siqimo

My First Piano Post

2012-02-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

LT has been taking piano lessons at the community center. He did 4 before Christmas and is now halfway through an 8 week session. Not too bad! I didn't realize we were taking the repeat on the second song. Oops!

Valentines, 2012 edition

2012-02-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

This year's valentines are done and in the bag! Thank you Family Fun magazine for your inspiration.

DT went with animal toys tied on to a card.

Complete with corny sayings!

LT did Mad Libs (Dear Valentines edition) tied with a bow.

Also with corny sayings.

Ready for school on Tuesday!

Wake Up Every Day

2012-02-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

DT, it turns out, is a bit of a singer/songwriter. Here he is performing his hit single, "Wake Up Every Day."

The lyrics are:
When the sun is rising/I wake up every day
When the sun is down/I sleep every night
When it gets scary and strange/I go to my mom's room

That last line is my favorite.

A New Cousin!

2012-01-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

The boys were so excited to meet a new, to them, cousin. Since he's 9, I don't think he can be really classfied as "new". TT's aunt & uncle came on a visit from China and brought with them their grandson. He and the boys quickly (in the span of a car ride) became fast friends. They took a day off and went to Santa Cruz together. They had so much fun! A bit like the three stoodges...

Their cousin lives part time in New York and part time in Beijing, Hopefully we can visit him again sometime!

Now that it's 2012, Christmas 2011

2012-01-09T21:25:00.000-08:00

Have to ring in the New Year with the requisite Christmas catch up. Christmas was good. LT proclaimed it "the best Christmas ever" and I'm pretty sure that kids' opinions are the most important, so, I guess, indeed it was. We took more video, so we only have actual pictures of 2 presents being opened, both very successful!

They really loved all their gifts this year from everyone.*

Then we drove down to San Diego for some Christmas with the family. Many rounds of Wits & Wagers were played. Good food, silly kids, Sea World, all the usual... Here is the family picture round up.

The trip back was very long with a lot of traffic. We wanted to make a detour to the Griffith Observatory, but so did everyone else, so we were detoured and just had a hillside stop instead. Still nice. Then more driving and more traffic. We left San Diego at 10 and got home about 10-11.

*We did end up making one change post Christmas. LT's big gift was a Lego Harry Potter castle. When we got back from San Diego, he hadn't opened it and wasn't that interested in opening it, it seemed, despite really wanting it for several months. We talked about it and he decided to return it for something smaller and more manageable. He picked two small lego sets and a DS game instead (total for 1/2 the cost of the big lego set) and was quite pleased. He got a smaller one from Grandma and it turned out that satisfied his Harry Potter Lego needs.

Bathroom Remodel: Check

2011-12-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

The bathroom remodel is in the can. Ok, sorry couldn't resist. And really, it's ALMOST done. The outside wall still needs to be painted, but otherwise it's done! It is so nice. I love it.

Before:

And, after!

I can't fit in all the pictures. Instead, you can click through to our Picasa album and follow the whole process.

Christmas is Coming!

2011-12-11T18:08:00.001-08:00

It turns out time keeps going forward whether or not you are prepared for it. So, Christmas has snuck up on us. Last weekend we ventured out to find our tree.
Santa & the elves starting off on the search

Found it!

Traditional picture of TT with tree for a head

Last night we went to see the neighborhood Santa. DT wasn't sure, so I had to fill in for Mrs. Claus

And we even managed some decoration at the house! I had two very eager ornament hangers this year.

Merry Early Christmas!

Sisterpalloza 2011

2011-11-17T21:01:00.001-08:00

A certain sister had a big birthday this past weekend. To celebrate, we all met up in Denver, since it is pretty central. It was very fun! Of course, as all Augsburger family member know, one of the most fun parts of a get together is trying to take group photos. Some of these were taken by a passerby and some by timer. You can guess which ones are which.

Mega October Post

2011-11-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since our last post. We have been quite busy and at times overwhelmed. I'll try to catch up with the going ons in the last month in this one post.

We had a block party early in the month. Our regular organizer moved away, so it was a committee effort to put it together. The kids loved having a bouncy house in front of our house.

In early October, LT's school held its annual Walkathon fund raising event. Big thank you to everyone who made a contribution. LT earned a total of 22 miles, 17 miles walked, and 5 mile credit for leaving for a soccer game during the day. DT signed up as a junior walker, but did just one and a half laps (1/2 mile), and took the rest of the day off.

As we approached pumpkin season, we found time to visit our regular pumpkin patch. No everyone was in a festive mood. Maybe it was the hot day. Maybe we've gone to the same farm too many times. I don't know. We rode the hay ride, shot some mini pumpkins bazookas, got our pumpkins and left, leaving one cow train ticket unused.

LT had a special soccer practice last weekend. One of the kids on the team invited the team to his grandparents' winery for a practice/picnic. It was very beautiful and an almost surreal setting for a soccer practice.

Come Halloween, we all had a costume this year. S and T dressed as a bavarian couple for a Halloween party. LT was too cool to dress up, so he reused his ninja costume from last year. DT was the red Power Ranger Samurai, which complemented the ninja pretty well.

Oh, and remember that big project we were gearing up for in August. Well, after some delays and setbacks, we are under way. That will be for another post on another day, but here's a snapshot of the early progress.

LT's birthday party

2011-09-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

LT had his birthday party last weekend. We had four squares, backyard movie, pizza, homemade rootbeer and cupcakes. That was enough to keep 20 kids very entertained for over three hours.

Beautiful Big Basin!

2011-09-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were able to squeeze in a camping trip between a soccer game on Saturday and soccer pictures on Sunday. I was having second thoughts about going, with so much going on, but it was so worth it!

Our campsite was beautiful, right in the middle of the redwoods. We went with friends which made it even better. The kids set up camp in a hollow tree right at the edge of camp and made a moss carpet and swept with tree branches. We took a hike to a waterfall and then had a delicious dinner over the campfire. In the morning we had a relaxed camp breakfast and were able to pack up in plenty of time for the pictures!

An excellent breakfast invention! Fried banana (dipped in maple brown sugar oatmeal and hot chocolate mix) in the bacon grease. Yummy!

Even the neighbor campsite girl joined in the fun!

TT had to retrieve the kid's ball once it rolled of the campsite and down into the ravine. Takes some skills.

Back To School Night

2011-08-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

We got to learn about LT's 2nd/3rd grade class at back to school night while LT & DT, too!, got to enjoy a kids night out at the Ycare.

Looking around the classroom, there were some adorable self portraits above the board. This was, of course, my favorite!

