My Beach Boys

Last weekend Rich and the boys and I went to Joe and Jen's in Huntington Beach. When Sunday night came, we were loading the car to head home and Rich said, "babe you should just stay for the week and I'll come back and get you." I think he may have regretted it as soon as he said it, because we all jumped on that opportunity! By Tuesday Rich said he was picking us up Wednesday...he missed us too much, but we managed to squeeze a couple more days out of him. It was afterall, a zillion degrees here!
We got to the beach a couple times...the boys were in heaven boogie boarding and playing in the waves with their buddies and cousin Jonah. We rode bikes (Uncle Hucky took the training wheels off of Bryce's bike and he never missed a beat). We went to the Atlantis park and Pier fest down town. Brennen, Bryce and Jonah played Kung Fu Panda like mad men. Call me if you have any character questions or if you can tell me why the panda's dad is a bird!!
We were able to spend some time with the Buttson's, the Weavers, Jared, Jeni and Jilly. Check out the slide show below to see more pictures of our HB getaway!! Thanks to the "Huckies" for an awesome week. I needed it and the boys loved being there. We'll be back soon. Oh, check out Joe and Jen's blog "Meet the Huckies". It's on our "links we love".
Until next time...skaduush!

Week in HB

End of the year awards and programs

Monday night we attended Brennen's awards ceremony. It was great to see all the kids awarded for their achievements academically and biblical. Brennen was given the award for "Most outstanding student" in all subjects! Wow! Rich and I were thrilled of course. But even more so that he was given a "Fruit of the Spirit" award. One child was chosen to represent each "Fruit", and Brennen was chosen for "Peace". That is so fitting for our little Bug. He continually blows us away with his maturity and wisdom for his age. Each a gift from God!

This is Mr. "K", Brennen's principle awarding him for the Fruit of the Spirit.

This is Pastor Joe Jordan. (Jordan Christian Academy is the name of Brennen's school)
Here are Brennen and Tavyn. I love this little girl and can't wait to see what she decides to be when she grows up....because it will be whatever she wants for sure!
Here is Brennen singing "Wild about God!"
Brennen with his teachers being awarded the "Most outstanding student" award.
Now it's Bryce's turn! He was pretty excited that Daddy stayed home from work to come and see him sing "slippery fish". Summer task: teach Bryce how to tie shoes!!
There's our boy. I was pretty far away from the stage so it was hard to get a clear picture, but he did great up there. He's waving to Dad. Note: Chic in the yellow dress had some serious moves!
This is Bryce's best buddy Maximus...along with Peter, Elijah and Tyler who we couldn't round up. He definitely grew up the past 6 months and really enjoyed his friends at school. We look so forward to what next year has in store for him. I just hope Brennen's school is ready for the up and coming Lenarth.
Until next time...

Bryce asked if he could use a pen....

Can you guess what my answer was?




Can you guess what my answer will be next time?

40? Wh...Wha...What?

I think one of the first things I told my husband on his birthday was, "guess what babe? I can officially call you 'my old man'". Seriously...40? with gas prices the way they are...I guess we should be looking forward to that senior discount that's right around the corner...but man, the time is just flying by too fast.
I managed to pull off a pretty great surprise party at my parents house. He was clueless, which of course works out perfectly when throwing these types of events :) It was rather small...although the pictures might tell you otherwise. The original plan was to have it in Huntington Beach at my brothers house, but would have been a little chaotic with their recent move. So...we scaled back the guest list by LOTS of people. Mostly family with a few friends came out to help make his birthday a blast. Thanks to everyone who came!! Rich was really touched and truly enjoyed the day. I think everyone there had a great time too! The four of us headed to the Disneyland hotel on Sunday night and then spent Rich's actual birthday at the parks (thanks to some great friends) the sad part was I forgot my camera for that and the boys each fought Darth Vader with light sabers and I missed it. I guess we'll have to go back.
Well honey...hope you had a great birthday and that this next year is full of good health, love, happiness and success. You deserve it old man...I mean, babe. :)

Until next time...

A need for speed!!

Rich and I had the time of our lives this past weekend! He had purchased tickets for "A Racing Experience" a few months back, to use as sales incentives for his business. He just so happened to end up with a couple left over, so we decided to head out to Fontana Speedway to check it out.
To make a long story short...after a 45 minutes class and a couple times around the track in a van to get a feel for it, I drove 10 laps in a NASCAR while racing 9 other cars (all men) and went 155 mph. (Pheadra will love this...she loves going fast :). I think the toughest thing for me was making lane changes without signaling or checking my blind spot....not how it works in NASCAR apparently. It was insane!! It took me a couple laps to get the hang of it (and to breathe), but after that I was just getting warmed up when I saw the checkered flag.
Rich was next and was in his element! I think it came very naturally for him. He probably couldn't get over the fact that the person in the passenger seat was actually telling him to go faster...but I guess it would have been odd for that guy to have said, "Honey, slow down...you're not a race car driver."




In this picture, we are trying to tell if I need a different steering wheel or just a few cushions so I can see out of the windshield. Turns out I needed both. Hey you can't be to safe (or short) driving NASCAR right?


Rich is having his picture taken by the photographer before he takes off. They take one of you sitting in the window, one with your helmet on sitting in the car and one of you crossing the finish line. By the time we got out of the race car, the photos were developed, matted and framed. They turned out great too!



Here are the boys watching their daddy climb out of the #1 car. They were amazing and so patient all day. It was much longer than we had anticipated, but we only heard a few grunts and groans. Once they saw us in our race gear...they were pretty fired up. I do want to mention, that after I got out of the car, totally pumped at what I just did...Bryce said to me, "Mom, why were you going so slow?" WHAT?!? Apparently 155 mph wasn't fast enough for him. You can bet there wasn't a man on that track that was going to go home having let me beat them...so we'll just say I made them look fast.

Check out Brennen's homerun post below if you haven't already...

Until next time...

The "home run club"

On our way to one of Brennen's baseball games a couple of weeks ago, Brennen asked, "Mom, do you think I'll ever hit a home run?" I said, "well Brennen, it's not easy to do, but I'll bet someday you'll hit one." Then Brennen said, "What about the game ball mom, do you think I'll ever get that?" Okay moms, you know my heart was breaking just a little. I said, "Brennen you just try your hardest every game and I think you'll get it before the season is over." I knew the coach would make sure each child received a game ball, but if you know Brennen...then you know that he wants to earn the game ball...not just have it handed to him because it was time. Well, that game Brennen played his little heart out. He ran as fast as he could, made several great stops and throws. But this was not his time. Again, a little tug at the heart for mom...just knowing he was giving it all he had!
Last Wednesday, at the following baseball game, I was telling my friends Ashley and Heather this story about Brennen and his desires, and I said, "I just want him to feel good about getting the game ball." Just then my little man walked up to the plate and hit a line drive right.... Rich was 3rd base coach and told Brennen to "run Buggy". You know I was yelling! He was cutting it close, but Rich had him keep running to home plate as the ball was being thrown to the catcher. The catcher missed the ball, and Brennen was safe at home! Oh yeah, I cried. I ran over and gave him a big hug...and when I went back to my chair, my girl friends knew just what I was feeling, as they had tears in their eyes (for me I think). As you may have guessed by now...Brennen also got the game ball! As the coach handed it to him he said, "here's to the newest member of the home run club!" This was a great day for the Lenarth family! It's the little things that count sometimes...and that can bring so much joy to our lives. For these....I am thankful!

Until next time....