Good Bye 2009

January

Tanner and neighbor friends rung in the new year with pots and pans.

February

Dane plays with the boys to keep them from getting cabin fever.

March

My birthday month.

I met up with my mom at Fenton's with the boys.

I decided to take some photos

of the boys in a near by field.

The boys were not in the mood for a photo shoot.

April

The weather got a little warmer, allowing the boys

to have fun in the backyard with shaving cream.

May

A hot Beautiful day brought us the promise that

summer is right around the corner.

June

Lovely summer nights and being with friends.

July

At our family's favorite place, Fenton's

for Tanner's Birthday; he turned 7!

August

Dane's birthday month.

We took an evening out to San Francisco's Pier 39.

I discovered that they have a shop on the pier

with one of my favorite Children's author and illustrator.

I wanted to purchase several items.... Dane wouldn't let me.

September

A trip to the beautiful wine country to visit my parents.

October

Our annual Visit to the local pumpkin patch

helps get mommy in the mood for the Fall season.

November

A month to be Thankful.

I am so very thankful to have our Cole in our lives.

He turned 4 with an UP birthday party.

December

The boys decorated for Christmas.

This little boy refused to go get ready for bed

and would not stop admiring the tree.

The tree that he requested be brought down

from the rafters after a full day of events.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve Massage
Silly boys

Posing for the camera

With Grandma and Papa

Inspecting the cookies

making sure they are safe for Santa

Stocking loot

Gifts from Santa

Our family's Blessing

My mom with my niece Amanda, nephew Drew,

and ex sister in-law Laurie

Two days before Christmas we had a little visit with my brother's kids. As always, it was so nice to see them again. We love them so much!

Amanda

Amanda just turned 21! She is the first grand child in our family and she is beautiful inside and out. Tanner adores her and it is possibly because of her that Tanner, and all of the other grand children that proceeded her, has a kind spot in his heart for people with special needs.

Quiet as a Mouse

Cole played the mouse in the manger in his school's Christmas play. His teacher told him that he needed to be quiet as a mouse and stay near baby Jesus. Someday I hope to get the video on here. Blogger doesn't like the file size, apparently it is 5x's the max size alloted. The picture will have to do for now. The school's chapel is brand new and Cole's class is the first to put on a show. Poor Cole never had dress rehearsal in the Chapel or with the props because we took him out of attendance for out SF outing (he missed 2 days of dress rehearsal). Most of the play he sucked on his sleeve or stared at baby Jesus laying in the hay right to his left. Very cute... I hope he could have a better part next year and be more present for the dress rehearsals. I was prous that he stayed on the stage and never had a melt down or run off. He stuck it out for the full play... 30 minutes.

Freckles

I was at Toys R Us standing in a long line when a nice lady standing in front of me turned to me and said something very nice. You see there have been only two other people that have ever said these kind words about something that I have never cared to live with.


This is what she said, " I love your freckles! You have such a great pattern of freckles on your face. I know you probably can't stand them but the are really cute." She was right... I've never cared for them and often hoped for some cure to get rid of them. I've felt like Jan Brady; I cheered for her prayed that her remedy to get rid of freckles would work.

I've matured a lot and I've become more comfortable in my skin. I'm told that freckles give a wholesome and healthy look. I've run into a quote and I really like it. It is sweet.

"A face without freckles is like a sky without stars." :o)

The visit to Santa Claus

Pajama Day

Tanner with Mrs. Schirmer

A Visit to Tanner's After School Program

Some Christmas Decor

The boys are counting down the days

Oh Come All Ye Faithful

Emma, Noah, and Tanner

Baking Sugar Cookies

Martha Stewart Recipe on the Laptop

and cooking supplies ready to go

The boys ready to bake

The boys prepare their work surfaces

Cut out their Christmas shapes

and decorate

Perfect day to bake cookies with the boys

as it was pelting rain outside.

4 yr Check Up

Cole went in for his 4yr old check up. He did very well for the Dr. Height and Weight is 65%. He got his first dose of H1N1 then two shots, one on each thigh for other things Poor kiddo.... he cried, then I held him and rocked him. Cole has the sweetest cry.... he doesn't scream... he just weeps and sobs. Mommy is a sucker for sobs. Bless his little heart.

Video Thursday

The boys taking a bath Jan '07

Mommy Body

Summer '91~ Wow.. look at that hair!

I'd like to be this fit this again!

Time or lack of time, infertility treatments, and having babies got me approx 20lbs heavier than what I was in the above picture. This picture was taken 18yrs ago, infertility treatments causes a havoc on a ladies body and also 4 yrs of emotional stress during that period doesn't help, and the miracle of finally being the vessel for my two beautiful gifts caused that body from 18yrs ago to transform into a mommy body.

I'd love for my body to look and be as fit as the above picture, but that my be too far of a dream to catch. Instead I'll settle for being in a size or two lower than where I'm currently at. I think I was a size 4 or 6 then... I'd settle for a 6 or 8 now. I've decided to hit the GYM. I'm usually happy at the GYM and can easily get into a routine and habit, but any sickness that fall on me takes my attention away from my exercising. I went Sat, again last night, and will be going tonight. I'm praying that my good health will continue.