(Sorry about picture quality, just had my phone and it was hanging high up!)

Odds & Ends

2011-08-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Just a few tidbits from the last couple weeks...

Tomatoes Gone Wild
We only planted 2 cherry tomato plants, for the record. We got a bonus and they just went gangbusters while we were on vacation. It hasn't been hot enough for most of the fruits to ripen.

School has only been in session 2 weeks, but that was still enough for some fun work to come home. Check out number 4 at the bottom of this one. An honest guy!

Here you can learn about LT's favorites.

We got a new toy. It's like iPad for those on a budget. (Aka, Nook color reconfigured as an Android tablet.) Now we can play Angry Birds and watch Power Rnagers on the big(er) screen. DT calls it the "big phone."

We've also been gearing up for a big project. Here is a little hint.

Second Grade!

2011-08-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Somehow summer has come and went and LT is back to school! He is in 2nd grade this year. He is in a 2/3 combo class with lots of his friends, so it is very exciting. The first day was tough going in as he was the last kid to come in (3rd grade starts at 8:15 and 2nd starts at 8:25 and we didn't realize his class was starting at 8:15 because of the combo). The second day he didn't even look back or wave goodbye when the line went in! I think he enjoyed the first 2 days.

Here's the annual picture!

Years past:
First Grade
Kinder

Chicago

2011-08-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

I think this will be a picture only post.

Strawberry Pickers

2011-07-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

We are very thankful that Grandma A was able to come and spend 2 weeks with us giving DT & LT "Grandma Camp." I think they had a pretty spectacular time. We did manage a few fun activites. We went strawberry picking at a new place, primarily because my employer gave out $20 gift certificates. Yippee! That's a lot of berries, or pie, if you prefer that. (We went with pie.)

Here we are off to the picking. As you look through the pictures you may notice some of us were more serious about picking that others!

And even a group shot! Only with some of our pie, we did take home a whole pie as well.

July 4th

2011-07-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our anniversary by heading to Monterey for a night.

Breakfast at our hotel.

Alright, everyone look happy!

Wave tunnel at the aquarium. Here's the same tunnel 2 years ago.

Pull the horn. Here's that horn 5 month's ago

Go in the fishing basket (like 5 months ago)

Throw rocks at our "secret" beach, aka "sea kelp round up" beach, aka "eastern egg hunt" beach (and the year before)

Father's Day Kayaking

2011-06-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

TT has had a vision of the whole family kayaking together for, well, a long time. Father's day we finally made his dream a reality! We got two inflatable kayaks (for easier transport & storage). We headed out to Elkhorn Slough and set out. It was a beautiful day with lots of wildlife. We saw otters, sea lions, pelicans, seals and more! It was a hard paddle back, but worth it. Happy Father's Day, TT!

Camping

2011-06-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

A historic moment took place this weekend. Our very first camping trip with 4 of us. In order to make this work, we had to get a new tent and an air mattress (I insisted on the latter). I would say it was successful. The boys had a really good time and were only slightly crazy. We had sandwiches for lunch, foil packets for dinner, smores (a lot of smores) for dessert and then bacon, eggs, toast & coffee for breakfast. We even got our own personal talk from the park ranger when we were the only ones to show up.

Catching Air

2011-06-03T21:58:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to have Grandma & Grandpa T visit us over Memorial Day. We had a very nice time picking strawberries, paddle boating, flying a kite, and more. If only summer would come and it would get above 70 degrees!

There were really no strawberries at the patch due to the unseasonable rain we've been having recently. Since there wasn't much to pick (and what there was, DT promptly ate), we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.

Not bad at all!

We even managed a nice family photo in the front yard with our Memorial Day flag.

More picture of our nice weekend can be found here.

3 Year Old

2011-05-21T11:18:00.001-07:00

DT had his birthday last month. Lucky boy had cake twice! An ice cream cake with the family and then a tower of cupcakes at his party. Somehow we didn't take too many pictures either day, but everyone had a good time!

(never mind my gigantic arm! just trying to keep the candles lit!)

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

The boys gave me some nice presents for Mother's Day.

DT painted this frame and drew a picture of a "silly mommy."

LT had a made a scroll painting and two great cards. This one was especially fun!

The biggest boy gave me a gift certificate for the spa. Woohoo! Now to find time to go there and relax.

Egg Hunt

2011-05-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy time for us. Sunday we went to Monterey for our (second) annual egg hunt there, third annual on the beach (Pismo with cousing JT the first time!). Thursday was DT's 3rd birthday. He stood up on the bed that morning and announced, " I am a Giant, Giant boy." And he is. Saturday we had a party for DT to celebrate!

So I can't catch us up with everything at once, but here are some memories from the beach.

Off hunting

A quite satisfied hunter. He has requested that next year his eggs be more hidden as this year was "too easy"

Here is where I announce we are still missing some eggs and we need to hunt some more

But will someone, or something, find them first?

A cautious hunter

Cataloging their spoils

A quite satisfactory family picture. You may see this again in the Christmas card!

We even managed to catch the Easter bunny at lunch. The boys were actually quite enamoured with him, while I was more on the frightened side.

We finished up with a trip to the aquarium. Always something to see there! The octopus is my favorite and put on a nice show this time.

Happy Spring to all!

Happiest Place on Earth

2011-04-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Since it has been a week and a half since we've been back from our vacation, I guess we should be sufficiently recovered enough to blog about it. Since I am not a professional mom-blogger, I was unable to cut back from 15 pictures to the best 1 or 2. Oh well!

We drove down to Disneyland where we were met by Grandma & Grandpa for 3 days at Disneyland! We had a very nice time. DT's favorite ride was the enormous ferris wheel that he went on with G&G and LT's favorite this time was the Grizzly Rapids. I would vote for Tower of Terror. :D

Let's see... the kids were very excited about the trip!

Grandma & Grandpa had a relaxing moment on Tom Sawyer's island

DT got to meet his favorite, Lightning McQueen

Can you spy anyone on this raft?

Maybe this boy can spy someone?

LT worked up his courage to ride on Big Thunder Mountain. Just once, though.

Is this a good look for us? Toy Story Maina was a hit with everyone.

Someone got tired!

Watch out, crazy driver!

Grandma & DT enjoyed the carousel

I was one of those moms who buys their kids bubble guns, thereby making all other kids whine to their moms for bubble guns. But they were really fun!

One last eye spy!

And an attempt at a family picture before we had to say good bye! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for going with us!

