A Nickell for Your Thoughts

We are back!

2012-01-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

After a few months breaking from the blog we will be back in business this week. I hope to get all the pictures and posts from the last few months uploaded. I am very excited to get back to our NEW normal routine. The boys go back to preschool today and we are for the most part "Moved in" so I will have a few minutes to blog again :)

Keep Posted!

Shooting Hoops

2011-12-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

My dad sent our old basketball goal with the TX shipment. He set it up in our new driveway for the kids to play. I think all five boys were pretty excited about this new addition. Brian used to love basketball so much so it was fun to see him and my dad play with the boys!

Christmas Day

2011-12-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

Boys checking out their gifts from Santa. Everyone still slept in until 9ish, I keep thinking each year is our last to sleep in but not the case :) Nate really wanted Santa to bring him a sled. Santa did bring him attachable flying saucers, we can't wait to drive to the snow to use them :)

We went over to my cousin Tracy's for Christmas dinner that my Aunt Diane prepared. It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas with extended family! The food was delish and the boys loved playing with their new cars and fun hamsters! We had a beautiful Holiday!

Christmas Eve Part 2

2011-12-26T14:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas dinner...... the boys were excited to drink sprite out of real glasses!

Boys excited about thier "IPads" (Inno Tabs) from Juee and PopPop

Train set from BoBo!

Eli trying to eat Santa's Cookies

Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T14:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve before the Children's Mass. All three boys fell asleep for church but Benny managed to wake up in time to go to the front to listen to the children's message.

The month of December all three boys got the stomach flu, pink eye, and sinus infections, and Nate had an ear ache. We spent a lot of time at home and I was so happy we were not all trapped in our tiny apartment with everyone sick. My parents were here for the month and helped so much with the move in. We were pretty much all unpacked by Christmas and feeling better so we had much to celebrate! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

The boys preschool had a polar express day for their holiday program. Nate got shy again and spend most of the time with his shirt over his head. Benny was chewing on his PJs for a few songs, but decided to belt out "We wish you a Merry Christmas". All and all, very entertaining and memorable holiday program :)

CA Adventure Christmas Time

2011-12-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

Amidst the moving craziness we had to squeeze in a little time at Disneyland and CA adventure. I love seeing all the light and Christmas decor the month of December. We are so pumped our buddies the Helmars got passes....YAY! The Christmas tree in the Grand Californian hotel is just beautiful! The Santa they have is pretty impressive too, but it was his break time when we happened to be strolling by.

Gingerbread decorating

2011-12-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

The last few years we built gingerbread houses from trader joes. All three boys were excited to eat the frosting :) Eli decided to eat his gingerbread man before I could help him decorate it :) Benny put the little people that came with the kit (he referred to them as Franzel and Gretel) inside his gingerbread house, he told me they were hiding from the Zombies. Never a dull moment :)

Yo HO Yo HO a Pirates life for me

2011-12-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

The best peg leg ever....a coke zero case :)

December...the Move

2011-12-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

So we closed on our house December 5th. We had shipments from Huntington Beach an all our stuff from TX we left in storage for the last three years. I made a point to get all my Christmas shopping done while we were in temporary housing. That worked out well because the month of December flew by!

I can not tell you how excited I was to have finally have a little space again!! I love love my washer and dryer, Mimi and PaPa Dave bought them for us for Christmas. This is saving me 8 plus hours a week. The kids love their Christmas present from Juee, PopPop, Aunt E and Jeff.....they have already spent hours on the swing set in the backyard. This is perfect for three little boys with lots of energy. This will for sure be a Christmas I remember forever! I feel so very blessed! Things just seem so much easier now!

Nate making a Birthday cake for Jesus our Christmas tradition. We were also visited by our Elf on the shelf Buddy for the month. Buddy enjoyed having more than two rooms to hide in :) It was also fun to have our big tree and all of our Christmas decorations back after three years.

