Just Beachy

We're so lucky to live where we do. We have the beach as our playground, and we've been using it to our full advantage with the kids--soaking up this warm November weather for all it is worth.

One of our favorite places to take the kids is just off PCH, to the tide pools. There is also a cave near one of the beaches that is accessible during low tide. This has become Sal's most talked about activity as of late. He asks on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis if we can go to the caves to search for sea glass.

I love that our children love the beach as much as we do. I love that it's free, it's nature, and we can all unplug and reconnect out there.

It's really just beachy.

Halloween, bugs and ER visits

The week prior to Halloween, I volunteered the kids as models for a local photographer to shoot in Halloween costumes at a really cool ranch owned by Paramount Studios. Within seconds of accepting her invite, I realized the costumes my kids were wearing for trick or treating weren't exactly "photo shoot" worthy. You see, I'm not much into dressing up in costume, nor are my kids. Our costumes thus far have involved their day to day clothing with "costume pieces" over it. For example, Sal's poster board "Popsicle" costume last year & Carla's repurposed tights and bathing suit as an aerobics instructor.

This year was no different. Sal's dream of being a magnet and Carla's request to be Rainbow Dash were made with minimal cost. A rainbow dash sweatshirt off Amazon for her, and a $4 piece of craft foam, a couple cans of spray paint from the garage and metal treasures hot glued on comprised Sal's entire costume. Heck, Gino wore the same Skelton pjs Sal wore two years ago as his costume/ pjs this year because let's face it, he wasn't going out trick or treating. What's a 19 month old going to do with a bag of candy? We all know who would've ended up eating his candy had he joined the big kids.

Anyways, back to the photo shoot. I scrambled and scoured pinterest for DIY themed costumes for a group of 3. I fell in love with the Flinstones costumes and knew I could probably make all of them in an afternoon with minimal supplies. The kids and I went to goodwill and bought an oversized orange t shirt and royal blue tie for the Fred costume, a green tank top for pebbles and an old skeleton decoration for the bones we'd need for pebbles hair and bam bam's shorts.

I hacked the orange shirt with scissors to make the zig zag hemline and arm holes, and spray painted triangles onto it. I did the same for the pebbles top and bam bam shorts (I reused some of Sal's old orange shorts for Gino. He's already only one size smaller than sal in pants!).

Here's the final result.

photocredit:Mily Cooper Photography

A couple days before Halloween, Gino woke up covered in vomit. He proceeded to vomit a few more times that night and I had no clue what to do with him. Nick and I survived almost five years without ever having to deal with projectile vomit! I guess we're lucky. Carla followed suit the next night, along with the other end, and it lasted almost a week for her. Then came myself and Nick on Halloween day, and ultimately, Sal. The big kids did trick or treat, but nobody was really feeling it. G stayed with me and handed out candy to the one group that rang our bell.

We spent much of Halloween week just getting through each day hoping the next would be better. By the following weekend we had overcome the barf hug, but a few of us had head colds. Head colds could deal with, vomit. Not so much. I took the opportunity to run errands solo on Saturday, and upon my return home, within minutes, Nick comes in and announces he needs to go to the hospital NOW. Thankfully his dad was here, so the two hopped in his van and off they went, leaving the kids and I wondering what had happened. Turns out, he was helping a neighbor lift something heavy and cumbersome and it slipped and tried to take his pinky off. He's now the proud owner of a broken finger and missing nailplate.


So yeah, we've been busy over here--and are ready for some normalcy again!

Connected again

Hey guys,

After my last iDevice updates, my old blogging app stopped working and it's just taken me a while to figure out which app will work best to fit my blogging style/ needs. I had drafted a few blogs and lost them when the old blogger app took a dive on me. So, boo.

I've got a lot to say, so when I find a little time. I'll be posting again!

Happy November!

We still do

Happy tenth anniversary to the strapping young man who stole my heart and continues to do so. Three homes, seven countries visited together, four births, many ups and a few downs and many years and adventures to come!

Happy tenth, NZ!

Gino, lately.

Our baby isn't such a baby anymore!! 

I swear to you, he changed overnight. 

