What's Been Going On

I have not been a faithful blogger this fall. I have also not felt this busy in quite awhile. I'd really like to get back to blogging more. So in an effort to bring this blog up-to-date, here's a quick peek at one of the things that has been consuming our time lately.

House Project 1

Happy Birthday

How is my little guy already six???

At 6 months, you were adorable, a happy baby who loved to snuggle and be held a lot. You were curious and giggled easily around your grandma and your daddy's friend Ryan. You had your whole life ahead of you and were loved so much. You brought more love into this world than I could ever have imagined.

At 6 years, you are still very curious and so bright. You amaze me every day at how adorable and sweet you are...how a hug from you is the best thing ever...how you amaze your teachers by the way you talk (when you talk - you are so shy!)...how beautiful your voice is...how inquisitive you are and how easily many things come to you. You still giggle easily and have a great sense of humor and are still the best snuggler! You are a great reader (how quickly you learned!!), a talented beginning musician, a bright little scientist, a concientious soul...a true gift to our family. You have your whole life ahead of you and you are loved so very, very much. Every day you bring more love into this world than I could ever have imagined.

Somebody turned 6

The sweetest little boy turned 6 this month. On his birthday, he got to go out to dinner at his favorite restaurant.

He could hardly wait to open his presents from the family.

 He has been obsessed with space and learning magic tricks lately. So, what did he receive? A magic kit with 75 tricks to learn and his first telescope. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and raining on the evening of his birthday, so we weren't able to view much. But he was very excited to receive a telescope!

Then came his birthday party the following weekend with his friends. He invited 8 friends to his space-themed party.

 I baked a space shuttle cake and a moon cake. We decorated with a space theme and played space games. The kids entered the house through his play rocket structure. Besides playing in his room, the boys went on a scavenger hunt for moon rocks (rocks I spray-painted silver); tried a game of tossing asteroids through black holes; created space-themed door hangers and flying saucers; pinned the flame on the rocket blasting off; and raced down the hallway carrying marshmallow "clouds" on a spoon to fill the "sky" (blue painted egg cartons). I also made each of the boys individualized "astronaut in training" t-shirts to wear home. I won't lie, it was a lot of work, but I love doing this kind of thing. I found some great ideas online and purchased excellent decorations and party favors from Birthday Express. But, wow...nine excited boys in the house was a lot of boy energy to experience! I was so busy during the party I barely had a chance to take any pictures!

Happy Holidays!

Love 2010 Christmas Card

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Too Fast

This boy is growing up way too fast. Yesterday while we were playing with his Playmobil construction toys, my boy had one of his construction men say, "I don't want a job." I asked the construction man, "why?" and Mr. M made his construction man toy respond, "I don't want a job because I want to be home with my kid." Ah, broke this working mama's heart a little! Love this guy, he is such a sweetie.


I need to load some recent photos on here. I've taken a break from blogging for awhile because life has been so hectic this fall. Here are some highlights of our fall:


My boy started kindergarten! He loves it and I'm very happy with his teacher. I'm volunteering twice a week in his classroom, so I've been busy with kindergarten too.


He dressed up as an astronaut for Halloween. Pictures will follow soon. He is obsessed with space these days.


His school had a jogathon to raise money and he ran the most laps around the school gym of any kindergartener! He ran 50 laps in 20 minutes.


We're starting some big remodeling here at our house - kitchen, bathroom and a family room addition. It's going to be great, but it's exhausting!

Summer Update 2

Wow, I have not updated this blog in a long time! Summer has been full of great memories and I'm sad to see it's over. As if to say summer is officially over, it started raining last night and continued all day today. I love autumn...I'm just not ready for it at all this year!

Work has been BUSY and life has been busy as well. I have a lot to add to this blog, but it's getting late and we're all fighting being sick, so I'm going to keep this post short.


I'll have to post more photos and memories from this summer. I have hundreds of photos to still load onto my computer. But for a brief update of Marek since my last post:

Baseball. We've gone to several games and played hundreds of backyard games. Marek is a pretty strong batter! I'm really impressed with him. If he can push past his shyness in a team setting, he could be an incredible baseball player. This summer we've had a baseball obsession!

Crescent Bar. The annual summer vacation to Crescent Bar with the extended family. I love this photo of him!

Outdoor fun. We played outside a lot. Riding bikes down to our neighborhood park to play "space", camping, growing vegetables in our garden (our pumpkins and tomatoes went wild!), playing sports, playing in the sandbox, trying to stay cool in the heat...

This summer Marek has read a lot, played with friends, visited science and space museums, improved at piano, had a blast at his weekly sports class, learned a lot at Safety Town, and has had a lot of fun. My little boy will soon be in kindergarten. I can't believe it! I love him so much!!

summertime update

This summer has been a whirlwind so far. It started with an awesome trip to Disneyland (photos to be posted at some point!), soccer camp, Safety Town, baseball games, family visits, trips, and lots of plain old summertime fun! Many stories to be told - but they must wait until I have a bit more time to post.

strawberry picking

On the first day of summer vacation we went to a u-pick farm to stock up on fresh, delicious strawberries! I'm actually surprised there were as many ripe ones as there were...considering the not so wonderful weather we've been having here. We picked a lot of strawberries with some friends of ours. I'll probably need to go again to get more to make jam. Interestingly, this year we also planted a few strawberry plants at home and they have turned out soooo delicious. Way better than anything we picked or tasted at the farm! Hooray for homegrown food!

I'm Officially a Soccer Mom

This week my little boy has been participating in a UK International AYSO Soccer Camp. I wasn't sure how it would go, being that it's his first real soccer experience and he's so shy. But it's been great! His coach is from Scotland and he really likes her. She works really well with the little ones. They've been doing World Cup matches with other age groups at the end of each practice. It's really motivated him and he is having fun!

 

Last day of preschool

Marek's last day of preschool was last week. I just can't say enough good things about his preschool experience. We loved his guide. It's such a wonderful school. I could have kept him there for kindergarten with his same teacher. This was such a difficult decision for me. But I ended up enrolling him at an elementary school in town for many reasons. I still wonder if it was the right decision! I am just so grateful that he had the opportunity to have the preschool experience he did. I am so proud of him and how much he has grown!

best teacher ever!

best friends