Note

2011-04-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is from a few months back, right after Christmas I think, but too good not to share. I have a video from 2 weeks back that I haven't uploaded yet... Ack! A backlog of things to post. :)

Yay!

2011-03-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

It was an exciting day yesterday. You'll have to click through for the video, but I promise it's worth it!

DT had fun yesterday, too... Splashin'

We took along the video camera yesterday, but alas! it was out of battery when we went to fire it up. Thank goodness for cellphones these days!

Work Day

2011-03-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

We had a cleaning day in the backyard. The helpers were put to work. So many things that could be cleaned!

I must say they did a reasonable job. We need to take advantage of this willing labor while we can. LT even requested we have cleaning day every Sunday!

Monterey

2011-02-28T22:48:00.000-08:00

Roadtrip

2011-02-15T20:45:00.001-08:00

We went on a little road trip this weekend up to the state capitol. First stop was Krispy Kreme (hey, there are only 2 left in the Bay Area now or something!). Then a stop at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield to be sure we had maximum sugar content.

Who's too cool now to look like a jelly belly?

Not him!

After this we had an errand to take care of. TT had to finish it up, so I took the boys on my own to the California State Railroad Museum. It seemed pretty cool, but I was being pulled in two different directions. Will have to go back someday!

Our hotel was right next to the riverfront promenade so we walked around and enjoyed the area. This is the golden tower bridge.

After dinner we got an old timey photo in Old Town. The woman let us take some extra pictures of the boys, which was really nice. They enjoyed being cowboys!

Sunday we checked out the capitol building and then went to Berkeley where we had lunch with friends, I played in an ultimate frisbee tournament, the boys went to look at some dinosaur skeletons, we had dinner with another friend and then finally drove home...

Now what was our errand bringing us to Sac Town? TT got a new car! Isn't it pretty?

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T21:53:00.000-08:00

LT & DT have a treat for you!

And from last weekend, DT & I made some treats for a Superbowl party. As you can tell, DT is a very willing helper. LT supervised the toppers and I must say they came out cute! We tried a new recipe... (okay from box/package, does it still count as a recipe??). You take the break & bake cookie dough and then break it up and stick it in the freezer for a while. Then you beat up your batter and put it in the cups and right before it goes in the oven, put a blob of cookie dough in each one. It doesn't cook through since it's frozen. Voila! Cookie dough cupcakes! Yum!

Kiwi PIckings

2011-01-30T19:58:00.001-08:00

Still time to sqeeze in a January blog. It has been absolutely beautiful here while much of the rest of the country has been covered in snow. Last weekemd was especially nice, sunny and in the high 60s. We spent a beautiful day picking kiwis, or at least exploring the orchard, and hiking down to the beach. We finished it off with a campfire dinner in the backyard with friends. (Pizza pudgie pies and s'mores!)

These pictures are from our new(ish) video camera. Not bad for the non primary purpose!

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true that it has been almost 2 weeks since Christmas. Which of course means it is time for a quick recap! We had very nice guests, 6 adults and 2 kids.

We all tracked up to SF. We went up to Coit tower and looked around. It was very beautiful, but you couldn't go to the top since they're renovating the elevator. Here's Jenn!

Here I am driving down Lombard street, the wacky curvy street. We were calling it the curviest street in the US, but we may have made that up! I did CSI zoom in and I only look like I am concentrating, not that I am terrified.

We even got a group shot at Ghiradelli square (and squeezed in a boat ride) before going to a delicious fondue dinner.

Somehow we didn't take pictures of present opening, but here is a mid-day Christmas nap.

DT playing with one of the gifts! I really wanted to make this for the boys even if it wasn't their top gift choice. I hope they will enjoy it anyways!

Then we all tracked down to Santa Cruz. The bigger boys had a blast on this ride.

The grown ups, meanwhile, rode the Giant Dipper many times. It was ride once, get a wrist band for unlimited rides, so we took advantage! It's usally about $5 for one ride, so it was great to ride as many times as we wanted, which was approximately 3 times each.

Before everyone departed, we did get some nice group shots. Mom & Dad with the girls

The T family

And the whole gang!

Happy New Year!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2010-12-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

The boys went to see Santa on Friday. Due to rain, Santa & Mrs. Claus relocated from the porch to the garage. LT would like Pokemon cards and DT didn't say much!

PS. LT would like to add that he forgot to mention Bey Blades.

The Tree Hunt

2010-12-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

2 years makes a tradition, right? We went on our annual trip to the Santa Cruz mountains to find the perfect Christmas tree.

First DT picked this one...

Then LT measured up this one for size!

And then we saw the perfect one.

DT insisted on helping with the sawing!

Then a Christmas tree grew legs and walked out of the forest.

We took it home and got it all gussied up. Somehow every year we end up having to saw off quite a bit of tree when we get home. TT made a wreath for the front door out of the extra branches. Very crafty, that one!

The outdoor light extravaganza. We have not set it to music yet, maybe in the future!

Little Too Cute...

2010-12-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

The last DT guitar video was a big hit, so here's another. This time he's going with an electric.

We Were Thankful

2010-12-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving = fried turkey
Going in
Bubbling away

And all fried up

We will be trying this again at Christmas time.

Then we were off to Aunt J's. We had lego building.

And dog walking..

And a hug with Great Grandma.

There was also a lot of food. And a lot of pickles. Now we are enjoying our pickle starter set, courtesy of Uncle R. Yum!

San Diego

2010-11-21T20:40:00.000-08:00

Last weekend (yes, I'm running at least 1 week behind at all times these days), we went to San Diego for a wedding. A nice benefit to it being in San Diego was being able to visit the cousins! We all had a great time. Thanks to Auntie C and Uncle S for babysitting while we were at the wedding. The boys had a great time.

Pretty much impossible to get three boys to look at the camera and smile at the same time. Well, 2/3 isn't bad!

The bigger boys played some sort of soccer/catch game.

While the littler boys took turns jumping off a monument.

It was such a nice day!

Missed October Photos

2010-11-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

Here at SiQiMo, we are running a little behind. Just tonight I downloaded the pictures off my little camera from the last month. Here is what we found ...

Symmetrical Grandma & DT! Courtesy Seattle Center Science Museum.

And why not Grandpa & DT?

Don't they say that people are inherently attracted to symmetrical faces?

After that trip, we helped put on our street's block party. We had a bouncy house out in front of our house.

A very LARGE bouncy house, make that, complete with dinosaur.

LT enjoyed a table for two with his best gal pal and some Beat In radio station.

The following weekend was the big Walk-A-Thon. Here are the walkers enjoying the pleasant weather.

