A Taste of Summer

Today we got to go to the Lagoon for a few hours and it was so great. It made me excited about Summer and what I love most about it. It wasn't too hot or too crowded- just right. The boys got to play with their best friends, I got to sit, relax, read and be with my friends too. Now that the boys are older and water safe, going to the Lagoon is so much more fun for me. I also can get away with bringing hardly anything (which I love).

Claire and Nathan

Pickle loves the water!

1st Grade Open House

Last night was Nathan's Open House at Brywood Elementary School. There was 100% participation from all the families in our class- speaks well of the great teacher! This year has been amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher and class for Nathan. We have had many challenges as we have struggled through paying attention, staying on task, emotional instability, not eating food, etc.

Fabulous Ms. Ferguson (with Nathan)

We started Nathan on medicine to help with his ADHD- that too has been a roller coaster. Some meds have worked and some haven't- it has been a challenge to find the right dose. It certainly hasn't taken away the problems, but has minimized them greatly.

Second grade will be a challenge with a new teacher and bigger classroom sizes (with great expectations on the students), but I am prayerful that we will get through it just like we did this year- with humbled knees in prayer, our heads held high and smiles on our faces.

Recycling Update

I haven't written in awhile about recycling, but we are still going strong. I couldn't do it without my mom- she collects over 25 dollars a week worth of bottles. We are now over $1,600 in our Hawaii fund. It is a lot of hard work, but well worth it!!

This week's haul- $57!!
Not too bad!

Esther- In a Nutshell

Tonight I wrapped up a 9 week study (that started in January- we had a little break) of The Book of Esther by Beth Moore. What an amazing study and group of women that I got to walk this journey with. The title of the book was "It's Tough Being a Woman". Yeah, she got that one right.

Charlotte, Holly, Michelle and Stephanie (Eden in front)

Heather and Monica

Myself, Kara (our hostess), Betsy and Stephanie (our facilitator)

Hamantashen (Haman's Ears)
A cookie made during Purim to celebrate the fall of Haman
and the victory of the Jewish people!!

Happy 1st Birthday Pickle

Today is my favorite red- haired baby's birthday. Yesterday we went to her pickle party and had so much fun. Although it was cold, the big kids still went swimming. We played fun pickle games and ate a delicious cake (a la Tricia!!). I can't wait till she can walk and talk!! We have enjoyed sharing this first year with her and look forward to many more!!

Side Note: AToday is extra special because my other favorite "red" head shares the same birthday. Today was my wonderful Mommy's birthday. She is 73 and looks 15 years younger. She is my best friend and I love her so much!!

A Family Adventure

Today we had quite the day as a family. We left first thing in the morning and headed up to Pasadena for NASA's JPL open house. This is an event that takes place once a year and we wanted to see what it was all about. There was a bad accident so we had some yucky traffic and once we got there it was over an hour since it had begun. Needless to say, everybody and their mother was at this thing today- it was PACKED. We didn't see much due to long lines, but it was a good experience and we know what we will do differently in the future.

Boys outside in the plaza- where lots of food was for sale!

Actual Mars Rover that will go out at the end of 2011. This one is designed to look for living organisms.

Test Rover- smaller scale, but so cool!

One of the great activities available. The campus was huge and impressive!

Thankfully we had another place to go while we were up there. After lunch in our car we went to Kidsplace- Children's Museum. This is located in the Rose Bowl Park area of Pasadena. It is a little costly. I could see being a member if we lived closer, but I am glad we took advantage of being so close. There was a rock climbing wall, creek and some ponds to play in, a tricycle track, cool in-door climbing towers and lots of other neat things.

The boys climbing the root wad structure

Boys having fun in the water area-
good thing I brought a change of clothes!

We ended the long day with a great dinner at a new favorite restaurant. The Lazy Dog Cafe. I had the best pesto chicken with hummus salad. This too was pricey, but worth it after a long day in the sun. We will definitely go back for a special occasion or a date night!!

All in all, it was a wonderful day with my wonderful family- we are blessed beyond our imagination!!

Nathan- Study of Sharks

A couple weeks ago Nathan had to choose a creature from the sea to study. He chose a Hammerhead Shark. He had to do a report at home and then he has been doing stuff at school about his shark too. Another aspect of the study was to make a habitat for your animal.
We had lots of fun putting this together last weekend! We turn it in this Friday and it will be up for Open House at the end of the month- I can't believe Nathan is already wrapping up 1st grade. Where has the year gone?

