Kabobs

Aren't these the cutest things you've ever seen? I've been making all sorts of "food on stick" lately, but these are by far the best looking. I did squish a few little hearts in the begining, but now I've got the hang of it.

I haven't taken pictures of my savory varieties, but those are super yummy too. Summer time is all about eating fun food and what is more fun than food on a stick?

We have a swimmer

I finally feel comfortable calling Jeremy a swimmer. Last year and at the beginning of this summer we were calling him a "non-drowner" but not exactly a swimmer.

He's been at 49er camp (run through Cal State Long Beach) for four weeks straight these past weeks. Friday was his last day and parents were invited to come and see their progress. He's been learning archery and he almost got a bull's eye, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, and playground games (dodge ball being his favorite). They keep them running and busy for 4 hours a day, but the most impressive part of the day for me was watching him swim.

He loved his lessons and they were the favorite part of the day is his day. He especially liked the free swim time after. I was so proud of his progress over the last few weeks.

Jon and I joke that if he swam any slower that he'd be swimming backwards, but it's a start. He's very happy with himself. He's ALWAYS loved the water and has never had any fear of putting his face in (or walking into a pool completely) and finally he's swimming.

He's growing up so fast. Now he can read, ride a two-wheeler and swim all on his own. I'm afraid that the next step is going to be driving . . . and I've seen him on Autopia at Disneyland . . . stay off the sidewalks when that happens (it's a good thing I'm giving you an 11 year warning)

I went looking for my sunglasses . . .

and found them here.

Two-Wheelin' it now

We've been trying to get Jeremy to ride his bike without training wheels for literally months now. My dad took off his pedals so that he could use his feet to power the bike and glide to learn balance, but that only made Jeremy mad. He refused to even try. A few weeks ago we got him to try his bike without the pedals and he seemed to have fun. With his sister there riding circles around him, though, he quickly began to see the limitations that no pedals brought. We put the pedal back and started trying again. His balance was excellent and we knew it was just a matter of time before his confidence caught up with his ability. Sunday evening was that time. We went over to the church parking lot (where we taught Cassie to ride - open space without grass and other obstacles) and within two minutes he was riding. At first he wanted Jon to hold on, but then he told him to let go and he'd push with his feet.All of a sudden out of the blue he lifted up his feet and put them on the pedals and off he went.

I'm so glad I brought the camera because this is a picture of his first solo attempt. The very first revolution with his feet on the pedals. And then he rode right past me - isn't that always the case (wink).

He was so thrilled with himself. We were proud of him too.
It's amazing to me that Jon and I had gone through all this preparation work get him to ride and were ready for the traditional "Don't let go, Daddy" style of learning to ride with two wheels, but this little guy told his dad to let go and then just basically did it on his own (and on his own terms). I wonder if that is a foreshadowing for the other milestones in his life.

Hey Eliza, how old are you?

ONE!!!!

I guess it had to happen. She's officially one year old now. We had a little family party for her on Saturday and had lots of fun. In fact you could say it went "smashingly" well (especially the cake)

She had some earlier experience with birthday cake smashing (hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures later) and so she was a pro at her birthday party. Yummy!
She really adores her brother and sister and they dote on her too.Cassie picked some hydrendras from the bush outside and we filled the house and patio with these beautiful hot pink floral arrangements. They matched the table cloths perfectly.She was an angel for the party and loved being the center of everyone's attention. For her birthday my mom gave Eliza her childhood rocking chair. It plays music when you rock it. Eliza has been loving rocking her babies in it.She also got a hot pink dolly stroller. So fun. Raggedy Ann was honored to be chosen as the first rider . . .
but it didn't always work out well for her.Eliza was very kind to Raggedy Ann and picked her up and gave her loves and kisses and put her back into the stroller to be dumped out a few feet later.

This past year has flown by. Eliza has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She has a sweet and easy personality. She's fun and curious and smiles all the time. We all love her and look forward to watching her grow up. I hope the next year slows down and we can enjoy it longer.

Uno, dos, tres "FIESTA"

Hola mis amigos! Es tiempo para una fiesta! AYE Aye Aye! The fourth graders here in California study California history and at the end of the year there is a big fiesta at Cassie's school. The kids all dress up in "fiesta" style clothes (a huge thank you to Liz for lending us Cassie's outfit) and party like it's 1845 (pre-gold rush). It is such a fun tradition and the kids all look forward to it.

They have games like hoop rolling and cattle roping and ring flicking with sticks. All sorts of 19th Century fun. One station makes Banuelos (think tortilla shaped churros) and another one (one of the favorites has eco friendly confetti eggs with torn up flower petals inside. A quick side not about the eggs. Each kid was given 8 eggs to crack, multiply that by 36 kids in a class times two classes and you've got yourself over 500 eggs that needed to be blown out, washed and carefully taken to school to be stuffed. We brought in 3 dozen ourselves and if I blow out another egg anytime soon I think I might lose my mind.Even the baby wasn't safe from a flower egg cracking. After an entire morning of fun they are served a variety of Mexican treats for lunch - tacos, taquitos, quesadillas, burritos, rice and beans. A local Mexican Restaurant caters it every year and it is super yummy.

After lunch comes the Square Dance. The kids have been practicing these calls for weeks and on Fiesta Day they show their parents. It was so cute to see them paired up in partners.

The weather was cold and overcast the whole day, but at least it wasn't blazing hot like some fiestas in the past have been. All in all it was a good day and a fun way to end their unit on California history. Next year is a walk through American history . . . anybody have a colonial dress?

Jeremy's Kindergarten Program

I truly believe that there is a special place in heaven for Kindergarten teachers (hopefully a nice quiet and calm spot). Everyone of them that I've met has a wonderful sweetness about them. This is especially true of Jeremy's teacher this year. She is everything you'd ever want for a Kindergarten teacher; patient, kind, loving, firm and truly dedicated to her kids.

I love everything about a kindergarten program - the kids are super cute and still so eager to please. Here is Jeremy (who was stoked to get assigned the letter J because there are 3 other kids in the class whose names start with "J") during a cute song called "The Kindergarten ABC's" or something like that. My new favorite kid song is the one he introduced (and not because he introduced it). It's called "I can't spell hippopotamus". It goes something like this

I can spell hat, H-A-T

I can spell mat, M-A-T

I can spell rat, R-A-T

but I can't spell hippopotamus.

H-I-P-P-O I know

Then comes P-O-T

What comes next I just don't know

and that's what worries me, GEE!

The song has another four verses of words they can spell, but not hippopotamus. Super cute!

At the end of the song they all spelled hippopotamus for their parents to show that they can spell it even if the song says they can't. I wonder if Jeremy will think of this song every time he spells hippopotamus. I know I will for a while (wink).

On a sadder note . . .

I'm not sure if our Jeremy is destined for a life of stage performance. He didn't seem all that enthusiastic about it. He sang and did what he was supposed to do, but his heart just wasn't filled with the love of performing until . . .
he found out there were popsicles, cookies and cake for refreshments.

Now that's one happy kid!