He's like a total walking, talking (okay, blabbering), responsive child now. After so many months and endless hours of crying upon crying (have I mentioned he's been our crier?) and us not really knowing how to console him, his frustrations are seemingly dwindling away little by little. He nods his head yes and no when asked his opinion. He follows directions when NZ tells him to go lay on his pillow for bedtime milk. He knows where his blankets are and grabs them when he's tired and finds his favorite pillow to lay on all the while, never losing that thumb of his. 

He gives kisses. Big open mouth slobbery kisses. 

He also hits. Like, hard. We've already started reprimanding him for hitting and other unfavorable behaviors, and he really doesn't like getting in trouble for that! He has the cutest bottom lip pout I have ever seen. 

Gino loves the park and the beach. He loves our yard. Often times after he wakes, he wanders out back in our dew covered grass and plays in the kids' play kitchen for what seems like an eternity (or just long enough for me to get beds made and breakfast served). He can climb our retaining wall and knows how to get down from the second level of it, but still needs help when he gets to the very top level. And yes, it still makes me nervous watching him climb. He spends time digging up Sal's buried treasures (aka bottle caps) and playing with our fleet of Bruder trucks. 

He hates diaper changes and his high chair. He loves snacks. He loves emptying our snack cabinet onto the floor and stepping on everything that's crushable. I remember Sal going through the same phase at this age and am ever so thankful that we have cabinet locks in America.

My favorite thing about my big boy are his cuddles. While it's exhausting to parent a high needs child, I think it would be exponentially harder to parent a child who didn't want anything to do with me. He loves to climb into my lap and sit with me while we watch tv or read a book. He loves to pull on my pants until I pick him up. As soon as he is in my arms, in goes his thumb and down goes his head onto my shoulder. It's clear to me that I am his safe place. What better honor could a mama have? 

He's just making sure that no matter how old he gets, he will always be the baby. My baby. 

Weekend visitors

My long time friends John & Liz and their kids drove out from Nevada a couple  weekends ago to visit us. We had only seen them a total of two or three hours since our return from China, so having a whole weekend to spend with them and catch up was really nice. 

We had a house full of kids and it was awesome. I absolutely love watching our kids develop friendships with our friends' kids. 

After Saturday morning breakfast we all headed to the beach for some sand crab catching and sand castle making. Okay, so Liz and I didn't do either- we sat on the beach and watched the guys man the troops. Lounging with her and accepting slobbery, sandy Gino kisses kept me busy. 

We had originally planned to attend Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara but margarita imposed hangovers and traffic proved those plans to be a bust. Instead we bought a sprinkler ball and some pollo asada and whipped up a fiesta of our own.

 Liz and I had made cascarones and the kids were so excited to crack them on each other's head for good luck and prosperity. 

Sunday mornings and goodbyes came much too soon. After some of John's pancakes, everyone headed home. 

Thanks for coming to our casa, Hefleys! 

Until next time...

Underwood Family Farm

As a reward for earning enough stars for good behavior, I took the kids to a local farm today. I know, this post piggybacks one in which I was just saying we don't do anything special--go ahead and say it-you know you want to-- that Brie is such a hypocrite! It's okay, I'm a big girl...I can take it. 

But really, they love this local farm, and both of my star earning kids listed a trip to underwood as the ultimate goal. I'm proud to say they've both overcome some obstacles to earn enough stars for their chart. When I announced the grand total this morning, Sal already knew they had achieved their goal. That boy of mine--he's so stinkin quick with numbers. 

We loaded up and headed out early. It gets hot the further inland we go, so we had to beat the heat. The farm has wonderful all terrain wagons for use- my circus just barely fits in one wagon anymore. Someone is going to have to walk next time. 

Each big kid got to choose and activity. Carla chose to ride the ponies (I'm not surprised) and Sal wanted to pick carrots. We did both. In fact, picking produce was a hit with all three! They picked carrots, cucumbers, squash and green beans--saving ourselves a trip to the market later. 

After some rounds to feed the animals, they spent some time in the sandbox and sharing some snacks. 

On the way home, Sal announced that when he woke up he wasn't sure if his day was going to be good. But that the farm made his day a whole lot better and maybe we should go every day when he wakes up. 

Good try, kiddo.