California Way

2012-02-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

So I have found this new website that I am totally addicted to! It's called pinterest.com and it's a place where people "pin" ideas that they like to their various "boards". You can make as many boards as you want and label them however you want. I have a board for Christmas ideas, recipes, home improvement/decorating ideas, gift ideas, etc. And it is so much fun to see other people's ideas! Here are a few ideas that I used from pinterest. Above are peanut butter cookies with dove hearts for Valentine's Day. Below is a headband holder for Sky that I made from an empty oatmeal container (I put other hair stuff inside the cannister).

Below are brownie bites that I made into heart shapes by putting a marble on the edge of the cupcake liner.

Pinterest has TONS of fun stuff for kids. One idea was to make creations from sticking pipe cleaners in different formations into a collander (see above). Another idea was to use a big magnet with pipe cleaners. Brad played with these for a long time! Below Brad and Lila are making their own snow globes by filling empty water bottles with sequins, glitter, beads, etc. Then we hot glued the caps onto the bottles.

This was another idea where you can stick a skewer into play doh and then put Cheerios on the skewers. We added some popsicle sticks to this project. Very fun!

2012-02-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

Brad had a dentist appointment on Monday. No cavities! Yay! And the dentist said that he was the best patient that they had all day! That's Brad. Notice his special blanket with him on the seat.
Sky came with me for the appointment and when we got home she opened her own dentist office with Lila as her patient.

2012-02-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

The other day I found 2 rough and dangerous pirates in my dining room!

2012-02-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

We spent Tuesday morning at the La Habra Children's Museum. They had a members only breakfast and music class in celebration of the opening of their new exhibit on music and dance.

With Brad going to his Children's Music Academy on Mondays and Sky having piano lessons on Wednesday, Lila took this opportunity to have HER music class. She really got into it!

Brad wasn't really interested in the class so he just sat and ate the free food offered at the breakfast while Lila had fun doing the class.

The keyboard on the floor was a big hit as well as the regular piano with the front removed so that the kids could see what the inside of the piano does when you strike a key.

Native American drums!

2012-02-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

Last week I took the kids to a MOMS Club tour of Trader Joe's (a local grocery store). I was hesitant to go because the last tour I took them on was a bit of a disaster. They wanted to run around the store and they got bored very quickly. But, we had the morning free so I figured "why not?".

Oh my gosh! It was the most awesome tour ever! The tour guide (the guy in all of the pics) was fabulous. He was opening everything and letting us try it: applesauce, carrots, bananas, choc. covered pretzels, peanut butter cups, power bars, pepperoni, etc. And he was GREAT with the kids (I later found out that he has 4 kids of his own). He told the kids how the food sold here is from all over the world. We got to see some interesting things like buffalo cheese.

He took us in the back room where the garbage is compacted. The kids thought that was pretty cool.

He showed the kids the refrigerator and freezer sections where the food is stored. The kids were saying hi to customers who were on the other side picking out their yogurt. They were a little freaked out to see kids back there so it was kinda funny.

Brad was in heaven with all of the free samples. He was the only one who tried absolutely everything. Lila spilled her applesauce AND juice box on the tour guides pants. Seriously!!! He was so good about it. He was definitely a fun-loving guy who enjoys kids.

At the end of the tour, Anthony, our tour guide, let the kids ring up the groceries. Then he gave each mom a bouquet of flowers, the organizing mom a huge bag of groceries, and each kid a goodie bag with MORE FOOD. Needless to say, I didn't have to make lunch that day!

A Day at the Children's Museum

2012-01-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

On Friday Ken took the kids to the Children's Museum while I got a perm. The kids love this place.

Lila and Brad in the "sound booth".

Atlantis Park

2012-01-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

A few days ago we went to Atlantis Park with our friends. Atlantis Park is an underwater-themed playground/park that is completely enclosed. It's a great park but a bit far from our house so we don't get there often.

King Triton is always a big draw. Lila called him Santa.

Brad still LOVES the swings (since birth he has loved swings) but he still doesn't know how to pump. I've tried to teach him, God knows I have, but I still have to push this big boy until he figures it all out.

Lila loves the riding toys and she also enjoyed chasing the wild rabbits in the park.

The serpentine slide is soooo cool. The kids made train after train and slid down together, usually landing in a heap like this at the bottom. Even Sarah, Sky's American Girl doll was among the train.

Snow in So Cal

2012-01-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

Every year our church does a community event called "Snow Day" where they bring in snow for the kids to play in. This year they also had food trucks (you can see in the background of above pic) and the food was awesome. It's funny to me that we came here straight from Sky's swim lessons. Only in So Cal...

There was free face painting, tattoes, baked goods, crafts, pics with Santa (vacation Santa) and bounce houses.

The kids had an awesome time, as always. Below, Brad and Sky raced each other through a bounce house obstacle course.

Sky even ran into a friend from her old school and they did some sled runs together.

In the picture below, Sky and Brad rode together but it's hard to see.

When asked what her favorite part of Snow Day was, Lila responded, "Eating the snow". Ugh.

My dear friend Amy makes these hats and I just think they are the cutest things ever!

Sky's High Blood Pressure Update

2012-01-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

At Sky's 7 year old physical examination, it was determined that she had high blood pressure. To be sure, we had to go to the doctor's office once every 2 weeks during the summer to have it checked. Each time it registered higher than normal for her age. We also had blood work done but it all came back normal. Sky doesn't have any of the symptoms of high blood pressure like dizziness or headaches.
For further examination, we were referred to a kidney specialist. We saw him and he initially thought it was white coat hypertension (fear of doctors, etc.) which made a lot of sense if you know Sky. So, he had us take her blood pressure a few times a week at home (to set her at ease with the process and get used to having it done). My sister-in-law Michelle sent us a child's cuff and we did as the doctor told us to do. Still, the blood pressure was higher than normal.
We went back to the kidney specialist right before Christmas and he made the discovery that Sky's arms are longer than the average 7 year old and that she should have her blood pressure checked using a small adult cuff. We bought this cuff and since then the readings have been within the realm of normal.
However, at the last visit, the doctor had discovered slightly more blood in Sky's urine than there should be and so he also wanted to run some additional tests. So we recently had an ultrasound done of her bladder and kidneys, more blood work, and a 24 hour urine collection. We went for the ultrasound yesterday and the technicians were running a full hour behind schedule so Sky had to sit with a very full bladder for a very long time. It wasn't a happy time, let me tell you! Poor Sky! We will go back for the results and further consultation in a couple of weeks.
I really like the kidney specialist. He is very personable and very thorough.
We are praying that everything comes back normal and that the use of the wrong size cuff was the problem all along. I'll let you know when there's more news to share...

Brad Starts Basketball

2012-01-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Brad started his basketball career on Saturday. He's on a team of 4 and 5 year olds and their team is The Purple Dragons. Brad is #5 and, yes, his jersey was too big so they are getting a smaller size.

There are 10 kids on his team, 2 of them are girls. It is through a Christian league at a local church. He will play in a game every Saturday. There is no stealing or blocking shots in this age group and it sounds like the referees are pretty tolerant of double dribbling, etc. The coaches are actually allowed on the court to help the players during the games. Each player is guaranteed equal playing time too.

I'm hoping that this will be a great experience for Brad and that he will catch the "basketball bug".

Christmas Images

2011-12-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

Wow! Each kid and their pile of presents on Christmas morning.

Our Christmas Eve ham dinner. After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights. On Yale Ave. in Fullerton, there was a neighborhood that worked together to make and hang these beautiful lighted Christmas balls (made from clear plastic drinking cups!). It was a beautiful site that my camera really couldn't capture.

One of my favorite things this Christmas was this platter that my friend Christine gave to me.

Below is the nutcracker that Brad made at the free LEGO build in downtown Disney.

More Christmas lights... People here really go crazy with the Christmas lights. It's like they're trying to make up for not having snow or something.

Another use for those Hallmark gold crown stickers: I discovered Brad using them for his alligator.

We have a special lady at church who has adopted our family and two other families who don't have family nearby. She is always giving things to the kids and offers to babysit, etc. She is a blessing to us! This year one of the other moms made this quilt for her with a different kids' name in each sqaure. We all got together to present it to her. She really liked it!

The Christmas performance at church was really fun. Brad and Lila are on the other side of this picture. Mostly Lila roamed around the stage with another boy. It was pretty funny! Sky sang with the older kids and, as always, really enjoyed it.

It was a wonderful Christmas! We're looking forward to more good times in 2012!!!

A Christmas Tradition

2011-12-11T21:59:00.001-08:00

One of our Christmas traditions is attending the MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) pancake breakfast at our church. Somehow the pancakes always taste so good (I think it's because I don't have to cook them or wash the dishes, etc.).

Sky is really into making picture frames this year.

Then we go, as a family, around to different centers that have a Christmas theme. The kids got Christmas tattoes. And everyone brought a set of kid pajamas to wrap and give to a crisis pregnancy center.
Below Lila is seaching for the baby Jesus (a foam sticker) in this bin of rice. Later I noticed a new group of kids searching for Jesus and unable to find Him. Then I noticed that Lila had stuck Him on her sleeper and was walking around with Him.