I caught Eli trying to open on of his presents. I used different paper for each kid so he knew which presents were the ones for Eli :)

San Diego Zoo

2011-11-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

Legoland Snow Days

2011-11-30T20:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Visitors

2011-11-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

The week of Thanksgiving Mimi and Papa Dave, Aunt B, and Uncle Matthew came to visit. We were able to work in a visit to the winery, old town Temecula, San Diego Zoo, a trip to the movies, some Christmas shopping and Legoland. We were also able to show them where the boys new school was and give the a tour of the new house (before we closed on Dec 5th). We had a wonderful time with the Nickells and the Robbens, we can't wait for the next visit!!! We love you Mimi, PaPa Dave, Aunt B, and Uncle Matthew!

Thanksgiving Potluck

2011-11-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Potluck with our Beach Buddies.....

Thanksgiving Preschool Party

2011-11-30T18:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas Photo Shoot

2011-11-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

I took the boys out one afternoon to Miramonte a local Vineyard to get some shots for the Christmas cards. Everything was so busy at my sister's wedding and I didn't have my camera back from the shop so I wanted so pics of the boys in their tuxes. We had so much fun playing! I was very pleased with the candids we captured :) Enjoy!

Sleeping in the Rain!

2011-11-30T18:26:00.000-08:00

Legoland

2011-11-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

Legoland for Miss Missy's Birthday, Happy Birthday!

Little artists!

2011-11-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

We did tons of painting and craft projects while we were in temporary howwsing. We only brought a few toys so this was a good activity to keep us all entertained. After not having a TV for four months the kids were not really interested, although the apartment had a TV in each room. I was glad to see they didn't really miss it too much.

Temporary Housing

2011-11-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

For the months of October and November we lived in a temporary apartment close by to where we ended up buying a home. Our favorite parts of temporary How-sing (as the boys called it) was climbing in the closet, jumping on the beds, and having a washer and dryer on our patio. The apartment was about 1400 sq ft and seemed huge compared to our beach apartment :) Eli took a couple big falls off the beds but luckily not trips to the ER, I remembered why we do not have dressers.

Dribble Dribble

2011-11-30T13:39:00.000-08:00

In the month of November Nate and Ben tried out a basketball class with the city of Temecula. It was a short four week class but gave them a chance to practice shooting, dribbling, and passing. We were the only kids sporting our mavericks shirts, Thanks Mimi! :)

Trick-or-Treat

2011-11-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

We decided to go trick-or-treating close by at my cousin Tracy's house. Taylor aka Pocahontas helped show the boys around the neighborhood. It was fun because the boys were a little older and all of them could walk :) Happy Halloween!

Preschool Halloween Party

2011-11-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

The boys got to wear their costumes to preschool on Halloween and celebrate with a little Halloween party. It was fun to see all the kids and teachers dressed up.

Bella Terra Trick-or-Treat

2011-11-26T12:47:00.000-08:00

So I am about a month behind on my posts. Things have been very busy with the house hunt and getting settled in our new city. I am hoping to catch up this week because we are scheduled to close on our house Friday December 2nd.

Halloween weekend we drove back to Huntington to trick-or-treat with our buddies at Bella Terra like we did last year. We had such a fun time seeing everyone. They had band like last year so the kids ran around and danced for hours. They all looked so cute in their costumes!

Happy Halloween!

Zoomars for Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

Another one of our Halloween play dates was to Zoomars in San Juan Capistrano. San Juan is such a fun town with so much personality. It is about an hour from where we live now and the whole drive over is in the mountians. For Halloween zoomars has an area for decorating pumpkins and the box of corn to play in (this was the big hit!). Our friends from the beach joined us for a fun day at the FARM!

FiAn

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze

2011-10-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

The boys and I have enjoyed exploring our new area.......we tried out a new pumpkin patch in Temecula called the Big Horse corn maze. They really enjoyed the maze but we only made it to a few of the check points, I think they will really like it when they are a little older. Great Fall activity, we will make sure to do this the next few years!