And celebrating mile number 15!!! You go guys!

Yes, Halloween is Over...

2010-11-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

but we still need to show off the pumpkins! I think TT did a great job this year with the carving. I did the scooping and pumpkin seed roasting.

Could you tell which one went with which person? I'll tell you. I got two, the Pac Man and the ghost, TT got the transformer, LT the dragon and DT "my Mario Kart".

And here are the trick-or-treaters heading out:

Ninja, Samurai and Gingerbread Man

Pumpkins!

2010-10-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

The day we came back from our trip, we decided to make our annual pilgramage to the Pumpkin Patch. It was 90 degrees and not feeling like fall, but we knew we were going to be busy for the next few weekends. So we headed out, and did all the must dos!

Like, the Cow Train! We were able to squeeze 2 boys in one cow.

The big train. And a wheelbarrow ride, of course.

Then I had to cajole them into their costumes since I wanted some pictures. LT loves his costume and wore it all the way home. DT loves his, too, but not in 90 degrees!

The Ninja and the Gingerbread Man

They'll both be wearing their costumes tomorrow for school parties! Happy Halloween!

Fall Break, Part Two: Seattle

2010-10-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

We also visited in Seattle for a few days with Grandma & Grandpa. Somehow they didn't seem to show up in too many of these pictures.
Oops! Next time.

We went to the Pacific Science Center. LT remembered it from our visit 2 years ago and couldn't wait to go back. The butterflies loved TT!

There is a beautiful fountain outside in Seattle Center that we loved.

The fountain stopped spraying and some people got adventurous! Here's Grandpa after touching the sphere:

Oh, look, here goes LT! Notice that girl in blue coming next...

Oops, got her!

Beautiful day!

The next day was not so beautiful. We took some ferries...

and played in the rain

Then it was time to head home. LT & DT agreed that Grandma & Grandpa were their favorite part of the trip! I'm sure they would like to see them again soon.

Fall break, Part One: Canada

2010-10-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, LT's school district took a week off. It's a "furlough" week due to budget cuts, so they'll be going 175 days instead of 180 this year. It seemed that most of the school headed South to Disneyland. We went the opposite direction and flew up to Seattle. We drove up to Vancouver the next morning with our friends in a rented minivan. It was my first time to Canada, so very exciting!

The Peace Arch in no-man's land between US & Canada

Vancouver shoreline, family picture attempt one:

And Vancouver shoreline, family picture attempt two:

Boy and mom, pensive

Afternoon break in hotel room. Kids are enjoying Silly Bandz, the craze finally hit here. They are rubber bands in shapes that you can wear as bracelets.

Brother horsey

King of the hill Big tree you can stand in? I'm sure it has a name

3 cold & happy boys

It was fun to see some of Vancouver. I tried poutine, we took a pedestrian ferry, had the best scone ever (white chocolate berry), saw the Olympic torch, had some delicious Shanghainese food... all in all, pretty successful. Tiring to be a tourist on the go with two kids, though.

Outdoor Kitchen, done, almost

2010-10-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

Our outdoor kitchen is just about completed. When we came back from our trip (that's the next post), we found all the appliances had been installed. All that's left is hooking up the electricals.

Backyard project!

2010-10-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Over the last 3 1/2 weeks, our backyard project, an outdoor BBQ/kitchen, has been in full swing. We were told it will be finished tomorrow. I'm a little skeptical but optimistic. Here's a look at what these guys have done over the last 3 1/2 weeks.

Day 1: Chalk drawing
Day 6: Finished the patio, brick work, plumbing, started to construct the concrete "cabinet."
Day 8: Finished the cabinet, vents, electrical outlets. Pour the concrete countertop.
Day 10: Stucco, priming, started to paint
Day 14 (today): Built a pergola, almost finished tiling the counter top.
So, in theory, tomorrow they will finish tiling, grout the tiles, install the grill, access door, fridge, sink, faucet, and hook up gas, water and the low voltage lights on the face of the patio.

It feels like a huge improvement. We are very excited about it!

SIX years old!

2010-09-27T21:00:00.001-07:00

I can't hardly believe our baby is 6 years old today. Here is just born:

And about to leave the hospital at 2-1/2 days old.

Now he's all grown up! We had a party to celebrate yesterday. We made the call to switch to a waterslide party the day before because it was over 90 degrees! We kept our orignal plan, also, of making mini-marshmallow shooters. Between the slide, the shooters, the swingset, and DT's little playhouse, all 19 kids were pretty entertained!

Here's the setup:

Pokemon targets for the marshmallow shooters:

Cupcakes! I had fun making the pokemon toppers out of marshmallow fondant. Let's see, going across at the top are Pikachu, Munchlax, Snorlax, Pokeball, Piplup and Jigglypuff. Thank you internet for instructions!

Birthday boy sliding!

Cake time

Last night he talked us into letting him open the presents from us even though his birthday was really today. Here's the big present

Today we celebrated by bringing in a snack of grapes to his class. They were super popular. We had 3 different types from the farmers market and I split it up into cups. Only a few of the kids didn't take any. Then LT could pick anywhere he wanted for dinner. So, he chose Rubios. Silly guy.

Happy birthday LT! :D

Something's Missing!

2010-09-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

Tooth #1 is under the pillow and awaiting the tooth fairy! Hope she is up for the task. It went missing just in time for the birthday party tomorrow.

Soccer Saturdays

2010-09-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

Tis the season again... soccer season. It seems like everyone we know is spending their Saturday mornings at the soccer field. We are trying a new league this year and U6 is six on six with no goalies and no score taking.

Go #10!

Go Dragon Warriors! (Quite the mouthful for the smaller spectators.)

Could our spectator be getting restless already? They only play for about 30 minutes.

What, who is this coach setting up the players? I see Assistant Coach Sue to the right and is it possible that it's Coach TT on the left?

Yes, TT signed up to coach after we were the only team left without a coach. He really appreciates last year's coaches now. He has been doing a nice job.
Concentration on the player's face

A breakaway!

Post game boys

Kitchen saga

2010-09-07T23:45:00.000-07:00

Our main blogger is feeling burnt out, so I'm pinch blogging.

Our kitchen has seen a slow and modest facelift over the last year. When we first moved in, we had these (oddly positioned) beauties for lighting.

After living with them for two plus years, we decided it would time to take them out. So we replaced them with recessed cans and a pendant light, but didn't bother to patch the holes.

