Swim Lessons

Swim lessons started yesterday.  Mason is taking a class through the city of Murrieta.  It is about time!  Last
year I stood in line for about a hour and a half with at least 200 parents for swim registration.  But Mason ended up very sick and missed his class last year.  This year the registration was super fast.  Mason loves to go swimming but has been very scared to go in the pool without his life jacket on.  He has always been "Mr. Safety" (aka Mr. OSHA).  So far he loves his swim class and his teacher is fun.  I am amazed at what his teacher is able to talk Mason into trying!  Mason can't wait to go back each day.  He has great enthusiasm!  Hopefully Miles is watching and deciding that swimming is fun!!!

Scarlet's 5th Birthday

Scarlet had a "Fancy Nancy" birthday party on Saturday.  All the girls dressed up fancy.  Carmine even dressed me up in a feathery tiara and beads.  Carmine made the most adorable decorations.  She is so creative.  The party was the cutest thing I have seen.  I can't wait to have a girl!  I have a ton of pictures to post.  I had a very hard time narrowing the 500 pictures down to just a few!  Scarlet loves to pose for the camera.  Not camera shy at all!

Scarlet, the birthday girl.

Rocco

Miles

Mason

Pinata time!

To see more photos of "Fancy Scarlet's" birthday go to my Flickr site.

Envy

Have you seen the movie "Envy".  I thought it was a great movie (as long as you can handle a lot of talk about dog doo doo).  It had a good story about how coveting your friend's stuff can ruin you.  The theme song was great too.  Anyway, I have been coveting too much this week.  Stop it!  Stop it!  First it was the friend's swimming pool on Thursday.  And now it is the Wii.  After the birthday party yesterday.  We played with the Wood's Wii.  It was hilarious to watch the kids go boxing. 

Swimming at Scott's

We went over to Scott's house to swim today.  Scott is a friend from Mason's school.  The kids had so much fun.  Today made me really want a swimming pool!

The boys had more fun throwing these action figures in the pool and then jumping in after them.  Eventually the whole bucket load of figures got dumped in the pool.  Oh My!!!

Elijah

Danielle had Elijah on July 13th, 2008.  He was 8 pounds 12 ounces.  He is so adorable!  Mom and baby are doing great.  Congratulations Danielle and Daniel!  What a blessing!  We are so happy for you!

The Art of Manliness

As a mother raising 2 boys I often find myself in a battle over two sides.  I frequently want to protect (probably excessively at times) but I also realize the importance of raising the boys to become real responsible men and not overly coddled grown up boys.

There is a website/blog called The Art of Manliness.  It is written mainly for men but I have to say I find it very interesting and often I find myself laughing out loud.  Today's post on their blog is titled, "Are The Suburbs Killing Your Manhood?" and there is an interesting post called "Quit Coddling Your Kids".  "In an effort to stop the wussification of yet another generation of
children, here are six ways young fathers can raise strong, resilient,
and independent children."
Every Thursday the blog takes an "Is it Manly Poll?".  They ask if a particular subject or object is manly.  This week's poll is "Are video games manly?"  So far the answer is "NO" (I totally agree)!  There is also a category called Manly Skills, which include: How to Avoid and Treat a Snake Bite, Guide to a Man Hug, How to Survive a Bear Attack, and How to Start a Fire Without Matches.  So go check out this site it is educational and entertaining!

Along the same topic of raising boys to be men, these are some books I have.  One is called The Dangerous Book
for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden.  I got this for Erick a while back.  It is filled with stories and adventures to do with your son. 

And then there is Future Men by Doug Wilson.  I really liked this book (I think I will reread it again soon).  Wilson is always interesting to read ;-) 

Also Erick did a great message on "Biblical Masculinity" earlier this year.

I'll end by saying I am married to manly man :-)  He wrestles horses all day in the Murrieta heat.  He gets kicked, bitten, and thrown around by some of these untamed beasts.  He comes home smelling like horses and sweat.  And occasionally he is splattered with blood and guts.  What is more manly than that?  My man is not only manly in the physical sense but also in the biblical sense.  He works diligently to lead, provide, and protect me and his children.  Thank you Erick for setting a good example for our boys and also for our future daughter to know what to look for in a future husband.

Congratulations Bo!

Our friend Bo graduated from the Sheriff's academy last night.  We are so proud of him.  He has worked so hard.  I was not able to stay for all of the ceremony (one of my boys had a bad case of the wiggles) but what I saw was very impressive.  They played a video of some of the training they had to go through.  I would not have lasted 5 minutes in that boot camp.  There was a lot of yelling in faces and strenuous physical challenges.  It was an exciting night and it was great to see such a huge crowd show up to support Bo.  We didn't get very good pictures during the ceremony (lighting was not so good).  If any one got a good picture of Bo afterward in his uniform and badge send it to me, please! 