Lila is deinitely going through her two year old growing pains (I'm trying to avoid saying "terrible twos" but that's totally what it is). She's been in trouble at church (for not listening) the past few times we've been there. I'm hoping this stage is short-lived!

Brad enjoyed making Christmas shapes with play doh.

There was a brief performance of some songs that they are learning in church.

It was a super fun morning and it has definitely become one of our family's Christmas traditions.

December Fun

2011-12-07T22:01:00.001-08:00

Every year our church hosts a drop and shop where parents can drop their kids off for a few hours and go shopping (or whatever). Every year, they have a Santa (actually a guy in our church) who comes and takes pics with the kids.

Ice skating in southern CA??? Not really. This is synthetic ice (plastic) but people actually come out to skate on the stuff. This was Sky's first experience with ice skating and she liked it but was pretty terrified of falling (thankfully she didn't!).

One day while Sky was at art class, I decided to do some creative cooking with Lila and Brad. First we made this cream cheese/moz. cheese snowman and then we made gingerbread. Brad has been enamored with this gingerbread ornament on the tree (he really wants to eat it) and so I thought he would enjoy making his own gingerbread. WOW! What a mess! I didn't even get any pictures because we were all covered in flour and dough. Lila especially made a HUGE mess (flour in her hair, dough in the carpet, etc.). But they had a good time.

The day after Thanksgiving we decorated our little artificial Christmas tree. Ken loves this tree because it came pre-lit.

The kids really enjoyed looking at all of the ornaments and putting them on the tree. Brad especially seemed very interested in all of it.

Some of my favorite gifts already this season are a gingerbread table runner from my mom and Bill, a beautiful handmade Jesse tree from my pastor's wife, and a really nice red and white serving platter that says "Jesus is the gift" from my friend Christine. Maybe I'll post pics of these in a future blog post.

Just tonight we went to our good friend's, the Denham's, home for dinner and cookie decorating. That was very messy also, but again, the kids had a blast.

What else has been going on lately? We went to a faculty Christmas open house on Sunday and met Norman Wright (famous author who writes mostly on marriage). That was cool. He was really nice and down to earth. And we had a great time visiting with other professors and their spouses.

Yesterday we went to Downtown Disney to the LEGO store for a free LEGO build. The first Tues. of every month, the LEGO store hosts a free LEGO build. Every month it's a different thing. Yesterday Sky and Brad got to build a LEGO nutcracker. It was super fun and you get to keep the LEGOS you build with!!! Hopefully we can do it again sometime.

Day 1: Alcatraz Island and Ghirardelli Square

2011-11-24T23:21:00.001-08:00

Last week we took an awesome trip to San Francisco. None of us had ever been there before and we were all impressed with this amazing city. Let me start by saying that when I was growing up, I heard about things like the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island but I never imagined that I would actually see these places in person someday. As far as I planned, I was happy to live out my days in a small town in New England and California seemed so very far away.
But, somehow, along the way, God led us to California. It has been difficult to move from different places (first Connecticut, then Chicago and then Cincinnati) and say good bye to good friends and start over somewhere new! I feel like I'm still trying to find my way here in CA. But, in many ways, I feel like I've led such a privileged life, in that I've been able to enjoy so many unique experiences and see so many amazing things. I am very thankful for the life that God has given me and very thankful for this trip that we were able to take.
Ken attends a Bible conference every year and it is always held in a different city. This year, since it was in San Francisco, we drove up together. As Ken attended the conference, I took the kids out sightseeing. We bought something called a City Pass which was a very economical way to visit 5 different sites (Alcatraz, CA Museum of Sciences, Exploratorium, Aquarium of the Bay, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). It also included unlimited free public transportation.
Ken really enjoyed his conference and we really enjoyed exploring a new area. Ken was able to come with us on our adventures on this day so that was extra fun.

Alcatraz was a truly amazing experience. Above was the shower room where the inmates would shower. The building was very cold and the wind seemed to blow right through it. Each inmate was given clothes, a blanket and a pillow. Their cells were very small.

Some of the most notorious criminals stayed here. It is surprisingly close to the shore of SF. On the audio tour, it said that the prisoners could often hear the people in SF laughing and having a good time.

Much like life at our house, there were a few escape attempts (some successful) and a few prison takeover attempts. Above you can see some pretty notorious troublemakers.

The picture above shows the solitary confinement area, otherwise know as "the hole".

The view of the city from Alcatraz was amazing, especially with the fog moving off the bay.

The buildings on Alcatraz are in pretty bad shape but I wonder how much better they were when the prison was in use.

Brad and Sky finally relaxed once they realized they weren't going to see any real bad guys.

Later that night we rode a cable car to Ghirardelli Square. Sky lost her coat off of the cable car and when the cable car finally stopped we were too far away to go back and get it. She also had her American girl doll with her so, thankfully, she didn't go overboard too.
Ever since I worked at the Ghirardelli's in Chicago at the Water Tower, I have wanted to visit the original Ghirardelli's in SF. I never thought I would actually get to do it though. This was definitely a great day for crossing things off my bucket list.

Day 2: CA Acad. of Sciences Museum and Pier 39

2011-11-24T22:41:00.001-08:00

The CA Academy of Sciences Museum is located in Golden Gate Park (which is a huge park!). We were able to watch the penguins being fed and we learned a lot about their diet and way of life as the feeder talked while she was working with them.

They have a pretty nice aquarium here and we had fun looking at all of the different fish. I never cease to be amazed at how God created everything so spectacularly.

Sky was thrilled when she was able to handle a real abalone shell and also work a marine microscope.

Is that a really big starfish or a really small baby???

We went into a preschool play area for a while and Sky did a presentation on sea turtles. There's always a performance of some kind...

Meanwhile, Lila comandeered a pirate ship:

There is a really cool, 4 story, glass ball that contains a rain forest climate and also the levels of a rain forest.

We walked up through each level, looking at the plants and animals along the way.

The orbweaver spiders were enormous! I'm so glad that we had glass between us!

There were some pretty cool trees at Golden Gate Park!

Later that night, we walked over to Pier 39, a shopping and entertainment area. We stayed in the Fisherman's Wharf area which is pretty close to everything. The kids rode the carousel here.

And posed for a few pictures...

A short distance up the road were the Occupy San Francisco people. This picture doesn't quite capture it. There were lots of tents and lots of people. What would a trip to San Francisco be without a protest, right?

Day 3: The Exploratorium

2011-11-24T22:02:00.001-08:00

Our good friends, Jolene and Robert Denham, grew up in the Bay Area and usually come to the Bay area to be with family for holidays. They came up a little early for Thanksgiving to do some sightseeing with us. Robert is a music professor at BIOLA and Jolene also homeschools her kids. They live right down the street from us and are our closest friends here. They have Robby (6), David (5), Benjamin (3), and Kathleen (7 mos.). It was really fun to be able to explore the Exploratorium with them!

Everything here is hands-on and the kids had a blast. Sky designed and built this butterfly.

There were lots of pulleys and levers to experiment with.

When you tap this drum, the plate under your feet vibrates. The girls thought that was pretty cool.

There was some cool steamy things that Lila really enjoyed.

Brad LOVED this beach ball in the air thing. He could have played here all day.

He also really enjoyed this peg board with which you can use other materials (funnels, wheels, etc.) to design your own marble track. Then you can test your track with marbles and make necessary adjustments. Brad was really into this!

This was a spinning plate with sand and you could make your own designs and speed up or slow down the spinning.

Lila and Robby built some marble tracks with these blocks.

Brad liked this mechanism where you could speed up, slow down, or change direction of the rope on the pulley.

And Sky waited in line to have the chance to do this art project. She shook the platform in a variety of ways until she was ready to set the marker loose on the paper. Then the marker would make waves according to how the platform was shaking. She got to choose her colors and keep her paper when she was done. The Exploratorium was really fun and quite extensive. I feel like we could go back tomorrow and spend the day doing things we didn't even have a chance to do.

Day 4:Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge

2011-11-24T21:39:00.001-08:00

We met up with our friends the Denhams for this fun-filled day of sight-seeing. First we went to Fort Point, a Civil War soldier base that was built to protect the bay from attack. Fort Point is located directly below the Golden Gate Bridge.

Below is a view of Alcatraz Island from Fort Point. It was a beautiful day and we also enjoyed watching the surfers riding the waves.

There were lots of cannons here! We also got to see the soldier's barracks.

There was a park ranger on hand to teach the kids how to load and fire a cannon. Each kid had a job and he tried to get them to do it quickly. But there were a lot of steps and Brad kept running over to me because he was afraid that they were really firing the cannon. And the ranger sent Lila back in the first 5 minutes because she was hampering the war efforts.

But, in the end, everyone got a certificate (well, not Lila, but everyone else...).

Brad and David had fun running around in this large, open area.

And Lila enjoyed the fresh air too.

Then we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge (we had driven across the Bay Bridge on the way into SF) and walked on the bridge for a while.

It really is an amazing work and the view from the bridge is breath-taking! I wish Ken could have been with us as he didn't get the chance to go on the bridge.

Day 5: San Francisco Musuem of Modern Art

2011-11-24T21:18:00.001-08:00

This day was kind of a wash. It was raining pretty much all day and we took public transportation to the SFMOMA. So, we got wet.