The light you see in the middle is a placeholder until we found the perfect light. We found that light in the Quoizel Duchess in nickel finish, a convertible light that can be mounted flush or as a pendant. When we received the light in a big box, it didn't have a chain for pendant mounting, so we called and they said, oh, we'll send the chain immediately. A few days later, another big box came, looking strangely similar to the first box. It turned out they sent another light, sans chain. This time they realized that Quoizel no longer makes the chained version of the light we wanted, but they said we can return the second one and just keep the first one since it was reported as damaged. Later on I found a replacement chain at HD and rigged it to hang the light as a pendant, so everything more or less worked out.

Two months ago we had the kitchen painted. We liked the old color but it was a poor paint job. We like the new color as well. The painters also fixed the holes in the ceiling and added crown moulding. This is the end result.

Tomorrow, we will be breaking ground on a new project outside that door.

DTisms

2010-08-31T09:40:00.001-07:00

DT is just hilarious these days so I want to try and write down some things he says. No pictures, though.

Everytime he sees a clock:
"7 clock, time to get out"

We hear this all the time:
"Can I try it?"

After using potty:
"I did it!"
or
"Nofing"

Looking at costume catalog:
"That crazy."

Looking at LT trying on his Halloween costume:
"Lucas, inja, that cool."

When he doesn't want to leave daycare:
"Nyet, Nyet."
(It is a Russian daycare, after all.)

I'll update with more!

Jam Session

2010-08-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

First grade!

2010-08-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

First grade started on Monday. Too bad I didn't have the camera on auto. Oh well, he still got there fine! On the way out, the teacher offered each student a hug or a high five. Guess which one LT picked!

Before & After of the first day

End of Summer

2010-08-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

Monday was the first day of 1st grade. I haven't taken those pictures of the camera, yet, but here is a little video of a last hurrah pool party the Saturday before. One of LT's friend's from his Kindergarten class was turning 7 (yes, LT is still 5). They didn't end up in the same class this year.

Bed Hogs

2010-08-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

Not sure where I am supposed to sleep.

Auntie J Came to Visit!

2010-08-04T21:28:00.001-07:00

Lucky for us, Auntie J decided to take her bar exam nearby and come hang out with us afterwards. We only had about 48 hours, so we had to make the most of it.
We did lunch (savory pies), wine tasting, bocce, Ethiopian food, french toast, Santa Cruz boardwalk, Kelly's bakery, the beach, strawberry picking, the farm stand, and then movie night ... I had to lay around and rest the next day.

Hope you'll visit again soon!

Summertime

2010-07-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

We've been having a lot of fun this summer!

We've been playing with water guns,

Putting on backyard shows with friends,

Picking strawberries,

Jumping,

Going to the beach,

With the rest of the Bay Area,

And even trying on some new fall clothes

Hmmm, where on earth did he come up with that pose? Oh, I see.

Northern CA

2010-07-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our CA trip part 2, aka Russian River valley...
Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve

Strange rocky river beach in Guerneville

Rowing down the Russian River, very nice!

Charles Schluz museum in Santa Rosa, loved this museum also!

Tarzan/Jane

2010-07-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Summer Vacation: Southern CA

2010-07-03T21:18:00.001-07:00

Our family vacation to Southern CA started off slow when LT woke up and couldn't open his eye. We had to take a trip to Urgent Care first and then to the pharamacy to get loaded up with antibiotics. He had pink eye. Luckily we had time to get 24 hours of treatment in before our big visit to Disneyland! We did have to skip our planned stop at the Tar Pit museum.

Disneyland Day One!
Someone is excited!

Or maybe not ... I promise he was smiling right after this picture.

The lucky duck even got to ride one rollercoaster thanks to a generous ride operater who measured him tall. LT wouldn't go on this one, but DT would have loved to ride all day IF he was tall enough.

The whole gang in toontown. I made all the kids shirts. We crashed LT's BFF's family trip to DL. I don't think they minded too much!

Fireworks

In front of the castle the next day ...

LT did like some rides, including Dumbo

and the Teacups

His favorite was BY FAR the Jungle Cruise. We rode it SIX times. We've been playing Jungle Cruise ever since. He has memorized most of the jokes.
Now some silly faces!

The gang was excited to see Brother Bear

The third day of Disneyland - DT loved the carousel, no surprise!

Tom Sawyer's island was fun, too!

Oh, Brother Bear again! Probably because LT's favorite spot in CA Adventure was the Redwood Forest playground.

The next day we drove up to Morro Bay. Since we missed it on the way down, we had to stop at the George C. Page Museum at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in LA. It was fabulous.

LA traffic was not so fabulous and we didn't get to Morro Bay until late! We stayed at a small inn (8 room maybe?) that was just beautiful. We had dinner in their restaurant at 9PM - so late for the boys! But they were lovely and multiple people complimented us on their behavior. Phew!
The next day we explored the town of Morro Bay. We took a boat ride that dropped us off on the sand spit for a while and that was super fun. The boys reminded me of "the Diggingest Dog" story. I think you'll be able to tell why.

Then it was off home. We had such a great time! I think we parents were surprised at how much fun we had. It was really great to be with friends at Disney. I even got to ride Space Mountain 3 times! Yeah!

Grandma's Visit Recap

2010-06-22T21:26:00.001-07:00

Oh dear, I am falling behind here. Grandma has been gone for a week already and I haven't put up any more pictures. In the meantime, I turned 33, there was Father's Day, we had a Supper Club, friends visiting from out of town, a "Club DT" dance party, Happy Hollow and more ... no wonder there is no time!

Let's see, after picking Grandma up from the airport, we whisked her over to FairyLand in Oakland. It was interesting, for sure. It was a lot like the older version of Happy Hollow.
Can you spot LT?

And then they both went up in the Ferris wheel. Quite a surprise!

The next day we hung around home and went to the library and then Happy Hollow...
Isn't this a nice shot of the boys and Gma?

Thursday & Friday, we drove to Reedley and had a really nice visit.
The boys LOVED walking the dogs.
LT and Bella

DT and Bella

LT and Billy

Just yesterday, DT saw a dog that looked like Bella and thought it was her!

LT & Auntie J also put on a Fairy Show (I think?) and the Reedley band shell

Saturday, Gma was nice enough to take the boys to a birthday party and then stay with them overnight while we went down to Monterey. Everyone joined us Sunday and we visited the aquarium.

Can you spot our family?

On the last day, DT, Gma and I went strawberry picking and out to lunch in Santa Cruz. And then to a not small fabric store.

DT practiced taking pictures!

We were sad to see Grandma go. On the way to dinner tonight, DT said, "Miss, Grandma." I think they would like her to visit all the time!

