Wow.. three weeks have passed!

Cole's first day of Daycare

Cole on a day that we reached up to 108*
Cole and Mommy at Marine World
Tanner at Marine World
Tanner at Marine World

Cole at Marine World

Cole trying peep over at the neighbors

Tanner and his new Wall-E backpack

Sept 3

Tanner had Karate and was a complete mess. He is constipated and making life for those that work with him misserable too.
Cole had a hard time being left at daycare, he cried when I left.

Sept 2

Cole's first day at his daycare. He was so proud of his new lunch pale and wouldn't let it go when I was buckling him into his carseat, dropping him off at school he wouldn't leave it in his cubby, he just wanted to hold it. :o) He had a hard time letting me go too. I had to bring Cole to the window (they have a "goodbye stool") and show him mommy's car and to watch mommy go to work. He did it and it was so heart breaking to leave him in a place where he didn't know anyone, yet. I called to check on him around lunch time. They reported that he is doing fine.
I had school later that evening and Dane had to pick him up from school, which wouldn't be until 5:30 that evening. I had to take a peek on him before heading out to Walnut Creek for class, so I made a visit with out him knowing. He was playing well outside with the tricycles and the other kids. :o) His teacher reported that he did a good job with no accidents, pees standing up, and protests naps.. big surprise lol

Sept 1

Labor Day and Done with Au Pairs and finally have the extra room in our home to clean and get organized for our own. I turned the closet into an area for Tanner's clothes and my scrapbook materials.
The boys and I took a drive out to Livermore to pick-up a Cricut machine for my scrapbooking. We also paid a visit to my friend Leah and her kids ( Scottie and Jordan). The visit was short and sweet but great.

Aug 30

I joined my good friends in scrapbooking in Livermore. What a great time talking with the group of lovely ladies about not-so-ladylike discussions.. lol

Aug 24

We took Alex (German Au Pair) and the kids to Discovery Kingdom (aka. Marine World). We had a lot of fun! Tanner rode his first "adult" roller coaster, Tony Hawk, and was thrilled by the experience. Dane and I are so excited to have a child that enjoys coasters like his daddy and mommy. Cole is at a difficult age that he doesn't know to stay with you, yet he doesn't want to be in a stroller either, so it was quit tiring to truck him around the park. Cole had his first ride "alone". He went up in a dumbo ride. I was a bit freaked out as he is my accident prone child and that dumbo goes high up in the air w/ my Cole.

Aug 22

Dane and I went to a wedding at a resort, Willowood Spa in Helena California. The children were lined up to stay with my parents, but my mom hurt her leg and couldn't care for the kids. We called our friend, Jim (the Groom), he told us to come and bring the kids. Our kids were the only kids at the wedding. Absolutely beautiful location, I felt like we were in the Blue Bayou in Disneyland as the night was illuminating with stars, temp was perfect, paper lamps were strung from tree to tree. The service was something I have never experience, our table sat eight and we had eight servers (one per person) sit each of our four course plate in front of us a the same time. Too cool!

Great day alone with the boys!

Aug 17
Bro finished my bathroom tile and it looks great! Dane has been out of town since early Saturday morning, playing a tournament in Reno. Saturday was rough with the kids as Dane wasn't here to help out and they were so reved up with having their uncle here and fascinated with the tile work. I think they became acclimated with their uncle being here and the work going on as they left him alone to do the job and they played well with each other the whole day.
I made a yummy dinner for just me and the boys; mashed potatoes, chicken strips, bisquick, and cheese (all in a casserole dish). I learned this dish from our au pair that we had last year from Bosnia, Adisa.

Trying to get up to date...

Aug 16
My brother came over to lay new tile in my master bath. Looks good so far! He worked from 8am-10pm, non-stop. Wow!
Aug 15
I met the director of Cole's new school. I'm very excited for him to start. He will take his first school picture on Aug 26th.
Tanner had his first school picture taken. I can't wait to see how they turn out.
Aug 13
Cole had his last day of swim lessons. Patty Gates mentioned that we need to sign him up right away next summer as he is an eager learner and is ready for the next step in his swimming.
Tanner received his sparing equipment and karate duffel bag. Too cute! He made a statement that he is now a big kid because he has the big bag with karate stuff.
Aug 12
Tanner had his last day of swim lessons. He is a pretty safe swimmer now.

Happy Birthday Huns!