Once in the museum, it didn't take long to discover that we're not really a cultured, art museum kind of family. Brad kept touching everything, Lila spilled her water and cried incessantly, and everyone was pretty bored. Sky did get to make a scratch art masterpiece and we did go on a family tour (although Lila cried through most of it).

Brad had his favorite dog, Bolt, with him and this painting resembles him quite well so we couldn't resist a picture. All told, we spent about 1 hour there and then left before someone kicked us out.

Thankfully this was a day when Ken was back early and so he took the kids swimming. It was an outdoor heated pool but still very cold. The kids had been begging me all week so they were so happy when they finally got to go swimming. At the end of the trip, after seeing many wondrous sights, when I asked Brad what his favorite part was, he said, "The swimming!" Kids!

Day 6: Chinatown and the Aquarium of the Bay

2011-11-24T20:44:00.001-08:00

On this day of our trip we went with my friend Malisa, her husband Andrew (he's a Talbot student), and their 2 beautiful girls, Serena (Lila's age) and Katherine (7 months old) to Chinatown. Malisa grew up in Chinatown so she was very familiar with everything and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with her.

We went for dim sum which is this awesome brunch-like meal where the servers come around with rolling metal carts and you can choose whatever plates you want from the carts.

We were able to try lots of different kinds of Chinese food. Malisa speaks Chinese so she was able to converse with the servers a bit to find out what they had.

Then we walked around the neighborhood and looked at all of the fresh produce along the streets, shopped at a few shops, and got a treat from a Chinese bakery.

We were able to go to a fortune cookie making factory which was really more like a sweat shop. That little old lady in the background sits there folding fortune cookies all day! They charged me 50 cents just for taking a picture. They did pass out free samples though.

That evening I took the kids to the Aquarium of the Bay. Their sea nettles were really impressive.

The kids got these shark hats.

The Aquarium of the Bay is right next to Pier 39 so we got to see the Christmas tree there.

These pictures got a bit jumbled up. While we were in Chinatown, I let each kid pick something $5 or under as a souvenir. Brad chose this sword.

Sky chose this chirping bird in a cage. Hopefully the sword and the bird don't meet... Lila chose some weird looking purple dinosaur thing.

Here is Sky at the dim sum restaurant in front of some of the rolling carts.

Day 7: Tilden Park and Fenton's Ice Cream

2011-11-24T18:08:00.001-08:00

Our friends, the Denhams, showed us around Tilden Park in Berkley. The kids had fun feeding the farm animals celery and lettuce.

We ate a picnic lunch with the Denhams at the park.

There was a gorgeous view of San Francisco on the drive to Tilden Park.

After the park we went to Fenton's Ice Cream Parlor. Fenton's was in the movie "Up" and it was really an amazing place. The ice cream there was really good and the servings were HUGE.

Sky is really into root beer so she got a root beer float.

Brad had a kiddie scoop of cookie dough and comlained that there was chocolate in it. Robby and his dad Robert shared a banana split.

Lila got a chocolate shake.

After the ice cream, we parted ways with the Denhams and drove the 6 1/2 hour drive back home to LA. Sky has a motion sickness problem and she got sick later that night in her bed. So, my 10 loads of laundry turned into 12 loads. But, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for laundry because it shows how much we have and I am thankful for a washer and dryer of my own too!

Saturday at the Children's Museum

2011-11-14T21:49:00.001-08:00

We went with our friends, the Denhams, to the children's museum on Saturday. They have a new exhibit called "Kings and Castles". Sky really likes the bed there.

Everyone got the hang of the archery except for me! Brad and Robby were pros by the end of the day! I love that Sky and Brad still do things like ride a rocking horse together (see below).

The older kids were able to take a Japanese art class while we were there. They learned sumi-e, a type of Japanese painting with soot and water (we had seen some examples at the aquarium last week). It was more difficult than it looked but by the end of the class they seemed to have figured out the gist of it.

CATS!

2011-11-10T19:22:00.001-08:00

Today I had the privilege of taking Sky and her friend Savannah to a production of the show CATS!

After the show, we were able to get autographs from the cast and take pictures with them.

The show was put on by a local high school theater group and it was very good.

Sky remembered parts of it from when we had seen BIOLA Youth Theater's performance of CATS a few years ago.

It was a very fun afternoon! Savannah's mom watched Lila and Brad (and her 2 kids) while we were at the show.

Asian Day at the Aquarium

2011-11-09T15:13:00.000-08:00

We decided to go to the aquarium on Sunday and we got quite a surprise as it was Asian Day. This was especially neat because Sky has been studying ancient China and Japan in her co-op for social studies. She was able to see some beautiful Korrean dances.

She also learned a lot about sea otters as we went to the sea otter show. We learned that they have about 1,000,000 hairs per square inch which is as much as 7 human heads of hair or 1 German Shepherd. Below she is getting to touch a real otter pelt.

We also learned that it takes $2,500 a year to feed 1 sea otter. And that the otters at this aquarium were hiding their food with shells in their fur until the aquarium workers left and then they were using the shells to do otter graffiti on the glass that contains them. Sky was very diligent to write down the facts that she learned.

There were many Asian crafts that she was able to do, including this fish.

And some pretty cool origami...

The man behind her in the above picture was doing sumi painting-basically painting with watered down soot on rice paper.

Sky had a great day at the aquarium. Brad and Lila basically ran through the exhibits with either Ken or myself trying to keep up while the other one of us stayed with Sky to do all of her crafts.

On another note, Sky started piano lessons today and is very excited about it. She dreams of someday playing the harp. We better start saving our money now!!!!!

Babies R Us!

2011-11-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

Last night Sky and Lila made a baby train with all of Lila's babies. Lila has a few babies... She loves them all as any decent mother would. Apparently Raggedy Ann didn't make the cut though...

Here's Sky with her American girl doll, Sarah, and Lila with her bitty baby.

Fossils at the Library

2011-11-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Ken's dad collected fossils and dinosaur footprints. When he died, we inherited the fossils and dinosaur footprints. I used to use them for teaching purposes when I taught on fossils each year in second grade in Cincinnati. Since then they have been boxed up. This past weekend we loaned them to the La Mirada Public Library to display for 2 months so that others can see and enjoy them. This is very much in the spirit of what Ken's dad would want done with them. If you live locally, stop by and see them!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

This year we had Wonder Woman, Batman, and Cinderella (and Tangled, if you count Sky's American Girl doll) as we went to BIOLA's Halloween celebration, Candyland. Below are some pictures from a church event on Saturday:

Sky decided to be a hula girl for that event and her doll, Sarah, wore a matching outfit.

Lila really didn't enjoy wearing her outfit at all and I joked that she came to events as a streaker because often times that's what she ended up doing.

She did enjoy herself at Candyland though! It's amazing what a difference a year makes! Last year she had just learned to walk and couldn't really handle the crowds so Ken just hung around with her outside. This year, she was right in the thick of it all.

There was a hands-free doughnut eating contest. And, at BIOLA, each dorm door was decorated by the students who live there. There were some very elaborate doors!

Sky wanted me to take a picture of her doll in front of every Tangled-themed door and Brad really liked the Batman doors.

Brad was cracking me up. Many of the students said to him, "I like your costume!" To which he would reply, "I know, isn't it cool?"

Brad wanted to be Batman from the start and I just couldn't justify spending $20 for a costume he'd wear once so I bought these Batman pajamas which he can wear even after Halloween.

Mimi (Ken's mom) bought Sarah's Halloween costume at Build-a Bear when she was here in June!

The students were so great with the kids and the kids got sooooo much candy.

Sky recently spent her allowance money on these clip-on nails (pictured below). I think she realized afterward that it wasn't such a good investment as she couldn't do ANYTHING without them falling off. She did enjoy them though and after they lost their stickiness she said that we should put them in her keepsakes box.

Kings and Castles

2011-10-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

The La Habra Children's Museum has a new exhibit called Kings and Castles. We have been there twice in the last 2 weeks and it has been really fun.

Brad and I did some sword fighting while Lila enjoyed the livestock.

Sky dressed up and enjoyed being the queen.

Then we went to the craft room and everyone got to make a clay monster.

These pictures are from a week later when we went for the costume parade. I took a friend's 2 kids along with my 3 and it was a very busy time. Sky was dressed as Wonder Woman and we made edible caterpillars (seen above).

Tobin (Batman) and Lila (Cinderella) are above and Carson (Spiderman) and Brad (Batman) are below.

We also made lollipop spiders as seen below. I went straight to BIOLA PE after this and that night was costume night at church so there was even more excitement that day.

Firehouse Visit

2011-10-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

We got to visit the new firehouse in town! We learned a lot! We learned that pumper trucks are called "engines", trucks without water are called "trucks", and trucks with both a bit of water and the tall ladders are called "quints". Sky learned about how heavy the fire gear is as she tried it on.

We learned that even though a firefighter may look scary in their gear, we should still go to them in a fire (and not run away or hide). Brad had to hold my hand during this demo.

The new firehouse has a pole even though it isn't used (nostalgia I guess).

Lila had a little chat with the fireman and was very proud of her fire badge.