3 Stooges

2010-06-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Grandma/Mom came and visited and has gone. Now I need to pick out the best picture to sum it up. In the meantime, we have these...

the Martha Washington

the Cousin It

Good night

2010-06-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

We're trying something new tonight ...

We'll see how long it lasts! Maybe the whole night, maybe not.

DC

2010-06-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

I have fallen behind on my updates! Not last weekend, but the one before that, DT and I headed cross country to celebrate Jenn's graduation and surprise Mom for her 60th birthday. It was lots of fun. I actually didn't take that many pictures since there were so many cameras there already.

One big hit was the Air & Space Musuem out by Dulles airport. DT loved this! I must admit, I did too. It was very cool. I think that's where I took all my pictures.

Me & my Cuz

With the Grandparents! Yeah!

This is awesome!

Even better when I'm showing something to my cousin!

I never realized how hard it was to get a child and a space shuttle into one picture

Ring-a-ling

2010-05-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Playground

2010-05-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's been very exciting around our house the last couple of weeks. More specifically, it's been very exciting in the backyard!

Starting out...

Now there's a house!

And a climbing wall, and a slide!

Can't keep the kids at bay any longer

Whoa! That slide is fast!

Breaking in the wall

Loving the slide! And is that someone else trying the climbing wall!?!?

Sure is, and he can do it, too!

Now we have swings!

This car swing is great to have your brother push you in

And all finished!

I'm so happy we decided to get a playset. I have a feeling the boys are going to be spending a lot of time out there this summer! DT gets sad if he doesn't have time to go out to his "playground" before bed. TT usually takes pity on him and lets him get a slide or two in.

Knights of the Backyard

2010-05-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Friday, LT has "Castle Day" in Kindergarten. The boys need knights' tunics, basically a rectangle of fabric with a hole for the head. I had an idea of adding a little extra. I scrounged up some scraps, with the main part left from DT's card table playhouse, and I think they came our very cute. Of course, I had to make one for DT, too. There was one measuring mishap, but luckily I had a second stash of gray felt from LT's panda costume (Halloween #3).

Our Knights had to make due with a lightsaber. I was sure we had some foam swords somewhere, but perhaps we left them at Auntie C's.

LT was enamoured with his outfit and wore it for quite some time while playing in the backyard. DT, not so much. He just wanted the picture and then off with it!

Mother's Day

2010-05-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

TT & the boys took me out for a very nice brunch for Mother's Day. I must say TT did a nice job finding one that was free for 5 and under instead of under 5. After our breakfast, we planned to walk over to the art musuem for a special day of music & crafts, only it was pouring rain. So we killed some time on some groovy chairs in the hotel lobby and soon enough it was a beautiful day. I really wanted some pictures of me and the boys. We tried. It's like herding cattle. I imagine, anyways.

Eventually, TT moved on to a more cooperative subject.

Happy belated Mother's Day!

Sandy Boys

2010-05-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

We went down to the beach last weekend ... along with everyone else. I wanted to get a picture of the boys in these nice outfits Grandma & Grandpa T got them in Hawaii. This is the best we managed. Okay, we didn't try all that hard. Too busy enjoying the beautiful day.

Happy birthday, DT!

2010-04-28T20:58:00.001-07:00

DT blew his candles out before we even sang "Happy Birthday", so we had to light them again! He didn't need any help. He did get plenty of help opening presents, though.

When you sing "Happy Birthday" to him, he likes to shout out "2" and then put out his whole hand like a stop sign. 5, 2, what's the difference?

DT is so sweet and such fun. He loves to play ball and be outside. He likes trains and cars and doggies. He loves to say, "Bye Guys" and to say "Cheers" and clink glasses. He says "You're welcome" when he means "thank you." He gives the best kisses and also "huggies." He loves his brother and Mommy and Daddy. And we love him.

Sliding & Tubbing

2010-04-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

It was beautiful over the weekend. LT and I managed to talk TT into setting up the water slide. Thank you! In order to make it "worthwhile," we invited over some of the Kindergarten crew. In between slides, we warmed up in the hot tub. It may have been the most action it has ever seen! (Two more kids showed up after these pictures were taken.)

The Buddy slide

He's up!

And back down

This one loves the hot tub! Have to keep him in arms reach at all times, as he hasn't figured out to stand up when he falls over. We'll practice this summer. Well, that and he can't stand in the middle either.

North Shore 2010

2010-04-17T19:01:00.001-07:00

I'll just let the pictures tell the story!

Misc

2010-04-09T22:51:00.001-07:00

After our egg hunt on the beach last Sunday, we went to the aquarium to check out the new exhibit, Hot Pink Flamingos, about climate change. They had a fun part at the end where you make a pledge and then it takes your picture and it shows you on the big screen implementing your pledge.
I will use a reusable shopping bag
I will eat meatless once a week x2 (LT picked the same without knowing what I picked)

We had DT's favorite dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese the other night. I tried my best to capture how much he likes it!

And one more thing, I had to make a cover for my new Kindle tonight for our trip. No time to order one. I think it came out pretty decent.

A NorCal Easter

2010-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

The boys enjoyed their Easter baskets

We never had baskets before, and it was a big hit. There was just a small Batman Imaginext set for LT and a Thomas train & Tag book for DT and a small chocolate bunny each. It was just the right size and they played for quite a while with the new toys.

Then we headed off for a family egg hunt on the beach!

Do you spy any eggs?

Tallying up the eggs to be sure we didn't leave any, one green egg was missing

Found it!

Sweet rewards

Oh look! The kids do have parents!

I'm glad we went even though it was quite cold for April and I had come down with the flu overnight. It was worth it! Happy Spring!

Diorama

2010-04-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today's Kindergarten students have to do book reports every week. It's true, started after Christmas. On Thursdays, they bring a book home and you read it twice. Then they have a list of things they can do as their project. We have made a new book cover, made a collage, done alternative endings, written a song, made a puppet, and, by far the favorite, made dioramas! These weeks book is Frederick. Here is this morning's effort:

LT used what he termed "the technique" which involves pastels colored over with crayong for a layered, vibrant look. I cut out the pieces for him to save approximately 2 hours - 15 minutes of cutting and 1 hr 45 min of complaining. It's all a team effort at this stage!

All he has to do tomorrow is add the title, author and his name and we are done!

Happy Hallow Happy Again!

2010-03-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

Our local zoo/park opened once again after being closed for remodel for almost DT's entire life. Yeah! We went to the member preview and back again this weekend, 1 week after the grand opening.

