A Ketchup Post

Catching up on May:

The School Carnival: Carl’s Junior provided food and Hunter’s friend got to take three friends on a tour of the inside of the truck since his Dad manages the store.

Hannah had cotton candy for the first time.

Sabrina has dubbed this her favorite dress and cries when I pry it off of her to wash it.

Hannah planted strawberries at preschool and loves to water them. She only does this angry face when I make her pose. She also loves dressing up and playing princess.

Rob and Hunter sitting on the tailgate after packing the trunk for the Father & Son Campout. They had a blast on their one night adventure in a great big tent that we just got. They got in some fun bonding time eating s’mores and playing games while the girls and I hit Taco Bell for dinner, met some girl friends at Yogurtland, played and chatted there, and then came home for a sleepover in the living room while we painted our nails and watched High School Musical 2.

Except for some help with the saw for shaping, Hunter made his pinewood derby car completely on his own.

Hunter modeled his car after a speeding bullet train, and won the “Most Rocketlike Design” award.

Hunter also finished the requirements for and was awarded his Bear patch.

Daddy lead Hannah on a pony walk at Irvine’s Regional Park on Memorial Day. She was beaming the whole time.

Emma went for the pony trot, and loved it even though is was pretty bouncy.

Hunter in the Orange County Zoo.

Sabrina got help from Emma when she needed a better look at the animals.

All of my monkeys babies.

My cutie pie husband.

Emma and Hunter on the water bikes.

Rob and Hannah in their paddle bike.

Sabrina hated having to wear a life jacket, and whenever the kids would pedal over and ask her if she was having fun, she would grunt a whiny nasal “uh.” But as soon as we were finished and safely on dry ground she said to me, “that so fun Mommy!”

 

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A New Look

I was having a particularly trying day last week, and of course told Rob all about it that night.

The low point came when it was time to pick up Emma from school and the little girls did not want to come without shoes on. In spite of the fact that it is literally around the corner, and I was driving there, so shoes were really not necessary. Hannah finally found a matching pair she liked, but Sabrina could only find one of every shoe she has. Hannah put her shoes on the wrong feet, but at least she was ready to go. I finally handed Sabrina a pair of dress up shoes and said, “just wear these.” As soon as Hannah saw that, she had to have dress up shoes too.

“Mom! I don’t want these shoes! I want dress up shoes!”

“No, Hannah. You already have shoes on, I’m not going to look for dress up shoes right now.”

“Mom! I don’t want these shoes!” Wailing and flailing of limbs follows.

“You can look when we get back. Let’s go!”

Hannah is following behind me and Sabrina in bare feet repeatedly yelling, “I want princess shoes!” with tears and stomping as we head through the garage to the van. Sabrina slips and loses her shoe. “Gwass Swipper” she wimpers and starts to cry. Do you think I enjoyed the irony of her losing her glass slipper just like Cinderella? nope. I started my angry Mom voice.

“That’s it! Nobody is wearing any shoes.” And I pick up Sabrina, take her other shoe off and throw it on the ground next to the one that just fell off.

I buckle the girls in their seats while muttering to myself, and we drive the two blocks to the school. Both girls are crying and yelling out various things regarding their shoes, and I am seething. Emma isn’t quite out yet, so we wait a few minutes while the screaming continues and I start telling myself to calm down so I can be pleasant to Emma when she gets in the van. After all, it isn’t her fault. I manage to calm down and be normal to Emma and we have a brief exchange about her day while trying to ignore the noise behind us.

As soon as we pull in the driveway, I inform Hannah and Sabrina that they are both going straight up to their beds for naps, and there will be no stories. I walk them to their beds, watch them get in and close the doors to more screaming. I hear Hannah yell, “Mommy is so mean today!” And I say to myself, “That’s right, and I don’t feel bad about it…”

The next morning Rob gave me strict orders not to look at any emails from Amazon, and then on Mother’s Day I found out why. He ordered me a new camera lens. I’m not sure what it was about my experience that motivated him to get it, but I have been trying it out, and just love it. Maybe he knew I would be taking pictures of the kids and hoped I would remember why I love them so much. So here are some samples. I think I take pictures the same way I was before, but this lens makes them look better. Not sure why or how, but it’s cool:

 

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Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures of our family on this beautiful, warm Easter Sunday.  I thought it would be nice to include a little about what we are thinking about on this holiday:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0vQZQieI-I

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Visit to the West Coast

Chris and Tracy came for a visit back home to the west coast. It is home, right guys??!! We had a lot of fun together and got together with Nana, Papa, Great Grandpa & Dorothy, Jeanette & Dan, Tracy’s sister’s family… Lots of happy times together. Can’t wait to see you all again!

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You Can Pick Your Friends…

You can pick your friends,

And you can pick your nose,

But you can’t can pick your friend’s nose.

I’ve got a ton of new pictures in the gallery, so take a look to see what else we’ve been up to.

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Happy Birthday Sabrina!

Sabrina is two years old today! It’s hard to believe that she has been with us for two years already, yet hard to imagine life without her here. Sabrina is a strong willed and gentle little girl. She knows just what she wants to be wearing and what she wants to be doing. Lately she will only wear skirts, dresses, or dress-ups and loves to bring me the “mote” and say “Supa Why!” She is usually happy especially when she is playing with Barbies or Princesses. Her favorite phrases right now are: “Mommy holddew,” “Thank You Mommy,” “pink and puple cuyer,” and “I yu you”.” We love you too Brina!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BeHPsJs8Kk

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