7/4/06: Happy Independence Day!! Today we will be heading to a pool party for the 4th of July. We have had a great weekend with both Christian and I having a 4 day weekend! We went kayaking off the beach on Sunday after church. I forgot my camera!! So sad! We went with Christian's parents; they own a tandem kayak. It was so much fun!
6/26/06: Friday night I took the kids and headed out to Moorpark to attend my cousin's wedding. The wedding was at 4:00 in the afternoon and I had to allow a couple hours of drive time, so Christian was unable to make it due to work. I had my parents, Amanda, and more family there to help me with the kids though. The wedding was beautiful! Keri looked gorgeous and the place was perfect. It was wonderful to see family that I hadn't seen in awhile. Keri is the daughter of my mom's brother, Greg, who passed away a few years ago. It was a very emotional day for everyone with Uncle Greg not there to be a part of it all.
Saturday was a family day just hangin' around the house. The kids played in the water, we did some chores, and affter dinner Christian and the girls painted the fence in the backyard. Maddy has been asking to do it ever since she overheard Christian say that it needed a fresh coat. Aside from the white paint streaks in the girls' hair, they did a pretty good job.
Sunday was anaother hot day! About 4:00 we decided to forget eating dinner at home and decided to head for the beach. Fifteen minutes after deciding to go, we were all in the van on our way. We stayed at the beach for a couple of hours. The water was pretty cold, but Maddy didn't mind; she was all in! The rest of us got our feet wet and walked around a bit. I love the beach!!
6/19/06: Happy Father's Day!! On Father's Day morning we got up before church to give Christian his gifts, a cutting board and a cruette (bottle for olive oil). We all went to church together and then headed off to my parents house for celbrating Father's Day and Emily's 9th birthday. We had dinner, and birthday cake and then went swimming at Elias' pool (Tina and Greg are selling the house). It was a nice way to end the hot day with a dip in the pool. The kids all loved it, but I think the adults had even more fun than the kids!
6/19/06: Saturday night was the Father Daughter Banquet at church. It was for kindergarten and up. Christian took Maddy to it. They had dinner, a craft, dancing, desert, and prayer time. Emma was a little jealous that Maddy was getting to go to the banquet, so Christian decided to take her on a date on Friday night. They went to the pier for dinner and then down to the beach. Christian was to busy taking pictures of Emma, that he din't notice a big wave come in and get both of them soaked. Their wet clothes ended the beach time a little early, but they went out for ice cream after they changed into dry clothes.Christian had a weekend full of dates...but none with me!
6/11/06: Maddy lost a second tooth. It was just hanging there by a thread. Christian jokingly asked her if she wanted him to get his pliers. She laughed at him. Then, she went and got Landon's toy tool box and grabbed the pliers out of it. She put her tooth in it's grip and pulled. She said, "See I told you it wouldn't work with pliers", then I noticed the tooth was out. I looked in the toy and her tooth was there, still in the pinch of the pliers. Maddy was shocked!! She ran to show Daddy and Emma the pair of pliers with her tooth still in it.
6/12/06: Christian
Here...We took the Family to the San Luis Rey Mission in Oceanside to visit the Luiseno Indian Pow Wow. We had a fun time watching the dancing and listening to the tribal chanting. It was really neat to see all the traditional forms of dress for the different tribes that were represented. Some of the dancers were very young, as young as 3 years old and to see them dancing was cool. The girls thought the drumming was too loud and they were a little scared to pose for pictures. But overall they enjoyed it. Landon began to chant along with the tribal singers as he sat and watched. He is too cool.
Later we ate a few snacks in the picnic area behind the mission and played hide and go seek. The girls had so much fun looking for mommy and daddy. It was a nice and relaxing day with an opportunity to teach the girls about different cultures that existed here before we did.
6/9/06: Yesterday Madeline graduated from preschool. The ceremony was very cute. They did a poem and 2 songs. I thought I video'd all three things, but I guess I bumped it and stopped taping half way through. The cutest song was the last one, "Kindergarten Here I Come". I'm sad I missed it on video, but I will have it in my mind forever. Christian was able to take off an hour to come to her program and get back to work. Maddy was happy to see mommy and Daddy in the audience (and Emma and Landon too). Maddy thinks she's pretty "hot stuff" now that she is a kindergartener! I think she will think differently when school starts and she realizes that kindergarteners are the littlest ones at her new school!
