September 2014

We were happy for the return of Field and Fair Day for the second year this Labor Day, and this year it was even better - first because Jimmy was in town and able to go with us (last year he was at a trade show in Hong Kong), and second because it was organized much better than last year, with the early morning hot air balloon lift off going right into a pancake breakfast to bridge the morning to all of the bounce houses, K-9 demonstration, performances, and activities that fill the rest of the morning. Hoping that in the future they might send off two balloons instead of just one...!

We forgot to set our alarm the night before so we didn't make it to Hutchins Street Square in time to see the hot air balloon lift off, but we did end up following it and saw it come back down in a field our near the District Office.  We headed back to the square for some breakfast, and by 9am the boys had already jumped out a ton of energy in the various bounce houses, saw all the police, fire, ambulance, and SWAT vehicles, and even had a snow cone at 9:30 in the morning (Eek!)!  

 

                                                     

This is rare for Caleb - he usually isn't interested in petting animals in petting zoos, but here he touched the cow's nose and the pig's ear.

A nice young boy about eleven or twelve years old was helping Landon try to make some baskets

- Caleb has figured out how to zip up a jacket
- He is becoming increasingly interested in reading, spelling lots of words and sometimes wanting to pretend he is going to read something.

One of the highlights of our month was going to Jimmy's Company Picnic.  At the last minute they changed the location from Lafayette to Napa, and it was at the home of a chef that his boss works with regularly for different events.  She has a home and some land in Napa, which she calls "The Funny Farm" (she has a sign out front and everything).  She was a riot - very free-spirited, crazy, fun lady with a lot of quirky interests, and amazing chef!  Everything was outdoors under a big tent, and absolutely delicious.

This is the second TFC picnic we have been a part of, and there is always plenty of entertainment and entertainers to keep the kids busy and happy, and to give the adults time to enjoy themselves as well. Among the built-in entertainment on Kelly's property was a beautiful big horse named Rusty, chickens (who were fed plenty of grapes by the kids that day), goats, and a creekbed that had always been dry until the recent Napa quake, when water started flowing to it (I think she told us she was an eighth of a mile from the epicenter!)!  In addition to all that, there was a hired entertainer who had about a dozen games lined up for kids and adults alike. Take a look at a few of them below...

Jimmy's co-worker, Darrin (father of three boys) doing sack races with Caleb

T.P. Mummy Landon

Get the Oreo from forehead to mouth with no hands!

Chubby bunny with the world's largest marshmallows.. 

The water was quite brisk, but that didn't slow anyone down - shoes, clothes, and all, and Kelly was the first to hop in and lead the way in her chef pants, splashing water on her face and talking to the kids about how wonderful and fresh the water feels.

  

The final treat, which wasn't planned for, was getting to take turns riding Kelly's horse, Rusty, at the end of the day.  The boys both really enjoyed it, and I got a turn too, which I was really excited about!  I have been wanting to go horseback riding for years now, and though this was just a time or two around the corral, I was still excited I got to do it!

After a rough streak of several days each week not taking naps, I've started incorporating Impact's open gym play time into our week again to help wear Landon out.  He's climbing the wall like a little monkey and loving it!

Of no great surprise because he likes so many things, but we also discovered this month that Landon loves Ribs (I'm sure all that sauce helps, and he never minds getting himself all dirty!).

Bought a new TV this month - we didn't think ahead about whether it would actually fit in our car... it just barely made it.

The other highlight of the month was the Grape Festival.  The boys didn't remember it from last year, but they sure picked up quickly on the rides and festival food.  The rides are so expensive that they each only chose two, but they had a great time!

Cars Grape Mural 

Our artistic lefty loves to draw and color, just like his mama

Owl puppet from preschool

Downtown date time with Mommy

Hanging the bagel with birdseed that he made at school

We love seeing how great of friends these two are becoming!!  

August 2014

Our group of girls from high school numbers 9, plus our spouses, and add in our growing bunch of babies = 17.5 kids (Sarah has one on the way, hence the .5!).  Its always fun to get everyone together, and here are two shots of the majority of the bunch.  Just a few weren't able to make it to our bbq.