Brad had fun looking at all of the valves on the truck and he had a man to man talk with the firefighter. Sky asked really excellent questions the whole time and kept the firefighters busy explaining everything. It was a good time had by all!

Little Prince

2011-10-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Little Prince Cafe with our friends the Denhams. The Little Prince is running a special where kids get in free between 10-12, M-Th, for the month of October. We have 7 kids between us so we definitely enjoyed not having to pay the $8 per kid to get in. The workers watch the kids while the moms can sit and eat a meal and watch the kids on screens above the tables. The place is so fun and always nice and clean. The boys enjoyed dressing up as transformers and the face painting was a big hit. Sky got Hello Kitty as seen below. Lila got a rainbow on her hand and Brad got Batman on his hand.

In other news, my van tire had 2 screws stuck in it and Costco patched both spots for free yesterday. We had bought our tires from Costco and they really stand by them. We were very thankful to not have to buy a new tire!

Just Trying to Take a Decent Picture!

2011-10-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

Before Eric, Michelle and Hannah left, we wanted to try to get a picture of the kids on the front steps. I'm not sure why we even bothered. Between the dead mums on the steps and the uncooperative children, it was hardly worth the effort. But here are some of the shots:

Well, at least they're looking somewhat happy.

Park Days

2011-10-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Well, my brother Eric, sister-in-law Michelle and sweet little niece Hannah have gone home to Arkansas. We had a wonderful 10 days with them and I was sad to see them go. Among the many things we did, we visited 3 parks while they were here. Above you can see Brad riding his bike (thanks Memere and Pepere for the bikes last Christmas!). He loves his bike and wants to ride it everywhere.

The girls had fun building sand castles and digging in the sand. Everyone was ready for bath night that night!

Some of the other things we did while they were here include Downtown Disney (Build a Bear, Ridemakerz, etc.), Saddleback Church (Rick Warren) twice, Irvine Regional Park, Little Prince (a cool play area), Glen Ivy Spa (Michelle and I), the Aquarium of the Pacific, 2 concerts (Burlap to Cashmere and the David Crowder Band), and 3 parks. My brother and his family actually did even more than that with some friends of theirs in the area, including Disneyland. So, it was a very full week but so much fun!

Girlies and Their Pumpkins

2011-10-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Michelle bought each kid a pumpkin to carve/decorate so, on their last day here, the girls decorated pumpkins (Brad was watching Toy Story 3 and couldn't be bothered).

The insides were a bit surprising for Lila and Hannah.

Sky is the only one who carved as Hannah and Lila decorated with sharpie markers.

Sky insisted on eating some of the insides/seeds even after we told her it was gross. And she found out that, yup, it's gross. We did roast the pumpkin seeds and the kids have been enjoying them.

At this age, even a pumpkin is an adventure!

Irvine Regional Park

2011-10-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, after attending Saddleback Church, we went to the Irvine Regional Park for a picnic lunch. We played on the playground, went for a train ride, and also for pony rides.

Sky went in the "trot" line for the faster ponies and she loved it. Her horse was named Bob.

Lila and Brad went on the smaller, gentler ponies.

Uncle Eric and Aunt Michelle treated everyone to Icees which were very refreshing on such a hot day!

Everyone was thoroughly exhausted after a day of such fun.

Build A Bear

2011-10-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

We exchanged early Christmas presents in the form of building a bear for each girl and a ride makerz car for Brad.

Sky chose an orange kitty, Lila chose a bear with hearts and Hannah chose an orange owl.

The special heart ceremony for the "bears".

2011-10-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. We LOVE this aquarium!

The kids had fun playing a guessing game as they felt what was in the box and had to guess what it was.

The sea lions were very active and they were following a hair scrunchy that we were throwing back and forth. They wanted to play with us.

Hannah and Lila had a blast climbing and running and looking at all of the animals.

The touch pools here are so amazing. In this pool there were rays and leopard sharks.

The playful sea lions:

Brad had fun looking at the animals from the guessing game.

Date Night With Eric and Michelle

2011-10-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

We had the awesome chance to see the David Crowder Band at the Hollywood Palladium with my brother Eric and sister-in-law Michelle on Saturday night. Gungor was one of the opening bands and they were great too! The bummer of the night was that it was general seating which meant NO SEATS. So, we spent about 4 hours standing (or sitting on the dirty floor) and I didn't wear my sensible shoes. But, it was still a fun night out without the kids. In these pictures, the Hollywood sign is in the distant background.

Homeschooling Fun!

2011-10-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

I feel like we are now in full swing with homeschooling and it has actually been quite fun. There is such a network of support for it out here! So, we are enrolled with a charter school called Sky Mountain and they give us funds to buy curriculum and to broaden Sky's education ($1,600 per year). So, right now, in addition to her Tues./Thurs. co-op (they don't pay for that), we have BIOLA PE classes every Friday. The pictures above and below are from that class. There are about 50 homeschooled kids who participate and so far the focus has largely been on coordination.

Sky is also taking an art class through the city every Wednesday. Her art teacher is a BIOLA student and she is also a teacher for Sky in BIOLA PE. So, Sky is enjoying getting to know Miss Kari! Below are some sketches that Sky made in art class.

Sky is also taking a spelling class on Tuesdays and swimming lessons on Mon. and Wed. Below is a picture from our studies on Constitution Day. We have put up a timeline in our laundry room and we add the names of people or things that we're studying and the date(s) and we place them on our timeline. So we learned about the Constitution and then Sky wrote a 1 sentence description on the back of the card and drew a picture of the Constitution on the front.

Above is another picture of Sky in her art class. She really enjoys art and I am so thankful that she has time to do more of it.

Backyard Fun

2011-09-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Pretty much not a day goes by without some sort of show or dance routine being performed in our backyard. I have to admit that I am so thankful for our yard that includes both cement patio for eating and a decent sized grassy area for playing (our previous home only had cement-no grass to play on).

Right after I took this picture there was an announcement about not using cameras during the performance and that there would be a chance at the end of the show to take pictures.

Sky got that crazy green braid/hair extension at Chuck E Cheese's and she thinks it's the best thing ever. In her hair she has that, a silver tiara and 3 hibiscus hair clips.

This was the interview portion of the show. I cannot remember what was talked about but I do think the cuteness factor counts for something. Sky did all of the costuming and it was a big surprise to see even Lila getting in on the action. Lila was the d.j. for much of the show.

We had some friends over on Saturday and our kids had a blast playing with their daughter Joy. They had a picnic in the yard and all of them had on sunglasses. Too funny!

Dog Grooming

2011-09-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

The other day Sky opened a dog grooming shop right in our living room and Brad had the privilege of being a doggy and getting groomed at the shop. Here is what he looked like when I picked him up from his grooming session. Someday this incident will come back to haunt him.

Sky's 2nd Grade Class

2011-09-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

So, we're about 1 month into homeschooling and I'm really enjoying it. Sky is a student in a homeschool charter school called Sky Mountain. So we are able to spend $1,600 on music/art/activity classes and swimming lessons and also curriculum. I also get to meet with an education specialist every 20 days and she files all paperwork with the state.

I am still looking for a piano and/or voice teacher but Sky is enrolled in a Friday gym class at BIOLA, 2 art classes, a spelling class and 2 sessions of swimming lessons.

She also attends a co-op on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. There are 10 children total (see above picture) and the teacher is someone who has homeschooled her now-grown children since they were young. And, yes, the "classroom" is in her garage. Sky learns science and social studies with this group. Sky really loves all of these things that she is involved in.

Brad has started back at preschool and goes on MWF from 11-2 during which time Lila takes her nap. So, Sky and I have that entire time to focus on her reading, writing and math. It's working out pretty well. Brad loves his preschool. The other night at bedtime I asked Brad what his favorite thing was about that day was and he said, "Preschool!" So, I am thrilled that everyone seems happy with their educational experiences and I am happy because things feel a lot less stressful than they were last year.

The Aquarium of the Pacific

2011-08-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to the aquarium on Saturday! We saw a new exhibit on Los Angeles' watersheds and also a new exhibit on the North and South Pole and the animals there. We saw a seal and sea lion show and some baby arctic foxes. Sky and Brad enjoyed trying on this turtle shell. Lila was intrigued by the mating lorikeets.And this splashy spot is always a favorite. It felt great because it was a really hot day!Brad enjoyed checking out the stuff at the shark table.Sky brought a notebook to take notes and she wrote down many interesting facts throughout the day. Brad ate most of that bag of goldfish.They got to pet rays and moon jellies which is very cool. Plus there are quite a few hands-on tide pools. Sky really enjoyed petting the animals!

Cerritos Library Fountain

2011-08-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

It has been very hot out here lately so we took some time to cool off at the Cerritos Library fountainwith our good friends the Denhams the other day. Brad and Lila didn't do too much splashing but everyone else really got into it!

The Desert in August!

2011-08-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Ken loves his job so much. Sometimes he comes home and says that he can't believe he gets paid for what he does. He teaches only 9 hours a week and has an assisstant to help with grading. He spends the rest of his time meeting with students and researching and writing.

