Class of 1991 - 20 years

I recently had my 20 year high school reunion in my hometown.  There was never a question in my mind on whether or not I would attend. So many people (who live there still) go and I can't understand why. I really enjoyed catching up with everyone. Some people were so much friendlier than they were in high school and I'm a completely different person than I used to be. I was quiet and reserved. Would never have gone up to people that I didn't know well to talk to them ... never snobish, just quiet. Not now, after a few glasses of wine, I had no problem talking with everyone.


A lot of people couldn't make it to the parade.

BIG News ... No more training wheels!

Kyla has been asking us to take her training wheels off for about 2 weeks.  She's not afraid of anything (but scary noises and rain).  She practiced 3 times before she got the hang of it.  It's a bit of a challenge getting starting but once she gets going, no problem.  Big smiles ... she's so proud of herself.  She's 5, you know (as she says often).

 She's geared up and ready to go.

Dad gives her a little help getting going.

And she's off!  Woo-hoo!  Go, Kyla.

I can't believe how fast she's growing up.

I absolutely love this photo.  Just look at her attitude.  Bring it on.

Funny - Mason asked us the other day why he didn't have a nickname and said he wanted one.  We asked him what his nickname would be and he said, "How about Fire and Ice!"  Brian and I just cracked up.  Of course, Kyla said she needed a nickname as well and it would be Barbie.  The things they say.

We're looking forward to summer around here.  It's bittersweet for me ... I love not being rushed, rushed with all of the school activities and homework but man it sure is nice having a break from the kids.  Kyla doesn't get out of preschool until the end of June.  I can't believe I only have one more month of childcare to pay for!  Oh, yea!!  We don't have any big vacations planned but I'm sure we'll do tons of camping.  We all enjoy it so much.  I'm really wanting to go to Disneyland again but we definitely wouldn't go in the summer, maybe one of the kids breaks from school.

I'm a bit bummed out.  I was planning on selling my cards at the Craft Fair last Saturday but we found out about 3 days before the event that the Craft Fair was cancelled for good.  I had 115 cards done and ready to be sold!  I am on the lookout for another Craft Fair.  I listed a few cards on Etsy.com but I don't think they'll sell.  There are something like 22,000 cards on Etsy for sale.  If you'd like to see my creations, click HERE. 

Mother's Day Gifts

The kids made me the most wonderful Mother's Day gifts.  The best presents are handmade.  :) I love Mother's Day because Brian and the kids won't let me do anything.  I get taken care of, get to choose what I want for dinner and get to relax.  I was able to hang out in my craft room for about 4 hours - my favorite thing to do.  Brian also bought me a fire pit for the backyard.  I love it.

A foam picture frame from Kyla.

A hand print flower with a lovely poem.  By Kyla.

Mason made a mosaic flower for me during Art Class.

Mason also gave me the sweetest poem.  He was so excited to give it to me.  My boy.

Thanks guys for the wonderful day.  I felt so special.

Rainy Day Activities

I brought some celery home from the store the other day and Mason couldn't wait to show us the experiment he did at school.  We took a stalk of celery and put it in a cup of water with food coloring in it.  (any color will do, we chose red ... my favorite color).  We left it overnight and when we looked at it the next morning, it had pulled the food coloring all the way up almost to the leaves.  Next time, we'll try it with blue ... and lots more food coloring.  It was cool.  I think he felt like big man on campus for being able to show us this.

Mason's 7th Birthday!

Mason wanted to have a sleep-over this year to celebrate his birthday and Brian and I were crazy enough to say yes.  We had 5 boys come over (all 6 and 7 year olds).  Mason was on top of the world, I could see in his face how proud he was to have all of his friends at our house.  It went very well, the boys were easy and all got along great.  We didn't have to do a lot of organized activities because they were happy jumping on the trampeline and playing in the playroom.  They also had a blast chasing each other around the house with their weapons of choice ... light sabers, swords and nerf guns. 

A group picture of all of the kids together.  Not bad, huh?  It was difficult to get the kids to stop playing for a photo.

Buddies.  I'm so excited by how this one turned out.

4 at a time on the trampeline.  Any more than that, we would have had injuries for sure.

Mason, showing off his skills.

Boys are so much easier than girls, if I would have had 5 girls over, I'm sure there would have been some drama and tears.  I'm sure I would have needed to have more activities for them.

Pizza time ... none of the kids ate much because they couldn't wait to play.  They surely didn't eat any fruit.  Parents, I tried.  They also didn't brush their teeth before bed ... sorry again, my fault.  When I remembered to have the kids brush their teeth, they were all tucked away in bed (and I wasn't about to get them all up)!