Bo getting his badge pinned by Hannah's uncle.
 
 

This is Bo and his proud wife, Hannah.

Homemaking Resources

The past few weeks the GirlTalkers have been writing about Homemaking.  Today they listed some
Homemaking Books.

In addition, a few months ago I wrote a post with links regarding Biblical Femininity.  On the post is a great audio message from Erick on the importance of creating a missional home.

Let me know if any of you have read some great books on the topic of homemaking!

Victoria Gardens

My mom came up this morning to watch the boys while I went to another doctor's appointment.  Afterward my mom, the boys, and I drove up to Rancho Cucamonga and went to Victoria Gardens.  It is a fun retro style shopping area.  It is mostly walking around outside and today was very hot, so we didn't last very long.  Here is a picture of the boys riding the train.  Mason looks like he is in pain but he is just squinting from the bright sun.  It is hard to see in the picture but there is a little boy siting next to Mason.  The boy was so funny, when they got on the rest of the train was empty but the boy wanted to sit right next to Mason, practically on him!

 

This next picture was taken about a month ago (with Erick and the boys) at the Bass Pro Shop which is
located right next to Victoria Gardens.  This place is like Disneyland for the outdoors kind of guys.  It is enormous.  They have tons of hunting, fishing, camping, and boating stuff.  A guy could spend all day in this store.  It is in a perfect spot, just drop the guys off at the Bass Pro Shop and the girls drive across the street to shop at Victoria Gardens.  Sounds like a great plan.  We visited the Bass Pro Shop in Vegas back in February.  That place was unbelievable.

 

You Need to Know CJ Mahaney

You Need to Know CJ Mahaney:

• links to a collection of his resources



• audio

CJ was also posted on "Stuff Cobbs Like #2"

Trader Joe's Picks of the Week

Trader Joe's is one of my favorite stores.  To learn why, read a past post.  My fidge and cabinets are full of yummy stuff from Trader Joe's.  Here are this weeks favorite picks...

1.  Trader Joe's Kettle Corn.  I went back yesterday to stock up on this tasty snack and sadly they only had one bag on the shelf.  That is probably a good thing.  Who knows how many bags I would have bought!

2.  Trader Joe's Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (frozen).  These cookies are also very addicting!  Make sure you have someone to share with or you will eat the whole batch!

3.  Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Mini Pretzels.  Yes, these are just as addicting as the first two I listed.  Watch out!

4. Hawaiian Style Maui Beef Boneless Short Ribs.  Yumm-o!   It is located in the refrigerated meat section of the store.  I just throw them in the slow cooker on low for 4-5 hours and serve over rice or noodles.  This meat is so flavorful and tender (I think you could eat it without teeth)!

5.  Trader Joe's Chicken Fried Rice.  I typically am not a huge fan of fried rice, but this stuff is so good.  I served it with some egg rolls.  It comes frozen and only takes about 5 minutes to cook.

Book Recommendation

I have been meaning to write another post on Crazy Love since I got back from Coronado...

I loved this book.  Erick also read it and thought it was fantastic.  Once you start you won't be able to put it down!  Go order this book!  You will be glad.  It should shake you up a bit and put a fire under you!  The book is Crazy Love:  Overwhelmed By A Relentless God, by Francis Chan.  Here is the book's website.

Fellow blogging friends agree!  Here is what the White's have to say about Crazy Love.

River Trip

We went to the Colorado River with Erick's parents.  It is such a relaxing place.  The boys had a lot of fun playing in the water and the sand, fishing, and driving the boat.  Kristie was the only one that caught a fish this time.  The boys can't wait to go again.  Thanks Ed and Kristie!  To see more pictures, go to my Flickr site:  July River '08.  Or to see all of the Cobb family pictures go to my main Flickr page.

Best Friend

I found this note the other day that Mason wrote to Miles.  I thought it was so sweet and was worth saving.

Learning to Ride

We took the boys to the park this morning.  Today was Mason's first try without training wheels!

   

Van Klassen

This is baby Van.  He is so adorable and a blessing from God!  I mentioned his mom a couple of months ago.  Van's mom had a rare complication during his delivery and she and baby Van almost died.  Thankfully both were able to be resuscitated and restored to good health.  Thank you for all your prayers for the Klassen family.