On top of all of this, BIOLA brings all faculty and their families out to Indian Well (Palm Springs) every other year or so. They provide childcare (the kids had a blast at a luau, carnival, movie night, etc.) and there is usually an excellent speaker. This year they got philosopher Dallas Willard on the theme of rest. I went to hear one of his talks and it was great. Then I rested by the pool or with friends the rest of the time. Did I mention it was at a Hyatt Grand Champions Resort? We spent a lot of time at the pools. Lila and Sky loved the water slide (I went down with Lila).They had a clown doing face painting at one of the childcare sessions!Originally we thought about going to Joshua Tree National Park but then we changed our minds because it was blazing hot and we weren't sure the kids would really enjoy it. So, we went to the Children's Museum of the Desert with our close friends, the Denhams.

Sky's favorite station was the animal care clinic.

Lila liked the sand table outside.This Volkswagon had a few coats of paint on it! Lila, the archaeologist...I thought the pizza parlor was really cool.Lila and Brad also really enjoyed the grocery store area. Even Ken got in on some of the action...All told, we spent about 3 hours there and had a blast. I'm not sure what the point of these ropes was but Brad and Lila spent a lot of time in there.The desert is weird to me and the windmills don't help. I feel like I'm on a different planet. There is a section where you can see windmills for as far as you can see. Weird.

Pipes and Teeth

2011-08-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a water pipe burst under our driveway! Initially we thought it would cost us thousands of dollars, but, with the help of great friends from church, we were able to put in a new pipe for under $1,000. Ken had emailed 5 friends to come and help dig and about 15 guys showed up. With much sweat and hard labor, they bored a new tunnel under our driveway and dug a trench up to the house. They then laid a 110 foot copper pipe up to our house.Today I paid a visit to the dentist for a new crown and a deep gum cleaning, totalling over $1,000. This got me thinking about how frustrating it is to spend money on things that you don't really get to see and enjoy but are so necessary.

Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for God's provision in our lives! But these unseen money pits are unfortunate. How much more exciting it would be to redo a bathroom or something...

Hello, Hello Kitty

2011-08-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

So, on our way home from our camping trip, we bumped into Hello Kitty at a shopping center. Sky LOVES Hello Kitty so she was so thrilled. The store behind her contained loads of Hello Kitty stuff which she had a blast looking at.

American Girl Doll

2011-08-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sky has been saving up for 4 months for an American girl doll. If you ask me, these dolls are way over-priced but she had her heart set on one. So, using all of her birthday money, she picked out her doll.

We've read most of the American girl doll books but Sky chose a doll that resembles herself over one of the historical dolls. She named her doll Sarah and they have matching nightgowns. The American doll store was quite a place! There is a cafe where you can have lunch or tea with your doll, a bookstore with the American girl books, a salon where your doll can get her hair done, and a portrait studio where you can get your picture taken with your doll. All of this, of course, costs lots of money.

Lila used her birthday money to buy a bitty baby. And Brad, well, he enjoyed the fountain outside where the water was set to music.

Camping in Mammoth

2011-08-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

We went tent camping in Mammoth, CA for a week this August. We went with a group of about 170 people from our church. The first 2 days it rained but we had 2 friends with RVs on our campsite so we just hung out with them. Thankfully our tent stayed dry and we didn't have any more rain after that. Honestly, I love camping. My family camped when I was young and I always had a blast. And living in Los Angeles, I sometimes feel starved for nature. So, this was an awesome vacation for me! Below you can see our old blue tent from when Ken and I camped before kids and now our new tent which still seemed small when we were all in it. Oh, and it was sooooo cold at night. We all wore 3 layers, used toe and hand warmers, and it was still so cold. There was still snow on the ground in some areas of Mammoth! The elevation was about 8,000 feet.

The kids had fun experimenting with different mixtures of food, wrapping them in foil and then cooking them in the campfire. One of the guys in our same campsite had this Razor. He took Ken and 2 other guys off-roading with it one morning. A very dirty, happy Ken came back.We hiked to an area called The Devil's Postpile and then on to Rainbow Falls, a total of about 5 miles of hiking! We were so thankful that one of our friends let Lila ride in his double stroller for most of the hike. We all slept well that night!The Devil's Postpile!

This is the group of people from our church who came on this trip. Some stayed in condos, some in hotels or RVs, and a few in tents, like us.

Brad at Rainbow Falls. This was a very difficult 5 mile hike during which Brad declared that he wanted new parents. But he looks proud enough in this picture.

We had to visit the Ben and Jerry's in Mammoth. We enjoyed our ice cream with the Sanborn family.

The sandbox in a cool shopping area called The Village.

Camping is a perfect time to break out the paints! We're already very dirty so why not?

The kids enjoyed driving the pontoon boat around the lake in circles.

The amazing view from a pontoon boat on Lake Mary. Ken did throw in a fishing line, but no luck. Lila threw in one of her dollhouse babies which we will forever be telling her is gone on the bottom of the lake. All in all, this was an awesome vacation with great friends in a beautiful setting.

Martha's Vineyard

2011-08-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to catch up on blogging all of the wonderful moments from when we were in the northeast earlier this summer! Thanks to my mom's husband Bill (his family owns a house on Martha's Vineyard), we were able to spend 5 days on Martha's Vineyard, a small island off of the coast of Cape Cod. The picture above was the view from a restaurant that we ate at. Seriously, I could sit and look at that view all day. There's just something so New England about it!

We drove to Cape Cod and took the ferry from there. The kids really enjoyed the ferry ride, especially the sea gulls that flew alongside the boat. Once there, we were able to relax on the porch a lot. My brother Gary and his wife Katie were able to come for a few days and it was awesome to be able to hang with them and catch up on life.One of our favorite places to go is Menemsha Beach where there are loads of amazing rocks to look at. I have to admit that I did bring some rocks back to California.Sky enjoyed looking for critters hiding among the rocks. Another one of our favorite stops is Beadniks, a really cool bead shop. Sky made a bracelet for Aunt Katie and Uncle Bill and Grandma B made an amazing cat necklace for Sky. We had lots of beads left over that we were able to bring home and play around with. And then there were the lobsters! My brother Gary bought a bunch of fresh lobsters and we had them one night for dinner. There is nothing in the world like New England lobsters. Here in California, I think the lobsters come from Australia or something and there is NO comparison.

We enjoyed our wonderful dinner on the front porch in the rocking chairs. There is a very old (the country's oldest?) carousel on Martha's Vineyard and the kids took a few rides on it while we were there. There are metal rings that you have to try to grab as you go around and if you get a brass ring, you get another ride for free. Lila was sporting her Martha's Vineyard shirt which had actually been Sky's from the last time we were here.On the way home we had lunch at the IHOP on Cape Cod. Sky loves IHOP!Brad wanted his picture taken with this whale outside the IHOP.The ride home was brutal because the car we were borrowing didn't have air conditioning and it was a very hot day and a very long car ride. For a portion of the ride, it was 103 degrees as seen on the car dashboard below. Everyone was miserable especially the people in the backseat. But we made a few stops for drinks and cooled off in some air conditioned restaurants and we made it back safely.

Lenny and Joe's

2011-08-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Chances are, if you live in Connecticut, you've heard of Lenny and Joe's. It's a great seafood place by the shore. Most things on the menu are fried and absolutely delicious. I had fried clam strips and they were amazing. I had forgotten about New England seafood...

We got Lila a Lenny and Joe's tshirt and everyone enjoyed their meal. The 45 minute drive from my dad and Jeanne's house to Lenny and Joe's is such a beautiful drive with beauty that is just so New England.There is a carousel there which the kids had fun riding after we ate and then we paid a visit to the ice cream shop there.

Quassy!

2011-08-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

While we were in CT, my dad and his wife Jeanne took us all to a wonderful amusement park called Quassy. I remember going here when I was a kid! It was perfect for our kids as the rides were all very tame. Brad's favorite ride was the train. He rode this thing around the park about 5 times.

The nice thing about the rides was that the kids could ride on them without the adults! I totally remember some of these rides from when I went here as a kid myself.

They just built a new wooden coaster called The Wooden Warrior and Sky and Jeanne went on that one together. Sky loves roller coasters and fast rides. She also went on a pretty fast water slide!

After lunch the kids had fun playing in this play area.

This was a smaller roller coaster in the kiddie area that Sky rode about 7 times. Lila even rode it with her twice. The boats are just classic!We also saw an amazing acrobatics show!It was such a beautiful day with such great scenery. I really miss this kind of landscape which is virtually nonexistent in California. Pepere bought some fish food and enjoyed feeding the fish with the kids.Sky and Brad went down this huge slide a few times. The saddest moment of the day was when Brad was turned away from riding the bumper cars because he didn't meet the height requirements. He had been looking forward to the bumper cars all day and was very upset. Everytime Sky and I came by him in our bumper car he would start crying louder. I made a joke out of it and eventually we were all laughing about it, even Brad. Lila fell asleep toward the end after a thoroughly exhausting, but very enjoyable, day.

Happy 2nd Birthday Lila!

2011-07-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

Ken's mom and her husband, Gene, graciously hosted a wonderful birthday party for Lila.

We had a plastic bug hunt and everyone took home a bug catcher and some plastic bugs as a goodie bag.

