Seven is Heaven!

Peter is seven!  Hard to believe my little baby boy is getting to be such a big guy.  His birthday turned out to be a pretty incredible day.  First he had baseball camp with his good friend, Andy.  Because it was such a hot day, Andy and Gaby came over for swimming and cake after camp, and we all had a wonderful afternoon playing and celebrating Peter.  What joy!  Can there be anything better than swimming with friends, lego candles on an ice cream cake, and a picnic in the backyard?  It doesn't get much better than that!  Happy Birthday to one of the very best!

Summertime S'Mores

One of my very favorite summertime activities is having a backyard cookout at Auntie Elizabeth's house.  Man, it is just the best.  It's so hot outside, and the kids go bananas swimming in the pool.  They're laughing and jumping in and splashing all around.  Even Catherine's getting into the play, with her little floatie on furiously kicking her little legs all around the pool.  We sit and watch, sipping a cold drink and enjoying the joy of the afternoon.  As it starts to get dark, we light the fire pit, and the kids scramble over for s'mores.  Their delight is contagious, and it's just the best way to spend a lazy summer evening.

Golfing Buddies

These guys are ready to hit the course, and boy will they look cute doing it!

Happy Birthday, Lizzy

I love this great picture of four wonderful friends.  Watching these guys play, and swim, and run around, and invent, and imagine is truly one of the most joyful things in my life.

Lizzy is 9!

 Lizzy is 9!  What?!  How is that even possible!  Nine is old....really old.  Lizzy is such a capable, mature, loving, kind, gentle hearted, sweet, funny, intelligent, all-around-wonderful girl......of course we had to celebrate her!  Lizzy invited her friends over for a swimming party.  We had a great time!  We decorated flip flops with jewels, had a ton of fun swimming, enjoyed an amazing BBQ prepared by daddy, and topped it all off with a silly string fight!  Lizzy's friends are all such sweet girls, it was wonderful to get to spend such a fun afternoon with them.  We love Lizzy so much!  We absolutely love getting to watch her grow up.  She is such an amazing girl- so smart and interesting, so fun to be around, such a kind, loving person.  Happy Birthday to our darling girl!

Peter Shines

Look at Peter!  Look at how handsome he is!  He is such a big, big boy now, it is amazing!  Peter had a special concert at school, and we were all so glad to get to see it.  It was one of those truly special moments that I treasure.  His class was so adorable!  His teacher had spent such a long time choosing such cute songs.  The kids were all dressed up and just looked so big and so precious.  Afterwards we had a special reception together, and it was so fun to get to see Peter will all his friends.  Peter has grown up so much, and matured into such a wonderful boy.  I love seeing the person he is becoming!

It's Getting Hot!

Water day at school = Best Day Ever!

Pool Party Slumber Party

Our dear friends came over for the ultimate pool party!  We swam all day, had a delicious BBQ, swam some more, and then had a slumber party!  It was the best!  We love being all together, and we love all our fun times.  It's so wonderful to spend time with special friends!

Tea With Catherine

We usually love to spend our time all together, but sometimes it's very special to get some one-on-one time with our children.  Daddy and I got to spend a very special morning with Catherine at her preschool.  Her class had an adorable tea party for all of the families.  Catherine served us lemonade and all of the tables were decorated and had delicious treats waiting for us.  We loved getting to see Catherine at her school, and the children even performed a special song all by themselves on stage.  What a treat!  We loved getting to see our precious girl shine!

Baseball Boy

Peter loves baseball!  Every spring, it is so fun to get out to the field and watch the boys play.  This year Peter moved up to Farm ball, and boy was that a big step up.  He had to learn to hit off the pitching machine, and the boys worked on real fielding and learning the rules of the game.  Hitting was tough, but with a lot of practice, Peter really got the hang of it, and got some great hits!  He really enjoyed playing first base, but he especially love playing catcher.  Peter loved getting to be on the team with his special buddies, and Lizzy and Catherine got to hang around with their friends playing and hitting up the snack bar.  It was a great season for all of us!

Flowers and a Name

Here's a picture of some pretty flowers that Catherine painted.  But look down at the bottom there......do you see it?  It says "Catherine!"  Catherine wrote her name all by herself (I helped her remember the order of the letters), and she even added her favorite letter, that tiny "o", just to make it extra special.  Great writing, Catherine!  We are so proud of you!

Yogurt Date

How fun is this?  We ran into all these friends at yogurt after school, and we all had the best time laughing and playing together.  So fun!

The Best Comforter

Peter had a bad day at school, and was feeling pretty sad about it when he got home.  This is always when Lizzy kicks right in.  She always knows just what to do to raise your spirits.  Lizzy got a plastic baggy and filled it all up with adorable and thoughtful little trinkets to make Peter smile.  She included some money (Peter's favorite!), a golf ball (he loves to play), some cool rocks, a smile card, a heart made out of legos, and a little note that said "I love you."  Peter couldn't help but feel loved and taken care of, and he cheered right up.  Thank goodness for such a loving and kind girl that we are so thankful to have in our family!

"Catherine" A Self Portrait

"This is me, mommy, with my curly hair."

