Little Corona Beach

Somehow I had never made it to the pacific ocean, neither had Oliver or Lydia.  We changed all that on Monday morning.  

my first peek of the pacific ocean

I adore being a stay at home mom.  There are a lot of reasons, but one huge reason is I can wake up, decide today is the day we should go to the beach, and then we go to the beach, I love that.  Schedules are so lame and I'm kind of dreading Oliver being in school all day long.  But I've digressed...

I woke up around 7 and hoped on Pinterest and pulled up a blog post of "best tide pools in orange county." Isn't that what kids want?  Warm-ish shallow water with rocks and critters.  Indeed it is.  I picked Little Corona Beach in Corona Del Mar, about an hour and thirty from our place...plus whatever traffic you run into, we didn't on the way down but did on the way home.

Pros

1. Totally easy to find. 
2. Easy, free parking...but it was a Monday morning
3. Paved walk down to the beach
4. Bathrooms with showers to rinse sand off
5. Rocks with critters
6. Warm sand
7. Ocean

Cons

1. Lydia wasn't cool with the walk back up to the car.  Now that I know it's paved, if we go again I'll bring a stroller.
2. Oliver was too excited and neeeeded to go play right now so his sunscreen wasn't applied fully and he got a smidge of a burn. I blame the beach for being too fun.

Oliver is so amazing.
He finds kids.
Asks what they are doing.
Asks to play with them.
Plays. 
I love that about him.

headed up the hill back to the car
this view is lovely, the view at my feet of the fussy toddler is a bit less so

We went to both oceans this week.  It's been a good week. 

gold no more

Glad you all enjoyed my rat story over on facebook.  The follow up conversations were hilarious.  A number of people asked me, "are you sure it was a rat?" Dude, I know what a rat is! I mean, I guess it could have been a mouse, a mouse dressed up with brown fur, a long rat tail, and an extra pound.  Anyway, pre rat discovery I was happily sitting on the floor in my family room de-golding my fireplace...I bet ratty was watching and judging.  Judging my early 90's gold trimmed fireplace.

Gold trimmed no more. 

Necessary supplies
-itty bitty paint brush, I happened to find one rolling around the living room cause that's how things are these days
-high heat black paint, the spray paint is cheaper, but this isn't a great area to spray paint

I have enough paint left to save my whole neighborhood from their gold trimmed fireplaces. After looking at this picture some more I think it might need a third coat.  I painted it at night, with not great lighting, and then where was a rat interruption so yeah... 

Oliver's room

Carrying on with the theme of paint making everything better, here are some before and progress pictures of Oliver's bedroom.  He still needs new carpet, closet doors, his dresser repainted, and his bed skirt ironed and put on, and maybe I can practice using my new nail gun and air compress on some crown molding.

My favorite things in Oliver's room are his curtains that I made
and my grandmother's dresser.

The closet doors here are the worst.  I ripped Oliver's out right away.
I also replaced every single hideous gold door knob with lovely
brushed nickel knobs. 

Lydia's room

We got to California last Thursday, and on Friday I took the kids to Lowes to pick out paint for their rooms, with the goal of getting their rooms painted before the moving truck arrived.  Oliver picked the color he wanted and Lydia demanded to have the same.  "Mine blue." The color is basically the same color as their rooms back in Kansas.

Hey Jim can you go borrow a ladder from the neighbor so I can paint the bedrooms?
-Do you really need a ladder?
Ummm, have you seen how short I am? Or were you planning on painting the top?
-I'll go get a ladder
K, thanks

Painted the walls tradewind
Painted the trim blanched pine

I didn't love the wall color at first.  I wanted it to be a little less blue but once their furniture was moved in it felt perfect.  The house is a disaster, but the kid's rooms are lovely.  We won't call these after pictures, let's call them during pictures.  The after would involve fresh carpet and new closet doors. 

before

Lydia likes baby to sleep right next to her, but in her own bed

Just woke up
Enjoying some pant-less book time
Yes, her baby is wearing a swim diaper...you find things when you move

Lydia's dresser is my favorite

Pinterest search "free printables" so many cute things

womp womp
sad sad closet doors

 Lydia seems to like her room.  She likes reading her books and playing with her baby.  She also enjoys standing next to her dressed and crash landing in her chair then jumping up and yelling "ta-da." Lydia is also sleeping fine, her regular 11ish hours, which is really the main goal. 

before

My house is a pit, a mess, stuff is everywhere, but it's slowly coming together...slowly. 