Lila enjoyed it all-her cake, presents, friends, and family.Here are some of the kids who were at the party (Brad is missing from the picture because he was inside crying about an earache):

Two days later we went to a walk-in clinic and found out that Brad did indeed have an ear infection and Sky had walking pneumonia! They both felt better after the antibiotics started working.

Sky really enjoyed her time with my friend Jessica's daughter, Julia and cousin Ayla.

Ken's mom had so many fun things set up at her house-bubbles, water table, swingset, slip and slide, etc. The kids (and grownups) had a blast. My dad and his wife Jeanne had bought a bunch of balloons for Lila on her birthday.

My grandparents were even able to come to the party!

Thanks Mimi and Grandpa Gene for a wonderful party!

Fun at the BP Ways

2011-07-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

While in CT, we were able to spend a bit of time with Ken's brother Brian and his family. Brian has created marshmallow shooting and potato shooting guns which we had fun trying out.

The kids loved playing with their cousins, Bryce age 9 and Ayla age 6.

Their yard is amazing with a playset, trampoline, kiddie pool, fire pit, and much more.

Brian also has a zipline in his yard and Sky enjoyed going for a ride on it. Lila wanted to go but was too small and Brad wanted no part of it.

After a dinner of delicious CT pizza, we had ice cream and s'mores for dessert.

Messy but good!

Our time in CT is never long enough and I wish that we could have spent more time with Brian, Tammy, Bryce and Ayla!

Wedding Fun

2011-07-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a whirlwind trip to the east coast. There will be many blog entries of our adventures there but I thought I would start with my cousin Jamie's wedding. Sky was the flower girl and Brad was the ring bearer. Sky got her hair curled for the occasion. When she returned from the hair place she stared in the mirror for about a half hour.

I was nervous that Brad would decide at the last minute that he didn't want to walk down the aisle, but they both did fine although Sky clearly was enjoying things more than Brad. Sky LOVED riding in the limo to the church with the bride and all of the bridesmaids. Brad complained a lot about his feet hurting, etc. and was really being difficult during the service.

The reception was lots of fun. Sky couldn't wait for the dancing and Brad couldn't wait for the food. It was quite a job to keep Sky from eating anything that would spill on her dress before the pictures were taken.

Brad felt quite better about things once the party started. We were able to stay in a fabulous bridal party room while the photographer was taking pictures outside. Brad took this opportunity to tell his jokes.

Brad and cousin Jim and Uncle John hit it off and were having a great time together.

Sky was completely enamored with the bride, bridesmaids, and beautiful flowers. She was so excited to be a part of it all.

Meanwhile Brad continued smoozing with whoever would pay him any attention.

The reception was held at a beautiful place in Monroe, CT called The Waterview.

The rehearsal was our first time meeting Mike, the groom. He seems like such a great guy and we couldn't be happier for my cousin Jamie.

Thankfully we made it through the pictures without any incidents. Sky kept wanting to snack on the strawberries and watermelon which would not look so good on her dress!

However, when we went up to the reception, Sky and Brad were playing with some little cars on the floor and, apparently, Sky had tried to crawl in her dress and the top of the dress separated from the bottom!!!!! Thankfully my Gram had 4 safety pins in her purse so my sister-in-law Katie and I worked on pinning it back together. Sky was so sad and sorry about it. She was especially worried that she wouldn't be able to dance.

Sky and Brad were each given a Build-a-Bear animal as a gift for being in the wedding party. Sky got a bunny dressed in a bride's gown with silver shoes and even a garter on it's leg. Brad got a dog dressed in a tux as a groom. They both LOVE their new animals.

Brad was kind of a pain for the pictures but we pushed through and got them done. I love the ones of he and Sky together.

I have no idea what Brad is doing in this picture but it looks like he's practicing his dance moves.

Thankfully Brad's T Rex came to the wedding with him. He provided some entertainment at the reception.

Sky and Grandma B got to sit together at the reception. Unfortunately my mom's husband Bill came down with pneumonia and couldn't be there. Also at our table was my brother Gary and his wife Katie, and my Gram and Gramp. Sky and Brad had a kid's meal of fries and chicken nuggets while Ken and I enjoyed the amazing prime rib. For dessert, there was a sundae bar, chocolate fountain, and, of course, cake.

4 generations are represented in the picture above.

Now for the twirling. Once the music started, Sky started her twirling. She loved every minute of it. I did think it was odd when she passed up dessert because she had a stomach ache. She fell asleep in the car on the way home but when she woke up, she threw up all over her bed. Other than that, I would say that it was a fabulous day for Sky.

Sky went out with all the single ladies when Jamie threw the bouquet. It landed on the floor in front of everyone and Sky pounced on it. So, she ended the day with 2 beautiful bouquets.

Above she and Brad are dancing with my mom and sister-in-law Katie.

Where was Lila during all of this? She was at a funeral with my dad and his wife Jeanne. My dad's Uncle Roger passed away while we were in CT and I was so thankful to be able to stop by the wake after the wedding rehearsal. I knew Uncle Roger pretty well as he visited often when my Memere and Pepere would stay with us during the summers. The wedding and the funeral were on the same day at the same time and my dad and Jeanne had agreed to watch Lila while we were at the wedding. So, Lila represented our family and went to the funeral with them.

Happy 4th of July 2011

2011-07-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

We've begun a tradition of getting together with our friends, the Denhams, on the 4th of July and shooting off fireworks together. In our town, ground fireworks are legal but shooting fireworks into the air is illegal. Their neighbors across the street were shooting off air fireworks anyway (as were LOTS of people all around us). Well, an unmarked police car came along and fined them $1,000 for breaking the law!!!

The kids seemed to enjoy the fireworks except Benjamin Denham who preferred to stay in the house.

The sparklers were great fun and Ken also bought a family pack of fireworks that we enjoyed. We're definitely sticking with the legal fireworks, that's for sure!

Family Fun

2011-07-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

So I had seen this contraption in Family Fun magazine and thought it would be a great option for staying cool for our family this summer. I didn't want to have a pool around with Lila on the loose and this spraying sprinkler is super fun.

It was decorated as a "car wash" in the magazine. Ken built it in about an hour yesterday afternoon. The materials cost him about $20 from Home Depot.

If you want to see more detail, go to www. familyfun.com/funshop

Saying Good Bye to New Friends and Hello to Old Friends

2011-07-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

This past week we said good-bye to our friends the Jensens. They are from the UK (England)and came to Talbot the same time we did. They were both students and have graduated and are returning to the UK to do ministry. It's been so much fun hanging out with them over these past 4 years! When we first came, Sky and Eve were 3 years old, Brad was a baby, and Lila not even born.

Last night we were able to see our dear friends from Cincinnati, the Gardners (wish I had taken some pics-we were too busy talking!). They were in So Cal visiting Roxana's family (she grew up here). It was so awesome to see them and catch up on life with them. When we left Cincinnati, we had baby Brad and 3 year old Sky and they had a 1 year old, Abby. So we got to meet Zoe, their latest addition and they got to meet Lila. They went to Crossroads with us and introduced us to such life-changing things as Settlers of Catan and Stargate. Abby and Sky hit it off and Sky even cried when they left. It's so nice to have friends that we can pick up right where we left off with even after 4 years.

More Irvine Park

2011-07-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Somehow I missed these pictures when I last blogged about our visit to Irvine Park. Above, Sky and Mimi (Ken's mom) were enjoying a bike ride around the park.

Brushing the goats at the petting zoo was fun for everyone too.

And then there was the train ride! So fun!

Summertime Fun

2011-06-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

Finally we've had some hot days, hot enough to break out the slip-n-slide.

Another way that we like to cool down is the BIOLA pool which is open from 1-3pm everyday and is free to the public!

When Ken's mom was here, we went to Irvine Regional Park and rented bikes. It was so fun!

While we were there, we also rode the train and went to the Orange County Zoo. The Orange County Zoo has about 100 animals, all of which are native to this area. The most impressive, in my opinion, are the black bears and the mountain lion.

Downtown Disney

2011-06-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Sky's 7th and Brad's 4th birthday, we had a fun day with Mimi (Ken's mom) at Downtown Disney. First we went to see Cars 2. Lila and Brad didn't really appreciate the movie that much but Sky enjoyed it. It's very different from the first Cars movie!

Then we enjoyed a yummy lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

We then had a party with some friends at Build a Bear. Sky and Brad were each allowed to invite 5 friends. Robby, David, Timi, Michael, Elizabeth, Kelli, Alyce, Savannah, and Annibelle were their choices.

Everyone got to choose a "bear" (some were cats, dogs, rabbits, etc.) and then stuff it.

They each chose a heart to place inside their bear and then they each chose a heart to place inside Sky and Brad's bear so that their bears would be filled with extra love. They did this whole heart ceremony thing that supposedly brought their animals to life. It was pretty cute.

Above is a picture of Brad stuffing Lila's pink bear for her (she wanted no part of that pedal).

Above is a picture of the whole group after they made birth certificates for their bears. You can play online with your bears once you have them home (similar to Webkinz). Each child also received a coloring book and a bear house (big box) for their bear to ride home in.

Sky and Brad were taken to an elevated platform and the whole store sang Happy Birthday to them.

