Summer Vacation 2009!

It finally happened! We all went to California's Disneyland! Oh the fun and experiences. This was the kids' first time on an airplane. All went well (except for when that nice man tried to sit by Ashley). We stayed with some good friends for the week. The first two nights we stayed with Julie and kids at a nearby hotel. We spent the first partial day just soaking in CA in Anaheim. The next two days were Disneyland from morning to night! What an awesome experience. Our favorite rides were Indiana Jones and Space Mountain, WOW! Julie showed us the ropes of both Disneyland and California. Thanks to her experience and expertise we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest! We even relaxed in Malibu's Zuma Beach on Friday and toured Santa Barbara on Saturday. We slipped out for an evening without kids at a great restaurant in Ventura's Pier (yes, our treat!). What a great experience and NO KIDS!!! Finally, one more day of Disneyland on Sunday and then we left the next day after a hard core boot camp with Julie and of course, In Out Burger because eating there the first day just wasn't enough. THANKS so much for sharing your place Julie, Rick and kids!!! This was our best vacation ever!

Huckleberry Picking 2009!

We found our same place as last year, thanks to Josh and his GPS! Poor Justin was attacked by bees but other than that is was nice and cool in the low 60's...burrrrr. I am glad I brought my sweater! On the way home we stopped by Bonzi Bistro in downtown Coeur D' Alene. Sushi...yummy!

Valley Girl 2009!

What a fun race! Even though I arrived with a flat tire and my chain fell off at the beginning of my bike ride. Thank god for those nice bike volunteer's at the race and oh, that lady who helped me put my chain back on in my state of panic! Okay, I also panicked a bit on my swim but not as bad as last year. My time was two minutes slower than last year but I am blaming my bike chain incident on that. My running time was AWESOME!!! Thanks Shelly for coming and being my personal photographer!!!

Photo compliments of... http://feistyworks.com/

Justin's Music Program

Justin had his Kindergarten music program earlier this month. It was so adorable. I get very sad to wonder how long he will stay so sweet innocent. What a great program. He is the one in the red shirt with pineapples. We went for ice cream afterwards.

Blue...

Why do the always gravitate toward the blue? Here is the family at Maggie Moo's.

Charlotte, Ashley & Justin Prepare for Sprinkles!

Ashley loves her umbrella. Last Thursday C was over and it started to sprinkle. Ashley immediately went to go get her umbrella. Thanks to mom, we have an abundance of umbrellas and so there was enough umbrellas for everyone!

Bloomsday 2009

Co-op Mini Bloomsday Fun Run 2009

Every year at our Co-op Preschool we do a fun run in the spring. The kids have a blast while the run up and down Polly-Judd Park on South Hill's lower West side.

You Say It's Your Birthday...

My baby turned 4 on Easter Day. Wow, they grow too fast. She told me, "I can still be your baby, mama, for a little bit." We celebrated her birthday at our house last Saturday with pizza, an Easter Egg Hunt, cake and ice cream, and of course presents! She got everything a little girl could want! She loved them all. A few of my favorite things to watch her do is dance with her "Learn How to Ballerina Dance," kit. It is so cute! She is really enjoying her new little walking and meowing kitty, who we call "Kitty, Kitty." She has been sleeping with Kitty Kitty. I really enjoyed how Jacob stepped in to show Ashley how to fish with her new fishing pole. Don’t forget about all the girly bling that she can't stop wearing and stuffing into her purse, and toting around town with it. A girl can never have too many crowns or tiaras and ahhh the nail polish. What else can a little girl ask for?

Dress Up Queen

Miss Ash is really into dressing up. I thought having two brothers would make her less likely to become a girly, girl. I thought I would be lucky to get her to wear dresses. Well, I was wrong. She is into it more than ever right now. It gets to the point now that it drives me crazy to pick up her room at the end of the day. She has mountains of clothes all over. It is worse on days that she has company because of course she is showing off a bit. I hate doing extra laundry. I have enough of that already so I go through it trying to figure out what I can salvage for "clean." She does help with her room but when she does it, she tends to put it all in her dirty clothes bin. I need to figure some other system. I wouldn't change her for the world! Yes, even when she gets in that stubborn tantrum mode that reminds me EXACTLY of me, when I was her age.

Valentine's Party take two...

Jacob also enjoyed his Valentine's Party on the same day as Justin but about three hours later. His teacher hinted that parents may come towards the end if they wished. My guess it that the mom's were gossiping with each other too much in previous parties so the teacher has been trying to keep parent involvement at a the parties to a bare minimal (I was not one of those gossipers, btw). I do recall the noise level being very high at the Halloween Party, and this was not due to just students. Jacob's friend Clarence has not been in the same classroom as him since the 1st grade but he still looks forward to seeing him at recess, lunch and after school. We have also made an effort to continue play dates throughout the years.

