Catching Up

Summer seemed to fly by so fast. Judah had another great beach party. They found a turtle, a large dead fish, and searched for creatures for hours. They went tubing and and sliding down the big slide. It's fun to have a summer birthday in the family! I can't believe we are moving toward double digits next year!

Here is the turtle:) So proud.

 He loves his new laptop and uses it daily for school!

 This boy time was LOUD!

 Face first. Has Papa's blood in him.

 Best pals.

 This chalk did not wash off for weeks:)

For My First Baby

About this time every year I walk to the card aisle look for your new "number" and start to cry. You are going to be nine on Friday! Everyone always told me how fast you would grow, and now I understand. I wish I could remember every moment I have had with you. I wish I could hear your first word, just one more time. I wish I could rock you forever like I used to, singing all of our favorite songs. I wish I could breathe in your baby breath and have you wake me for the 20th time to nurse. I love every inch of you from your head to your toes and I still could stare at you forever. I never knew I could love someone  so much. I never knew how easy it would be to give everything I have....for you. All I ever really wanted was to be your mommy. You are everything I ever wanted in a son and so much more. I sometimes wish you needed me to hold you all day long, to feed you every meal, and carry you around everywhere. You are so independent now, but thank God you still need me to kiss your boo boos (when no one is around), and snuggle you every night. I never knew how hard it would be when you learned how to have an "attitude", or how sad I would feel when I didn't handle it right. Everyday I have to learn how to be the best mom all over again, you offer plenty of opportunities for me to practice:)

I love you when you climb in my bed in the morning. I love you when you stomp up the stairs. I love you when read to your sister and cry when she is hurt. I love you when pout in your chair. I love you when you tell me I  am so pretty. I love you when ignore me completely. I love that you live for fun. I love that you never stop talking, or moving, or eating.  I love your love for knowledge and how you retain so much information! I love watching you play baseball. I love your aqua blue green eyes. I love your new teeth! Did you know I kept your baby ones:)?  I love how proud you are when you bring home a great report card. I love that I get to learn with you this year and that we can grow in knowledge together. I love you because I know your heart and I know that with time you will become the man of integrity and character that daddy and I are helping you become. I want to spend everyday investing myself in your life. I don't want to miss a moment with you.
My prayer is that you become a strong yet tender hearted man. That you would be a caring, faithful husband, and a loving and fun father. I pray that you would look for every opportunity to help others. I pray that you always live your life to the fullest, just like you do now. I pray that you would know how intensely you are loved by God and by us. I pray that I can be that example for you by living out these things  everyday.....and model humility when I fail.  I love you.  You bring me so much joy!

This dark hair of yours was amazing, and you always smelled so good!

You love your baby sister

You will be taller than me soon!

I love this face!

Your first time being a groom (Q and U wedding)

This is your papa and boy do you look like him!

You love being the center of attention, that's ok.....so did I:)

Your First Dodger game in NYC

You will always be my favorite boy in the universe and I love you a gazillion times!

Happy Birthday sweet boy.

Graduate

Our baby girl graduated preschool in June and we were so proud. We both cried and she was radiant. I really could stare at her all day long. She was so proud of herself! Last week she really took off with reading. She can read all on her own and we just started Dick and Jane books. She is so excited and tells everyone she knows. She cannot wait for school to start this year. She gets the biggest smile on her face and says, "Mom YOU are my teacher!"

12-2

Judah had such a great season this year!  He is getting better every year. He is so much fun to watch, and pitched like a champ! They won 12 games and lost only two. They came in second place and he was very excited to get the large trophy. The best part about the season was that the boys were great and got along so well. They improved SO much and really became a team! He is playing on the all star team now and just won his first game 19-0. I never knew I could love sports so much!

Better Than Fireworks?

