Museum Fun

Today we had ourselves an adventure. Many months ago we had received 4 passes to the Sand Diego Air and Space Museum (thanks Yvonne). The passes expired on the 31st so our time was running out. We ventured down to Balboa Park in the cold and misty day to see the planes. It turned out to be a great day all around.

After visiting the planes, we had lunch outside on one of the grassy areas of the park. While walking around after wards we discovered another museum- The San Diego Model Railroad Museum. This was a great find and we ALL enjoyed it immensely. They even had a Lego Model Train exhibit showing so the boys got to see lots of legos moving around. The volunteers there were really nice and answered questions about their amazing trains. I highly recommend it to anyone!!After the trains we went back to the Air and Space Museum to finish off our tour. There is lots to see and we all were captivated by the amazing flying machines and the people who built and flew them.
Balboa park is a spectacular place to take your family and I can't wait to do it again. We didn't even scratch the surface- there is so much more to see and do there.

Reunions

This week has been a week of seeing friends whom we don't get to see too often. Yesterday we spent time with Rian and Carrie and their kids. Rian, Carrie and I went to high school together and our oldest kids were born within 2 1/2 months of each other. We have been getting the kids together since they were a few months old- so fun to watch how they grow and change each year.

Today we saw some friends from preschool who moved away a year ago. The kids took to playing together like they did it every day. Just spending the 4 hours we did together at the park makes me wish we could live near each other again!!
Here is my sweet friend Lisa- Seeing her inspired me to start planning a road trip to see her this summer. She lives up in Birch Bay, Washington (the very tippy top).
Here is Nathan and Katelyn. These two hit it off their first day together in preschool. They spent many hours playing at each other's homes when they weren't together at school.Thankfully Katelyn had a little brother close to Jason's age. Here are Adam and Jason playing on the slide- so cute!!

Christmas Merriment!

We spent Christmas day at my Mother in Law's house. After opening stockings, playing at the park and having dinner, we opened our presents. Jason loved his cool trucks from Grandma Mary. He also got books, games, play-doh and other fun stuff!!
Here are our three happy boys- getting so BIG!!
Nathan got a keyboard from my mom and lots of fun toys and books too. Here he is with his Transformer! Could the grin get any bigger?
Here is my honey and I relaxing after gifts have been opened and before dessert. We ate way too much food, but it was ALL so good!! My mother in law traditionally makes Enchiladas for Christmas and then there are beans and rice from Los Galindrinos. mmm mmm good!!
Here is our hostess with the mostest- Mary Crout.
Here is Dan and his brother Steven and the most amazing dog, Guinness. Having the dog around always makes things more fun!

Milestone::Ryan

Well, Ryan was accepted to his first college today. We received the BIG envelope and inside were the magical words "It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been admitted to Arizona State University". He got into his first choice college- College of Technology and Innovation with a major of Mechanical Engineer Tech. It sounds impressive to me.

Now, he needs to get some awesome scholarships and get a grasp on some financial aid. There are more acceptances he hopes to receive, but the first one is always exciting!!

Written by: Nathan Crout

An All About Rowbot Book by Nathan Crout 12-22-09
Rowbots are made out of metal.
(note: the robot doesn't have a head yet- it is up in the air waiting to be put on)

They also need battories.
To Claire - From Nathan
I hope you did enjoy the Book.
Merry Christmas
The End

This is the 2nd book Nathan has written. I love the illustrations!!

A Visit to Santa

Although my kids don't believe in Santa (I have never told them he was real or that is where there presents come from) we still have an annual tradition of visiting him. When the kids were younger we went to see Santa at South Coast Plaza, but the last three years we have gone to Fashion Island. It is so much fun to look at their picture each year and see how they have grown and changed. I have never planned this, but they always place the boys on the same sides each year- so great!!
Here we are waiting for our turn in Santa's house. We waited for about a half hour to get our shot. I have to remember next year to go sooner in the season.
If I had to choose one present for Christmas, it would be these two boys. They are a gift from God and I feel blessed every day to be their mom and to have them for sons.

After visiting Santa we went down to Balboa Island for the 101st Annual Boat Parade. We had dinner at my mom's, walked around the island to see the great (and over the top) decorations and then enjoy the boats as they went by. This is another tradition that we look forward to each year.

JESUS Is The Reason

^{Luke 2:8}And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

^{Luke 2:16}So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Matthew 2: ¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^a]">[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
⁶" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "

⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Over 2,000 years ago God sent his only son down to earth to save us from our sins and to give eternal life. As we approach Christmas- I am sharply reminded of why we celebrate this day- Jesus' Birthday- and all that he did for all of us who believe. Merry CHRISTmas!!

Crazy Hair Day!!

Yes you see correctly, that is some blue hair on my boy. Today was crazy hair (or hat) day at school. The kids got $500 lucky bucks if they participated (who doesn't want free play money?). Nathan was really excited to have his hair blue and show it to all of his friends.
Of course, Jason had to have his hair blue too- can't let one do something without the other one wanting to do it too!!
Here is Nathan with his fabulous teacher, Ms. Ferguson. Of course, she is wearing a wig (she normally has long, brown hair). Nathan loves his teacher and loves going to school (especially when you get to do fun things like dye your hair for the day!!).