King and Queen Week

2011-10-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

At the boys new school they have a theme each week that includes a letter and a color. The have had so much fun anticipating the theme and all the activities. The third week in October they had kings and queens week. The boys decided to make crowns and wear the super hero capes juee made for Nate's Birthday. The looked super cute! Nate and Ben love being in the same class together. It is so fun to hear school stories from two perspectives :)

Carving and Painting Pumpkins

2011-10-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

Halloween at Disneyland

2011-10-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

So October was a crazy month.....we moved from our apartment in HB to temporary housing in Murrieta, we spent much of the month house hunting. My parents were here for a good portion of the month helping with the kids so we could get some things done. We did still manage to make it to Disneyland a few times. We even did a little mini vacation and stayed at a hotel one night in Anaheim. The boys just loved jumping from bed to bed in the hotel room :) Thank you so much Mom and Dad for all the help this month!!!

Pa's Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

This was our third year to have a fun playdate at the Pa's Pumpkin Patch in LB. Check out pics from last year and two years ago! We had a great time with all of our buddies, it is crazy how big all the kiddos are! Eli really liked all the pumpkins, just like when Nate was little he calls them Balls :) PopPop and Juee had each of the boys pick out their pumpkins.

Beach Bonfire with our Buddies

2011-10-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

So the weekend before we moved we had a beach bonfire at Corona Del Mar with all our buddies. The weather was just perfect and we all had a fabulous time! We are going to miss all of our friends and living one mile from the beach! Thank you for making our three years in Huntington Beach soooooo much FUN! We miss everyone already!!!!

Benny's First Day of Preschool

2011-10-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

Last week Benny and Nate started preschool in Temecula. This was Benny's first day of preschool ever and this was Nate's first day at a NEW school. I found a combo class for three to five year olds, so they could be in the same class. The boys did great! Nate was a little sad his old teacher and friends would not be there. Benny was not phased at all that I would be dropping him off. Little Eli slept the whole three hours when they were at school....I think I could get used to this :)
Benny was sooooo excited!!

Boys playing chase Eli.

Where have you been!

2011-09-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

Ok so I think this may have been the longest I have gone without blogging since starting this thing..... don't worry I have had good reasons.

This has been a crazy summer!! To start at the end of June we found out we would be moving somewhere, the State was to be determined. We spend about a month not knowing for sure where we were relocating to in the fall. We also were not quite sure on the timing of the move. Thus we began the summer of LIMBO. I knew Texas was not in the running, so when I found out California was.... I was thrilled. I loved the idea of still being in SO Cali and was very surprised that it was a possibility. Brian ended up accepting the DRM (dealer relations manager) for the San Diego region. I am very excited for him and our new adventure. We will be moving to an apartment in Temecula at the beginning of October. We have chosen Temecula because of affordability and location of Brian's dealers. We hope to close on a house by December 1st. I am looking very forward to the following......a washer and dryer in my house, a backyard, a garage, a kitchen that more than one person can fit into :), decorating, and most of all knowing where we will be located for several years!

At the end of August we left for a 2 week vacation to Dallas to see our friends and family. Most importantly to attend the wedding of my sister Erica and her new husband Jeff Fransen. Those two weeks flew by and we got to see so many people that we love. The wedding was just wonderful, I will post pictures soon. This past week we flew back to California and started to prepare for our move.

A little update on the boys......We have decided to wait to start school until we get to Temecula. It seemed a little chaotic to start school for three weeks and then move. Brian and I had decided not to start Nate in Kindergarten this year for several reasons, but all this move craziness just gave us one more. Nate and Ben will both be starting preschool the first week of October together in a Combo learner class for 3 to 5 year olds, three afternoons a week. They are very excited, as I am (especially about the afternoon part, getting Nate to school by 9am last year was a struggle for us). Little Eli is doing well, his little personality is just so much fun! He is talking more and more. His climbing is just about on par with his brothers. I have taken the front of the crib off and he has mastered climbing on the kitchen table. Those three boys are really three peas in a pod. They spend half of the day cracking each other up and the other half beating each other up!

