Never Enough Time

The day goes by so fast. It is over in a blink. I can say the same about a week or a month. I always seem to be playing catch up here. Such is life.

Our big news is that Michael tested for Rolling Hill Country Day School here on Feb 7th. We were told we could call in the following week to see if he was accepted, which is something that was very helpful with not having to pay multiple deposits. I called 4 days later, and Michael will be getting an acceptance letter the end of March. The older grades will need to wait for the letter, but for what ever reason, the Kindergarten grade could call in early. So we are very happy about this news. And Michael is thrilled. He just seems to love this school. We have made several visits to tour the campus, meet the teachers. it s a very good fit for him.

The boys started t-ball 2 weeks ago. So far, t-ball seems to be a better sport for both boys. Henry is still more athletic, or more into team sports. But Michael can play well when he wants too. He can swing right or left handed and hits far. But, he just does not want to be part of the team, whereas Henry is all about the team. I have a few picts to show with both boys learn to hit, run bases and throw and catch.

Here are 2 pictures, one of Henry throwing a ball, and the other of Michael hitting the ball.




Michael is officially an artist. He told me that when he grows up, heis going to me an artist. He loves to draw and create. Mixed media is a love right now. And birds are a theme. When he was barely 2 years old, he did a Whale Series, followed by a Bee Series. After completing each drawing, he would exclaim, "BEAUTIFUL", and toss the drawing to the side and start a new one. I love those series. We have them somewhere, and want to create a book out of them. Michael has always responded to all the Pixar films. As a family, we love them. Something in Michael understands that these films are just quality. John has all the Pixar books, and Michael has now looked at all of them, asking so many questions, my head hurts, in a good way. I do not know what Michael will do in the future, but I will not be surprised at all if it is something in the arts.

Here is an early pigeon picture. He has gotten alot better with his birds, and is drawing many on a wire kissing each other. The are awesome drawings.



Henry does not like to draw like Michael did at 2 years old. He copies much of what Michael does, which is to be expected. But he is a different boy all together. First of all, Henry is a team player, where as Michael is an independent. Henry also is the biggest ham, grinning for a camera or anyone who will pay attention to him. The boys pediatrician calls Henry the politician, because he is so pleasant and always as a smile. Michael.... when he smiles at you it is golden, but you sort of have to earn that smile.

As for me, I am still running. No more than 3 miles a few times a week. 2 miles is my preferred distance. And I started tennis again, last week. I was a bit sore after the first lesson, using muscles I and forgotten I had. But the class was really fun and the other women were very nice.

I feel the need to mention that I am attempting another 5K in a few weeks. My first 5K was not so good for a number of reasons. I finished it, but not the way I had hoped. We live and learn. I ran with good friends who were so supportive... so I hope to return the favor by having a better run this time around!

Here are just a few other random pictures of the boys before and after t-ball. Enjoy!

Thanks Willie!

I had the honor of having lunch with a good friend and former boss today. I can not tell you how good it was to catch up and just talk. We went to a local burger place, that I had been wanting to try. It was not very good. I wish it had been because I was a bit hungry. But the company was great, and I was sad when our lunch ended.

I miss my friends in Dallas. I miss working with great people.

Thank you Willie for just being you!

Change is in the Air...

And not just with our newly elected President. The boys are growing and changing so fast. A year ago, I still had a baby. And Michael was not very sassy.... all that has changed.

I admit, the news, over-all is hard to watch, day after day. So much to repair and think about. For this entry, and for practically all my blog entries, I will focus on more of the fun elements of our life. I feel like I am drowning in doom and gloom.

January is almost over. It has been a very busy month!

Here is a list of some of the highlights of the month.