(v:3, jp:2, jw:2, cs:1, mh:2, lk:2, ae:3, sg:2.5)

We have lived in our house for almost six years and this is the first time someone has organized a block party - it was a great time!  The boys loved playing with their neighbor buddy, Jacob, and the two older kids down the street.  We enjoyed getting to know and talk with our neighbors more than just the usual "Hi, how's it going?"  Fun time, and hopefully it will be the start of a new tradition.

A beautiful surprise!  A neighbor left us several potted plants when they moved out last year, but since it was winter they were all dormant and we didn't know what any of them were.  I have been watering them all Spring and summer, and around mid-August I went out to water and noticed this beautiful bloom!  Still don't know what kind of flower it is, but it sure was pretty and nice to finally see a bloom on the plant that had only had green leaves all summer.

The boys loved getting dunked under the water! Up and down, up and down, up and down!

Caleb did an amazing job at his first official dentist appointment and cleaning this month.  He willingly did everything he was asked. The only bad part were the cavities that he has, eeek. This picture was after his first fillings when his lips were still numb and not able to form a proper pucker.  We had fun laughing about how it looked and felt to try to give a kiss like this.

Enjoying watching the neighbor's huge train set and making human bridges for it to drive under.

As an investment for the long term and looking forward to lots of memories with our boys, Jimmy went in with a group of guys on some season tickets for the 49ers.  Here he is in the seats they got, SO excited, at the first game in the new stadium (pre-season game).  We (Jimmy and I, David and Dana, and Joey and Lindsey) also gave our dad and grandpa a brick in the main entrance of the new stadium as a Christmas gift last year.  Jimmy found it when he was at the game :)

This month Landon started preschool!  We intended to wait until January, after his 3rd birthday and after the holidays were done, but it happened to work out that the preschool was looking for someone to fill half of a spot - one day a week - since the other half is occupied by Teacher Debi's grandson, Max.  It was perfect for them and for us - a nice intro for Landon since he is on the young side to be starting preschool, a nice time for me to hang out one morning a week just with Caleb, and Landon couldn't be happier about it!  He LOVES going to school and talks all the time about "I already went to school this week", and "I go to teacher Amanda's class?"  

On the same morning as Landon's first day of school, we had a belated birthday breakfast date with Amy and Caleb Elson.  The boys had fun being silly at the table during breakfast, and were so excited to ride to the park in the same car after we ate!

Imagine him with long hair?  Haha, Caleb wearing swim cover-up dress of mine.  

New for Landon this month:
 - Saying "Yeah, sure." in a sweet little voice
 - Counting:  He mastered the 1-10 a while ago, but lately he has been continuing higher, adding       in "eleven, twelve, fourteen, sixteen..."  always in that order, and always missing the same numbers between them.   He has also started counting down : "4-3-2-1!" he says.  We figure he must have learned that in a song at church or at school...
- Earlier this summer he learned to hold up two fingers to show his age, and he has just added to that holding up '3' - good practice for his upcoming birthday. :)

Lots of Lego building going on in our house these days... both the Duplo (medium size) and the small kind, too.  This day the boys worked together (!) to build this cool house, complete with chairs, sirens, and a pool.  Legos are so fun, and we love to see what kinds of creative things they think of!

At the end of the month, Jimmy and I got to have a second grown-up weekend away in one month's time (normally unheard of for us!).  We were able to coordinate with three other couples, all without our kids, and hang out in Las Vegas (my first time there).  We had nothing on the agenda - just pool time, dinner and evenings out, and it was a great time!  

When I first got there and checked the temp on my phone this is where it said I was...

Kristy, Deanna, Shana, and I

College Roommates: Luke, Jimmy, Mike, and Tameem - so happy to all be together!

I didn't see this picture until after we returned home, but our friend Mike saw this guy and had to have a picture with him.  That's not a sign behind him - its his MOHAWK!  

It turned out to be a fun and busy summer, and the last of the grown-up events was Mona Mardini's wedding (sister of Jimmy's best friend, Tameem).  I had so much fun getting dressed up, and as with any arab wedding, we had a ton of fun dancing the night away!