Tonight the four of us were reading an audio book together. We noticed some intense flashing outside. We turned off all the lights, ran into our bedroom and piled on the bed to watch. Every second (literally) lightening was lighting up the sky. It was amazing! After watching for over 30 minutes, we finally had to carry the kids to bed. It is now an hour later and it is still going on. I have never seen anything like it. It was like tree branches across the sky, lighting up the clouds that were darkened by the night. Stella asked if we could do this every time there was a storm, I said, "yes", she said, "thanks mom." We all agreed it was better than fireworks.

Lollipop

It was our week to take the class teddy bear, Lollipop, home. Each child spends a weekend with Lolli, taking pictures and then journaling about it in a notebook to share. Here is Lollipop enjoying mac-n-cheese with his favorite student in the class:)

The Big 6 0 and The Big 3 0

My mom and I had our BIG milestone birthdays this year. Sixty and thirty!! The great news is......we both think we look at least ten years younger:) Ok, maybe 7 years younger for me. We had an awesome surprise birthday party for her at Lanzi's on the Lake. It was beautiful and I was so glad that my sis was here to help me! Mom was so surprised and it was SO worth the word. We danced the night away and Judah said it was the best day of his life! He is so sweet, and I should mention that he is quite the dancer! He was a great swing partner and has some smooth moves.
On my birthday we took the kids and the rest of the family for a hibachi dinner. The kids were so much fun to watch while the chef was cooking on our table. It was delicious and I was happy just to be with my family (or at least most of them.) It wasn't as hard to say goodbye to Vic this time, because I knew we would see her in two weeks!

One Whole Hand!!

My precious baby girl is FIVE!!! That is ONE WHOLE HAND!!! How I was blessed with the most amazing daughter in the universe.....is beyond me. She is charming, strong, hilarious, sensitive, aggressive, gentle, expressive, and SO loving all rolled up into her beautiful little self. I could watch her for hours and never get bored. I could smell her hair, and skin, and feet, and hold her forever. I am so proud of little lovey.
She knows who she is. She adores her brother and declares that she will marry him one day;) She loves mac-n-cheese, cheese, yogurt, and chocolate, but especially corn on the cob. It seems that her favorite toys are her stuffed animals. She is VERY proud of herself for getting a stamp on her hand everyday for good behavior at school. She can do anything if you show her how to do it once. She loves dresses. She loves dates with daddy. She cheers herself up after crying by BURSTING into laughter. She loves God and prays the sweetest prayers. She loves justice and makes sure that everyone is being treated fairly. She is an amazing example of generosity and will give anyone anything she has. She gave her entire piggy bank to the school for ill children. She loves baths and will stay in one for over an hour! She loves to help....especially with cooking.
I could go on and on....
We had a very fancy tea party for her and she loved it. She invited six girls for a proper tea and they were all so cute with their scones and tea sandwiches. She chose her "cupcake" cake, colors and all. She makes me burst with pride and joy....

Happy Birthday to my sweetest girl!

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles!

Isaac and I had MEXICAN food in OUR TOWN!!! Six years we have been here and in withdrawal from this most amazing food. We found out through a friend that a little old building on main street was serving mexican food on tuesday nights, all month!! We thought we would give it a try but didn't want to expect too much. Surprise!! It was amazing! We shared a platter for two. Enchiladas, tacos, chimichangas, rice, beans, tortilla chips (homemade) and 3 dollar margaritas! The portion size was enormous! We came hungry but took quite a bit home. It was some of the best mexican food I have ever tasted! We were so excited and looked like kids in a candy store. Apparently, they will be doing this again in May!! Hurrah! We can't wait to go again. What a fun date.

Why are so many of my posts about food?? Hmmmmm....

Here is a pic of what was left over! There was about four times this when it was served!

Big Boy Stuff

Judah has been very excited to have "braces." It is actually called a space maintainer , but it is in the orthodontic family, so calling it "braces" works. His little mouth needs more room for his adult teeth to come in so this will open up his very narrow jaw and push his front teeth forward a bit. He was such a champ and picked out a toy when he was done. Dinner was an ordeal though. I made pizza at home and didn't consider the fact that he needed to get used to eating with the device in his mouth. The cheese was sticking and it freaked him out. He didn't eat much, but we tried. He will get used to it in a couple of days. Here it is!