--Henry is 100% potty trained.
--Henry was moved out of his crib, into a bed.
--Henry has 1 binky left... and once it is lost, it will be lost forever.
-- Henry started tennis, and is doing great!!!
--Both boys started soccer class, Michael continuing from last Fall, and Henry starting. Michael is finally understanding the point of the game, so he is having a bit more fun. Henry is very eager to kick the ball.
--Both boys had their parent/teacher conference, and both are doing very well!
--Michael is doing adding and subtracting now, as well as having spelling tests with various 4 letter words, like 'desk'.
--The boys school had a big celebration of the Chinese New Year, where I was part of a dragon. The kids loved it, for the most part. Some kids were scared... not my boys though. They thought it was great!
--Mr. Valentine visited the boys classes. He brings all sort of critters for them to hold, pet and learn about. A friend sent me pictures from Henry's class, that I will post below. I have none, sadly from Michael's class. My boys have no fear of animals. I do not care to EVER have a snake, lizard, etc., in my house. So I am happy Mr. Valentine visits them.
--Last Sunday (Jan. 25th), we got a sitter for Henry and took Michael to the private school he is testing for in a week. It was a time to see the school again, meet other parents, and meet the teachers. We all had a very, very nice time.
--Michael will be testing for this school on February 7th, and will find out if he is accepted mid to late March, which seems like forever.
--My mom turned 70 years old at the beginning of January. She will hate that I mentioned this here, but I think it is great!
--I will run my first 5K race February 1, which is also my sisters birthday.
-- This is random, but Michael asked for a puppy last week. I said no.
--Michael is reading really well! He reads to me every night now!

Here are a few pictures of Henry with various slimy things.

Happy New Year!

Christmas has come and gone, and here we are in 2009 already.

We had a nice Christmas, spending the holiday win NYC with John's side of the family. Traveling with a 2 and 5 year old is not easy, but we managed to make the flight, get our luggage, and adjust to East coast time. The fist day we a bit hard, due to the time change. I think everyone was grumpy. I know i was. It was a rough day.... but we had a lovely night, going over to John's parents for dinner, where my children magically turned into angels.

Here are a few pictures from the first day. The are from Riverside Park and the grandparents.





Needless to say, there was alot of eating on this trip.... all good, I might add. So thankful that we walked everywhere. It was also chilly, especially compared to Southern California. Such a nice change for us. Bundling up in coats with mittens, stopping to get cocoa. Such fun, since it is just not the norm for us.

Michael and Henry loved spending time with the family. I am not sure who he wanted to spend more time with... he was thrilled to be with everyone. It was really nice to see. I miss not having family closer to us. We get a hint of what life might be like if we lived closer.

Here are a few more, sort of random pictures from our visit. The eating pictures are from one of our favorite breakfast spots on the West side called SaraBeth's. Everyone ate, which was initially a problem for us on this trip. A few more shots are of Michael and his cousins putting a puzzle he received from his Granny, together. And finally, there is the cocoa, coffee stop for us. It was chilly... need I say more.






The flight back was so long... I mean 6 hours on a plane with 2 kids.... john and I were not seated together, and the movie projector was broken. Painfully long. I should not complain, because the boys both fell asleep right as the plane took off, and slept for 3 hours. But still, it was looooooooong.

We were happy to be home, in our own bed. Waiting for the luggage was again, a long wait. But John kept the boys entretained by carting them around on this.



Santa had visited out house, of course, so we came home, to open presents and see what surprises were in the stockings. The boys were thrilled that Santa had not forgotten them, which I had assured them would not happen.

Our new years was nice. We met friends out to dinner, whose son happens to be Michael' best friend from school. The boys ate, then ran around outside for a good hour. We were home by 8 pm. and the house was asleep by 10 pm. I do not think I have seen a new year actually happen in years.

Hoping 2009 is a good year for everyone!

Tis the Season

The past 2 months have gone so fast. I can not keep up. I seem to be playing catch up here. Perhaps I can be better about blogging in 2009.

Where to begin.

I covered Michael's 5th birthday. Lots of fun, with family and friends. I will start with Thanksgiving.

We stayed here for Thanksgiving. It was just the 4 of us. We planned a full menu, which meant we were in the kitchen all day. John and divided the meal with each taking 3 entree's to be responsible for. This plan worked very well.