Ashley celebrated her Valentine's Day a few days earlier at "Jump and Party" with her CO-OP clan. What a blast! I brought Justin along due to Sarah's request.

Valentine's Party

Justin had his annual Valentine's Party. I was in charge of a game. I chose "Flip and Toss," and it was a big hit. It is a bean bag game. The idea is to flip over the six semi circle cups, with the toss of the bean bags. Lots of goodies, games, cookie decorating and crafts are usually a hit.

Justin looses his first tooth

After watching several of his friends loose a tooth, Justin finally lost his first tooth last night. Actually, Maybe I should rephrase that to, dad pulled out his first tooth. The funny part it that he didn't even realize it was loose. It just dawned on me that he is turning 6 years old and hasn't lost a tooth yet. Being a curious mom, I asked him if I could check out his teeth, when I realized one was loose. Later in the week we found that it was pretty loose so Josh asked Justin if he wanted him to pull it out. Justin responded, with a "yes." Just like that, and it was done.

Best Friends

Ashley just loves her little buddy. She is always reminding me that Charlotte is her "Best Friend." Shelly and I decided we needed to get these girls together for a play date. We now meet every week after CO-OP. It's good for us moms too! It is nice when you can connect with the mother of your child's friend or is it the other way around??? Yesterday we found a way to enjoy a quiet moment during our playgroup. Okay, the video also gave us some still subjects to photo.

Jacob's Cheese Head

One day Jacob decided to get creative with his cheese...

My Head...

Today after picking up Justin from school he blurts out, out of the blue, "I don't like my head." So of course I am now a curious and protective mom, wondering why? His head is so beautiful to me. I think he has the best shaped head out of all of us. What brings this on? Are some kids at school making fun of my child's head? I will #$%@ them. He is my boy, my sweet boy (okay, not always). First thing I tell him is, "what, I love your head it is so perfect and round and nice. So nice that I love to kiss it, just like this right on those cute little cheeks of yours." So I kiss his cheek and he smiles that adorable, dimpled, little smile. I then ask him, "Did someone say something bad or mean about you head? What in particular don't you like about your head?" To my surprise, he replies," No, I just don't like my face." My heart melts. No one wants to hear this coming from their child's mouth. I am still wondering if someone said something to him at school. I drilled him some more to see if someone from school had said something mean.
I begin to wonder to myself, the same thoughts I have had to myself over the last few months. My boy is growing. He is growing into a little man. His face is changing. I am feeling sad. One day he will grow up and not need me like he does. Will he prefer the company of his friends over me, probably so? They grow so fast. I get a little sad to think about how they will not be cute little bundles of joy forever. I will miss not being able to grab them and pick them up, give them a nice squeeze and then kiss their chubby little cheeks. They are growing. One day they will have their own little families. Families of their own.
For now, I will just enjoy what I have. Enjoy the moments of today. It's hard to not to imagine their futures. I can only imagine the best or at least I try. I know I shouldn't dwell on what will come but focus on what we have today. That's what I will do...
As for Justin, I think he is just seeing the changes as well. His face is changing and so is he. After all, I don't think kids look in the mirror on a regular basis like we do. All I can do is to assure him, that his head is wonderful. His head is his. I will end with, enjoy today and tomorrow!

Triple Play With Friends!

What a nice week we had. We were able to spend times with my old friend Julie and her kids who were in town for the week. Our families enjoyed Triple Play Family Fun Park. It was nice to meet her brother, his wife and new little baby boy. We tired to go up to Silver Mt. for some snow tubing but it was closing down due to high winds. We had a nice play date at a friends house. I was also able to squeeze in a last minute movie with my friend Julie & her mother during the beginning of her visit.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at the White House Grill, where six of us laddies dinned, wined, and talked. We were suppose to enjoy a Spa treatment at the Highland Spa but they had to cancel our party due to severe weather. The weather this season has been affecting a few plans of people in the Inland North West, but we make the best of it. I rode with my friends Beth and Amalia to Post Falls. It took us about an hour and a half, to get from Upper South Hill in Spokane to Post Falls in Beth's truck. This typically takes around 45 minutes.

We finished Julie's visit with a wonderful potluck dinner and hot tub dip at my house. What a great dinner and I really loved the company too! What a nice bunch of women! Oh yeah, thanks Josh (if you are reading) for all your help and preparing the Rigatoni! You're the best!