Lots of pictures to come, especially once I get my camera back from the shop. Another factor adding to the crazy summer is our bad track record with electronics..... We have been with out a TV for over two months due to Benny cracking it with a toy (maybe I will explain in another post), we lost both I phones in a pool incident, and my camera just stopped working so I sent it in to be repaired. I also ended up breaking two little bones in my foot two nights before Erica's wedding so I got to limp down the aisle, hehehehe (that is a post in itself too).

Hope you feel caught up, or just more confused like me :)

Wig Out

2011-09-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

So I don't have pictures yet...from Erica and Jeff's Wedding, but I do have some pictures from the Bachelorette Party. The theme was WIG OUT and boy did everyone go all out. Such a fun night of celebration with my sister! So for once I am the blond and Erica is the brunette.....if only I was the one that was five inches taller....hahahaha!

Catching some waves..

2011-08-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

At Corona Del Mar

Playing in the sprinklers

Running around at the splash pad

Happy Birthday Lori!

2011-08-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Lori!

Juee and PopPop

2011-08-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

A rare picture opp with everyone happy!

The ball park

2011-08-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

I was looking forward to my parents getting to see Nate and Benny play Tee-ball. We spent many hours as a family at the ball park each summer. Erica and I played on many teams together for lots of years. Erica, my dad, a few of my girlfriends, and I also coached an 8 and under girls softball team when we were in high school. This maybe was preparation for all the coaching and summers yet to come at the ball field for our family. Unlike the "Ladybugs" (the team that we coached) the boys were not turning kart wheels or picking flowers in the out field. One little boy on the team did pull his shirt over his head and the other kids proceeded to copy him.

It was very enjoyable (somewhat humorous) to see the kids get the hang of the game and learn the rules. Both boys really enjoyed it....Benny has a pretty good arm (I guess the last three years of throwing any toy he can find has paid off) and it all came pretty natural to him. Nate enjoyed the base running the most...... he is very fast. (I joked with him and told him he could run bases for people....I was a designated runner much of my later softball career). We were all pretty pumped their team was MAROON....they named themselves the Maroon Horses.

Seeing Eli at all the practices gave me a little glimpse of years to come.....he wanted to join so bad. He would run out in the field, take the ball to the tee, and throw his ball into the field. I told him maybe next year when he is two they will let him play UP! If history repeats then he can be the college ball player :)

Play Ball!

Nate fielding a ball

Benny playing first base....looks like he has the orange team intimidated hehehe

Nate playing third base

Benny at bat

Legoland

2011-08-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

Another fun day at legoland with buddies, Juee, and PopPop........

Pirates Liar

2011-08-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

During my parents visit we made a few trips to Disneyland....surprise surprise. A new discovery was taking the raft to Pirates Liar Island. The boys explored the caves and looked for treasure. Ahoy Mateys!

Zoomars

2011-08-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to visit this cute little petting zoo for a long time I just never got around to it. Zoomars is in San Capistrano, such an adorable town. My friend had a group on for the petting zoo, train, and pony ride. Kids had an awesome time with all the furry friends!

Fishing Trip

2011-08-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

Last year on one of my parents visits the Helmars offered to take us fishing on their boat. Juee, PopPop, Brian, and Nate all joined Cade and Craig last year. This year we decided Benny was old enough for the adventure so Missy watched Eli and we all went fishing.

We found out that Benny was old enough but is maybe not the fishing type. Mr. Benny got really seasick and miserable. Let us just say Juee, Benny, and I got dropped off at Dana Point and Juee left with a souvenir t-shirt. I was so thankful I took the motion sickness medicine! We had a nice afternoon shopping and going out to lunch at Dana Point.