Scavenger Hunt.

What do we need? 

Mason insisted on having an ice cream cake.  It was delicious.

Make a Wish!!

Time to open gifts, I couldn't get a good picture because all of the kids were up so close.

So excited!

They were packed in like sardines.  Snug as a bug in a run.  They watched Megamind before going to bed and let me tell you, it was dead silence.  They loved it.  At bedtime, one of the boys came up to my room and complained about one of the other boys so I went downstairs and asked them if they'd like me to sleep on the sofa next too them.  They all exclaimed, "NO"!  I told them if I had to come downstairs again, I would!  That worked.

They woke up early ... 6 am.  They hadn't played the Wii at all so we said it was fine in the morning.  They took turns well.

Waffles and bacon for breakfast.

Buddies.

Hey Batter-Batter

We have been playing a lot of baseball will Mason lately and now Kyla is starting to show interest as well.  She has been using Mason's old bat and hitting off the Tee.  The hardest thing for her is figuring out which way to put her hands.

Daddy, giving her some pointers.

Swing!  Keep your eye on the ball, Kyla.

She enjoyed posing for this picture as much if not more than playing ball.

Ski Time

Last week, Brian and Mason went skiing for the last time this season (probably).  Kyla and I rode up there with them so we could watch them.  While the boys were skiing, Kyla and I went to Truckee to browse around in the shops and have lunch.  I was disappointed, a lot of the cute stores up there had closed down.  We enjoyed lunch, hot cocoa, walked around a little and then it was time to pick up the boys.  Kyla and I have such a great relationship ... I love the girl time.

I was absolutely shocked at how well Mason was able to ski.  He did great, didn't look nervous or anything.  No fear.  I could just tell that he loved having me there watching him.

My boys ... I just love em'.

Go Buddy!

Posing on the way down.  What a ham.

I couldn't believe he came down this big hill!  I may have to try to learn how to ski next year.  If my 6 year old can do it, I should be able to, right?

I thought he was going to fall because he kept waving and holding both arms in the air.  Finally Brian told him to just ski!

Love this one.

Sneaky girl ... trying to get me with a snowball.

BIG News

Kyla lost a tooth!!  After coming home from school, Kyla came running into the house screaming, "I have a loose tooth!"  I was so surprised.  Mason was at least half way through Kindergarten before he lost any teeth.  Kyla lost her tooth while playing at the park today.  She actually lost the tooth and thinks she may have swallowed it.  When I told her what was going to happen if she swallowed the tooth, she giggled hysterically. 

Drafting the letter.

Front bottom tooth.  For the past week, Kyla has been eating with her head tilted to the side because it hurts to chew on that tooth.  I told her that she didn't need to tilt her head, she could just chew on the other side but she insisted that she had to.  She was relieved to be able to hold her head up straight while eating dinner tonight.

She's ready.

"Tooth Fairy,  I lost my tooth while I was playing with Nicholas."

Mason also wrote letters to the tooth fairy tonight.  The first one said, "I lost my tooth" and the second one said, "I would like some $5.00 bills."  Of course, he was fibbing.  He said it's worth a try.

Easter 2011

The kids woke up early on Easter morning to run out and look at their Easter baskets and find eggs.  The Easter Bunny left them water guns, a few little toys, a chocolate bunny and some jelly beans.  They ran around the house, found the eggs as quick as they could and couldn't wait to get their hands on their chocolate bunnies.  "For breakfast?" 

Mason's M & M Chocolate Bunny.

Kyla had no time for pictures.

We went out to Chrissy's house to celebrate Easter.  She's a very close friend of our family ... just like family really.  Each time we go to Coalinga, we go out to her house.  She has property outside of town and has lots of animals.  The kids love her too.  We had a huge Easter Egg Hunt.  They had 100+ eggs to search for.

I know... I forgot their Easter Baskets.  Mother of the Year, huh?

Mason was out of control.

Jace, Chrissy's nephew is 5 and such a sweet boy.  The kids played so well together, we hardly saw them.  The nice thing about being out at Chrissy's house is that they can just run around.  I was able to let my guard down and really enjoy the day.  The adults played games.

"MOM, not right now!"

That's my boy.

Auntie and Kyla.  I don't have very many pictures of them.

My mom turned 65 on April 29th.  My sister and I went together and are taking her on a 4 night cruise to Mexico and Catalina Island in June.  Lacie's coming too, it'll be just the girls.  My mom was shocked.  We are all so excited.

I love you, Mom!  Happy Birthday.