6/7/06: Landon is now playing peek-a-boo. It is so cute. He hides his face with both hands and then uncovers with a big smile. He is also starting to eat small pieces of food. Tonight at dinner he had some peas and carrots, potato, and some small pieces of chicken. He did great! He only has his two tiny little teeth, but he uses them to the best of his ability.
When passersby see Landon and comment on how cute he is, they always ask how old he is. When I reply with 9 months, they are always shocked. All I hear is "Wow, he's a big boy". Yes, he is a big boy. I'm not sure exactly how much he weighs, but I think it's around 22 or 23 pounds. He wears 18 month clothing and a size 3 shoe. He is the size Emma was at 18 months old. He is about the same size Maddy was at this age. Maddy weighed 25 pounds at a year old.
Tomorrow Madeline will graduate from Calvary Baptist Preschool. They are doing a music program and a "promotion ceremony". She is very excited! She will still have one more week of school then she's off for the summer. She will start kindergarten on August 31st.
There are 3 new videos in the our video section, click on the movie reel below if you would like to view them.
5/31/06: Landon has gotten a second tooth and Maddy has another loose tooth. Maddy is already growing a new tooth in the spot where she lost her first one. It's all happening too fast. My babies are growing up!!!
5/31/06: Our trip to Mexico was great! the guys got 6 bunk beds built and the ladies did hair and nails for about 35 people. We ended up actually cutting hair too, not just styling. We prayed for each and every person that came through our "salon". They all had so many heart wrenching prayer requests. Being among the native people of Ensenda makes us realize how wonderful it is to live in the US where we have everything we need to lead a happy and healthy life. We are truly blessed!!
Emma was a very good girl the whole weekend. She became the "baby" of the mission team. She had a good time just spending time with us. Maddy and Landon had fun with Lito and Lita too. Maddy even got to go to the movies and see "Over the Hedge". Lita said they were both very good!
5/26/06: We are going away again this weekend. Christian and I along with 11 other people from our church are going to "Helping Hands" Mission in Ensenada, MX this weekend. We will be building bunk beds and doing a "beauty parlor" for women and little girls. Lito and Lita are going to take care of Maddy and Landon while we take Emma along with us. We were planning on taking Maddy with us, but since she went with me to the wedding last weekend, we thought it was only fair to take Emma this weekend. They both behave really well when the other is not there. It's nice to not have to deal with any fighting among them. We will be leaving at 5AM tomorrow morning and returning late Sunday night. Keep us in your prayers.
Okay, so everyone knows I love to watch Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals on the Food Network. The girls say she is my "favorite TV girl." I think she is so cute and funny, and I love cooking her recipes. Well, I got a free issue of her magazine sent to me. Only Julie did not tell me for a week or so. Finally I found it buried under a stack of other mail...JUNK MAIL...as if it were ALL JUNK MAIL. Julie does have a bit of a jealous streak in her. I think she was afraid there would be pullout centerfold of a nice rack....rack of lamb that is. (Get you minds out of the gutter!) So as a joke I cut out a picture of Rachael and pinned on the inside of my closet door. My food TV pin up girl! Yeah Baby! It lasted all of one day. Mysteriously, on laundry day, the pin up pic disappeared. Hmmmm...what could have happened?
5/23/06: Our road trip to Napa was a blast!! The drive was great. Both of kids did wonderfully. We visited the Jelly Belly Factory before the wedding on Sunday morning. That was interesting and very tasty! It began to rain at about 2:00 and the wedding was supposed to be outdoors at 3:00. It was POURING from 2:00 - 3:45 so they decided to do the wedding ceremony indoors. Instead of Karin walking down the isle of 160 white chairs and yellow roses petals on the ground, she walked through her appetizer filled kitchen into the living room filled with 150 standing guests. Brad and Karin had a great attitude about the whole thing, but I'm sure they were soarly dissapointed. Luckily, the rain subsided enough to have the reception in their backyard as planned. Everything looked beautiful. It was well worth the 8 hour road trip each way. I wouldn't have missed it! Congratulations Karin and Brad!
5/19/06: We had Emma's Dora the Explorer birthday party this morning from 10:00 - 12:00. We had 10 little boys and girls here to celebrate with us, plus a few parents and my mom and sisters. We served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, goldfish crackers, and bananas (gourmet to a three-year-old). The children played together nicely. It was a terrific morning. Emma was a bit overwhelmed and shy at times with so many people here to see her. But, she had a great time! She received many nice presents...what wonderful friends and family we have!