The rest of the crew had a great time. Cade and Nate spent most of the time playing with the bait, which was very entertaining. They ended up catching a nice sized halibut, it made for a very yummy dinner :) Thank you so much Craig for taking us out!!!

Loving Summer!

2011-08-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun paddle boarding last time, I told my parents when they were out this way we would have to rent one again. Everyone enjoyed getting a turn paddling around the bay. Such a fun day at the BEACH. I love SUMMER!

The 5 year old!

2011-07-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

Since Nate's Birthday he has been refering to himself as "The five year old", Benny as "The three year old", and Eli as "The one year old". Who needs names....we have numbers :)

For Nate's fifth birthday he requested a SUPERHERO Party. His favorite super hero currently is Ironman. We did a joint party with his buddy Cade Helmar. Cade is more of a transformer fan, so I decorated their cakes accordingly. I made the rainbow cakes again and rainbow cupcakes because the kids love all the colors (and so do I). Grandma Juee made special capes for each of the kids attending, they turned out awesome. The kids were so excited, thank you Grandma Juee!! Missy (Cade's mom) made all the food, it was yummy (I love joint parties)! Also thank you to Nina for the delicious salad. We held the party at Pretend City in Irvine. We had the party room for lunch then got to play in the museum for a few hours after. After the party we went out to dinner in Long Beach to celebrate the birthday boy some more!

Nate Stats at FIVE:

Nate is 40 1/2 inches and 35 pounds

favorite color- red and green

favorite things- pirates and superheros

favorite songs- dog days are over

favorite places- disneyland, legoland, and parks

You bring us joy everyday, we love you precious Nate, our first born!

The superhero capes....
The birthday cake....

The superkids.....

Nate and Daddy!
Time to play at Pretend city....
I love how sweet Benny is when he thinks I am not looking :)

Nate, Juee, and PopPop
The five year old, the three year old, and the one year old

At dinner....

Nate and his famous lemon face he used to make when he was the one year old :)
Nate and Eli modeling thier capes

Cars 2 in Hollywood!

2011-07-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

At El Capitan in Hollywood this summer they are showing Cars 2 and having the fun zone, like they did last year for Toy Story 3. We all enjoyed this so much last year we took a group down the day before Nate's Birthday party. All the kids had a blast, it was much warmer than last year! I think the kids favorite was painting the real car, Benny was in heaven!

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

Dinner, drinks, fireworks with family and friends.....

Benny looking tough on the PINK bike :)

Nate really like the fireworks especially the sparklers, Benny not so much (they hurt his ears notice him holding his ear hehehe), Eli didn't mind the noise at all (but I didn't trust him holding a sparkler hehehe). Eli had his first bee sting, took it like a champion. It was such a beautiful relaxing weekend, so glad Juee and PopPop were here to share in all the festivities. Thank you Lori and Chuck wonderful evening! I can't believe all the fireworks that are set off around Costa mesa, loved the craziness!

See ELI

4th of July

2011-07-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

Then we enjoyed at day at the beach with family and friends.......

America's Birthday Disney Style

2011-07-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

We had a very relaxing long 4th of July weekend! We started the festivities with a dinner at Taco Surf and watched the fireworks in downtown Disney.

Legoland

2011-07-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

For Nate's 5th Birthday Juee and PopPop got us annual passes to Legoland in San Diego. This was our first time to try it out.....so much fun. Thank you Juee and PopPop!

The Batting Cages

2011-07-19T23:43:00.000-07:00

Let the games begin!

2011-07-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have been looking so forward to the boys starting T-Ball. This summer we signed up with a city league for 3 to 5 year olds. It has been just a joy to watch them learn, at times hilarious! They just finished up T- ball this week, but I am way behind. These are some pictures from the first week. Mr. Eli really wants to join the team too!

This little guy on there team loved putting his shirt over his head, then all the kids followed!

My Artist

2011-07-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

LA Arboretum

2011-07-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

Brothers

2011-07-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday Chase!

2011-07-17T15:00:00.000-07:00