Picture Perfect

The weather here has just been perfect lately...mid to upper 60's...the sun shining....so we decided to go to the beach the other day. We went to a new spot that we'd never been to before...we arrived around 5:00pm to see the sun beginning it's descent and the wide expanse of sand flat and compact making it very easy to walk. It was gorgeous! It's funny, I've lived in Oceanside for over 10 years now and I never cease to be amazed by the beauty of the ocean.

I purposely didn't bring my camera on this family excursion. Sometimes I think that I'm so concentrated on getting the perfect "shot" that I'm not really seeing everything....not really participating in the experience. Of course the second I saw how beautiful it was I was wishing I'd brought the camera...to capture the moment. We walked along the beach for awhile, Benjamin running and stopping periodically to look at rocks and shells. He likes to play "monster" now so I had to periodically chase him down the beach making monster sounds. Then he would turn the tables and chase me down the beach making his monster roar.

Eventually Benjamin found a good stick (he finds sticks everywhere we go!) and began to dig around in the sand. We wrote our names in the sand and dug up "treasure" (rocks) to put in our pockets. I swear, Benjamin actually found a rock that has a smiling face etched on the face. Nate and Benjamin decided to bury some "treasure" and mark it with an "X" in order to discover it later. We watched the sun drop slowly in the sky until it was pulled all the way down as if weighted on the bottom.

So here are the "photos" I'm left with from this little adventure. I'm walking down the wide flat beach...the water is so blue it is almost electric. The sand is glistening...a little wet with these little gold flecks glittering up from it. In the distance I see the Oceanside Pier and a light fog is just beginning to roll onto shore. I turn around and see Benjamin laughing, running, trying to catch up with me. Nate is walking behind Benjamin, looking at me and smiling with true joy and love.

On our way back to the car. Benjamin is running down the beach with a stick in his hand. He turns around to make sure I'm following him. The setting sun casts a golden glow on his face. His smile is wide and luminous and he's laughing with pure joy. His jeans are rolled up and the bottoms of his feet are black with wet sand clinging to them.

I can see the images so clearly in my mind but the words seem so inadequate in their description. Even now I wish that I had brought my camera and caught the moment with a photo. I could post it here and say "look...it really happened just the way I told you!" But I do wonder...had I brought the camera would I have noticed the moments at all?

I'm A Rocket Ship!!

I think the picture tells the story here!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I decided to make a special treat for Valentine's Day (which is actually tomorrow!) I hope no one reads this before they get their treat!! Of course...I'm not sure ANYONE is reading this blog these days! Anyhow, I made heart shaped cookies on a stick in peanut butter and chocolate chip. They came out really cute! A few of them didn't have the stick all the way covered by the cookie so I just frosted them and put these sprinkles all over them. I put them all in Valentine's Day themed cellophane bags with a twist tie. I hope everyone likes them!

A Rude Awakening

I must have jinxed myself by bragging about how well Benjamin was napping in his new bed finally. Or maybe it was just a figment of my imagination....wishful thinking?? Today he finally took a two hour nap in his bed but he didn't nap at all the 3 days prior. And on top of that...he's been waking up an hour earlier each day...fun for us!!

Saturday was a particularly rude awakening. Usually Benjamin wakes around 7:30 (I know...we're very lucky!) So imagine my surprise when I was laying in bed Saturday morning and the door opened at 6:15am! Benjamin thought he was so funny...he snuck over to Nate's side of the bed and declared "I'm awake!" while turning on the light. Nate asked him to turn the light off and go back to bed...and he seemed to comply.

A few minutes later I heard a noise from the living room...."SZZZZSSSSH" "SZZZSSSSHHH" I thought that he must be playing with his "welding" toy. He came into the bedroom and went to Nate's side of the bed again "SZZZSSSSHHHH" and I hear Nate saying...."What?? What the...Oh...No....MY EYES!!!! MY EYES!!!" Benjamin wasn't playing with his welding toy...he had reached a bottle of Febreze air freshner...and he had sprayed it into Nate's face just as he'd opened his eyes!" Luckily there was no permanent damage....and now I have to store the chemicals even higher so Benjamin can't reach them!!

Rock On!