Now there's even a roller coaster! (LT's not so sure about that.)

A new playground

New maze

New petting zoo, although no petting was done by us!

I expect we'll be there a bunch more this summer.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

From the little leprechaun that came home from school today ...

Love the ears!

Happiness is ...

2010-03-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

pancake batter!

DT takes after Auntie M and likes his pancakes gushy. So gushy, in fact, that he forgoes the cooking altogether!

Front yard, about one year later

2010-03-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

Remember the front yard before?

After our rainy winter, it is looking wonderful! We love it everyday!

Look how it's grown in since the after last spring. The plum trees have already bloomed. They were beautiful. The weeping cherry is just starting to bloom!

We'll probably change out a few plants this year and there is always weeding to be done!

(P.S. Didn't TT do a nice job with the mowing?)

Sunday

2010-02-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

Went down to Monterey and mixed it up this time.

Our first stop was Dennis the Menace playground. This sign welcomed us, which gave us pause. We countinued on. Good thing we did, because this is a fun playground!

The conveyor belt slide is totally awesome. DT could have gone all day.

We followed this with the aquarium and lunch in the cafe there.

Final stop was the site of Sea Kelp Round-up from almost exactly one year ago. LT was happy to get another game of this in and we all had fun on the beach.

LT and a found treasure.

DT in the midst of a rock throwing game.

Where's Waldo(s)?

Shell nose!

Return of the Beaver

2010-02-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

I was pretty excited to see an old friend when I gathered up LT's pictures after school today. It's the Beaver from Beaver Pictures. Only this time he's back for revenge. Evil laugh here.

Some other fun pictures of late.
Eating human soup.

Three headed dragon, but of course, you could see that.

Can you recognize everything? Puffer fish, electric eel, stingray, and lots of hungry sharks!

Xīn Nián Kuài Lè

2010-02-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Chinese New Year at the art musuem. They had crafts, lion dancers, tae kwon do, Chinese music... all sorts of things. Fun!

Happy Year of the Tiger!

A serious artist embellishes his Tangram

Another artist shows off his Dancing Tiger

I call this "Two Boys, Six Palms"

Now just one boy

That's becuase the other one is busy doing this:

Our photographer, ahem Daddy, was able to capture this rare stopped moment

And, Happy Valentine's Day, too! We didn't celebrate too much, but the boys enjoyed opening their valentines from Gma & Gpa A this morning. How did Gma pick just the right valentie for LT?

Musical Me

2010-02-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Kindergarten at LT's school put on a musical event last Thursday. It was super cute. Each class sang 2 sonds and they all joined together for the finale.

See if you can spot LT! His BFF is in the top row, 3rd from the left.

Here's a video of their performance.

It's a bit long, so here's where the other songs start, if you want to skip ahead.
1:38 Singing in the Rain
4:40 Battle Hymn of the Republic

DT is expressing his artistic tendencies, too. He draws spirals - lots of them!

Valentine Factory

2010-02-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

The Valentines are all made! Poor LT will have to fill out all 29 of the to/from labels for his class this weekend. That's a lot of writing. I'll help DT with his.

I saw this idea (with a lollipop) on a message board, but I think the poster had blog-lifted it, so whoever's blog it was from: Thank you!

Steps:
First, I got approval from LT on the plan. Very important. He wanted to do the heart crayons again. This was much easier, so I'm glad he liked it. He did want to make sure there would be hearts involved. Got the boys to hold the pose, one slightly better than the other, while taking the pictures. Then, we did a little photo-shopping after the boys went to bed and sent the finished product on over to Costco. Picked up the pictures and some pencils and labels at lunch. Printed out the labels while putting DT to bed. Assembled after the kids went to bed.

Not bad execution on an idea. Total time, ~90 minutes, not including Costco/Target runs.

Just a Typical Weekday

2010-02-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

This time captured in Toy Camera special effect camera phone.

I planned on doing this from the night before, but when we woke up, it turned out it was not a typical day. We have been (we being DT) waking up at 5:30 or so and having leisurely mornings. This morning he didn't wake up until 6:45, so we started off behind.

First things first, look for toys

Then wake up big brother

Play kitchen

Play pirateship

Bro wants to play beanie babies

Move on to wind up boxing match

A very non typical breakfast of toast and yogurt and Bakugan. Usually we're all there, but I was getting ready.

And also making lunch of PB&J, cheese stick, applesauce & juice, plus freeze dried fruit for snack. End of day tally, only 1/2 PB&J, applesauce & juice consumed. Boy is living on air.

And making dinner, salsa chicken

Time to brush teeth!

And/or floss

Now into the car! Note, LT got a booster seat this weekend and DT has been promoted to LT's old seat. The car needs to be leaving at 7:54 to be on time for the 8:00 bell. We have it down to a Science. 7:56, you will still be on time, but will be walking up as the bell rings.

Kindergarten line up craziness

Last kid on the playground

Trying to get into Mommy's car

Oh wait, Daddy takes me to daycare! TT comes over to the school and picks up DT and I head to work.

Peace, quiet & coffee at work. Artwork is a few years old! During the day, I hang out in my cube, email & IM, work, work, work, go to meetings, go to lunch with friends, go down and get free fruit and drinks.

Usually, I pick up both boys, but today I was running late and didn't leave until 5:10, so it would have been tight to pick up both, so TT picked up LT for me. I have to leave at 5 sharp to make both pickups by 6, or really rush DT into his carseat.
There was a birthday at DT's daycare, so he brought home baloons, which both boys really enjoyed.

Then DT wanted to play a little piano ...

so LT had to turn down the volume

Chicken burritos for dinner

Or for pushing around your plate

Followed by cupcakes (made a dozen on Sunday, will finally finish them up tomorrow!)

And a bath

Coming full circle back to where we were in the morning

And then, yes, I'll admit it, one Pokemon as the video is due back on Saturday. First we did the sight word flashcards and I'd already checked that Home Fun was completed correctly at after care, so I think it was okay.

Followed by book and bed by 8:30!

Phew, I'm tired! We also took pictures for their Valentines, so I worked on those and sent them off to be printed. Will post back with those assumming the result is a sucess!

And now time for bed. Phew! I am tired.

Just a Typical Day

2010-01-30T21:32:00.001-08:00

through the lens of a Polaroid Special FX Phone Camera.

Start the day off right with some banana chocolate chip pancakes, note the time. Of course, must taste test the batter!

