the group stayed until the fireworks at 9. Sunday Cyndie and the kids let me sleep in, then brought me coffee in bed and my Father's Day gift, a "scrapbook" (they made it through Shutterfly, so it was actually a printed piece) of pictures of the family. We had pancakes with sliced strawberries and strawberry puree and bacon. After church, a group of nine guys went down to the race track I've been to a few times to race go-carts while the moms and kids went to Mark and Monique's to make lunch. After the race the guys joined them and we spent the rest of the afternoon eating (too much) and hanging out in and around the pool. It was very relaxing, and the kids love the pool. Timmy didn't get his nap, but was okay. After we got home, we had a little snack, then Emma rode her bike and Timmy scooted over to Jim and Laurie's to have root beer floats with they and their dads. Timmy melted down on the way back, so I ended up carrying him and he fell asleep on my shoulder. He woke up enough when we got home to take a step onto his bed and fall back asleep.

So that was the weekend that was. The big excitement for today is attempt #2 at potty training for Timmy. The plan is to put him in big boy underwear and keep reminding him and see where we end up!

Mid-week goings on ...

It is hump day ...

Today Cyndie and the kids are headed up to Oxnard to visit Jon and Sara. I loaded up Emma's bike and Timmy's scooter this morning, I hear Jon and Sara have some very good riding areas and parks near their house, so I'm sure a good time will be had by all (or at least the kids). Cyndie was planning on taking them over to a friend's house to swim before they left so that they'd be good and tired out.

Last night Cyndie and I did some leveling for the spa patio and put down some underlayment and sand. Today I'm working half a day, and I hope to finish it this afternoon (or at least finish the part on which the jacuzzi will sit. I need to pick up some more sand and the pavers, so that will probably require a few trips to the Lowe's.

That's about it from our end!

Neal

Good morning to all ...

So, what's been up with us ...

The weekend was nice. Friday I worked from home, so that was good, though I started the day with a headache and went back to bed for a couple of hours to try to get rid of it. It was still nice to be able to spend more time with the family. It was also Emma's last day of pre-school. There was a picnic afterwards, and then a boy from school came home with Emma (his dad was having chemo therapy) for the afternoon.

Saturday, Cyndie took the kids over to church to get the truck washed by the youth group kids (raising money for Hume), and then hit the road to go to Rialto for Lee's big work/friends party in conjunction with the big "Run Whatya Brung" car show (where they shut down the road in front of his office to display the cars). The kids liked that. It was nice for Emma and Timmy to be able to ride their bike/scooter and not have to look for cars. They also enjoyed the bounce house and the water slide Lee rented, and, of course, seeing their big cousin Brandon. I stayed home and worked some more on the kitchen. I put up the rest of the decorative doors, some toe kicks, the under cabinet trim, and the door bell. All in all, a productive day's work. On the way home, Timmy threw up a bunch, most likely from the excesive amounts of candy he ate, and the heat of the day. By the time they got home, he was looking pretty chipper again. It was to bed early (after a bath), and then Cyndie and I rented "The Illusionist", which was a pretty good movie.

Sunday was church (I played guitar), then afterward we had a short church business meeting. After quiet time, there was a neighborhood "Fiesta" at the park (decorate cookies and maracas, taco bar, pinata). That was quickly followed by Bible study at church (where the kids can run around and play in the courtyard without having to be baby sat). It was a full day!

Monday was pretty normal. In the evening we took a walk out to Bushard to look at the machines that are working on the road out there (they are replacing the old sewer line under the street with a big 10 foot diameter line). Emma road her bike and Timmy his two wheel scooter. They are both getting very good at their respective two wheelers. Timmy is even more than keeping up with us (getting way ahead, going nearly as fast as Emma). That's fun. We'll have to take more walks like that in the evening. After the kids went to bed, Cyndie and I spent some time working in the side yard. We're getting a used jacuzzi on Thursday, so we were working on getting a foundation ready. Yesterday was getting rid of the grass. Tonight we'll level it and go get sand and pavers at Lowes. Tomorrow I'll put down the pavers and Thursday the thing is delivered.

Tomorrow, Cyndie and the kids are going to drive up to Oxnard to visit Jon and Sara for the night, so they should have a good time with that!

That's it for now,
Neal

Out for a ride ...