I had the turkey, beans and torte. John and the stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Our time was thrown off a bit, because I did not realize how long the turkey had to brine. So our 3 o'clock meal, turned into a 7 pm meal. Everything turned out great! Even the boys ate!. Here are some pictures.






We were doing dishes for the next 2 days straight, but it was worth it. It was a very yummy Thanksgiving!

December was full of birthday parties, all girl parties. I think we went to 7 parties total. In between the parties, were school functions, one being ice skating. Here is 1 picture from Michael's first spin on the ice. John was holding him up the entire time. It was a good work out!



Maddie's 5th birthday party was 2 days after the above picture. She had an ice skating party, and to our surprise, Michael did really well!!! He went out on his own, did not want us to hold his hand. He was really proud of himself and so were we. We have no pictures, so I am hoping to get some from Maddie's mom.... because the kids were so cute, holding hands, making a train... it was fun!

We also saw Santa. This is, of course a big deal. We went with out friends, the Creightons. I have just a few pictures, sadly, since my camera battery died on me. John showed up with another camera. i took a few pictures with my cell phone, which I have not down loaded yet. Regardless, it was fun. The kids did great. Michael and Henry sat on Santa's lap, gave him their list, smiled for the camera. It was a nice moment. We all went to The Farm after, were we all had a nice time. They stuck us in the back, where the kid were able to roam and play a bit, with out disturbing others.







After The Farm, we walked around a bit. There were various brass groups playing holiday tunes. The kids loved the music. My boys stood right in front, gazed at the instruments and conducted, while Maddie... Sweet Maddie, danced. It was one of those lovely moments. Pictures do not do the moment justice. Jack milled in and out, and was his normal cherubic self. It was really fun.

It "snowed" before we left, which L.A, are soap flakes. The kids had fun. And if we had brought water, we could have suds them up then and there!

On December 10th, I got the phone call we all dread. Michael fell badly at school, and that I would need to take him to the ER. I got to his school, to find him being held by his teacher. He was covered with blood, had an ice pack on his face and was just the saddest thing. He fell running up a play structure. His foot just clipped a step, causing him to fall flat on his face. He did not put his hands down to break the fall.... I wish he had. His upper teeth went all the way into his bottom lip causing an ugly and big cut. and half of his upper teeth were pushed up and back into his gum. After racing to the ped, we ended up in the ER.
We were there about 4 hours. We decided not to do stitches. A hard decision to make, given what I was looking at. The next 2 days were filled with dentist appointments and ped follow-ups. A week has past now, and his mouth is practically healed. Amazing. His teeth.... a wait and see situation. No pictures, for good reason.

I do have a picture of Michael at a birthday party 3 days after the fall. His lip is still pretty swollen, and he is wanting to just sit... in this case it was fine, because we were at a place called Art Zone. In this picture, Michael is painting a bird house, that he is rather proud of.




The last big thing were the boys school holiday party. They are pretty simple parties with book exchanges, pizza, and a hand crafted gift they present us. I bopped back and forth between the 2 boys classes.





We are off to New York City this year to spend Christmas with the Puccis. We are hoping the flight is quick and easy... I can dream.

Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful holiday!

I Am Full.

Literally.

We have had a very busy month. Busy with the normal things going on with 2 young boys. School, homework, meal battles, bedtime battles, toy battles, park outings (no battles there!), my volunteering at the boys school, running.... but the big events this month was Michael's 5th birthday and of course, Thanksgiving.

Alot of planning went into Michael's birthday. We had a party for him this year, which he was very excited about. And we had alot of family here for the celebrations. My in-laws flew in from NYC, and my mom came in from Texas. The morning of Michael birthday, my mom and I went to Michael's class for his Earth and Sun Ceremony. It was really fun to see this, and we got a few okay pictures. It was hard to really capture, so you will just have to believe me. Here are a few pictures of Michael orbiting the sun, which he does 5 times this year.