Then we went outside for juice, cupcakes and present opening. Whew! What a fun day!

2nd Grade, Here She Comes!

2011-06-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

Ken's mom and I were able to join Sky for a little while on her last day of school. It was lots of fun: games, water balloons, lunch, etc.
It was really bittersweet too since we have decided to homeschool Sky next year. We took months to make that decision and much thought and prayer went into it. In the end, I think it will be the best for Sky. Many factors went into the decision but when Sky herself expressed excitement over the possibility of it, we knew it could be a positive experience.

Sky gave big hugs to her teachers, Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Ross.

We now have a second grader!!!!

Heritage Park

2011-06-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Look familar? Independence Hall (in CA with a slide)! This park has lots of Revolutionary War period decor, all with slides and climbing equipment in it.

Brad and Sky had fun playing with the pretend cannons. There are even 2 covered bridges!

While we were at this park, there were 2 weddings and numerous prom attenders getting their pictures taken. Sky thought that was fabulous!

Prehistoric Pets

2011-06-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was a little creeped out by this place but we really had a fun morning here with some friends from church. www.prehistoricpets.com is a link to this place. They do birthday parties or they bring the reptiles to you for a party!

Above is a rhinocerous iguana that captivated Lila for a while.

Brad and his friend Elizabeth had a blast feeding the turtles grubs with tweezers.

Soooooo many reptiles!

The sheer number of reptiles in this place is staggering. This 10,000 square foot store is packed with cages of reptiles.

A huge monitor:

A two-headed snake: (weird)

The kids got to touch lots of animals including this iguana.

Brad and Elizabeth handle a leopard gecko.

Legoland!

2011-06-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Legoland is about 1 1/2 hours from our house and we got tickets to go there very cheaply (less than $10 each) so we thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Sky and Brad's birthday. The drive here is very scenic as there are mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.
Over 30 million legos are used to create the models used in and around Legoland. And the displays are so impressive! We had an amazing, fun-filled day here and we didn't even get to see a fraction of the place.

Sky and Ken had a blast on this ride! And there were blasts of water that shot up from the pool below so they both got pretty wet.

Brad was very interested to learn more about these Bionicles. I remember having students who were really into these.

This ride was very similar to the Toy Story rides at Disneyland where you shoot at targets and get points. Sky won both times she went on this ride!

Brad and Lila LOVED these airplanes. There were very few rides that Lila was tall enough for but she was big enough for this one and cried everytime it stopped and she had to get off.

An Egyptian pharaoh made from legos.

We couldn't get Brad to stop playing with the legos and look at the camera for the picture. And Sky built a pretty cool house while in this area.

We even found a lego donkey that Ken had to get his picture with.

Our tickets included access to a water park as well and the kids LOVE water parks!

Lila got cold and preferred being wrapped up on land.

Sky enjoyed the slides and Brad even went down this one and another one. He was very proud of himself.

Brad LOVED the lazy river and begged me to take him around again and again.

We did have a shoe debacle with Brad, however. He entered the park wearing water shoes and, apparently, a life guard asked him to take them off and he couldn't remember anything else about where they went. Soooooooo, by necessity, Brad ended up with a new pair of flip flops.

Everyone enjoyed the sand on the "beach".

Sometimes it's just as much fun to jump in the legos as it is to build with them!

We spent a lot of time in the lazy river. The rafts had lego building base blocks on them and lots of lego pieces floating in the water. Somehow I became the collector for the lego pieces!

Someone else was building this lego house but Lila thought it was just perfect for her.

The kids rode a train ride a few times.

They had these really cool "driving schools". Brad did the one for ages 3-5.

Sky was on a larger track for ages 6-13. Both received a pretend driver's license when they finished.

Lila cried while watching them but they didn't have anything for her age. At a play area, she got into this car and then cried big tears when she learned it didn't go anywhere.

Sky played Rapunzel for a while in one of the play sturctures, singing the songs from Tangled for all the world to hear.

Then they were eaten by a lego lion... The End.

Atlantis Park

2011-06-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Ken is teaching summer school right now. I like to call it suicide Saturdays because the class is every Saturday in June from 8-4:30. Anyway, this past Saturday I took the kids to Atlantis Park, a park with an under-the-sea theme. Sky had never been there and we all had a great time. Above are Sky and Brad with the mythical King Triton, king of the merpeople.

Lila loved this sea horse and Lila and Sky both LOVED the serpentine slide. Brad enjoyed the pirate ship but didn't want to even try the slide.

Sky's Diorama

2011-06-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today was Open House at Sky's school and we got to see lots of her wonderful work displayed. One of the things that she recently worked on was an ocean life diorama. We spent a lot of time making this. She used water colors to paint the animals and she also painted the box inside and out and made some amazing sea animals with clay and then painted those (seen below). She doesn't finish school until the 23rd but I'm so thankful that she doesn't have any homework for the rest of the year!

The Many Faces of Lila

2011-06-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby Lila is growing up so fast these days. We recently took away her pacifier. I cut it with scissors so now it is "broken" and doesn't work. We've had a few rough nights because of this but overall we're glad we did it.

Now we can see her sweet little face better and she can speak better too.

She's cute but beware, there is a bit of devil in her.

Centennial Farm

2011-06-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Located on the Orange County Fair Grounds, Centennial Farm is an educational farm for kids. I let Sky skip school so that she could join us on this fun trip to the farm.

There was much pleading with the peacock to open his tail feathers. To no avail.

The kids learned that it takes water, soil, sun and seeds for plants to grow.

The baby chicks were the favorites, I think. Sky couldn't stop looking at them.

We saw this turkey along with geese, ducks, etc.

We walked through the gardens and saw so many different vegetables and fruits. It was very hard not to pick and eat the raspberries. And I learned that kiwi grow on a vine.

We saw an angora rabbit and how the hair is carded and then put through a spinning wheel to make yarn.

We saw a cow getting milked.

We learned that chicks hatch in 21 days and we saw posters of the various stages.

Then we got to pet some chicks. The two finger touch was a hard concept for Lila...

Some farmers taught us about oxen and how they plow. We also saw goats, sheep, bees, pigs, etc.

Jolene's Baby Shower

2011-05-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for my dear friend Jolene. After 3 boys, she finally had a baby GIRL!!!! Three of her friends and I put on the shower for her and we had so much fun spreading the love for PINK and celebrating Baby Kathleen.

Some of the outfits Jolene was given were put on a clothesline as a decoration.

The cupcakes were so adorable!

The kids enjoyed playing together and Sky really enjoyed decorating for the shower.

It was too bad that the weather was kind of cool and the sky was overcast but, thankfully, it did not rain.

There was even a chocolate fountain!!!

Jolene got lots of wonderful girly gifts.

L.A. Sherrif's Training Center Museum

2011-05-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

The MOMS Club went to the Sheriff's Training Center Museum recently. It was an interesting history of the changes in the sheriff's department over the years. Everything from transportation to uniforms to weapons was represented. Much of the content was lost on our young kids but it was still an interesting place to visit.

Brad in front of the latest uniform for our police officers.

The motorcycle was a big hit with all the kids.

Lila liked this old Studebaker that used to be used for a police car.

Brad thought the jail was pretty cool especially after he was assured that the man in it wasn't real.

Outside was a huge memorial to all of the officers who have been killed in the line of duty in Los Angeles county since it's inception. Each plaque had the name of an officer who has fallen. Again, this was pretty much lost on the kids but they had fun running around outside.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't spent Mother's Day with my mom since I was in high school so this year was very special as I was able to spend the day with her. What made it even better was that my brothers and their wives were there too. We went to her church and then out to an awesome Mother's Day lunch at Tucker's, a restaurant near my mom's house. It was an awesome brunch with an omelette station, a prime rib station, and even a chocolate fountain. After lunch we all went back to my mom and Bill's house for the afternoon. It was definitely a special day.

On Monday we spent the morning at my grandparent's house and my Uncle John joined us. They had not met Lila yet so it was so nice to introduce her to them. Michelle, my sister-in-law, made matching Minnie Mouse dresses for Lila and Hannah. They were really cute.

My Gram made a cake and we celebrated Hannah's 2nd birthday.

Lila enjoyed meeting the "Tickle Bandit", my Uncle John.

Lila with Grandma B.

Below is a picture of my mom and her husband Bill at the restaurant we went to for Mother's Day.

Dad's 60th Birthday!

2011-05-11T11:36:00.001-07:00

May 6 was my dad's 60th birthday! My brother Eric and his wife Michelle and adorable daughter Hannah all flew to CT from Arkansas. I flew to CT with Lila (as seen above on the airplane). We all flew in on his birthday so we celebrated the next day (Saturday). Gary cooked everyone an awesome brunch and then grilled out for dinner. The food was awesome thanks to him and my dad's wife Jeanne.

Hannah and Lila got some great time with Pepere! Here they are helping him open his presents.

My dad just finished a beautiful classic car, a 1955 Chevy. It's a real beauty!

We helped him wash the car and the windows and armor all the tires and interior.

Then we got to pile in and take it out for a spin. The engine in this car is an engine that Harold, Ken's dad, gave to my dad many years ago.

Pepere needed to test out the engine to see what it could do...

