I am so happy to be a mother and to have three wonderful little kids. I feel blessed everyday to have them in my life. They truly are my world. And today they happily allowed me to take a few pictures of them. Which is a present in itself :)
I've felt really bad about not starting the kids in swimming lessons earlier, so this year, before summer actually started the girls took their first lessons. Jena has always been a fish. We could put a floaty on her and she would spend every minute in the water. After two weeks of an hour lesson every day... she is great little swimmer without any assistance. She thinks it is great to swim down and touch the bottom of the pool (in the shallow end at least) and she loves to jump off the side and splash into the water. Taylor had a rough first day. She was crying and didn't want anything to do with having her face in the water. Luckily her teacher wasn't having any of that. She let her hang on her back when it wasn't her turn (mostly to keep her from trying to climb out of the pool) and when it was her turn, explained what they were going to do and then pushed her head under the water and got her to swim to the side. After the first day, Taylor realized she might as well like it, because swimming was what she was going to do. It was really amazing to watch her progress and now we just have to keep working on it.
Spring is such a fun time of year. Especially anxiously awaiting the arrival of Easter. To pass the time we made decorations and many special treats together. These chick nests were one of the kids favorites. I gave the kids each a blob of Rice Krispies and let them create their own nest for their chick and eggs. Jena loved it and dove right in, Taylor didn't really like getting sticky so she recruited my help and Cody just wanted to eat instead of create, but that's okay because mommy really wanted to make most of them anyway :)
The morning of Easter brought pillow pets and lots of candy. Jena has been begging for a unicorn pillow pet for quite a while and was absolutely thrilled... Cody was thrilled about the chocolate. Then we set off for church to remember the true purpose of Easter, celebrating Jesus Christ.
When we returned home the kids were a little confused. They had enjoyed church and their baskets and treats, but wasn't there suppose to be an egg hunt too. We sent them looking all over the house for the eggs and then they realized they were hidden in the backyard. Dozens of eggs later, they were very satisfied. 
Ever since I was a little kid, this has been on my to-do-list when I had my own kids... We ordered caterpillars and lady bug larva and watched them transform into butterflies and lady bugs. For the kids there were some slow parts in the middle, but they were really excited when the insects came, when they started forming the chrysalides and of course, when they started emerging. After all that time and waiting, we finally released the little guys into the world. We will definitely do this again.
The other night I took all the kids to the annual school open house. Taylor loved showing me the different stations set up and all the art projects she had made. She and Jena colored pictures, read books with friends, swung on the swings and ran around as crazily as they could, because hey, that's what everyone else was doing too :) Taylor was also excited to see a picture slide show and pointed out the picture where she was holding a snake. Taylor loves going to school and can't wait until she goes everyday like Jena. I'm so grateful for her wonderful teachers that made her first year truly memorable!
Jena was mostly excited to see all her friends twice in the same day. She couldn't wait for us to see how well she does on the monkey bars. She is very serious about them and often comes home with blisters on her hands, but even blisters only keep her away for a few days. Jena loves doing creative projects. Her favorite thing is getting glue, crayons & paper and creating whatever comes to her mind. That's why her favorite time at school is "choice time" where she can choose her own project. Jena loves going to school and learning new things, but even more than that she loves her teacher and all her friends!
We figured we needed to get out and do something just for the kids. We haven't been to the Santa Barbara Zoo since Cody was born and Ryan figured it would be the perfect place to go. We told them we had a surprise, but it would take a little time to get there. At one point Jena said she thought we were going to the beach, but changed her mind once she saw the "Zoo" sign. That little smartie!
This is such a great little zoo. The kids love being able to walk around and only jump into the stroller when they need a little rest. Jena liked seeing the snow leopard, wild cat and the lions (yes, she is my daughter!) Taylor liked feeding the giraffe and watching the elephant grab food out of the container high above his head and then eat it. She thought it was really funny. Cody liked running around and eating a churro. He also liked making animal noises when he saw certain animals... like roar and bock.
But as exciting as the animals are... everyone needs a little break at the kids play ground.
and slid down the hill... Jena surfed/snowboarded down...
and played in the rope web!
What a perfect break from our regular life and a GREAT way to spend the day! We love the ZOO!!!
Usually I make this little guy drink out of a sippy, but since there were a few leftover boxes from Taylor's party I figured why not give the boy what he wants :) And he couldn't be happier with chocolate milk all over his head!
Taylor just turned four years old and we decided to celebrate it with a "Going On A Bear Hunt" Party. We kept it small with only two other families, but we still managed to have nine kids between the three families. It was our favorite party so far and it was so much smoother with all the extra parents around.