Michael requested dinner out that night. We went to one of our favorite family pasta places in Hermosa called Fritto Misto. Everyone ate and had a good time. The real fun came after dinner for cake and presents. I have no pictures of present opening, because it got a bit out of control. Like wild dogs attacking.. I will stop, but you get the point. Michael got ALOT of gifts. And he was very excited. Henry was also excited. Everyone was very generous.

The cake was really yummy and totally cute. Here is a picture.



The party was Saturday at My Gym. It was really fun. We had a great turn out, and it was money well spent. Michael was exhausted by mid party, due to soccer that morning, and a few late nights. But he managed to keep it together. Here are a few pictures of the party. The ball picture shows a very tired Michael.








A very fun weekend full of good food, good company and just a few gifts.... on to Thanksgiving!

It was just the 4 of us for T Day. But we cooked! We cooked alot. We cooked all day! And am happy to report that my boys ate turkey. I took a few pictures I have yet to download, so stay tuned. We had leftovers for dinner tonight, and they ate alot more! The were not too keen on our stuffing, mashed potatoes or beans, but I think that was do to the seasoning on those items. Because it was all really, really good.

We started Michael in a soccer camp, so he could learn the sport, verses just sticking him a club. He has really done well and seems to enjoy it. Henry is begging to play, so we will look into that the next session. He has had 3 classes so far. Here are a few pictures from the past 3 weeks.





Henry news. He is 100% potty trained. He will still have the random accident, but he has done really well. And quickly! I am amazed and counting my blessings!

Me. I am still running and almost running 3 miles. It has gone really well. I feel really good after the run, and can not say I really enjoy myself during the run.

That's it from this end of the world. Hope everyone that comes across this blog and actually reads had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Last Week in October

Clever title, huh!

We had a really nice October, with the boys being very excited about all things Halloween. Between all the art projects, cooking projects, spooky songs, costumes, and of course the carving of the pumpkin, I feel like I have lived Halloween.

Our Halloween really started the weekend before Halloween.

We went to brunch at one of our favorite brunch places, called Truxton's. We can have an adult meal, but they do a great job with the kids. Everyone is happy. This was the case again for us. We walked into the door, and they hand the boys tiny pumpkins and markers to decorate, and seat us right away. They also provide paper to color on. The boys did not really want to decorate the pumpkins, but did color very well. What was really fun about this trip to Truxton's was Henry's scary eyes. Here are a few pictures from that brunch.






The image of the drawings are Michael's. He drew WALL-E and EVE. John drew teh middle picture, but the others are Michael's. Pretty good, huh!

So Truxton's was Saturday. Sunday we went to the Pumpkin Patch. Again, this was something the boys were very excited about. We had wanted to go to a bigger, prettier patch, but given the time it would have taken, we opted for something closer, and it was fine. The boys selected their won pumpkins. Michael was picky, looked at all of them, not sure what color he wanted or what size. Henry went straight for the green ones, picked one out and was done. John also selected a big orange pumpkin. Michael did pick one.... a nice white pumpkin. Here are a few pumpkin patch pictures.







So we came home and got to carving. Sadly, we lost all our pictures except for these 4 pictures. The carving was messy, but fun. It also took alot longer than we thought. But we had a good time, and the pumpkins looked great! They did not last long.... on Halloween, we noticed they odd an odd coloring in the holes, and they looked alot flatter... it was mold. Yuck. They were tossed when we returned home Halloween night. Here are 4 carving pictures.






Halloween day was fun, and started early. The boys wore their costumes to school for the Harvest Festival. I worked the festival, we all had to be dressed and out of the house by 8 am. It rained that day, which never happens here in SoCal. But it looked more like Halloween, which I found nice. The boys had a GREAT time. It is just a fun day for them, and lots of parents around. Here are a few pictures from that morning.





Halloween night, we went over to friends. It was really nice to be in a neighborhood, verse what we had done the past 3 years. Our host was gracious, the food and company pleasant. The kids all had a great time, and so did we. Here is one pick from that night.



The boys got alot of candy, that I bagged and hid. They will get some here and there. But they got more then any one child needs. Can't wait until next year!