A tea party in the playhouse, tight squeeze for anyone over the age of 2

Laundry folding and a viewing of LT & Mom's guilty pleasure: Worst Chef in America

Off to Santa Cruz, 2 boys down for the count

Made it to the beach! The stroller brigade

Next stop lunch, man vs. burrito

Burrito wins

Up in the air on the Sky Copters!

And then a turn on the carousel

Very sweetly sharing a sweet treat

On the beautiful beach of Santa Cruz, love it all year round

Quick turn at the 1 token Ski Ball

On the ride home, 3 boys down

After that nap, need a Phinneas & Ferb episode to come back into the land of the wakeful

Then a yummy BBQ dinner with the neighbor-friends at a nieghborhood place

Finally a bath

Still time for some quick Legos before bed

Then a story in our matching Jams

Now we're off to bed.
Hope you enjoyed!

Bath Time

2010-01-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

Why Mommy, why must you take the soap away? I want to keep washing and washing and washing ...

Two boys, one tub, still fit!

Nap Time

2010-01-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

Aren't sleeping babies just the cutest? Even if they're hardly babies anymore ...

Got to hold on to the crib to make sure it doesn't go anyhere

Monterey Weekend

2010-01-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

Since our happening into our aquarium membership last February, we have spent a lot more time in Monterey. It's so fun to go down there on a whim!

The boys seem to like this fountain

At least, I think that's what this face means ...

I think this sculpture was LT's favorite

Obligatory jelly picture

Getting a little crazy over Monterey Bay

Grandma & Grandpa

2010-01-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

We had a nice visit with Grandma & Grandpa. Foosball, bowling (real live bowling - Grandpa got a Turkey!), dim sum, fondue, sliders, transformer Grandma, Banzai, Uno Attack, and more! It was very fun.

We also made a trip to downtown SJ, so here we are by the new city hall.

I put both Grandparents & boys shots because the first has the boys looking better and the second has the Grandparents looking better. How to choose? I guess I should photoshop.

Thanks for visiting!

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ready for Christmas morning!

LT helps DT with one of his gifts, a personalized beach towel

The artist kit LT wanted!

Group gift of a Dragon Fortress!

The cinnamon rolls, fresh out of the oven

And then with creamcheese frosting, mmm, mmm, mmm

The boys enjoyed playing with their gifts, play dough kitchen for DT and Lego City Corner for LT

In the afternoon, we decided to pack up early and take off to visit Auntie C and Uncle S and cousings! This was a lot easier that leaving early the next morning.
Then we were able to enjoy another mini Christmas the next day
4 boys, mostly

Super fun swords from Auntie C

Group Hug

Point Loma tide pools

Everyone went to Legoland to finish up the trip!

Now we are enjoying a visit from Grandma & Granpa at our house!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve Baking

2009-12-24T21:54:00.000-08:00

Today we made gingerbread cookies and cinnamon rolls!

It was my first time making something with yeast and kneading and all that, so it was very exciting. We're baking them for Christmas Day breakfast, so I'll have to report back on the final result!

Naked cookies

Dough post kneading, pre rising

Dough post rising

All rolled up!

Now they look like cinnamon rolls

My helper kept playing with the extra cinammon sugar for quite a while... he would have been happy doing that for hours!

But he had other work to do. He was a very serious cookie decorator. He had to add the m&m's multiple times to his cookies because after he put them on, he would take them off and eat them!

The finished cookies! Yummy!

And, of course, some pictures of the boys.
Jamming in jammies last night

This morning, DT added in the kazoo

Remind anyone of this boy?

Beaver Pictures

2009-12-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

"To Mom and Dad. Look at this book"

"Beaver Pictures"

"ahhhhhh" (that beaver is being shot out of a cannon)

It's the best book ever!

Christmas Tree Time!

2009-12-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

This year was the first year we cut our own tree. We went with some friends to a lot in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Family ready to go tree hunting!

Trees as far as the eye can see

I spy something with a dino shirt

We think this is the one!

It is the one!

When you chop it down, you leave the bottom branches and it grows back. I didn't know this - really neat!

Back at home, we finished up the decorations. It's a forest scene this year in the front. LT asked for the deer with the moving heads. The candycanes were his wish a couple years back. By the time he goes to college, every inch of the yard may be covered. I love the way it looks!

Kiwi Season again

2009-12-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Witty comments to follow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a wonderful day! We are very thankful for our family!

I couldn't decide which of these I liked better!

I hope T didn't strain his back!

The yummy dinner!

School Spirit

2009-11-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

Who's got spirit?

This very same day someone at work was telling me that he liked his child's $20k/year private school, but it was a bit heavy on the school pride. Good to know we have that for free! We do really like the school.

And here is LT practicing for their Native American culture celebration program (it's tommorow):

He's very excited about and so am I!

Soccer

2009-11-18T20:28:00.001-08:00

This weekend LT will have his end-of-season soccer tournament. I haven't said too much about it, but we have been going to one practice a week and a game each Saturday since mid-August or so? LT started off slow (not wanting to play in the game) and has really blossomed. He's made friends, learned how to be part of the team, and acutually played some good soccer! He's pretty good in goal!

The fans

Uh oh, bored already!?!

Warm up

Pre-game line up and it looks likes maybe a pattycake game?

How the goalie celebrates a good defensive play

A save!

Now working the ball on offense

Throw in, I love that they're using a pink ball!

Home Improvement

2009-11-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

TT did some hard work last month refinishing the deck, so I'm showing it off for him.

Before...

After cleaning ...

After!

Looks nice, doesn't it? We got a quote of $500 to refinish it and I think it was just $100 in supplies and hard labor to do it ourselves. :)

November 1st

2009-11-01T19:25:00.001-08:00

Unexpected fun (hence the skivies) at the beach today with beautiful weather. Didn't seem like Novemeber!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

We started out with pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes.

TT carved his :)

The trick-or-treaters... the start of a 3 hour trek.

The house in it's holiday finery.

Tahoe

2009-10-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

I hadn't seen Lake Tahoe in 20 years since the big family Tour de California in back 1989. Finally got back to it this weekend, and it was just lovely. We visited some friends who were visting from England and rented a house and it was really nice. Only one tiring moment at lunch Sunday... 2 kids are a lot harder than 1! That was followed by a great time lakeside. We threw in pinecones and rocks, played with sticks, just had fun!

Hike to Frog Lake, only DT & I made it as a certain older boy wasn't feeling well

DT loved making snow balls, everytime we saw snow he would say "ball, ball" and want to run over there

Like 2 birds of a feather

DT's fish face, love it!

Sweet baby who needs a haircut, just can't do it

the whole fam!