Aug 11
Tanner had his first class of karate as an orange belt. Tanner did pretty good and got a little re energized about karate when he saw that this level gets to wear sparing gear.
Happy Birthday, Dane! A great dinner prepared for us from our Au Pair (Alex), she did a fantastic job. I invited Jeff and the kids for dessert ( banana splits with all of the fixings). We sang Happy B'Day and dug in. I braided Salina's hair and she loved it. :o)

Aug 10
Dane stayed home with the kids and I ran out to Tracy Outlets to buy the kids school/winter clothes. Founds some cute threads.... Then came home to do more cleaning.

Aug 9
I spent the day cleaning and the boys hung out. Just another day of R&R.

Aug 8
The house is empty... just our little family. Aahhh...
Nothing special going on this day. We worked, Tanner had school, Cole was watched by our friend's daughter.

New Karate Belt!

Aug 7
My sister and her family flew out. I drove them to the SJ airport and Dane took Tanner to Karate. The kiddo graduated to a new belt color (Orange). Congratulations, Tanner!
He was so excited when I arrived home he had it hidden and led me to his hiding spot and had me guess what he was hiding it. It was too cute!

Tanner's special days out.

Aug 5 & 6

These pictures where taken in Capitola and Santa Cruz.

Auntie Shel took Tanner and her crew to the beach;

they spent one night there for two days of beach fun and sun.

Tanner has himself a huge sand box

Beautiful view of sail boats out in the sea

Cousin Tim took Tanner and a family friend Nina to play in the waves

Time to come back.

Cousin Tim, Tyler, Ty's girlfriend Marissa, and Nina

Just relaxing in the sand

He will need water for his moat.

Tanner waits his turn for tilt a whirl

Riding tilt a whirl with cousin Alyssa and Nina

Tanner had a great time at the beach with his auntie, cousin and good friend Nina and Hiedi.

He will never forget getting burried in the sand, riding tilt a whirl, and playing in the ocean.

Cole's special day out

Aug 4

Cole at Gharadelli Square Ice Cream

with cousin Alyssa and Auntie Shel

and cousin Tyler

argh.. Ahoy, matie!

walking the warf with cousin Alyssa

swing time with cousins Tim and Alyssa

~~Oneday, I will have a yacht of my own~~

Cole enjoyed his special day out with his cousins and auntie. He watched the seals mingling and heard their barking by the warf, the boats were such a spectacle to watch sail, the ice cream was delicious to his tummy. But the best part of it all was being with his cousins and auntie, they sure did make a fantastic day of giggles and I'm sure he felt like he was flying like a kite with the special rides. I know he loves his cousins and auntie. :0)

Dad's Surprise Birthday Party :o)

Aug 3

Surprise!

Dad is questioning my mom about this as

his birthday is two months away.


My parents with their grandchildren

Dad gave a short speech on how much of a miracle

it is that he is here with us today after all that he has

been through and that he feels so blessed and grateful!

Cole with his cousin, Alyssa

mom and dad with their four kids and 6 of the 9 grandchildren

The boys had fantastic behaviorDad and Cole watching a slide show of his life.

Me w/ my sisters, Trisha and Michele

Tanner and his cousin Alyssa

Happy 70th Daddy!
I love you!

Keeping my head above water

Tanner with cousin Alyssa

Tanner with Cousin Tyler

Cole with his cousins

Aug 2

I made banana and chocolate chip pancakes for my house full of teenagers and my two sisters. Spent the rest of the day preparing a slide show for my dad. Everyone went to the water park and I stayed home while Cole napped.

Aug 1

My sisters took Cole to the Jelly Belly Factory. Then Dane and I met up with everyone when we finished our jobs and Tanner finished school. We celebrated birthdays at our favorite ice cream parlor, Fentons. This was such a cute moment with Tanner because here we were a week from his 6th birthday and we had the Fenton's staff come out singing Happy Birthday to him, Dane, and my nephew. Tanner thought for sure he was celebrating his 7th and exclaimed, "I'm seven? I'm seven! wow....!" What a fast year that was huh... lol. It was so funny.. poor kiddo was a bit confused.

July 31

Both sisters arrived at seperate airports at a late hour(around midnight).

July 30

I had night school and did my power point presentation on Unique Transitions for Autism. I also turnd in two other projects. I found out that I received full credit for the presentation and I aced the class. Woo hoo!

First Day of Kindergarten

July 28
Tanner started his first day of school and I was back in the classroom meeting my new sudents. They seem like a great bunch of kids. A couple of them seem like they may be a challenge ahead but I see great potential.

July 27

I spent most of my day at a scrapbooking event and worked on my dad's album. I got a lot accomplished.