The other night we went ot dinner with our friend Elizabeth ("Auntie Eli".) Since it was a weekend (and everything would be SO crowded) we decided to try a new pizza place near our house called "Rolling Stone Pizza." I had seen it before when I patronized the nail salong next door. It looked clean and decent. The other great thing was that they have locally brewed beer on tap (Oceanside Ale Works!)

We arrived at the restaurant to find a group of teenagers and...a band! We sat as far away from the mayhem as we could get in the tiny establishment and ordered our food. While we waited the band began doing a sound check with the drums and microphones. Benjamin didn't like that at ALL! He kept complaining that it was too loud. I thought uh oh...we're going to have to take our food home to eat!

Eventually a pimply faced teenager with long curly hair and a Guns N' Roses t-shirt stepped up to the microphone. "Our band is called Schizophrenic...and this is our first gig!" GREAT....and teenage band that has never played in public before....just what I wanted to hear! Then they started playing...speed metal. It was a song that Nate recognized from the band "Slayer." I'm not a huge fan of speed metal...but they really weren't half bad! I was pleasantly surprised. I was however worried about Benjamin. I didn't need to worry though...when I looked over at him Benjamin had a HUGE smile on his face, he coloring book quickly became his "guitar" and he started rocking out. He was banging his head like he was in the mosh pit at a Metallica concert! He was having so much fun! I wonder if Benjamin is over his love of disco now?

Dream Weaver

So Benjamin made a pretty big transition last week....he went from sleeping in his crib to sleeping in a "big boy" bed. Actually..it's a toddler bed that used the same mattress and, because it is SO low to the ground, actually appears smaller than his crib. But it is definitely a bed for a "big boy!"

Last Saturday we dragged the big box into the living room and Benjamin "helped" his Daddy build his new bed. He was actually doing very well...I had expected him to balk at the idea of a new bed...he was VERY attached to his crib. After the bed was put together we dismantled the crib and took it out to the garage. Again...no protest from Benjamin. We made the new bed with the new bedding I had purchased (Matching sheets, quilt and pillow shams with a train theme from Pottery Barn Kids.) and put all of his "babies" in their place. He brought over his "pillow bear" and placed it just where his head would lay at night. He was so excited he couldn't wait to climb in the bed! I thought, "Wow...this is going better than I expected!" But little did I know!!

Nap time the first day did NOT go well. He could not stay in the bed. We tried everything...talking to him, praising him for his efforts, threatening time outs if he got up....nothing worked. He didn't nap at all that first day but luckily, since he was so exhausted, he slept well that night. The next day was worse than the first. Not only would he NOT stay in bed but now he was taking all of the little toys he could find (airplanes, little people, cards, etc.) and DUMPING them in the middle of his bed. So each time he came out of his bedroom I had to clean everything off the bed before I could put him back in it...UGH!! I realized then that the transition was going to be just a little bit tougher and longer than I expected, but I was committed to helping him through it!

A few days into the "big boy bed" experience he began asking for his crib back. He said "I'm not a big boy Mommy...I'm a baby!" He told me he wanted his crib back or that he wanted to sleep in his Pack n' Play...one night he threatened to sleep on the floor. He told me his big boy bed was "scary" one day and I tried to explain how sometimes new things (or change) can be scary, but that after awhile we can get used to it. It's been just over a week and I am SO proud to announce that Benjamin has slept in his new bed for two naps in a row!! He IS such a big boy!!

During this whole transition Benjamin seemed to sleep just fine at night (thank goodness!) But one thing I did notice was that he seemed to be having very vivid dreams at night. A few morning he woke up and began talking about them...in one dream there was a lot of "traffic" but Diego helped us. In another dream there were pumpkins that were both scared AND scary and still another dream had a "monster" and a snake at church. It's so interesting that he would remember these dreams so well in the morning! It's also a great opportunity to talk about the difference between what is real and what is not real. The other day he asked me is he could have more "bad dreams." I asked him what he meant...he wanted to see the pumpkins again! I guess scary and scared pumpkins aren't that frightening after all!

I have photos (of course) of the whole experience....I'll post them as soon as they are uploaded to my computer!

Bad Blogger!