We started by making bear necklaces. We had foam bears with each kids name on them and then they were able to add colorful beads to the strings. After that, Ryan very energetically read the book "Going On A Bear Hunt." Our kids love this book so much. Cody was literally bouncing to the rhythm. After that we went on a bear hunt of our own. We went through tall wavy grass... green crepe paper taped across a door opening. A deep cold river... a blue tarp folded to look like it had waves.
Thick oozy mud... a wet sandbox.
A big dark forest... a little detour through the bushes and trees in our yard. A swirly whirly snow storm... walking through bubbles from the bubble maker. A narrow gloomy cave... a black tablecloth draped over a door opening. And then...
It's a bear!!! After they each found their bear, everyone was able to dress up like a bear. I made face masks out of stiff felt for everyone, colorful tutus for the girls and fleece scarves for the boys. Then we had food, cupcakes and ice cream while the kids ran around in the backyard. I found a game online called "Mr. Bear Are You Sleeping?" One person is the bear and they pretend to be sleeping. Then everyone says "Mr. Bear are you sleeping" and then takes a step or two closer to the bear. They keep saying it until they are close and then when the bear wants he/she growls and chases everyone until he tags the next person to be the next bear. The kids really liked that one. The party ended with a few rounds of Bear Bingo with gummy bears as the place markers.
We had such a great time and can't believe our little girl is getting so big!
Jena's kindergarten class decided to call themselves the "Flying Bats." Each child gets a chance to take home their class mascot. Jena has been so excited and after months of waiting, she finally was able to bring the little guy home. She wanted to do everything with it. Plus we had to take pictures and write a little story/poem from the bat's perspective of the time he had at our house. Here was our adventure...
Dear Kindergarteners,
Today I decided to try something new,
I’d write my journal entry with a rhyme or two.
Jena took me home at the end of the day,
It’s been really exciting because she really likes to play.
We went to the park. I liked the slides and swings,
They’re almost as magnificent as having your own wings.
We played with her siblings and some other friends from school,
Exploring we did go, until it got a little cool.
We went to her home, bundled up and watched a movie,
Then her dad turned some music on and we got a little groovy.
Dinner was delectable, then to the bath the kids did go,
After my shower at Delaney’s, I decided to say no.
They were bathed and dressed. Good nights were said,
But instead of going to sleep we stayed up talking in her bed.
The next day was busy with all the family plans,
We drove around a lot, but luckily she has a van.
After a plethora of activities, we had a little rest
We had some snacks and chocolate. Yes, the chocolate was the best.
Then we drew some pictures of animals, plants and such
Jena’s been happy to have me here and says she’ll miss me so much.
Because soon it will be dark and another day will be done
And our time will be up, but we sure have had some fun.
I love visiting my friends and meeting new ones too.
Who will I stay with next… maybe it will be YOU!!!
Thanks Jena for a glorious time!
Love,
The Flying Bat
Ryan's employer met a huge milestone last year and decided to take the whole company to Hawaii for their kick off meeting and awards ceremony. Rod and Sue graciously said they would take the kids, so Ryan and I could spend our first vacation without them... and it was absolutely wonderful! Especially since it was also our eighth year anniversary.
We spent our time laying on the beach, reading books, eating, shopping... I guess that is what I did because Ryan still had to work a few days that we were there. We did go scuba diving together and saw these amazing turtles hanging out on the coral. They didn't even seem to mind that we were a few feet away from them. We also did a cliff dive which was very crazy since we were down about sixty feet and we couldn't even see the bottom. Another day we took a canoe ride and saw a manta ray after jumping in the water with our snorkel gear. We even got in some whale watching as we traveled to our snorkel and scuba locations. We love the water!
The company had a Hawaiian Luau and a great dinner and rewards ceremony. I'm so proud of Ryan and all he does for our family!
We had a few non working days at the end of our trip and headed out on the road to Hana and to the pools of Oheo. It was truly beautiful, but the curvy roads almost got the better of me. On the way there we stopped at many waterfalls and went on a few hikes. The hike up to this waterfall had an amazing bamboo forest. Maui is absolutely beautiful, but next time I think I should take a boat or helicopter to enjoy certain areas :)
The day after Christmas we packed everyone in the car and set off to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate with the family. It was a constant party with all the cousins together. We went bowling, on a hike, watched movies, went shopping, played games and stayed up way too late every night. We had such a great time!
This was one of the cutest things... Olivia insisted that Taylor help her out with every shot and together they waited to see how many pins would still be remaining. We sure love our cousins and grandparents!
