I've learned something new!

I made this for dinner! And it tasted DELICIOUS!!
And these are the best dinner rolls ever. All thanks to my new (to-me) breadmaker. Mmmm...now let's just hope my pants keep fitting!

The Dads in my life

Happy Father's Day Chase! You are the greatest dad our kids could ever have. I've never seen a dad spend more time playing with his kids than you. From baseball to hairstylist, butt's up to wrestling,

you show your girls and your son just how much they mean to you every day. And I can't tell you how much that means to me.



And to my own Dad. Thank you for being the best dad ever. I can remember those super early morning when you would drive me to swim practice in the dark in your big truck with the obnoxious horn.

And those family vacations fishing off the dock at Lake Berryessa using bread as bait, and catching more carp (the junk fish) than we could keep up with! Thank you for always making time for me. Even more, thank you for still being here, being a faithful attendee of my own childrens' activities. Thanks Dad!

"Big Gul Bed"

Bye, bye, crib!

Hello, new bed!

Here it is, our now thrice used toddler bed, new to Sarah, which officially moves her status from "baby" to "big gul." We made the switch last weekend, and she was so excited. Actually, all of them were super excited for her.

When bedtime rolled around, she climbed in and let Caleb and Emma spread out her covers.

Then Caleb read everyone a story.

And she was ready to sleep, right next to big sis Emmy.

Finally lights were out, and Sarah's words were "No, want Mommy bed." And now begins the up and down time, getting babies, dropping her num-num (pacifier, yeah I know, she should be past it...one step at a time here) and retrieving it, and peeking out the door looking for Daddy. I had to sit next to that little bed, in the dark, putting her back into bed, for about 45 minutes, but finally, she fell asleep.

Before I went to bed I snuck in to snap a picture, but darn those little cameras, I couldn't get anything without the flash, and with it it looks like daylight! But trust me, it was 11:00 at night in this one, Perhaps I'll turn on the nightlight and try with my other camera, but it seems a lot of work to snap one picture of two girls sleeping in bed.

Ride 'Em Cowgirl!

Howdy cowgirl!


Emma's big day is coming up the weekend after next. Here she is posing for me before we went to have "real" pictures taken. (Though from what I saw, these are just as good!)

This girl is one of a kind. She loves to draw and do art work. In fact, she started an art class today that's all about learning how to draw. She seemed to do quite well...but that's not what this is about. Look at that charming smile. What a girlie girl!

She seemed to have so much fun in her dance class and made a couple good friends, really nice girls, yet she wants to quit because "the ballet shoes are too hard on my feet." I'm not sure if I'll be able to coax her into staying with it or not, but I hope so, because it's so good for her to be involved in something.

The last day of kindergarten was last week. I can't believe that I now have two children past kindergarten! She's reading, really reading, and I couldn't be more proud of her school accomplishments. I am so lucky that school has come pretty easily for the first two. Of course having a great teacher like Miss Lawson helped!

It still amazes me just how quickly they change. My first baby girl has turned in to a big-sister-mommy, true helper, little reader, mostly charming young lady. I am so blessed!


Oh, I found this one on my sister's facebook profile, from her wedding. It just seemed like it would fit here with this little description of Emma...we've come so far!

No, I have not fallen off the face of the planet!

I'm still here!! But man oh man, life sure can keep you busy. And it's not like it's things I don't enjoy, except for maybe laundry, but so many good things have just filled me up lately...so here's the quick rundown...pictures will have to follow later.

1) I'm almost out of school! I was so looking forward to a nice, calm summer, but somehow, our calendar is already quite filled up. Between swim lessons, baseball camp, VBS, Yosemite (yay!), art class for Emma, mom & me class for Sarah, and of course the library & D-land, I don't think we'll have a dull moment.

2) Sarah is sleeping in a bed! HER bed, not mine & Chase's!! 'nuff said.

3) Caleb played in two baseball tournaments, one back on Memorial Day and one last week. The first one his team placed 3rd of 16, and the second one they took 4th of 30!! Not to brag, but he is one awesome 3rd baseman!

4) Emma graduated from kindergarten!! Yay for my little academian.

5) Emma is gearing up for her first dance recital...can't wait to share those pics.

6) I am becoming much more adept in the kitchen. Homemade lasagna, dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls (thanks to my new breadmaker) are so yummy!