5/19/06: Maddy pulled out her tooth this morning around 7 AM. She had just gotten up and was watching cartoons when she shouted across the house, "It came out!". I thought that she was kidding...but nope, she brought over her tiny white tooth and showed it to me. We put it in a little clear box so we don't lose it before the tooth fairy comes tonight. How exciting!
5/19/06: This Sunday my friend, Karin Nyland is getting married in Napa. I will be driving up with two of my girlfriends from college, Jen and Melissa, on Saturday and back on Monday. My mom will be taking care of Emma and Tina will be taking care of Landon. Maddy is going to go to the wedding with us girls. Melissa will be bringing her baby daughter also. Since we were going to be out of town, Christian decided to go to up to the mountains with some of his guy friends. Please pray for saftey in traveling for us all.
5/18/06: Our good friends, Tracy and Araceli Ross are at the hospital now. Araceli was admitted around noon today. They are going to have their little boy in their arms very very soon. To see their website, click on their photo link below:
5/16/06: Emma is notorious for backwashing into your drink if you share with her. On Sunday when we were at Lito and Lita's house, she was drinking out of a bottle of water. She held up her water bottle and said, "Would anybody like a drink of my water? Back squashed water is very good for you." Needless to say, she didn't have any takers.
5/16/06: Well, We've got one child getting his first tooth, and another one loosing her first tooth. Maddy noticed on Saturday morning that her bottom left middle tooth (same one as Landon) is loose! She has been pushing and pulling at it since then. It hasn't come out yet, but it's really loose! She is really excited for the tooth fairy to come to our house and put money under her pillow. She has been brushing her teeth 4 or 5 times a day to be sure that it is super clean for the tooth fairy. When she discovered her loose tooth, she said, "It got loose on it's own...I didn't eat too much candy." Then she rushed to the phone to make some phone calls about her discovery.
5/16/06: We had a wonderful Mother's Day. This year we spent it with Lito, Lita, Tete and Nana. We went out to Corona right after church. Christian prepared a delicious meal for us all to enjoy. We celebrated Emma's birthday with them. Lito found a porcelein Cabage Patch doll that was actually named Emma Grace. He said he wanted to buy it for Emma, but wasn't sure about it because it won't be a toy. I told him to go ahead, she would understand. I think it is so cool that it has her same first and middle name. They also bought the kids lots of new summer clothes, and sidewalk chalk for the birthday girl.
Christain helped the kids make me another stepping stone for the garden. I absolutely love it! It's my third one. Hopefully over the years I will get a new one every so often to have a whole collection in our garden. Some day their hands won't all fit onto one stone.
5/12/06: Tonight was open house at Maddy's school. She has been telling us for weeks that Miss Dalena was helping them get ready to show off their work at Open House. (notice that Miss Dalena was helping the kids, not the kids helping Miss Dalena). Maddy was extremely proud for us to come and visit her classroom. She was supposed to keep it all a secret, and she did. We had no idea what to expect. The room was decorated with ocean creatures all over the room. Maddy must have done 6 different sea creature art projects and a packet of schoolwork about the ocean. She also had Mother's Day presents to give to me. Everything was very sweet (and she kept it a secret!). It was wonderful to see Madeline so proud of all her accomplishments in preschool. Graduation day will be on June 8th. The last day of school and their end of the year party will be on June 15th. I'm really glad we put her in preschool this year. Miss Dalena said Maddy is "more than ready" for kindergarten. What a great expereince Madeline had for her first exposer to school. Thank you Calvary Baptist!
5/11/06: Landon now will do hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Patty Cake". It's so cute. If I stop singing, he will do the hand motions and sing in this cute little high pitched voice. It's adorable! I got it on video. If you'd like to see it, click on his picture below. There's also a new video clip of the girls doing "ballet". You get a little glimpse of their attitudes too....too funny!
5/09/06: Maddy was accepted to Fern Drive Elementary School for the fall!!! I was hoping she would qualify for the interdistrict transfer, and she did. We received the notice in the mail today. Fern Drive is the first school I taught at; it holds a special place in my heart. I am friends with several of the teachers there and it's a very good school. Madeline will start kindergarten there in September. We are thrilled!
5/09/06: Landon got his first tooth today. It's the bottom left middle one. He's 8 1/2 months old. He's the latest of the three kids to get his first tooth. Maddy was 4 months and Emma was 6 months. He was not the least bit fussy, nor did he get a fever or any other symptoms that come along with teething. Nice!