I managed to snap a few before photos before our moving tuck arrived.  In good pre-makeover fashion the photos are not the best and I didn't wait for great lighting, makes the after photos look all the more lovely, right?


Upstairs

This is the room Oliver picked

 

Sweet Lydia's Room

Kid's bathroom

Hall with a sneak peek of Lydia's new paint
and the closet doors I ripped out of Oliver's room

Toy room, upstairs loft area
Is Oliver hanging a basket from the cord of the blinds, yes

Our room
That fan is so low, and I'm short!
It will meet a new owner soon.

Yes, I can see my toilet from my bed, that's going to need to change

View from our balcony

Downstairs

under the stairs storage area where the kids like to hide out
it's complete with lighting and electricity

Guest room/Office

Guest bathroom/laundry room

living room

tiny kitchen

dining room

Happy 6th Birthday, Oliver

Can't believe it, our boy is a big six year old.  In like 5 minutes he's going to be in full day first grade, and then high school, and college, and bam where did he go?  But I've gotten ahead of myself. 

Oliver is doing really well these days.  He knocked kindergarten out of the park, he's reading at the level he should be, gymnastics is still his sport of choice and he's got muscles for days, he loves to ride his bike, and run, and climb trees, play with his trains, beg for more TV time, pour over books, draw trucks and spaceships, swimming, and he's trying to figure out how one navigates dealing with a two year old sister.

Oliver is one of the most extroverted people I know, even more so than I am.  He feeds off people.  His energy sky rockets when he's around others (not always in the most positive way)

Conversation from two days ago...

Oliver "Why isn't anyone knocking on the door and asking me to come out and play?"
Me "Buddy,  no one knows you're here"
Oliver "No one knows me?"
Me "Not really, but soon they will"

Conversation from yesterday at the pool

Oliver ::taps on kid's shoulder:: "Can I play with you"
Kid "Okay"
Oliver "What are you playing?"
Kid "Pool tricks"
Oliver "I know pool tricks" 

Then he proceeds to jump out of the pool and do a somersault into the pool

Impressed kid "Let's do more tricks!"

He went on to get the little boys name and find out that he is also six.  Eventually there was a whole gang of 6 year olds playing at the pool, jumping in and chasing toys.  It was a sweet time.

It was a little hard that Oliver had to share his special day with the massive event of moving all our stuff into the house.  However, he did have a lovely birthday party with many of his favorite people before we left Kansas.  Today he got to open his family gifts, our neighbor brought him a cake and lunch, and he got to pick a restaurant for dinner, and sleep in his own bed...that seems like a success. 

------

Oliver's birthday is a lovely time to celebrate Oliver, and the boy that he is.  However, I also think about his biological mother.  The mother before me, the one that carried him in her belly, delivered him, and eventually realized that she couldn't manage in any longer and made the ridiculously hard and risky decision to place him in an orphanage and hope for the best.  I wonder if she knows he's not there any more.  He made it out like she hoped.  He's a family man, he's such a family man.  Does she think of him on this day?  Does she look through pictures of his first months? Pictures I wish I could see but were far before my time.  Above all these things I wonder if he has siblings in Russia.  If he does I pray they are safe and happy at home with their mama, because the odds of a babe making it out of a Russian orphanage are far less than they were a few years ago.

Our boy is awesome.  We look forward to the adventures the year ahead of us will bring.

His referral photo

Arches National Park

last day of Kindergarten