An Annual Tradition

Dan and I had the occasion to dress up last night. It was our Annual Brock Family Christmas Dinner. Who are the Brocks you ask? My mother and Uncle Bob are the last remaining Brocks around. When my grandparents were alive and even after the passed many years ago- their two kids and many grand-kids and great grand-kids got together at Christmas time. We used to meet in a home, but now that the group has grown we have been going to a nice restaurant (thanks to the Matriarch and Partriarch of the family). This year was no different. We ate at Capital Seafood in Irvine.
Here is my mom with her 5 kids. Desiree (53), Christine (50), Curtis (49), Michael (40) and Melissa (38). Gosh, are we really that old?
Here is my mother with some of her grandkids and one niece and great-niece.
Here is my handsome stepson, Ryan, with my two beautiful nieces- Gracie and Kalika!
Here is me and my best friend, my mom!! I love her so much and hope I look as fantastic as she does when I am her age!!

Jason's Creation

Jason has been really into drawing, cutting and creating art. This is a "pencil holder". He taped it to the wall so whoever needed a crayon, pencil or pen could have it right at their ready. He is so clever. Of course he doesn't realize that when we take the tape off of one- they are all going to fall, but it is a work in progress!!

Rainy Days!

I am so glad that it has been raining this week- especially the last two days. We have been staying inside for the most part, but the boys really wanted to go out and play in it!
This is our friend's dog who had his own rain coat to keep him dry (ha ha ha).
I love this boy. He loves being out in it, but does not like to be wet- he is all about the umbrella!

Home Decorating

We have lived in our home for almost 5 years and I have always felt like the staircase wall looked very empty. I have dreamed about putting up pictures of the kids and today my dream came true.

Our house was painted last summer and the new color really lends itself nicely to the black frames and the white mats. I am just so excited about this new completed look. It feels like we have finally moved in!!
This frame is just a fun one with lots of different pics of the family and I have always wanted a letter for our last name- not too bad!!

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Crout wins the award for Entertainer of the Year in 2009.


Jason had his holiday party for preschool tonight. This is our 4th and final year attending. We attended two years with Nathan and now this is Jason's second year. Each year we have won great prizes in the raffle, but the best gift was watching Jason sing on stage. The first song performed was "This Land is Your Land" and he sang it loud and didn't move much- The second song was "This Little Light of Mine" and he decided to add some motions- we were all laughing and he LOVED it!! Enjoy watching it!

Gingerbread Fred

Here is Gingerbread Fred. He is an assignment Nathan got this past week at school. Nathan was out the whole week due to a bad cold, but we still managed to get Fred decorated and mailed off to our good friends- The Hammonds. This assignment requires that you mail G.F. to a family member or friend and they take pictures and journal about their time with him before mailing him back. The 1st graders will then share Fred's experiences with their classmates in the new year.
Here is the letter that Nathan wrote to his friend Burke that went with Fred in the mail.Here is Carrie and her youngest son, Derek, hiking with Gingerbread Fred in the back pack. Apparently he was cold so Carrie made him a fleece jacket to keep him warm. I can't wait to hear more about Fred's adventures in the coming weeks!!

Spelling Rocks

Nathan has begun the adventure of spelling tests each week at school. One of the homework assignments each week is to practice the words through 2 activities of their choice. You can type the words on the computer, write with sidewalk chalk (shown above), write the words in ABC order, etc. Nathan really loves spelling (even when he is home sick). Nathan has missed three days of school this week and we are hoping he will go back again tomorrow!!

Christmas Season is Upon Us

I am so happy Christmas is near- I am always happy to celebrate the birth of Christ, but I am not always excited about decorating, shopping and all the craziness that this season has become.
This year is different. I have minimized a lot of stress in my life that I really enjoyed getting the decorations out and wrapping gifts.
Here is a closeup of the tree with pictures of my sweet boys through out the years. These are my favorite ornaments to place on the tree- they have changed so much from last year and even more so from the years before. My tree isn't real (I know, a sin), but I am too practical to spend money on a tree each year. I have had this artificial tree since 1994- it has traveled all over the place and is still perfect for hanging lights and ornaments on!

So, today the countdown begins. There are many things I have to look forward to in the weeks to come- Jason's school party this weekend, the Brock Family Christmas dinner, visiting Santa Claus, our church's annual cookie exchange, and lots of fun school activities- of course the best thing I look forward is Christmas Eve service at church and then waking up on Christmas morning and seeing my kids faces as they open their presents.

The Band Plays On

Here is Ryan holding his beautiful tuba. Ryan has been a proud member of Beckman High School's marching band for 4 years. A few weeks back they had a special call out to the seniors in the band, but tonight's game was their last. Beckman made it to the CIF playoffs, but unfortunately they lost tonight.
Here is the band on the field. Because it was Thanksgiving weekend, the whole gang wasn't here (normally they number about 150). Being a part of the band has been a huge part of Ryan's high school journey.

The next steps for Ryan are seeing which college he is accepted to, his 18th birthday in May, graduation and then off to college- I can't believe our boy is all grown up!!