Happy Mother's Day

I love being a mom. I waited my whole life to have the privilege of being called "mom". This year I spent the day with my mom and kids at church and then Dan took the kids for the day while my mom and I played cards, watched a movie and just had fun being together. I didn't want to cook dinner so my fabulous husband took me out to dinner-
Here are some of my lovely offerings- homemade card and planter from Nathan, a beautiful heart necklace from Jason, cards, lovely tulips from my mom, note cards from my mother in love (not pictured) and a bag of recycled bottles and cans from my brother in law!! I am so blessed!

Happy 18th Birthday Ryan

Ryan's birthday isn't till Thursday, May 13th, but we celebrated today with a viewing of Iron Man 2, lunch at Panera and then back to our house for cheesecake and present opening. Ryan really wanted money for his birthday so he could get some toys and fun things (it is his birthday after all).

We can hardly believe this young man is 18 already. I have enjoyed being a part of Ryan's life for 8 1/2 years, but these other lovely people (pictured below) have known him since he was a new born baby!! They REALLY can't believe he is 18 (and taller than everyone).

Dan and His boy!!

Grandma Mary and Ryan!

Kristen, Ryan and Kim- Honorary Aunties!!

Iron Man 2

We love Iron Man in our family. We have been looking forward to the sequel since the first one ended. We even watched it last night to prepare for today's viewing.

The neat thing about it coming out this weekend is that it was just in time for Ryan's birthday (May 13). Last year we saw Star Trek and this year it was Iron Man 2. We have some friends and family join us at the viewing and then have lunch afterward.
The Gangs all here- Melissa, Steve, Mary, Dan, Kristen, Ryan, Kim, Nathan and Jason!

Jason:: Getting Ready for K!

Jason and I are working together to prepare him for Kindergarten in September. He knows most of his letters and the sounds they make, he knows shapes, colors, animals, body parts, how to get dressed, brush his teeth, etc.... Writing his name is a biggie and one that he will get a lot of practice with!
I had asked him to write just his first name and he wanted to go onto the middle and last part. Next step is working on lower case letters. I thought this was awesome- don't you?

Big Sunday

Today our church, Creekside Christian Fellowship, closed their doors. Yes, you heard me right. All over Orange County churches were closing their doors and going out into the neighborhoods to serve. There were all sorts of opportunities- weeding, picking up trash at Bolsa Chica, picking produce, handing out water to runners for the OC Marathon, collecting food for Families Forward and even organizing at their warehouse.

This was our first year participating as a family. The kids were old enough to join in and we had a great time. We were at the Albertson's down the street from our house collecting food for Families forward. We handed out a nice flier that told about FF and what items were most needed. This great organization services over 150 low income families in South Orange County. The kids did so great passing out fliers and we thankfully had a great return!!

I was especially touched by those who had used an organization like FF in the past and wanted to give back now. Today was about being the hands and feet of Christ- serving the Lord by serving others!!

Butterfly Magic

Life cycle of a Butterfly

A few weeks ago Jason found a caterpillar. Much to our surprise, it turned into a Chrysalis two days later. How were we to know that he was at that stage in his cycle? Since he was from the wild and had attached himself to the inside of a vase.

We guessed how long he would be in the Chrysalis, but it ended up being much longer. We almost gave up on him, but then he started wiggling. Again, we didn't know how long he would wiggle before he came out. Unfortunately we didn't see him get out, but he dropped out on Friday. We thought he was a goner again since he didn't move at all, but thankfully he stood up and has now begun to flutter his wings.
Here he is in a borrowed habitat- drying out!!
Here we are letting him go. Having our little friend with us these last few weeks was really special and a great learning experience for all of us.

3-2-1 Blast Off!!

Nathan- future astronaut!

Today we experienced something awesome. The Discovery Science Center sponsored a Bottle Rocket Launch at the Boeing Company's campus in Huntington Beach. We took Nathan (while Jason had a sleepover at my mom's) and it was so worth it. Since Nathan is a future scientist/ engineer, this was right up his alley.

When we arrived we checked in and were given our launch tickets. We then picked up our supplies (we brought our own 2 liter soda bottle) and headed to the building stations. This event was really well run, tons of volunteers (not enough bathrooms though). Since we had never done this- we watched what others did and then stood in line to launch it. As we were waiting our turn, we could see which rockets worked and which one didn't. You were timed on how high it went up and how long it stayed in the air before coming down. We also had to figure out how the parachute would deploy.Our first one didn't get too high, nor did the parachute deploy- it was back to the drawing board. I went and stood in line (which was really long now) while Dan and Nathan built #2. This time they made a separate capsule that wasn't attached to the bottle (with water in it). This rocket flew so high, but the parachute didn't deploy again- too bad. It did go so high (and fall so fast) that it smashed in the top-flat!!

Nathan with some cool model rockets!!