Pure Joy!

Stella decided to try to swim WITHOUT her floaty at her lesson today!! She just took right off, and swam!! She was excited, I was thrilled! It was amazing to watch her go and to see the smile on her face. I think I was smiling even bigger. There is nothing like watching your baby learn something new and take off with it. She swam and swam and didn't even stay near the edge. She was all over the place and I was a tiny bit nervous, but she did great! This is such a big step for her and she can't wait to do it again. Maybe she will be able to swim without a floaty in Cali, yay!

Date Night!

Isaac and I had a quick date last Tuesday. We decided to get sushi. I bravely walked away from the habachi table and decided to just get sushi. Isaac ordered a huge plate of sashimi, ewww. I ordered the california roll and shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber roll. Is that still considered sushi? I always feel like apologizing to the cute japanese waitress for not ordering raw fish. Here is it! It was SO good. I loved it. Isaac couldn't finish his plate.

Do What You Gotta Do

Last week I was down and out. I had a sore back and a bad cold. I needed rest, but Stella needed entertainment and food. Isaac works in our bedroom, I needed the bed, and Stella needed to be quiet. This is what I came up with.Stella in bed next to me with a plethora of snacks and a movie to watch with earphones. She is easy to please so it worked out for all of us. She even let me steal a few crackers.

Nobody Was Pinched

Here are the kids with friends getting ice cream on St. Patrick's day. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lovely walk. A fly landed in Stella's ice cream cup, so Judah gave her the rest of his cone....so sweet.

Childlike Faith

My children teach me far more than I have taught them. God, let me have faith like my children. Stella was like this all on her own, and I quickly snapped a photo. I wish I could have recorded her prayer too.

Just Because

I cannot resist this face!

Barfy

Nanny sent the kids a care package a few weeks ago and in that box was a very cute puppy for Stella. She named him "barfy." I thought it was so cute that I couldn't tell her what that meant. She started making barking noises while saying "barf" "barf", rather than "bark" "bark". Hilarious. So flash forward to last Wednesday, Stella woke up and "barfed", the real kind. Poor thing. She is so quiet and sweet about it, unlike her brother! She ended up being totally fine. I think it was a fluke. But, I made her rest all day anyway just in case! She snuggled with her new puppy and watched movies all day. I couldn't resist a picture of..........

Barfy holding barfy :)

Who Cares if it's a School Night!

We threw out our normal routine the other night to have a snow party. They enjoyed blue popsicles and went outside and made a snowman in the dark (I was watching them:). We had a very big snow storm the day before and didn't want all that snow to go to waste. They shoveled some of it, threw most of it at each other and ended with a very cute snowman.
There is nothing better than watching them having a blast and laugh hysterically.
Snowman's head fell off about five times:) We gave him eyes after the picture was taken.

Shhhh....

Today on the way home from swim class.....

Stella: "Mom, I didn't pee in the pool today"

Me: "Does that mean you have peed in the pool before?"

Stella: (smiling) "Remember mom, I told you before?"

Me: "Oh, you mean the one time a while back?"

Stella: (mischievously now) "Actually (pause), it was a few times (smile.)

Me: "Remember, that water goes in your mouth quite a bit while you swim;"

Stella: (disgusted look) "EWWWW!"

That solves that

Personal Pampered Chef Party

I received my new pampered chef stone pan. I decided to give it a try tonight. First, I made the kids a three cheese pizza. Stella wasn't hungry. Judah loved it and ate four pieces. I thought it was good. One problem, much of the crust stuck to the stone. I found out this is normal for the first use.Pizza #2 was the "Three Cheese Garden Pizza." I was nervous about this one. It came out perfectly. The garlic made the pizza and it was really nice without red sauce. This is a pampered chef recipe, and I recommend it! Isaac loved it too. The picture was taken before it was baked. It looked even tastier afterward. Check it out on pamperedchef.com