Well, day one of Emma riding the bike as a two wheeler turned into a real live bike ride. Cyndie, Timmy, Emma, and I went down to the beach to walk out to Ruby's and have dinner. Emma and I took our bikes and Cyndie and Timmy dropped us off a couple of miles down the beach from the pier. We rode down the beach trail. Emma did really well for that long of a ride. By the time we got there, my butt hurt, but Emma was ready and raring to go. We had a very nice walk out to Ruby's and a good meal. The kids are doing a lot better sitting through dinner. I think we're also getting better about what and how we order too! After dinner, it was pretty windy, so rather than staying to play some at the beach, Cyndie and Tim walked back to get the car and Emma and I rode down a half mile or so to where we could more easily be picked up. Emma had so much energy to ride, that she didn't want to stop. She spent about ten minutes just riding around in circles in the big, empty parking lot.

So anyway, the day that started with Emma not able to ride a two wheeler, ended with her riding around 3 or more miles in the evening ... she's nearly a pro by now!

Quickie ---

Hey all, here's a quick mid-week update that should be fun.

Today Emma learned to ride her bike with no training wheels. Monday I took them off and Cyndie helped her ride around for about 5 minutes (always holding her up). After no practice yesterday, Emma and I went out this morning and between our driveway and the first corner on the way to the park, I held onto her seat. After she turned the corner I let go without her knowing it. About half way along that road to the park I told her, "Emma, did you know I'm not holding on?" She was all excited and rode the rest of the way to the park with me jogging along with her. She rode back and forth at the park a few times, then back home. After 4 or 5 tries, she was able to start with no help from me. She practiced in front of our house in the road a bit and was able to nail the turning thing to. So now she's an official two wheeler! She was all excited and wanted to ride to school this morning. We had plans in place, but then our friend knocked on the door and Cyndie remembered she was taking Meaghan to school too, so we nixed that idea and decided to wait until Friday.

That's it for now ... back to work.

Neal

Back, with a whimper?

Hey all,

After much abuse, I have finally gotten off my lazy behind and decided to write the next installment of the Life and Times of the California DeVries! Why is this blog back with a whimper you may ask, well that's because, despite many petitions and much of the afore mentioned abuse, I'm not going to try to summarize the vacation and the subsequent several weeks. Rather, I'll just dive in with the weekend happenings and a the normal chit chat.

So, the weekend's happenings. Friday was fairly normal. I got home around 12:30. One note on that, the Carson site where I work has switched to an optional 9-80 work week (work 9 hours a day M - Th, then work 8 hours every other Friday and get the "other" Friday off). I declined that work week and am instead working a 9-9-9-9-4 work week where I take every Friday afternoon off. Anyway, back to the show. We went to the park and relaxed, then after bedtime, Cyndie went out for dessert with some friends from church. A side note ... we have successfully transitioned from a show before bed each day to just storytime. We still get the occasional query from Timmy regarding a movie, but the number and frequency of requests has greatly declined!

Saturday we went for a hike out at the Bolsa Chica wetlands (near the ocean). That was pretty fun. It's nice to spend some time outdoors and be more intential about having time together as a family. Emma was excited because a couple of hikes ago, she found/made a walking stick. Now everytime we take a hike and she takes her walking stick, she get's to add a ring (around the stick) to mark the number of hikes she's taken and add a decoration. So far, she has three rings, a lightning bolt, and a rectangle with waves in it (she forgot to add a decoration one time). In the evening, Cyndie and Emma when to Em's pre-school for an auction and came back with a basket of games. Since then, Emma and Timmy have spent quite a bit of time playing Disney video Bingo.

Sunday was church, then right afterwards, Cyndie helped host a bridal shower for a girl from church. After quiet time we did the park and basically had another quiet day. While at church, one of Emma's friends was riding her bike around without training wheels. She was the second of Emma's friends (Maddi being the first) to go without training wheels and really lit the fire under Emma to try it herself. So last night I took the training wheels off and this morning at 6:30, Emma was riding around the house (with Cyndie supporting her) practicing. Cyndie told me that the went over to the park today before school and Emma was doing really well (and Cyndie was getting a very good workout in the process). Timmy is transitioning to the two wheeled scooter, so he practiced that while Emma rode her bike.

Emma is also enjoying her Bella Cheerleader video these days. She's getting pretty good with a baton and doing some of the cheer moves. She likes to put on a show! She's also been jumping a lot of rope (which is of course accompanied by the chants ... one about princesses, one about ice cream). I can't think of anything horribly significant that Timmy is doing these days. He's really enjoying coloring a lot, especially with markers. We spent about an hour on Saturday with me drawing him different dragons and then use coloring them in together.

So that's it for now!