Okay...I know...it's been like 6 weeks since I've posted anything. I'm such a bad blogger!! Life at the Huff Household has just been crazy busy lately, one giant sprint from Thanksgiving to the New Year, but no more excuses....I'll try to catch you all up.

Thanksgiving was an easy and relaxing holiday this year. We had our two great friends Elizabeth (Auntie Eli) and Courtney over for breakfast. We made these really yummy multi-grain pancakes and grilled chicken sausage (both from Trader Joe's...I highly recommend them.) Benjamin helped daddy make the pancakes by stirring the batter and I watched intently to make sure that he didn't put his fingers or any other inappropriate items into the bowl. Dinner was at a really nice restaurant called Carver's with about 10 members of the McCurdy clan. I don't believe anyone ate turkey (I had filet mignon...yum!) and Benjamin ordered the fish sticks which were shaped like little sharks. He had a blast eating their heads off! Craving some tradition (more than the turkey I think) I cooked my second turkey in 11 years the following week. It actually turned out really good (an organic brined turkey from Trader Joe's!) The only disappointment was that I couldn't find the roasted chesnuts for my stuffing, I'll have to buy them earlier next year!

Christmas...where to start! We bought out Christmas tree the week after Thanksgiving. Instead of going to Lowe's or Home Depot, where last year I was pulling fresh trees out of the back by myself and cutting them open to see them, we decided to go to a nursery for our tree this year. It was really nice to walk among the trees already on stands just waiting to be chosen. And even though our tree cost more than twice what it did last year (even with the coupon) we think it was worth the money. We got the tree home and dragged it into the house and Benjamin was so excited! He kept saying "Yippee! Yippee! It's Christmas time!" and that was even before we put any lights or ornaments on the tree! Benjamin had so much fun helping to decorate the tree, even though he kept putting all of his ornaments on the same branch! Even a month later he still asks every morning "Mommy turn on my Christmas tree!"

Santa Claus was a BIG hit this year with Benjamin. Last year he wanted nothing to do with the man in red. We tried FOUR times to take him to see Santa (I read somewhere to try a few times to see if a child will become less fearful) each time he would take one look at Santa and say "Nope...No!" So this year I decided to start talking up Santa hoping to build some excitement. Sometime in October I began to talk about seeing Santa Claus, which turned out to be a bit of a problem because Benjamin kept telling people in the store that he wanted to see Santa Claus....and it wasn't even Halloween yet! But I guess it worked because he just could not wait to see him. Our first visit with Santa this year was purely by accident. I was at the mall with Benjamin picking out a shirt to wear for Thanksgiving (yes...Santa came early this year!) For some inexplicable reason Benjamin didn't want to leave the mall (usually he's begging to leave the minute we get there...he's not much of a shopper) so I asked if he wanted to ride in the glass elevator. When we got downstairs there was Santa!! There was no line so Benjamin was able to walk right up and talk with him, give him a hug and a high five. Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas and Benjamin said "to see the reindeer." After the second visit with Santa he got smart and started asking for a "choo choo train" instead!

We spent Christmas this year at Grandma Suzy's and Grandpa Danny's in Bakersfield. It was a wonderfully relaxing holiday, although it took a lot of work to get there! I started working/training at my new job about a week and a half before Christmas (more about that later!) I worked almost every day either full time or part time and I still had to get all the presents wrapped, do our laundry and pack for our trip! But we packed the car to the brim and headed up highway 5 the Saturday before Christmas. Benjamin had so much fun playing with his cousins Sam and Simon and we all had a lot of fun watching them. On Christmas Eve we let the boys open two gifts each, one was a pair of Christmas pajamas (a tradition in our family) and one was a small toy. The next morning Nate and I woke Benjamin to let him know that Santa Claus had been there!! He was SO excited!! The first thing he saw when he went into the living room was a package of dinosaurs...and he had to play with them that very minute! He didn't want to stop playing with them to open the rest of his gifts! Finally we convinced him to sit down and open the presents....there were so many....he had a lot of work to do! He would unwrap each present and then ask if he could play with each present...he loved everything!! Later that morning Benjamin's cousins came over to have breakfast (more multi-grain pancakes and chicken sausage...yum!) and open more presents. All three boys were so excited!! It was a really great Christmas.