Tea With The Ladies

Lizzy and Caroline's cute friend, Kaylin, wanted to check out one of our favorite spots to enjoy afternoon tea.  We went all together, the three girls and the three moms, and had a wonderful afternoon.  What a treat to do something special with just Lizzy, and to enjoy such a beautiful day with such adorable girls!

Picnic Day

We moved to our town in April, and right after we moved in, it was Picnic Day.  The first year we were there, we liked to believe that the whole town was throwing a party just for us, and we've loved Picnic Day ever since.  This year it was great.  Peter had a game in the morning, then we zipped downtown to catch the parade- always a fun thing to see.  We had a yummy lunch at the Farmer's Market, then went to our cousins' house for swimming and a BBQ.  What a great way to spend a fabulous day.

Pixie Playland

Grandma is fun, and she's always up for a good time.  When we were visiting her and Papa for lunch, Grandma suggested a quick trip to Pixie Playland for a little fun.  Although Lizzy and Peter were a little too big for some of the rides, we all loved the Dragon Rollercoaster, and the kids loved the Frog Hopper and the train.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

It was our Grandma's birthday, so we had a big party for her!  Grandma loves birthdays, and she loves parties, so we were excited to get to throw her a surprise party at our house.  Everyone came, and when Grandma drove up she was greeted with a huge birthday banner and all the kids yelling, "Surprise!"  She was thrilled.  We had transformed our dining room into a perfect princess room with lots of cute decorations.  Uncle Brian brought a delicious cake, and we all had a fun time together.  Happy Birthday, Sweet Grandma:)

Fun at Tea

I've had this happen to me a million times.  I can get bogged down with chores, and laundry, and grocery shopping, and cleaning, and all the zillions of little things it takes to run the show.  I like to be on top of things, so when those chores start piling up, I don't like it one bit.  On Friday of our spring break, Auntie Elizabeth wondered if we wanted to go to the Academy of Sciences and then to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.  I didn't leap at the chance.  There were errands to run, and then if we went it would be tough to get everyone ready to go, and then there's that long drive.......and on and on and on.  Thank goodness Auntie Elizabeth knows me so well.  She knows I love a good adventure, and she's great at putting things in perspective.  With a little encouragement from her, we were off on a fabulous day.  We loved the museum.  The butterflies were a huge hit!  We all loved the tea garden!  We could have walked around those beautiful paths all day, and it was so fun to stop for tea and treats.  Chores can always wait!  Don't waste a beautiful day.

Easter Brunch

We've gotten into a fun tradition of going over to El Macero for their Easter brunch.  This year, Grandma Susan, Grandma, and Papa all joined us.  It was a beautiful afternoon!  We got to play in the oak trees where they had set up treats, a bouncy house, and even some dye for eggs.  They had a big Easter egg hunt, and Peter found the golden egg!  He won a free dessert- yum!- and was so excited for his big find.  We ate breakfast together inside, and everyone had so much fun laughing and talking and playing shuffle board.  Even though none of us could top daddy's skills, it was a super fun day!

Those Lazy Arboretum Days

Days together exploring the arboretum......man, I just love them so much.  I will never get over the joy of taking a walk together, being awed and amazed by nature, getting back to what really matters, the simple, everyday joy of being together and enjoying the world around us.  It is a treasure.

The Best St. Patrick's Day

I will always look at St. Patrick's Day in a different way now, after celebrating with Lizzy and her classmates.  We don't often get to do things with just Lizzy.  We tend to travel in a pack, which is usually how I like it.  I like being all together, I love watching the kids play and interact together, and we feel best when we're all together.  But sometimes, it's really special to get to enjoy time with just one of our children.  Lizzy's class prepared a special prayer service for the day, and we loved watching the kids work together, and getting to hear Lizzy read in church.  Afterwards, we were all treated to a fabulous traditional Irish tea.  What fun, and what joy!  The stars aligned, and daddy and Grandma were able to be there too, and we all had such a wonderful time.  You could feel the magic in the air, and you knew it was one of those special days we'd remember for a long time.  

Here We Go Giants!

Peter is fired up for another season of baseball!  Opening Day was so much fun.  It was adorable to see all the kids out there in their uniforms, and everyone loved the parade, the band, and all the fun.  Peter even got to play his first game on Opening Day, and he was a defensive beast, stopping a play at home and making an out at first.  Great job, Peter!  

Roller Girl

When you're the third kid, you have to be a fighter.  You have to be persistent and stick with what you want to do.  That's definitely Catherine!  She's tough, and she doesn't stop until she gets what she wants.  Catherine had been telling me over and over how much she wanted to go rollerskating, and I just kept doing my best to put her off.  After all, who puts a three year old on roller skates?  Well, finally she wore me down and one day when we were playing out front I put her on the skates and kind of just let her do her thing.  She was great!  She carefully stepped all around, doing a great job keeping her balance.  I don't think it will be long at all until she's racing around the court.  Good for you, Catherine!  You believe in yourself and go after what you want, and I'm so very proud of you!

Way to Go, Peter!

Peter had a great season in basketball.  One thing I love about Peter is that he brings the hustle!  He listens to his coaches, he focuses on what he's supposed to do, and he always does his best out on the court.  He really loves playing, so it's very fun to watch him.  We love to see Peter out there, and can't wait for many more games.