7) We have become a money-saving family. We've made a few changes and I'm amazed at how much we've been able to put away each month! Last month we had our lowest electricity bill ever!! Now that may not be exciting to you, but it was a real family effort to make sure we all conserved.

8) Daddy will be home for the summer! Yes, I'm trying to make this one a postive. Chase has become another victim of lovely state budget cuts. Now you can understand why #7 is such a big deal for us!

9) I think I just ran outta steam...what else can I think of? Caleb is reading chapter books? Sarah can pedal her trike herself? Emma can do her own ponytail?

10) I have the BEST family ever!!

Glad to be back! Now that school's out (almost) I'm going to try to practice my photo-taking skills and attempt to post them up here...we'll see what happens!

What a day!!

Today was a day of big accomplishments! Today Caleb played in his first "play-off" game, where they actually kept score. Though his team lost, they still played an outstanding game. Caleb was right on with his plays (coming from a proud mommy!)

Rounding first....and he makes it home! (no, it wasn't a home run, he made it home on someone else's hit...but who cares, he scored the first run!) And there's Coach Daddy with a high 5!

I absolutely love what this shot captured, and there's no way I could've gotten it without my big camera.

Makes the play....

"yes...another out!"

As for Emma, she's been begging to have the training wheels taken off her bike. So I took them off for her on Thursday, but couldn't quite keep up hanging on (Sarah kept wanting to chase her into the street!) So yesterday, we all headed down the path near home, and Emma just took off!! She did so great! Now she has to master starting and stopping, but she's got the riding down.

Not quite able to smile while she's focused so hard!!

Working on that start!

There's that smile!

Spring Break...

Hmmm...where to first?

We did have so much fun during those two weeks off in April, that I never got all my pictures up! So here are a few from Disneyland when Sarah met her first goat...which she called a "doggie."

Update!

I don't know why, but I feel that I must always include pictures if I blog. So sometimes, I won't add anything just because I don't have time to decide which pictures to include~ so sad, huh? So even though I have no "matching picture" to add this, I just have to share how proud I am at the moment.

Caleb was invited to play baseball on a tournament team over Memorial Day weekend! He actually got noticed by a coach we played against, who happens to be coaching the team. Isn't that great? Of course to the girls, it just means more games to sit through!!

Tonight we're going to the Angels game...hope they do better than Wednesday's 13-0 final score!! It should be fun, there are a ton of kids from our kids school going, so I know they'll see people they know. Oh, and fireworks, too!

It's my Birthday!

and I went to Disneyland! (for a whole two hours =)



It's true, you really do get in free on your birthday. And if you have a pass, and you're lucky enough not to be blocked out on the day of your birthday (and all of us were lucky!) you can receive a "Birthday fun Card" (giftcard) for 69 bucks! (59 for the kids, but hey, that's awesome!!)



So Sarah and I went this morning to claim our gift. We got it and rode a few rides, and had to leave so soon to get Nemmies from kindergarten. Nevertheless, we had fun, just two of us, on Casey Jr., Small World, and the Carousel.



Tonight, it's dinner at Rubios and Baskin Robbins ice cream cake! Oh, and check out the beautiful birthstone necklace I got from my loving kids and hubby!

Friends

Our family is so incredibly blessed to be living in the great neighborhood we do. There are so many families with kids just the right ages to match up with ours, even Sarah. And now, she is getting old enough to actually enjoy spending time with another little girl who lives across the street.

A couple of weekends ago we got out the Bounce House (Bow How, as Sarah calls it) and invited the neighbors across the street to come bounce to their hearts' content...the little neighbors, not the big ones! Sarah had so much fun, and then she decided to drive. In Emma's jeep. So we were going round and round in a big circle and the two little girls were so giggly...it was priceless to watch a two year old driving with her little friend!

Yesterday her friend's daddy said that it was cool watching them play together, and that they might just grow up to be best buds...I hope so!

Yippee!!
Are you buckled up?

Golfing

On Wednesday, we went golfing with Grandma and Grandpa (poor Daddy had to work). This was a first for Sarah, who did pretty good carrying around her "stick" and picking up the balls for everyone! Grandma and I let her have some turns hitting our balls, but mostly she preferred to kick them or drop them in the hole (much easier, don't you think?) The three musketeers at Camelot.

Here's Sarah's creative way of holding the ball.

Grandma and Emma having some fun...notice Emma's new haircut?


Thanks for the pic, Emms!

I think he was pretending to be the Easter Bunny!

"Hole in one!! Hole in one!!"