Maybe 19 years later from this picture I will be closer to my dream or meet it. I'm very content and feel very blessed with the two boys in my life... so I will not go through any infertility treatments anymore. I'm unsure if another baby is in our future, but it doesn't hurt to have a healthy body whether it will bear another child or not. Mostly, I know that this mommy body needs to be a fit mommy body to be more happy and energized to match the energy of my boys. They are getting older which means that they will like bigger excitements (like their mommy), I want to be ready to climb that mountain (figuratively and literal) with them and any other outdoor activities.

LOVE HATE

Google Image

BASKETBALL

Dane's favorite sport (Maybe even more than golf shhhh..)

Dane is the Assistant JV Coach for a local High School

I know the the title states Love Hate and it is usually good grammar to keep your writing parallel. But for this situation I'm going against the protocol as I think it might benefit me to keep the positive at the end of my blog.. ** ya dig?**

Why do I HATE the sport?

1. This sport has the longest season of ALL sports

The schools are currently playing, so in our home.. season is IN and it continues in my life via Dane and the television past my birthday, March 30th.

2. It takes Dane out of the home for many evenings in the winter, which leaves me to feeling like a single parent w/ pick-up kids, work on homework, feed, and prepare for bed.

3. It is boring to watch on the television

4. Hard to watch the games at the schools and take care of an uninterested child or two

(Maybe I'd be more supportive if I could watch the games)

Why do I LOVE the sport?

1. Dane will sometimes take one child to the practices and maybe a few games; which leaves me the other child to have some 1:1 bonding time.

2. It is good for my son(s) to be around and watch the big kids play an organized sport

3. I only enjoy watching basket ball when I watch the pros in a stadium. GO WARRIORS!

Whenever I get that opportunity, it means that Dane and I are on a Date Night!

4. The bonus $ at the end of the school's B-Ball season is always nice. :o)

5. I support Dane and admire that he wants to be involved with our local High School

Holidays in Full Swing

November 30th Helping Cole with his side of the roof
Tanner decorated his side

Dane, the kids, and I had a blast trying to work on our annual Gingerbread House. This year the thing didn't want to stay together. We will make another attempt at it tonight. Pics will be posted soon.

November 29th

Cole and Tanner mapping out their route

for a Six Flags Adventure

We had a great day! We took the boys to Six Flags. Much to our surprise they weren't due to open for 2 more hrs; so guess where we ventured to to kill our time...... you guessed it Fentons.
Tanner was tickled that we were in the park while the sun was down. He was mesmerized by the lights on the trees and the lights on the rides.

Cole spent the bigger portion of his day reminding his dad that the CHRISSNESS tree in our home needs to go up. We got home from the park late and prayed that Cole forgot about the tree. He didn't ;o) Mommy put it up and got welts all over her arms, I guess I'm allergic to fake trees (go figure). After all the fighting with the tree and the welts all up and down my arms, I was done and wanted to call it a night, but Tanner was in such the holiday decor mood that he wanted the ornaments up too.
" Oh, Tanner... look at my arms. Let's do it tomorrow. " I pleaded.
Tanner insisted that he and Cole will take care of it and do a good job.
"Great idea, Tanner! Cole is at a good age and could be trusted to not break the ornaments!" Bliss...The couch felt good while I watched my boys do their magic on our tired tree
I knew Tanner had a great day ~ "This was the Best Day ever!" he happily declared:o)

Cole kept spinning and staring at this one ornament.

It was past his bed time,I thought this would put him to sleep.

No such luck!

November 28th

A very cold and windy day! The wind carried our neighbor's empty trash can half way down the street! I stayed inside with the boys and we called it a pajama day.

November 25th..... Happy Thanksgiving!!......

We took the boys to my parents and had Thanksgiving there. We had a wonderful visit and the kids' behavior were superb. We did a little 50's dancing too. The boys love that! Thank you Mom and Dad for having us over, we had a great time and the food was delicious.
November 24th

A lovely parent brought in a full Thanksgiving meal for our students (all 50 of them) and for the staff (13 of us). She did everything perfect! The quality matched the quantity too!

Cole did a small Thanksgiving show at his school. He was sooo darn cute. Pictures and hopefully a video will be posted soon.

November 23th

I'm a huge fan of Martha Stewart and anything that she says, does, or sells I have complete faith in. I recently purchased her Martha Stewart Dinner At Home cookbook and have been having a lot of fun cooking from this book. She promises that you can cook a full meal, with items that you would find in your local grocery store, in less than an hour. This cook book is awesome too because it separates the meals by seasons. My classroom was in a competition to make a holiday dish and present it to a panel of judges. We made her Apple-Cranberry Crumble from the cook book. And with Martha's help our class won 1st prize! Woo Hoo! We have won 2 out of 3 competitions. :o)