Here's a good close-up look at his tooth, notice the carrots on his cheeks and nose also (it was feeding time).
5/05/06: Happy Cinco de Mayo!! Landon has moved into a big boy carseat now. He was too big for his infant seat. His feet were hanging over the edge, but it is so convenient to have him in the carrier when I run errands. The time came to move him out and into Emma's seat. Emma got a new big kid seat that will be with her until Maddy moves out of her booster seat. The carseats just keep passing down. The advantages of having them 2 years apart... they are ready to move out when the next is ready to move in! Oh how we love the hand-me-downs...even when it's from big sister!
7/4/06: Happy Independence Day!! Today we will be heading to a pool party for the 4th of July. We have had a great weekend with both Christian and I having a 4 day weekend! We went kayaking off the beach on Sunday after church. I forgot my camera!! So sad! We went with Christian's parents; they own a tandem kayak. It was so much fun!
6/12/06: Christian
Here...We took the Family to the San Luis Rey Mission in Oceanside to visit the Luiseno Indian Pow Wow. We had a fun time watching the dancing and listening to the tribal chanting. It was really neat to see all the traditional forms of dress for the different tribes that were represented. Some of the dancers were very young, as young as 3 years old and to see them dancing was cool. The girls thought the drumming was too loud and they were a little scared to pose for pictures. But overall they enjoyed it. Landon began to chant along with the tribal singers as he sat and watched. He is too cool.
6/9/06: Yesterday Madeline graduated from preschool. The ceremony was very cute. They did a poem and 2 songs. I thought I video'd all three things, but I guess I bumped it and stopped taping half way through. The cutest song was the last one, "Kindergarten Here I Come". I'm sad I missed it on video, but I will have it in my mind forever. Christian was able to take off an hour to come to her program and get back to work. Maddy was happy to see mommy and Daddy in the audience (and Emma and Landon too). Maddy thinks she's pretty "hot stuff" now that she is a kindergartener! I think she will think differently when school starts and she realizes that kindergarteners are the littlest ones at her new school!
5/16/06: Well, We've got one child getting his first tooth, and another one loosing her first tooth. Maddy noticed on Saturday morning that her bottom left middle tooth (same one as Landon) is loose! She has been pushing and pulling at it since then. It hasn't come out yet, but it's really loose! She is really excited for the tooth fairy to come to our house and put money under her pillow. She has been brushing her teeth 4 or 5 times a day to be sure that it is super clean for the tooth fairy. When she discovered her loose tooth, she said, "It got loose on it's own...I didn't eat too much candy." Then she rushed to the phone to make some phone calls about her discovery. 
5/16/06: We had a wonderful Mother's Day. This year we spent it with Lito, Lita, Tete and Nana. We went out to Corona right after church. Christian prepared a delicious meal for us all to enjoy. We celebrated Emma's birthday with them. Lito found a porcelein Cabage Patch doll that was actually named Emma Grace. He said he wanted to buy it for Emma, but wasn't sure about it because it won't be a toy. I told him to go ahead, she would understand. I think it is so cool that it has her same first and middle name. They also bought the kids lots of new summer clothes, and sidewalk chalk for the birthday girl.
5/12/06: Tonight was open house at Maddy's school. She has been telling us for weeks that Miss Dalena was helping them get ready to show off their work at Open House. (notice that Miss Dalena was helping the kids, not the kids helping Miss Dalena). Maddy was extremely proud for us to come and visit her classroom. She was supposed to keep it all a secret, and she did. We had no idea what to expect. The room was decorated with ocean creatures all over the room. Maddy must have done 6 different sea creature art projects and a packet of schoolwork about the ocean. She also had Mother's Day presents to give to me. Everything was very sweet (and she kept it a secret!). It was wonderful to see Madeline so proud of all her accomplishments in preschool. Graduation day will be on June 8th. The last day of school and their end of the year party will be on June 15th. I'm really glad we put her in preschool this year. Miss Dalena said Maddy is "more than ready" for kindergarten. What a great expereince Madeline had for her first exposer to school. Thank you Calvary Baptist!
5/09/06: Maddy was accepted to Fern Drive Elementary School for the fall!!! I was hoping she would qualify for the interdistrict transfer, and she did. We received the notice in the mail today. Fern Drive is the first school I taught at; it holds a special place in my heart. I am friends with several of the teachers there and it's a very good school. Madeline will start kindergarten there in September. We are thrilled! 
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