Later that day, my dad's best friend Carl and his wife came over for dinner. Also, my cousin Justin and Jeanne's son Evan came by to help celebrate. I wish I had thought to get a group picture!

Here's Gary getting ready to put the ribs on the grill.

More pictures to come of more adventures that we had in CT...

Strawberry Picking

2011-05-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

Strawberries are a big deal around here. On Tuesday I went to a whole party that was themed after strawberries. All of the food had strawberries in some form and there were even strawberry serving platters and napkins. And the strawberries here are so amazing and yummy. They grow pretty easily here-we even have some strawberry plants in our yard.

The MOMS Club had gone strawberry picking a few years ago at a different place. I remember it vividly because I had worn a new white shirt (what was I thinking?) and Brad (who was less than a year old) got strawberry juice all over me. So today the MOMS Club tried a new place and it was great. The strawberries were off the ground and hanging in these special self-watering pots.

Both of the kids love strawberries so we ended up eating our fair share as we picked and getting covered in red, sticky juice.

Then we played in the self-watering system and got wet.

Then we tried to pick up mulch and got really icky. Then we went home to share our strawberries with Sky and Ken. The end.

Operation Shed Assembly

2011-05-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we decided to remove this leaning palm tree so that we can move some of the tools/equipment out of our garage. My dad and Ken worked on cutting it down with a chainsaw.

Then we hired a guy to come and grind out the stump. We've heard that palm trees grow back very easily and we didn't want our shed to become a tree house.

We bought a pre-fab shed from Costco and Ken spent much of the day on Saturday assembling it. He had lots of help from Brad and Lila.

The walls are up!

There are a total of 67 steps to assemble the shed and I think Ken made it to step 34 in the sweltering heat. More to come...

The La Brea Tar Pits

2011-04-29T21:24:00.001-07:00

This past week was Sky and Ken's spring break and we have had lots of fun together. We spent one day at the beach and lots of time just catching up on tasks like doctor's appointments and hair cuts. But today we went to the La Brea Tar Pits and it was amazing. They have found soooo many fossils of prehistoric mammals. The wooly mammoth (above) was robotic and actually moves and roars.

There was an area for kids to see what it would feel like to be stuck in a tar pit.

There are bubbling tar pits outside and so much to still be excavated.

These mammoths are seriously HUGE! Even Brad looks small next to it.

Lila had fun playing with the prehistoric stuffed animals.

Saber-toothed cats were plentiful.

Another robotic scene. Brad was totally into this display. He just kept looking at it. I think it was a little scary for him but he also really liked it.

This display (below) was the most impressive for me. There were 404 wolf skulls on display. At the La Brea Tar Pits, they have found over 1,600 of these wolves. The theory is that some of the larger mammals got stuck in the pits, the wolves came in packs to feast on the dying mammals and they too ended up dying. They said that there have been entire food chains found together in these tar pits (all the way down to microorganisms).

Easter Happenings

2011-04-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

Easter is such a wonderful time of year as we get to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection and all that it means to our family! Sky was invited to a Resurrection tea party by one of the women at our church. She had a wonderful time having treats with friends and discussing the resurrection story. The woman gave them each an Easter hat which Lila took to as soon as she saw it.

I was painting Sky's nails for Easter and Lila wanted to get in on that too so she had her first manicure.

We went to the Good Friday service at our church where the speaker was an African who had escaped the genocide in Rwanda. It was a very powerful testimony. On Easter Sunday, Sky was in a kid's choir that sung for both services. Ken greeted, I had nursery duty, and there was a potluck in between. Then we hosted another BIOLA professor and his family at our house for Easter dinner. So, it was definitely a very full and very wonderful day.

Sky singing "My Redeemer Lives"!

Resurrection Rolls

2011-04-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

This was a really neat cooking project that I tried with the kids in order for them to understand the death and resurrection of Christ better. Here are the instructions:
Preheat over to 350
Read Matt. 27:57-61
You'll need crescent rolls, melted butter, cinnamon and sugar mixture, and large marshmallows.
1. Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
2. Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
3. Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon/sugar mixture which represents the spices used to annoint the body.
4. Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in. Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll, bringing the sides up and sealing the marshmallow inside. This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
5. Place in a 350 oven for 10-12 minutes. The oven represents the tomb-pretend like it was 3 days.
6. Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there-He is risen! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty)
Read Matt. 28:5-8

Brad was very intriqued about the whole thing. This is also the first year that he is really starting to understand the resurrection eggs that I have.

The Annual Carnival

2011-04-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

I bought some discounted presale tickets to the local carnival that comes around once a year. I used the tickets as behavior incentive, awarding a ticket to Sky and/or Brad each day that they had a good day. I have a chart with different colors: blue (at the top is the best), green (good), yellow (warning), orange (not good), and black (very very bad). Any day that they ended on blue they were awarded a ticket to use at the upcoming carnival.

The day finally came on Saturday and they had a fun time using their tickets for the rides. Above Sky is enjoying the swings.

I even shelled out for a snack for each of them. Sky chose a rootbeer float and Brad chose a cupcake which he only ate the frosting off of. I also shelled out for a few games and I won Sky the giant pink bear and Sky won Brad the space monkey. Brad calls the monkey, "Professor Monkey" and the pink bear has been named "Bubblegum".

Brad LOVED this motorcycle ride. So cute!

It was such a hot day, probably low 90s!

Sky LOVED the alligator roller coaster (above) and used lots of her tickets on it.

When we went, there were very few people there so we practically had the place to ourselves. It was a nice afternoon with 2 of my favorite people.

Welcome Baby Kathleen!

2011-04-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

My friend Jolene just had her 4th baby, but her first GIRL!!! I am so happy for her and am looking forward to hosting her baby shower on May 14th. If you have any fun, girly ideas for her shower, I'd love to hear them!

Upcoming Wedding

2011-04-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Sky went for a fitting for her flower girl dress for my cousin Jamie's wedding in CT this summer. The dress is really pretty and she had fun looking at all of the beautiful dresses in David's Bridal. Brad will be the ring bearer. Should be fun times!

The Other So Cal Mouse

2011-04-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

We celebrated one of Brad's friend's 3rd birthday last week. She was able to choose 1 friend to come to her party and she chose Brad. So sweet!

The kids went crazy when Chuck E. came out to meet them. He threw a bunch of tickets in the air so it was raining tickets.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth Visit

2011-04-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth (Ken's mom's sister) were in town attending a church conference this past week and we had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with them. We had dinner with them on Monday night and then went to the Aquarium with them on Friday. They slept over here on Friday night and Ken brought them to the airport on Saturday morning.

Sky didn't want to have her picture taken. Everyone had a great time at the aquarium and we were even able to get in on a special deal and get a pass for the rest of the year. Yeah!

Our Guest Elizabeth

2011-04-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Brad's friend Elizabeth has been here staying with us for the past 3 nights since her parents had the wonderful opportunity to get away for a few days in Vegas. We have been having lots of fun with her!

Here you see Brad and Elizabeth makng bunny sugar cookies.

We went to the Children's Museum and Brad and Elizabeth enjoyed digging for fossils.

It was exciting to investigate the animals there.

They played store and Lila was the cashier.

The next American Idol???

They had a blast getting dressed up in the costumes.

And they worked the sound booth too!

We even got to participate in a young Picassos class and do some painting.

We played at the park for a while too.

Today Elizabeth's brother and her grandparents came over for a playdate.

Sky and Elizabeth are very similar in a lot of ways. They enjoyed doing their nails together.

Then we painted with pudding. Actually, we were practicing our letters and spelling words.

After this activity, everyone needed a bath!

Elizabeth's mom sent some glow in the dark glasses and so we had fun with those at bedtime.

The minivan was at capacity.

Elizabeth, Sky and went to see Tangled at the dollar theater and when we got out, we were greeted by a gorgeous rainbow. It has certainly been a fun week!

The Little Prince

2011-04-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't blogged in a really long time and I have so many pictures on my camera. So, grab a cup of coffee or tea, your reading glasses, and get ready for a bunch of new blog posts. These pictures are from tonight when we went to The Little Prince, which is a restaurant where they have workers who will look after your kids while you eat dinner. We went there with Ken's Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth who are vacationing here from CT this week. It was great to catch up with them and the kids had a blast playing. And, yes, we ordered the shaved ice!

Ken's Birthday Party

2011-04-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

So we had a birthday bash for Ken at Souplantation. A lot of friends showed up to celebrate Ken. And, being at the stage of life we're in right now, that means that a lot of kids were there too. Above was when we sang Happy Birthday to Ken. Below is Brad and 2 of his buddies doing what they do best.

Basically Ken's party took up this whole entire section! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends to celebrate with!

This is our wonderful children's director at church and her little boy. They matched so perfectly, I just had to take a picture of them!

Teacher Appreciation Dessert Night

2011-04-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday our church hosted a teacher appreciation dessert night complete with chocolate fountain! Although none of the kids' teachers were able to come, we went with them (we teach them too, right?). The kids sang a few songs for us and Sky sang very very LOUD! Brad didn't want to go and sing because he had a plate of yummy food in front of him. But, at the last moment, he ran up there and sang with everyone else.